Part 31 (1/2)
They were all crowded into Nina's hospital room: Gretchen, Caroline, April, and Brandon Kline.
The only one missing was Matt.
”Where was he while all this was happening?” Caroline said. ”I'd asked him to keep track of you.”
”That explains why he kept popping up,” Gretchen said.
”You gave him permission to follow me around?”
”He didn't need my permission. Besides, you didn't expect me to allow my favorite daughter to put herself in jeopardy.”
”Britt isn't in this hospital, is she?” Nina said. ”I won't be able to sleep if she is.”
”You're going home today; you don't have to worry,”
Brandon said. ”And I'm driving you.”
Nina blushed.
”I owe you an apology,” April said sheepishly to Nina.
”I pooh-poohed all that psychic nonsense . . . I mean . . . well . . . I mean . . .”
”Spit it out,” Nina said, grinning. ”You believe me now?”
”I promise,” April said, crossing her heart, ”I'll never laugh at your mumbo jumbo again.”
”I agree,” Gretchen said. ”Maybe there's something to it after all. But you really handled it the wrong way.”
”I know. I wanted to prove myself so badly that I just rushed in.”
”We might never have solved the case without you,”
Brandon said to Nina, laying it on a little thick, Gretchen thought.
Brandon looked around at his captivated audience.
”Britt Gleeland was responsible for everything. She killed Sara because Sara didn't like her, and Britt worried that Charlie would stop being her friend. She killed Charlie when she thought Charlie was going to expose her publicly at the unveiling,” he continued. ”She rigged Bernard's bug juice to explode, plotting to keep him away from the shop. She wore a do-rag when she bombed the store to eliminate the evidence and throw suspicion on Ryan, and she shot him up with enough epinephrine, taken from Sara last year, to slowly kill him.”
”She told you all this?” Gretchen asked.
”She made a full confession.”
”All in the name of friends.h.i.+p,” April said. ”What a certifiable kook.”
”Sometimes,” Nina said quietly, ”friends do crazy things, hurtful things.”
April smiled at her. ”I'm so glad you're safe.”
”What's going to happen to Melany?” Gretchen asked Brandon.
”She won't be charged,” he said. ”She did what she thought she had to do to save you and Nina. Her mother's going to prison, and Melany feels responsible for Charlie's death. She thought she was doing the right thing by placing that box with the others. Instead, it triggered Charlie's death.”
”I don't think Charlie even saw the extra room box before she died,” Gretchen said. The detective agreed. ”Melany placed it with the others after Britt and Charlie left for dinner. Chances are good that she never got a chance to see it.”
”At least,” Caroline added, ”Charlie never knew what Britt had done to Sara.” She shook her head. ”What possessed her to make those room boxes, I'll never know.”
”Ryan's one floor up from you,” Gretchen said to Nina.
”He's making progress, but he needs time.”
”That's more good news. Now clear out,” Nina ordered them. ”I want to get dressed and get out of here. Not you, Gretchen. You stay and help me.”