As soon as Granny set the tray down, I grabbed the plates and started serving our snack. If I didn't, I knew she would.
"He told me himself when I bumped into him this afternoon," I said, passing a rum amaretto to her. "But apparently, he thinks Paige and Carl are lying to protect each other. And after seeing the two of them together this afternoon, I agree with him. There was something weird between the two of them. And neither wanted to talk about Charlie."
"Who'd want to rehash whatever happened there?" Danielle asked. "Somehow it broke up their marriage."
"They're back together," I said, grabbing my fork and digging into my second cupcake of the day without a hint of shame. "From what Paige said, I think Carl convinced her that they broke up too quickly."
Danielle's forehead wrinkled. "I thought you said he cheated on her."
"That's what Paige told me."
Granny sniffed. "It never made sense to me. I've never heard a bad word about Carl Hawkins, 'cept his blacksmithing. Never understood why a man would stand over an over flame working hot metal in this heat. But I don't suppose he'll be doing much of that anymore. Not with a baby on the way."
"Reid said even if they were lying, he couldn't prove the lie was connected to Charlie's murder."
"He's right," Andrew said through the speaker. "I'll grant you if the affair really happened, it goes a long way to explaining why Carl and Paige don't want to speak without involving Charlie Porter's death."
“I know, I know, but…” Letting out a heavy sigh, I leaned forward and braced my elbows against my knees. "There's something there, Andrew. You should have seen the look on Carl's face when I brought up Charlie. He said they weren't friends, but he sure looked mad enough to set Charlie on fire.
"But Charlie Porter was poisoned, not set on fire," Andrew said. "Fire suggests passion. Poison suggests deliberation and premeditation."
"That wouldn't make sense for what we know about Carl." Nothing about this quite made sense. "Passion is one word I'd use for the look. Hate is another."
"But why kill Charlie after he'd already told Paige about the affair?" Daniel asked. "Why not just buy his wife some flowers and grovel the old-fashioned way? Seeing as that's where they ended up."
I shrugged. "Maybe they weren't on that track until after Charlie died. Paige said they've been together a long time?"
Danielle nodded. “About ten years, I think.”
"Paige said the last few years haven't been great for them. Maybe they were friends at some point, they reconnected somehow, and Carl tripped up on a boys’ night out."
"There are two problems with that theory, and they both revolve around Paige," Andrew said. "First, we don't know that Carl actually had an affair. Paige changing her story on how they split up could bring her credibility into question."
"And the other?" I asked.
"Well, you didn't mention it, but as far as I know, at one time, Paige and Charlie Porter had a friendly relationship too.”
Danielle blinked in surprise. "What? I hadn't heard about that." She looked at Granny, who shook her head to signal she hadn't heard about it either.
"I saw them having dinner in the upper Keys a few months ago," Andrew said. "At the time, I didn't think much of it, but it does make it strange that Paige would insist she barely knew him. And if it were a crime of passion, she's the one who would have been emotional. If Carl did have an affair, Charlie and Carl both knew about it all along."
"So what you’re saying is both of them had a good reason to kill Charlie and no reason at all?" Suddenly my head was beginning to ache. I brought my hands to my temples, using my fingers to massage the tension away. "That doesn't make any sense, Andrew."
"Crimes of passion usually don't," he said. "But they make for excellent television. In real life, money is a far more common criminal motivator."
Conner Reid had said almost exactly the same thing to me. From him, it felt a little too close to condescension. But with Andrew's voice added, I had to accept that I was wrong.
"Okay, if we're following the money that leads away from Paige and Carl and to Jason Delany and Simon Lambert."
"I can believe Jason wanted Charlie out of the way," Danielle said. "He was so mean that day I wanted to punch him myself."
"Meanwhile you kicked me out of the room for telling him off." I stuck my tongue out at her.
"And I'd do it again," she said. "There were clients in the room."
Andrew cut us off before we could go another round. "Jason Delany would have to be pretty foolish to murder a man after so many people saw an argument between them."
