by Linnea West
"Wait," I exclaimed. Jill leveled her gun at me again. "If I am going to die anyways, I deserve an explanation. I understand why you killed her, but how did you cover your tracks so thoroughly?"
Jill laughed a maniacal laugh. Her eyes darted all over the room, but her gun always stayed pointed right at me. I didn't dare make any sudden movements or I was afraid she would pull the trigger.
"As if you didn't already know!" she exclaimed.
Apparently she thought I had already solved everything and had simply not turned her in yet. While I appreciated that she thought I was so smart, I really didn't know. Jill had not really been on my radar besides the fact that she had been acting strange.
And she was still acting strange. Here she was pacing in front of the door with a pistol pointed at me. That would certainly qualify as strange.
"Okay, fine," she said. "I'll spell it all out for you. After the confrontation at the store, Clarie came to my apartment that afternoon to apologize to me. I wouldn't even let her in. I laughed in her face because she had ruined my life! Did she really think she could just waltz back in and apologize and everything would be hunky-dory?"
Now, I hadn't really known Claire, but from my brief time with her I got the impression that yes, she did think that it would set everything straight. Claire had seemed like the kind of person allowed to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted to do that. Of course, that didn't mean she should have been murdered.
"Anyways, I did feel kind bad and figured I should meet her to hear her out," Jill said. "So after she left, I dropped off that note telling her to meet me that night. When she came over, she thought we could go back to being friends. I told her that I had been really hurt by her, especially when she called me trailer trash. But she laughed again. She laughed at me and told me that she had just been telling the truth and that I shouldn't be ashamed of where I came from. That I should accept it, own it, and move on."
As Jill talked, her eyes were filling with tears again. This time, she didn't wipe them away. She just let them flow down her cheeks as she waved the gun around while she gestured. I hadn't liked Claire from just that small encounter at the Christmas Shop and judging by Jill's story, there was no hidden, redeeming factor that would have made me like her even more.
Obviously I don't ever condone murder, but I really felt for Jill in that moment. She had worked so hard to achieve her childhood dreams and all it took was one selfish person to rip them away. And then she had moved away to try to rebuild. I didn't blame her for being angry when Claire came to town. I felt bad for Jill and then I caught a glimpse of the gun again and remembered she was kind of planning on killing me.
"At that moment, I decided I needed to do something," she said. "So I told her I could let her into the Christmas Shop. I couldn't just kill her in my apartment. Then it would be obvious it was me. I felt bad because I really did like Sue, but it couldn't be helped. So I took her down there and walked through the dark store with her. Sue had left her keys in the door as she does more often than she remembers them, so I didn't even have to use my own keys."
I inched towards my bedroom window, trying to decide whether it would be worth the jump down. I would probably end up breaking my leg just like my mother had and we certainly didn't need two of us in wheelchairs, although if I stayed here I may end up dead. That was probably worse.
"I looked around the Christmas Shop for something to hurt Claire with and those solid, metal icicle ornaments were just sitting right there," Jill said. "So I grabbed one and stabbed her in the stomach with it. Can you believe Claire had the audacity to be upset when I told her I wasn't going to call her an ambulance? Like I would save her life after she had ruined mine. But I realized that I couldn't just take the rap for it. So I ran upstairs and got a cigar from that package I told you was for my dad. I mean, it was for my dad, but it also worked perfectly to plant evidence. I spread the ashes around so that it would look like Rich had been there. I figured between that and the keys, they would never suspect me."
Jill scoffed. We were quiet for a moment and I thought I could hear the noise of someone getting closer to my room. After you live somewhere for so long, you know all of the noises in the house. I decided to clue whoever it was into what was happening in my room.
"Can you just put the gun down Jill?" I said, a little more loudly than normal. I hoped whoever was lurking in the hallway was someone who had come to find me and not a lost party guest stumbling around looking for a bathroom.
Jill threw her head back and laughed. I had the feeling that if something didn't happen soon, she was going to use that gun on me. I was running out of time and the wine was making it hard to have any great ideas. The only idea it was giving me was to just risk it and jump out the window.
"I really won't tell anyone about the murder," I said, loudly again. "I just need you to put the gun down. You can leave right now and no one will ever know except you and me."
"Yeah right," she scoffed. "Why in the world would I do that? I've learned I can't trust anyone except myself. The people I get close to just take advantage of me and throw me to the side. I'm not going to let that happen again."
As Jill continued to rant about the injustices of her life, I saw the door crack open behind her. I tried not to stare at the space so that I didn't alert Jill to it. I hoped whoever was on the other side was someone who could offer me some real help.
"Jill, I'm willing to listen, but I need you to put down the gun," I said, snapping my eyes towards the slightly open door, hoping that whoever was outside heard what I said and could come up with a good plan.
I realized that I needed to get her to move slightly towards me because if she stayed that close to the door, they wouldn't be able to open it far enough to do anything except enrage the woman with the gun by hitting her with the door.
"Jill, come on over here and sit down," I said, beckoning her towards me. She took one step closer to me and then stopped, suspicious of what I wanted.
