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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 b een 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 h im. Poor Mom.”

“Have you ca lled her yet?”

“Dana’s doing that right now. I needed a minute and I needed to talk to you. Sorr y 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 in a 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 her e. 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 far from 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 and try 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 get away 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 lo t 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 cloud my judgment.”

A few tried to correct Jonathon, but eventually, the room got quiet again. He looked over at Rarity. “I think the fl oor 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 earli er 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 to look 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 kep t a big chunk.”

“Didn’t he have to report that money somewhere? Like on his taxes?” Malia asked as she stood to get another slice of cake.

“From what I know of estate laws, as long as the amount is less than a few million, he doesn’t have to report or pay taxes. I’m guessing he kept it under that?” Jonathon lo oked at Holly.

She nodded. “That was one reason he settled so quickly with the family, according to a letter that the woman’s sister wrote to attach to the court filing. She asked for it as part of the settlement. She thought he backed away from getting all of the estate because he would have had to report and pay taxes. She wanted it to be a public record of what he was doing. And it worked. The letter got o ur attention.”

“After he was dead,” Malia pointed out. “I don’t think it wa s a deterrent.”

“Unless that information forced Sally to try to hide his activities with Ruth Agee. And maybe she alerted Lizzy’s sister to move her out of the facility. To protect her from his manipulation.” Rarity met Shirley’s gaze. “Sally ac ted too late.”

“And someone else was on the phone talking with Sally about the problem. You said so yourself when you found the file.” Shirley stopped crocheting and laid her hands in her lap. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot. It could only be three people. Cindi Kennedy, the marketer, McKenzie Jones, the business office manager, or Marsha Graves, the social worker for the facility. I don’t think Sally would trust anyone else with her cover-up. Getting rid of a patient’s file i s pretty bad.”

Jonathon held his hand up. “We still have Terrance on the board. I know you all don’t think he killed Jully, but he admitted to getting into an argument with Jully the night he died. He had found out that someone inside was turning off the security system. That the system wasn’t misfiring. He thought Jully was putting patients’ lives in danger. And he didn’t like how he treated George. He’d found out from the nurses that Jully was actively campaigning to limit Shirley’s visits. He didn’t want her to become suspicious of George’s position as Lizzy’s fake boyfriend to cover up their affair.”

“Terrance wouldn’t kill anyone.” Shirley shook her head and picked up h er crocheting.

Jonathon looked over at her. “Are you sure? He was in a bar fight early in his service and he got punished for almost killing the other guy.”

Shirley set her crochet down again. “That was when he was twenty and he was protecting a woman who was serving drinks in the bar. The man he attacked was later convicted of rape on another woman a few years later and kicked out of the service. He’s a hero, not a killer.”

“He was protecting George and the other patients during the argument with Jully. Maybe it went too far,” Jonathon said, h is voice calm.

“He didn’t do it. And if he did, he would admit it. He already gave Drew enough to suspect him, voluntarily. Why wouldn’t he tell him if he did kill the guy?”

Jonathon nodded and sat back. “That was what was bothering me too. So we’re taking Terrance off the suspect list? I mean, here at least. I can’t get Drew to do that without a new suspect.”

Ev eryone nodded.

Rarity went back to the board and drew a line through Terrance’s name. Then she wrote three new names— Cindi, Marsha, and McKenzie . “So what do we know about these people?”

Shirley listed off what she knew about each of the three staff members at Sedona Memory Care. Then she paused. “Why isn’t Sally Ball on the possible list? She did h ide evidence.”

“Oh, I have an update. Sally Ball has an alibi for the night in question. She was on a date with one of Drew’s police officer friends. So she couldn’t have killed Jully. She was working on firing him, though.” Jonathon looked up from the notes he was making in his notebook. “I’m friends with her date’s father. We were on the force h ere together.”

“Okay, so no Sally.” Rarity studied the information that was on the whiteboard. “We need to divide these people up and see if they have any outside-of-work connection with William Jully. We know a lot about Marsha since her foundation was hurt when William got an inheritance from the Agee estate. But the other two are new.”

“Well, I’m off tomorrow, so I could go talk to someone,” Malia offered as she looked around. “No one at the care facility is going to talk to either Rarity or Shirley. Everyone knows you, and there’s the issue of George. Maybe Jonathon can come with me to see if my grandmother is a good fit. And, if I miss a question, he can fill in. I’m young. I don’t know things.”

“So you want me to play the distinguished older family friend.” Jonathon squared his shoulders. “I’ll do anything to help o ut our Malia.”

“Dude, don’t make it sound creepy.” Malia thre w a pen at him.

He caught the pen in midair. “I don’t know what’s creepy about what I said. Anyway, it’s late and I need to work on my notes before I attend tomorrow’s writers’ group. Do we have ou r assignments?”

Jonathon and Malia agreed to meet at the bookstore on Wednesday at ten. Rarity was reaching out to Lizzy’s sister. And Holly was going to scan the probate records one last time. As Jonathon and Rarity headed out of the bookstore, she looked up at him. “Are you okay with the Ender case? I know you wanted to solve it.”

