The Proust Effect

*Doot doot doo do*

“Ugh,” came out muffled from under a white and pink blanket.

*Doot doot doo do*

“Stop!” the muffled voice said. But the chiming didn’t stop and the blanket flew off in a swift motion of the arm. Wren Alden sat up in a little bed, in the attic of the renamed Leona’s Yellow Bird Bed and Breakfast. Felix Thurman, one of the most successful Authors and Wren’s mentor had bought it, selling all he owned in the U.S. and naming it in honor of his late wife. The former owner and murderer Darcia Blackwood was in prison for murdering her sister Lucia. Lucia was resting in peace; ashes scattered at the shipwreck that had brought her and so many others to the island. Carmine, Wren’s partner in literal crime thanks to a break in, was off traveling the world researching for his next book. Or that was what he was supposed to be doing, but instead he was calling Wren in the middle of the night. For the fourth time this month.

“What is it?” Wren hissed as she picked up her cell.

“Oh, you’re awake,” a cheerful voice said.

“Ugh,” she said rubbing her eyes with her other hand. He chuckled, she clenched her teeth, “it had better actually be important this time, I mean it.”

“You’re so cute when you’re bossy,” he teased.

“I’m hanging up, bye…” she said.

“Wait!” he blurted quickly, “it’s important this time, I promise.”

*Later*

That’s why she had gotten up at four in the morning to start packing. Got showered and dressed for Ireland weather, who could guess the weather in Australia when she landed? Downstairs Madeline was setting up the front desk for the day. It was early but she was a good worker now that she was the co-manager with Owen. Both had gotten a significant raise, along with the B&B’s chef and the new maid. Felix didn’t work at all in the B&B and neither did Wren, they just lived there. Wren smiled at the only thing Felix had kept of his former life, Leona’s treasured cuckoo clock. Tucked in the corner of the entryway, where he wouldn’t have to hear it.

“You’re up early,” Madeline said, then looked at Wren’s suitcase, curiously.

“Carmine called, we have another mystery to solve,” Wren sighed.

“Oh no, what happened?” Madeline asked.

“Thankfully it’s not a murder this time, just a stolen necklace,” Wren rolled her eyes. It wasn’t an emergency, but Carmine insisted that she come. Telling her the experience could inspire her book. She had just finished a book and wanted to take time editing and remembering Lucia in the garden. It had been a whirlwind getting set up here, helping Felix redecorate, getting both the cottage and little house painted a soft yellow. Helping him move into the little house in the yard with his nurse Andy. Then the chapbook of Lucia’s poems that Felix and Wren had compiled and published in her memory. All the proceeds would go to Lucia’s favorite charity that helped abandoned animals find homes. That was coming out in a few days, and Wren had just finished the first draft of her own book. Now Carmine wanted her to fly off to Queensland to join him in some mansion because a rich girl had lost a necklace? He hadn’t been clear about how he met this girl or ended up staying in her house, but his persistence had worn her down. She was growing soft for that man for some reason.

Really soft, she realized several times over her thirty-hour journey from Ireland to Queensland Australia. She hated flying and couldn’t eat anything but peanuts. The flights were placed so close together she couldn’t eat between them either. Sleeping was nightmare even though Felix had paid for first class for her. And stepping off the plane in Queensland into the warm climate even though it was winter in the southern hemisphere made her realize her trench-coat would have to go. She was nearly fainting from heat, hunger and exhaustion. Then she saw Carmine and burst into laughter. He was wearing board shorts and a T-shirt.

He smiled at her, “Happy to see me?”

“I’m happy to be on the ground where I belong,” she said.

“You’re named after a bird, shouldn’t you like flying?” he teased.

“Named after birds that stay low to the ground most of the time,” she said. He didn’t question how she knew, she was a well of trivia.

“Well, are you ready to meet Tilly?” he chuckled as they started walking.

“No, I’m starving, where is the nearest restaurant?” she said looking around the small airport.

“Ehh, sorry, I already tried to have you something but there was problem with an infestation…” he said waving his hand at the closed restaurants around them.

“Arrgh,” she groaned and he started to laugh a little, but she gave him a death glare.

He cleared his throat, “Tilly’s place is really close, and she has a personal chef.”

“Great, just get us there fast,” she said.

“Oh, I’m not driving, I have a driver,” he said. Wren had never missed her little green beetle more. It was sitting in a parking garage in the US with Carmine’s pickup, Felix footing the bill to keep them for when the two decided to go back. After a longer drive than Carmine had let on, through dense forest and winding roads that helped her hunger nausea none, they came to the end of a two-mile driveway. It opened up to a tall wooden gate. The property was enclosed in a tall stone fence that cut it off from the rest of the world in every direction. On the other side of the mansion was presumably the Pacific. And out twelve miles into the ocean sat the shipwreck that Carmine had come to explore. It was pretty convenient that he’d met Tilly.

“Tell me again how you know this person?” Wren said as the driver called inside to be let into the property.

“Remember Ceecee and Robert from the retreat?” he asked, referring to the two other writer’s that had been at their fateful first encounter. Felix’s writer retreat where Wren had solved his wife’s murder.

“I sure do,” Wren said, remembering how Ceecee especially was very annoying.

“Well, I ran into them on my way here on the plane, they were coming to visit their friend they’d met at Harvard, Tilly Vandercolt,” he said.

“Vandercolt, as in Evan Vandercolt?” Wren swallowed hard looking now at the stucco mansion they’d just pulled up to. It was massive with square columns and perfectly trimmed hedges around it. Several yards in front of the house was a garden with a giant water fountain. It looked like a five-star resort on some expensive island paradise.

“Welcome to Manta ray house,” the driver said, parking in front of the entryway staircase.

“Evan is Tilly’s husband,” Carmine said, “And when I told Ceecee and Robert why I was coming here, they told me that their friend lives right near the shipwreck and that I could use her private scuba service to check it out, isn’t that great?”

“Wait,” Wren said as he opened his door, she followed him frantically, “You’re not telling me that Ceecee and Robert are staying here too, are you?”

“Let me carry your suitcase,” Carmine tried to take it from her.

“Carmine!” she stomped one foot and pointed at him.

“It’s just for a few days,” he said holding his hands up defensively. Before she could berate him, her stomach growled intensely and she sighed. She could scold him for withholding this information later.

“Take me to the chef,” she said.

“That won’t be hard because no one is here right now, they all went out shopping for you some beachwear,” Carmine said quickly as he started walking up the steps.

“What?” Wren shrieked, following him. Now wasn’t the time to argue about that either, she let him take her one suitcase to her room and was pointed in the direction of the kitchen by one of the many staff in the house.

Walking into the room made everything else melt away, her stomach lurched at the smell of something amazing and vaguely cinnamon in the air. Her mouth watered and she floated toward the scent, ignoring the busy worker bees buzzing around her. She saw an older man in a white hat stirring something in a saucepan. It looked like caramelized apples.

He looked up at her and smiled, “Are you a new guest of Tilly’s?”

“Yes, umm what’s that for?” she pointed to the sauce.

“Ricotta hotcakes,” he said pouring some of the sauce over a stack of pancakes. She was nearly drooling as he scooped what looked like homemade whipped cream over the apples.

“Who… who are those for?” she asked twirling a piece of hair in her finger.

He chuckled, “These are for brunch later, this was a test stack,” he handed the plate to her.

“I can have them?” she wanted to cry, it was like a gift from heaven. He nodded and she smiled before running off to look for a utensil to eat them with. Or to hide in a closet and eat them with her bare hands. A helpful man that maybe worked there handed her a fork and motioned to a barstool at the kitchen island. She hopped up there and got to work, inhaling most of it in a few minutes. When she was about to finish them, the chef, who she hadn’t spoken to again, had brought her another plate. She just nodded; he laughed and slid it under her when she was done with the first plate. She wasn’t normally a big eater, but it had been a long time to only have had drinks and peanuts.

