by Leena Clover
Her eyes filled with panic when she realized what she had seen.
“Was he … he must have been …” she mumbled.
“Never mind that,” Jenny soothed. “What did you do?”
“I felt nauseous,” Heather told her. “The house was freezing. I realized the front door was wide open. I went out and stood there for a minute. Then I started walking home.”
“Did you see anyone?”
“I don’t think so,” Heather shrugged. “I think I puked in some bushes somewhere.”
“Did you see what time it was?”
Heather shook her head.
“I collapsed on my bed when I got home. The next thing I knew, Grandma was shaking me, telling me about Gianni.”
Heather went back to the inn after that, ready to take a nap. Jenny called Molly at the library.
“How about a road trip?”
Molly managed to get some time off from the library and they set off.
“Have you called ahead?” Molly asked.
“I want to surprise her.”
They reached the small Delaware town where Tiffany Costa lived. Jenny hoped she hadn’t moved out yet. There was a small U-Hall outside the house and Tiffany stood by as two hefty teens loaded some furniture.
Tiffany didn’t look too happy to see them.
“What are you doing here?” she asked when she spotted Jenny.
“Taking off somewhere?” Jenny asked sternly.
Tiffany shook her head.
“I’m free to go where I want. The police cleared me long ago.”
“Based on a false alibi?”
Jenny folded her arms and stared at Tiffany.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You did stop at the coffee shop on the way out of town. But then you went back, didn’t you?”
“I did no such thing.”
Tiffany glared at Jenny, refusing to back down.
“Heather told me the door was ajar when she and Gianni reached home that night. Other than Gianni, you were the only one who had a key.”
“That doesn’t prove I used it.”
“You were in the kitchen,” Jenny went on. “Heather saw you.”
Tiffany’s nostrils flared and she looked away.
“I was looking for my bracelet,” she finally admitted. “I must have dropped it in that house. It was five carats. I couldn’t just let it go.”
“So what? You went there looking for it?” Jenny scoffed. “Did you drug Gianni while you had a chance?”
“Of course not!” Tiffany cried. “I found the bracelet near the sink in the kitchen. I had taken it off earlier when I was doing the dishes.”
“What did you see?”
“Nothing much,” Tiffany said with a shrug. “Gianni was drinking whiskey from a decanter. Heather was passed out on the couch. I crept out of the living room. Gianni was too drunk to notice me. My car was parked two houses down. I got into it and drove back here.”
“Did you stop anywhere on your way back?”
Tiffany answered in the negative. She had just wanted to get home and call it a night.
“So you could have been there all night,” Jenny pointed out.
“Look, I’m going back home to my town. I am starting a new job next week. I want to forget I ever met Gianni.”
“Good luck with that, Tiffany.”
Jenny couldn’t decide if Tiffany was just a victim or if she was guilty of drugging Gianni.
“What did you find out online?” Molly asked her on the way back home.
Jenny gave her a brief account of what she had learnt. They agreed Heather had escaped narrowly. Jenny dropped Molly off at the library and went to see Jason. She brought him up to date with everything she had found out.
“Let’s go talk to Adam,” he said grimly.
Adam Hopkins was in a bad mood again. He sat with his leg propped up on a table.
“Have you been doing your exercises?” Jenny asked him. “Your therapist can only do so much, Adam. You need to put in some effort yourself.”
“Are you here to lecture me, Jenny?” Adam thundered. “What are you doing here?”
“Tiffany came back to Pelican Cove that night.”
Jenny told him everything Tiffany had admitted to her. Adam didn’t look convinced.
“Heather may have been present at the scene of the crime,” Jason spoke. “But Tiffany was there too. They are equally innocent or guilty.”
“We might have to bring Tiffany in,” Adam said grudgingly.
“What about Gianni’s or Joe’s first wife?” Jenny asked. “Do you think he made her disappear?”
“You have been reading the tabloids,” Adam told her. “There was never any proof of a crime.”
Jenny and Jason walked out of the police station.
“Do you think they will drop the charges against Heather now?” Jenny asked.
“The case is not solved yet, Jenny. It’s hard to say.”
“Have you tried to reach Kandy again?” Jenny asked softly.
“She changed her number, Jenny.” Jason sounded defeated. “I think I’ve tried enough. I’m done.”
“Let’s get your profile on that dating app Heather uses. She can show you the ropes.”
“Isn’t that where she met Gianni?” Jason quirked an eyebrow. “I’d rather be alone.”
“You are not alone, Jason. We are all here for you.”
Jason put his arm around Jenny and hugged her close. He wondered if she would ever take him seriously. He had waited too long to bare his heart.
Chapter 19
“Do you trust Tiffany?” Molly asked Jenny.
“I don’t know what to say, Molls.” Jenny was tired.
The girls had met for dinner at Jenny’s place. Jenny had been so frustrated she had declared they needed a girls’ night. Star, Petunia and Betty Sue were having their own little soiree at the Bayview Inn.
“I’m glad Grandma’s not here,” Heather said, taking a sip of her lemonade. “We can talk freely.”
“What do you want to talk about?” Jenny asked her.
