by K. J. Emrick
That was right. Darcy didn’t know where Great-Aunt Millie was leading them, but she was sure it had something to do with that book. Helen was the key.
Jon and Darcy headed to the police station to see if they could find any information on Helen. She still didn’t know where Millie was guiding them. Darcy just couldn’t believe that Helen would have killed two people. She was the nicest person that Darcy knew. There was no motive.
Wait. Yes there was.
She sat with Jon at his desk. “Helen told me she was having trouble with the rent on her shop. She didn’t know if she and Steve would be able to keep it open. Maybe she stole money from the town and then Anna and Jeff somehow found out.”
Jon scratched his head. “Maybe. It’s as solid a theory as anything else we have. I’ll trail Helen about for a while and see if I can get any hard evidence on her.
Chapter 18
Darcy was distracted at work the next day. She wanted to know what Jon was finding out. As she put some new books on display she dropped an entire rack. Sue came over to help her with an odd glance but no comments. Darcy couldn’t help it. She really didn’t want Helen to be guilty.
The bell over the door jingled to announce the arrival of a customer. Darcy watched a very serious looking Linda come in and walk right up to the counter.
“What can I do for you today Linda?” Sue asked in her usual bubbly voice. Darcy moved over to stand behind the counter with Sue.
Linda shook her head and leaned up against the counter. “Oh I’m not in here to buy anything. I just wanted to ask both of you to a little last minute memorial at my place tonight. I know that everyone has been so on edge lately, but I really want to honor the memory of Anna and Jeff.”
“Sure I’ll be there,” Sue said with a small smile as she went back to her job sorting old book stock into piles.
“I’ll be there too,” Darcy said hesitantly, not sure she really wanted to go.
“Great,” Linda said. “I’ll see you both there tonight.” She pushed away from the counter and turned toward the door.
“Linda wait up a minute.” Linda stopped and turned back to Darcy. “I just wanted to ask if you have found your cat yet?”
Linda’s face fell and Darcy could see tears welling up. “No I haven’t. She seems to have disappeared without a trace. I think I need to face the fact that she is gone for good. What with her gone and the murders in town I have been so depressed about it all.”
“I’m so sorry Linda. But don’t give up hope yet.” Darcy felt bad for her friend. She knew that Linda thought the world of her cat just like Darcy did with Smudge. “She may turn up yet.”
“I hope you’re right Darcy but I’m losing hope of ever seeing her again.” Linda swiped a hand across her wet eyes and sniffed. “I’ll see you tonight then.” And she left the store quickly.
Darcy was dreading going to it, especially since Helen would be there also. But on the other hand it would be a good opportunity for her to observe all of the suspects in one place.
Kind of like in “And Then There Was None.”
Darcy had gotten to the memorial at Linda’s house early so that she could observe everyone as they arrived and mingled. She was hovering with Linda, who seemed a little happier now, and Sue when Mark walked in, eyes darting one way and then the other. He looked really unsettled.
“Mark looks really nervous doesn’t he?” Sue noticed.
Linda nodded. “Yes, he does.” Darcy agreed with them but then reminded herself that he did have a firm alibi.
As she watched the crowd, Darcy saw Jess making her way towards them.
“Hello all,” she greeted them. Jess was once again dressed very fashionably with another lovely designer dress and matching expensive shoes. Darcy saw the look Sue gave to the outfit.
Darcy decided to do a little digging. “Jess, can you confirm a rumor for me?”
Jess shrugged. “I will if I can.”
“I heard you have a new fellow. I wanted to know who it was.”
Jess flushed and shook her head, her red locks bouncing. “You must be mistaken, Darcy. There’s no one new in my life.”
Darcy thought that was strange. Jess was usually a huge gossip who had no trouble telling everything, even about her own life. Had the rumors been wrong?
There was a moment of silence while the women tried to pick up the conversation. “So, Darcy,” Linda finally asked. “Are there any updates on the case?” She seemed more calm now than she had that afternoon in the book store.
