Forty-two

While we waited for the ambulance, I brought Laura a cold, wet cloth. “This was all because of John?”

She didn’t answer.

Ben skulked nearby, looking like someone had punched him in the gut. I walked over. “Are you okay?”

“She used me. What a fool I was. She always wanted to talk about the murders, and”—Ben gulped hard—“I thought she was just curious. Like you!”

I patted his arm. “It’s all over now. Don’t blame yourself.”

I returned to Laura, hoping I could get her to talk. “So what was your big transgression against John that Randall died for?”

Still no answer.

“Did you arrange for that girl to report sexual misconduct by John?”

She dabbed her red face. Her eyes watered mercilessly.

“Did you murder her?” I pressed.

Laura finally spoke. “No. But she was a greedy little thing, always demanding more money from me. I would imagine she moved on to serious blackmail and discovered she wasn’t ready to play in the big leagues.”

“Why did you do that to John if you loved him?”

“Because he broke off our relationship. It was payback. Holly, you must understand. John was always the one. I tried to put him out of my head. I tried to date other guys. But they weren’t John. Randall said it was just infatuation. That I had created a super-John in my memory. That the real John couldn’t possibly live up to my dreams. But he did. I watched him on Facebook. Searched his name on Google constantly. I called him just to hear his voice on his answering machine.”

“Then he knew you were trying to reach him.”

“I’m not stupid. I blocked my number. He probably thought they were those annoying automated calls. You know what? Randall was wrong. Even after all these years, John is as adorable as I remember. And he liked spending time with me, too. I could tell. I just needed a chance, but everyone was determined to ruin it for me.”

“Like Randall?”

“Randall! What an idiot. I was his patient, and he fell in love with me. Can you imagine? He would have said anything to keep me away from John.”

“But you didn’t love Randall.”

“Of course not. He wasn’t John. He said it would never work out with John. That I had to tell John what I’d done to him. And that if I didn’t tell him myself, he would. I couldn’t let him do that. John would never get back together with me if he found out that I’d set up the sexual misconduct allegations at Douthier. Why is everyone intent on ruining my relationship with John?”

“Everyone?”

“Randall was going to tell him the truth. That would have ruined everything forever. John can never know! And that moron Hank threatened to tell John that I was spying on him. He had the nerve to demand money. I call that blackmail. What a scum bucket. But he got his comeuppance. He counted the money, stuck the wallet in his pocket, and the minute he turned I grabbed that hoe and slammed it on the back of his neck. It worked much better than I anticipated.”

“He didn’t notice that you were wearing gloves?”

She shrugged. “It was dark.”

“Why didn’t you take the wallet back?”

“Are you kidding? He’d put his fingerprints all over it. It was a perfect setup to make everyone think Hank killed Randall. Sort of like the letter from your grandmother to Gustav.”

“How did you know about that?”

“Another stroke of luck. I thought I was very clever to plant that on Randall.”

“But how did you get it?”

“On my way here, I stopped for lunch. I was rounding a corner on a sidewalk when a guy smacked into me and knocked me down. He dropped the letter but ran off. When I read it and saw that he would be staying at the Sugar Maple Inn, I thought I would track him down and give him a piece of my mind when I got to Wagtail. But then I had to eliminate Randall, so I planted the letter on him to throw everyone off about his identity. It worked, too.”

That must have been Mick, Gustav’s mugger.

Anger distorted her face. “Look, Holly, you can have Ben. You don’t need John.”

She couldn’t be serious. Even after all this, she thought she would win John’s affections? “You took my denim jacket?”

“Child’s play. Ben never noticed that I borrowed his keys. Your cat was hostile, though. I had to lock her out on the balcony.”

On that note, I walked away and made sure the EMTs knew about Dave’s head injury. He rode in the ambulance with Laura.

Before it pulled away, Laura looked at me with painfully red eyes. “Holly? Will you make sure Marmalade gets a good home?”

It was the least I could do. “Of course.” I already had someone in mind.

Aunt Birdie, whom I had never seen without full makeup and perfect hair, was so excited that she had forgotten all about her appearance. She looked younger without makeup on. But the weird white wrap she wore on her head was something from the dark ages.

“You’re a hero,” I told her.

Aunt Birdie flapped a hand at me. “It was nothing. If that dog hadn’t barked, I might not have known that girl was out here.”

“Why don’t you come to the inn for breakfast tomorrow morning?”

“I’d like that.”

Ben drove Huey, Trixie, and me back to the inn, where we pronounced Huey a hero, too. It broke my heart that he would go back to WAG when Ben went home.

*   *   *

The next morning, Mr. Huckle appeared with our coffee and tea bright and early. Eight cats and two dogs greeted him at the door. He brought chocolate croissants for the people, apple barkscotties for the dogs, and crunchy dried salmon flakes for the kitties.

The adrenaline from the previous night must have still been in our systems, because everyone showed up early for breakfast at the inn. Most of the inn’s guests still slept, except for Macon, who joined us with Marmalade.

“How did it go last night?” I asked Macon.

