With Malik discharged from the hospital with a mild concussion and Robert rotting away at the county jail, I only had one more task to finish.

          When I got to Dupont Manor the next morning, I had intended to hand over the necklace to Alexis and collect my pay. Unfortunately, it was Destiny that answered the door.

         "Evie," she said looking down at me. "Here to see Alexis?"

         "Yeah. She home?"

          "Yeah."

          She opened the door with a flourish and gestured me inside. I watched her slinky runway walk from behind, admiring her ability to flawlessly match her blouses and slacks.

          By the time we made it to the living room, Alexis was passing through from the outer hall.

          "Evie," she said. "You have news?"

          "I do." Alexis walked toward the love seat while Destiny turned to leave without a word to her sister. "Actually, I need to speak with both of you."

          Both sisters stopped in their tracks and exchanged a look but neither argued with me. Instead, they each sat down on the loveseat. As far apart as possible.

          I followed suit and sat in the lush armchair across from it, then dug through my purse until I retrieved the necklace. I set it with a thud onto the glass coffee table.

          "You found my necklace!" Alexis exclaimed with glee.

          Destiny sprung forward and grabbed at it. "You mean my necklace!"

          Alexis grabbed at a free string of pearl and diamond and yanked gently to keep her sister from whisking it away. "No, I don't. Mom wanted me to have it."

          "That's a lie! She wanted me to have it."

          "I was her favorite!"

          "I gave her grandchildren!"

          "So?"

          "So, I'm passing on her legacy!"

          Alexis's voice took on a mocking tone. "Is that why you had them? I thought you did it to try and save your sorry marriage!"

          Destiny slit her eyes and hmphed, but never loosened her grip. "At least I had a man. All your lesbian ass has is a string of disasters!"

          "Whoa, whoa! Low blow, bitch!"

          "Ain't nothing low about you being a shitty girlfriend just like you're a shitty sister!"

          "All of this is your fault!"

          "My fault?"

         "If you weren't so shallow and self-centered—"

          "Self-centered? I have two children! How can I be self-centered?"

           I'd heard enough. They were so busy fighting they hadn't even noticed the envelope I'd pulled out full of evidence for their upcoming case. "Be quiet! Both of you!" I grabbed my phone and found the audio file from the night I confronted Robert. I sat it on the coffee table and pushed play. "Listen to this."

         Robert's voice boomed through the speakers. "...Corrine pushed in just enough morphine to keep her loose. I drew up the new will. And Malik talked to her—tried to coax her to sign..."

         "Is that Robert?" Destiny's forehead wrinkled in confusion.

          Alexis looked at me, all notions of fighting over bad jewelry vanished as she released her clutch on it and let Destiny have it. "It was him?"

         I nodded. "Yeah, it was."

          "I can't believe it."

          Destiny looked between us more confused than ever. "Can't believe what?"

          "He killed mom."

           "What?"

          I took the time to break down all my exploits from the last couple of weeks. Me pretending to be a mourner at the funeral, looking for the necklace, discovering Diana's letter, and Robert, Malik, Corrine, and Gabe's part in the whole ordeal.

          The only thing I left out was Este helping me get into the house that fateful night. Better to spare her any trouble.

          When I was done, the sisters stared at me, mouths agape.

          Destiny was the first to speak. "I don't believe it..."

          "The things some people will do in the name of money are horrific." I looked between them with all the sternness of a parent at their limit. Maybe that's what went wrong here. Poor parenting. "Don't throw away your relationship with each other over an extra few million dollars."

          I could say their family had been torn apart by this whole will nonsense but the tragedy of it was that their family fell apart long before Diana Dupont got cancer. Long before the divorce, or Gabe's drug problem and long before they were millionaires. I'd say the cracks started forming way back when they were willing to cheat Margie Scott out of her piece of the pie, and simultaneously leave the raising of all smaller children to their oldest son.

          But what did I know? I didn't have children or a million-dollar company, but if I did some day, I hoped I could find that happy medium between success and fulfillment.

          "What about Malik?" Destiny asked.

          "Discharged from the hospital and being investigated for fraud."

          "Robert?"

          "Arrested for the murder and being investigated for fraud and bribery."

