Lorna’s lips pressed into a thin line. “She’s the cheap harlot who was seeing my husband.”
“And let’s not call each other na–”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Angela said with a smug smile. “And the last thing I am is cheap.”
Lorna was shaking her finger at Angela again. She was going to take an eye out with that thing.
“I know you killed Jerome,” she hissed, her eyes narrowed and her cheeks scarlet. “I know you did it.”
“Once again, let’s not accuse–”
“Why would I kill Jerome?” Angela asked. “What possible motive did I have?”
Okay, that’s a question that I wanted answered as well.
“Because he wasn’t going to leave me for you,” Lorna replied. “And you were angry about losing your meal ticket.”
So Lorna had known about Jerome and Angela’s affair? How long had it been going on?
“What makes you think he wasn’t going to leave you?”
“He said so.”
Angela smiled and shrugged carelessly. “He told me different.”
“Then he was lying.”
“To you, maybe. Jerry and I had a very open and honest relationship. He was leaving you and you were mad about that. It’s not me that was losing my meal ticket. I can support myself just fine.” Angela’s cheeks went pink and she pointed to Lorna. “It was you that was going to lose out. You haven’t done anything but shop and get manicures for years. You’d be the one losing your meal ticket. It seems to me that you have an even greater motive for killing your husband. Now that he’s gone you have it all. The money, the house, the cars, the kids. Everything.”
“You killed him,” Lorna insisted, her voice rising again. She was beginning to attract the attention of the other guests. This wasn’t a good idea but I had no idea how to stop it. It had taken on a life of its own. “You killed him because if you couldn’t have him, then no one could.”
“You’re delusional,” Angela declared. “I bet you killed Jerry. For the money and so you wouldn’t have to go through a messy divorce.”
“There wasn’t going to be a divorce.”
Her brow quirked, Angela slowly smiled. “Are you sure? Because Jerry knew about you and Roger.”
I almost stumbled back and fell into a heap on the floor after hearing that news. Lorna and Roger? Was it true?
Lorna, too, appeared to be shocked by that news. Her once red face had gone pale and her hand had flown to her throat in a protective gesture.
“You don’t know anything,” she said, her voice choked and strangled. “It’s not what you think.”
I was thinking this all sounded sordid and icky. What were people doing in the suburbs, anyway? And did Cherie know? Was she anywhere around to hear this? With any luck she was still tucked up in bed.
“It’s exactly what I think,” Angela said confidently. “Jerry knew all about your Tuesday afternoon book club meetings and your Thursday workouts at the gym. He knew about it all. He just didn’t care. He stopped loving you a long time ago. He loved me.”
Both women fell silent, locked in a battle of wills. And a staring contest. The color had come back to Lorna’s skin and she’d pulled herself up to her full height, a sneer on her lips.
“If he cheated on me, he would have cheated on you, honey. Do you truly believe he was going to leave me for you? Let me tell you, he wasn’t. You’re just one in a long line of women he’s seen behind my back. You wouldn’t have been the last. He likes them brunette and he likes them young. Even if he did leave me, he would have eventually left you too, when you got too old. Did he tell you that I’m wife number two?”
Sucking in a shocked breath, it was Angela’s turn to go pale. “That’s not true.”
“It is,” Lorna insisted. “I looked the other way and so did he. Our marriage worked because we didn’t expect too much of one another. I didn’t have any reason to kill my husband. But you did. He lied to you about everything.”
I hadn’t seen this altercation coming, nor the revelations. Perhaps I should have consulted with Daisy about it all.
“This is most interesting.”
The sheriff’s voice. When had he arrived? I’d been too busy to notice.
The two women felt silent, realizing that the sheriff may have heard far more than they’d wanted him to.
All this and before I’d even had a cup of coffee. It didn’t bode well for the rest of the day. Plague and locusts couldn’t be far behind.
“Sheriff,” I said in greeting when no one else spoke. “To what do we owe the honor?”
“I was hoping to grab a coffee and a breakfast sandwich in your dining room on the way to the station. I’m supposed to be interviewing William Wagner this morning. Looks like I’ll also be talking to these women as well.”
“But–”
“Sheriff–”
Shaking his head, Garrett held up his hand, silencing them both. “You can both tell me your stories. At the station. And this time let’s tell the truth, shall we?”
“I want my attorney,” Lorna said, her voice shaky, whether with anger or fear I didn’t know. Maybe both.
“You have that right,” Garrett said. “You can follow me to the station. Just as soon as I get my breakfast.”
“I don’t need a lawyer,” Angela sniffed disdainfully. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That is also your right.”
Garrett was looking at me, his brows raised expectantly. Right. Breakfast.
“I’ll just run into the kitchen, Sheriff. Bacon or ham on that sandwich?”
“Whatever is easiest. I appreciate it, Tedi. Thank you.”
At this rate, I was going to start liking the guy.
Fleeing into the kitchen, I asked the chef to quickly make up a sandwich for the sheriff while I poured two coffees. One for me and one for him. In the biggest cups we had. I had a feeling that we were both going to need all the coffee we could get.
William Wagner. Angela Warner. Lorna Bergstrom.
