Daphne pushed her chair back and stood, her face devoid of color.

  “Amy!”

  Chapter

  Twenty-Four

  A plate went flying as the Chief jumped from the stage, still nimble for a man in his fifties. Jess took the stairs and ran after him across the hall. He scattered the crowd until they got to the door where there was a bottleneck.

  “Get out of the way now!” He yelled and they parted just enough.

  Jess squeezed through after him before they could come together again.

  Gabriel lay on the steps, pale and bleeding profusely, a shaking Amy at his shoulder. Jess noticed the gun in the Chief’s hand as she scoured the area. The parking lot was deserted. She bent over Gabriel and saw that he had been shot in his upper arm. Gently she turned his arm over.

  “You’ll be fine. It’s in and out,” the Chief reassured him after a quick look.

  “Here,” said Jenny, and handed Jess her scarf which Jess used to cover and firmly wrap around the wound to staunch the flow of blood.

  The Chief crouched beside them. “Ms. Crandle, did you see who shot Mr. Lester?”

  Amy nodded, then shook her head. “Not clearly. They had a hat on and were at the corner of the alley. As soon as the gun went off, Gabriel pulled me down with him and tried to cover me with his body.” Her voice shook, even as her eyes looked at Gabriel adoringly.

  “Ms. Lavender, make sure they stay inside, and call the station,” the Chief ordered before heading down the alley at a run.

  Jess phoned the station and told Officer Purdon what had transpired, then motioned for Daphne, who’d been waiting on the edge of the crowd, to take care of Amy. She hurried to their side, then clung to her friend for dear life.

  “Oh, Daph. Can you believe this happened? I could have been killed.”

  Daphne patted her hair and crooned in her rough voice, “Yes, you could, but you’re okay aren’t you?”

  The rare concern and fear was so strange coming from Daphne and the urge to commiserate with them was strong, but Jess had work to do. She turned to the crowd behind her spilling out of the hall. “Everyone heard the Chief. Please stay inside until you get the all clear.”

  “Who made you boss?” Avis Clements asked shrilly.

  “Your husband,” Jess answered calmly. “Now I’m going to make sure he is okay.”

  “You?” she scoffed.

  Theo chose that moment to push through the throng. “Jess will find Officer Brodie, so the chief isn’t out there alone, Avis.”

  The woman simpered, still glaring at Jess. “Oh. Very good. Poor Arnie will need back up, I just assumed it would be his officers and not a shopkeeper.”

  “What about the competition?” asked one of the contestants.

  Jess wanted to yell at them all to shut up but she grit her teeth. “We’ll announce the winner when the culprit is caught.” Then she hurried after the Chief while keying in Brodie’s number.

  “Are you okay?” he asked in a breathless whisper.

  “I’m fine. Where are you?”

  He made an impatient noise. “We think we have the shooter cornered, so I have to go. Stay at the hall.”

  “Too late. Where are you?” She asked again.

  “It’s not safe for you to be out here.”

  “I know, but I can help.” It was touching to hear his concern, but he didn’t understand. She had a feeling that he was in the wrong place and that could get him hurt or conversely the shooter. Jess had no idea if she could prevent any of it, she just knew she had to try.

  “No!” Brodie hissed. “Get back to the hall, now!”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll find you,” she said softly and ended the call. He would be annoyed, maybe even furious, but that couldn’t be helped. A person with a gun who had used it once, or twice, if it was the same person, in broad daylight, wouldn’t hesitate to shoot an officer if he thwarted their escape.

  Though she had only known him a matter of months, Brodie meant a lot to her. She hadn’t felt this way ever about a man. Maybe their relationship couldn’t go much further in case he discovered her secret, but darned if she wasn’t going to enjoy every moment with him until she had no choice but to back away. Yes, it was selfish, but surely she deserved a little happiness. Besides, she always had the backup of the forgetting potion—except Maestro had basically said she couldn’t give Brodie anything that might have repercussions on his job.

  She shook her head needing to concentrate. Who wanted Gabriel dead? Had it been a case of mistaken identity with Frank Lester, or was it both cousins the killer wanted to get rid of? The stolen tips that went sour was the only thing she knew of that tied the two men. It could be something else but it seemed the most logical clue.

  If the man who had lost everything was dead, then who was left to benefit?

  Not Frank’s wife. His wife was long gone. Though it was possible that an old insurance policy might still be valid. Gabriel wasn’t married and didn’t appear to have a partner lurking in the background.

  But there was another woman. A woman who would have just cause to be upset by what had happened. Not enough to kill, but people snapped all the time, didn’t they? Logical, well-educated, very comfortable people.

  A smell of berries hit her, and now Jess was sure she knew who the killer was and where they were headed.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Five

  Jess stopped running and took several deep breaths to calm herself. This was the right way, but when she took a few more steps the air shifted and she tipped her nose. The faint smell of berries lingered—to her left and back a little.

  The killer must have pushed through the hedge. She pulled a few branches and several broken ones dropped to the ground leaving a small gap. Jess squeezed through and found herself at the back of the stores opposite Lavender’s Lotions and Potions. In fact, she was behind the very store that Frank Lester was found dead in front of.

