Coastal Cottage Calamity (A Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Book 2) (8 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Although I told
her that I wouldn’t go with her to “search” Oliver’s house, I did take Miss
Vivee to the Jellybean Café to meet up with Mac the next day. She said they
needed to discuss “strategy.” I, of course, was very interested in hearing how
two ninety year-old people, one with a limp and a cane, were going to covertly
break into an FBI protected property, gather evidence, and get back out without
getting caught.

At the prospect of
seeing Mac, Miss Vivee had gotten all dolled up. She put on her “come hither”
red lipstick and swiped her cosmetic sponge with her pressed powder across her
wrinkles. And she left Cat at home. After she got ready to go, I couldn’t get
out the house or drive the 1.7 miles to the diner fast enough for her.

When we got to the
diner Viola Rose met us at the door. That little bell attached to the handle
must have a special ring when Miss Vivee entered because Viola Rose never
failed to be there to greet her.

Everything on Viola
Rose was shiny – the rings on her fingers, buttons on her blouse, the arm full
of bangles, even the buckles on her shoes. Pink and bedazzled – her lips were
glossy, her eyeshadow shimmery and her eyes sparkled when she smiled. She wore
her strawberry blond hair teased high. The bouffant nest to a gaggle of pens.

“Good lawd! Did ya
hear about all the commotion?” Viola Rose said as we walked in the door.

“What commotion?”
Miss Vivee said, she stretched her neck trying to look past Viola Rose to find
Mac. When she saw him I saw her eyes light up as she smiled at him.

“That Ron Anderson
and his wife, Chuckie,” Viola Rose said. “For God’s sake, what kind of name is
that for a woman?”

“Charlie,” I
corrected.

“Is that supposed
to be better,” she said, eyes big. “They come in here this morning and that man
was having a duck fit. Passing out flyers and talking about your grandson.”

“Do tell,” Miss
Vivee said, eyes back on Viola Rose.

“Said black people
oughta know their place.” Viola Rose glanced over at me before she continued. “That
he wasn’t a real FBI nothing and that Bay couldn’t tell him what to do.” Viola
Rose was getting worked up at the memory. “Thought he was talking to a
restaurant full of plain ole white folk, when all along he was talking to the
folks that love Bay like he was they own. Hell, we all helped raise that boy.”

“Ron Anderson
better be glad I didn’t hear him say anything about my grandson.”

“Oh, don’t think I
didn’t let him know. I was ‘bout two shakes offa’ jerking a knot in his tail.
Acting like the sun comes up just to hear him crow. We all knew that he was lyin’
lower than a no-legged dog. Talkin’ ‘bout he was going to own the whole town
after the reading of the will.”

“What will?” Miss
Vivee asked.

“Dang if I know,”
her voice went up two octaves. “I’m guessing he meant Oliver’s, but I never
heard tell of him having one. That Ron Anderson ain’t nothing but a snake in
the grass.”

“I got my snake
gun loaded, Viola Rose,” Miss Vivee said with a wink. “And you know I don’t
miss.”

“Ha! Miss Vivee
they gonna have to tie you down once you die, just to keep you from getting’
back up.”

“Don’t plan on
dying, Viola Rose. At least no time soon.”

“I hear ya.”

“But, I will get
white-eyed and faint right in the middle of your diner if you don’t get me
seated and give me something to eat.”

“I say. Sorry
‘bout that Miss Vivee.” Viola Rose grabbed a couple of menus and leaned in
close. “Gus said I gotta give everybody a menu now.” She glanced over at Gus
cooking on the grill and then back at Miss Vivee. She lowered her voice. “Mac’s
here. And so is Koryn. It’s Saturday, you know she came for my Shepard’s Pie.
Want to sit with either of them? Or just you and Logan?”

“I’m here to meet
with Mac,” Miss Vivee said, raising her chin up an inch.

“Do tell,” Miss
Vivee said, a smile appearing on her face as wide as the Mississippi.

“Viola Rose, I’ve
told you about your insinuations. Don’t let them spill over on to me and mine.”

Viola Rose
chuckled as she walked over to Mac’s table, which was just one over from where Koryn
was seated. Miss Vivee and I paused long enough to say “Hi,” to her then
scooted into our seats opposite Mac. Viola Rose placed the menus on the table
and left to go get coffee for a customer who’d requested it as we passed his
table.

I put my arm over
the back of the purple, red and yellow striped booth and pushed up. “Hey,
Koryn,” I said and she twisted around so she could see me. “You want to join
us?”

“No. I’ve got my
book.” She held up a hard cover.

“Oh. Okay,” I
said. “No more Saturday dinners at Jellybean’s, huh?”