         She and Alexis had regained their seats and their sense. They sat on the love seat, a little closer but still apart. They looked at each other for a moment, their wheels turning in sync for once.

          "How can we ever thank you?" Alexis asked.

          I glimpsed at the mantel clock. Lunch was almost over. "All I want is the immigration lawyer you promised Este, the money that was promised for a case solved, and a damn good rating on Yelp."

          "Absolutely."

          "Great." I stood. "I need to get back to work. I'll get back to you about my fee."

          "Okay."

          I turned to see myself out but froze near the hallway and turned back. "I have to know. Who did she really leave that ugly thing to?"

          They looked at each other for a moment before Alexis cleared her throat and smiled sheepishly. "She didn't specify."

          All this fighting and she hadn't even cared who got it. "I see. So you three did all this for the money?"

          "Three?"

         "Malik had it." I said with a resigned shrug. "Gonna be a crazy few months, I suggest you two work it out."

***********************

          It's funny how life works out sometimes. If you would have told me last winter that Henry, Manny, and I would casually hang out at the damn Home and Patio Show, I'd have called you a fool. Henry has never liked any of my boyfriend's this much and Manny, well, he hated the idea of me being around any adult male that wasn't him because he's a caveman who sometimes feels liked he walked out of the 1950s or something, but the face is pretty, and the ass is firm so—

          —Where was I going with this? ...oh, yeah!

          The three of us had decided to spend a Saturday perusing the wares at the various booths at the Prime Osborne Center. Henry and I were lost in the face of hawkers selling services from floor tiling to landscaping to interior design. Manny, however, was in his element, chatting up a storm about nail plates and load bearing pipes and shit. Almost forgot he worked construction for a bit before joining the police academy.

          I stopped my strolling to inspect a few hot tubs out for display. I let the tip of my fingers grace the top layer of bubbling, hot water. "Now this is the kind of home improvement I could get behind."

          He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Remember the hot tub in St Augustine?" He whispered salaciously in my ear.

          "Oh, yeah. We desecrated that thing."

          "Never should have put it in our room."

          "Imagine this in your house."

          "Where do you propose I put it?"

          "I don't know. Tear down a wall or something."

           He laughed. "What about the plumbing?"

          "We'll bucket the water in and out like medieval times."

          Manny's laugh was interrupted by Henry's annoying voice. "I love hot tubs!" He said coming forward to test the waters himself. "I agree with Evie, you should get one."

          Manny and I pulled apart. Romance is hard when your third wheel is tagging along, but you didn't hear that from me.

          The day after I handed the Dupont sisters the evidence, Alexis stopped by Taste Teas.

         "I came to give you this." She'd said, pulling a slim white envelope from her purse.

          I'd opened it and pulled out a check she'd already signed and dated. My mouth dropped in shock when I read the amount.

          "Five thousand dollars?" I'd looked up at her and furiously shook my head. "This is way more than I asked."

          She'd held one manicured hand up to stop my fussing. "It's for figuring out who killed mom, and the necklace, and the lecture. I needed to hear that." Her braids were down that day. They made her look normal and not at all like the almost millionaire she was. "It's like, the more money there is, the more you lose sight of what really matters."

          "I wish I could say I knew how that felt."

          She'd smiled and for a moment Diana lived again. "You were right. We're selling the necklace and splitting the money. Better than losing my sister."

          "What about the will?"

          "We've got the court dates coming but Gabe's said he won't fight. I doubt Malik will either with the stellar evidence you've handed us."

          "I just did my job."

         "You went above and beyond." She'd taken a hand and swept her braids off her shoulder. "You're a hell of a detective, Ms. Harper."

          "I make a mean cup of coffee too."

          The Dupont sisters had kept their promises in more ways than giving me a stellar review on Yelp. With everything laid out on the table, they decided to squash whatever sibling beef was between them and work together to handle their mother's estate. The lawyer they hired assured them that with Diana's original will, and the evidence of tampering their case would be won quickly and the original will would be the one honored. They'd even called Margie Scott so she was ready for the significant amount of shares she was about to get. I imagine that made her day more than a little.

         Alexis also told me that they went ahead and hired that lawyer for Este, as well as gave her a pay raise for all her years of loyal service.

