HELL'S HALF ACRE a gripping murder mystery full of twists (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 2)

by JACKIE ELLIOTT

  That’s what I need, smelling salts, Jade thought, not understanding why she couldn’t pull herself out of this deep sleep. Why was it so dark? Was it the middle of the night?

  Her eyes opened, and she realized she was sitting up, and for a minute she had a rush of panic. Did she fall asleep at her desk? What was that smell?

  Everything smelled musty and damp, like dirt. Jade wanted to cough and tried to bring her hand to her mouth. But she couldn’t. When she moved her hand, something dug into her flesh, and she cried out. Was she still dreaming?

  Gradually her eyes got accustomed to the dark, and her groggy mind began to clear.

  She remembered the phone call, just before she was about to leave the office. It was from Mr Knight. She remembered his calm, measured voice, asking if she could spare a minute and meet him at the fish plant?

  She hadn’t wanted to go to the Fat Chicken. She’d been so worried since Ricky Havers was found. She just wanted to go home, but she knew they expected her at the belly dancing display. Nadine had reminded her about six times. But a quick visit to the fish plant seemed a welcome distraction, just for half an hour, and besides, it was work, wasn’t it?

  She’d left the office without telling anyone. Nobody would miss her for a while, she was sure. She’d walk down to the fish plant and when the meeting was over she would take a stroll along the boardwalk and think about what she was going to say to Inspector Vega. She couldn’t put this off any longer. The guilt was tearing her apart.

  When she got to the fish plant, it was deserted. Only the gulls called to her and pecked and fussed in the evening air. The ocean lapped lazily around the pier, and Jade thought how beautiful this place could be, what potential this waterfront lot had, once the derelict fish plant was finally torn down.

  Jade tried opening the door to the plant, but it was locked. Of course it was, she remembered, it was dangerous. They didn’t want kids running all over it and getting hurt.

  She wandered round to the other side of the building, wondering if Mr Knight was waiting for her there.

  Nobody.

  Maybe she’d got the day wrong? Maybe he meant tomorrow evening, and she’d misheard, maybe deliberately, because she didn’t want to go to the Fat Chicken?

  She sighed. Couldn’t put it off any longer. Mr Knight would call again.

  She heard something, she couldn’t think what it was now. Maybe a gull shrieking? And then the crunch of footsteps running, someone saying something to her, but she couldn’t hear. It all went dark.

  Then confusion. It felt like ten people were pushing and pulling her and whispering in her ear. It got darker and colder and then someone — a man — put their lips to her ear and said two words.

  And then nothing. And now? Where was she? Why had this happened?

  Jade began to cry. And then she tried to scream. But her voice seemed muffled, as if she were shouting into a pillow.

  What was it that man had said to her?

  “Daniel’s girl.”

  Who was Daniel? She wasn’t Daniel’s girl! They had the wrong person.

  Or had they? What if this was payback for Ricky?

  Jade hung her head, and as she cried, she felt an overwhelming urge to sleep.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Vega stood at the front of the room.

  “OK, people, I need your attention. It’s been a long day and it’s not over yet. We’re going to put together what we know so far, the limited amount of forensic data we have and information we’ve gathered from interviews and statements so far.”

  He paused and looked around the room. His team had been working since the early hours of the morning. On a normal day, most of their shifts would be over. But this was not a normal day, and eyes looked expectantly back at him.

  He continued.

  “We’ll eat on the go — pizza and coffee are on the way, courtesy of Hephzibah’s.”

  There was a murmur of appreciation in the room. Nobody had managed to eat so far that day, and given the scenes they had all witnessed, Vega knew that most of the officers wouldn’t have much of an appetite. But he needed everyone to bring their best to this case. And officers who were too tired and hadn’t eaten were not on the top of their game.

  Vega continued. “Right, we have two crime scenes. Two more crime scenes. Both are homicides, and we’re treating them as one investigation at the moment, with potential links to the Ricky Havers case.”

  Vega pointed to the board. Stuck to it were the unpleasant but necessary pictures of the dead victims taken at the respective crime scenes.