“No,” she said.
“After the people, Gus’ Shepard Pie is what I’ll miss the most.”

I laughed and
turned back in my seat.

“Why is she going
to miss people and pie?” Miss Vivee asked.

I turned my neck
and glanced back at Koryn. Wasn’t sure if I should share her news, but it was
Miss Vivee. I leaned over and said, “She’s moving to Nevada.”

Miss Vivee glanced
over her shoulder at Koryn.

“When?”

I hunched my
shoulders and picked up the menu. “Not sure,” I said. “But soon.”

“That’s why you
hadn’t ordered nothing, Mac?” Viola Rose asked coming back, order pad and pen
in hand. “You were waiting on Miss Vivee?”

“A gentleman
always lets his lady order first,” Mac was staring at Miss Vivee as he talked.

“I’m not your
lady, Mac,” Miss Vivee said.

“You were once,
and you shall be again.”

“I do hope that
line was from a Shakespearean play, Mac,” Miss Vivee said her eyes perusing the
menu. “And in the play the person that says it gets stabbed in the heart by the
person he said it to.” She looked up at Viola Rose. “Bring us three iced teas.”

“Make my iced tea
a coke,” I said.

“I’m already one
step ahead of you, Logan.”

“You’ve stabbed me
in my heart more times than I can count, Vivee.” Mac placed his hand over his
heart and dropped his head.

“Pshaw.” Miss
Vivee said to Mac. She flipped the menu front to back and front again. “Why in
the world would they waste money to have these things printed,” She tossed the
plastic covered menu on the table. “It’s the same thing they’ve been cooking
for thirty years.”

“Egg salad for you
then, I’m guessing,” I said.

“If I didn’t eat
the horrid stuff when I come, it would all go to waste,” Miss Vivee said.

Just then a
light-skinned, black woman walked by our table. Her skin was so fair she
could’ve almost passed for white. She was tall, shapely and had long red hair
and green eyes.

“Who is that?” I
whispered. The town was small and I’d pretty much seen everyone because they’d
all come to the Maypop for some of Renmar’s cooking, but I hadn’t seen her
before. And far as I knew, Hazel and I were the only blacks in town until Bay
came home and then the total population of blacks spiked at three.

“I don’t know,”
Miss Vivee said. Then she waved Viola Rose over. Grabbing Viola Rose’s arm, she
pulled her down close to her. “Who was that woman?” Miss Vivee said in a low
voice, forgetting her manners she pointed at her as she made her way down the
aisle to the door.

“I don’t know,”
Viola Rose said. “She walked in here, ordered a tuna plate and didn’t say
another word. Was pretty interested in the flyer.” Viola Rose pointed to the
paper on the table. “But she’s mysterious, don’t you think?”

“The Mystery
Woman,” Miss Vivee repeated and turned to look just as I heard the bell on the
door jangle, signaling she’d gone out of it. “I sure do hope that she’s not
another long lost cousin.”

Chapter Fifteen

“So why are we
meeting, Vivee?” Mac asked seemingly oblivious to our Mystery Woman concerns.
“Wanted me to tell you how beautiful you look today?”

“Mac! Can you ever
just be serious? This is serious.” She leaned across the table. “My daughter
may be in trouble.”

“Who? Brie?”

“No. Renmar.”

“What’s happened,
Vivee?”

“She may have
killed Oliver.”

Mac took her words
in with a jerk. He looked around to make sure no one was listening.”

“You think Oliver
was murdered?”

“Yes. I do,” Miss
Vivee said and sat back. “And so does the FBI.”

This time it was
my body that jerked at hearing her words. The FBI didn’t think anything. She
was such a little liar.

“And you think
Renmar did it?” Mac asked Miss Vivee.

“Can you please
try to keep up, Mac? Really, my patience is running thin with you. You’re
starting to act just like Logan.”

How did I get into
the conversation? I hadn’t even opened my mouth.

“Tell me what
happened,” he said, his voice even and calm.

“Logan found an
extinct fish on Stallings Island.”

“An extinct fish?”
Mac asked. “Couldn’t be extinct if Logan found it.” He looked at me. “Alive - I’m
figuring.”

“Yes. Very much
alive,” I said. “So correction,” I pointed to Miss Vivee. “A previously thought
extinct fish.”

“Can I finish?”
Miss Vivee asked.

Mac waved his hand
indicating for her to continue.

“We think-”

“Miss Vivee
thinks,” I interrupted. I didn’t want to have any authorship in her theories
even though she’d gotten them from me.

“
We
think,”
she said again looking at me. “That Renmar has been making her fish stew with a
fish that no one knew existed any longer.”

