Breach of Crust: A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery (18 page)

Loralyn shook her head as though the man bore no relevance. “Cora’s husband was already ill when they were married. Some terminal disease. He died long before Meg appeared,” Loralyn said. “And Andy travels all the time on business. He has no idea what his wife is up to. Theirs is one of those marriages in name only.”

Ella Mae stared out across the lake toward Partridge Hill. Her home. Her safety and her sanctuary. Her mother was there. Chewy too. She thought of all the summer nights she’d shared meals with her aunts, Jenny and Calvin, Suzy, and the Book Nerds, and of how lucky she was to know the companionship of such smart, loving, and giving people.

“Why did Cora agree to all of this?” she asked.

“For money.” Loralyn looked at Ella Mae as though she understood nothing. “Cora was working two jobs to cover
her tuition and would still have a huge student loan to pay off as her graduation present. Her parents had died unexpectedly, leaving her a mountain of debt, so when Meg came along and offered her entry to a life of country clubs and housekeepers, Cora leapt at the chance.”

Ella Mae thought of Cora, facedown in the bowl of the chocolate fountain. “She paid a high price for that life of luxury. So did other Camellias, I’d imagine. Others Meg had to kill over the years in order to take their place—to become surrogates in their stead. It’s why the surrogate rule exists in the first place. It’s easy to write the rules when you’re the club founder. Did the Edgeworths help convince Bea to take you as her surrogate?”

“Yes,” Loralyn said tiredly.

At the mention of Bea’s name, both women stared out across the lake toward Partridge Hill. Ella Mae believed that Loralyn had grown fond of Bea. Within a short time, her old nemesis had lost her adopted mother and her biological mother. It was no wonder that Loralyn seemed completely deflated. And while Ella Mae was tempted to leave her sitting there without a word of comfort, to punish her for all the wrongs she’d done, she was unable to be so callous.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Loralyn,” Ella Mae said, getting to her feet. “Your mother was a remarkable woman who loved you very much. I’m going to check on Hugh now, but if you need help in the future, you can call on me. I make this offer in your mother’s name, and because I want her sacrifice to mean something.”

When Loralyn didn’t respond, Ella Mae walked up the dock to where Reba was waiting for the police.

“I told the cops to send the paramedics to Hugh. He won’t like bein’ fussed over. Most men don’t, but I want them to look at that cut.” Reba pointed at Loralyn. “I’ll keep an eye
on her. If she tries to get on that boat, I’ll stop her. I still have two throwing stars left.”

Glancing back to where Loralyn sat, Ella Mae shook her head. “I think she’s done running. I believe Opal gave her what she’s been waiting for her whole life.”

Reba furrowed her brows. “What’s that?”

“Proof that she was loved. By sacrificing herself to keep Loralyn from being tainted by those apples, Opal proved just how much she loved her,” Ella Mae said. “And that experience has left Loralyn feeling both full
and
empty inside. She’s simultaneously grateful
and
grief-stricken. I can’t begin to fathom the tumult of emotions that must be churning inside her heart right now. She’s too mixed up to do anything but sit there. In a few hours, it’ll really hit her.”

“Everything that happened today?” Reba asked.

Ella Mae saw a troupe of uniformed policemen heading their way. “Yes. The derailment of her plans. The end of her freedom. The loss of her mom. All of it. And she’ll have to face it alone, which is no good. Her loneliness is part of the reason she chose such a dark path in the first place. Loneliness certainly won’t help heal or reform her. I doubt it helps anyone.”

Reba put her hands on her hips. “I suppose you plan on gettin’ involved in her redemption.”

“I owe it to Opal Gaynor to try,” Ella Mae replied before hurrying off to be with Hugh.

On her knees beside him, she was relieved to discover that the laceration on the back of his head was no longer bleeding. His pulse was strong, and though the skin on his face was warm and flushed from being exposed to the August sun, he didn’t feel febrile. And when she brushed his cheek with her fingertips, Hugh opened his eyes.

“What happened?” he croaked, blinking at her. He shifted his shoulders before she could stop him and abruptly
winced. “Damn. My head is killing me.” Tentatively, he reached up to explore the fabric wrapped around his head. “What’s this?”

“Someone hit you with an oar. Pretty hard too,” Ella Mae said. Hearing the sound of multiple voices, she glanced up to see two paramedics heading their way. A man and a woman jogged alongside a pair of policemen. “Good. The cavalry’s coming.”

