We’d spent the night at Ford’s house to not have to worry about driving home. My relatives from the Philippines were upstairs, along with my brother and his family. We’d all made plans to have lunch together at two o’clock.
The king-sized bed was incredibly comfortable, and DC and I had made good use of it on our wedding night. We were definitely going to have a lot of fun on our honeymoon. I couldn’t stop smiling. Mayor Murphy, I thought to myself. It had a ring to it.
I’d opted to keep the name Murphy. DC didn’t mind, and I’d spent so much time trying to figure out who I was.
Since we weren’t going to have children, it didn’t seem to matter much to anybody. Mayor Murphy.
The sound of swearing interrupted my reverie. Someone knocked on the door.
“Are you up, kid?” Mom asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Come help in the storage room off the kitchen when you can,” she said.
I climbed out of bed and padded to the kitchen to see what was going on.
When I opened the door to the storage closet, I found Mom, DC, and Ford turning the large dining room table.
“What are you guys doing?” I asked.
“We’re putting the table back,” Ford said.
“Everybody’s coming over for lunch in a couple of hours,” DC explained.
“I would’ve cleared this all out, but things got a little out of control with Dad dying,” Ford said. “I had to empty out all the rooms for your guests, and then put the table in here for the wedding.”
“Grab your end, next to that broken stuff,” Mom said.
I went over to that end of the table but got distracted. I stared at the broken vase and the broken, long-armed leaf scooper. “Is that the stuff from the side of the house?”
“I should’ve thrown it out, but I was worried the police might need it,” Ford said.
“They might,” I answered.
DC put down his end of the table and turned to me.
Ford and Mom did the same.
“Sylvia wasn’t a strong enough swimmer to be in the water and hold Cal down to drown him,” I said. “But maybe she didn’t have to be.”
“You’re going to have to explain it better,” DC said.
I walked over to the pile of broken items and noticed they were resting in a bed of very yellow old documents.
“Was this vase by the pool?” I asked.
“It could have been,” Ford said, “at one time, but then I guess it broke.”
“You should have that tested for blood,” I said to DC.
“Why?” Ford asked.
“I think Sylvia hit your father over the head with it,” I said. “Follow me to the pool.”
We all headed to the pool. I pointed to the ground. “If you remember, this part wasn’t wet when we got here. The part with the stain. The blood wasn’t really watery like it had been diluted.”
“How do you remember that?” Ford asked.
“She has a memory for details when she’s under stress,” DC explained.
“It never made sense to me that Cal was trying to get out or slipped on this side of the pool where it’s shady. If he was trying to get a tan, he would’ve been where the chaise lounges were, on the far side,” I said. “That’s where you usually have the lounge chairs, right?”
“Yes, there’s no room on this side,” Ford agreed.
“So the only reason he’d swim to this side of the pool would be—” I continued, but DC finished for me.
“If somebody came out of the sliding glass doors,” Ford finished.
“That’s how she stayed dry. She hit him over the head with the vase, and held him under water with the leaf skimmer. That’s how the items broke. When your dad fought back.”
“I’ll be damned,” Ford said.
“I bet she locked the sliding glass door out of habit,” I said.
“I’ll call the guys and have them dust those tools for prints,” DC said.
My mind went back to the old papers. “I think you’ll find that the signatures on the papers in the garage will match the authorizations for the cars bought at too high of a price and not the signature on the will.”
“But they’re all from Dad,” Ford said.
“Signatures change over time,” I explained. “The signatures on the checks for the overpriced cars will match the signatures on that old paperwork, but probably not on the will.”
“You guys are amazing!” Ford said, hugging Mom.
“My daughter and her husband solved it,” Mom said. “I just helped.”
That’s when I realized Mom had been quiet this whole time.
“I’m going to get that paperwork together,” Ford said, and he went inside, leaving Mom and me alone.
“Mom, you saw the vase and the broken leaf scooper earlier this morning, didn’t you?”
Mom didn’t answer me. She’d let me explain everything to Ford and hadn’t said a word.
“That’s why you went and woke me up, and told me to grab the side of the table where you knew I’d see that stuff,” I said.
“You solved it, kid!”
“No, you did,” I said.
“Kid, I didn’t tell you what happened. You told Ford what happened,” Mom said.
“Not really,” I insisted.
Mom looked me in the eye. “Are you saying I’m wrong?”
In that moment, I remembered the reason I’d moved back to Fletcher Canyon in the first place. It was because I trusted how much Mom was right. And now Mom was showing me how to trust myself to be right.
“I didn’t solve it on my own,” I said.
“None of us does anything on her own,” Mom said.
“That’s what family and friends are for,” I agreed.
She smiled. “Now, you’re getting it, kid.”
24
A Note from the Author (and her mom)
Thank you for reading Wedding Cake and Widows. I called Mom on video chat to tell her about the new book. Mom said to say hello and that she’d leave the rest of the message up to me.
She thinks it’s funny that I’ve made up a book where we solve crimes together. But after eight books, she doesn’t really know what to say to everyone but thank you and that she hopes you are doing well. Mom’s retired in Florida with her new husband, and I’m out here in California. You may have seen her comment on my Facebook posts if you’ve been to my page.
In each of my books, I like to use the names of people I know or readers who say it’s okay. The character of Briana shares the name of my co-host on my podcast, The Positive View.
There may be more from Briana in the future along with the rest of the ladies in the book club. I’ve always thought that mystery readers would make the perfect amateur sleuths. What do you think of co-writing that one with me? Maybe that’s a crazy idea, but if you’re a writer and love mysteries, perhaps we can get a group together. Just a thought.
But in the immediate future, I’ll have more books coming out this year featuring the long-promised character Eddie Harlowe. You can sign up to my mailing list for more information on my books, free stuff (including books and recipes), and my crazy ideas.
Thanks again for reading.
Let’s keep in touch! :)
Go to https://christymurphy.com/
and type your name and email in the boxes.
Also by Christy Murphy
Fair Witch Sisters Mysteries
Father Knows Death
Potions Eleven
Mom and Christy’s Cozy Mysteries
Mango Cake and Murder
Apple Pies and Alibis
Milkshakes and Murder
Mocha and Murder
Coconuts and Crooks
Honey Buns and Homicide
Marshmallows and Murder
As C.M. Murphy
The Secret Truth of Time (Mom’s favorite book of mine)
A Comedy Cozy Mystery (Mom and Christy's Cozy Mysteries Book 8)
Wedding Cake and Widows: A Comedy Cozy Mystery (Mom and Christy's Cozy Mysteries Book 8) Page 13