  “First, Nadine Dagg — throat slit, found at the back of the Fat Chicken pub. Time of death was after midnight, we believe, but probably before three in the morning. Not confirmed yet, but we’ll have that soon. Over here are Dennis and Sandra Havers. Found this morning by their housekeeper, Joanna Campbell. Dennis shot in the head at his desk, and Sandra shot in her bed. Both shot with Dennis’s gun, it appears.”

  An officer interrupted, “Is it a possible murder-suicide, sir? Or a suicide pact? Given the recent discovery of their son?”

  “No. It’s a reasonable theory, except forensics believe Dennis was shot first, and although there may have been an attempt to make it look like a suicide, because Dennis was shot in the side of the head, the angle is all wrong. But the safe was left open, and Dennis left a note. So it’s possible he’d intended to kill himself but was helped along. Dennis also reeked of booze, and there was an empty bottle of Jack Daniel’s at the scene. The coroner says it’s unlikely he could have held his hand steady enough to fire a shot.”

  “What did the note say, sir?”

  Vega preferred the questions to come at the end, but he grabbed his notebook.

  “The note specifically is not addressed to anyone. But it was in the same envelope with the housekeeper’s name on and it was full of cash. Joanna Campbell, the housekeeper and unfortunate soul who found the victims this morning, said Dennis always left her cash on his desk. The note says just one thing: ‘I am responsible for the death of Daniel Ellis. I am truly sorry. I have always loved Sandra. I am so sorry. Dennis.’”

  “Nothing about Ricky? And who is Daniel Ellis?” another officer asked.

  “All questions we need answering, and quickly,” Vega said briskly. “At the moment, we have one person connected to all three deaths: Lee Dagg. Lee is Nadine’s husband. We know from more than one statement that Nadine and Dennis Havers were having an affair and weren’t too discreet about it. The affair had been going on for years. Several people confirm that Lee was pretty fed up with his marriage and Nadine was, let’s say, a ‘high-maintenance’ wife who liked to spend beyond their means. Ricky Havers’ remains were found on the Daggs’ land — in the middle of the woods, where people would be unlikely to walk.”

  “Wasn’t it Katie Dagg who found Ricky?”

  “Good point, Officer. Katie Dagg arranged a field trip of sorts for the historical society, and by Lee’s own admission, he had no idea the event was taking place. Our working theory, based on the evidence we have at the moment, is Lee Dagg, a humiliated husband, seeks revenge on his wife and her lover by first snatching the lover’s son and killing him and then, when the affair doesn’t end, killing his wife and her lover. There doesn’t seem to be a reason for killing Sandra unless she was just collateral damage.”

  The room was silent. Everyone seemed to be taking it in.

  Then an officer said, “Lee Dagg wasn’t at the Fat Chicken. He could have dropped Nadine off, and then gone to the Havers’, killed them both and then come back to pick up Nadine, right?”

  Vega nodded.

  “Dagg was informed of Nadine’s death as her next of kin earlier today. So far, he’s been unable to tell us where he was all night. Katie says she heard him come home in the early hours, and she assumed it was Lee and Nadine, after the belly dancing night. She says she was at the neighbour’s house all evening, and her dad wasn’t home when she got back. She thought he was at th
e Fat Chicken. Everyone at the pub confirms he was not there.”

  Vega looked around the room.

  “There are holes in this theory. I want you all to gather evidence, please. Keep an open mind. Do not discard evidence or statements that don’t fit with this,” he added, and he banged the whiteboard. “Too many investigations have gone sideways because we only looked at evidence that worked with our theory. But we do need to know where Lee Dagg was all night.”

  “We also need to know who Daniel Ellis was,” Sergeant Fowler said. “He was important enough for Dennis Havers to be thinking of him just before he died, so he’s important to us. Was this killing revenge for Daniel Ellis’s death?”

  Vega let Fowler take over and assign tasks to the team. She was efficient and knew what needed to be done.

  “OK, folks—” he looked at his phone — “it’s six. Grab something to eat, get on with your assignments and we’ll meet at eleven. Let’s make progress, please.”

