by B R Snow
“Okay, will do,” Chief Abrams said, then called out. “Are you okay?”
“I said, I’ll be fine,” I snapped, annoyed at being asked again.
I guess getting shot was enough of an excuse to be a little snarky.
“What?” Chief Abrams said, glancing over his shoulder at me. “I heard you the first time. And I’m very glad you’re okay. But I was talking to Detective Williams.” He refocused on the water, and I heard the sound of splashing. “Hey, that was a pretty cool move, Detective. Well done.”
“Thanks,” I heard from off in the distance.
“He drifted right down to their boat,” Chief Abrams said glancing back at us and shaking his head in amazement. “Well, I’ll be. Wait until you guys see what he’s doing.”
“We better get him out of the water,” I said, grimacing as I sat up and rested on one elbow. “He was already whining about how cold it is.”
“I heard that. And I wasn’t whining,” Detective Williams said from the water. “It was merely an observation.” Then he barked a command. “I said, hands up.”
Rooster pulled back the burnt section of fabric next to my shoulder and examined the wound.
“Geez, that’s a bad burn, Suzy,” he said. “We gotta get you to the ER.”
“I’m fine,” I said, using my good arm to stand. I wobbled a bit, then leaned against the back of the driver seat. “And I have some questions for Missy.”
“You’re unbelievable,” Rooster said, shaking his head.
“Finally, somebody notices.”
Chief Abrams tied Rooster’s boat to the stolen rental then reached down to help both women onto ours.
“Don’t try anything funny,” Detective Williams said.
Confused by his comment, I glanced down into the water and realized the detective was holding onto the rental boat with one hand and pointing his gun at Missy and Jessie with the other.
“The water’s pretty cold, huh?” I said.
“Yeah, you might say that,” he said, his teeth chattering.
“I doubt if your waterlogged gun is even still working,” Jessie said as she climbed into the boat.
“You want to try and find out?” the detective said.
Chief Abrams helped Missy into the boat, and she sat down next to Jessie on the padded seat that ran along the transom. He had them both stand back up, did a quick search of both women, then nodded.
“Okay, they’re clean,” he said, sitting down between them.
“I can’t believe I forgot all about the flare gun,” Rooster said softly. “I keep them in all my rentals. I’m so sorry, Suzy.”
“Don’t worry about it, Rooster,” I said, slowly making my way to the back of the boat. “You didn’t shoot me.”
“I’m sorry about that, Suzy,” Jessie said, chagrined. “I wasn’t aiming at you. I was just trying to set your boat on fire so we could escape.”
“Yeah, good plan,” I deadpanned, then examined my shoulder that continued to burn and throb. “Man, that really hurts.”
I sat down on a bench seat and stared at Missy while the Chief draped a blanket over my shoulders. Missy eventually made eye contact and shrugged. I looked away and focused on Rooster who was wrapping a blanket around the shivering Detective Williams. Then he started the boat and headed back toward the hospital with the rental in tow.
“We’ll drop Suzy off first, then you guys can do your thing with those two,” Rooster said, glancing over his shoulder. Then he reached into his pocket for his phone.
“That’ll work,” Chief Abrams said.
I made eye contact with Missy again, and we stared at each other in silence each waiting for the other to go first.
“How did you figure it out?” she said, eventually.
“It wasn’t easy,” I said. “I almost missed it.”
“But then I made some sort of mistake?” she said, frowning.
“No, not really. It was almost perfect. At least it was until you were forced to show up tonight.”
“I couldn’t run the risk of Bill talking,” she said.
“No, you couldn’t. And that’s what I was counting on.”
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Missy said.
“Yeah. He never made it out of my mother’s garden.”
“So, you decided to fake his life.”
“See?” I said, glancing at Chief Abrams. “She gets it.”
The Chief shot me a dirty look then stared out at the water.
“You need to understand that Jessie had nothing to do with the murders,” Missy said.
“Missy, it’s okay,” Jessie said. “Don’t worry about me.
“I know she didn’t,” I said. “You dragged her into it after you heard Bill was still alive.”
“Yes,” Missy said, tearing up.
“Getting everyone to believe that you’d be arriving in town the day after Roger got killed was a stroke of genius,” I said, focusing on Missy.
“It was,” she said, shrugging. “Or so I thought.”
“But you were around town the whole time, right?”
“I was. I even went to the trouble of checking into a motel about four hours away, then after I registered, I got back in my car and finished the trip.”
“So, where did you stay the night you killed Roger?”
“In my car. In a parking lot a few miles out of town,” she said. “But how on earth did you figure out I was the one who killed him?”
“I was in the men’s bathroom when you shoved the cyanide capsule down his throat. What was it in?”
“A little gumdrop,” Missy said. “He barely even noticed it. Hang on a second. You were in the men’s bathroom?”
“Yeah,” I said, then realized how strange that sounded. “Long story.”
“All the good ones are,” she said with a shrug. “You saw us in there?”
“No, I was hiding in the supply closet.”
“You really need to get out more,” Jessie said.
