Raisin the Dead (22 page)

“Did he leave you anything in his will?” I know my mother said he hadn't, but I wanted to make sure.

“I doubt it. I haven't been contacted by anyone.”

“How was he feeling when you saw him?”

She leaned towards me. “Are you sure you wouldn't rather be a detective? You don't know from bagels, but you have Interrogation One-Oh-One down pat.”

“You want my help, don't you?”

“Yes, you're right. He wasn't feeling well. He said he'd been having headaches and back pains and was feeling confused a lot. It scared him. He mentioned he'd only been sick a few days in his entire life.”

“Did you tell Detective Corsino this?”

“Yes. I told him everything I'm telling you.”

I leaned back in the booth, thinking about what she said.

“So, tell me,” she said after the waitress had delivered our drinks. “What's the complication with the detective?”

I don't know what made me spill my fears about Felicia to Serafina. Maybe it was the sympathy in her eyes, which may have merely been the diner lights reflected in them. Whatever it was, it got me talking. “His wife, Jordan, was killed in a car accident. Her identical twin sister, whom Sean has no love at all for, is in town. She thinks Sean needs help in getting over his wife's death, and that he belongs home in New York City. Her name is Felicia Adams. She's staying at Castle Shore.”

“I thought I was the only one staying there. I never see anyone else, but that's fine with me. Go on.”

“Long story short, I think she's trying to change herself into his deceased wife in order to snag him for herself. She decided she was through with rich and powerful men, so she's set her sights on Sean.”

“Sounds like a bad movie on Netflix. Does he want her here?”

I twirled my straw around in my tea. “No. He told her to leave. She refuses. He doesn't want anything to do with her. Since he's injured, I'm afraid she'll take advantage and he won't have the mental or physical strength to resist.”

“You aren't going to let her have him are you?”

My shoulders sagged. “What can I do? I can't run her out of town. When Sean sees that Felicia has turned into Jordan, maybe he'll fall in love with her. She might even talk him into going back to New York for all I know.”

Serafina studied me. “First of all, have a little confidence. You're all hunched over. Come on,” she flapped a hand at me. “Sit up straight, tilt your chin up a little, and listen to me. You're cute, in a small-town, innocent kind of way. You don't dress too badly, although I could definitely give you a few hints that would show off your figure a little more.” She lowered her voice. “A good push-up bra and a little more makeup wouldn't hurt. You'd go from cute to gorgeous in a matter of minutes.”

“I usually don't bother. With makeup, I mean.”

Her brow creased, as if my revelation was deeply troubling to her. “Yes, I can see that. You
should
bother. Natural beauty can only take a woman so far, be it you, Gisele Bündchen, or even me. I suppose it's too much to hope there's a decent mall anywhere around here? I'll go shopping with you. I might as well do something constructive while I'm prisoner here, waiting for you, your detective, or a local taxi driver to solve my uncle's murder.”

“You don't need to—”

She kept going. “I have an eye for fashion and makeup. You won't even know you have makeup on, but people will notice. So will your detective. They'll wonder what you did to yourself.” She reached out and grabbed the ends of my hair. “Truthfully, I wish my hair was as thick and wavy as yours. Give it some good conditioner occasionally. It looks and feels like it could use it. Not for nothing, but it's a little dry.

“Not crappy stuff you buy in the grocery store, either. Try Leonesse Hair Goop. If you can't find it around here, which wouldn't surprise me, you can get it online. Expensive? Yes. But your hair will be luscious and soft, and it'll smell like heaven.”

“There's the outlet—”

Serafina talked over me. “I'm not done. Second, you own your own business. Okay, so it's not a multi-million dollar corporation, like Serafina Perfumes, but you never know, right? It could happen someday. I mean, your bagels at the utmost are meh, but your cupcakes, however, are delish.”

Nonplussed, I stared at her. Where had this woman come from? What had she done with Serafina? I think I actually liked her. She wasn't Calista Danforth-Brody, after all. Calista would never have deigned to have coffee with me for one thing, never mind sitting in a diner. I squared my shoulders. “Thank you, I think. I didn't realize you'd tried the cupcakes.”

“I have. You must not have been working that day. Back to what I was saying, lastly, you have a lot going for you. It's not your fault you're stuck in a small town.” She leaned forward and the gleam in her eyes definitely wasn't from the lighting. “You know what men really love?”

A million responses came to mind, but I settled for a G-rated one. “What?”

She sat back. “Confidence. They love a woman who projects confidence. Is Sean in love with you?”