  PC Matt Beaufort knocked on the door.

  “Inspector? I think you need to hear this. Summer Thompson is in an interview room. She says her daughter Jade is missing.”

  “The mayor’s missing?” Vega was astonished. Then he remembered Andi had told him Jade hadn’t made it to the Fat Chicken.

  “OK,” he told PC Beaufort, “I’m coming.”

  He threw a glance at his whiteboard as he left the room. He knew he’d told his team to follow the evidence and not the theory, but was it possible Jade’s disappearance was connected? And did that mean they had no leads at all?

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Summer Thompson stood up as Inspector Vega entered the interview room. She looked anxious, and he saw she was rubbing her hands nervously. He saw Matt Beaufort had supplied Summer with a cup of tea which she hadn’t touched. Matt had also started to take some notes.

  Vega gestured for Summer to sit down at the table and also indicated for Matt to take one of the empty chairs. Vega sat down in the other.

  “OK, Summer,” he said, “Matt here is going to take notes as we chat and then we’ll get all available officers out looking for Jade. Let’s start with when you last saw her.”

  Summer took a deep breath.

  “I saw her yesterday when she left for work. I didn’t actually see her. She likes to be quiet in the mornings, get her head together for the day ahead, so I give her some privacy. But I got up and watched her car drive away.”

  Vega raised his hand. “You know it was Jade behind the wheel?”

  Summer nodded. “Yes, Inspector. And I know she was in the office yesterday because I’ve already checked.”

  “Good. OK, carry on.”

  Vega knew they would verify everything, but he wanted Summer to tell him everything she knew first.

  “I wasn’t expecting Jade back for dinner, as I knew she was going to that awful belly dancing thing at the Fat Chicken. So I watched some TV, but I thought she’d be back by midnight. I fell asleep on the sofa, and when I woke up, she still wasn’t home, and it was about one o’clock in the morning.”

  “Did you try to call or text?”

  Summer shook her head miserably.

  “I wish I had, but I thought she might have stayed with Hephzibah or something . . .” She trailed off and looked at Vega. “The thing is, Inspector, she’s a grown woman, not a teenager. I didn’t want to be fussing, and we agreed when we moved in together, we would give each other space, so I didn’t want to seem . . . hysterical . . .” She put her head in her hands.

  Vega reached out and patted her hand. “I would have done the same. This morning? Nothing from her?”

  Summer raised her head. “No. I expected her back for a change of clothes before work, but she’s been busy and stressed, so I left it again, and then when I went to get a coffee, I heard about poor Nadine, and I just thought she must be talking to you. I saw her car in the city parking lot. I went home and expected to see her. I knew she would be distraught about Nadine. It’s so terrible. And then, when I didn’t hear anything, I went down to her office and the lady on reception said Jade hadn’t been in all day. I came straight here, thinking she might be in an interview or something . . . but she’s not and now I’m really worried, Inspector. This isn’t right. She would never just go off, not with everything going on . . . Something terrible has happened, hasn’t it?” The last words were a whisper.

  Vega decided to be straight with Summer.

  “It doesn’t seem right, I agree. Let’s not panic, but Matt here is going to ask you a few more questions about Jade, so we can circulate a description. Her car is still in the parking lot?”

  Summer nodded.

  “Right, so she’ll be on foot . . .”

  Summer finished for him, “Or in someone else’s car.”

  “That is possible,” Vega conceded.

  There was a knot in his stomach. He didn’t want to frighten Summer, but with four murder victims, he feared for the young mayor. And he was convinced, even without solid evidence, that all four victims were connected somehow, and Jade must be part of this puzzle. So he leaned forward and said, “Summer, you have to answer me honestly. I can’t do my job if you don’t, and time is not on my side. So, I’m going to ask you once: is there a connection between Jade and Ricky Havers?”

  Summer’s reaction was confirmation. She physically flinched, as though Vega had slapped her.

  Damn that woman, Vega thought. Andi was right.

  “Summer, let me have it now.”

