After many reassurances that I was fine, Theo and I made our way across the common area to Grandma.
She had her wheelchair pulled up to a table with a puzzle spread out in front of her. I didn’t miss the tears that gathered in her eyes as we approached.
She pushed back from the table and held out her arms. “Oh, Penny.”
“Hi, Grandma.”
I leaned down to hug her, and she held me tight. “My darling girl. I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“I’m fine. I promise.”
I straightened, and she held out her arms for Theo. “Come here, young man. I don’t know how to thank you.”
He hugged her, bringing tears to my eyes. I dabbed beneath my glasses before they could fall.
“My goodness.” She waved her hands in front of her face, as if to dry her eyes, then wheeled herself back to the table. “Come on, now, have a seat. I’m done making a scene. What a week it’s been.”
Theo and I sat, and he gave me a subtle smile that puckered his dimples. Despite everything I’d been through, I couldn’t stop smiling.
“So it really was the wife all along.” Grandma shook her head. “Terrible business. How did she do it?”
“Theo’s brother Garrett said she finally confessed to everything,” I said. “She did the same thing to the other victims that she tried to do with me—drugged them and injected them with a high dose of insulin.”
“Her husband as well?”
I nodded. “Sadly, yes. He was diabetic, so that’s how she got it. And because he wasn’t in the best health anyway, no one thought his death was suspicious.”
“And she claimed she was out of town when it happened,” Theo added. “But the whole story about her coming home from her sister’s and finding him was a lie. Garrett said the sister already confirmed she left early.”
“How many other victims were there?” Grandma asked. “Do they know yet?”
“Probably five,” I said. “That’s how many notes they’ve uncovered in his paintings. There could be more, but I hope not.”
“I suppose we were wrong about it being the son,” she said. “Although, I still say that was a good theory.”
Theo and I shared a glance. We’d learned a lot about the Morris family drama that week.
“Michael didn’t have anything to do with his father’s death, but it came out in the investigation that he stole a bunch of money from his mother,” I said. “I guess it was money he thought he was getting from his father, but didn’t. I don’t know the details, but he’s facing criminal charges as well.”
“Yeah, his life is a dumpster fire,” Theo said. “His wife left him. And I don’t know what’s happening between him and Amanda, but it sounds like she might have bailed on him as soon as law enforcement got involved. She’s under investigation as well, although she hasn’t been arrested.”
“Can’t say I feel sorry for him,” Grandma said.
“Nope,” Theo said. “Not a bit.”
“What do you think will happen to the man who was helping her?” Grandma asked. “What was his name?”
“Curt Redfern,” I said. “And we don’t know yet. He’ll probably be brought up on charges. But as far as we know, he wasn’t involved with the other murders. He’d been a friend of the family for a long time and stepped in to help Gina after Edwin died.”
“It looks like she was blackmailing him,” Theo said. “Apparently he has an affinity for… let’s just say a certain type of explicit content that is highly illegal. I don’t know how Gina found out about it, but she was holding that over him so he’d help do her dirty work.”
“Disgusting,” Grandma said. “Both of them, disgusting.”
“So disgusting,” I agreed.
Grandma reached across the table and took my hand in hers. “Thank goodness neither of them will hurt anyone else.”
“Exactly,” I said. “It’s over.”
