She’d known who. She’d seen the smudge of blood on his fingers before he’d wiped it away as he and the others stood over Megan’s body. She’d thought then that she would have to kill him. The note was evidence. But then she’d realized that he hadn’t taken it to show the marshal. He’d taken it as a memento.
She might have let it go even after the reunion, but he’d opened his wallet that first night to offer to help pay for the beer, and she’d seen it. The fool still had the note. If her handwriting could be compared to that note along with Megan’s blood...
Claude had actually come into the woods thinking he was smarter than she was. He misunderstood why she’d gotten him there. He had actually thought she’d gotten him there for sex? That she was that desperate? The boy genius hadn’t expected her to be the killer. Like Megan, he never knew what hit him.
Devlin had to go because of that moment at the bar when he’d seen what everyone else had missed. Jason had been trying to come up with a timeline as to where everyone was when Megan was killed. Jen saw Devlin glance at her and quickly look away. He’d known. Because he’d seen her in the woods that night? She’d seen him. She’d even taken his photo with Megan.
Once she’d started, she couldn’t seem to stop. She’d remembered how Jason had felt sorry for her just the other night and taken her into the woods. She would have paid back his kindness, but he hadn’t wanted her. He’d wanted to talk about that bitch Megan.
The marshal stepped in front of her. “Jennifer Mullen, you are under arrest for the murders of Megan Broadhurst, Claude Drake and Devlin Wright and wanted for questioning in the death of Jason Underwood. You have the right to remain silent—”
“That’s hilarious, Marshal,” she interrupted. “I’ve never been silent in my life.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CASEY PUT DOWN the top on the convertible and glanced over at Finn. After several weeks in Buckhorn, they were finally leaving. The marshal said he didn’t think they would be called back for Jen’s trial. Emery was dead and Vi had thrown herself on the mercy of the court. It was over.
“I didn’t want to believe any of them were capable of murder,” Casey said as she looked down the main drag and wondered if she would ever see this place again. “But once I realized Emery hadn’t killed Megan...”
“You thought it was Jason,” Finn said, proving once again how well he knew her, as he buckled up his seat belt.
She nodded sheepishly. “Maybe I just wanted it to be him. Now I feel terrible about that. How did Jen get him to hang himself?”
“I heard drug residue was found in one of the two glasses in the room, along with a bottle of booze.”
“So Jen pretended to go to her room, then sneaked in the back door with a bottle and offered him a drink. Still...”
“Jen is a lot stronger than she looks and definitely determined,” Finn said.
“Angry and bitter. I saw that in her, but no more than Patience and the others.”
“Like Jen’s aunt,” he said. Vi had broken down and admitted that she’d helped her brother try to scare everyone away from the hotel. Her brother Emery, when she’d informed him that the hotel was going to be sold, had returned to Buckhorn to try to cover up his crimes. He’d confessed to his sister about the women he’d killed and hidden in the underbelly of the hotel.
Vi did everything she could to protect him, including trying to stop the sale and even making an offer herself. When that failed, she’d pretended to be Megan’s ghost to try to scare away the people who’d moved into the hotel, starting with Finnegan James, while her brother spent his nights digging up the bodies and trying to remove them. Her brother had shown her the secret passages within the hotel so she could move about without being caught. It had been her in the woods Saturday night.
“I always knew Vi was a force of nature,” Casey said. Vi swore that she’d tried to stop Emery. But with time running out, he had taken matters into his own hands. He’d always worked around construction and had some experience with explosives. He decided the only way to end it was to blow the place up, but he couldn’t kill Casey. So he’d gotten her out.
“I would imagine the law will go easy on Vi since she was just trying to protect her brother,” Casey said.
Finn lifted a brow. “Or merely protecting herself and her reputation in town. The months I lived here, I saw that she was like the mayor of Buckhorn, the way she butted into everyone’s business. Imagine if people found out what her brother did. She would have done just about anything so that didn’t happen. And she did. She’d dressed up like Megan and run through the woods and sneaked around the hotel.” Casey laughed, imagining how embarrassing that would have been for the woman.
She smiled at Finn. She often forgot how well he knew the residents of Buckhorn. She’d known Vi almost her whole life and agreed with him. “She must be devastated, since she was the first lady of Buckhorn.”
“Especially after what was found hidden in her room.” Not just the white dress with what had been sprayed on it to look like blood, but also an extra blond wig. Now she was looking at criminal charges, since she’d knowingly helped her brother to try to cover up his crimes. But the marshal said she would probably just get probation.
Her husband, Axel, had filed for divorce and left town. Vi still had the general store, her antiques barn and their house since apparently it had been her family money that had purchased all of it.
“I’m surprised she’s staying here, though,”
