“Who?” Finley asked.
But Nora was already gone.
*****
She ran all the way down the street, back to the Giordano house. She was quite breathless as she pounded on the door.
Aunt Eugenie opened it, looking confused. “Nora?” she asked. “What are you doing here? I thought Viola had—”
“Never mind,” Nora said. “Is Kaylee here with you? I need to speak to her. Urgently.”
“OK.” Eugenie nodded, opening the door wider. “What is it? Have you figured it all out?”
“I’m not quite sure,” Nora said. “But I think I might have.”
“Mom!” Grace called. Nora turned around and saw that her daughter was right behind her.
Grace bent over, huffing and puffing. “I saw you running down the street and thought something was wrong,” she managed between deep breaths.
Almost comically, Jacob came jogging up behind her. “Grace! You ok? Why did you run away like that?”
“Not now, Jacob,” Grace said.
“Yes, now,” Jacob said. “We need to talk, Grace. You know we do. Ramona’s death just underlined that for me. Life is short. And precious. We never know when it’s our turn next. I can’t imagine spending a single day without you.”
“Jacob—”
“No,” Jacob said. “I know you were angry when you tossed this ring back at me and I know maybe I deserved that anger. But we should work it out, shouldn’t we? Whatever went wrong between us, I still love you. I always have. Nothing’s ever going to change that.”
Grace melted a little. “You mean it?”
“Yes,” Jacob said. Turning to Nora, he said, “I’m sorry, Nora. You were right. I’ve been deluding myself. But it’s plain to see now. Bobby Black’s death wasn’t an accident, and Ramona’s death isn’t a suicide. Someone did this—” His voice cracked with pain. “Someone close to me.”
“But Jacob!” Aunt Eugenie protested.
“No, Aunt Eugenie.” Jacob shook his head. “We can’t stand in front of the truth. Our family’s history is full of lies and betrayal. And true love was sacrificed for it. I won’t let that happen this time. I won’t let Maria’s story be repeated. Whoever killed Ramona and Bobby has got to pay for it, no matter how painful it is for the rest of us. I won’t shield anyone from their consequences.”
Aunt Eugenie shrank back from him for a second. Then she sighed, bowing her head. “Maybe that’s for the best,” she said.
Jacob stormed to his room, then came back down with Maria’s diary. “I should have submitted this book to Chief Andrews the second I got it,” he said. “Instead, I just sat on it, thinking it wasn’t connected to Bobby Black in any way. But I was wrong. This book is the key to everything, isn’t it?” he looked at Nora.
Nora nodded. “In a manner of speaking, yes,” she confirmed. “That book is central to Bobby’s murder.”
Jacob handed the book to Aunt Eugenie, just as the door opened behind him. Uncle Finley, Lucas, Sophia and Viola stood silhouetted in the doorway.
“What’s going on?” Lucas asked. “Are we having a family gathering?”
Aunt Eugenie had been reading the book with dawning horror. She stared mutely up at Lucas, then at Jacob. “This is horrible,” she said. “All this time I thought…but it was my own ancestor who...”
“Where’s Nora?” Jacob asked, looking around. Indeed, the second she could slip away, Nora had run into Kaylee’s room. She emerged from that room now, with a scared looking Kaylee standing next to her.
“We need to talk,” Nora said. “Let’s gather in the library. I think it’s time the killer came forward. Don’t you?”
*****
Chapter 24
The Final Confrontation
There were confused glances all around as the family gathered in the library. Viola sat on the couch with Finley and Jacob on each side of her. Lucas sprawled down into an easy chair, while Aunt Sophia, Aunt Eugenie and Uncle Dave sat on a couch at a right angle to the rest. Grace, unsure of her own position, stood by the doorway, watching the others, while Nora stepped forward into the center of the carpet with Kaylee next to her.
“Tell everyone what you told me, dear,” Nora said when a hushed silence had fallen.
Kaylee looked up at Nora, uncertain, then at her Uncle Jacob.
“Don’t worry, Kaylee. Go ahead and tell us. I promise nobody will be mad at you,” Jacob said soothingly.