“No, that’s not quite true. I wanted it solved. There’s a difference. I was part of a team when I was in the force. I’m part of a team now. The detectives who hold everything to their chests like on television, they’re the ones who burn out or make mistakes and get killed on the job. We’re a community. We solve these cases together. There’s no cowboying in real police work.”

* * *

The next morning, the bookstore was filled with customers. Shirley and her Mommy and Me class were going strong, and surprisingly the bookstore had other patrons as well. Rarity would have heard the noise from the kids and left as soon as she came inside. Not a good sign for any future offspring. As if she’d called him, Archer came into the shop and met her gaze over the din. He made his way to her, but Killer met him first. He jumped on Archer’s legs, asking to be picked up. And, if Rarity was reading her dog right, he also wanted to be taken far, far away from the bookstore and its current state of craziness.

“Hey, buddy. Rarity, you look wonderful.” He picked Killer up an d cuddled him.

“Now I know you’re tired. I thought you were going to take it easy for a few days.” Rarity saw the lines under Archer’s eyes and worr ied about him.

“Dana’s getting food to take back to the apartment. I told her I’d come and get the second book in that dragon series she liked so much.” He walked over to the new release shelf and picked a book up. “This is it, right?”

“You’re spot-on. What’s been going on?” She took the book and put it into a bag. When he tried to give her a card, she shook her head. “Friends and fam ily discount.”

“Thanks. She can’t sleep, so she’s been reading. We’ll probably be back tomorrow for another book.” He leaned on the counter. “We went to the funeral home and took care of everything. Mom is coming over to make dinner at six. Do you want to come?”

“I don’t know. This is family time.” Rarity took Killer, who was leani ng toward her.

“Mom asked me to invite you. They’re going home tomorrow. It’s now or never to meet my mom.”

Rarity laughed, “But no pre ssure, right?”

“None at all. And bring the rat.” He leaned over the counter and kissed her quickly. “I’m escaping before anyone else sees me. I can’t take hearing any more old stories about my dad. Everyone loved him, but now that we know the truth, it’s getting on my nerves.”

She wanted to tell him that people changed. That what had happened didn’t define his father. But she knew this wasn’t the time. She prayed that dinner wouldn’t be a disaster. Sometimes Rarity could only hold her tongu e for so long.

As Archer left, he ran into Jonathon coming back from his sleuthing trip with Malia. He and Archer chatted a bit at the door, and then Jonathon came to the counter. “Can Katie take over for you for a minute?”

Katie had come in for the afternoon and was shelving new books. Rarity walked over and asked her to watch the register and then met Jonathon in the back room. He had already poured himself a cup of coffee and had his murder notebook open in front of him on a new page. “I’ve got to get ready to leave for my Flagstaff group, so this needs to be quick. Malia and I finished our tour of Sedona Memory Care. And that girl should take up acting. She was amazing in her role. Her questions kept us exactly where we needed to be. We talked to all three suspects. Marsha was less than energetic about the facility. She told us that the Flagstaff center had more staffing and wa s better run.”

“She said that?” Rarity grabbed a bottle of water and then came back to the table. “Sally would hate hearing that s he said that.”

“Marsha seems to be on an honesty kick. She told me when Malia went to the bathroom that she was considering leaving the job. She’s burned out on all the drama.” He shook his head. “Cindi, the marketer, on the other hand, painted an over-the-top positive review of the facility. I believe some of her salary is commission. When I brought up the death of Jully, she blew it off. She told me he had a heart attack. When I tried to correct her, she dumped us on the business office manager and asked her to finish the tour. She had an appointment she’d jus t remembered.”

“Weird.” Rarity thought about when she’d talked to Cindi. She’d been unwilling to tarnish the facility then either. But Marsha had always been ready to chat about Jully and his misdeeds. “So what did you think about Mc Kenzie Jones?”

“Ms. Jones was business focused. She talked about the room cost and how most insurance policies wouldn’t cover the expense for long. If at all. Malia played that great. She told her that her grandmother was left well off from her lawyer husband. So the family was concerned about the best care, not the money.” He laughed as he remembered the discussion. “McKenzie was pushy about how well off Malia’s family was and the girl didn’t back down. Malia asked what a private room cost, then shrugged and said, ‘We’ll be fine.’ I’m sure they’re counting th e revenue now.”

“Malia did have some drama classes, but I think she’s been learning as we keep sleuthing these cases. She’s not the shy girl I met at her first book club meeting.” Rarity glanced at the clock; she knew Jonathon was going to be leaving soon. “Did you find out anything else?”

“One thing. When McKenzie came to work at the facility, the books hadn’t added up. There was missing money in the petty cash drawer.” He leaned forward. “She reported it to Sally, her administrator, and Sally said she’d take care of it. When McKenzie came in the next Monday, the count was accurate. She told us that she does a daily petty ca sh count now.”

“She told you that?” Rarity didn’t follow the logic. “Why admit that someone was stealing from the facility?”

“She wanted us to know that the problem had been fixed.” Jonathon closed his notebook. “She didn’t tell us how Sally had fixed it.”