The latest Justinia Wright mystery, To Right A Wrong, is live!
And here’s a snippet to whet your appetite.
Gavin, maintaining his innocence, said the only conclusion was that someone had shot his uncle.
The jury agreed. They also agreed with the prosecutor that the someone was Gavin Gamble.
I set the papers on my desk. It all seemed to be there: motive, means, and opportunity. I picked up the copy of the anonymous letter Molly Gamble received. The penmanship was elegant, but the hand that had written the note was not a steady one. The message was simple:
Your husband is innocent. One of the witnesses is lying.
The message was signed, A Friend.
A friend. Ha! If the person was truly a friend, why didn’t he or she say something at the trial? Why wait until now? Indeed, why now? Why send Molly Gamble this note at this particular point in time?
It seemed to me we had more people, a lot more people we needed to talk to before Tina could decide if the note sender was a liar or not.
And how did the note sender know Gavin Gamble was innocent in the first place? Now that was a question I’d like an answer to.
Tina walked into the office and sat at her desk.
“So did Chopin confess? He did it, with the revolver, in the study.”
My sister poured herself a glass of Sercial madeira, the cheap fifty dollar a bottle stuff. “What are you talking about?”
“Apparently he didn’t confess, because you’re still a crabby puss.”
“I am not.” She took a sip of wine. “Did you read the transcripts?”
“I did.”
“Thoughts?”
“In spite of his claim to innocence, the evidence is pretty damning.”
“As I recall from the news coverage, the case was more or less open and shut.”
“So how are you going to spring our jail bird out of the slammer?”
“I don’t know. Who else had a motive for killing James Bowen?”
“Beats me. Gavin Gamble admitted he felt hurt and betrayed because his uncle decided to give him the boot. It could be he also felt angry and decided to get even. That was the prosecution’s line of reasoning, and the jury bought it.”
“Yes, they did. The question is whether or not they bought a snow job. The question we must answer is simple: who else had motive to kill James Bowen, because if Mr Gamble is innocent then someone else not only had motive but acted on it — and then framed Mr Gamble.”
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