"Me?" Hollis said. "No, of course not! I would never…" Sweat was pouring off his forehead in rivulets.
For just a second, he wondered if he had a chance… perhaps he could physically overcome Bluebell. It wouldn't be so bad, would it? It would be easy to snatch the briefcase from her. She was tiny.
As if by magic, the trunk popped open and Charlie stepped out. He looked dazed, but prepared for action.
"Surprise, Hollis," Charlie said, giving him a steely smile.
"I told you," Bluebell said, seeing Hollis turn even paler. "You'd regret not confessing."
Hollis slumped in his seat. "I just don't understand how you found me. It's like magic."
It was, in fact, magic. But of course, that wasn't something Bluebell would tell. She'd blocked out Charlie's memory of it, but she'd managed to use a spell to transport them both to the back of Hollis' car. Just in time, too. She'd prevented him from disposing of important evidence.
She jiggled the briefcase in her hand, and said, "Ready to confess, Hollis?"
"You murdered Mrs. Lahey, didn't you?" Charlie grabbed him by the lapels and shook him. "You fox! How could you! And to try and pin the crime on Jack!"
"Charlie, relax." Bluebell put a hand on his shoulder, while Hollis blubbered and shook his head.
"Hollis is a sly businessman. But he's a good one. He wouldn't do anything that's not in his interest. Would you? Hollis?"
Hollis shook his head. "I didn't kill her! I swear!"
"I believe you, too," Bluebell said. "But you're going to help us catch the real killer."
"Wait, what?" Charlie looked confused. "If he didn't kill Mrs. Lahey, who did? And what's in this bag?"
"I think you'd find a ski mask and gloves in there," Bluebell said. "Right Hollis?"
Hollis sighed, and nodded. "Yes," he said.
"Why?" Charlie looked even more confused.
"Hollis was never at the parade, Charlie. He never killed Mrs. Lahey. Why would he? He liked her. He didn't care about killing Jamie either. No, but he did care about making sure the factory stayed in the red!"
"What?"
"Yes. The night of the murder, Hollis snuck over to Jamie's house. He rang the doorbell to make sure nobody was around. He'd timed it thinking that everyone was down at the parade, you see. He wanted to break into Jamie and Craig's place."
"Why?"
"So that he could damage the equipment they'd just bought for their factory. Right, Hollis? That's why he bought a knife along."
Hollis' eyes welled up with tears. "I'm no murderer," he said. "I was just... I was frustrated that Jamie was refusing to sell. I'd caused accidents before at the factory, but she just... refused. I thought if I did some damage to their latest equipment, she and Craig would give up."
"So you tried to break into their house, but got scared off when you saw that Jamie was home?" Charlie asked. "Or was it seeing Craig's car that scared you?"
"Both," Hollis admitted. "I... I just ran away. I didn't even realize I'd dropped the knife there! I'm so sorry, I promise I never harmed anyone. I just did a little damage to machines, that's all! Please, please don't tell the sheriff… I'll be ruined!"
"Oh, you're ruined all right," Charlie said. "You think it's a joke that you caused machines to malfunction? Jamie worked so hard to run that factory, and you tried to sabotage it. You're going to jail for sure, if I have any say in it!"
"No," Hollis begged. "I'll pay up. I'll pay you for all the damage I caused, and more. I'll pay double. I'll pay triple, just please, please don't send me to jail!"
Charlie's face hardened, and he swung a fist at Hollis' jaw. Hollis flinched, throwing his hands up. The fist never connected with his jaw. Charlie sighed, and dropped his hand down. "We've got bigger things to worry about than you," he said. "Because if Hollis was the one you and Craig and Jamie saw, Bluebell, then this means, there was no murderer chasing after Jamie," Charlie said. "Was there?"
"I don't think there was." Bluebell nodded. "I made a mistake thinking that, purely because of the panda hat that Mrs. Lahey wore. I never considered that there might be reasons someone wanted Mrs. Lahey dead too."
"So if there was no murderer chasing after Jamie, our whole evidence about why Jack isn't the murderer gets thrown out of the window," Charlie said. "Do you see? The only reason we thought Jack is innocent is because we thought the killer tried to attack Jamie while Jack was unconscious. If it was Hollis all along, well, then there's no other killer. Jack might have been the one to do it after all!"
"Do you really believe that?" Bluebell asked. "Do you really think Jack did it?"
"I don't," Charlie said. "But I just don't see who else could have been responsible."
"I can give you a hint," Bluebell said. "Forget everything else, just look at motive. Hollis told me Henry was Mrs. Lahey's nephew, is that right, Hollis?"
Hollis nodded, speechless.
"So, Henry stood to inherit money from Mrs. Lahey, didn't he?"
"Henry?" Charlie shook his head. "I might not like him, but I can't believe he'd sink that low. Besides, he was in his uniform throughout. There's no way Henry killed her."
"Don't worry about who killed her just yet," Bluebell said. "Just look at the motive. Henry has a brother too, after all. Boyd had motive to kill Mrs. Lahey, didn't he?"
