John cleared his throat, without success. "Richard had no idea that Neil had done this, and that night, he believed that Lonnie Stall was the guilty party, just as we all did. Now, fast-forward to the present day, when Allegra hired your firm. You entered the picture and started looking into the murder case, and Neil told Richard everything. The two of them decided to stop you from going forward, by any means necessary."
Jane said softly, "It"s awful, I"m so sorry."
Mary thought back to what Chief Weber had told her last night. "So Richard came forward, confessed, and implicated Neil, in return for a plea deal."
"Yes. He told us he wanted to take responsibility and spare us all a second trial. He was going to try to convince Neil to do the same, and we hope that he will plead guilty as well."
Mary sighed. "Well, the deal"s confession puts the nail in the coffin, as far as reopening Lonnie Stall"s case. The prosecution will cover its bases, following up on the payment for the guilty plea and also retesting the original samples of trace evidence, to determine that they are Neil"s. But I believe this will set Lonnie Stall free."
"We know." John glanced at Jane and placed his hand over hers. "Obviously, we take some satisfaction in his exoneration, and we"re relieved that Richard turned himself in and accepted responsibility for his complicity. But it doesn"t do anything to bring Fiona back, which is what we both want, in our heart of hearts."
"I know, and I"m sorry."
"So are we," John said, anguished.
"May I ask a question?" Mary didn"t understand something, and neither had Chief Weber. "Why would Richard embezzle money, given his wealth?"
"It wasn"t about the money, for him. Unfortunately, we"ve always had some measure of sibling rivalry, completely on his part, with his feeling that he needs to come out of my shadow."
Mary flashed on the corporate portraits at the cottage, which featured John so prominently among the brothers, and she remembered her sense that the cottage was distinctly junior to the corporate headquarters, in its fancy award-winning building.
"Richard became emotional last night, and he told us that he just wanted to prove to himself that he could do it. That he was smart enough not only to take the money, but to take it from me and hide it from me. So you see, it didn"t concern money at all."
Mary eased back in her chair, suddenly exhausted. "I understand the whole picture now, and thanks for taking the time to explain it to me. I know this hasn"t been easy for you, either of you. My primary concern, of course, is Allegra."
"Ours, too." Jane sniffled.
"I had intended to see you, then go to Churchill and tell her what happened. I was worried she would find out from TV news or the Internet. More importantly, I thought she should know, amidst all of this pain, that she was right all along, and she deserves to be thanked."
John nodded, and new tears filled Jane"s eyes.
"I think she really needs to hear that, but now I understand that she doesn"t need to hear it from me. She needs to hear it from you. Both of you."
John blinked, and Jane sniffled, wiping her eyes, leaving pinkish streaks on her fair cheeks.
"So I propose, at this point, that I bow out. Allegra doesn"t need a lawyer anymore, if she ever did. What she needs is her mother and her father." Mary could see from their subdued expressions that they were open to hearing her, at long last. "There is no subst.i.tute for you both, and you may feel broken and horrible now, but this family can come together. This is the time to start. You may have lost Fiona, but you still have Allegra. As I told you, in my own life, I"ve lost someone to violent crime, too. And the way to honor Fiona is to embrace Allegra."
Jane rose suddenly. "Mary, I think you"re right. We"ll leave right now, and I can"t wait to see her."
John looked up at his wife in surprise. "But we"re not on her visitors" list. She won"t see us."
Jane stiffened, squaring her shoulders. "John, I don"t go against you often, but this time, I am. n.o.body negotiates harder than you do in business, and it"s time you put that expertise to work in this family. We"re going to Churchill and we"re going to sit in that waiting room until she sees us."
John stood up, with a half smile. "Fair enough, we"ll give it a try."
Mary got to her feet, feeling a weight lifted. "Good call, John. Your wife is making sense and you need to listen to her."
John grinned, extending a hand. "Thanks. Now, Mary, I know you"re the only lawyer in the world who doesn"t care about money, but I"ll see to it that your fee is paid."
Mary smiled, shaking his hand. "Now that I"m a partner, I appreciate the value of money more than I used to. I"ll take you up on that offer. Thank you very much."
"John, well done." Jane brightened, coming around the table. "Mary, I"ll walk you out."
"Yes, please do," Mary told her, having an ulterior motive.
Chapter Fifty-three.
"Feel better?" Mary asked Jane, as they walked in the warm sun to the car.
"Much." Jane turned to her, with a growing smile. "I"m nervous about dealing with Allegra, but we"re going to make it work. We simply have to heal this family."
