Picture Perfect Murder (Ryli Sinclair 1) (20 page)

"We're sure about this?" Paige asked again as we
were all four piling into the Falcon.

"Never been so sure of anything in my life!" I
exclaimed, ready to get my beatdown on.

I'd picked up Paige and Aunt Shirley, then drove straight to
the office to meet up with Mindy. There I filled the girls in on what had
happened to Miss Molly and who and why I believed I knew who the killer was. We
spent the better part of the morning hashing out our plan.

After calling Doc Powell to check on Miss Molly, I then
called Mom to tell her about Molls. I conveniently left out any mention of Doc
Powell's confession to me about him and my mom. After promising to not do
anything rash and impulsive with Aunt Shirley, I got off the phone.

"Rash and impulsive?” Aunt Shirley cried indignantly.
“Who does she think she is, talking about me like that? If I wanted to, I could
still take her over my knee."

I smiled at the thought of those two going at it...then got
down to why we were all there.

After much deliberation, we decided to forgo contacting
Garrett with our suspicions and capture the murderer ourselves. We knew he'd
give us a song and dance about staying out of it and letting the professionals
handle it. Then swoop in for the arrest, taking all the glory.

"Stop second guessing," Aunt Shirley snapped at
Paige. "We all agreed. Now, let's go!"

I needed no further encouragement. And in honor of Miss
Molly, I peeled out of the newspaper parking lot, spraying gravel everywhere.

Aunt Shirley whooped with excitement in the front seat,
while Paige and Mindy huddled close together in the back. That image almost had
me slowing down, unsure of whether or not we should move ahead without
Garrett...but then I remembered how he laughed at the thought of us solving the
crime, and I pressed down harder on the gas pedal.

Four miles out of town I came to the blacktop road that
would take us where we were going. The house was only a half mile off the
blacktop. A few seconds later, I turned right and drove up the long driveway. I
couldn’t help but marvel at the adorable mailbox. Instead of a standard black
box on a brown wooden pole, she had added white chevron decals to the black
mailbox. Then she’d painted the pole neon pink. Pulling up into the long
driveway that curved slightly to the left near her front porch, we could see
Patty's beat-up Bronco.

I shut off the car and looked around. I watched as Aunt
Shirley manually rolled down her window. Grinning wickedly at me she said, “I
probably shouldn’t have had the oat muffins for breakfast.”

We scattered like roaches out of the smelly car, bitching at
Aunt Shirley the whole time.

Patty lived on five acres east of town. I'd say her nearest
neighbor was two miles away. There were a few trees along the front and sides
of her house, with a more wooded area around back.

Patty had gotten the house in her divorce settlement years
ago when she'd caught her husband, Warren, sleeping with her best friend,
Margo. It was quite the small-town scandal...especially when Margo got drunk
one night and announced to everyone within hearing distance down at the bar
that she'd had sex with Warren in every room of the house and Patty would have
to live with it.

I guess she had lived with it, because Patty still lived in
the small, two-story house she once shared with her husband, while Warren and
Margo lived over in Brywood. I wonder when the last time someone had checked on
those two? If Patty had gone off the deep end killing Dr. Garver and Iris, what
was keeping her from taking out all the people she hated?

Aunt Shirley led the way up the stairs, with the three of us
following her lead. She knocked on the door.

No answer.

She rang the doorbell.

No answer.

"Maybe she's not here," Mindy whispered behind me.

I was about to agree with her when a sudden clanging sound
came from the back of the house. Pushing us down the stairs, Aunt Shirley
rushed around the back of the house so quickly, her polyester pants practically
burst into flames.

Running to catch up, the three of us sprinted after her. I
suddenly wondered if this was such a good idea anymore.

Aunt Shirley paused at the door of the tiny greenhouse. This
close, we could hear sounds coming from inside. Reaching into the back of her
pants, Aunt Shirley whipped out a brown-handled, snub-nose revolver that looked
older than me.

The three of us started screaming.

"Who's out there?" Patty shouted.

"Now look what you did," hissed Aunt Shirley, as
though pulling a weapon out of her butt is something we see every day.

Patty pushed open the greenhouse screen door, practically
hitting Aunt Shirley in the face, and then stared right into the tiny barrel of
the gun.

"What the hell?" Patty shouted, scrambling
backward to get away.

"Don't move a muscle, scumbag," my aunt demanded,
sounding like a wanna-be Clint Eastwood.

"Well, now…this is gonna be bad," Paige said.

"What the hell do you think you're doing on my
property? And pointing a gun at me no less."

"We'll be asking the questions from now on," my
aunt said, waving the gun around like a madwoman.

"For the love, Aunt Shirley, stop doing that or you'll
shoot someone!" I cried out in panic.

Giving me a scowl, Aunt Shirley lowered the gun a few
inches. "Let's go, you crazy broad. You got some confessing to do."

Before anyone could say anything, Patty whirled and took off
for the back of her greenhouse. Without missing a beat, Aunt Shirley picked up
a terracotta pot that was nearby and hurled it toward the back of Patty's head.

Patty went down like a sack of potatoes.

Without a word to us, Aunt Shirley started gathering a rope
along the side of the wall. I looked over at Paige and Mindy, too frightened to
move.

"Get over here and give me a hand, you ninnies. I can't
do all this on my own."

Kicking myself for thinking I could trust Aunt Shirley to do
anything calmly, I helped her tie up Patty's hands and then sat her on the bar
stool next to a long counter. Paige and Mindy stood huddled together.

Slapping Patty in the face, Aunt Shirley waited for her to
wake up. We didn't have long to wait. A few seconds later Patty was groaning
softly.

"Open your eyes, murderer," my aunt taunted.

