Page 89 of Meant for Two

“Fantastic. Who was it?” she asked.

“Probably the least likely person you’d expect,” the sheriff said. “It was Mr. Hensley.”

“No way,” Blair shot back. “He’s so meek.”

“Turns out, Daryl wasn’t totally forthcoming with us about things.”

That didn’t surprise her. “About what in particular?”

“Remember Malia told us that Daryl worked at the Midvale Hospital?” They all nodded. “He paid close attention to when Mr. and Mrs. Hensley came in. After seeing them show up on a regular basis and seemingly struggle to pay their bill, Daryl approached Mr. Hensley with a proposition about helping him with his money problems,” the sheriff said.

“What kind of proposition? Was he to tell Daryl when some neighbor would be out of town in return for a cut of the profit?” Blair asked.

The sheriff’s eyes widened. “I think you’re in the wrong business, Blair. That’s exactly what happened.”

Heat raced up her cheeks. “What did Mr. Hensley say? He denied it, right?” Blair asked. She felt sorry for the old man.

“At first he did. When I took him down to the station and played the tape of his call to Daryl, the man started to cry. I don’t think he was a criminal at heart—just a desperate man who wanted to help his wife.”

“But the Hensleys were robbed,” Zane said. “You have the jewels to prove it.”

“About that,” the sheriff said. “Turns out the jewels that Daryl had were paste. They probably weren’t worth more than a few hundred bucks, if that.”

Something didn’t seem right. “Are you saying, Mr. Hensley cheated Daryl?”

“That’s hard to say since their stories don’t totally match. Let me back up. The deal, according to Daryl, was that when someone in the Development went out of town, Hensley would contact Daryl who would then rob the home,” the sheriff explained.

“But the Hensleys were robbed.” This wasn’t making sense.

“It was to throw us off, which it did. Unfortunately for Mr. Hensley, he committed insurance fraud. He still has his wife’s jewelry. They had the paste pieces made so that if a thief searched for her jewels, they’d find the fake ones. Mr. Hensley was hoping to get the large sum back from his insurance company.”

“And the money that was stolen?” Jeff asked.

“That was a lie. Daryl didn’t take any money. Again, this comes from Daryl. When I told him that the jewels in his possession were fakes, he was livid. His way of getting back at Mr. Hensley was to give up his name.”

This was overwhelming. At first, Blair thought Mr. Hensley was a victim, but now she realized he was a criminal too.

“Let me get this straight,” Blair said. “An innocent man and his wife are approached by Daryl, the crook. Seeing the Hensleys are in need of money, he says he can help them out if they help him. All Mr. Hensley had to do was let Daryl know when someone was out of town. Is this right so far?”

“If we believe Mr. Hensley, that is true,” the sheriff said.

“What was the deal for? An equal split?” she asked.

“Not quite. Eighty percent for Daryl—since he was taking the risk—and twenty percent for Mr. Hensley,” the sheriff told her.

Jeff snapped his fingers. “Don’t tell me Mr. Hensley thought he might be taken advantage of, so he swapped out the real jewels for the fake ones hoping Daryl wouldn’t know the difference?”

The sheriff shrugged. “Hensley’s not admitting much, but he had to realize that Daryl would find out sooner or later and come after him.”

“Did you confront Daryl about having evidence that his truck was the one that mowed down the front gate after shooting Carl?” Zane asked.

“Yes. When he saw our evidence, he confessed that he trashed the model home. He wouldn’t say why, but Drew and I figured it was either because he wanted to cause confusion about the Hensley theft, or else it was what Blair said—he wanted to be able to tell his brother that Blair’s livelihood would be harmed by his actions.”

She shook her head. “Please tell me it’s over, and that we can return to normal.”

“Yes. It’s over. I will be escorting Daryl to the shifter prison tomorrow morning where he will be standing trial. As for Mr. Hensley, he’ll be under house arrest until he stands trial.”

“What about his wife? Malia implied she had Alzheimer’s,” Blair said.

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