“I just don’t see the big deal,” Kaylee said. “It wasn’t a big deal at all.”
“What wasn’t?” Jacob asked sharply.
“Bobby Black taught at my school for a little while, but he got fired,” Kaylee said. “Because they found out he was in jail.”
There were gasps all around and Viola looked at Kaylee with dawning horror on her face. “He didn’t talk to you, did he, Kaylee?”
“No. Not much. One time, when Aunt Ramona dropped me off at school, he was flirting with her. He asked her if I was her daughter. She laughed and said no. She told him my mom’s real name he got all weird. He asked me how old I was and a bunch of other questions.”
Jacob looked confused. “What other questions?”
“Just about my mom and my birthday and stuff. But I had to go to class so I left. He was still talking to Aunt Ramona, though.”
“How long ago was this?” Jacob asked.
Kaylee cocked her head and scrunched her eyes. “Ummm…the day before our dance lineup was announced, I think.”
“Two weeks ago,” Jacob said.
“Yeah, about that, I guess.”
“Thank you Kaylee,” Nora said, patting her on the head. “You did a great job remembering this.”
“But why?” Kaylee asked. “Why does it matter?”
“It’s just good for adults to know if a criminal tried to talk to you, sweetheart.” Jacob was looking furious. His face was red and his fists, hidden behind his back, were clenching open and shut.
“Grace, would you take Kaylee to her room for a little while?” Nora asked. “I’d like to talk to the others.”
“Okay.” Looking mystified, Grace headed out the door.
“I’m not in trouble, am I?” Kaylee cast a plaintive glance at her grandmother and uncle.
“Oh, sweetheart, no!” Viola walked over and gave Kaylee a tight hug and then a kiss on her head. “I love you so much. You know that? You’re the best little girl in the world. You’re not in any trouble at all. We adults just have to discuss something. Now go to your room and practice your dance with Grace. Afterwards, we’ll all have ice cream.”
“Awesome!” Looking relieved, Kaylee hugged Viola back and gave her a big, smacking kiss. “See ya!”
Viola watched Kaylee and Grace walk upstairs then shut the door of the library. Turning to Nora, she had a fixed expression on her face. “You had better explain it all to all of us now,” she said, “because, personally, I’m mystified.”
Nora nodded. “Alright,” she said. “I’ll explain.” She took a deep breath.
“None of the events before or after the murder made much sense to me,” Nora said. “Bobby Black was a criminal, and your family is full of good, upstanding folks. How could he possibly be connected to you?”
“He wasn’t,” Lucas said.
“And yet, he had to be,” Nora said. “It was no coincidence that he ended up dead in the Giordano home. There was very little chance that he’d tripped, too. No. It had to be one of you who killed him. Yet all of you had convenient alibis.”
Pointing at Finley, she said, “You…you were at a pharmacy when the murder took place, is that right?”
Finley nodded.
“And you…” Nora said to Lucas, “were asleep in your room and Harvey or I would have seen or heard you go in or out.”
Lucas nodded.
“Viola, you were asleep in your room. As were Eugenie and Dave. All three of you could have done it. Well, not Eugenie or Dave, since you took sleeping pills. You had a ready excuse.”
“But Aunt Eugenie said she didn’t take her sleeping pills that night.” Jacob said.
Eugenie shot a cold look at Jacob.
“Ah, yes.” Nora nodded. “That is true. But that brings us to you, Jacob. You were the one with the weakest alibi. In the kitchen getting a glass of water? From the beginning I couldn’t quite believe that story.”
Jacob hung his head.
“So when you confessed to Grace that you’d actually been with Ramona then, I believed you immediately,” Nora said. “What I didn’t believe was your story about not knowing Bobby Black.”
Jacob’s breathing grew heavy.
“You did know him and you did recognize him that day,” Nora said. “So why did you lie?”
“I...” Jacob couldn’t bear to meet her eyes.
“Answer me, Jacob. Why did you lie?”
Sighing, he said, “I panicked. Yes, I recognized him immediately. I’d just read Great-Great-Grandma Maria’s diary and I remembered him saying something to me about family history earlier that day. I knew it had to be connected somehow. I don’t know why I didn’t tell the truth. I just didn’t want to believe that… that...”
