Death by Chocolate

thing. You got into
her cottage and typed them up. You figured if you used Louise’s computer and
her stationery, we’d figure it was her.”
    “Why would I do that?”
    “To kill two birds with one
stone.... so to speak. If you murdered Eleanor and framed Louise, they would
both be out of the picture and then maybe you could get custody of your
daughter.”
    He sighed deeply, and his
shoulders sagged as though he were deflating. “How do you know she’s mine?”
    “I have a good friend who’s
in Child Protective Services. She saw your paperwork, your petition for
custody, based on the fact that you’re Gilly’s biological father and that
Louise is an unfit parent.”
    “Louise is unfit.”
    “I know. So, why didn’t you
make a legal play for the girl a long time ago? Why kill Eleanor and set up
Louise?”
    He looked at her with
haunted eyes. “Don’t you think I tried that? I did! Years ago, when Gilly was
still a baby. But Eleanor had the money and the power. I had nothing but this
measly job, which she threatened to take away from me if I pursued the case. I
even offered to marry Louise, begged her to let me be a proper father to my
little girl. But other than that brief affair we had when I first started
working here, she didn’t want any part of me. I was just the chauffeur.”
    “So, you kept working here,
taking Eleanor’s abuse for all these years, to be close to Gilly?”
    “Sure. I certainly didn’t
do it for the money. But as long as I was working here, I could see her every
day, take care of her sometimes, be a positive influence on her.”
    Savannah flashed back for a
moment on the scene at the studio, when she had held Eleanor Maxwell in her
arms and felt the life drain out of her.
    “I feel for you, Sydney,”
she said, “but it wasn’t a very positive influence you exerted on your
daughter’s life, killing her grandmother. Eleanor wasn’t a very lovable person,
but she didn’t deserve to have her life taken away from her like that.”
    “Yes, I realize that. These
past few days I’ve been thinking it over and.... I know what I did was wrong.
All I can say is, it seemed right at the time. I believe it was the only thing
I could do for myself—and for Gilly.”
    Savannah gave him a sad
smile. ‘You know, down where I come from, the argument ‘He needed killin’ can
be considered a viable defense. But here in California, like most of the rest
of the country, that doesn’t fly. They seem to think you should leave the
killing up to the justice system.”
    “And what do you think?”
    “I think they’ve got a good
point. Leaving it to the authorities is the best way to go almost every time.
Sydney, a lot of us have good reasons to want to knock off somebody. But
mostly, we don’t actually do it. You did it. You’re gonna have to pay the
price.”
    He knelt on the grass, took
the brush out of the paint can, and wiped it off. Then he replaced the lid on
the can. Without looking up, he said, “I guess your cop buddy knows you’re here
right now.”
    “Yes, he knows. I asked him
if I could come talk to you, give you a chance to come in on your own.”
    He tapped the lid of the
can with the handle of the brush, sealing it. ‘That’s about the only thing I
can do, under the circumstances, huh?”
    “Yes, with your prints on
that pharmacy bag, he has all he needs to arrest you for murder. You should
turn yourself in, express your remorse, all that. As it is, you’re looking at
first-degree homicide, premeditated.... the works. You could get the death
penalty. You have to do everything you can to help yourself.”
    He stood and looked toward
Marie’s gardener’s cottage where his daughter was. Tears filled his eyes and
spilled down his face. “And who’s going to help Gilly once I’m gone?”
    “I will,” Savannah told
him. “I’m sure that Marie will. We’ll do everything we can for her.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Can I give you a ride to
the station?”
    He nodded.
    “Then, let’s go.”

Chapter

25
     
     
     
    T he champagne was cold, the
food good, the company excellent... but as Savannah
looked around her dinner table at her Moonlight Magnolia cohorts, she couldn’t say
she was in a particularly celebratory mood.
    Sitting next to her at the
table, John seemed to sense her sadness. He turned to her, reached for her
hand, and enclosed it between his. “What’s wrong, love?” he said, searching her
eyes. “You’re usually in a cheery state of mind