Read A Midsummer Eve's Nightmare Online
Authors: Donna Fletcher Crow
Tags: #detective, #British Mystery, #Mystery
A Midsummer Eve's Nightmare (19 page)
“Oh, I forgot to tell you.” Richard turned to her. “That was Larry. He confessed the whole thing. He was getting an extra good price for some special connectors they used on that bank of lights. He saw Erin drop the case on you, then run off. He panicked that he’d be found with the stolen stuff, so he just froze there until he had to run.”
“I thought Larry was outside when that happened?”
“Apparently that’s what Tom thought and inadvertently gave Larry an alibi.”
Elizabeth shook her head, thinking how tangled the web had become.
“But it’s so awful about Sally,” Tori persisted. “I don’t see how anyone could be so obsessed, even someone with a father like Eric Wooton.”
“Pain in her childhood left her driven to be perfect, to fill the emotional void in her life. It’s a classic case.” Gregg stopped and laughed. Everyone was staring at him. “Hey, sorry. I’ll hang out my shingle—Resident Psychiatrist—so you’ll be warned. But it’s true. I told you I had counseling. That’s the pattern.”
“What about Erin now?” Tori asked. “Do you think she’ll get counseling in jail?”
“I’m sure her father will get her the best lawyers and best psychiatrists money can buy. Probably all he needed to know was that Erin—or rather Erica—cared for him.” Richard shook his head. “What a shame it all had to go so far.”
Tori took a long sip of tea. “It’s like all that stuff about mercy and justice in
Measure
, isn’t it? She deserves the severest justice for Sally’s death, and yet we want her to have the mercy of medical treatment. And some judge will have to sort it all out.”
“Mercy, justice and forgiveness,” Elizabeth mused, not yet sure how she felt about it all, except great relief to have it over. Then she recalled the line from
Winter’s Tale
that Gregg had quoted earlier, “‘as the heavens have done, forget your evil; with them forgive yourself.’”
“Yes,” Gregg said slowly. “Heaven’s forgiveness. That’s another truth I’ve been groping my way toward this week. You guys have been great.” He smiled at Richard. “I’m still working on all that you’ve thrown at me.”
“Don’t worry about that, Gregg,” Richard replied. “We’re all still working on it. The mercy and justice stuff is so nice in theoretic boxes, but when you get it tangled up with real people. . .”
“Yes, fine.” Tori interrupted. “But we have news.” She nudged Gregg impatiently.
“What?” Elizabeth demanded.
“In all the excitement I almost forgot. . .” Gregg hesitated.
“Well, I didn’t forget.” Tori threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “Trevor told Gregg after Richard and Officer Fellows went chasing off after Elizabeth—my goodness,” she interrupted herself, “it has been a long night, hasn’t it?”
“Tori— ” Elizabeth sounded threatening.
“Oh, yes. Well, SOSC has an opening in its drama department. They asked Trevor if he was interested. He isn’t, but he thinks Gregg has a really good chance of getting it! Now, see—” She tossed her head and gave her sister a saucy look. “You can’t possibly object to Gregg. After all, you married a college professor.”
“Yes, and look where it got me.” Elizabeth held her pose of breathless seriousness.
“Where?” Richard demanded.
Her smile broke across her face. “‘To the marriage of true minds. . . that looks on tempests and is never shaken—the star to every wandering bark.’”
“‘Aye, there’s method in her madness. Come on, and kiss me, Kate!’”
And she did.
# # #
About the Author
Donna Fletcher Crow
is the author of thirty-five books, largely novels of British history. She is now specializing in mysteries.
A Midsummer Eve’s Nightmare
is the second in her series of Elizabeth & Richard Mysteries, after
The Shadow of Reality.
Donna is a former English and drama teacher. She has played Olivia in
Twelfth Night
and done cuttings of Isabella in
Measure for Measure
, Portia in
The Merchant of Venice
and Kate in
The Taming of the Shrew.
She and her husband were regular patrons of the Oregon Shakespearean Festival in Ashland, Oregon, for many years.
Donna invites her readers to learn more about her books and research trips, see pictures of her garden, and write to her through her website: www.DonnaFletcherCrow.com
A Midsummer Eve's Nightmare
An Elizabeth and Richard Mystery
Copyright ©2010 by Donna Fletcher Crow
All rights reserved as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher.
StoneHouse Ink 2011
StoneHouse Ink
Nampa ID 83686
www.stonehouseink.net
First eBook Edition: 2011
First Paperback Edition: 2011
ISBN: 978-0615571638
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to a real person, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Cover design by Fuji Aamabreorn
Published in the United States of America
StoneHouse Ink
Table of Contents