Plotting for Murder (Cozy Mystery Bookshop Series Book 1)

by Tamra Baumann

  I glance at Dylan, who’s frowning as he tries to decipher the clue but I need to read the next one and worry about the details later.

  I lean closer and read, “The second item I’ve left for you is easily found in your own advice to me about a chef’s kitchen. That I should always keep at my fingertips ingredients filled with spice and life that, when combined, will fill the soul with love.” I scan the words to the bottom of the note. “The rest is about how my sister and mom want me to be happy and that I should use the things she left to remember her by fondly.”

  Gray Suit asks, “Do you know where the items are hidden?”

  I glance at Dylan and then back at the two cops. There are so many things running through my mind, but nothing is making any sense. “Not off the top of my head. I’m sure it’ll come to me. I just have to think like my mom for a few minutes. Then I’ll figure it out.”

  Gray Suit folds the paper and slips it and the envelope into a baggie. “We’ll take this to the station. Meanwhile, no one here mentions that Sawyer read this. For her safety. Understood?” After everyone nods, he turns to me. “We’ll be in touch, Ms. Davis.”

  “Thank you.” My mind is still racing to put the pieces together.

  While Gray and Black Suits pack up their things, Mr. Sanchez slips my phone back into my purse. Dylan thanks everyone and then leads me out the front door.

  He says, “The trunk in the attic, right? That was the first part of the clue? You used to play with what was inside when you were a kid. Where you found the envelope your mom left with that website.”

  I nod. “Yeah. But my mom knows I don’t read much.” I keep rolling the words “reading will reveal” around in my mind as we walk back to my house. “Wait! Brittany had told me that my mom wanted me to start up book club as soon as I felt up to it. It was important to her. And what do we serve at book club?”

  A slow smile lights Dylan’s face as he takes my arm and steers me toward the bookshop. “Wine. Illegally, but we’ll ignore that for now. Have you ever gone through all the cases of wine in the back?”

  I shake my head and start to jog. “It’s all marked the same on the outside. An inexpensive California wine I assumed my mom found on sale.” Oh boy. Could I have been sitting on top of the prize the whole time?

  We skid to a stop in front of my store, and I unlock the doors. After I hit the alarm, I lock up behind us, and we run for the back. Way in the corner, stacked in two piles, are cases of what I thought was cheap wine. “You take that stack, and I’ll do this one.”

  I’ve already opened the top case, so I move it aside and open the next sealed case. Inside is the same brand as was in the first case, so I move that one and go on to the next. “Any luck?”

  Dylan shakes his head and keeps looking through his stack too.

  “Would my mom risk us accidentally drinking the wine? That’d be an expensive mistake.”

  “That was my thought too. Maybe this was too obvious.”

  Dylan is on his last case when he says, “Here we go. A note that says, If you need more wine, look for a trunk with your name on it in the attic, Sawyer.”

  “So, it’s back to the note that leads us nowhere. I’ll grab the ladder. Maybe I missed something.” I swipe the dust from my slacks and head for the ladder, but Dylan has beaten me to it.

  I follow behind him in silence, concerned that my mom’s cryptic messages might be too convoluted even for me to figure out.

  Dylan pushes the ceiling panel aside, yanks the wooden ladder down, and heads upstairs. I follow behind, recalling the words my mom wrote about the wine website. Something about tricks being an illusion and how she hoped my restaurant would be true magic.

  Dylan lifts the lid on the trunk where we found the note. “It’s got to be something in here.”

  I kneel beside him and sort through the old costumes and broken tricks inside. Dylan picks up a box and says, “Is this one of those puzzle boxes? Like your dad used to steal my twenty?”

  I nod and keep looking. “Many a sucker besides you fell for that one.”

  “Don’t rub it in. Your mom said her clues were ones that only you’d understand. What did you and your mom know that your uncle didn’t about these things?”

  I shrug. “How the tricks work, I suppose.” I grab the box Dylan has in his hand. “There’s a little pin in this one— maybe that’s it! One of these puzzle boxes might be what we’re looking for.” I hit the button, revealing an empty drawer, so I toss the trick aside and grab the largest in the trunk.