  A large dumpster sat at the corner of the parking lot. It would do no good to hide in one of those. It would surely be the first place Brodie and his men would look, but she lifted the lid anyway and pinched her nose to stop the worst of the smells assailing her. It was empty.

  Clearly they had planned the first shooting as meticulously as they had planned this one. Jess knew who owned the three cars parked here and their owners were back at the hall. She closed her eyes again and sniffed. Her nose needed a moment to clear and then she got a whiff of the berries slightly stronger now and in front of her. She followed the scent to the back of the store like a bloodhound.

  If she were trying to get to a vehicle without being seen, where would she leave it? Not here, so close to the alley. The parking lot stretched in a long thin line behind all the stores, just like they did behind Lavender’s Lotions and Potions, which ended at the park at the far end of town.

  The difference was this side ended as the main street rounded a corner leading to the cottages where Jess and Gabriel lived. She could see right down the end and there was no car. If the shooter was still on foot, and she had heard no engine, this meant they had to cross Main Street and be exposed to anyone walking around town as well as the shopkeepers.

  Or, they had kept on going to the cottages.

  Jess started to run again and picked up the pace. She was fit and healthy, but running was not something she did—ever! Her breath came in gasps now as she neared her mother’s cottage. There was no reason for the shooter to go there, which meant that it was Gabriel’s house they were headed to.

  Why?

  It hit her. They wanted evidence. If Jess could find out things online, but none of it enough to convict, then the attempted murder was potentially more to keep everyone away from the house. Gabriel worked from home and there was little opportunity to break in. The few times he was gone, Lissa roamed the cottage and would have known if anyone had tried.

  Jess crossed the road before she could be seen from Gabriel’s front rooms and ran down the neighbor's path all the way to the field. She climbed over their fence and then back across Gabriel’s. This fence was in better shape and she heard her pants rip on the paling.

  She sniffed and scanned the garden. Nothing moved there or at any of the back windows. She had to go now and, as she ran, she called Maestro.

  “Get mom and come to Gabriel’s house right away. I think the killer is inside.”

  She heard him gasp.

  “I’m on my way.”

  Tiptoeing up the back steps she saw broken glass. The panel in the door was broken and the door stood slightly ajar. Jess peered around it and found the small laundry empty.

  Relief washed over her for a few seconds as she got her breathing under some control. Slipping out into the hall she listened for any sound. There… shuffling of papers in the office. A drawer shutting and another opening.

  Jess pulled out her phone and texted Brodie.

  “You have to be the nosiest woman ever!”

  Jess looked up from her phone to stare down the barrel of the gun.

  “Drop the phone!”

  Jess licked her dry lips and put the phone on the floor wishing she had pressed send. “Hello, Muriel.”

  The reed thin woman’s nostrils flared. “You know who I am?”

  “You’re the one who shot Frank Lester in cold blood and tried to kill Gabriel.”

  “Ah, so he is alive? That’s good.”

  “You didn’t intend to kill him?”

  She grimaced. “I intended to shoot his leg. As my husband was always telling me, my aim needs work.”

  “I don’t imagine that will help your case much.”

  “My case?” The woman snorted. “I think you talk a good game, but no one else knows I’m here.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “You looked to have your hands full back there.” Muriel motioned in the general direction of town with the gun. “There wasn’t time for you to tell anyone, if you had indeed decided on my whereabouts.”

  “That is true, but I do live next door. My family will come to check on me.”

  “Your family? Your mom is dead and you live with a cat.” She gave an ugly cackle. “No one will believe a cat lady figured all this out even if you got away. Which doesn’t seem likely.”

  Annoyingly, she waved the gun again and there was an odd light in her eye. She smelled like—ash.

  “My boyfriend is a police officer.”

  “Bully for you. He’s as stupid as the rest of the people in this place. I walked around the whole town, more than once and no one paid me any attention.”

  “I did. You came into my store, browsed around without buying anything.”

  “If you had connected that earlier, I would have had another visit from the police, but no one came, so I knew I was in the clear.”

  “How do you know anything about me?”

  “Probably the same way you found out about me. The internet. Oh, and I’ve been watching the town ever since Gabriel arrived. I knew if I followed him he would lead me to Frank. The little weasel has been in hiding for months, but I guess he thought his cousin would bail him out like he has done before.”

  It all made sense now. “You know this wasn’t Gabriel’s fault.”

  “Losing everything we had, losing my husband because he was embarrassed by that? Someone had to pay and the information came from Gabriel.”

  She could see the woman’s movements were increasingly erratic and smelled sorrow and anger dripping from every pore. “I am sorry for your loss, but you know that Frank stole the information from Gabriel.”

  “So Gabriel says, but then he hightailed it out of Portland before the funeral. That smells like guilt to me.”

  Jess winced at the truth of it. “Of course he feels guilty. He’s a decent man as you’ve just said, by the way he’s helped Frank who clearly didn’t deserve it.”

  “The man is greedy. He had a nice house and a pretty wife. He didn’t need to sell the information.”