“There you are,” she heard Carmine say from the door behind her. She spun around on the bar-stool and there he was with Ceecee, Robert and a beautiful woman with blonde hair.

“Wren, hi!” Ceecee said.

“Hey Ceecee,” Wren muttered around her mouthful of pancakes. The dynamic had shifted because Felix had picked Wren to mentor and because Wren had been right about Leona’s murder. But Ceecee still looked down her nose a little at Wren, Robert was doing the same. The gorgeous blonde was looking at her curiously.

“Tilly, this is the detective I told you about, she will for sure find your missing necklace,” Ceecee said to the blonde.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Tilly held out her hand to Wren, it was bejeweled all over.

“Mmmm, you too,” Wren mumbled, still trying to chew and swallow. She held out one hand to Tilly and used the other to cover her mouth and mumbled, “I’m not a detective.”

“What was that?” Tilly asked, grimacing slightly.

Wren took a beat to finish swallowing her delicious food and said, “I’m not a detective, I’m a mystery writer.”

“Oh? Ceecee and Carmine said you solved two murders,” Tilly said.

“Yes, I happened to be there and helped figure it out, but I’m not a detective,” Wren insisted.

“I can pay you for your help,” Tilly said. That was something that would have mattered only a year ago, but not anymore. Not only because Felix paid for everything for her, but because at his word she and Carmine both had become bestsellers. Ceecee and Robert were still trying with not one word about them to anyone from Felix. But they were rich by birth, so Wren didn’t feel that sorry for them.

“That’s not why I came, Carmine… well, he was persistent,” Wren said, giving Carmine a tight smile. He would never have left her alone and he winked at her.

“Looks like you got a head start on brunch,” Robert said.

“Ronan is the best, isn’t he?” Tilly said smiling at the chef.

“Oh yes, those pancakes were a life saver,” Wren said.

“Right, well what did we discuss Ronan? Less carbs,” Tilly said patting her flat stomach. Ronan’s shoulders slumped as he looked at the stacks and stacks of pancakes he’d already prepared.

“What should I do with these?” he pointed at them.

“I’m sure the staff would love to have them,” Tilly said, “the rest of us will take a salad.”

“Not me, I’ll take some pancakes,” Carmine said.

“And Wren has had pancakes already; you don’t want a salad after all that do you?” Tilly asked, looking terrified that the answer could be ‘yes’.

Wren smirked, “Nope, I’ll just finish my second plate of pancakes.”

Later in the small room in the only turret, Wren looked through the clothes Tilly and Ceecee had picked for her. They weren’t too bad, besides the bikini, but still not her style. The room was perfect for her; the clothes were not. It wasn’t that hot in June so the bikini wouldn’t be appropriate at all. The one thing she loved was a thin breezy maxi dress with three quarter sleeves. It was a sage green and had a belt around the middle, making it almost look like a trench coat. That was perfect for her, and it wasn’t as warm as her thick tan Burberry trench-coat. Tilly had at least appreciated that about her once she spied the plaid print lining of the coat. Felix had gotten it for her for Christmas.

The mansion was expansive though she hadn’t explored much. The main parts of the house had black and white checkered marble floors throughout and even up the stairs. Wren’s little circular room had a white carpet, yikes! And a round bed, there were cut out windows all around and a little vanity table. No desk, no private bathroom. She threw all the fancy make-up on the vanity into the drawers of it and placed her few books and laptop on it instead. Her clothes could stay in her suitcase; she didn’t plan to stay long. The just purchased clothes, besides the one dress she liked, stayed in the shopping bags on the floor. She then decided to just kick those bags under the bed. She changed into the dress and put her writing notebook in one of the big pockets. There, she was unpacked.

She didn’t go down for brunch, but she did saunter around the house as much as she could. Many of the doors were locked. Maybe a precaution after the theft of the necklace. She noticed many of the corners of the ceiling had security cameras. But the police had been notified of the theft, and they would have watched those. The necklace had been kept in Tilly’s personal ‘dressing room’ on the first floor. It wasn’t her closet, that was in her massive bedroom. This was sort of a second closet for touch-ups, jewelry and shoes. Things Tilly might want to change in the middle of a party if the mood struck her. Wren passed the wall of glass doors that led out to the back pool area. The other guests and Tilly were having brunch out there. They didn’t see Wren watching them. Then she went to the dining room. This room was separated from a part of the kitchen by a big tank of fish and other aquatic life. It was explained to Wren that lobsters and other animals were brought in straight from the ocean and people could pick something directly from the tank to be prepared. But there were also ornamental fish and animals in the tank. There was a replica of the shipwreck that Carmine was here to explore. Down to the last plank of wood, it was an exact replica. There was a little treasure box right beside it that looked cheesy and out of place.

She slowly made her way to Tilly’s ‘dressing room’ at the end of a hallway. It looked like something out of the backroom of a high-end burlesque show. Boa’s hanging all over, costumes, jewelry scattered, shoes. Makeup tables lined one wall with big round light bulbs around each mirror. It was tacky and didn’t fit with the rest of the house at all. The mess was ridiculous and how Tilly had realized a necklace was even missing was the real mystery. It was probably hiding in here under a tasteless item of clothing. There were shelves of wigs lining a part of one wall. There were no windows at all, which was strange in a house like this. And this was a surprisingly small room; it was stuffy and seemed like there should be a cloud of smoke in the air.

“Bit overdone innit?” a voice came out of nowhere startling her.

“Oh!” she spun around to see someone she recognized instantly. The very handsome, very rich and very Australian billionaire, Evan Vandercolt.

“Tilly’s a wild woman, I love her though,” he said, smiling. Despite all the light bulbs it was the brightest thing in the room.

Wren nodded then swallowed, she looked around, “It’s kind of hard to get my head around all these things.”

“I tell her to have the maid clean up a bit, but she doesn’t like people in her dressing room,” Evan said.

“So that means you don’t suspect a maid?” Wren said, taking out her notebook.

“Bet you’re the detective?” Evan asked, if it was a question, she couldn’t tell really.

“Well… no, I mean, sort of?” she responded, sort of.

“I bet you’re wondering how she knew it was stolen, look at the dog’s breakfast in here,” he said.

Wren tilted her head and then said, “Oh, the mess? Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking actually.”

“Well, she says it was in her special case,” he said, motioning to a glass door with black velvet necklace bust display. There was no necklace, Evan sniffled and she realized he was getting emotional, he shook his head, “Sorry mate, that was just a gift from my mom, I gave it to Tilly just last month. It was a bit tatty but it was sentimental.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Wren said, she made a mental note to look up some of his slang later.

“You’re not having brunch? Ain’t you peckish?” he asked.

Thankfully she knew that one, “Oh no, the chef had some pancakes with an apple glaze and I had two plates.”

“Ah yea, Ronan, he’s a beauty, innit he? He worked for my mom and dad all my life,” Evan said, “I think I’ll slip in there for some of that before my wife stuffs me with some koala food.” Wren laughed, he was charming. But that could be an act, he was almost too Australian, and too down to earth. She jotted down several notes once he had left.

