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  I looked down at the counter for a moment and thought about that, then I looked up and met Maddi’s gaze. “Yes, I did think you may have killed Victor. I didn’t think it all the time, but sometimes I felt that your pain was so great that it got the better of you.”

  Maddi’s right hand covered her mouth, while tears flowed down her cheeks. “It still hurts. I don’t think it’ll ever stop, and I try to be strong for Moshi, but I loved my sister with all my heart. We were best friends. I’m glad Victor is dead, I won’t deny it, I just wish he had confessed to killing her before he died.”

  “That’s why I’m here. My husband got a call from the Maine police yesterday. The place where your sister died has a lot of summer cabins. People go up there when the weather is warm, and the rest of the time the cabins are empty. A man walked into the town’s police station a few days ago. He’s homeless, does odd jobs during the summer for people in the area, that sort of thing.”

  Maddi’s smoky eyes were huge as she listened to me. She stood ramrod straight and I could tell she was holding her breath.

  “He told the police that he had been staying in one of the cabins last winter. He didn’t think anyone would mind, but he didn’t want to get caught and risk being kicked out. Maddi, he was out walking on the day your sister died. He heard someone coming and he hid, hoping it was just hikers and they would pass. He saw Victor grab Jenna and drag her to the edge where he pushed her over. The homeless man was afraid to tell anyone what he saw. He didn’t know who Victor was and was afraid that he might come back and kill him, too. But he told some of the summer people what he saw and they made him go to the police. He described Victor and your sister as well, including what they were both wearing. Maddi, it’s over. You know the truth.”

  Maddi slumped against the counter and I rushed over and helped her onto one of the stools.

  “Let me make you a cup of tea.”

  Maddi sat there quietly crying while I made her a cup of tea and then sat down next to her. The tears came in a torrent like she had been saving them up for months, and maybe she had. I waited for the storm to subside.

  “It’s okay. Let it all out.” I handed her a couple of tissues.

  “I must look like a raccoon or something,” Maddi said with a small smile. “You know that saying, be careful what you wish for? I wanted to know the truth all these months and now that I do, I think I’ll be haunted for the rest of my life thinking about my sister’s last moments. The image of her being dragged to her death. How will I ever get that out of my head? I should have forced her to leave him and not go on that trip.” Maddi looked at me, the smoky eyes just two black pools with a bright blue dot in the middle. “I’m glad he’s dead. If someone hadn’t killed him, after what you just told me, I would have. A life in prison would have been too good for him.”

  I just nodded while Maddi started to cry again.

  As soon as Hal got home, I left her in his good hands. I needed to get back to my own house and get ready for my guests. The murder of Victor Sanjari was solved and the truth about how Jenna died had finally come to light. Two down and one to go. It was time to confront my brother-in-law.

  Chapter 76

  There’s nothing like having a house full of family and wonderful friends to make you feel lucky. I pushed the murders of Victor and Jenna from my mind and delighted in having all the people I loved the most together.

  I kept my eye on Michael and when I saw him heading toward the kitchen for another beer, I grabbed my chance.

  “This is a great idea, Alex. I haven’t seen a lot of everyone these last couple of months. It’s nice to catch up,” Michael said as he pulled a beer out of the refrigerator and reached for the bottle opener.

  “And why is that, Michael? Why haven’t you been around lately?”

  “Just busy. Lots of kids getting their teeth checked before the start of the school year. Cavities to fill, braces, cleanings. The practice is humming along.”

  I walked over to Michael and put one hand on my hip while I placed the other on the counter to steady myself. I loved my brother-in-law and I hated what I was about to say. I took a large breath and jumped in.

  “You were seen meeting Kate Cavanaugh. Are you having an affair? You’re breaking my sister’s heart and if you don’t stop, well, I don’t know what I’ll do, but you better knock it off.” I could feel tears stinging my eyes.

  “Is that what Sam thinks?” Michael’s face was full of hurt.

  “Of course it’s what she thinks. Where the hell are you all the time? I called your office when she was taken to the police station and no one could find you. She told me that you’ve been coming home late and you’re never around and on weekends you take off without any explanation.” I took a breath. “And then there you were in Branford with Kate.”

  Michael put the beer on the counter. I wasn’t sure if he was going to start yelling at me or just walk away, but what he did next shocked the heck hell out of me.

  My brother-in-law doubled over and burst into laughter.

  I bent down and looked him straight in the eye. “You think this is funny? What the hell is wrong with you?”

  Michael placed a hand on my arm and shook his head. “You and your sister. You both have wild imaginations. Alex, Kate Cavanaugh is gay.”

  I stood up. “Wait. What? Then why is she having an affair with you?”

