“No, she wasn’t. I would have been willing to be friends with Benjamin, had he told me the truth, but he didn’t. He’s been lying to me. He’s been pretending to be my friend Harry.” Mary-Ann sighed. “What happened to Theo?”
“He hired a P.I. to look into Steve’s death and the P.I. said the cafe was the link between all the recent murders. I panicked. Theo and I… he didn’t know when we saw you at the shop. I didn’t tell him until afterwards, but by that point he was almost half dead.” A tear trickled down Harry’s cheek. “I put poison in his slice of pie. I wanted to make him sick. I wanted to look after him while he was and make him see I was still the person he thought I was. I just put too much in. I didn’t know what I was doing and I ended up killing my best friend.”
“Was the P.I. right?”
“I wouldn’t have panicked if he was wrong, Mare.” He looked between them again. “If I tell you the rest of this I want you to promise me you won’t tell the police.”
“You know I can’t make that promise.”
Harry took a step closer to them. “Please. I never meant for any of this to happen. I know you believe I should be in prison for what I’ve done, and I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I just… I don’t want to go to prison. I left Seattle behind so I wouldn’t end up there.”
“I’m not promising anything.”
He took another step and Mary-Ann had to stop herself from backing away. His hand reached out to touch her face. “I always had a crush on you, Mare. Theo knew, but he never said anything, even though I half wished he would. You were one of the most beautiful girls in school and I kept telling myself I’d be able to get with you when you finally dumped Kevin. When you came back to Green Springs I thought about making a move, but I was scared you’d reject me.
“You still are beautiful. I love you. I always have done. I know I shouldn’t be asking you to do this for me, but if you care about me at all please keep my secrets. I know it means I’m going to lose you for good and that’s something I have no choice but to accept. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth before. If I had done we wouldn’t be in this position now.” He glanced at Anne. “I’m sorry about Theo. He meant the world to me and I promise you it was a mistake. I never would have killed him on purpose.”
“How about Steve?”
“Steve was less of an accident, although I didn’t really want to kill him.” Harry shook his head. “I can’t tell you anything more unless Mare promised not to go to the police.”
Mary-Ann’s phone buzzed, which told her what she needed to know. “Okay.” She looked down at the ground and then back at Harry. “The only reason I’m keeping the secret is because Anne deserves to know the truth about Steve.”
“Thank you.” Harry smiled. “I’ve always had the key to the shop. I kept it, because I do have good memories of working there, and I was visiting when Steve walked in. He wanted me to give him the key, but I refused to. It was my key. He attacked me. I thought he wanted to kill me, the anger in his eyes, and I did what I had to do in order to protect myself. I didn’t want to kill him. I put my hands around his throat and squeezed, hoping it would be enough to get him off me, only to find I’d been squeezing for too long, and he was dead.” His smile faded. “I know I shouldn’t have pretended it was a suicide, but I didn’t know what else to do. Phil and George were already dead, not able to tell the world my secret, and I didn’t want anyone to ask the wrong questions. If they had done they would have found out I still had a key. They would have put together all the pieces of the puzzle, and I’d end up in prison.”
“What happened to them?” Mary-Ann needed to know everything. “Tell me everything, Harry.”
“Both of them found out who I really was and I protected myself.” Harry shrugged. “I’m sure you would have done the same thing if you were in my position.”
“No, I wouldn’t have.” She took a step away from him, relieved when she saw Alex walking towards them, and grabbed hold of Anne’s hand. “I never would have pretended to be someone else.”
“You planned all this.”
“Of course I did. You killed Theo, Steve, Phil, and George. Four people who didn’t deserve to die. Now you’re going to spend the rest of your life where you belong.”
***
Alex shook his head. “Knowing I’d already heard him admit to killing all four of the people I was question him about made it easy for me to get him to tell me everyone about what happened to Phil and George. To be honest I don’t think either of them did know Harry was Benjamin, but he thought they did, and that was enough of a reason for him to kill them.” Sighing, he stuck his fork into a piece of chicken. “With Phil he even had the audacity to take all the coke that was in the pockets and sell it, to make a little extra money. He isn’t sorry for doing what he did. He truly believes he was killing people for the right reason.”
“Do you believe Steve was self defence?”
“I don’t know. It’s possible. However, it’s also possible he’s come to believe his own lies. Steven didn’t seem to have been strangled by a pair of hands, so that doesn’t make sense, but it could just be that the hand prints haven’t shown for some reason. Personally I think Harry did it on purpose for some reason. I just don’t know what that reason is.”
“Having him in prison makes me feel a little safer.”
“From what he said he does truly think he’s in love with you.”
Mary-Ann shuddered. “There was a time when I might have dated him, but finding out he was lying to me the whole time the two of us knew each other makes that an impossibility. He doesn’t seem to understand how much of a betrayal that is. From the first time I met him I believed he was Harry Reynolds, the adopted son of two people I admired and trusted, especially as they’d made the decision to take on a twelve-year-old boy. To find out they were lying the whole time…” She looked down at her curry, wondering if Green Springs would ever be the same again. “I can’t believe they would have been willing to do that.”
