Dandy reared back. She looked from Darwin to Caroline and back to me.
“The police are searching for evidence at Brooke’s grave,” Caroline said in a quiet voice.
Dandy stiffened, her knuckles white on the doorjamb. Behind her McGillicuddy whined, his nails tapping as he ran back and forth on the kitchen floor.
“You and Nina resemble each other. Your height, your build, your hair, even the way you both dress in athletic wear,” I said. “That’s why Aaron’s been blackmailing you. He saw Nina on his security video and thought she was you. You burned down his house to protect her.”
Dandy slumped. I grabbed her arm and Darwin took the other. We helped her into the living room and lay her on the sofa as Caroline picked up McGillicuddy, soothing him with quiet words.
As Dandy’s eyes fluttered open, she moaned, “Nina was Brooke’s friend.”
Did she never suspect that Nina had killed Brooke?
“Where’s the flash drive?”
Twenty minutes later, Caroline and I walked down the lane toward home, with Darwin holding a surprisingly docile McGillicuddy. When we’d left Dandy with Detective Voelker, she was leading him across her yard to her garden shed.
I suddenly became aware that Rocky was trailing us. I scooped him up.
“You crazy cat,” I whispered.
Darwin said a tired good night. “We’ll talk tomorrow. I’m…” his voice trailed off as he walked down the lane toward the warm lights of his farmhouse.
Sprinkles stood at our door, yowling an injured greeting.
Caroline picked her up and held her close. “Riley, do you think Nina would’ve killed Angelica too?”
I stepped into the familiar warmth of the kitchen and let out a sigh. “One thing that was odd from the start was the note and the wine. I thought the wine was drugged to immobilize Mike, which, yes, it was. He was big and athletic and would be hard to overpower. But the note to go in the barn seemed a bit much.
“Nina was a big fan of Angelica’s. I think she wanted to spare Angelica seeing Mike’s murdered body. Maybe she thought Angelica would fall asleep first and then Mike would go in the barn and fall asleep there.”
Sprinkles yowled and squirmed out of Caroline’s arms.
“She was desperate…” Caroline’s voice trailed off.
Nina wanted to preserve the life she’d built with Kyle. “I’m sure of it.” A thought tugged at me, another thread to tie up but I was so tired, it was all I could do to flush for Sprinkles and trudge upstairs. Tomorrow I’d go to Aaron’s and tie up that loose end.
Caroline gave me a hug. “I’ll see you in the morning.”