Scones and Scofflaws Read online

  “Oh, right.” Sammy pushed her hands down into her pockets and started whistling as she wandered the few aisles of the store, Eoin close on her heels.

  “Not like that,” Anna caught up to them and hissed in Sammy’s ear. “Like you’re actually shopping, you know?”

  “Ooh.” Sammy’s eyes fell on a retro bowl mixer and she trotted over to it. “I love this color. It would look fabulous in my kitchen.”

  “There you go, that’s better.”

  “Better what?” Sammy asked, turning a confused expression toward Anna.

  “Never mind.”

  Anna left Sammy and Eoin browsing the aisles and checked out the other shoppers as she pretended to shop. She recognized Carole, aka Coral, from church yesterday. She hadn’t expected her to be here, but maybe that made it even better. She didn’t recognize the other two women in the store. Perhaps locals she hadn’t met yet, perhaps visitors to the town. But it didn’t matter, as long as Coral stayed long enough to overhear.

  “Sammy, see that woman?” Anna indicated her with her chin. “The really mean-looking one dressed in peach?”

  “Sure,” Sammy whispered back. “Why?”

  “I need you to engage her in conversation. Get her to stay in the store for a little while. It looks like she’s ready to check out, but I need her to hear this.”

  “Got it.” Sammy touched her nose with one finger and made her way with Eoin toward their prey.

  Anna moved around the store, casually picking up items, waiting for Wendy to be available. Hearing the seagulls while in Aunt Louise’s had made her realize that only one person had been in George’s room and lied about it. But as both Sammy and Evan had pointed out, she had no way to prove it. This was the only way she could think of exposing the truth.

  She’d identified at least five new cooking utensils she couldn’t afford but really wanted before Wendy came over and tapped her on the shoulder.

  “Hi Anna, how are things?” she said in a low voice, looking around the store before focusing her attention on her. “I’m so glad you were able to join us on Sunday.”

  “I am too.” Anna put a hand on Wendy’s arm. “Thank you for taking care of me, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

  Wendy patted Anna’s hand and muttered a few kind words.

  Anna stepped back and raised her voice. “Things are great right now, actually.”

  Wendy took a step toward Anna, keeping her voice low. “I’m glad to hear that. Has something happened?”

  Anna kept her voice loud, despite Wendy stepping even closer. “You could say that. I know who killed George.”

  “Oh.” Wendy’s eyes opened wide. “How do you know? How did the police figure it out?”

  Anna glanced at Coral out of the corner of her eye before replying. As she’d expected, the woman was watching her closely. “They didn’t. I did.” She cast another glance toward Coral. “It was something she said to me on Sunday, in fact. She said something that proves she was in the house when she shouldn’t have been.”

  Now it was Wendy’s turn to take a step backward, but she kept her voice low, speaking in almost a whisper. “What did she say?”

  “Oh, just a comment about the condition of my house.” Anna replied loudly.

  “That seems very vague.” Wendy wrinkled her forehead. “Are you really sure?”

  “It may seem vague to you, but the police won’t think so.”

  “The police?” Wendy had forgotten to keep her voice down and once again threw her hand up over her mouth as if that could prevent her customers from hearing what she’d already said.

  “Oh yes,” Anna said and nodded. “I’m going straight to the police from here.”

  “Are you sure that’s wise?” Wendy had recovered her whisper. “You’re casting aspersions again, Anna.” Everyone else in the store had stopped what they were doing and watched Anna and Wendy with open curiosity. Wendy put a hand on Anna’s arm and tried to move her toward the back of the store, but Anna resisted. “Remember what happened with Richard Gormley, Anna. Are you sure you want to do this?”

  Anna grinned and raised her voice even more. “Oh yes, I’m sure. And I’m going to tell the police.”

  One of the other women had moved to stand in front of the register, and now she coughed to get Wendy’s attention.

  “I’ll be right there,” Wendy called over to her before leaning toward Anna. “Please be careful, dear.”

  “I will, I promise,” Anna said as Wendy trotted over to the register.

