Till Death Do Us Tart

by Ellie Alexander

  “Or did it?” Lance asked.

  “Huh?” Leo turned to his brother.

  “Leo, listen to what you’re saying. Did you hire her on the spot? Did you call references? Check out her story?”

  “No. She had a couple letters of recommendation with her. They were good. What more did I need?”

  “My God!” Lance threw one hand on his forehead. He set his coffee on the ground. “All this time I’ve thought that you killed Dad.”

  Leo’s jaw dropped. “What? What are you talking about?”

  Lance patted his brother’s thigh. “You’re not a killer, are you, Leo? You’re just not a business guy. Of course.” He looked at me. “My brother isn’t an evil mastermind. He’s a logger, and a damn good one.”

  “What are you talking about?” Leo stared at me and then Lance.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Lance asked me.

  I nodded. “Yes. Oh my gosh, why didn’t we make the connection earlier? Your father, the trust, Megan.”

  Lance jumped to his feet and patted his brother on the back. “Exactly. We know who the killer is.”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  “Juliet, how have we been so dense?” Lance’s tone was incredulous. “Juliet, call Thomas. We need him here immediately.”

  I felt sorry for Leo. He looked like a confused child. Lance on the other hand assumed his role of elder brother with flourish.

  “Don’t dally, Juliet. Call the police,” Lance commanded.

  I called Thomas. He picked up on the second ring. “Hey, Jules. What’s up?”

  “Where are you?”

  “At the station.”

  I glanced past the information kiosk in the center of the plaza to the blue awnings of the police station. “Come outside. We’re by the fountains.”

  “Who?”

  “Me and Lance and his brother. We know who killed Megan.”

  “What?”

  “Just come outside.” I clicked off the phone. A minute later, Thomas and Detective Kerry, who was in yet another crisp suit, raced over.

  Kerry’s face clouded the moment she saw us. “You guys have to stop doing this. Seriously. We’re going to end up the laughingstock of the Rogue Valley if two civilians keep trying to solve our cases.”

  Thomas pulled out his iPad. “It’s okay. I’ve got this.”

  Lance pressed his hands together. “Trust me, Detective, you are most certainly going to want to hear what we’ve uncovered.”

  Detective Kerry sighed. “I don’t doubt it. You’re wearing me down. You know that, don’t you?”

  Lance tapped her angular jaw. “Honey, you know it. But you’re so lovely when you smile, and don’t you worry, yours truly will hook you up with the best seats in the house for any show you want as a token of my appreciation for letting us tag along on a real investigation.”

  Kerry looked to Thomas for support. “It’s a lost cause.”

  Lance knew that he had an audience and was ready to take the stage. Then he stopped and seemed to take notice of me. “Would you like to do the honors, Juliet, or should I?”

  I swept my hand in front of me. “Go ahead.”

  “Let me give you a bit of background first. You see, my brother and I have not seen eye to eye for many years.” He proceeded to give Thomas and Detective Kerry the condensed version of his past.

  “What does this have to do with our investigation?” Detective Kerry asked when Lance paused.

  “I was just getting to that part.” Lance waved his index finger at her. I wondered if she was internally considering slapping a pair of handcuffs on him. “I knew that my father’s death wasn’t natural. Yes, he was ill, and yes, he didn’t have much time left, but someone sped up the process. The Professor was considering possibilities before he left, but without any evidence his hands were tied.”

  Thomas made notes on his iPad.

  “Now it’s all clear. My brother hired Sarah as a personal assistant. She must have realized that she had won the jackpot. She realized that my brother, a brilliant logger”—Lance patted Leo’s knee—“was not a businessman and she seized the opportunity. She craftily weaved her way into the company and everyone’s good graces. Then she began making suggestions. Taking over small things at first. The mail, bank deposits, organizing files. She quickly become invaluable. And that, my friends, is when she really dug her heels in to craft her master plan. She had worked with Jarvis in the past and probably gave her old buddy a call. She was working a scam and needed help. If she could convince Leo to come after me then he would have total access over the Brown Family trust, and she would control the purse strings.”

