The Root of Murder Read online

  Cameron and Joshua exchanged glances.

  “Tell us about the necklace that Elizabeth wore,” Cameron said.

  “What about it?” Aaron shrugged his shoulders. “Lindsay gave that to her.”

  “Why would Lindsay give that to Elizabeth?” Cameron asked. “It’s a sister’s necklace. Heather had given it to Lindsay.”

  Aaron shook his head. “Elizabeth told me that Lindsay gave it to her that night she died because she had fired Heather.”

  “You can’t fire your family,” Joshua said.

  Aaron hung his head.

  Joshua leaned over to catch his eye. “Elizabeth was driving the night of the accident, wasn’t she?”

  Aaron nodded his head. “She had walked home from the accident. She was wasted. She said it was Lindsay’s fault.”

  “But Elizabeth was driving.”

  “How’d you know—”

  “Accident re-construction,” Joshua said. “Lindsay’s injuries indicate that she was struck by the rear passenger fender. How could it be Lindsay’s fault if Elizabeth was driving?”

  “Lindsay had given the necklace to Elizabeth because she was fighting with Heather. But on the way home, Lindsay—I guess she started sobering up or something. She changed her mind. She wanted the necklace back and Elizabeth said no. They got into a fight. Elizabeth said Lindsay tried to take it off her neck—while she was driving—and that’s how the accident happened.”

  “And after the accident, Elizabeth never offered to give the necklace back to Heather?” Cameron asked.

  “Why would she?” Aaron asked. “She never took it off. She loved that necklace. She said that Lindsay had told her that the necklace made them sisters forever. Nothing could ever come between them.”

  “Even death,” Joshua said.

  “I guess that proves you can overthink things.” Cameron looked out the side window of Joshua’s SUV at the Ohio River while he drove across the bridge to take them home. With the murders solved and Heather on her way to recovery, she was ready for a few days off.

  Joshua smiled softly. “Aaron had no intention of planting any false leads when he dumped Davis’s body at the Newhart farm. He didn’t even know Davis was connected to them. He just figured it was a good place to dump a body far away from where Elizabeth would be implicated.”

  Cameron uttered a deep sigh. She felt as if she would fall instantly into a deep sleep if she closed her eyes. “All we have to do now is finish renovating that mansion, open a fancy restaurant, and plan a wedding.”

  Reminded of the wedding, Joshua said, “And find a wedding gown with gold lace overlay.”

  “Okay, Valerie, where did I put it?” His hands on his hips, Joshua stood in the middle of the store room in the basement of their home and looked up and down—from the floor to the ceiling—taking stock of every object on the shelves.

  Cameron’s reminder of the upcoming wedding brought home the dilemma of Poppy’s wedding gown. A wedding gown with a gold lace overlay.

  “I’ve never seen a gown like that. Have you?” Tracy had asked.

  As a matter of fact, he had.

  Cameron had gone upstairs to bed and fallen fast asleep as soon as they got home. Joshua couldn’t sleep until he took care of this matter.

  “Where is it, Valerie?” Joshua asked his late wife—the mother of his five older children. “Poppy wouldn’t have gotten that idea in her mind if you didn’t plant it there. If you want her to wear your gown, you need to tell me where it is.”

  Abruptly, there was a rattle from a far corner in the room. A pile of board games tumbled to the floor. Monopoly money floated and game pieces scattered. Joshua saw the top corner of a large ivory box encased in thick plastic standing upright against the wall.

  “That’s my girl.” Joshua moved the remaining boxes blocking his access to the box and pulled it out. Almost three decades after the gown had been cleaned, preserved, boxed, and stored in plastic, it was still in good shape—or so he guessed. He wasn’t going to unseal it to check. He was going to leave that up to the bride.

  It was a miracle that it hadn’t been lost long ago. During his career in the Navy, the gown had made every move with the Thornton family at Valerie’s insistence. Even after Valerie had passed away, Joshua had it shipped to his family home in Chester.

  It was what she wanted.

  Now, he knew why.

