“Does she think he’s Hank?” I wondered aloud.
“Probably.”
“Do you think he intentionally took the bracelet off Stacey’s wrist?” The idea seemed so ghoulish to me.
“I’m thinking it was on the floor and he just picked it up while he was wiping things off. Maybe he thought it was Jackie’s. Or maybe, as you said, he decided to use it to implicate Jackie. When did you think of that?”
“Seconds before I said it. Nathan, you didn’t see her face. I think Jackie’s got definite . . . problems. I think she heard her father’s voice.”
“And I’m betting that in spite of her mental problems, Jackie remembers Hank hiding the painting in the guesthouse.”
“We’ll soon find out.”
It was dark outside on the lawn. All the lights had been shut off earlier. As we slowly opened the door, we could hear Jackie.
“I did it again,” she told Brock. “Go fix it like you did before. Make everything right, sweetheart. If you love me, you’ll help me.”
Brock had been briefed and knew what to expect. “I’ll fix it, don’t worry,” he told her.
But even in her confusion, Jackie knew the man standing in front of her was an imposter. “Where’s Hank?” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Hank! Are you out here?”
Two police cars were pulling up as we walked outside. Jackie looked bewildered as the red and blue lights illuminated her face.
“Now if Antoine did as he promised and called Hank to come to the mansion, all the loose ends will be tied up,” I said. “I don’t like loose ends.”
As Jackie was being gently led to one of the police cars, Hank casually walked from the direction of the guesthouse. His expression changed immediately when he saw what was happening. And when he saw me standing there next to Nathan, he started to run. But in order to get to his car, he had to go through the small crowd, which he did without hesitation. For a moment, I thought he was going to plow right into Jackie. Brock must have thought so, too, because he tackled Hank before he could harm the small woman.
Bostwick looked on amused as the two large men wrestled across the lawn. But when he handcuffed Jackie, his humor changed to pity.
When Brock stood Hank up, two officers came over and handcuffed him, too.
“You got the wrong guy, and when I get done with you, you’ll be back to writing parking tickets. Check that fancy stick of his. It’ll have that girl’s blood all over it. You need someone like me to tell you it’s the murder weapon? She may have used it, but Frenchie was always leaving it behind. You might have me now, but I’ll testify against them and I’ll walk.”
“Hank’s not as smart as he thinks,” I said to Nathan. “He doesn’t realize that between Antoine’s alibi and polygraph results, he’s in the clear on the murder.”
“It’s obvious he tried to frame Antoine by giving him back his walking stick. And the whole time, the clueless Frenchman was carrying it around. Well I guess there’s no need for us to go to the police station, is there?”
“No, but before we leave I have to go, tell Bostwick to pick up the walking stick from Antoine.”