Chapter Twenty-One

As usual, Sara woke up early. It was nice to be in her own bed. Her mind was so full of her dreams that she needed to occupy herself to clear it, so she got up and dressed. When they'd gone to Lachlan House, they'd left the fridge full. It was hard to believe that was just a few days ago. Sara began cooking, and when everyone arrived, she had enough for a dozen people.

"Something on your mind?" Jack was teasing. He knew she often did physical things to calm her thoughts. "My bathroom could use a good scrub."

Ignoring him, she looked at her brother. "Still think Barbara did it?"

He was setting the big dining table. This much food deserved the Coalport china. "Her mind was on worrying how her gay husband would take it that she was pregnant."

"She wasn't concerned about Harry killing a man?" Sara asked. "Or did she pay Derek Oliver off so that aspect of the murder just disappeared? Vanished?"

Randal was unperturbed by his sister's snappiness. "Her baby was more important to her than an ancient murder that had little chance of prosecution. Even now there appears to be no proof."

Sara grimaced. "The person blackmailing her disappeared and no one asked why?"

As they sat down to eat, Jack gave Kate a look of What's wrong with her?

Kate shrugged. She had no idea. "How about Lea?" she asked Jack.

"As she told us, she thought Oliver would eventually show up. She was dreading the divorce."

"Lea never searched for him?" Sara asked.

"No. However, I did find out that Derek's next choice of wife was Rachel. And..." He paused to pull the ring out of his pocket and put it on the table.

That effectively made everyone grow quiet, then they looked at Randal. He took the ring and examined it. "Garnets. Not worth much. I never saw it before."

"Sure?" Sara asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking me if I know my gems? Like I know that the green stone in the necklace you often wear is an emerald while the sparkly white stone is fake?"

Sara picked up the ring. "This just seems to back up that Rachel had her grandmother's jewels."

Kate nodded. "We just don't know if she was stealing them or hiding them."

"I think hiding," Randal said. "Derek Oliver would have wanted the big emerald the most."

"He got it," Jack said, and they thought of it rolling out of the man's skull. He looked at Sara. "Lea asked me why you didn't marry Cal."

They turned to stare at Sara, but she pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Kate broke the silence. "What else?"

"This is off the subject of murder," Jack said, "but Lea told me what great friends Cal and James Lachlan were. I didn't realize it was so strong. He was a real father to him." He looked at Sara and Randal. "Did you know that Granddad's mother cooked for James Lachlan?"

Sara's face showed her surprise. "Renata? I'm surprised that man she was married to allowed that." She didn't want to say the name. She turned to her brother. "Did you know that?"

"I had no idea. I stayed away from Cal's father. He was a horrible man."

"He was!" Sara looked at Kate. "Did you find out anything interesting from Reid?"

"Personally interesting, yes, but I can't see what it has to do with the murder. Although, it makes me glad that Reid is to inherit the property."

"Did you tell him?" Sara asked.

"No, of course not. We'll have to do that with champagne."

"And a lawyer," Randal added under his breath. He was always leery of the legal system.

They looked back to Kate, eager to hear her story.

For the second time, she told of the eight families coming to America, of the jealous judge, and the quick trial and hanging.

"But Alish married the poor man first," Sara said softly. "Before the execution." They turned to her, waiting for her to explain, but she didn't. "Anything else?"

"Her house was odd," Kate said. "There was nothing personal in it. No photos, nothing. I didn't realize it, but I was hoping for some pictures of Greer. Maybe even of Greer and me." She sighed. "But she did have the brooch."

Sara removed the old brooch from her shirt pocket and put it on the table.

Randal picked it up and immediately his eyebrows raised.

"Real?" Jack asked. They knew he was asking about the old stone in the middle.

"Very." Randal put it down as though it was blazing hot—or that he didn't trust himself with it.

"Reid said his grandmother recently decided she has Second Sight." Kate didn't smile, but the two men did. She may as well have said fairies had flitted about the room.

"She's always had it," Sara said. "Her entire life."

"And how do you know this?" Randal asked.

Sara opened her mouth to speak but closed it. She was a writer. Someone who made up stories. In the past, she'd written of her dreams. If she told that she believed her last two dreams were real, that she was channeling someone else's memories, she feared she'd see patronizing looks on their faces. She loved all the people around this table and it was reciprocated, but she balked at telling them what she'd "seen."

"Okay," Jack said when she didn't answer, "what about you and Rachel?"

"Wait!" Kate said. "I'm not finished. Some interesting things happened last night."

"You mean the way you were throwing yourself at the entire Lachlan Fire Department?" The looks the others gave Jack said he was being ridiculous. He gave a small smile. "Or do you mean what you and Flynn talked about?"

"Right," Kate said. "Sheriff Flynn told me something, plus, I had another memory." She told both stories clearly and concisely.

