30. Mina

The voice sent a shockwave through my body. I never thought I'd hear it again.

"Mrs. Winstone?"

"You remember me. I'm so touched." Brenda Winstone's shoes clinked on the stone walkway around the roof. The wooden door to the stairwell made a loud CLANK as she slammed it shut. That's not good. "I thought that the great Mina Wilde would forget all about the people whose lives she ruined."

"You ruined your own life when you decided to murder your husband and Ginny Button because they were having that affair."

"Harold's death wasn't my fault. None of it was! They made me do it with their torrid affair. Ginny was having the child that should have been mine. It was all going to work out perfectly. I was going to be the mother I'd always dreamed of being, but instead, I've been locked away with a bunch of terrifying psychopaths, and I haven't got to see a single child."

"Weren't you in…"

"…the Crixley Institution? Why yes. If you knew where I was, why didn't you send flowers?" Brenda's voice dripped with malice. "Since you remember me so fondly."

Of course.I vaguely recalled radio reports and headlines in the Argleton Gazette this week about a patient who escaped from Crixley. If I hadn't been so distracted, I might have thought to look up the name of that patient.

If the guys had told me about someone leaving threatening notes about the wedding, we might have been able to put two and two together.

Because of course, Brenda Winstone hadn't gone to prison. I knew that. I'd watched the papers about her case after we found her husband, the famous historian Harold Winstone, carved up and shoved in her hallway closet.

"You ruined my life, and you got to keep being free and living with those doting men of yours. That's not fair, and I believe the world should be fair. So I've come to make sure that you don't get your happily ever after." Brenda chuckled lightly. "I've been having so much fun since I escaped. I've been living in that bothy on Cynthia's land, and I stole some uniforms from her staff so I could come and go in the house as I please. I even walked right up to her a couple of times, but of course Cynthia didn't even recognise me. She doesn't even notice the help. Well, I helped myself. I intercepted that delivery and cut up your chair covers, but then I realized that you had Morrie's endless coffers and all these villagers giving you free things because they all worship the ground you walk on, so I knew I had to step up my plans. My roommate in Crixley showed me how to spoof phones, so after I heard that Heathcliff had set up a trap for his so-called saboteur, I lured Iwan to the loading bay, gave him a little tap on the head, and made sure that Heathcliff took the blame for his murder. I thought you'd call things off after I got rid of the only celebrant who'd agree to marry you, that you'd see how wrong it was that you got to have three husbands when some of us have none, but nothing stops Mina Wilde, does it? And then your men found my bothy, so I had to change my plans. I knew I couldn't get inside the wedding, so I knocked out one of the limo drivers this morning, borrowed her uniform, and showed up for her shift instead."

"You were the woman with the croaky voice?" It wasn't from the cigarettes. It was Brenda trying to disguise her voice.

"Yes. I was going to drive you somewhere peaceful after the ceremony and dispatch you. But when I saw you running away from the ceremony, I knew that finally, the good Lord was shining on me. This was my chance. So I drove you back to the village, which is practically empty as everyone is at Lachlan Hall. And I followed you. I thought you'd go back to Nevermore Bookshop, but you came up here, the same place where I got rid of that harlot who was trying to lead my Harold astray. That's a sign! If I get rid of you, I'll get Harold back, and everything will be fine again."

"Brenda, wait?—"

I saw her shadow move and threw up my hands, but it was hard to block a blow coming for you when you can't see it.

Something slammed into the side of my face, sending my back against the roof. Oscar's harness ripped from my hand. Ancient tiles cracked beneath me. My arm scraped along the sharp edge of a slate roof tile, opening a cut that stung like hell. My head spun, and pain bloomed behind my eyes.

A dark shape loomed over me. Nails raked across the

"Another thing I learned from my roommate at Crixley," Brenda said with a smirk. "How to throw a punch."

Oscar growled behind me. I struck out with a fist, but I was disoriented and blind AF. My punch only glanced off her arm.

Rough hands grabbed my shoulders and yanked me up, spinning me around and slamming me against the stone parapet. Brenda leaned in close. "Say goodbye, Mina Wilde."

A scream tore from my throat as she shoved me over the wall.