Nosy Neighbor: All 7 complete Nosy Neighbor cozy mysteries PLUS: 2 short Christmas stories (A Nosy Neighbor mystery)

by Cynthia Hickey

  This wasn’t new. “Anything else?”

  “She’s the head gang leaders woman. If you want to know what’s going on, and you’re willing to risk the danger, then you need to befriend her.”

  The other girls nodded. “No one knows the leader’s real name,” the same girl said, “but he goes by Stinger.”

  “What does he look like?” I asked.

  “No one has ever seen him, at least not that they know of.” She retreated to the corner of the cell as footsteps pounded down the hall.

  Matt, his face as red as my newest pair of ballet flats, which were the shade of cherries, dragged Maryann, his sister and my best friend to the cell. “Spend some time in here to cool off.”

  She yanked free. “Gladly.” She sailed through the door after he opened it. “Hello, Stormi.”

  Matt cast me a pained glance. I looked away. “What are you doing here, Maryann?”

  “I assaulted a police officer,” she giggled. “Once I heard you were in the slammer, I demanded Matt release you. When he refused, I slapped him.” She plopped on the bench beside me. “I feel bad, kind of. He’s only doing what he thinks will protect you, but for crying out loud, isn’t here another way?”

  “It isn’t so bad,” I said. “Billie and the others are answering some questions for me.”

  “Great. I found out some things, too.” She proceeded to tell me that the police department had hired some men to go undercover and try to get the gang out of our city. “I don’t know who they are, and I don’t want to. That would be dangerous for them.”

  “How did you find this out?”

  “I’m the best eavesdropper in the world, remember?” She smiled at the other women before turning back to me. “Your mom and Greta are in the front causing a ruckus as we speak. We’ll be out of here by nightfall, or Matt isn’t my brother.”

  My suspect list was growing, and I was no closer to finding out who killed Daisy than I was the day she was murdered. “Does anyone here know of why Daisy might have been killed?”

  “I might.” One of the other women, this one way too old to be walking the streets, said, “Rumor on the streets is that she saw something she shouldn’t have and made too much noise.”

  “What did she see?”

  She shrugged. “Girl, if I knew that, I’d be dead, too, but rumor has it, she saw some underhanded dealings in the gang.”

  “That happens all the time,” Billie said. “So what was different this time?”

  “I don’t know. It has something to do with Stinger.”

  I met Maryann’s gaze. It turned out, getting thrown behind bars might have been the most productive thing to have happened to me since Daisy’s death. “I don’t know you women, but I hope that anything said in this cell doesn’t leave here.”

  “Definitely,” Billie said. “We’ll all be in danger if it does.” She narrowed her eyes. “If I find out someone talks, they’ll have to deal with me, and if I’m locked up, well, I have a lot of friends.”

  “No need for threats.” I put my hand on Billie’s arm. “I’m going to find Daisy’s killer, hopefully before I’m dead. I won’t say a word about where I get my information. Other than, Billie, who asked to be in my book, the other three of you don’t exist. Billie, I’ll change your name and profession, but you’ll know who you are. Thank you.”

  “One more thing.” The youngest girl spoke up. “I’ve never seen Ivy turn a trick. She seems more of a watchdog to me and that Sissy rarely leaves her side.”

  Another good fact to know. I looked up as Matt approached the cell. “Stormi, Maryann, you’re free to go. Ann and Greta won’t leave me alone until you're out.” He unlocked the door.

  “Looks like your little plan didn’t work.” I shoved past him.

  “I’ll talk to you later,” he said, his voice stern.

  “We’ll see. I have a headache and plan to go to bed early.” Right after I write down everything I learned that day.

  I rushed to where my Mom and Greta waited. “Thanks.” I bent close to Mom’s ear. “Wait until you hear what I found out.”

  “Go home, Maryann,” Matt said behind me. “You, too, Stormi. We’ll talk later.”