I nodded. “At least he was. But how long can I compete with his dead wife who's come back to life?”

Serafina executed a major eye roll. “Oh, please. I don't know this woman, but how long is she going to be able to keep up the ruse? Stop being insecure. He's your man, fight for him. Don't go slinking off into a corner. That's not sexy. Sexy is a woman who loves her man, and doesn't let someone steal him.

“Pull up your big-girl panties and tell her to get lost. She sounds like a lunatic. If he actually did fall for her because she's convinced him she's his dead wife, then you're better off without him.”

I finished the rest of my iced tea and considered her words. “You're right. I am going to fight for him. I do trust him. Thank you. I feel much better.”

“Good. I'm glad I didn't waste my breath. Let me know when we can go shopping.”

We left money for the waitress, then left.

After saying goodbye to Serafina, I went into my bedroom and dumped the contents of my purse on the bed in an effort to get organized. Maybe that would help me think more clearly. I mindlessly sifted through the contents. Among the old receipts and change I'd dropped in it was the copy of the newspaper clipping Elizabeth had given me earlier.

I unfolded it and glanced over the black and white photo of Daniel Bixby holding his protest sign. I was about to crumple it up and drop it in my “throw it away” pile when something caught my eye. I stared at it for a few seconds. I wasn't seeing things. With my heart racing, I grabbed my phone and called Sergeant Jacoby.

Sergeant Jacoby escorted me to his desk at the Rigby Police Department. “What can I do for you? The message I got said it was an emergency, which better mean another dead body, or that you've discovered the Holy Grail.”

I ignored his meager attempt at humor. He should realize there's a time and place for everything. “Please take a look at this. It's why I called.” I pulled out the clipping and slid it towards him.

He looked at it, then at me. “Who's this guy?”

“Daniel Bixby. He's a librarian at the Destiny Oleandra County Library. He's also an outspoken board member of the Destiny Trust for Historical Preservation, which is trying to stop the library expansion because of the Westley House. He's a descendent of Samuel Westley. I told Sean about him, but he was hospitalized before he could speak to him. Daniel is against the expansion and butts heads with my mother constantly regarding it. I heard them argue recently. Those aside, see the sign he's holding up? Look at the handwriting.”

Jacoby looked down. “What about it? What are you getting at?”

I couldn't believe he didn't make the instant connection. “The handwriting on this sign is the same handwriting on the mirror in Philip Baldelli's bedroom.”

Jacoby perked up. “I'll take a look at the pictures the tech took of the mirror.”

I took my phone out of my purse. “You don't have to. I have a picture of it here. Look.” I slid my phone next to the clipping. “See? The handwriting was the same.”

He looked at my phone, then at the printout. “It looks pretty darn close.”

“Close? It's the same. He's our killer, Sergeant. Daniel Bixby killed Philip Baldelli.”

He rubbed his jaw, then his eyes met mine. “How did you come across this?”

“I'm in a book club. I had the idea that we could all take a suspect, then try to find out as much about them as possible. I thought it would help find the killer. One of the women had Daniel Bixby. She found this.”

He shook his head. “Now I've heard everything.”

“Now what? Shouldn't you be leaving to arrest him?”

“Now you go home and I'll have a talk with Mr. Bixby. No, you can't come along.”

I don't mind saying I felt affronted; after all, I had handed him the killer. I thought he might offer to bring me along. “I wasn't going to suggest that at all.”

He cast a questioning look in my direction. “Have you mentioned this to anyone else?”

“No. I emptied my purse earlier and there it was. When Elizabeth—she's the woman who found it—gave it to me, I didn't examine it closely. It's a good thing I didn't throw it away.”

“I appreciate your bringing it down to me.”

“You're welcome. Do you mind making me a copy?”

He shook his head, I suppose in disbelief, but he made me a copy anyway.

***

I took off for the bakery. I was on my way to see Sean, but I wanted to check on the girls. I wasn't sure what the next step was regarding Philip's murder investigation. Since it appears I'd delivered the killer to Sergeant Jacoby, maybe it was time to step aside. How fortunate that I'd noticed the handwriting on the mirror and the handwriting on the sign that Bixby was holding in front of the Westley House were the same. Sometimes it's the tiniest thing that solves a murder, At least on
Law & Order
. What I needed was some Sean time, but he was going to be out of commission for a while.

Kendra and Olivia were happy to see me. “What are you doing here?” they asked at the same time.

“What happened to two weeks off?” asked Olivia.

“I'm on my way to see Sean. I thought I'd stop and see how you two are doing.”

