Chapter Thirty-Four

It was too important a clue to ignore, Shelby decided as she got ready for work the next morning. She’d be having supper at the Brew House once again, and she’d be armed with more questions for Jenna. But now, she needed to get to the shuttle. She’d been more tired than she’d expected that morning and had allowed herself too much time in bed. When would she learn? What with working six days a week, and recently these extra events, she found it all too easy to give in to exhaustion. She couldn’t imagine how Edie did it but was now totally sympathetic to her aunt’s role in Bayside Books.

J.T. looked like he needed more sleep, too, and had in fact headed upstairs and back to bed after eating all of his canned food in one go. Shelby took a quick peek at him before leaving. He looked like he was settled for the long haul.

During the shuttle ride, her mind wandered back to what she’d learned about Jenna. Although Shelby had pretty well decided Jenna wasn’t a likely killer, maybe she’d been too quick to make that determination. She’d liked her, and maybe that had colored her opinion. She’d have to take a closer look now at what she knew. If only she had some idea of what Chief Stone thought of the possibility of Jenna as the killer.

As she left the shuttle and started up the path to the castle, Shelby noticed Chief Stone crossing the lawn in front of the castle, seemingly checking the greenery along the side with the door leading to the underground entrance to the passageway. Shelby quickened her pace until she reached the corner of the castle’s stone wall and took a hesitant look around it.

She was just in time to see the chief disappear down the stairs. She next heard the door being opened and then closed. Shelby was tempted to follow but knew she’d probably be in deep trouble for doing that. For once she would follow that little voice in her head telling her to not do something. The door swung back open almost immediately, and the chief popped her head out before Shelby had time to realize what was happening and hurry off.

“Shelby Cox. Should I even bother to ask what you’re doing, or do I go with what I know?” the chief called out.

Shelby knew it was a rhetorical question but moved a step closer so it wouldn’t appear like she’d been trying to escape discovery.

“The bigger question is, what are you doing?” There, Shelby had dared to ask.

Stone chuckled. “And do you think I’d tell you? Wait there.” She secured the door with a lock and slowly walked toward Shelby.

When they were so close to each other that Shelby could hear the chief breathing, Stone said, “I guess I can tell you because it’s not really a secret anymore. I was just double-checking the lay of the land inside the door, seeing if what the boys said made sense. And it does, so that means I do believe their latest statement.” She paused, waiting. “Aren’t you going to ask me what that is?”

Shelby wondered if this was a trap of some sort. Why would the chief be willing to tell her anything? Oh, well. “So, what are they saying happened?”

“Let’s go into your store, and you can make me a cup of that delicious coffee.”

The chief led the way, with Shelby following close behind. After she’d unlocked the door to the bookstore, Shelby went directly to the back and got the coffee going. She hung up her jacket while waiting for the coffee to brew, then poured them each a cup. She already knew the chief took hers black, the same as Shelby.

“Here you go.” Shelby sat on a stool behind the counter while Stone leaned against it.

“They finally confessed. It seems they weren’t really pulling a schoolboy prank. They had something more serious on their minds. Since there’s a wine cellar at the end of one of the passageways and it’s listed on the plan, that’s what they were looking for. I’m not sure what put that foolishness in their head, but I guess they heard rumors about it and that some of the bottles must be vintage stock by now.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. What were they going to do with it?”

“Sell it, if it was old enough, or else drink it.” She shook her head. “It took one of the dads coming down hard on his kid to get a confession. But they hadn’t really thought it out and weren’t smart enough to wonder if there was still some wine down there. Which there isn’t. The cellar was cleared out a long time ago.”

“So, what about Savannah’s murder? Could they have been involved?”

“They hadn’t yet put their plan into action, but they were intending to break in on Sunday night. I guess there’s a rumor going around about all the valuable wine stored in the wine cellar at the castle, although that’s the first I’ve heard of it. Anyway, they were going to steal some. Now they’re not. It was a pretty foolish idea. She put her hat back on. “Your Cody actually said he had trouble believing them, which was why he didn’t give up the plan. But they do admit that they broke into the store and took the plan. Charges are pending on that one. Thanks for the coffee, Shelby. I’ll be seeing you.”

Stone had just about reached the door when Shelby asked, “What about Jenna Dunlop, Chief? Is she still a suspect?”

