In a Town Called Blooming Orchid

Chapter Twelve: Maybell Merryweather

      "What?" Tiffany asked.

     "We need to find Maybell Merryweather, I'll explain in the car," Sophya said. They got into Tiffany's car and Tiffany drove them off to the Mayor's house.

     The two of them got out and Sophya knocked on the door of the Merryweather's house. Little old Maybell opened the door.

     "My husband's mistresses, no doubt," She scoffed under her breath. "You are NOT welcome here!"

     "We're here to see you, Maybell," Sophya explained, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I believe you,".

     "You do?" Maybell asked, shocked.

     "Yes, do you know Sherry Yablonsky?" Sophya asked.

     "The little one? Dark haired, big glasses?" Tiffany added in.

     "Yes, I do, I think I know her," Maybell said. "What about her? Is she my husband's mistress?"

     "I actually think she might be," Sophya said.

     "Come in, come in," Maybell said, the two women walked into the Merryweather's house. They sat down in their family room by the fireplace.

     "Is Tom home?" Tiffany asked, worriedly.

     "No no, he's not home, now tell me more!" Maybell demanded.

     "I think that Sherry slept with Tom, and Jewel walked in on them," Sophya explained. "Everyone knows how worried about his career and getting re-elected Tom is, so what if, because Jewel saw him, he decided to kill her to protect his job,".

     "I could see that," Maybell muttered.

     "Ok but, what about the texts from someone listed as Pilar? Or what about the anonymous tip blaming Sherry? And why would the mayor want to kill Anthony?" Tiffany butted in.

     "I think he might have sent those texts, and maybe got into Jewel's phone and saved his name as Pilar's because she would have been very easy to frame," Sophya theorized.

     "We need to go to Sheriff N!" Tiffany exclaimed.

     "Yeah," Sophya said. The three women stood up and left the house quickly, but when they left the building, Mayor Tom was just about to walk in.

     Sophya and Tiffany walked past him without saying anything, but Maybell stopped.

     "I knew I was right," she demanded. The mayor's eyes grew very large and Maybell hobbled off and jumped into Tiffany's car. They drove away before Tom could even comprehend what had happened.

     "Go go go!" Sophya exclaimes, Tiffany went a bit above the speed limit, but they had a place to be, and they didn't know if Tom was going to come after them. Eventually they made it into the sheriff's office.

     They ran in, catching David off guard. His mouth was wide open as they finally put the puzzle pieces together for him.

     "Let's go." Sheriff waved the women and a deputy to come with him. The reporter Harriet Fields also happened to be there and she came along with them. The group drove in two different cars as fast as they could to the house of Tom Merryweather. Tom's car was still in the driveway. The sheriff ran up and bursted the door open. The group poured into the house.

     Mayor Merryweather was nowhere to be found, the group searched as much of the house as possible, until they heard Tiffany scream and point out the window.

     He was in the backyard, a gun held to his head. Sheriff Nguyen ran outside.

     "Tom, drop the weapon!" the sheriff screamed. Tom just stared at him. He pulled out a gun and started to walk towards the Mayor.

     "I did it," Tom Merryweather said. "You found me! I did it!" The old fat man smiled wickedly at his wife. "You are the only one I love, my dear," He said, then he pulled the trigger and shot himself in the brain. Maybell just looked at his body with a cold face.

      "And I only married you for your money," She stated. Then she walked off. The group was silent for a moment. David stared at the body of the Mayor as snow lightly fell around it. His blood stained the pure white surrounding him, like the stain he left on the town.

     "I can't believe that just happened," David said.

     "We need to find Sherry now," the deputy said to him. David nodded and the two of them and Harriet ran around to their car and drove off. Tiffany and Sophya grabbed Maybell and left the scene as quick as they could too.

     "Well," Tiffany said after a long, quiet car ride. "Do you want to get lunch?" The other women nodded.

     "Sharon Yablonsky," David interrogated the woman later at his office. "You have a lot of explaining to do,".

      "I slept with him, ok?" Sherry admitted. "I did, and Jewel caught us, we were in the bathroom of the concert hall lobby,".

      "Ok, so why did you send those texts to Jewel, and who turned those in?" The deputy asked.

     "I did," Sherry answered. "Tom told me he killed her, and he said he'd do something to me if I didn't go along with it, He even showed me the gun he'd kill me with and everything," Sherry began to cry.

      "Did he try to frame Pilar?" David asked.

     "Yes, well, I did," Sherry answered. "I had to buy a

     phone and text those things to Jewel, I threw it into the river by the park afterwards," Sherry rubbed her arm uncomfortably. "He and I planted her body there, but not before making those scary messages for Anthony, not because he particularly hated Anthony, but on the contrary, he thought it would make him seem less suspicious,".

     "Thank you Sherry," David said. "That's all we needed,". He waved his hand and Sherry was escorted out by the Deputy.