Pelican Cove Cozy Mystery Series Box Set 1

by Leena Clover

“Ask her about the money she took from Crystal’s mother.”

  “You’re amazing. Every time I see you, I learn something the police don’t know.”

  “People don’t like to talk to cops, I guess.”

  “We are stalled. We don’t have a single strong lead.”

  “What if Rainbow planned it all along, huh? Bella jumps from the plane and Crystal is ruined by scandal.”

  “What happens to Wayne Newman?”

  “He gets a new leading lady.”

  “You think they are in cahoots?”

  “It’s worth finding out,” Jenny said thoughtfully. “I’ll go talk to her tomorrow.”

  Neither of them could have guessed what would happen the next day.

  Jenny was worked off her feet all morning. When the phone rang in the kitchen, she continued frosting a cupcake with one hand while she stuck the receiver in the crook of her neck.

  Her mouth dropped open in shock when she heard the voice at the other end. The piping bag slipped from her hand and struck the floor, splattering frosting everywhere.

  “How did this happen? I’m coming over.”

  Jenny hit the speed dial and called Heather.

  “We need to go. Now!”

  She was honking her horn in front of the inn ten minutes later. Heather came running out.

  “Rainbow’s dead.”

  “What?” Heather asked, getting in.

  Jenny floored the gas pedal and the car took off with a screech of tires.

  “Crystal just called the café. Rainbow didn’t turn up for breakfast. They didn’t think too much of it – she likes to sleep in sometimes. One of the girls knocked on her door when she didn’t come out for lunch.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “Some kind of overdose,” Jenny spoke. “Sleeping pills, most probably.”

  They reached the country club soon after. Jenny remembered the building where Rainbow’s room was situated. A bunch of police and emergency vehicles were parked outside.

  Adam Hopkins frowned when he spotted Jenny.

  “You can’t be here, Jenny. This is a crime scene.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “We don’t know for sure yet. How did you find out about this?”

  “Crystal called me.”

  Adam pointed toward the club house building.

  “They are all over there. I think they were just about to have lunch. We are going to question all of them one by one.”

  “Can I sit in?”

  “Of course not!”

  “Did you talk to her since last night?”

  “She was supposed to come in and meet me at 11.”

  They both knew Rainbow hadn’t made it to the police station. Jenny had a hunch someone made sure about that.

  She walked over to the dining room with Heather. Crystal sat on a chintz couch, clutching her mother’s hand. Her eyes were red and her mascara had run down one cheek. A couple of girls sat squashed together in a big chair. One girl was pacing the room, burning a hole in the carpet.

  “Jenny? Heather? Thank God you’re here.” Crystal sprang up and hugged Heather. “What’s going on? Why is someone killing us off one by one?”

  “We don’t know what happened to Rainbow yet,” Jenny said softly.

  “She was such a sweet girl,” Kathy Mars said in a sugary voice.

  Kathy’s expression didn’t match her voice.

  “We need to leave this place as soon as possible, honey.”

  Wayne Newman entered the room, holding his hat in his hand.

  “Is it true?” he asked Crystal, looking crestfallen. “Is Rainbow gone?”

  Crystal nodded, and a tear rolled down her eye.

  Jenny wondered how much of it was authentic. If it was a performance, Crystal deserved the tag of reality star.

  “Which one of you found her?” Jenny asked.

  The girl who was pacing the floor spoke up.

  “It was me. Rainbow liked to sleep in when she took one of her pills. I warned her not to take too many. Maybe she took a double dose.”

  “You think this was an accident?” Jenny asked.

  “She was so full of life,” Crystal wailed. “And she had a good role in our new series. But her personal life was a disaster.”

  Jenny and Heather exchanged glances. They stayed quiet as if by an unspoken agreement.

  “Wait a minute,” Wayne Newman said. “What are you implying?”

  Crystal let out another sob but said nothing.

  “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Jenny said quickly. “The police will tell us more.”