Hugh struggled to sit up. “I can’t let them find me like this. I’ll never hear the end of it at the station.” He grasped Ella Mae’s hand. “Please.”

She hesitated. “Okay, but take it slow.”

Hugh’s arms slid around her back while her arms crossed under his wide shoulders. Carefully, she raised his torso off the ground and then held him steady for several long seconds. “How are you doing?” she whispered worriedly after he remained silent.

“I’m dizzy,” he confessed. “And I’m going to be sick. Let go, Ella Mae.”

Hugh’s fellow volunteers arrived just as he was retching in the mud. They exchanged amused grins and waited for him to empty his stomach before kneeling beside him.

“How’d you end up here, Dylan? Don’t you know the fire is at the resort?” a woman teased, putting a steadying hand on Hugh’s back. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

Hugh responded by showing her a particular finger of his own. The woman laughed good-naturedly before her tone became brisk and businesslike. “Seriously, Dylan. You’re probably concussed. We need to go through all the motions.”

While she ministered to Hugh, the male EMT, who introduced himself as Chuck, asked Ella Mae what had happened. Avoiding specifics, Ella Mae pointed at the oar. “Someone hit him with that.”

Chuck placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled. One of the cops heading toward the next dock paused and turned. Chuck waved him over and showed him the oar.

“This day just keeps getting crazier and crazier,” the cop said.

Under her breath, Ella Mae muttered, “You have no idea.”

*   *   *

The next day, despite the fact that Ella Mae had given Officer Hardy a detailed statement and reviewed it with him several times the previous afternoon, he called her back to the station.

Ella Mae passed several Camellias in the hall, but none of them acknowledged her. Even the Eudaileys, who’d been kind to Ella Mae, ignored her and continued speaking to a man in a tailored business suit. There were dozens of similar-looking men milling about the station. Assuming they were attorneys, Ella Mae could only imagine the list of demands being made on the Havenwood Police Department.

“For the most part, the ladies want to leave,” Hardy said when Ella Mae asked what the Camellias were after. “And as much as I want to see them go, there are too many inconsistencies in yesterday’s statements. I don’t like inconsistencies. They prevent me from closing cases.”

Ella Mae responded with a vague nod. “How can I help?”

“I’m faced with two major problems. The first is that Meg Edgeworth-Ryan is missing. I’ve put out an APB on her, but I need you to be perfectly clear on one point: Is the last time you saw her when she and Opal Gaynor plunged into the lake together?”

“That’s right,” Ella Mae said. “And neither woman surfaced.”

Hardy rubbed the stubble on his chin. “We recovered
Mrs. Gaynor’s body yesterday evening. Though her hands were not bound, the ME found evidence of rope marks on her wrists.”

Ella Mae looked down at her own wrists and bit her lip. She did not want to grieve for Opal in front of Hardy. “When this is over, may I bury her? In my mind, she’s a hero. Even though Meg is still missing, Opal’s act prevented anyone else from being hurt yesterday.” Ella Mae struggled to keep her voice steady. “She doesn’t deserve to be put on a metal slab—to be poked and prodded. I know it has to be that way, but as soon as she can be laid to rest, will you allow me to make the arrangements if no other family members come forward?”

Hardy mumbled something that sounded like a yes and then tapped his case file, which was bulging with loose papers. “The second problem I have relates to the death of Ruiping Chen. Loralyn Gaynor claims that Meg Edgeworth-Ryan shot Ms. Chen. In your statement, however, you said that Ms. Gaynor fired the gun.” Hardy laced his fingers together and gazed intently at Ella Mae. “Did you see Ms. Gaynor shoot Ms. Chen?”

For a moment, Ella Mae was too shocked to reply. “Well . . . no. Reba and I were too far away. We only heard the shot. I assumed Loralyn was the shooter because she’d fired at me in the boathouse and because she’d been holding the gun when Reba and I reached the end of the dock.”

“Divers recovered the weapon this morning. It’s encrusted with mud and the likelihood of drawing a clear set of prints is slim to none. Ms. Gaynor insists that the shots she took at you in the boathouse were never meant to hit you. She merely needed to convince Meg that she was on her side.”

Ella Mae gasped. “Are you kidding me? Loralyn practically shot my leg off! And she didn’t lift a finger to save
Savannah. Letting a woman die would have made Loralyn an accomplice. How does she explain her complicity?”