When she finished, they looked at each other. Her stories seemed to add two new suspects, Billy and Alish. But murder was one thing while what was done to the victim's head was another. They began to speculate about who could have done such a hideous thing.

"Anyone," Randal said. "Any person can be driven to the point of insanity." From his experiences in life, he knew more about being taken to the brink than they did.

"Alish," Sara said. "She comes up in everything. If Oliver was harassing Greer and calling her names, maybe Alish protected her."

"By bashing in a head, yes," Randal said, "but sawing open the skull? It seems far-fetched due to her circumstances."

Sara glared at her brother. "You mean because of her age? Why does everyone believe that growing old cleanses people's souls? Mentally sick young people don't become sweet little old dears just because of the passage of time. And don't forget that the murder happened twenty-five years ago! We were all younger—and stronger—then."

For a moment, they stared at Sara. She was getting angry.

"What have you been writing?" Kate asked.

"What?"

"You heard me. You write about your life, so what are you putting in your notebook? A love story about Jack and me?"

"No!" Jack said.

The two women were staring at each other, oblivious of the men.

Sara's face was turning red. "Nothing important," she muttered. "Just some thoughts on the 1944 murder."

"The one Harry Adair committed?" Randal asked.

Sara nodded. "And the execution. I think everything is connected."

"None of the people at Billy's place have found anything," Jack said. "Troy keeps in contact with them. They've seen every movie three times and read all the scripts, but they haven't found anything like what we told them."

"Maybe Adair didn't write about it," Randal said.

In unison, the others turned to look at him. Their faces said, "A writer has a story and doesn't tell it?! Impossible!"

Randal put his hands up in protection. "Okay, just a thought. But Troy doesn't know of any movie that fits the bill, and he's seen everything."

Sara looked at her brother. "If you'd killed someone and made a movie about it, would you let Kate see it?"

Randal grimaced. "She read that damned book about me. If I could have stopped that, I would have." He looked at Sara in understanding. "Maybe Harry hid his story. Have you figured out anything? Something you aren't telling us?"

"A marriage for murder," she said, then held up her hand. "Don't ask me what that means. I don't know."

"But you're the one who made it up," Jack said.

Kate was staring hard at her aunt. "If Alish does have Second Sight, I wonder what the depth of it is." She nodded to the brooch on the table. "I've read of people being able to transmit thoughts through objects. Especially old artifacts."

Sara wasn't ready to tell of the clarity of her dreams. But she was rather good at spinning the facts. She could say lots and tell nothing. "All this has made me think of a possible book. What happened to James Lachlan's son? Why did he run away after his cousin's execution? Did anyone know where he went? We keep hearing about a movie but it doesn't seem to exist—or does it?" She took a breath. "We don't know why Derek Oliver was murdered, but my mind keeps going to the past, and yes, I've been writing it all down. Any more questions?"

They could tell that Sara had been pushed as far as they dared.

"You haven't told us about your time with Rachel," Randal said. "Did you learn anything new?"

"No. I failed completely. She said what we already knew, that someone had yet again ransacked the nursery. She was quite upset about it, and while we were there, she started putting things back in order—just as Kate did. Since that area was closed off for twenty-five years, it could have been rearranged a long time ago. Maybe by a cleaning crew."

"No," Kate said. "I was in there during the renovation. The room was in the correct order. I'm sure that one of our guests went through it. It's just a gut feeling, but I believe that person was looking for my hedgehog."

"Then it was probably Rachel, since she was seen with it," Randal said.

"But she was bellyaching about things being out of place," Jack said. "If she made the mess, complaining about it makes no sense."

"Maybe she was lying and covering up what she'd done," Kate said. "I wish Greer were here. She'd know."

They were silent as they thought of the death of the poor, sad young woman. She'd not had much of a life.

"We may not solve this one and I'm not sure I care," Sara said. "Everyone is better off that the man was gone. And it appears to be a one-off. A crime of passion."

"Except for the chimney nearly killing me," Jack said.

"That could have been an accident," Sara said.

Jack's eyes blazed. "I did not leave a chimney in such a bad state that it fell. And what about the text sent from Kate's phone? And her business card on the ground? How do you explain those things?"

They were silent, as they had no answer.

Jack was frowning. "I'm going to get some clean shirts." He went down the hall to his room.

"I need fresh clothes too." Kate went to her apartment.

When Sara and Randal were alone, he said, "You don't really believe that Jack left a chimney like that, do you?"

"Of course not. But I want to believe it. Otherwise I'd have to think someone was after Jack."

"But why?" Randal said. "Money? To stop the investigation? Killing you would be more likely to achieve those things."

"True." She was unperturbed at his observation. "We need to—" She cut off because Jack came down the hall and from the look of him, it was something bad. "What happened?" she asked. "Tell me you didn't get a call from your mother."

