Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1 - 12

by Susan Harper

  “His coverage is doubled from what it was last month,” Mona said. “He’s going to be getting a huge check from the insurance company thanks to this upgrade he made.”

  “Right,” Brian said. “And that’s incredibly suspicious. My bet is that Lou set the fire. Probably didn’t realize that Chloe was here in the building and then got himself trapped upstairs. Might have even stayed in the building to make it look more like an accident.”

  “Lou sounds like a real genius,” Mona said. “He could have gotten himself and his girlfriend killed, and for what? A nice paycheck?”

  “That’s what it is certainly starting to look like,” Brian said. “I think we need to do a follow-up with Lou and ask him about this paperwork that we found. This might even be enough to hold him.”

  “Great. Do you think that he is still home?” Mona asked.

  “I’m going to call him,” Brian said as they made their way out of the partially standing building. Mona stood on the sidewalk, sifting through the paperwork that Brian had tossed down to her. There was a lot in there, and it was rather difficult for her to understand. They didn’t really have something compatible to insurance in the mystic realm, but she understood the concept. There was no reason for the man to have insured it for as much as he did.

  Mona glanced over at Brian. He was still on the phone with someone she assumed to be Lou. After a moment, he hung up and came back up to Mona. “Okay, so he’s not home right now,” Brian said. “But he told me he and Penny are visiting Chloe at the hospital and that we were welcome to come by. I don’t think he suspects that we found anything. He probably assumed all of this paperwork burned up in the fire.”

  “Did he know we were coming by here?” Mona asked.

  “Yeah, I think so,” Brian said. “So, he might be a little on edge when we go to speak to him. We’ll just have to play it cool. You think you can do that?”

  Mona smirked. “I think I can handle it.”

  The two of them walked back to where Brian had parked his patrol car, kicking up a bit of snow as they walked. Mona smiled. There were some rather light snow flurries coming down, so she stuck out her tongue and let a snowflake land in her mouth. Brian laughed, apparently quite entertained by her. “What?” Mona asked.

  “You just reminded me of Monica when you did that,” he said. “I think you two might be more alike than I first realized.”

  “Well, we are twins,” Mona said, and she found this to be a surprisingly warm compliment.

  Brian nodded. “I bet when you two stand next to each other, you look like a fairy and vampire.”

  Mona laughed. “Yes, I suppose that’s true,” she said, thinking that Brian would be quite surprised to learn that he was not too far off.

  Once they were back at Brian’s patrol car, they began their drive back to the hospital. They were a bit quiet, both staring out the window at the falling snow. Mona checked her compact mirror a few times, waiting to see if Monica was going to check in using a mirror calling spell, but it seemed as though Monica had gotten far too busy enjoying her time at the North Pole to check in.

  “I don’t suppose Monica has called you or anything has she?” Brian asked. “I mean, it’s Christmas Eve now… I guess I was expecting her back by now?”

  “Yeah…me too,” Mona said. “I haven’t heard back from her just yet. I’m sure she and Holly have just lost track of time. Monica loves Christmas. She has never missed one, so I don’t suspect that she will miss being with friends and family this year either. They probably just got held up somehow.”

  “I’m really excited about the gift that I got her,” Brian said. “I certainly hope she gets back in time to open it on Christmas. So, what sort of Christmas traditions do you guys have?”

  “Stargazing on Christmas Eve,” Mona said, smiling. “Which is one reason I really hope that Monica gets back tonight. I would really hate to miss doing that with her. It just wouldn’t be the same just me and Aunt Wilma. Not that I wouldn’t still enjoy it, but I have done it with Monica every year since we were just little girls.”

  “That’s a really fun tradition,” Brian said, smiling. “Stargazing…never would have thought to do that.”

  They pulled up outside of the hospital, and by now, Mona was starting to feel rather excited. She was confident that they were going to corner Lou into confessing to burning his own shop down and that Brian was going to slap him with both an arson and insurance fraud charge. The man was lucky he didn’t get himself or his girlfriend killed. It could have been a lot worse than it was.