“No wonder she’s
won blue medals with that stuff,” Mac said and rubbed his jaw. “It was the food
of our illustrious temper-weaving, Native American Indians. I bet you found
that exhilarating, Logan.” He smiled at me and took a sip of his iced tea. “So.
Renmar killed him over the fish?”

“I’m afraid that
might be the case,” Miss Vivee said.

She’d be the
perfect prosecutor, she had taken the small tidbit of information I’d given her
and built a whole capital murder case around it.

“Logan heard
Oliver and Renmar having a big fight the morning he was killed,” she said still
explaining to Mac. “She even threatened his life,” Miss Vivee nodded. “You know
Renmar is capable of murder. I’ve always said that. I just hope in this case it
isn’t true.” Her face showing she firmly believed her conclusions.

She was so
matter-of-fact in her statement of Renmar being capable of murder. It was kind
of scary for her to be so nonchalant about her saying someone is possibly a
murderer.
Renmar killed Oliver.
I tried to let that sink in. I looked as
Miss Vivee and then I thought about her murderous tendencies.

Well, I guess
the apple
doesn’t fall far from the tree.

“You had Renmar on
your list of suspects when Gemma was killed,” Mac said. “Not a good way for a
mother to look at her daughter.” But before Miss Vivee could answer, Viola Rose
was back with the drinks.

“Are you ordering
anything to eat?” She sat the drinks down and looked around the table. “Or are
you using my diner just as your meeting place?” She pulled a pen out of her
hair and clicked the tip of it a couple of times.”

“Mac and I will
have the egg salad,” Miss Vivee said. “Logan, you want some, too?”

“I’ll have an
opened-face turkey sandwich and mashed potatoes” I said. ‘And a salad with
ranch dressing.”

“You know you’ve
been putting on weight,” Miss Vivee said to me. “You should eat nutritional.
Egg salad is good for you.”

“It’s got mayo in
it. Gobs of it,” I said.

“I’m sure it’s
low-fat,” Miss Vivee looked at Viola Rose. “They make healthy food here.”

I glanced over at Viola
Rose’s husband, Gus who was smearing liquid, greasy butter all over his grill.

“I got you,” Viola
Rose said to me and smiled as she collected the menus.

“I am having a
salad,” I said and looked down at myself.
Had I really gained weight?
I
tugged down on my shirt.

“I’ve got to
launch an investigation to clear her name, Mac,” Miss Vivee ignoring me picked
back up the conversation after Viola Rose left. “And if you kept up with what
I’ve been saying,” she said sarcastically. “You’d see that I put her on my list
because she might have done the deed. Daughter or not, I’ve got to keep an open
mind if I’m going to solve this thing. And if she did do it, I’ve gotta find a
way to help her out. Get her out of town, help her hide out, or something.”

“Bay said that if
we tried to investigate Oliver’s death, he’d put us in jail,” I reminded her.

Not even
mentioning that now she was trying to plan how to hide a fugitive of the law.

“You are such a
tattletale, Logan,” she said, her eyes narrowed. “Were you always like this?”

“I’m just saying.”

Mac leaned over
and said in a low voice, “I’d be willing to risk life and limb to help you,
Vivee.” He nodded. “Even go to jail.”

He’s already
practically given up a limb for her. Had he forgotten she’s the reason he has a
limp . . .

“So. What you got,
Vivee?” Mac asked.

She pulled her
notebook and three No. 2 pencils out of her purse. She laid two of the pencils on
the table, and licked the granite tip of the third. “Well, let me see,” she
said. “Suspects.” She glanced over at Mac while flipping through her new memo
pad from Hadley’s. “I have quite a few of them this time.”

“Let’s hear ‘em.
Who you got?”

“Well. The first
people on my list are those fake cousins. Ron and Charlotte Anderson. Heard
they were here at the diner this morning carrying on like fools.”

“Miss Vivee,” I
said. “You don’t know that they’re not his real cousins.” I took a sip of my
pop. “Viola Rose didn’t say anything about his wife causing problems. And she prefers
to be called Charlie.”

“I don’t care if
she prefers to be called Queen of the Abused Wives,” Miss Vivee said with a
huff. “All they’re after is his money. You heard what Viola Rose said. Heck,
I
didn’t even think about a will. Who would at a time like this?” She took a sip
of her iced tea. “I can answer that. Killers, that’s who.” Miss Vivee pressed
her napkin down over her lap. “But if they are the killers, they won’t get a
dime. They don’t award murderers an inheritance.”

Miss Vivee seemed
to get upset every time she talked about the cousins. She was just going to
make them into the murderers even if they hadn’t even been in town at the time
and even if it turned out that Oliver hadn’t been murdered.

