Chapter 36
Jane and the others watched as Brodsky cuffed Roni, her head hanging low. Did he really have to do that? Jane turned her head away in embarrassment for Roni and anger toward him. Couldn’t he allow the woman a little bit of dignity as she left Kildare House?
“I’m so sorry for all of this,” Cora said. “If you want a partial refund and want to leave, I totally understand.”
“I need some time back in my room,” Lisa said. “I may go home. Thank you.”
“I’ll go with you,” Vicki said. The two of them left the room.
The rest of the retreaters stood and sat around for a few awkward moments.
“For those of you who are staying, shall we go back into the craft room and continue our fabric beads?” Jane said. “It will help us keep our minds occupied.”
The women meandered back into the craft room and each went back silently to her project.
As Jane finished her last fabric bead, a sense of relief washed over her. Zee would now be freed from jail. A huge weight lifted from Jane’s heart. Being accused of murder when you didn’t commit one was horrifying.
It was also just as horrifying, perhaps, to realize that you were capable of killing someone—as she realized about herself. She would have killed her husband. She tried to kill him. She didn’t succeed—thank goodness, or else she’d not be here now.
People could be driven to it. Some easier than others. Now her thoughts turned to Roni, who had been pushed by Stan. He’d hurt her daughter. She didn’t want her thoughts to dwell there—but, what exactly did she mean? Was Stan a pedophile? Jane shivered.
Vicki walked back into the room. “Lisa will be down soon. We’ve both decided to stay.”
Jane had a feeling Vicki had a hand in Lisa’s staying. She couldn’t blame Lisa at all for wanting to leave. A woman who was sharing quarters with them had just confessed to murder. Hard to put that aside.
“Pay up,” Annie said.
“No,” Vera said. “My money was on Jo.”
“Mine too!” Vicki said as she took her seat.
“Did you all really place a bet on who the killer was?” Jane asked.
“Why not?” Vicki replied. “It was kind of fun, you know, almost as if we were at one of those murder mystery parties.”
“Except it was real,” Jane pointed out.
“I was never scared,” Vera said. “I mean, I considered the murderer could be right here, but after Cora said it was a personal crime, I thought, well, why would they come after me?”
“But still,” Annie said. “To take a life? There’s a certain dangerous hubris. That frightens me.”
“You heard her say she didn’t mean it,” Vicki said as she wrapped purple strips of fabric around a straw. “It was an accident.”
“She saw him in the alley. Why didn’t she just turn away from him?” Vera said. “What was she planning to do? Just wag her finger at him? Press charges?”
“Who knows?” Jane spoke up. “If someone hurt London, I’m not sure what I’d do.”
“I hear you,” Annie said. “Even when it’s another child who hurts your kid, you feel like you want to . . .”
“Don’t say it!” Vicki said.
“But it’s true. Like this mama-bear rises in you. I know I’ve had to tame it,” Annie replied.
Jane wondered if any of these women knew what it meant to be pushed beyond their senses. She had been, but after years and years of abuse. Thank goodness, she hired a good lawyer. As she glanced around the table at the women exchanging money, finishing their fabric beads, Jane recognized they all had secrets. Everybody does. Maybe they didn’t have secrets as dark as hers, but she was certain they were there beneath the surface.
Humans were such fragile creatures.
“Well,” Cora said as she walked into the room, looking a bit flustered. “Thank you all for your patience and understanding while all of this was going on.”
“Added a bit of excitement to our day,” Vicki said. “Annie over there is now twenty bucks richer.”
“Don’t spend it all in one place,” Vera muttered.
“How is the bead making going?” Cora said, ignoring the betting conversation. Jane figured she was not happy about it. It did seem kind of crass. Maybe it was their way of dealing with an awkward and scary situation.
“This is so much fun,” Vicki said. “And it’s easy. I can’t believe it.”
“It’s true,” Cora said, feeling guilty because she suspected Vicki of murder. “I try to keep the crafts easy because we’re here to learn, but also to relax. You know?”
“I appreciate it. I can be all thumbs,” Vicki said. “I’m surprising myself.”
Lena walked into the room, obviously distressed. She took a seat and fidgeted with her beads. The room quieted. Lena and Roni had become fast good friends.
“They wouldn’t let me go to the station,” she said. “So here I am.”
“How is she?” Vera asked.
“She seems perfectly fine,” Lena said. “Calm, as a matter of fact. It chills me how calm and composed she is. I just don’t get how you could kill a man, even by accident, and be so calm about it.”
“Well, she wasn’t at first,” Jane said. “Maybe she’s in shock.”
“That’s probably it,” Cora replied. “Extreme stress can do odd things to people.”
“I really liked her. We hit it off. Am I that bad a judge of character?”
Cora found it troubling that Lena was so upset. Lena was their star teacher at this retreat. They didn’t need her to have a nervous breakdown while there.
“Not at all,” Cora said. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. We’re all fond of her. She’s a likable person. Remember, she didn’t mean to kill him. It was an accident.”
“It was a vengeful, spiteful move,” Lena said. “I know if someone hurt my child, I’d be angry. But to confront them in an alley and give them a hard enough push to fall and crack their head and die? She was here for a reason. Maybe she didn’t plan to kill him. But she was certainly up to no good.”
“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” Vera said. “You just never know about people, do you? I’ve been shocked over the past few years with some of the stuff that’s happened in my life. I would never have imagined my first husband was cheating on me with a much younger woman ... it hurt like hell. But you have to get to a point of... not forgiveness. . . but of knowing you did your best and their bad behavior is no reflection on you.”
“You make your judgments on people by knowing what you know. How were you to know any of this, unless she told you?” Vicki said.
“Are we all done with our beads? If so, I suggest we break for dinner,” Cora said. “Remember, you are on your own tonight for dinner. You’re quite welcome to stay here and fix yourself something. Or go out on the town. There are a lot of places to choose from and I’m happy to help you out and to answer any questions.”
The group began to file out, and Ruby and Jane stayed behind with Cora.
“What a messed-up day,” Jane said.
“We made the best of it,” Ruby said. “We did the best we could, and that’s all anybody can ask.”
“We certainly could not have planned this,” Cora said. “We didn’t even really have a contingency plan . . .”
“You can’t plan for something like this,” Ruby said. “Honestly, who knew?”
Jane agreed, but a sudden wave of weariness came over her. “I’m exhausted,” she said. “It’s like I’ve been inhaling this whole time and have finally exhaled and every muscle is relaxed, but longing for bed.”
“I feel the same way,” Cora said.
“Not me,” Ruby said, eyes lit. “I’m off to Cashel’s office to see what’s going on.”