“Yes,” she bellowed. “The evidence seemed clear. A small glass vial that originally contained the poison was found in Jeremy’s suitcase. Only the night before Ryan had revealed to Jeremy that he was in love with his bride-to-be, Hayley. The story seems simple. Jeremy has the poison on him already. When his best man takes him to one side, he seizes the moment to stop his best friend from ruining his relationship with Hayley. He pours the poison into his friend’s glass and then leaves him to die…”
“It’s a believable explanation,” Ida May replied, nodding solemnly.
“Believable,” I muttered. “But wrong.” I looked up at Jeremy and smiled. “Jeremy wasn’t the one who poisoned Ryan.” I turned to Cecil. “Nor was it Cecil. No, there was something far darker afoot…”
“Then what is it?” Hayley’s mother called out, apparently unable to control her curiosity any longer. “Who killed Ryan?”
Hazel let out a small chuckle. “The answer is absurdly simple,” she replied. “It was Bryan.”
The whole room fell into a sudden, eerie silence. Ida May and I glanced cautiously at Hazel as she stood, hands on her hips, staring triumphantly out at the crowd in front of her. Out of the mass of people, a single hand slowly rose up into the air, followed by the rest of Percy’s body as he stood up.
“Um… Sorry Hazel, but who’s Bryan?”
“Bryan?” Hazel replied, looking instantly confused. “Who’s Bryan?”
“That’s what you said,” Percy replied. “You said it was Bryan.”
“Did I?” Hazel asked, turning towards us. “Did I really say Bryan?”
We both nodded, prompting Hazel to burst out into a fit of giggles.
“Oh deary me, I’m terribly sorry… Bryan. Ha. I meant Ryan…”
There was no stunned silence this time. The whole room erupted into angry and confused noise as the wedding guests turned to each other and repeated what Hazel had just said.
“Ryan?” Hayley’s mother asked. “What are you talking about? Ryan is the dead man!”
I stepped forward once again, patting Hazel on the back as I moved past her. “A man can be dead and be a murderer at the same time.”
Hayley’s mother narrowed her eyes on me. “I trust you have some evidence to back up this ridiculous claim…”
“There’s nothing ridiculous about it,” I replied, moving along the row of guests until I reached the person who had all the answers.
Hayley didn’t look at me for a long time. I imagine she hoped that I would just pass her by. But, when I didn’t move on, she slowly raised her tearful eyes at me and the two of us stared at each other long and hard.
“There was one aspect of this case,” Ida May explained behind me, “that never quite made sense. Hayley was the person who found the body. She arrived for her wedding day and proceeded round to where the groomsmen had been changing where she found Ryan’s body on the table…”
Hazel took over. “But no one ever stopped to ask, what was she doing there? Why, on her wedding day, did she not head straight into the church? Why did she take that detour…?
“While Ida May and Clara were investigating Jeremy and Cecil, I was out mingling amongst you all, listening in to what you had to say while I handed out drinks. Not one of you asked the question – not one of you even bothered to ask who it was who found the body…”
“Nobody wanted to ask the question,” I continued, “because nobody wanted to face up to the idea that Hayley might have been the one who killed Ryan.”
A sudden change came over Hayley’s face. It wasn’t anger – it was fear.
“But I didn’t. I would never…”
“We know,” I replied, laying a gentle hand on her face and stroking her cheek. “But it seemed obvious from the non-stop tears that you knew something was going to happen. And given your initial anger over the invasion of your privacy, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to guess what happened today…”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out two cell phones. One was Ryan’s. One was Hayley’s. I held them up to the watching crowd.
“Two cell phones,” I announced. “And between them they tell the whole story. The sad tale of how Ryan killed himself…”
Chapter Seventeen – What Happened That Day…
Ryan stared down at his cell phone, his heart racing and his eyes watering as he read and re-read the last text that Hayley had sent him. He wasn’t crying – he wasn’t the sort of man to cry. His eyes were just watering…
Just watering…
He’d poured his heart out to her. He’d told her how he’d loved her from the moment they first met as children. He’d said how he thought Jeremy was never going to be good enough for her, that he was destined to become some mad weirdo who poked his nose into other people’s business just like his Aunt Ida May. He’d promised to take Hayley away – far away – so that they could be together.
Just them two…
Forever…
But she’d rebuked him.
“I’m getting married tomorrow morning,” she’d said. “You are the best man. We can never be together…”
There was that word – never. Jeremy had her trapped already. Even now, when they hadn’t even reached the point of no return, Hayley was too scared to turn back. Too scared to make the right decision for their happiness…
She’d say she was happy. But Ryan knew different.
He had to save her…
He had to get her away from Jeremy…
She stopped replying to his texts. She was reading them – he knew that from the little alert that he’d set up to tell him whenever his messages were being opened. But she wasn’t replying.
She was in too deep. He could feel it now.
She couldn’t save herself.
Ryan would have to save her instead.
He rattled off a series of texts to Jeremy. They’d argued earlier that evening. Even then Ryan knew, deep down, that there was no way he was going to convince them both to part ways. He was going to have to force the issue.
