“I always do.”
“She does,” Abram said. “I don’t understand.”
Before Jake could continue, Gary shouted.
“The jig is up!”
Jake sighed.
“They don’t know what the jig is yet. Let me tell them.”
“It’s up! That’s what the jig is!”
“Gary,” he said and waited. Gary stood up and left the room. Jake went on without him. “Now Sheryl, I noticed that until very recently, you only played bridge once a week in this common room.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because Charlotte saved the schedule.”
He waved the pages in front of her. She tried to grab them but he didn’t let her.
“And the schedule shows that every Monday you played a game here.”
“So?”
She was still whispering.
“So, I also know that you don’t control the times for the common room. Mel does. She decides who gets the room and when they get it. Apparently you would squabble too much about it.”
“Right. And that’s the time she gave us.”
“I know that. But then you changed the funding for the community’s charity.”
“Yes, we did.”
She was staring at the aqua tablecloth.
“That’s interesting. Because at that same time, your bridge schedule changed too.”
Abram leaned forward.
“It did?”
“Oh, it did. From one night a week to two. Sheryl got an extra night to do whatever she wanted in the common room. Mel happened to mention to me last week about your switching nights at will, being able to use them whenever you wanted. A surprising amount of power, Sheryl. Now, correct me if I’m wrong. But it sounds like you got paid off for giving the Saving Tomorrow Initiative money.”
She didn’t even bother whispering this time. She was silent. Abram tried to say something.
“It doesn’t make sense…”
Jake continued.
“So the question is, who would be able to trade you more bridge nights for switching the community’s donations? Now, it doesn’t make sense that an environmental group would have the power to give you time in the common room.”
Abram finished the thought, his voice rough as gravel.
“But Rothschild could change the schedule. Mel could.”
Sheryl turned her head and spoke.
“I didn’t know that anyone would get hurt.” Her voice was hard. She wasn’t going to cry today. “I didn’t know they’d do something to Charlotte. They told me that if I switched the money to this harmless group, I’d get another night for bridge. Everyone wanted it instead of movie night. Everyone. I just made it happen.”
She breathed out. Gary came back in the room.
“The jig is up,” he whispered.
Jake pulled him down to his seat.
“Sheryl, who told you about the deal? Who presented the offer?” He choked before the next part. “Was it… Mel?”
Sheryl stared at him. She thought for a moment. Then she shook her head.
“A man named Conrad called me. He said that I’d get more time for bridge if I convinced everyone to donate to the Initiative. All I had to do was keep it secret. He sounded so…harmless.”
“Who’s Conrad?” Abram asked.
“He’s Rothschild’s assistant.”
“So this was all Rothschild’s doing?”
“Yes.” Jake tapped his pen on the table quickly. It left dark blue dots on the fabric. “Simeon Rothschild was behind the entire thing. He’s the man behind the Saving Tomorrow Initiative.”
Just as he said it, Mel opened the door.
“What’s happening here?”
Jake turned to Sheryl.
“How did you call her?”
“No Jacob,” Gary said. “I did.”
“Why?”
Mel sat down beside Jake. He looked at her quickly and covered his notebook. Gary reached out toward Mel.
“Jacob, I know you are trying to be careful. But you have to trust Mel. When I left the room, I found a telephone and called her. She needs to know what happened. You know you can trust her. I’m positive she didn’t have a part in any of this.”
Jake wasn’t so sure. He looked in her eyes as she waited for him to talk. He told her everything that had happened. As she listened, her eyes widened. Then they started to shine, wet with tears.
“I don’t understand.” She was calm at least. “I’m guilty too, aren’t I?”
“How?” Abram asked.
“I gave Sheryl the extra nights. I run the schedules. I’m a part of it.”
“Did you know what the extra nights were for?”
“He just told me what to do.”
“Who did?”
“Simeon. He just told me to give Sheryl an extra night each week. And I can’t argue with him, you know that.”
“I know.” Jake put his arm around her and held her close. He could feel her heart beating as she shook. It could be an aggressive thing to believe in somebody. As she calmed down, Abram took off his hat.
“But I don’t understand. Why would Rothschild help an environmentalist group that was campaigning against the Development Proposition? Why would he kill…”
Jake didn’t make him say her name.
“Charlotte was learning too much about the Saving Tomorrow Initiative. She started investigating bridge when Sheryl kicked her out. Then she realized there must be a reason that Sheryl had gotten more days, so she started investigating everything Sheryl had done. Including the group. Eventually, she traced them back to Rothschild. Maybe she had already threatened him. And that would have ruined everything: all the money, all the investment, and all of his plans for the group. She made too many calls and learned too much.”
Mel sighed and brushed her hair back. She looked good, despite having cried a few minutes before. Jake wiped a tear off her cheek. She smiled faintly. She was whispering too.
“How did you know? How did you figure it out?”
“I didn’t, at first. I had to wait for it to hit me over the head.”
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t realize until I found out that Mr. Rothschild owned my apartment building. I saw Javier working there today.”
“How did that help?”
“Because there weren’t any marks on my door the day I was attacked. That’s because they didn’t have to break in. They just used their copies of my key.”
“And that’s why the girl was in your building!” Gary shouted.
Mel looked at Jake sideways. He mumbled an answer.
“They installed someone in the apartment next to me. Since Rothschild owned the building, that was easy. And they paid her to tip them off to my whereabouts. Once I realized that Rothschild was behind that, I knew there had to be a connection to what happened at Sunset Cove.”
