Coastal Cottage Calamity (A Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Book 2) (5 page)

BOOK: Coastal Cottage Calamity (A Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Book 2)
5.72Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

 

Chapter Eight

 

 “Well, ain’t he
the be all, end all,” Miss Vivee said. Renmar had taken Brie and disappeared
into the back of the house. Miss Vivee and I sat on her favorite bench in the
foyer. “Coming in here, nobody’s ever heard of him and he thinks he can run
things.” She was definitely in a huff.

I looked at her, a
grin on my face. “Seems like his wife’s the only thing he can run, huh?” I
said. I knew he’d never get the best of Miss Vivee or Bay. I’d seen them both
in action.

Miss Vivee opened
up her purse and pulled out the little memo pad she used to keep notes when she
was “investigating” Gemma’s death. She flipped through the pages until she got
to a clean sheet.

“I need a notebook
from Hadley’s Drugstore, Logan. I need you to get it for me,” she said as she
dug in her purse for a pencil.

“Why?”

“He’s going in my
notebook,” she said and licked the tip of her pencil.

“Who?” I said and
looked around the room.

“Ron Anderson,”
she said and started scribbling across the page.

I spoke slowly, my
voice questioning. “You’re . . . putting him down in your notebook  . . . why?”

“Because he’s a
suspect.” She looked at me and narrowed her eyes. “Are you going to get me another
notebook? This one is almost full and I don’t want to mix up the notes from the
other case.”

Uh-oh.

“I mean . . . If
you want . . .” I said stumbling over my words.

How could I tell
her no? She was sixty (maybe seventy) years older than me and I was taught to
respect my elders. But her needing a notebook could only mean one thing. She
thought there was a murder to be solved.

“And if you won’t
do it,” she said, she scrunched up her face in a frown, and wagged her finger
at me. “I’ll go get it myself.”

“Miss Vivee. I
know you’re upset but . . . I really don’t think . . .” She was making me
nervous. I hadn’t known Oliver long and I was sorry he met such an unfortunate
end, but I was not trying to get tangled up with Miss Vivee and her crime
solving antics again. Especially when Oliver may have brought this all on
himself.

Okay. I’m sure
that’s not a nice thing to say.

But I did remember
thinking once that Oliver, with his cheating ways, was going to get himself shot.
But his death just couldn’t be another murder.

At least I didn’t
want it to be another murder.

I leaned in close to
Miss Vivee and whispered. “I don’t think that he was murdered.” I said it to
try and convince her, and, I had to admit, myself.

 “Yes he was,” she
said, a little louder than I would’ve liked. She looked at me and titled her
head. “You know for you to deal with dead things as a profession, you sure
don’t have a keen eye for one, do you?” She turned, looking back down at the
notebook. “But I do. And that man just might be the one who did it.” She
pointed her finger toward the door.

I could see the
cousin-in-law and Bay still talking on the porch. Charlotte standing with her
back up against the doors to the house.

“Worrying about
his inheritance before Oliver can even be put in the ground,” Miss Vivee’s
words made me look back at her. “How rude,” she spat.

 “He couldn’t be a
suspect, Miss Vivee,” I kept my voice lowered hoping she’d do the same. “Didn’t
you hear him? They just got to town.”

“Don’t care. He’s
suspicious. That makes him a suspect. Plus, I don’t like him and neither does
Cat.” She nodded her head toward the dog. “Writing his wife’s name in the book,
too.” Her voice getting louder.

“Shhh!” I said.
“She might hear you.” I stood up and walked over to the door. With my back to
it, I mirrored Charlie’s stance on the outside. “You just can’t make people
suspects because you don’t like them.” I looked at Miss Vivee and then out the
door at the woman.

“She’s so mild
mannered,” I leaned toward Miss Vivee and lowered my voice. “Probably couldn’t
hurt a fly.” I stood erect and put my ear to the door and tried to listen, just
as I had at Oliver’s door that morning. I could hear Ron and Bay’s muffled
conversation, but Charlotte’s crying was coming through the door clear as day.
I walked over to the archway between the foyer and the dining room and turned
so I could see out the door without it being too suspicious. Charlotte was
visibly upset. She was tugging on the bottom of her blouse, her eyes red from
the crying. I was guessing it was due to her learning about Oliver’s death.
Couldn’t imagine her husband’s bad attitude did it, she had to be used to him.
He seemed like a natural jerk.

“Look at her, Miss
Vivee,” I said. “She’s so upset. No way she could have killed him and cry over
it like she’s doing.”

