Cora was speechless. The reason for Darla’s behavior had finally become clear. She either knew or suspected that her own mother had killed her grandmother, and then her grandfather as well. Which probably scared her half to death. How far would a daughter go to protect her wayward mother? When Darla saw that there was a scapegoat, she latched on to it. Jane was perfect, thanks to the confusion over her fingerprints and her record.
“So did Dee kill her mom and dad?” Jude said.
The detective’s face was grim. “It most certainly looks that way. Plus she’s a wanted woman for several crimes, especially identify theft. We are now certain that she also stole her mother’s jeweled opium kit collection. Dee had Darla when she was fifteen years old and the family shunned her. They sent her away. The story is pretty typical from that point on. Typical in some ways, I should say. Darla tried hard to break free of the situation. She almost succeeded.”
Cora’s heart went from pounding anger to breaking in half in a second. What had happened to the Waters family? What went wrong? Was Dee born with problems—or was it the drugs she had gotten involved with as a kid? Could drug addiction spiral like this and years later lead to her killing both of her parents, not to mention placing her own daughter so much at risk that she wanted to go into hiding?
What a mess. What a confounding, heartbreaking mess.
“So why did Darla come here to Indigo Gap?” Jude asked.
“She came here to get to know her grandmother. Her mother found out, and didn’t like it, obviously,” Brodsky replied. “Dee has been in and out of town since she found out, evidently.”
“Is that enough of a motive for murder?” Cora asked. “I mean, that she didn’t want her daughter to know her grandmother?”
“That, the money, and the fact that Dee resented her parents for sending her and her new baby as far away from home as possible,” Brodsky said.
“But she was going to all this trouble to lead us away from her grandmother’s true killer . . . I’m confused,” Jude said.
“Because the killer was her mother,” Cora said. “Her mother.”
Cora’s eyes sought the woman she knew as Darla. She was holding her mother and crying. The woman, with her addictions and her litany of criminal activities, pulled back from her daughter, brushed the hair from her face with a gentle, motherly sweep of her fingers, then cupped Darla’s face in her hands. In that moment, she was nothing more or less than a mother. And, perhaps, a daughter.
Chapter 58
“The party doesn’t start for several more hours. Why are you calling me?” Cora said into her phone.
“Since it appears that you’re still alive, you better get your ass home before Beatrice takes over completely,” Jane said. “So where are you, anyway? Is Jude with you, by any chance?”
“Yes,” Cora said. “He’s with me. As for the rest, you are not going to believe it.” Cora then explained what had happened.
“You’re right. I don’t believe it,” Jane said. “Darla Day’s not Darla Day. She’s the daughter of the Waterses’ long-lost daughter, who was supposed to be in England. But, instead, she’s been skulking around here posing as Ivy Renquist, stealing a priceless jeweled opium kit, and killing her parents. What’s believable about that?” Jane spouted.
“Well, if you don’t believe me, you can ask Jude,” Cora said. “We’ll both be home soon—after the medics say we’re okay.”
“Cora?”
“Yes?”
“Does this mean I’m officially no longer a suspect?”
“I suppose it does,” Cora said. “They can probably send the fingerprint experts home.”
“Thank God for that,” Jane said.
“I’ll see you soon,” Cora said.
Later, as she and Jude walked back to Kildare House, he grabbed her by the hand. “Thanks for putting up with me this weekend,” he said. “I’m so sorry for everything.”
He was the charming Jude Sawyer again. But he was also still the same man who had slept with Ivy and Linda. Was it within twenty-four hours of one another? Cora didn’t want to know. That was a mystery she’d leave unsolved.
“Apology accepted,” she said and withdrew her hand from his. As long as I don’t ever have to see you again, I’ll be fine, she thought but didn’t say.
“That was pretty amazing what you did back there,” he said.
It was pretty amazing, Cora thought. She hadn’t panicked. After the incident, she fell apart, but during it, she did fine. Even Detective Brodsky had been impressed.
Crafty girl to the rescue, he had said and winked at her.
But this was not what Cora had bargained for—at all. She wanted a peaceful small-town life. She had wanted to start fresh with her craft retreat. This felt too much like her old life, when she never knew when a disgruntled husband would come into the Sunny Street Shelter, or when a teenager would lash out. She sighed. She supposed that no matter where she lived or what she did, unpleasant incidents would occur. But perhaps there would be less now. She was deep in thought when Jude broke into it.
“Is there any way you and I can, uh, put this behind us and maybe go out? I’m very attracted to you.”
She pretended not to hear him and kept walking.
“Cora?” he said, trailing after her.
“You are a beautiful, charming, drama man and I’m sure we’ll run into each other again at some craft gathering. But I don’t need drama in my life,” she said. “No thanks.”
“I guess I saw that coming,” he said and laughed. “But you can’t blame a guy for trying.”
She was a bit surprised by his asking her out—but then again, he liked women, period. She was surprised, however, that he had yet to hit on Jane.
They shuffled along the rest of the way in silence. Kildare House stood like a beacon in the near distance. Cora wanted nothing more than a long bath and a nap. But she lacked time.
