Town in a Blueberry Jam

out the worst in her. She threatened to go public, to tell the newspapers what had happened. I had no choice. I offered to pay her to keep her silent. She’s been bleeding me dry ever since.” He paused, thinking. “I suppose that’s how she paid for that house of hers. She could never have paid for that on her salary as a part-time columnist, could she?”

“How long has this been going on?” Candy asked.

Sebastian shrugged. “Ten years? Twelve? I’ve lost count-and lost track of how much I’ve paid her.” His head dropped. “It’s been torment.”

Cameron let out a snort of derision. “Torment? You don’t know the meaning of the word. No matter what you’ve experienced, it’s nothing compared to what my mother’s been through”-he stopped abruptly, and corrected himself-“what she went through.” Struck by the sudden realization that his mother was really, truly gone, he shuddered, closed his eyes, and swayed perceptibly. For a moment he appeared overwhelmed, and any anger he had left went out of him then, gone forever.

Everyone in the room felt his grief. Amanda went to him in a rush, her hair flying out behind her, and gave him a hug, a tear falling down her cheek. Candy felt her emotions well up in her as well, and even Maggie wiped at her eyes. “Look at me,” she said with a soft, disbelieving laugh. “I’m crying for Sapphire.”

Candy put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “So you’re human.”

Maggie gave her a teary smile. “Yeah, I guess so. Who’da thunk it, huh?” She paused. “You know, it’s funny…”

Candy looked at her inquisitively. “What?”

“Well… this might sound strange, but I think I finally understand Sapphire. She was a woman who lost the love of her life-both loves of her life, first David, then her child-when she was still a young girl. It must have nearly destroyed her. I’m sure it changed her mentally and emotionally. She must have never been the same after that. That’s why she changed her name. After David was killed and her baby was taken away from her, the girl known as Susan Jane Vincent must have died in some way, and the only way she could go on living was to change her name, her whole persona-to become someone else. Sapphire Vine was no Susan Jane Vincent. She was one tough cookie. She wasn’t about to let this world get the better of her. She decided to fight back-and she did until the very end.”

Sebastian cleared his throat. “I can certainly vouch for that,” he said, looking visibly moved. “She made sure she got what she wanted, right up until the end. It wasn’t a fluke I showed up here this summer, you know. That was her idea. She called me a few months ago and told me that if I did one last ‘favor’ for her she would leave me alone and wouldn’t contact me again. Naturally I agreed. She arranged for this ‘vacation’ and found this nice cottage for me. And then she made sure I conveniently got a spot as a judge for the pageant. I’m not sure how she pulled that off, but she was a very resourceful woman, as you by now have no doubt guessed. She set the whole thing up magnificently. Of course, it was all part of her plan to win the competition. She pretended she didn’t know me, treated me like a stranger in town. But she knew what she was doing. She had it all planned out.”

“So you threw your votes her way?” Candy asked.

“Of course. Isn’t that obvious?”

Candy nodded. Indeed it was. Herr Georg had told her that even though he voted for Sapphire, he didn’t think the votes of a single judge could decide the contest. But the votes of two judges…

“Did you see her after the pageant?” Candy asked suddenly.

Again, Sebastian’s lips clamped tight, and Candy was about to threaten him, but finally he relented and nodded. “Once.”

“When?”

“The day before she died.”

“You’re lying,” Cameron shot out.

Sebastian shook his head resignedly. “’Fraid not, kid. Yeah, I saw her-Sunday night, the day after the pageant. She called me after everything was over and insisted I stop by her place. I didn’t know what to expect, but mostly I was just hoping the whole thing was over, once and for all. But it wasn’t. Oh, she was thrilled to win the crown, of course. But when I showed up at her house, she told me she needed more money. Can you believe it? She was the Blueberry Queen now, she said. She had newfound status. She needed a whole new wardrobe so she could look good around town. And she wanted another five thousand dollars from me. Five thousand!”

He shook his head in disbelief. “I told her I wasn’t giving her any more money, that we had made an agreement. But she just laughed at me. She called me a fool. She threatened to tell everyone I was a fraud, that my Pulitzer Prize-winning book had been written by her long-dead boyfriend.”

“Is that when you decided to kill her?” Cameron asked, his voice simmering.

Sebastian sighed. “For the thousandth time-I didn’t kill her. I wasn’t even in town the night she was killed.”

That caught Candy by surprise. “What do you mean?”

“Just what I said-I wasn’t even around this nutty town. I was in Bangor.”

“I don’t believe you,” Cameron said.

“You have to, because it’s the truth. I can prove it.”

“What were you doing in Bangor?” Maggie asked.

Sebastian gave her a tired smile. “Untie me and I’ll show you.”

Maggie shook her head. “No way, mister. That ain’t happening until you tell us everything.”

“I’ve already told you everything,” Sebastian said with a deep sigh. “Sapphire was blackmailing me, yes. But I had nothing to do with her death. Look, this is all a huge misunderstanding. Untie me now and I won’t press charges-we’ll just let the whole thing go.”

“What were you doing up in Bangor?” Maggie repeated.

Finally Sebastian relented. “If you must know, I was seeing a lady friend-an admirer of mine. And before you say you don’t believe me again, check the dresser in the bedroom.” He nodded up the stairs. “On the top of the dresser you’ll find all the receipts, for everything.”

Maggie shot Candy a look, and Candy nodded. She moved quickly, across the room and up the narrow stairs to the second floor. She was gone for a few moments, as everyone waited anxiously. Finally she bounded back down the stairs, holding several small receipts in her hand. “Let him go,” she said softly. “He’s telling the truth.”

THIRTY-FOUR

Bones cracked in protest as Sebastian J. Quinn rose uneasily, rubbing at his sore arms and shoulders and knees, which had stiffened during the time he had been kept prisoner in the chair. Candy had found a knife in a kitchen drawer and cut him loose, causing not a small amount of pain and discomfort as she and Maggie had pulled the duct tape off him. But he sat patiently during the process, wincing only occasionally, and now remained standing near the chair as Candy moved to the dining room table, where she had laid out all the receipts in a neat line.

“This is the hotel receipt-and here’s the date.”

“Monday,” Maggie noticed, with a glance at Sebastian, “just like he said.”

“He could have checked in and then driven back to my mom’s house,” Cameron observed.

Candy nodded. “He could have-it’s not that long of a drive-but he didn’t.” She pointed to the next receipt. “This one’s for dinner, that same night. Check the time on the receipt-nine forty-five. You figure an hour or so for dinner-that means they sat down at around eight thirty.”

“We had an eight-fifteen reservation,” Sebastian confirmed, “and drinks at the bar before that.”

Maggie’s eyes widened when she noticed the total amount of the check. She whistled. “Three hundred thirty- five dollars. Must have been some dinner.”

“Two bottles of wine-and expensive wine at that,” Candy said, pointing to the receipt with her pinky.

“It was a special occasion,” Sebastian explained, sounding annoyed at the scrutiny.