Lipstick On A Pig

Chapter 21

The next few hours went by like a blur. I remembered Charlotte arriving first, and taking me into a big hug. She insisted that there was no way I could be interviewed by the police that day, and that she was taking me home to sleep.

Jason and Sophie showed up together not long after that, and drove me home. I told the three of them the whole story then—leaving out the part about magic since we were in front of Jason—but going by the pointed look that Charlotte gave me, I knew she had a pretty good idea of exactly what I’d done to get the upper hand in that fight.

When we got back to Willow Bay, I realized just how exhausted I was. As soon as we got into the door Jason led me to the bedroom, and he wrapped his arms around me as I lay down and immediately fell asleep.

By the time I woke up again, nearly fifteen hours later, it turned out a lot of stuff had changed.

The secretary had admitted to everything. It turned out when she was told that Jonathan Cork was the one who called the cops when he found me, she realized that he was a lost cause who didn’t love her, and decided she had nothing else to live for, so she admitted to everything. She told the cops where to find Ella Port’s remains, and they had gone out a few hours earlier to find her and finally give Ella’s family some closure.

On top of everything else, the secretary was also being charged with my kidnapping and attempted murder.

“Ella Port’s mom was on TV earlier. She wanted to thank you, and everyone else who worked for years to try and find her daughter. She has closure now,” Jason told me. “And on top of that, you managed to solve another murder.”

“I’m not sure I’d say I solved it,” I replied ruefully. “I hadn’t even considered the secretary to be a suspect. I had always thought it was a man, based on the… witness… that I’d heard said there was a man around,” I said, remembering at the last second not to tell Jason it was a rooster who gave me that particular piece of information.

“All the same, you solved it. You were the first person to know she did it, and because of you, Dorothy MacMillan is in jail now.”

“And you’re going to get an exclusive interview with the woman who was kidnapped by her and escaped, right?” I added with a wink. Jason grinned.

“Just a lucky bonus. My bosses have told me I’m allowed to sell the story to whoever I want, as long as they run it on the same day as the Whistler. I’m thinking we split the fee? I’ve thrown a few feelers out to the New York Times.”

“Sounds good,” I replied. I was going to save the money in an attempt to help buy the property the vet clinic was sitting on. I knew the odds of me being able to buy a half a million dollar property in six months were low, but I was going to do whatever I could to do it. Jason had already filed a story about Dorothy MacMillan, including the fact that she had tried to run me off the road a few days earlier, while I slept and it was now on the Whistler website. Apparently his bosses were very pleased with the number of hits it was getting.

“That can wait a few hours though,” Jason told me. For now, you have to rest. Journalist’s orders.”

“I don’t think I quite need to obey a journalist’s orders,” I teased, sticking my tongue out at Jason, who leaned in and kissed me afterwards.

“Maybe not. But I hear Charlotte coming home, and you’ll have to obey her,” Jason said. “I need to go down to the paper anyway, so I’ll leave you in her hands.”

I groaned. “Please don’t, I’d rather have to face Dorothy MacMillan again.”

Jason laughed. “I’ll be back later, I promise,” he told me. “Take care of yourself. Try not to get wrapped up in another murder mystery in the next four hours.”

“I can’t make any promises,” I managed to joke, throwing him a smile.

“He’s too good for you,” Bee announced when Jason walked out the door.

“I know,” I told my cat with a smile.

“You’re not supposed to agree with that.”

“Yeah, well, I do. He’s the most amazing boyfriend ever, and I’m the luckiest woman alive.”

Bee harrumphed as she curled back up and went back to sleep, annoyed that her attempt at riling me up failed. A minute later, Charlotte walked into the door, along with Sophie.

“Oh good, you’re up,” Charlotte said. “Chief Gary is coming by later. He wants to talk to you, and also make sure you’re ok.”

“Thanks,” I told them. “I’m fine though. Really. Just a little bit banged up.”

“I told you that you should have given up on the murder investigation after she tried to run you off the road.”

“She was still going to try and kill Angie,” Sophie argued.

“If Angela hadn’t gone to the offices that day, the secretary wouldn’t have seen her to try and kill her.”

“Can we just agree that everything worked out in the end?” I asked.

“This time,” Charlotte said darkly.

“Don’t worry, Charlotte. Willow Bay’s had its share of murders for the foreseeable future. I doubt there will be another murder here anytime soon,” Sophie said reassuringly.

I really hoped she was right.