“Do you know his name?” Olivia asked. Was it possible that the man who’d caused the accident might blame Lilac for it instead of himself? No, that was too farfetched. He was an out-of-towner and everyone in Chester would’ve immediately accused him if he’d rolled into town shortly before Lilac’s murder.
And how on earth did the perfumed scarf fit into the picture? Gosh, they had a lead, but it’d only presented more questions instead of clarifying their old ones.
“Yes,” Holmes said, at last. “I’m not sure it’s going to clear up anything for you, however.”
“What is it?”
“Ryan Constantinople,” the lawyer replied.
Olivia bit her bottom lip. Ryan Constantinople. She wasn’t an expert on Chester or its residents but she’d never heard that name mentioned before, and Alberta talked about the residents and newcomers enough that it should’ve been if he’d been in town any time in the last month.
“Ryan Constantinople,” Jake said, and shook his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“I’m afraid that’s all the information I have to offer you with regards to this,” Holmes said.
“Thank you.” Olivia squished out of the cushy armchair and reached across the desk to shake the man’s hand. “You’ve been very helpful.”
“Yes, well, jury is out as to whether that’s a good thing or not,” Holmes replied, with a wry smile.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
J ake leaned in too close for comfort, sending strange thoughts spiraling through Olivia’s mind. He braced his arm on the back of her sofa in the living room. Dodger had already vacated the area and taken up residence in front of the gate, snuffling every other minute.
Dodgy could never eat any of the chocolate downstairs, but he sure loved the smells.
“I don’t get it,” Jake said, as they waited for Olivia’s laptop to boot up. “If he came to town we would’ve heard about it. How could he be involved?”
“I don’t know,” Olivia replied. She tried shifting to take her mind off Jake’s side against hers. To be fair, there wasn’t all that much space on her sofa and he hadn’t flirted with her once since they’d decided to take up the case together again. “What I don’t get is the scarf.”
“Yeah, true. Why would a guy from a car accident use a perfumed scarf to murder a woman who wasn’t to blame for the crash in the first place? I don’t know, Olivia, I think we’re going out on a limb here.”
“I don’t disagree,” she said, and sighed as the laptop screen finally blinked on. She’d have to get a new one or at least get this one formatted – the boot up process had taken longer and longer as of late. “But, it’s in our best interest to check out every lead possible. We’re not exactly full of options right now.”
“Agreed.”
Olivia opened her internet browser and typed in Ryan Constantinople. She hit enter.
“Ah, here’s something,” she said, and pointed at the first link.
“Mugshot from a local police department,” Jake said. “That’s Homerville. It’s not far from here, maybe a two hour drive. Dated two years ago.”
“Sounds like a hit to me,” Olivia said. “Let’s check it out.” Her finger hovered above the keypad.
Olivia’s phone buzzed on the coffee table. Jake retrieved it, and then gave it to her.
“It’s Albie,” she said, and tapped the green icon on the screen – she still had to get used to using these smart phone thingies. “Hello?”
The results from the search stared at them and Olivia itched to hang up and get on with it. Something about Ryan Constantinople made her squirm.
“Olivia!” Alberta screeched above a swell of noise in the background.
“Alberta? What’s going on?”
“- get down here.”
“What?”
“What’s going on? Is she okay?” Jake whispered.
Olivia shrugged. She couldn’t make out anything yet. “Hello? Alberta, are you all right?”
“Fine! Blasted noise. I’m right next to a speaker. Hold on a second, dear.” The scuffle of fabric on plastic came down the line, followed by heavy breathing, a rush of footsteps. The yells and confusion subsided. “There, can you hear me now?”
“Yes, loud and clear, thankfully. What’s going on?” Olivia asked.
“You’ve got to get down here. You won’t believe this,” Alberta said.
“What is it?”
“This huge woman, and I don’t use that term often, dear, but she is huge - this beach ball of a woman has started a riot in the park.” Alberta gasped for breath between words.
“A riot?”
“Yes,” Albie said. “It’s unbelievable. I was just passing by, you know. It’s a Saturday afternoon; I figured everything would be quiet, but no. Apparently, she’s a huge fan of Van the Man. She’s started a movement in the park called Free Van the Man. There are people with posters and flyers and dogs.”
“Dogs?” The image of attack dogs popped into Olivia’s mind.
“Yes, Chihuahuas, specifically. A whole league of middle-aged ladies with dogs, marching around carrying signs. It’s like the end of days down here,” Alberta said. “Well, not quite, but you know what I mean.”
“Alberta, I think you should go home. Chihuahuas aside, it doesn’t sound safe down there,” Olivia said.
“You’re right. I don’t ‘spose there’s anything either of us can do to stop this. Unless – is Jake with you?”
“I – yes, why?”
“No reason,” Alberta said, and giggled. “I just wondered where he was.”
Sneaky. “All right, Albie. I’ll see you at work on Monday. Enjoy your free time and stay safe.”
“You too, dear.”
Olivia hung up, shaking her head. “Apparently, there’s a huge riot in the park. The citizens are furious that Van has been arrested.”
“Wow,” Jake said. “All the more reason to solve this case before things get worse.”
