"A Murder In Milburn", Book 4: Death By Ice Cream by Nancy McGovern

was uncomfortable and her car was in the garage. She gave me a big sob story. Finally, she came out and said, Give me a hundred dollars, and I’ll give you proof. ”
    “Ah,” Nora said.  
    “Yes. Ah.” Harvey laughed. “Just a scamster, right? That’s what I thought, at least. I could tell by the bags around her eyes and the twitchy way she moved that she probably had some substance abuse problems. Yet… what’s a hundred dollars to me? I thought it was a worthwhile investment.”
    “Oh, Harvey!” Nora said. “What did you get yourself mixed up in?”
    “I don’t know,” Harvey said grimly. “The next few times I saw Tiffany, it was the same deal. She’d call me, and tell me she had proof, that this time, she had definite proof. Then she’d meet me and tantalize me by telling me how scandalized the town would be if the truth came out, how valuable it would be for me to know her secrets. Each time, she’d leave before telling me the truth, and each time she’d ask me for money. I gave it to her each time.”
    “You got scammed,” Nora said definitely.
    “I know you think so,” Harvey said. “But I’ll tell you this, as a man who’s done his fair share of negotiations, I’ve learnt how to read body language. Tiffany wasn’t a very upright citizen. I wouldn’t trust her with a dollar. But when she told me that she had something on Sean, she wasn’t lying . I’m sure of it, Nora. She was telling me the truth.”
    “Do you really think so?”
    “I absolutely believe it,” Harvey said. “She wasn’t smart enough to be scamming me. She wasn’t smart enough to lie that effectively. I paid her a few hundred dollars because I believed she’d come through.”
    “So that night… when we went to Simone and Bernard’s?”
    “That night, I wanted to just unplug and relax,” Harvey said. “I didn’t want to think about her. I only wanted to spend time with you. But she kept calling me.”
    “What then?”
    “Eventually, I got sick of ignoring her calls. I decided that enough was enough, so I called her and told her that I was sick of her. She told me… she told me she was waiting outside my house, and if I didn’t come to see her, she’d make sure I regretted it.”
    Nora paled. “Then what?”
    “I went home immediately,” Harvey said. “Truth is, I was mad. I wanted her out of my life. I was beginning to see that bringing down Sean wasn’t worth the hassle of having her around. When I reached home, she was desperate for a drink. She helped herself to some of my best whiskey while I had a bottle of beer.”
    “Wow. All the time I was at Simone and Bernard’s thinking you were working.” Nora shook her head. “I can’t believe you lied to me this way, Harvey.”
    “I didn’t lie ,” Harvey said. “It was work. Bringing down Sean is something I’ve worked very hard on, for a very long time.”
    “It’s despicable, the depths to which you’ve fallen,” Nora said. “Associating with a woman like that. Lying to me.”
    “I know what it looks like, believe me,” Harvey said. “I know what it’ll look like to a judge, too. I’m in a real big pile of trouble here. I can’t even tell Sean why she was at my house. I refused to talk, and so now he believes I was cheating on you. That seems like the obvious explanation to him, and I can’t tell him the real reason.”  
    Nora sighed. “That’s what happens when-”
    “Please, Nora. The last thing I need is a lecture,” Harvey said. “I know I messed up, but how could I know what would happen?”
    “All right, continue,” Nora said. “What happened next?”
    “She had her whiskey, and then she began her usual spiel. How she hated this town, and how she needed money. How she knew a secret that could tear apart some very important people. How I could get back at Sean if I knew what she knew…” Harvey shook his head. “At that point, I was just sick of it. I told her I’d changed my mind about wanting to bring