by Wendy Heuvel
A figure in the doorway caused a shadow to fall over the already weak light in the room. Cassie looked up.
Charles loomed over her. “Thank you, Miss Bridgestone. I’ll take that.”
He held out a hand, waiting for her to pass him the diary.
In his other hand, he held a gun.
Chapter 23
“Charles!” Cassie exclaimed as she placed the diary on the floor and slowly stood while lifting her arms until her hands were in the air.
Charles waved the gun around. “I told you to hand me the diary, not to place it on the floor.” His cheeks were red from the cold, and a navy toque covered his bald head. The hand holding the gun shook.
“Of course.” Cassie, careful to not make any sudden movements, bent her knees at a snail’s pace and lowered her hand to pick up the diary. “I’ve got it right here.”
Charles snatched the diary out of Cassie’s hand and pointed the gun at her. His eyes darted to the door and back to Cassie.
“You don’t have to do this, Charles.”
His bottom lip quivered. “I don’t have a choice.”
“We always have a choice.” Cassie took a slow breath. “And we can always make the right choice.”
Charles hunched a shoulder and brushed his cheek against it. “I don’t know what to do.”
“How about we start with you handing me the gun?” Cassie slowly reached her hand out.
“No! That’s not helping. Stand back!”
“Okay, okay. Sorry.”
Charles paced in front of the door, occasionally glancing at the diary in his left hand.
Cassie silently prayed for courage and wisdom. She suddenly realized Charles hadn’t repeated himself or done anything remotely similar to someone who had dementia. Other than the fact he was obviously distraught at the situation, his mind seemed coherent with no lapse in lucidity.
“You remembered my name,” Cassie said.
“Of course, I did.” He sighed. “And I remember your friend, Anna, too.”
“You faked dementia?”
“It was all I could come up with at the time. And obviously, it worked.”
Cassie thought it despicable anyone would fake such a horrible disease. But then, apparently, Charles was also a murderer. In light of that, it wasn’t such a stretch.
She’d have to come at things from a different angle. “I only peeked through the diary, but from what I read, Marilyn was deeply in love with you.”
He stopped and looked at Cassie, his eyes hollow. “And I loved her. With all my heart.”
“What happened then, Charles? Tell me about Marilyn.”
Tears welled up in his eyes. With a careful grip on the diary, he wiped the tears on the back of his glove. “She was... exquisite.” He leaned against the doorframe and stared at the wall, his mind evidently drifting off to another time and place. “Wayne, her husband, was gone all the time. He worked long hours in the city and spent many weekends on business trips. She was alone and lonely. I used to watch her through my window, puttering around her garden for hours. No one so beautiful should be treated that way by their spouse.”
Charles lowered the gun and pointed it toward the floor. “One day, she showed up at my door. A light bulb had burned out, and even with the aid of a small ladder, she couldn’t reach it. I went over without hesitation to help. She repaid me with homemade cookies. We ate them while enjoying a cup of coffee and light conversation. After that, she frequently appeared at my door with requests. I fixed a loose shutter, set a mousetrap, killed a spider, took out the heavy trash. Task after task turned into daily visits, and before I knew it, I discovered I’d fallen in love.”
Cassie waited for Charles to go on, but he continued staring off into space.
“That’s understandable,” she said. “Did she reciprocate those feelings? How did the affair start?”
Charles gulped. “One day, I was on the ladder trying to fix an upper kitchen cabinet door. When I came down, I missed the last step and fell. Marilyn tried to catch me, and we somehow ended up in each other’s arms. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I kissed her. I couldn’t help myself. But she gladly returned the kiss and came back for more.”
“And then?”
“We couldn’t get enough of each other, but we had to be careful. One day, while I helped her clean out the crawl space in the basement, we came across a tunnel. It led to the garden shed in the back yard, next to my property line. I placed my shed next to it and connected them with a door between. With the flowers planted along the property line in front of the sheds, no one noticed. I started using the tunnel to sneak over to see Marilyn, out of the way of neighbour’s prying eyes.”
“Like Edward’s.” Cassie nodded.
“Yes. He hasn’t changed.”
“Did he ever find out about the affair?”
Charles shook his head. “I don’t think so. Once things became serious between Marilyn and me, we took every precaution to keep our love hidden.”
“And this tunnel, is this how you escaped the house after you threw the vase at me?”
“I’m sorry about that. I only meant to scare you. The vase wasn’t supposed to come so close to hitting you. And yes, I went to the attic when you came in, and came back down to the second floor to warn you off. I snuck downstairs when you went outside to wait for Brent and went home via the tunnel. Parts of it had crumbled over the years, but I still managed to get all the way through to the shed, where I waited until everyone left.”
Cassie pondered this new bit of information, relieved to finally have an answer to the elusion but still unclear about the murder. “Tell me about Wayne discovering the affair.”
Charles sighed. “We did our best to keep everything on the down-low, but one day Marilyn decided to confide in a friend at the grocery store.”
“Martha.”
“Yes. She didn’t tell Martha who I was, but it couldn’t be hard for her to figure it out if she tried. Regardless, Martha surprised Marilyn by getting angry and threatening to tell Wayne.”