"Rachel," Jack said quietly.

"Injured? Went home? What?" Randal asked. "And who told you?"

"No one." Jack sat down on a dining chair.

Kate came out of her apartment carrying a tote bag. "What's going on?"

"Something's happened to Rachel," Sara said, "but Jack hasn't told us what."

"I'll go to the house," Randal said. "Whatever's happened, everyone will be a mess. Should the sheriff be called?"

He was halfway to the door when Jack said loudly, "No!"

Randal went back to them, and they waited for him to explain.

"She's not there," Jack said. "She's here. In my bedroom."

They looked at each other for moment, then went down the hall to Jack's bedroom. There, lying peacefully on the bed, looking like she was sleeping, was Rachel.

"You checked that she's dead?" Randal asked Jack.

"Of course I did!" He snapped, because one time he'd assumed a person was deceased but he wasn't. Jack wasn't going to make that mistake again.

They stared in silence at the woman. She looked as though she might sit up at any moment.

Jack turned to Sara. "Who besides you doesn't like her?"

"I changed my mind," Sara said. "We had a good time yesterday. Sort of. If it weren't for a murder investigation we might have become friends."

"We have to call someone," Randal said.

All four of them groaned. Whichever law enforcement agent they talked to was going to bawl them out.

"I'll text," Sara said. She was an expert at getting out of making telephone calls.

"What are you going to tell whomever you text?" Randal asked.

She had her phone in her hand. "Daryl. Dead body found in Jack's bedroom. What do we do?"

Randal looked at it. "Concise and horrible. It's perfect."

While the others stared in silence, Sara ran to get her camera and the shortest, fastest lens she had. She even slid the flash onto the top. In Jack's room, she moved all around the bed as she took a lot of photos. It was while she was leaning over the bed that she saw the tattoo. As Lenny had said, it was the double R—just like Reid's.

"How do you think she was...you know? Killed?" Kate asked. "I don't see any marks."

"Maybe she was killed elsewhere and put here," Randal said. "If we could turn the body over, we might see an injury."

But no one dared touch her.

"Poison," Sara said as she made sure her aperture was wide-open. "Her vodka was laced and she was dropped off here. She staggered inside and..." Her eyes widened as she looked at Jack. "Sometimes you leave your windows open, so I checked this room last night. Everything is locked."

He knew what she meant. While Sara had been sleeping just a few feet away, Rachel had died on his bed. Of her own accord or with help, they didn't know. "Who knew you were spending the night here?"

"Lenny, you, and Kate."

"You told no one else?"

"No," Sara said. "But I could have been followed. I didn't think to look."

"Maybe no one realized you were in the house," Jack said. "Oh no! Yesterday I said I had to go home to get some clean clothes. Several people were there."

"If one heard, they all did." Randal was looking at Jack. "I think this is a warning to you."

"Why me?" he asked.

Sara's phone pinged. It was a text from Daryl.

Touch nothing. I'm in Boca. be there soon.

She showed them. "So I guess we wait. Let's go into the—"

"Hey!" Gil was standing in the doorway. "I pounded on the door but nobody answered. What are you guys up to?"

Jack tried to block his friend from seeing what was on the bed, but he didn't succeed.

When Gil saw Rachel, he tried to go to her. He was a large man, and it took both Randal and Jack to hold him back. It wasn't easy to get him down the hall, into the living room, and seated on a couch.

"She's...?" Gil asked.

"Yes. I'm really sorry," Sara said.

"She can't be gone," Gil said. "We just found each other. She was with us at home and it was like we'd always been a team. She and Quinn watched a movie together. He talks to her. She's the best woman I've ever met. Smart and funny and—"

Kate sat down by him and took his hand, while Jack sat on the other side of him. Sara and Randal went to the dining room and began clearing away the breakfast dishes.

"This is not good," Randal said when they were alone. "Someone has more in mind than some old murder. There's something contemporary going on."

"Why?!" Sara said. "What did Rachel know?"

"She didn't have the jewels since they were inside the skull."

"But maybe the murderer didn't know that. He or she wanted to know where the jewels were and when Rachel didn't know, she was removed."

"What's ironic is that if she told the killer she'd sewn them into a hedgehog, the murderer would know they were in an unreachable place."

"And that would make Rachel unneeded," Sara said. "Since she knew who the killer was, she had to go."

"Of course. So why is this person also after Jack? The chimney and now his bedroom. It's like Jack is the real target." Neither of them had answers.

Sara left Randal to fill the dishwasher and went back to the living room to Gil. He looked awful, and he was still talking.

"You know what I went through with Quinn's mother and I've dated some women, but Quinn hated them all. I always found out that he was right. He and I—"

Sara interrupted. "Where is Quinn?"

