"Now we go see Nigel."
* * *
Nigel told us everything.
We called an all-hands meeting at Beau's to start in thirty minutes.
This was going to beepic.
18
When we got to the diner, theClosedsign was on the door.
Beau had shut down the entire restaurant for the first time in fifty years—since the night that Earl had disappeared.
"Epic," I repeated. "Are you sure they'll all come?"'
Jack's face was grim. "They'll all come. Anybody who doesn't will answer to me, and I'm not in a friendly mood."
"So much pain could have been avoided if only they'd just talked to each other." I shivered. "Let's never be like that, okay? No matter what, let's not keep secrets and hide things from each other. It feels… important. Deal?"
He took my face in his hands and kissed me. "Itisimportant. And yes. Deal."
Susan and Andy were the first to arrive.
"This had better be important, Tess," she said tiredly. "The paperwork from the Vern incident has been a nightmare. And I still haven't even begun to investigate the skeleton formerly known as Earl."
"That's okay," Jack told her. "We have. And we've solved it for you."
Andy stared at us. "What?"
"Take the win," I advised. "This is something you're going to want to hear."
Aunt Ruby, Uncle Mike, Lorraine, and Eleanor all arrived together, and Mr. Oliver, looking bashful but determined, trailed in behind them.
"Eleanor told me everything," he said.
"That's a switch," Jack muttered.
I just smiled and asked everyone to sit down.
Beau came out of the kitchen a few minutes later with a huge tray of burgers and salads and fries for everyone. We spent some time getting everyone food and drinks, and then Susan turned to me. "All right, Tess, Jack. Let's hear it. How have you solved Earl's murder?"
Everybody in the room except Susan and Andy gasped and started pelting us with questions.
"What?"
"How?”
"Who?"
"When?"
I held up my hands for silence and waited for everybody to settle down. "Please, just eat your dinner and be patient. We're not all here yet."
I looked at Jack.
"I hear them coming down the sidewalk now," he said.