  “This is a lot of speculation,” Detective Kerry interjected.

  “True. True,” Lance acknowledged. “But hear me out. She was my father’s primary caregiver. When I popped back into the picture she must have freaked out. My skill set is different from Leo’s. She must have known she had a small window of opportunity. So, she convinced Leo to cut me out of the trust, forced my father to sign the new documents. But what she didn’t count on was my renewed relationship with my father. When she realized that we had reconciled, she probably panicked. She had to kill him, because otherwise he would talk. If I asked him about cutting me from the trust he would have said that he hadn’t been part of it.”

  Everything Lance was saying I was thinking internally. It was as if pieces of the puzzle were falling from the sky and landing in perfect place in front of us.

  “She killed him. It must have been simple. Adding a dose of something to his IV, slipping him something in his nightly glass of milk. I don’t know how she did it. I’ll leave that to you two, but she’s the killer.”

  Leo stood up. “Are you crazy? Sarah wouldn’t do that.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Lance asked. “She had the means, she had the motive, she had the opportunity. If I’m not mistaken I do believe those are the three things that the police look for in a case like this.”

  “But why?” Leo asked.

  “For the money, dear brother. She realized that you were hands-off. You have a singular—and might I add, extremely worthy—goal to grow the Brown Family business. But she knew that you weren’t about to go over the financial statements line by line. It would be easy for her to start tucking away cash. Lots of cash.”

  “Yes, and for the time being no one noticed. You were happy to have Sarah manage the books for you, right?” I asked Leo.

  He nodded. “Math isn’t my thing.”

  “Exactly. I’m not blaming you. I’m just pointing out that the company is worth millions. At some point someone would have realized that money was missing. You must have accountants, right?”

  Leo rolled his eyes. “Yeah, big brother, I’m not an idiot. I have an accountant.”

  Lance nodded. “Of course. That’s likely why she wanted Leo to hire Jarvis. She knew that Jarvis was dirty and could help her funnel money. Or maybe she planned to stash away as much cash as she could, knowing that eventually someone would raise a red flag. At that point, she would make her escape and disappear before anyone figured it out.”

  “But do you have proof?” Detective Kerry asked.

  “No.” Lance shook his head. “That’s your job. There must be a paper trail. I’m guessing that Megan found it. She told Adam that she had enough evidence to go to the police.”

  “Right,” I said, looking at Thomas. “And we kept thinking that the poisoning and Megan’s death were related. What if they weren’t? Clarissa has admitted to spiking the wine. Only she intended that for me. Not Megan. Sarah must have come after Megan.”

  Thomas typed rapidly. “They make a pretty good case,” he said to Detective Kerry.

  She sighed. “True. We came to the same conclusion about the two incidents.”

  I felt vindicated.

  “Sounds like we need to make a trip to Medford,” Thomas said, shutting off the iPad.

  “Can we come along?” Lance clapped his hands together.


  Detective Kerry held out her hands to stop him. “Absolutely not. If any of you so much as set one foot outside of Ashland city limits in the next hour I’ll arrest you.” Then she shot him a quick wink, revealing a dimple on her left cheek.

  “Under house arrest again. No, thank you.” Lance moaned. He turned to Leo. “That’s fine. You go do your police thing. I owe my brother a hearty breakfast.”

  Leo still looked slightly shaken, but Lance wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “Let’s go, brother. We have some catching up to do.”

  I couldn’t help but smile as I watched them cross the street and head up Main Street. Yes, they were very different, but they were brothers and I hoped that this was the start of new friendship for them.

  “You’re good, Jules?” Thomas asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” This time that wasn’t a lie. I was glad to see a positive resolution between Lance and Leo and equally relieved that Clarissa wasn’t the killer.

  Detective Kerry shot me a final warning glance. This time her humor came through. “You are back to baking, got it? No more sleuthing around town.”

