“You might as well admit it, Emily,” Jay said. “We know. The game is up.”
“What?” Tears immediately filled Emily’s eyes. “Jay, you’re not seriously accusing me?”
Jay only shrugged. “Rachel laid it all out for me—the proof that you’re a murderer.”
“A murderer!” Emily clutched the side of the table, and her other hand clenched into a fist.
“You met Arthur that morning!” Jay accused. “That’s how he had mocha with him at seven a.m. even though the café doesn’t open till eight thirty!”
“And that makes me a murderer?” Emily spat. “Wow. Well done Judge Jay. Brilliant detective work, Rachel. You two make a fine bumbling pair. For your information, Arthur was at my café early, and I did make him those mochas. But he was there planning out a proposal!”
“Never mind all that,” Rachel said. “I was wrong about you, Emily. I don’t think you killed Arthur. I think Jay did, and tried to frame you.”
“What!” Jay’s eyes widened. “Are you mad, Rachel?”
“Now hang on.” Scott stepped in between them all, palms raised. “Let’s all of us calm down and take a deep breath.” The authority in his voice was like cold water slapping their faces. All three instantly fell silent.
“Everyone sit down,” Scott said. “We’re going to do this like civilized people, one by one. Rachel, would you like to go first?”
“Sure I would,” Rachel said. “I thought all the evidence pointed to Emily, but really, the killer just wanted me to think that. The love letter was planted there so that when Emily’s affair came out, she’d get arrested. Jay did it because he hated Emily for cheating on him. He also thought up a brilliant alibi for himself. But unfortunately for him, I’m the one who got caught in the middle. You ended up arresting me instead of Emily, Scott. So Jay flew to my rescue, made sure my name was cleared, and tried to sway the investigation so that Emily would become a suspect.”
“Emily’s right,” Jay said. “You are mental. You got all that from one tape recording? Mad!”
“Do you deny it?” Rachel asked. “You weren’t in your office that morning. You went out the fire escape and murdered Arthur.”
“I’ll admit that I used the tape recording to fool others into thinking I was working. I had exactly half an hour, and I planned on using it to catch Emily,” Jay said. “I’ll also admit that I used the fire escape but not for what you said but again, to spy on Emily. Not to murder Arthur. I was trying to find evidence that Arthur and Emily were having an affair. Only I bumped into Jackson on the way to the café and got scared I’d get into trouble. So I turned tail and ran back to the office. I never even spied on her in the end.”
“You wanted to spy on me?” Emily asked.
“I wanted to see it myself—to have any doubt destroyed once and for all. See, no matter what my brain knew, my heart just refused to believe my own Emily would ever cheat on me. Stupid thing.”
“There’s only one stupid thing here, and that’s you,” Emily said. She glared at Jay. “I never had an affair with Arthur, or anybody else. I love you, Jay. I always have. How could you believe otherwise?”
“You snuck around with Arthur,” Jay said. “Texted him when you thought I wasn’t looking.”
“That?” Emily sounded horrified. “I didn’t even realize you knew I was texting him.”
“Well I did know,” Jay said.
“Well, you great big goof, I wasn’t cheating on you with him. I was helping Arthur plan his proposal!!”
“What proposal? Was he planning to propose to you?”
Emily placed her hands on her hips and gave Jay a strict look. “No! He was planning to propose to Audrey. You really thought I was cheating on you with him? Of all the dumb things, Jay, you’re such an idiot!”
But a massive smile was spreading on Jay’s face. Rachel could see all the weight of his suspicions dissolve and evaporate into the air. “You never cheated on me,” Jay repeated, softly, full of wonder. “You love me.”
“Of course I love you! I married you, didn’t I? Said my vows in front of God and witnesses. Goodness knows why, for all the faith you have in me, I might as well have been speaking to myself.”
“But . . .”
“I don’t want to hear it.” Emily was in a proper temper. “And not only cheating on you, you thought I was capable of murdering Arthur? How could you!”
“Hang on a second,” Rachel interjected. “So you never had an affair with Arthur?”
