A Justified Murder Read online

  Jack put his hand up to keep Chet from speaking. “Someone spread an STD. Could ruin a marriage or two.”

  Kate said, “What if she found something hidden inside Sylvia’s house? People are always leaving things behind. Top of closets, fallen behind something. In Chicago, we had a family who moved out and forgot they had an attic. It was full.” She looked at Chet. “We’ve toyed with the idea that Sylvia didn’t commit suicide but was murdered and Janet found out about it.”

  “Maybe Sylvia had the bootie,” Sara said. “Sylvia and Janet were besties, so maybe Sylvia told her the story behind the kidnapping.”

  “Mom said she saw Sylvia crying,” Jack said.

  “I need to know more about this woman Sylvia,” Chet said.

  “Very elegant,” Sara said. “Her husband died and someone took the body away. They—”

  “He died very unexpectedly,” Jack said. “I wonder if there was an autopsy? We should ask—”

  “Sylvia ate oleander,” Kate said. “Janet cried for a—”

  “The neighbor’s sons painted Witch on the garage door,” Sara said.

  “I heard that, but at the memorial, that woman, Megan, said Janet forgave them,” Chet said.

  “We’ve heard contradictions on that,” Jack said. “Megan told us that Janet never forgave any of them.”

  Sara’s voice rose. “Everett wrote what was said today. Never trust a writer! Professional liars, all. He is making it up as he goes along. He just needs a punch line.”

  “You mean a killer,” Jack said.

  “And a kidnapper,” Kate said.

  “They—” Sara began.

  “Hey!” Chet said. “Don’t mean to interrupt, but could someone tell me the story in a coherent way?”

  They turned to Sara.

  “Don’t look at me. I tell with pen and paper. I can’t even type a story. As for talking, I’m the pits.”

  They turned to Kate. “I sell things. People don’t listen after three sentences.”

  They looked at Jack. “Me? Are you crazy?”

  “You could sing it to us,” Kate said and that made them smile.

  “All right,” Chet said. “I’ll ask questions and you answer them. One at a time. Any paper and pen around here?”

  “I think I can find something.” Sara got up and went into her writing room. She returned with a black-and-red Prada bag filled with a notebook, loose paper, pens in eight colors, and a pretty lap desk of pale bamboo.

  Chet gave her a look of admiration, put the board across his legs, and took out the pens and the spiral notebook. “Let’s start with stats. Name, birth, where, when, who.”

  Sara gave Jack and Kate a look to say, He’s good, isn’t he? then they began telling everything they knew about Sylvia Alden.

  They were as concise and succinct as they could be, but they had a lot of info to relay.

  After going over the facts, Sara told what she’d read in Sylvia’s books, how they were almost autobiographical. “She kept her pen name very secret. Obviously, there were people she didn’t want to know that she was writing.”

  “What did she write at the time of the kidnapping?” Chet asked.

  “Didn’t mention it. Her heroine was busy with her child and husband.”

  “Have a date on that kid?”

  Jack told him that Sylvia’s daughter was eleven at the time of the kidnapping.

  “The books stopped about the time Janet arrived in Lachlan,” Sara said.

  “No mention of finding a friend?”

  “None,” Sara said. “Sylvia was trying to adjust to widowhood and asking herself what to do with her life since she’d lost her best friend. Her agent told me that book sold the best of any of them. Not spectacular, but it did well. The reviews were excellent.”

  “But you said—” Kate began but stopped.

  Chet turned to her. “Said what?”

  Kate looked at her aunt. It was up to her to tell or not.

  When Sara was silent, Jack spoke. “What no one wants to say is that someone posted bad comments on review sites. Really bad.”

  Chet looked at Sara and waited in silence.

  “Yes, there were some truly hideous reviews. Meant to hurt.” She said this with her jaw clenched, her hands in fists.

  “I take it that you’ve had that done to you.” When Sara nodded, Chet squeezed her hand. “I think cyberbullying should be a whole new branch of the police force.”

  Kate said, “As long as people support it, it will never stop.”

  “So who wrote these bad reviews?” Chet asked.

  “Different people,” Jack answered. “They really were vile. Said the author should give up writing, should never have started. They were personal attacks.”

  “Could they have come from Mrs. Alden’s brother?”

  “Maybe.” Sara was regaining her composure. “When I read them, my heart went out to Sylvia. I wondered...” She looked at Chet.

  “If they caused her suicide? It happens. I’ve seen too much of it. The person feels like they’ll never recover. The suicide takes seconds but lasts forever.” He looked at his paper. “Anything else you know about Mrs. Alden that may have made her want to end it all? She lost her husband and her career was torn apart on the internet. Maybe she—”

  When his phone rang, he looked at the ID. “This is probably info.” He went outside to answer the call and they watched him through the glass. From his expression, the news wasn’t good.

  Chet came back inside, sat down by Sara, and pulled up an email. “It’s a time line.” He looked at them as though he dreaded telling what he’d just heard. “Four months after Sylvia Alden died, her daughter, Lisa, went to jail for eighteen months. Seems that in college she transported drugs. A dealer ratted on her and some other college kids in exchange for a plea deal. He got six months. The kids got one to three years.”

  The four of them were quiet. More reasons for Sylvia to commit suicide were being found.

  “That day in the restaurant, I bet she was crying over her daughter,” Jack said.

  “Possibly,” Chet said. “Husband gone, vicious reviews of her books, daughter going to jail. It’s a lot. She may have felt so helpless that she couldn’t bear it, so she poisoned her own food, and got out of the whole mess.”

  “Loneliness combined with age...” Sara didn’t finish.

  Jack sighed. “Does this take us back to the beginning? No suspects, no motive?”

  “I don’t think we can fully eliminate Mrs. Alden,” Chet said, “but it doesn’t look like she had anything to do with the kidnapping. I’ll do more research and try to find out where she was that day. Maybe she was there at the store and saw something. Maybe—” He broke off as he knew he was just trying to make them feel better.

  “I’m not so sure about any of this,” Sara said. “Kate, if you get sent to jail, I’ll be waiting for you when you get out. I’m certainly not going to remove myself from life because I’m sad.”

  “What about me?” Jack asked.

  “I’d petition for you to spend your time in solitary. Half your dad’s friends were put in prison because they listened to him. Your life would be in danger.”

  Jack blinked a few times, then laughed. “Nice to think I’m wanted by so many.”

  It was getting dark outside and they’d been talking for hours.

  Chet closed the notebook. “Mind if I keep this? I’d like to go over some of these facts.”

  “Please do,” Sara said.

  Chet stood up and stretched. “So where’s a good motel nearby? Not too fancy but clean. And cheap.”

  “You can stay here,” Sara said. “In Jack’s room.”

  Jack gasped. “I don’t think—”

  Sara cut him off. “You’ll have to bunk in with Kate. On her sofa.”