As Jessie went to put the heavy ledger away, it slipped from her hands and fell loudly to the floor. Take it easy, she told herself.
Her hands trembled as she filled out the deposit slip. When she thought about what she had seen at the studio, she knew she should call the police. But Jessie was certain she wouldn’t. The police would ask too many questions.
She had done things herself that she didn’t want anyone to know about. The last thing she needed was to be placed under any scrutiny. It was better to keep quiet.
Chapter 73
Climbing up the marble steps and walking into the entry hall was like stepping into yesteryear, a more formal, gracious, and elegant time. What privileged surroundings. The girls who attended school here were so fortunate.
It was very quiet. That was good. The place was deserted.
Standing in a dark hall corner, listening intently, would be enough. A sound, any sound, would lead the way to Jessie Terhune.
Minutes passed. Still, no noise.
Waiting was not going to work. It was going to be necessary to search the building, slowly, carefully, quietly.
Suddenly, a loud thud reverberated in the hallway, indicating where the drama teacher was. The sound was like a homing signal, coming from the end of the corridor, just past the gym.
The open gymnasium door seemed like an invitation. A basketball, a pair of forgotten sneakers, and a child’s jump rope lay on the floor.
A jump rope.
Why use something that could be traced to its owner when a school jump rope would work just as well?
Chapter 74
The school security guard found Casey Walden kneeling over the body of Jessie Terhune, feeling for a pulse at her wrist. Her face was terribly twisted, her tongue hanging slightly out of her mouth, her eyes bulging. There was a line of bluish discoloration around her throat, a jump rope circled loosely about her neck and shoulders.
Casey stood up, pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and dialed 911.
“Nine one one. What is your emergency?”
“I want to report . . .” Casey hesitated. “A murder.”
Chapter 75
Saturday, December 18 . . . Six days until the wedding
Piper got up early, showered, dressed, and ran the vacuum cleaner around the living, dining, and family rooms. Emmett accompanied her, seeming deliberately to roll on the rug and leave a new deposit of hair in spots Piper had just cleaned.
“Emmett!” she cried in desperation. “You’re driving me up the wall!”
The dog happily trotted away.
Piper was eager to get to the bakery. After she finished the less-than-perfect vacuuming job, she poured herself a glass of orange juice and turned on the small television set on the counter. Piper was filling the teapot with water when she heard the morning news anchorman’s voice.
“In Manhattan, the second murder in eight days at the prestigious Metropolitan School for Girls. Melissa Maddox has the story.”
Piper stopped what she was doing and stared in disbelief as the report began. An attractive reporter, bundled in a heavy jacket, hat, and gloves, was standing on Fifth Avenue in front of the school. Her breath was visible in the frigid air as she began to speak.
“Right, Don. Thirty-nine-year-old Jessie Terhune, a drama teacher at the school, was found dead on the floor of her office last night, an apparent victim of strangulation.”
Oh my God, thought Piper as she watched the images of a covered body being carried out of the building appear on the screen. That poor woman. I just saw her yesterday!
“Police theorize that Terhune was working alone in the building when she was attacked. When EMTs arrived, Ms. Terhune was already dead.”
A police spokesperson weighed in.
“There was no sign of a struggle. It looks like someone snuck up behind her and strangled her. There was a child’s jump rope wrapped around her neck.”
Clearly shaken, Michele Cox spoke next. “The police showed me the jump rope. It is the kind we have here in our gymnasium.” The headmistress shook her head, visibly trying to hold back tears. “I must have been the last person to see her alive. We passed each other on the way in and out of school last night. I know she had just come back from picking up a check at the Little Rain studio. Obviously, everyone is devastated.”
File video of Travis acting on A Little Rain Must Fall was followed by shots of the crowd gathered for his funeral.
“Just last week, Travis York, star of the popular daytime drama A Little Rain Must Fall, was poisoned as he acted as auctioneer at a school charity event organized by Ms. Terhune. Police are also looking for a link to the attack on the soap opera’s wardrobe mistress, Peggy Gould, who was stabbed Tuesday after attending York’s funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.”
Melissa Maddox was back on camera again.
“And there’s yet another strange twist, Don. Ms. Terhune’s body was discovered by fellow teacher, Casey Walden, who is scheduled to marry actress Glenna Brooks on Christmas Eve. As you know, Glenna Brooks also stars in A Little Rain Must Fall. And just a few minutes ago, someone told me that Terhune and Walden were romantically linked at one time.”
Are the police looking at Casey as a suspect? Piper wondered.
When the report concluded, Piper turned to put her dirty glass into the dishwasher. Her father was standing in the doorway. By the scowl on his face, she could tell he had seen the news report, too.
“Please, Dad. Don’t start.”
“Ah, baloney,” Vin said with disgust. “You think this is a big game, Piper. You don’t think any of this could ever threaten you.”
“I do not think it’s a game, Dad,” Piper protested. “And I’m being careful.”