  The box is complicated and needs the exact sequence to make the hidden drawer open. “This one is the hardest to open. I hope I can remember how.”

  It’s been a long time, but I spent many hours bored out of my skull in the summers playing with these old tricks, so I close my eyes and let my fingers take over. Without directing my hands, I allow them to move in the pattern buried deep somewhere inside my head like a pianist playing a song etched on her heart.

  After my fingers do their dance, a pop sounds and a drawer slides out. I’m almost afraid to open my eyes, but I force one open and then the next. Dylan has a huge grin on his face.

  “You did it, Sawyer.”

  I glance down and can’t help the grin stretching my lips either. There’s a key with a tag along with an envelope that says, “Taa Daa!” on the outside. The extent of my mother’s lines in my father’s magic show.

  Dylan picks up the key while I read the note inside. He says, “This is from that new storage place up north. The environmentally controlled one, which would make sense for storing wine.”

  I fold the note and stuff it into my pocket. “Yep. The wine is safe inside. She says she left me an explanation of how she came to own it in the storage unit.” I glance up at Dylan and nod my approval. “Man, that was smart of my mom. My uncle would’ve never found this.”

  “Most everyone underestimated your mom. Never understood that just because she forged her own paths in life, they weren’t necessarily the wrong ones.” He stands and then holds out a hand to help me up.

  My hand is dwarfed by his big strong one as I accept his help. “Maybe I was one of those people too. Always feeling like I had to make excuses for her and my father’s oddities, rather than accepting them. Running away to college the first chance I got to find a ‘normal’ life and a ‘real’ job.”

  Dylan nods. “And now your mom is giving you the opportunity to give up all that normalcy you went to years of college for. She’s helping you do what will make you happy by owning your restaurant.”

  I can’t help but love my mom even more for that. “Well, let’s wait and see how she pulled off all this expensive wine later now that we know it’s safe. Maybe being an eccentric hippie was an excellent cover all these years for her side gig as an international jewel thief.”

  Dylan laughs. “Right.” Then his feet stop midstep as he follows me down the ladder. “On second thought, maybe I don’t want to know how she got that wine.”

  “Me either.”

  At the bottom of the steps, he says, “Would you please consider staying with Renee tonight? Let me stake out your house alone? I’ll ask Gage to pick you up after book club and stay overnight with you guys.”

  “Okay. If you think it’s best.” I’m not sure now if I’m safer with Dylan in a house we’re setting up to be robbed, or with Renee and Gage at this point. All I know for sure is that we need to figure out who killed for the things my mother hid. Maybe by sticking to our story tonight at book club, we’ll finally find out.

  After I’ve set out all the food at the store that I made for book club, I turn to Dylan. “Okay, my story is I found the art here in the store shortly before I reopened it, and now a broker has it?”

  He nods. “And that you think there might be a valuable Twain book hidden somewhere in your house, but you’ve never found it. You can add things about how your uncle wants the book too, if you think it’ll help.”

  “Okay.” I’m rubbing my hands
together to shake off the nerves. “Have you heard any more about Julie’s and Crystal’s searches from this afternoon?”

  “No. I think showing up at the bank earlier made the officer in charge clamp down on the chatter. I’ve been cut out of the loop entirely now.”

  “Sorry about that.” I glance at my phone. “It’s time. You should go hide.”

  “Hey.” Dylan grasps my arms. “Try to act normal so everyone else will too. No one will know I’m watching and listening in the back except you and Brittany. I’m here if you guys need me.”

  “I’ll make sure everyone knows I’m spending the night with Renee tonight too. So if I don’t see you before I leave, be careful. Okay?” I’ve given Dylan a set of keys to lock up the store after everyone is gone.

  “Will do.” He squeezes my arms. “You be careful too. Maybe by morning, we’ll have our culprit. And all this will be over.”

  “Let’s hope. My nerves can’t take much more of this.”

