by Diane Weiner
As Emily predicted, the small lot in front of the school was nearly full when they arrived. They headed to the cafeteria, where projects were displayed on rows of tables at the stage end of the barn-like room. Maddy took her place next to her board, notecards in hand. Ava’s project was right next to Maddy’s.
Emily whispered to Henry, “Poor Ava. I’m sure she wishes her mother was here to see this.”
“I’m glad the projects were due well before Faith was killed. There’s Dave Maguire with Mila and the housekeeper. What’s her name again?”
“Tilly.”
Henry walked over to Ava’s project. “So, how much would it cost to swap out the eight windows in my cabin for these blizzard proof windows?”
Ava, sounding like a scientist, answered, “It depends on the size of your windows, but you have to figure in the savings on your heating bill as well, as these insulate twice as well as traditional glass windows.”
Henry said, “We should have tried this out. We just had to replace a window.”
Ava answered, “These windows don’t actually exist. It’s just a project.”
Dave Maguire, who’d been within earshot, replied, “Yet. They don’t exist yet, but I think she’s onto something.”
“Dad, if it wasn’t for you I never would have come up with this material, let alone been able to make and cut it to fit the model like you did.” Turned our barn into a woodshop. You should stop over one day.
Mila, clinging to Tilly, said, “Daddy made me a dollhouse and he put blizzard proof windows in there for me.”
“Your Daddy’s handy with building.” He turned to Dave, “I do woodworking myself. We turned our barn into a woodshop. You should stop over one day.”
“I’d like that.”
Emily said, “There’s Jessica. I’ll be right back.”
Jessica, with Sam at her side, was making her way through the rows of projects. Emily said, “Jessica, can I talk to you for a moment? In private?”
Sam gave her a look. “You can talk in front of me.”
“This is private, family business. We’ll only be a moment.” She led Jessica to a corner of the cafeteria.
“Emily, is something wrong? Is Maddy okay?”
“I’m just going to spit it out. Has your biological father been in touch with you?”
“You mean super sperm? No. He’s in jail. How would he even know I exist?”
“Well, somehow he knows about Maddy. He wrote to her from prison. Maddy has a stack of letters under her bed from him.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. What did Maddy say about it?”
“I haven’t confronted her yet. The worst part is, she was working on a reply. I don’t want her having contact with him.”
“I don’t blame you! I can’t figure out how he found her, or why the prison allowed him to send her letters. You have to tell her to stay clear. Maybe you can get some sort of restraining order.”
“We intend to put a stop to this. Will you back us up? I’m expecting resistance from Maddy.”
“Of course. Let me know when you’ve talked to her and I’ll follow up.”
Sam strutted up to them. “Jessica, are you done?”
Jessica shook her head. “I told you to give me a minute.”
“It’s okay,” said Emily. “I should be getting back to Maddy. Come see her project.”
“That’s why we’re here.”
“And thanks for supporting us.”
“Of course.”
As Emily started back, she heard Sam question Jessica. “What was that all about? Support them how?” She didn’t like his tone or his body language. She was about to chase after them and say something about treating women with respect when she noticed a business card had fallen out of his pocket. She picked it up. Fielding Construction. Henry waved to her. “I’ll be right there.” She worked her way back to Maddy’s project.
Dave Maguire was browsing through the displays. “Look at how clever these kids are. One of them will cure cancer someday.”
Emily certainly hoped that day would come sooner rather than later.
“And did you see this? It’s a device you stick into food and it reads how many carbs it has and the insulin you’d need to cover it. What a help for diabetics. My own mother could sure use that. Every time I take her out to a restaurant, she frets about whether she’s getting the right amount of insulin because it’s hard to figure what’s in some of those restaurant dishes.”
Henry came around the corner. “You have to see this, both of you.” He led them down the row to where Maddy and Ava were. “Look. Both Maddy and Ava are going on to the state competition. Isn’t that something?”
Emily noticed the blue ribbons stuck to the two boards. “Wow! I’m so proud of both of you.”
Dave hugged his daughter. “I knew you had a winner there.”
Ava said, “I wish Mom was here to see this.”
“I’m sorry she isn’t,” said Dave. “However, if she was alive, I wouldn’t have been allowed to be a part of this and I wouldn’t want to have missed this for the world.”
Emily said, “I’m sure your Mom knows and is smiling up in heaven. Maddy’s mom is doing the same.”
The principal took the microphone and when the feedback was under control, announced the three finalists who would be moving on to the state level. She handed each a certificate. Emily took out her phone and must have clicked a dozen pictures of Maddy as well as a few of Ava––in case her dad was too new at this sort of thing to think of it. The principal invited everyone to have punch and cookies, courtesy of the PTA.
Maddy said, “Can we skip the cookies? I’m tired. Can we go home now?”
“Sure. Come on.” Henry said, “Do you have your certificate?”
“Yes, it’s right here.”
“We’ll have to buy a nice frame for it,” said Emily.
“I’ve got a better idea. I’ll make one in my woodworking shop and we can customize it with the date. I’ll paint it blue so it doesn’t match the bean plants.”
“Funny, Dad.”
