I watched as Fred ran across the roof and disappeared. Could he have reentered the building? I texted Wolf and ran for the elevator. I stepped off on the second floor. It was far busier than the floor where Charlene lay.
A couple in the large waiting room squabbled in loud voices.
“Where are my glasses? I had them a minute ago.”
“Honestly, Harold. I bought you a chain to put them on.”
“I’m not using that thing. It makes me look like an old man.”
“You are an old man.”
I stood quietly, trying to block out their conversation. Doctors and nurses in scrubs walked by me. The security guy from downstairs held a door open to the porte cochere roof and surveyed the glass as though he didn’t comprehend what had happened.
A doctor wearing black-framed glasses walked by me with his head down. A surgical mask covered half his face. There was something about him. Something not right. I watched as he walked away from me.
It had to be Fred. And, unless I missed my guess, he was wearing Harold’s glasses. I followed him, texting Wolf and being very thankful for the dictating feature. Fred was headed toward the stairwell.
When he opened the door, Wolf and Mars were waiting for him. Fred turned, ready to bolt, but I was right behind him, and that one-second delay to get around me was all Wolf needed. He had handcuffs on Fred faster than I’d have thought possible.
Fred addressed Wolf. “I know that you believe I have done this to my beloved Charlene, but it is quite the opposite. I saved her from the red-haired woman.”
Wolf said calmly, “Maybe we can talk about this at the police station.”
To me, Fred said, “You see? A difficult journey lies ahead. I killed the redhead. But only in defense of Charlene.”
My head was reeling. “Are you saying Mia, the redhead, is the one who beat up Charlene?”
“Yes. When I arrived, the other woman was already dead. Charlene was on the floor and the redhead was on top of her, punching like a madwoman.”
I looked at Wolf.
“Please tell Charlene that I have saved her life. Had I arrived a minute later, she would be dead today.”
Mars blinked. “What was Charlene doing there?”
“Her friend, Abby, was leaving town and had asked Charlene to take care of her cat. Charlene was going to pick him up,” said Fred.
“But she got there in time to see Mia kill Abby,” mused Mars. “Truly the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I can only surmise that this Mia felt she must also kill Charlene because she was a witness to the murder,” explained Fred. “It is true that I was forced to kill Mia, but only in defense of Charlene. She would not be clinging to life if I had not intervened.”
“Sophie and I will tell Charlene what you did for her. I have to ask you to come with me now, please,” said Wolf.
Wolf walked away with Fred. Mars and I returned to Charlene’s room, where someone was sweeping up the shards of glass that had fallen inward. Fortunately, the majority were outside on the roof.
“Charlene looks a lot like Natasha,” said Mars.
“I think so, too.”
At that moment, Natasha and Griselda appeared.
“What’s going on?” asked Natasha. “We just saw Wolf with Fred in handcuffs.”
We explained Fred’s version of what had transpired that fatal night.
“I almost hate to say this, but I believe him,” said Mars.
“It all makes sense.”
“Why would Mia want to murder Abby?” asked Natasha.
Oh boy. We were in a pickle now. But at that moment, I realized that if Abby hadn’t left Peyton’s name in code, we wouldn’t understand what had happened at all. “I think they had an argument.”
Mars gave me a subtle thumbs-up.
“What happens to someone who murdered in defense of someone else?” asked Griselda.
“I think that’s a legitimate defense,” said Mars. “I think they call it justifiable homicide. If the facts line up right for Fred, and it sounds like they might, then he might not even be prosecuted.”
“How’s Charlene doing?” I asked.
Griselda patted Charlene’s hand. “Her internal injuries are mending nicely according to the doctors. They’re calling her a miracle. There’s hope that she might make a full recovery. But it’s going to take some time.”
That night, Mars and I made excuses to avoid Bernie and Nina. We hated to do it, but there was no reasonable way we could explain what had happened to Mia and Abby without mentioning Peyton Poulon. We chose to wait a day or two.
At midnight, Wesley arrived for a meeting with Mars. They were still avoiding Jericho. Mars explained to me that it would take a little doing to get everything set up correctly. I accepted that and went off to bed.
* * *
On Monday morning, I leisurely cooked fluffy waffles and Southern-style cooked apples for breakfast. Mars dragged in from the den, looking as if he hadn’t slept all night.
It didn’t stop him from wolfing waffles and apples, though.
I showered, wondering how many more times I would shower before the walls were ripped out. Dressed in a red long-sleeved cotton top, jeans, and a quilted black vest, I tied all of Tilly’s recipes in a red gingham ribbon and prepared to leave.
Nika and Mochie had settled in the bay window to watch squirrels. All things considered, they were getting along well.
I walked over to Tilly’s house for the last time. She answered the door looking haggard.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“Someone from the police department is coming by today to take a DNA sample from Wesley, Briley, and me.” She closed the door. “We’re just sick about it.”
I followed her to the kitchen. Jericho was already there, apparently just hanging out.
“I have coffee. Would you care for some? I’m so distracted, that was the best I could do this morning.”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
We sat down on the large sofa as we had so many times before. Jericho continued to lurk.
“Apparently a child Briley and Schuyler’s age was kidnapped thirteen years ago, and the police think it’s one of our girls! I don’t understand. Why our daughters?”
“I’m so sorry.” What else could I say? Would it be right for me to spring the news that it wasn’t Briley? Probably not. What if I was wrong? What if Schuyler had a tattoo like I had originally thought and it was Briley who had the birthmark? Or what if Abby had been wrong?
My blood ran cold. It wasn’t impossible that Mia had murdered Abby for some other reason. But I thought that was unlikely.
The best thing for me right now was to be a good listener and be sympathetic.
“They’re coming to test all five of us. I had no idea that Pierce adopted Schuyler. But they didn’t excuse him from the DNA tests. I’m so nervous! What a crazy thing. Why on earth would they pick these two girls out of the hundreds of thousands of girls their age? Maybe even more. If that little girl was kidnapped, what makes them think she’s still in this country? I can tell you I was there when Briley was born. So was Wesley! Neither of us has forgotten the twenty-one hours of labor.”
She clutched her hand to her forehead. “As you can see, I’m quite distraught over this whole thing.”