  I gave her a serious nod. “I’ve never heard sweeter words.”

  Thomas grinned. “Good, because we’re going to be hungry for some of your raspberry Danish when we get back. Arresting a killer always makes me hungry.”

  “Don’t let him tell you that,” I said to Detective Kerry. “He’s just always hungry.”

  A wide smile cracked through her angular face. “Yeah. I’ve noticed.”

  With that they left. I paused for a moment and surveyed the plaza. Hopefully, Thomas and Detective Kerry would have Sarah and maybe Jarvis in police custody soon. I was ready for life to return to normal and to immerse myself in Torte’s new space.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Later that afternoon, Thomas stopped by to inform me that they had found Sarah at the Brown Family Group headquarters. She hadn’t confessed, but they had teams searching every square inch of the property, as well as Megan’s office again. They would be pulling up bank statements for Sarah’s personal accounts as well as the Brown Family trust. Jarvis had confessed that Sarah had him put together the paperwork to write Lance out of the trust. In exchange for a lenient sentence he had agreed to testify that Mr. Brown was not of sound mind or body when he signed the documents. Jarvis would never be allowed to practice law in the state of Oregon again.

  In light of the new information the medical examiner would be reviewing Mr. Brown’s autopsy report. “Good work, Jules,” Thomas said, slurping a bowl of Sterling’s chili verde soup. “You and Lance were a big help, but please don’t tell Detective Kerry I said that. She’ll kill me.”

  I chuckled. “How’s it going working with her?”

  Thomas swirled his spoon around the edge of the soup bowl. “You know, I can’t believe that I’m going to say this, but not bad. She’s actually pretty cool. I mean you have to get past the suit and the all-business attitude, but she’s really funny.”

  “That’s great.” Was it my imagination or did Thomas’s cheeks have a soft glow to them?

  “What about you? How is it having Carlos and his son here?”

  “It’s kind of the same. I didn’t expect them to fit in as well as they have.”

  “Everyone loves them,” Thomas replied. Something had shifted between us. We were talking like friends. In the past, there had been a thin layer of tension between us when we spoke of Carlos. That was gone. I was glad to be able to speak openly with Thomas. He had been an integral part of my formative years and I valued his friendship.

  “Do you think they’ll stay?” he asked, taking a bite of sourdough bread.

  “No. No.” I shook my head. I hadn’t allowed myself to even entertain the thought of them staying. I was already dreading having to say good-bye. “Ramiro’s mother lives in Spain and he has school and…” I trailed off.

  Thomas met my eyes. “I get it. But I just have to say that it’s obvious that they both really love you, Jules. You deserve that.”

  “Thanks, so do you.” I excused myself before I started to tear up. Thomas headed out to the plaza with a bag of Torte goodies. I took a moment to compose myself before going to check on how things were going downstairs.

  In the basement, the team was blasting reggae music. Carlos and Ramiro were both in on the action.

  “Are you guys going to break out in a conga line?” I teased.

  Carlos beamed when he spotted me. “Julieta, we are christening the new kitchen.” He shimmied his body to the beat of the music. “It is a dance party, sí?”

  Even Steph couldn’t resist moving her head in rhythm with the drums.

  “Shouldn’t you be working?” I tried to make my face look stern.

  That made everyone laugh.

  My phone buzzed. I pulled it from my pocket. The call was from Mom. She and the Professor wanted to FaceTime. “Shut off the music. Come say hi, everyone.” I held up the phone. Mom and the Professor appeared on the screen. They were standing on a white sandy beach. The breeze made Mom’s hair fly behind her.

  “You’re all together,” she said with delight.

  “Hey, Mrs. C., how’s the beach?” Andy leaned over my shoulder.

  “It’s great. It’s wonderful. We’re having the best time, aren’t we, Doug?”

  The Professor’s smile was equally wide. “The sea and the surf are good for the soul, and with my gorgeous bride by my side, who could ask for more?” He winked and waved hello.