“I’m worried about her. What happens if they take me away again?”
“That’s not going to happen.”
Jenny’s frustration was written clearly on her face.
“I haven’t given up yet, Heather. I’m going to keep on digging.”
“I am so sorry,” Heather said with tears in her eyes. “I’m being a nuisance.”
“We are here to take care of you,” Molly said staunchly. “What are friends for?”
Jenny absentmindedly chewed on a piece of celery. She had hit a wall.
“Why don’t we talk of something else?” she suggested. “I’m sick of thinking about Gianni. I keep going around in circles. It’s not helping.”
They tried to gossip about the people in town. They had talked about everyone in the next fifteen minutes.
“I need some fresh air,” Heather said.
The girls moved out to the patio.
Molly shivered as some spray from the water fountain hit her.
“Do you think of her?” she asked Jenny. “Lily?”
The fountain stood on the spot where they had found the old skeleton.
“Every time I sit here,” Jenny admitted. “I feel like she’s waiting, asking for justice.”
“Ann Davis is coming here in the summer,” Heather told Molly.
“Ann was the last one to see Lily alive, wasn’t she?” Molly asked. “Do you trust her?”
“I don’t,” Jenny said. “But I have no proof. Unless she comes forward and gives a confession, we are at an impasse.”
“Looks like Lily is never going to get her justice,” Molly observed.
The next day brought some surprising developments.
Adam called Jenny at the café.
“Can you come down to the station now?”
Jenny hoped they hadn’t found any more evidence against Heather. Adam was waiting
for her impatiently.
“Sit down, Jenny.”
Adam’s eyes shone with excitement. He had never been that eager to tell her anything. He pulled out a plastic evidence bag from a drawer and slapped it on the table before Jenny.
“What’s this?”
“Startling developments in the Lily Davis case. They found this in the ground with the skeleton.”
A ruby ring sparkled in the plastic bag. It was set in gold and had tiny diamonds surrounding it.
“Is it real?” she asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” Adam said. “It’s a clue, Jenny. It could be vital to the investigation.”
“Where was it all this time?”
“Don’t know,” Adam shrugged. “They must have overlooked it somehow. Doesn’t matter. We have it now.”
“Did it belong to Lily?”
“I don’t think so,” Adam said. “If it was Lily’s, she would have been wearing it.”
Jenny finally caught on.
“You think this belongs to the person who killed Lily?”
Adam nodded vigorously.
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
“But we don’t know who this belongs to.”
“Leave it to the police,” Adam bragged. “Once we find out who made it, we can easily see who ordered it.”
“Do you mind if I take a picture of this?”
Adam was in a benevolent mood. He told her she could take as many pictures of the ring as she wanted.
Jenny forgot all about the ring after she got back to the café. She had two birthday cakes to bake and recipes to try for the Spring Fest.
“What about the pimento cheese sandwiches you made for that meeting?” Petunia asked. “People loved those.”
“We’ll see what Barb thinks about them,” Jenny agreed. “I still haven’t decided between cupcakes and donuts. Do you think we should make a few of each?”
“That’s too much work for you, Jenny.” Petunia didn’t talk much most of the time but Jenny valued her advice.
“Maybe we should toss a coin,” she laughed nervously.
“The people are going to love either,” Petunia assured her.
Jenny was in a rare mood the next morning. She made cheese and pimento muffins along with crab omelets for breakfast. She couldn’t wait to hear what the Magnolias thought of the savory muffins.
“Delicious,” Molly pronounced with her mouth full. “You need to take a picture of this and put it on social media, Jenny.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” Jenny said, slapping the table with her palm.
She pulled out her phone from her apron pocket.
“What have you got there?” Betty Sue inquired as she looked up from her knitting.
Jenny stuck her phone in Betty Sue’s face.
“Does this look familiar?”
Betty Sue’s face was blank for a moment. She took the phone and adjusted her glasses. She peered at the picture with a frown. A minute later, her face cleared and an expression of incredulity came over it.
“Where…where did you get this, girl?”
“Do you recognize it?” Jenny asked eagerly.
Betty Sue was the first person Jenny went to when she had a question about the town. Betty Sue had been born there and had been around the longest. There wasn’t much that slipped Betty Sue’s notice in the town of Pelican Cove.
“It’s a family heirloom,” Betty Sue rasped. “Where did you get this?”
“Whose family?” Jenny gasped.
“The Davis family,” Betty Sue said, sitting up. “This ring is over two hundred years old. It has been passed down in the family from generation to generation.”
“So it’s Lily’s ring?”
Jenny tried to hide her disappointment.
“Are you listening to me, girl?” Betty Sue thundered. “Lily may have been born a Davis, but this ring wasn’t meant for her. It was handed over to a bride coming into the family.”
“What if there were many brides?” Heather asked.
“Then the oldest one got it, of course,” Betty Sue snapped.
Jenny was busy making some calculations in her head.
“So you’re saying this ring belongs to Ann Davis?”
“Sure does, or did,” Betty Sue said confidently. “Although now that I think about it, I don’t think she was wearing it last summer.”