“Those could be
tears of guilt.” Miss Vivee glanced out of the window. “Some people do the deed
and then are remorseful. Can’t say that about her husband. All he wants is to
get his inheritance.” Miss Vivee glanced out the pane of glass on the door. “And
what’s with all that crying?” She rolled her eyes. “Does she think she’s
auditioning for a part in
Steel Magnolias
?” Miss Vivee shook her head. “She
couldn’t have known Oliver well enough for her to be that upset. He would have
told us. Looks like to me she’d do whatever that husband of hers told her to
do.” Miss Vivee pointed a shaky finger at Ron who was animated. Jabbing his
finger at Bay, his belly wiggling around like a bowl of Jello, Ron’s face got
redder with each word. Then she dragged that finger my way.

“And you, Missy,”
she said wagging that finger. “Better be careful of those two or you might find
yourself face down in the Savannah River, too.

I came back and sat
next to Miss Vivee. Maybe I could reason with her. “You don’t even know that
Oliver was murdered.” I glanced over at her. “There were no clues this time
before he died like with Gemma. You didn’t see him this morning, he might have
been feeling bad.”

I remembered seeing
him this morning, though. And he seemed fine. And in my opinion, even with the
arguing, he didn’t seem upset enough for it to trigger a heart attack or stroke.

And then I thought
about Renmar . . .  She was there. And she did threaten to end his life. I
looked at Miss Vivee flipping through the pages of her worn notebook. I shook
my head. I wasn’t ready to share my snooping discovery with her just yet. Plus,
I didn’t want to accuse my new boyfriend’s mother of something so heinous.

That definitely would
not be good for the relationship.  

I took in a
breath. I had to get Miss Vivee’s mind off of murder.

I nodded my head
toward the long lost cousins, “If they have their way – no autopsy – then we’ll
never know the cause of death anyway. So I wouldn’t go fretting over it.”

“I’m not
fretting.” She snorted. “I don’t fret.”

“I’m just saying
you don’t have much to go on.”

“I didn’t need to
see him alive, if that’s what you’re talking about. Seeing him dead was
enough.”

“What did you see,
Miss Vivee?”

“Oliver was
poisoned. I’d be willing to bet my life on it.”

Oh, here we go
again.

 

Chapter Nine

 

I headed out of my
second floor room going to the kitchen to find something to snack on. With all
that had happened that day, I’d forgotten to eat. I hadn’t wanted to stop to
eat egg salad earlier when we had been on the Island.

Wow. This morning
on the Island seemed so long ago, now.

And my fish.

I’d almost
forgotten all about the fish.

I figured I’d get
a bite and take it to my room while I tried to find out what kind of fish that
was on the Island. The house was quiet. The Anderson’s had been long gone, and there
were still a few stragglers were having desert and coffee in the dining room.
Miss Vivee had gone out to her greenhouse, but not before telling me for the
umpteenth time to get her a memo pad from Hadley’s Drugstore. Renmar was back
in the kitchen and I’d heard Brie stirring around in her room.

My hand sliding
along the handrail, eyes down, I trotted down the steps. Bay, coming through
the front door just as I landed off the last step, grabbed me and pulled me
into the closet under the stairs.

“What is this
fascination everyone has with this closet?” I said and yanked on the chain to
turn on the light.

“I just wanted to
be close to you,” he said.

“In here? I do
have a room . . .” But before I could finish my sentence, he reached up and
turned the light off. Then he wrapped his arms around my body and pressed his
lips to mine. I could feel my muscles turn to jelly, and there was a spark that
sizzled each time it skipped its way down my spine.

“Mmmm . . .” I
moaned when his mouth released mine. I tugged on my bottom lip with my top one,
tasting him again. He smelled so good. I nuzzled my head into his chest and
closed my eyes.

“Hi, Logan,” he
said and stroked my hair. “I missed you.”

“Mmmhmm,” I said
enjoying his smell. His warmth. The beating of his heart.

“Did you miss me?”
he asked.

“Yeah. Of course.”
I said and stepped back, stumbling over something on the floor. Then I said it
again – for confirmation. “I missed you.” But then it sounded more like an
automatic response than an emotional one.

He reached out and
felt for my arms. He grabbed them and let his hands slide down to my wrists. “Are
you sure? You sound like you’re not sure if you did.”

“I definitely
missed you,” I said trying to add more feeling. “I’ve just been so busy.”

Bay was really my
first boyfriend. I had been such a nerd most of my life. Worrying about nothing
but school, getting my doctorates. While my friends were dating and some even
getting married and having kids, I didn’t ever think much of doing anything
like that. If it wasn’t for my father staying on me about not burying my head
in books and finding a man to “make a life with” he’d always say, I probably
wouldn’t have given Bay a second thought.

