He stood up, and the rest of us followed suit. Will cleared his throat. “Thank you all for coming. There are refreshments in the dining room, but I’m going to have to excuse myself.” He left the room without another word. It was one of life’s awkward moments when I, for one, had not a clue what to do next. I had already pushed the envelope being there without an invitation and felt it was up to Molly’s mother to make the call.
“Should we go get something to eat?” I asked Mrs. Ryland, looking around to see if anyone else was heading in that direction.
She shook her head. “I’d like to go home.” I picked her coat up from the back of the chair Will had hung it on. I hadn’t taken my own off, so that saved a step. No one paid much attention to us as we made our way out of the library and then through the front door. Ms. Assistant had left her post. Maybe her next duty was to serve whatever lunch Will had for his guests in the dining room.
When we were back in my car, I wanted to tell Mrs. Ryland that Molly’s service was, hands down, the most bizarre gathering I had ever attended. But I didn’t want to openly speak ill of her son-in-law, and it was not because I feared a lawsuit. A list of unkind words describing how I felt about Will Dalton’s behavior came to mind, and at the top of the list was “insulting.” Molly’s service was anything but respectful, not only to her memory, but also in the way her mother was treated.
After witnessing Will Dalton in action, it was easier for me to understand why Molly was lonely in her marriage. Did he really care about anyone besides himself and his own interests?
Mrs. Ryland and I were both quiet all the way to her house. When we got there, I asked if it’d be all right if I came in for a bit. “Please do, Cami.” After we had settled down at the kitchen table, Mrs. Ryland looked me in the eyes. “I’m not sure Molly even still loved Will.”
That was unexpected. “Really? What makes you think that?”
“He’s turned into . . . well, you saw how he acted. He’s gotten himself too wrapped up in his legal practice and other business to have much of a family life. He didn’t even plan a real funeral for his wife. What kind of a husband does that?” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Molly’s minister wasn’t even there, like she would have wanted.”
“It was very unusual, that is for sure. And frankly, I would have expected that you’d be in on the planning. You know Molly better than anyone, even Will.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I know. She should have had a proper service, one that anyone could come to. Anyone that wanted to be there.”
I reached over and gently closed my hand over hers. “You can still have one, you know. And I think you should.”
She nodded. “I’ll talk to the minister.”
“Mrs. Ryland, this is sort of a prying question, but did Molly ever talk about leaving Will, getting a divorce?”
“She didn’t, but I suggested it when I saw how unhappy she was.”
“And what did she say about that?”
“She didn’t want to even think about that. She thought maybe if they had children that would make them close again. Molly wouldn’t go into details, but I think she was either seeing a fertility doctor or looking into adoption. I wanted to tell her that children do not make a bad marriage better, but I kept that to myself because a baby would have brought her such joy.”
Her lips quivered, and I gave her a minute before I switched gears. “Okay, this is a change of subject, but there’s something you need to know. I’m just going to come right out and say it. Emmy Anders was arrested for Molly’s murder yesterday. That’s why she’s in jail.”
Mrs. Ryland stared at me for a while before she responded. “Emmy Anders? How could that be? I’ve talked to her at church a few times, and she seemed kind, hardly a violent type.”
I nodded. “I guess we don’t always know.”
“But why on earth would the police think she killed Molly?” She was so matter-of-fact it was obvious the news hadn’t sunk in.
“You’ll have to talk to them, but let’s just say the reason they’re convinced is because of something she was charged with in the past, and because of some evidence they found at her house. Assistant Chief Lonsbury was planning to talk to you, but I wanted you to know before you heard it from someone else.”
Except Will Dalton, maybe. It would have been the natural thing for him to do before or after the service—take his mother-in-law aside to talk about Emmy’s arrest. They were the two most invested in seeing that justice was served.
Mrs. Ryland nodded. “What an awful thing.”
“The police may be right, but I’m not convinced. And I feel I owe it to Molly to find out the truth so she can rest in peace.”
Mrs. Ryland grabbed my hand in both of her bony ones and squeezed. I was surprised she had so much strength. “I want to help, so tell me what I can do.”
Oh boy. “Um, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I mean, the police would not be happy if they knew what I was up to in the first place, and if they found out I’d dragged you into it all, they would be doubly unhappy. I don’t want to get you in any more trouble than you’re already in.” I hadn’t meant to bring up the crime she was charged with committing. “Sorry.”
Mrs. Ryland lifted a hand like it was all right. “Cami, Molly is my daughter. I let her down when I married her stepfather and didn’t see what was going on. I have never been able to forgive myself for that. I’m the one who owes it to her to find out the truth. Then when I die we can both rest in peace. Together.”
Molly’s mother’s face held the most earnest, determined look, and I couldn’t disappoint her. Mark would kill me and Clint would want to do something even worse if they knew what I was about to agree to. “All right, Mrs. Ryland, you’re in.”
“Good.” She tapped her hands on the table.
