E
veryone had their own idea of how Dillon should propose. Everything from hot air balloons to sky writing, to a romantic dinner, ending with him down on one knee. I told him to do it soon, or I’d end up doing it for him.
After we left the Manor, Liam dropped me and Gran off at Rose Cottage and he drove into Ballyquicken to check on his house and collect his mail, which gave the two of us time to talk about the murder.
“So where are we on our suspects?” Gran asked as she handed me a glass of wine.
Before I could answer, my phone beeped. I read the message and looked at Gran, eyebrows raised. “It’s Reanna. She wants to come over.”
She chuckled. “So let her. Ooh, ask her to bring some of her pumpkin cookies.”
I smiled. “That’s incentive enough,” and I texted back.
Reanna and I had been friends since we were ten. Along with Ciara, we were quite the threesome. It wasn’t until we were twelve that Callum joined our group.
“She’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.” I set my phone down and picked up the notebook from the table where I’d left it the day before, and reread what I wrote:
“We still have to follow up on a few of these,” I said to Gran as she set a cup of tea in front of me. I crossed off “the argument with red-head,” and wrote, “Faye White,” then told Gran the story of how I spoke to her earlier on the cliff.
Gran tapped Faye’s name. “If she’s held onto her anger for twenty-years, you might want to put her on your suspect list.”
“We should probably search Herb’s house too.” I added it to the “to-do” list, then flipped over the page and added the word “Suspects” to the top, and added Faye’s name. “I didn’t really get that type of vibe off of her, but it would explain why it happened now, so I’ll add her to the list, and figure out when I can speak to her again.”
“Add Suzanne.” Gran took a sip of her tea as she sat down.
“Did you feel she was hiding something from us?” I asked as I wrote her name under Faye’s.
“I did. Although I don’t feel that she killed him, but there’s more to the story of why they broke up than him not having time for her.”
“We’ll put that on the back burner for now.”
Just then, the dogs barked, and the doorbell went off. I got up. “That must be Reanna.”
The two dogs beat me to the door, and I opened it to Reanna, her long auburn tresses stuffed under a bright yellow knit cap, and her light blue down coat zipped up to her neck, with a lime green scarf.
“Holy Hannah, Re. Are you trying to blind me?”
“What?” She looked down and then smiled. “I guess I needed some cheering up this morning.”
I held the door open for her and she came in holding a burgundy box with her fancy logo on it, which she handed to me as she walked in. She pulled off her hat, her hair falling below her shoulders, untied her scarf, and unzipped her coat.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I took the items and hung them up on the coat rack near the door, and followed her into the living room, where she plopped down on the couch. The dogs followed her, sensing her mood and wanting to bring comfort. Sandy laid her head down on Reanna’s lap, and Luna hopped up next to her and crawled into her lap.
“Would you like a cup of tea, Reanna?” Gran asked.
“Yes, please, Gran.” I smiled. Gran had adopted all of my friends as her grandchildren a long time ago, to where they all called her Gran.
I sat across from her in one of the comfy chairs and waited for her to tell me what was wrong. I’ve known her long enough to know she’ll talk when she’s ready.
Gran brought in a tray of tea and a plate of Reanna’s delicious pumpkin cookies made with pumpkin, oatmeal, and chocolate chips. I took one, along with a napkin, and waited.
It didn’t take long. “I think Dillon’s going to break up with me.”
My head jerked up, and I saw the tears running down her face. “What makes you think that?”
“It’s just like last time. We’ve been getting along wonderfully, and now he’s acting secretive. I think there’s another woman.”
I looked at Gran for help.
“Reanna, dear, I think he’s just busy at work. I don’t think there’s another woman. He knows we’d all have his hide if he hurt you again,” said Gran.
That brought a partial smile to her face. “Thanks, Gran.” She bent over and picked up her cup of tea and took a sip.
“What has he been secretive about?” I asked, as I took another cookie.
“Take last night, for instance, when I met the three of you for dinner. I told him I would get out early so we could all go to dinner together, and he said no, because he had an errand to run.” She looked at us, fresh tears running down her face. “What type of errand would he need to make where I couldn’t go?”
