Page 83 of The Bride Wore White

She could have put the wrapped paperweight on the seat beside her or on the floor of the car. But she held it in both hands all the way back to the Burning Cove Hotel.

He spent the time connecting dots.

“I’ve got a plan,” he said as he turned in to the long palm-lined driveway that led to the entrance of the hotel.

Prudence smiled faintly. “That does not come as a huge surprise. What is it?”

He glanced at the scrum of photographers hanging around the front of the hotel. Management had a strict policy when it came to the press—reporters and photographers were not allowed onto the grounds without special approval, but they were free to roam around outside. Several cameras were already being aimed at the convertible. The arson at House of Shadows was front-page news in town.

“I’ll tell you when we get back in the villa,” he said.

He waited until they were alone before he explained the scene he intended to stage.

“I don’t like your plan,” Prudence said when he had finished.

“I had a feeling you were going to say that.”

Chapter 38

Assuming your plan for tonight works, what happens next?” Prudence asked. She folded her arms and began to pace the front room of the villa, imagining all that could go wrong. Unfortunately, she reminded herself, she had a very vivid imagination.

“After that, we stay out of the line of fire,” Jack said. He sank down onto the couch. “We’re going to keep our heads down until we see who is still standing when the shooting stops.”

She tensed. “Shooting?”

“Metaphorically speaking. I hope.”

She threw him a stern glare as she went past the sofa. “That is not amusing.”

“Right.”

She stopped at the table to study the latest edition of the crime tree.

“Rollins Dover will be the last one standing, won’t he?” she asked.

“There’s a high probability of that, yes,” Jack said.

She shuddered. “It means he murdered his own brother.”

“I refer you to the story of Cain and Abel.”

“It will be interesting to find out what is in Clara’s will.”

“We’ll know soon. But from our point of view, this case is about finding the individual who kidnapped you and tried to frame you for Gilbert Dover’s murder.”

“Rollins Dover,” Prudence said quietly.

“He certainly had motive for killing both his brother and his mother.”

“Yes, but why the elaborately staged scene in the honeymoon suite? Why choose me to play the part of the Killer Bride?”

“Revenge. In addition to getting his brother out of the way, Dover wanted to punish Clara. She had spent years making certain he knew he was not the anointed heir to the throne. What better revenge than to humiliate her by making sure the bride she had handpicked for Gilbert turned out to be the one who murdered him?”

Prudence reached the end of the room, stopped, and turned around. “You don’t think Harley Flood was the person who kidnapped me and murdered Gilbert? He’s obviously obsessed with revenge.”

“It would be convenient to make him the killer, but I’m very sure now that he didn’t do it.”

“Why?”

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