Alice slapped a hand on the pickup’s dashboard.
“I knew it,” she said. “Darrell’s been crooked this whole time. But I got the crime wrong. He didn’t kill Vince. He paid Vince to sabotage the bookstore.”
“And the cabin. Poor Mr. and Mrs. Oriel.”
Ona pulled out of Susan Malone’s driveway, and they drove down the street, ranch houses flitting past the window.
Ona said, “So Darrell paid Vince to sabotage the bookstore, expecting the wall and ceiling to collapse later.”
“Which it did,” Alice said, “and almost killed me.”
“Then Darrell would swoop in and offer Bunce a cheap price for the property, plus cleanup. Like he’s done now. All along, it’s been about his business and his plan for Blithedale. But there’s something I don’t understand. Why sabotage the Oriels’ summer house deep in the woods?”
“That was personal,” Alice said. “Think about it. Who bought the property?”
“Of course. Darrell did. And he built his own house on the Oriels’ old property.”
“Right. He probably saw the property and thought it was the perfect location for his dream home.”
“Dream home?” Ona grimaced. “That ugly box he built?”
Alice looked out the window at houses and trees flashing past.
“That may have been the first time Darrell paid Vince to do sabotage. He started with something he wanted for himself, then realized, after he’d gotten the land from the Oriels, that he could apply the same technique to other properties around Blithedale.”
“And us protesters wouldn’t get in his way,” Ona said, “because the authorities would back him up—independent inspections would show that a building had become dangerous.”
The mention of protesters sparked something at the back of Alice’s mind. She thought of the photo in Bonsai & Pie of Andrea and others blocking one of Darrell’s development projects.
“I thought Andrea killed Vince, because he broke off their relationship. But Andrea didn’t drop her necklace.”
“The new lover did,” Ona said.
Alice nodded. “It was a new relationship. Susan had just discovered it, and hadn’t threatened Vince again. As far as we know, the lover had no reason to feel spurned. So she didn’t kill Vince because he’d broken her heart.”
“Then why did she kill Vince? And who is she?”
“Remember what Susan said she heard Vince say on the phone? He bragged about sabotaging the bookstore and the lover got upset. Aw, sweetheart, he said, don’t worry—I wouldn’t do anything to hurt this town.”
“Wait, you’re telling me Vince’s lover killed him to stop the sabotage?”
“That’s right.” Alice could feel all the pieces of puzzle slot into place. “Here’s what I think happened: She goes to confront him at the bookstore. Maybe she plans to murder him. Or maybe Vince refuses to stop the sabotage, and she gets mad, shoving him off the scaffolding. Either way, her love for Blithedale is much bigger than her love for Vince ever was.”
She looked over at Ona as they rolled down Main Street. A chill went down her spine. Goosebumps prickled her arms. She knew who the killer was.
“Turn around, Ona. We have to get to Darrell Townsend’s home in the woods and fast.”
Alice remembered then what the killer wore: a gold watch. She’d been wearing a matching gold necklace the first time she saw her. But not afterward. She’d said, “I’m doing what I can to stop that bastard, Darrell Townsend, from destroying Blithedale.”
“To Darrell’s?” Ona asked. “Why?”
“Because if we don’t get there quick, Kris Cox is going to kill him.”