Murder Is Private (20 page)

Chapter 48

“Audrey, I’m home,” said Susan.

“How was the Master class?”

“Wonderful. Where’s Lynette?”

“She went out to dinner with Kevin. It’s just me, you, and Annalise for dinner tonight.”

Out to dinner with Kevin? Like a date?
Good thing they’d be leaving in a few days.

“I’ll start dinner,” said Audrey.

“No, let me cook tonight,” said Susan. She was determined to demonstrate healthy cooking to her biological mother before she left Florida. “I saw a bunch of veggies in the refrigerator. Let’s chop those up and I’ll make us a stir fry.”

Audrey took the vegetables and a package of chicken breasts out of the fridge.

“I hope you’ll come to New York for a visit this summer,” said Susan.

“I’d like that.” She chopped a red pepper into bite- sized chunks. “I called you Shelby, you know.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Susan.

“I’m talking about when I was pregnant with you. The whole time you were inside me, I was positive you were a girl. I talked to you all the time, read you books…sang you lullabies.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yes. I knew it was my only chance to be a mother to you. My heart broke every time I thought about giving you up. I called you Shelby because it sounded beautiful, but strong. I knew that’s how you’d be, and I was right.”

“I’m glad you told me,” Susan whispered.

“They told me not to hold you,” Audrey continued softly. “Said it would only be more painful, but I insisted. I started bawling so loud, the nurse felt sorry for me. She handed you to me, all wrapped up in a receiving blanket. You grabbed my finger. I didn’t know newborns could do that. To this day, I remember how it felt when they took you from me. You still were holding my finger like you didn’t want to let go.”

“It must have been terrible. I remember how I felt when Lynette and Evan were born. I wanted to keep them wrapped in my arms forever.”

“Seeing you here in front of me…it’s a miracle.” She gave Susan a hug. A loud, beeping sound interrupted their moment.

“What’s that?” said Susan.

“It’s the fire alarm!” cried Audrey. “Oh no! The chicken is burned to a crisp. We should have taken it off the stove while we were talking.”

“That stir fry we got from Peking Garden the other day was awfully good. My treat. They deliver, right?”

“I’ll get my phone,” said Audrey.

After dinner, Susan told Audrey about the cake and gifts her students had brought her that day to say farewell.

“Isn’t this the cutest necklace? They wanted to give me something to remember them by,” said Susan. She reached around her neck. “Oh, no! It’s gone.”

“You weren’t wearing a necklace when you came in, Susan,” said Audrey.

“I must have lost it between the auditorium and here. I showed it off to some faculty members at the master class, so I know I had it there. I’ll go look.”

“If I didn’t have to watch the baby, I’d help you,” said Audrey.

“It’s okay. I’ll be back soon.”

Chapter 49

Susan used the flashlight on her phone to light the dusk-covered path. By the time she got to the auditorium, it was completely dark. The parking lot was empty. She stepped into the pitch black auditorium. She didn’t see a light switch and had to rely on the glow from her flashlight.

I was sitting in the second row,
she thought
.
She worked her way to the front, checking the floor of the aisle all the way down.
It has to be here!
She pulled down the seat where she’d been sitting earlier, and ran her hand across it. Nothing. In the darkness, she heard voices.

“Come on! Let’s go upstairs. We have to be ready. It’s coming soon.”

“Don’t worry, we still have time.”

Susan froze and held her breath.
Who was that?
She heard footsteps running up the stairs.
Maybe this is my chance to catch the drug ring red-handed.
Lynette’s warnings echoed in her head. She remembered the fortune cookie warning,
Beware of danger
. She had already been locked in a broom closet and thrown into the middle of the ocean. Was she crazy? She should turn around and get out of the auditorium before they discovered her. But she didn’t.

This is my chance to figure this all out.
If the parents know the murderer has been caught and the drug ring disbanded, they’ll continue to send their kids here. Maybe the donors will hop back on board and Audrey can keep the school open. She tiptoed up the stairs, remembering the tumble she’d taken down them previously. She rubbed her hip, which still sported a nasty bruise. When she got to the top of the stairs, she heard voices.

“Get the stash and I’ll go to the tower and signal.”

“This better pull in a lot. It may be our last haul.”