“No. And if you want proof, come check out all the texts on my phone.” Emily flung her phone at Jay, who fumbled a little, but then caught it with both hands. “Go ahead—check. You’ll see text after text of him brainstorming with me. Audrey was the only person he loved. An affair! That poor man was trying his hardest to make sure she’d have a proposal she’d never forget. He’d planned it out for next week. Poor Arthur.” Emily sniffed. Her anger seemed to evaporate too. “And-and—” Her shoulders began to tremble. “Y-you think that I was—”
“I’m so sorry baby.” Jay sprang up and placed the phone on the counter. “I’m really sorry. I’ve been an absolute fool. I’ve been an idiot of the highest order.” He tried to hug her, and she batted his arms away. He didn’t give up, though. His arms went around her like a chain, and he started placing loving kisses on her neck and cheeks.
“Please forgive me? I know I messed up badly but I really love you. You’re the only woman in the world for me. I was so devastated when I thought you were cheating that I couldn’t think straight. I don’t know what got into me. Then the murder happened . . . and it was like the entire world went crazy.” Jay spoke quickly and still managed to interject his sentences with kisses.
Emily’s tears and sniffs eventually stopped, but her anger didn’t. “Come on home,” she said, linking a finger through his tie. “You and I need to have some serious conversations, mister.”
Jay looked relieved. “We’ll have all the conversations you like, baby.”
“Hang on!” Rachel exclaimed. “What about the ring?”
“Ring? Do you mean Arthur’s ring for proposing to Audrey?”
“No, I mean the football ring. The football ring that Jay gave you. You don’t wear it anymore. Because you dropped it somewhere, or because Jay stole it to plant and frame you . . .” Rachel’s voice trailed off as she realized how stupid she sounded now. “At least that’s what I thought.”
“I have the ring right here.” Emily drew out a long pendant from inside her shirt, and held the ring aloft. “I gave the ring to a jeweler to polish a bit. That’s why it was missing for a few days. I haven’t dropped it anywhere, and Jay hasn’t planted it as you can see.”
“Oh.” Rachel’s confidence was utterly destroyed. Both her theories had been very wrong. It was hard to feel bad about it for too long, though. Jay was looking at Emily with love melting from his eyes and a goofy grin on his face. Emily, although she tried to keep looking strict, had a smile slip out once in a while.
An awkward silence fell over the group.
“We’d best be going now,” Jay said. “And-er-Rachel, do you think I could have my tape recorder back?”
“I’m holding onto that for now,” Scott said sternly. “We haven’t completely ruled you out as a suspect yet.”
“Sure.” Jay raised his hands. “Take all your time, but I promise I didn’t kill Arthur. Honestly, no matter how angry I was, I’m a lawyer. I know what happens to criminals and I’d never want to be one.”
“Well, whatever happens to criminals, a lot worse will happen to you,” Emily said grumpily. “Me—an affair with Arthur! I can’t believe you thought so!”
They left through the back door, and although Emily was still angry, she didn’t object this time when Jay slipped his hand around her waist and kissed her.
Rachel stood in the kitchen watching them go, wondering what to do next.
The oven dinged, announcing that the marble cake was ready.
*****
Chapter 23
The Package
“You know, I completely forgot to ask her about the marble cake,” Rachel said, as she took the cake out of the oven.
“You’re unbelievable, Rachel Rowan.” Scott laughed. “Accusing a woman of murder and offering her cake in one breath.”
“I guess she isn’t the killer, then.”
“No, and if you’d bothered to come to me with your suspicions, I could have cleared them. The police have Arthur’s phone and I’ve read those texts Emily spoke of. He wasn’t having an affair with her, he was planning to propose to Audrey.”
“Right.” Rachel sighed. “I’ve made an idiot of myself, haven’t I?”
“Yes you have,” Scott said. “Though as I said, I won’t completely discount Jay yet. He might turn out to be the killer still.”
“You were just hassling him,” Rachel said. “You don’t think he’s the killer. Why?”
