Moving aside a large tapestry, Beth ran her fingers along the large bricks that lay beneath and realized that a door shaped portion gave just a bit when she pushed on it. She had discovered one of Castle Havier’s rumored secret passageways. Beth was sure this was how Marcus had snuck back into the kitchen unseen to sabotage the food, but for what reason? What was he trying to hide? Beth pushed harder until the concealed door gave way, she closed it behind her, leaving it open a crack though she was sure that she would happen upon another exit leading to the kitchen, she didn't want to risk getting trapped inside the castle walls. Beth followed the twisting path which was illuminated by soft fluorescent lights.
The lights switched on and off on motion detectors, leaving the path before and in front of her pitch black, which was giving Beth the creeps. After several twists and turns, the path abruptly came to an end. Beth placed her ear to the wall trying to hear if anyone was on the other side but was only greeted by silence. She could make out the doorway by the light shining in from the other side. Beth gently and carefully pushed the door open, glancing around the room before she stepped out. She was surprised to find herself standing in another guests room although she was unsure as to whom it belonged. It was made obvious that the room was indeed occupied by the luggage and personal belongings scattered about. Beth cleared her throat to make sure the room was clear, which in itself was odd as everyone had been instructed to stay in their rooms until the proper authorities arrived.
Curious as to whose room she happened upon, Beth spotted an old airline tag still attached to one of the suitcases and checked the name. It was heavily faded and difficult to make out but once she did Beth read the name out loud to herself, Jonathan McManus. Beth figured Johnny must be out of his room in order to help out the Ruddens or attend to the crime scene. Beth was unsure if Marcus was still in the girls room or if he had returned to his own, so she decided that her safest bet was to exit through the hallway. If she ran into anyone Beth planned to make up a lie about needing toilet paper or some other essential that no one would surely deny her or question too deeply. Beth paused a moment at the doorway, wondering if every room at Castle Havier was equipped with a secret passage and she was willing to bet that they were.
The entire castle consisted of stained glass, intricate nooks with carved stone and artwork. The original owners had spent years on the castles construction, adding detail upon detail around every corner. Beth walked slowly along each wall of Johnny’s room, pushing against bricks and feeling for bursts of air like she had felt in Marcus’ room. Beth was about to give up and leave feeling defeated when her foot caught on the rug and Beth stubbed her toe on something hard. She looked back and spotted an odd bulge in the carpet. Finding it peculiar, Beth lifted the carpet to see what lay beneath. She was rather pleased to find a hatch door, she knew that the room had a passage and wasn't as bland and plain as it had first appeared.
No room in the castle was bland or undecorated. She carefully walked down the steps, closing the door behind her and smoothing the carpet back in place best she could from the inside. If Johnny returned to his room it was more than likely that he would notice the rug had been disturbed, but Beth planned to be long gone by then. The lights were automatic just as they had been in the other passageway but this one seemed longer and ran underground. Most of the sleeping quarters were located in the same area. Beth knew she had to be venturing to some other part of the castle by how long she had been walking. While it was difficult to tell from underground, to the best of Beth’s knowledge the guest rooms were located in the South Wing of Castle Havier and she assumed that the tunnel was leading her to the West Wing.
Beth tried her best to remember the layout of the castle but she had only seen the kitchen, ballroom and guest quarters as the girls had been kept busy since the moment they arrived at the castle. Beth made a mental note to make a map of the castle’s layout when she got a chance. Several minutes late she happened upon another short set of stairs leading to another hatch door in the floor. Beth carefully lifted it and peeped around, instantly recognizing the floor tiles. Beth climbed the rest of the stairs and was standing dead center of the kitchen. Beth recalled Marcus giving the girls the inside scoop to the newly remodelled kitchen and seemed to know the castle very well for someone who supposedly only heard rumors of its design. She also recalled how Marcus had arrived at Castle Havier long before anyone else.
Beth began to panic, realizing she had left poor Diana alone in their room with Marcus. As time went on and not a single other guest or staff member had gotten sick, it became more and more apparent the poisoning had been an intentional attack and that Ryan had been a specific target. Beth herself, had tasted most of the foods and desserts at the wedding and had not so much as felt her stomach grumble since. Beth didn't know what she would say or do once she got back to the room but she was convinced of Marcus’ guilt and knew she had to get back there quickly. Marcus had most likely arrived at the castle early, mapped out the passageways and used them to execute his terrible plan. Beth ran out into the hallway, not bothering this time to check if the coast was clear. She was knocked to the ground by what felt to her like a brick wall. Johnny helped Beth up off the ground, addressing her with a much friendlier tone then he had while grilling the girls earlier in the ballroom.