He tried guilt tripping him first. He told Jeremy that he was feeling down. He told him that the thought of his two best friends heading down the aisle together was making him feel so alone…
But Jeremy didn’t care. He was getting married in the morning. He wasn’t about to call it off just because his friend was distraught.
He tried to threaten him next. He told Jeremy how he felt about Hayley, that he thought Jeremy was going to destroy her and that the only kind thing he could do was let her go so she could be with Ryan instead…
But Jeremy wasn’t having it.
He called Ryan a drunk…
A drunk…
He told him to sleep it off. Like it was just a feeling that would disappear when he woke up the next day…
And then he stopped replying to the messages as well.
He started ignoring Ryan…
Ryan had no choice…
I glanced around the room and shrugged my shoulders.
“He decided he was going to do it the night before. By the time everyone had arrived here, he’d already committed himself. He brought the champagne, he had a vial of poison ready to go, and he had a plan so that he could do the deed without anyone seeing it…”
“But where did he get the poison?”
It was Hector who asked the question. And it was Ida May who answered.
“I imagine it was tetrodotoxin,” she replied.
“Tetro-what?”
“A powerful poison found in pufferfish. If not that then something similar, but given Ryan’s job as a marine biologist, I imagine he’d have ready access to the animal, if not the pure poison itself…”
I had to say I was impressed with her impromptu knowledge. More to the point, so was Hector, who immediately sat back down, nodding his head vigorously.
“Everything was ready,” I continued. “He placed the poison in one of the glasses as he poured in the champagne. He led Jeremy off to the side room t
o take the private toast and then, as a final flourish, he concealed the vial in Jeremy’s suitcase to make it look like suicide, and sent Hayley a text…” I turned to Hayley. “You said he said he was sorting everything, did he also tell you it was something to do with that side room?”
Hayley shook her head. “No, I guessed that part. I was driving down to the church when I received the message. A moment later, I lost signal completely. There wasn’t anything I could do, so I drove straight to the church and headed around to groomsmen’s changing room. I thought, if Ryan was going to do something, it would be there…” She burst into tears once again. “I thought he’d killed himself…”
I shook my head. “Regrettably, no. He had planned for something much more sinister…”
“But, excuse me Clara,” Percy called out as he clambered to his feet. “But how did Ryan send the message? This place has no signal!”
I turned to the Minister, who stared solemnly down at the floor. “What do we think, Minister? An act of God?” The Minister didn’t respond, he just continued his staring. I turned back to Percy. “As the Minister knows, this valley is not completely devoid of signal. Every so often something breaks through. I imagine that Ryan was unaware that he had no signal when he sent the text when he was first preparing for his murder attempt…”
Hazel butted in. “The message was stored in his Out Box until it suddenly picked up a signal. He was probably already dead when the message got sent…”
“I see,” Percy replied, although I’m not entirely sure he did really. “And what about the poison? If Ryan put the poison in the glass, then why did he drink from the wrong one? Surely after planting the vial in Jeremy’s suitcase, he wasn’t about to leave it to chance that he’d get the right one?”
“Quite right, Percy,” Hazel replied. “I’m afraid you’re the one we have to thank for his little mistake there…”
“Me?”
“Yes,” I replied. “You and Cecil.”
“Me?” Cecil cried out. “Why me?”
“Don’t you remember?” Hazel asked. “Percy grabbed one of the champagne glasses out of Ryan’s hand just before he went to see Jeremy for the toast…”
“And Cecil you took it out of Percy’s hand, and then took the other off Ryan…”
“The two got mixed up,” Ida May shrugged, beaming at the two gentle, old men. “So, in a way, it is your fault that Ryan drank from the wrong one…”
“Oh my…”
“Dear God…”
“Yes, gentlemen,” I said, walking towards them, beaming like a Cheshire cat. “We are entirely grateful to the both of you. Thanks to your timely intervention, the only life our murderer took was his own…”
Chapter Eighteen – The Cavalry Arrives
When the police finally arrived, the whole sorry saga began again. Despite Jasper’s insistence that the entire case had already been solved, the lead detective, a man called Beddingford, insisted on interviewing everyone at the wedding before allowing anyone to leave. Eventually – and one might say inevitably – he settled on the same chain of suspects that we had. First it was Cecil, then it was Jeremy – he even suspected Hector and Hayley at one point. But none of them were particularly worried – the We’re Not Dead Yet Club had already put the matter to rest. It was just a matter of time before the professional police caught up…
Within a few hours, Beddingford had to reluctantly agree that Ryan’s death was not part of some intricate murder plot, but more a result of a tragic accident caused by Ryan’s own desire for murder and lust. As the sun began to set over the tall hills of the valley, Beddingford and his men packed up their gear and left the church with Ryan’s body, declaring the case over and done with.
