by Sonia Parin
“Detective, are you going to drive and talk?”
“No, I’m going to drive and listen. What do you think happened?”
She raked her fingers through her hair. “I think this might have all started with Harold wanting to change his will. That makes me wonder why he made that decision.”
“News about his son?” Joshua asked.
“Gloria placed the baby with a family living nearby. That’s my guess. I don’t think Harold knew. She might have gone away to have the baby. Let me see… what else… I haven’t met Stevie Garth, but Joyce tells me she saw the resemblance a while back. Maybe Harold finally saw it too.” Abby frowned. “Hang on. What did you just say? News about his son? What son? How did you figure it out?”
Joshua pushed out a breath. “That’s how Stevie knew about him wanting to leave him the business.”
“I knew you were keeping something from me,” Abby grumbled. “I just knew it.”
Joshua continued, “Before he went away on his honeymoon, Harold approached him and told him he’d just found out he was his dad, but he refused to mention his mother.”
So it hadn’t been guesswork on Harold’s part. Gloria had told him.
What had happened then?
Surely, Gloria couldn’t be the killer.
From the start, they’d both said it couldn’t be a woman. The wounds had been too severe. Although, Abby remembered thinking the killer might have harbored a great deal of rage.
“Do you think Harold wanted to go public?” Abby asked.
“That would have ruined Gloria’s life,” Joshua said. “Even if he didn’t mention her name, someone would have joined the dots.”
She tried to picture the scene. Somehow, Harold had found out about Stevie Garth being his son. Maybe Gloria told him. Or maybe Joyce hadn’t been the only one to notice the resemblance. Harold confronted Gloria about it and she threatened him.
Yes, that made more sense.
Had he taken the threat seriously or had he merely suspected she would try to do something to stop him from changing his will and acknowledging Stevie Garth as his son?
“Harold expected trouble,” Abby mused. “That’s why he put the police car on the main street.” Abby looked at the house with its manicured lawn and perfectly designed garden. “How far away are you?”
“Ten minutes,” he said.
She could hear the tension in his voice. Clearly, he worried Abby would do something foolish. “What if we were right all along and George Mercer found out about the affair?”
“My money’s on Gloria Mercer. She’s an entitled snob,” Joshua muttered. “I think she’s capable of anything just to get her way. She has a lot to lose.”
Abby put the car into gear and began moving toward the house. She at least wanted to be nearby when Joshua questioned Gloria.
Yes, she’d settle for front row seats to her arrest. Although, she had no idea how she would report it. The small community didn’t really care to be put on the map because one of its members killed someone else. People still talked about missing the original owner of the newspaper, Dermot Cavendish. But they never mentioned anything about the circumstances of his death. Certainly not outright.
She parked right outside the front entrance. Cutting the engine, she looked up and saw the door standing ajar.
“Abby,” Joshua called out.
“Still here.”
“Where, exactly.”
“Outside the front door.”
“That’s too close. You don’t know what she’s capable of,” he warned.
“Are you speeding, detective? I don’t see any harm in peering in.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The front door. It’s open.”
“Abby, do not cross the threshold.”
She walked up to the front door with Doyle by her side. Looking down at Doyle, she gave him a tight smile. “Picture this,” she whispered. “We’re in a movie and the audience is screaming to not go into the house. What do we do?”
Doyle looked over his shoulder.
“I see. You vote for making a quick getaway and leaving this to the police? Let’s, for a moment, assume Gloria Mercer didn’t kill Harold. Having a baby and putting it up for adoption is not a crime.” Why had she done it? Abby supposed Gloria Mercer had been thinking of the future she’d spent her entire childhood dreaming about.
Harold Moorhead had done well for himself. He could have given Gloria a very comfortable life. Clearly, it hadn’t been enough for her.
Abby nudged the door with her finger. “Joshua will be here in under five minutes, if not sooner. The clock is ticking,” she murmured and then called out, “Mrs. Mercer. It’s Abby Maguire. I have some questions for you.” She heard Joshua growling. Before she could talk herself out if it, she walked on through and poked her head inside the first room she came across.
Walking down the hallway, she went into a family room. French doors divided it from the kitchen. Crossing the hallway, she entered another room. A formal living room. The windows faced the back patio and the swimming pool.
She saw Gloria at the far end of the pool just finishing a lap. When she reached the edge, she turned and looked straight at Abby.
“I think that counts as an invitation.” She opened the French door only to realize she’d be stepping right back outside again. “I’ll leave the door open. You can stay inside, Doyle.”
As she walked alongside the pool, Abby wondered if Gloria had set the scene. She’d opened the gate. The front door had been left open too.
Did she know Jon Reeds had confessed?
A bead of perspiration ran down her back, followed by another and another. Gloria had her arms stretched out along the edge of the pool. She looked relaxed. Calm and confident.
“I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time, but this couldn’t wait. I know about the pregnancy, Gloria.”
The woman didn’t even flinch and she made no attempt to deny it.
