by Carolyn Hart
Annie was already moving down the center aisle. She heard a murmur of voices. Ingrid said “they” were waiting. Who were “they”?
Marian met her halfway, her rapid steps a clatter on the heart pine floor. She grabbed Annie, gave her a huge hug, rattled in her raspy tone, “I wanted to bring you and Max all up-to-date on everything.” She had Annie by the arm.
As they reached the coffee area, chairs scraped.
Marian gestured. “This is Craig.”
Tall and muscular, Craig’s big face creased in a smile. A shock of dark hair was threaded with gray. “And here’s David. He’s grown a lot since you last saw him.” David was almost as tall as his father, with sun-streaked hair and blue eyes. “They’ve heard a lot”—her dark eyes looked carefully at Annie—“about the big story I was working last week.”
Annie took her seat, glanced from David to Craig. “I’ll bet Marian hasn’t told you that if it weren’t for her, two people would be facing trial for murders they didn’t commit. Marian kept digging.”
Marian still stood, hands on her bony hips. “We did it together. And I just wrote a story for this afternoon’s Gazette that cinches the deal. The police confirmed that Lynn Griffith’s fingerprints were in the sitting room where Alex died. Plus the treads from her bike match tire tracks found at Widow’s Haunt. So they’ve got big-time physical evidence.”
Annie started to ask Marian why she had been so certain Lynn Griffith had a bike.
Marian looked at her.
Annie saw a flash of cold satisfaction in Marian’s dark eyes.
Oh.
“Anyway, Lynn Griffith was arraigned this morning. Rae Griffith and Neil Kelly are free and have left the island. And now . . .” Marian’s voice was light and happy. “I—we—Craig and I—Craig and David and I—have great news. Craig and I are getting remarried at seven o’clock at Parotti’s. Did you know Ben was once a ship captain and can marry people? Anyway, he’s going to marry us and we want you and Max to stand with us.”
Ingrid and Barb were standing by the coffee bar, clapping. Marian was crying. Craig looked both proud and embarrassed. David’s grin was as big as a baseball diamond.
Annie grabbed paper napkins, thrust them at Marian. “No tears. Not even happy tears. Congratulations. Of course Max and I will do the honors. This will be one of the best nights ever at Parotti’s Bar and Grill.”
Marian reached out and pulled Annie close for another hug. Craig wrapped his arms around both of them. “Hey, gals, happy days are here again. We have some terrific planning—” He looked over their heads and up at the watercolors. “Neat idea. I know those early books. My dad ran a secondhand bookstore. And the new ones are three of my favorite authors. The Puzzle of the Blue Banderilla by Stuart Palmer, Great Black Kanba by Constance and Gwenyth Little, Miss Dimple Disappears by Mignon F. Ballard, Out of Circulation by Miranda James, and Murder at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison.”
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