She was still bothered by the size of the room. She went out to the hall and to the room next door, it was large. Something felt off, she couldn’t put her finger on it, but she made a note. She went outside and walked around slowly, she wasn’t looking for anything specific, just seeing if anything caught her eye. The garden had an archway and sidewalk to wander through looking at the flowers and trees. It was quite large and maze-like. She made her way to the other end where the sidewalk circled around the big fountain. There were benches on three sides of it. She went all the way to the other side and sat down, watching the water bubble out of the top and down into the gradually bigger bowls until it landed cascading into the big round base. It was made of giant rock bricks. The sidewalk was made of the same only smoother. She noticed some of those bricks were discolored. They were about two by two feet and a couple of them right in front of the fountain looked… different. She stood up to inspect them.

“What are you doing?” an unfamiliar voice said. She looked up and a man she’d seen following Tilly around was standing there watching her.

“Just looking around,” Wren shrugged.

“The lady of the house would like you to join them at the poolside,” he said.

“And what is your name?” Wren asked him with her pen and notebook ready.

He sighed hard and rolled his eyes, “Reginald, the head manager of the house.”

“So, you know the whole staff and when they are here?” Wren asked.

“I told the police everything I knew already,” he said, his face tightening.

“Well Tilly is the one who begged me to investigate,” Wren said.

“Well, you should investigate the police report, I have things to do,” he said dismissively but also a bit defensively. Strange that Evan seemed to be the only person around who spoke Australian slang. Tilly was American but the staff all seemed to be British or American as well. Maybe they were instructed not to use slang and that was confusing her ear for accents. Australian accents might sound British if the person was not using slang and trying to sound professional.

Wren joined the other guests out back, and thankfully no one was expecting her to go swimming. It was way too cold for that. They were drinking mimosas at one of the tables and laughing. Evan had joined them and was snuggled as close as he could be to his gorgeous wife. But when Tilly saw Wren approaching, she stood up to greet her.

“Oh, I knew you would like that one,” she said about Wren’s new dress. “Didn’t I say that Ceecee?”

“Yes, you sure did,” Ceecee agreed reluctantly.

“Yes, well I can pay you back for the clothes,” Wren said.

“Pfft, don’t bother, we have tons,” Tilly said, either about clothes or money, tons would be an understatement for both.

“Well thanks,” Wren said.

“I looked you up online after Ceecee and Carmine told me about you, and I saw your coat on your pictures,” Tilly said. It was more thoughtful than Wren would have expected and she smiled genuinely at Tilly as they both sat down at the table. A mimosa was sitting in front of Wren from seeming out of nowhere.

“You almost got my wife to read a book, what a ripper,” Evan said.

“Almost,” Tilly said, “I don’t have the time, I don’t know how you people find the time to write them when I can’t seem to find a moment to read them.” She motioned to everyone at the table besides Evan. All her guests were writers. But with the new popularity of AI, Wren suspected the time wouldn’t be much of a problem for Ceecee or Robert anymore. She’d heard rumors about their newest books that had been written in just a week each. It disgusted Wren immensely but she really didn’t think she’d see either of them again. She took out her notebook and got ready to get more information, but Tilly nearly spat out her mimosa.

“Put that thing away, have a little breather, we’re just talking and having a blast, I don’t want it muddled with all that nasty necklace business,” Tilly said. The nasty necklace business was the only reason Wren was here, and she wanted to get it done and leave as soon as possible. She looked to Carmine for help, but he just gave her a pleading look. Whatever, people with their guards down exposed more anyway. And Wren had a good enough memory; she slipped her notebook in her pocket.

Nothing of much importance was shared but Wren did drag one major thing out of them. She found out that the police had looked over all the security footage very carefully and no one had entered Tilly’s dressing room for weeks besides Tilly. It was a real ‘locked room mystery’. And Evan was the one who seemed most concerned and promised Wren a picture of the necklace they had taken for insurance. They had insured it because even though to Evan it was ‘tatty’ aka inexpensive, it was worth $100,000 dollars as a 24-carat black diamond. How much did he usually spend on jewelry? Looking at Tilly, it was a lot, she sparkled more than Vegas, even at a casual brunch.

The police had no leads and none of the staff admitted to seeing anything. It was seemingly unsolvable, which is why Wren had been dragged here. They all had quite a bit of faith in her. But the only person she could really suspect right now logically was Tilly. But that was also unreasonable considering she’d begged Wren for help.

After a few hours of sipping mimosas and being quite drunk, everyone parted ways and Wren went for a nap. Then Carmine woke her up insisting she join him in exploring his shipwreck. The SS Yongala, at the bottom of the sea, twelve miles out. Her soft spot for Carmine was callousing by the minute as she got into a wet-suit and set out on a tiny scuba boat with the man for what reason? They couldn’t talk under water, and she was terrified of the marine life in Australia. She loved animals but even her favorite underwater creature, the octopus, had a dark member of its family in Australia. The blue ringed killer. She warned Carmine several times of the tiny murderer. And he just laughed at her like it wasn’t a real concern.

The staff of professional divers helped them, and one went with them just in case of trouble. The water was freezing even with the thick fabric of the wet-suit, and the breathing apparatus was heavy and uncomfortable. But once she was down there, things changed. It was nearly silent and the water was brilliantly clear. Beautiful, colorful fish darted around them and even with the clunky equipment she felt like a mermaid. The shipwreck was interesting and Carmine went all around exploring it. Wren didn’t go inside or get too close. It was exactly like a large version of the little replica in Tilly’s fish tank. Even down to the treasure box, except the real one didn’t look like something out of treasure island. It was just a box. And on it, trying to get it open was her favorite part of the experience. A coconut octopus. She got close and it didn’t swim away. She waved at him and he waved back or seemed to. But mostly he was focused on opening that box, which was very in character for the species. She didn’t help him because getting it open was probably the fun part for him. Just like her with solving her mysteries. She mentally named him Coco, which wasn’t original, but he was her first coconut octopus friend so he could have the most obvious name. He was big for his kind and was very interesting to watch.

On the trip back to land, it was all she could talk about, which made Carmine happy because she hadn’t been too miserable down there. She told him it was a once in a lifetime experience she wouldn’t forget and he was beaming. Her excitement lasted all through cleaning up and getting a shower in the bathroom she shared with Ceecee. Even though the woman would hardly give her any privacy. And told her dinner would be formal so she had to wear a ‘decent dress’. And Tilly’s personal hairdresser and makeup person would see to her hair and that face. It was hard not to be insulted by that. But she had a new friend, and she told the staff that helped with her hair and makeup all about it. And then put on the teal sleek dress Ceecee had picked out. Thankfully Ceecee didn’t see that she’d shoved it under the bed or the police might have been called again.

Once her fancy person costume was in place she looked in the full-length mirror in the bathroom and didn’t recognize herself. Her dark red hair was blown out in big soft waves. It was a little longer because it wasn’t curly. Her makeup was smokey and seductive, and the teal of the dress brought out the brightness of her green eyes. Tilly and Ceecee were very excited at her new, temporary look. Then they went downstairs and she felt eyes on her, which was unhelpful for her cause and very uncomfortable, just like her shoes.

Someone whistled and she saw Carmine, in dress slacks and a white turtleneck. He looked very handsome and distinguished; she realized his build was just about as fit as Evan’s now that she could see it. And she blushed as he approached her with two champagne flutes.

“Well, the sleuth cleans up nice, I see you traded gumshoes for stilettos,” he teased handing her a drink.

She took the drink, “And the lumberjack can cut a fine figure as well as he does trees,” she shot back. He smiled warmly and toasted her.

They mingled around and Wren barely sipped her champagne; she wanted to stay alert. There were lots of people she didn’t know and some she only recognized for being famous for being rich. She tried to avoid Ceecee and Robert. They might have been suspects right now because she couldn’t rule anyone out. But she could deal with them later since they were staying. Plus, she just didn’t want to be around them.

