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“Would you like a vodka?” Estelle asks.
I smile. One of the things I adore about her is that she took the time to get to know me. We lunched every couple of weeks while I was with Luke and became friends—we weren’t just connected by our relationships with him. After we broke up, she checked in with me regularly, but I put some distance between us, unable to face the regular reminder of what I gave up. “No, thank you. I need to talk to you about something and alcohol would not be good for the conversation.”
Lines crinkle her forehead as she frowns. “This sounds serious. Do we need to have this conversation in private?”
I consider that for a moment. “Actually, that would be good, I think.”
She nods and puts her arm around my shoulders. “We can talk in my office.” Turning to George, she says, “Darling, can you please make me a drink? By the look on Callie’s face, I feel I may need it for this.”
After he agrees, we exit the room and make our way to her study. It’s one of my favourite rooms in her house. White reigns in here with splashes of pink throughout. Estelle has stamped her personal space with luxury and feminine touches that make you want to spend hours in the room. It’s uncluttered but the few items she chose to include are perfect—plump cushions on her chaise, candles, art and fresh flowers daily are all items I would choose, too.
She faces me. “What’s going on? You look like you’re wrestling a monster inside that head of yours.”
“I need you to hear me out, okay? Please keep an open mind and know that what I’m about to tell you is the honest truth.”
“Goodness, I think I need to sit for this.” She fumbles her way to the chaise and takes a seat.
I sit next to her. “To cut a long story short, I’ve been looking into the murder of Jolene’s mother after a work colleague of mine told me she didn’t think Jolene was guilty.“ I take in Estelle’s wide eyes, but send thanks to the universe that she doesn’t interrupt. “I’ve spent the last seven weeks investigating it and today I discovered that she is not guilty. Her mother was murdered by Alanis.”
The seconds tick by at a maddeningly slow pace as she processes this information. Her face finally twists in confusion. “I don’t understand. The police and the lawyer, and the investigator I hired, they all said it was Jolene.”
I nod. “I know because the evidence all pointed to Jolene. But I uncovered new evidence that proves it was Alanis. She set Jolene up and did a damn good job of it.” I pull out my phone and scroll to the photos I’d emailed myself from Amanda’s phone. Thrusting it at her, I say, “The woman who checked the murderer into the motel that day took this photo of her grandchild that afternoon. If you blow it up, you can see Alanis in the background. The staff member verified that was the woman she booked in.”
Estelle spends a good minute inspecting the photo. Her hand moves slowly to her mouth as horror spreads across her face. Her eyes meet mine in shock. “Oh, my God.”
“I know,” I say softly, still processing this myself.
“Have you shown this to Luke yet?”
“No.”
She frowns again. “Why not?”
I take a deep breath before I try to explain. “Did he ever tell you why we broke up?”
“He just told me you two had a difference of opinion and then you told me pretty much the same thing. Was it about this?”
“Yes. He didn’t want me to have anything to do with it.”
“And you, being the wonderful Callie that you are, couldn’t bear to see Jolene suffer for something you didn’t think she did. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t think you’d want me doing it either. I mean, you didn’t exactly like Jolene—”
“That’s not entirely true, my darling. I just didn’t feel she was right fo
r my son. From the day I met her, I sensed Luke was blind to her beauty because they simply had nothing else in common. Well, except for mothers who weren’t always around during their childhoods. And didn’t Luke throw that in my face as often as he could. But that’s a whole other story.”
“Jolene told me you two clashed horribly throughout the marriage.”
“That is true. I tried to help them where I could, but she didn’t appreciate any of it. She had a chip on her shoulder when it came to money. I couldn’t understand the problem. I could afford to buy those things, so why not let me do what I could?”
I smile sadly and squeeze her hand. “Because sometimes we all just want to think we can take care of our family by ourselves. We want to feel like we’re enough and can be enough for those we love.”
She presses her lips together and I know she doesn’t really understand that concept. “Well, when you can’t provide for your child, you need to either figure out a way to do that or accept help when it’s offered.”
I nod. “Yes, I understand that, too. But us humans are funny sometimes, aren’t we? We twist things in our mind and come up with some screwed-up ideas.”
“Yes, we do. That is also true. So why haven’t you been to Luke with this?”