  Mona followed Brian through the parking lot and to the burn unit. Mona imagined that Chloe was really starting to feel the pain since their last encounter. They entered Chloe’s room, and the woman was sitting up in bed looking quite dizzy. Penny was sitting in a chair beside the woman, the two of them having some sort of Christmas chat about the cookies Lou and Penny had baked.

  “Hey, Penny. Hey, Chloe,” Brian said, catching their attention.

  Chloe beamed and threw her arms up above her head. “Hey! The police guy!”

  Penny smirked. “Sorry, Officer Brian,” Penny said. “They’ve got her on some more pain medication. She’s really starting to feel it now.”

  “They got me the good stuff now,” Chloe said, trying really hard not to laugh at this fact. “I can’t feel anything. I feel silly. My fingers and my face are both numb.”

  Brian laughed. “Well, I’m glad you’re feeling okay, Chloe. Have you been getting enough rest?”

  “I love sleeping now,” Chloe said. “These beds are so comfortable.”

  “Dang, you are so gone if you think these hospital beds are comfortable,” Penny said, trying not to laugh at the poor woman. “How is your hand feeling?”

  “I can’t feel nothin’ at all,” Chloe said happily. “I can’t even feel my teeth.”

  “Can you usually feel your teeth?” Mona asked, and Chloe merely started laughing at this question as though it had completely blown her mind.

  “Where is your dad, Penny?” Brian asked. “Got something I wanted to follow up with him. He told me he was here at the hospital?”

  “He was here just a second ago,” Penny said. “Chloe started talking about how hungry she was, and Dad decided to go out and get us all a bite to eat. We’ve been filling up on mostly Christmas cookies, so we need something a little more meaty, I think. He’s grabbing burgers.”

  “I can’t wait for my burger. It’s going to be a good burger,” Chloe said in a sing-song voice.

  Brian smirked, as did Mona. “Do you mind if we wait around in here with you two until your dad gets back?” Brian asked.

  “That’s fine,” Penny said and stood up, going to grab a container full of cookies and sweets, which she presented to them. “Please, eat up. We’ve had more than enough today.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t—” Brian started to say.

  “Please do,” Penny said. “Because if you don’t, I’m going to wind up eating half of these before my dad gets back with dinner!”

  13

  Brian and Mona did wind up sharing some of Penny’s treats. Chloe was half-asleep, drifting in and out thanks to some of the pain medications she was on. Brian and Mona decided to wait around for Lou, still needing to talk to him about the change he had just recently made with his insurance provider. Chloe slowly started to wake up, and she started to hum some sort of unrecognizable song that Mona was fairly certain was supposed to be a Christmas carol. “She’s a little off her rocker,” Penny said with a laugh. “Oh, excuse me a second. My dad is calling me,” Penny said, pulling out her phone and then stepping out of the room. “Hey, Dad,” they could barely hear her say as the door closed behind her.

  “Hey! Where is Penny going?” Chloe asked, her head jerking to the side.

  “She’s just on the phone with her dad, Chloe,” Brian said, smirking a bit at Chloe’s hazy expression. “How are you feeling?”

  “Pretty good,” she sang. “How are you feeling?�
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  Mona chuckled a bit. “Well, at least they’re giving her decent pain medication. I can’t imagine those sort of burns are easy to deal with.”

  “The third-degree burns on her legs are terrible,” Brian said. “Doctor said she is definitely going to need some sort of skin graft. Her hand is probably what hurts, though. The nerves aren’t dead there.”

  “My hand does hurt. You know me so well,” Chloe sang. “Where’s Penny?”

  Mona grinned slightly. “She’s outside on the phone, Chloe. She’s talking with Lou.”

  “Lou is Penny’s dad,” Chloe said.

  “Yeah, we know,” Brian said.

  “Penny is a terrible daughter,” Chloe said. “I’m a worse girlfriend to him, though. We’re so mean to him.”

  Mona raised a brow. “What do you mean by that, Chloe?” she asked.

  Chloe just laughed. “We’re just so terrible. We’re terrible people. I can’t believe she doesn’t like me, because we’re basically the same.”