“Well, he hasn’t lost his football ring, for one. We just saw it. Second, even if he doesn’t have an alibi for the first murder, he does for the second,” Scott said. “He was with me when Bobby Lee was shot. We were discussing you, as a matter of fact, and Jay was trying hard to convince me that you were innocent.”
“Oh.” Rachel felt rotten. Jay had been really nice to her, and she’d just jumped to conclusions about him.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Scott said. “When I heard the tape, I was pretty convinced Jay did it too.”
“You were?” Rachel looked up at him, glad to have someone else who saw her point of view.
“Absolutely,” Scott said. “How about we forget all about this for a little while and eat that cake?”
“Cake!” Rachel exclaimed. “I’m such an idiot—there’s another thing I have to do. Come on, Scott. Let’s go to the post office.”
“What? And leave that cake all alone on the counter?” Scott looked at it wistfully. “Can I maybe have a single slice?”
“No. It needs to cool. Anyway, I think I’ll be gifting this one to Emily and Jay with an apology note. I’ll bake you your own cake some other time.”
“My favorite is pineapple upside-down cake,” Scott said. “Just in case you need to know.”
“I’m feeling pretty upside down myself at the moment,” Rachel said. “Come on, accompany me to the post office, will you? I’ll tell you all about it on the way.”
“All about what?”
“All about this key.” She brought her aunt’s key out of her pocket and dangled it in front of Scott.
*****
The post office was right down the street from the bakery. It was a historic building, about a hundred and fifty years old, with a golden plaque in front commemorating it. Built in neoclassical style, it rather resembled Rachel’s bakery, with a brick front and gray trim. Delivery men walked in and out of its doors, as did old ladies with flower baskets tucked under their arms, and frowning men in suits. When they stepped inside, the building was relatively deserted. In a few minutes, Rachel had handed the key over, given her ID, and was following a worker into the back of the building, where the PO boxes were kept.
“Your aunt was number 104, if I remember correctly,” the man said. “She was a really good lady. I loved chatting about the day’s crossword with her. I always miss out on one word, and she always knew the answers. Without her, they stay incomplete.”
“Why don’t you try asking Rachel, Mr. Willicott?” Scott smiled, “Her brain is as sharp as Aunt Rose’s.”
“Is it now? Let’s see. The clue is Fly Trap. Five letters, ends in T.”
“Plant,” Rachel said automatically, hardly thinking about it.
“Plant?” Mr. Willicott frowned. “That works . . .”
“Venus fly trap is a type of plant,” Rachel said. “That’s the clue, I guess.”
“It does work very well.” Mr. Willicott beamed at her. “I guess that’s all the ID I needed that you’re Rose’s niece. Here’s the box.”
“Thanks.” Rachel smiled. She raised the key to the box, and it slid in perfectly. With a breath, she prepared to turn the key. Suddenly, her body froze. The smile was wiped off her face.
“Rachel?” Scott looked concerned. He waved his hand in front of her face, but Rachel kept staring off into the distance.
Gently, Scott pulled her hand away, and the deposit box opened. A little rectangular package was inside. Scott pulled it out, and tried to hand it to Rachel, who was still staring off into space.
“Rachel? Don’t you want to see what your aunt left behind?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rachel whispered. “Irrelevant. All of it. Scott, we’ve been so blind all along.”
“What are you talking about?” Scott frowned.
“The murder, of course,” Rachel said. “A plant. It was a plant all along!”
“The murderer was a plant? Rachel, are you OK?”
“Scott, I really do know who killed Arthur this time around.” She grabbed his arms and shook them, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. “We need to go. We need to go immediately!”
“But your aunt's deposit box, the package—”
“None of that matters now!” Rachel exclaimed. “I know what’s in the package. I’ve always known, I think. It belongs to Emily anyway. But we need to go- come on- there’s so much I need to tell you!”
*****
Chapter 24
The Love Letter
So, she was back to Audrey’s house. Rachel felt the slightest bit of nervousness as she rang the doorbell. Last time she’d been here was the day Bobby Lee had been killed. She hoped no new murders would be committed today.
