“Of course, it’s the least I could do.”
Moira watched the exchange as her blood slowly turned to ice. She remembered the woman; she’d stopped at the deli the week before with a special order for her son who was in the hospital. Moira hadn’t given the interaction another moment’s thought. But as it turned out, her son had been hospitalized because of the candy that Candice had sold him. An angry mother, worried about her child… was it possible that this woman had something to do with the fire?”
The woman had just turned to go when Moira heard Candice say, “Mom, what is it?” It seemed that with all the stress of the past few days, she was wearing her emotions on her face.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said, striving for nonchalance as she met the other woman’s eyes. She thought she saw a flash of something in them, but Ms. Canterbury looked quickly away.
“I should go,” woman said.
“Yes, you probably should.”
Candice frowned. “Do you two know each other?”
“No, not well,” she said. “But she stopped in at the deli a little while ago. I didn’t make the connection at the time, Candice, but—”
“I didn’t mean to,” the woman interrupted desperately.
“So it was you?” Moira asked, her throat suddenly going dry.
“I thought it was empty.” She licked her lips. “If I’d known anyone was inside, I would never have—”
“What are you talking about?” Candice asked, her voice suddenly steely.
“Candice, sweetie, I need you to call Detective Jefferson right now. Julian didn’t burn down the candy shop. She did.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
* * *
The other woman managed to get the door open, and she stepped out into the hallway before Moira could reach her. She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and shoved it into her daughter’s hands.
“Call the police,” she barked. She was just in time to see the other woman disappearing around the corner, leaving a couple of shocked nurses in her wake.
“Wait!” she called.
The woman didn’t. Moira followed her around the corner and then down the stairs, knowing it was hopeless. She had barely been exercising lately, and her muscles were protesting her sudden demands. She really needed to get back in shape.
She pushed herself forward in time to see the other woman disappear through an emergency exit. Moira followed her outside. For a moment, she worried that she had lost her in the parking lot, but then she saw the woman’s mousy brown hair between two cars. The deli owner ran faster, ignoring the burning in her legs. She couldn’t let her get away. There was no telling what she might do. She might circle back to hurt Eli or Candice, or she might just disappear, leaving them to look over their shoulders for years to come.
After a moment, she slowed and looked around. She had thought that the woman had ducked behind a tall green van, but she was nowhere in sight. Had she lost her? She surveyed the parking lot, but Ms. Canterbury was gone.
“Moira?” She spun around to see David, his car idling in the parking lot’s aisle. “What are you doing out here?”
“David,” she breathed. “We found the killer. It’s not Julian. It’s a woman, Ms. Canterbury. She did it. Her son bought candy from Candice, and it was supposed to be the sugar-free candy, but he bought the wrong thing, and then he ended up in the hospital and his mom blamed Candice. She ran for it as soon as I figured it out. I chased her, but I can’t find her now.”
Her babbled explanation seemed to make sense to David. “Get in,” he said. Relieved, she did, buckling her seatbelt as he pulled away.
“She’s in the parking lot somewhere.”
“Do you know what vehicle she drives?”
Moira frowned, thinking back to the day that the woman had come into the deli. What had she been driving? “I think it’s a sort of silver minivan.”
“Okay. This parking lot only has one exit. We’ll wait for her to leave, then follow her.”
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before a silver minivan careened out of the parking lot. David, who had parked alongside the road to lie in wait, tore off after her, keeping a couple of cars between them so she wouldn’t notice. “Call the police,” he said.
“I gave my phone to Candice.”
“Here’s mine.”
She called Detective Jefferson, whose phone rang through to voicemail. She left him a quick explanation of where they were and what they were doing, then hung up.
“She turned there,” she said, pointing. David took the corner a bit too quickly, and the tires squealed on the pavement. Moira was relieved to see the silver van slow, then pull into a driveway. David passed it, then pulled a u-turn at the next intersection. He parked his car behind the silver van, blocking it from backing out, and they got out of the car. Moira glanced in the van’s windows. It was empty. The woman had already gone inside.
“I’m going around back,” David said. “If she comes out the front door, don’t try to stop her, just keep your eyes on her and dial the police.”
Moira watched her husband disappear around the back of the building. She hesitated. She almost killed Eli, she thought. I just need to talk to her, that’s all. Knowing that David wouldn’t be too happy with her for this, she walked up to the front door and knocked on it. For a moment, she thought no one was going to answer, but then the door cracked open.
“Go away,” Ms. Canterbury said. “I mean it. I don’t want to hurt anyone else, but I’ll protect myself and my family if I have to.”
“Can we just talk?” Moira asked, hoping to stall until the police got there. “Look, I’m not going to go away. You might as well just let me in. I’m unarmed, I’m not going to do anything to you.”