Waiters served hors d'oeuvres on silver platters that did not look appetizing at all. So, Wren avoided those harder than she was Ceecee. She lingered near Tilly and Evan, listening for information. Tilly introduced her as a friend to most of the guests, which was strange. She wasn’t telling everyone about the necklace. Was it shameful? Was she suspicious of her guests? Or was she hiding something? Wren decided to test her the next time she met someone new.

“This is my friend Wren, she’s a very famous author,” Tilly told a couple in very expensive looking jewelry. They surely wouldn’t steal a ‘tatty’ necklace.

“Mystery writer actually,” Wren held out her hand to shake each of their hands.

“Oh? How fun,” the woman said, she was a bit older.

“That’s why Tilly wanted me to help out,” Wren said.

“Help out?” the man leaned in.

“Oh, just some silly unpleasantness,” Tilly brushed it off, Evan didn’t look too happy.

“Someone stole a necklace, it was an heirloom,” Wren told them.

“Oh, I’m so sorry dear,” the woman took Tilly’s hand.

“It’s not that bad, I didn’t really like it that that much, and now I can use the insurance money to buy a prettier necklace,” Tilly said. Evan looked like he’d been slapped in the face, Wren almost regretted bringing it up, but she had to dig for the truth somehow.

“Well, it’s all good then,” the woman said, Evan still looked hurt.

“I mean, it was an heirloom though, so sentimental value is pretty important,” Wren said, because she felt for that rich white male billionaire for some reason.

Tilly laughed, actually laughed, “Well you know mother in laws, she had to make sure we didn’t forget her somehow and now we can, I didn’t care much for the old bat anyway.”

Evan handed his drink to a waiter, “Excuse me,” he said and took off for the kitchen.

“What’s his problem?” Tilly asked Wren. Wren just scoffed and took off to follow Evan. She went into the kitchen, and he was in there talking to the chef. Maybe the only other person in the house who had known Evan’s parents, who were both dead. The chef seemed to be comforting him as he sat on a bar-stool. They were whispering but both stopped when they saw Wren.

She walked over to Evan slowly, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“It’s not you, it’s that gronk of a wife,” Evan said.

“She’s a bit of an ear banger,” the chef said, his actual Australian accent slipping in through his earlier British façade. Maybe it came out when he was alone with Evan. Or to cheer Evan up and make him feel more at home. In his own house. The chef chuckled at his own comment, but Evan just glared at him, so he walked away.

“I’m still sorry that I pushed it,” Wren said touching his arm gently.

Evan looked at her hand on his arm and then looked her over, “Look at you huh? You’re a stunner when you’re tizzed up.”

“Thank you?” Wren said.

“But no need to apologize mate,” he said.

Wren didn’t want to keep pushing but she couldn’t help her instincts, “Did they not get along? Your mom and Tilly?”

“Nah, not at all. Mom really cracked the shits when I married her. Thought she was…” he paused and looked back at the door to the ballroom he’d ran from, he set his jaw, “Mom knew she was a shallow gold digging…” He stopped himself and shook his head, looking ashamed of what had slipped out.

“I don’t blame you, what she said was pretty awful,” Wren rubbed his arm. He looked at her hand again and grinned at her.

He put his hand over hers and squeezed it, “She’ll be right, unless you want to help me get her back and meet me in the garden later for a pass session?”

“Umm no thanks?” she said pulling her hand away. He laughed like he’d been kidding. And though she had no real clue what he’d offered her, she could guess it was improper. The chef was still working nearby and raised his eyebrows accusingly at Wren. As if she had been the one to invite the advance. She didn’t mean for that to happen, she just felt bad for the guy. Tilly was awful but she was still his wife. Wren excused herself and went back to the party and tried to forget it. Dinner was served and Carmine got her talking about Coco again. Maybe he sensed her mood had soured. The guests loved hearing about her new octopus friend even if many of them laughed when she told them he waved at her. The chef laughed along as he served them courses and overheard her talking about how Coco just about had that box opened.

“I really doubt he could get it open,” someone said.

“Oh no, I bet he can, they are really smart. They’ve been known to escape locked tanks and steal fish in other tanks and get back in their own and lock them back. It’s really incredible,” Wren told them. It was true even if most of them still looked skeptical. By the time everyone cleared out, Wren had nearly forgotten her awkward moment with Evan.

Then she went up to her room but before she could go inside someone grabbed her arm. It was Evan.

“I wanted to apologize for earlier, I was just so angry with Tilly,” he said.

“It’s fine,” Wren shook her head and pulled her arm out of his grasp, he let her go easily.

He held out a piece of paper, “Here’s the necklace, you wanted a picture.”

She took it quickly and smiled politely, “Thank you.” Carmine was going to his room and stopped to watch them.

Evan didn’t see him and he leaned in almost too close, “If you think it was her, that Tilly did something with it, tell me before anyone else.”

She couldn’t promise that, but she let her guard down a little, “Evan I think you might want to trust your mother’s instincts.” He looked surprised at her honesty but nodded. She smiled, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” he said. She watched Evan walk away and he waved casually at Carmine who was still standing at the door to his own room watching the events unfold. Before Carmine could come over and question her, Wren waved to him and ducked into her own room.

The next day was slow, and breakfast was light because of all the drinking the night before. Carmine tried to talk to Wren alone, but she didn’t want to deal with that. She knew he would ask about Evan whispering to her before bed. She didn’t want all the personal drama getting in the way of her investigation. The sooner she could figure it out, the sooner she could leave. She went into the dressing room and tried to put herself in the mind of someone who would get in here and get the cheapest necklace in the room and nothing else. She imagined Tilly hating Evan’s mother and looking at that necklace every day. She kept in a special case, or so Evan said. Whose idea was the special placement? Was it just an excuse not to wear it? Did Tilly claim it was ‘too special’ to put with her other jewelry? She finally talked to Ceecee and Robert, who were both super offended by being questioned. They were staying in the mansion when the necklace was taken but unless one of them was a secret kleptomaniac, they didn’t have a motive. The necklace was special, sentimental but cheap. Well, it wasn’t that cheap but compared to the rest of the jewelry, it was. The theft was personal.

She talked to some of the staff but again, none of them had seen anything. None of them had gone into the dressing room. The cameras showed that to seemingly be true. Even Evan hadn’t gone in there, just Tilly. The whole staff hated Tilly and Reginald and had accused them both of taking it. But what was the motive? As the head of managing a house like this, Reginald made as much as the necklace in a year at the very least. Wren was at the end of her wits thinking about the dressing room. How did someone get in there? Unless it was too easy and Tilly tossed it and pretended to care about it enough to throw Evan off her scent. Wren wondered around biting her thumbnail, muttering to herself. She passed someone in the dining room without thinking about who it was. Staff ran around everywhere.

“Hey!” someone grabbed her arm, people needed to stop doing that. She turned and saw Carmine.

“Oh! Hi,” she said casually.

He raised his eyebrows, “So you’re not going to tell me what he said?”

“Who?” she asked feigning ignorance.

He tilted his head, “Come on, what was that? It looked intimate.”

“It was nothing,” she said. He rolled his eyes, he didn’t buy it, so she changed strategies, “Okay, it wasn’t nothing, but it was about the necklace, he has… suspicions, it wasn’t… well it wasn’t anything else.”

“He has suspicions? I think he’s the one that’s suspicious, why do you trust this guy?” Carmine asked.

“Because he’s the only one that actually cares about the necklace, and it’s not even about money,” she said.

“Wow, I didn’t think you of all people would fall for that fake Aussie charm bull-crap,” Carmine scoffed.

She shook her head, running her hand through her hair, she started to defend herself but something in the giant fish tank caught her eye.