  “A long time ago Ricky Havers assaulted . . . no, raped my daughter.” The words came spilling out as Summer clasped and unclasped her hands. “It ruined my daughter’s life, Inspector. She never told a soul, not me, not anyone, until she got some counselling last year. She always hated visiting me here at Coffin Cove, but last year she told me why. She was very angry, Inspector.” Summer looked at Inspector Vega, almost pleading. This was it, he thought. What was it Dennis had said on the phone? My son wasn’t an angel. He did things to people.

  She continued, “She was angry because Ricky had that damn Smoke Room store, right in my backyard. Whatever shady deal Dennis was cooking up, that store was causing daily problems. We — that is, the trailer park residents — we petitioned, but Dennis was mayor, and whatever he wanted, he got.” Summer sounded bitter. “Jade was so angry. One night it all got too much. She took my gun.”

  Vega couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

  “A gun? What did she do, Summer?”

  “She never meant to hurt him. She just wanted him to admit what he had done. Acknowledge it. She confronted him. But I got there, Inspector, and although she fired, the shot went wide — she wasn’t used to guns.”

  But knew enough to load one, Vega thought. He was transfixed, but he was aware PC Beaufort was scribbling this down.

  “Was he hurt, Summer?”

  She shook her head.

  “He fell. They were both on the roof of the Smoke Room and Ricky lost his footing and fell. But I’m sure the worst that happened to him was a sprained ankle. Jade and I ran home. She was so . . . I don’t know. The next morning, we both expected the RCMP to come knocking. But they didn’t, and I drove past the Smoke Room to see if he was hurt badly, but he wasn’t there. We assumed he decided not to report Jade because he didn’t want anyone to know what he did to her. I’m certain Jade wasn’t the only one.”

  “But then Jade decided to run for mayor?” Vega said, almost to himself. “And Ricky went missing.”

  The fall explained the broken ankle and clavicle, he thought. And there was no way Ricky could move far with those injuries. Somebody must have taken him.

  “Jade wanted to tell the RCMP. But it would have hurt her candidacy, so I persuaded her not to,” Summer said. “It was my fault, Inspector. I should have known something was wrong when she was a teenager. I failed her. She wanted to be mayor because she hates injustice of any kind. And Dennis and his cronies have been running this town into the ground for years.”
r />   Vega sat back in his chair.

  “Summer,” he said, watching her closely, “are you aware both Dennis Havers and his wife Sandra are dead? Shot sometime in the early hours of this morning?”

  He watched as her eyes went wide and both hands flew to cover her mouth.

  “Summer—” he leaned forward — “I have to ask you this. Do you still have that gun?”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Matt Beaufort made a surreptitious call to his wife. It was nine o’clock, and the detachment was still buzzing. It felt chaotic to Matt, as phones were ringing and Vega’s officers were rushing in and writing notes on the whiteboard or shouting to each other from behind their computer screens.

  Inspector Vega stood in the middle of the room, calmly taking calls and assigning new tasks. Occasionally, he’d clap his hands as if he were the coach of some sporting team, encouraging them towards a win.

  Matt told Lily he’d be late again. He didn’t have a specific task, but every so often, someone would stick their head out of the office and ask him to copy something or look something up.

  All day he’d been making cups of tea for interviewees and sometimes taking notes for Vega’s detectives.

  So far, the media hadn’t descended on Coffin Cove. But Vega had warned Matt it could happen soon.

  “Hello?”

  Matt looked up. He recognized Walter, the owner of the Fat Chicken.

  “Yes, sir, can I help you?”

  “Could I see Inspector Vega, please? I have some information for him. I’m not sure it will help, at least . . . I think . . .”

  Matt smiled at the man. “Inspector Vega is busy. Maybe you can tell me?”

  Walter nodded, “You’re right, of course. He must be run off his feet.”

  Matt came out from behind the small counter and pointed to a couple of chairs in the foyer. “Sit down, sir. I’ll make some notes.”

  Walter sat down. “You know, it sounds crazy, but I’ve talked to my wife, and then we called Jim Peters and we all think it’s peculiar.”