“I’d also learned that Jake had been upset after a visit to the cabin, and he’d also been out of sorts after he'd seen a mystery woman leave the Reiki practice in the middle of the night. When I went there, Brad had a very expensive scented candle in his bathroom—one that matched a ridiculously prized perfume that two ladies in town wear. One of them is Mimi. Jake had an almost empty small size perfume bottle with the same scent in his house, one that was found in the cabin. Add to that, that she does have a prenup that leaves her with nothing if she strays, but a rich husband who probably would have been next on her hit-list. It’s highly likely she would have inherited if he died.”
I took a deep breath. "If it hadn't been for my aunt's death, I think she would have gotten away with it and killed her husband next. Has she confessed?"
"Oh yes. After we found a massive amount of digitalis at her home. And a prepared capsule."
He didn't keep me much longer.
All I needed to do in the end was sign a typed statement, and then I was free to go.
"One more thing, Ms. Merriweather," he said as he opened the door for me.
"Yes?"
"The next time, come to me straight away. Don't play detective on your own. That's my job."
I could have mentioned that he wasn’t exactly keen on wanting to listen to me until he was presented with the solution, but I didn’twant to rub it in. Instead I said, “I'm so glad to let you do it," I said. "Honestly. I’ve had enough danger for the rest of my life.”
"Good. Because things do not always end this well for people who think they’re Sherlock Holmes."
Chapter forty
I spent the weekend at home, not leaving the house once. My friends took turns coming over, feeding me, and telling me that the whole town was abuzz, especially Linda, who claimed she’d known all along that Mimi was a bad person.
"What do you think?" Harper asked when we were all assembled. "Was Brad in on this?"
I had had enough time to consider this question.
"My best guess is no. In that case, he’d have never let me use his bathroom while there was proof of his dalliance with another woman."
"What I don't understand is, why?" Reina asked. "It would have been easier to get rid of her husband first."
I shook my head and winced as my shoulder complained. "I think she didn't plan any of this in the beginning. But when she started an affair - well, the moment it would have become known, she would have been on her own. No money. Nothing. I guess that Jake, stickler as he was for doing the right thing, told her he knew—and he told her that he expected her to confess to her husband."
"It's what he would have done," Ange said.
"She had to get rid of him, fast. And when she found out that my aunt did not believe in an accidental death…"
"How long would her husband have lived?"Harper wondered.
"Not long. I assume she was still working on a way to get rid of him without anyone the wiser. She’d almost gotten away with two murders already."
"But she didn't, thanks to you," Reina said.
We all lifted our glasses for a toast.
"Here's to us," I said.
"To us," they chimed in.
"I think this is what my aunt would have wanted— the crazy coven together again, safe and sound." I chuckled.
Cosmo rubbed his head against my knee.
"You're so adorable," Reina said to him.
"He is." I stroked him.
***