Now was the time to strike, Darcy knew. “Actually we have a very strong suspect. Jon and Grace think we’re close to solving the case.”
“Oh? Is that why they arrested Grace’s husband?” Jess pressed.
“Well.” What could she say about that? “That would be police business, I guess. Grace doesn’t tell me everything.”
They all hushed as Pete walked behind where they were standing. He looked very upset. Pointing discreetly at him Sue said, “I heard a new rumor about him. Apparently he’s been going to that acting studio in Meadowood every week to take acting lessons.” Meadowood was the next town over from Misty Hollow and was quite a bit bigger than their little town. It was actually more like a small city than a town.
Acting lessons? Darcy considered that. Depending on how good he was at acting…
She needed to tell Jon this piece of information right away so she excused herself from the other women. She found Jon standing alone beside the makeshift bar that Linda had set up in one corner of her living room. She could see he was scanning the crowd, checking out all of the suspects, much more obvious about it than she had been. She hurried over to him. When she got to him he took hold of her hand and she couldn’t control the shiver she felt at his touch.
“Have you found anything out?” he asked her.
“I think so. I just saw Pete and he looked really upset, but maybe it was all an act.” She went on to tell him what she had learned about Pete taking acting lessons.
“That’s interesting. Well, I haven’t been able to find anything on Helen yet. Maybe there just isn’t anything to find out. Maybe she isn’t the one.”
Darcy didn’t know how much longer she could take this. Suspecting everyone she knew of murder was taking its toll on her.
“Hey, you look upset.” Jon ran a finger across her cheek, then stepped back, both of them conscious of how almost the entire town was at the memorial.
She smiled at him. “I really just want to go home. I’m too tired to be at a party. Even one for the dead.”
Darcy sighed as she shut the door. Home at last. Although a rather solitary person by nature she didn't mind socializing at times when the mood took her. But not tonight. The memorial had been the last thing she'd felt like going to but out of respect for Anna... she shrugged, oh, alright, and Jeff, she'd felt that she'd had no other choice than to attend.
And she'd had an another reason for going anyway. She'd hoped that she might see something or would get some sort of a clue as to who was going around killing the good people of Misty Hollow.
No such luck, aside from Pete’s acting lessons, if that was even true. It had been a very disappointing evening. She had really been expecting some big revelation like in Agatha Christie’s novel. It hadn’t materialized. Now she wasn't sure what the next move was.
Smudge was waiting by his empty bowl in the kitchen. She felt a pang of guilt that she’d forgotten to feed him today. She quickly filled his bowl and he tucked into like he hadn’t been fed for weeks. She smiled at him.
Darcy got ready for bed quickly, throwing on an old pair of pajamas, and then climbing under the covers. Smudge curled up next to her as she drifted off to sleep. Thoughts of the evening chasing each other through her mind. She was no closer to working this out.
She was awoken by a loud yowl from her cat, to find a figure standing over her, wearing dark, baggy clothing. This wasn’t a dream. This figure was real, the gun he held was real. She was about to be shot. The next v
ictim of the killer.
Darcy had to think quickly so she grabbed hold of a book on her bedside table and threw it as hard as she could at the person. The figure dodged the book and ran out of the door.
Darcy gulped in great lungsful of air trying to calm herself as Smudge rubbed up against her in a gesture that said "It’s okay, I'm here with you." She absentmindedly smoothed his fur with one hand as, shaking uncontrollably, she reached for her phone with the other hand to call the police.
Chapter 19
Darcy was very shaken up after what had happened and was sitting stiffly on her couch with Smudge. She had her legs drawn up to her chest and her arms were hugging her knees as she tried to stop the shaking.
She had been watching her front door for minutes that felt like hours, terrified that the intruder was going to come back. When the handle of the front door rattled as if someone was trying to get in she hesitantly moved over to the door and checked the peep hole. Relief flooded through her as she opened it.