For a moment Gil's face was blank, then he showed his shock. "I told him to wait for me in the truck."

At that moment, Quinn entered the room from the hallway leading to Jack's bedroom. "You forgot about me," he said to his father, sounding hurt. "Who's the woman on Jack's bed?"

"Trauma," Sara said, and went to the boy to hug him.

He stepped away from her, frowning. "What's going on?"

Gil got up and went to his son. "I'm sorry. Rachel wouldn't want you to be sad. We have to think of her as she was."

Quinn pushed away from his father. "Are all of you crazy? That's not Rachel. Is that woman dead?"

Gil reached out for Quinn, but he moved away.

"That is not Rachel!" Quinn shouted.

Each of them had had experience with grief. Denial was the first step of it.

They formed a half circle around Quinn, with no one knowing how to comfort him.

Jack stepped forward, his hand extended. In the months they'd spent together in Colorado, he and the boy had become close.

Quinn was about to take Jack's hand when a woman spoke.

"I don't meant to interrupt, but Lenny said all of you were here, and the door was open. I made muffins."

Slowly, they turned to look at her, then froze in silence.

It was Quinn who reacted. He plowed through the circle, nearly knocking Kate down, as he went to the woman. He threw his arms around her, lifting her from the ground.

Randal caught the basket of muffins before they hit the floor.

"I told them!" Quinn said in triumph. "I told them you weren't her."

The others stood still and stared.

Laughing, the woman broke away from Quinn before he crushed her, and looked at him. "I'm glad to see you too. Have you had breakfast?"

Jack was the first to recover from shock—and he didn't look happy. Without a word, he stepped behind the woman, put his hands on her shoulders, and guided her down the hall to his bedroom.

There on the bed lay the woman who looked like the one in front of Jack. Rachel was dead on the bed and Rachel was being held in Jack's strong grip.

"Is she...?" Alive Rachel asked.

"She's dead." Jack's voice wasn't kind.

"I guess you want an explanation."

Jack raised an eyebrow but said nothing as they went back down the hall. The others were sitting in the living room, with a space open on a couch for Jack, and for the Rachel who was alive.

Kate, Sara, and Randal were frowning, their faces serious to the point of anger. They didn't like being played for fools.

On the opposite couch were Gil and Quinn. They were enjoying the freshly baked muffins, a platter of fruit, and big mugs of cold milk. They were very happy. Quinn was wearing a smug I-told-you-so look. Having outsmarted so many adults was a highlight of his life.

Jack and the woman sat down on the couch, waiting in silence for her to explain.

She took a couple of breaths, let them out, but said nothing. She looked at Kate. "Do you still like the coconut pieces the best?"

Kate's mouth dropped open. "Greer?"

"Yes."

Kate was blinking. "That's it! Last night I saw Jack and Troy walk away, and they looked so much alike from the back. It reminded me of something but I couldn't remember what. From the back, you looked like Rachel. Lea said that."

"Only from the neck up." She was smiling, showing her perfect teeth. "You grew up to be so pretty and now you're to be married. It makes me feel old." She looked at Randal. "I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I'm glad Lea waited for you, and—"

Sara cut her off. "Your grandmother sent you away so she wouldn't be blamed for the disappearance of Derek Oliver. But she knew he hadn't disappeared. He was dead."

Greer nodded. "Yes. She can ‘see' things but her abilities are limited. She can't predict world disasters. It's centered on our family. What's important is that she knew that if I stayed in Lachlan I would be accused of murder."

"Does Reid know you're alive?" Randal asked.

"No!" Greer said quickly. "My brother is upright and law abiding. Grans didn't tell him anything because he probably would have felt a duty to tell the sheriff. The one before this one, that is."

"The man who set my brother up," Sara said under her breath. She was studying Greer intently. "I feel stupid that I didn't see that you were two people. But then, I think maybe Rachel kept herself hidden, but I believe I saw her from a distance. With your brother. And there were little clues. You called Mrs. Meyers ‘Grans.' Yesterday there was a lift at the end of your sentence. Pure British. Have you been living in England? Tell us everything and please start at the beginning."

Greer smiled. "Good sleuthing. Yes, I live in London. I work for a law firm of three very old lawyers. I keep their files in order and remind them of where they're supposed to be when." She paused. "I guess I should start on the night that dreadful man disappeared..." She looked at Kate. "After we had our picnic upstairs, and after we went to bed, Grans woke me up in the wee hours. She'd had one of her visions."

"Was it in the form of a dream?" Sara asked.

"I think they are," Greer said. "She never talked about them, so I'm not sure. Have you had dreams?"

Sara didn't answer the question. "What did Alish do?"

"She said I had to go with her and to do it quietly." Greer frowned. "She had everything prepared for me to leave."