"Good for you. I"m a big believer in the truth setting you free."
"I think that"s right," Jane said softly. "By the way, how"s Feet?"
"Wonderful, thanks. If I may, however, there"s one last thing I want to mention to you." Mary braced herself to lower the boom. "It"s not my business, but I"m on a roll."
"What is it?" Jane asked, mystified.
"If you remember, this all began when Allegra came to us, saying that she knew Lonnie Stall. She told us that she had seen him when Fiona was babysitting her, yet John said that Fiona was never asked to babysit."
Jane"s expression darkened, and her pace slowed on the gravel, though she said nothing.
"Jane, I don"t think your husband was lying to me when he said that, so the only logical conclusion is that you lied to him. That means that you were having Fiona babysit Allegra without his knowledge, and I can think of only one reason you would do that."
Jane hung her head slightly.
"It doesn"t matter to me if you were having an affair." Mary paused, waiting for Jane to tell her to shut up, but it didn"t happen. "Again, my concern is Allegra. She knows what she knows. She remembers what she remembers. If she"s to have any hope of reclaiming her mental health, somebody has to tell her the truth."
Jane groaned, shaking her head. "I can"t do that."
"Why not?"
"Because John doesn"t know." Jane kept shaking her head. "What do I do? Tell Allegra not to tell him?"
"No." Mary didn"t hesitate. "You need to tell him yourself."
"About the affair?"
"Yes."
Jane"s lovely eyes locked with Mary"s. "Even if the man I was having an affair with was Richard?"
Mary absorbed the information without showing the dismay she felt. "Even then, and especially then."
"But it"s so awful, and of course it ended the night Fiona was killed. It didn"t even go on that long. Now I see that Richard never really loved me, he just wanted to best John." Jane closed her eyes. "It"s mortifying. It was just Richard proving he was smarter than John. I was a possession to be won."
Mary touched her arm. "Jane, you"re a good person, and I"m sure there"s a reason why you strayed, but that"s between you and John. Allegra"s welfare is what matters now, over John"s feelings, or yours. She didn"t create the problem, and she doesn"t deserve to suffer for it."
"I know." Jane nodded, and they both looked over when Alasdair shouted to them, walking over with a grin.
"Jane! I just had an amazing ride, and Paladin"s so fit, I swear. You must ride out today. He"s keen to go."
Jane quickly put on a smile. "Maybe I will, tomorrow."
"Brilliant!" Alasdair reached them in an effusive good mood, gesturing at the green BMW. "And did you see Mary"s car? That"s almost as beautiful as a warmblood, at least to my eye."
Jane smiled again. "What is it with men and cars?"
Alasdair laughed, throwing back his head. "What is it with women and horses?"
But Mary was already getting an idea. "Alasdair, you like my car?"
"Love it! Who wouldn"t? It"s a cla.s.sic, the BMW 2002. I bet it runs beautifully, doesn"t it?"
"Here, see for yourself." Mary fished in her back pocket for the keys and handed them over.
"I can take it out for spin? Awesome!"
"No, I have a better idea." Mary was thinking about what she"d said to the Gardners, which she"d never realized until now. The way to honor Mike was to embrace Anthony. "Give me a ride to the train station, then you can keep it. It"s yours, as a gift."
Jane gasped. "How terrific!"
"Are you serious?" Alasdair"s eyes popped open. "What are you talking about? I can"t accept it, no way!"
"Take it, please." Mary smiled, bittersweet. "I want somebody to give it a good home, and love it as much as my late husband did."
"But why let it go?" Alasdair asked, astounded.
"Because it"s time," Mary answered, simply.
Chapter Fifty-four.
CONGRATULATIONS, read the banner, and Mary scanned the happy scene in the conference room, amazed that so much had happened in a few short months. Richard Gardner"s confession and guilty plea to conspiracy in the attempt to kill Mary, and the statement he gave the authorities about Neil"s murder of Fiona had been instrumental in forcing Neil to plead guilty to Fiona"s murder, and both were both serving time in Graterford Prison. Richard had been given a twenty-year sentence for third-degree murder, and Neil was serving life without parole. In the aftermath, the Gardners had begun to heal their family. Allegra was happy and healthy in school, seeing her bees every day and her therapist once a week. John and Jane Gardner seemed closer than before, and at the moment, the three Gardners stood together by the baked ziti, engaged in an animated conversation with Rita Henley and Lonnie Stall, who had been released from prison last week, completely exonerated.
