Marriage, Monsters-in-Law, and Murder

by Sara Rosett

  “Yes. All right. Thank you, Mr. Markham.” Redding removed a plastic evidence bag from his inside pocket, shook it open, and prodded the items into the bag before sealing it. “If you’ll see that the crime scene techs are admitted when they arrive?” Redding moved to the door to the hallway and opened it.

  “Of course,” Mr. Markham said as he and I filed through the door. “Let me know if we can be of any other assistance.”

  “Just make sure this door stays locked as well until the techs arrive.”

  Mr. Markham said, “I will have the access code changed and escort the technicians here myself as soon as they arrive.” He nodded to Redding and moved down the hall, again running his hand along his brow line.

  I gestured to the phone encased in the plastic bag that Redding held loosely in his hand as we followed a few paces behind Mr. Markham. “Graham wanted us to look for her phone so he could contact her family. He doesn’t have the numbers.”

  “I see,” Redding said. He maneuvered the phone around inside the plastic bag, then hit the button to wake it. An image of a palm tree filled the screen. “No pass code. I’ll see that he gets the information. Now, what was it you wanted to speak to me about?”

  “Oh, that. It’s not important now.”

  We had been walking toward the main staircase, but Redding stopped, and I had to turn toward him. “If you have information related to the case, you’re obligated to share it.”

  “I wouldn’t exactly call it information,” I hedged. “More like speculation. But everything in that room points to Julia. She was the one who did those things. . . .” Redding zeroed in on the uncertainty in my tone.

  “You don’t think she is responsible?”

  “I don’t know. A few days ago I would have said yes, she’s the person most likely to be involved—because of her history with Brian. But after watching her with Graham the last few days . . . well, she seems to be in love with him.” I looked down at the intricate vine pattern on the carpet. “The more I saw her and Graham together, the more convinced I was that she was over Brian. She seemed . . . well, she only had eyes for Graham. At least, that’s what it seemed like to me.”

  “And yet Mr. Murphy doesn’t have her family’s phone numbers. Is their relationship a recent one?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “So this speculation you have, it’s not related to Julia?”

  “No,” I admitted.

  “This case isn’t closed yet, Mrs. Avery. It may be closed very shortly, but if you have any information . . .”

  As Mitch said, I’d opened this box, and I couldn’t put anything back in the box now. “I hope I’m completely wrong, and if I am, I would be so grateful if this . . . bit of information . . . didn’t get out.” I looked up and down the hallway. Mr. Markham had stepped into the elevator. Redding and I were alone in the hallway.

  “I’ll be as discreet as I can.”

  I nodded. I understood it was all he could promise. “Okay. As I said, it probably doesn’t matter anymore, but it’s about Patricia Abernathy and Ned Blackson. I think it’s possible Ned was blackmailing her.”

  Redding’s eyebrows moved up a fraction of an inch. “You’d better come with me to the conference room.”

  * * *

  “Mom, where have you been?” Livvy asked as I practically skidded into the lobby.

  It was a miracle I hadn’t broken a leg sprinting down the stairs in my high heels. My shoes of choice were either tennis shoes or boat shoes. My usual activities of cleaning, sorting, and organizing, not to mention keeping up with two kids, required casual clothes. For client meetings I had a couple of business-casual outfits that I wore with medium heels, but I rarely wore a heel over an inch high, so I felt a bit tottery as I leaned down to reposition the barrette that was already slipping through Livvy’s hair.

  I drew in a breath to calm my racing heartbeat. “I had a meeting. I got here as fast as I could.” I had spent the time in the conference room with Redding going through what I knew about Patricia and Ned while trying to avoid sneaking glances at my watch. I remembered Redding’s sharp words to Patricia about the seriousness of a murder investigation and how it took priority over everything else. I didn’t want to ask to cut things short so I could go change for a wedding rehearsal. Thankfully, he’d wrapped things up, and I’d been able to scoot back to the room to change into my silky wrap dress in a soft green. Then I’d twisted my hair up into what I hoped looked like an intentionally messy loose chignon and dashed for the lobby where we were all to meet.

