Page 57 of Dying to Read

“Do you want to lie to Archer for the restof your life?”

Drew had a point. “I’m at the grocery store. I’m dropping Killer off at doggy daycare, doing my shopping, and then I’ll be back in town. Let me know if you want me to send Jonathon over to the station with the book once I get back.”

“I’ll come get it or send one of the guys. I don’t mind him being a watchdog, but the delivery guy for something this valuable is one step too far. If he got hurt, my mom would never forgive me.” He signed off with a “Drive carefully,” and then the call ended.

Drew had become a good friend, even if he didn’t like her getting involved in his investigations. She thought that maybe this time she hadn’t gotten the lecture about talking to suspects because it was an old, cold case. Or maybe it was because he knew how not solving the case had bothered his dad. Now, Jonathon didn’t have to have that on his conscience.

As she was coming out of the grocery store, she saw that man again getting into a car in the parking lot. The man who looked like Kevin. This was getting weirder by the day. Maybe instead of a hobby, she needed a vacation. She watched the newer BMW pull out of the parking lot and head west. It was probably a local doppelganger. A guy who looked like Kevin. And liked BMWs like Kevin had. When he left her years ago, he’d boughthis first one.

Rarity thought it was a waste of money, but it had made him happy to have a status car. This Arizona guy must have the same need for labels as herformer fiancé.

She tucked the groceries away, then went to get Killer from daycare. They were stopping at her favorite local drive-in, the Hungry Onion, for lunch. Fish sandwich and onion rings. And a slider bun for Killer. And a vanilla milkshake.

Rarity didn’t have dinner plans, so she could eata salad then.

Chapter 23

Rarity’s phone woke her at one o’clock Tuesday morning. The display said it was Archer. She turned on the light and sat up in bed. Killer watched her for a second, then tucked his head under the pillow. “What’s going on?Are you okay?”

“Sorry, it’s late. You were probably sleeping. I shouldn’t have called, but I needed to hear your voice.” Archer sighed. “He’s gone. We were supposed to take him home tomorrow, well, today now, but after Drew visited last night, it seemed like Dad took a turn for the worse. I think he knew the truth had come out and the rest of the books had been returned.”

“Oh, Archer.” Rarity curled her legs under her as she adjusted her pillow. “I’m so sorry.”

“Drew said Daisy told you the whole story yesterday. I guess she felt guilty about the affair and the role her brother had in the robbery and killing Grandma.” He paused. “I can’t believe Dad would do that to his mom. I mean, stealing from her. He was going to leave us and start a new life with stolen money? It makes sense now. I mean, he started being distant, but I thought it was because he was missing Grandma so much. Instead, it was because he was carrying this lie around with him. Poor Mom.”

“Have you called her yet?”

“Dana’s doing that right now. I needed a minute and I needed to talk to you. Sorry I woke you.”

“You don’t know you did. Killer and I could have been up still drinking and partying with all my rowdy friends. I’m surprised you don’t hear all the commotion around us.” Rarity was trying to make Archer laugh.And it worked.

“Whatever. Anyway, we need to finish up here and then head back to my place to get some sleep. I don’t want Dana to have to go to Dad’s apartment right now. We’ll clean it out later.” He sighed again. “We need to make arrangements. I guess we’ll do a service, but I talked to Dad and he wanted his ashes spread out by Montezuma Castle. So are you up for a hike ina few weeks?”

“Whenever you need me, I’ll be there. I won’t expect you over tonight after the book club, so take that off your to-do list. Killer and I will have Jonathon walk us home.” She rubbed Killer’s back. He lifted his head when he heard her say his name.“I love you.”

“I love you too. I need to get back, Dana came back in with the chaplain. These people are amazing around here. Talk soon.”

After Archer had hung up, Rarity turned off the light and thought about Marilyn and the books. Now that they knew it was Daisy returning the books—and that William Jully was Daisy’s nephew—did that answer any questions about the Jully murder? Besides the fact that his dad had been a rotten apple and despite being raised in a different family, he hadn’t fallen farfrom the tree.

Maybe the book club could point out what she was missing. If she could stay awake long enough to have book club tonight. She curled up in bed and tried to turn off her brain. She must have been tired, because the next thing she knew, her alarm was going off. It was time to get up and swim if she had any chance of getting one in today. The morning would be a little chilly, but she still had the heater running on the pool, so the water should be warm. She got into her suit, and after a quick rinse in her shower, she headed out to do laps andtry to wake up.

* * *

Shirley had been busy baking, so there were cookies and a sheet cake along with some savory biscuits with honey butter on the treat table for book club. She poured herself a cup of coffee and looked at Rarity, who was sitting next to her. “You look like you were rode hard and put away wet. Maybe you should take a trip somewhere and chill for a few days. Archer would probably like to getaway as well.”

“He’s going to be busy with Dana setting up the service as well as cleaning out his dad’s apartment. Their mom, June, is coming in tomorrow with her husband to help.” Rarity knew they needed their mom around, but her being here was also probably bringing up a lot of memories.

Drew and Jonathon had officially closed the case. Drew let Jonathon write up the final report, and he’d signed it under his father’s signature. Jonathon’s one cold case that had haunted him for years was finally closed. He was going home on Friday, whether or not the Jully murder was solved. He said he needed some Edith time. But tonight, he was here.

After the regulars had all arrived and helped themselves to Shirley’s table of treats, Jonathon stood and filled the group in on what had happened with Marilyn Ender’s case with the missing books. “I wanted to thank everyone for what you did in helping solve Marilyn’s murder. The clues were all there, even back then, but I think I let my respect and feelings for the Ender family cover up the clues that should have pointed me in the direction of Nick Wellings. But I couldn’t imagine that a man I considered my friend would have tried to steal from his own mother. It was impossible. And now, looking back, that was why I didn’t solve the case. I let my feelings cloudmy judgment.”

A few tried to correct Jonathon, but eventually, the room got quiet again. He looked over at Rarity. “I think the floor is yours.”

Rarity walked over to the whiteboard. “One of the first things we do in investigating a murder is learn more about our victim. Why would someone want to kill them? For William Jully, this was hard because he was a chameleon. He had a way of distracting you into thinking something when the actual reality was something completely different. So finding out that he was Nick Wellings’s son made a lot of things snap into place. He was a grifter; apparently his father had tendencies in that career area as well. Nick didn’t live long enough to be good at it, so he was arrested for one of his earlier incidences.”

Rarity told the group about Lizzy’s letters and what the nurse had told them. “We know he did this to Ruth Agee. Was there anyone before that? Someone who was robbed and kept the crime under wraps because they didn’t want tolook foolish?”

Holly raised her hand. “I got your message, but I haven’t had time to get back to you.” She looked at Rarity and then the group. “Rarity asked me to look into probate filings that had William Jully’s name mentioned. I found two more. One was a Sedona Memory Care resident, and the other, well, she’d been planning on entering the care facility, but she died before she could. William was her caregiver according to a lawsuit filed by her family. It was settled, and William gave back some of the estate but still kept a big chunk.”

---