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IT WAS LATE IN THE afternoon by the time Paige and Savannah made their way back to their own homes. Max left shortly after Paige arrived. Not without marching orders as it were. Before he had a chance to make his escape, Savannah had taken him by the arm and sweetly asked that he try to find Ivy. If she was alive as he insisted, then surely someone had seen her in the last five years, she reasoned.
Once he was gone, Arden shared everything she had learned that morning with her two friends. Soon a general consensus started to form. Everything seemed to point to Wendy as being the killer. As Savannah pointed out, she had motive, means and opportunity.
Despite that, Arden wasn’t convinced. If Wendy had killed Bruce, wouldn’t she at least pretend to be the grieving granddaughter?
Then there was Ivy. They all agreed something had happened to the girl, but without more information, they couldn’t say for certain that Wendy had anything to do with her disappearance. Would she have killed the girl for stealing from her?
Before Savannah and Paige left, they all resolved to seek out anyone who might have been at the party that night five years ago.
With that goal in mind, Arden anxiously waited for Julie to reappear in her backyard. If Julie and Ivy were friends, surely she would have been there that night. With any luck, Julie would be able to give her a clue as to what happened that night and possibly the name of her fiancé.
As soon as Julie appeared in her backyard, Arden stepped outside. The young woman immediately ran to Arden, apologies tumbling off her lips, until Arden stopped her.
Arden hurried to reassure the upset girl. “It’s all right, Julie, I understand.”
“How can you?” Julie wailed, tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks. “I don’t even understand. Uncle Duncan won’t even give me a chance.”
“He wanted your help today,” Arden pointed out. “That’s good, isn’t it?”
“No,” she said bitterly as she swiped a finger across her red eyes. “He just wanted me to stop working. We got to the park and he sent me to get him a sandwich.”
“Oh.”
“He wants me to go back to school and is doing everything he can to sabotage me.”
“That’s kind of harsh,” Arden said gently. “I’m sure your uncle has your best interests in mind.”
Turning away, Julie mumbled something under her breath.
Deciding it was best to change the subject, Arden said, “Anyway, I’m glad you’ve come back. I’ve been wanting to talk to you. Why don’t you come inside? I just made a pitcher of pink lemonade.”
Julie looked at her in panic as she stepped onto the porch. “You’re not going to fire me, are you?”
“No, of course not.” She wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders and led her into the kitchen. “To tell you the truth, I’m really curious about my new house and I’m hoping you can help me.” She closed the door. “I’m trying to get an idea of the people who lived here.”
Julie nodded to herself as she sat down at the kitchen table. “Ah, so that’s why you were talking to Mrs. Oakley. I overheard her saying something about Ivy.” A reluctant smile tugged at her lips. “I bet she gave you an earful about her.”
Arden smiled as she poured Julie a glass of pink lemonade. She had wondered how she was tactfully going to turn the conversation back to Ivy and it looked like it was going to be easier than she thought it was going to be. “As a matter of fact, she did. She seemed to have...” She hesitated, trying to come up with a fitting description of Gladys Oakley’s thoughts about Ivy.
“Strong opinions?” Julie offered as she took the glass of lemonade.
“Yes, very strong,” Arden added ruefully. “She said that Ivy threw an engagement party for herself before she disappeared. Were you there?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t have missed it.” Julie grinned. “I heard there was going to be free food and I shot across the street like a bolt.”
Arden laughed as she passed the package of cookies Julie was eyeing to the young woman. “What was Ivy’s fiancé like?”
Julie’s eye shifted to the table. “Dunno,” she said drawing the word out as she took a cookie.
“Wasn’t he there?”
She shook her head. “He was a no show,” she said before biting into the cookie. “He might have shown up after I left though. I was only there for ten minutes.”
“Why?”
Julie rolled her eyes. “My uncle found out I was there and made me go home.”
“Why didn’t he want you there?”
She reached for another cookie. “I had a six hour drive back to college the next morning and he said he wanted me to get a good night sleep.” She shrugged. “It’s just as well, Wendy called the police on them an hour later and had it shut down.”
“I take the party got out of hand.”
Julie grinned. “Ivy definitely knew how to throw a party back then, but that’s not why Wendy called the police. Wendy only did it because she hated Ivy, but then I can hardly blame her.”
Arden reached for her empty glass. “Why is that?”
Julie hesitated for a moment, but then as if sharing a juicy piece of gossip leaned forward. “I guess it doesn’t matter now that they’re divorced but Ivy was sleeping with Wendy’s husband, Todd.”
Arden raised an eyebrow. “So, Ivy and Todd Grayson were having an affair. Are you sure Wendy knew?”
“No doubt about it. Ivy told me that Wendy caught them together and that’s why she threw Ivy out on her can.”