“Has it only been a few hours?” Jude asked. “I am exhausted. It feels like we’ve been working out all day long or something.”
“Yes, it really does. I was thinking I’d like to take a nap but—”
“There you two are!” Suddenly Ruby and Beatrice were beside them. “I was just showing Bea around the neighborhood a bit.”
“What happened to you?” Bea said, looking askance at Cora.
“And you?” Ruby said to Jude.
Cora’s awareness switched to wondering about her condition and what the others saw when she approached them—her skirt had been torn and a button was missing from her shirt. Jude looked as if he had been hit by a truck. He was a good-looking guy and usually well put together, but now his skin was chaffed and red where the duct tape had been. And he wore an expression of utter confusion.
“You look like you’ve both seen a ghost,” Bea said.
“Not a ghost,” Cora said, and then she filled them in as they walked back to the house.
“Shocking!” Beatrice said when Cora was done.
Ruby shook her head. “That family has had its share of troubles, but I never imagined this.”
“Who could?” Beatrice added.
Jude put his arm around Cora and drew her in for a friendly hug. “All I know is that this woman saved my life.”
Chapter 59
When Jane spotted Jude, Beatrice, Ruby, and Cora standing at the edge of the sidewalk, she ushered them into her carriage house.
“We’ve got a lot of work for the party, I realize,” Jane said. “But let’s just take a minute here and make sure we are all on the same page.”
Cora was pale and her hair mussed, as was Jude’s. They both looked at Jane with weariness.
“I just want to see if I understand it all,” Jane said. “I need to know the facts.”
“Okay,” Cora said. She looked like she might fall over any minute.
“Please sit down,” Jane said to her and led her over to the red velvet couch.
“Now, did I hear you say that Jude used himself for bait?” Jane
said. “He thought he could get Dee Waters to confess to stealing Sarah’s opium kit collection. Is that right?”
Jude nodded and rocked back and forth on his feet, in a comforting, slow rhythm.
“Yes,” Beatrice chimed in. “But Dee Waters is who you all knew as Ivy. She was using a false identity.”
“And Darla?” Jane asked, opening her hands, looking for answers.
“Darla saw her criminal of a mother at the retreat. That’s why she was so upset and why she tried her best to make you look guilty. She suspected her mother of killing her grandmother and was trying to protect her,” Ruby said.
“Lawd,” said Beatrice. “All this talk of killing mothers. I need to sit down.”
She found a chair and plopped into it. Then, Ruby sat on the edge of the chair next to Beatrice.
“Are we sure that Dee stole those goods from her mother a few months back?” Jane asked.
“Yes,” Jude replied. “They are searching her house now, but it’s just a matter of time before they have the items in their hands. The police know she was in town at that time. She evidently travels back and forth between here and Edisto frequently. We’re pretty certain that she killed both of her parents.” He said this with emphasis, clearly horrified.
“Dee was upset that her mother had a relationship with Darla, who didn’t want anything to do with Dee,” Cora added.
“So Sarah’s murder was an act of passion?” Jane asked. All the pieces were starting to fit together. It was confusing, but she was beginning to understand.
“Indeed,” Cora said, swaying a bit. She looked as if she needed a nap. “When she was in town to steal the opium kits, she realized that Darla was here and knew her mother.”
“What about the fingers scattered all over the house? What meaning does that have?” Jane asked.
“None that we know of,” Cora said. “I mean, we just don’t know.”
Jane thought about that and realized she wasn’t certain she actually wanted that answer.
“What about Josh?” Jane asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“He probably was putting it together,” Jude said. “He probably knew what happened and she had to get rid of him. Plus, with him gone, there would be nobody around to contest her inheritance.”
“Now that I think about it, her sister most likely would’ve been next,” Ruby said in a hushed voice.
“That’s a gruesome thought,” Bea said. “But it’s probably the truth. What’s wrong with people?”
“I’ve asked myself that question so many times in my life,” Cora said. “Sometimes, people get, I don’t know, broken. And they are never able to get fixed. That’s the only explanation I can come up with.”
“I’ve known that family a long time,” said Ruby. “I never knew the extent of the damage. But I think your theory is as good as any.”
“What do we do now?” Jane asked. “Just go on with the party as if none of this horrible stuff has happened?”
The group sat in silence, considering. It seemed odd and insensitive to go on with a party when two of its key members had been through a traumatic event and the community of Indigo Gap had lost two of its citizens.
“We owe it to the people who paid for this retreat to have the party,” Cora said. “I’m bound and determined to throw a hell of a party.”
“I’m with you,” Jude said.
“It’s the only thing to do,” Beatrice said, with a soft firmness in her voice. “Life goes on. As it must.”
Chapter 60
When Jon spotted Cora, he insisted that she nap and take her time getting ready for the party.
“Everything is under control, mon chère. We are family. We will take care of it all,” Jon said.
Cora didn’t have the wherewithal to argue. She bathed in her deep claw-foot tub, allowing the hot water to unravel her tense muscles. How had they gotten so tight? How had she not noticed? Each muscle relaxed one at a time in the hot water. Muscles she hadn’t even realized existed.