  Kathy Mars ordered some sandwiches and sweet tea and forced the girls to eat something. A couple of hours passed. Wayne Newman was sitting on the sofa next to Crystal. He caught Jenny’s eye and motioned her to go outside.

  Jenny stepped out on the long verandah facing the golf course.

  “Have you made any progress?” he asked. “First Bella, now Rainbow. I’m beginning to think someone is targeting me.”

  Jenny stifled a laugh.

  “You’re alive and well, Wayne. How are you the victim here?”

  “They were both my ladies,” he said. “Crystal might be next.”

  “What does that mean?” Jenny asked. “Your ‘ladies’?”

  Wayne said nothing.

  “You know Rainbow was sharing stuff with me?” Jenny asked.

  “She was a bit greedy, but she had a good heart. She was feeling guilty about some things. I suggested she go talk to you.”

  “How long have you known Rainbow?” Jenny asked suspiciously.

  “Long enough.”

  “Can you give me a straight answer?”

  “I met Rainbow in Hollywood. We were both struggling at the time.”

  “I thought you knew her through Crystal?”

  “Crystal wasn’t on the scene at that time. At least, I didn’t know her. Rainbow and I were an item.”

  Jenny let out a gasp. She hadn’t seen it coming.

  “Go on!”

  “Bella became Rainbow’s roommate later. I was famous on the music circuit by then. Bella fawned over me. What can I say, I fell for her.”

  “So you dumped Rainbow and went out with Bella?”

  “I started going out with Bella, okay?”

  “What went wrong?”

  “They threw her off the set, I don’t know how or why. Crystal came into the picture. Before I knew it, we were going out.”

  “But you continued seeing Bella behind Crystal’s back?”

  “Bella and I were friends.”

  “Friends with benefits, you mean.”

  Wayne shrugged.

  “I hate conflict. I like to live in harmony with everyone.”

  “Do you mean you never break it off with your ex-girlfriends?”

  “I don’t see the need. Who knows when they might come in handy?”

  Jenny struggled to stay calm.

  “If you have any information about Rainbow, I suggest you give it to the police.”

  “She has a four year old son. He lives with her sister in Wisconsin.”

  “Rainbow had a son?” Heather cried. “Wasn’t she too young?”

  “None of these girls are as young as they say,” Wayne said maliciously. “Bella was the real youngster among them. She was barely 22.”

  He looked genuinely sad when he said that.

  “Do you know how to contact Rainbow’s sister?”

  Wayne nodded. He promised to give her contact information to the police.

  He shook hands with Jenny and patted her on the shoulder. Jenny sprang back with a jerk. She had remembered something.

  “What’s that smell?” she asked. “Is it some kind of perfume?”

  “I don’t wear perfume,” Wayne said, bewildered. “Just aftershave.”

  “You scumbag! You were still getting it on with her, weren’t you?”

  Wayne was quiet.

  “You were in Rainbow’s room the other d
ay,” Jenny accused. “Don’t try to deny it.”

  “Like I said … we go way back.”

  “You were carrying on with her right under Crystal’s nose?” Heather gasped. “Weren’t you afraid of getting caught?”

  “What’s Crystal gonna do? She’s so desperate to get married, she’ll look the other way no matter what I do.”

  “Why are you marrying Crystal?” Jenny asked. “Do you love her at all?”

  “I loved Bella for a while, and I loved Rainbow. Crystal is just good for the ratings.”

  Kathy Mars stood in the doorway with a vicious look in her eyes. Jenny was sure she had heard the last bit. Kathy’s lips stretched into a horrible smile.

  “Why don’t you come in? I just called for lemonade.”

  Chapter 17

  Jenny, Heather and Molly walked to the Rusty Anchor one evening.

  “Is Chris meeting us there?” Molly asked Heather.

  Memorial Day had come and gone. The café had been flooded with tourists eager to taste the cupcakes and crab salad they had seen on Instagram. Mandy James had done them a favor after all.

