Then I yanked up the other pants leg, and there it was. The twin to the copper manacle that had broken when he’d finished unloading the bespelled items into Susan’s house.
“Salt!” I shouted.
Lizzie rushed forward and put the salt canister in my hand. I didn’t bother sprinkling. I just dumped all the remaining salt on his ankle right on top of the manacle.
Mr. Butler screamed, throwing back his head, and every muscle in his body strained.
And then the manacle shattered, and he passed out.
38
Tess
We put Mr. Butler on the couch in the front parlor. Lizzie checked his vitals and pronounced him fine. We left her to watch over him, and the rest of us gathered in the library, except for Ish, who grabbed a bottle of Scotch and headed for the guest room.
“He might climb out the window and escape again,” Jack said.
“I don’t even care,” Susan said. “Good riddance. If Tess isn’t going to press charges—”
“I’m not,” I said.
“Then I’m just going to send him home with Cordelia’s ashes. I think he’s suffered enough. He never really had anybody else in his life but her after his dad abandoned them. My grandfather treated Cordelia as badly as he treated my mom.”
“What about Henrietta?”
“Again, if you’re not going to press charges, I’ll just let her go. She didn’t really do anything here in Dead End. Nothing criminal except when she threatened you.”
“I’m not pressing charges.”
“Shedidviolate her parole,” Jack pointed out.
Susan threw her hands in the air. “I know, but if I’m going to let my cousin go free, and let my godfather, themurderer,go free—”
“What?” Jack said.
“Of course, you can’t put him in jail,” I said. “He wasn’t the murderer. Not really. He was just the weapon your awful grandfather aimed at Cordelia.”
Jack sighed. “Okay. I can go along with that. I’ve seen worse and more twisted, but not by much.”
Susan nodded. “Right. If I’m going to let my family go free, I’d feel like a giant hypocrite for going after Henrietta for a little parole violation.”
I started laughing. “So, she gets to go free with her new true love, Duck Grimes, and visit roller coasters all over the country.”
Jack held up a hand. “I have a question. Why is he called Duck?”
Susan and I both looked at him.
“Because his name is Donald. Duh,” she said.
Jack muttered something like “only in Dead End,” but we both ignored him.
Susan started to say something else, but my phone buzzed.
“Hang on? This might be Ollie, and he owes me a big favor.Huge.”
39
Tess
