Rohn Federbush - Sally Bianco 02 - The Appropriate Way
Page 17
“James Reeves,” Sheriff Woods added for the recorder.
“I was happy at the castle. When Tim knocked me down with the backdoor, the whole family came to see how I was doing. My own parents didn’t even call back to see if I was all right. I’m sure they’re happy now.”
“Bret, if you could.” Sally wanted more details about John’s murder. She honestly wasn’t interested in the details of how he lived his life.
Bret acknowledged he was expounding about himself more than was necessary for the case. “I thought James was bisexual when I followed him to Enid’s condo one night. I threw a fit and threatened to fire him. Of course, I was bluffing. I just didn’t want him to frequent a prostitute, or any woman, or man. James promised never to see Enid again.” Bret’s face showed his satisfaction for a moment, and then his frown returned. “When Peter told Matilda the police were sure the dead woman was Enid, I went to James.” Sally focused on his words. “I thought James would be pleased Enid wouldn’t be blackmailing Matilda or Geraldine for indiscretions any longer.” Bret relaxed, as he replayed the scene. “I told him, our world was safe.”
“Your intimate world?” Sheriff Woods wanted on the record.
“Yes,” Bret stretched his neck and jutted his chin. “We were lovers.” Then he shivered and a frown dominated his face again.
“James was frantic. He went all to pieces, actually grinding his teeth.” Bret looked up, as if he expected their sympathy. “He wouldn’t let me touch him. He dashed out of my bedroom and I followed him outside to his car. He wouldn’t tell me where he was going. By then I was weeping, but James wouldn’t relent.” He wiped his eyes. “I laid down in the snow, in front of his car. Then he told me.”
Bret looked directly at Sally. “Enid was his illegitimate daughter, not his lover. He said you and Tim would find out everything. He said we were through. I told him you didn’t know we were lovers. He said you would figure out his connections to me. Enid’s blackmailing racket would implicate him. I was sitting next to the wheel of his car, hugging his ankle. James shook me off. He acted disgusted when he finally told me Matilda was going to divorce me. She was pregnant.”
Bret smiled, “Funny. My butler knew before I did. James shoved his passport in my face. He was leaving me, for good. After he left, I went into the house to kill myself. I own several guns. While I searched for the bullets and loaded the gun, I kept getting angrier and angrier. Why should everyone else be off the hook after Enid died? I was the only one suffering, because James would leave.”
“It was all your fault!” He pointed at Sally as he had aimed the gun at her the night John died. His volume increased with each word. “I didn’t care if I killed you and Tim. I wanted everyone to suffer.”
Bret stopped speaking for a moment, then said in almost a whisper, “but when John jumped at me, I shot in his direction.”
Sally relived the nightmare.
“I liked John,” Bret said. “He listened to me. He seemed thrilled to be able to visit the castle.”
“But you killed him,” Sally said.
Chapter Ten
Tim and Matilda asked if they could lunch with Sally at the hotel before she left for Ann Arbor. She couldn’t deny the couple who appeared to be deeply in love. Matilda was intent on canceling out any fears Sally might hold about Tim’s future. “I think Tim should stay in law enforcement.”
“She wants to redecorate the castle,” Tim said.
“Upstairs, I’m buying a queen size bed for the central room. Mother is going to stay with us, too. I’ll turn the bedrooms on each side of the master bedroom into nurseries.”
“I’m sure you two were meant to be together,” Sally said. “Make room for the Lord in your lives, too.”
“We will,” Tim promised. “We know who to thank.”
“Me, too,” Sally said, thinking of her many blessings and the safe harbor she still owned in Ann Arbor.
The End
Other Books by Rohn Federbush
Salome’s Conversion
North Parish
Floating Home
Love’s Triumph
The Legitimate Way {A Sally Bianco Mystery – Book 1}
The Recorder’s Way {A Sally Bianco Mystery – Book 3}
About Rohn Federbush
Rohn Federbush retired as an administrator from the University of Michigan in 1999. She received a Masters of Arts in Creative Writing in 1995 from Eastern Michigan University, where she studied under Janet Kauffman and Larry Smith. In 1998, Vermont College awarded her a summer conference scholarship to work on her novel under Ellen Lesser and Brett Lott. Frederick Busch of Colgate granted a 1997 summer stipend for her ghost-story collection. Michael Joyce of Vassar encouraged earlier writing at Jackson Community College, Jackson, Michigan in 1981. Rohn has completed fourteen novels, with an additional mystery nearly finished, 120 short stories and 150 poems to date.
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