Chapter 21

Thanks to Mayor Booth's mention of beer, Jessica had a light bulb moment and announced that she thinks she knows who killed Bert and why. After paying the coffee shop bill, Seth and Jessica had stopped by then library and then went immediately to Mort's office.

They had stopped by the Sheriff's office just in time. He was busy typing a report regarding Finn McMasters, who reported five pounds of bacon had been stolen from his home.

He glad put aside his report as Jessica informed him of her theory.

Mort still looked confused, "So, Mrs. F, what you're saying is that you think the murderer killed just for whiskey?"

"Oh, not for just any whiskey, Sheriff," Jessica told him, "but a very rare bottle of whiskey. Recently Seth and I had visited the ailing Judge Lachlin, Logan's father. He had told us a story about Seth, himself and three other best buddies in the college fraternity. His father had left him an old bottle of whiskey and informed them that they were not to drink from this one bottle of whiskey until the frat boys had all passed away except for the last man, who would take one sip each in honor of his fallen fraternity brothers."

"So you're saying it wasn't any whiskey, but this particular bottle of whiskey that was worth killing for," Mort commented.

"Exactly," Jessica concurred.

"If I recalled correctly," Seth said, "This particular bottle of Judge Lachlin's was a Morganach Reserve, 1942. Of course, boys bein' boys back them, we just thought it was an old bottle of whiskey, not realizin' it's true worth."

"So we did some research in the library before we came here," Jessica explained, "and rare stocks from 1868, 1878, 1926 and 1939 were combined to make this bottle, of which only three exists in the entire world."

"So what would a rare bottle of this particular whiskey costs these days?" Mort asked.

"Accordin' to our researhin'," Seth told him, "roughly one point eight million dollars!"

Mort gave a low whistle, "I could see why that's worth killing for! And if all of the original frat boys were dead-"

"-the son of Lachlin McIntosh would inherit the bottle!" Jessica finished.

"So you're saying Logan is the killer?" Mort didn't look convince, "but we were with him when he was ambushed and shot in front of my office!"

"He had an accomplice," Jessica reasoned.

"Accomplice? Who?" Mort asked.

"Beth Bradley," Jessica said, her voice filled with sadness.

"Beth?" Mort looked unsure, "You think she would be cold-hearted enough to kill her own father?"

Jessica sighed, "Unfortunately, anyone can kill, given the right motive and opportunity."

"You know, I did have Andy check up on Logan and Beth," Mort said, "I never told you the results of the surveillance, because it was nothing. There wasn't anything romantic between them."

"Don't you get it?" Seth asked, "it wasn't a matter of the heart that made them kill; it was a matter of money!"

"And they had been long time friends," Jessica reminded Mort.

Mort shook his head, "I just can't believe they were in cahoots to do old Bert in!"

"It all fits," Jessica explained, "by the time they realized the value of that whiskey bottle, the only frat brothers left were the Judge, Bert and Seth. Remember, the last one left standing would be the one to own the bottle. The Judge was already dying, so they just needed to get rid of Bert and Seth. Then Logan would inherit the bottle and he probably had promised to split the profits with Beth."

Mort looked flabbergasted, "Well, I'll be..."

"And remember, Mort, we both know Beth," Seth reminded him, "she is a paralegal for a criminal law firm. It would be easy enough for her to get in contact with one of their former clients to learn how to make or get a homemade bomb. And it also could explained why Logan stalled so much during the investigation."

"And being a homicide detective, Logan would have knowledge of poisons," Mort added.

Seth shook his head sadly, "Poor Bert. Bein' done in by his own daughter. And Logan. We weren't friends, but...to poison me? Can't believe the two of them would conspire together to do something so vicious and brutal!"

"I've seen people do worse in the name of money," Mort said grimly, then added, "Come on, I think it's time we pay Logan a visit."

#

When they called the office, they were informed that Logan was out in the field and could not be contacted, so they decided to pay Judge McIntosh a visit and ask about the rare bottle of whiskey.

When they got to the McIntosh residence, they rang the doorbell, but no one answered. They tried again with the same results.