  I shrugged. I’m sure we would talk, or rather he would lecture and I would halfway listen. I knew it pained him that trouble followed me, but I didn’t ask Daisy be killed, or to be threatened. I had every intention of staying out of her murder until that threat happened. Now that it had, I’d been exiled to the mountain. I was determined to solve this case and get back into my daily routine of writing.

  At the van, I turned around. Matt watched from the front steps of the police department. The hurt expression on his face was almost my undoing. I tossed him a wave and a sad smile. He was right. I shouldn’t be involved. But yet again, the trouble came to me. I didn’t go looking for it, but I wasn’t one to sit back and wait while an already overworked police department tried to solve the case.

  I climbed into the back seat, willing to let Mom drive and stared out the window. Things were growing more and more complicated. While I was happy not to actually be arrested, I could have asked a few more questions of my new acquaintances. Oh, well. They’d given me a few clues to follow up on.

  Who was Stinger? How was Jamal involved in all this, and why did he continue to warn me? Why should he care? Did his mother know he was involved in the gang? How could she not?

  I decided a visit to Shaunda might be on the agenda. I would really like to find a way to get her son free from the gang’s clutches. What would that entail? Would it be dangerous to the boy? There was so much I didn’t know. When this was all over, I’d ask Matt how to free Jamal.

  I was so lost in my thoughts, the hour drive to the cabin seemed more like ten minutes. When we arrived, I headed straight to the shower. I could still feel the oil from the pancake makeup on my face, not to mention the rank odors of the jail cell.

  After turning the water to hot, I shed my out-of-date clothes and waited for the shower to heat. My heart lay heavy in my chest, fearing I couldn’t repair the damage done to mine and Matt’s relationship. I needed to apologize and plead my case.

  Hopefully, he could see my side of things.

  13

  I got my chance that night after supper. The family had just cleaned the dishes, and sat back at the table, when Matt arrived. Knowing the alarm code, he let himself in and disarmed it.

  “Looks like I’m just in time.” He tossed me a glance, a question in his eyes. Was I going to be kind or did I still hold a grudge?

  “Could I talk to you outside?” I reached for my coat and headed out the back door, knowing he would follow.

  “I’m sorry—”

  “I hope you under—”

  We both spoke at the same time.

  Matt grinned. “May I speak first?”

  I nodded.

  “I didn’t know what else to do.” A shadow passed over his eyes. “You’re in danger, again, and it terrifies me.”

  “I’m sorry I acted like a child.” I cupped his cheek. “But, I’m a strong-headed person. I love the mountain, but hate being forced into exile. I didn’t ask for this. I planned on staying out of Daisy’s murder, but then I got that warning without doing a thing. I can’t sit back and wonder what’s going on, what clues you’ve found out, etc. Norma is afraid for her life, Angela feels responsible for Daisy’s death. I can’t sit back and do nothing. They’re counting on me.”

  He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. “I know. No promises, but I’ll try not to react so strongly.”

  “That’s all I can ask.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his face close for a kiss.

  Matt’s kisses increased in strength. He pulled me as close as was physically possible until my heart pounded. For a few minutes I forgot the world around us, the danger in the city, and the fact we weren’t alone. Until Mom knocked on the kitchen window.

  “Knock it off. We have work to do.”

  I sighed an
d rested my forehead on Matt’s chest while I struggled to regulate my breathing. A heavy make out session was long overdue. Finding the privacy for one was next to impossible.

  He groaned and took my hand, leading me into the cabin where we were greeted by wolf calls and laughter. Matt grinned and pulled out my chair. “Let’s hear what you’ve all come up with.”

  “Great.” Mom plopped a pad of paper on the table and handed me a sharpened pencil. “Let’s make a list.”

  Angela eyeballed Matt, clearly not wanting him to know she had snooped around the police department. “I got nothing. Kids?”

  Dakota folded his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair. “Did you know the library is full of information?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact.” I met Mom’s amused glance.

  “Well,” he motioned his head toward Cherokee. “we discovered that the gang leader is named Stinger. There is a lot of mystery surrounding this man, and he is one bad cookie. You don’t leave his gang alive, and betraying him results in some very bad stuff.”