Beth began to mumble out her excuse about needing toilet paper but Johnny seemed preoccupied and continued rushed towards his room. Despite his friendly demeanour, Beth couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine during their brief interaction but quickly forgot it in her concern for Diana. Beth burst into the girls room, breathing heavily from running down the long hallways and startling both Diana and Marcus. “Are you ok?” a concerned looking Marcus asked, shooting up from his seat. He moved to touch Beth’s shoulders but she quickly shrugged him off. She rattled out an excuse about wanting to take a nap and pushed a flustered and confused Marcus out of the door. When he was gone, Beth turned to Diana wide eyed. “He did it” she said. “Marcus killed Ryan!”
“Slow down” Diana said to Beth, who was still breathing heavily and appeared panicked. “What do you mean Marcus killed Ryan?” Beth took a deep breath and laid everything out to Diana, the connecting evidence, the passageways and all of her suspicions. Diana agreed with Beth that while it seemed very suspicious, they had known Marcus for a very long time. He was arrogant and annoying but such a crime was not only completely out of character for him but as far as anyone knew he also lacked motive. Marcus and Ryan had been friends since grade school.
Ryan had been a high school jock and played on the football team, which was how he had met Jessica, who was the head cheerleader. While on the other hand, Marcus had opted for drama and home-ec classes in school. Marcus had always demonstrating an interest in the arts and cooking which was what had initiated his and Beth’s friendship. Jessica and Ryan had been high school sweethearts and had been together ever since their sophomore year. Their relationship had always seemed happy and unbreakable, Beth had been especially pleased for her friend. Beth and Marcus on the other hand had not even gone on their first date until long after Beth had returned home to Rockaway Beach after college.
It had been Beth’s first real relationship and unfortunately proven to be a very bad match to say the least. Their relationship had indeed ended amicably and Beth played along with the lack of interest excuse Marcus had given her as a reason for their breakup, but Beth had always known the truth. Marcus had in fact been cheating on Beth the entire time that they were dating but she had never bothered or wanted to find out with whom. It didn't matter to Beth who it had happened with, only that it had happened. It was all that Beth could do to save face and let Marcus think that he had gotten away with it. Beth had been devastated but with the opening of The Gingerbread House she hadn’t much time to sulk, or at least that’s what she told herself. She used the same excuse for as to why she hadn’t even made an attempt to try dating ever since. Diana still expressed doubt of Marcus’ g
uilt and Beth began to question if she had in fact let her bitter feelings towards him cloud her judgement.
Still, both Beth and Diana agreed that while they would both hesitate to point fingers, everything Beth had discovered could be potentially crucial to solving the case so she was sure to make note of every detail in her notebook. Next she drew a makeshift compass and map in the book with the layout of the castle. The guest bedrooms were located in the castles South Wing, the kitchen in the West Wing. Diana remembered that the ballroom was located to the East and that had to mean that the castle’s reclusive honeymoon sweet had to be located in the North Wing. The entire castle was shaped like the lower case letter t and fairly easy to navigate once you got your bearings. She also drew a map of the connecting tunnels she had discovered so far. Beth wanted to re-examine these passageways but an alarmed Diana begged her not to go. Marcus would be back in his room by now and there would be no way to sneak into the passageway without him seeing her. There was still an unidentified killer on the loose and the risk was simply too high. After several minutes of arguing, the girls finally agreed that they would go investigate together.
Once out in the hallway the girls intended to head towards the kitchen as they had planned. Beth and Diana were going to enter the secret passageway through the kitchen, reasoning that the killer had to definitely used this particular one to sabotage the food supply. They would walk the underground tunnel more carefully and slowly in search of evidence. If they saw that Johnny had left his room again, the girls would follow the second tunnel in the same manner, hopefully preventing them from being seen. They were caught off guard however, by the sound of shouting coming from the ballroom. The girls crept towards the noises careful to remain hidden from view. While eavesdropping they heard what sounded like five separate voices, belonging to the parents of the bride and groom as well as Johnny’s. He was in fact the one who had been shouting. Beth and Diana were both shocked and appalled by what they heard. The girls had been close with Johnny while growing up and would have liked to think that they were still close friends, had it not been from what they were overhearing.
Johnny was ranting and raving about the food being the source of the poison. He too concurred that this had been no accidental poisoning. He brought up the break in at the bakery and laid claim that he believed the whole thing had been staged, a cover up to provide the girls with an alibi and an excuse. The girls would try to say that someone had broken into the bakery and poisoned their ingredients. An alibi that would surely fail because not only had Johnny surveyed the break in himself and found no signs of an intruder, but if the ingredients had been poisoned then the entire wedding party would have gotten sick.
The girls had to have poisoned the food while at the castle and hand delivered their death cake to the victim themselves. He continued to argue that both girls had a close personal relationship with the bride and perhaps had grown jealous of Jessica’s relationship, not having successful ones of their own. Trashing the kitchen had more than likely been premeditated as well and it had been awfully convenient that the girls had invited the Ruddens to the kitchen for coffee that very same night so that they may all discover the mess together. The girls could have easily accessed the kitchen unseen through the castles hidden passageways. One of which was located in the caterers room. Marcus, the caterer, was in fact Beth’s ex-boyfriend and had probably been involved in the scheme. Johnny guaranteed that once the police arrived and forensic tests were conducted, all of his theories would be confirmed.
