“Gotcha!” she said, holding up what looked like a ring. “I told you, Jonah. These old clocks are worth more than you thought.”
She picked up another clock, a porcelain carriage clock. I suspected it might be a replica, but I couldn’t tell from here.
“Stop, please!” I said. “What are you doing? That clock you just killed—it was worth at least five hundred dollars, probably much more!”
“And this ring is worth ten times that, and a lot easier to hock.”
She hurled the clock against the fireplace. This one, made of porcelain, shattered into dozens of pieces. That didn’t stop Aggie from rifling through them. Cutting her finger on a shard didn’t seem to bother her at all, especially after she found another treasure, this time an earring.
“Where’s the other one. Do you see it?” she asked me. “You, find the other earring. Now.”
She stood up and grabbed a sweatshirt from the side table, wiping the blood on the dark fabric. The black hoodie looked awfully familiar, as did her heavy boots.
“What does it look like?” I asked. She held up a pearl and diamond earring, but didn’t hand it to me. It matched the earring in my pocket. I swallowed hard, hoping to contain the panic that was rising in my chest.
“Aggie, was it you in the shop last night?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice calm. The rest of me was terrified. I crouched down, trying to avoid cutting my shaking hands on the shards. I started to pile the pieces of the clock up. I cleared a space and knelt down gingerly.
“You’re a real pain, you know that?” Aggie said. “Your car wasn’t there. You were supposed to be gone by now, back to Boston, away from here. Why do you all make me hurt you? Why don’t you just do what you are supposed to?”
I sat back on my heels and looked up at the barrel of the gun. I wished I knew more about guns. I had no idea if it had a safety, if the safety was on or off, or even how to tell if it was loaded.
I turned and pretended to search while I reached into my pocket and pulled out the matching earring.
“Is this what you are looking for?” I said, holding it up.
“Yes, that’s it.” She snatched the earring and reached for another clock, but I put my hands out.
“Stop. Please, don’t destroy another clock. Let me take it apart.”
She looked at me for a few seconds, then let go. “Have at it,” she said. “Might as well make your last few minutes happy ones. Don’t ever let it be said that Agatha Winter-Kurt didn’t have a heart.”
“Yeah, Aggie, that’s you. All heart.” Jonah half laughed, half coughed. He’d rolled himself up to a sitting position. “All heart. Let’s just ask Dad about that, shall we? Oh, wait, we can’t. Because you killed him. Just like you’re killing me.”
“Shut. Up. Jonah.”
“But Ruth probably knows that already, don’t you Ruth? She figured it out, just like Thom figured it out,” Jonah said, looking at me desperately.
Aggie let out a howl and threw one of the clocks at Jonah. He couldn’t even try to duck it, but happily for him her aim was wide. The clock crashed against the wall and pieces flew across the floor.
“Go get it,” she hissed at me. “Crawl over and get it.”
I did as I was told, maneuvering my way over to the side of the room. I tried to catch Jonah’s eye, but he was too dazed. Had Grover been murdered? By his daughter? How had my grandfather known?
I remembered the training I got as a housemaster at school on ways to deal with out-of-control students and threatening situations. Keep your tone light, don’t accuse, make them think you are on their side. Don’t show fear. It had all seemed so simple in a dining hall, practicing with the history tutor. Not so easy today.
“So, Aggie, there’s a lot going on here,” I said, carefully collecting the broken glass and putting it in the front pocket of my dress along with the porcelain shards. A glint of light caught my eye, and I crawled over and picked it up.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” I got up on my knees, but didn’t stand up.
“What is it?”
“A pin, silver, with diamonds that look like dew. It’s lovely. I’ll bet your mother looked beautiful wearing it. Am I right?”
“Give it to me!”
“So what did you do, Aggie? Hide bits and pieces of jewelry in the clocks? Didn’t your father notice that they were missing?” I reassembled the pieces of this story like the machinery of a broken clock, one at a time. I was waiting for the final cog that would help it all make sense.
“He did, but I just blamed Delia. The black sheep sister. Dad never suspected me, poor miserable Aggie. The quiet daughter. No one ever suspects the quiet daughter. You know what my father used to call me? Mouse.” The lack of warmth in Aggie’s smile was more than chilling. I understood now that Aggie had moved into another reality. I needed to meet her there if I was going to get out of this.
“Your father was probably going to give you the jewelry someday. Why did you hide it?” I tried to keep my voice even and gentle. Maybe if I kept her talking . . .
“He wasn’t going to give it to me. He was going to put it in a trust for Jonah’s future wife and children. In a trust. Dad loved his trusts. He was all about making us wait for what was rightfully ours.”
“You didn’t wait,” Jonah said, his breathing ragged. “You borrowed thousands and thousands of dollars from Mother and Dad over the years, with no intention of paying them back. Ever. You spent your inheritance ten times over. Don’t you understand that? It was all Dad could do to hold on to this house at the end.”
“And whose fault was that? All he had to do was to roll over and talk everyone into the rezoning downtown. He could have made a fortune. But no, the integrity of Orchard was more important. Blah, blah, blah. I’m so sick of his games. All Dad had to do was stop with the games. That’s all,” Aggie said.