Jon rushed into the house and drew her into a tight hug. “Are you okay? Are you sure they’re gone?”
“I’m fine, Jon. I scared him away. I threw a book at him.”
He looked at her like she was crazy and she felt a smile come over her face. “What can I say? Books have been my saving grace more than once in my life.”
“You really should stop investigating.” He led her back to the couch and they sat down together. “We’re obviously close to something, why else would you be attacked?”
Darcy was suddenly very aware that she was only wearing her pair of yellow pajamas, and aware of how low the buttons were on the front, and aware that he was very, very close to her. Jon looked at her intently and then lowered his head to kiss her. It was a quick, hard kiss that let her know just how shook up he was by this. “I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you,” he said to her. “Now. Tell me exactly what happened.”
So she told him how Smudge’s yowling had woken her up and she had found a figure standing over her. When she was done telling the tale, she realized how silly it sounded. “Jon, I’m sure that Anna and Jeff fought back in some way before they were shot. I mean, he had a gun. Why would the murderer change his mind after having a book thrown at him?”
Jon shrugged. She could see his mind turning. “Maybe they only meant to scare you. Listen. We need to fill out a report on this. This is big. It’s the first fresh clue we’ve gotten.”
Darcy nodded but she just didn’t feel up to going down to the station. “I’m really tired. Can’t we do it tomorrow? I really just want to go to sleep now.”
He frowned, but nodded. “All right. I’ll call another officer in and we’ll do a check through your house for anything the guy left behind. A footprint or a fingerprint would be great. We’ll check for prints in your room in the morning, just don’t go touching too much in there, okay. Go up to bed. I’ll take care of it.”
She smiled at his thoughtfulness before pecking him on the cheek. Fighting the urge to stay with Jon, or ask him to stay with her, she quickly made her way upstairs to bed.
The next morning Darcy woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking. Suddenly realizing she was starving, she wandered downstairs to find Jon in the kitchen.
“I didn’t know you could cook,” she teased him.
“My grandmother made sure I knew how to.” He impressed her by flipping a frying egg in the air and catching it deftly with the pan. “She used to worry that I would starve when I left home. Because my mother was already gone she took me in and brought me up when I lost my father.”
Darcy smiled at him as she sat down to a plate of eggs and pancakes. “I’ll never eat all this,” she said, but she was so hungry that she managed to scarf the lot down.
“Did you guys find anything last night?” she asked him.
“No. Nothing. Not a footprint or anything. The guy was either good, or lucky. Either way it leaves us with nothing.”
After they’d eaten and cleaned up, and after Darcy had taken a quick shower and dressed, and Jon had dusted for prints in her room and come up with nothing again, they sat down to work out exactly what they knew.
“We need to talk to Pete,” Darcy said. After she had found out that he might have gained the ability to lie to her, his alibi needed to be investigated. “After all, Pete did date Anna at one time. And his alibi is his sick brother.”
“Okay, so let me ask you. Do you think that Pete fits the build of the person who broke into your house last night?”
She remembered the image of that dark form in her bedroom all too well. “I think so, but I can’t be completely sure. It all happened so fast. I didn’t really have a lot of time to take in too many details about the person. But I know he was tall.”
Jon nodded. “What do you say I go and ask him then?”
She felt so much more confident with Jon on her side. She was very glad she had decided to trust him.
Jon and Darcy walked into town together that morning. “I’m going to talk to Pete, Blake and Doctor Sandal,” Jon said. “I want to nail down Pete’s alibi. You be extra careful today.” He stroked her cheek before walking towards the police station. As that now familiar warm feeling zinged through her from the touch of his hand, Darcy watched him walk away, enjoying the way he moved. Then she headed towards the bookstore. At the last minute she decided to detour to the bakery to get coffee.
