The three of us turned our eyes to him in an instant. “You?”
“Yup,” he replied. “You see, if you remember, I tried to take one of those champagne glasses. If the poison was in the one I’d taken, and I’d drank it, it might’ve saved that poor fellow's life…”
Hazel let out a small whimper. “But you would’ve lost yours, Percy…”
Percy laughed. “I’m an old man. I’ve had my time. But Ryan? That boy was young…”
An idea began to form in my head. It took a few moments to fully develop, but, when it finally did, a strange chill ran down my spine as though someone were dancing on my grave. I looked up at Ida May and then at Hazel. I’m sure Ida May was thinking the same thing. I’m certain Hazel was not…
“It does present another possibility,” I muttered. “Something so terrible and sinister that I’m surprised I didn’t think of it before…”
Ida May nodded. “I think we’re on the same wavelength, dear…”
“What?” Hazel asked. “Someone was trying to kill Percy?”
“No, no,” I replied quickly, seeing Percy’s face pale in response. “Not Percy. But it does raise the question of whether Ryan was really the target…”
Hazel thought long and hard about this, her fingers fiddling with her phone as she looked from Ida May to me and back again.
“But…” she said tentatively. “That would mean the killer got the wrong person. Someone was hoping that Jeremy would be dead by the end of the day…”
She stopped short of finishing. Her hands shot up to her mouth and her wide eyes swooped around their surroundings in search of something or someone in particular. When they finished their search, they settled back on us, she lowered her hands and whispered:
“Oh my God… Hayley…”
Chapter Fourteen – Hayley’s Phone
We split up, each of us taking a different direction. The instructions were simple. If we found Hayley or Jeremy, we were to stick to them like glue until the others arrived. That didn’t mean that we didn’t have to explain this several times to Hazel before she understood, but – when she did – she shot off like lightening as though her new task as a hunter or bodyguard had filled her with a renewed agility and youthfulness.
Hazel headed back down towards the barn. Ida May headed up towards the church. For my part, I headed out across the grounds, weaving my way in and out of irritated guests in my search of either of the happy couple.
I didn’t have to look far before I found Hayley. In a small area of woodland a couple of hundred meters away from the barn, there was a small clearing where a large oak tree had fallen during some storm or another. I found Hayley sitting on the trunk, still sobbing as she had been from the moment I met her and staring down at her phone.
When she heard me coming, she quickly shoved her phone down her wedding dress and tried her best to wipe the tears from her eyes.
“I was hoping to be on my own,” she said, glaring at me as I moved towards her.
“Sometimes it’s better not to be alone,” I replied, coming to a halt next to her. I gestured down to the empty space on the trunk. “May I?”
I knew that Hayley wanted nothing more than to tell me to go away, but there was still something kind in her nature, regardless of what atrocity she had committed. After a moment of thought, she casually flicked her wrist towards the space and waited until I was quite settled before speaking again.
“You ruined my wedding day,” she announced. “You with your accusations and your pseudo-investigations…”
“I think your day was ruined long before I got involved,” I replied, tapping her gently on the thigh. “Hayley, I know…”
Her eyes were on me in a second. “Know what?”
“I know about you and Ryan.”
“There’s nothing to know…”
“That’s not what his phone tells me,” I replied, taking the device out of my pocket, unlocking it and showing Hayley the picture. As she stared down at it, I felt her fist clench and, realizing the very great danger I was in, I quickly said: “My friends know I’m with you – should anything happen…”
“What could possibly happen?” Hayley looked genuinely shocked. “You think I wanted to kill Ryan?”
“No,” I replied delicately. “But I’m beginning to wonder whether you wanted to kill Jeremy…”
“Jeremy?” Again that look of shock. “Are you mad?”
I shrugged and slid a little closer to her. “I never thought to ask before – I guess I already knew. Everyone was in the church apart from Ryan – there was only one person who could have possibly discovered the body.” I eyed her carefully. “You.”
“So, what?”
“You were the one who found the body. I think it’s clear now that Jeremy was the intended target but, failing that, someone had the foresight to try to pin the blame on him. The only person who was alone in that room after you found the body was Ida May and, I’ll think you’ll agree, she’s unlikely to want to frame her own nephew for the death of a man she had no quarrel with…”
“And I would?” Hayley spluttered, her eyes streaming with tears. “I’m marrying Jeremy. Why would I want to kill him? Or frame him for that matter? Why would I do that?
“So you and Ryan could be together…”
Her reaction was not quite what I expected. Her eyes flickered down to the image on the phone as her breathing quickened. “You think… You really think I was part of this?”
“Weren’t you?”
“No,” she replied defiantly, shoving the phone back into my hands. “And I don’t think I appreciate this invasion of my privacy…”
“It’s going to happen one way or another,” I replied. “When we pass this information on to the police, they’re going to find out the truth…”
“What truth? Ryan was obsessed with me. He had been for years. He chose the last couple of days to declare his undying love for me. He wanted me to ditch Jeremy and run off with him – I mean, the guy had poor timing…”
“And what did you say to him?”