“According to Ms. Gaynor’s statement, she was forced to behave this way in order to protect her mother. Meg threatened to kill her mother if Loralyn didn’t follow her instructions to the letter,” Hardy said. “Ms. Gaynor admits to disabling Officer Hutchins and starting the fire in the resort. However, she insists that it was Meg, and Meg alone, who was responsible for the deaths of Bea Burbank, Cora Edgeworth, Ruiping Chen, and Opal Gaynor, as well as the attempted murder of Savannah McGovern.”

“But Loralyn
helped
her,” Ella Mae protested heatedly. “She stood guard, with that shotgun pointed at my chest, and deliberately prevented me from freeing Savannah. If Reba hadn’t used her throwing star, Savannah would be dead, and then Loralyn would be an accessory to murder.”

Hardy shuffled his papers. “Ms. Gaynor has pled guilty to multiple criminal charges and has been very cooperative. Because of her assistance, we recovered two golden apples from the safe in Meg’s hotel room. Apparently, these items were a large part of what motivated Ms. Edgeworth-Ryan to kill her fellow club members. She wanted to become president in order to possess these apples. The whereabouts of the third apple is unknown, and Ms. Gaynor believes Meg has it on her person. Do you agree with that statement?”

Ella Mae pictured the apple sinking to the bottom of Lake Havenwood. She saw it come to rest in a patch of silt and stones. For now, the shiny orb would attract scores of fish. But soon, the mud and muck would cover it. Then its light would wink out like a dying star.

“Yes,” Ella Mae said firmly. “I saw Meg put it in her pocket before she went over the edge of the dock. If you find Meg, you’ll find the apple too.”

Satisfied by her answer, Hardy took a sip from the coffee cup on his desk and grimaced. “Cold,” he grumbled. “All right, Ms. LeFaye, I think I have everything I need now. I appreciate your time and—”

“Wait a minute,” Ella Mae interjected. “What will happen to Loralyn?”

“Her lawyer and the District Attorney’s Office are negotiating her sentence as we speak,” Hardy said. “Ms. Gaynor will be going to jail, but as far as which facility and for how long, I can’t say. That’s not my job. What I need to do now is get these Camellias out of my station and have a conversation with the Chinese Consulate in Atlanta. Dr. Kang has expressed his desire to take Ms. Ruiping home, and I would like to grant his wish as quickly as possible.”

With all that had occurred, Ella Mae had forgotten about Dr. Kang. Her cheeks flushed with heat as she felt a rush of shame and sorrow. The healer would have to return to China without his assistant. “That poor man.”

“Yes,” Hardy said somberly. “Four deaths over a vainglorious title and a trio of little golden apples that can’t be worth more than fifty grand—it’s sickening. What is this world coming to?” He glanced at a photograph on his desk. It showed Hardy’s beloved boxers sitting on a sofa next to a woman Ella Mae assumed was Hardy’s wife. “I’ve been toying with the idea of retiring. After this case, the idea has really taken hold. I believe I’ve seen enough.” Looking a little abashed, he cleared his throat. “Thank you again, Ms. LeFaye. I hope the next time we meet, it’ll be in your pie shop.”

“I hope so too,” Ella Mae said, standing and taking Hardy’s outstretched hand. “And I understand what you mean about seeing enough. There does come a time when we need to close certain doors so that others can open. I’m ready to do that as well.”

Hardy smiled at her. “Are you? And does this other door have anything to do with a handsome fireman?”

“How did you know?” Ella Mae pretended to be amazed. “Are you sure you’re ready to give up policing? You’re awfully good at it.”

Hardy grinned, and then his grin vanished and he cupped his free hand around hers. “Yes, I do believe it’s time you retired too. Not from the pie business—there’d be a riot if you did that—but from sleuthing. I know you’re the type of person who tries to set things right. You’re no meddling busybody—I’d never accuse you of that. But perhaps it’s time, if you don’t mind my saying so, that you pursued your own happiness.” He gave her hand a paternal squeeze.

Ella Mae was moved by both his speech and the kindness in his eyes. She’d always liked Jon Hardy and she felt guilty that she’d never been able to be completely honest with him about the cases she’d been involved with, but it was better this way. He’d seen enough. He didn’t need to know about the existence of magic.

“Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps it is time for me to be happy,” she said and immediately envisioned the plot of land overlooking Lake Havenwood.

Leaving the station, and its hallways filled with Camellia Club members, behind, Ella Mae got in her pink truck and headed east, toward home. Toward her family, her friends, her dog, and the one person who could grant her the happiness she’d spent her whole life searching for.