by Amy Vansant
“I know it’s crazy. I don’t expect you to believe me right now and I’m sure it’s a lot to take in. I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you. Please keep in mind that this is a theory that came up during my investigation. It isn’t iron-clad...”
Cora’s brows knit. “Your investigation? Why were you investigating my husband’s death?”
“To win for Penny. Remember? I was the one there with her when we came to see you with flowers—”
Cora’s voice grew high and strained as she cut Charlotte short. “Why would you think proving that my husband’s death was a murder would win you Cow Town?”
Because you said it was the most important task of all?”
“I did?”
“Yes—
“I did no such thing.”
“But—”
Charlotte stopped and recalled how the directive to solve Bucky’s murder had first come to her.
Oh right. Of course.
She said the name aloud.
“Stephanie.”
“Are you working with her?” asked Cora, jerking to her feet as if a rat had run across her lap.
“Working with her? No. I mean, only in the sense that she assigned us the tasks to win Cow Town. She said the group that could prove Bucky’s death was murder, or not murder, would be the group that won.”
“Why would she say that?”
“It wasn’t your idea?”
Cora shook her head.
“She told me she’d help me make the sisters compete for the land, but she never said anything about asking you to solve Bucky’s murder.” Cora grew pale and her gaze floated back to Charlotte. “And now you have?”
Charlotte shook her head. “I don’t know that I have. Like I said, it’s just a theory. If you didn’t even know we were looking into the deaths...oh, Cora, I’m so sorry. This must come as a terrible shock. No wonder...” She wiggled her finger in the direction of the elevator. “I’m so sorry.”
Cora took a deep breath and straightened her dress, nodding slowly. “Of course.”
“It might be nice to know the truth, even if it is terrible, don’t you think?” suggested Charlotte.
Cora patted Charlotte’s hand. “Of course. Thank you.”
“Do you want me to call you a doctor?”
“No, no. I’m fine. Let’s go in.”
Charlotte walked bedside Cora to her lawyer’s office.
After a brief wait flipping through some shockingly boring magazines and a round of introductions, the lawyer read the will to the only two people present.
The outcome was short and to the point. Cora received everything.
“Is that what you expected to hear?” Cora asked.
Charlotte smiled. “It’s what I hoped to hear. If Shawna had been added to Bucky’s will it would have meant she was almost certainly working with her brother. Since that didn’t happen, it’s looking more like Dallas just didn’t like Bucky dating his sister.”
She realized to whom she was talking and covered her mouth. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to be indelicate.”
Cora chuckled. “The days of Bucky’s indiscretions shocking me are long past. But you had nothing to fear. Bucky loved his dalliances but he never would have put one of those tramps in his will.”
Cora thanked the lawyer. “Can you do me a favor, Bob? I need to transfer the deed to the lot by my house over to someone. Can you draw up the papers for that?”
The lawyer scowled. “Cow Town?”
She nodded.
“But, you don’t have Cow Town.”
Cora blinked. “What’s that?”
“You don’t own it anymore.”
“You said he gave everything to me, didn’t you?”
“Yes. But Bucky sold the Cow Town lot several weeks ago. Sale became final today.”
“What?” said Cora and Charlotte together.
“Who? Who would he sell it to?” asked Cora.
“Um, I have that name here...” The lawyer rifled through the papers on his desk. “Here it is, a Ms. Moriarty. Seems he sold it to her quite reasonably, too.”
Cora sputtered.
“Stephanie Moriarty?” asked Charlotte.
He nodded.
Charlotte touched Cora’s arm. “Did you know?”
Instead of answering, Cora turned an evil glare on her lawyer. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
The lawyer shook his head, his eyes wide with confusion. “I called once or twice to see if you wanted to come in and review everything before it was final, but I never heard back.”
“You called? Me?”
“I called your cell. I have the number here...”
Cora retrieved her phone from her purse. “What number do you have?”
He read off the digits and Cora nodded. “That’s right, but I don’t have any calls from you.”
“Let me see,” said Charlotte.
Cora handed her the phone and Charlotte flipped through the settings.
“It’s blocked.”
“What?”
“His number is blocked. You might have thought it was a spam call, maybe, and blocked it?”
An expression of realization passed across Cora’s face and her shoulders relaxed. She slipped the phone from Charlotte’s hand and dropped it back into her purse. “That’s it. I must have. Thank you, Charlotte.”
“There still might be time to stop the sale. You could fight it?”
Cora shook her head. “No, no. It’s fine. I was going to sell it anyway. This is more off my plate. This is good. Thank you, Bob.”
Cora wandered out of the room.
Charlotte looked at the lawyer and he chuckled. “I thought she was going to kill me there for a second.”
Charlotte sighed. “So did I.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“What are you doing here?” asked Darla.