  I wait until Dylan disappears into the back before I unlock the front door. Brittany and Cooper are the first to arrive, and my dog is acting like he hasn’t seen me in a month, jumping on me with excitement. “Hey, buddy. Good to see you too.” I glance at Brittany. “Change of plans tonight. No reenactment. You don’t have to stay.”

  “Then I’m out. I’ll put the glasses out before I go. And maybe I’ll grab some food?”

  “Sure.” I take a minute and cuddle with my sweet boy while Brittany sets out the glassware like she always does. “Take some for your mom too.”

  “Thanks.” Brittany dips bread into the fondue and takes a bite. “Good. Still, nachos would’ve been better. Wonder why Madge didn’t tell everyone the enactment was off?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe she got busy? We can ask, because here she comes now.”

  Madge comes hurtling through the front door. “Sorry I’m almost late, but you won’t believe what happened this afternoon. Oh, is that fondue, Brittany?”

  Brittany pops another piece of cheesy bread into her mouth and gulps it down. “If you say so. What happened?”

  Madge lays a hand over her ample chest while she catches her breath. She’s changed sweaters from the one she had on earlier. I think her orange sweater has a black bat on the front, but maybe it’s a seal?

  Our out-of-breath dispatcher says, “They found a container of DDT at Crystal’s house, and Julie’s clothes from the night of the murder have traces of DDT on the sleeve. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re getting the paperwork ready to arrest both women.”

  This makes Brittany stop midchew. She slowly lowers her wooden skewer and says, “Then maybe we better watch our food and drink tonight, because here comes one of the murderers now.”

  Chapter 16

  Brittany, Madge, Cooper, and I are cemented in our spots in the dining area as Crystal walks toward us. Her expression is hard, her black eye fading a bit and her clenched fists a pretty good indicator that she’s spitting mad. However, now that I know the DDT didn’t kill Chad, I don’t know if the found evidence will really matter.

  Madge clears her throat. “Thank you for joining us, Crystal.”

  Crystal crosses her arms. “I figured I couldn’t afford not to join you and your gossip club, especially because you and your little group of want-to-be sleuths seem to have an inside track with the sheriff. One could even argue undue influence.” Crystal’s eyes cut to mine.

  I hold both hands up as if she’s pointing a gun at me. “I’m only the host. I don’t join in around here.” Cooper quietly whines as if in agreement with me. Besides, this was also a test to see if someone didn’t show up. Probably because they’re guilty.

  “Whatever.” Crystal shakes her head and turns to Madge. “Let’s get started. I don’t have all night.”

  “We’re still waiting on a few.” Madge gestures toward the food. “Help yourself to some refreshments.”

  “Yeah. No thanks.” Crystal tosses her red hair over her shoulder and then finds the nearest couch to flop onto. “I don’t have a death wish.”

  Brittany whispers, “I’m out. Want me to take Cooper?”

  “Renee and I are having a sleepover at her house tonight, and she wanted me to bring Cooper along. But thanks,” I say loud enough for Crystal to hear.

  “Okay. Good night. And good luck.” Brittany heads for the door just as the Admiral enters.

  “Hello, Sailor. How are you this fine evening?” says the Admiral, who’s not afraid to dish himself some food.

  “Good. How’s the head?”

  “Never been better.” He moves next to me and whispers, “Did the clues make sense?”

  “One did. I’m still working on the other.”

  He taps his forehead. “Just have to let the subconscious do all the work. Think about something else. It’ll come.” He joins the others on the couches as he eats his food.

  Easy for him to say. The second clue has me baffled.

  After Wade and Julie join us, I lock the door to prevent tourists from wandering in, and Cooper and I sit in the dining area to observe while Madge calls the group to order. I need coffee, but Brittany has me spooked about drinking anything.

  Madge begins the discussion of the chapters they were all supposed to have read, and Crystal interrupts. “Wait a minute. I came here to clear my name. So, let’s do this.”

  The Admiral says, “Well then, why don’t we lay out the facts of the crime. Sailor, do you have a whiteboard I can borrow?”