Before Gran or I could comment, she continued.
“And tonight. I had to work today so I couldn’t go to the family lunch, so I thought I’d make him a nice, romantic dinner. Again, he said no. Said he already had plans.”
I moved from the chair to the couch, sitting down beside her. “Look, Reanna. I’m going to tell you something, but you have to ask surprised when it happens.”
Gran set her teacup down. “Molly…”
Reanna had her teacup midway to her mouth, and she stopped. “What?”
“You know how Dillon can’t keep a secret, right?”
She smiled. “So true.”
“Well, you know how your birthday is in a fortnight?”
“Don’t remind me, but yes.” She tucked a stray hair behind her ear.
I looked at Gran. “Well, he’s throwing you a surprise party, and he’s so afraid he’s going to spill the beans, he’s acting out of character.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “That’s it? That’s the big secret?”
She leaned over and hugged me. I looked at Gran over her shoulder and she shook her head, grinning.
After the hug, I could see the relief on her face. “See, you have nothing to worry about. Now, how about you stay for dinner tonight and you can help us solve the latest murder? It’s going to be a light one. I ate too much of Mrs. Jones’ pot roast.”
“One of my part time helpers called in sick, so I had to cover,” she smiled. “I told Dillon you’d get involved.” She wiped her eyes with a tissue and then picked her teacup up.
Gran and I went over the few details we’d learned so far, and I showed her the list.
“We really need to get the girl gang back together. How about tomorrow night?” Reanna said as she looked at the list.
“That’s a great idea, but we have to come up with a better name.”
Gran smiled. “I’ve been thinking about that. How about Gumshoe Girls?”
Reanna smiled. “Or the Sleuth Slayers?”
I laughed. “How about we all meet here at six o’clock? I picked up my phone to text Ciara and Fiona.
“What about Liam?” Gran asked, smiling.
My stomach plummeted. “I wonder if I can somehow get rid of him for the evening.” I continued to text. Then I texted Dillon.
“Dillon, can you please entertain Liam tomorrow night for a few hours?”
“Why?”
“Because the girl gang is getting together and I need him to not be here. Maybe reach out to Callum and Aiden too.”
“You need to stay out of it, sis.”
“Yes, well…”
“Fine. But you owe me.”
“Thanks, bro. BTW - we have to plan a surprise birthday party for Reanna.”
“WHAT?”
“Will explain later. Love you!”
I smiled as I put my phone down.
Reanna peered over. “Are they coming?”
“They haven’t answered yet. I texted Dillon to see if he’d entertain Liam tomorrow night.”
Her nose crinkled. “I can’t believe I was being so silly.” She smiled. “Thank you.”
After dinner, and a bottle of wine, the three of us headed over to Herb’s house to see if we could find anything to give us a clue who killed him. A few years ago, while I was still in Michigan, Gran had given me a lock picking kit for Christmas. It took me the entire winter and part of spring to master the art, and I have to say, it’s come in handy since I’ve been back in Ireland.
Herb lived in a small cottage near downtown. It was the last house on a dead-end road. Thankfully, at eight o’clock on a Sunday night, it was quite dark, and all was quiet. I parked two blocks away, to make it look like we were just three women getting some exercise. We walked up the driveway and made our way to the backyard, where there was a small patch of lawn, part of which contained a small garden. I don’t know why, but I didn’t see Herb as much of a gardener. Maybe Suzanne?
I handed out plastic gloves to everyone, and Gran held the torch as I picked the lock. Thirty seconds later, we walked into a small kitchen, and Gran moved the torch around.
“This is the cleanest kitchen I’ve ever seen for a bachelor,” Reanna whispered.
“I agree. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this.” I whispered back.
We walked from the kitchen into the living room. “Here too. Everything in its place.”
Herb wouldn’t have won any awards for decorating, but it was functional. There was a couch, a coffee table, two overstuffed chairs, and a desk that looked brand new. I walked closer and turned on the lamp.