Henry had barely started the Jeep when he saw in the rearview mirror that Maddy had fallen asleep in the back.
“Emily, did you notice what Ava said? She said her father helped her with the project.”
“I’m sure she was able to call him or Facetime, even if Faith didn’t know about it.”
“But he cut the windows for her. He’d have to be here in the flesh to do that. The projects were due weeks ago, right?”
“Last month. You’re right.”
“And he put the windows in Mila’s playhouse, too. When, since Faith’s death, did he have the time to do that?”
“Mila was playing with a home-made dollhouse when we dropped food by right after Faith’s death.”
“I think Dave Maguire has been in town for over a month. He rented Trent’s cabin, then when Faith was killed, he moved into the house. Trent identified him at the hospital earlier. Remember the snow storm in Atlanta? He couldn’t have gotten here when he said he did.”
“You’re right. Mila seemed awfully comfortable with him, considering she’d barely ever visited with him and Faith had gotten full custody. You think he snuck into town and killed Faith so he could be with his daughters?”
“He lied, almost certainly, and now his alibi about being in Georgia is blown out of the water. The police have to find out where he really was the night it happened. If I was forbidden from seeing my child…just saying.”
“In other words, he had motive.”
“A strong one.”
Chapter 20
Saturday meant a leisurely breakfast for Emily and Henry, and extra hours of sleep for Maddy. Emily poured food into Chester’s bowl and sat down at the table with a copy of the crossword puzzle.
Henry said, “We should call Megan and tell her what we figured out about Dave Maguire.”
“How about if we verify the dates with Trent first? Wasn’t Pat taking her on that p
icnic today? To propose?”
“You’re right.”
“By the way, I spoke to Jessica last night at the science fair and she said she would talk to Maddy about staying clear of her inmate father. We should talk to her before that, but I hate admitting I was snooping.”
“You weren’t snooping. You had a reason for being in her room.”
“It was her fault. If she hadn’t forgotten her permission slip…”
“Look, what’s considered snooping under normal circumstances is just plain parenting when it involves a teenager. One of the nurses at the hospital has all her daughter’s passwords and regularly checks her social media accounts. You can’t be too careful these days. Remember a few months ago—the girl who was lured out of her house in the middle of the night by a predator? If her parents had kept a closer eye…”
Emily shuddered. “You’re right.” She popped a bagel in the toaster.
Henry looked out the window. “It’s awfully cloudy. I hope the weather holds up for Pat and Megan’s big picnic.”
Maddy came into the kitchen. “What big picnic?”
Henry said, “You have to swear to secrecy?”
Maddy played along. “Yes, Dad.” She raised her right hand. “I, Maddy Fox, swear to keep the secret my father is about to tell me at all costs.”
Emily said, “This is important.”
“Pat is going to propose to Megan. He planned a picnic by the lake this afternoon.”
“Isn’t it a little cold for a picnic?”
Henry smiled at Emily. “It can be done.”
Emily said, “We’ll have to plan a nice engagement party at the inn.”
Henry said, “You’re assuming she’ll say yes.” He looked at Emily and Maddy’s faces. “Just kidding. Of course she’ll say yes.”
Emily said, “Come, sit down. We have to talk to you.”
“Uh-oh.” She rolled her eyes. “What now?”
“When you asked me to fetch your permission slip the other day, I found the letters under your bed. The ones from your biological father.” She watched Maddy’s face turn red.
“You spied on me!”
Henry intercepted, “Don’t go getting all indignant. We’re your parents and it’s our job to keep you safe. Why didn’t you tell us you’d been getting mail from him?”
“Because I knew you’d be like this.”
“Like what?” Emily took the bait.
“Like I’m not supposed to care about my real parents.”
“That’s so unfair I can’t believe those words just came out of your mouth.”
“Why? Because my real mother made you my guardian, despite your preference not to have your own kids? Because you felt obligated? Because I tried to kill myself?”
Henry said, “We’ve done nothing but love and protect you as if you were our own, but we never tried to take Fiona’s place.”
“Emily never talks about her.” She looked at Emily. “Do you even remember her? You were friends in college. Before she died, when was the last time you spoke to her?”
“That’s not fair. We may have lost touch, but…”
Henry said, “This isn’t about your mother, it’s about your biological father. Fiona never meant for him to be in your life. He was supposed to be an anonymous donor.”
“And it turns out he’s a felon,” said Emily. “I’m sure if your friend Brooke was in the same situation Nancy wouldn’t let her visit him in jail.”
“What does Brooke have to do with this? She knows her father. You aren’t even making sense.”
“We just want to keep you safe. If you need more information about his medical history, we can get that for you.”
“Medical history? I want to know where I got my big feet, or my crooked smile, or my love of science. Those didn’t come from my mother.”
“You have Jessica. And I’ll bet you’ll find other half siblings if you’re curious about your genes,” said Emily.
“I hate you,” said Maddy. She stormed out of the kitchen.
Henry said, “Wait for it…there.”
The door slammed shut, shaking the floor. “I make her feel like I don’t care about Fiona?”
“That’s nonsense. She’s just striking out. She isn’t fully in control of her emotions. Her frontal lobe isn’t developed yet.”