All suspects with motive. And Lorna had been seen on the grounds early in the morning by Terrence. Did I dare tell the sheriff? How would I even explain it?
A ghost saw your suspect right before the murder.
I’d hold off and see what came from his questioning. Maybe the murderer would confess.
And perhaps pigs might take to the skies of Ravenmist and sprinkle rainbow dust along Main Street.
Chapter Sixteen
After such an eventful morning I was happy to retreat to my office with a second cup of coffee and a cinnamon Danish, plus a glass of water for the potted plant on my desk. A gift from my mother who had a bizarre sense of humor. Everyone knew I’d killed every single plant I’d ever owned, so she’d bought me a fern which she claimed was indestructible. I’d promptly named him Howard and begged Missy to help me keep him alive.
My mind was whirling with all that I’d learned this morning and I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in the sheriff’s interrogation room. He had them lined up today, which he hadn’t been prepared for, but supposedly this wasn’t his first murder investigation.
Of all the suspects, Lorna seemed to have the strongest motive, plus she’d been seen in the backyard that morning. She’d lied about it, too, which made me doubly suspicious. I couldn’t think of an innocent reason to be out there before dawn.
Angela, on the other hand, didn’t strike me as having a compelling reason to kill Jerome. Even if he’d lied to her about leaving his wife, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to murder him. She didn’t have anything to gain except revenge and I didn’t get that vibe from her.
Of course, I didn’t have any idea what William Wagner was going to say. He might have the strongest motive yet and make both of the women look completely innocent.
I was deep into my spreadsheets when the door cracked open and my mother stuck her head in.
“Am I interrupting anything?”
&n
bsp; “You are and thank goodness. I’ve been staring at these spreadsheets for the last hour and I could use a break. Can I get you a coffee or tea?”
I started to stand but Mom shook her head and waved me back into my chair, running a finger over one of Howard’s leaves. “No, I’m fine. I came by to suggest a few dates for our girls’ weekend. I was hoping we could go the weekend before Thanksgiving.”
Pulling up my calendar on the screen, I nodded in agreement. “That looks good, as long as all of this drama is wrapped up by then.”
My mother sat back in the chair and crossed her legs. She looked stylish this morning in a pair of dark jeans and a bright red cotton sweater. Her hair appeared to be freshly washed and she was wearing makeup. Not tons of it, but just enough. She looked…young. Or younger than I’d seen her look in a long time. She also seemed happy, which made me feel about two inches tall. I did want my parents to be happy. I wasn’t a horrible person normally. All of this divorce stuff had simply caught me off guard.
“I would imagine it would be soon,” Mom replied. “I heard the sheriff has several suspects in custody today. It might be solved before sundown.”
The gossip mill moved fast in a little town. But as usual, it had distorted a few facts.
“I don’t know if I would describe them as being in custody, Mom. That’s kind of a stretch.”
“They’re at the station. Maybe someone won’t be able to take the pressure when he questions them and they’ll confess.”
“This isn’t Perry Mason.”
Tapping her chin, Peggy smiled. “Sheriff Garrett does sort of look like a Hollywood star though, doesn’t he? So handsome and rugged. So…manly. You could do much worse.”
Apparently, my own mother didn’t think I could do any better. Nice.
“So I’ve been told. If you like him so much, maybe you should date him. Isn’t that what you do now?”
The thought of my mother or father going out on a date horrified me in actuality. I probably shouldn’t be encouraging her. She might take me up on it.
“He’s a little young for me. I don’t want anyone under….oh…forty-eight or nine.”
“You’d be a cougar.”
Another thought that made me cringe. Eww.
“I think that might be fun,” she said with a giggle. A giggle. My mother just giggled about younger men. Kill me now.
Rubbing at my temples, I sighed heavily. As I’d predicted this day wasn’t going well.
“Maybe you should take it slow. Baby steps and all.”
“You young people are so uptight. You need to loosen up. Have some fun. You don’t want to be old before your time because eventually, honey, you will be old.”
“You’re just a ray of sunshine today. Any more wonderful news for me?”
“If it makes you feel any better, I turned down the offer that Roger and Cherie Mullaney put in. It was far too low.”
They’d put in a bid? That was news. Unwelcome news. Thank goodness they were cheapskates.
“Hopefully they’ll find another haunted town. We don’t need a bunch of weekenders moving into Ravenmist.”
“You might want to get used to it. Angela Warner has been advertising in the bigger cities trying to get them to buy country homes here. It’s the wave of the future.”
Angela Warner might be a cold-blooded killer and headed to prison. It would be hard to sell condos from Cell Block D.
I tapped on the keyboard, inputting the date for our girls’ weekend. “I’ve got you in my schedule. I’m looking forward to our weekend. Do you want me to make the arrangements?”
My mother shook her head. “No need. I’ll do it. It’s my treat, remember?”
“I wouldn’t forget a fact like that.” I wanted to make things up to my mom. I’d been a real pill and she didn’t deserve that. “You look really pretty today, Mom.”
Standing, she held out her arms from her sides and twirled once for me. “Thank you. I’m trying out a few looks to see what I like. I think I sort of let myself go these last few years, but I’m looking forward to our shopping trip in Chicago and some time in the spa. I might be old but I don’t have to look old.”
