“Is there something legal we should do? Or is it a bad idea to even go there?” Catherine asked her. She had no idea what to do at that point.
“Um, no, there’s nothing that needs to be done. I filed a birth certificate right after she was born, with our names as her parents. It’s perfectly legit. Well, as long as no one goes looking for medical records to compare to the birth certificate. But really, I can’t imagine anyone would ever do that.”
Jeanette seemed to have it all figured out.
“Okay, good. If anyone ever finds out, I will back you up and say that I gave her to you. I’m sure that’s not legal, to just give a baby away like that, but I doubt it will come up and I doubt anyone would throw me in jail at this point. So I’m not going to worry about it,” Catherine told her.
The two women hugged. They were in it together. They both wanted the best thing for Isabella and both felt like they accomplished that.
Chapter 20
“Okay, looks like most everyone is here. Let’s get started.” Sheriff Rex called the town meeting to order.
The sheriff’s station had been getting so many calls about the deaths in town, that they just couldn’t field them all anymore. So, Rex made an executive decision and decided to hold a town meeting to get everything answered once and for all. They were holding it at the Wildflower Inn, at the outdoor cafe. He really only expected a couple hundred people at most to show up, which is what he got. People were quick to make a phone call to complain about the investigation, but most wouldn’t be bothered to actually show up in person. They probably figured they would hear about the meeting later. They figured right. Nothing stayed quiet on the island for long.
“We’ve been getting a lot of phone calls about the recent deaths on the island. I figured this would be the best way to get the word out about how it’s all going. Now, keep in mind that we can’t give you specifics, but we can give you some general information,” he told the crowd.
“Sheriff, did you find out what happened to Eric Doyle?” Tim Carmichael, the owner of the Wildflower Inn asked. Tim knew very little about what actually happened to the boy that fell ill and collapsed in his cafe.
“Yes. He was poisoned with oleander. We don’t know exactly when or how, but it would have been not too long before he started showing symptoms. We suspect it happened when he was here eating lunch that day, though that’s not definite. He could have ingested it before he arrived for lunch. I know we have questioned most of you, but if there’s anyone here that saw anything, anything suspicious at all, please talk to one of my deputies after the meeting.” The sheriff didn’t want people disclosing anything they saw right there in front of everyone. He had the obligation to keep some of the details of his investigation confidential.
“Oleander?” Tim asked. “Isn’t that pretty prevalent all over the island?”
“Yes it is,” Rex answered. “That’s what makes this case really difficult. It is something that is readily available to anyone. And I think most people know it’s poisonous. It’s not a secret. We just can’t figure out why someone would want to hurt that boy. That’s the real question. If we can figure that out, we can probably solve this case.”
“So what are you doing to find his killer?” Dooley, the hardware store owner, asked.
“We are questioning people. Anyone that was at the cafe that day and anyone that may have seen or heard anything since. That’s all we can do at this point. We promise you that we are working on it,” Rex answered back.
“Did you test the food Eric ate here at the cafe to see if it was poisoned?” Dooley asked. “That seems like the most obvious thing to do.”
There were several “Yeahs” and nods from the crowd wanting to know the answer to Dooley’s question.
Tim’s face blanched as he looked over at his wife. Roxanne had the same expression on her face. They were scared to death that the cafe would be implicated in Eric’s death, even though they knew they didn’t do anything wrong. Proving that they didn’t do anything wrong was an entirely different problem.
“Well…no we didn’t,” Rex started. “The dishes were already cleared away by the time we arrived.”
Everyone turned to look at Tim, who felt like he was going to pass out. “What?” he said to the group that was all looking at him as if he were guilty. “We had no reason to think that he did anything but choke on something. It happens, and no one can be blamed for that. But I can tell you truthfully, that my employees have been working here for years. No one here would ever poison someone.”