  Mona and Brian exchanged glances. After a moment, Mona came and sat on the edge of Chloe’s hospital bed. She wanted to cast a spell to get Chloe a bit more relaxed. If she had the time, she could develop a truth potion. But either way, she couldn’t do any of that in front of Brian. Nope, Mona was going to have to try to actually coax the truth out of Chloe. Clearly, the woman was hiding something, and her pain medications were making her tongue a bit lose. “So, Chloe, why do you think you’re a terrible person?” she asked. “Is it because you would borrow money from Lou?”

  “Yes!” Chloe exclaimed. “All the time. I took money from him without him knowing. I would try to put it back most of the time, but that’s not all I would do.”

  “What else would you do, Chloe?” Mona asked, and Chloe shook her head. Mona decided to try smiling brightly at her, to make the drugged woman think they were just having a friendly chat rather than some sort of interrogation. “Was there something else that you would do that would make you such a bad girlfriend?”

  “All sorts of things,” Chloe said. “I’d ask him for money for things for the shop and pocket half of it. He is kind of stupid. He loves me so much, but he is just so dumb and easy. His daughter is the same way.”

  “Really?” Mona asked. “Would Penny steal from him too?”

  “She is his daughter, so it’s a little different,” Chloe said. “I mean, it’s not a big deal if your kid asks for money, right? But she’s a brat. She had a plan, and she played me so bad!”

  Brian sat in the chair by the bedside table. He had on a serious expression, and when Mona made eye contact with him, he nodded as a silent way of telling her to keep Chloe talking. “She played you?” Mona asked. “How?”

  “Well, she told me all about the insurance money,” Chloe said. “Told me all about it.”

  “Penny knew about the new insurance coverage?” Mona asked.

  “Knew about it? She’s the one who convinced her dad to do it!” Chloe exclaimed, then laughed. “She’s smart. I’ll give her that. Conniving little psycho.”

  “But how did Penny play you, Chloe?” Mona asked again, trying to circle back to it as it seemed important.

  “Well, I knew Lou was losing money on that shop. He wasn’t able to loan me as much money as he used to. I like men who can spoil me, and Lou wasn’t really able to do that like he used to. But I like the guy… But I also like finer things, you know? Well, Penny tells me about the insurance money. She tells me that she’d make sure her dad was out of the shop early and tells me to set the place on fire. My stupid butt set the fire and wasn’t able to get out in time. I guess that’s what I get, though, isn’t it? I did this to myself, didn’t I?”

  “Wait, you set the fire?” Mona asked, amazed that she had gotten this confession.

  “Well, of course,” Chloe said. “When Penny told me how much money Lou would be getting, why wouldn’t I? It would be way too easy to trace it back to Lou or to Penny, but I’m just the girlfriend. That’s what Penny said. If I did it, it would be harder for anyone to find out.”

  “So, Penny got you to set the shop on fire so that her dad would get a bunch of cash for the shop,” Mona said. “She was going to let you take the fall for the whole thing.”

  “She never liked me,” Chloe said. “I always thought it was because I took advantage of her dad. I liked her then. Turns out she is even worse than me!”

  “What do you mean by that?” Mona asked.

  “I mean that Penny knew her dad was still in the shop. I didn’t. Not until later,” Chloe said. “I wouldn’t have thought nothing of it, would have thought it was an accident, but I started looking through my purse…noticed that my sleeping pills were missing…” Chloe laughed. “Lou can handle his drink just fine. A bit of eggnog, of all things, wouldn’t have knocked him out. That Penny…twisted, but so smart. I mean, I set the fire…then she uses my pills to knock her old man out…”

  “Penny was trying to kill her dad so she could get the insurance money,” Mona said, shocked.

  “And I was going to be the one to take the fall for the whole thing!” Chloe exclaimed. “I never realized how smart that girl was. She’s just as bad as me… Worse, actually. I never would have set that fire if I had known Lou was upstairs passed out on my pills mixed with eggnog. When I realized my pills were about out, and I hadn’t been taking any because I’ve been doped up on the hospital’s medications and haven’t needed them, I asked Penny. I remember her going through my purse the day of the fire…said she had been looking for gum…little lying brat. Tried to kill my boyfriend and get me sent away to prison in one sweep!”

