The Postman Always Purls Twice (28 page)

“I believe you,” Maggie said quietly. And she did.

Though Charles's harsh warning suddenly echoed in her mind—
Jennifer Todd is charming. Charismatic. But she's an actress. She's not your friend.

Was she acting now? What would be the point? What does she have to gain by winning over my good opinion? Maggie didn't think there was any hidden motive. Jen was just lonely and had no one to talk to.

“What about Alicia? Where's she?”

“She's still in town. But I told her to go back to LA with the others. There are some things at the house she can take care of for me. And I know she wants to go to Heath's service. I don't want to deprive her of that, just because I can't be there. And Nick isn't able, either, of course. Theo will have to represent us,” she added.

Theo was not exactly sitting a vigil at his father's bedside, was he? But of course she couldn't say that to Jennifer.

“Will Theo come back to be with Nick, too?”

“He said he would. He's very upset and concerned about his father,” she assured Maggie. “Even though they haven't had the easiest relationship.” Maggie wondered what she meant by that but didn't ask. “Alicia will come back, too, after the memorial. Probably on Sunday. She'll meet me in Boston,” Jennifer added.

Jennifer offered a small, brave smile, then leaned over and impulsively hugged Maggie. “I might not see you before I go back. Thanks again.”

“No thanks necessary,” Maggie said honestly. “Take care.”

Jennifer put her camouflage back in place and ran out the door with a small wave. Maggie waved back. She did not envy Jennifer Todd one bit, for all her fame and fortune.

At half past five, Maggie wondered if she should close early. There hadn't been any customers in the last half hour or more. That's just the way it was some days. Her friends were coming in about an hour and she wanted to start setting up for dinner and put the finishing touches on the meal she'd made. Crostini with chopped plum tomatoes, fresh basil and other herbs on top, for a starter, along with some olives and cheese. She was serving pasta primavera with a pink sauce for the entrée—in honor of spring arriving. Suzanne was bringing the dessert—something horribly decadent and delicious, she had no doubt.

Just as she locked the door and turned the sign around, a text message arrived on her phone. It was from Dana. Maggie guessed she'd be late with a patient. It happened all the time.

Jennifer picked up by police. About to charge attempted murder and homicide. Will find out all I can asap.

Maggie was stunned and stood staring at the phone. Phoebe came in from the storeroom. “What's wrong? Bad news?”

“Jennifer Todd was just arrested. The police believe she tried to kill her husband . . . and did kill Heath.” Maggie looked up at Phoebe. “I wonder what they finally found to tie her to the crimes? I won't believe it until I hear,” she added.

Suzanne and Lucy had both heard by the time they arrived. They sat at the oak table, waiting for Dana with the inside story. Maggie had already set out the starters and her guests helped themselves. She poured a glass of wine for herself and told them about Jennifer's visit.

“She came here this morning, to thank me for helping her,” Maggie said. “By confirming her statement about the tote bag. I told her I'd just told the truth. But she's used to people looking for angles, profiting from some celebrity's problems or pain.” Maggie paused. “She was very worried. She said someone was out to frame her.”

“Looks like they succeeded,” Suzanne replied. “Unless—I know you don't want to hear this, Maggie—unless she is guilty?”

“I think we ought to wait until Dana comes and see what she's found out. That should tell the story one way or the other,” Lucy said evenly. “I will say, I'm with Maggie. I don't think Jen is guilty. I think the police just aren't seeing something . . . something outside the frame of this picture.”

An apt way of putting it, Maggie thought. She agreed.

Before anyone could say more, Dana sailed through the door.

“Sorry I'm late, but I had to catch up with Jack. He knows a lot about the investigation, some breaks in the case that happened just today.”

Maggie took a breath, bracing herself. To find out I'm a bad judge of character after all, she thought. And I've missed the best chance I've had lately—and possibly the last chance I'll ever get—of finding a really good relationship, because I'm so stubborn sometimes.

Dana settled in and Suzanne poured her a glass of wine.

“There's some physical evidence,” Dana said, “nothing that totally nails it, but they're hoping all together it builds a case against her.”

“Go on.” Suzanne had bitten into a crostini and dabbed her chin with a napkin.

“First, we already heard that the digitalis used to poison Nick was from some pure, organic source. We were right with our guess about flowers. The police lab narrowed it down to lily of the valley, a certain variety grown only at a few flower farmers in the U.S., but the same type used by the online flower order service that sent out Jennifer's delivery—the bouquet from Regina Thurston. They believe a solution of the ground-up flowers was injected into the green health drink. Which would have masked the flavor. The intent, to kill,” she added. “Though it didn't quite kill him.”

“So they linked her to the lilies . . . What about the daffodils? We didn't see any of those in her room,” Phoebe said.

“No, but there were banks of them growing around the beach house,” Suzanne said. “I guess you didn't see them the night of the party.”

“I didn't notice any,” Maggie said. “But it was raining and almost dark.” She didn't feel happy about hearing any of this. It was a bitter pill to swallow; a bitter bulb, more precisely. But she sat still and quiet, listening. Trying to keep an open mind.

“The police say a few bulbs had been dug out of the garden. And they found a pot in the kitchen of Jennifer's trailer with residue of lycorine, which leads them to believe daffodil bulbs were boiled or cooked in it. Cooked down, they think, so that the water was highly toxic. It would have had a bitter flavor. But the lemons in Heath's drink would have masked that.”

“Diabolical,” Suzanne said quietly.

“Isn't it?” Dana agreed. “And there was something else. It took time, but technicians traced the threatening emails sent to Jen's website, over the past few months. The police say the transmissions came from a computer in her own house, and an email account set up specifically for that purpose.”

