by Frankie Bow
“No!” she gasped, finally. “What about Mary-Alice?”
“We can worry about her later. She’s probably miles away by now.”
“No she’s not, you Yankee dimwit! She’s in the house!”
“The house is on fire, Celia. Come on, let’s go.”
I heard sirens get louder, impossibly loud, then squelch to a stop right out front. Help had arrived.
I picked Celia up and faced her toward the little bathroom window.
“Arms out in front of you like Superman,” I said.
“I am not—”
“Arms out.”
Celia thrust her arms out in front of her, and I guided her through the opening until she got stuck.
“Suck it in!” I yelled.
“I am!” she called back.
“I got her!” Ida Belle shouted.
I pushed, Ida Belle pulled, Celia hollered up a storm, and finally she popped out and fell on top of Ida Belle. I waited until they had rolled out of the way so I wouldn’t land on top of them.
“Get away from the house,” I shooed Celia and Ida-Belle toward the front yard. “Where’s Gertie?”
A monstrous groaning sound was followed by a crash. We turned around and watched the entire roof collapse in a slow-motion cascade of sparks and splintering wood.
“Mary-Alice!” Celia shouted.
“Let’s go talk to the nice first responders. Here, Celia. I’ll get this side, Ida-Belle, you can support her other side—”
“Unhand me. I can walk just fine.” She shook us off and hurried toward the whirling lights and noise and crackling radios. “Mary-Alice!”
A small shape on the sidewalk stirred and stood up. Mary-Alice let the blanket drop from her shoulders as Celia rushed to embrace her.
”Well this is a plot twist,” I said. “Come on, let’s go find out what’s going on.”
Chapter 18
Carter was feeling well enough to sit up at the kitchen table and drink sweet tea with his mother and me.
“I’d kill for a beer,” he muttered.
“Doctor Stewart said no alcohol,” Emmaline reminded him.
“I know.” Carter took a sullen swig of tea.
“Well, Fortune,” Emmaline said, “you certainly lived up to your name as far as Celia Arceneaux is concerned.”
“Yes, it was lucky we happened to stop by after class to check on her.”
“So it turned out to be the grandson that did all those terrible things? The thefts? And the threatening messages?”
“Not to mention the murder of Tatienne Tauzin, Celia's drama teacher. So we have one premeditated murder, two attempted murders, arson, extortion, unauthorized computer access. And a few other things. He’s going away for a long time.”
Emmaline’s hand flew to her chest.
“My goodness. And he was going to let those poor women burn to death?”
“What was his motive for trying to kill Celia?” Carter asked.
“Money. And desperation. Mary-Alice told us that Caden had been interested in these alternate currencies. There was one, KawaiiCoin. Its value tanked about a week before our mayoral election. He lost everything.”
“And when Celia became mayor, he saw his chance to make up the loss?” Carter asked.
“Exactly. He was acquainted with Celia through his grandmother and was able to get her passwords. They think he installed a keystroke logger when she visited and left her computer unattended. The Mudbug police are looking at Celia’s computer now. If they can show that he tampered with her computer that’s good for an additional five years.”
“But if he wanted money,” Emmaline asked, “why resort to murder? Why not just ask his grandmother for help?”
“It wasn't just the money. Celia tried to bluff him, and it backfired. She told Caden—not knowing who he was—that she’d hired a detective and they were getting close to finding out his identity. He panicked. He was afraid Celia would tell his grandmother everything, and she’d kick him out of the house with no money and nowhere to go. So he ran Tatienne Tauzin down with his grandmother’s car, thinking she was Celia Arceneaux. Only to find out later that he got the wrong woman. The two were similar in size and appearance, the lighting in the parking lot was poor, the victim was wearing Celia’s glow-in-the-dark eyeglass holder, and the perpetrator needs glasses but doesn’t like to wear them.”
Emmaline gave me a thoughtful look.
“Fortune, you seem to have a knack for this. Have you ever thought about going into law enforcement?”
I exchanged a glance with Carter.
“I don’t know about that.” I gave Emmaline a big smile. “Law enforcement seems kind of dangerous. Maybe I’ll just see where this computer thing leads.”
Also by Frankie Bow
Miss Fortune World: Hair Extensions and Homicide
Once Upon a Murder
Tabasco Fiasco
Schooled
Hair Extensions & Homicide / Supernatural Sinful Box Set
Miss Fortune World: Supernatural Sinful
Sinful Science
Miss Fortune World: The Mary-Alice Files
Mary-Alice Moves In
Bayou Busybody
The Vanishing Victim
Aloha, Y'all
The Two-Body Problem
Black Widow Valley
The No-Tell Motel
Vampire Billionaire of the Bayou
The Pajama Murder
The Lost Weekend
The Mary-Alice Files Books 1-4
The Mary-Alice Files Books 5-8
Professor Molly Mysteries
Trust Fall
The Musubi Murder
The Cursed Canoe
The Black Thumb
The Invasive Species
Mother's Day
The Nakamura Letters
The Perfect Body
The Fever Cabinet (Coming Soon)
The Case of the Defunct Adjunct
Watch for more at Frankie Bow’s site.