"No, I'm the one that gives the orders right now," Jill said. She continued to talk about people she trusted letting her down, so I tried to tune her out and come up with another plan.
Straight up asking didn't get me far. What else could I do? I glanced slowly around my room until my eyes landed on the window next to my bed again. I couldn't actually jump out of it, but what if I just pretended to? That could give the person outside enough room to open the door and help.
I stood up and shuffled sideways towards the window, never taking my eyes off of the gun. I wanted to be ready in case I saw her start to pull the trigger.
"What are you doing?" Jill demanded. "Sit back down."
"I'm not just going to sit here and let you shoot me Jill," I said, continuing to inch over. "I'm going to open this window and jump out."
Jill squinted her eyes at me as if she were trying to figure out if I were serious or not. I got to the window and pulled it open. An icy blast shot inside, blowing snowflakes all over the room. The sheer, cream colored curtain panels on either side of the window blew around wildly between Jill and I.
I turned and looked at Jill. I didn't know how close I would have to get to actually climbing out of the window, but I was hoping I didn't have to actually start putting my leg out. I waited for her to make a move, but she still stood staring at me.
I sat my bottom on my windowsill, careful not to put too much of myself out of the window. The last thing I needed was to actually fall out of the window while pretending to jump out of the window. It worked because Jill started to stride towards me. She dropped the gun to her side in one hand while she reached out towards me with the other. I couldn't tell whether she was going to grab me or push me.
The door slammed open just as the curtains blew up again. I looked back at Jill who was within arm's reach and wondered if whoever had opened the door would make it to me in time.
Chapter Thirty-Six
The crash of the door opening into the desk was enough to startle Jill
and stop her in her tracks. I jumped up from my perch on the windowsill and threw myself onto my bed as I watched Clark tackle Jill to the floor. Trina came flying in after him and snatched the gun off of the floor while my other sister Tilly dashed past everyone and slammed the window shut. Mandy came in and helped Clark subdue Jill.
I sat on my bed for a moment, frozen while my mind tried to wrap around what had just happened. Clark was sitting on Jill's back, trying to keep her pinned without actually hurting her. Trina was holding the gun delicately, trying hard not to destroy any evidence that may be on it.
"Are you okay?" Clark asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay," I said. "She didn't actually do anything to me."
"But I would have," Jill said in a low grunt. She started to cry, but her sobs were muffled by the floor.
"I'm going to go get Max," Tilly said before she dashed back out of the door. Now that the door was opened, I could hear the party still going on downstairs. The jazz band was playing a lively Christmas song and from the sounds of it, there were people dancing. I had almost completely forgotten about the party going on. When you stare down the barrel of a gun, a lot of things get erased out of your mind.
"How did you know to come help me?" I asked.
"Well we didn't at first," Clark said. "Trina had told me about your surprise for your mom. I figured you'd be back down in a few minutes after Jill came, but it had been a long time. So I asked Trina if she had seen you yet. When she said no, we went to find Mandy."
"I said I had no idea where you were," Mandy said from beside me. "So together we decided to come up and figure out what happened. Just as we got into the family area, we heard you saying something about a murder and a gun, so we knew that whatever was going on wasn't good."
"We crept up to the door," Trina said. "When we cracked it open, we could see the gun in Jill's hand. So we made our plan, but Jill was too close to the door."
"Yeah, how did you know to have her move closer to you?" Clark said.
"I may have had a few glasses of wine, but I could still tell that the door wouldn't be able to open much with where she was standing," I said. "So I knew that for anyone to safely get in here and help me, I would have to get her to come away from the door. I'm just glad I didn't fall out of that window."
Mandy was smiling at me and as we reached a lull in the conversation, she reached over and gave me a big squeeze. I collapsed into her arms and let her hold me up for a little while. After a minute, I sat back up and looked at Clark and Trina keeping Jill subdued.
"But let me tell you, I was relieved it was you guys and not some lost party guest looking for a bathroom instead," I said.
We all laughed, except Jill who was softy crying. I couldn't help but feel bad for her, so I got off of my bed and knelt down beside her.
"Jill," I said. She looked at me and I used a tissue I had grabbed to dry her eyes and cheeks. "I forgive you. You might not say that you are sorry, but I do forgive you. I understand how lousy your situation was."
I reached over and squeezed her hand. I was surprised to feel her squeeze back, just a little.
Max and Tilly came thundering down the hallway and ran into my bedroom. Max stumbled backward a step as he looked around and I didn't blame him. Trina and Clark were sitting on Jill, who was still clad in her giant, puffy purple winter coat. I was knelt down beside her while Mandy was on the bed. A gun was just sitting on the floor, out of anyone's reach. And there was snow quickly melting all over my room from when I had opened the window.
"What in the world?" Max said. "I'm not exactly sure what is going on, but I can see it isn't good."
I gave Max a quick summary of what had happened including the fact that Jill was Claire's killer. I could see a sort of relief pass over Max's face when I told him that Rich wasn't the killer. I felt the same way, but I would feel even better when the adrenaline stopped pumping through my veins.