          The rest of them didn't have so happy an ending...

          "He's getting on my nerves." I said to Manny when Henry was out of earshot.

          "He was bored today. Wanted to do something."

          I frowned. "He should get his own boyfriend, then."

          "He'll get back out there eventually. He's still mourning Stef."

          It was strange to hear him say that name. My two worlds had collided so thoroughly it almost felt like he'd always been here.

          "I know. I just want us to be by ourselves sometimes."

          "We will. Tonight."

          I smirked. "He said so certainly."

          "I meant for dinner. Henry has plans with his brother."

          How does he know that before me? "Oh. Okay. But I demand steak."

          "Alright. Steak house, it is."

          Gabe's role in the whole affair had been minimal. Unfortunately, his prior arrests for drug possession, battery, destruction of property, and theft pushed his conspiracy to commit fraud to another level. He would almost certainly get time for it.

          Corrine didn't fare much better than Gabe. They got her for fraud of course, but there was also the pesky little problem of her practicing nursing without a license, so she was looking at malpractice on top of everything else. She like Gabe had a history of run-ins with the law, which meant a slap on the wrist was unlikely.

          "I've been thinking about closing in the back porch." Manny said as he touched the walls of an enclosed porch display.

          I walked under the spotty shade of the pergola overhead and sat down on the patio furniture. "You can do that?"

          He came to sit beside me. "Yeah. It's not hard. You inspect the foundation, build the frame, put in windows—or maybe screen..."

          Henry stood in the open entryway either an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips. "Will you look at this guy. He's so handy."

          "I know. I guess that year you worked construction paid off."

          "He worked construction?"

          Ha ha! Something henry doesn't know about him...not that it's a contest. "Yeah!"

          Manny chuckled and leaned back to rest his feet. "You two laugh, but do you know how much I've saved on home repairs? It's a practical skill."

          "I can sew." I offered. "I often mend my clothes."

          Henry's face twisted in thought. "I can uh...I can...well shit."

         "He can't do nothing but write books!"

          "Being able to read is practical!"

         "Maybe two hundred years ago."

          When we all laughed a sort of peace washed over me. This wasn't so bad. I hadn't been ready to integrate Manny into the rest of my life but now that it was here it wasn't so scary I guess.

          And Henry wasn't really annoying me anymore either. He wasn't intentionally trying to be a third wheel. Maybe today he just needed his friends.

          Speaking of friends, Malik was out of them by the time the cops came for him. He had no priors and his money was long so I can't say how well his case will go. But for whatever it was worth to him, he'd sold his soul and lost his family in the process. I hope it was worth it to him.

          Robert was looking at more time than all of them combined. There was the murder first of all which could get him twenty if proven and the bribery of several judges which could add up to life. According to all the local news stations, the FBI were handling it, but we'll see what happens.

          So all's well that ends well. Destiny and Alexis were on their way to repairing their bond and getting the true will close to being honored, Margie was going to get the money that she deserved, and Este would get the help she needed.

          Only one nagging thought had kept me up at night the last few weeks:

          I was almost a fucking millionaire back there.

          Robert had showed up to our meeting with his checkbook ready to casually hand over five maybe even ten million dollars. Sometimes I wondered...if circumstances had been different would I have taken that check. What if Taste Teas was struggling or mom was sick? I'd lectured the Dupont's on their greed but was I any better?

          I admit, in my heart of hearts the thought occurred to simply blow the case and let Robert write that check for my silence. But then Malik showed up and Manny was listening...

          Do I really have the moral high ground here? Was Robert right about me? Would I do anything for success...

          "Evie, come on!" I looked up from my thoughts to see the other two standing and waiting on me to join them. "Where to next?"

          I looked at these two men I loved in very different ways. One of them who didn't even know I loved him yet. I felt my heart swell with happiness. "How about the taco truck I saw outside?"

         "You're always eating!"

          "I thought we had plans for the steak house."

          "Ever heard of leftovers? You can feed me today and tomorrow."

          No. I was offered the golden apple and turned it down. That didn't make me a saint, but I had retained my principles. And maybe that counted for something.

          ...But five million dollars, though...

           Goddamn.