“Right.” Olivia clicked on the link to the mugshot and lost her breath. “No,” she whispered. “It can’t be.”
“What is it?” Jake studied the mugshot of the young man, Ryan Constantinople. “Do you know him?”
“Yes,” Olivia said. “That’s Georgie Ryan, the man who fixed my air-conditioning unit.” Facts scraped and clamored together in her brain. Georgie who’d said he’d leave town; Georgie who’d been strange around Lilac at the beginning of the week; who was relatively new to Chester – not too new to arouse suspicion, though.
But why? And why with a scarf?
“He was arrested for stalking and harassment,” Jake said.
Olivia opened her mouth. “I –”
A fantastic crash rang out downstairs and Olivia’s alarm system screamed. Dodger burst into a flurry of barks and growls at the top of the stairs.
Jake shook his head. “Don’t.”
“We have to,” Olivia said. “The cops will be busy taking care of the people at the park. Phone Keane, quick.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
O livia and Jake stepped into the interior of the Bloc-A-Choc Shoppe and came face to face with Georgie Ryan, holding nothing but the spanner he’d used to shatter the glass front window.
“Shoot,” he said, and crunched across the boards. “I thought you’d be at the park with the rest of the idiot women in this town.”
“Georgie, what are you doing?” Olivia asked, and folded her arms across her chest. She did her best to radiate confidence, confusion, and disapproval all in one. It helped that she had Jake right beside her for support.
“I came to search your house,” he said, simply. “I won’t let you tell people what happened.”
“Slow down,” Olivia said. “I don’t know what happened.”
“Don’t lie!” Georgie roared and pointed the spanner at her. “You’ve been investigating the case. I’ve watched you for a week now, rushing around with this weirdo at your back.”
“Hey,” Jake said, but kept his vo
ice low. There were more important issues to deal with than being called a weirdo by a homicidal maniac with a spanner.
“And now you’re here and I have to deal with you, too.” Georgie didn’t lower his makeshift weapon, but he didn’t have a gun either. He couldn’t possibly take both of them.
Sure, he was younger than they were, but he wasn’t Superman. Olivia took heart from the fact that Jake had already called Keane upstairs. The detective would arrive shortly, even though he’d be angry when he did.
“You don’t have to deal with anything right now, Georgie,” Olivia said, calmly. Every nerve ending in her body tingled, but she kept the jarring fear on the inside. Georgie was a wild animal, wired and ready to lash out. If she kept calm she could control the situation to a certain extent.
Jake shifted to move in front of her and Olivia put her arm out.
“You’re going to tell the police.”
“We haven’t told anyone anything,” Olivia lied. “And Georgie, you still have options. If you cooperate with the police, you might be able to take a plea deal.” Another lie and by no means what Olivia wanted. The man deserved a long prison sentence for what he’d done. “Talk to me about it, Georgie. Maybe I can help you.”
“Help me? I’m beyond help, woman. Don’t be such an idiot.”
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Jake growled.
Olivia stepped on the toe of his shoe and placed pressure, slowly. He had to keep it together if they wanted to get out of this alive and with information. The more they had, the more they could tell Keane. Georgie would deny everything in front of the detective.
“I’ll talk to her whichever way I want. I’m the one in charge here. Me.” Georgie jabbed his chest with his thumb.
“Why did you kill Lilac?” Olivia asked, before Jake could get offended all over again.
Georgie huffed and puffed. “Why? Because she murdered my girlfriend, that’s why.”
“What?” Jake and Olivia asked in unison.
“She killed Lacey,” he said. “We were in the car and she drove right into us. They blamed it on me. They said I was the one who did it but it wasn’t – no. I would never have hurt my girlfriend.” But Georgie didn’t sound all that sure.
“It was your girlfriend’s scarf,” Olivia said. The thought struck her out of the blue. “That’s why you used it. It was hers.”
“Yes,” Georgie hissed. “I wanted her to know why. I wanted to realize that her past had finally caught up with her.”
“But –”
Georgie was on a roll, now. “I came to Chester months ago. I wanted to see the woman for myself. I didn’t come with this plan in mind, I didn’t consider murdering her until I’d seen her around town a few times. Then the unit at her house broke and I was sent out to fix it.” He lowered the spanner, eyes glazing over, and lost in memory, now. “I figured it’d be the perfect opportunity to find out who she was for real.”
Uh oh. Lilac had obviously shown her true colors to the man. Not that it was any excuse. No amount of meanness or rudeness could warrant actual murder. Nothing could. “What happened?” Olivia asked.
Jake hadn’t interrupted in ages and she spared him a glance. His eyes were narrowed to slits, and both fists clenched at his sides.
“She let me in and didn’t even recognize me. I heard from the doctors at the hospital that she was so upset she came to see me while I was there. They must’ve lied because she didn’t care a hoot then. She looked at me like I was some kind of poisonous snake or an insect or something, then told me to get to work.”
“Then what happened?”
“Nothing. I got to work just like she said. But my mind was made up. Lilac was an evil, horrible woman. She didn’t care about what happened.”
“That’s not true,” Olivia said. “She wrote how much she regretted it in her journal.”