  “How’s the renovation?” Mom asked.

  “We’ll show you.” I handed the phone to Bethany and let her take Mom on a virtual tour of the new space.

  “It’s beautiful,” Mom exclaimed as Bethany moved the phone from station to station.

  “Not a word about anything else,” I whispered to everyone as Bethany started to move back toward us.

  Sterling nodded. Andy and Bethany shared a strange look. I guess I hadn’t even realized that the team wasn’t completely in the loop. That was probably for the best. My poor staff was going to think I was crazy.

  Mom clapped. “It’s so fun to see everyone and the new space. I can’t wait to get back and see it in person.”

  “Not too fast, Mrs. C. You’re on your honeymoon.”

  “Don’t worry, Andy. I promise that Doug and I intend to soak up every minute of our time here.” She blew us kisses. “We’ll see you in a week.”

  Everyone waved a final good-bye before I hung up the phone. It was good to see her so happy. We returned to Carlos’s dance party and organization. I couldn’t believe how well everything had turned out, especially now that Megan’s killer had been apprehended. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with Clarissa, but as I had told Roger I would do my best to convince whoever I needed to not to pursue charges as long as she committed to getting some professional help.

  I was ready for Torte’s next evolution and excited about what was ahead. Late in the afternoon, when everyone was focused on cleanup and prep for the next day, Carlos pulled me aside.

  “Julieta, can we speak for a moment?”

  “Sure.” I tried to hold a brave face, but my stomach dropped.

  We moved into the seating area and sat in two oversized chairs in front of the woodstove. There was no need to light a fire today, but I knew this would be a coveted spot in the winter months.

  “I must ask you something, mi querida, but I want you not to respond right away. I want to ask you this today so that you have some time to think and to consider my proposal. Ramiro and I will be here for another three days, so you do not need to answer until it is time for us to go.”

  I gulped. Was he going to ask me to come back to the ship with him? We’d had this conversation a dozen times and my answer hadn’t changed. As much as I missed Carlos, I didn’t want to return to my old life.

  “Okay.”

  He scooted his chair closer so that our knees were touching. “Ramiro and I have been so happy here with you
and your wonderful team for these past few days.”

  “I know. Everyone has loved having you here.”

  “Everyone?” His eyes held a longing.

  “Everyone,” I said quietly.

  “Sí, I have loved being so close with you again, Julieta, which is why I must ask if we might stay.”

  “Stay?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Carlos wanted to stay.

  “Sí, I have asked the ship for leave. They have granted my request. It is temporary. They will hold a position for me for one year. No longer. If I do not choose to return in a year, then I must reapply or find a new job, but for one year they will allow me to go.”

  “Wow.”

  He nodded. “And I have spoken with Ramiro’s mother. She does not want him to be so far away, but he has wanted to study in America. It is common in Spain to travel, to study abroad. She will miss him desperately, but she has said she will allow him to come and go to school here next year.”

  “She has?” I knew I was only repeating everything Carlos was saying but I was dumbfounded by this news.

  “I do not want to pressure you. I want to be with you. More than ever, but I understand if you do not feel the same. I also understand why you have fallen so madly and deeply for Ashland. We love it too.”

  “But what would you do? Don’t you think you would be bored?”

  “Bored?” Carlos leaned back and frowned. “Me? Never. How could I be bored with you? And the wonderful townspeople and so much food?”

  I chuckled.

  His tone turned serious again. “This is one of the reasons I have invested in Uva. If you are willing to have us and give us a try—another chance—I will run the winery. I would love to cook and be among the grapes each day. I can smell the earth right now.” He closed his eyes and inhaled.

  “I would want to give you your space. I do not want to interfere at Torte, but I would help and Ramiro would too. He would love to work with Andy after his classes at school.”

  I wanted to pinch myself. Was this real? Was Carlos actually saying that he wanted to stay in Ashland and become part of my world here?