“Which she did.” Cassie shifted her weight to one leg. “And Wayne got upset.”
“He did. He left. And then I...”
“You what, Charles? What did you do?”
“I didn’t mean to...” He dropped the diary and the gun to the floor and buried his face in his hands. “I loved her. I really loved her.”
Cassie stepped up to Charles, kicked the gun away, and gently rubbed his arm. “It was an accident?”
He nodded and squeaked words out between sobs, “I loved her. After she talked to Martha about us, and then told Wayne, I was furious. I yelled at her that I didn’t blame Wayne for leaving. She slapped me, and...” He sobbed again. “I... I pushed her away. She fell and hit her head on the edge of the first stair. It was horrible. There was blood all over. I held her but... she wouldn’t answer me. And then she just stopped breathing.”
The sobs came heavily now, and Cassie pulled Charles into a full hug. It didn’t matter that he’d held a gun to her only moments ago. This man wasn’t a real killer at heart. He needed compassion and forgiveness. Like everyone does for one sin or another.
“I was horrified.” Charles stepped back from Cassie’s hug. “She was the love of my life and...”
“It was clearly an accident,” Cassie said. “But you felt you had to hide it?”
Charles nodded. “I cleaned her up and put a headband in her hair to cover the wound. I dressed her in her favourite dress—the one she often wore for me when we had our romantic dinners—and brought her to the attic. I made it look like... Oh! It was so horrid what I did!”
“But if people thought she committed suicide, it would let you off the hook.”
“Yes. At least I thought it would. I didn’t know at the time that suicide victims automatically had autopsies performed on them. They would’ve figured out it was murder.”
Cassie pressed on. “But no one found the body.”
“No one. I thought fo
r sure Wayne would come back, but he never did. In fact, no one ever showed up—ever. Days turned into months, and then years. Every day I looked out my window at this big house, thinking about my love hanging in the attic, all alone. And no one knew.”
A moment of silence followed before Cassie decided to see what else Charles would tell her. “Why did you fake the hauntings?”
“Kids started coming around the mansion after it had been left for so long. I had to do something to keep them out. I had to protect Marilyn and the house. But I couldn’t bring myself to go inside. I placed a speaker in the upstairs window and ran the wire behind the drainpipe and through the grass to my yard. It seemed to do the trick. The kids still busted some windows with rocks, but for the most part, they stayed away.”
Cassie sighed in understanding. “And you boarded up the broken windows?”
“I had to do something. I couldn’t let the house die with her, but after so many years of Canadian winters, there wasn’t any more I could do. Not without going inside or investing a lot of money.”
“And then we came along and changed everything.”
Charles wrung his hands. “I had no choice but to come back into this house. Marilyn had told me she’d kept a diary about us. I couldn’t let the police find it and tie me to the murder. Except my searches came up empty.”
“And you tried to scare us away.”
“It was a lazy attempt, but I didn’t know what else to try. Even though it was awful setting foot in here again. The memories came flooding back with a force I didn’t expect.”
Cassie rubbed his arm. “You must have had a difficult life, living with all these consequences.”
Another tear slipped down his cheek. “Yes. And it’s about time I set things right and let Marilyn go in peace.”
“Cassie! Cassie!” Brent appeared in the doorway with Lexy at his side. “Stop right there!” He yelled at Charles.
“Easy! Easy!” Cassie held out her arm. “It’s okay. He’s not going to hurt me.”
Brent looked from Cassie to Charles. “What’s going on here?”
“Charles is who you’ve been looking for,” Cassie answered. “He told me everything. That diary on the floor is Marilyn’s, and it tells all about their relationship.”
“I thought you had dementia.” Lexy stared at him.
Charles merely shrugged.
Brent noticed the gun on the floor by the window. He rushed over to it and snatched it up. “What’s this? Did he try to hurt you, Cassie?”
“No. I’m fine. And he’s ready to turn himself in, right Charles?”
“Yes.” Charles stared at the floor. “Yes, I am.”
Brent gently put the old man’s arms behind his back and snapped on a set of handcuffs. As he ushered Charles out of the room, Brent glanced at Cassie. “Why didn’t you wait for us? You promised me you wouldn’t come in here by yourself! Once again, you put yourself in unnecessary danger!”
“I’m sorry. I knew you were coming, and I only had a bit of time.”
“Still no excuse.” He stared Cassie down. “You should’ve waited for us.”
The seriousness of the situation suddenly dawned on Cassie. Lexy and Brent hadn’t been there yet. And Charles had had a gun pointed at her. What would’ve happened if—
“I’m glad you’re okay.” Lexy hugged her. “And you solved the case!”
“Yes, there is that.” Brent guided Charles to the stairs. “Thankfully.”
“You’re welcome.” Cassie tried to smile, but couldn’t. One woman murdered, and two men’s lives upturned in the process. Both stayed single the rest of their lives, refusing to try and love again, and both lived with heavy guilt from their sinful choices, not to mention Marilyn’s.
It was sad, but at least now the chapter had closed.
Chapter 24
“It’s a perfect day for this!” Daniel trudged through the snow ahead of Cassie, following the river path on the way to the bird blind. The sun beamed down on Banford, keeping the temperature just above freezing. The low wind chill factor added to the warmth.