Tim looked away from the crowd. Tim hated that he had to try to defend himself against accusations that were clearly flying around in people’s minds. Most people would never confront him directly, but they thought it. Though he knew they didn’t cause Eric’s death, he felt somewhat responsible. The kid did collapse in his cafe. Roxanne patted his back in a comforting manner. She knew what Tim was feeling. So much for being innocent until proven guilty.
“What about George pushing Beth Gibson off the cliff? Why hasn’t he been arrested yet?” a woman spoke up.
Everyone looked around and noticed that George was conspicuously absent from the meeting, and the sheriff could hear the grumblings in the crowd. George always showed up to any island meetings. It made everyone wonder what it was that he was trying to hide.
“If you all are wondering where George is, I asked him not to be here,” Rex told everyone. “I figured it would be better that way. Look everyone, yes, George was there, but he showed up after the incident. Regardless of the rumors you have heard, he was not there when it happened and he didn’t push her off.”
“Didn’t the Hale girl say she saw him do it?” someone from the crowd called out. Rex didn’t see who asked the question. “Why would she lie about it?”
“I can’t give you any details on my conversations with witnesses and other people. But I can say that George is not currently on the suspect list. I would advise all of you to not treat him like he is guilty. If anything changes, we will call him back in. But for now, George is the same, friendly guy that you all know.” Rex was doing his best to keep peace in the town. He knew how people could get riled up over the smallest things. “In fact, we don’t know that anyone pushed her over the edge. She may have just fallen. We are working on it. Please just be patient.”
“What about the car accident in front of the Hale house? What did you find out about that? Their neighbor was run over by the car and died, right?” The sheriff could see that it was Lola that asked the question.
“Well, that was just an accident. They happen. Anyone else?” Rex asked the group, almost completely dismissing her comments.
Then Lola continued. “Don’t you think it’s strange that Isabella Hale was at the cafe when Eric was poisoned? And again at the cliff when her father’s girlfriend supposedly fell? And then the car accident was right in front of her house. It was her bicycle that rolled across the road in front of that car.”
The crowd went conspicuously silent as they all waited for an explanation. It seemed that most of them hadn’t put all of that together in their minds and were just then seeing the connection.
“Also, I ran into Isabella on her way home from school recently, and she caught me off guard and shoved me into the street, in front of a car. I fell and was almost hit. Plus I think I sprained my wrist when I fell. See.” Lola held up her arm so everyone could get a good look at the bandage she had wrapped around it. “She’s dangerous and you need to do something about her.”
“Why didn’t you report the incident?” Rex asked her.
“Who was I going to report it to? You? You don’t care and would probably not believe me anyway.” Lola was beginning to get agitated, but told herself she was not going to back down. She was truly worried about what Isabella would do next.
Rex rubbed his eyebrow, while he listened to Lola and her crazy accusations. He wondered what he was going to do about her. It was painfully obvious to him that she was not going
to let this all go. Rex was not happy that Lola was bringing all of that up. He was afraid that little Isabella could be a target. Some people he knew on the island could get agitated over things quite easily. That made his job much more difficult, and worse, could make life for Isabella troublesome.
“Hmm. Interesting,” Rex answered.
He didn’t believe for a second that Isabella pushed Lola into the street. Though he couldn’t figure out why Lola was targeting the girl with all of her accusations. As far as he knew, they didn’t really know each other.
“Listen, there were many people here at the cafe that day. Several dozen, in fact. It was just a coincidence that Isabella and her mother were here. It could have been anyone that poisoned him. We still don’t know exactly what happened at the cliff, and the car accident was just an accident, like I said. And I don’t know what to tell you about your wrist. This is the first I have heard of it. If you want to make a formal complaint, come to my office tomorrow morning.” Rex was looking directly at Lola as he spoke. He gave the teenager a stern look that would have caused most to back down. Not Lola.
“It seems to me that you aren’t really taking all of these things seriously.” Lola again.