“I know your idea of being careful,” Vin said sarcastically. “For Pete’s sake, Piper, you don’t even take an umbrella when it’s going to rain.” He gestured to the kitchen chair. “Sit back down a minute. I want to talk to you.”
Resigned, Piper did as she was told. Vin remained standing.
“There’s obviously a madman out there who’s not above killing seemingly innocent people, a murderer who doesn’t seem to care about killing in front of witnesses. Someone like that would do anything—and that someone has something to do with your world, Piper. That puts you in danger, too.”
“All right, Dad. All right. Enough. I get it.”
After Vin finished his lecture and went down to the basement, Piper tried to reach Glenna. The call went straight to voice mail.
As she left for the bakery, Piper wondered if the wedding was even going to happen. If the police thought Casey killed Jessie Terhune, that meant the wedding could be called off, or at least postponed. Piper didn’t think Casey Walden was capable of killing anyone, but so many times you heard of friends and neighbors of murderers having no idea a killer had lived among them.
“Hi, Mom,” said Piper as she hung her jacket on the coat rack in the back of the bakery.
“Hi, sweetie,” Terri said cheerfully, offering her cheek to be kissed. “All ready to work?”
If her mother had heard the news about Jessie Terhune, she didn’t mention it. Piper didn’t bring it up, either.
As each day passed since she had figured out her mother’s problem, Piper was more and more impressed by her. Piper knew that if she found out that her own eyesight was failing, she would go into an emotional tailspin. Yet her mother didn’t seem down at all. Instead, she carried on each day, doing the best she could, betraying nothing to the customers that breezed in and out of the bakery.
Piper still hadn’t brought up the subject of macular degeneration with her mother, wanting to let her reveal it in her own good time. Nor had Piper talked to her father about it, but she didn’t know how much longer she could wait.
Piper gave her moth
er a big, long hug.
“What’s that for?” asked Terri.
“That’s for I love you.”
“I love you, too,” said Terri, as she felt a cupcake to see if it was cool enough. “Want to help me out with something, Piper?”
“Sure.”
“Would you frost these for me? In the front window? The customers like to watch, you know.”
For just a second, Piper was ready to decline the request. She really wanted to get started on the buttercream icing for the wedding cake. It could be made well in advance as long as it was stored properly. But her mother needed help. That was more important.
Every time she looked up, Piper saw someone else on the sidewalk outside, watching her through the window. She smiled and, in the break between cupcakes, gave little waves, laughing aloud when one boy stuck out his tongue, held his thumbs in his ears, and wiggled his fingers.
She sprinkled crushed peppermint candy on top of the cooled cupcakes and then generously piped buttercream frosting, laced with peppermint extract, on top. She had to concentrate on the first few, but soon she was thinking about Jessie Terhune’s murder.
It seemed a valid assumption that Jessie’s death was connected to Travis’s murder and the attack on Peggy. But how? Who would want Travis, Peggy, and Jessie dead?
As she swirled the icing on the cupcakes, Piper went over in her mind everything she knew. Travis had been deliberately poisoned with cyanide. That had to have been planned in advance. Though the victim was Travis, it could very well have been Glenna. Either way, why would a murderer take the chance of killing in front of so many people?
What if Peggy had actually seen the killer? Was that the reason she had been stabbed?
Piper thought back to the brief conversation she and Peggy had had on the steps of the cathedral. Peggy had told Piper to wish her luck as she went off to talk to someone. An hour later, Peggy was bleeding in the elevator, a letter-opener in her neck. Had Peggy confronted Travis’s murderer after the funeral? If so, the murderer probably hadn’t expected it and had to come up with a weapon on the spur of the moment.
Why had Jessie Terhune been killed with a child’s jump rope taken from the school gym?
Again, it appeared that the killer had improvised a murder weapon on the spot. So, it seemed to Piper that while the first murder was carefully planned, the other two attacks had been more spontaneous. Peggy’s confronting the murderer might have been the reason she was attacked. But what had Jessie seen or done that would make someone want to kill her?
Piper recalled the wrap party at the studio. She had seen Jessie talking with Quent and then rushing out of the studio. Did Quent have something to do with Jessie’s death? As she thought more about it, she realized that, in a twisted way, Quent had benefited from Travis’s death. The ratings had gone through the roof. That would have been the case as well if Glenna had died.
Piper’s heart rate increased as she remembered that Quent hadn’t come to the reception at the Sea Grill after the funeral.
Chapter 76
Piper slid the tray of frosted cupcakes into the display case and then went to the back of the store to wash her hands. She took her phone from the pocket of her jacket. Jack and Glenna had called. She listened to Jack’s message first.
“Hi, Pipe. I heard the news about another murder at the school so I called my contact at the P.D. When they went through the vic’s purse, they found a copy of ‘Casey at the Bat’—you know, the famous poem? They’re thinking that this Jessie Terhune was the one who sent the letters to Glenna Brooks. Seems she went out with Glenna’s fiancé at one time and she may have still had a thing for him and didn’t want the wedding to happen. Pretty crazy. Anyway, they’re taking the woman’s fingerprints and seeing if they get a match to the print on the second letter. I’ll keep you posted.”