“And there is something important you can do, when you’re up to it, of course.”
“What’s that?”
“Help me find your stepson. We need to locate Troy.”
She gave a single nod. “So you do think Troy . . . was involved in . . .”
“I honestly have no idea. But we know he blackmailed Molly, until she cut him off, that is.”
She let out a noisy breath of air. “I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not even sure where to start.”
“His photo would be a good place to begin.”
She rubbed one hand with the other. “Molly may have missed one somehow. I’ll see what I can find.”
“Thanks. Pinky mentioned someone who was in her shop shortly before Molly died. It was a man asking for a blonde who worked there. If Pinky saw a picture of Troy, she could tell us if it was him or not.”
“But Molly knows Troy, and if she had seen him, the least she would have done was to call me right away and tell me.”
That was a good point. “I have my doubts it was Troy, because like you said, Molly knew him. Whoever that man is, he probably had nothing to do with what happened. But it’s good to eliminate all the people I have questions about.”
“That is a wise way to go about it.”
“We don’t have the authority to go to the county and ask them to do one of those composite drawings, but . . .” I thought a moment. “I know of someone, an artist who’s one of Pinky’s regular customers. She might be talented at drawing faces or at least know someone who is. We’d need your help to do that, of course.”
Mrs. Ryland nodded. “Cami, you should go into police work.”
The suggestion made me smile. “No thanks, I’m way happier staying in the background.”
“I’ll let you know if I happen to locate a picture of Troy. Or even his father, since Troy looked just like him.”
“If you find one, great. If not, we look for an artist.” I held out my hand for her. “We have a sort-of plan, Mrs. Ryland.” When she took my hand in hers, we shook
on it.
“It’s a place to start. And please, call me Irene.”
—
When I got back to the shops, the looks on their faces told me Pinky and Erin were ready to hear the details about Molly’s private service. There were no customers around, and they dragged me to a back table. “Spit it out, every single word,” Pinky said.
“Okay, this is going to sound nasty, but I don’t think Will Dalton has a caring bone in his body.”
“What makes you say that?” Erin said.
“Not only did he not tell Molly’s mother about the service in the first place, he didn’t even introduce her to the other people who were there.”
“No,” Erin and Pinky said together.
“And when Will saw me, he gave me the coldest stare ever. But then he seemed to catch himself and put on this show, acting like he was glad Mrs. Ryland was there after all. At least he didn’t kick me out. And none of his family was there. It was like he invited eight strangers who didn’t even really know Molly to show up, say a few words about her, and then have lunch.”
Pinky leaned forward, crossed her arms, and plopped her hands on her shoulders. “In my whole life, I’ve never heard anything even close to that.”
“I know. Get this, when it was Will’s turn to speak, he broke down and cried instead of saying a word about Molly. At least he acted like he was crying. I’m not so sure. And then he excused himself and disappeared.”
“Okay, that is strange,” Erin said.
I nodded. “We didn’t even stay for lunch. Mrs. Ryland had no idea who the people were, and it was obvious she’d had enough.”
“I wouldn’t mind eating with a bunch of strangers, so I’d have stayed. I bet it was good, too. And Cami, you might have found out why Will thought those people were special enough to make the cut,” Pinky said.
“I didn’t have the stomach for it—either the people or the food, no matter how good or fancy it might have been.”
“So you think Will was putting on an act?” Erin asked.
“It seemed that way to me. When Molly’s mom said a few words about her, Will’s reaction struck me as wrong, and I figured out why that was on the way over here.”
“What was it?” Pinky said.
“So if I said, ‘Molly didn’t deserve to die like that,’ show me what you’d do.” Both Pinky and Erin shook their heads. “I thought so. That’s what I would have done. You shook your heads because you are agreeing that, ‘No, she did not deserve that.’ You know what Will did? He nodded.”
“I don’t know; some people might nod,” Pinky said.
“That’s true. They would if they thought she deserved what she got,” I said.
“Pinky, think about it. Cami is right.” Erin reached over and gave my wrist a squeeze. “Great observation, Cami. I seriously doubt I would have caught that.”
“If you were watching Will Dalton like I was, you would have.”
—
Pinky left for home after we’d finished talking. I hadn’t revealed that Mrs. Ryland—Irene—was my new partner in crime solving. There was no sense dragging them into it. After all, Irene was a felon. Knowing Erin, she would make me swear to cease and desist, and Pinky would inadvertently tell Mark what I was up to. It was all going to come out eventually, anyway.
Erin spent time studying the various snow globes and where they had come from, how old they were, and so on. My parents had written up cards for the ones we had a history on. Erin was one sharp cookie and memorized information on a number of the snow globes in short order. “Gee whiz, Cami, I don’t know why I never really paid much attention before. You have some very cool and unique snow globes.”
“We do. You know, when I was young I thought all snow globes were special. Now I know some are more so than others. So are you feeling more comfortable, like you can run the place alone, if you have to?”