  A team of contractors and volunteers was busy making small changes on Main Street. The town was beginning to look spiffy.

  “Don’t these look pretty?” Heather asked, pointing toward some new flower beds that had sprung up by the side of the road. “I don’t know, Molly,” she pouted. “I don’t keep tabs on him.”

  “Trouble in paradise?” Jenny asked.

  They found a lot of familiar faces at the Rusty Anchor. Jimmy Parsons waved at them from the bar. Jenny got up to say hello to him. Jimmy had apparently been at it for some time.

  “How’s your aunt, little lady?” he asked.

  Jenny had guessed Jimmy had a thing for her aunt.

  “Why don’t you come over for dinner sometime, Jimmy?”

  Jimmy nodded happily. “I could use a home cooked meal. You’re a good girl, Jenny.”

  Jenny spotted a familiar figure seated at the other end of the bar.

  “What is Ray Fox still doing here?” she asked the girls when she went back to their table.

  Jason Stone had joined them in her absence.

  “You remember he’s my client, Jenny? I can’t talk about him.”

  “Haven’t the police cleared him yet? Why is he still hanging out in Pelican Cove?”

  “My lips are sealed,” Jason stressed.

  “What if he wants to talk to me?”

  Jenny walked over to where Ray was seated. She pulled up a stool and climbed up on it.

  “Hello Ray. Remember me?”

  Ray Fox looked at her with bloodshot eyes. He nodded and took another sip of his drink.

  “How long have you been in town really?”

  “Am I busted?” he asked.

  “Yes, you are. You were seen here the day before Crystal’s wedding.”

  “Did that old roommate of Bella tell you this?”

  “She may have.”

  “What’s it matter to her? She’s got to stop meddling in my business.”

  “You don’t have to worry about her.”

  “Why not? She always had it in for Bella. Did you know she got Bella thrown off the set? My Bella lost the role of a lifetime because of that girl.”

  “You must have been mad at her.”

  “You bet I was. We both were.”

  “Is that why you killed her?”

  Ray straightened and blinked at Jenny in confusion.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “That girl – Rainbow – she was found dead a few days ago.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “I’m not. How did you not hear about this?”

  “Nobody told me…”

  So Ray Fox had a possible grudge against Rainbow. Jenny decided to talk to Adam about it later.

  “Why did you come here, Ray? Did you know Bella was planning something for Crystal’s wedding?”

  “Look, I don’t care one bit about Crystal Mars, okay?”

  Jenny folded her hands and waited for him to continue.

  “I found out Bella was seeing Wayne Newman again.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “I had my sources…never mind how I found out…people talk.”

  “So you came here to confront Bella and kill her?”

  “Why would I kill her? Bella was the love of my life.”

  Ray’s eyes filled up as he spoke. Jenny wondered if she was witnessing another stellar performance. It was hard to tell.

  “Sure! You loved Bella even though she was cheating on you.”

  “Bella was beautiful and she had a heart to match. She had a string of admirers wherever she went. But she never slipped. Until she ran into Wayne Newman again …”

  “What was special about Wayne? From all accounts, he’s a womanizer.”

  “She never got over him.”

  “You knew about Bella and Wayne before you got married?”

  Ray Fox took a big gulp of his drink.

  “Bella promised me it was all over. We were very happy for a while. Then I had to go on location for a few months.”

  “She ran back to Wayne?”

  “It wasn’t like that. She met him at some awards function. He was engaged to Crystal. Bella hated Crystal. I think she went out with Wayne just to spite Crystal.”

  “Looks like that backfired.”

  Ray smiled mirthlessly.

  “She got caught up in him again.”

  He looked at Jenny, struggling with what to say next.

  “I know about the baby,” Jenny said gently.

  Ray wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

  “She thought it was the end. She rushed over here to confront Wayne. She wanted to beg him to marry her.”

  “What about you?”