Rex was quite surprised to hear a teenage girl outwardly confront him like that, especially in front of so many people. He looked around and saw all the curious faces in the crowd. He needed to do something to shut her down, before she got them going.
“Young lady, we are taking these investigations very seriously. That is why we are here. We want to get more details and keep everyone informed. Perhaps you and I should have a talk after the meeting. Just the two of us.” He figured that would quiet her down. Nope.
“Sheriff, I know that Isabella poisoned Eric. I saw her do it,” Lola announced to the crowd.
Everyone in the cafe laughed. It was not the response that Lola expected. She looked around at the crowd and her face reddened. It didn’t stop her though.
“I’m serious. She did it. I’m also sure that she did the other two killings also. But I didn’t see them, so I have no proof at all.”
“If that’s true, then why didn’t you tell the sheriff what you saw when it happened?” an older woman asked.
Lola looked directly at the sheriff when she answered the woman’s question. “Because I didn’t know that she was trying to kill him until later. I had just arrived here, literally, that morning. I didn’t know Isabella. I thought maybe she was a friend of Eric’s or he was her brother or something, and was playing a joke. It wasn’t until after he was in a coma and died that I realized she really wanted him dead,” Lola explained.
“Let’s assume for a minute that you actually saw what you think you saw,” Rex replied. “Did you see exactly what she put in his food? Do you have proof that she put in the oleander that killed him?”
Lola thought for a moment. “Well…no. But she is the only one that I saw put something in his food. It had to be the oleander that she put in.”
“There’s no proof of that. I can’t go arresting a 10 year old because you think you saw her put something in his food. Even if she did, it could have been anything. It wasn’t necessarily oleander,” Rex told her directly.
“Really? So you are telling me that she just happened to put something in his food that wouldn’t hurt him at the exact time that someone else poisoned him? Sheriff, I’m not stupid. And neither are these people.” Lola gestured toward the crowd as she spoke.
Before the sheriff had a chance to respond, the same woman from before chimed in. “Why would that little girl want Eric dead? What would she have against him?”
“I heard that him and his friend almost ran Isabella and her mother over on the sidewalk when they were walking one day. Someone could have seriously been hurt. Maybe she was trying to get back at him? I really don’t know. I just know what I saw. The sheriff can figure out the ‘why’ part of it,” Lola told everyone, angrily.
“Listen, young lady, I don’t know what you have against that little girl, but she’s not capable of doing any of those things.” The sheriff dismissed her accusations with a wave of his hand. “Now please, let the grownups talk here.” He was done with her.
As she looked at several faces in the crowd, Lola could plainly see that no one believed her.
“You know what,” Lola said, shaking her head in disgust, “you all go ahead and believe what you want. I know the truth and it will come out sooner or later. I just hope that none of your loved ones are one of her victims before that happens.” She turned and stormed dramatically back into the inn. She had had enough.
Chapter 21
“Mom! I’m leaving!” Sawyer yelled as he opened the front door of their house.
“Hey.” Jeanette stopped him as she walked into the room. “Why don’t you take your sister with you? She’s been underfoot all morning and needs to get outside and get some fresh air.”
Isabella looked up expectantly from the television she had been camped in front of for hours. “Please? Can I go out on the boat with you?” She gave him her best cute little girl smile.
Sawyer hesitated only slightly. “Sure, Munchkin, come on.” He gestured with his head toward the front door.
“Yay! I gotta go get my swimsuit!”
As Isabella ran to her room, Jeanette thanked him for being a good big brother and letting her tag along.
“It’s fine. We aren’t going out far and will just be hanging out and doing some fishing. It’s not big deal.”
Jeanette smiled at the thought of being able to spend a rare afternoon completely alone. She couldn’t remember the last time she was able to do so. Kids were a 24 hour job.
“Make sure she wears a life jacket. Okay? She’s a decent swimmer, but those currents can be strong sometimes.” Jeanette couldn’t help but be worried. She knew that Sawyer would never let anything happen to his sister though. She trusted him.