“He snuggled up to me like we’d been together for years. Do you think I can adopt him?”

“Absolutely.”

We pushed tables together out on the terrace. The sun shone on the lake, producing diamond sparkles that seemed to dance on the water.

John and I helped Mr. Huckle and Shelley serve strawberry cream cheese French toast to everyone so they could sit down and join us. We applauded Aunt Birdie, who took a bow and was delighted by all the attention. We applauded Huey too, who also took a bow, as though he understood.

Dave assured everyone that he was fine and the only abnormality noted in the CAT scan was the absence of a brain. He looked straight at me when he said, “From now on, I’ll pay more attention to Holly’s wacky theories. Even if she doesn’t have evidence.”

As I had suspected, the white denim jacket had bloodstains on it, probably Hank’s.

Ben’s phone rang and he excused himself for a moment to take the call. When he returned, he said, “That was Laura. She needs a lawyer.”

Everyone stopped eating. There was no clanking of utensils, no chatter, not a sound except for birdcalls.

“I’m not representing her!” he protested.

“Dave,” said Zelda, “I know why she killed Randall. But what about Hank? Why did she kill him?”

“Because he caught her,” Dave said. “Hank was hanging around your house, and he saw her spying on John.”

“I knew someone was watching me,” John said.

Dave continued. “From what I gather, Hank blackmailed her. He threatened to tell John unless she paid him. So she gave him Randall’s wallet. I guess, sort of like me, he didn’t perceive her as a threat, and the second he turned his back, she brought that hoe down on his neck.”

“What I don’t understand,” I said, “is why Laura clobbered you, Dave.”

Dave’s eyes met Ben’s and a rosy flush flooded Ben’s cheeks when he said, “I might have told Laura that Dave was about to make an arrest.”

“You might have?” I said, seeking clarification.

“She wouldn’t talk about anything else. She was obsessed with the murders—”

“You mean she was pumping you for information.” Ben had been her source of news all along.

“I thought she would be satisfied if I said an arrest was imminent. I’m sorry, Dave.”

“No problem. You didn’t know she was the killer.” Dave was exceedingly gracious about it. He turned his gaze to me. “You were next, Holly. If Aunt Birdy hadn’t stopped her, she would have been on her way over here to eliminate you. She saw you as her rival for John’s affections.”

John excused himself and called Cooper.

When they returned, Cooper carried flowers in his mouth and brought them to me.

I took the bouquet and patted Cooper. “Thank you!”

“That’s a little apology from the two of us. Well, actually just from me. Cooper never doubted you for a moment.”

Oma raised her orange juice in a toast. “Thank goodness this is over, and we have our peaceful Wagtail once again!”

“How about you, John?” asked Macon. “What will you do now?”

“I’m beginning to think I need to go deeper into the woods to concentrate on writing. Wagtail is a busy place.”

“How’s the thriller coming?” asked Ben.

“I have decided that I am a very unthrilling guy. But I’m thinking about a story in which a woman tracks down a guy she dated ten years before . . .”

Macon and I scooted over to make room for Nessie and Sky.

With a twinkle in his eye, Macon asked, “How are your daughters?”

“You knew all along who Maddie’s artist was,” Sky stated.

Macon beamed. “I gather you approve?”

“Who is he?” I asked.

“Such a delightful young man. Turns out I know his parents. He is an artist but he also started a charity to bring chickens and goats to impoverished families in developing nations.”

I was itching to hear about the fellow Celeste met. “Nessie?”

She raised her chin and sighed. “I was wrong. Celeste’s musician plays the piano beautifully, but he works as a talent agent for musicians. I gather he makes a rather good living.”

To his credit, Macon merely smiled and didn’t point out Nessie’s folly.

After breakfast, I sat down on the terrace steps with Huey for a moment. “You’re a very special boy.”

He pawed me gently.

Oma walked over with Ben. “Holly, Ben, I have a confession to make. Huey’s real name is Houdini. He has been quite a headache at WAG because he can open everything. He opens his cage, he opens other dog cages. He even opens doors. I’m sorry, Ben. We set you up with a difficult dog on purpose.”

I thought it a shame that a smart dog like Huey would be considered difficult.

Ben took a deep breath. “That’s okay. Huey—er, Houdini—taught me a lot about dogs. He’s a great guy. But, as you know, I live in a tiny apartment in a building that doesn’t allow pets. I thought I might appeal to Holly more if I seemed like a dog kind of guy. I never intended to adopt him.”

“Is that why you rubbed catnip on your clothes?” I asked.

“Same principle, but to attract cats to me,” Ben said.

Duchess ran toward us and immediately nuzzled Huey.

Sky followed her. “Ben! There you are. I wanted to talk to you about Huey. It’s pretty obvious to me that Huey and Duchess are a bonded pair. Paige said they split them up because no one wanted two big dogs, and Huey’s escape artist antics were preventing them from being adopted. I know you had your eye on Huey, but I’d like to adopt him so he and Duchess can stay together.”

I watched Huey and Duchess nuzzle each other out on the lawn. Some love stories didn’t need a matchmaker to have a happy ending.