  I shuddered, thinking of Jamal. “If Daisy had crossed him, that would explain her murder.”

  Matt’s eyes widened. “You’re investigating Stinger? Are you crazy?” He ran his hands through his hair. “You’re asking to be shot. Every one of you. Is this the man that Norma thinks is after her?” He glanced at me. “When was the last time you spoke with her?”

  “Before we came up here.” My blood ran cold and I reached for my cell phone, dialing her number. After several seconds, I left a voice mail for her to call me. “Do you think she’s missing?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll check with her son tomorrow.” Matt shook his head. “This is way over your head, Stormi.”

  “I agree, but I’m at a loss as to what to do. Jamal knows I’m asking questions. He warned me before I even asked them.”

  Matt pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re killing me.”

  “Okay.” Mom tapped her pencil on the paper. “We know this is dangerous, we need to get a hold of Norma. Anything else? What about a list of suspects?”

  “Stinger doesn’t get his hands dirty,” Matt said. “He would have had someone else kill Daisy, if that’s what happened.”

  “Any more information on the poison ivy?” Mom really got into the sleuthing thing.

  “It had been liquefied, a large amount, and stirred into the cream.” Matt jumped to his feet and headed for the coffee pot. “The actual murderer has to have been at the party.”

  “I’ve got some info on that.” I raised my hand and got strange looks from my family.

  “We aren’t in school, Aunt Stormi.” Cherokee rolled her eyes.

  “Right. Well, when I was locked up, and during my short acting stint, I found out that Ivy has access to a greenhouse, Lacey likes making hybrids of flowers, and Ginger wants to be a florist someday. Any one of those three could have killed Daisy.”

  “And,” Greta spoke up, “someone on the outside could have given the ivy to Sissy. All those girls are suspects in my book.”

  “This is nothing new.” We were getting nowhere. “Oh! I just remembered, someone told me that Ivy was the gang leader’s woman. Does that mean she’s dating Stinger?”

  “Gang members don’t date,” Greta said. “They’re just together.”

  “Whatever, the details don’t matter. Put Ivy at the top of the list.”

  “Do you really think that Stinger would sacrifice his girlfriend?” Mom tilted her head. “Wouldn’t they have someone lower down the totem pole do the deed?”

  “Can you all hear yourselves?” Matt turned, coffee mug in his hand. “Stop nosing around.”

  We continued as if he hadn’t spoken. What was he going to do? Arrest everyone at the table? I drummed my fingers on the stained pine top. “Did anyone think to check past news reports to see whether anyone had died recently? Other than Daisy? Maybe she witnessed the murder and said too much.”

  “I did,” Cherokee said. “Two young gang members were killed, execution style, over a month ago. Maybe Daisy saw that.”

  Matt groaned.

  “That’s it, isn’t it?” I pointed at him. “We’ve hit the nail on the head.”

  “You know I can’t discuss the investigation.”

  I grinned. “You don’t have to.” I turned back to the others. “So, what do we do now?”

  “I can’t listen to this.” Matt took his coffee to the front porch.

  “First, we need to make sure Norma is okay,” I said. “I’ll try to meet her for coffee tomorrow.” I tried Norma’s number again. Still no answer. I was starting to get worried. She’d worked so hard to leave the lifestyle of a prostitute behind. What a horrible thing to end it all by being murdered. I couldn’t let that happen.

  “Greta, you were a police officer,” I said. “What would you do next?”

  “Try to protect the ones involved, which we’ve done by coming up here.” She stared at the ceiling. “Then, we’d ask questions of potential witnesses, which we did this morning, then we’d sit around and discuss our findings. Really, not much different from what we’re doing here. We could make a case board. It wouldn’t be hard to find our suspects photos online. I’m sure they’ve all been arrested at least once.”

  “Good idea.” I rummaged through the kitchen drawers for index cards. The wall next to the refrigerator would make a good board. “Dakota, take down that painting of the deer. We need that wall.” Index cards in hand, I returned to the table.