“Taking the day off to celebrate solving the case,” said Declan, pulling the towel from his shoulder and handing it to Charlotte as she stepped from the pool.
Charlotte smiled as he mentioned her dubious victory. She’d solved Bucky’s murder, but failed Penny. Worse still, Stephanie had once again found a way to disrupt her life.
“I don’t know how much of a victory it is. Poor Cora had no idea how Bucky really died. She fainted when I told her I thought it was murder.”
“I can only imagine. That must have been a shock,” said Mariska, who sat next to Darla, drying from her own swim.
Declan chuckled. “There are a lot of broken hearts going around today. I opened the store for Blade this morning and he was mourning the loss of his cat.”
“He finally gave Johnnie Walker Cat back to Mr. French? Good. Poor Mr. French has been through enough this week, too,” said Charlotte.
The gate squeaked and they turned to find Frank in full sheriff’s uniform, entering the pool area.
“Little early for lunch, isn’t it?” asked Darla.
“It’s never too early for lunch, but that’s not why I’m here. Charlotte, Tampa wants to know where you got that thumb drive.”
“What thumb drive?”
“When I gave them back the Bucky envelope and told them about your theory, they said the video evidence of Dallas entering the building wasn’t from them.”
“Wasn’t from them? But it was in the manila envelope you gave me.”
“They say it wasn’t. They said the footage from that camera had been destroyed when they looked for it.”
Charlotte found herself speechless. “I don’t know what to tell you. I found the thumb drive there...oh. Wait a second...” She recalled the mysterious ring from her video doorbell and the question mark on her chalkboard. She’d noticed the thumb drive after that, and had been surprised she hadn’t noticed it earlier.
“Someone broke into my house.”
Frank scowled. “Broke into your house? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Other than drawing a question mark on my chalk board, I couldn’t find that they�
��d done or taken anything. But now I’m thinking maybe they left something.”
“The video? Why would someone do that?”
“Because they wanted to help me catch Dallas?”
Frank scoffed. “Well, a lot of good it did.”
“What’s that mean?”
“They can’t find him. His sister said he went back to school, but his roommate says he never showed up at the apartment. He never showed up for any of his classes.”
“He’s on the run?”
“That would be my guess.”
“That confirms he was guilty, right? Why else would he run?” asked Declan.
Charlotte nodded. “I guess.”
“But what about someone breaking into Charlotte’s house?” asked Darla.
Frank shrugged. “I guess if someone wanted Dallas caught, we should thank them for giving her the piece she needed.”
Darla huffed. “You can’t go breaking into people’s houses—”
“It’s a little convenient, don’t you think?” asked Charlotte, thinking aloud.
“What do you mean?” asked Declan.
“Did someone want the guilty person caught? Or were they framing him?”
Frank laughed. “Stop second-guessing yourself. You did a great job. Armed with your theory, they showed Dallas’ picture to some of Bucky’s staff and his assistant said she’d seen him before, yelling at Bucky to stay away from his sister.”
Charlotte perked. “Really? I guess that makes me feel better…”
Frank patted her on the shoulder. “You found potato, he had a potato gun, what more do you need?”
Charlotte sighed. “I guess. Something just feels fishy.”
Declan threw his arm around her and pulled her to him. “You always think that. And hey, now you should have enough official hours to get your investigator’s license.”
She beamed. “You’re right.”
“We’ll have to have a party,” said Mariska.
“Fine, but wait until I actually have it, if you would. I don’t want to jinx it.”
Charlotte heard her phone ring and reached into her pool bag to retrieve it.
“It’s Stephanie,” she said.
Declan shook his head. “Don’t answer it.”
She turned from the group and put the phone to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Still want the property?” asked Stephanie.
“Penny does, I’m sure.”
“It’s for sale. Tell her to submit her bid.”
“For sale? Already?”
“Yes. If you have a problem with that—”
“No, not at all. It’s just that there have been trucks and noise over there night and day. I assumed you were building something.”
“Did you look up the building permits?”
Charlotte sighed. She hated to admit to Stephanie that she had cared enough to look for a permit. She’d found little.
“I only found permits for the fences you put up to keep us from seeing what was happening.”
“You did look. I’m so impressed, really.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Stop. You’re making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”
“Did you peek too? Did you look inside the fence?”
“You were digging a foundation when I looked.”
Stephanie laughed. “Submit your bid.”
“I’ll let Penny know.”
She hung up and Charlotte turned back to the group.
“What did she want?” asked Declan.
“To tell me Cow Town is for sale again. She wants Penny to bid.”
“Already? Why did she even buy it?”
“I don’t know. But I need to go take a peek at it. Want to come?”
Declan nodded and they excused themselves. They took Charlotte’s golf cart to the thin strip of brush that separated the Cow Town lot from Pineapple Port and picked their way through.
