Chapter 54
CJ
Listening to the other tenants brainstorm on her behalf felt to CJ like cuddling under a quilt in front of a fire. All warm and soul-happy, even when they’d pushed her to admit to those terrible online searches. When Ocean had put her arm around her, she couldn’t help but cry.
Then they’d started wondering if Karina arranged for Frank to have a dizzy spell that killed him.
Mrs. B suggested that Karina had drugged Frank, and Ocean thought maybe she’d doped the liquor bottle.
CJ hadn’t argued at the time because—well, because she’d felt completely out of it, after days in jail.
And the entire pack of Marigolders could be a bit intimidating.
So after the meeting ended, she waited outside for Ocean to clear things up. However, Sophie emerged first. She stepped into the evening, a few stray strands of her hair wafting across her face, then gave CJ a quizzical smile.
“Hey, Sophie,” she said. “Do you have a second?”
“Of course.”
“I just wanted to thank you.” CJ cleared her throat, an embarrassing nervous tic. “I, uh, I know I slammed into Mrs. B’s life like a car crash, but you’ve been so kind.”
“No, no. You were kind first! And, uh, don’t judge everyone for being blunt in there. We’re so close we don’t always bother with politeness.”
“It reminds me of Frank. He was, uh, he was well-named. Sometimes a little too frank.”
Sophie smiled. “It’s like once you hit seventy, you can say anything.”
“Okay, right, so I have a favor to ask. I was going to ask Ocean, but I don’t want to add to her burden.”
“Oh. Sure.”
“Do you think it’s possible to prove that I didn’t kill Frank without suggesting that Karina did?”
Sophie tilted her head. “You don’t want to get her in trouble?”
“Yeah.”
“Not even if she’s setting you up?”
CJ cleared her throat again. “Here’s the thing. The way Frank showed his love for Karina was by trying to protect her. He would’ve done anything to keep from hurting her. That was the most important thing to him.”
“Did Karina need a lot of protection?”
“Emotionally? Yes.”
“Then why didn’t he let her remodel the house?”
“What?”
“If he was so concerned with pleasing her, why did he stop her from remodeling?”
CJ forced herself to take a breath. “It—it was mostly me who stopped that. Frank was going to sign off but it would’ve been so disruptive for him. He’d been feeling poorly, so I kind of … sabotaged her plans?”
To her surprise, Sophie said, “That’s sweet. How?”
“I slow-walked everything. The contractors, the city. Plus, I confronted Karina about how a massive disruption would affect Frank when he was already so fragile. She hated me for that. She thought I was showing off how much more I cared.”
“She sounds selfish.”
“She is. And Frank knew that, though he never said it aloud.”
“Not even to you?”
“Especially not to me. He would never bad-mouth her to me. And, I mean, that’s why he refused to write his charities into his will. He didn’t want to hurt Karina’s feelings, even though I told him he needed to lock in his support.”
Sophie’s pretty eyes clouded with confusion. “I don’t understand how that’d hurt her feelings.”
“If he’d made the bequests mandatory, Karina would’ve felt that he didn’t trust her to follow his wishes. Which he shouldn’t have. The bequests are listed in his will, but only as requests … and she’s refusing them.”
“Why? Why refuse them?”
“Karina’s not a bad person,” CJ admitted, a little begrudgingly. “She’s just so insecure. Frank lavished too much money and attention on World of Goods instead of her. She’s not going to reward that.”
“That’s a little crazy.”
“Yeah, but Frank loved her. And whatever happened to him, he wouldn’t want her to suffer.”
“So you’re asking us what, exactly? Not to tell the cops even if we think she’s framing you?” Sophie clicked her tongue. “What if that’s the only way to prove your innocence?”
CJ almost started crying again when she remembered her days behind bars. “I won’t go to jail for her! But she didn’t hurt him. I know she didn’t.”
“It’s lovely that you care so much about what he would’ve wanted,” Sophie said, as a door opened in the darkness behind her. “Even now, you’re still looking after him.”
“Say what you want about me.” CJ sniffled, smiling and tearful at the same time. “I always put Frank first.”