On Saturday, Lily made a reservation for a party of eleven at Pearl Cove. When she and Ian arrived at the restaurant Sunday evening, the hostess showed them to a round table for twelve. Joe and Kelly arrived next, and Kelly sat next to her brother, with Joe on the other side of her. Brian and Heather arrived at the same time as Walt and Danielle. Brian took a seat next to Joe, with Heather on his right, and Walt next to Heather. Just as they sat down, the chief arrived. He sat next to Danielle. The last to join the dinner party were Melony and Adam. Melony sat next to the chief, with Adam to her right, and Lily sitting on the other side of Adam.
The entire dinner party arrived within minutes of each other, creating a noisy entrance, with chairs pushed around, hello hugs, and several conversations going on simultaneously. The hostess had handed each of them a menu when initially seated, so some were looking at their menus, while others had already set theirs on the table when the server arrived a few minutes later to take their drink order.
The server returned with their drinks ten minutes later. After distributing the beverages, she took their dinner orders and left the table. When she did, Brian started filling Joe in on what had happened that morning at Heather’s house. Since Joe and Kelly had been in Astoria most of the day, this was the first Joe was hearing about the bloody rag and letter opener. Brian had just started telling Joe the story when Kelly overheard, stopped talking to her brother, and turned toward Joe to listen to what Brian had to say. By the time Brian finished the telling, everyone at the table was quiet and listening.
“And it really was the murder weapon?” Kelly asked.
“It matched the blood of the victim,” the chief told her. “And according to the coroner, it looked like the weapon that could have killed her. Not sure if the killer knew what he was doing or if it was a lucky shot. Of course, not lucky for Betty.”
“What do you mean?” Lily asked.
The chief looked at Lily. “The letter opener hit at just the precise angle to do maximum damage. Had the killer been off an inch either way, with just a slight change in angle, it wouldn’t have killed her.”
“Did you find any other fingerprints at the scene?” Melony asked.
“None that shouldn’t have been there,” the chief said.
“And no one saw who put it there?” Kelly asked.
“Oh, come on, we know who put it there,” Heather scoffed. “Before, I was willing to believe our new neighbor just didn’t want to admit she was in town already because she had some reason that had nothing to do with the murder. But now, she’s caught with the murder weapon. Come on, people.”
Kelly turned to the chief. “Why haven’t you arrested her?”
“Because she has a credible witness who claims she was in Portland at the time of the murder,” the chief said. “And they even sent me photo verification.”
“There is Photoshop,” Kelly said.
Heather looked at Kelly. “Exactly what I say!”
“While I believe Heather, at this point, it’s Heather’s word against Davis’s. And since we can’t find a connection, much less a viable motive, between Olivia and the victim, it’s too early to make an arrest. It’s like there are two women out there who look exactly alike and even dress alike. But one was in Portland while the other one was in Frederickport,” the chief explained.
“Maybe she has a twin?” Kelly suggested.
“No, she doesn’t have a twin,” Danielle said. “She has a sister, but she’s not a twin. However, when she was at our house this morning, while the police processed the area where they found the murder weapon, we learned there was a connection between Betty and Olivia other than they were both going to be co-workers. It seems Betty’s aunt, the one Betty rented the house from, she was a good friend to Olivia’s now deceased mother. In fact, growing up, Olivia and her sister would come to Frederickport with their mother and stay with Betty’s aunt each summer.”
“Did Betty and Olivia know each other back then, as kids?” Lily asked.
Danielle shrugged. “I asked her that question after she came to.”
“What do you mean, came to?” Adam asked.
“She fainted in our kitchen,” Walt said.
“Fainted?” several at the dinner table chorused.
Danielle then recounted the events in the kitchen that led up to Olivia fainting, leaving out the part where Walt’s telekinetic powers softened her fall. She then said, “Anyway, after she came to, I asked her if she remembers if she had ever met Esther’s niece. She claimed she never had.”
The chief took a sip of his drink but said nothing. Danielle had called him earlier and told him about the connection between Olivia and Esther. He had then called Esther in Florida, who remembered Olivia, yet hadn’t seen her since she was a teenager. Esther couldn’t recall if Olivia had ever met her niece during one of her visits.
“I assume you’ve requested video surveillance tapes from the airport and airline?” Melony asked.