Beth and Diana were in shock, abandoning their plans to investigate the passageways the girls promptly returned to their room. Not only did Johnny have knowledge of the tunnels but for absolutely no reason was going out of his way to place blame on the girls. Johnny had treated Diana’s head wound himself and had seen first hand how frightened she had been. The more Diana thought about it, Johnny had arrived to the bakery rather quickly, almost as if he had already been in the area. Johnny had a point however, that if the ingredients had been poisoned at the bakery, this would have been a mass murder, with many more party goers sick or deceased. The killer had to hand Ryan the poison themselves, making this a crime of passion. Something Johnny said had especially resonated with Beth. He had mentioned that the girls had a close, personal relationship with the bride and Beth wondered who else at the wedding party did as well. Just because their relationship seemed flawless, didn't rule out that either Ryan or Jessica could have had an affair nor did it mean that they were well liked by all of the people attending the wedding.
Beth could recall attending a wedding or two of a frenemies. The girls knew that they had to talk to Jessica and with both the bride and groom’s parents preoccupied in the ballroom with Johnny, now was their only chance. Beth grabbed her notebook before the girls snuck out into the hall and made their way towards the North Wing where the honeymoon suite was located. They knocked gently on the door and a barely audible voice ushered them inside.
Jessica was laying in bed, looking extremely frail and small. Out of instinct Beth and Diana ran to her side, giving their friend a hug and offering their condolences. They didn't have much time to waste however, as they were unsure how long it would be before someone came to check on Jessica. Beth apologized for her bluntness and began to explain to Jessica how there were whispers heard that people blamed the food, more specifically the bakery for causing the poisoning. Much to the girl’s relief Jessica was appalled by such news and insisted that she believed in the girls integrity and honesty.
Jessica knew that Beth and Diana would never hurt her, or Ryan in such a way. The only way to explain the events that had taken place was to report to Jessica everything that Beth had written in her notebook. The last bit about Johnny seemed to upset the woman deeply and Beth thought that perhaps they had pushed the grieving bride too far with what they had told her. As Beth and Diana were fussing over her and begging her forgiveness, a perplexed Jessica held her hand up in protest, stilling and silencing both of the girls. She began to tell them the story of how her and Johnny had met. It had been back in school and like all the other kids in town, Johnny was a familiar face although Jessica stated that at the time she did not know him personally.
She simply recognized him as someone they had all gone to grade school with and that living only a short distance away from Jessica. She had often times seen him on her walk to school in the morning. That is up until one day Johnny finally gathered up enough courage to approach Jessica. He had admired her from afar for quite some time now and had a major crush on her.
Being a freshman in highschool, Johnny had never had a girlfriend before or taken a girl out on a proper date but he decided to try his chances and asked Jessica out to a movie. Much to his surprise she said yes and soon after the two began dating. It was casual and innocent at most, the pair went to the arcade a few times and to see another movie. Johnny suddenly became very possessive however and his behavior began to alarm Jessica. He would leave note upon note in her locker every day, follow her wherever he could and would often times get very jealous if she spent time with other friends. Jessica tried to distance herself from Johnny but didn't have the heart nor the guts to break things off with him. She feared mostly how he would react given his attitude towards her. The only time she ever really had to herself without Johnny chasing after her was during cheerleading practice. Johnny had theatre practice at the same time, which gave her two full hours to breathe.
All of the cheerleaders and the football players in high school were friends due to the amount of time they had to spend together both at practices and games. This also infuriated Johnny to no end. Jessica was especially upset one day after a fight her and Johnny had over her waving at a male friend of hers in the hallway but made it to practice regardless as she never missed a single meet. Unable to handle the pressure Johnny was placing on her any longer, Jessica confided in Ryan who at the time was only a friend. She developed a habit of venting to him during and after practices and thei
r relationship grew. Jessica had never been much of a cheater and she was frightened of Johnny and his temper, so when Ryan offered to speak to him for her, Jessica gladly agreed.
What she didn't know is that Ryan intended to claim her as his girlfriend and had threatened Johnny that if he ever bothered Jessica again that the entire football team would give him the beat down of a lifetime. She simply thought that Ryan had spoken to Johnny and scared him off, leaving her available and single once more. It was only a matter of time after that that her and Ryan begun dating, having already developed feelings for each other. He treated her like a princess, supported her independence and interests and fully trusted her, all the things that Johnny could not or would not do during their relationship. Johnny was fit to be tied but given the warning from Ryan, was too afraid of repercussions should he act out.
The Alpha Billionaire's Unexpected Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Pregnancy Romance Page 56