  Sammy casually sidled toward Anna and raised her eyebrows. “So, did that accomplish what you hoped?”

  Anna glanced around. The other customers, including Coral, had returned to their shopping. “Too soon to say, I guess, but I bet it did. I just don’t know if I should be happy about that. Or terrified.”

  46

  “He’s angry, isn’t he?” Sammy asked.

  They were back in Anna’s lounge and Anna was back on the phone with Evan while Eoin finished his dinner in the kitchen. “Shh.” She waved a hand to push Sammy away.

  “Fine, I understand.” She said into the phone. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She tapped the phone and tossed it onto the coffee table.

  Sammy put her head to one side and turned her lips down into an exaggerated frown. “I’m sorry honey, but how did you expect him to react?”

  “I expected him to take me seriously,” Anna said, fuming. She paced around the room to work off her anger. “I told him the whole plan. I told him I could use his help.”

  “And he said he’ll come over tomorrow, right? I heard that.”

  Anna glanced sideways at her friend, nodded and kept pacing.

  “Well what did you really expect,” Sammy was saying. “I mean, think about it. You told him you went shopping and gossiping in town.”

  “I know it sounds crazy.” Anna threw her hands in the air. “But I’m telling you, Eoin’s right. The gossip chain in this town is fast. I’m sure by tomorrow everyone will know what I was saying.”

  “And if you’re right, about who did this to George, she’ll be pretty mad,” Sammy pointed out. “Are you sure this is wise? You’re setting yourself up as bait.”

  Anna rolled her eyes as she shook her head. “Not really. I mean, what could she do?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, kill again?” Sammy slid back onto the window seat and stared out the window.

  Anna walked over a put a hand on her shoulder. The setting sun cast long shadows across the yard. Fingers of darkness approached the house, slowly covering the grass and the pile of rubble that used to be the shed, approaching the wide porch.

  “And what if it wasn’t her?” Sammy asked. “What if Jason really did kill George?”

  Anna shook her head and tightened her grip on Sammy’s shoulder. “First of all, it was her. I’m sure of it. But if I’m wrong, then nothing. I mean, she’ll be annoyed that I’m spreading rumors about her, but that’s it.”

  Sammy turned in her seat to look up at Anna. “Or?” She raised her eyebrows.

  “Or what?”

  “Or, Jason follows through on his threat.” She leaned forward in her seat, warming to her theory. “Think about it. The police already have Luke in their sights and thanks to us, everyone will know you suspect someone else. He could kill you now, too, and walk away with everyone else taking the blame except him.”

  “Oh.” Anna dropped her hand from Sammy’s shoulder and resumed her pacing. “I guess I didn’t think of that.”

  “Mm-hmm.” Sammy narrowed her eyes as she watched Anna pace. “All right, enough of that. Let’s do something. Do you want another drink?” Sammy gestured toward the bottle of bourbon on the sideboard. “We have enough to make more Scofflaws.”

  Anna chewed on her lip as she shook her head. “I’m not in the mood.”

  “Okay.” Sammy walked across the room and grabbed the TV remote, flicking through the options available at a streaming movie site. “How about some popcorn an
d a movie.”

  Anna stood next to her, watching the titles scroll by. “I guess. But, oh no”—she gave an exaggerated shudder and pointed at one of the titles—“nothing scary, please.”

  Sammy laughed and the two friends scrolled until they found a romantic comedy they could both enjoy.

  With some difficulty, Anna managed to get Eoin into bed. Not asleep, but at least he was tucked in with a book and a flashlight. She knew he’d drop off soon, after the excitement of the day. Then she ducked into the kitchen to produce two bowls of popcorn, water for her and a soda for Sammy. She dimmed the lights then joined Sammy under the cashmere throw to enjoy their movie.

  As the opening credits finished, the front doorbell jingled.

  47

  “Tell me you locked the door,” Sammy whispered, grabbing the remote control to pause the movie.

  Anna shook her head. “I … I don’t remember.”

  “That’s kind of an important detail.” Sammy’s whisper sounded frantic now.

  The two women grabbed the blanket and pulled it higher up to their chins.