Audrey looked a little surprised as she pushed the door open. “Rachel. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon after the funeral.”
“Believe me, I didn’t either,” Rachel said. “But I had to come.”
“Come on in. My parents have just left. Jackson and I were sharing what remains of that wonderful marble cake you brought over the other day,” Audrey said, leading her into the kitchen. “I’ll cut you a slice.”
At the table, Jackson had a fork halfway to his face. He beamed as Rachel entered, and tilted the fork at her in a welcoming gesture.
“We were just thinking of you,” he said. “Every mouthful of this cake is better than the last. It’s amazing, Rachel.”
“It’s my aunt’s recipe,” Rachel said. “It’s deceptively simple. When you know the secret ingredient, you can’t go wrong, and when you don’t, you can’t possibly replicate the flavor.”
“Ohh, I love secret ingredients,” Jackson said. “What’s in it? Go on and tell.”
“Sure,” Rachel said. “But first, do you mind showing me your football ring again?”
Jackson frowned, but raised his hand. The ring still sat on his finger.
“Funny,” Rachel said. “See, I found a ring myself, and I think it’s yours, Jackson. That ring on your finger right now? I think you took it from Arthur’s room.”
Jackson’s breath stilled, and his eyes narrowed. All the good cheer was wiped from his face. “You'd better sit down, your head seems to be affected by the sun.”
“My head’s just fine,” Rachel said. “It was a little distracted for a while, but now that the debris has cleared, I can see clearly.”
“Rachel, what are you talking about?” Audrey stuttered.
“There were two aspects of this case that confused me,” Rachel said. “First, why did the killer make such a complex, time-bound plan that placed Arthur in my home? Second, who was the love letter written for?”
“Well? Did you figure out the answer?” Audrey asked.
“Sure I did,” Rachel said. “Jackson killed Arthur. That’s the answer.”
There was a scraping noise as Jackson pushed back his chair and stood up. Rachel gulped. For the first time, she realized how huge Jackson was—a full foot taller than her. His formerly sunny demeanor was now replaced by thunder and lightning, and his fists
were clenched as he said, “Explain yourself.”
“I won’t have you talking about Jackson this way.” Audrey stepped between the two of them. “Why, Jackson has been an absolute angel. I don’t know how I would have survived my grief if it weren’t for him.”
“She’s evil,” Jackson said. “She’s killed Arthur herself and is blaming me for it because she’s desperate.”
“Desperate? Me?” Rachel laughed. “I hardly think so. But if you don’t believe me, Audrey, why don’t you take a closer look at that football ring on Jackson’s hand? You’ll find an inscription inside it saying, 'Arthur, future NFL champion.'”
“Don’t believe her!” Jackson exclaimed. “She’s lying!”
“I’m telling the truth, and you know it,” Rachel said.
“But why?” Audrey exclaimed. “Why would Jackson do it? And how did you find out?”
“It all clicked together for me when I heard the word ‘plant,’” Rachel said. “See? That love letter; it affected how we viewed the case. It made us all assume that Arthur had cheated on you. It changed everything—and it was meant to. It was a plant. The killer planted it there to make sure the police would be sidetracked.”
“What are you saying . . .”
“Arthur never cheated on you, Audrey. In fact, he was so in love with you that he was meeting up with Emily and planning a grand proposal. I think Jackson knew about the proposal. I think Jackson realized that if Arthur proposed, you’d say 'yes.'” Rachel swept her face toward Jackson. “Isn’t that right? You’d lose your Audrey forever. It was bad enough that you’d been waiting so long, being the shoulder for Audrey to cry on when Arthur fought with her. You loved Audrey and now she’d marry another man. You couldn’t stand it. You knew you had to kill Arthur. So you did.”
“Rubbish!” Jackson exclaimed.
“You’re the one who sent him over to my bakery that morning,” Rachel said. “You gave him the Comfort Cakes sign and asked him to bring it over. You told him that you had inventory to sort through.”
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