  “You look very nice,” I said to Livvy as I smoothed her hair and snapped the barrette back into place. She had on a flower print dress and ballet flats with her cross-body purse, which hung heavily against her hip.

  “Daddy fixed my hair,” she replied, her tone indicating that he was to blame.

  Mitch said, “You know hair bows are not my thing.”

  I shot him a quick smile. He was hopeless when it came to fixing Livvy’s hair. I turned back to her. “You know you can’t read tonight, right?” I said. She never went anywhere without at least two books, one to read and a spare, her “just in case” book, she called it.

  Livvy frowned. “Mom, you know banning books is wrong. We have a whole week about that at school and how bad it is.”

  I managed to keep a straight face as I said, “This is only a temporary ban. I’m not saying you can’t read the books ever, just not tonight. Or tomorrow at the wedding,” I added, as I pictured Livvy sneaking a book out of her purse during one of the ceremony’s songs as she stood in front of everyone.

  Livvy looked like she wanted to argue, but I hugged her close and whispered in her ear, “It’s okay. I’ll let you stay up later tonight and read in bed.”

  That made her happy. I stood up and surveyed my guys. Mitch looked handsome in his suit and tie, but he was already shifting his head, moving his collar around. Nathan, a miniature version of Mitch, stood pulling at his tie, his pockets on his small suit coat bulging. I was sure they were filled with Legos and Hot Wheels. “You two clean up pretty good. Very handsome,” I pronounced. Nathan’s chest swelled, and Mitch settled his tie at his neck. “We may look good now, but I assure you, the last half hour wasn’t pretty.”

  “I think you did a great job, considering you were on your own,” I said. “Sorry I wasn’t there to help.” As we moved across the grass to the gazebo, the kids sprinted ahead, and, in a low tone, I told Mitch what had happened.

  “Wow. So it was Julia after all,” Mitch said, extending his arm.

  I tucked my hand into the crook of his elbow. “Looks that way. Although, Redding seemed to take everything I said about Patricia and Ned seriously. Did you tell Summer and Brian?”

  “About Patricia? No, I just found them a few minutes ago. I only had time to tell them about Julia. Brian has asked one of the ushers to stand in for Graham.”

  Summer saw me and moved across the grass. She reached out and gripped my hand. “It’s awful about Julia, isn’t it?”

  I agreed, but kept all other news to myself. This wasn’t the time to tell her about the suitcase in Julia’s room. Brian called for everyone’s attention and summarized what little information he had about Julia, simply saying she’d had an accident and was in the hospital. “I know we are all hoping and praying for her recovery.” He looked Summer’s way as he said, “Summer and I don’t want to do anything unsuitable, but since you have all gathered here this weekend, we feel we should go ahead with the rehearsal and ceremony.”

  I heard several murmurs of agreement as Brian clasped his hands together and said, “In that case, we’ll continue.”

  Someone had a question for Brian and he turned away to answer it as Summer looked toward me. She widened her eyes. “It’s finally here, our wedding rehearsal.”

  She was smiling widely and shot a quick glance at Brian who, despite being in the middle of a conversation with one of his groomsmen, seemed to feel her gaze and looked toward her. They excha
nged one of those wordless glances that only couples who know each other very well can indulge in.

  “Well, let’s get this show on the road,” I said.

  Brian heard me and said, “Yes, let’s get going. We have filet mignon waiting.” Several of the groomsmen murmured their approval.

  Summer rolled her eyes and said to me, “It’s always about the food with them.” She pressed a hand across her midsection. “But come to think of it, I haven’t had a thing to eat since lunch.”

  “Do you want me to get you something? I’m sure the kitchen could put together a little snack for you.” I didn’t want Summer to get light-headed or feel shaky during the rehearsal. The lunch we’d shared on the terrace had been several hours ago.

  “Oh no. I’m fine. Feeling great, actually.” She half turned so she faced the group surrounding us and raised her voice. “Okay, everyone, go to the places Ellie assigned you. When everyone’s in position”—she turned and looked toward the members of the string quartet set up inside the gazebo—“the music will begin. Ushers, you’re up first.”

