More people were lingering in the hallway, chatting and saying their farewells when we got back to the room where brunch was nearing conclusion. We looked around but didn't see Grady. Clive was filling his plate with eggs.
"There's Clive," Briggs said. "Looks like he'll be here eating for awhile. Let's go talk to Katrina first. When I spoke with Grady earlier, he was going to work on his laptop while waiting for a two o'clock flight."
We headed straight to the caterer's kitchen. I was feeling a rush of nerves about confronting Katrina. She was going to be more than shocked when we revealed to her that we knew her true identity. Then an explosion of nerves hit me. I grabbed Briggs' arm just before he reached for the door.
"What if I'm wrong?" I asked. "I'm confident about my nose but what if I'm wrong about this?"
He winked. "You forget who you're with. I'm not going to just walk in there and blurt out an accusation."
He swung open the door and I followed him into the kitchen. The catering team was moving slower than the day before. I couldn't blame them. Three straight days of cooking and serving seemed exhausting. The lingering aroma of brunch swirled around us.
We found Katrina sitting in her office. Just like an hour earlier, she was more than surprised to see me, especially when she saw Briggs with me. "My goodness, I can't believe I'm still part of this investigation." Her words were light but her tone was harsh.
"Yes, I'm sure you didn't expect us back," Briggs said. "I know work is almost done here, so, Jessica, if you don't mind, I thought I'd ask you a few more questions." He glided so smoothly over the name, she didn't even notice.
Katrina clicked out of her computer screen and sat back. "Ask away. I've got nothing to hide," she said rather confidently for someone who was hiding a heck of a lot.
"So it is Jessica then?" Briggs asked.
Her face blanched white. Her eyes darted around the room as if she was looking for some magical escape exit, or, at the very least, making sure none of her employees were around to hear the conversation.
"No, I'm Katrina," she said brusquely. "I wasn't paying attention to what you said. I thought you said Katrina."
"No, I said Jessica and you didn't even flinch. Which leads me to believe that you're used to being called Jessica when you're at home with the family. Katrina is just your business name," Briggs continued undaunted by the look of shock on her face.
She sat forward. "What is it you want, Detective?" It seemed she was no longer putting up a fight about her true identity. I gave myself a virtual pat on the back for a job well done.
"I suppose my first question would be—why haven't you revealed yourself to your classmates? They all think Jessica is dead."
"That wasn't my fault. Someone heard a rumor that I'd died and they posted about it. The accident happened out of state, and I hadn't kept in contact with anyone from high school. As far as I'm concerned they can go right on thinking I'm dead. In a way, that awkward girl from high school is dead. I'm a different person now. I want nothing to do with those high school years."
"Except you sought out this catering job," Briggs pointed out.
Again, she was stunned by what he knew. She stared up at him for a long moment, then reached for her purse. "If you want to hear all about my diabolical plan of revenge—here it is." She dug deep inside for a few seconds pulling out sunglasses, another tube of the hand cream, and a tin of mints before finding what she was looking for. Her hand emerged with a box of what appeared to be an over the counter laxative.
Katrina slapped it on the desk. Briggs and I stared down at it, both wondering why she felt the need to expose her personal digestion issues.
"Yes, I saw the post about the reunion and sought out the job. I figured those three bums would show up to let everyone see just how little they'd changed. And I was right about that," she said with a head shake of disbelief. "Dane didn't even realize he was trying to flirt with the girl he used to call Dumbo." She pushed her hair back, exposing two nice ears. "My husband pinned them back for me. It was painful but not nearly as painful as the taunts I endured when they stuck out nearly perpendicular from my head. When I heard Dane's name called out in the hospitality kitchen, the idea to confront him outweighed my common sense. I walked into his room to tell him off, and he had the nerve to grab for me. I pushed him away and told him he wasn't worth the dirt on the bottom of his shoe. Then I ran from the room, mad at myself for bothering to challenge him."
As she spoke my empathy grew for her. The torture she must have endured in high school, bullying so rough she actually showed up to her own reunion as a completely different person.
"I knew all three of them had flown into town. I thought an uncomfortable plane ride would be a nice slice of revenge for the agony they caused me. My plan was to grind up these laxatives and put a heaping bunch in their breakfasts. Then Debra changed her mind to a buffet style brunch, so my plans went out the window."
Briggs cleared his throat. "Actually, I think your plans were out the window anyhow considering two of them are dead."
"Yes, and I'm not sorry about it either," Katrina confessed easily. "In fact, I came close to revealing my true self to Grady Ramone just so we could have a private smile about it. But I decided to keep to myself. I can tell you this, while I haven't shed a tear for either of them, I certainly didn't kill them. In high school, I pictured it often, though. Getting some kind of horrible revenge on them. I have everything I want now, a good husband, a successful business, ears that no longer serve as wind flaps," she added with a light laugh. "Why would I throw all that away? Then the bullies would win again, just like they always did in high school."
I peeked over at Briggs, who seemed to be feeling the same way as me. While she had good motive, Katrina didn't kill Riley and Dane. He nodded. "Thank you. We won't take up any more of your time, Mrs. Jessup."
We walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway.
"Penny for your thoughts," I said, elbowing him lightly.
"They aren't worth that much, I'm afraid. I was just replaying what she said in there about not throwing her successful life away on the men who bullied her."
We stopped and I looked at him. "And that has you thinking about Grady?" I asked
His charming crooked smile appeared. "Are you sure that nose of yours is the only thing with super power? Sometimes I think you can look right into my head and read my thoughts."
"Or do we just think alike?" We headed toward the elevator. "Are we still going to talk to Grady?"
"Yes, but first I want to talk to Clive. I think there's more to his story."
I stopped so fast, I could almost hear my shoes squeal like a car's tires. "With the hat and the whole thing with Katrina and Jessica or is it Katrina or Jessica—" I waved my hand. "Anyhow, in all the excitement, I forgot to tell you why I was outside near the garbage cans."
Briggs looked stunned with himself that he'd not asked the same question. "That's right. You just reminded me of our phone conversation where I was warning you not to do anything dangerous, and you were ignoring me."
"Yes, well, not purposefully, just out of necessity. Clive walked out that back door. I waited for him to turn the corner," I added quickly, letting him know just how cautious I'd been. His brow lift assured me he wasn't buying it. "Anyhow, I walked to the corner. Clive has one of those deep, from the barrel kind of voices so I could easily eaves—" I cleared my throat. "Overhear his conversation. He was pleading with someone to give him more time and that he'd have the money as soon as he sold something."
Briggs' brown eyes lit up. "Like a Rolex watch?"
"That's the first thing that popped into my mind. See, we really do think alike."