The woman’s face wavered, her expression somewhere between fear and sadness. After a moment, she pulled the door open fully. Moira stepped forward and followed her into the house.
“I don’t understand, why did you do it?” she asked. “You said you didn’t mean to hurt anybody, but you lit an entire building on fire. How could you think that no one would get hurt?”
“The lights were off,” the other woman said. “It was after hours. I didn’t think anyone was there. I stopped in earlier that day and taped over the door latch so I would be able to get in later. I didn’t hear anyone in the building or I would have stopped right away, I swear. When I found out what I did, I was horrified. You have to believe me. I never would have done it if I knew there were people in the building. The poor young man that died, he was someone’s son. I almost lost my son, and I can imagine how it would feel. I would never wish that on another woman.”
“Even if no one had been in the building, it would still be wrong. To burn down a building over a mistaken candy order? That’s insane.”
“I wasn’t thinking clearly, okay? He told me that she’d made the mistake that nearly cost him his life. Imagine what it would feel like to realize someone had nearly killed your child through carelessness?”
“I don’t have to imagine,” Moira snapped, surprising herself. “Any other night, and your idiotic, criminal decision might have killed Candice.”
The woman blinked, looking stricken at the thought. “I never wanted to hurt them, and like I said, when I found out, I felt just terrible. I apologized to your daughter, and I brought flowers and the gift basket for her. I have no hard feelings against her anymore. I’m no danger to anyone else, you have to see that.”
Moira stared at Ms. Canterbury bleakly. She had never imagined a motive like this. It was terrible. It was worse than if Julian had done it, because Moira could almost empathize with this woman. She knew what it felt like to want to protect her child. At the same time, she would never have put other people’s lives in danger for something as pointless as revenge.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “You know I can’t just let this go. I have to call the police.”
“Please…”
The woman took half a step backward, and like a fr
ightened rabbit, turned and bolted. Moira moved to follow her, knowing that she would never be able catch her by foot. She heard the sound of a screen door being yanked open, then a sudden surprised yelp.
“I got her,” David said a moment later. “Call the police, and tell them I have their arsonist in custody.”
EPILOGUE
* * *
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”
“No,” Candice said. “Give us a few days to get set up, then you can come to visit. The doctor said that Eli will be out of it for a while anyway. He’s on a lot of painkillers for this trip.”
“Okay.” Moira gave embraced her daughter. “I know the road ahead of you probably won’t be easy. I’m so proud of you, sweetie. And I’m so thankful that Eli is going to be okay.”
“Me too.” Candice frowned. “I still can’t believe who burned down the candy shop, and why. I keep almost feeling bad for her, but then I remember what happened to Eli and Matt, and I just can’t. It’s terrible that her son went to the hospital because of the candy I sold him, but it wasn’t my fault, and she hurt two completely innocent people. At the same time, I can’t wish that she gets a long stay in prison, because she has a family of her own. It’s not her son’s fault that any of this happened, or her husband’s. What am I supposed to hope for?”
“Sometimes there isn’t a perfect answer to everything. What’s important is that she’s in the hands of the justice system, and she won’t hurt anyone else in the future. She made a terrible decision, and she has to face the consequences of that decision. Matt and Eli never got a choice, so I don’t feel too bad for her.”
“No… I suppose I don’t either. Are you sure you don’t mind looking after Felix? I’m not sure if the hotel would welcome a cat, and he probably wouldn’t be too happy there anyway. And will you check on the house, too? There are a couple of plants that should be watered, and I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”
“Of course. If it’s all right with you, I’ll leave a copy of the key at the brewery so Karissa and David can use the house if they need to. And Felix is always welcome, don’t worry about him.”
“That would be perfect, thanks. You guys are welcome to use the house for whatever you need,” her daughter said.
“And you let me know if you want me to bring anything when we come down to visit you. I’m sure there’ll be some stuff you forget. There always is when you pack in a hurry.”
“I will. Thank you, Mom. You’ve been so supportive. I don’t know where I would be without you.”
“Good luck, Candice,” Moira said, hugging her daughter one last time. “I love you. And Eli. My thoughts will be with you both. Tell me or David if there’s anything you need. You know that we will both always be there for you.”
“I know. Thank you. It may take a while, but I have to keep telling myself that we were lucky. Eli is going to be okay, and that’s what has to matter to me right now.”
Moira gave her daughter a weak smile and watched as she got into her car. She had watched her daughter drive away many times before, but somehow this time felt different. She had no idea when Candice would be coming back. She felt a sharp twinge of sadness. Her daughter might be gone for months, and even when she came back, it would never be the same as it was before. She had her own life to worry about now, an injured husband, and a business to rebuild. Moira had to remember that she had a wonderful life herself with David, and that she had the deli to be thankful for. So many people had lost so much over the past week, but she still had her family, and for that she was grateful.
Shrimply Murder Page 6
