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“Your bride,” Shane said. “The woman you’re marrying tomorrow.” Shane held out a hand. “About this tall. Thick, dark hair. Pretty. Loves you.”
Palmer was nodding. “Maria. Yeah. Right.” He looked about. “Where is she?”
“Probably in the house—” Shane began but Xavier cut him off.
“She’s at the jail.”
“You arrested her, too?” Shane demanded. “What for? Accessory to forking?”
“She’s not under arrest,” Xavier said. “She wanted to go with Agnes and Hammond. He’ll bring her back once Agnes is settled in.” He looked at Shane. “And I do mean settled in. Permanently. No wedding furloughs.”
“Hammond?” Palmer said, trying to frown without pain. “She’s with Hammond?”
“So if anybody was to have any ideas about early-release programs,” Xavier went on, “like, say, waking up a judge?—”
Another person came down the path, this one in heels. “Palmer Anderson Keyes.” The voice was sharp, and Palmer winced, and Shane recognized Evie as she joined them. Only a mother could make a man’s full name go back to childhood. “What are you doing?”
“He’s pretty much working on standing up,” Shane said.
Evie gave Palmer a look that said she’d be dealing with him later and it wouldn’t be pretty, and then she turned to Xavier. “Maria called and said you arrested Agnes.”
“Yes.”
“Well, let her go,” Evie said. “We have a wedding in the morning.”
Xavier shook his head. “You people need to get something through your heads. This is a murder investigation. Taylor Beaufort is dead. Agnes’s meat fork was in his neck. She was standing over the body.”
“Agnes did not kill Taylor,” Evie said with finality. “You know that, Simon.”
“I don’t know?—”
“Simon,” Evie said in a very low and husky voice. She stood very still, as did Xavier, her voice apparently taking him back a few years. “Shane, would you take care of Palmer while I talk to Detective Xavier?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Shane took Palmer’s arm as Evie reached out and took Xavier’s.
Xavier looked at her sternly. “Evie, I am sorry if this upsets you, but Agnes Crandall is staying in jail.” He put his hat back on his head firmly and with intent.
“Now, Xavier,” Evie said.
Shane guided Palmer to the house, listening with one ear to Evie alternately browbeating and cajoling Xavier into freeing Agnes, and by the time they reached the porch, he had a great deal of respect for Evie’s powers of persuasion and Xavier’s powers of resistance, not to mention a real curiosity about why Evie was married to a blowhard like Jefferson Keyes. The last thing Xavier said was, “Evie, I am sorry, but no, I will not,” and then Shane opened the porch door and saw Lisa Livia, white-faced and hollow-eyed, pacing while Carpenter made soothing noises, which he seemed to be good at. Beyond them, through the open kitchen door, he could see Joey and Doyle in the kitchen looking worried.
“Where’s Maria?” Lisa Livia demanded.
“She went with Agnes to jail,” Shane said, immediately realizing he’d phrased that badly when Lisa Livia turned on Xavier.
“She wasn’t arrested,” Xavier said hastily. “She was just accompanying Miss Agnes.”
“Who was arrested,” Shane added, feeling that Xavier deserved all the grief he could get.
“For what?” Lisa Livia said to Xavier.
“She is helping us with our inqui?—”
“Killing Taylor,” Shane said, and while Lisa Livia zeroed in on the hapless Xavier, Shane took Carpenter aside. “The package is past the barn, behind some palmettos.”
Carpenter frowned. “Perhaps it would be prudent to move the package at a later time.”
Shane nodded. “It’s secure for now, assuming Downer doesn’t trip over it and get creative.” He looked over at Xavier now speaking sternly to Lisa Livia, who was snapping right back. “I don’t think Xavier is going to go looking for any more trouble tonight.”