“And when he didn’t?” I said.
“She didn’t give him a chance. She poisoned him. Just like she’s been poisoning me. I thought it was the flu, but yesterday I made a doctor’s appointment, and she flipped. She’s been poisoning my sports drink for weeks. And I never knew.” Jonah threw the sports drink bottle at her, spreading the red drink all over the room. She didn’t even flinch. She just smiled.
“You know what? Thom was going to see if he could get Dad’s body exhumed, so they could run some tests. But do you want to hear the funny part, brother dear? He thought it was you, or maybe Delia. It took some doing, but I finally got him to believe my story. He never even suspected it was me. Of course, I had to be sure. That’s why I went back to get the notebook that night.”
“That night? Aggie, did you kill my grandfather?”
“I didn’t mean to, I really didn’t.” Aggie turned to me. I heard her words, but saw little remorse on her face. “You believe me, don’t you? It’s just that he wouldn’t listen. I had to make him listen. You see that, don’t you? He found a couple of pieces of jewelry and gave them to me. But he told me he’d have to tell Delia and Jonah, just to be fair. To be fair. Even though I’d convinced him they’d killed Dad? When I asked him if he really had to, he started to act a little odd, so I was worried that he’d guessed. I always saw him writing stuff down. All of a sudden I wondered, what was he writing? I had to find out. I tried to pretend I was a robber, and waited for him outside the shop. But he knew it was me. I guess the pendulum I’d swiped when I left the shop earlier was a bad idea. Anyway, when I started toward him, he told me to stop. Why do people always think they can boss me around? Did he really think the car alarm would help him? I gave him a chance to give it all to me. It was his own fault, really it was. He should have just given me the jewelry and left well enough alone.
“Now give me that pin,” she said.
Aggie aimed her gun at me and shot it. I jumped up and cried out. The shot was louder than I expected. I heard a
pane of glass shatter behind me, and turned to look. It was a few inches over my head. I couldn’t tell if she was a bad shot, or just trying to warn me.
“I’m going to bring it to you, and then we’re going to find the rest of the jewelry in the rest of the clocks. How many are there all together? Do you know?” I stood up as best I could and walked slowly toward her. My back seized a bit with every step, but I pushed forward.
I handed her the pin, making sure to catch it in the light so it sparkled. As she looked down, I hit the button to my car’s key fob. The alarm screeched, and Aggie turned toward the sound. I reached in my pocket, grasped the broken bits of glass and porcelain. Aggie turned back toward me and I threw the glass at her face, aiming for her eyes.
I grabbed her arm with the gun, pushing her backward toward the fireplace. She screamed with frustration as she tripped on the side table and her back hit the brick, hard. But she didn’t let go of the gun. She pushed her weight forward and we both fell over, with her landing on top of me. I tried to catch my breath, but she was heavy. She tried to turn the gun toward me, but I pushed back with everything I had left. Another shot rang out, and I heard a moan from Jonah. Aggie’s weight crushed my chest; my breath came in shorter and shorter pants. I felt my grip loosening on the gun. I was losing this battle.
My vision was a swirling purple haze with sparkles. I saw Jonah out of the corner of my eye, holding a clock over his head. Aggie cried out as the clock crashed into her forearm and the gun dropped from her grip. She launched herself toward Jonah in a rage, but I grabbed the back of her hair.
“Hold her down,” I said.
“How?” Jonah asked. He had a point—she was flailing around. I held on to her hair with both hands.
“Sit on her,” I said.
He leaned down and grabbed both of her wrists, holding them down against the floor. I pulled myself up and sat on her legs. Aggie kept screaming, but she’d stopped moving.
“We need to call the police,” I said. “Can you hold her down, Jonah? Jonah?” All of a sudden Aggie’s hands got free and she clawed at me. Jonah’s limp body was stopping her from sitting up, but not for long.
I heard a huge crash and saw an object fly through the front window. One of the concrete turtles skidded across the room. Another crash and another piece of concrete flew in. The bunny landed nearby. Aggie stopped moving, and finally stopped screaming.
I looked over and saw Chief Paisley’s face appear through the window.
“Don’t make me shoot! Because you know I will, Aggie,” he shouted.
chapter 43
It was a beautiful memorial service. G.T. would have approved. We had it on Saturday, concurrently with the service the National Horological Society was holding. Caroline and I’d decided to go ahead with it, even though it was very short notice and I was still in pretty tough shape. People wanted to pay their respects, and Orchard needed to turn the page and move on.
The Town Hall was full. Some press had tried to come in after catching wind of Aggie’s crimes, but the good people of Orchard made sure they weren’t welcome. Caroline’s son, Levi, wanted to be there, but she’d finally been able to talk him into staying at his conference. There’d be plenty of chances to celebrate Thom Clagan. Caroline made Levi promise to come up with a wonderful memorial garden as a start.
My friends Steve and Rick came out from Boston and sat with me, each holding a hand and helping me navigate stairs, chairs, and people. Ben sat with Caroline and performed the same function for her.
I slowly made my way to the front of the Town Hall and took in the sight of the townspeople who’d shown up. My voice shook as I started to read.
