The Milburn Big Box Set by Nancy McGovern

Author:Nancy McGovern [McGovern, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery, cosy mystery, cosy mysteries
Publisher: McGovern Books
Published: 2020-03-27T22:00:00+00:00

*****

Chapter 9

Martin’s Confession

Martin sat down on the stairs, putting his head in his hands. “This—I can’t believe this is happening.”

“What is happening!” Lenu exclaimed. “I just don’t understand.”

“I’ll explain,” Nora said. “Seth was blackmailing Martin about a fraud he’d committed. That’s how Seth forced Martin to come to this little reunion even though he didn’t want to. Martin stole a letter from Seth’s room in a panic about being discovered. He climbed through the window to get at it. Don’t deny it Martin, your bootprint matches perfectly with one I found on Seth’s window ledge.”

“And the wet spot outside Martin’s door?” Rafael asked.

“I’m guessing he threw his clothes in a pile near the door after he reentered his own room,” Nora said. “The water seeped from the clothes to the carpet, and under the door to the other side. Martin killed Seth, in all likelihood.”

“No! I didn’t! I swear! You’re right about everything else, but I didn’t kill Seth!” Martin sprang to his feet, and grabbed Nora by the shoulders, shaking her. “I didn’t! Please! Please don’t turn me in to the police!”

“Why should we believe you!” Rafael’s face was thunderous, as he grabbed Martin and shoved him off Nora. “You were being blackmailed by Seth? Why!”

“I don’t know why!” Martin said, his whole frame trembling. “Seth’s like a spider. Or was. He hired a private investigator to track us all for a year. He’s been planning this night for ages. I’ve seen it. If you go into his room, there’s a file on each of us. He knows you’ve been cheating on your current husband, Lenu. He knows you visit a gambling den every night, Rafael. As for you, Victor--I guess you’re careful because he had nothing on you. At least, he didn’t show off your file to me.”

Lenu’s eyes were so wide they took up half her face. “He’s—he’s been tailing us?”

Martin nodded. “I refused to come, initially. I didn’t want to relive Ayla’s death. He wrote to me saying it would be in my interest to come, and implied that bad things would happen if I didn’t. So I came. Afterwards, around seven p.m., I went to his room to confront him. I wanted to know what he had on me, and I wanted out of this whole messy situation.”

“What did he say?”

“He laughed. He gloated about how he’d planned this night. He said, “Wait and watch, Martin my friend. After all these years, I’m going to finally find peace. I’ve been living a half-life since that night.”

“So what did he have on you?” Rafael asked.

“Tax fraud,” Martin said. “I’ll be honest with you about it--it’ll ruin me if it comes out, I might even go to jail. But most likely, I’ll just have to pay a hefty fine and escape. It’s not as bad as murder! I promise you, even if he had released the evidence against me, I wouldn’t have killed him for it! I’m not a lunatic!”

“You’re insane enough to go climbing through windows to retrieve whatever file he had on you,” Rafael said.

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