“There’s a part of me that can understand the choice they made, even though I don’t believe it was the right one. What they should have done was got Benjamin his GED and gone from there. Pretending he was younger than he was… that I think if very wrong. He was an eighteen-year-old in class with a group of people who were much younger than him.” Alex sighed. “Fortunately he never did anything stupid while he was at school, because otherwise he would have been facing a statutory rape charge as well as four murder charges.”
“I’m glad you were there.”
“I said I would be.” Their eyes met when Mary-Ann looked up again. “Rob’s coming home soon. I know you hate it when he has to go away.”
“If he’s going to continue being the travel writer for the local paper I’m going to have to get used to it.”
***
Mary-Ann sat opposite Mrs Walters. “Harry wasn’t who we thought he was.”
“No, he really wasn’t.” Their eyes met. “Both my sons died because of him and I thought he was Theo’s friend.”
“I think Harry was scared. He wanted the life he’d created for himself here and when he realised Theo might know the truth he panicked. I almost feel sorry for him, but at the same time I don’t, because he brought this all upon himself. If he’d been honest in the beginning, instead of pretending to be someone he wasn’t…” Sighing, Mary-Ann brushed a hand through her hair. “I can understand why he made the choices he did, even though I’m not going to be able to forgive him for making them. He took someone I cared about from this world, in an attempt to protect himself.”
“When I first met Harry I was glad he was a part of Theo’s life. It seemed like the two of them did good things for each other and it never crossed my mind he might actually be much older than he seemed to be. I thought he was a high school freshman.” Mrs Walters sipped her tea. “The Reynolds are moving away, after the trial. After what they’ve done I do think it’s for the best, because I don’t know if I’m ever goi
ng to be able to forgive them for bringing Harry into all our lives. Or maybe we should call him Benjamin now.”
“He’ll always be Harry to me.” Mary-Ann blinked, doing her best not to let the tears from. “I know you’re angry with Mel, for saying Steve’s death was a suicide, but I think it would do you good to hear why she thought that.”
“After what Anne said I thought a lot about my sons, and I made the decision to invite Melanie over, so the two of us can talk things through, because she saw a different side to my son. I’m strangely glad to find out it wasn’t a suicide. I think Melanie was too. It means Steve didn’t give up on us. When she told me about Steve’s feelings I thought she was trying to hurt me, but it was to try to get me to see how much she was hurting. She thought he’d given up on her, and their relationship, when he hadn’t.”
“I’m glad to hear this might bring the two of you together. What’s Anne going to be doing?”
“She made the decision to go to the community college here. As she’s my only child I hate the thought of her being so far away. She’s gone back to New York to deal with things and then she’d be coming back to Green Springs.”
“Good.” Mary-Ann stood. “I’ve got to get going. Life is back to normal again, as much as it can be, and I need to get back to work.”
“Can you bring me one of your delicious chicken pies by? I’m on my own tonight and I’ve been craving one.”
A Cherry Pie Murder
By Kathy Hunter
Copyright 2015 by Kathy Hunter - All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without permission from the publisher.
Chapter 1
Alex made his way over to where Mary-Ann was standing, an arm wrapped around a young woman who had found herself a widow on her wedding day, and when their eyes met she shook her head. “I’m sorry this is how things turned out.” He glanced over at where Polly was talking with father and mother of the groom. “I’m glad you have someone with you, Jessica, because I have to ask you if you know who might have wanted to poison your groom.”
Jessica wiped the tears off her cheeks. “I don’t know.” She looked over at where Kyle’s body had lain. “We’d been together for about a year when he proposed. Since then… everything’s moved so fast, because the two of us really wanted this, but he had been getting emails from someone he wasn’t entirely happy about. I asked him about them, and he said he was going to deal with it. Maybe they’ll give you an idea of who it might have been.”
“I’ll look into that.” He took his notebook out of his pocket. “What made the two of you decide to get married in Green Springs? I believe you both now live in New York.”
“Green Springs is where I grew up and I still love it here.” Jessica squeezed Mary-Ann’s hand. “I made the decision to go to college in the city because it had the courses I wanted to take, and I don’t regret that, but I’d love to come back here to live at some point. Kyle and I had been talking about it recently, as he loves it here as much as I do, but now…” She shook her head. “I realise I’m probably a suspect in this. I could have poisoned him at any point.”
“Yes, you could. Fortunately being involved in a couple of very complicated murders means I’m more likely to look past the most likely suspects. Murders, sadly, are complicated, and often involve deeply held emotions.”
Mary-Ann nodded. “I know Jess wouldn’t have poisoned him.” She nibbled her lip. “Do you know what was poisoned?”