Sawyer and Isabella made a quick stop to pick up some sandwiches at the Wildflower Cafe on their way to the marina. He had called in the order before they left the house and it was waiting for them. Lola saw them walk up and went to the kitchen to get the food for them. She returned quickly.
“You guys look like you are ready for a day at the beach,” Lola said to them, making small talk, as she rang up their order. As Lola glared at Isabella with contempt, she could feel a vein throbbing in her forehead. She actually reached up and rubbed her forehead to see if it was visible. Then she felt a bit silly. The brother and sister before her were acting completely normal, as if Lola didn’t seem any different to them at all.
As she watched Isabella, Lola didn’t mention the incident on the street between the two of them recently. Isabella stood there as if everything was completely as it should be between them, and she hadn’t pushed Lola in front of a car, trying to kill her.
“We’re going out on Nick’s boat. It’s my first time,” Isabella told her. “Frankie’s going with us too.”
She sounded like a normal, excited, 10 year old girl. Not like the ruthless killer that Lola knew she was. Lola couldn’t figure out why in the world she was the only one to see it. She thought that it might be because she didn’t know the girl and most people on the island did. They knew her as a sweet little girl that couldn’t possibly hurt anyone. They were all so deluded, Lola thought.
Lola felt a sudden dread when she heard they were going out in a boat on the ocean. She didn’t know how or why, but she knew it was a bad idea. She didn’t trust Isabella, at all. What was she going to say though? ‘Hey, I think your sister’s a murderous psychopath. You probably shouldn’t go out on the ocean with her. None of you might come back alive.’ No, she didn’t think that would go over too well.
“I see. Well, have fun,” was all she could think of to say.
“Thanks. We will,” Sawyer responded as Isabella smiled and waved good-bye.
The second the two of them were out of her sight, Lola texted Frankie. Though she and Frankie weren’t friends, th
ey were roommates, and she felt she should do her best to stop that boat ride. She just knew in her gut that they shouldn’t go. She texted Frankie that Tim wanted her to come back to the cafe to work. Frankie responded that she had the day off and had already cleared it with Tim. She wasn’t going to work. Frankie felt fairly certain that she wouldn’t get fired over it.
“Damn,” Lola said out loud.
“What’s the matter?” Tim asked her. He was walking right past her as she said it.
“Oh, nothing. No big deal,” she told Tim, hoping he wouldn’t press her for more information. He didn’t. “Um, hey,” Lola continued. We are kind of busy. Don’t you think you should call Frankie in to work?”
Tim looked around the cafe. “Oh, it’s not that busy. The twins and I can handle it.”
Tim continued on to his task of taking lunch orders. He had given Frankie the day off and he was taking her place. He didn’t feel right making her come back to work after he had promised her she could hang out with her friends that afternoon.
Five minutes later, Sawyer and Isabella arrived at the marina to find Frankie and two of Sawyer’s friends, Nick and Zach, loading up the boat while they waited for them. Frankie was a bit surprised to see Isabella there, since there was going to be some beer involved, but she didn’t say anything. Besides, she liked Isabella. She was sweet and fun to talk to.
“Hey there cutie,” Frankie said to Isabella, patting the top of her head playfully. “I’m glad you came. This will be fun.”
Isabella gave Frankie a slight smile. Frankie was okay as far as girls went, but Isabella wasn’t thrilled that someone else was taking Sawyer’s attention from her. All of her life Sawyer had adored Isabella and took time out of his day to hang with her. But that wasn’t the case anymore. He spent all of his free time with Frankie, something that irritated Isabella. She tried to like Frankie though, and decided she would try being nice to her while they hung out that day on the boat. They were the only two girls and Isabella wanted someone to talk to that wasn’t going to just talk about sports. Boys could be so boring sometimes.
Desperation on Wildflower Island Page 14
