Hushed Up--Myrtle Clover Mystery #15

Chapter Nineteen

Bianca's hand shook as she trained the gun on them. "I saw you looking at me like you knew something."

"Sure. But I didn't know what I knew then. I only just figured it out."

"Yes, but you were figuring it out. You're not stupid," said Bianca with clear regret. "I heard you talking with Rowan. About evidence being faked."

Myrtle said, "One thing I noticed when Miles and I were visiting Martin at his house was Martin was a fidgety sort. You don't really think of serious readers as being fidgety, but maybe he also fidgeted with stuff while he read."

"Maybe you should get to the point," said Bianca, shaking a little more.

"The point is that the object Martin was playing with during our visit was a sterling silver business card case. Monogrammed. And I do remember he was gloating about his upcoming inheritance and becoming the owner of the flower shop. He was planning on going right over to the shop directly after we left."

Bianca shrugged, but her eyes were watchful.

Miles said slowly, "The way Martin was twirling that case and catching it, he probably did the same at the shop. Maybe he also laid it down while he was looking around. You had the chance to take it and use it as planted evidence at Tallulah's house."

"Tallulah must have seen you at the house. Maybe she told herself it was business-related. Maybe she only remembered seeing you later on. But it started bothering her and she decided to speak with Red about it," said Myrtle.

"How do you know that?" asked Bianca in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Because it was completely obvious at the funeral. Tallulah's eyes were trained on Red and she was clearly trying to find a private moment to talk with him. If it was obvious to me, it must have been obvious to you, too," said Myrtle.

Bianca shrugged. "All I know is, I went up to talk to her and she turned bright red and started stammering. Seemed like she knew something."

"And you went over to see her and killed her with the closest object to hand . . . one of her golf clubs," said Myrtle. She gave Bianca a reproving look. "It was your same modus operandi with Lillian's death. Why did you go over to Lillian's that night? Did you go over expressly to murder her, or were you trying to have a conversation with her?"

"I was just trying to reason with her," whispered Bianca. The hand holding the gun shook. "That's all. She was talking about firing me because of something she said I messed up at a graduation party. But the flowers looked great! Everybody said so. There are no jobs here in Bradley and I can't move Tim to another town and another school. He's already had so many changes in his life already."

Miles frowned. "But killing Lillian wasn't going to keep you employed."

Bianca blinked at him. "I was just mad. She wouldn't listen to me. She never listened to me. I went there to reason with her and explain how much I needed the job. Lillian just laughed in my face and told me how bad I was. I saw red. That's all. And Martin had always been nice to me. As the new owner, I figured maybe I'd get a better deal."

"Then it was strange you decided to set him up for murdering his mother and Tallulah," said Myrtle coolly. "Although I suppose that was simply out of convenience since you had his business card holder he'd left at the shop. Still, it seems as though there might have been better candidates."

Bianca snapped, "Look, I don't have time for this. I have to get back to my son. It's not safe to leave him by himself."

"With a killer running around?" asked Myrtle laconically.

Miles gave her a look intended to make her hold her tongue.

Myrtle said, "You're not even thinking straight, Bianca. The gun you're holding on us doesn't even have a silencer. The police chief lives directly across the street."

"Well, I'm pretty close to the door," snarled Bianca. "Besides, I didn't see his car over there. I just need to hurry up, that's all."

She leveled the gun directly at Myrtle's chest. Myrtle and Miles looked at each other in panic.

Suddenly, the door was shoved open and Puddin appeared.

"Where's my watch?" she demanded.

When she took in the scene in front of her: the white-faced Myrtle and Miles, and Bianca, who'd swung around with the gun, Puddin started screaming bloody murder.

The sound was ear-piercing. It was a wail very much like a siren on all the emergency vehicles rolled into one.

"Stop it! Stop it!" yelled Bianca.

Which was when Dusty pushed his way in past Puddin and waved his hedge trimmer threateningly at Bianca. Puddin continued screaming, the decibel level increasing as time went on.

While Bianca was distracted by the cacophony, Myrtle looked at Jack's toy ambulance, which Red still hadn't come by for. Miles, seeing the direction of her gaze, pushed it over to her with his foot. Myrtle slipped up behind Bianca (who was ducking as Dusty swung the hedge trimmer at her) and launched the toy at her head. Suddenly, the ambulance's broken siren roared back into life and wailed as loudly as Puddin had, lights flashing.

They all stared at the unconscious Bianca on the ground. Myrtle carefully picked up the gun and cleared her throat. "Perhaps now would be a good time for someone to call Red."