“Yeah, you don’t have to tell me,” I said, glancing at her before refocusing on Missy. “And you were whispering the whole time, so I couldn’t even hear your voice.”
“Then how did you figure it out?” Missy said, frowning again.
“It eventually came to me. At first, we were convinced it had to be one of the women at the rehearsal dinner. And we got it narrowed down to four.”
“Charlotte and Trudy. And, of course, Jennifer and Faith,” she said.
“Yeah. And after seeing the way Charlotte and Trudy pound the booze, there was no way they could have done it.”
“Oh, I’m sure they could have done it,” Missy said. “What I think you meant to say was that there was no way they could have gotten away with it.”
“A professor to the end, huh?” I said, grinning at her.
“Old habits die hard.”
“Yes, they do. And that was something Roger and Bill always managed to prove, right?” I said, glancing back and forth at both women.
“You got that right,” Missy said.
“And after I got to know Jennifer and Faith a bit, I was convinced neither one of them was smart enough to pull something like that off,” I said.
“The malfunctioning elevators,” she said, frowning.
“Exactly,” I said. “And after we ruled all four of them out, you two were the only logical suspects left. And since we were convinced that Jessie showing up to work the reception was truly a coincidence, we were left with you.”
“It was a coincidence,” Jessie said. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw Bill and Missy there.”
My shoulder pain flared, and I winced. I glanced down at my wound, then regretted it immediately.
“Yuk,” I said, frowning. “But the fact that you weren’t in town the night Roger got killed was the big stumbling block. Then I remembered a conversation I had with Jackson. I was kidding him about your little late-night stroll in the garden, then he made a comment about how good a kisser you are. And I remembered R
oger saying the exact same thing to you in the bathroom.”
“That was a mistake,” Missy said. “But I’d had a little too much champagne. I never should have done that. The Jackson thing, not Roger. That I don’t regret at all.”
“You slipped a breath mint into his mouth along with the cyanide capsule, right?”
“I did.”
“And since Faith was always gobbling those things by the handful, you thought the cops would suspect her.”
“Yes, especially after they found the bag of capsules I slipped into her purse. And the lipstick stain I rubbed on Roger’s collar is going to match the one Faith uses.”
“Good attention to detail. Still, that was pretty risky, wasn’t it?” I said. “You know, transferring a poison pill from your mouth to his?”
“Not really,” she said, managing a small laugh. “It was tucked away in the gumdrop and knew it would take a while to dissolve. And Roger was a pig. He was always more than willing to open wide for me.”
“At the risk of repeating myself, yuk,” I said, frowning. “So, you just showed up at the restaurant and waited for him to go the men’s room?”
“Actually, I was expecting him to step outside to have a cigarette,” Missy said. “But I was convinced the bathroom was empty when he went in, and I just followed him. Somehow I missed seeing you go in.”
“What were you whispering about in there? Did you tell him you wanted to talk about a possible reconciliation?” I said.
“Oh, no way,” she said, grimacing and shaking her head. “It was more like how about once more for old-time sake. Obviously, he was all over the prospect of that. After that, I got out the heck out of there and waited to be told the news after I’d arrived in town the next morning.”
“Well, I have to say that you were very convincing,” I said.
“Not convincing enough. Was it your idea to fake the scene at the hospital tonight?”
“It was,” I said, nodding.
“Brilliant.”
“Thanks.”
“But you weren’t sure who the killer was at the time, right? That was just a clever ruse to get me to show my face.”
“Yeah, up until today, I was wondering if Faith or Jennifer might actually come strolling into the room. Then that all changed when we were out on the boat.”
“I’m not following you,” Missy said. “I don’t remember anything happening out there.”
“Jessie and I were chatting about her childhood, and she mentioned what happened to her parents. She used the foster-child story on me, and at the time I didn’t give it a lot of thought. Then it started to bother me. I mean, why would a young girl about to inherit a lot of money end up in foster care? So, I called the Chief and asked him to see what he could find out.”
“Your parents’ accident was all over the place when I searched for it,” the Chief said. “Along with several follow-up articles about your...problems.”
“You mean my meltdown,” Jessie said.
“You were only six,” the Chief said. “I can’t imagine what that would be like. After I located the name of the place you were taken, I asked Detective Williams to run it down. He’s got more juice than a small-town cop. And he ended up speaking with a Dr. Charles.”
“I wouldn’t believe a word that quack has to say,” Jessie said.
“Even the part about Missy being your assigned sponsor?” I said, glancing back and forth at them.
They both fell silent and looked down at the deck.
“I can’t go back there, Missy.”
“Hang in there, Jess. We’ll figure something out.”
“How did you two meet?” I said.
“I did some work at the place where Jessie was staying. I was doing research on the rehabilitation of children trying to recover from serious childhood trauma.”
“Was that before or after you escaped and stole the car?”
Jessie flinched, then looked up at me.
“Way before.”
“Jessie is fine,” Missy said, tearing up. “At least she was until I got her involved in this mess. But those two animals wouldn’t leave her alone.”
“You’re forgetting that sleeping with them was my choice,” Jessie said.