Stone whirled around. “Now look, just because I shared some information with you, which was already known to others, I’m not giving you permission to keep getting involved in all this. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes, we do. Have a good day, Chief.” She was so tempted to ask what had happened with Jenna at that dance, but she knew this wasn’t the time to push. Shelby congratulated herself on her smarts.

And she uncrossed her fingers that she’d been holding behind her back.

*   *   *

Chrissie appeared toward the end of the day and spent a few minutes wandering around, glancing at titles rather than chatting right away. Shelby thought she seemed preoccupied.

“Hey, Chrissie. How was your day?”

Chrissie seemed almost surprised that Shelby had said something. “Oh, fine, I guess.”

“It looks like you’ve got a lot on your mind. Did you find anything more that’s gone missing?”

“What? Oh, no.” She looked like she’d just come from outside, her hair tousled, her blazer buttoned up to her throat, her hands stuffed in her pockets.

Hmm. “So, is the board going to look into it all?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t brought it up yet. I’ve had a lot on my mind.” Now she looked like she might burst into tears.

Shelby thought the missing items would be a lot on one’s mind, but would that be enough to cause Chrissie to break down? Was there more? “Anything you want to talk about?”

Chrissie flopped into one of the wicker chairs and spoke so softly, Shelby had to walk over to hear. “What was it you said?”

“Carter and I split up.”

That took Shelby totally by surprise. She hadn’t given the couple a thought in so long. “I’m sorry to hear that. When did it happen?”

“Last weekend. We decided it just wasn’t working out between us. We’d postponed the wedding until next year, thinking it didn’t seem right so soon after Loreena’s passing.”

Shelby hadn’t even realized a date had been set in the first place, let alone postponed. Of course, she hadn’t really known either Chrissie or Carter before his aunt’s death. And it was only recently that she and Chrissie had become friendlier. She still found Carter to be standoffish in that entitled way whenever she ran into him in town, which wasn’t often. And he didn’t seem to visit the castle anymore these days. Shelby thought back to how certain she’d been that he’d murdered his aunt. She realized that should serve as a cautionary tale as she continued to gather information this time around.

Chrissie continued before Shelby could say anything. “But really, the more we thought about it, we realized we were both relieved by the postponement. It was a mutual decision, but you know, I kind of feel a bit down.” She looked up at Shelby, who hoped tears weren’t about to flow.

“I can imagine it’s a hard time for you, regardless of the reason or how it was done. Have you thought about taking a break, going away for a short trip? I don’t even know where your family lives. Are they in town?”

“My mom lives in town with her newish husband, and my dad lives in California with his even newer wife.”

“What about going out to see him? Are you on good terms with them? It should be good weather out there at this time of year.”

“I guess we’re on good terms, but I don’t think it would help getting away.” She sighed and then sat up straight, pushing herself out of the chair. “I have to bury myself in work. That’s always been the trick before when something has bothered me.”

Surely there hadn’t been anything as shattering as this before, Shelby thought but didn’t say.

“Would you like to join me for supper tonight? I thought I’d go to the Brew House for a quick bite,” Shelby surprised herself by asking. She immediately hoped Chrissie would decline, because that would cramp Shelby’s questioning-without-seemingly-questioning Jenna.

Chrissie looked a bit cheerier. “Thanks, Shelby. That’s sweet of you, but I’m going to my mom’s tonight. I’d like to do that sometime, though. Okay?”

“For sure.” Shelby let out a little sigh of relief as Chrissie left.

Shelby debated about going home first but decided to go straight to the pub.

Fortunately, Jenna was working, but she had her back to the door as Shelby walked into the pub. When Jenna turned around holding a tray of drinks, Shelby stood just a couple of feet away.

“While it should be nice to see you, I now get this feeling in the pit of my stomach when you walk in,” Jenna said. “No offense, but you do ask a lot of questions.”

“I know I do, but this is really important. Can we talk when you’re on break? I think you should hear me out, after what I found out last night.”

Jenna’s eyebrows flew up, and the tray tilted a fraction before she righted it without spilling a drop. “Sure, okay. I’m due one in about half an hour. Grab a table. What do you want to drink?” She looked pointedly at Shelby.

“A glass of tonic water with a lime, please.” It was too early to eat, she decided. She’d do that at home.

Jenna nodded and walked around Shelby, who wandered over to a table in the corner. A nice, somewhat quiet spot. Her drink appeared shortly after, and she took her time sipping it until Jenna slid into the chair across from her some twenty minutes later.

