Pampered to Death: A Deadly Calm Day Spa Mystery (5 page)

Olive Mackanack, sister to Brad Chadwick, aunt to Cassie, and sister-in-law to the deceased made her home on an interesting corner of space. The land was overgrown with grass up front, looked a mess, but once you passed down the driveway and around a band of trees, there was a magnificent home. It was as if somebody took a large wooden lodge and dropped it onto the land. It was as from the front of the property, she didn’t want people to know what was back there. Not quite curb appeal, but the home had definite driveway appeal.

In the driveway there was an older green minivan, and a silver luxury car. Andrea stiffened on seeing the minivan. “I think that’s it.”

Jocelyn took a picture of the van with her smart phone and then another picture of the license plate. She snapped one of the other car’s plates as well, to see if they came back to the same name. The silver car looked to be a Jaguar. The house was a twisted puzzle. The porch was grand and lovely, but it was littered with flea market finds. Pieces of old junk and furniture were stacked to the side. It was almost like a hoarder’s treasures that were now seeping out of the main house and onto the porch.

Was it a mistake to go there? She’d already tried to run them down once. Walking up to her front door was hardly the smartest choice they’d ever made. They’d willingly gone to confront the woman that had possibly killed one person, and almost took them out, too.

As they walked closer to the door, they heard voices on the other side. “Thanks for lending me the van. I was able to move some things I’d been wanting to,” Cassie said.

The women wanted to hide, but it was too late, the front door swung open. Cassie and Olive were oblivious to the fact that Andrea and Jocelyn were standing on the porch. As Cassie turned, she was caught off guard. “What are you doing here?”

“We came to talk to Olive,” Andrea said, trying to steady her voice.

“What about?” Cassie eyed Andrea suspiciously.

“Who owns that van?” Jocelyn asked, pointing to the incriminating vehicle.

“I do, why?” Olive said sharply.

Andrea drew a deep breath and looked to Jocelyn. She looked back to Olive. “It tried to run us off the road yesterday.” She glared at the woman, trying to read her expression, but she was simply staring back at them.

“That’s ridiculous. I own it, but I don’t drive it. I drive the Jaguar.”

Everybody turned slowly toward Cassie.

“What? You don’t think I….” She shook her head.

“Cassie?” Olive questioned her niece. “What’s going on? You were using my van yesterday.”

“They’re nosey, and prying where they shouldn’t be,” she said in a panic. “They were asking about you, and…”

Everyone turned toward Olive.

“I think you should leave,” she said calmly to the women. “You’re trespassing here. I’d hate for something to happen.”

“Are you threatening us?” Jocelyn snapped.

Sarcasm laced her voice. “Of course not, but I can’t be responsible for your negligence or clumsiness.”

“Aunt Olive?” Cassie was now the one trying to figure out her aunt.

“Come on, Cassie, I’ll drive you home.” She acted like nothing had just been said.

“Not so fast,” Andrea said. “I think it’s time to have a conversation. Cassie, I wouldn’t get in the car with her. She’s already killed one person – your mother.”

“What?!” Cassie looked at Andrea like she had two heads. “She didn’t like my mom, but she certainly wasn’t the one who killed her.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Jocelyn said. “And we think she was framing you.”

Cassie spun around toward her aunt. “What’s going on here?”

“They’re crazy. I have no idea what these girls are up to, but I’m calling the police.”

“Please do,” Andrea challenged. “I can’t wait to show them the vehicle sitting in your driveway that we’ve already reported.”

A gunshot was fired into the air. Everybody froze.

A portly officer stood by his car, brandishing his weapon. It was the officer that the girls had seen earlier. He spoke before anything got more out of hand. “I’m Officer Gregory, not Greg, Gregory is the last name. I’m Stan Gregory, well, Officer Gregory to you. The officer at the front desk that you bribed for information, he checked in with me after you left, letting me know he’d given you the information that
I said
you should get.”

“Oh,” Jocelyn said sheepishly. “Umm…”

“Alright, all four of you, back inside. We’re going to have a discussion. Back up is on the way, so no funny stuff.” The officer waddled toward the porch and shuffled the four women into the living room, then barked, “Sit.”

All four women grumbled and muttered under their breath at one another.

“Enough,” he snapped. His gaze fell to Jocelyn and Andrea. “It’s time to sort things out. I’ll deal with you two later.”

“Officer, I want to report that these women are harassing me,” Olive started.

“Nobody is doing anything, until I say so.” He looked at Cassie. “You go first.”