  “And your husband didn’t need to buy it,” Jess told her gently, and saw that it struck a nerve when Muriel looked away.

  “Please turn yourself in and don’t make this any worse.”

  She seemed to deflate. “It’s as worse as it can get. I’ve been poor before and I would have stuck by Arnie despite losing everything. Clothes and personal items don’t keep you warm at night. You can’t reminisce over the life you’ve built together for twenty years with an expensive coat.”

  The hand that held the gun wavered and a light reflected off the hall mirror, blinding Muriel for a moment.

  Jess leaped the gap between them, knocking it from her hand, whispering, “Dispersant!” as she kicked it down the hall.

  Frantic, Muriel grabbed her wrists. “No! You can’t leave.”

  “Let her go!”

  The women turned as one to find Brodie behind them, his gun trained on Muriel.

  “Muriel Coombs, you are under arrest for the murder of Frank Lester and the attempted murder of Gabriel Lester.”

  Brodie’s voice was professional and he appeared to have everything under control, so Jess took a moment to quietly thank her mom.

  Epilogue

  The large group sat around the kitchen eating berry muffins and discussing the case, and Jess was truly the happiest she had been in a very long time.

  “I don’t know how you figured out it was a woman, let alone Muriel,” Jenny mused as she poured coffee into mugs.

  “I saw a woman in the back of the hall and then she disappeared and I just had a feeling about her.” Jess smiled. There were more clues that had slammed together in the parking lot. Jenny had said the person in the premonition of Frank getting shot called out Gabe, and her voice had risen like a woman’s. Neither had picked up on it, yet it had lodged in her mind, and when the smell of berries hit her in the parking lot, the same smell as the woman had conveyed in the store that day, it came back to her.

  “Did you really have no idea that it was Muriel who was after you?” Jenny asked.

  Gabriel shook his head sadly. “No clue whatsoever. She was always so pleasant on the occasions we met up. He seemed to be the boss in the relationship and I firmly believe that he was the instigator in my cousin going rogue.”

  “She loved him,” Jess said quietly. “She didn’t intend to kill Frank. She just wanted someone to pay for her loss.”

  “But she did kill him and she maimed Gabriel.” Brodie rubbed fingers through his hair in irritation. “And she might have killed you if I hadn’t arrived.”

  “About that. How did you know where I was?”

  “This cat of yours meowed so loudly, any killer would have found us in a heartbeat. The only way to shut him up was to follow him home and leave the other officers to finish scouring the rest of town.”

  “Did you ever find the gun?” Daphne asked.

  “That was weird,” Brodie admitted. “I didn’t see it and then we found it in the office.”

  “I did kick it very hard,” Jess said. “I guess I don’t know my own strength.”

  Maestro snorted from under the table. Apparently, he was still impressed with her, and she was mighty grateful that he had heard her call for help and persuaded Brodie to follow him.

  “She’ll be in jail for a long time,” Amy said as she helped herself to another muffin.

  Jess sighed. “I can’t help it; I feel sorry for her.”

  “Me too,” Daphne said gruffly. “Don’t look at me like that, Amy. Just because a person has a momentary lapse in sanity doesn’t mean they haven’t spent most of their life trying hard not to.”

  Amy chuckled. “I guess we should be thankful then that you haven’t snapped all the way.”

  While Daphne huffed, Jess studied her new friends. It had been difficult to let these people into her life and, except for Brodie, they weren’t people she ever imagined having a rapport with. But they had loved her mom, done their very best for Lissa and the store, and were growing on her little by little. Each had something unique to offer the town and had helped make Good Fortune feel like home again.

  “So are you two thinking of hooking up properly, or is this a casual thing?” Daphne asked.

  Jess gaped for a moment. This was a bit much even for the forthright farmer. “That is none of your business.”

  “Of course it is, dear,” Amy interjected. “Daphne and I only ask these things because we care. Now that your mother, bless her, is no longer here, we feel it is our job to make sure you are happy and settled.”

  Maestro snorted from under the table and Jenny bent down to check on him, no doubt believing she was hiding her grin.

  “As much as I appreciate your—interest—I’m old enough to take care of myself. However, if you are at a loss for someone to worry about, there’s always Jenny.”

  Daphne looked stricken. “What’s wrong with Jenny?”

  “Nothing at all, as far as I know, but do you think she and Theo will make a good match?” Jess feigned innocence while Jenny glared at her.

  “Jenny and Theo?” Amy tilted her head as if this was the first time she had considered it, which was definitely not true. “I don’t know. He has some funny ideas.”

  “What do you mean,” asked Brodie, who had done much to keep away from their line of fire, but clearly couldn’t let go of the idea of someone he knew having secrets without digging deeper.

  “He believes in witches and what not.”

  You could have heard a pin drop in the room.

  “Amy, where do you come up with this rubbish?”

  “You’ve heard him, Daphne. Don’t pretend you haven’t.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, you foolish old woman.”

  Amy folded her arms under her ample bosom. “Did he not say in front of us that he believed that things aren’t always what they seem?”

  “Yes. I do recall that. And…?”

  “And then he said that some people could make things happen if they chose.”

 

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