  He plopped the box in the front seat of his SUV and hurried out to J.J.’s farm. Per usual, Ollie and Charley raced out to greet him. This time, Charley rode on Ollie’s back.

  Izzy, who had spent the night at the farm while Joshua and Cameron pursued Elizabeth, appeared in the barn door. “You’re not taking me home now, are you?” Her face was filled with disappointment. “The vet just cleared Pilgrim to be let out with the other horses. Poppy and I are going to introduce them.”

  “I came to see Poppy.”

  “What about?” J.J. had stepped out onto the porch upon seeing the SUV.

  “It’s a secret,” Joshua said with a sly grin.

  With the barnyard between them, Poppy and J.J. exchanged puzzled glances.

  Joshua extracted the oversized box from the seat and handed it to her. “Is this your dream gown?” he asked her in a low voice.

  Curious, Izzy had trotted up behind her and sneaked a look at the box.

  Poppy cocked her head at him. A slim grin crossed her lips. She carried the box into the barn with Joshua and Izzy behind her. When J.J. started to follow, Izzy yelled back at him. “Don’t you come in here!”

  Poppy set the box on a work bench and cut a slit in the heavy plastic.

  The wonderful scent of fresh flowers floated from inside the box. It was the scent of Valerie’s favorite perfume.

  Poppy slipped the box from the plastic and carefully opened it.

  The gown was not stark white, but not ivory either. It was an eggshell white—with a delicate golden lace overlay over the entire gown.

  “Is that—” Izzy looked up at Joshua. “Where did you find it?”

  “Valerie wore it on our wedding day,” Joshua said. “Her grandmother was a seamstress. She never had much money. She designed this gown and made it by hand as her wedding gift to us. Valerie loved it so much that she insisted on preserving and saving it to pass down to our daughters. Tracy insisted on having her own gown and Sarah—” He shrugged his shoulders. “She’s so independent—if she ever gets married—it will be at the justice of the peace after a night of heavy drinking.”

  “I’m never getting married either.” Izzy patted Poppy on the shoulder. “That leaves you.”

  “Is this your dream gown, Poppy?” Joshua asked.

  Tears filled Poppy’s eyes as she fingered the gown’s delicate material. She nodded her head.

  “I guess this is Valerie’s way of giving her blessing on your marriage.” Joshua kissed her on the forehead.

  After reminding Izzy that he would pick her up later, he turned to leave only to find Poppy’s hand on his arm. He looked down at her.

  “Josh …” She swallowed and started again. “Would you mind giving me away at our wedding … Dad?”

  He hugged her tight. “I’d be honored.”

  Epilogue

  Even Mother Nature blessed the Ashburn-Thornton wedding with a beautiful spring day. During the week leading up to the big day, the lilies had sprouted in the gardens surrounding the Russell Ridge Inn to add to those supplied by the florist for the outdoor ceremony.

  Every able-bodied member of the family, and more than a few friends, joined in working on the mansion to get it ready for the grand opening. There was nothing like the stress of getting every inspection, from building to health department, approved in time. The last inspection was approved with one day to spare.

  It was time to focus on the wedding.

  The plan was
for an elegant garden wedding in the afternoon followed by a sit-down dinner reception. In addition to the formal dining rooms, the inn also boasted a cellar pub with a dance floor. A local band had been hired to play music after dinner and late into the evening.

  Family and friends spilled into town. The Thornton home on Rock Springs Boulevard was filled with grown children. Sarah had brought along Tristan Faraday, her boyfriend, who happened to be her sister’s-in-law brother. Joshua loved intimidating the young man.

  Best man Murphy and his wife, Jessica, a bridesmaid, had accepted J.J.’s invitation to stay at his home. Since Charley intimidated their sheltie Spencer, they had left the dog at Joshua and Cameron’s home. Staying with J.J. gave the twin brothers a chance to catch up the night before the wedding, which they did way into the early morning hours.

  In the morning, Jessica found them asleep in the living room. She gave her husband a quick kiss good-bye and hurried out to meet the bridesmaids and the bride at the inn for brunch. Afterwards, the ladies were going to spend the hours leading up to the ceremony getting pampered with makeovers.