“Coco?” she said, walking over and putting both hands on the glass.

Carmine scoffed, “there is no way that’s Coco.” But she ignored him and knocked on the glass. She waved at the octopus, and it seemed to wave back.

“Told you,” Wren looked at Carmine. He put his hands on his hips and sighed, shaking his head. The knocking brought chef Ronan into the room.

“What do you need?” Ronan asked.

“That’s my friend in there, is he a new pet?” Wren asked him.

“The octopus?” Ronan looked at Carmine who shrugged, Wren nodded and Ronan chuckled, “Well no, that’s an option.”

“An option for what?” Wren asked pursing her lips, she knew the answer. Chef Ronan started wringing his hands. Wren pointed at him, “You are NOT cooking Coco.”

“What’s going on?” Tilly entered the room, followed by Reginald, Ceecee and Evan.

“My friend is in there,” Wren pointed to the octopus. Everyone laughed.

“Dear, I think you haven’t had enough sleep,” Tilly said, coming over and taking her arm.

“When was he put in there?” Wren asked.

“Just caught this morning,” Ronan said.

“There’s something fishy about this,” Wren said, and everyone laughed. “I wasn’t making a pun,” Wren said.

“Calm down,” Carmine said.

“This is not a coincidence, he knows something, someone is trying to shut him up,” Wren said.

“Okay maybe Tilly was right,” Evan said.

“Okay, let’s see,” Wren said, feeling crazy but out of options, she pulled the picture of the necklace out of the back pocket of her shorts. She unfolded it and held it up to the glass, pointing at it. The octopus didn’t do anything for a moment.

“See? It’s not Coco,” Carmine put his hands on her shoulders.

“Wait, look,” Wren said. The octopus came over to the glass and put an arm up to the picture. Then it floated over to the shipwreck replica and started trying to get the little treasure chest open.

“I don’t know how you think that animal is going to answer a question,” Ceecee said.

“I think he is,” Wren said, she turned around to face Carmine, “let’s go back to the shipwreck.”

“Wren I don’t think…” Carmine started.

“I’ll take you,” Evan said.

“What?” everyone said at the same time, Tilly being the loudest.

“What else have we got to do, we’re out of leads, what could it hurt?” Evan shrugged.

“If he’s going, I’m going,” Carmine said. Wren didn’t care about any of that, she just wanted answers. Coco seemed to be the only one giving her any.

“He’s not going,” Tilly said, pointing to her husband.

He rolled his eyes and she glared at him, so he sighed, “Please let Wren do what she wants, this is still my house… I think.”

“Fine, she can go, with him,” Tilly said pointing to Carmine.

“Fine!” Evan said.

“And I’m going to need a bowl of water and a net,” Wren said mainly to Reginald.

“For what?” Reginald asked.

“Coco’s coming with me,” she said.

“This is crazy,” Ceecee said and went out the door.

“I can’t… I cannot,” Tilly said with her hands in the air, also leaving, Reginald started to follow her, but she shouted, “I want to be ALONE!” so he slowed but didn’t stop. So, Wren and Carmine went to get ready for another scuba trip. She was serious about taking Coco and told Evan to make it happen.

An hour later they were on a boat parked above the shipwreck with a bowl of Coco and a hunch. Wren knew the drill and got Coco and held him as she fell backwards into the water. Carmine, and the scuba instructor followed. They all swam to the shipwreck and Wren let Coco go free. She waved at him again, in case this was the last time she saw him. He seemed to wave as he floated over to the box again, but it was already open. Wren went over there and looked inside. There was a smaller box inside and she reached in and got it. She held it up to show Carmine. He waved her toward him and they both surfaced. Once her head was above water, she took her breathing gear out of her mouth with one hand and Carmine did the same.

“What’s this?” she held the box out to him.

“I don’t know, open it,” he said. She pulled on the lid, and it was tightly on there, but it wiggled. It must have been airtight. She opened it and looked in it.

“Well look at this,” she said reaching in and pulling out a black diamond necklace.

They didn’t waste time getting back to the mansion. She walked up the dock and toward the house holding the necklace out in front of her. Still dripped wet all over in her scuba suit, the apparatus still attached to her and all. Reginald came running out to greet her with his hands up.

“Miss you cannot come in the house soaking wet like this, we’ve just recently cleaned the floors,” he said.

“Look what I have,” she held up the necklace higher.

He pursed his lips and nodded, “Yes well, very good but I must insist you change clothes and dry off in the bath house.” He pointed to the little stone shed with showers and a locker room in it. It was there for people coming from the beach or out of the pool.

“And what do I do with this,” she held up the necklace again.

“Give it to me and I’ll get it to where it belongs,” he said.

“I don’t think so buddy,” Carmine said from behind Wren.

“Sir you need to clean up as well,” Reginald said.

“But I don’t,” Evan said, coming up behind Reginald, who stiffened up instantly at the sound of Evan’s voice. Wren gave the necklace to Evan before anyone else could argue about it.

“What’d you give it to him for? It belonged to his wife, he probably hid it out there,” Carmine said.

“Why would I do that? I’m the one who gave it to her, and she didn’t even like it,” Evan said.

Carmine looked at Wren for support, but she shrugged, “He’s not wrong.” Carmine huffed but there was nothing he could do. It was technically Evan’s necklace. Tilly didn’t even want it anyway.

Wren and Carmine changed clothes and got dried off in the bath house. Then went into the house. It was quiet, something had shifted. Maybe it was just that Wren had found the necklace and could relax. She still hadn’t figured out who put it out there in the ocean. But she suspected as soon as Evan showed it to Tilly, she would confess to getting rid of it. It was just a necklace anyway and it was back with its true rightful owner.

She walked past Reginald, who looked at her all over, “I told you to dry off.”

“I did,” she said.

“Well, I found drips of water in the entryway,” he said.

“I didn’t go through there,” she said, he didn’t seem to believe her.

What a jerk. Probably Ceecee or someone who’d been in the pool. But she didn’t say that, Reginald was determined to hate her, but she was leaving soon. She walked into the living room and Evan was sitting on the couch holding the necklace, just staring at it. He had clearly been crying. She didn’t sit with him, but she walked over closer.

“Did you tell Tilly we found it?” she asked him.

“She’s been holed up in that dressing room since before you went out, no one has seen or talked to her,” he said.

“Maybe it will cheer her up,” Wren said. She knew it wouldn’t, she just wanted the confession so she could leave. It was selfish but it was a stolen necklace, not a dead body. And she had found it. Case closed. But Evan looked at her like he knew she knew better than that. Because she did.

“She will probably try to choke me with it, she thinks I like you,” he said.

Wren sighed, “People like her tend to be insecure despite how beautiful they are.”

“She’s not wrong,” Evan said.

“Evan…” Wren started but he held up his hand.

“I’m not trying to…I would never be unfaithful; I just mean that someone like you just makes me realize I might have went for the wrong kind of woman with Tilly. You’re so real ya know?” he looked up at her sad. This wasn’t a scoundrel trying to make a move on her. It wasn’t really even about Wren personally.

Wren pinched her own arm, “Ouch, yeah pretty real.”

Evan chuckled, “Thanks Wren, for… everything.” He held the necklace up and stood up. She moved out of his way quickly. He looked like he wanted to hug her, but he held back, she was throwing out every vibe she could for him not to touch her. She tried to get as close to herself as she could and keep a wall up.

“You’re welcome,” she said politely.

“I guess I’ll go take this to my wife, and see how she reacts, come with me?” he asked.

“I probably shouldn’t,” she shook her head.

“In case she has anything to own up to, I want someone else to hear,” he said.

