A Forgotten Murder (Medlar Mystery 3)

Sara’s mind was beginning to function. What had cushioned her fall so that she wasn’t broken into bits? “Did this happen before or after I landed on you?”

He gave a one-sided grin. “Leg before, arm during. I heard it crack.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “but thank you.”

“Least I could do.” He looked up. “I don’t know how we’re going to get out.”

Sara swallowed. “I’m not sure, but I think Bella means to blow up this hole.”

Chris blinked a few times, then recovered. “I can stand on one leg, and thank God, you’re small.”

She knew what he meant. “I can climb on your shoulders and get to the ledge. It’s not far up from there. I think I can make it.”

“With the vines gone, it won’t be an easy climb.”

Her eyes were clearing from whatever drug Bella had injected into her and from the trauma of the fall. “We can—”

There was a voice from the ground above.

Chris put his good arm in front of Sara, and they backed up against the wall and into the shadows. She felt his grunt of pain as he moved.

With pounding hearts, they looked up into the light.

When a woman’s face appeared, Chris leaned in front of Sara, ready to protect her.

“They’re not here,” the woman said, then her face disappeared.

“It’s Nadine,” Sara whispered. “It’s—” She broke off her words, took a breath, then let out a scream worthy of a horror movie.

Seconds later, Nadine’s face reappeared, then Teddy’s, then Puck’s.

Sara stepped out from behind Chris and went to the center of the pit. “You have to be careful,” she called upward. “Bella is here and she’s—”

“We know. The inspector has her in handcuffs,” Nadine said. “We figured it out. Like you taught us. We were in the car and we each revealed what we knew. She’s Bertram’s—”

“Half sister,” Sara said. “Chris is hurt.” She couldn’t stand any longer and sat on the ground. “I broke his arm when I fell on him.”

“An ambulance is on the way,” Nadine said. “Willa and Clive went to get a ladder.”

Sara looked up. “Jack and Kate?”

“They texted us that they’re on their way here. They found out everything too. Mrs. Aiken told Puck about Bella, and she told us. Byon figured it out.”

“Mrs. Aiken was trying to save her own neck,” Teddy called down. “She suspected Isabella of killing Granddad so she told on her. Thought she could exchange one murder for another. She—” Teddy choked on tears and couldn’t say more.

There were more voices, then Jack and Kate looked down into the hole.

At the sight of them, Sara lost all her bravado. She dissolved into tears. Minutes later, Jack and Kate had climbed down a rope. The three of them held each other. They were one solid being of tears and love combined.

* * *