“What happens now?” I ask. “For Juan Manuel? For me?”
“Well,” Detective Stark says. “You’re free. All charges are dropped.”
“But am I still fired?” I ask. The very thought of it makes me feel like I’m falling off a cliff to my doom.
“No, Molly,” Mr. Preston says. “You won’t lose your job. In fact, Mr. Snow will talk to you and to Juan Manuel about that himself.”
“Really?” I say. “He won’t fire either of us?”
“He said you’re both model workers and that you exemplify what it means to be Regency Grand employees,” Mr. Preston says.
“But what about the trial?” I ask.
“That won’t be for a long while,” Charlotte replies. “We’ll prepare for it, and that will take many months. But hopefully, by working with Detective Stark and her team, we’ll be able to put Rodney behind bars for a long time.”
“That seems appropriate,” I say. “He’s a liar, an abuser, and a cheat.”
“He’s also a murderer,” Mr. Preston adds.
I say nothing.
“Detective,” Charlotte says, “I’m sensing my client is tired. It’s been quite a day for her, given that this morning she was wrongly accused of murder and now she’s having tea in her living room with her accuser. Was there anything else you wanted to say to her?”
Detective Stark clears her throat. “Just that I, uh, regret that you were…detained.”
“That’s very kind of you, Detective,” I say. “I hope you’ve learned an important lesson.”
The detective shifts in her chair as if she’s seated on a sharp pin. “I’m sorry?” she says.
“Perhaps you jumped to some conclusions about me. You expected certain reactions that you consider normal, and when you didn’t see those reactions, you assumed I was guilty. You made an A-S-S out of U and Me.”
“That’s one way to put it,” she says.
“My gran always said that to live is to learn. Maybe next time you’ll avoid assumptions.”
“We’re all the same in different ways,” Juan Manuel adds.
“Huh,” she says. “I suppose.”
With that she stands, thanks us for our time, puts on her boots, and leaves.
Once the door clicks shut behind her, I slide the rusty dead bolt across it and breathe a huge sigh of relief.
I turn around and instead of emptiness, in my living room I see the faces of my three friends. They are all smiling, the kind of smiles that reach their eyes. For the first time in my life, I think I understand what a true friend is. It isn’t just someone who likes you; it’s someone willing to take action on your behalf.
“Well?” Mr. Preston says. “That detective just ate so much humble pie I think she might explode. How does it feel, Molly?”
I’m relieved beyond measure, but there’s more to it than that. “I…I’m not quite certain what I did to deserve this,” I say.
“You didn’t deserve any of it,” Charlotte says. “You’re innocent.”
“I don’t mean the crimes. I mean the kindness the three of you have shown me, for no good reason.”
“There’s always a reason for kindness,” Juan Manuel says.
“You’re right,” Mr. Preston says. “And you know who used to say that to me all the time?”
“No,” I say.
“Your good ol’ gran.”
“She never did tell me how you two knew each other,” I say.
“No, I expect she didn’t,” he replies. He takes a deep breath. “We were engaged, once upon a time.”
“You were what?” Charlotte says.
“That’s right, I had a life before you, my dear, a life you know very little about.”
“I can’t believe this,” Charlotte says. “I’m learning this only now?”
“So what happened?” Juan Manuel asks. He settles himself into the detective’s empty chair.
“Your grandmother, Flora, she was a wonderful lady, Molly. She was kind and sensitive. She was so different from other girls her age, and I was completely besotted. I proposed to her when we were both sixteen, and she said yes. But her parents wouldn’t allow it. They were well-to-do, you know. She was miles above my station, yet she never acted that way.”
I’m surprised by what I’m hearing, utterly shocked. But perhaps I should have known that Gran had her secrets. We all do, all of us.