Thirty-Seven
When the ambulance left, everyone piled into the inn. Holmes, Oma, and I busied ourselves making drinks and serving snacks. I was in the commercial kitchen, slicing a strawberry torte, when Holmes wrapped his arms around me. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you again.”
“Same here.” I turned around and kissed him.
Oma barged through the door. “There are fifty people out there waiting for food, and the two of you are in here smooching?”
We laughed and got right back to work.
People mingled like we had planned a party. Dr. Engelknecht had insisted that Judge Barlow be checked out at the hospital, but other than the two of them, everyone was there.
I brought out Pupsie Cupsies, our homemade doggie ice cream, for all the pups. They settled down in the Dogwood Room to lick them. Twinkletoes, Hershey, and Inky crunched on dried salmon treats.
The WAG Ladies collected in the Dogwood Room as well.
“If you wouldn’t mind,” said Louisa, “I would like to know who switched my pills.”
The WAG Ladies didn’t say a thing.
“That’s really not fair to me. One of you hates me enough to have made me terribly ill. I could have died!”
One after the other, each of them denied it.
“Maybe we could reconstruct what happened the night Seth died?” I suggested.
Addi licked her lips. “He came to my room. I was so stupid. Why did I fall for him every time? He said he wanted to see me again. Pick up where we left off. He was so sweet and told me how much he had missed me. For all of ten minutes, I really wanted to believe him. Then he slipped up. Such a small thing actually. He said Oriana’s husband was coming to the gala and asked if I would be his date. That was when I thought of what Louisa had told me.”
Oriana’s eyes grew large. “Louisa!” she huffed. “Why did you tell her about Seth and me?”
Louisa’s fair skin flushed red. “She had to know, Oriana. Did you want him to get involved with Addi again? He was no good! Neither of you should ever have been involved with him.”
“When he left,” said Addi, “I followed him. The back stairs that come up from the registration lobby land at a balcony that curves around. It’s the perfect spot to spy on the hallway where Oriana’s room is.”
Oriana appeared horrified. “You watched me?”
“Not you,” said Addi. “Seth.”
“That was when I saw you on the stairs,” I said.
“Exactly. What you didn’t know was that Seth was in—”
Oriana interrupted her. “He was not in my room!”
“No, he wasn’t.” Addi sounded very calm. “He was in Louisa’s room.”
“It was nothing improper,” said Louisa. “He came to tell me how sorry he was about Tom’s death and ask me out to lunch. I thought maybe he wanted to reminisce about Tom and our college days, but I turned him down.”
I could see suspicion in her friends’ eyes, but I felt as though one mystery might be solved. “Did he use the bathroom?”
All of them gazed at me like I had lost my mind.
“As a matter of fact, he did,” said Louisa.
“So that would have been when he swapped Addi’s thyroid pills for your allergy pills,” I suggested.
Louisa’s hands trembled. “And I took one right after he left.”
“Did you possibly take another pill later that night?”
“I think I may have. I was already feeling sick, and I thought it was probably allergies. But why? Why would he do that?”
“Didn’t you say that his real purpose in visiting Tom was to be sure Tom didn’t confess to lying about who was driving the car the night of the accident?”
Louisa inhaled sharply. “Of course! I was the only person left, besides Wallace, who knew the truth. Tom did exactly what Seth was afraid he might do. He wrote a letter of confession to the judge. But Seth didn’t know that.” She shook her finger at Oriana. “What did I tell you? Seth was evil. He almost murdered me.”
“Louisa,” I said, “Seth had the key to your room.”
Her horror appeared genuine. “He must have picked it up off the dresser. That worm! He was determined to kill me. I bet he intended to sneak into my room at night and knock me off if the medicine didn’t do it.” She leaned against Oriana for support.
“Where did he go next, Addi?” asked Brenda.
“When Seth left Louisa’s room, he crossed the hall to his own room, Hike.”
Oriana breathed deeply and closed her eyes as though in relief.
But she opened them wide when Addi said, “And that was when Oriana paid him a visit.”
Joanne winced. “Please tell me you weren’t still carrying on with him.”
“I was terrified that he would reveal our relationship to my husband. I’d spoken to him earlier in the day. Yelled at him, actually. I thought he had come here because of me, and I asked him what he wanted from me. You can imagine what he said. He laughed and said he was in control now and that if I wanted him to keep our little secret, there were a few things I could do for him. He suggested I visit him later that evening to discuss it further. I was furious and stalked away.”
All eyes were on Oriana. She had omitted a few things when she previously told me about going to his room. I hadn’t realized exactly how desperate she was.
“A few days ago, I heard Oriana whisper to Brenda, ‘You don’t think she would actually hurt him?’ Who were you talking about?” I asked.
Brenda’s face turned as red as tomato juice. “Addi. We knew she would be terribly upset if she found out about Oriana and Seth.”
“I’m sorry, Addi. I never meant to hurt you,” said Oriana.
Addi stared at her. “I think dating Seth was punishment enough. You should have learned from my relationship with him. And for your information, I would never have harmed Seth. He wasn’t worth going to prison for.”
One month later, as promised, Dave rewarded Trixie with a steak dinner at Chowhound, her favorite restaurant. She sat on a bench next to me and politely ate sliced steak and baked French fries off a plate. Next to her, Twinkletoes ate steak, too, but she turned her nose up at the potatoes.
“How do you feel?” I picked up a French fry from my plate.
“Like an idiot. I underestimated Dovie. I won’t be doing that again. From now on, I will be much more cautious around little ladies of a certain age.”
“She was surprisingly powerful,” I said. “And heartier than anyone expected.”
“Maybe the knowledge that she had a granddaughter helped her pull through. Have the DNA tests come in yet?” Dave sipped iced tea.
“It’s a match. Joanne is changing her name to Joy Marie Barlow. She’s been to visit Dovie in jail a few times. She stays at Dovie’s house and might even run her business from here.”
“Did she ever find her rotten husband?”
“She thinks he’s hiding in Mexico. But if anyone can find him, it will be Joy.”
“Any word from the others?”
“Brenda adopted the mom cat that Fritz found and one of her kittens. Oriana took the other three. One for each of her children. I guess you know better than I how Addi is doing.”
“She’s at a gallery in Pittsburgh this week. We’re still getting along pretty well. She found a new housekeeper for the judge, and so far, it’s working out. How about you, Holly? I heard Holmes bid on a surprise for you at the gala.”
“It’s dance classes. We’re going to learn to swing dance!”
After an ice cream dessert, Trixie, Twinkletoes, and I leisurely walked home to the inn. I thought about Addi, Joy, and maybe even Brenda moving to Wagtail. Trixie and Twinkletoes scampered along toward the front porch. Lights glowed in the windows as twilight descended on the town. I couldn’t blame them for moving. There was no place on earth that I would rather be.