“All right, what do you want to ask now?” Jenna asked. She sounded tired and looked even more so.

Shelby decided to go the nice but direct route. “I just wanted to be clear on one thing. Why did you feel it necessary to make a scene at the signing? Savannah was probably well on her way to writing the story. You must have realized that. I know you said you wanted to embarrass her, but you know the people in this town, and didn’t you give any thought to the fact that they might be less sympathetic to you?”

Jenna shook her head. “You don’t understand what it’s like to be a writer. Every idea is your baby.”

“Oh, I do understand, believe me. Remember, I was an editor, and I’ve worked with many authors over the years.”

“Yeah, but you’ve never been a writer, right?”

“You’re right, I haven’t. And I haven’t even done any editing in a while. I’m strictly a bookseller these days. But while I can empathize with you, I can’t help but wonder just how far you’d go to get revenge.”

“So you do think I killed her, after all I’ve told you.” It wasn’t a question. Jenna had crossed her arms across her chest, ready to do battle. Or so it appeared to Shelby.

“Well, somebody did, and Savannah was a stranger in town. So, there’s a likelihood it was someone local who did it.”

“Yeah, but her agent’s here, isn’t he? I know because I tried to get an appointment with him, but he turned me down.”

That surprised Shelby. “It’s not really the right time for that, is it?”

“If not now, when? He’s here, I’m here, and that story won’t be written at this point. But I could do it since it was my idea in the first place.”

They’d gone full circle. Did Jenna have any idea how damning that sounded? Shelby didn’t think she could push it any further, though. Now was the time to deal with the rumor.

“I also heard that you had some difficulty with a rival several years back.”

Jenna’s face went white. “Who told you? They never let you forget, do they? I should have just moved away from here, but this is my home. And I have some very good friends who have stuck by me all along. Without them, well …”

Shelby watched Jenna wringing her hands as she took a deep breath. “Nothing was ever proven, and it couldn’t be, because I didn’t push her. Sure, I was pretty steamed at her that night, but it was my boyfriend who I was really angry with. I didn’t push her. I could never do something like that. I had hoped that, after time, the busybodies would stop talking about it. It hurts, you know.”

Shelby didn’t answer. Jenna’s anguish seemed real enough, but could that be a guilty conscience at work all these years? But Chief Stone had believed her, and that would have been a tough sell. Shelby realized she needed to let it go. Jenna wasn’t finished talking, though.

“So, tell me,” Jenna continued, leaning forward on her arms, which were resting on the table, “since I’m such a skilled murderess, how did I manage to kill Savannah when she was in the castle? It was overnight. How did I get over there?”

“For the sake of argument, you’ve lived here, what, your whole life? So, you must know someone who would lend you a boat.”

“But then I’d have to kill that person to keep him from talking.” She smiled like she’d made the winning chess move.

“Or you could have borrowed it, without permission.”

Jenna sat up straight in her chair and leaned forward, lowering her voice. “I didn’t do it. I didn’t take a boat. I didn’t go over to the island. I didn’t kill her.” She looked around the room. “I want to know why you’re bugging me about this. The police aren’t.”

She had a point there. “I guess I just can’t let it go. Someone killed Savannah Page, and you had a motive. If you hadn’t been so public about it, no one would have known.”

And you could have killed her and possibly gotten away with it. That thought presented itself, crystal clear in her brain.

“Can’t you try to see my side of this? I felt the only way I could retaliate was to confront her in public. I want to be a real published writer. I want to be someone writing books that people want to read. Ideas are what I need to start out with, and then I have to figure out how to best write the story. I was sure it was a good story; in fact, Savannah confirmed that by stealing it. I’d already invested some time and research into it, and then I had nothing. Can you imagine how that made me feel?”

Jenna was almost pleading by this point. She seemed sincere, and it did make a lot of sense.

Shelby sighed. “All right, I do understand what you’re saying, and you’re right, I will back off. I’m also sorry for digging up the past, but I had to hear your side. I won’t bother you about it again.” She stood up and grabbed her purse.

“That would be nice.” Jenna reached out to touch Shelby’s arm. “I do think it’s good of you to try to find her killer, though.”

Shelby nodded and walked away. As she reached the door, Jenna hurried over to her. “And I’d really love it if you could see your way to read one of my manuscripts sometime.”