Standing against the pasture fence, they stood, jaws hanging slack, staring at a giant hole in the ground.
Grass, cow patties and six feet of dirt had disappeared from a large portion of the field. It was as if someone had built a giant basement and then decided to abandon the house.
“Why would she do this?” asked Charlotte.
Declan leaned forward and peered into the hole. “Is it a joke? She wants to sell the land to Penny with no dirt in it?”
Charlotte shook her head. “That’s what was fishy about Bucky’s death.”
“What? A hole?”
“The fact that Stephanie was involved. Things never feel quite right when she’s involved.”
Declan nodded. “This, I know.”
Chapter Thirty
Stephanie heard the front door of her law storefront open and stood to walk from her office into the small lobby. Stopping outside her office door, she smiled upon seeing her visitor, a small, nervous-looking older woman.
“Cora. What a surprise.”
Cora Bloom’s jaw clenched. “We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t. You need to start packing for New England. Those grandkids aren’t going to spoil themselves now, are they?”
Cora took a step forward. “You stole the land from Bucky.”
“Stole the land? I did no such thing. He sold it to me, fair and square. I have all the paperwork to prove it.”
“You tricked him somehow.”
“Tricked is a subjective term.”
“That’s why you were watching me. I figured it out. It’s why you hounded me night and day. You didn’t want me to stop the sale.”
“Yes. Your charming company was just a bonus.”
“You blocked my lawyer’s calls.”
Stephanie nodded. “That reminds me. He tried to reach you on your landline, too, but your housekeeper thought five hundred dollars was more important than relaying the message to you. Her loyalties were so easily bought. You might want to rethink taking her north with you.”
Cora’s face grew red and Stephanie wondered if steam would soon leak from the woman’s ears. Instead, Cora shook a tiny fist.
“You think you’re so smart, but you’re going to jail with us. That girl knows. She told me. She knows about Dallas and the potato gun.”
“Girl? Who? Charlotte? Of course she does. I gave her the video of Dallas entering the building. It was only a matter of time. She’s not quite as dumb as she looks. Just as boring, but not as dumb.”
“You gave her a video? Why would you do that?
She’s going to tell the police.”
“Relax. Her evidence only incriminates Dallas. The world thinking Dallas worked alone is a good thing.”
“But he’ll tell. He’ll tell and then I’ll be carted off to jail.” Cora thrust a bony finger in Stephanie’s direction. “And I’ll tell them about you trying to cover it up, too.”
Stephanie smiled and shook her head. “Dallas won’t tell.”
“He will. He’s a child. He’s an idiot. They’ll scare him and he’ll tell.” Cora’s eyes welled with tears.
“Are you crying?” Stephanie walked to Cora and put her arm around the woman’s shoulder, guiding her towards the door. “He won’t tell. And without Dallas, they’ve got nothing except the strong suspicion that Dallas knocked Bucky over with a potato.”
“You think they can’t find him at school?”
Stephanie tapped her finger on the end of Cora’s nose. “He’s not at school, silly.”
“Then where—”
Cora stopped and rotated to face Stephanie, her eyes as large as fried eggs. “Are you saying—”
Stephanie placed her hand in the small of Cora’s back, opened the front door and eased her forward into the Florida sun.
“I’m saying you have nothing to worry about from Dallas. And as long as you pay my last invoice and keep your mouth shut, you have nothing to worry about from me, either.”
“Are you threatening to kill me?”
“No. I’m threatening to send a collection
agency after you. I take my invoices very seriously.”
Cora’s lips pressed into a thin white line as she stared into Stephanie’s eyes, shaking. “You’re saying I have nothing to worry about?”
Stephanie gently gripped Cora’s upper arm. “I’m saying you’ll never have to think about Charity, or Dallas, or even Bucky again.”
Cora sighed and nodded before shuffling toward her car. At her car door, she looked back.
“You won’t come after me?”
Stephanie squinted at her. “Cora. I thought we were on the same page. Do I need to rethink things?”
Cora shook her head. “I’m leaving. The check will be in the mail seconds after I get home.”
“Perfect. Tell your friends if they need a lawyer I’m here.”
Cora slipped into her car and drove away as Stephanie waved from her office doorstep.
“Bye, now.”
Stephanie returned to her office and sat at her desk, surveying the seventeen Teddy bears who stared back at her like a college lecture audience.
It hadn’t seemed right to leave them in the trash bags.
“Well, I think we’re done, boys,” she said, grabbing her phone from the desk.
She dialed.
“It’s done,” she said when the ringing ended.
“Good. I’ll send you the information you need to send me the money after you sell the land,” said her mother, Jamie.
“Less my commission.”
“Of course.”
“And my loose end?”
“Tied.”
“I don’t want to hear how it happened, mother.”
Jamie laughed.
“Oh, sweetheart. You are my daughter.”
THE END
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