“You slept with Roger as well?” I said, surprised.
“Actually, I slept with him before Bill. They were always hanging out in a couple of bars the students went to,” Jessie said. “I had no idea he was Missy’s ex-husband. And he had no idea she was my sponsor.”
“Weird,” I said, then looked over at Missy. “And when you found out, you were determined not to let them do the same thing they did to you and Jill’s family.” I exhaled loudly as my neurons finally relaxed when the last piece of the puzzle snapped into place. “That was your motive, right? You just didn’t want to have the same thing happen to Jessie.”
“You’re good,” Missy said, nodding. “It simply had to stop. And Jess wasn’t capable of saying no. They were predators, and I was obviously familiar with what both of them were capable of. I was convinced that both of them would end up treating Jess like a piece of trash and send her into a major tailspin.”
“I told you I was fine,” Jessie snapped. “But you had to stick your nose into my business.”
“I was trying to protect you. Because I knew what they were capable of,” Missy said, protesting. “They were going to use you then toss you away like a used tissue.”
“I was having fun,” Jessie said. “For the first time in my life.”
“Did Missy talk you into helping her with the cover-up?” I said.
“No, as soon as she told me what she’d done, I raised my hand,” Jessie said. “I didn’t think it was possible we’d ever get caught. But when I started to think about what might happen to me, I freaked out, changed my mind, and decided to leave town. But Missy stopped me.”
“It would have looked suspicious. And we were so close. We would’ve been on the road by now,” Missy said, tears streaming down her face. “If you hadn’t ruined it.”
“Sure, sure,” I said, nodding. “Sorry about that.”
I felt the boat slow down and noticed we were approaching the hospital dock where two hospital staff were already waiting. They were bouncing up and down in their scrubs and shivering in the cold night air. Standing next to them were two state policemen. I was sure they were also freezing their butts off, but they were doing a good job of hiding it.
“It is always this cold in late May?” Jessie said, hugging herself.
“Sometimes,” I said, wincing and gently rubbing my shoulder.
Chief Abrams got to his feet after Rooster brought the boat to a stop at the dock.
“Okay, let’s go,” he said to Missy and Jessie.
They gave me a quick wave then headed for the steps along the side of the boat. Then Missy turned around.
“You’ll take good care of my babies, right?” she said, tears streaming down her face.
“We will,” I said. “That’s one thing you won’t have to worry about, Missy.”
“I guess it’s a start,” she said, then climbed out of the boat.
I watched the two policemen handcuff both of them, then escort them up the path that led to the hospital. Detective Williams climbed up onto the dock, the blanket still wrapped around him. He was met by one of the hospital staff who walked next to him as they headed up the hill. Rooster and Chief Abrams helped me up onto the dock and continued to watch me closely.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Rooster said.
“I’ll be fine,” I said, grimacing.
“That’s good,” Chief Abrams said. “Because if you weren’t, we’d be in a world of hurt.”
“What?” I said, staring at him.
He nodded at the path where my mother was hustling down toward the dock, trailed closely by Josie.
“Uh-oh,” I said, then glanced back and forth at Chief Abrams and Rooster. “Just play it cool and let me do all the talking, okay?”
“No argument from me,” Chief Abrams said.
My mother came to a stop directly in front of me, obviously concerned about my well-being. She examined my shoulder without touching it, then gently probed the outside of the wound with her fingers. I flinched and glared at her.
“Hey, go easy with the nails, Mom.”
“You got shot,” she said, glancing around at all three of us.
“Just with a flare gun,” I said, shrugging. “It just grazed me. I’m fine.”
“I think we’ll let the doctor make that decision,” she said, staring at the wound that continued to ooze copious amounts of blood.
“It’s just a flesh wound.”
“Yes, I can see that. And a whole lot of flesh at that. Rooster, Chief, how did this happen?”
They glanced at each other, then bit their lips, and looked over at me.
“It was my fault, Mom. I was trying to stop Detective Williams from shooting back, and I sort of walked right into the flare when I pushed him overboard.” I looked at the Chief and Rooster. “That pretty much sums it up, right?”
“Yeah, that’s what I remember,” Rooster said.
“Yup,” the Chief said, rocking back and forth on his heels.
“Okay,” my mother said, refocusing her glare on me. “Let’s get you inside so the doctor can take a look at you. But this is far from over, young lady.”
“You might want to go easy on me, Mom. I did just solve two murders. No thanks to the Fife twins.”
“What?” she said, frowning. “Twins?”
“She’s probably just in shock,” Chief Abrams blurted.
“Never mind,” I said, ignoring the look he was giving me and spotting the remaining staff member heading toward us pushing a wheelchair. “Hey, Johnny. How are you doing?”
“A bit better than you from the look of things, Suzy,” he said. “Your chariot awaits.”
“Nah, I don’t need that,” I said, then took a look at the long pathway that led back up to the hospital. Deciding that it probably wasn’t the best night to begin my long overdue exercise regimen, I snuck another peek at the gentle incline, then smiled at Johnny. “On second thought, maybe I will take a ride.”