I pulled on the
chain, flooding the small area with light again. I squinted until my eyes
adjusted, and then focused on his soft, hazel eyes.

I’m so glad I listened
to my daddy.

“I missed you.” I
placed a kiss on each hand. “I missed you.” I pulled his head down and kissed
his lips. “And I am soooo happy you’re here.” I put my head back on his chest
and squeezed him tight.

I am definitely going
to have to learn to do this girlfriend/boyfriend thing right. Especially with
Bay living in Atlanta and me working in Yasamee. The long distance relationship
was going to be hard enough. Being so far apart certainly wasn’t typical for
people just starting out.

“Well don’t get
too happy,” he said and chuckled. I looked up at him. “I’m going to have to
escort the body up to Atlanta.”

“Atlanta?” I
pulled away from him. “Why isn’t it going to Augusta, that’s only twenty-five
miles away? And that’s where you and the Sheriff took Gemma Burke’s body.”

“I know. But the
FBI’s medical examiner has to do the autopsy since we’re taking over the case.
And that’s where he is. You know, the FBI has its own little world.”

“Yeah. I also saw
that Sheriff Haynes wasn’t too happy about the FBI coming in taking over his
investigation.”

Bay laughed.
“Yeah, I know. Tom. He’s the liaison that was there this morning. He’d been
close and got the call, which I guess now was a good thing. He’s a stickler for
rules.”

“Yeah. I noticed
that,” I said. “Brandishing his gun.”

“His gun?” Bay
shook his head. “He wasn’t supposed to have one.”

“Well he had one.”

Bay was quiet for
a moment. “He’d just come from home,” he said. “Maybe it was his personal
property.”

“Whatever it was,
he was definitely going to make sure everything was done right,” I said.

Bay stroked my
hair with his hand. “I spoke to Lloyd before I came over to the house, though.
I told him he knows he can count on me to keep him in the loop. Everyone in
this town knows each other, you know?” He let took in a sharp breath. “Oliver’s
death is a loss to all of us. I’m gonna make sure everything’s done right.”

“Your grandmother
thinks he was murdered.”

“My grandmother
does know everything.”

It didn’t seem he
was being even the least bit sarcastic.

“You are such a
grandmama’s boy,” I said.

Bay smiled. “You
should be glad I am, she’s the one who told me I should make you my woman.” He
pulled me back in and planted another kiss on my lips.

“Oh so if she
hadn’t of told you?” I cocked my head and looked into his eyes.

“You’d be standing
in this closet all by yourself.”

“I really don’t
know why I’m even in this closet.”

“Anyway,” he said
rubbing my cheek with the back of his fingers. “We’ll know soon enough if
Oliver was murdered. The Bureau’s medical examiner works fairly quickly. He’s
thorough, though. Doesn’t miss much.”

“Miss Vivee thinks
she already knows the cause of death.”

“And what is
that,” he asked, his voice was low and he was staring at me. I don’t really
think he was listening to me.

“She says he was
poisoned.”

“Really.” Bay let his
eyes drift off from mine. He looked just like Miss Vivee when he did it. I
could see her in him. That made me smile.

“Bay,” I got his
attention. “She wants me to go and get her a notebook.”

“So go and get her
a notebook.” His attention back on me. “They sell ‘em over at Hadley’s. You
know, in the town square?” He kissed my forehead, then my cheek.

“You don’t
understand,” I said and backed up from him. “It’s for her investigation of the
murder.”

“Oh no.” Bay
chuckled and pulled me back to him. “My two best girls thinking they’re in an
Agatha Christie novel. So what? You two outsmarted the Sheriff in Gemma Burke’s
case, now you think you can get in front of my investigation.”

“Not me!” I said.
“That’s your grandmother.”

“Yeah, right,” he
said pulling me back to him, he reached up and gave a tug on the light chain,
enveloping us again into total darkness. Giving me kisses on my neck he said,
“A little old lady making you do things,” he kissed the other side of my neck.
“Probably threatening you . . .” He nibbled my ear. “And you just have to
obey.”

He pressed his
lips again mine and I parted mine ever so slightly to meet his . . .

“That Ron Anderson
is here to see you,” Miss Vivee said. She had swung the door open, letting in
all the light from the foyer, and all the eyes from the dining room. She stood
staring at us, with Cat wagging her tail at her feet. “He said he wants to talk
to you.”

Oh my gosh. How
embarrassing.

I licked my lips
and smoothed down my hair.

“You better come
out here and talk to him,” she said. “Because if you don’t, I’ma get my snake
gun and shoot him.”

Snake gun?

“Where is he,
Grandmother?” Bay said. He gave me a peck on the lips and stepped out of the
closet.

“I didn’t let him
in. He’s waiting on the porch.”