"She must have had a premonition that it was going to be needed," Sara said.

"I guess so. All I know is that she had a packed suitcase and my passport. When she drove me to the airport, she told me about her vision. She said that the man was dead and that someday the body would be found. When it was, I would be accused of the murder. Worse, she said that she'd foreseen that I would be found guilty. She said that years ago she'd arranged for me to go to relatives in Scotland, and..." Greer's voice gave a little hiccup. "She said that from then on, I was to have no contact with her or my brother or anyone in the US."

"That was hard." Randal spoke from experience.

"Yes, it was. I stayed with my uncle and his family for years. They were very good to me, and I got rather good at carding sheep's wool." Only Kate smiled at that. "During that time I obeyed and I had no contact with anyone in the US. My Scottish relatives were lovely, but I missed Grans and Reid very much. When I turned twenty-one, I decided I'd had enough of mud and sheep, so I went to London."

"And got a job with your lawyers," Sara said.

"Yes, I did." Greer smiled. "For once my looks worked in my favor. My lawyers didn't want some young girl who'd have lots of boyfriends around, or after a year she'd quit to get married. I guess I should have been insulted, but it was nice to be wanted. We were a perfect match."

Sara circled her face with her hand. "Your transformation didn't happen quickly. You had to have started preparing for this long ago. Healing takes time."

Greer nodded. "During all those years, I heard nothing from my family, but I had an alert on my computer for anything about Lachlan." She looked at Sara. "Notices were rare, but I saw your name a few times. Anyway, on my twenty-fourth birthday, Grans sent me money through my uncle. It was a nice six figures, and she told me I was to change my looks. I didn't know if something awful had happened or what, but I liked the idea of changing. I immediately made an appointment with a Harley Street plastic surgeon. He asked who I wanted to look like."

Kate smiled. "You showed him that photo of you and Rachel, didn't you? I remember it. You two were side by side. Barbara said that with makeup, Rachel could be made to look like you."

"But not the other way around," Greer said. "And you're right. I showed the doctor that photo. Rachel and I were the same height, same coloring, but that was all. It took years, but I had teeth, skin, and nose done. And I had a personal trainer who nearly killed me in the gym. I lost the weight and reshaped myself." She smiled in memory. "My dear lawyers were so polite. They never asked about my bandages or what the English call the railroad tracks on my teeth."

Sara nodded to Greer's arm. "You didn't duplicate everything about her."

"That odd tattoo? She wouldn't tell me what it meant."

"Rachel and Reid," Sara said.

"Oh," Greer said as she thought about that. "I wish I'd pushed to know. Then maybe..." She sighed. "Anyway, I want to make it clear that it was never an intentional impersonation. Certainly not planned. After I was...transformed, I guess you'd say, my life didn't change much. But then I was fairly happy. I was never one for going to clubs or joining anything. For a while, I had a boyfriend, but it didn't work out. I assumed my life was as it was going to be. But then, abruptly, everything changed."

"Your alert told you what was going on here," Sara said.

"Exactly." Greer looked at Kate. "I owe everything to a woman in your office. She posted online that Lachlan House was being put up for sale."

"Melissa," Kate said. "She shouldn't have done that. The house wasn't under contract. It still isn't."

"I'm glad she did. When I saw that the house was going to be sold, I guessed that the body would at last be found and everyone would be questioned. Maybe I shouldn't have done it, but I wanted to know more. I called Melissa and she talked a lot."

"Of course she did," Kate said. "She's incapable of keeping a secret."

"She told me that I couldn't buy the house now because the listing agent—you—were throwing a party, and you were inviting a movie star. I wasn't sure but I thought maybe it was Barbara. If so, maybe you were recreating that party. After I hung up, I thought that if I wanted information, Rachel was the one I should talk to."

"The snoop," Kate said.

"Right. I asked my lawyers to please get Rachel's number and I called her. She told me of the party that was being given to celebrate Billy's life, and that she had no intention of going. She seemed to think the party really was for Billy. But I didn't think so. I had an idea that it was for a different reason, especially since you people were involved. If the body had been found, maybe if I helped solve the murder and prove that I didn't do it, I could reappear. As myself. I could see my family again. Maybe I could even have a real life." She looked at Gil and Quinn with love, and they smiled back at her. "I didn't let myself think about it, I just told her that I'd like to go in her place. As her."

No one said a word until Jack spoke up. "How hard did she laugh at that?"

Greer's eyes sparkled. "Long and loud—and quite nastily. Rachel was never what one would call a nice person."

"She used to say terrible things to you," Kate said.

"Oh yes, she did. She said I was the ugliest person she'd ever seen."

"You're certainly not ugly now," Jack said.

"Thank you," Greer replied.

"I would have loved to have seen her face when she saw you!" Kate said, and they smiled at each other.