Piper thought of the night at the auction, when Glenna had pointed out Jessie and said she thought Jessie wasn’t over Casey. Though Glenna may have been wary of Jessie, she wasn’t about to accuse Jessie of actually being the letter writer. As far as Piper knew, Glenna had not voiced any concern she may have had about her to the police, either.
Even if Jessie had sent the disturbing letters, she hadn’t strangled herself. Her murderer and Travis’s murderer and Peggy’s attacker were still out there.
Piper felt certain they were the same person.
When Piper called Glenna back, the tension in her voice was obvious.
“Oh, Piper, everything is a total mess. We just got back from the police station. They were asking Casey all sorts of questions about his relationship with Jessie and why he had been at the school that late. It was as if they were suggesting that Casey had killed her and called for help to throw everyone off the track.”
“Well, why was Casey at the school, Glenna?”
“He had gone back to pick up exams he needed to correct.” Glenna’s voice lowered to a whisper. “I think they are looking at him as a suspect, Piper. Can you believe that?”
For several seconds, there were no words as Piper heard Glenna sniffling. When Glenna finally spoke again, her voice was stronger.
“It’s all so absurd, Piper. But I have to believe it will be all right. I’m home now, but we’re leaving in a little while to meet with an attorney.”
Chapter 77
Sunday, December 19 . . . Five days until the wedding
Vin set up the artificial tree while Emmet circled in excitement around the family room. Piper carried all the boxes of ornaments up from the basement. As happened every year, strings of lights had to be untangled, and exasperation ensued when a lone bulb went dead, causing all the others to go out as well. When the tree was finally erect and bedecked in sparkling white lights, Piper and her mother began to decorate while Vin turned to his football game.
“Other families listen to Christmas carols when they put up their trees,” observed Piper. “We’re treated to the sound track of the New York Giants.”
One by one, the ornaments came out of the boxes, familiar but each somehow a pleasant surprise. Terri had saved just about every pipe-cleaner candy cane, painted popsicle-stick frame, or Styrofoam bell her children had ever made, and she insisted on hanging each one of them. There were also glass balls that had belonged to Piper’s grandmother, as well as a Nativity scene that was set up beneath the tree every year. Piper remembered how she had cried when she had accidentally broken the head off the Baby Jesus when she was five years old. Her older brother had tortured her about it, proclaiming that she was surely going to hell. Piper hadn’t been quite certain what hell was, but she was terrified nonetheless. Her father had glued the head back on, reassured Piper, and sent her brother to his room.
Inevitably, some of the small wire hooks that connected the ornaments to the branches were missing and needed to be replaced. Piper watched and said nothing as her mother struggled with threading the hooks into the loops at the tops of the ornaments. But when her mother kept missing the branches as she tried to hang the ornaments, Piper couldn’t contain herself any longer.
“Mom, you’ve got to be straight with me. What is wrong with your eyes?”
Vin turned his attention away from the television screen. He and his wife exchanged looks.
“This is ridiculous, Terri,” said Vin. “She’s a big girl. Just tell her.”
Terri took a deep breath. “I have macular degeneration, Piper.”
Piper took the news calmly, astonishing her parents.
“Are you seeing a doctor?” Piper asked.
Terri nodded.
“What does he say?”
“She says there are a lot of new treatments. We’re going to be figuring out which ones to try. In the meantime, I have vitamins and supplements to take and I have to pay more attention to the things I eat, like adding more dark greens to my diet. I’ve also start
ed some visual rehabilitation.”
“What does that mean?” asked Piper.
“I’m working with an occupational therapist who is showing me ways to adapt,” said Terri.
“Like putting the rubber band around the chili bottle?” asked Piper.
“Exactly.”
Piper summoned up her courage to ask the big question. “You’re not going to go totally blind, are you, Mom?”
“No, sweetheart. That’s highly unlikely.”
Moving closer, Piper put her arms around her mother and held on to her. “I don’t understand,” said Piper. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why make it such a big secret?”
“I didn’t want you to worry, Piper, or feel any sense of responsibility that, now that you’re living at home, you’d have to pick up the slack at the bakery. I’d never want you to give up acting to take care of me.”
“I’m not going to give up acting, Mom. But, let’s face it, there are lots of downtimes between parts. I’m going to help you all I can, because I want to, not because I have to. Decorating cakes is not exactly hard to take.”
Chapter 78
Monday, December 20 . . . Four days until the wedding
The last few days before Christmas were crucial to Walden’s bottom line. Anxious to get to the shop, Arthur barely touched his breakfast. He arrived before any of his employees.
He went directly to the safe and opened it. Arthur took out the metal case that had been used to take the jewelry to A Little Rain Must Fall on Friday. He counted as he took out the blue velvet bags and cases. There was one missing.
A diamond necklace was not there.
Trying to keep his composure, Arthur started for the phone. As he picked up the receiver, the buzzer sounded, signaling someone was at the front entrance. When he got to the door, he saw his wife standing outside, and let her in.
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