  I shake my head. “We don’t have one of those. How about some paper?”

  “That’ll have to do.” He turns back to the group. “Who’d like to defend themselves first? We’ll ask questions, then you can tell us why it couldn’t have been you who committed the crime.”

  The Admiral clearly didn’t get the message that Dylan didn’t want this to happen, but it looks like it’s happening anyway. I grab a pad of lined paper and set it in front of the Admiral along with a pen.

  Crystal says, “I’ll go first because I know many of you think I killed Chad, but I didn’t.”

  Madge raises her hand first. “Then what were you two arguing about before our meeting? And why go to San Diego in the middle of a murder investigation? What really happened to your face?”

  Boy, way to pack all she could into that question. I move to the edge of my seat because I want to hear Crystal’s explanation of all these things too.

  Crystal rolls her eyes. “Chad and I were discussing his use of DDT on people’s gardens. When we were dating, he took me to Mexico, and I caught him sneaking it back home. I told him if he didn’t quit, I was going to tell Dylan. I lost a grandfather in Vietnam to chemical poisoning.” She turns to Wade. “And you knew about it too, because Chad told me when he asked you to repay him for all the money you’ve borrowed the last few years, you told him he had to wait, or you’d go to Dylan about the DDT as well.”

  Holy moly. This is new information. I wish I had a big bowl of popcorn, because I think things are just getting started.

  Wade shakes his blond head. “I knew he was using something he shouldn’t. I never knew it was DDT until a few days ago.”

  Crystal’s right brow pops. “Chad also told me that you were finally going to pay him back soon because you’d found a pot of gold or some such. What was that all about?”

  Wade yawns and stretches out his long legs. “The job over at Zoe’s. I’m on a retainer, and it’ll take months.” Wade points to me. “Right, Sawyer?”

  “Yep.” Cooper isn’t comfortable with all the raised voices and wants in my lap. Usually, that’d be a no, but I think I could use the cuddle, so I pick him up.

  Wade says, “So, why’d you go to San Diego with your black eye? To get rid of evidence?”

  “No. I tripped when I was out jogging in the woods. My face hit a tree. And I had already planned my San Diego trip to visit my father before Chad was killed. My dad’s been sick.”

  Madge says, “Then how do you explain the DDT they found
under your kitchen sink?”

  Crystal throws her hands up in exasperation. “Chad and I lived together for a long time. He must’ve put it there. Do you think I would’ve left it for the cops to find if I’d killed Chad? And just because I have a Raiders jacket just like most of you in this room doesn’t make me the killer. It’s all circumstantial evidence.”

  I guess Crystal is right. It is all circumstantial evidence, but when does enough circumstantial evidence become too much to be a coincidence?

  Crystal leans back and crosses her arms with a huff. “What I don’t understand, Madge, is why you guys didn’t think it was strange when Chad, Wade, and Julie all just randomly showed up for book club. Didn’t you think it was odd that all three would join at once?”

  Madge frowns. “Well, now that you mention it, maybe it was a little off.” She turns to Julie. “Why did you all join at once?”

  This perks me up too. That’s a great question. Why would all three randomly join?

  Julie, who has been silently wringing her hands all evening, says, “I’m with my kid twenty-four seven when I’m not at work. I needed some mental stimulation, so I mentioned one night at Skippy’s I was going to join, and Chad said he’d like to as well. Wade just tagged along for the beer, I suppose, but he’s taken a real interest in it now.”

  “Seriously? Chad and books?” Crystal narrows her eyes. “Well then, answer me this, Julie. If you and Chad were dating, then why did I see you and Wade huddled up in his truck by the running paths so many mornings recently? What have you two been plotting? Chad’s murder, maybe?”

  “No, of course not.” Julie shakes her head. “We were talking. About my divorce and what I’m going to do long-term. Life stuff friends talk about.”

  Crystal says, “You owed Chad money too. He and I got into a big fight about it. I didn’t understand why he was so eager to loan you money the minute you stepped back into town after your divorce.”