“It is. In more ways than one.” Cassie adjusted her backpack, weighted with all her birding equipment. Charles had given Brent a full confession, and, in light of his age and the circumstances surrounding Marilyn’s death, was expected to receive a reasonable sentence. Marilyn could finally be put to rest.
Cassie studied Daniel as he plodded along the path ahead of her. So much had happened this week! Not only was another murder solved, but her jumbled love life had finally fallen into place. She was with the man she loved—a man who loved God more than her, and her more than himself. And in return, Cassie felt the same way. God was first, then Daniel and then herself. It was the order God intended. God was good, and it was Cassie’s pleasure to honour Him with every bit of her and Daniel’s relationship.
Her phone dinged in her pocket.
She checked the text and squealed. “Anna had her baby! It’s a boy!”
Daniel turned back and gave Cassie a hug. “That’s great news!”
Cassie leaned in to share a quick kiss, the action sending shock waves through her body all over again.
They walked on, and as they came to a corner in the path, the shrubbery opened up offering a clear view of the water. Far out at the ice’s edge, a light mist hovered over an open section of water. A sequence of quick screes drew Cassie’s attention upward.
“Look!” Cassie pointed. A pair of eagles circled high in the sky.
Daniel turned to her and joined Cassie at the water’s edge to watch.
The eagles danced around each other, soaring higher and higher. Cassie wanted to pull her binoculars out of her backpack, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the courting pair, even for a second.
The eagles parted, then flew together again, coming together in a well-measured connection.
Then their talons locked.
“Oh!” Cassie squealed. “Do you see it? Do you see it?” She jumped up and down and latched onto Daniel’s arm.
“I do.” He put his hand over hers.
And the eagles plummeted to the earth, swirling around and around, cartwheeling at an intense speed toward the river.
Neither Cassie nor Daniel made any move toward their cameras or other equipment, their eyes steadfast on the phenomenal display before them. No device could enhance this moment.
The raptors spiralled downward, only seconds from the ice before they released their grip of each other and flew to safety.
Cassie’s heart thudded in her chest, and her mouth hung agape. She and Daniel continued to stare out at the ice where the eagles had been moments before.
“Marry me.” Daniel voiced the words with a sheer determination that stole her breath.
“What?” Cassie swung her gaze to the handsome, Godly man beside her. “What did you just say?”
Daniel’s sparkling eyes met Cassie’s as he turned to face her. “Marry me, Cassie. Be my wife. My forever companion.”
Cassie’s mouth hung open again. Was this real?
He took both her hands in his. “I mean it. I love you. I know it’s early on, and it might seem crazy, but I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life other than God. And I know He’s the one who’s brought us together.”
Cassie gulped. “Say it again.” Her eyes welled up with tears.
Daniel continued to hold her hands as he knelt on one knee in the snow. “Will you marry me, Cassie Bridgestone?”
Cassie nodded as the tears escaped and fell down her face. “Yes! Absolutely!”
Daniel leapt to his feet and pulled Cassie into a tight embrace.
Cassie squealed and kicked her feet up behind her while Daniel held her above the ground. Then he gently let her down and found her lips with his own.
And then they sealed the deal.
***
Cassie sat across from Daniel at a private table at Hardcastle Pub and Restaurant. The place was full for Valentine’s Day, but Daniel had man
aged to pull some strings and secured a secluded corner table for their romantic dinner.
Lexy and Brent sat on the opposite side of the restaurant, enjoying their own dinner. The couples had exchanged hellos on the way in, but other than that they kept to themselves to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
The fire roared in the nearby fireplace, and the candlelit centrepiece flickered on their table. Daniel met Cassie’s outstretched hand in the middle of the table and interlaced it with his own. The diamond ring on her finger sparkled in the candlelight. They’d gone to the jewellers earlier in the day to pick it out. Sometimes it all still seemed surreal. She was engaged! To Daniel!
He grinned, shadows flickering across his face enhancing his rugged jawline. “I have one more gift for you.”
“Another one?” Cassie couldn’t help but smile, but felt a little guilty she’d only gotten him a bird book and a chain with a cross on it—even though he’d loved both gifts.
“You better get used to it. I plan to spoil you for the rest of your life.”
“Only if you let me spoil you, too.”
Daniel let go of her hand, reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, and pulled out a small velvet jewelry box.
“What’s this?” Cassie let him place the box in her hand. “More jewelry? I’m quite happy with this.” She waved her hand in the air to draw attention to her ring.
“Just open it.” He grinned.
Cassie flipped the top open. A shiny key was fastened to the inside with a red ribbon. “What’s this for?” She furrowed her brows. “I already have a key to your apartment. I’m your landlord. And I don’t think this is quite approp—”
“It’s not to my apartment.”
Cassie tilted her head and studied Daniel’s grinning face. “Then what...”
“It’s to a house.”
She furrowed her brows again, trying to make sense of everything. “You’re moving out of the apartment?”
“Silly!” Daniel grabbed Cassie’s hand and squeezed it. “It’s to your house. Our house. On Elm Street.”