"That's strange," Jessica commented, "there should always be someone home in order to care for the Judge."

Mort looked alarmed.

"We're breaking in," Mort announced. He next warned them, "Stand back!"

Then standing sideways with his dominant leg closest to the door, Mort lifted his leg and gave a forceful, good kick with the heel of his foot. The door gave in slightly and he gave another hard kick. Eventually the door's frame splintered.

"Remind me not to get you mad enough to kick me!" Seth commented as they entered the premises.

They looked about and the first person they saw was Logan. He was seated in the living room sofa, his head buried in his hands. He seemed to be sobbing.

"Logan!" Mort shouted, "Your Father! Is he alright?"

Logan slowly lifted his head from his hands, his eyes full of tears.

"It's too late!" he lamented, "You're too late!"

"Down the hall to the right!" Seth told Mort, as Mort, Jessica and also a limping Seth went down the hallway.

Mort burst opened the door to find Beth straddling the Judge. A plastic bag was over the Judge's head, cinched at the throat.

"BETH, GET AWAY FROM HIM!" screamed Mort, as grabbed her off the bed.

Jessica and Seth rushed towards the bed.

The Judge looked ghastly white and wasn't moving. However, Seth noticed a tiny puff of air vibrating between the plastic and his opened mouth.

"He's alive, thank God!" Seth stated as he gently removed the bag while Jessica called 911.

Meanwhile, Mort had handcuffed Beth and read her rights.

#

Logan and Beth's interrogation statements were similar on all the major points.

It was Beth who was flipping through a Sotheby's catalog last month when she saw an identical bottle of whiskey which sold for one point eight million dollars. Both she and Logan had known the story of the Frat brothers who were gifted this rare item from Lachlin senior.

At first, Logan and her had planned to steal it, but the bottle was being held in a safe deposit box at the bank. All Beth could do was hope her father would outlive the the Judge and Seth. When it didn't seem forthcoming, she contacted Logan and they had come up with the idea of poisoning Bert to make it seem like a natural death. They would do the same for Seth and then wait for the Judge's impending death.

Obviously it didn't work out that way.

That's when Beth suggested that they write Seth that note, hoping it would derail the investigation by pointing to other possible suspects, which almost worked. Later, it was Logan who proposed the ambush while Beth was the one who shot Seth and Logan.

And when that didn't work, it was Beth who got a hold of the bomb while Logan planted it in Seth's car, causing the death of another individual.

So Beth and Logan became desperate and came up with this latest plan of where, after removing the plastic bag was removed from the Judge, it would look like he had died in his sleep.

The evil plan almost worked.

#

It took three more weeks before Seth's leg healed. By then, Judge Lachlin McIntosh had died peacefully of natural causes in his sleep. It was a lovely funeral, but unfortunately his son and Beth Bradley were not present, being that they were given life sentences for their crimes.

#

As they sat at the small table in Jessica's warm kitchen, Seth felt a happiness he had never known. Not only would he never take his health for granted again, but he was with the woman he loved.

"At least I'm glad I got that dang leg wrap off!" Seth noted.

Jessica smiled, "Oh I don't know, Seth, I thought your wrapped leg made you look very manly."

"You don't say?" he slightly preened, "I thought it made me look like an injured T-rex draggin' his right leg through peanut butter!"

She laughed, thanking her lucky star for bringing Seth into her life.

"Never a T-rex, Seth! That would mean your arms would be awfully short," she teasingly pointed out, as he smiled.

"...but not too short to touch you," he stated, lovingly touched her cheek, "And you know what? Now that the case is wrapped up, it means we can finally go on that dang first date of ours!"

"Our first dang date," she playfully sighed, "sounds heavenly."

"Great!" his eyes burned with excited anticipation, "Just be ready by six tomorrow!"

She tilted her head, "Oh? And where are you taking me on this momentous first date, Seth?"

"My god, Woman, always with the questions!" Seth stated, "Just be ready at six!"

"But how shall I dress?" she asked.

"Just be ready at six!" he opaquely repeated again.

.

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Last chapter coming up!