“Oh please, that probably wasn’t about my Lacey. It was likely something about her cheating husband or that model sister of hers,” Georgie said.
“No. It was definitely about the crash. She did care.”
“It’s too late now,” Georgie said. “You can’t redeem her or what she did. She can rot in the below for all I care and Chester is better off without her.”
A police siren whooped in the street outside and Georgie dropped the spanner.
“Don’t move,” Jake said.
But Georgie didn’t stick around for that. He darted toward the front of the store, arms pumping back and forth. He leapt through the gaping hole in the window. His foot hooked on the sill – he’d totally underestimated the jump – and he flew forward, arms pin wheeling and shrieking like a bird.
He crashed directly into Detective Keane, who’d just gotten out of his vehicle. They collapsed on the sidewalk in a tangle of arms and legs.
Georgie let out a terrific wail and tried to scramble upright, but Keane grasped his legs and held him in place.
“Morgan!” Keane yelled. “Get out here and help me restrain this man.”
Jake hurried past Olivia and out into the street. Olivia stood there, unsure of what to do next. This was over and they had the answers they needed, but nothing felt right.
Lilac was gone and Georgie’s revenge had ruined his own life, as well.
Olivia sat down at the table and stared at the carnage on her floor.
“This is going to be an interesting weekend,” she muttered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
O livia stood behind the counter in the store and placed her fists on her hips.
The Glass Guys had come to fix the front window. They had come out within a day of the call she’d made. They were professionals, but she still didn’t feel good about any of this. Georgie was firmly behind bars and he’d already confessed to the crime.
Violet and Hank had moved in together in the interim and had their escape from Chester planned, and strangely, Olivia was happy for them.
Lilac hadn’t been a good wife to Hank or a good sister to Violet. The two of them had found love in a difficult time and that said something about them.
“Are you okay there?” Alvira nudged her. “Upset about being closed another day?”
“No, that’s not it. Thanks for coming in today to make chocolates, by the way.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Alvira replied, and grinned at her – she’d totally come out of her shell in the past couple months. “Especially since its been so crazy around here because of the case.”
“Crazy would be an understatement,” Olivia said. She dragged her teeth across her bottom lip. “That’s been bothering me, to be honest.”
“What, the case?”
“Just the collision of these two worlds. I’m not sure that investigating is in the Shoppe’s best interest, and that means it’s not in my best interest, either. Maybe it’s time I take a break from all of this.”
Alvira snorted and adjusted her apron.
“What?” Olivia asked.
“Oh please, Olivia,” Alvira said. “You and I both know you’re not going to stop. Are we really going to have the same discussion every week?”
Olivia blushed. “I don’t mean to go on about it. It’s just frustrating. I know I shouldn’t be this involved, but it’s like I have a one-track mind when it comes to the thought of someone ruining things here. You’re my family; you and the other As.”
“Aw, Olivia. You don’t need to worry about us. And you don’t need to worry about anything here.”
“I guess,” Olivia said.
Alvira bumped her shoulder with a fist. “Come on, cheer up. You helped solved another case. That’s a big deal.”
“You’re right. At least it’s over, now. We can focus on the store again and the chocolates and –”
A knock interrupted Olivia and both women jumped, then giggled.
Jake Morgan stood at the door, waving. “Mind if I come in?” He called out.
“It’s unlocked,” Olivia replied.
He pushed into the i
nterior of the store and strolled over to meet them, hands tucked into his pockets and shoulders drooping. “Morning,” he said.
“Uh oh, looks like you’re not the only one who’s upset about the case, Olivia.” Alvira nudged her.
“You’re upset about the case?” Jake frowned. “But it’s over now. Solved. Closed.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Olivia joggled her shoulders up and down. “I guess I’m just uncomfortable with how everything went down. I didn’t expect it to be Georgie. He had his whole life ahead of him. He ruined his life and Lilac’s in one fell swoop. It’s just sad.” Supposedly, the closure should’ve made her happy. Olivia still hadn’t figured out how to disconnect herself from the outcome of each investigation.
“Georgie brought this upon himself. We can rest easy knowing he’s behind bars and that Chester is safe again,” Jake said, firmly, but that droop in his shoulders didn’t lift.
Wait, if the case hadn’t been what’d bothered him, then what was it?
“Alvira, do you mind if I speak to Olivia alone for a minute?” Jake asked.
“Sure.” Alvira stripped off her apron and placed it on one of the hooks on the wall. “I was thinking of taking Dodger for a walk anyway.”
“That would be so helpful,” Olivia said. “Thanks!”
Alvira wandered off toward the staircase in the corner and Jake kept an awkward silence until she’d finally disappeared and the gate clanged at the top of the stairs.
“Olivia, I owe you an apology.”
“No,” she said. “We’re not ending another week with an apology out of you, Mr. Morgan. We’ve done enough apologizing to each other.”
“All right,” he replied. “Then what do you suggest?”
Olivia worked that one over for a minute. She slid open the glass back of the counter and brought out a tray of chocolates. “Let’s make a promise to be better friends and to always say what we mean to one another. Oh, and to always tell the truth. Honesty is the best policy.”
“All right,” Jake said.
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