She clamped a hand over her mouth when she saw the look on Cameron’s face. She instantly regretted her words. “Oh, Cameron, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. It’s just that-”

“I know what you meant, and you’re right.” He wavered a moment, as if he were about to tip over, then lowered the gun and let out a long breath. “I know what you’re thinking. I understand how you feel. I was shocked myself when I found out. But it’s the truth. I’ve seen the proof.”

“But… how long have you known?”

He shrugged, as Maggie had seen him do so many times before, and for a moment he was the old Cameron she had known since he was a child.

“A few months now. She told me right after my eighteenth birthday.”

As Maggie questioned Cameron, Candy was barely listening, for her mind was racing back through all that had happened over the past few days. She finally spoke up. “It all makes sense, in some strange way,” she said thoughtfully. “That’s why you were so upset at Gumm’s that day, isn’t it? That was the first time you heard of Sapphire’s death. Of course you were shocked.” She paused, still thinking. “And that’s why you were staying up in Sapphire’s attic.”

Cameron cleared his throat, still shifting uneasily. “Yeah, I, um, stayed up there a few times. She liked to have me around. She said it made her happy, after being separated from me for so long. But I wasn’t crazy about it. I did it mostly for her.”

“And that young man we saw in the photo on Sapphire’s piano, and in her photo album-that was your father, right?”

“His name was David-David Squires,” Amanda explained. “He and Cameron’s mother were students together at USM.”

“USM!” Candy slapped her forehead with the flat of her hand. “I should have seen the connection!”

“What connection?” Maggie asked.

“Don’t you remember?”

“Remember what?” Maggie looked more confused than ever.

“The night of the pageant. When Bertha Grayfire introduced the judges, she said that one of them had taught at USM-the University of Southern Maine.”

“But that was…” Maggie’s voice trailed off as she thought it through. After a moment her gaze was drawn to the figure tied to a chair at the center of the room. “You don’t mean…?”

Cameron nodded, his face pale. “That’s why I’m here… with this.” He nodded down toward the rifle. “And that’s why he’s tied up there. He killed her.”

Candy shook her head. Much of what was going on was still so unclear. “But why? Why would he have killed her?”

Cameron stared hard at Sebastian J. Quinn, who was slowly shaking his head, his eyes hard again, unemotional. “They were all there together, on the campus nineteen years ago,” Cameron said, the tension deep in his voice. “My father was getting his master’s degree in English lit with a specialty in poetry. Apparently he was a pretty good poet. And that man”-he nodded with his chin toward Sebastian J. Quinn-“was his faculty advisor.”

Candy let out a breath of frustration. “And to think I never even opened his file! I was so distracted by what I had found out about Herr Georg that I barely checked up on anyone else.”

“It’s all there.” Cameron indicated the file that lay open on the table. “I went through it over and over again this afternoon. I didn’t even know it existed until you found it in that filing cabinet last night. I stayed up in that attic a few times, but I never snooped around. I never knew what she had up there. But when you started digging around and found all those files I had to know what was in them.” Cameron’s gaze shifted back to Sebastian. “When I reached his file, I finally knew what had happened. My mom collected all sorts of information about him.”

“What kind of information?” Maggie asked quietly. “What did he do?”

Cameron’s face was a mask of uncertainty, as if he didn’t know where to begin-or didn’t know how to explain all that he knew. After a moment he nodded toward Sebastian. “Why don’t you ask him?”

Candy’s eyes widened just a bit. On an impulse she crossed the room and removed Sebastian’s gag. “What did she have on you?” she asked him point blank.

Sebastian let out a sputter of air as he strained at his bonds, attempting to rise to his feet. But Candy pushed him back down as everyone erupted at once, Cameron, Amanda, and Maggie all shouting warnings. “Just stay right where you are ’til we sort this out,” Candy told him forcefully, crossing her arms and staring down at Sebastian. “I want the truth. Was she blackmailing you?”

The words came out of Sebastian in a growl. “Of course she was blackmailing me-she has been for years. She was a witch-a cruel, totally heartless witch who stalked me for years and tried to squeeze every last dime out of me. I gave her everything I had, but that still wasn’t enough-she wanted more. She could never get enough. No matter what I did, she wouldn’t stop. She was crazy. And I’m glad-” He caught himself then, clamping his mouth shut as he cast a wary glance at Cameron, who stood motionless in the corner. “I… I’m sorry you had to hear that, kid, but it’s true,” Sebastian told him. “You can’t believe anything you saw in that file. Yes, I knew your father-and obviously your mother too. But no matter what you might think, I didn’t kill her. That’s the truth.”

“Yes you did, you murderer!” Cameron shouted as his face contorted in sudden rage. Trembling, he raised the rifle as he came forward toward Sebastian, who stiffened in fear and shrieked, “No, don’t shoot, don’t shoot! I didn’t kill her! I swear!”

Cameron brandished the weapon, but before he could do anything foolish, Candy and Maggie both intervened, hands out. “Cameron, calm down!” Candy shouted, positioning herself between Sebastian and the teen.

“Put that rifle down!” Maggie insisted, her fury sharpening as she marched straight toward Cameron and jerked the weapon from his hands. “We’ll have no more of this, mister!” She turned abruptly and walked to Amanda, handing the rifle over to her. “Take this out to Candy’s car and lock it inside,” she instructed, and when Amanda started to protest, she added sharply, “Now!”

Amanda complied. With the weapon gone and the situation neutralized, Maggie turned to Sebastian. “Now we’re going to call the police, and then we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

She turned and walked to the phone, but before she could pick up the receiver, Sebastian called out. “Wait! Wait!” He struggled against his bonds again, his frustration evident. “I can explain everything… just… no police.”

Candy wheeled on him. “Why not? Talk fast, Sebastian, or I swear, I’ll get that rifle again and shoot you myself.”

“Okay, okay, okay.” Properly chastised, Sebastian settled back in the chair, his fear gone and a strange grin coming to his face. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“You’d better. This is your last chance. Now, why was Sapphire blackmailing you? What did she have on you?”

“I’ll tell you,” Sebastian said, “but you have to understand… Susan, um, Sapphire, and I had a long history together… we go way back… and yes, I hated her… and I suppose she hated me too… but despite all that, I didn’t kill her. You must believe that.”

“We don’t know what to believe until you tell us what happened,” Maggie said testily, still standing near the phone, “and our patience has run out. Talk.”

Sebastian settled back into his chair, apparently resigned to his fate. He sighed, turned his head first one direction, then the other, as if considering how to proceed. Finally he closed his eyes and leaned back his head, and then, almost imperceptively, he nodded. “All right. I’ll talk.”