  “I’ll go print off the photos.” Greta pushed to her feet. “This could help Matt, too. We might see something he’s missed.”

  Half an hour later, the wall was covered with photos and cards marked up with a marker. Matt opened the front door, took one look, and withdrew back outside. Poor guy. I’d have to go check on him in a few minutes.

  I stared at the chaos on the wall. We’d placed the victim in the top left hand corner with a card under it that said “witnessed murder”. Then, we had the suspects and why they were placed in the category. “We really need to get into Ivy’s greenhouse.”

  “We have to find out where her mother lives first,” Greta said. “I’m pretty sure that’s where it is. She peered closer at the board. “Ivy’s real name is Micayla Smith. The only address I could find was the one where she lives now.”

  “We’ll have to follow her for a few days.” Hopefully, she spent time each day after her “shift” to play with her plants. “What time does the street close for business?”

  Greta shrugged. “I think the girls work in shifts. So far, we’ve seen Ivy during the day.”

  “Right. A girl in the jail said Ivy is more like a watchdog.”

  “Then she probably doesn’t have regular hours.” Greta crossed her arms and stared at the board. “Angela, you can find out where she lives.”

  “No, way. I’m with Matt on this one. I’m staying out of it from now on.” She crossed her arms. “I’m not going to jeopardize my job by snooping.”

  “I thought you were going to get rich from your facial products,” Mom said.

  “Like that’s going to happen now. I can’t get a single person to even take a sample.” She hung her head. “That endeavor was over as soon as it started.”

  My heart went out to her, but eventually people would realize it wasn’t the product that had killed Daisy. “This is another reason to solve this case; so people aren’t scared of Angela.”

  “I never said they were scared! Just wary.”

  “Same thing.” I waved my hand.

  “This is so unfair.” She glared. “You’re going to write a book about all this, make a ton of money, get your name in the paper, and I’ll be stuck barely making enough to survive on.”

  “I know how you can get in the paper.” I smirked. “Get caught snooping at work and arrested. You’ll be famous.”

  “Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

  “Girls.” Mom gave us the tone that told us to stop our bickerin
g immediately. Even at almost thirty years old, I listened when she spoke in that way.

  “Are you crazy people done yet?” Matt called from the door.

  “Why aren’t you in here helping?” Mom asked.

  “I could get in a lot of trouble if I got involved with your shenanigans.” Still, the board seemed to draw him like a magnet. “Impressive.” He stood with legs spread shoulder width apart and arms crossed and studied the board. “Until your discussion at the table, I didn’t know which of the women had access to plants. At least not to the degree it would have taken to kill Daisy. I hate to admit it, but that does help the investigation. The young man in your car was Denzel Peters, Daisy’s main squeeze.”

  Interesting. He had obviously been privy to the same information that got her killed. “Does that mean we can keep doing what we’re doing?” I put my arms around his waist and laid my cheek against his back.

  “I wish you wouldn’t, but short of actually arresting you, I won’t be able to stop you.” He put his hands over mine. “I’ll keep being afraid of losing you.”

  Ouch. His words hurt. I tried not to get involved, for both our sakes, I really did. But now that it has been taken out of my hands, I’m glad he understands. This is me. The nosy neighbor of Oak Meadow Estates.

  My cell phone rang, pulling me reluctantly, back to the table. Caller ID said it was Norma. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

  “I can’t really talk.” Her words barely carried through the phone. “Things are getting bad here. I’ve sent Tyler way. Can you meet me tomorrow? At the park. Nine o’clock?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “I have to go. I’m being watched. Look for the woman with the brown head scarf.” Click.

  I told the others of our conversation.

  “I’ll be there, out of sight,” Matt said, holding up a hand at my protests. “That’s the only way you’re going.”

  I nodded. I’d feel a lot safer knowing he was there. “Maybe you could bring Koontz, too. The more the merrier when danger is involved.”