"I've already called for someone to come and arrest her," he said. "And it looks like so far you've all got it covered. I will just secure the gun."
A few seconds later, the wail of squad cars got closer and closer. I ran out of the room and to the top of the large staircase. The street outside suddenly had four squad cars come screeching up, all with lights and sirens blaring. Eight officers came charging in the front door, weapons drawn, and looked around, obviously unaware of the party that was happening.
"Up here," I yelled. "The murderer is up here."
Several of the party guests who happened to be in the front room turned and looked at me with horror written across their faces. I realized that made it sound like someone had been killed at the party, so I knew I had to say something.
"No one died up here," I yelled. "This is a murderer from a previous murder."
That didn't make anything better. In fact, it seemed to almost make things worse. The ridiculousness of the situation made all of the wine I had drank earlier in the evening catch up to me. I started giggling and couldn't stop.
My mother suddenly rolled out of the living room in her wheelchair pushed by my father. Her face wore a mask of concern. Apparently a jazz band wasn't enough to make them miss the parade of officers who came in the door and my yelling about a murderer.
"Are you alright Tessa?" my mother asked. My father gave me a stern look, obviously thinking I had been drinking much more than I actually had been.
"I'm okay Mom and Dad," I said as I walked down the stairs. "I didn't mean to ruin the party. And I'm sorry to say, but your surprise isn't here Mom. Well, unless you count this spectacle."
As I gestured towards the stairs, the parade of officers was back. The first two were doing crowd control while two more were carrying Jill in handcuffs. Behind them were two more officers with evidence bag and the last two were walking with Max. As Max got to the bottom of the staircase, he walked over to my parents and I.
"I hate to break up your party Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt," Max said. "But your daughter apprehended a murderer just now upstairs and I'll need her to come down to the station and answer some questions."
My parents both slowly turned to look at me, their jaws hanging open. I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn't really sure what to say and I wasn't going to tell them the whole story in the middle of our party.
"Come on Tessa," Max said. "You can ride with me."
Max grabbed our jackets and helped me into mine. I promised my parents that I would fill them in on everything when I got back and that they should keep up the party fun. Max and I stepped out into the cold, December air and I looked around at the beauty of winter around us. We rode to the police station in silence, but Max did hold my hand as we drove under all of the lights that were on in downtown.
I looked out at the giant town Christmas tree and laughed a little bit.
"What's so funny?" Max asked with a puzzled look on his face. Most people threatened with a gun were probably not so merry.
"Here I was so worried about how the party would go," I said. "In all of the scenarios I went through in my head about things going wrong, in none of them did I consider that a murderer would threaten me with a gun."
Chapter Thirty-Seven
I was sitting in the more comfortable interview room at the police station sipping a cup of hot chocolate that one of the secretaries had brought in for me. I knew the other interview room was bare, with only a metal table and a few uncomfortable chairs to sit in. My interview room had cushy chairs and some pictures on the wall. There was even a fern plant sitting in one corner. This was the room they put people like me who had unwittingly caught a murderer.
When I got to the police station, I had been brought in here and two police officers who were not Max had taken my statement. They asked a few questions, but I had tried to be pretty thorough so soon enough, they had left the room, leaving me to sit and wait. The magazines they had left me were not that interesting. At least, they were not interesting enough to be of any use after the first ten minutes of my wait. I didn't care much for Fishin
g and Hunting Quarterly or Midwestern Gardens.
The next time the door opened, Max came him. He gave me a sly smile and I knew that the smile was the flirtiest thing I'd get. He was in work mode as Officer Marcus now. Thankfully Officer Marcus was a pretty genial sort of guy.
"Hey Tessa," he said. "So Jill confessed to everything: the murder and threatening you. She didn't try to hide anything. I think she knew that we had her."
I nodded my head. I was glad she hadn't made it anymore difficult. She had told me everything and I had no reason to lie. It was easier for her if she came clean.
"Jill told us that she and Claire had known each other and that Claire had ruined her life," Max said. "Somehow we had not realized that anyone in town actually knew Claire."
"I actually didn't know either, until Jill herself let it slip," I said.
"Jill said she thought you knew from the time you came to her apartment a few days ago," Max said. "She said that you saw a few things and she thought you invited her to the party to expose her as the murderer there."
I was taken a bit aback. I had a bizarre image in my head of me stopping the jazz band and making an announcement to all of the guests that we had a murderer in our midst before asking her to come up on stage with me. In my daydream mind, there was a stage and microphone in my living room.
"I still wasn't sure until tonight when she was acting so weird and finally pulled the gun out," I said. "I knew she had been acting strange, but I tried to just tell myself that she had been so close to the murder and the murderer that it freaked her out. I guess that is still true, in a way."
Max nodded and for a moment we sat in silence. We were both still in our holiday party clothes. My mind went back to my parents and I hoped they would forgive me for causing a ruckus at their big party. I hadn't meant to, of course, but I had.
"I'm sorry that I had to take you away from your party," Max said. Sometimes it was like that boy could read my mind.
"That's alright," I said. "I just hope my parents aren't too worried about me."
