Murder Close to Home (9 page)

“And he went near me anyway!” Ellen yelped. “He just admitted to coming into Amelia’s place! How did you get in there, anyway? Amelia certainly wouldn’t have given you a key.”
 

“Easy. The door was unlocked,” said Marty, and Ellen made a face. “She left the suitcase in the closet and she told me to go home. I did, and Ellen called me the next day to apologize for her outburst. She said she was stressed about Amelia’s condition and wanted to make sure she had enough money set aside for medical bills.”

“Did you believe her?” I asked Marty.

“At the time, I was shocked. My sweet Amelia was dead. What was I supposed to do? I went to my safe place, which happened to be Ellen’s old house. I hung the pictures on the wall and pretended that everything was okay. I know what I do isn’t right, but it works for me.”

Ellen’s anger had been growing during this conversation and she finally snapped. “It doesn’t work for
me
, don’t you get it? Why can’t you see that? This isn’t about you! Amelia’s gone. She’s not coming back. Get over her, will you? I don’t want to see you when you’re like this.”

I did a double take. “When he’s like this?”

Ellen stood up in a defensive pose. “He was a good man until he fell for Little Miss Perfect. Who could compete with someone like Amelia? She was the better version of me. She did everything that I couldn’t do. She stole my husband, and when she was done with him, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.”

Jade intervened. “Marty, you were married to Ellen?”

Marty grinned. “That’s a well-kept secret gone public.”

“I thought that you and Amelia were married a long time,” said Jade.

“Fifteen years,” said Marty. “I’m not the father of Ellen’s kids. He was a marry-and-ditch kinda guy, like I tried to tell her. After Amelia decided my mind had gotten too strange for her, I tried to reconnect with Ellen. I thought she’d give me another shot.”

“I would have, if he hadn’t been obsessed with Amelia,” Ellen said. “I could tell that he only liked me because I reminded him of her. I wasn’t going to be around someone who wanted me to be someone else. And then he went crazy and did his stalking thing, which cemented my decision to never take him back.”
 

“You wanted to, though,” I said. “You wished you could. You also wanted to go back to the good old days. You killed Amelia to get rid of the person you could never be.”

“That’s right,” Ellen said emphatically.

“And you were going to kill Marty to put an end to an era. Clear the slate, if you will,” said Jade.

“Yes.”

I looked at Jade. “And in that case, I think our job is done.”

She grinned. “I do believe it is.”

Corey came out of the shadows and handcuffed Ellen as Marty took an indignant step away from his table.

“I’m not touching anything here,” he said.

I was popping a stray balloon when Logan poked his head into the building. I was in Ruby’s Gem, making sure that everything was clean and ready for the next event. I didn’t have anything scheduled other than one quick celebration, but I had high hopes for the future.

“I’ve got a drum roll sound on my phone. I was just at the beach,” he said.

“That’ll be perfect. When Allen comes in, play it,” I said.

Jade was bringing Allen here for a special surprise. I moved a folding table to the front of the room, careful not to knock over the object I had placed on it.

“I can’t wait to see his reaction,” I said. My phone buzzed. reading the text, I said, “They’ll be here any moment.”

Allen walked in a minute later, with Jade right behind him. Logan played the drum roll.

“What’s going on?” he asked when he saw me.

“It was well known to Amelia’s friends that she had a suitcase that she kept in case of emergencies,” I said, patting the suitcase on the table. “We wanted to give that to you. I know she would have wanted you to have it.”

“Okay...” Allen hadn’t heard of the suitcase before.

I ripped open the secret lining and cash spilled out. Allen’s eyes went wide.

“As well as everything inside,” I continued. “You’re going to Hollywood!”

Allen was overjoyed and full of gratitude. “I don’t know what I would have done without everyone here. Thank you so much.”

“Save your speech for the Oscars,” I said, grinning.

Later that day, when I told Taryn about Allen’s reaction, she was delighted. “Amelia would have been so happy for him. That’s what she always meant it for. Amelia wanted to do right by people.”

We were sitting outside A Scoop of Sunshine, waiting for Jade to come out. Taryn touched the rose in her hair, tucked behind her ear. “Amelia loved days like this. So did Francis.”

I looked at her comfortingly. “Are you going to be all right?”

“I do believe so.” Taryn smiled. “I’ve made it this far. I can make through the rest of my life with my friends by my side.”

One detail that hadn’t been resolved tugged at me in the back of my mind. “I wanted to ask you something. Why was Amelia late on rent?”

Taryn laughed. “She wasn’t. Ellen had stolen the checks to make the feud between Amelia and I fester. She wanted people to blame me. Fortunately for me, it didn’t work.”

Jade soon danced out of the shop. “All right, I’ve got five minutes. What did you want to show me?”

“Corey’s been teaching you some moves? They look good.” I handed her a plaque.
Official Ice Cream Caterer of Ruby’s Gem: A Scoop of Sunshine.
“I’ll call you whenever someone wants ice cream at an event.”

Jade grinned. “I love it. Thanks!”

“Of course. I wouldn’t be where I am without you.”

And I loved where I was. Sunshine, good people, and the occasional murder mystery. It was like living in paradise.

Thanks for reading! I’d greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to
leave a review.

Also, if you want updates on new releases, feel free to
join my mailing list.

Thanks!

Elizabeth Holly