Charlie nodded. "I guess he did!"
"Exactly." Bluebell smiled.
"But… but you told me earlier that Boyd was locked up at the time." Charlie looked confused.
"Exactly." Bluebell smiled. "Giving him the perfect alibi."
"Well who did it then?"
"See, that's the thing," Bluebell said. "For a long time, I was so convinced that Jamie was the target, I didn't see the obvious stuff. But the second I asked myself who would benefit if Boyd inherited money, and Jack was put in prison? Well, the second I could ask myself that, the answer became obvious!"
"Tilly?" Charlie gasped. "You think Tilly did it?"
"I have a theory she killed Mrs. Lahey and planted evidence on Jack." Bluebell nodded. "But we need Hollis to help us confirm it. Listen up..."
*****
Chapter 12
Tilly was humming as she sprayed perfume on herself. She'd been staying in a run down motel ever since her divorce proceedings had begun, but very soon, all that would change. Once Boyd inherited the old woman's money, Tilly would live in style again. As for Charlie... Tilly's face twisted with rage. It would give her great pleasure to see him cry over his stupid nephew. If Jack hadn't interfered with her marriage, she'd still be with Charlie, and she'd have gotten a lot of money out of him when they eventually divorced. But that meddling brat had walked in on her and Boyd kissing, and everything had gone down the drain.
But not now. Thanks to Boyd's idea, and her execution of it, they'd be in the clear soon enough.
She twirled around in a little spiral, and then stopped, astounded, as there was a knock on the door.
"Hollis?" She frowned. "What do you want?"
"Your help," Hollis said. The businessman watched her with steady eyes, yet there was a flicker of fear behind them.
"Well, I'll be glad to help you any way I can," she cooed. "Excuse the mess, but won't you come in?" She waved a hand at the room behind her, which had clothes draped over half the furniture. "I've been forced to live here while Charlie lives it up in his fancy house! And he's the one who cheated! The law is so unfair."
"I'm sure it is," Hollis said with a smile. "It must make you so mad!"
"Oh, it does," Tilly said. "It makes me furious."
"You know he's all over that new girl too," Hollis said. "Bluebell."
"I saw her today." Tilly scowled. "Absolute witch, that woman."
Outside, Bluebell, Charlie and Sheriff Henry sat with headphones on, hearing every word Hollis said. Bluebell smiled at Tilly's words. They were truer than she would ever suspect!
"Well, in any case, I was wondering if you could help me out," Hollis said. "But before that, let's no
t play any games."
"What do you mean?" Tilly asked, becoming cautious.
"I saw you had a hot dog stand at the parade today," Hollis said, "And that made me curious. It didn't seem like the kind of thing you would do. In fact, I remember Mrs. Mulberry saying she was going to be manning the hot dog stand."
"Well, she fell sick. So what?" Tilly asked.
"Well, nice of you to cover for her," Hollis said. "But I happened to see you give out a few free hot dogs. To Jack, for example."
Tilly raised herself up. "What are you trying to say!"
"That the hot dog was drugged," Hollis said, "You gave it to Jack, knowing he'd be knocked unconscious. Then you killed Mrs. Lahey, and put the glove on Jack to incriminate him."
"Why would I do a silly thing like that?" She laughed. But Hollis could see the rage bubbling just under the surface.
"Look, don't get alarmed," Hollis said. "I'm a friend, not a foe. I saw you kill Mrs. Lahey, so you might as well admit it."
"If you saw me do it, why didn't you tell the police?" Tilly asked.
"Because I thought there might be a way for the situation to be turned to my advantage," Hollis said. "I'm a businessman first, my dear."
Evil recognizes evil, and Tilly saw sincerity in Hollis' eyes. Or so she thought. "So you don't care that I murdered Mrs. Lahey?"
"Not at all," Hollis said. "I'm here to see if we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement."
"You don't disapprove?" Tilly asked.
"Why would I? I don't care," Hollis said. "She was just some old woman."
Tilly relaxed, and let out a breath. "Fine. So what do you want?"
"I want Jamie out of the way next," Hollis said. "Since you've had the guts to kill Mrs. Lahey."
"It wasn't guts as much as brains," Tilly said, almost boasting. In a way, it was a relief to talk about it. "It was Boyd's idea from the first. I just added in the part where I'd frame Jack. I thought that up on the fly, when Jamie gave her hat to Mrs. Lahey. I knew that everyone would suspect Jack, since he's openly been dismissive of his step mother. Well, I was right. The little brat will rot in jail now!"
"Ah, so Boyd was involved. That's why he deliberately started a fight and made sure he was thrown in jail?" Hollis asked.
"Yep. The old fool doted on him. She's giving Henry nothing, and everything will go to Boyd! As soon as Boyd found that out, he hatched the plan. He was only happier when he found out I'd put those self-righteous Leimbachs in their place in the process."
"Fantastic." Hollis smiled.
"Well, you're a smart man for figuring it all out, Hollis. Why don't we have a cup of coffee and discuss our plans for the future?"