  Careful not to trip over J.J.’s and Poppy’s suitcases stacked in the foyer, she stepped outside to be greeted with a boisterous crow from Charley, who was perched on the porch rail. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the huge rooster hadn’t scared the daylights out of her.

  “I have a feeling you’re not in Great Falls anymore, Jessie.” Jessica muttered to herself before noticing Poppy’s truck parked next to the barn.

  The horses were out in the pastures—a clue that they had been fed.

  “What is she—” With a sense of duty, she trotted across the barnyard, while being mindful of stepping in any canine, lamb, or horse landmines.

  At the rehearsal dinner, J.J. had assured Poppy that he and Murphy would take care of the morning chores so that she could sleep in and enjoy being queen for the day.

  “I’m queen every day,” Poppy quipped back.

  “That you are,” J.J. bestowed a kiss on her hand.

  Ollie met Jessica at the barn door and led the way to a corner stall, where she found Poppy speaking softly to Pilgrim. They had introduced Jessica and Murphy to the horse the day before.

  “Poppy, what are you doing here? J.J. and Murphy said they’d do your chores.”

  “I had a bad feeling this morning.” Poppy went around to the side of the horse and placed her hands on her pregnant stomach. “Good thing I came out. She’s in labor.”

  “Labor! What do you mean she’s in labor?”

  “She’s going to have her colt. I don’t know how well she’ll do. We don’t know anything about her. If she’s had a colt before? If she’ll have difficulty?”

  “Poppy, you are not going to postpone this wedding because a horse has gone into labor.”

  “But I can’t just leave her,” Poppy said. “What if she runs into trouble?”

  Jessica stepped into the stall, took Poppy by the arm, and tugged on it the lead her out. “Poppy, horses have been giving birth for thousands of years before humans decided to stick their noses into their business. They have all done fine without us.”

  With a worried look back at the horse, Poppy objected, “But—”

  “I’ll text Murphy to keep an eye on her.”

  Reluctant to leave, Poppy whispered one last word of encouragement to Pilgrim before allowing Jessica to usher her out. “The guys are going to be here all morning. They’ll take care of her.” In the barnyard, she yanked open the door to Poppy’s truck. “Now get in that truck and follow me to the Inn. This is your wedding day!”

  “Where’s J.J.?” Tristan Faraday asked Murphy after finding him in the kitchen making a green power smoothie.

  Sarah Thornton had dropped him off on her way to the Inn. Since the tall lanky young man had only drunk one pot of coffee that morning, he decided to make another for himself and the rest of the groomsmen, who were expected any minute.

  “He’s checking on a pregnant mare, who decided to go into labor,” Murphy said while slicing a banana into the blender. “Poppy’s worried about her.” He pointed the paring knife in the general direction of the foyer. “That luggage is theirs for the honeymoon. We can go ahead and put it in J.J.’s truck so that they can be ready to hit the road after the reception.”

  “Poppy still doesn’t know where they’re going?” Tristan asked with a sly grin.

  “J.J. had to give her a clue because she didn’t know what to pack,” Murphy said. “So, he had to tell her to pack for warm weather. Since she needed to get a passport, she knows that they’re leaving the country.”

  “Ah, Poppy is going to have a ball,” Tristan said. “Two nights in a bridal suite at the Spencer Inn—wedding present from Dad. Then, a ten-day Mexican cruise.”

  A sly grin crossed Murphy’s face. He looked out the window to make sure J.J. wouldn’t walk in on them. “For our wedding present, Jessica and I upgraded J.J.’s cruise reservations to a deluxe suite. He’s going to arrive thinking they’re getting a regular room. Wait until they get led to a suite!” With a laugh, they bumped fists.

  Hearing a vehicle pull up to the house, they went out to greet either Hunter or their father and Donny. Instead, they found Tad MacMillan getting out of his SUV. An exceedingly thin young man in an ill-fitting suit slid from the passenger seat.

  “I’m delivering a breakfast casserole and pastry tray from Tracy,” Tad said.

