“I found out who killed the pastor tonight,” Cordelia said.
Daisy gasped, drawing her hands to her mouth. “Who did it?”
Cordelia started walking toward the pool and motioned for them to follow. “We should probably sit down for this. It’s a long, complicated affair.”
Once they were comfortably seated around the table with the pink umbrella for an impromptu happy hour minus the alcohol, Cordelia went on to explain everything she’d learned. How Stella had discovered the connection between Sean O’Leary and the Abernathys, what she’d overheard about their intentions, and how she’d planned to scare Edna and Corbin out of doing business with Sean. What ended up transpiring had been a tragedy that Stella would carry with her for the rest of her life.
The only thing Cordelia didn’t reveal was Stella’s relationship with Gladys. She didn’t think the chicks would be anything other than happy for Stella, but Cordelia felt strongly about letting people keep their personal business personal.
“Poor Stella.” Daisy tucked her fists under her chin. “I know doing a murder is wrong, but I don’t see her as a killer. She was trying to look out for us and the pastor paid the price. But make no mistake, none of that would’ve happened if Sean O’Leary had left us be.”
“That’s why we need to deal with him before he gets back to town,” Cordelia said. “We don’t have time to let Archer finish building his case, and the sheriff’s office is compromised. If Sean makes it to town, he will retaliate.”
“How are we supposed to go against him?” Daisy bounced her foot in a nervous rhythm. “He’s got powerful connections and eyes everywhere.”
“We need to start by calling a truce with Edna.” When thechicks began to groan, Cordelia held up a hand to silence them. “Without her cooperation, this plan will never work.”
Belinda Sue’s green eyes stared her down, near reptilian in the moonlight. “What kind of plan are you proposing? And how much of a chance do we have of pulling it off?”
Cordelia laid out what she hoped to accomplish and the urgency with which they had to act. If Archer was planning to head back to his momma’s house, Stella might not be able to hold up against his questioning. And seeing as how Archer was a do-right through and through, he’d have no choice but to turn in his momma. It would destroy them both. Planting the palytoxin in Sean’s home and framing him for the pastor’s murder was the only way to save everyone involved from unearned hardship.
Arline lifted her head from where she’d been doing her dozing-while-awake routine. “I ought to come with you. After we went to Benedict’s, I took it upon myself to learn the exact layout of Sean’s home, as well as his security codes.”
Belinda Sue raised an eyebrow. “And how did you manage to do that?”
But Arline just sealed her lips and went back to staring out at the plains. She had more secrets than the CIA had on the murder of JFK, but Cordelia didn’t press. Anyone who made an enemy of Arline was a damned fool.
The four of them piled into Cordelia’s car. She handed the keys to Daisy, but Daisy just shook her head and climbed in the back. She’d had enough driving for one night. Maybe the memory was too painful for her, or maybe she was sitting with how much she missed it, but Cordelia hoped Daisy would drive again one day, for her own pleasure.
On the way into town, the chicks were tense and silent. None of them relished the prospect of making nice with Edna. It wentagainst their very natures to work with her in any capacity, but they needed her statement to pull off the frame job. The sheriff could dismiss a bunch of sex workers and their madam, but he couldn’t dismiss someone he believed to be in just as deep as he was when it came to dirty dealings with Sean O’Leary.
Cordelia parked in front of Edna’s, where a single light shone through the front parlor window, and turned to face the chicks. “We’re going to play nice tonight. We’re not going to insult Edna or talk about her ugly décor.”
“It’s real ugly though,” Daisy said.
Cordelia nodded. “That’s God’s honest truth, but she doesn’t need to hear it from us. Tomorrow, we can go back to hating her as much as we like, but tonight, she’s our ally.”
The four of them crept up the walk, cognizant of how nosy the neighbors could be and not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention. When Cordelia knocked on the door, Edna opened it right away and ushered them inside. A far cry from how things had gone the last time Cordelia had shown up uninvited.
“Hurry and get in here.” Edna motioned for them to pick up the pace as she kept her eyes locked on her neighbors’ windows. “I don’t need anyone seeing me consorting with the likes of you four. I’d never hear the end of it at bridge club.”
“We’re not staying long.” Cordelia plastered a polite smile on her face and elbowed Arline in the ribs as she eyed Edna’s home with an open look of disgust. “We just need you to tell the sheriff that Sean kidnapped you because you overheard him saying he killed the pastor with palytoxin.”
Edna’s frown cut deep grooves into the corners of her thin mouth. “Why on earth would I do a thing like that? Do you think I have a death wish?”
“You have one if you continue to let him walk around free,”Cordelia snapped. “You think he’s going to stop coming after you just because you got away? That’s not how that works.”
“I’m going to talk with Corbin when he gets home.” Edna’s thin lips all but disappeared. “I told you we’d handle this, we don’t need you making a bigger mess of things.”
“He won’t negotiate with you,” Cordelia said. “You know he won’t.”
“He might’ve before we got the best of him out in the brush country,” Daisy said. “But I know men better than just about anyone in three counties, and his ego won’t allow you to walk away. The only thing you can do is put him behind bars. You won’t be safe until you do.”
Edna rubbed her arms as she considered, the closest she’d come to allowing the help she desperately needed. All she had to do was tell a small little lie that would remove Sean from her life and take any heat off her that she got from her association with him. She knew Daisy spoke nothing but facts. Now it was up to her to act appropriately.
“All right.” Edna sucked in a deep breath. “Tell me again what I need to do.”
They went over what she would say three times before they felt confident Edna would play her part when the sheriff and Archer came calling. She wasn’t exactly happy about aligning herself with the Chickadee, and they certainly didn’t want to work with her, but a temporary truce was the only way to eliminate the threat to all their lives.