She sighed, “Alright.” They made their way to the dressing room. Evan knocked and called Tilly’s name several times but no answer.

“Just open it?” Wren suggested. He tried it but it was locked. Wren shrugged at him, “Well, where’s the key?”

“I don’t have one,” he chuckled, “Not to this room, I’ll call Reginald, he has one.” Wren stored all that information away. The case was seemingly over but she felt like it could be important. Like they were on the brink of a turning point. Her skin felt electric but in a bad way.

Evan whistled down the hall where Reginald was carrying a stack of towels toward the back of the house, probably restocking the bathhouse. He came to the end of the hall and Evan told him to open the door. Reginald rolled his eyes and gave the huge stack of towels to Wren like she wasn’t a guest at all. But she didn’t care, not right now. Something felt wrong and when Reginald unlocked and opened the door, Evan went inside calling his wife. Things started feeling too slow and heavy.

“NOOO! Tilly!!” Evan cried out, dropping to his knees on the floor. Reginald stood there with a look of horror and Wren pushed him out of the way to get inside. There in front of Evan, Tilly lay dead on the floor.

“Don’t touch anything,” Wren said, looking around. She started taking snapshots of the room in her mind. Then she got out her phone and took actual pictures. Evan was wailing and holding onto his wife. Which was probably bad for evidence, but she wasn’t heartless enough to tell him to stop. Unless it was an all an act, but if it was, she wanted it to be uninterrupted so he could falter in the façade.

Reginald finally started to react; he didn’t look sad, but he still looked scared. “I’ll call the police,” he said.

“Good idea and don’t tell the staff anything yet,” Wren said. But that didn’t work because he ran out of the room and she could hear him on the phone from where she stood telling the police there had been a murder. All the guests came into the room and some of the staff milled outside the room. A security guard showed up, and Wren had him keep staff out of the hall. The guests were suspects and so were staff, but they were different types of suspects, and she wanted to get reactions in different ways.

There was no blood, but Tilly’s neck was bruised badly, strangled, probably by hand. It would take someone really strong or really mad. It was a crime of passion. This was not about covering up the theft, if it was about the necklace at all. Evan seemed truly upset. He was still on his knees but no longer holding her. Wren joined him and touched his shoulder.

“Evan, do you know who could have done this?” she asked him carefully.

“Anyone could have done this, everyone hated her,” he sobbed, “my poor shallow bitch of a wife.” It was a strange thing to say and Wren noted it. Before she could come up with a response, she noticed something. A smell.

“What’s that smell?” she said leaning down.

“It’s a dead body, it probably smells,” Ceecee said.

“Not yet,” Wren said and leaned down and started sniffing Tilly’s shirt. It was her perfume, that was the overwhelming scent. But there was something else, something very familiar. It smelled important.

“What are you doing? That’s disgusting,” Robert said.

“Wren please,” Carmine said.

“No, I know that smell, I know I do,” Wren said lifting Tilly’s shirt a little to sniff it. It was something underneath the perfume, making it harder to pinpoint but it was something so fresh in her mind. A relief, a feeling of happiness.

“Excuse me,” an unfamiliar voice said. Wren looked up and saw a police officer. “What is that woman doing?”

“She’s a detective,” Carmine said.

“No, she isn’t, she’s a writer,” Ceecee said.

“Bestselling Author,” Wren gave Ceecee a grin.

Ceecee rolled her eyes, “Well there seems to be dead people everywhere you go and then you write books about them, so I’d say you are suspect number one.”

It wasn’t surprising that Ceecee had waited for the police to arrive before she started accusing Wren, she knew better she just wanted to make trouble out of spite. Wren scoffed, “Really Ceecee?”

“She has solved two murders,” Carmine told the officer.

“I don’t care if she’s Sherlock Holmes, we have jurisdiction and I want everyone out of here,” he said.

Wren didn’t complain, they could go over the details that didn’t matter and look at the cameras and see no one going into the room. Just like with the necklace. There was a way in there without the door, without windows. She just didn’t know what that could be. She would check the room again after the police left. Right now, she needed to talk to everyone in the house again. No one had seemed to care about the necklace, but everyone would care about a murder. Even if Evan was right and everyone hated Tilly, no one wanted to be a murder suspect.

First, she needed to talk to Evan, she told him to meet her in the dining room because Ronan had made some snacks to calm everyone down. He brought a plate of pastries and cookies in and sat them on the table, then Evan walked in. The two men hugged for a while and Wren sat quietly, waiting. Evan had no family left that Wren was aware of, and Ronan seemed to be the closest thing, so she gave them time. Finally, they let each other go and Evan sat down at the table across from Wren. She had her phone set to record audio and her notebook.

“Do you mind if I record this?” she asked him.

“No,” Evan sniffled, “I just want you to find out who did this, I trust you.”

Wren swallowed a lump and continued, “So you said that the killer could be anyone, but do you really believe that? I mean, is there someone specific that you know of that would want to hurt your wife?”

“No, no one specific, I mean I heard her arguing with Ceecee and Robert a lot today. Before you told us about Coco,” he said.

“What were they arguing about?” Wren asked.

“Well Tilly’s dad owns a publishing company, Ceecee and Robert, you know I think they were using her to get to her dad. Tilly thought so too and today she finally had enough and told them if they weren’t real friends, to get out of her house,” Evan said.

“Wow,” Wren was jotting things down. It was a motive, but she did know them a little bit. Were they capable of murder? Well, she didn’t know them all that well and a good detective doesn’t rule out anyone. Especially not because of personal ties.

“Did they resolve this argument?” Wren asked.

“They seemed to, I mean they just sort of got quiet and stopped arguing, they didn’t like… hug it out,” he said.

“Do you still think Tilly got rid of the necklace?” Wren asked.

“I don’t know, I mean it makes sense, but now… nothing makes sense, so I don’t know what to think,” he said.

“The locked room?” Wren prodded.

“Right, I thought it had to be her because she was the only one that had been in there, but now… I mean, she didn’t strangle herself,” he said.

“And if someone could get inside without being seen this time…” she trailed off and he nodded.

“Is there anything else you can think of?” she asked him.

“No, not right now,” he said.

“Okay, you can go,” she said.

“That’s all?” he asked. If he was the killer, questioning him kept his guard up. Treating him like a suspect would just make it worse, plus if he was innocent, she wanted to give him a break. So, she wanted to keep it short.

“That’s all for now, let me know if you think of anything else,” she said.

“I will, thank you Wren,” he said and got up. She thought he seemed nice and genuine, but he was the husband, and that made him her top suspect. On top of statistical probability, he had been very angry with Tilly. It wasn’t looking good for him. But he didn’t have to know that.

Next, she decided to go through the staff, one by one. And boy had their tune changed, just like she thought it would. They let the rumors and gossip fly. There were so many. That Tilly was cheating on Evan. That Evan was having an affair. That Evan’s dad wasn’t his real dad. That Evan’s mom’s ghost stole the necklace and killed Tilly. Most of them were outlandish but she kept them all stored away to dig through for a nugget of truth. There always was something in rumors like that. Not all of them but with so many, there was some diamond of truth in the rough of bull-crap. She was on the last girl, a pretty, young girl who was a maid, her name was Tiffany.

“So, Tiffany, have anything you want to tell me?” Wren asked.

“So many things,” Tiffany nodded.

“Yea I thought you might,” Wren said.

“It was Julia, the other maid,” Tiffany said.

“And what was Julia’s motive?” Wren rubbed her temples. It had been like this with most of the staff. Just accusing other staff that they didn’t like. They all started like that, but she knew how to dig.

“Julia has a crush on Evan and was jealous of Tilly,” Tiffany said.

