Read Online Killing the Carnations (A Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery) by Cindy Bell - Free Book Online

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    “ Aunt Ida?” she breathed as she turned around to show her the corkscrew. She was careful not to touch anything but the pillowcase.
    “ Do you think that's it?” Aunt Ida looked at the corkscrew with horror. Vicky immediately began wrapping the corkscrew back up. She tucked it back into the closet where she found it.
    “ We have to let Mitchell know about this,” she said quickly. “All of this.”
    “ But first we need to get out of here,” Ida said quickly. “We don't want to be next on the list.” Vicky dialled Mitchell as they left Emily's room. When he answered, she hesitated.
    “ Vicky?” Mitchell pressed, waiting to hear why she had called.
    “ Mitchell, Aunt Ida and I found a hidden passage,” Vicky said haltingly.
    “ A what?” Mitchell asked, both surprise and alarm changing his tone.
    “ I thought my parents had it closed off years ago. It leads from the room where Charleston was killed, to the staff quarters,” she explained, though she was still hesitant. She really liked Emily. She couldn't see her as a killer. Not only that but the shoeprints in the passageway had been very large. She was certain they were not Emily's.
    “ Vicky, I have to tell you something, I've been calling for ten minutes,” he added with annoyance. Vicky had turned her phone to silent. It was a good thing she had, considering that they had just stepped out of the closet they were hiding in. She was so busy listening to Mitchell, that she didn't notice the person walking up to them, until she heard Aunt Ida gasp.
    “ Uh,” Vicky stared at Nicholas, who was standing right in front of both of them. “Is it that you released Nicholas Brendan?” Vicky whispered into the phone.
    “ We had to,” Mitchell replied with a sigh. “He had a very expensive lawyer, and we didn't have any DNA evidence to hold him on. The corkscrew in his room came back clear, but it could have been wiped clean.”
    Vicky was holding tightly to her cell phone. Did that mean that it had been Nicholas that followed them down the passageway? But why would he need to sne ak into Emily's room? All of a sudden, it all made sense.
    “ You did this, didn't you?” she asked as she widened her eyes.
    “ Vicky, who are you talking to?” Mitchell asked.
    “ Vicky, don't say that,” Aunt Ida insisted.
    Nicholas only blinked. “I'm sorry if I startled you. I was looking for the two of you. The security guard said that you were in Charleston's room. But when I went there, you weren't there,” he explained.
    “ You would know where we were,” Vicky said calmly. “Because, you followed us down the same hidden passageway that you used to plant this evidence in Emily's room.”
    “ What evidence?” Mitchell asked on the phone. “Vicky, I'm coming over there right now.”
    Vicky hung up the phone and continued to glower at Nicholas. He looked as if he was going to attempt to defend himself, but instead he sighed with defeat.
    “All right, it's true,” he shook his head.
    “ What's true?” Aunt Ida asked with apprehension.
    “ I did follow the two of you down the passageway,” he admitted and ran his fingertips along his forehead, and back over the area that was receding.
    “ Oh no Nicholas, it can't be true,” Ida gasped out as she looked at him.
    “ It is true,” he said grimly. “I did follow the two of you. The door was partially open, and when I looked inside I saw a flashlight beam. I was worried that somehow you'd been hurt. So I followed you.”
    Aunt Ida smiled with relief. “So you didn't know the passageway was there before hand?”
    “ Of course not,” Nicholas insisted with frustration. “I didn't do this. I didn't hurt Charleston, and I didn't plant any evidence,” he added as he looked over at Vicky. “In fact, I don't even know where you two went. When I reached the end of the passageway there was no way out. How did you get out of there?”
    Aunt Ida was about to tell him when Vicky laid her hand