“Fiona should have chosen someone more capable. Maybe someone who had experience raising a biological child.”
“That’s nonsense. No more pity party. Go get dressed and let’s take a walk over to Trent’s place.”
By the time they were ready to go out, it was late morning. They walked around the lake to Trent’s cabin and found him outside stacking firewood.
“Hey, Doc. Making a house call? I changed the bandages like you told me, see?”
“I always appreciate it when my patients follow directions.”
“Can I help you with something?”
Henry said, “I was wondering if you can tell us more about Dave Maguire, the one you saw at the hospital the other day.”
“The short term renter? I barely know him.”
“When did he start his lease?”
“Must have been beginning of February. Only stayed a month.”
“Was he planning on staying longer?”
“He’d signed a three-month lease. I didn’t hold him to it when he told me what happened to his ex-wife and all.”
“Did he rent the place and fly back and forth?”
“No. Once he moved in he was here.”
Emily said, “Did you ever see him with his daughters? Did he bring them here?”
“Yeah. He had a girl around, I don’t know, 12, 13 years old. He was helping her build model houses. Had this fan blowing packing peanuts. Made a mess out of the yard but he cleaned it up before he moved out.”
“Thanks, Trent. Take care of that hand, now.”
Henry said, “Em, we have to tell the police.”
“Isn’t Pat proposing to Megan today?”
“Then we should tell Ron. Dave Maguire lied and had a good reason for wanting Faith dead. I wonder if he has an alibi? We never told the police we spotted the motorcycle at Smyth Haven either.”
“What alibi? No one knew he was here.” Emily felt a chill. The sky was gray and snow flurries fell onto her jacket, melting into specks of water when they made contact. She picked up the pace.
Henry hurried to keep up with her. “My phone is buzzing. It’s Maddy.”
“At least she’s still speaking to you.”
“Maddy? Yeah, okay. We’re almost home. I’ll drop you off when we get there.”
Emily said, “Drop her off where?”
“Ava’s. She’s going to help Ava catch up on the schoolwork she missed.”
“I’ll come with you. We can stop by the police station afterwards.”
Maddy was waiting, backpack in hand when they opened the front door.
“Why do you both have to come?”
“We have somewhere to go afterwards. If you’d prefer to walk…”
“It’s fine.” She climbed into the back of the Jeep and stuck her earbuds into her ears. When they arrived at Ava’s, Henry said, “Let’s go in with her. We can have a chat with Dave Maguire if he’s home.”
Tilly answered the door. “Come on in, Ava. Henry and Emily, right? Come in before you get wet. The snow is picking up. One day you think it’s just about spring and the next? They’re predicting several inches between now and the morning.”
Dave came into the foyer holding Mila. “Thanks for bringing Maddy by. Ava’s having a hard time catching up, especially with geometry. You miss a few days in a class like that and suddenly it all looks Greek. Never was much of a math person myself.”
“Maddy’s a natural born teacher. Glad she can help,” said Henry. “Dave, do you have a minute? Emily and I would like to talk to you.” He looked at Mila, clinging to his neck. “Alone, if that’s possible.”
“I’ll take her,” said Tilly. “Come
here, my little love. Do you want to help me make those cookies we talked about?” She took Mila into the kitchen.
“Come, sit down. What do you want to talk about?”
Henry said, “I don’t know how to bring this up tactfully. You said you got to town the evening Faith’s body was found.”
“That’s right.”
“But there was a blizzard going on, and all the flights were canceled or delayed. You said you flew through Atlanta.”
Dave looked at the floor. “That’s right. I got lucky. Found a seat on the last plane out.”
“I also know that you were renting a cabin for at least a month prior to when you said you flew here.”
“I, um, I rented it so I’d have it for spring break—so I could visit with the girls. Flew out, rented it, went back to Savannah.”
Emily said, “I thought Faith had taken out a restraining order?”
Henry added, “And I know you helped Ava with her science project. Your landlord verified it.”
“It wasn’t a restraining order. Okay. So I missed my girls. A lot. Ava had been secretly texting me and was desperate to see me. She said Mila missed me, too. And Mila was ill. I thought the stress of being away from me may have been a contributing factor.”
Henry said, “But you were violating the law. Why didn’t you just appeal the court decision?”
“I was saving money to do just that. Attorneys don’t come cheap, you know. And I needed a more skilled one than I’d gotten the first time.”
Emily blurted out, “Did you kill your wife?”
“What? No. Of course not. I could never…”
“Do you have an alibi? For the night she was killed?”
“Yes, um…I do but I can’t say.”
“What do you mean you can’t say?” said Henry. “If you don’t provide an alibi, the police are going to charge you with murder.” He knew the police needed more than suspicion to arrest him but hoped Dave would fall for his bluff.
“You have nothing tying me to the scene. No physical evidence, no eyewitness statements. Besides, where would I get that drug that killed her?”
“You said your mother was diabetic, the night of the science fair.”
“And my mother lives in Savannah. Do you think I grabbed some of her meds, stuck them in my suitcase, then spiked Faith’s dessert with them? Get real. Those drugs are prescription. You can’t just take them away from someone who depends on it.”