“Molly! Someone could see that,” Gran said, coming closer with the torch, so I turned off the lamp. There was a middle drawer and one file drawer.
“Ill look here. You two take upstairs. Once I’m finished, I’ll move on to other rooms on this floor.”
Gran handed me the torch and said, “and if you need to turn on a light, make sure the drapes are closed!”
I smiled as I spent the next several minutes going through the files of the desk, but found nothing more than bill receipts, a few files on the business, and that’s about it. If he was blackmailing anyone, he wasn’t keeping the files in here. It was a really nice desk though. I ran my hand over the smooth oak.
Using the torch, I looked under cushions, behind the television, and through the drawer of the coffee table. There was a hallway off the living room, so I followed it, shining the torch as I walked. There was a closet that held tools, a rope, and another torch. I opened up the tool box, but no paper, or even a thumb drive. Just well, tools. I closed the door and moved to a bathroom. I took the chance and turned on the light. Spotless. I wonder if he hired someone to clean? I just couldn’t imagine sloppy old Herb cleaning anything this well.
I was in the middle of pulling the back of the toilet off when Fiona snuck up behind me.
“What are you doing?”
I jumped, dropping the back of the toilet on my fingers. “Ow!”
“Oh, are you okay?”
I pulled my fingers out and glanced over at her. She was grinning.
I pulled the back of the toilet off again and looked into the water.
“I was checking to see if Herb hid anything in here.” I put the lid back on. Then ran my fingers under cold water. I handed her the torch I’d laid on the counter. “Go check the other room.”
I dried my hands, and we all regrouped in Herb’s living room.
“No luck on my part. How about you two?” Gran asked.
“If you were a blackmailer, where would you hide your little black book?” I asked the other two as we walked back toward the kitchen.
“The freezer,” Reanna answered.
“A hole in the backyard,” said Gran.
I smiled at their prompt answers. “Obviously you two have given this some thought.”
Just then, we heard a siren. I stopped, and as it was dark, and I was in front, Gran ran into me, and Reanna into her.
“Molly!”
“Shhh… does the siren seem to be coming closer?”
“Oh, crap! Someone must have seen the light. I told you Molly!”
“Come on, let’s get the heck out of here!”
Gran turned off the flashlight, and the three of us ran for the back door. My feet tripped over something and my face smashed into the door as Reanna went to close it.
“OW.”
“What happened?” Gran asked.
“I’m so sorry, Molly. Are you okay?”
Throbbing pain was radiating right above my left eye, down to my cheekbone.
“I think so. Let’s get out of here.” We turned to walk down the driveway, but we could see flashing lights from the police car coming down the street.
“This way!” I said, as I headed to Herb’s backyard. “I really hope he doesn’t have a fence!”
I kept waiting to run into a fence of some sort, but we went through the trees and ended up in the backyard of someone else’s house. We heard a dog bark, and I heard Reanna say, “If we run into that dog, I hope it’s friendly.”
A back porch light flicked on, and we heard a gruff voice. “Who’s out there?”
We all stopped and slammed ourselves flat against the wall of the garage. I was sure whoever that was could hear the ragged breathing of three out of shape women not too far from where he stood. Luckily, the man didn’t walk out into the yard, and a few seconds later, the light turned off.
“I think it’s safe. Let’s get out of here.” I said, as we walked swiftly down the paved driveway and then onto the sidewalk.
We had walked about a block when Gran asked, “Molly, where’s your car?”
I pointed left. “It should be this way, I think.”
As we got to the corner, Gran turned on the torch again and held it up so we could see the street sign, then looked at me. “I think we’re going in the wrong direction.”
“You always had a horrible sense of direction, Molly,” added Reanna.
Gran led us back and a few minutes later, we were in the car and Reanna burst into laughter. It wasn’t long before Gran and I both joined her, the stress of the past few minutes hitting us.
As we sat there and laughed, we saw a Garda car go past us, the street light showing Constable Mills in the front seat. As soon as he turned the corner, I started up the Land Rover and drove back to Rose Cottage.