“No way,” Ginny said. “I have a few questions of my own. Like why did you try to run Brian’s car off the road the other night, Eugenia?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The hell you don’t. When we left you and Joe in Nashua on Wednesday night, you came up behind us and sat on Brian’s bumper, trying to scare us. Why?”
Eugenia shrugged. “It was a joke. Can’t you take a joke?”
“I didn’t think it was funny,” Ginny said.
“Neither did I,” Tricia agreed.
Joe stepped around to the front display window and grabbed the cord, lowering the blinds. Miss Marple, who’d been dozing on the shelf behind the register, got up and stretched. Closing the blinds was usually the signal that dinner was close at hand.
“Why did you close the blinds?” Tricia asked, unease creeping up her spine.
“We need privacy,” Joe said. “Ginny, get your coat and go.”
“No!”
“I don’t care if she hears our business,” Eugenia said. “I want to know everything that’s going on. I’m an adult. It’s time you leveled with me, Dad. What was it Pammy said to you? Please, tell me!”
Joe sighed, all the weight of the world on his shoulders. “She tried to blackmail me.”
“With what?” Eugenia insisted.
“Pam said if she couldn’t shake down Stuart Paige, she would come after me.”
“But Dad, Pammy threatened to tell the world at large about my… my birth defect. That would humiliate only me. What else could she have possibly known that would hurt our family?”
Tricia said, “Eugenia’s not a child anymore. Tell her, Joe. Libby told me you two have already discussed it.”
“Mom knows what?” Eugenia asked.
Joe offered his daughter his hand. She took it, her own visibly shaking. “Princess, we always told you your biological parents were dead. But that’s only partially true. Your biological mother died in a car accident when you were still a baby, but your father is alive.”
“You know who he is?” she asked, eagerly.
“It’s someone you already know and, hopefully, love.”
“Who? Please tell me!”
“It’s… me.”
Eugenia’s mouth fell open, and for a long time she just stared at the man she’d always known as her adoptive father. “I’m really your little girl?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Your birth mother couldn’t handle your… birth defect. She gave you up for adoption. I wanted you. I talked your mother-Libby,” he clarified, “into taking you in as a foster child. I knew she’d fall in love with you-as I already had, even though I’d only seen you from behind the glass window in the hospital nursery.”
Eugenia shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “But Dad, you and Mom have been married almost twenty-five years. I’m twenty-one… that means…”
Joe bit his lip, and looked like he was about to cry as well.
“I never meant to hurt your mother. It just happened. And the thing was… I got you in the bargain. We both got you, and it kept us together. We loved you as you were-we loved you through all the surgeries. We will always love you.”
They fell into each other’s arms, tears streaking their cheeks. Tricia hardened her heart. This was all very nice, but it didn’t answer who killed Pammy Fredericks.
The door opened, the little bell below the transom tinkling cheerfully.
Ginny whirled. “Brian! What are you doing here?”
He nodded toward Eugenia. “I followed her.”
“Why aren’t you at work?” Ginny asked, suspiciously.
“I’ve got some things to tell you, Ginny. I… kind of lost my evening job.”
“You what?”
“Two weeks ago,” he admitted.
Her eyes narrowed. “And just what have you been doing every work night for the last two weeks?”
“Looking for a new job,” he said, his voice harsh.
“And what else?” Ginny asked, and turned her gaze on Eugenia.
“Okay, so I hung out a few nights with Gina.”
“Gina?” Ginny asked, the color rising in her face. “Is that your pet name for her?”
Joe looked confused. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing, Daddy,” Eugenia said.
“Apparently there’s a lot more going on than I thought,” Tricia said.
“Me, too,” Ginny agreed. She turned back to Brian. “And I’d like an explanation.”
Brian walked back to the shop door, flipped the sign to CLOSED, and pulled down the door shade. “It might be better if we weren’t disturbed.”
Fear crept up Tricia’s spine. Nothing good would come of this conversation. They might learn the facts of what had happened when Pammy died, but she sensed lives were about to be changed-and not for the better.
Tricia swallowed before she asked her next question. “Who dumped Pammy into the garbage cart?”
“That was me,” Brian admitted, turning to face them once again. “I told her to leave Eugenia alone. I only meant to scare her when I tossed her into the garbage.”
“Did you know about this, Eugenia?” Joe demanded, his voice hard with anger.
“Not at first,” she admitted, and turned her gaze to take in Brian. “I didn’t want him to get in trouble.”
“Who kept calling me, demanding the diary?” Tricia asked.
“I did it,” Eugenia said. “I knew you had to have it. That stinking, evil witch stayed with you for two weeks. I figured since it wasn’t in her car-”
“You broke into her car?” Ginny asked.
“We didn’t have to. Brian took her keys. We drove the car over to Hanson Lane and looked through the trunk, but we didn’t find anything, so we left it there. We figured Pammy would eventually find it. And then she turned up dead, and we were scared.”
“What about the calls?” Tricia reminded her.
“Like I said,” Eugenia continued, “we figured you had to have it, so we drove to Nashua and got one of those voice-altering things for the phone. We figured I wouldn’t get in trouble if I didn’t make any specific threat-and I didn’t.”
“It’s up to the sheriff to decide if you’ve broken any laws.” Tricia turned her attention to Brian. “And it’s up to a grand jury to decide whether Pammy’s death is murder or manslaughter,” she said. “But either way, you’re both in pretty deep trouble.”
“I’m not going to jail,” Brian said, his voice rising. “I’ve always liked you, Tricia, but I’m not about to let you ruin my life.”
“What about my life?” Ginny demanded.
Tricia ignored her. “Brian, your life was ruined the moment you decided to scare Pammy Fredericks. I know you didn’t mean to hurt her-but it’s your fault she’s dead!”
“She was a scumbag. She wanted to ruin people I care about.”
“That may be true, but she didn’t deserve to die.”
“What about me?” Ginny insisted, her eyes filled with tears. “Brian, we own a house together. We’re going to get married.”
He turned his anguished gaze toward Ginny. “Babe, I’m sorry. I never thought I’d care for Eugenia the way I do. I mean, we’ve known each other almost our whole lives. It just… happened.”
Just like it had happened between Joe and M.J., only Libby had never found out.
“And were you going to leave me for Eugenia?” Ginny demanded.
Brian turned away so he didn’t have to look her in the eye. “I… thought about it.” He shrugged. “Yeah, I think so.”
Ginny took a few choking breaths-sounding like a fish out of water. “And what happens now that Tricia and I know you’re a murderer?”
The door opened. A breathless Angelica burst in, still dressed in her fifties waitress costume, her feet encased in running shoes. Her eyes were wild with fear. “Are you okay, Trish?”
“You shouldn’t have come here,” Brian said coldly.