“And she told you this?” Wren asked.

“She didn’t have to, every girl that works here has a crush on Evan,” Tiffany said blushing.

“Including you?” Wren asked.

“Well… no…” Tiffany said blinking rapidly.

“You said every girl,” Wren said, tapping her phone, “I have it recorded.”

“Well okay he’s hot but I didn’t KILL his WIFE over it,” Tiffany said.

“But Julia did?” Wren asked.

Tiffany sighed, “Probably not… but I did hear a rumor.”

“Was it the one about Evan’s ghost mom?” Wren asked.

“No,” Tiffany laughed, then she looked serious, “I heard that his mom was having an affair and her lover killed his dad in a jealous rage but then he found out about Evan being his real son so now he stalks him and kills anyone who hurts Evan.”

“And this was this morning that you heard this?” Wren asked.

“No,” Tiffany said, “I’ve heard that one and so many versions of it since I started here, but all of them are about Evan’s mom having an affair and supposedly, her lover gave her the necklace.” That one sounded different; Wren took a note but couldn’t get hung up on rumors.

“Anything else?” Wren asked.

“Yeah, I’m not your last staff member,” Tiffany said.

“What?” Wren asked.

Tiffany pointed to the list of names Wren had been crossing people from, Tiffany was the last on the list. “You forgot the driver,” Tiffany said.

“OH! You’re right,” Wren said, “Thank you, can you send him in next if you see him.” Tiffany nodded smiling as she got up and started to walk out.

Then the police officer from earlier came in and stopped Tiffany, “I need to talk with you.”

“Oh no, I already talked to the detective,” Tiffany pointed at Wren, then walked off quickly.

The officer glared at Wren, “That’s the tenth time. YOU are not a detective.”

“Okay well I was just asking questions,” she said.

“No one on the staff is giving us statements because of you, they keep saying they trust you more and that they already told you everything,” he said.

“Okay… sorry?” she shrugged.

“You’re obstructing justice, Miss Alden,” he said putting his hands on his hips.

She picked up her phone and showed him her recordings, each labeled with each person’s name, “Quid pro quo?” she offered.

He sighed, “What do you want?”

“Just information, I was hired in a private sense to investigate this by Mr. Vandercolt, and I think that gives me some legal rights,” she said, “I’ll show you what I have if you let me look at what you found.”

He sighed, “Fine, hand it over.”

“I just have one more, can you wait a bit?” she asked.

“I’m standing right here,” he said. She let him because actually he should have asked to see some form of Private Investigator license that she didn’t have. And he didn’t bother with asking Evan to confirm. It was technically a lie that she knew Evan would vouch for, so she didn’t push it. But the cop should have, and he probably knew that. It was just a lot easier to go along to get the interviews. Because he could get her phone with a warrant, but there was no way he could get a warrant before she transferred and deleted her recordings.

Just then the driver came in and sat down, he looked at the officer nervously, Wren patted his hand, “He’s just listening, it’s okay.” He nodded and she smiled, “Okay what is your name?”

“Jerry,” he said.

“Okay,” Wren said typing it in to label a new recording.

“What’s the last name?” the officer asked, stepping forward with his pen and pad.

“Uh no,” Wren held out her hand, “Irrelevant.”

“That’s not how I…” he started.

“But you’re not, I am, and who’s way has worked so far?” she crossed her arms and looked up at him. He rolled his eyes and stepped back. So, she got started on Jerry and talked for a while before asking him anything about the crimes. She could tell the type that needed to be loosened up first and he was one of them. She had him walk her through his entire day, and something made her sit up straighter.

He was saying, “… and I saw a man in the garden by the fountain right before I heard there was a murder.”

“What did he look like?” Wren asked, trying to act casual, so she didn’t spook him.

“Dark hair, just a t-shirt,” Jerry shrugged, “I don’t know just a guy, it was hard to see him from over in the driveway, he didn’t look familiar so I yelled at him and he ran, I ran over there and I know he couldn’t have made it out of the garden without me seeing him, he just disappeared.”

“But he looked unfamiliar?” Wren asked.

“I don’t know if it’s related to what happened to Tilly, but it sure made me shiver, people don’t just disappear and there are rumors of ghosts,” he said.

“So I’ve heard,” Wren smiled at him. “That’s all that happened? All that you remember about him? What color was the shirt?” she asked.

“It was…” he paused, “It was white, I’m sure it was white. But yes, that’s all.”

“Thank you so much Jerry, you’ve been the most helpful human I’ve talked to today,” she said because Coco had been the most helpful cephalopod. He looked confused a little and nodded. The officer looked like he was ready to bust because he had his own questions, but they were useless. Jerry’s last name and age and where he was from, nonsense.

“So now can I have your phone?” the officer asked her.

“When we look at the security footage,” she said. And so, they did that and as she suspected no one used the door to go into the dressing room besides Tilly. No one even went down that hall. They finished with seeing Evan and Wren go to the room and Reginald bringing the key.

“Now can I have your phone?” he asked.

“Not yet,” she said, “Now I need to see the interviews you got with people, the one staff member who turned me down was Reginald.”

“Not a fan?” the cop asked.

“Not yet,” she said. She read the interview transcript, and things were becoming a lot clearer. But not from this transcript, it was something else Reginald had said that led her somewhere. She handed the cop her phone. But he wouldn’t hear what she had heard. He uploaded the audio files to his laptop and gave her phone back. She knew the where, and she wasn’t sure, but she was close to figuring out the how and the why. The only thing missing was the who. She kept her ears perked up, listening to whispered conversations. She was holding some things close to her vest. Waiting for the last piece of the puzzle to fall into place. The house was abuzz with gossip and side glances.

She listened for intel but it all just sounded like more noise. So she went to her room, hoping to find some peace and quiet. Carmine was outside in the hall, waiting for her.

“Hey,” Wren said.

“Crazy day huh?” he said looking at the floor.

“Uhh yea,” she said as he moved out of her way.

“Need company, or did you make plans already?” he asked.

“Plans?” she asked as she opened the door and went into her room. Carmine didn’t follow her in.

He stood in the doorway, chewing his lip, “With him, you know? He’s single now I guess.”

“Who? Evan? Are you insane? His wife was just murdered,” she said.

“Pretty convenient after he meets a very interesting and beautiful redhead that he can’t stop flirting with,” Carmine said.

“Evan didn’t do it,” she said quickly. Carmine raised his eyebrows, and she sighed, “Okay I don’t know that he didn’t but if he did, it wasn’t because of me.” He raised his eyebrows harder and she scoffed, “IF and that’s a big IF he did do it partly because of me, it’s not because I gave him any indication that I was interested.”

“You have been defending him a lot,” Carmine said, “Are you?”

“Am I? Interested? In him?” she said, getting louder with each word. She finished with “Pfft.”

“That’s not a ‘no’ is it?” Carmine said and backed away from her door slowly and turned and went to his own room. Wren scoffed again, then went over and slammed her door shut. She couldn’t sleep that night. She paced around chewing her thumbnail, looking over her notes. Listening to the interviews. There was something not coming to the surface, but she really felt like she had all the information floating around in her brain. She just needed to get that one last piece. She suspected a few things, but she couldn’t test them until she knew who had done it. She didn’t want to tip them off that she was closing in. And the motive couldn’t be tested without figuring out the ‘who’ of it all.