“No, she wasn’t,” Jenny said jubilantly.
She leapt to her feet and whirled around.
“I have to go.”
“Wait a minute,” Betty Sue called out. “Tell me more about this.”
Jenny was already down the café steps before Betty Sue could finish her sentence. She almost jogged down the boardwalk and headed to the police station. Nora, the desk clerk waved her through.
Adam was in a meeting with a bunch of other uniformed men when Jenny burst into his office.
“How about knocking before you enter?” he asked irritably.
“It’s Ann. It’s Ann Davis.”
“What is?”
“The ring, Adam. The ring is a Davis family jewel and it belonged to Ann Davis. Betty Sue will vouch for it.”
Adam’s face broke into a smile.
“Leave the rest to me, Jenny.”
Jenny walked back to the café slowly, wishing for a breakthrough in Gianni’s case. The Magnolias were waiting with their questions.
“That ring was found in the dirt that came with the skeleton,” she told them. “Or something like that.”
“What was Ann’s ring doing there?” Star asked.
“That’s what the police will look into now,” Jenny explained. “If you ask me, it puts her on the spot.”
“Why would Ann harm Lily though?” Molly asked in a puzzled voice.
“She’s the only one who can tell us that.”
Betty Sue’s eyes had filled up.
“Lily looked up to her. She was like the older sister she never had.”
“An older sister who stabbed her in the back?” Heather scoffed.
“The ring doesn’t prove anything. Ann can spin any story now. I don’t think she will confess after all these years.”
Jenny was proven wrong.
Ann Davis unraveled like a ball of string when she saw the ring.
“She said it was an accident,” Adam told her as they walked on the beach. “She didn’t mean to hurt Lily.”
“Why did they get into a fight?” Jenny wanted to know.
“Lily had been acting crazy,” Adam explained. “Those were Ann’s words. She wanted to sell Seaview for a pittance. She just wanted to get away from Pelican Cove.”
“Ann wasn’t ready to sell?”
“She wanted Seaview for her son.”
“They fought over a piece of land?”
“That wasn’t all,” Adam continued. “Lily barely spoke to anyone for months. She shut herself in her room, mourning her daughter. Ann got friendly with Lily’s husband. They might have had an affair.”
“How dare she!” Jenny cried.
Jenny’s husband had dumped her after falling in love with a much younger woman. She didn’t think kindly about women who wrecked other women’s homes.
“Ann didn’t admit to the affair,” Adam said. “She just told us they had a big argument. It got a bit violent. Ann pushed her and Lily struck her head on a stone in the garden. She died instantly.”
“What if Ann was mistaken?”
“She must have tried to revive her,” Adam shrugged. “We will never know that.”
“So Ann decided to bury her in the garden?”
“Ann says she panicked. Ricky had watched everything from an upstairs room. Lily’s son was expected back home any moment. She told Ricky to start digging.”
“Didn’t the son or husband notice anything amiss in the garden?”
“Ann made up that story about seeing Lily get in the car with a man. Keith was devastated when he thought his mother abandoned him.”
Jenny had m
et Lily’s son when he came to Pelican Cove. She knew he had been traumatized by his mother’s actions.
“So she not only killed Lily, she also maligned her character.” Jenny thought of the petite old woman she had met a few months ago. She would never have guessed she was a murderer.
“What happens now?” Jenny asked.
“Ann Davis and her son will both face charges,” Adam told her.
Jenny couldn’t wait to meet the Magnolias the next morning.
“I knew Lily would never turn her back on her family,” Betty Sue said tersely. “Lily can finally rest in peace.”
Jenny sat on the patio with her aunt, staring at the water fountain.
“Do you think it’s true?” she asked her aunt. “What they say about Seaview?”
Star gave her a pained look.
“You’re not thinking about that nonsense again?”
“Just think about it. Lily lost her daughter at a young age, she got herself killed, then her son got into drugs and he got himself killed. Her husband is barely alive in some senior home.”
“No one can predict the future, honey,” Star sighed. “You have made a beautiful home here for yourself. Try to stay happy in it.”
“Here’s to happy memories,” Jenny nodded, clinking her cup of coffee with Star’s.
Star gave her a curious look.
“I don’t think you will be staying here much longer, anyway.”
“What do you mean, Star?” Jenny laughed. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Star looked at her niece indulgently.
“I think Adam’s getting ready to pop the question.”
Jenny blushed furiously.
“You do love him?” Star asked.
Jenny’s eyes clouded with confusion.
“Is love enough?” Jenny asked moodily. “I loved Nick’s father with all I had. Look where that got me.”
“It will be different this time,” Star said, patting her on the back.
“Do you approve?” Jenny asked her aunt.
“You know I like Jason more,” Star winked. “But I’m with you, baby. I can’t imagine being alone in this big old house though.”
Jenny shook her head.
“Like I said, I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter 20
Jenny sipped her coffee quietly as the Magnolias chatted around her. Heather was giving them an update on Barb Norton’s latest project. The signatures she had collected from the town people had done the job. The Newburys had not been granted the approvals they needed to set up the medical dispensary.