Although, I did
take issue with that big dummy Ron Anderson talking about Bay.

“Tell him who
else, Miss Vivee,” I said pointing to her notebook, trying to move the
conversation along.

She glanced down
at her notebook. “Of course I had to put down Renmar’s name,” she said. She
coughed into her hand and then looked back down at her list. “And I’ve got the
women that were arguing about who Oliver belonged to the day before he was
murdered.”

“Died,” I
corrected. I knew my little innuendos wouldn’t deter her from investigating,
but I had to try, no matter how much weight they carried with her. “Cause of
death is still undetermined.”

“Murdered,” she
said defiantly.

I let my eyes
drift toward the ceiling.

“Now let me see,”
she said again. “First there’s Lindsey Grace. She’s got that white-platinum
blonde dye job and the false eyelashes. Speaking like she’s out of breath.”

I laughed. “Like Marilyn
Monroe, don’t you think?”

“Have you ever
seen Marilyn Monroe?” Miss Vivee scrunched up her nose and shook her head. “She
doesn’t look a thing like her.” She dismissed me and my comment with a wave of
her hand.

“Then there’s that
strawberry blonde girl, Mary Beth Perkins,” Miss Vivee said. “She turned into a
wild woman that day in the dining room. I thought I’d have to fix a gallon of
tea just to calm her down.” She looked down at her notebook again. “And the one
with the highlights in her hair. She’s the third one. I don’t know her name.
Yet,” Miss Vivee said with determination. “She doesn’t live in Yasamee. Maybe
the next town over, I’m thinking. But I’m not sure.”

“No road trips,
Miss Vivee,” I warned.

“We’ve got to
interview them. All of them,” Miss Vivee said not caring what I said.

“No road trips,
Miss Vivee,” I said it again.

“Stop saying
that.” She shot a look at me. “You’re awfully cranky today. And disagreeable,”
she said frowning up her face.

Thank goodness Viola
Rose came over with the food and drew Miss Vivee’s attention from fussing at
me. And it gave her the opportunity to utilize Yasamee’s indubitable gossip
grapevine to find out more about Oliver’s trio of true loves.

“Viola Rose, did
you hear about that knock down drag out over at the Maypop the day before
Oliver died?” Miss Vivee asked.

“I do declare. I
didn’t envy you none when I heard,” she said and planted her fisted hands on
her hips. “I heard all three of them were madder than a wet hen. And I didn’t
understand it one lick. Least when it came to Lindsey Grace. That girl is sweet
as peach pie. She’s only been living in Yasamee for a year or two. Never heard
about no trouble with her.”

“I remember when
she moved here,” Miss Vivee said. “From Dover, I think. Couple towns over. Stayed
a day or two at the Maypop. Told me her whole story.”

“Bless her heart.
She had just gotten a divorce. Trying to get away from what I heard was a crazy
husband and ends up in a crazy love triangle. Don’t that just beat all?”

“I say.” Miss
Vivee nodded.

“Wasn’t surprised
about Mary Beth though.” Viola Rose shook her head. “She’s always been a fiery
one. If she weren’t happy, weren’t nobody gone be happy. That girl so stuck up
if it rained she’d drown. I wouldn’t put it past her to try to hurt somebody.
Heard she had a knife. ”

“It was just a
little butter knife. Probably couldn’t do much harm with it, but she was
threatening to.” Miss Vivee leaned in close. “There was a third one you know. I
don’t know who she is.”

“I hear tell she’s
from Augusta,” Viola Rose said. “Drove all the way down here to meet Oliver at
the Maypop and found Lindsey and Mary Beth instead.”

“So you don’t know
her name? The one from Augusta,” Miss Vivee asked.

“I’ve heard
several different names for her,” Viola Rose said looking past Miss Vivee like
she was thinking. “I ain’t sure, and you know I ain’t one to gossip. Don’t want
to go spreading no lies.”

“I understand,
Viola Rose,” Miss Vivee said and patted her on her arm. “I can always count on
you not to spread rumors.”

“But ain’t it
funny,” Viola Rose said, a grin creeping up her face. “How nobody see’d hide
nor hair of Oliver while those girls were fighting over him. Looked like he
would a come and tried to put a stop to it.”

“If you’d seen
those girls, Viola Rose, you’d have steered clear of the place, too.” Miss
Vivee said.

Viola Rose
laughed. “Alrighty then,” she said. “Y’all got everything y’all need?”

“Yep. I’m good,” I
said. I had been eating while Miss Vivee got her information.

“I’m working on
getting what I need,” Miss Vivee muttered. But it seemed no one heard her but
me. And I knew exactly what she meant.