Heads You Lose - Lisa Lutz [102]
That was quite a chapter—maybe one of the most convoluted wrap-ups in the history of tertiary plot points. I know you think you’ve painted me into a corner by giving alibis to all the prime suspects, but I’ve been at this longer than you.
You’ve won a few battles, but I’m going to win the war.
Lisa
CHAPTER 31
The next day, Lacey returned to the sheriff’s office with Paul and Brandy and they delivered all the evidence they had on the plane crash and the Holland–Egan connection. Sheriff Ed jotted down all the details and reluctantly complimented Brandy on her investigative acumen.
“What a bizarre series of far-fetched events,” Sheriff Ed said. “Nothing in my career to date could have prepared me for anything more ridiculous. But at least we’ve got those minor matters sorted out.”
“I don’t mean to diminish the importance of uncovering a twenty-year-old conspiracy or identifying someone who died in a plane crash, but we do still have a murderer roaming free. I think it would be wise if we didn’t forget that little detail,” Lacey said, looking Brandy directly in the eye.
Brandy didn’t seem to notice or didn’t care. On the way out of the station, Lacey pulled Paul aside and said, “We need to talk. In private, please?”
“I’ll meet you at Diner in an hour,” Paul replied.
“So, what’s your news?” Paul asked, over a Diner hamburger and fries.
“I’m pretty sure I know who our killer is, and you’re not going to like it.”
“Who?”
“Your fiancée.”
Paul had quite a chuckle at his sister’s expense when he informed her that she herself was Brandy’s alibi for Harry Lake’s murder. However, since Lacey was single-handedly solving these crimes, she could hardly be blamed for one tiny investigative slip. That certainly didn’t clear Brandy of the other crimes. No, a computer alibi did that. How convenient.
As much as Lacey questioned Brandy’s motives, taste, and general decency, she had to admit that it seemed less and less likely that she was the killer. With her limp, Brandy would have had a hard time moving a full-grown man over and over again. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t masterminded the whole plan.
“Just remember something, Paul: If you marry Brandy and you die, she gets all your money. And if she is such a genius, I sure bet she could make it look like an accident.”
“You keep talking like that, Lace, and we won’t invite you to the wedding.”
The siblings parted in the Diner parking lot.
“I’ll see you around,” Paul said.
“Watch your back, okay?” Lacey replied.
Lacey decided to drop by Mapleshade on her way home. Sook was in his room reading a pink-covered tome about a woman who shops herself to death.
“You got to stop reading that crap,” Lacey said.
“Is this good-bye?” Sook asked.
“No,” Lacey replied. Although she wasn’t sure. She knew it was time to leave, but she didn’t know if she could get out of Mercer with the weight of unfinished business on her mind.
“Take some advice from an old man who knows a thing or two. You need to leave and never come back.”
“Then I’ll never see you again,” Lacey said.
“Good,” Sook replied. “I want you to remember me young and pretty. Listen, I was going for a stroll the other day over at We Care . . .”
“Why does that sound suspicious?”
“Pay attention. Big Marv has hired a geologist to do some studies on Shady Acres. He arrives in three days. You want to be long gone by then.”
“It’s funny,” Lacey said. “There’s a murderer loose in Mercer. Killed Hart, Terry, Harry, the new doc, and probably the old fake doc. And you’re telling me I should be worried about Big Marv?”
“Lacey, you got your whole life ahead of you. If you stopped worrying yourself about the dead, you might just get to live.”
Sook had a good point there. Lacey didn’t like leaving unfinished business, but maybe that was the only way to do what she had meant to do for the last ten years: Get out of this nowhere town.
“Say good-bye, Lacey,” Sook said.
“Good-bye, Lacey,” she replied, giving Sook a warm kiss on