As Cassie started to talk, Andrea looked toward her, but what she saw was something else. She didn’t mean to talk over the officer or Cassie, but the words came out. “Olive, what happened to your arms? Did you get into a scuffle, say, near a hot tub?”

All heads turned toward Olive’s arms. She quickly yanked her sleeves down. “Oh, that’s nothing. My cat…”

“What cat? You don’t have a cat.” Cassie was confused.

“Yes, darling,
the cat
;” she emphasized. “You know the one, the feral one I feed time to time?”

“Oh, the cat…” She went along, but wasn’t sure why. Things weren’t adding up.

Officer Gregory drew his attention to Olive. “Show me your arms,” he stated firmly.

Olive hemmed and hawed, frustrated to be in the spotlight. “Why? What does that have to do anything?”

And then the words were out. “Lady, you’re a suspect in the murder of Jeanette Chadwick, and I’d suggest you do as you’re told.”

“Am I under arrest? If so, I’m getting a lawyer. I’m not doing anything without my lawyer.” Olive backpedaled, not ready to play their game.

Cassie gasped. “Did you kill my mother?” The look of horror on her face made it obvious Cassie hadn’t done it. She was stunned.

“I was doing all of us a favor,” she snapped, realizing what she’d said. “She was never good enough for my brother, and she pushed you aside like you were an inconvenience. She had it coming.”

Jocelyn’s jaw dropped. “I knew it,” she whispered to Andrea.

Officer Gregory read her the riot act, then her rights. With a pair of cuffs from his work belt, he slapped them onto Olive’s wrists. He turned to Cassie. “You’ll want to thank these two ladies. They’re the ones that were piecing things together. We were heading in the wrong direction.”

“Aunt Olive?” Cassie shuddered.

Andrea wrapped her arm over Cassie’s shoulder. “Come on, we’ll take you home. Why don’t we call your father?”

As back-up arrived, Officer Gregory was walking Olive out to his car. Carmen was in the back of the other officer’s car. “I came as soon as I could; I had to help with a suspect pick-up. Sheriff’s office is backed up.”

“Carmen?” Jocelyn ran over to the car. “She didn’t do it. Olive Mackanack just admitted to killing Jeanie Chadwick.”

“It’s true,” Office Gregory added. “I was there when she confessed. If that’s the other girl they suspected, let her know she should be released shortly. We’ll clear everything up at headquarters. In fact, ladies, I’ll need you to go down to the station to give statements, and then you can take Cassandra home.”

“Yes, sir,” the friends answered. It was as if a weight had fallen off of their shoulders. Andrea couldn’t wait to call Lonnie to let them know they’d found the killer and that it was not spa related, but family related. Hopefully, it would clear up concerns other clients might have had.

Cassie wouldn’t look at her aunt. Heartbreak cracked across Olive’s face. The only one she truly cared about was her niece. “Cassie, your mother was cheating on your father. I told him when I found out. He seemed indifferent, like it didn’t bother him. I was furious. She was never good enough. My intention was to scare her. It got out of control. And then after it happened…” Her voice cracked.

“How did you get into the spa?” Jocelyn asked.

“I have the key. I lifted it off one of the girls,” she said, realizing all the details were spilling out. She couldn’t stop talking. She never meant to confess. She thought she could get away with it, but once she got it off her chest, the words kept coming. “And these girls, snooping around, they were next.”

“Wait a minute; didn’t you say Cassie had the van? Was it you that tried to run us off the road?” Andrea just remembered that detail. “Why?”

“You wouldn’t leave things alone. You kept digging up stuff, trying to cause trouble. You couldn’t just leave me alone. First you come up to tell me my mother is dead, and then you’re prying around my house. I didn’t trust you, and wanted to send you a message, loud and clear.” She lowered her head. She had no idea all of this had gone down. “I only wanted to scare you, not hurt you.”

“Alright, you get in the car with my partner over there,” he said, pointing to the other officer. “Let the Carmen girl ride up front. She’ll be cleared once we get to the station. I’ll take this one and have her booked. We’ll put her in a room until her lawyer shows up. With a confession, we’ll need everybody’s statements to help secure the case.”

“Officer Gregory,” Andrea chimed in. “I hope you get that promotion.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it without your help. What do you say I look the other way about you acquiring information about Mrs. Mackanack’s address?”

Andrea grimaced sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”

Jocelyn had one final thing to say. “By the way, the guy at the front desk…is he single?”

THE END

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*Special thanks to M&R. Thanks for getting me back on track.