“I said that I was marrying Jeremy and that was an end to it. But he just kept texting me, telling me he was going to sort it. But that doesn’t mean I killed him, okay? And I didn’t have the heart to tell Jeremy either, so I know he didn’t kill him…”
Something clicked in my head. “Wait a moment,” I said. “Ryan said he was going to sort it?”
Hayley blinked twice. “Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes,” she replied, reaching into her cleavage and producing her phone. “You can check the messages if you like…”
She handed me the phone, but I didn’t look at it. My head was suddenly filled with a whirl of ideas and scenarios that hadn’t occurred to me before. I don’t think it had occurred to anyone before…
I grasped the phone tightly and turned to Hayley, looking deep into her eyes. “Are you sure Jeremy didn’t kill Ryan?”
Hayley took a deep breath. “I’m positive.”
And in that moment, I knew I’d solved the case…
Chapter Fifteen – The Flock Are Gathered In
“No way. Absolutely not.”
This was exactly the response I expected to get from Jasper when I told him my plan, but it was still a shock to actually hear it coming from his lips.
“You have made a complete mockery of this crime from the moment you first stuck your nose in…”
“All the more reason to allow us to put things right,” I replied, placing a gentle hand on his arm.
He pulled away, glaring back at me as he took a few steps back towards the relative safety of his father. “You have already jeopardized whatever case I may have with your interference. I can’t risk you doing it again with another wild accusation…”
“Ah,” I said, raising a finger towards him as I trotted forward. “That’s the beauty of it. If I’m wrong, it won’t damage your case in the slightest. If anything, it will simply give the killer re
ason to think he’s gotten away with it…”
Jasper’s eyes narrowed on me. “Do you promise, Clara? I can’t have any doubts over this case.”
I made an imaginary cross over my chest. “If I’m wrong, you can throw me in jail yourself…”
I think that’s what swung it for me in the end.
I watched quietly as the guests were slowly led back into the church. At the head of the procession, Jeremy and Hayley walked solemnly, hand-in-hand. She still looked like she was trying to fight back the tears and, for a moment, I wondered if I’d got it all wrong.
Immediately behind them, Hayley’s mom trotted along, her eyes shifting this way and that, narrow and full of suspicion. And alongside her was Hector – lovely Hector – who had been so keen to do the right thing that he’d handed off the only evidence we had straight to Jasper. He was the only one who’d seemed so calm about the whole affair. Behind them was Cecil and Percy and then the rest of the congregation.
As the last person filed in, I turned to Hazel and Ida May and muttered:
“It’s time.”
Ida May swallowed hard, staring warily at the church. “I hope you’re right about this.”
“I agree,” Hazel replied, turning her head towards the far end of the valley where the faintest sound of police sirens could be heard in the wind. “There’s no need to rush things, Clara.”
I turned my back on the church and faced them both.
“The We’re Not Dead Yet Club’s reputation is in the balance here, girls. Only this morning we were being heralded as great detectives who solved a baffling mystery. Now we’re a laughing stock…”
In unison, Hazel and Ida May lowered their heads as a glimmer of shame fluttered over their expressions.
“We got distracted by our own self-worth,” I continued. “We let personal feelings and the desire to be right all the time cloud the issue. And now we’ve created such an atmosphere of hate and suspicion that none of those poor people in there will ever find the closure they need to move past this terrible event…”
Ida May raised a single eyebrow. “So, you still think you’re right, then?”
I thought about it for a moment. I’d gone over every detail of the investigation in my mind, pulled it apart piece by piece, applied every theory I could to it to see if there was any explanation that fit all the evidence…
I nodded confidently. “I’m sure of it.”
That was good enough for Ida May. And it was more than enough for Hazel. I turned back to the church and began the long walk towards the doors. After a few footsteps, I felt Hazel’s hand slip into mine. And a few seconds later, Ida May’s hand slipped into the other.
It was settled then. The three of us were going to stake our reputation on this moment. We were about to reveal the final solution for what might be the last We’re Not Dead Yet Club Investigation.
And we were going to do it together…
Chapter Sixteen – The Revelation
“What the blazes are they doing here?”
“You said we’d receive answers, Jasper. Not pander to more amateur theories…”
“What is this? A circus?”
These were just some of the cat calls we heard as we made our way slowly down the aisle towards the front of the church. I led the way, with Hazel just behind me and Ida May taking up the rear. As we proceeded to the front of the church, Jasper, who stood in front of the altar, raised his hands in a plea for quiet. But the crowd was not so easily silenced. They continued their heckling as we stopped before the altar and we slowly turned to face them.
I don’t think I’ve felt more intimidated in my whole life.
“Silence!”
It was Cecil’s voice that jolted everyone into a stunned silence. He jumped to his feet and glared around at his fellow wedding guests, staring down anyone who looked remotely like they might start the rabble up again. The church fell into an awkward silence, with little noise being heard save from the rustling of paper and heavy breathing of all inside the walls. Cecil slowly turned back towards the front of the church and nodded to his son.
“Thanks, Dad,” Jasper muttered, stepping forward to take center stage. “This has been a tough day for everyone. The police will be here at any moment and they will start taking official statements from all of you.” He gave a sly glace over his shoulder at me. “But, before that happens, I felt it would be right for you all to know exactly what went on here today…”
Hayley’s mother leapt to her feet. “Are you talking about covering this up, sir?”