  Summer moved around, deftly organizing everyone into the correct order for the procession. I’d offered to run this part of the rehearsal for her, but she’d waved me off, saying, “I do this sort of stuff all the time for the congressman. It will be a piece of cake.” She worked the crowd like an expert, shifting people into position, including the mothers-in-law, who were carefully avoiding each other. When she came to Yvonne, Summer gave her a sunny smile, which Yvonne returned, but she only gave Summer a small polite upturn of the corners of her lips.

  The music started up. “That’s my cue,” Mitch said, kissing me on the cheek before he strode off. I motioned for Nathan and Livvy to follow me. Earlier when I’d checked the setup, I’d pre-positioned the box with the ring pillow and basket for flower petals, placing it behind a lattice screen that divided the audience seats from the staging area where the attendants waited. I handed Nathan the silky pillow.

  “Why do the rings have to have a pillow? And why do I have to carry it?” Nathan asked, and I could tell he was having serious second thoughts about toting around the frilly pillow.

  “Tradition. Aunt Summer asked you especially to do this. It’s a very important job. Out of all the cousins, she picked you,” I said, hoping to cut off any protests. He looked for a long moment at the pillow, then said, “Okay, but I’m not doing it again. No more weddings.”

  “That’s fine. Let’s just get through this one.”

  I handed Livvy the empty basket. “Where are the flower petals?” she asked. “You said there would be petals.”

  “There will be tomorrow. Today, just pretend. Hurry, get in line over there in front of Aunt Summer.”

  The music started. The minister took his place under a wire arch positioned over the entrance to the gazebo. Tomorrow, the arch would be decorated with flowers and would frame Brian and Summer as they exchanged their vows on the steps leading to the gazebo. Mitch began the walk down the aisle with his mother on his arm.

  A shout, loud enough to be heard over the music, caused heads to turn. “Wait! I’m here.” The musicians faltered to a stop as we all turned in the direction of the voice.

  Graham, dressed in a T-shirt, khaki shorts, and flip-flops, jogged across the grass.

  Chapter Twelve

  Graham’s jog trailed off to a brisk walk. “Sorry.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Sorry, man. I tried to get here before it started.”

  Brian, who had been waiting off to the side, trotted over to Graham. “What are you doing here? How is Julia?” he asked as they exchanged a brief guy hug, slapping each other on the back.

  Everyone had all fallen silent at Graham’s shout and the whole wedding party must have been curious about Julia’s state because no one started talking.

  “She’s stable,” Graham said, stepping back. “They have her sedated.”

  “Oh,” Brian said. “Sorry. I thought since you were here that she might be . . .”

  Graham looked down at the ground. “There’s nothing I can do right now. The doctors told me to take a break, get out of their hair for a while. I’ll go back later tonight.”

  “How did you get here? Hasn’t the last ferry already run today?” Brian asked.

  “I hired a private boat to get me over here. It’s coming back for me at eleven tonight.”

  “You didn’t have to do that.”

  Graham slapped him on the back. “I couldn’t leave you hanging on the night of your rehearsal.”

  “Thanks, man. Glad you could make it, but if you need to leave, just head out.”

  Graham nodded and plucked at his T-shirt. “I’m not exactly dressed for this. Let me get changed.”

  “All right, I’m sure we’ll have to run through it several times. I’ve got Lance standing in for you until you get back.”

  As the two men parted, I glanced at Meg. “Can you keep an eye on the kids for me? I’ll just be a moment.”

  “Sure,” she said, leaving the row of bridesmaids.

  I hurried across the grass as fast as my heels allowed. “Graham, hold on.”

  I caught up with him at the top of the shallow steps where he’d paused when I called him. “Did Redding get in touch with you? Did you get the contact information for Julia’s family?”