"Sure." Hollis smiled, and leaned back in his chair. The trap had been set. As Bluebell had predicted, if Tilly had any of the drug she'd used to knock Jack out leftover, she'd try and poison Hollis with it.
Outside, Sheriff Henry nodded at Bluebell. "This is it. We've got more than enough evidence. Let's go."
Tilly set a cup of coffee down, and smiled at Hollis. "Here you go, Hollis," she said. "Drink up."
"I'll drink to your good health," Hollis said, raising the cup.
Just before he placed it to his lips, Sheriff Henry and Deputy Mary Meyers burst in. "Freeze!" Henry said, his gun pointed at Tilly.
"S-sheriff?" She looked horrified, from him to Hollis. "What's going on?"
"We'll find out soon enough." The deputy took the cup of coffee away from Hollis, who stood with his hands raised in a corner. "You didn't happen to put any drugs into this, did you, Tilly?"
Knowing she was cornered, a desperate Tilly sprang at Deputy Mary, trying to wrest the gun away from her.
Mary only smiled in pleasure, and had her subdued on the ground in less than thirty seconds. "You better give it up, Tilly. Once we'd figured out your motive, the rest was easy as pie. We found the hot dog stand where you stashed the blood stained apron and the other glove. You're going to jail for a long time, Tilly. Your only relief should be that Boyd will go with you!"
*****
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
"I rather feel I've overstayed my welcome." Bluebell smiled.
"Overstayed? I feel you've understayed!" Craig exclaimed.
The house was full of balloons, and Bluebell held a disposable plate with a large slice of strawberry cake on it, with a dollop of whipped cream on top.
"I just shudder when I think… what if you'd never come to Richtersdale? What if I hadn't recognized you?" Jamie shivered a little. She cast a fond look at the living room, which was decorated with a banner saying "Farewell Bluebell!" and several colored streamers. Jenny and Leo were romping around, Leo with a paper hat on his head, and a paper plate in his mouth, tail wagging furiously. A laughing Jack was recording them with his cell phone. Jenny barreled into him, squealing furiously, and he lifted her up and placed her on his shoulders. Brother and sister then danced around the living room with Leo barking and circling them.
"All's well, that ends well," Bluebell said with a smile, looking at them. Jack had emerged from jail a different person. The boy who'd been sulking and entitled had changed into a man who took his freedom seriously. He'd already applied to five different colleges, and Jamie felt sure that he'd be getting acceptance letters soon. He'd also been markedly more loving to Jamie. Having seen how hard she fought to prove his innocence had opened his eyes to her love for him. The first thing he'd done on being released was to hug her and say, "I'm sorry for everything, mom."
Jamie had tears in her eyes as she watched them, and Craig gave her a little one-handed hug, followed by a kiss.
"Ew, Craig!" she giggled. "You've got whipped cream on your beard, and now it's all over me."
"Price you pay for looking this suave." He winked at her, then rubbed his nose against her cheek some more, while she gave out shrill little giggles.
Unconsciously, Bluebell stepped away, a smile on her face. For however brief a moment, she'd got to share their happiness, and that was all she needed, really. Tomorrow morning, as early as possible, she'd leave. She didn't know what her next destination was, but she trusted that fate would lead her in the right direction.
There was only one person who looked unhappy.
When she went in the kitchen, Charlie sat morosely on a stool, his hands cupping his chin.
"Cheer up." Bluebell laughed, teasing him. In the last two weeks, he'd come by for dinner every night. Bluebell thought of what she'd miss that the most - his jokes, his easy charm, his solid presence.
"I don't want to cheer up," Charlie said. "I don't think I can."
Bluebell asked, "Hear from Tilly's lawyers?"
"The divorce should be finalized by next month," Charlie said. "So maybe you'll finally date me after that."
"I wouldn't date a man who's on the rebound," Bluebell said. "I'm sorry, Charlie, I thought I made it clear. I don't think I ever will date, really. I've got... complications." Like death following her everywhere she went, only how could she ever tell him that? It was better to just reject him firmly, no matter how much he tempted her.
"Well, what complications?" Charlie asked. "You're just one to create mysteries, Bluebell. Why can't you stay in town a year or two? See where this…" He pointed to her and then himself, "…goes?"
Her eyes a little moist, she said, "I wish I could. I just... can't."
"I know you like me," Charlie said. "Don't tell me you don't feel the sparks between us."
"I do," Bluebell said. "It's just that sparks aren't enough."
"What would be enough?" he asked.
With a smile, she said, "Right now, seeing Jamie and her family happy, that's enough. As for us, if it's meant to be, Charlie, it'll find a way to happen."
Charlie nodded. "Fine. I'll accept what you're saying, for now. But I warn you, I'm not a man who backs down easily."
Bluebell smiled, and headed upstairs to pack her bags. She turned around at the foot of the stairs and said, "We're well matc
hed then, because I'm not a woman who gives in easily."
The End
*****
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Murder At The Festival: A Witch Cozy Mystery (A Bluebell Knopps Witch Cozy Mystery Book 5) Page 6