“I’ve got contacts. All we need is another willing partner to replace Jacobs. We just gotta find another doctor and plant him in the position at Trinity.”

“Glad you have a plan. Better make sure it’s not someone greedy or they’ll wind up like that teacher.”

Susan wondered what that meant. Were they talking about Alonzo? Schwartz? What greedy teacher? She didn’t know the voices, but assumed it was Marshall and Kymani she was tailing.

She turned off her flashlight and hid behind the scenery on the second floor. She could hear one of the men climbing the steps to the third floor. If she could see the transaction, she could call Kevin. She’d be a witness. Kevin could send a police boat after the drugs if he didn’t make it in time. The footsteps came closer.

It was Kymani. When he turned toward her, she confirmed it. Her hands were shaking. His hair! He has those tight little braids and they’re fastened with little black rubber bands. Oh my God! It was him near the murder scene.
It was one of his hair bands she’d found! She had to stay hidden until Marshall came back. When the two of them went downstairs, that’s when she’d call Kevin. Wait! Where was Kymani going?

Kymani pulled a quilt off of what looked like a treasure chest. It must have been a prop in one of the productions. He opened the lid. Susan held her breath. He was taking something out.

Her phone rang. She was startled and dropped it out of her hand. How could she have been so stupid? Why hadn’t she turned off the ringer?

“Who’s there?” said Kymani. “I know someone’s here. You’ll never get out of here so you might as well give up now.” He started searching behind the pieces of scenery.

She had to find a better hiding spot. He was getting closer to her as he searched. Her heart pounded. Then she remembered.
Schwartz had hidden the violin in a secret hiding spot in the wall. Could she fit in there?
She heard Marshall clomping down the steps from the third floor. It would be two against one.

“Kymani, let’s get the stash downstairs!” Marshall said, “I signaled the boat already.”

“We got a problem. Someone’s up here! Help me find him. We can’t leave a witness.”

Marshall threw props out of his path and started overturning stage furniture. Susan quickly and quietly opened the secret hiding place and tried to squeeze in.

“He’s got to be over here. We searched everywhere else,” said Kymani.

Susan heard them closing in on her. She wriggled the upper half of her body into the wall but cursed herself for eating all that take-out. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t wriggle her hips through the opening.

“Over here!” said Marshall.

Susan couldn’t breathe. She started pulling herself out of the wall. Someone yanked her out by the ankles. Then she felt a hand clamp over her mouth. She knew that hand! It was the same bear claw that had silenced her back in the car in Westbrook. It was George! She struggled to get away, but George pulled her into the stairwell.

“Shush! I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered. He’d said those words to her before. She heard footsteps closing in. Kymani and Marshall were now within an arm’s reach. Her stomach knotted into a tangled mass of nerves. She’d never see Mike again. Lynette and Evan would be heartbroken. Annalise would never remember knowing her grandma. She prayed
Hail, Mary
over and over in her head. George’s grip tightened.

She closed her eyes. This was the end of the line.

Behind her, all of a sudden, it sounded like an elephant stampede running up the steps. Light flooded the second floor. She saw guns and shields pushing past her.

“On your knees! Now!” An officer pointed his gun at Kymani. Another covered Marshall.

Half a dozen policemen had stormed into the room. George released his grip.

“You’re both under arrest!” Susan heard the clank of handcuffs closing around Kymani and Marshall’s wrists.

“Susan, are you okay?” said George. Susan was still trembling.

“What’s going on? Why are you wearing a badge?” she asked George. Her head was throbbing and nothing made sense.

“I’m with DEA––the drug enforcement agency,” George replied. “We’ve been after this group for some time.”

“But, you’re a gardener…”

“An undercover gardener. Deep undercover. Had you fooled, didn’t I?” He smiled his chipped tooth smile.

Susan remembered how he couldn’t name the trees, blew leaves all over the path, and mowed the grass in the rain. “You sure did.”

“Let’s get you back to Audrey’s. She and Lynette have been out of their minds worrying about you,” said George.

Chapter 50

“I wish you didn’t have to go back tomorrow,” said Audrey. Annalise sat happily on her lap, pulling at her necklace.

“I think I’m ready to relax back into retirement for a while,” said Susan. “Besides, you’ll be coming to New York in a few months. I won’t take no for an answer.”

