| |
David couldn’t believe what was happening. A woman he’d been seeing for months, and had even considered marrying, had just blackmailed him for $25,000. If she didn’t commit the murders – and he had to admit he didn’t think she did – the killer was still on the loose. And now there was a chance the mysterious and very likable Josie Matthews would be staying in 1929. For her sake, he wanted her to be able to go home. But for his, he wouldn’t mind having her stick around.
Grant, Josie and he were huddled in the corner of the library while Constance – or Sue – was lounging on the couch, looking like she didn’t have a care in the world.
“You can’t let this dame get away with it!” said Barker.
“But if we don’t, Josie might never get home,” said David. “Besides, if we throw her in prison, she’s likely to tell everyone’s secrets just out of spite.”
“You’re right about that!” said Sue, who apparently had very good hearing.
David lowered his voice. “Think of all the people who’d be ruined. I’ll pay everyone back. And, in the end, we still have to catch the killer.”
“You don’t think she did it?” asked Grant.
David shook his head.
Grant sighed. “Neither do I. What about you, Miss Matthews? You’ve got the most at stake here. Do we throw her in prison or set her free?”
Josie bit her lower lip, deep in thought. David hoped she might give some indication that she wished to stay in 1929 with him. He knew it’d be a sacrifice, but he hoped she’d at least consider it. Finally, she spoke.
“I agree that she’d tell everything she knew if you put her in prison. And I don’t think she killed anyone. I guess we could let her go, but I don’t think she’s going to tell me how to get home.”
“Why don’t we hold her here for a while until she gives Josie the information she needs?” asked David. “Make her think we haven’t quite made up our minds? She deserves to squirm for at least a bit.”
“She does,” agreed Grant. “Can we handcuff her in your room, Miss Matthews? I’d rather not tell the other guests what’s going on for now.”
“Sure. Let’s just hope she breaks soon.”
“And in the meantime,” said David. “We still have to find the killer.”
* * *
“You’ve got to be kidding,” said Sue, once she’d been told of her situation and taken to Josie’s room. “I’m not going to let you handcuff me to the bed.”
“We’re not going to let you roam the house and I’m too tired to stay up babysitting you,” said Josie, who held the handcuffs.
“What if there’s a fire?”
“I’ve got the keys. I’ll get you out.”
“What if the killer comes in here in the middle of the night?”
“I’m still not convinced you’re not the killer. At any rate, I know I can’t trust you not to time travel back to the Twenty-First Century without giving me what I need.”
Sue sat back and studied her. “What if I made you a deal? I’ll give you 10% of the money, then we invest and go back to the Twenty-First Century together.”
Josie shook her head. “Not after what you did to all these people.”
“These people are all dead in our timeline. What does it matter what I did?’
“It’s the principle of the thing,” said Josie.
“You’re an idiot.”
They sat in silence for several minutes, each woman trying to figure out the other’s weakness. Josie didn’t enjoy talking to the woman, but there was something she’d been wondering about. “Why do you think we changed the timeline? Why are Mikey Corrigan and Kurt Franklin alive, while Madame Racine and Senator Farnsworth are dead?”
Sue shrugged. “How should I know? Look at it this way...two people who were supposed to die are still alive. Farnsworth was a complete jerk, so no one will miss him. Whatever we did might have been a good thing.”
“What about Madame Racine? She wasn’t even supposed to be here.”
“Look, you know as well as I do that she wasn’t clairvoyant. She was obviously pulling some scam and it probably got her killed.”
“And you don’t worry that there’s a murderer on the loose?”
“Why should I? Didn’t you just say you’d protect me if he storms the room?”
“Are you ever going to tell me how to get home?”
Constance smiled and leaned back against the headboard. “I already told you I would. All you have to do is let me go.”
“I can’t do that. Was this your whole plan, then? To use time travel to get rich?”
“Yes. It was a great plan. It still is.”
“But what about going back in time to help people? Like preventing World War II?”
“And how would you do that, exactly? Warning President Roosevelt about Pearl Harbor would probably get you locked up. Besides, people listened to women back then even less than they do in our day.”
Josie had to admit that was true.
“Just out of curiosity, what’s your theory on how you got here?” asked Sue.
“Why?”
“I’m bored. There’s nothing to do and I want to see how close you are to the truth. How do you think you got here?”
It was obvious that Sue was toying with her, but Josie thought it was her best chance to possibly learn something. “I think it’s tied to the earthquakes somehow. Professor Crowfeather agrees.”
“Interesting. That was one of the theories in Wells’s notebooks.”
“Where exactly are those notebooks?”
Sue smiled. “Safely back in the Twenty-First Century. What are your other theories about time travel?” When Josie didn’t answer, Sue grinned. “Can I have my phone back?”
“Why?”
“It’s a very good phone and I’ll need it when I get home.”
“What makes you think you’re going home?”
“Because you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in this era any more than I do. Eventually, you’ll have to let me go so I can take us both back. Or do you really think a random earthquake will do the trick? Because it won’t.”
Unfortunately, Josie was beginning to think she was right.
Sue yawned. “I’m tired of this conversation and want to go to bed. Handcuff me so I can go to sleep.” She put her left hand up to the wrought iron headboard to make it easier.
Josie walked toward the bed, keeping an eye on the other woman the entire time. She got on the bed, then put a cuff around Constance’s wrist.
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Sue asked her.
Josie fumbled with the key. “With whom?”
“David Remington. You certainly seem well-read on the case. I think you have a crush on the Tycoon Murderer. I mean, he’s the ultimate bad boy – a misunderstood, millionaire murderer.”
There was more truth to Sue’s assertion than Josie wanted to admit. She hated being that easy to read. “I don’t think he’s the murderer.”
“Then you don’t know him the way I do,” said Sue. “I have evidence that he really killed both of them.”
Josie turned to her in surprise only to have Sue smash the water pitcher on her head.
Once again, Josie felt herself go unconscious.
The next thing she was aware of was having an enormous headache – again – and being shaken gently awake.
“Josie, Josie,” said David as he probed her head.
Josie tried to clear her thoughts as she opened her eyes in the dark room. She had no idea how long she’d been unconscious. But she could feel shards of the pitcher around her and from what little she could see of David in the dim light, he looked worried.
Then Josie remembered Sue. She looked around, only to be hit with a sharp headache. “Did she get away?”
“Josie,” said David as took her hand. “Sue’s dead. She was shot in the woods.”