“That someone had murdered Bobby,” Nora said.
Jacob hung his head. “I know it was cowardly of me. But, honestly, until Ramona died, I just did not believe that Bobby’s death was anything but an accident. There was no proof!”
“True,” Nora said. “There was no real concrete proof. Not until the killer panicked and targeted Ramona. The suicide note is a thin cover, easily seen through.”
“No,” Viola spoke up, her voice bitter. “It was genius. If Ramona hadn’t been on the phone with you and Grace, then it would have worked. The killer was just…unlucky.”
“True.” Nora nodded. “But let’s go back to what confused me about Bobby’s death. None of you seemed to have a motive, and almost all of you seemed to have an alibi, with the exception of Jacob.” Nora turned to him. “Now, tell the truth Jacob. When you went to see Ramona that night, she didn’t just hand you the diary, did she? She tried to make you stay longer.”
Jacob shifted uncomfortably. “Well...”
“The truth!” Nora said.
Jacob nodded. “She was trying really hard to keep me there. To the point that I started feeling uncomfortable. Grace always told me that Ramona had a crush on me, but I never believed it until then. We were only friends, I thought.”
“Man.” Lucas laughed. “You are so oblivious sometimes.”
“Yeah, well, as soon as I’d read the diary, I bolted,” Jacob said. “I couldn’t bear to be around anyone. I wanted to be alone.”
“Yes,” Nora said. “How long did it take you, in total, from leaving home to getting back?”
“Maybe half an hour,” Jacob said.
“Enough time for our killer to get away. Almost,” Nora said. “I think the killer had anticipated having at least another fifteen minutes. That would have given them enough time to get rid of some crucial evidence, I think.”
“What evidence?” Jacob looked baffled.
Nora shook her head. “Here’s the thing,” she said. “It always baffled me that each of you had good alibis. Chief Andrews would have been hard pressed to prove any of you did it. I kept wondering if that was a coincidence…until Ramona called Grace. That call confirmed something to me. The killer had been working with Ramona all along. The killer had engineered these alibis.”
“Lies!” Sophia shot up off her chair. “My Ramona would never work with a killer. Never!”
“Ramona didn’t know what she was going to do,” Nora said. “You’re right about that, Sophia. She was fooled. She thought she was just playing a prank.”
“What kind of a sick prank—” Lucas muttered.
“Which made me think about you, Lucas.” Nora said. “You claimed that you were knocked out by all the wine you’d had at the party. But that’s not true! In fact, the last drink you’d had was a coffee at Ramona’s house. Coffee’s supposed to wake you up but, in your case, it didn’t. Because Ramona had added a sleeping pill to it. That’s why you were knocked out.”
“But why?” Lucas looked baffled.
“The question of why kept coming back to haunt me, too,” Nora said. “Family history? Viola had said it herself at Thanksgiving dinner: the past is unimportant, the future is what matters. Nobody would kill a man for the sake of a murder that occurred a hundred years ago. That was when it hit me. Bobby Black wasn’t talking about family history. He didn’t even know about Dina Smith’s misdeeds. No. Someone else gave Ramona that diary, as a distraction. A red herring. Bobby Black was talking about his own family history.”
“What?” Jacob stared at Nora, his mouth open. “I thought Ramona was at Bobby’s dance studio so I assumed—”
“Yes,” Nora said. “Ramona put it all together before any of us. And she paid a dear price for it.”
“But none of this makes any sense!” Jacob said.
“It does, if you look at it the right way,” Nora said. “Like I said before, Bobby Black’s death wasn’t the beginning of the story. From the murderer’s point of view, it was the end. The murderer was desperate for a certain secret not to be revealed. Desperate enough to kill.”
“Stop talking in circles!” Lucas exclaimed. “Tell us the story straight out. Who killed Bobby Black and why?”
Viola got up, her eyes blazing. “I did,” she said.
*****
Chapter 25
The Truth At Last
“Mom?” Lucas’ eyes brimmed with tears. “No. Not you. Anyone but you.”