“This is the way I think it all unfolded. You had plans. You wanted a luxurious and prestigious life and George Mercer could provide that but he was dragging his feet or maybe you hadn’t quite figured out how to catch him. So you fooled around with Harold. You were both young and careless. You fell pregnant but, I’m guessing, you didn’t tell Harold. You went through with the pregnancy and put the baby up for adoption. He ended up with a family nearby. I’m not sure that was such a good idea, but there you go.”
When Gloria finally spoke, she said, “You’re raving mad.”
“DNA tests will prove it.”
This time, she did flinch and it told Abby everything she needed to know. Gloria Mercer wasn’t the smartest cookie around. In fact, she was a bit of a cliché.
“Have you heard about DNA testing?”
Gloria now looked grim.
“What happened? Did Harold find out? I’m guessing he did and he confronted you about it. If he knew, soon enough, everyone would know. You couldn’t let that happen. You’d lose everything.”
Gloria hauled herself off the pool and stood on the edge dripping. Her face contorted into a fierce scowl. She bent down, grabbed her towel, and something else…
“Okay. This sort of changes everything. I don’t like having guns pointed at me.” Abby hoped Joshua had heard her. She still held her phone in her hand. She wanted to believe his silence meant he’d taken position somewhere inside the house.
“You think you’re so smart. Miss busybody, snoopy reporter,” Gloria spoke in a mocking tone. “How dare you come to my house and accuse me. Me. I’m George Mercer’s wife. Do you think anyone will believe you?”
Abby took a step back and Gloria reacted by pointing the revolver at her.
“You’re not going anywhere. You’re not telling anyone. You hear me?”
The gun fired and Abby found herself falling.
Epilogue
The sun glinted in her eyes. Abby had no idea how long she could hold her breath underwater. Looking around, she searched for
signs she had been hit, but the water looked pristine.
Had she heard another gunshot?
Keeping herself underwater, she turned and looked toward the end of the pool but she didn’t see Gloria. Again, she turned. That’s when she saw a shape that turned into Doyle. He appeared to be barking at the pool.
She watched some air bubbles erupt from her mouth and knew she would have to surface soon.
Doyle looked frantic, jumping from side to side and barking at the pool. She had another look around. She thought she saw a shape moving at the end of the pool. Looking back toward Doyle, she saw him take a backward step and then leap into the water.
His little legs pumped hard to keep him afloat. She swam toward him and emerged enough to scoop in a breath and look around.
Gloria was at the end of the pool, crouched down, her hands behind her back. Joshua stood over her, his phone pressed to his ear.
Looking at her, he shook his head.
Doyle bumped his nose against her and then covered her face in doggy kisses.
“Doyle, you came to my rescue!”
“You can come out now,” Joshua called out. “It’s safe.”
“Yeah, I’m not so sure. You sound grumpy.”
“Do you blame me?” He pointed toward one of the French windows.
The shot had missed her but it had hit the window.
“How close where you standing to that?” she asked.
“Too close for comfort.”
Abby didn’t wait to see Gloria Mercer being escorted out of her house in handcuffs. She wanted to go home to a cold shower, but before that she had to give Doyle a bath to get the chlorine out of him…
The AC in the car took care of drying her clothes while the sun shining in her eyes forced her to focus on the road.
She knew exactly when she reached town. An angel stood in the corner outside of Brilliant Baubles flapping her wings.
Joyce. She had forgotten to call her with an update. Abby imagined she had tried to contact Joshua but he had been on the line with her.
Abby pulled up outside the antique store and wound the window down. “We’re all fine.”
“I’ve been worried sick,” Joyce declared. “We saw several police cars speed by…”
“Sorry, it got a little sticky there for a while. But Doyle jumped to my rescue. I’ll tell you all about it later.”
“It’s carols night,” Joyce called out as Abby drove on to the pub.
She found Faith waiting for her at the curb. “Why is your phone not on?”
“It died on me. I need to get a waterproof phone.”
“Did you go for a swim? Why didn’t you call me? I would have loved to have a swim.”
“I didn’t really have a choice… Come on up, I’ll tell you all about it.”
“I feel I should write an incident report and post it outside the Gazette,” Abby said when she opened the door to her apartment and found Joshua standing in the hallway. “I had to tell Faith the entire story from beginning to end before she’d let me have a shower.” She nudged her head and invited him in. “I’m waiting for Mitch to bring up my dinner. I figured I should eat something before going to the singalong.” Joshua wore jeans and a T-shirt so that could only mean he had wrapped up the case. “Did you come here to tell me off for this afternoon?”
“I don’t have the energy. Just came to say we found the wrench in the shed. It’s been thoroughly cleaned but it’s definitely Harold’s wrench. He owned a special set of German tools. Quite expensive.”
Just as he sat down opposite Abby, there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it.”
“No need. I told Mitch to knock and enter.”
Mitch walked in whistling a tune under his breath and set the tray down on the coffee table. “Now are you going to tell me what happened?”
“After I eat.”
Looking at Joshua, he said, “She’s getting good at employing delay tactics.”
“Yes, I know.”