“So she created a fake stalker?” Lucy asked, sounding confused. “But what about Jerome Nesbit? He admitted coming here and sending her flowers.”

“Yes, he did. But Jennifer—or someone—took advantage of that and made it seem like more. And more threatening than Jerome ever was,” Dana explained.

“Trying to throw suspicion off of herself and make someone think a crazed fan killed her husband?” Phoebe asked. “That was dumb. Everyone knows how easy it is to trace emails.”

“Yes, that seemed odd to me. If you were smart enough to plan out the poisonings, it seems you wouldn't slip up like that,” Lucy said. “There are ways to hide the source of emails. And it's relatively easy to find out how to do that,” she added.

“I think that supports her claim of being framed, don't you?” Maggie piped up. Though she was also starting to doubt Jennifer.

“Possibly . . . but what really put the police on Jennifer's trail was Trina Hardwick's statement,” Dana told them.

“Did she see anything that proves Jennifer is guilty?” Lucy asked quickly.

Dana shook her head. “It wasn't that. But she told the police Nick and Jennifer had serious problems in their marriage. They were no lovey-dovey power couple. They had knock-down-drag-out fights all the time. People on the set confirmed it, too.”

“I could see him mixing it up,” Suzanne broke in. “That guy has a bad temper. You don't need to be with him more than five minutes to figure that out  . . . But Jen doesn't seem like a screamer.”

“No . . .anything but,” Lucy agreed.

“And a lot of couples argue. They were under a great deal of pressure, making that film together,” Maggie said. She believed that was true. But still felt upset by the turn in the conversation. She got up and went over to the buffet to bring her guests more napkins.

“That's true. But there was more than bad arguments,” Dana added. “Trina claimed that Jennifer wanted a divorce, but Nick wouldn't let her out of the marriage. Nick had a string of flops lately and had lost a lot of their fortune on stupid investments. Jennifer was tired of being his ‘cash cow' and the big money earner. She knew she was getting older. Actresses don't get very good roles after forty . . . if they get anything. That's why she wanted to get away from him. But he'd somehow persuaded her to stay and make this film, to make back some of their losses. She agreed to it. As long as Heath signed on.”

“And we already know about her and Heath,” Suzanne sighed.

“Trina said they always had a thing for each other. Even after Jennifer married Nick. And Nick was no angel, either,” Dana added. “So Jennifer must have justified her dalliance. Heath was her only affair, but Nick liked variety. That's how Trina claims she knew all these intimate details of their married life. She and Nick . . . well, you get the idea.”

“I'll say we do. Too much information, thank you,” Maggie said as she returned to the table.

“It's better than
Hollywood Insider
, I'll say that,” Suzanne admitted.

“I think it's interesting that of the four principal people involved in the film—Nick, Jennifer, Heath, and Trina—Trina is the only one who
wasn't
the target of any accidents. Or poisoning. Even Jennifer nearly got hit by that falling light fixture,” Maggie pointed out. “How do the police explain that? Did she try to throw suspicion off herself by having her face cut to bits by broken glass?”

“The police think that was a bona fide accident. Just a coincidence.”

“What about the fire in Heath's trailer? How do they connect that to Jennifer? They say they know how she killed him . . . but why would she kill Heath?” Lucy asked Dana. She looked around at the others, too.

“I agree with Lucy. I think she loved Heath. I don't see any reason why she'd hurt him. She probably hoped to be with him after she divorced Nick,” Suzanne said. “Why kill him?”

Dana sat back and sipped some more wine. “They're a little bit fuzzy on that one. But they are building on the money motive—in addition to the financial stress in the marriage, Nick had a big insurance policy, and Jennifer is the beneficiary. In regard to the movie, that's a little stickier, but Jack heard the movie is insured, too. If the film can't be finished due to something called force majeure, the partners—Nick, Jennifer, and Heath—stand to recoup their investment. And in this agreement, the remaining partners get the share of any other who is not alive to claim it.”

“So they think she just wanted to undermine the movie to collect the insurance? I don't buy that, either,” Maggie said. She thought it was time to serve the pasta and headed back to the storeroom to get it. But she could still hear the lively conversation quite clearly. And still felt a heaviness inside, feeling the urge to defend Jennifer, but wondering now if she truly was guilty.

“Wait, what's force . . . margarine?” Phoebe asked.

“Force majeure: an act of God. It's a clause that frees someone from fulfilling the terms of a contract if there's a flood or a war. Or an alien invasion,” Lucy explained.

“So Heath's death made it impossible to finish the picture. That's an act of God . . . even though God didn't poison him,” Suzanne added, sounding angry all over again at whoever did.

“That's all very interesting,” Maggie said finally. She set the hot pan of pasta in the middle of the table and began serving her friends.

“What about Theo, how does he stand in the will?” Suzanne asked.

“I don't know,” Dana replied, accepting her dish. “Hmm, this looks good,” she added quietly.

“Jennifer said he was very concerned and upset about his father,” Maggie told them, “but that they haven't had the easiest father-son relationship. I wonder what she meant by that?”

“I know,” Lucy piped up. “I've been reading a lot of old celebrity gossip news online about all these people,” she admitted. “It's been sort of addictive.”

“What's the story with Theo and Nick?” Dana asked curiously.

“It seems that they didn't have much of any relationship until the past few years. Nick's first wife was so angry at Nick when he left her that she kept Theo away from Nick for about ten years or more,” Lucy reported between bites. “I think Theo was about nine when the family broke up and he didn't see Nick again until he was in college. Nick probably reached out to him and he was out of his mother's influence by then. One article I read played up a cozy father-son reunion and said Nick had taken Theo under his wing and was teaching him the business. I think Theo even lives with Jennifer and Nick now.”