The chief nodded. “Yes. I should get them tomorrow.”
“So once you prove she wasn’t on that flight, you can arrest her?” Kelly asked.
“It will just prove she lied about when she arrived—and that she could get the car dealer to lie for her. But we have a long way to go before we can bring murder charges against anyone. So far, we have no motive. Plus, once we prove she was not on that flight, we have no idea what she’ll decide to tell us. Perhaps she saw something that morning, and for whatever reason, she doesn’t want to tell us. Or she is afraid. It could be anything.” The chief gave a shrug.
Adam looked at his fiancée. “Hey, Mel, maybe you should go over there and introduce yourself. Sounds like she may need a good lawyer.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Melony said with a chuckle.
“Oh, come on, you guys!” Heather grumbled. “If she killed Betty, the last thing I want is Mel as her attorney!”
“Why?” Adam asked.
“Because Mel is too good an attorney, and I don’t want to live next door to a killer!” The other residents of Beach Drive agreed with Heather.
They were still discussing the murder when Marie appeared, standing behind her grandson, Adam. The only ones at the table aware Marie had arrived were the three mediums, Walt, Danielle, and Heather.
“Eva is with Olivia,” Marie told the mediums.
The other people at the table, unaware of the new arrival, continued talking, but Walt, Danielle, and Heather kept looking Marie’s way, listening to what she had to say.
“Olivia is watching a movie on her iPad, and Eva wanted to watch it too, so she told me to go ahead and come here, and she would come get me if necessary.”
Adam, who had been listening to Ian say something, glanced toward Walt and Danielle and noticed them staring at him. He stared back, but when they didn’t change expression or say anything, he frowned. Adam didn’t realize it was Marie they were looking at, not him. Finally, he blurted, “What?”
Everyone at the table stopped talking and turned to Adam. Even Walt and Danielle turned their attention from Marie to him.
When Melony frowned at Adam, silently asking him what was up, he glanced at her and then looked back across the table at Walt and Danielle. He shrugged and said, “The way Walt and Danielle were looking at me, I thought they wanted to ask me something.”
Walt and Danielle exchanged quick glances and then looked back at Adam. “We were staring at you?” Danielle asked innocently.
“I know what this is about,” Melony cheerfully announced.
Walt arched his brows, curious to know what she meant.
“I bet you were wondering if we made our final decision yet. And the answer is yes if you’re sure it won’t be too much trouble,” Melony explained.
Marie looked at Melony. “What’s she talking about?”
Danielle grinned. “Great! Did you set a date?”
“Date for what?” Lily asked.
Melony turned to Lily. “Adam and I set the date for our wedding. It’s going to be small, but all of you are invited. It’s going to be the Saturday after Valentine’s Day at Marlow House.”
“Marlow House?” Kelly repeated.
Melony turned a smile to Kelly. “Yes. Danielle has so graciously offered to host our wedding at Marlow House.”
“Wonderful!” Marie looked at Danielle. “You never told me!”
“I’m going to be Mel and Adam’s wedding planner,” Danielle said primly.
“I need a wedding planner.” Melony laughed. “I’m not good at entertaining, much less planning a wedding.”
“I’ll help!” Heather offered.
“Me too!” Marie chimed in.
“Wow, another wedding at Marlow House,” Kelly muttered.
Melony looked at Kelly. “You have a wedding to plan yourself. But you have a mother to help you.”
“Uh, yeah,” Kelly muttered.
“Since we’re talking weddings, this might be a good time to announce to everyone”—Joe turned to Brian—“we’ve changed our wedding date to March. Actually, we changed the month. We haven’t settled on the actual date yet.”
“Right after us!” Melony grinned. “I assume you’re not having an outdoor wedding at Lily and Ian’s now.”
Kelly shook her head. “No. We decided we didn’t want to wait until summer. But we’re still trying to work out the location.”
“Wish you’d consider my suggestion,” Lily said. “And since we’re here now, I could ask them for a copy of their events menu.”
“Oh, are you talking about getting married here?” Melony asked. “Because if you are, I think that would be a great choice. In fact, Pearl Cove would be my second choice for a wedding venue.”
Adam looked at Melony. “I thought your second choice was Vegas?”
Melony looked at Adam and said with a cheeky grin, “Only if we can get an Elvis impersonator to marry us.”