"It was grand, and worth all the pain to see her look of shock when she first saw me," Greer said. "We had a few weeks to work on hair and makeup and her teaching me to speak with that flat Connecticut accent." Greer made an eye roll. "Rachel was not a patient teacher."

Gil had been silently listening to the story, then he and Quinn stood up. "I need to go to work." He held out his hand, Greer took it, and the three of them went out the front door. There was silence for a few minutes and they all knew Gil and Greer were kissing goodbye.

When Greer returned, she took her place on the couch. "I guess you have some questions for me."

Randal spoke first. "Didn't your grandmother foresee that the body wouldn't be found for twenty-five years?"

"I guess her visions didn't tell her that. She did say the body was hidden somewhere, not buried, and it would be found relatively intact, but she didn't know when. She just said that when it was found, people would look for me. And it's true. Everyone seems to have spoken of my anger and the abuse I endured from Mr. Oliver. All of it. Even dead, I'm a suspect."

"And you faked your own death," Jack said.

"My uncle did that. He even sent a coffin here. I have a lovely headstone. It has an angel on it." She paused. "Considering what's happened, I think it was all good, but the waiting has been horrible."

"Rachel didn't tell you everything," Sara said. "She had her own plan."

"You heard my call," Greer said. "I thought you might have. And you're right. Rachel told me very little of the truth of what went on with her during that week. And she didn't tell me that she was going to come here. She didn't even hint that she and my brother had been lovers."

"You're the one who slapped him," Sara said. "And Rachel kissed him." She let out a sigh. "Mystery solved."

"That first night after dinner, I was trying to sound like I knew anything." Greer looked at Kate. "I had to use bits that you and I had seen to try to fill it in."

"Aunt Sara and I got into the big cabinet and I remembered several things you and I had seen. Rachel had my hedgehog."

"What is the interest in that toy?" Greer asked, her eyes wide.

No one answered her.

"I get it." Greer sounded sad. "I'm not on the inside. Secrets are to be kept from me."

"You certainly kept them from us," Sara shot back at her.

"I did. Sorry. I should have trusted you."

"Did you find out anything from the other guests?" Randal asked.

"Other than that Rachel and my brother were hot and heavy? No. But back then, he seemed to believe they were going to get married." She gave a sound of disbelief. "Rachel told me that she was handed over to some New England hedge fund guy and told to marry him. She said she never had a choice about where her life was going."

Kate gave snort of laughter. "Poor Rachel. Forced to live in a multimillion-dollar mansion instead of a two-bed flat with your brother."

Greer smiled. "That's just what I thought."

"Too bad they weren't told that Reid—" Kate didn't finish, but only Greer didn't know the end of that. Too bad Derek Oliver didn't live long enough to tell Reid he owned the Lachlan Estate. Reid should have taken over ownership long ago. Maybe with good management, it could have become a big citrus industry.

"Did you learn about anything besides her and your brother?" Randal asked. They all knew he was asking about Lea. Was there any hint of her guilt?

"I tried to get information from them." Greer paused. "It's so different being around them now. I'm treated as an equal, not as a nuisance." Her head came up. "I think people are searching for things, but I'm not sure what they're trying to find."

"In the nursery," Kate said.

"Yes. There are missing items and rearranged things. I've tried to remember it all by going over this trip hour by hour. I got here early. That's when I met Quinn and Gil and we watched an old movie. Then we—"

"What movie?" Sara asked quickly.

"Nothing important. The tape had a worn cover so I thought maybe it might be interesting. Only something was the title. It was good. Strange but it held your interest. Some gorgeous young man made love to women, then killed them. I think it has a cult following."

"Never heard of it," Jack said. "Can't be too big of a cult."

"I've never seen Rocky Horror Picture Show," Sara said, "but people still pay to see it. I bet the tape was taken to Billy's place. What happens in the movie?"

"I don't know," Greer said. "I fell asleep before the end."

"We've been looking for a movie," Randal said. "From the 1940s. I'm not sure it means anything to this case, but my sister believes—"

"This is getting nowhere," Jack said. "We need to decide how to handle the fact that Greer is alive."

"Should we gather everyone, then she shows up and we see who passes out from the shock that she's not dead?" Sara asked.

"Then she gets killed a third time?" Randal said. "I really don't like that. Someone sneaked into my sister's house while she was sleeping."

Sara smiled at her brother in gratitude.

"The murderer will see that we know Rachel is dead," Kate said.

"The reactions will tell all," Sara said. "If we can read them. But can we risk it?"

Jack was looking at Kate and Sara. "I don't like taking such big risks."

"Nor do I," Randal said. "We have to—"

He stopped talking when the front door opened and in came Sheriff Flynn. The look of disgust on his face said everything: Yet another death. Probably the fault of the Meddling Medlars.