"He struck me as clumsy, but not stupid," I said. “I couldn't see Jason hurting a fly."
"Which one of them had the most to gain from Charlie's death?” Andrew asked.
"Simon Lambert," I said without hesitation. "He got control of his company and lost a problematic business partner. Plus he had an insurance policy on Charlie."
"Ugh! How ghoulish." Granny wrinkled her nose.
“Actually, it's pretty common,” Danielle said. “Andy and I both have policies under the company we use to run the Paradise.”
Granny's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. She shook her head, muttering something under her breath before taking a sip of milk.
Andrew waited to be sure we had all finished before he continued. "All of that goes to motive, Laura, but do you think it means Simon Lambert is capable of murder?"
The back porch fell into silence. Granny and Danielle looked at me, waiting expectantly for an answer.
I didn't have one. “He punched Charlie after he kissed Caroline, but to hear her tell it, Simon was dreading anything that could mess with his and Charlie's partnership.”
"Then Simon and Jason have essentially the same motive," Andrew said. "And equal opportunity to act."
I groaned in frustration. "How is it every time I think I understand what happened to Charlie, something new pops up that blows every theory apart?"
It was like clockwork. Every dark trail I followed across Charlie Porter's life led to tears and pain.
"I know Conner Reid by reputation," Andrew said. "He's good at what he does, and he's committed to the job. This just sounds like a tough case."
The pain Charlie caused me had been nothing to what he'd done to the people who stayed near him.
I'd escaped, grown up, and become what I hoped was a better person than I might have been. Everyone else was still scarred by years of associations with Charlie. So badly, it seemed sure one of them had killed him over it.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"Reid said the evidence eliminated you, right?" Danielle asked. I nodded. "Then we do nothing. It's not our problem to solve."
I wanted to argue if only because I'd already spent so much time, money, and gas chasing down information. But none of it had gotten me any closer to solving Charlie's murder. Sure, I got lucky and was able to give Reid a tip about Paige, but all that did was add another layer to the pile of hurt Charlie left behind when he died.
I couldn't say whether or not Reid would solve the case. But I knew for certain that with hell week bearing down on us and Reid's threat to arrest me still hanging over my head, it was officially time for me to stop playing detective.
Chapter Twenty-Three
For better than twelve hours, I was able to put the murder of Charlie Porter out of my mind.
Granny and I played with Coral while the three of us ate a breakfast of bacon and eggs, buttery toast, and black coffee. After we finished cleaning up, Granny tucked the kitten into her apron pocket and we started the walk to the main house.
During hell weeks, the daily routine at the Paradise was a little different than most other times. At least, that's how Granny and Danielle explained it to me. Most years, Danielle kept a skeleton housekeeping crew on staff. They flipped the guest rooms while she and Granny coordinated the final details with the vendors and the engaged couple.
But with no guests on at the Para
dise and none booked until after the Delany-Lambert wedding, there was no point in bringing in a housekeeping crew. Technically, there was no point in turning the guest rooms over at all. Our plan for the day was to review our version of the Delany-Lambert wedding timeline one more time. Then Granny was going to take Ben with her to Charlene's while Danielle and I called Caroline and then each of the other vendors to confirm. A day spent sitting on my butt making phone calls sounded like a vacation considering the two weeks I'd just gone through and the frantic big day still ahead.
When Granny and I walked up to the main house, we found Danielle on the back porch wrapping up her breakfast. Ben was nestled in his baby swing.
"Morning!" Danielle said, smiling and waving with one hand. She was holding a large mug of coffee with the other. "Hope you brought your hospitality voice, Laura. We've got a lot of calls to make."
Her mood had been steadily improving since I'd agreed to stay out of the way and let Reid handle the murder investigation. The fact that Andrew was coming home tomorrow practically put her over the moon. I swear if I'd shaken her, she would have dribbled pixie dust all over the floor.
I opened my mouth to respond. Danielle's cell phone buzzed before I could.