  “She thought I would dump her.”

  “So she didn’t trust you, huh?”

  “Bella was so young,” Ray sobbed. “She ran away from home at sixteen. People only took from her. She had been treated like crap by most people in her life.”

  “She assumed you would do the same.”

  “That’s my fault, I guess. She didn’t trust me. I failed to make her believe.”

  “She was just insecure.”

  “She shouldn’t have been. She was my wife. It was my job to look after her no matter what.”

  “How did you know she was coming here?”

  “I was out of town when Bella got on the plane. I came in to Los Angeles the same evening. She had left a print of her ticket on the coffee table.”

  “Was that her way of letting you know where she was?”

  “I think it was a cry for help.”

  “What did you do then, Ray?”

  “I got the next flight out and came here.”

  “Bella wanted to break it off with you so you messed with her parachute. Is that right?”

  “That’s a lie!”

  Jenny wondered if she had pushed him a bit too far.

  “Bella and I met. We talked about everything. She told me about the child. I didn’t mind who the father was. We could raise it as our own.”

  “Really? You are that noble?”

  “I had an accident years ago,” Ray confessed. “I can’t have kids. We had talked about adoption or sperm donation. This felt like a blessing to me.”

  “What about Wayne?”

  “He could do as he pleased. If he wanted to be a part of the child’s life, we would have come to some agreement.”

  “But didn’t Bella come here to disrupt the wedding?”

  “She just wanted to talk to Wayne. She had high hopes from him.”

  “But you decided to raise the child together. Why did she go up on that plane then?”

  “That’s what I can’t figure out,” Ray blubbered.

  Jenny gave him some time to collect himself.

  “You really don’t know why she went up in that plane?”

  “I had
no idea she was going to do that. We were flying back home later that day.”

  Ray Fox didn’t meet Jenny’s eyes while he said it.

  “You’re hiding something, Ray. What is it? Maybe I can help you if you are honest with me.”

  Ray hesitated.

  “She said she had one last thing she needed to take care of.”

  “So she was going to confront Wayne after all.”

  “I don’t know,” Ray said, sounding helpless. “Maybe I should have guessed she would do something silly.”

  “Could she have wanted to cause a stir at the wedding?”

  “Bella wasn’t vindictive,” Ray said firmly. “And it was Wayne’s wedding too. She wouldn’t do that to him.”

  “Something or someone made her go up there,” Jenny said, “with a faulty parachute.”

  “Bella’s a pro at sky diving. She would never go up there without checking her rig.”

  “She must have trusted whoever handed it to her.”

  “She trusted Wayne Newman,” Ray pointed out.

  “Do you believe Wayne had something to do with your wife’s death?”

  “He was right there, wasn’t he? And he had a pretty strong motive.”

  “Surely Bella must have told him you agreed to raise the child?”

  “Have you thought about the scandal? Appearances mean more to these people than anything else.”

  “You realize this is just a theory?”

  “I know that,” Ray Fox sighed. “That’s what the police said when I proposed it.”

  “I’m sure they will check it out though. Did anyone else know about the baby?”

  Ray shrugged.

  “She talked to Rainbow a lot. I don’t know why though. I never trusted her.”

  Jenny thought of what Rainbow had done to destroy Bella’s career and the money she had taken from Kathy Mars. Ray had been right about Rainbow.

  “I never met Bella but it sounds like she was a good person.”

  “She was the best.”

  Jenny couldn’t believe how Ray could still feel that after Bella cheated on him. Had Bella’s murder made a martyr out of her? Jenny examined her own feelings about her cheating ex-husband. She didn’t have a single kind thought about him in her mind. Was Ray Fox for real, she wondered. Or was he putting on a big act.

  “Let’s hope the police solve this case soon.”

  “Weren’t you going to find out what happened?”

  “I can’t promise anything,” Jenny said honestly. “I’m not a trained investigator. I just talk to people and stumble on the truth.”