Without a word, Jack stood up and led the way to his bedroom. Minutes later, the two men returned, then the sheriff went outside to make some calls. The others silently waited for him.

Sheriff Flynn came back in and sat down on one of the couches. "Are those muffins?"

Sara and Kate jumped up to get fruit, butter, and orange juice for him.

During this, no one said a word. They were waiting for the pronouncement of their fate. Would this second murder cause Broward law to take over the case? Tell the Medlar-Wyatt group to go away? They stole glances at Greer. They didn't want to say it, but it was quite possible that she would be accused of the old murder—or for both of them. She had motive and opportunity. And the way she ran away and faked her own death might reinforce her guilt. Add her impersonation of the dead woman and there was a strong case.

They stayed silent while the sheriff ate a muffin and a bowlful of berries.

Finally, he turned to Greer. "You look like the dead woman."

Greer nodded.

"So who are you?"

"Reid's sister."

"What was he being blackmailed for?" the sheriff asked.

Greer's eyes widened. "I don't know. He and Rachel were a couple, but that doesn't seem like blackmail material."

"Did he ever have a big fat emerald ring?"

"Not that I know of," Greer said. "Was it stolen?" She looked at Kate. "Rachel may have done it. She—"

There was a loud knock on the door, the kind that said that if no one answered immediately, the door would be knocked down.

Jack got there first and opened it. Randal and the sheriff were behind him. Men with a stretcher were outside. "Let's go around the side." Jack led and the others followed.

When the women were alone, Sara looked at Greer. "I want to go to Alish, but I don't want your brother there. He's too protective of her. It's the ‘old people are fragile' syndrome."

At the mention of her grandmother, tears came to Greer's eyes. "I want to go with you," she whispered.

Sara was seeing this as a writer, playing it forward in her mind. "That won't work. You're dead."

"Twice," Kate said. "You're dead as Rachel and dead as Greer. You don't exist in any form."

Greer grimaced. "This isn't what I thought would happen. I thought the murderer would be revealed, then Rachel and I would stand together. We'd astonish everyone. It would be a good laugh."

"In this fantasy of yours, who was the murderer?" Sara asked.

"Barbara. She would put on the most wonderful performance as she was taken away in handcuffs. Flashes would be going off."

"Billy could do that," Kate said.

"They'd go together." Greer stood up. "Remember how the two of them used to do scenes from movies? My favorite was the one where Barbara wore pants and pulled her hair back to be a man. Then she killed Billy. ‘You have stabbed me in my heart,' he said. ‘But I go to Valhalla and I will wait for you there.'" Greer put the back of her hand to her forehead, and fell onto the couch.

Sara and Kate were staring at her.

"I don't remember seeing that," Kate said.

"You were probably in bed." Greer was looking at their expressions. "What did I say?"

"Why Valhalla?" Sara asked.

"I don't know. Back then, I thought he was saying vanilla. Years later I saw a Viking movie, heard the term, and realized that's what Billy had been saying. He was dying and going to Valhalla heaven. You two are looking at me very oddly."

"It's just that we've been trying to find an old movie about a murder and we haven't found it yet," Sara said.

"I assume Billy would know," Greer said.

Sara looked at Kate. "But he hasn't told us. How interesting. Mr. Tennis Champion with a violent temper when someone crosses him didn't tell us about playacting a movie death scene."

"Especially a scene that sounds just like what we asked him to find," Kate said.

Sara gave a little smile. "I think we should ask Billy about what he hasn't told us."

"I agree," Kate said.

They heard voices coming from down the hall. It looked like the men had finished their task of removal. There'd been no sirens so maybe the death was to be kept a secret—for a while anyway. Kate and Sara braced themselves for what they knew was coming. They were going to be bawled out by the sheriff. He was fed up with murders in his town.

Suddenly, Sara had a thought, and turned to Greer. "Headstones of angels cost a lot. Is your grandmother rich?"

"I don't think so, but she and I never discussed money. I think maybe she had some sort of inheritance."

"‘I will prosper through you,'" Sara whispered. Kate and Greer looked at her. "It's something I heard someone say. Only prosperous people can afford stone angels. They—" She topped talking because the three men appeared. "How long do we have to solve this?" she asked.

"To solve this murder?" Sheriff Flynn asked. "Or to wait for the next person to be killed?" He was staring at Greer. "What are we going to do with you? You show up and the murderer will realize he got the wrong one."

"I don't think he did," Sara said. "I think he wanted Rachel—" The sheriff's look made her stop talking.

"It doesn't matter who, what, or why. The murderer will know he screwed up." He frowned at Greer. "You, young lady, will be as good as dead."

"Oh," was all Greer could say.

"How about if Gil and Quinn take her to Colorado?" Jack said. "We'll get her out of here."