  They watched, wide-eyed, as a shadow moved across the doorway that led to the front hall, shrinking as the figure moved closer. They heard a light step, then a creak from the floorboards, then the figure stood in full view.

  “Mrs. Hedley. What are you doing here?” Anna asked, the blanket still tucked up around her chin.

  “Hello, girls. Nice evening?” Catherine grinned. Anna preferred her sour face.

  Sammy looked at Anna, then pushed the blanket away and stood up. “Catherine Hedley, I assume? I’m Sammy Shields. And I’m here to help Anna.”

  “How nice for you.” Catherine’s puckered face had returned and she glanced around the room as she spoke. “I’m here, to… uh…” She focused her gaze on Anna, who remained sitting on the sofa. “I’m looking for something that should have been in George’s suitcase. But it wasn’t there. I’m sure that was just an oversight on your part.”

  Anna stood slowly, keeping her gaze firmly on Catherine. She knew how surprising, and how strong, the woman could be. “There’s nothing here that belonged to George, Catherine. I put everything in that suitcase.” She paused, then allowed herself a small smile. “Or gave it to the police.”

  Catherine’s eyebrows shot up and she spoke through narrow lips. “You did what?”

  Anna’s courage rose with her anger. “You accused me of murder, Catherine.” She took a small step closer to the woman. “You told other people that I killed your husband. You made me feel guilty.” She balled her hands up into tight fists at her side as she spoke. “I felt bad for you.”

  Catherine took a step back and tightened her grip on her ever-present triangular purse. “Don’t you come close to me.”

  Sammy took a step closer as well. “Why, what will you do? There are two of us.” She glanced at Anna. “You were right about the gossip channel. Works even better than a press conference.”

  Anna took a breath, wanting to stay in control and not let her anger get away from her. “Absolutely.” She took another step closer to Catherine.

  “Stop right there,” Catherine hissed.

  Anna and Sammy froze where they were, both staring at the tiny gun Catherine had pulled from her purse.

  “You have a gun?” Anna asked, her voice breaking.

  “Are you serious?” Sammy asked.

  Catherine grinned again and waved the gun at them. “Now, back down on the sofa. Both of you.”

  Neither of them moved.

  “Don’t think I won’t use this. As you seem to know, it won’t be the first time I’ve killed someone.” She looked back and forth between the two women. “I didn’t expect two of you, but that’s no problem. I have plenty of bullets.”

  Anna held her hands up in front of her, thinking frantically. She hadn’t counted on the gun. She slid her eyes toward Sammy, but Sammy looked as scared as she was. She looked back at Catherine.

  “You can’t be planning to just shoot us. Not after you took so much care to make George’s death look like an accident.”

  Catherine took a step closer. Anna and Sammy both took a step back toward the sofa. Don’t sit, Anna thought, hoping Sammy could read her mind. We’re better off standing, then at least we’ll have a fighting chance.

  “George was my husband,” Catherine said in a calm voice. “I had to be more careful with him. You are nobody to me. No one will connect me to a random break-in at your house.” She let her eyes roam around the room. “Too bad you tried to stop the thief yourself. I’ve heard that you like to pretend to be a cop.”

  Anna tensed when Catherine’s gaze moved off her, but Catherine must have sensed her plans and swung the gun back to her.

  “You must know the police will link the shooting to your gun,” Sammy pointed out. “I mean, you had to register it, right? So they’ll know it’s yours.”

  The gun wagged as Catherine shrugged and offered another tight grin. “I’ll simply tell them the truth. George brought it with him. He always carries it when he travels down here. Never know what kind of trouble you might encounter.”

  “But I know he didn’t. It wasn’t with his things.” Anna said.

  Catherine laughed, only her mouth moving while her eyes stayed focused on Anna, the gun still pointed directly at her. “But you’ll be dead, sweetheart. You won’t be able to tell anyone that. Obviously, you stole it instead of packing it away with his things when I came to get them. You had it in the house, tried to use it to defend yourself when someone broke in, and ended up getting shot with your own gun. It’s a common enough story.” She looked around the room again. “It will be easy to make this look like a break-in, though I can’t see what you have in here that anyone might want to steal.”