After her bath, she felt a pang of guilt as she slid underneath her quilt and laid her head on the pillow. She should be mingling with her guests. But how could she? Perhaps Uncle Jon was right—she’d be better after she had a rest.
Her brain needed time to sort through everything that had happened. Luna curled up beside her and purred.
Two hours later, Luna awakened her, kneading her kitty paws on her face. The cat was hungry, no doubt.
Cora sat up, refreshed, but her knee still ached. She was ready to close this first craft-retreat weekend. So many unplanned events had taken over. She and Jane had thought they were prepared for all possibilities. But they certainly hadn’t prepared for everything that had gone down. Was it possible to plan too much? Was it possible to plan for every conceivable outcome?
She padded into the kitchenette and opened a can of cat food, Luna circling her legs and mewing.
“Okay, Luna, kitty,” she said as sat the bowl on the floor for the cat.
Now to get dressed. She ambled back into her bedroom, having not given what she would wear any thought at all, and saw the doily skirt had been finished and placed on her chair, splayed out with its variety of colors, weaves, and textures.
When she had seen Josh Waters lying dead among all the bloody doilies, she had figured she’d trash the other ones that she had purchased. But now she was glad she hadn’t. She ran her fingers over the skirt—someone had made the doilies; their time, talent, and energy had gone into crafting them. She pulled the skirt up over her hips and looked at herself in the mirror. She adjusted the skirt so the pink doily was in front, rather than on the side. She preferred the off-center diagonal pattern.
Where had that yellow T-shirt gone to? She sorted through the clothes still on the chair and found it. She slipped it on. Yes, perfect.
Cora twirled around and watched the colors and lace lift and move around her. She laughed.
* * *
As she walked downstairs, she spotted Jude and Cashel deep in conversation. “Hey, guys,” she said. They glanced at her—then looked again.
“Wow,” Cashel said. “You look amazing.” He grabbed her and kissed her cheek with a little more gusto than was appropriate.
Jude cleared his throat and took his turn at hugging Cora. “Congrats, you’ve done a great job. I was listening in with some of the crafters. They’ve had such a lovely time.”
Cora smiled. “That’s what it’s all about.”
“Are those doilies?” Cashel said, reaching out and running his hands over them.
“Yes—and watch it,” she said, playfully slapping his hand away.
Cora moved into the dining room, where everything had been set up. The centerpiece was dried hydrangeas and pumpkins, with lit candles. She loved it.
Trays of pies, bread, cupcakes, and cookies had been set out, and people were milling about in the room with plates brimming with chocolate goodies.
“The skirt looks incredible,” Linda said as she came up beside her.
“Thank you! You know, it really does. I think I might start a new trend,” Cora replied.
“I like it because it’s long and flowing. It works with those doilies. But a short skirt would be cool, too,” Linda said.
“I’ve got a ton of old doilies at home,” Diane said, joining them. “I might make something with them. Maybe a vest. If I can find the time.”
“You can always come back here if you need more time to craft,” Cora said and smiled brightly.
“I’d love to!” Diane said. “I ’m planning to come back. I think most of us are.”
“That’s good to know,” Cora said, as her heart lifted even more.
“You know what else is good to know?” Jane said, as she came up alongside of them. “I received a call when you were asleep. Turns out the investigators were trying hard to match my prints, but they couldn’t. And since they now have a confession, I’m off the hook.”
“Of course!” Cora said. “I never doubted yo
u!”
“Thank you,” Jane said. “Who knows what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been such a pain?”
“One thing I can promise,” Cora said, “I’m always going to be a pain for the people I care about, including you.” Cora was filled with a sudden longing to cry—she was so filled with gratitude and emotions. So much had happened to bring them to this point.
Cora lifted her glass to take a sip, when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” she said, scooting out of the room, grateful for a moment to get ahold of her emotions.
When she opened the front door, she blinked in surprise. Who is this?
He was tall, dark, and adorable, with wavy seal-brown hair and jade-green eyes peering at her through horn-rimmed glasses. He grinned—revealing a dimple. He handed her a bouquet of yellow tea roses.
“Hi, I’m Adrian,” he said. “Congratulations.”
“Adrian?” Cora said. Did that breathy voice belong to her? Was that her heart thumping in her chest? Who was this man? She was positively tingling.
“Hey, Adrian,” Jane said as she came up behind Cora. “So glad you could make it. Cora, this is Adrian. He works at the school. He’s the new librarian.”
Cora felt her lips curl into a grin and her face heat.
“Nice to meet you,” she managed to say and reached out her hand to him.
“The pleasure is all mine,” Adrian replied, shaking her hand.
He pushed his glasses back on his nose, such a sweet and geeky gesture, and Cora’s heart thumped, making her regret her decision to change Kildare House’s library into a fiber-arts room. Maybe it wasn’t too late to change it back.
She caught a glance of smug satisfaction from Jane. Turned out she was right—the librarian did seem to be Cora’s type. But for now, she turned her attention to her guests.
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