  Tristan’s eyes lit up. “Food!” A flash of concern crossed his face. “Did she include cheese danish?”

  Tad placed a tray in Tristan’s arms. “Homemade. She put a post-it with your name on one.”

  “Should I be scared? She did say she was going to get even with me for that incident at Christmas.”

  Tad arched an eyebrow. One corner of his mouth curled upward. With a shrug of his shoulders, he carried the food container inside.

  “She wouldn’t.” Tristan turned to Murphy. “Would she?”

  “She did ask me to pick up a case of rat poison on the way out yesterday,” Murphy said while regarding Tad’s passenger who was climbing from the vehicle.

  Like a man on his way to the gallows, Tristan went inside the house.

  J.J. stepped out of the barn and started to make his way across the barnyard.

  “Tad had asked me to help him,” the young man told Murphy, who peered him with curiosity. He looked familiar, but Murphy wasn’t sure how he knew him. “He says the saying that idle hands are the devil’s playground is true.”

  “That is true,” Murphy said.

  “Congratulations on your wedding. And I mean that.”

  Murphy started to explain that he was not J.J. when abruptly the young man threw his arms around him and gave him a tight hug. “You saved my life!” He proceeded to sob.

  “Should I leave the two of you alone?” J.J. whispered to Murphy.

  “I think this belongs to you.” Murphy peeled the emotional man’s arms from where they held him and deposited them on J.J.’s shoulders.

  “I owe you my life!” He tightened his grip and cried into J.J.’s shoulder.

  “Who is this guy?” Murphy asked.

  J.J. shook his head. “I didn’t get a clear look at him.”

  “Whoever he is, his tears of gratitude are leaving water marks on your shirt.”

  “You’re welcome for my saving your life.” J.J. pulled out of the embrace. “I think you’ve thanked me enough, whoever you are.”

  “I’m Derek. Derek Ellison.” He sniffed and wiped the tears from his cheeks. “You defended me when everyone—and I mean everyone—thought I’d killed my father-in-law. John Davis. Everyone told me to cop a plea. But you believed in my innocence.”

  “Derek Ellison.” Murphy folded his arms. “The same Derek Ellison who stabbed a friend of ours back at Oak Glen.”

  “That would be me.
I’m really sorry about that. Between the drugs and alcohol, I just couldn’t think straight.”

  “Derek?” J.J. looked the young man up and down. He was bathed, shaven, and dressed in fairly nice clothes. He looked nothing like the Derek Ellison he had defended months earlier. “What happened to you?”

  “I’ve been clean and sober for sixty-two days,” Derek said. “Got out of rehab two weeks ago. I’ve moved in with Mom. Going to Narcotics Anonymous every day. Tad is working on getting me a sponsor. Going back to school and looking for a job. Kathleen says that if I make it to the six-month mark, she’ll let me have supervised visitations with Luke.” With a grin, he leaned in to whisper. “But I’ll get to see him today. She’s letting me sit with them at the wedding. John’s other wife talked her into it. Sherry says everyone deserves a second chance.” He patted J.J. on the back. “I owe it all to this guy.”

  “I guess things are working out then,” J.J. said. “I mean, after it came out about John Davis’s …” He didn’t quite know what to call it.

  “’Bigamy,” Murphy said. “He was a bigamist.”

  “You’d think that the fur would be flying,” Derek said. “But it’s not. Those women have become besties. Kathleen and Sherry are like this.” He held up his crossed fingers. “I guess it’s helping. Kathleen was really OCD, but she’s loosened up since she met Sherry, who’s actually pretty cool. Sherry is teaching Kathleen and Luke how to control that dog John gave him and she babysits Luke when Kathleen is working late. Luke adores Sherry and all of those dogs.”

  “And Heather’s recovered from the accident?” Murphy asked.

  “Did you hear about her quitting her job?”

  “She quit her job?” J.J. asked. “She had a good job with a big company out in Robinson.”

  “Said she didn’t like it, and life’s too short to spend it doing something you don’t like,” Derek said. “She and Madison are partners at the dance studio. You’d never believe those two used to be at each other’s throats.”