“Is that Andrew?” I asked in a sing-song voice.
“It shouldn't be. We've already talked this morning,” Danielle said with a frown as she put her coffee mug down on the table.
Granny shook her head. "Can't even go twenty-four hours. Ah, to be young and in love."
I don't know how it was possible, but Danielle’s expression darkened, shifting from concern to worry to carefully tempered panic in the space of two seconds.
"It's not Andy." Danielle pressed the answer button, climbing to her feet. "Good morning, Caroline. This is Danielle Loper. What can I do for you?"
As I watched, Danielle’s face sank deeper and deeper into panic. Granny and I exchanged glances.
"Caroline, slow down, honey, I can't understand you. The wedding’s what?" Danielle flopped down in her seat. "It's canceled?"
"You handle it," Granny whispered to me. She went to the swing, picked Ben up, and then carried him into the house.
I went to the sofa and sat down beside Danielle, mouthing "What happened?"
She pulled the phone away from her mouth and covered the microphone with her hand. "I––I don't know. She's bawling."
I held out a hand and beckoned for Danielle to pass me the phone. My heart was racing, but I couldn't let my nerves show in my voice. Not with Caroline already in a panic and Danielle steps behind her.
"Caroline? It's Laura Fisher."
A loud wail of despair came from Caroline's end of the line. When it finished, her breath came in gulps and ragged gasps. "L-Laura, everything's awful! I can't get married like this."
"Take a deep breath, Caroline. Did something happen with Simon?" I couldn't quite wrap my head around that. Granted, I hadn't spent much time with Simon Lambert. But Caroline and Jason Delany both insisted he was nuts about her.
"No. It's that stupid detective,” Caroline said between sniffles. "He just arrested my brother!"
"Reid? Why would he arrest Jason?" I asked.
The question drew another sob from Caroline that took her a few seconds to recover from. When she did, her voice was so thick with emotion I could barely understand her.
"H-he thinks Jason murdered Charlie!" Caroline whimpered.
My stomach sank. The last time I'd spoken to Conner Reid, I told him I thought Paige and Carl Hawkins were involved in Charlie's death. And stupid me, I thought he'd taken me seriously. That he would consider the possibility of suspects beyond Simon and Jason.
As much as my heart went out to Caroline, I could hear Reid and Andrew’s voices in my head. You're just an amateur, they said. Leave it to the professionals. So far, I'd been pretty rotten at taking their advice. But everything I'd done, I did to protect my family.
Caroline and Jason Delany weren't part of my family, but I didn't believe for one second Jason killed Charlie. He just didn't have it in him.
Andrew and Reid didn't have to listen to Caroline Delany’s heart breaking over the phone.
"Tell me everything," I said.
She took a deep, shaky breath. "What do you mean?"
"Reid wouldn't have arrested Jason unless he thought something pointed to him. Did he say anything about why?"
Caroline was silent for a second. "I think… he said they found gloves in Charlie’s stash. They said Jason is the only one who had access to it, but that can't be true."
I knew it wasn't. Jason told me himself that he sometimes ran drugs to Charlie, though claimed not to know he was doing it. But at our dinner, Jason jumped on the idea that someone had poisoned Charlie's drugs. He thought Simon had done it.
"Laura, what am I gonna do?" Caroline asked in a small voice. "I can't get married without my brother. We've invited so many people. Some of them are already on their way and I… I just don't know what to do.”
Caroline sounded so lost. I wanted to help, but I didn't know what to tell her. Reid was the professional and the evidence was telling him Jason Delany was guilty. It wasn't as if I, a little wedding photographer, could convince him to change his mind.
What was I going to do, hop in my car, drive to the sheriff's department, and tell Conner Reid he was a fool?
Yes, that's exactly what I was going to do.
"Where is Simon? Is he with you?" I asked.
"No, he went to the sheriff's department to try to get my brother out."
"Okay, here's what you're going to do. You're going to lie down, stay calm, and not call anybody else except Simon," I said. "Don't cancel the wedding just yet."