  Chloe leaned her head back into her pillow, her eyes starting to look rather heavy. “You’re telling me that you set the fire under Penny’s suggestion, is that correct?” Mona asked just to be sure.

  “Sure did,” Chloe said. “I just can’t believe I got myself trapped. I could have gotten myself and Lou killed…all for a nice paycheck…” With that, Chloe drifted off to sleep.

  Mona stood upright as did Brian. “Chloe is our arsonist,” Mona said, “but Penny was the ringleader. She convinced her dad to change the insurance policy and then played Chloe so that she’d take her father out for her.”

  “Chloe gets the blame while Penny walks away with ownership to her father’s shop that is greatly over-insured,” Brian said. “Good work, Mona.”

  “You better go nab Penny,” Mona said.

  Brian exited into the hall, and Mona followed close behind. Unfortunately, Penny was nowhere to be found. The two of them headed down the hall in search for her, wondering if there was a chance Penny overheard Chloe spilling the beans. They headed down the elevator, thinking that perhaps she had gone downstairs to meet her father to help him bring up dinner. Sure enough, they spotted her in the parking lot acting nice with the father she had evidently tried to kill only a few short days ago.

  “Penny!” Brian called. He seemed like he was trying to sound friendly, but the young woman must have seen right through him. She bolted.

  “Penny, where are you going?” Lou yelped, scrambling to avoid dropping all the food as his daughter had pushed him out of the way.

  Lou spun around, staring at Brian as he chased his daughter through the parking lot, shouting at her that she was under arrest and to stop running. Mona found it to be a rather comical scene, as the girl was incredibly quick and limber, weaving in and out of cars. “What in the world?” Mona exclaimed, Brian nearly running straight into the back of a pickup trying to whip around the vehicles as quickly as Penny.

  “What is she doing? Penny! Stop running from the officer!” Lou shouted. “What is this about? This is not the time to show off your track and field experience, Penny!”

  So that’s why she’s so quick on her feet, Mona thought with a bit of amusement as she whipped around another car, causing Brian to fumble from the quick turnaround. His shoes slid on the ice, and he rammed into a truck. Penny changed directions again and headed straight toward
her and Lou as though she intended to make a getaway by disappearing inside the hospital. Mona was tempted to reach for her wand and put a stop to this in the way that was most familiar to her—a few memory charms would do it—but she stopped herself. Instead, Mona stepped aside and flung her arm out, catching the young woman in the throat and causing her to slip on the ice, landing flat on her back.

  “Ouch,” Mona heard Brian say as he made his way over to them.

  “Penny!” Lou yelped, hurrying over. “Are you all right? What is going on?”

  Penny grumbled under her breath as Brian forced her to turn over so that he could put her in handcuffs. He immediately began reading the woman her rights, and when Lou heard Brian tell Penny she was being arrested for attempted murder, insurance fraud, accomplice to arson, and evading an officer, he looked like he was going to pass out in shock.

  Mona pulled the man aside while Brian escorted Penny through the parking lot toward his patrol car. “I’m afraid we found out what really happened to your shop,” Mona said and gave the poor man the whole story about how Penny had convinced him to adjust his insurance coverage, how she had drugged him with sleeping pills mixed with his eggnog, and how she had tried to get Chloe to take the fall. The two women, it seemed, had agreed to both keep their mouths shuts when the plan had fallen short, though the pain medication had made Chloe slip up.

  Mona very happily went with Brian to the station while he booked Penny and spoke on the phone with a judge to issue an arrest warrant for Chloe. Poor Lou, it seemed, would be sulking at home alone on Christmas with his daughter in prison for trying to kill him and his girlfriend on her way there once the hospital released her. He broke up with Chloe before meeting with Brian and Mona at the station to give them a statement.

  At last, it all was over and done with. Mona felt rather accomplished—she had actually managed to help Brian out with a case without using a bit of magic. Brian exited from the chief’s office and headed over to Mona, smiling but looking rather glum. “Thanks for your help, Mona,” he said.