Lonnie had been so thankful to Mary and Allegra, and he"d denied having a personal relationship to Fiona because he"d thought it would look like he had a motive for murdering her, or subject him to a charge of statutory rape. He and Fiona had been falling in love, talking on the phone and online, and seeing each other when they could. They"d been planning to go public after The Gardner Group"s grand opening party, when her life had been cruelly cut short. Mary felt deeply satisfied that she"d been able to help Lonnie, in addition to proving that the law did lead to justice, however belatedly.
The Tonys were at today"s party too, and though Feet"s foot had healed, he sat in front of the chocolate chip cannolis, for obvious reasons. Tony-From-Down-The-Block was to his right, chatting up Sister Helen, who had come with Rita and let it be known that she was single. Pigeon Tony was on his third cup of black coffee, speaking caffeinated Italian to Judy, Lou, Anne, and Marshall, who had no idea what he was talking about until it was translated by his grandson, Judy"s live-in boyfriend Frank Lucia. Mary felt so happy that all of them were at the party, though there was a hole in her heart, without Angie there. Her twin was still out of the country on her mission, but they"d reached her and she"d promised to be home for Mary"s wedding.
Bennie lingered near the head of the conference table, talking with Mary"s mother, her father, El Virus, and Dom. Mary watched them with antic.i.p.ation, knowing that it was time for a surprise announcement, which they"d agreed should come from the senior partner.
"Excuse me, everyone!" Bennie called out after a moment, turning to the crowd with an expectant smile. "If I may have your attention, I"d like to propose a toast to Allegra, for being so smart and brave, and to Lonnie, who has gotten the justice he deserved, however belatedly."
Everyone raised his gla.s.s, shouting approval in English and Italian, and Rita called out, "Amen to that! Praise Jesus!" Allegra and Lonnie beamed, standing happily together, one covered with bees and the other with tattoos.
Bennie smiled. "In addition, I have an announcement. All of us at Rosato & DiNunzio are so impressed with Allegra"s talents and abilities, and we like her very much. She"s been looking for something to do after school, and we"ve offered her a part-time position as our intern. Welcome on board, Allegra!"
"Yes, welcome!" Mary chimed in.
"Thanks!" Allegra grinned, and Jane gave her a big hug.
"Bravissima, Allegra!" shouted Mary"s mother.
"ATTA GIRL!" said her father.
"Hear, hear! To my stellar daughter!" John Gardner raised his gla.s.s. "And I have an announcement, of my own. I was just speaking with Lonnie, who"s been looking for a job, too. I"m happy to report that he"ll start on Monday in management training at The Gardner Group, while he returns to cla.s.ses at Temple."
"Congrats, Lonnie!" Mary called out, applauding.
"Way to go!" Judy nodded.
"Praise Jesus!" Rita clapped.
"Hallelujah!" Sister Helen beamed.
Anthony leaned over and whispered to Mary, "This is your handiwork, isn"t it?"
"Shhh." Mary smiled, because he knew her so well. She was lucky to have him, and she remembered it every time she spied her engagement ring sparkling on her finger-though she"d come to think the diamond wasn"t all that big.
"What a happy, happy day!" Rita beamed. "And congratulations to Mary, too, because she"s getting married!"
"Best wishes to the bride!" Sister Helen peered at Mary over her pink gla.s.ses. "What kind of dress you gonna get, honey?"
"Uh, I"m not sure." Mary may have become a partner, gotten an innocent man exonerated, and sent a guilty man to jail, but she still hadn"t settled the War of the Wedding Dresses.
El Virus chirped up, "She"s gonna wear my wedding dress, ain"t that nice?"
Her father frowned. "NO, SHE"S GONNA WEAR HER MOTHER"S DRESS."
Mary looked from one mother to the other. She couldn"t hurt her mother by choosing Elvira"s dress, or hurt El Virus by choosing her mother"s, or hurt them both by buying a new dress. In other words, Mary still had her guilt, doubts, and insecurities, which would probably guarantee that she would walk down the aisle completely naked.
Anthony stepped forward, looking sheepish. "Mom, Vita, I have a confession to make. You know I took the dresses to the dry cleaners, to freshen them up, but the cleaners told me he can"t find them. They might have lost them."
"Oh no!" Mary couldn"t believe her good luck, though she felt a wave of sympathy for her mother and El Virus.
"Ant!" El Virus"s eyes flared in outrage. "Ant, where did you take them? That discount place onna corner? I told you not to go there, ever! They lose everything!"