The wedding didn’t happen, of course – not that day at any rate. But still, having set the barn up for the celebrations, it seemed a shame not to use it. And thus, that evening, the wedding party, drank and celebrated; not to commemorate Jeremy and Hayley’s union, but to celebrate the successful solving of the case by the brilliant – if sometimes unconventional and downright confusing – We’re Not Dead Yet Club. Throughout the night there were toasts to our genius and cheers for a job well done.
We felt utterly spoiled.
As the last of the dredges of the party drained away and the wedding guests made their way back to their cars, the three of us loitered up by the church, staring at the door behind which Ryan had died. We were joined shortly afterwards by Percy, Cecil and Jasper who, each in turn, offered their congratulations – except it might be fairer to Jasper to say that he wasn’t entirely happy with how the situation had played out.
“You could have ruined everything,” he said. “If there had been a killer amongst the guests…”
“We would have found him,” interrupted Hazel. “We’re good at that sort of thing.”
“Hmmm. Well, perhaps next time you might take my advice a little more seriously.” Jasper stared me straight in the eye. “You never know when you’re giving a murderer a chance to escape justice.”
I could understand his point of view, but I didn’t tell him that. The three of us simply gave a weak nod of agreement while, behind our backs, we crossed our fingers and secretly wished for the next chance to solve another baffling case.
He moved away and we turned our attention back to the door. We stayed there for a long time, remembering the tragic events that led to Ryan’s untimely death. I’d only met him the once, but he didn’t strike me as a particularly unpleasant man. In fact, everyone had been very keen to point out that he was actually quite a charming and generous fellow when you got to know him better.
“I guess that’s why I didn’t think much of it,” Jeremy explained when we caught up with him later on. “Ryan was like that. Full of charitable acts. He just lost his way, I suppose…”
I nodded thoughtfully. “You don’t think less of him? After all, he did try to kill you…”
Jeremy thought for a moment before turning to his bride-to-be and kissing her on the forehead. She smiled up at him, and he smiled down at her. Whatever Ryan had thought of them, I had no doubt in my mind that they would live happily together…
“I think,” Jeremy replied, turning back towards me. “I think he was a lost soul. But he didn’t harm anyone – only himself. So let’s leave it at that shall we?”
I agreed. The groom flashed me a short smile before turning to Ida May. He released hold of his wife and stepped forward, hugging her so tightly that I was worried she might collapse from the strain of it all.
“Thank you for all your help, Ida May…”
“My pleasure, dear,” Ida May replied, kissing her nephew on the cheek. “We’re glad to be of service.”
Jeremy withdrew back to rejoin his wife.
“There’s just one thing I don’t understand…”
“Still after answers, dear boy?” Cecil asked, stepping out from a nearby group of shadows. “I thought you’d be delighted to no longer be the subject of an obsessive witch-hunt. I know I am…” As an afterthought, he turned to the three of us and quickly added: “No offence meant, ladies…”
“None taken,” Hazel replied.
Jeremy laughed and held his wife a little tighter. “I was wondering how you knew about that poison, Ida May. Textoxin, wasn’t it?”
“Tetrodotoxin,” Ida May replied smugly, puffing out her chest a little.
“Yes,” I said. “How did you know about that?”
Ida May smiled knowingly. “You may not know this, but ever since that affair at Aunt Ruby’s house, I’ve been studying up on this sort of stuff. I’ve been watching anything and everything I can get my hands on: crime dramas, crime documentaries, World’s Most Ruthless Killers… That sort of thing…”
“Oh, we know.”
Ida May glared briefly at Hazel.
“Yes, well I’ve also been becoming ever so slightly addicted to afternoon television. Particularly…” She hesitated. “Cooking programs.”
Hazel�
�s face burst into shock. “Ida May…”
“I know, I know…”
“You above all should know that life is far too precious to waste in front of a television box…”
“I know, but…” Ida May peered around at us all. “It helped on this occasion, didn’t it? Only last week I was watching a program about Japanese food and learned about the pufferfish poison. If I hadn’t done that…”
“Then Hector might have been the chief suspect.”
Everyone looked at me as though I’d gone completely mad.
“Hector?” Hayley said. “You are joking, of course…”
“Why not?” I replied. “He’s a chemist. It wouldn’t be beyond his capabilities to create a poison. That’s why we gave the samples to him after all…”
There was a brief moment before both Jeremy and Hayley burst out laughing. They were soon joined by Hazel who, unsure of exactly what she was laughing about, kept looking to us to see if we were joining in too.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
Jeremy finally managed to bring himself under control.
“Hector studied chemistry, but he isn’t a chemist,” he replied. “He’s in marketing…”
“That’s probably why he passed your samples straight on to the police when they arrived,” Hayley continued. “He wouldn’t know the first thing about testing for poisons.”
“That’s Hector, always trying to please everyone else…”
I could have sworn that Hector had told me he was some well-renown chemist – although, now that I think about it, he did say something about marketing when we first met. And he did look awfully confused when we tried to assign him the job of testing the poison…
I guess that’s the moral of this particular investigation.
No matter what they are on the outside, you can never truly know someone…
*****
Wedding Bells and Death Knells (We're Not Dead Yet Club Book 2) Page 8