“Thanks to you, Susan, the school will stay open. I’ve got letters ready to send to the parents and donors. Now that the killer is dead, and the drug ring has been busted, everything can go back to normal.”

“The killer isn’t dead,” said Susan. “I talked to Kevin. Alonzo didn’t kill Celia, Kymani did. They found a used latex glove down by the canal. It had Kymani’s prints and Celia’s blood on it.”

“He used gloves to preserve Alonzo’s fingerprints on the tam tam mallet, then he carelessly leaves the glove out in the open?” asked Lynette.

“Mom, we’re not talking genius here.” Susan heard a knock on the front door.

“I’ll get it. It’s Kevin,” said Lynette.

“Mrs. Wiles, looks like you’ve found yourself a second career as a detective,” said Kevin, entering.

“Well, I must say I have a knack for it,” said Susan. Lynette rolled her eyes.

“Don’t encourage her, Kevin,” Lynette said.

“Poor Celia finally has justice,” said Audrey. “We’re going to plant a tree in her name out in the arboretum so she’ll always be part of our school.”

“You might want to hold off on that,” said Kevin. “Celia wasn’t as innocent as you think. Turns out, she was the mastermind behind the whole drug operation.”

“What?” said Susan. Audrey’s jaw dropped.

“Celia knew Jacobs from back in college. They met when they were both music majors at Indiana University. They remained close, and it was her idea for him to assume the position at Trinity Village.”

“Are you kidding?” said Susan.

“We interviewed Marshall. He knew the whole story. Celia knew about Jacob’s change of identity. She was running the whole show. She got greedy and was taking a bigger cut. That’s why Kymani killed her.”

“Why did they kill Alonzo?” asked Audrey.

“He wanted out. He wanted a buy out so he’d have money to bring back to his family. He threatened to go to the police if Kymani and Marshall didn’t pay up. I’m guessing Kymani and he were at least smart enough to realize Alonzo would forever be in a position to blackmail them,” said Kevin.

“And here we were feeling sorry for Celia, thinking she was an innocent victim,” said Audrey. “And she was the one who brought the corruption to our school in the first place.”

“One more little tidbit. Remember the brothers who broke into Celia’s home ten years ago?” said Kevin.

“Yes. One she killed; the other spent ten years in jail,” said Susan.

“That was no random robbery,” explained Kevin. “Those two brothers were key players in the drug ring. They wanted a bigger share. Celia had invited them over that night to talk. Celia shot the one brother as a warning to the other. She knew if they were in her house that she had a right to protect herself. So she set it up to look like a robbery. I went back and looked at the report. There was no forced entrance that night. I don’t know why the living brother’s attorney didn’t bring it up.”

“Why did the living brother go along with Celia’s story?” said Audrey.

“Celia made a deal with him. He’d pay the consequences for armed robbery, and she’d cover up any evidence tying him to the drug ring. He already had a prior drug arrest before the robbery. He would have had a much longer jail sentence.”

“Were Marshall and Alonzo involved back then?” said Susan.

“They were the replacements. Took over for the two brothers. Celia introduced them to Dr. Jacobs, and Jacobs got Marshall a job at Trinity.”

“What about Kymani?” said Susan.

“He came on board later, when the operation grew.” The doorbell rang at that moment. “I’ll get it,” said Kevin.

“Are you expecting someone?” said Audrey.

“Yes. There’s someone I want you all to meet.” He opened the door and escorted in a blond hunk wearing a shirt tight enough to show off his six-pack abs.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Daniel. He’s my fiancé.”

Susan’s jaw fell to the floor. “Your fiancé?”

“We’re planning a June wedding. You’re all invited.”

“Congratulations!” said Audrey. “I’ll be there.”

Susan whispered to Lynette, “You knew about this all along? You knew Kevin was gay?”

“That’s why we broke up. We kept it under wraps all this time because he was afraid it would hurt his career as a policeman. Sorry, Mom. It was amusing watching how you worried he’d come between me and Jason.”

“Kevin, I’m so happy for you!” said Susan. “Marriage is a beautiful thing.”

“We’ll be going now,” said Kevin. “Have a safe trip back to New York, and thanks for all your help, both of you!” said Kevin. “Lynette, we’ll keep in touch.”