“Grandmother,” Bay
said and shook his head. “Where’s your Southern hospitality?”

I’ll show that man
a
hospital
room. That’s all I know about being hospitable to that goat,”
she said. “C’mon, Cat.”

Miss Vivee sat and
Cat jumped on her lap. I sat down next to her as Bay opened the door.

Time for round
two, I guess.

“C’mon in, Mr.
Anderson,” Bay said, apparently trying to make up the for Miss Vivee’s lack of
manners.

“I’m just letting
you know, out of courtesy,” Ron Anderson said unceremoniously to Bay as he
walked through the door. “We’ll be staying at the beach house. It’s our house
anyway since Oliver’s dead.”

“You can’t stay at
the house, Mr. Anderson.” Bay seemed to try to be patient with the man. “It’s a
crime scene.”

“I drove by there.
Doesn’t look like a crime scene to me. And from what I’ve heard from this
pitiful place you call a town, he died out on the beach. Not at the house.”

Bay looked over at
the two of us, letting his eyes rest on his grandmother. Then his eyes darted
between Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. He took in a deep breath and blew it out.

“I’m putting up
the tape tonight, Mr. Anderson,” he said. “As soon as I finish speaking with
you.”

Mr. Anderson,
pulling his belted pants up over his belly, spread his legs shoulder width
apart, and let out a loud cackling laugh. “You don’t want to try my patience,”
he said, his voice booming. “I’ve contacted a lawyer up in Augusta and he told
me that I’ve got rights when it comes to what happens to Oliver. I’m getting an
injunction. First thing tomorrow morning. There will be no autopsy.” He nodded
his head as in confirmation. “I’ll – we’ll make sure of that,” he said jerking
a finger toward his wife.

Charlie stood at
the door. She hadn’t come all the way in. She held a small stack of papers in
her hand, her head hung down the entire time her husband accosted Bay, she
didn’t say a word.

“I think it’s best
if you leave now, Mr. Anderson,” Bay said and walked over to the door.

“We’ll see who’ll
be giving orders come tomorrow morning,” Mr. Anderson said in a huff and
stepped out the door.

Charlie lifted up
her eyes for the first time. She looked at us, a weak smile on her face. “So
sorry,” she said. And handed Bay the papers she’d been holding.

“Hope to see you
there,” she said, turning she took long strides to catch up with her husband. She
got to the steps, turned around, came back and grabbed the knob on the open
door. “Sorry,” she said again pulling it shut.

“What is that,
Bay?” Miss Vivee said and pointed to the stack of papers in his hand.

I stood up and walked
over to him. I read the title. It appeared to be an announcement – flyer style.
I read it and shook my head.

Bay chuckled when
he finished looking it over.  He leaned over and gave the flyers to his
grandmother.

“They’ve planned a
memorial service for Oliver, it seems. Day after tomorrow at the Baptist
church. And they are inviting us to come.”

“Oh
he’s
planned a memorial service?” Miss Vivee was visibly upset. “Well, I will
certainly be there,” Miss Vivee said. She gave a nod of her head and bawled up
the papers. “I’ve got something for that man.”

“No investigating,
Grandmother,” Bay said and eyed Miss Vivee. “I heard about you wanting a
notebook.” He rubbed his hand over his head. “Although, it’s because of you
thinking there was foul play that I am going to put up that crime scene tape.
But that’s no go ahead for you thinking you’re auxiliary FBI.”

Miss Vivee cut her
eyes at me and then said to Bay. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,
Grandson.” Her words accompanied by a fake sweetness. “I just wanted the
notebook to keep up with things. Keep my mind occupied and sharp. You know,
like with my crossword puzzles.”

“This is FBI
business, Grandmother,” Bay wasn’t buying what Miss Vivee was dishing out. “Don’t
make me have to arrest you.” He looked at me. “The both of you,” he said and
wiggled his pointer finger between the two of us. I wasn’t sure if his stern
demeanor was real or not.

“I’m not
investigating.” She spoke like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
“When I said I had something for him when I see him at the memorial service,”
Miss Vivee said her tone changing, “I didn’t mean questions.” She tilted her
head to the side. “Or kind words.”

“No shooting
either,” Bay said. “I’m sure it says somewhere on there,” Bay pointed to the wad
of paper in her hand. “No snake-gun-toting old ladies allowed.”

BOOK: Coastal Cottage Calamity (A Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Book 2)
5.72Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Tempting the Highlander by Michele Sinclair
Demon Bound by Demon Bound
Captain of My Heart by Harmon, Danelle
Lip Lock by Susanna Carr
DeadBorn by C.M. Stunich
Fire Kin by M.J. Scott