  “She’s not.” Michael took his beer and walked out of the kitchen.

  Meme came in a few minutes later. “So did he confess, kiddo?”

  “No. He said Kate is gay.”

  “Well, isn’t that a kick in the pants,” Meme cackled.

  Just then I heard Michael’s voice asking everyone for their attention, and Meme and I went out onto the patio.

  “Gather round, everyone. It seems there’s been some speculation, some wild speculation,” Michael said boring into me, “about what I’ve been up to lately. I didn’t realize I was causing my family anguish, and I’m sorry for that.”

  “What’s he talking about?” my dad asked my mother. “What anguish has he been causing? What did he do to Sam? I’ll kill him!”

  “Hush, Harry,” Mom said.

  My mother had managed to keep the Michael-might-be-having-an-affair theory away from my father.

  “Sam, I’m sorry if you’ve been worrying about…well, us.”

  “Get to it, son,” Meme said. “You have a few things to clear up, and you owe my granddaughter an explanation for where you’ve been running off to.”

  “Michael’s been running off? With whom? Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?” my father shouted.

  My mother rolled her eyes. “Harry. Calm down. Let the man speak.”

  “Gosh, I didn’t know I was causing all this trouble. I was just trying to do something nice for the family.”

  “You have been acting weird lately, Michael. And I never knew where you were. I even sat out in front of your office spying on you,” Sam said.

  “And I followed you to Branford,” Shirley chimed in.

  “And I saw you coming out of Kate Cavanaugh’s office one morning,” I added.

  “You did?” Sam said. “Why didn’t you tell me, and you!” Sam cast a murderous gaze on Michael. “What have you done?”

  “Holy smokes!” Michael reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He unfolded it and handed it to Sam.

  “What is it?” the crowd in my backyard wanted to know.

  “It’s a house. On the beach.” My sister looked at the paper, and then turned questioning eyes to her husband.

  “One of my patients owned an old house on Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts. She’s too old now to drive out there and keep it up, so I bought it. It was a mess, but Kate’s been helping me remodel it. It has four bedrooms and a large kitchen and living room, and it’s on the water. I could have used your help John, with some of the work, but I wanted it to be a surprise for our anniversaries. I’ve been doing as much as I c
ould to help keep the cost down and my uncle’s been helping me, too. The whole family’s going out there next week to celebrate. After that, it’s there whenever anyone wants to get away.”

  My sister kept looking at the picture. “You bought me a house right on the ocean big enough for all of us? Oh my God!”

  My sister brought the picture over so Meme and I could see it.

  “Well, what do you know?” Sam just kept shaking her head.

  “How did you not know about this?” I asked.

  “We have separate accounts. Plus, Michael had some money his grandfather left him and we’ve been toying with the idea of buying a get-away house, we just didn’t know where. This is perfect. It’s not too far of a drive, but we’ll feel like we’re a world away.”

  John started the barbeque and soon everyone was eating and talking and having a great time. I sat next to my husband in a quiet corner and watched my family. John took my hand and I leaned against him. All my idiotic thoughts of divorcing the man were long gone. I looked over at Shirley and Tom. They made a lovely couple. And Mary Beth and Jeff, and Sam and Michael and my parents. How lucky we all were.

  I thought about Jenna Sanjari and how things didn’t turn out for her. And Gail Hachmeister’s plan to divorce Gary. I hoped she would change her mind.

  Meme came and sat next to us. “This is a great party, kiddo. Michael said there’s a room big enough for me and Frances and Theresa. He got a bunch of furniture from that place we like to go to, IKEA, and he put four beds in there, so maybe I’ll bring Fred.”

  The three of us sat there in contented silence. After a while Shirley walked over and stood in front of Meme.

  “Well?”

  Meme looked at me and then Shirley. A big grin spread across her face, and then she gave Shirley a thumbs up.

  Tom was in.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Elaine Macko is a transplanted New Englander living in California. From a very young age, she possessed an over-active imagination finding intrigue and mayhem in everyday situations, often with hilarious results.

  In the 1980s bored with life in general, Elaine signed up for a six-day vacation to London and Brussels in the dead of winter, and found time to meet and fall in love with a local Belgian man and extended her trip to last 12 years. While living abroad Elaine became a board member of a charitable organization and taught Mexican cooking classes to the expatriate community. With a love of writing always lingering on the back burner, Elaine decided to try her hand writing a mystery and after several months, completed a draft of her first book, Armed, and moved on to seven other books in the series.

  Elaine never forgot her New England roots and centers her books in the fictional town of Indian Cove, Connecticut.

  An active member of Sisters in Crime, Elaine takes comfort in knowing that there are many others like her out there spending all their free time trying to come up with inventive ways to kill people.