She took off her apron, wrapped it around the gun and hid it between the bales of hay. “How was I to know that slut would find it?” she asked the inspector. “What was she doing sneaking around in the middle of the night? You should question her.”
Mrs. Aiken dragged the body into one of the horse stalls and the poor animal was crazed at the smell of blood. “I was hoping he’d trample that ungrateful wretch. It would have solved everything!”
But the horse didn’t so much as touch Sean’s lifeless body. When Mrs. Aiken came back with Nicky, Sean was where she’d put him—but the gun was gone. Mrs. Aiken didn’t have time to do a thorough search and figured she’d look for it later.
She and Nicky rolled the body in an old rug and put it in the back of one of the utility trucks. They’d only gone a short distance when the body nearly fell out. “But Nicky tied it down,” she said proudly.
“This would be when you were in front of the old chapel?” the inspector asked.
“I guess so. Somewhere near there.”
“Then what?” he asked.
Her voice softened. “Nicky was a lonely little boy. I did my best, but I had too many responsibilities to take care of. And that daughter of mine was no help ever. Lives in a fairy world, she does.?
??
“Where did you and Nicky take the body?”
“To an old well that only Nicky knew about. It was a dangerous place. I didn’t like to think of him being inside that thing, but sometimes he had to hide from his father. He—”
“What about Sean?”
“Oh. Him. Nicky had a ladder that went down the side. He climbed down and I lowered the body. Wasn’t easy. Nicky hurt his hands on the ropes.”
“Poor guy,” the inspector mumbled. “Had a hard life.”
She cocked her head at him, seeing if he was serious or not.
“Then what?”
“He came up and we cut the ropes. The next week, Nicky had some...” She lifted her hands. “Something put on it as a cover.”
“An iron grid,” the inspector said.
“Yes, that’s right. Nicky knew how to take care of problems.”
“A true saint.” The inspector closed his notebook. “I’m charging you with the murder of Sean Thorpe.”
“Don’t matter,” she said. “Nothin’ matters since somebody killed Nicky. After that, I didn’t care about—”
The inspector stood up. He couldn’t stand to hear more about Saint Nicky.
“Tell my daughter to bring me some clothes. And I need somebody to talk to who will understand that I did what I had to. I had no choice.”
“We’ll be sure to find that person.” The inspector left the room.
He went directly to Oxley Manor, and he and Sara isolated themselves and talked. Later, Sara told Jack and Kate everything.
“He said he’d never met a more cold-blooded person in his life,” Sara said.
“Don’t tell Nadine that part of the reason Mrs. Aiken felt justified in killing Sean was because he was a thief,” Kate said.
“I agree,” Sara said.
The two women were looking at Jack, who was oddly silent. “She keeps saying someone killed Nicky.”
They knew he was thinking of his half brother, Evan. His death hadn’t been an accident.