Free Maddie's Gift of Mystery (A Rockcrest Cove Cozy Mystery Book 5) by Emily Page Page B

him until he was fully cuffed. Pulling him to his feet, he Mirandized him as he walked him to the car.
    His fierce eyes landed on Bailey, and they felt like daggers. “You’re not really a reporter, are you?”
    “No, I’m not,” Bailey confirmed.
    He opened his mouth to say something else but apparently thought better of it and fell silent on the way to the station.
    At the station, he was put in an interview room by himself for about an hour while the others gathered in Willis’s office to try to decide what to do. Forensics expert Anderson came in to speak to the group, but before he could speak, Willis started.
    “Did you find anything in the backpack that could directly link him to the murder?”
    “Yes, we did.” He reached in and pulled out a package of photos and laid it across Willis’s desk. “This pillow matches the cushions on Jimmy’s sofa and is most likely the very one he was smothered with. It is my guess that if you do an autopsy on Jimmy, you’ll find the same fibers in his lungs.”
    He then showed another image of a number of lockets found in the bag. “Aren’t those…?” Maddie said, pointing at the picture.
    “Yes, they are,” he confirmed. “He had been buying up lockets all over town, trying to find one that matched the locket Emily wore. It appears it was his plan to frame her all along for the murder.”
    The picture showed six different lockets, all strikingly similar to the one Emily wore. It must have taken him months to find the exact match, indicating that the plan to frame Emily had been in the works for quite a while. There were also photos of objects that had been taken from Jimmy’s house—things that no one would have even known were missing but could easily have incriminated Anthony.
    Willis remained silent while he studied the pictures of evidence. “It looks pretty cut and dry to me,” he said. He turned to Eleanor. “I’m going to recommend that all charges against Emily are dropped immediately.”
    A collective sigh of relief went through the group, and Eleanor quickly excused herself and stepped out of the room to call Emily and give her the good news.
    “There’s still one thing that bothers me,” Willis said out loud. “We still don’t have a clear-cut motive for the crime. It just doesn’t make sense that they would plot to kill Jimmy. We must still be missing something.”
    “I think I have the answer to that,” Anderson confirmed. He pointed out another photo of a small diary. “This is Maria’s diary,” he said. “There are excerpts in her diary about her infatuation with Jimmy. Apparently she had developed strong feelings for him but was always thwarted by his relationship with Emily.”
    “But that’s ridiculous.” Eleanor said. “Jimmy and Emily were like brother and sister.”
    “In Maria’s eyes they weren’t. They’re connection was something that she was never able to break.”
    “But it still doesn’t make any sense though. Why would Maria want him dead? Wouldn’t she be more concerned with getting rid of Emily?”
    “That’s true, but Maria may not have known the extent Anthony would go to to protect her. He probably thought that he could get rid of Emily by framing her for Jimmy’s death.”
    The whole plot seemed far-fetched to say the least, but the evidence was clearly laid out in front of them. “What’s this?” Maddie asked, pointing at another photo.
    “Jimmy had a strange interest in a school competition for membership in an academic club.”
    “Yes. It’s one of my extracurricular programs,” Eleanor said.
    “What is it?”
    “Well, students accepted into the academic club get first pick at apprenticeship programs with several law firms around town. I only accept two students each semester for the program.”
    “Let me guess,” Anderson said, looking at a paper he was holding. “Your first choice was Emily.”
    “That’s right.”
    “Your second choice was Jimmy.”
    “Yes,” Eleanor said,