A Reminiscence
by Anne Brontë
YES, thou art gone! and never more
Thy sunny smile shall gladden me;
But I may pass the old church door,
And pace the floor that covers thee.
May stand upon the cold, damp stone,
And think that, frozen, lies below
The lightest heart that I have known,
The kindest I shall ever know.
Yet, though I cannot see thee more,
’Tis still a comfort to have seen;
And though thy transient life is o’er,
’Tis sweet to think that thou hast been;
To think a soul so near divine,
Within a form so angel fair,
United to a heart like thine,
Has gladdened once our humble sphere.
“As some of you know, that last stanza is etched on my grandmother’s tombstone. She always loved the Brontë sisters. The quote is perfect for them both. How lucky was I that they had gladdened my own humble sphere? Immeasurably. Thank you, G.T. I love you.” I looked around and smiled. I took my seat.
Pat Reed got up and gave his eulogy. A great testament to his friend; he didn’t leave a dry eye in the house. And he made it clear that saving this Town Hall was Thom Clagan’s final wish, and it was going to happen. There was a huge round of applause for that. I turned and looked at everyone in the hall. I noted that some of the members of the Board of Selectmen were slow to join in, but by the end the only person not clapping was Kim Gray. I smiled sweetly at her and clapped even louder.
There was a reception downstairs in the community room afterward, and I shook every hand that was offered. To say that I was exhausted by the end was an understatement, but the entire day helped me make up my mind.
I brought my Boston friends over to the Cog & Sprocket and showed them around. Ben and Moira came with us and offered their opinions on what could be done to make the upstairs apartment a workable space.
“What a great space. A little cramped, but you will be selling most of these clocks, won’t you?” Steve said.
“That’s the idea,” I said. I knew he’d love the shop. What wasn’t there to love?
“Well, that will help with the flow of the space. What about this wall that splits the front of the shop?” he asked.
“Caroline and I talked about it. G.T. was always adamant about keeping it, so maybe it’s structural?”
Steve looked around. “No, I don’t think so. It does have outlets on it, but they can be moved.”
“Then I think we should get rid of it.”
Steve grabbed a hammer from the workshop and to my surprise, knocked right through the wallboard. “Excellent choice,” he said, grinning. “Now, what we do upstairs depends on what you want it to be. An apartment or a showroom?”
chapter 44
Caroline invited a few people over to her house Sunday afternoon. We decided to use the barn for the party. I’d come to think of the space as a satellite of the Cog & Sprocket. Fortunately Caroline agreed. Nancy and Moira came over early to set up the food, which they’d provided.
“Pat tells me your friends are at the shop, tearing out a wall. Does this mean what I hope it means?” Nancy asked, rubbing her hands together.
“You’ll have to wait to hear what it means until everyone else gets here,” I said with a wink. “Thank you both for bringing the food.”
“Thank us? Thank us? If it weren’t for you, Ryan would be rotting in jail right now. As it is, he is free from any legal trouble. Again, thanks to you,” Nancy said.
“And thanks to Chief Paisley, who was willing to bend the rules a bit,” I said. “And Caroline, who convinced him that G.T. had given Ryan the clocks as a gift.”
“Jeff drove a hard bargain,” Nancy said.
“How? By making Ryan do some community service, off the books? Honestly, Mum, he did us a favor. Ryan needed to learn a lesson, but not let it ruin his life,” Moira said, raising her eyebrows.
“Well, I’ll let you settle that debt,” Nancy said. “Free coffee for life? Or something a little more? If you aren’t already giving him more than that.”
Moira blushed a bit and threw a napkin at her mother.
“What’s that?” Moira pointed to the model I’d set on the table.
“It’s G.T.’s model of the Town Hall, with the clock tower restored.”
“I still can’t believe you own the Town Hall now,” Moira said.
“I’m relieved I found the deed. Caroline and I talked it over. Since it was in the shop and was in a clock, we are considering it part of the shop itself. So, officially, I own it, but I am going to deed it back to the town with some conditions that G.T. would have wanted. Kristen is working on the details now. The envelope must have been in a pile of documents that G.T. hadn’t gone through yet. Grover knew that G.T. would make the connection about John Harrison. Eventually. And that no one else would.”
“Grover and Harriet Winter were wonderful people. How could they have raised such a monster?” Caroline said.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Aggie had everyone fooled. She had herself convinced that she lived in a world where getting rid of obstacles that stood in her way was her right. That included her own father, her husband, Jonah. And G.T. It’s just so awful.”
“How is Jonah?”
“He’s getting better,” Caroline said. “It will take a while, but they think he’ll make a full recovery. At least physically. Mentally, it may take him a while longer. He’s going to stay with his sister Delia while he gets better.”
“Ruth, what’s under the sheet?” Moira asked, pointing to the large wall piece I’d installed that morning on one of the walls in the barn. “Another model?”
“All in good time. Now get something to eat. Nancy, we could feed the entire town with this spread.”
“You don’t have to offer me Nancy’s lasagna twice,” Ben Clover said from the doorway, where he was leaning. It was a good lean. “I think they serve it at the pearly gates. Aunt Flo, do you know everyone here?”
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