At dawn there was a knock on the front door, the police were back to investigate some more. The whole house was stirred up. Half of the staff were still in pajamas and still doing their job. Wren hadn’t slept, just dozed off and on. She was wired. She went down and got some coffee. The kitchen staff was moving slowly but beginning to get breakfast started. She sipped her coffee and watched the magic in action. Ronan was making biscuits, someone else was cooking apples. She was starving and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to take in the scent. She opened her eyes. Took a sip of coffee and sat it down. She got up and went into the living room where the police were talking to Evan again. She pulled on the arm of the cop she’d dealt with the day before into the corner of the room where no one could hear them.

“Hi,” Wren said cheerfully.

“What now?” he asked.

“I think I know who did it, and by it, I mean stole the necklace and killed Tilly,” she said.

“Okay who?” he asked.

“Well, it’s not just that, I think I know who, how and why,” she said.

“Okay well tell me, “He said.

“Nope, just one more thing, can you go back into the dressing room and bring as many people as you can?” she asked.

“I’m in charge here,” he said.

She patted his chest, “That’s nice but I have something to test out, so please, gather all the guests and all the staff you can and go wait for me in the dressing room. Please?”

“Fine, but this better be worth it,” he pointed at her with his pen. He went around talking in hushed tones to other cops. Evan was watching her closely and she let him; she wanted him to follow her. And he did, he followed her out the front door.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he trotted to catch up with her in the driveway.

“How long have you lived in this mansion?” she asked him.

“My whole life,” he said.

“Ahh and how long did your parents own it before that?” she asked.

“Umm I’m not sure really,” he said.

“And did you do any updates to it?” she asked.

“Wren,” he said grabbing her arm.

“Answer the question,” she said.

“Yes of course, all except the fountain,” he said.

She smiled, “Of course not, because?”

“Mom asked me to never change it,” he said.

“Evan, I have to ask you a lot of things, and it’s going to be a lot emotional; do you want to hear my theory?” she asked taking his arm and leading him through the garden to the fountain.

Several minutes later in the dressing room, all the guests, a few police and a lot of the staff were waiting for Wren. But she was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Evan. Carmine’s face was beet red at the implication. Someone saw them both go out the front door. And just before Carmine had had enough and went to find them. One of the makeup tables moved, opening right up to expose Evan and Wren coming up a flight of stairs.

“What in blue blazes,” Carmine said.

“Hello everyone,” Wren said. She walked over and whispered to the cop, something no one else could hear.

“What?” the cop looked confused.

“Well, I tested my first theory, the secret tunnel under the fountain, now I have one more,” she said. Understanding dawned on him and he nodded. She started her reveal, “As everyone can see there is a way into the room that almost no one knew about. It leads to the fountain where there is a hidden entrance to get underneath it. Evan’s mother Linda told him not to ever remove the fountain. So, he got curious and found it. After Tilly threw away the necklace and disrespected Linda, Evan used the tunnel to sneak in an kill her. I figured it out by smelling his cologne on Tilly’s dead body. So… officer.”

The cop went over to Evan who looked hurt and confused, his lip trembled, “Wren I don’t understand that’s not what we discussed.”

“Sorry Evan,” she shrugged as the officer started cuffing him behind his back.

“Wait, unhand him,” a voice behind the crowd in the room spoke up.

“Yes?” Wren said.

“You are wrong,” Ronan stepped forward, “Evan did nothing wrong, he didn’t know about the tunnel, I took the necklace, and I killed Tilly. Please let him go.”

The cop unhanded Evan, Evan looked at Wren stunned, “You were right.”

“Of course I was, Ronan do you want to tell us why you did this? What happened?” Wren asked.

“The girl, she didn’t deserve that necklace, it was a gift, from me to your mother,” Ronan told Evan, his voice cracking. “And when you gave it to her, I was shocked and upset so I used the tunnels I used to use to visit Linda in this room and took it. I hid it where I thought no one would find it until things blew over and I could collect it.”

“So, you really were having an affair with mom?” Evan sobbed.

“I was in love with her, it wasn’t some vile affair, it was real love, but I was just a chef, not like Mr. Vandercolt. And I planned to frame Tilly for the theft, but things went wrong when the redhead arrived and started figuring things out. She was asking about the octopus and taking him back to the shipwreck, and I knew she would find the necklace in the box. And you had told me all the things Tilly had said about Linda. She had also said things to me; she figured out the affair somehow. I came in here through the tunnel to talk with her. To beg her to leave us alone, to plead with her to leave my son alone.”

The whole room gasped and Evan’s face contorted, “Son? You want me to believe you were protecting me? You killed my wife.”

“I didn’t intend to, I came to talk and to threaten to turn you against her if she didn’t leave but she,” he held up his trembling hands as if he was choking someone, “she turned it around on me. She threatened me with my secret, and that, I could handle if I was the only one hurt. But Tilly said that everyone would know that you were the bastard child of a whore and ‘the help’. And I lost my temper. She was going to make your mother’s memory and our love into something scandalous and ugly. I couldn’t stand that and I couldn’t let her hurt you, my son.”

“I can’t believe you,” Evan spat through tears, shaking with rage or pain.

“Please forgive me,” Ronan said falling to his knees in front of Evan, his hands held up in a plea.

“Take him,” Evan quietly told the officer. Then he turned to Wren his voice cracked as he asked, “How did you know all this?”

“Well, I figured out the ‘how’ pretty quickly with the tunnel,” she motioned to it, “I wasn’t sure, but after seeing discolored bricks out there. Noticing how small this room is compared to how big it should be, there’s missing space. And then hearing about the driver seeing someone disappear near the fountain. And then there was Reginald’s complaining about the water droplets in the entryway. That part was too obvious; I just had to test it. The necklace was taken to the shipwreck using a rented service so no one here would know about it. You can check receipts from the local services,” she told the officer.

“But how did you know about the affair?” Evan asked.

“I didn’t, but I heard all the different rumors and that one stood out, I didn’t know who the affair was with, but it sounded the most likely and the fact that Linda’s lover gave her the necklace, it became clear what had happened. I just didn’t know who it was. Not for sure. You said Ronan worked for your parents for years. The driver’s disappearing man was someone he didn’t recognize without the chef’s hat he always wears, did anyone else know Ronan had dark hair?” she looked around the room, and everyone shook their head. She looked at Evan, “And then the smell on Tilly’s clothes, again all I needed was to test it. I knew that if I falsely accused you in front of your biological father, especially since I knew Ronan cared for you a lot… I knew if I was right about him, he would not let his innocent son get arrested in his place.”

Evan looked at Ronan who was handcuffed now, “You confessed because you love me?”

“I did, I couldn’t let my son go to jail for what I did, I’m so sorry,” Ronan said.

“Well, I don’t forgive you,” Evan said and Ronan dropped his head. Evan sighed, “Not yet, it will take some time to get over this. All the secrets and the lies, the murder. But you’re my only family left.” Ronan looked up and gave him a weak smile.

“What do you mean about the smell on her clothes?” the cop asked, “What did you smell that helped you figure out who it was?”

Wren grinned at Carmine for a moment and he grinned back, she put her hand on the cop’s shoulder and said, “Just like lost love or the secrets of the past… the scent of cinnamon apples cooking in the morning tends to linger.”

A few days later Wren was finally back in Ireland. The B&B was warm and welcoming. Felix was in the living room when she walked by.

“How was the trip?” he asked.

“Left a lot of baggage back there,” she chuckled.

“Oh no, you forgot your luggage?” Felix asked.

“Nope,” she held up her suitcase, and he nodded in understanding with a grin. She took her suitcase up to her room and started to open it, but her phone rang. It was a number she didn’t recognize and she picked up.

“Hello?” she said.

“Is this Wren Alden?” asked an unfamiliar voice.

“Yes,” Wren said.

“I have a friend in Australia who gave me your number, I need your help,” they said. Wren sighed and zipped her suitcase back up.