  “Yes, her sister will be here tomorrow.” Even though we were far away from the wedding party, Graham lowered his voice. “And he told me about what he’d found in Julia’s suitcase. I can’t believe it. I’m completely stunned that she would—” He looked away at the horizon. “I haven’t known her that long, but I had no idea. I never would have suspected she’d do those things. I know Summer and Brian weren’t happy that I brought her, but she kind of attached herself to me and wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

  I thought of Redding’s questions about their relationship. “So you have only been dating awhile?”

  “About a month. The crazy thing is that I didn’t even know she was the one who behaved so badly when Brian broke up with her. I met her online. Brian and I are both so busy that we don’t see each other much, especially with him in Tallahassee and me in Macon. Our paths don’t cross as much as they did when we were kids. I knew about his ‘wacko ex,’ as he called her, but I’d never met her. So I had no idea Julia was that girl until we arrived.”

  “But she had to have known if she brought all those things. She had to have planned it.”

  “I know. She never let on. When I got the official invite in the mail two weeks ago, Julia was with me. I didn’t show her the invitation, only told her it was on Camden Island, but she must have seen the names on the invite or maybe she knew about the wedding some other way.” He shook his head and blew out a sigh.

  “It was in the newspapers here in Georgia and in Florida, anywhere Brian or Summer had family.” I’d seen the copies of the newspaper announcements.

  “She said she’d never been here, to Camden Island, and would love to see it, so I asked her if she wanted to be my plus one.” He let out a little laugh. “I thought she liked me.”

  “For what it’s worth, I thought so, too,” I said, thinking of those adoring looks I’d seen her sending Graham’s way. She must be quite an actress, but then again if she was motivated to hurt Summer she wouldn’t want Brian to suspect she was involved, not if she wanted a chance with him later. And that had to be her goal, didn’t it? Or else she was doing everything out of spite and revenge. I suppressed a little shiver, thinking how awful it would be if that was what motivated you. I wouldn’t wish her condition on anyone, but if that was her mental state, then I was glad she was safely off Camden Island.

  “So are you going back to the hospital?” I asked.

  Graham lifted one shoulder in a small shrug. “I think I have to. I’m all she’s got at the moment. I’ll go back tonight and stay with her until her sister arrives.”

  “What do the doctors think?”

  “They’re not telling me much. I’m not off
icial family or anything, but I overheard enough to know that they’re worried about swelling of the brain. They’ve got her in a medically induced coma. Somehow, that may help the swelling go down.”

  “Oh, Graham,” I said. “That’s awful.”

  “I know, but they say they may be able to bring her out of it tomorrow or the next day.” Graham looked over my shoulder as the strains of classical music floated through the air. “I didn’t want to tell Brian how serious it was. He doesn’t need that on top of everything else, you know?”

  “Yes. Right. Well, I have to get back.”

  I returned and took charge of the kids from Meg, and sent them off down the aisle with instructions to walk super slow. “Pretend you’re playing Mother May I, and you’re only allowed to talk one medium step at a time.” They did great, even when they had to do it over and over again. By the fourth run-through everyone had it down and even the minister’s microphone was working. Graham had returned during the second round, dressed in a dark suit, threading his tie through his shirt collar as he walked across the grass. He blended in smoothly, handing over the ring from Nathan to Brian and escorting Meg down the aisle.

  I could tell they were about to wrap up, so I whispered to the kids to go to Dad when they were dismissed, and I slipped away to check on the dinner in the banquet room. I wasn’t the only one who’d had that idea. I entered the room and heard Patricia’s nasal tones. “This is unacceptable. Completely unacceptable.”

  She was speaking to a waitress, a young woman with long, black hair tied back in a ponytail, who said, “I’ll get another cloth and reset the table.”

  “There is no time for that now. Everyone is coming directly here,” Patricia snapped. “No, I need to see the manager. I expect a discount for this sloppy presentation.”

  “What’s wrong, Patricia?” I asked. The tables were arranged in a U-shape, with the head table forming the bottom of the U. Patricia was at the far side of the room at the end of one of the long rows that extended out forming the sides of the U.

  “Look at this. This flower arrangement looks hideous, and there’s water on the tablecloth.”