Margo glanced at the boards and then back at Holt.
“While I know it’s a relief to finally have the mystery solved. But, doesn’t it all just seem a little too...” She trailed off, her brow furrowing.
“Neat?” Willa finished for her.
Margo pointed at Willa. “Exactly.”
Holt waited.
“Think about it,” Willa continued, her eyes moving from Margo to Holt with a focus that, for some reason, reminded him so much of his late sister, Carly. Holt pushed the thought away as he concentrated on what Willa was saying. “For ten years, none of us even thought to look Victoria’s way.” She shook her head slightly. “Then all of a sudden she’s getting messy and all over the place?”
“I have to agree with Willa,” Tom said. “And not because I’m trying to stick up for Victoria. But because if she was so cautious and careful that not even I suspected her…” He frowned. “This all seems like too much all over the place. Where’s the carefulplanning of ten years ago?” His frown deepened. “The subtle threats letting the people who were investigating know that she knew who they were and what they were doing?”
“I think she followed that pattern again,” Margo told him. “The only messy part was the thing with the accidents.”
“Exactly,” Tom said. “That report, Holt said, that Victoria signed and paid for the express crush of Clive’s new car.” His frown was back. “And she paid with the same credit card for that Lucy look-alike truck.”
“When you put it like that…” Willa said. “I can see why you’re questioning it.”
“Maybe she just got careless because she was about to leave town anyway to move to Miami, and she didn’t really have much time to think things through,” Rad offered a suggestion. “Last time it was only you and Nigel here.” He held up his hand. “And I don’t mean that offensively. But you, she was married to, and Nigel, she had something to manipulate him with.”
“I understand, and no offense taken,” Tom assured him. “It makes sense because now you and then Holt are in town with an attorney with a reputation for being an avid investigator on each of her cases.”
“So she got spooked and careless,” Rad said.
“Okay, that’s a good explanation,” Margo agreed. “But why would she have left Carly’s bracelet in Teacups?”
“We don’t know, and it’s not in the journal,” Holt admitted. “That particular decision isn’t documented.”
“But we’ll ask her when we catch her,” June told Margo.
“Why do you think she’s in Miami?” Willa asked. “Rad told me you’re looking for her and her associates in Miami.”
“When June visited Judy in the hospital,” Holt told her, “Judy used the last of her conscious effort to tell June to get Victoria. Then she said to look in Miami.”
Willa’s eyes widened in shock.
Her eyes shot across the table to Margo.
Margo was already looking at her.
“Did Judy say those exact words?” Margo asked, directing the question to June rather than Holt. “Look in Miami? Those exact words?”
“Yes,” June confirmed, her brow furrowing slightly. “Why? Does that mean something to the two of you?”
Willa was quiet for a second. When she spoke, her voice was steady, but the effort of keeping it that way was visible.
“The day Shaun died,” Willa began, “before he left to meet the others, he told me something.” She swallowed once. “He said that if anything ever happened, I was to look in Miami.”
The room went completely still.
June’s hand moved to her bag. She took out her phone and began scrolling through it with a focus that told Holt she’d already arrived somewhere he hadn’t caught up to yet.
“June,” Holt said carefully.
“Give me a moment,” June murmured, her eyes on the screen.
“Mom, what are you looking for?” Willa asked.