Olivia hugged me. “It's not the same without you here, but we're managing. I'm glad you're here.”

“Me, too,” said Kendra. “When are you coming back for good? This woman is working me to death.”

Olivia swatted at her with a dish towel. “Right.”

My phone rang and I hurried to answer it. My heart skipped when I saw Destiny Memorial in the display. “Hello?”

“Is Molly available? This is Lila calling from Destiny Memorial Hospital.”

“This is Molly, Lila.”

“I'm glad I caught you. Sean had to have more surgery. Don't panic. He was experiencing sudden internal bleeding, so Doctor Tryon took him into surgery immediately. I'm sorry I didn't call you before. We had a couple of emergencies and we're short-staffed today.”

For a moment, I thought I might faint. I heard what she said, but it wasn't registering. Back to surgery? Was he going to die? What if he didn't make it? What if he was already dead?

“Molly? Are you there?”

I gulped some air. “Sorry, Lila. Yes, I'm here. I'll come right down.”

“Great. We'll see you soon.”

“What's wrong? You're positively whiter than white. Is it Sean?” Olivia's voice quivered.

“Yes, he just came out of surgery again. I've got to get to the hospital.”

“Oh, no, the poor guy. Do you want to go with Molly, Olivia?” asked Kendra “I'll stay here and run things.”

“Yes. I think that's a good idea. Moll, you don't look like you're in shape to drive.”

“Thanks, Kendra,” I said. “You're a sweet pea.”

“Thanks, Kendra,” echoed Olivia. “I know you wanted to leave in fifteen minutes. We'll make it up to you.”

“You can make me a partner one day. Now go on, you two.” She shooed us out with her hands. “Go see Sean and drive carefully.”

“He's going to be okay, Moll,” said Olivia as we drove through Destiny.

I stared out the window, not seeing anything. “I want to believe that. It sounds bad though, that they had to take him back into surgery.”

“It's not bad. He'll be fine. It may take a while, but he'll get there.”

“Promise?”

She patted my leg. “Promise.”

“Thanks so much for coming with me.”

“Of course. You'd do the same for me.”

We didn't speak anymore. Luckily, Olivia had no trouble finding a parking place in the garage. We hurried to the elevator.

There were no nurses at the station. “Follow me,” I said to Olivia. When we turned the corner into the room Sean had previously occupied, I saw Felicia standing by the window.

She turned. She was still playing the sweet, girl-next-door role. “Where's Sean? You're Olivia, right?”

“Yes.” Olivia glanced at me. The confusion in her eyes probably mirrored mine.

“What are you doing here, Felicia?” I asked.

“Where is Sean? Why isn't he here? I brought him some things and all I found was an empty bed. Where are all the nurses?”

“Maybe they're all busy. After all, this is the ICU.” I swallowed my anger. The last thing we needed was a scene. “He's in surgery again.”

“What happened?”

“I'm not a doctor,” I replied.

“Listen.” She cocked her head to one side and looked through her lashes at me. “Do you think we can start over? I know we got off on the wrong foot. I'm to blame. I only want what's best for Sean. I assume you do, too. Let me take him back to New York. Look,” she pointed to albums spread across the windowsill. “These are albums of Sean and Jordan's wedding.” She spread her hand over them. “They were a gorgeous couple. My sister shouldn't have died.” She turned back to me. “I can be Jordan. I can make Sean feel complete again. I can love him like she did.”

I didn't have a chance to retort. Maybe that was a good thing. Nor did I have time to think about how she got these albums. She must have stolen them, but my thoughts went no further because a security guard, along with Lila, appeared.

“Come along, miss. You're not allowed in to see this patient,” the hefty man told her.

“What . . . What are you talking about?” Felicia stammered. “You can't ask me to leave. I'm his wife.”

“She is most certainly
not
his wife,” I said.

She backed up against the small ledge in front of the window and held on to it. “You can't make me leave. Any of you.”

“I'm afraid I can,” said the security guard. “You either come along nicely, or I can call the police.”

“Sean requested that you not visit at all,” said Lila. “He doesn't want you at the hospital.”

I wanted to fist bump Lila and the security guard.

“This is absolutely ridiculous,” Felicia fumed, dropping her act. She gathered up the albums. She narrowed her eyes at Lila. “You're lying.” Her eyes flew to me. “She put you up to this, didn't she?”

“I guess you'll have to call the Destiny P.D., Joe,” said Lila.

“Fine. I'll go.” Felicia wheeled towards me. “You haven't won. I may not be able to come in here, but no one can force me to leave Destiny.”