“It can’t be,” Jacob said.
“It’s true,” Viola said. “This cursed woman has figured it all out. Haven’t you?”
“Not exactly,” Nora said. “But I’m guessing that if we take a DNA sample from Kaylee, we’re going to find out that Bobby Black was her father all along.”
“No.” Jacob put a hand over his mouth. “No!”
“It’s true,” Viola said. “Annie always claimed Kaylee’s father was a soldier who’d been deployed and died overseas. I believed her, like a fool. But you know what a party girl Annie was. She met and had a relationship with Bobby Black just before he got into a bar fight and was sent off to jail.”
“Oh, Annie.” Jacob shook his head.
“She told me the truth eventually,” Viola said. “But when she died herself, I chose to forget it. After all, I didn’t want Kaylee influenced by a man like that. I love her. I want the best for her. You all know her, she’s a little angel.”
“You killed him?” Lucas was rubbing his ears as if he’d heard wrong. “I can’t believe this. Mom, there were other ways!”
“No, there weren’t,” Viola said. “When Ramona told Bobby that Kaylee was Annie’s daughter, he guessed the truth. He started trying to corner me every chance he got. I told him I wouldn’t let him have anything to do with Kaylee and…and…he threatened me.”
“We could have helped!” Lucas said.
“You think I’d let my sons be exposed to danger?” Viola asked. “Not a chance. I had to handle it on my own, somehow. Legally he was the father. I knew I’d probably end up losing a court case. Even if I didn’t lose, Kaylee would be dragged through an emotionally devastating ordeal. I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t. Then, Bobby started escalating. Thanksgiving morning, he tried to corner Jacob. And, when that didn’t work, Bobby called me. He was desperate. He said that it was a day for family and he had none, except Kaylee. He told me he was coming over whether I liked it or not. He said he was going to reveal the truth to everyone. That’s when I was truly pushed over the edge.”
“That’s why you were so miserable that day!” Lucas exclaimed. “It wasn’t my party.”
“I couldn’t have cared less about your party,” Viola admitted. “It was Bobby who had made me a nervous wreck. I somehow convinced him to come after midnight. I told him I’d call him when the time was right. I pretended that he’d hav
e a sweet, one-on-one reunion with Kaylee.”
“But, all along, you were planning to murder him,” Nora said.
“That’s right,” Viola agreed. Her voice was cold and her eyes almost triumphant. “I did murder him. I took him up the stairs pretending I was taking him to meet Kaylee and, when I’d reached the top, I turned around and pushed him down. I thought I’d have more time to dispose of his body and the evidence but Jacob came home early. So I ran upstairs with the phone and pretended to be asleep.”
“The phone…” Jacob considered. “What did you do with it?”
“She painted it pink, stuck unicorn stickers on it and presented it to Kaylee,” Nora said. “No danger of the police finding out that way. Isn’t that right?”
Viola nodded. “Every other method of disposal was too dangerous. Chief Andrews was watching us like a hawk.”
“How could you?” Uncle Finley stood up, shaking with rage. “You put all of us in danger! Any of us could have gotten arrested by the police.”
“No,” Nora said. “She actually made sure you all had alibis. The killer engineered each of your alibis so that she could have time to kill Bobby and so that you’d all be cleared of the crime. That’s where Ramona comes in. I think Viola promised Ramona that Jacob would be hers. Isn’t that right?”
Viola nodded. “I had to think quick. I’d had that diary for a long time. I gave it to Ramona. I told her to ask Lucas to walk her and Sophia home, and then put a sleeping pill in his coffee. That worked. Lucas was out like a light once he came home, and that was his alibi. I thought Eugenie and Dave would take their sleeping pills, too. But Eugenie didn’t. Otherwise she’d have been cleared, too. As for Finley—”
“You sent me out,” Finley said, realization dawning. “You pretended to have an upset stomach and sent me to the pharmacy. I remember now. You deliberately asked me to go to the one farther away, saying that they had the brand you liked. You did that so I’d take more time to come back.”
“Correct.” Viola nodded.
“And me?” Jacob asked.
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