Sheriff Flynn turned to him. "She impersonated a woman who was probably a thief and maybe a murderer, but she's totally innocent? You think that'll hold up in court?"

"He's right," Greer said.

Jack didn't say a word as he sat down by Kate, with Randal on her other side.

The sheriff looked at Greer. "You're to stay with Gil, but you don't leave this town. I'm going to deputize Gil so he'll keep watch over you."

Greer blinked a couple of times. "Will he wear a uniform? And a gun?"

Her meaning was so clear that Sara, Jack, Kate, and Randal had to swallow to keep from laughing.

The sheriff glared at them. He was not amused. "I can see that all of you are overcome with grief at the death of that poor woman. What about her family? Does she have children? People who love her?"

They lowered their heads. He was right. They'd been much too frivolous about this.

"Rachel has a daughter," Greer said. "She lives in Texas. They're estranged. Her ex-husband remarried. I can find out about the rest of her family."

"You do that," Daryl said. "But don't tell them that someone took her life away from her. I want—" He stopped when his phone buzzed and he read the text. "That was Bea." She coordinated his office and kept up with everything. "The woman has been taken to the hospital."

"Not the coroner?" Sara asked.

"Not her!" the sheriff snapped. "The old woman. She fell down the stairs." He looked at Greer. "She's with you."

Sara was the first one to understand who he meant. "Alish? Is she all right?"

Daryl looked at her with interest. "You have some connection with her?"

Before Sara could speak, Greer said, "They share dreams."

Daryl threw up his hands in surrender. "A dead body falls out of a closet, a head dumps out jewels, a dead woman shows up in Jack's bed, but you are playing with your dreams. Are you gonna get a book out of it? Are you—?" Again, his phone buzzed. This time he turned pale. "It's Cotilla." He glared at them, then went to the front door. "Yes, sir?" he said, then left, firmly closing the door behind him.

Sara gave a loud sigh of relief. "That bawling out wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"About a seven," Kate said. "We've had tens. Or maybe we've grown tougher. At least nobody cried."

Jack was looking at Greer. She seemed to be thinking hard.

"Jewels? In someone's head?" Greer asked. "I guess that was Mr. Oliver. But how did they get there? How was he killed? Did someone—?"

Sara spoke loudly. "Alish is in the hospital!"

Immediately, Greer let go of her thoughts about Derek Oliver. "Yes! I was distracted. I must go see her." She stood up. "Where is she? Could I use your loo before we go?"

Sara pointed the way to her bathroom. As soon as she was gone, Sara said, "Of course Greer can't go anywhere in public. People think she's dead and someone knows Rachel is dead. I am going to go see Alish."

"They won't let you in," Randal said. "You're not a relative."

"We could lie." Kate obviously assumed that they'd all go.

"No." Sara looked at them. "You three are people who get attention. Jack, the nurses will recognize you from the Brigade, and Randal, wherever you go, people notice you. Kate, those overworked doctors would probably propose to you."

They didn't reply because they knew she was right.

"I'll take a cane," Sara said. "No one will even look at me." She turned to her brother. "Can you find out where she is? Her room number? I hope she's not in the ICU."

"Fell down the stairs?" Jack said. "We're supposed to believe that's just a coincidence, what with all that's going on?"

Sara looked at Kate. "We need to coordinate this. You keep Reid busy while I go to the hospital."

"Like hell she will!" Jack said. "She—"

Randal ignored Jack's outburst. "Reid, Alish, Greer. The whole family comes up often. Didn't I hear that Ivy is on a job in St. Petersburg?"

"That has nothing to do with anything," Jack snapped. "Kate isn't going to go—"

Kate looked at her father. "Of course! Reid lives and works in St. Pete." She turned to Jack. "Stop bossing me around and text your sister. Ivy needs to do some spying. On second thought, I'll text her. You'll tell her three words."

"And you'll write a book," Jack said.

Sara and Randal said in unison, "It's a perfect match." They smiled at each other. Sara was going to miss her brother when he moved in with Lea—if she hadn't killed anyone, that is.

When Greer came out of Sara's bedroom, everyone went silent. "Did I give you enough time to figure things out?"

No one replied.

Greer looked at Sara. "I'm going to the hospital to see my grandmother. I can show my passport to prove that I'm related to her. If I do that, I figure it'll take about four minutes for the killer to hear that I am actually alive. I wasn't run over by a train, and I wasn't left dead on Jack's bed. That should stir things up quickly."

They were staring at her in shock.

"Unless you figure out another way to get me in to see my grandmother, that is," Greer said. "Do that, and I'll play nice. Whatever, I am going to see her!" She looked at their silent faces. "Anyone have any idea how to do it?"

"Carol Burnett," Sara said.

Randal smiled in understanding but the young ones looked blank. "That might work," Randal said.