“The drink seems the most likely suspect.” She could see the amusement in his eyes when she breathed a sigh of relief. “Everything is being checked as we speak, but there were too many people who’ve eaten the cake and come out of the experience perfectly well for it to be that.”
“I appreciate the information.”
“When this is over I’d like to talk with you, Mary-Ann.”
“Of course, Detective Inspector.” Her voice was normal, but she was sure he could see the emotions in her eyes. “It probably won’t be until morning, though.”
“That’s fine. I’ve got plenty to do tonight.” He looked around the marque. “I suggest you go home, Mrs. Morton, and get some sleep. It will help with the pain you’re feeling.”
“Thank you.” Jessica squeezed Mary-Ann’s hand again. “Would you take me back to Mom’s, Mare? I don’t want to be alone.”
***
Jessica had fallen asleep when Polly walked into the house. “How is she?”
“She’s dealing with this better than I thought she would, but I have a feeling she’s still in shock. Having your new husband die beside you…” Mary-Ann shook her head. “This isn’t going to be easy for her to get through.”
“No, it’s not.” Polly sat down next to Mary-Ann. “D.I. O’Connor spoke to everyone at the party. He wasn’t willing to say too much about what he was thinking, but I know the two of you are close.” Their eyes met. “I was hoping you might be willing to help find out who killed Kyle. You did help find two murderers before.”
“I did.” That was what Alex would want her to do, because she was the one who could talk to people about anything, while they’d be much more careful around him. “I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved in something like this again, but as it’s you, Polly, I will do what I can to find out who killed Kyle. Did anyone say anything while you were at the party?”
“Of course they didn’t. I have a feeling a couple of people were keeping things from D.I. O’Connor, which is why I asked you to help. He’s not going to find it easy to get people to open up to him.”
“He never does, Pol, which is how I end up getting involved in these things. Alex will want me to help him with this, because of who I am.”
“Alex is a sensible man. I don’t think he would have been able to solve both the previous murders as quickly as he did without your help.”
“Maybe not.” Mary-Ann shrugged. “For now I’m going to go home. My bed’s been calling my name for the last hour, but I didn’t want to leave in case Jess needed me.”
“Thank you for being there for her, Mare.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Let me know if you find out anything we need to know.”
“I will.”
As Mary-Ann walked out of the house she did her best not to let her emotions get the better of her, but by the time she’d reached the end of the street she wasn’t able to stop herself from laughing. Getting involved in another murder really wasn’t what she wanted. Getting involved in the murder of a young man in the prime of his life definitely wasn’t what she wanted, because that seemed to be all she’d done in recent time, and if it had been anyone else she would have said no. In the time since Kevin’s murder she’d been able to reclaim her life and now… well, things didn’t always work out the way she wanted them to, and she wasn’t going to complain about the way things had worked out. She knew she was lucky. She was alive. Kyle wasn’t, and his bride was dealing with beginning her life without her new husband.
***
Hannah was sitting on the sofa when Mary-Ann walked into the apartment. “You didn’t have to stay up.”
“I was worried about you, Mare.”
“I’m fine.” She smiled at her sister. “Tired, but fine.”
“How’s Jess?”
“Dealing with this as best she can. I don’t know how she’s going to feel tomorrow, but for now she’s sleeping, and I think that’s a good thing.”
“What are you going to be doing tomorrow?”
“Talking to Alex.”
“He wants you to help?”
“From the look he gave me I think he does, or maybe he’s going to ask me to keep out of it this time.” Mary-Ann shrugged. “I honestly doubt it’s going to be the latter. He believes people in Green Springs will be more willing to talk to me, because of who I am, and so far he seems to have been right about that.” She sighed. “For now I’m not going to think about it. I’m going to head to bed and get some sleep. Tomorrow I can deal with whatever happ
ens next.”
Hannah nodded. “That sounds like a good plan.” She stood. “I’ll be honest with you, because I think that’s the best thing I can do. I worry about you when you get involved in things like this, so please be careful, because I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I promise I will be.” Mary-Ann smiled. “Plus, I don’t know half the people involved this time, so maybe Alex won’t want me.”
***
“Morning, Mare.” Alex looked at her. “Thank you for coming to see me.”
“I was hoping you’d be telling me to keep my nose out this time, because this isn’t the sort of investigation I should get involved with.”
“Polly, I’m certain, will have already asked you to get involved.”
“She has, but if you say otherwise…” Mary-Ann sighed. “It’s not going to happen. I know that. I just… I didn’t want to get involved in another murder investigation.”
“In that case the best thing you could do is keep your distance from the next one.”
“Like that’s even possible.”
“Being involved isn’t a bad thing. People trust you. They talk to you about things they wouldn’t want to talk to me about, and I think they’re making the right choice. You’re a good person, Mare, and you really do help people by listening to them when they need to talk. If you hadn’t been that sort of person the last two cases you helped me with wouldn’t have worked out anywhere near as well as they did.”
The Alpha Billionaire's Unexpected Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Pregnancy Romance Page 69