Jasper shook his head. “No, ma’am. What happened here was a tragedy. And I think it would do us all some good if we at least heard out these three ladies’ explanation…” He gestured to us.
“Why?” Hayley’s mother replied, bitterly. “So they can accuse me next?”
Jasper gestured for her to sit down. The mother relented for a short moment before finally, and in a giant huff, collapsed into her seat and began to mutter to a gentleman who sat beside her.
“We think we now know exactly what happened here today,” Jasper explained, stepping forward and swooping his eyes over the waiting crowd. “And it is in no small part down to these three ladies’ interference that we’ve finally come to the truth of the matter…”
Without looking back, he headed straight to the nearest available seat and sat down. He looked back at us for a few seconds before gesturing for us to start and relaxing back into his seat to stare up at the ceiling.
I cleared my throat. We had never summed up a case in front of an audience before. I thought that sort of thing never really happened – that it was just a ploy in novels and television shows to allow the audience to be quickly filled in on the solution while seeing the reactions of the suspects. But – I suppose – in this case it was kind of necessary.
I coughed a little and glanced over to Ida May and Hazel. The pair smiled back at me encouragingly. Whatever had gone on between us in the last few hours was history now. The We’re Not Dead Yet Club were united once more.
“A dead man. A vial of poison. A bottle of champagne. Two glasses. Two cell phones. A wedding day.” I paused, staring out at wedding party. “We learn from TV detective dramas and from flashy novels that not everything we learn in a case may be relevant. Some of it has nothing to do with Ryan’s death at all. Like the Minister desperately researching something to say at the wedding…”
The Minister, who was sat in a chair to one side, hung his head in shame as dozens of eyes immediately turned on him.
“Like the complete absence of a cell phone signal at this place,” I continued. “These things have absolutely nothing to do with Ryan’s death. But a small glass vial, a bottle of champagne, two glasses, two cell phones and a wedding day...” I paused for effect. “These things have everything to do with it.”
I paused as the inevitable mutterings emanated from the crowd. Beside me, I felt Ida May step forward – it was her turn to take the limelight.
“This is what we know,” she announced, her voice sounding prim and proper, not unlike a school-teacher I had when I was a child. “Ryan had a gift for Jeremy. He wanted to toast his best friend, his buddy who was getting married, with a bottle of champagne. Cecil…” she turned her attention to him at this point. “… being the kind and helpful soul that he is, decided to go and collect it for him. Ryan and Jeremy head off into the room where the groomsmen are preparing for the wedding, they drink their toast and then, shortly before the wedding is due to start, Ryan’s dead body is discovered by Hayley. He’s been poisoned…”
She paused for a moment, taking a few tentative steps forward before briskly moving down the aisle. She cupped her hands behind her back and walked with a swagger that was completely uncharacteristic of her. As I watched her moving down the room, I imagined that she’d drawn inspiration from one of the early morning detective dramas that she’d been secretly watching ever since our first case…
She made it half way down the room
before she abruptly stopped and span around to glare at Cecil.
“There’s only one logical explanation,” she declared, pointing her finger at Cecil. “Cecil must have murdered Ryan…”
“That’s preposterous,” Cecil cried, leaping to his feet in such anger that the sound of his shoes pounding on the wood rattled around the room. “I had no reason to hurt that dear boy. Just because I was being helpful…”
A few rows further forward, Jasper turned in his seat and cleared his voice. “Dad, she hasn’t finished yet…”
He turned back around and continued his gazing up at the ceiling. Cecil glanced back at Ida May and, with a hint of embarrassment on his face slowly lowered himself down into his seat again.
“Oh, sorry…”
Ida May smiled. “No, I’m sorry, Cecil,” she replied. “I jumped on the simplest explanation.” She began to walk back up the aisle towards us, still swaggering from side to side as she meandered her way along. “Yes, the simplest explanation! It was Ryan’s champagne that contained the poison. If it was an attempt at murder on Ryan’s part, then how come he came worse off? It seemed obvious that neither Ryan nor Jeremy were aware of the poison in their drinks…”
“Or were they?” Hazel took over, sweeping forward overdramatically, swooping a scarf over her shoulder as she stared down at the audience in front of her. “Yes, it seemed certain that Cecil was the one who tampered with the champagne. But what if there was something more sinister going on here? What if Jeremy had found out something about Ryan that he didn’t like? What if he decided to kill him?”
It was Jeremy’s turn to leap to his feet. “How dare you!”
I quickly stepped forward raising a hand towards him. “It’s alright Jeremy. Just stay with us for a moment…”
“To be insulted by you three? Unlikely…”
“You need to hear this,” I said, calmly placing a hand on his shoulder. “You need to know the truth.”
I don’t think he believed that whatever we were about to say could possibly be the truth, but he settled down nonetheless. As I retreated back to the altar, I gave Hazel a little nod and she continued with her Phantom Of the Opera act…
Wedding Bells and Death Knells (We're Not Dead Yet Club Book 2) Page 7
