The rest of this work is dedicated to the wonderful Dame Angela Lansbury (1925 – 2022)
Jessica was tossing and turning – dreaming about losing Leanne.
"No…"
She whimpered sitting up, covered in a cold sweat.
3:30 am.
Jessica sighed getting up and taking a quiet shower, deciding to sit at the kitchen table with a cold glass of water.
To her surprise when Jessica walked down to the kitchen, she saw that Della was up doing the same thing.
"Della…"
"Jess…"
Both women said startled before Jessica sat down to which Della nodded,
"I know, me too."
Jessica sighed,
"I want to get to the bottom of this."
Della nodded,
"We'll be here to help you."
Jessica smiled,
"Thank you for coming out… even though your vacation is ruined."
"It wasn't ruined, Jess… What's life without adventure?"
Della said soothingly as Jessica laughed a little.
"That's very true, Della."
But their smiles turned sad yet again…
Perry walked down a few hours later for breakfast with a sad smile,
"Morning, ladies."
He said to silence while Della and Jessica stared at their waters.
"Hi, Perry."
Jessica commented tiredly before Perry began to cook breakfast.
"Where are you going to start?"
Della asked Jessica who looked at her with surprise as Della chuckled softly,
"We know you want to help with the investigation, and you can. Just let us help you."
Jessica smiled while Perry placed two hot plates of breakfast on the table, one for Della and one for Jessica.
"Thank you, Perry."
Jessica said as the simple act of Perry cooking her breakfast made her smile.
Once the rest of the house was awake and breakfast consumed,
"I think we should start where Leanne's body was found… that's the most obvious place."
Jessica nodded looking at her new friends,
"Should we wake the boys?"
Everyone chuckled before hearing footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Morning."
Paul and Grady greeted with kisses to both Della and Jessica's cheeks which garnered giggles from both women.
Breakfast was consumed and the boys were getting ready to leave when they decided to make their move and kiss Della and Jessica's cheeks again which garnered laughter from both women,
"We love you, go away!"
They laughed as a way to say "Get out, go have fun!"
"Bye."
Paul shouted on their way out,
"Be back for dinner!"
Jessica called which got a laugh from Della,
"Were you a Mother? Because you sounded like one."
Jessica laughed,
"No, but in being a teacher, I was a second Mom to a lot of kids here in Cabot Cove."
"That's super sweet."
Everyone smiled while walking outside to begin their daily walk,
"Aunt Jess!"
They heard from Grady – turning around, both boys looking flushed from the running they just did,
"We just talked with Uncle Seth, he said that he had noticed some drugs missing a few days before the party. Like someone had broken into where he had them… and it must've been someone who knows how to break into where they are. 'Cause only a handful of people have keys."
Grady said while the three adults nodded,
"Did he tell you who has access to that area of the clinic – outside of himself?"
Paul nodded,
"All the nursing staff that handles medicine."
Perry nodded,
"We'll start there and see where that takes us. Thanks, boys."
Paul and Grady beamed before they walked along the beach as the group of five felt a sense of calm not knowing that someone was watching… with high hopes of de – railing the investigation.