She set a snow globe down and looked at me. “Why, you’re not planning on leaving, are you?”
I chuckled. “No, but there might be a time when Pinky or I need to run somewhere for a few minutes. We really appreciate you filling in, Erin. It’s been slow lately, but it’ll start to pick up, and by Black Friday, look out.”
She nodded. “And since I’m off from school Thanksgiving weekend, I can be here just about whenever you need me.”
“Good to know. I haven’t been through a Black Friday yet, working on the retail side of it. And I am not looking forward to it, at all.” I checked the time. “Erin, feel free to take off anytime.”
“All right, I’ll get going then and will catch you later.”
—
It seemed like three days had passed instead of just one when closing time finally rolled around. Between the court proceedings, the odd man’s visit to our shops, Molly’s memorial service, making a pact with Irene Ryland, and working in between it all, it was an emotional and stressful day.
But there was something else I needed to do.
I locked up the shops and drove my car over to the courthouse. Although it was only a few blocks, it was cold out, and I didn’t want to walk back for my car. I braced myself against the brisk wind and wondered what kind of a winter was ahead of us. If the near-freezing mid-November temperatures were any indication, it could be a doozy. I’d grown accustomed to the milder weather in Washington, D.C., these last years, and it’d be my first full Minnesota winter in a long time.
When I walked into the jail lobby, I got quite the surprise. Irene Ryland was leaving one side of a visiting booth, and Emmy Anders was leaving the other. Was visiting the person accused of killing your daughter even allowed? Why would Irene want to do that? Not to mention how awkward it would be for Emmy.
“What are you doing here?” I said when Irene came toward me.
She waved me over toward some chairs on the other side of the lobby, and we sat down. “I had to ask her. I needed to know what she’d say about Molly,” Irene explained.
“To tell you the truth, I’m surprised she agreed to see you.”
“Emmy knew me from church, and she knew Molly from your shops, of course. But she didn’t know she was my daughter.”
“I guess that explains it. So what did you all say?”
“I asked her if she knew what happened to Molly, and she said she didn’t. She assured me she had nothing to do with her death.”
“Anything else?”
“She apologized to me. Emmy said she and Molly had not gotten along very well, and she was sorry she’d been crabby to her. She was having a bad day.” It had been a bad day for all of us, Molly in particular. “Emmy said she did not poison Molly and thinks she was framed.”
“Framed?”
“That’s what she said. She told me what happened with her husband, and that she was accused of killing him, too. She thinks someone planted evidence at her house that would make her look like the guilty one.”
“Really? That’s what she said?”
Irene nodded. “Emmy looked me straight in the eyes when she said she didn’t do it, and then she said, ‘Cross my heart and hope to die.’ I believed her.”
Cross my heart and hope to die? “Okay, well I’m holding on to the hope that we get to the bottom of what happened very soon.”
“Cami, are you here to talk to Emmy, too?”
“Yes. I haven’t known her that long, but I’m not convinced she’s guilty. And if she isn’t, I want to do what I can for her and get to the bottom of Molly’s death like we discussed.”
Irene nodded then stood up. “The last two days have taken a toll, and I need to get home.”
I gave her a gentle hug. “Get a good night’s sleep.” I watched her walk out and get into a waiting cab, then I went to the booth where the officer sat. I handed him my driver’s license and asked if I could please see Emaline Andersohn. He checked my identification then t
old me to take a seat in visiting booth B. I put my license back and waited for Emmy. It took a number of minutes until she got there.
Emmy picked up the phone with one hand and touched her heart with the other. “Thanks for coming to see me, Camryn.”
“You’re welcome. I wanted to let you know I was in court earlier today, when you went before the judge.”
“I didn’t see you there.” She frowned slightly. “So you know about my bail.”
“Yes.”
“I’m getting the money together to get out.”
Irene hadn’t mentioned that. “You are? Five hundred thousand is a big chunk of change.”
She lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. “I know it could have been worse. I need to put up ten percent of the bail to bond out. Since I don’t have any family around, my best friend from childhood is helping me. Her name is on my bank accounts. I made sure of it after my husband died, in case something happens to me. My attorney advised me to do that, otherwise things get tied up for a long time. And I’m glad I did it now that I can’t get to the bank myself.”
“It’s good to have a trusted friend. Emmy, I talked to Molly’s mother, and she told me about the visit you two had.”
Emmy shook her head. “When she said that Molly was her daughter, I didn’t know what to say. All I could do was tell her how sorry I was for her loss, but that I was innocent of what I was charged with. I did not poison Molly.” She pointed her finger into the little ledge in front of her to emphasize each of the last five words.
She almost had me convinced. “The question is, who did? Irene said you think someone planted the evidence in your garage?”
“I can’t think of how else it got there.”
“But how would anyone do that?”
“I’m going to check my garage doors and windows when they release me.”
“The other question is why.”
The Iced Princess Page 18