I wasn't quite sure she should be grabbing the bull by the
horns, but this was my first interrogation, so what did I know?

"What did you four crazy bitches do to me?" Patty
said, trying to wiggle out of the ropes.

"Stop moving," my aunt demanded. "I said we'd
be asking the questions from here on out."

"What questions? What're you talking about?"

My aunt held up her hand and Patty shut up. "Now, all
we want you to do is confess and tell us why you did it."

Patty's wrinkled her brow. "Confess to what? What're
you talking about?

"Don't play dumb, it's not a good look for you,"
my aunt hissed.

I heard Mindy chuckle.

Patty scowled at Mindy, as if trying to place her. Suddenly
Patty threw back her head and howled with laughter.

"Oh, my God. You four have to be the dumbest broads on
the face of the planet!" she laughed. "Your dumb asses are going to
be in so much trouble when I get out of here and call the Chief."

Faking a bravado I didn't feel, I said, "You're the one
that's in trouble, Patty. Not only did you poison my cat, for which I'm going
to totally go ballistic on you for, but you murdered Dr. Garver and Iris,
too."

I watched as a dark shadow fell over her face. "Yes, I
hated them. Yes, I wished they'd die a slow painful death." I could feel
my heart beating faster. We had her!

"But I didn't kill them. In fact, I just got back from
an interview with Chief Kimble about fifteen minutes ago." My heart
stopped at that proclamation.

Oh,
crap, what had we done?

"What do you mean?" my aunt demanded.

"I mean, Chief Kimble had me come into the office
earlier this morning to interview me. He asked me where I was the night both
Iris and Dr. Garver were killed, and I told him. I also told him that I hated
them both, but didn't kill them. Yes, I have a greenhouse, but I never planted
poisonous flowers, and he was more than welcome to come out to my place and see
for himself. And as far as the ketamine went, what little we have at the
hospital has to be accounted for, as he well knows. I'm assuming he believed me
and had already checked with the hospital, because he didn't ask me anything
else."

I'd listened to her rambling at first with hope of catching
her in a lie...now I was downright fearful. I knew she was telling the truth.
We had pretty much kidnapped and held a woman against her will, accosted her,
then accused her of murder. And we'd been wrong.

I'd been wrong.

I'd been wrong, and I led my friends into a shitload of
trouble. We'd be lucky if we didn't all go to jail for a very, very long time.

I could feel myself panicking and looked over at Aunt
Shirley for help. The way she was gnawing on her lip didn't boost my confidence
any. I was afraid to turn around and look at Paige and Mindy. I knew they were
probably scared out of their minds.

Patty's taunting laughter snapped me out of my stupor. I
opened my mouth to grovel, to beg her not to call Garrett...I'd do anything!

"I'm not so sure I'd be that quick to call Chief
Kimble," my aunt said.

"Why’s that?" Patty demanded.

"I mean," Aunt Shirley said, "I know
marijuana plants when I see them. I'm thinking maybe we came out here hoping to
talk with you, and next thing we know you are pulling a gun on us, and in order
to defend ourselves we have to jump you. Then imagine our shock when we see you
have marijuana plants all over. Well, being the upstanding citizens we are, we
have no choice but to call the police. And maybe the paper while we're at it.
Oh wait," my aunt said, smacking her forehead, feigning surprise, "we
have the press right here!"

I heard clicking sounds behind me and turned to see Mindy
grinning at me as she took pictures of the plants with her cell phone.

I practically sobbed with relief. Maybe my impulsive
shenanigans wouldn't send my best friends up the river until our golden years!

"So how about this," Aunt Shirley continued,
"I untie you, we go on our merry way, and none of us ever mention this
little incident ever again? And these pictures never get printed."

Patty stared at my aunt for a full ten seconds. "Untie
me, then get off my property and never come back."

I ran over to where Patty was sitting and started untying
her. "I'm sorry," I whispered, hearing my voice catch. "I'm
sorry I thought it was you."

She said nothing, staring at me with hate-filled eyes. I
quickly finished the deed, then pushed Aunt Shirley and the others toward the
door.

"Hey, Ryli." I turned around and saw Patty reaching
under the counter. "You're gonna wanna go a little faster than that."

Click-click!

I heard the chambering of the round before I saw the sawed-off
shotgun being hoisted over the counter and aimed right at us.

Screaming, we all took off running, pushing each other out
the door as Patty started hurling insults our way. I heard the door bang shut
behind me and watched as Aunt Shirley and the girls ran full tilt toward the
Falcon.

Paige reached the car first. Flinging open the backseat
door, she hurled her heaving body inside. The impact had her bouncing around in
the back like a pinball. Mindy followed her lead, and the two of them ended up
in a dangled heap on the floorboard.

I could hear the screaming and yelling all around me, but it
seemed to be happening in slow motion.

I heard the greenhouse screen door fling open and hit the
side of the house. There was definitely some anger and momentum behind that
shove. I dug into my pockets and pulled out the car keys.

I watched in amazement as Aunt Shirley leapt into the air
and dove headfirst into the passenger-side window. Not to be outdone, I did my
Dukes
of Hazzard
slide
over the front hood of the Falcon.

I'd barely caught myself from falling on my ass when I heard
a loud
thud!
overhead. Feeling bark hit my face, I raised my arms to
shield my body.

Crawling the last few feet to the driver’s side door, I felt
an explosion of pain.

"Shit," I screamed, rubbing my forehead. Aunt
Shirley had shoved the Falcon’s heavy door open and smacked me in the forehead.

"Get in, get in!" my aunt screeched.

Crouching low, I duck walked around the massive door and
slid into the driver's side, closing the door. My aunt and I were pretty much
nose to nose with each other, panting heavily.