“You’re not old.”
“Really? You said I was old.”
“I didn’t mean it.”
“I think you did but I’m going to let it go. I’m sure parents always look old to their children.” She reached out and pushed a stray strand of hair back that had escaped my ponytail. “You could always spruce up your look too while we’re in Chicago. Get a new haircut and makeup. Maybe some new clothes.”
“What for?”
Had I also let myself go? There wasn’t much to dress up for in our little town. Bingo on Saturday night?
“For yourself. Don’t you like to feel attractive?”
I hadn’t given it much thought.
“Am I unattractive?”
“Of course not. You’re a Hamilton.” My mom’s Southern accent really showed itself at moments like this. “I was simply thinking that it might be time to change up your look. How long have you worn your hair like that? How old are those pants?”
I couldn’t remember, which wasn’t a good sign. Peggy might have a valid point.
“I’ll think about it,” I finally answered. “But I’m doing it for myself, not because I’m trying to catch a man or anything.”
Peggy laughed as she breezed out of my office. “I don’t think you’re as done with love and men as you think you are.”
I was done. Completely and totally. I’d learned my lesson. Life was better when I only had to worry about myself. And a fern.
Chapter Seventeen
To my surprise, when I emerged from my office at lunchtime Lorna was sitting in the dining room as if everything in her world was hunky-dory. Adam was at the table as well, smiling and laughing at something Lorna had said. It must have gone well with the sheriff today.
“I don’t want to wait on her.”
Sighing, I turned around to see one of my waitstaff, Shelly Marbelle, holding a pitcher of water and wearing a scowl. Shelly was a good server but she wasn’t the easiest of employees. She took quite a bit of time off for mysterious ailments that would have killed most people. About a year ago, I stopped Googling her diseases but they’d all been rare and strange. I still have no idea how she managed to contract curare poisoning but she seemed to have recovered completely.
“Wait on who?”
“Her.” Shelly nodded toward Lorna and Adam. “She’s a killer and I don’t want to end up dead.”
That was a mile-high jump in conclusions.
“First of all, the sheriff hasn’t arrested Mrs. Bergstrom so I don’t think calling her a killer is a nice thing to do. She might be innocent. There are other suspects.” Shelley opened her mouth to reply but I shook my head. I wasn’t done talking yet. “Secondly, even if she is the killer that doesn’t mean she wants to kill you. She might just want a drink of water.”
Shelly’s lips tightened. “I don’t want to wait on her. I don’t want to be her next victim.”
This conversation was going nowhere fast.
“I don’t think Lorna Bergstrom is trolling the streets and alleyways of Ravenmist looking for people to kill, nor do I think she’d hack you to death in broad daylight in full view of the other diners. But if still think she’s a threat, why don’t you ask Sally to take her table? You can take table three.”
“That’s Bob Abernathy. He only tips a nickel.”
Because he was about a hundred and fifty years old and that’s what they tipped back then.
“The killer or the bad tipper. Those are your choices.”
Grumbling, Shelly decided that it was better to be alive and have a nickel than be dead with money you couldn’t spend. Sally didn’t seem to have any issues waiting on Lorna and her friend so I ducked into the kitchen to see how things were going in there and to grab a bite to eat. Imagine my surprise to see the sheriff sitting at one of the counters eating a
slab of lasagna from last night’s dinner.
This was becoming a habit and I wasn’t sure I was on board with it. Why was Garrett spending so much time here at the inn?
Oh my stars, he wasn’t…sweet on me, was he? That would be the worst. If he asked me out on a date and I turned him down I’d be getting speeding tickets every day for the rest of my life. Or until he retired, whichever came first.
“Shouldn’t you be interrogating suspects instead of sucking down free food?”
I sounded unnaturally aggressive, but I was still knocked sideways seeing him for the second time today and it wasn’t even one in the afternoon.
“I intend to pay for my lunch.”
“Then why aren’t you eating it in the dining room?”
His raised eyebrows answered the stupid question I’d asked. Lorna was in that dining room.
“I take it the questioning didn’t go well then.”
He took a sip of his coffee and wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “It went great as far as I’m concerned. I learned so much today.”
“Did you learn the identity of the murderer?”
“Not for sure but I have some ideas.”
Glancing over at my kitchen staff, they were all pretending to be hard at work but I knew they had one ear cocked trying to listen for juicy gossip. Luckily the kitchen was almost pure mayhem and it was also incredibly loud. As long as Garrett didn’t yell they wouldn’t hear anything.
“You need to keep your voice down.”
“Because something might actually be a secret in this town? I doubt it. I’m sure my secretary or maybe one of my deputies has already put the word out on the gossip mills about what happened this morning.”
Mocking. It was the only way to describe his grin. I was in no mood for it.
“Sounds like you are beginning to get small town life.”
The head chef had anticipated my appearance and he had another plate filled with lasagna and a slice of garlic bread. I had a feeling Garrett’s plate had originally been mine.
Eat, Drink, and Be Scary (A Ravenmist Whodunit Paranormal Cozy Mystery Book 1) Page 10