She felt better about seeing Helen today. Every man in town might freak her out after what happened last night, but now she was as sure as ever that Helen was not the person behind these events. “Good morning Helen, how are you today?” Darcy could see that Helen was still reading “And Then There Were None.”
It took Helen a second to realize that Darcy had spoken to her. “Oh, Darcy. I’m sorry. I’m on the last few pages of this book and I just want to get it finished to find out what happens in the end.” She put the book on the counter while she got Darcy coffee.
Darcy picked the book up and said, “Well, I won’t ruin it for you. Where did you get this copy?”
“That? I, uh, found it lying around the house.”
Helen hadn’t sounded very convincing. She wondered why it would be such a secret. Darcy absently thumbed through the pages of the book and then realized that this copy was from her store. It even had the little pencil number in the front that Darcy made in every book she inventoried. Had she sold this to Helen? She didn’t remember doing so. Maybe Sue had sold it to her. She made a mental note to ask her assistant next time she saw her.
She held the cover and folded it back and forth along the crease. Something was very familiar about it and she had a feeling that she was very close to something, akin to a word being on the tip of her tongue and not being able to recall it.
She turned the book over and saw a small, dark red splotch. The novel slipped from her hand to thump quietly against the floor. “Millie,” she whispered.
“What did you say Darcy?” Helen came back with a coffee in her hand, an eyebrow raised when she saw her book on the floor.
Darcy shook her head and said, “I have to go.” She ran out of the bakery without her coffee. She had just realized what Millie was trying to tell her by throwing around the copy of Agatha Christie’s novel all over the bookstore. No need to ask Sue if she’d sold the book to Helen. The copy of Helen’s book had belonged to Anna. Darcy had finally recognized that deep crease down the front cover. She thought that the red splotch on the back of the book might be blood. She raced to the police station, hoping Jon was there.
Chapter 20
Jon lifted his head up when he saw her rush in.
She was out of breath, needing a moment to gather herself.
“What’s happened?” Jon asked, picking up on her anxiety.
Darcy went on to tell him all about the book with the crease on the front cover, the blood on the back. Anna’s book, in Helen’s hands. “And she acted so odd when she was explaining how she came to have the book,” she finished.
“And you just left the book there?” Jon said to her.
Darcy could have smacked a hand to her forehead she felt so foolish. Of course. The one hard piece of evidence that could prove who had killed Anna, and then Jeff, and she had left it in the hands of the prime suspect. She called herself all kinds of stupid.
He rubbed his fingers along his eyebrows. “Don’t worry about it, Darcy. I will go and bring Helen in for questioning. You should know that Doctor Sandal vouched for Blake being sick, at least. So that’s that with Blake and probably his brother Pete, too.”
Jon left Darcy at the station and went to collect Helen. Grace was nowhere to be seen, and Darcy was glad for that little blessing. Her sister was still mad at her, and that part of the investigation was still a loose puzzle piece.
When Jon returned he brought Helen in wearing handcuffs. It looked as if she had been crying. Jon led her to a holding cell and then returned to Darcy.
Darcy immediately snapped at him. “Really? Did you have to handcuff her? Come on, Jon.”
He shook his head. “She refused to come with me. That’s why she was wearing the handcuffs. I think her exact words were ‘I had nothing to do with this so you can’t arrest me.’” He flopped down into his chair and wiped a weary hand over his face. Then he looked at Darcy and said, “She was adamant that she loved Anna and would never hurt her or Jeff.”
Jon held up the book, the one Helen had been reading, for Darcy to see. It was in a sealed evidence bag. “It does look like blood on the back. I think you were right about that. I’m going to send it to the lab to get it tested. But she gave it to me without any hesitation. She didn’t even try to deny that she had it.”
Darcy sighed. She still had so many questions. It didn’t seem like they’d solved anything. It just felt like they’d found more pieces to fit into the puzzle. And most of all, she was just so tired. She put a hand over her mouth as she yawned widely.