“While I have my mouth full, Joshua can tell you if Gloria confessed.”
Joshua shook his head. “She’s all lawyered up and not talking. From what Jon Reeds finally told us, she’d met with Harold in the back paddocks. Jon Reeds drove her there and he saw them having an argument. When he drove her back to the house, she said she needed a lift into town the next morning. She must have found out Harold was going in to fix Joyce’s refrigerator.”
“What about Jon Reed?” Mitch asked. “Apart from driving her, how is he mixed up in all this?”
“He’s an accessory after the fact. In other words, he intentionally assisted Gloria after she killed Harold. He’ll have a hard time proving he didn’t know she’d killed Harold.”
Abby hadn’t sensed any maliciousness in Jon Reed. He could have harmed her, but he hadn’t.
“It’s tricky for everyone concerned,” Joshua added. “We’d have to prove Jon Reed knew Gloria killed Harold.” Joshua looked at Abby.
“And if he does manage to provide proof he didn’t know?” she asked.
“He’ll get off.”
“I hope he does.”
That surprised Joshua.
“We don’t know the whole story,” Abby murmured. “He’s been working for the family all his life. Why is he so loyal? There must be a reason. Gloria must have coerced him…”
Joshua smiled. “As a matter of fact… His sister needs expensive medical treatment and Gloria used the opportunity to bribe him. I shouldn’t say this, but if he convinces the court he didn’t know what Gloria planned on doing that morning and that he couldn’t be sure she had killed Harold, I don’t mind if he gets off.”
“I’m not looking forward to writing about this. In fact, it’s going to be brief and I’ll just stick to facts and say the police refuses to comment. Stevie Garth doesn’t need to come back from his honeymoon to face a circus. It’s bad enough he lost the father he’d only just found. I guess he misses out on the inheritance.”
Mitch picked up one of the photos Abby had on the coffee table. “Wow.”
“What?”
“The train. It’s vintage. A Lionel train.”
“Is it worth anything?”
Mitch nodded and looking at his phone, he whistled. “The Lionel Standard Gauge set from 1934 sold for around $250,000 at auction, but it was in mint condition.”
“Harold’s brother will be stoked.”
Joshua shook his head. “There’s some happy news for Stevie Garth. We found a new will Harold wrote himself but it still needed to be witnessed. Harold wanted to give Stevie his train collection. It will all have to be sorted out by the solicitors.”
“Where was it?”
“You’ll never guess.”
“The pram?”
Joshua nodded. “Folded into a tiny square.”
Doyle trotted into the sitting room.
“Here’s my hero.” Looking up at Mitch, she explained, “Doyle jumped in the pool to rescue me.”
“Finally, we get to hear the story. What else happened?” Mitch asked.
“Well, it all sort of started with the Christmas of ’09 power outage. You’ll have to hear that story before I tell you the rest. Are you up for it?”
Mitch checked his watch. “Is that the time? We have to head over to the park. Carols by Candlelight is about to start…”
*****
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading The Last Stop, The Last Dance and Merrily Murdered. Next in the Dear Abby Cozy Mystery series: Rocking the Boat - Book 7
Other books by Sonia Parin
For any new releases, please check
Sonia Parin’s Amazon Page
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A Deadline Cozy Mystery series
Sunny Side Up
Snuffed Out
All Tied Up
The Last Bite
Final Cut
Sleeping With the Fishes
A Kink in the Road
The Merry Widow
Dying
Trade
Yuletide Murder
Killer Spring
Collections:
Eve Lloyd's A Deadline Cozy Mystery - Books 1 to 5
Eve Lloyd’s A Deadline Cozy Mystery - Books 6 to 10
An Evie Parker Mystery series
House Party Murder Rap
Murder at the Tea Party
Murder at the Car Rally
Murder in the Cards
Murder at the Seaside Hotel
Murder in the Third Act
Murder and a Christmas Gift
Murder at the Fashion House
Murder at the Garden Party
A Dear Abby Cozy Mystery series
End of the Lane
Be Still My Heart
The Last Ride
The Last Stop
The Last Dance
Merrily Murdered
Rocking the Boat
Collections:
A Dear Abby Cozy Mystery Collection Books 1 - 3: End of the Lane, Be Still My Heart and The Last Ride
A Dear Abby Cozy Mystery Collection Books 4 - 6: The Last Stop, The Last Dance and Merrily Murdered
A Mackenzie Coven Mystery series
Witch Inheritance
Witch Indeed
Witch Cast
Witch Charm
Witch Trials
A Mackenzie Witch Collection: Witch Namaste, Good Witch Hunting & ‘Tis the Season to be Creepy
Witch in Exile
Witch Fairy Tale
Collections:
A Mackenzie Witch: Collection 1
A Mackenzie Witch: Collection 2
A Mackenzie Witch: Collection 3
A Mackenzie Coven Mystery short
Witch Namaste (Novella)
Good Witch Hunting (Novella)
‘Tis the Season to be Creepy (Short)
Jingle Purrs (Short)
Potion Heist (Short)
The Power of Two and a Half (Short)