I was glad Obedience had found true love. It probably caught her by surprise, too, because she’d written something early on that indicated she might just eschew the marriage thing.
6 December 1775. If ever I marry, it will not be to a man who professes to fight for the rights of all men to be free while insisting on maintaining absolute power over his wife. I would just as soon sleep with the dog.
Derek was watching me from across the room, so I waved at him to come and listen to the rest of Kevin’s story.
“How lovely, you’ve brought champagne,” Kevin said, taking the fresh glass from Derek. She took a sip, then looked at me. “Where was I?”
“I was about to ask you to fast-forward to when the cookbook was stolen.”
“Right.” Her shoulders sagged a little, but she recovered, straightened up, and shook her hair back. Glancing around, she noticed more of us listening in, so in a clear voice she said, “And thus begins our true tale of treachery and murder.”
She could have been an actress, because those words caused me to shiver with dread. Savannah and Dalton closed in to hear the story.
“The villagers were heartbroken when the cookbook was stolen. The first rumor to circulate implicated Peter, but he had never taken anything so valuable before. He allowed his rooms to be searched, but the book wasn’t found and the villagers became resigned to living without it.” Kevin took a sip of champagne, then continued. “Several months later, my father received a generous contribution to build an irrigation system for the African town where he’d built his missionary school. The benefactor was anonymous, and word began to circulate among our townspeople that it was all a bit too coincidental.”
I felt instant guilt for having the same thought pop into my head.
Kevin sighed. “You see, Daddy was always soliciting money. It’s just the way charities have to operate. So when the cookbook was stolen, some people wondered aloud if Daddy had taken it and sold it for the money to keep the school running. It was a huge scandal, as you might expect. The local constable looked into it, but found nothing to pin the crime on Daddy.”
“Baxter stole it,” Savannah murmured. “And later gave it to me to hide his crime.”
Kevin turned in her chair. “Yes, that’s what it looks like. I don’t blame you, Savannah. How could you have known?”
“I’m sorry, anyway.” Savannah shook her head. “Baxter managed to use me while destroying your father’s reputation.”
“Yes,” I said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he started the rumor about your father.”
Kevin blinked. “I never thought of that. But of course it was him. He had to throw the guilt elsewhere so it wouldn’t land on him.”
“He was just slimy enough to do it,” I said. “And he probably spread the rumor that Peter took it, as well.”
Savannah scowled. “He really was a horrible person.”
“Yes, he was.”
This talk of Baxter reminded me of another question I had. “Why did all three of you go to Le Cordon Bleu together? Peter said it was because Baxter couldn’t think of anything better to do, so he tagged along. But that can’t be the real reason.”
“It’s not,” Kevin said, chewing her lip as she considered her next words. Then she said, “I’ve never told anyone this, but when I was thirteen, Baxter wanted to be my boyfriend. He was always trying to kiss me and I was constantly pushing him away. Finally I’d had it with his nonsense and began to ridicule him in front of our friends. I admit it was awful of me.”
“You were just a kid,” I said.
“Yes, but Baxter was furious. I can hardly blame him, because our friends were relentless with their teasing. Baxter told me I’d regret it, said he’d follow me forever and make sure I always knew he was watching me. He said he’d ruin my life in ways I couldn’t understand, but one day I’d figure it out and look back and regret snubbing him.”
I shivered. “That was creepy.”
“Poor Kevin,” Savannah said.
Kevin’s laugh was gruff. “Yes, poor me.”
Savannah’s eyes were focused on her friend. “You really think that’s why he went to cooking school with you?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “But when he got there, he discovered he was really good at it. It was the first time in his life he’d received so much positive feedback and good attention. I was happy for him, honestly, but it was also a relief to finally get him off my back. Until recently, that is.”
“What happened recently?” I asked.
Kevin pinched her lips together. “He tried to blackmail me.”
Savannah reached out to grab Kevin’s arm. “How?”
“He thought he could extort money from me to keep my father’s so-called crime a secret. You see, Daddy’s on a short list of people being considered for knighthood. If the story got out that he’d stolen the book…”
“So Baxter was going to blackmail you to cover up the crime that he committed himself.” I shouldn’t have been shocked, but I was. “That’s diabolical.”