By the time I hung up, Danielle was sitting on the sofa, her eyes fixed on the empty air in front of her. "They've made all of their payments and the contract says it’s non-refundable… but I can't do that to Caroline. Not if her brother's been arrested. It wouldn't be right."
"You're not going to have to give Caroline a refund," I said. "Because she's not going to have to cancel her wedding. Remind Granny to feed Coral. I'll be back."
I headed for the door and down the back steps. Danielle followed on my heels.
"Laura, you can't go over there," she said. "Reid already told you to stay out of it."
"That was before he ruined my client's wedding and put my sister's business back on the chopping block," I said.
"What are you even going to tell him?" she asked. "We don't know Jason is innocent."
I stopped and turned to face my sister. "You don’t know he’s innocent, but I know he’s not guilty. And if I let this happen without saying something, I’ll never forgive myself."
Danielle jerked back a little in surprise. "Why is this so important to you, Laura?"
For a few seconds, my brain couldn't formulate a response. Even if Caroline canceled her wedding and Danielle issued a refund, we had a few months before the Paradise would be in serious trouble. I wasn't a suspect in Charlie's murder anymore. My family wasn't in the direct path of the fallout.
Why did I still care about any of this?
“Because Charlie Porter destroyed enough good in his life,” I said. “He shouldn’t get to destroy anything else in death. And if I can do anything to prevent that, then I have to.”
Danielle's shoulders slumped. She put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. "Granny'll expect you home in time for lunch. And handcuffs are not part of the dress code."
I grinned, gave Danielle a quick kiss on the cheek, and ran for the garden cottage. Conner Reid was about to make a huge mistake, and somehow, I had to stop him.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The Paraiso Sheriff's Department was only a short drive away from the Paradise. I used every second of the drive to plan the case I was going to make to Reid for Jason Delany's release.
It wasn't going to be easy. Conner Reid would not be swayed by emotion. To him, the case started and ended with the evidence, and what ev
idence he had told him Jason Delany killed Charlie Porter.
All I had telling me otherwise was my gut. It wasn't a battle I could bet on winning, but there was too much on the line for me not to try. If nothing else, I could offer to be a character witness for Jason.
When I pulled up to the sheriff's department, Jason Delany was screaming so loudly I could hear him from my car. I couldn't make out what he was saying at this distance, but as I walked up the path to the door, it became clearer.
"You can't do this to me!" Jason screamed. "I haven't done anything wrong!"
The usual officer stationed behind the desk was on his feet, his hand hovering over a stun gun on his belt. Simon Lambert stood on the other side, watching in bewilderment while Reid dragged a fighting Jason Delany up the hall.
The Jason struggling against Reid's grip bore almost no resemblance to the man I had dinner with. His cool, bored exterior had disappeared, replaced with an animalistic desperation in his eyes. Beads of sweat streamed down his forehead and ran down his splotchy red cheeks. I felt sorry for Jason. It was hard to watch.
"There's nobody in the Keys that hated Charlie more than me!" Jason screamed. "But I didn't kill anybody!"
"The evidence says otherwise, Mr. Delany," Reid said over his shouts. "You should really consider exercising your right to remain silent."
That only made Jason thrash more wildly. "I'm not staying silent! This is a setup!"
The officer behind the desk spoke up. "If you don't pipe down, son, I'm gonna have to tase you."
"You do that and we'll sue the department for violation of civil liberties," Simon said. "And follow that up with one for unlawful arrest."
Reid didn't look impressed. In fact, his expression hardly changed at all.
"You're more than welcome to do that, Mr. Lambert," said Reid. "But I have evidence and an arrest warrant backing me up."
Simon clenched his fists so tight that they trembled. He sank his teeth into his lip and shook his head.
"Jason didn't kill anyone. I'm going to find the best lawyer money can buy," he said. "Kiss your career goodbye, Detective. Because when this is over, you won't be able to get a job chasing down cheating husbands."
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