  “That’s a pretty good story,” Sammy whispered to Anna, who grimaced in response.

  Anna kept her hands in the air and shifted her weight, moving one foot closer to Catherine. Sammy saw her movement and replicated it, moving to the side.

  “That won’t work,” Anna said calmly. “The police searched George’s things after he died. If he’d had a gun with him, they would have found it. They’ll know you’re lying.”

  Sammy opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again at a look from Catherine.

  “It won’t work,” Anna repeated, shifting her weight once more, sliding a little closer to Catherine. Just keep talking, she thought. Keep her distracted. “You’ll have to come up with another plan.”

  Sammy screwed her face up and glared at Anna. “Please don’t help her.”

  Catherine looked worried now. Tenser. That was good. “So I won’t shoot you, then. I’ll find another way to kill you.”

  A black streak moved through the hall behind Catherine, then rubbed up against the doorframe. Tough Cookie! Anna tried not to look at her, tried to keep her gaze focused on the gun pointing at her and Sammy. She shifted her weight one more time and saw Sammy do the same thing.

  They weren’t going down without a fight.

  48

  “Anna? Are you in here?” Evan’s voice rang out from the front hall as the doorbell jingled.

  Everyone moved at once.

  Catherine spun around to point the gun at Evan.

  Tough Cookie rubbed around her ankles, causing her to miss her step.

  Sammy and Anna both lunged at Catherine, jumping on her and throwing her to the ground.

  Evan lunged at the same time, grabbing the gun and wresting it from Catherine’s now loosened grip.

  Evan stood, looking down at the three women on the floor as he popped the magazine out of the gun, removed the bullets and dropped them into his pocket. Catherine lay flat on her stomach. Sammy had landed on Catherine’s legs, Anna covered her body. “What’s going on here, ladies?” he asked.

  Anna twisted her head back to look up at him and started laughing. Then crying.

  Catherine shifted as Anna’s grip loosened, struggling to free herself.

 
“All right, come on.” Evan grabbed Catherine’s arms and lifted her up as Anna and Sammy both stood. He spun her around and clipped his handcuffs on her wrists.

  She looked so tiny standing up against the tall officer. How could such a tiny person generate so much fear?

  Anna rubbed a hand across her eyes and turned to Sammy. Both women broke into tears and fell into each other’s arms. They hobbled in an awkward embrace back to the sofa.

  Anna heard Evan talking into his radio, heard him calling for backup, explaining the situation. She opened her eyes enough to see him gently nudge Catherine into a wooden Queen Anne chair and adjust the cuffs through the back so she couldn’t get up then read her Miranda rights to her.

  Anna pulled herself away from Sammy and leaned back against the sofa, rubbing her eyes again.

  “Evan. I… I don’t know what to say.”

  “I do,” Sammy said. She jumped up and threw herself at Evan, wrapping her arms around him. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

  Evan laughed, gave Sammy a quick hug, then held her back at arms’ distance. “I’m glad I came by tonight.”

  Glancing at Catherine, who simply sniffed in disgust, Evan moved toward the sofa and perched next to Anna, holding her hands in his. “Your plan sounded too dangerous. Setting yourself up as bait like that. I came to try to talk you out of it, to find a way to change it.” He glanced back at Catherine, but she had simply closed her eyes, pretending to ignore everyone. Or perhaps fallen asleep, Anna couldn’t be sure.

  “I’m glad you came, too,” Anna said. “I’m so grateful you’re here.”

  Evan looked down at her hands, squeezed them tightly, then let her go and stood up. His voice took on an official tone. “We tested the container you found. You were right, it contained high levels of liquid nicotine. The smell of the lotion must have masked the nicotine and George just rubbed it all over himself.”

  Catherine opened her eyes and scoffed. “Is that your evidence? Ha! That’s nothing. If you knew anything about nicotine, you’d know that it takes more than just a little liquid nicotine to kill a healthy adult.”