“Gladys told me that Ivy quit.”
“Nah, that’s just what Ivy wanted people to believe. She liked people to feel sorry for her. She knew Wendy wouldn’t say anything—too embarrassed—so she said whatever she had to in order to make herself look good. I kind of felt sorry for Wendy. Ivy should never have tried to seduce her husband away from her. She didn’t even like Todd. It was all just a game to Ivy but Wendy really loved the creep.”
Lost in thought, Arden drummed her fingers against the table. It appeared Wendy did have motive for killing Ivy. Would she really kill her own grandfather though? “What was Wendy’s relationship with her grandfather like?”
Julie dusted crumbs off her t-shirt, and then shrugged. “I dunno. Not very good, I’d guess.”
“Why do you say that?”
Julie shrugged again. “He was really mean to her. Always telling her what to do. Where to go. Uncle Duncan called him a control freak.”
“What do you think about your uncle dating Wendy?”
There was a moment of hesitation before Julie answered, “Don’t tell my uncle but I’m not too thrilled. He has the worst taste in women I’ve ever seen. I think she’s as nutty as her grandpa but Uncle Duncan says he’s in love.” She looked sadly at the table. “I don’t think she loves him,” she confessed softly, “and I don’t think she likes me much either. She’s always trying to get rid of me.” She blew out her breath. “I guess I don’t much care for her but . . . what can you do. Uncle Duncan’s in love.”
“Do you think she’s dangerous?”
“Wendy?” Julie blinked in confusion. “I don’t think she’d hurt Uncle Duncan. Not physically at least. He’s way bigger than she is. I’m just afraid she’ll change him.” She made a face. “Wendy’s always nitpicking. She doesn’t like the clothes he wears, his cowboy boots, the way he wears his hair, his taste in music. I’m telling you she’s not that much different from her grandpa. She’s a serious control freak.” She wrinkled her nose. “She thinks she’s better than us too. I wish he’d find someone else—” She suddenly looked at Arden with renewed interest. “Are you seeing anyone? You know my uncle’s a great guy. I bet you two would really hit it off.”
“Oh yeah,” Arden said with an uncomfortable chuckle, “um, I would but . . .” she trailed off, her gaze unintentionally traveling to the blue house next door.
Following her gaze, Julie’s eyes widened. She grinned. “Oh. I see. Max’s really hot, isn’t he?”
Arden cleared her throat, and then promptly changed the subject. “Anyway, when was the last time you saw Ivy?”
“The next morning. I stopped by to tell her goodbye before I headed back to school.”
“Were you surprised when you heard she left with the Oakley’s things?”
She sighed. “I hate talking badly about Ivy. She was a friend but to be honest, no, I wasn’t that surprised, not after I caught her in my uncle’s bedroom going through his stuff.”
Arden frowned. “Did she say what she was doing in there?”
“No, she made some excuse. I figured she was looking for money. She had been complaining about the price of plane tickets for weeks.”
“Oh? Was she going somewhere?”
“Yeah, I think she knew her days around here were numbered.”
Arden started to take a sip and paused. “What makes you think that?”
“It just seemed like everyone was angry with her for one reason or another.” There was a moment of silence, then Julie added, “You know that day I went over to say goodbye? I saw something really strange.”
Arden sat up straighter. “What?”
“Ivy was acting weird and I noticed that she kept covering her face with her hair or her hand. She accidentally forgot for a moment to do it and I saw this giant red welt along her cheek.” Julie grimaced. “I think someone smacked her around and hard. I asked what had happened but she wouldn’t say. Her eyes were red too. Like she had been crying and she seemed . . . scared. I don’t know why but I got the feeling she was about to run.” She turned her attention to the window. “Wherever she is, I hope she’s okay.”
“Me too,” Arden said softly.
Julie finished her glass with one gulp and set it aside. “Oh hey, I’ve got some good news at least. Wendy has a really pretty birdbath in her garage that she absolutely hates.”
Arden’s brow furrowed. “Why does she have a birdbath in her garage?”
“Well, it used to be in her backyard but she had Uncle Duncan move it last month so she could put in a vegetable garden.” She held up her hands. “Don’t ask me why, I have no idea. All she would say was that she was sick of looking at the thing. It’s ugly too. The garden not the birdbath,” she quickly explained. “Uncle Duncan offered to put in something better but she wanted to do it herself. Anyway, I asked her if I could have the birdbath and she said yes. It won’t cost you a thing.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She swiped through her pictures until one of a charming fluted birdbath appeared. “I think this would be perfect for your garden. If you like it, I can put it in tomorrow night.” She held out the phone. “So, what do you think?”
“I think it’s perfect.” Arden glanced across the table towards the purple house just visible above the hedge. A shiver went through her. “Just perfect.”
