by Lyndsey Cole
The lull in the wind outside matched the sudden absence of noise in the living room. “A body?” Leona asked as she walked toward the porch door. “Give me a candle. I’m going out to take a look.”
Of course, everyone else grabbed candles and followed Leona outside, too. When the wind picked up, the candlelight was gone in seconds, enveloping the women in pitch-black darkness. Camilla flicked her flashlight on and handed it to Leona.
“Let me have it,” Annie said as she intercepted the flashlight. She directed the beam to a dark shape at the bottom of the porch stairs. “There.” She moved the beam from leather shoes to jeans to a yellow raincoat and the back of a head. A man’s haircut. “Whoever it is, is face down. Anyone want to take a closer look?” Annie held the flashlight out but no one moved. “Does anyone have a clue who it is?”
Leona grabbed the flashlight, stomped down the steps, out from under the protection of the porch roof into the driving rain, and crouched next to the body. The others watched, open-mouthed, as she checked for a pulse. “Nothing.” She took the steps two at a time back under the safety of the porch roof.
Another loud crack of thunder. The women eeked as they scurried to the door and back into the relative safety of the house.
By the time Annie walked in, she heard Leona on her phone explaining about the body. “Yes. Cobblestone Cottage. Hurry.”
“Leona?” Annie said. “You know who it is, don’t you?”
“It’s Steve Fitch, Trisha’s husband,” Leona answered as she let herself fall onto the couch. “He came to the Black Cat Café earlier to say hello to me.”
Annie poured more wine and leaned against the dining room table facing the couch and Leona. “Okay. That’s the third time today Trisha’s name has come up. What’s going on with her? And him, for that matter.”
Leona sighed and quickly glanced at Mia before she answered. “Steve and I have kept in touch over the years.”
Annie didn’t miss the stare her mother gave Leona. Those two sisters, Mia and Leona, had more secrets than anyone else Annie knew. And when the secrets were exposed, it was never good news. The knot in Annie’s stomach reminded her that she should be worried about this turn of events. Very worried.
The faint sound of a siren made its way into the house, sometimes fading as the wind howled and drowned out the noise. The candle flames flickered, revealing concern etched on the faces of the five women who sat waiting for someone else to take charge of this dreadful situation.
Annie rubbed her hands together. “Something tells me that you keeping in touch with Steve Fitch created a problem. With Trisha.”
Leona sighed. “That’s not what created the problem, but it sure did keep it going.”
The siren roared into the driveway. Annie waited at the door and pulled it open as soon as Police Chief Tyler Johnson and Detective Christy Crank approached. They stood just inside, dripping on the mat.
“When did the power go out?” Tyler asked.
“I don’t know, maybe thirty minutes ago. Isn’t the power out all over town?” Annie answered.
“No, just a small stretch here along the lake. There’s a tree down on the lines.” Tyler pulled a big flashlight from his raincoat pocket. “Where’s the body?”
Annie led them to the porch door. “At the bottom of the steps.”
Tyler and Christy walked into the darkness.
Leona hadn’t moved from the spot on the couch next to Roxy. “Steve wanted to tell me something. I wonder if that’s why he came here tonight,” she said, more like she was talking out loud to herself than to the other women in the room.
“About what?” Annie asked. She sat next to Leona with her legs bent up next to her and her feet tucked under a pillow.
“I’m not sure, but I think it had something to do with Trisha’s business.”
Camilla gushed, “Her fashion line?”
“I suppose so. He was the VP of her business, Trish Designs.” Leona wrinkled her nose and spat out the words, “Designs Trisha ripped off from everyone else.”
“What are you talking about?” Annie asked.
“Okay. I hate to tell you this now, with your wedding and all, but your gown?”
Annie nodded. “Your gown that you never wore.”
“Right, my gown. Trisha stole my design for herself.” Leona’s fists clenched.
Annie leaned back on the couch. “A design from when you were planning to go to fashion school?”
“Exactly. I had a lot of sketches and, back then, Trisha and I were close. She was amazing with a sewing machine so I gave her my sketches and asked her to make the gown you have. You know, just in case someone ever proposed.” Leona scrunched up her mouth. “I used to be a hopeless romantic. Anyway, I loved the design—simple but elegant—and I wanted to see it made up in a snow white silky satin fabric.” Leona’s eyes filled with water. “I got the gown but Trisha disappeared with all my designs. I felt like a complete fool and gave up on my fashion design dream.” Leona’s face hardened. “I’ll never forgive her for what she did to me.”
Annie stroked Leona’s hand between hers. “And now you want me to wear that gown?”
“You always loved it. When you were little, we’d find you in the closet rubbing the satin against your face. I thought, if you didn’t know the story, I could enjoy seeing you in my gown. At least have someone get enjoyment out of it.”
As the porch door opened, Tyler was practically blown inside. “It’s terrible weather out there.” He took out a handkerchief and wiped the water from his face. “Okay. Who found the body?”
Annie stood up and walked toward Tyler. “I went out with Roxy, tripped, and fell down the stairs. I landed on him. Did you figure out what happened?”
Tyler made some notes before he looked up at Annie. “With all the wind, there are a lot of branches down. It’s possible one hit him on the head, making it accidental blunt force trauma.” Through the flickering candlelight, he looked at each woman. “Is there any reason for you to believe it wasn’t an accident?”
Annie glowered at Tyler. “What are you suggesting?” She swooped her hand around the room. “That the five of us were sitting here, plotting how to kill Steve Fitch? Oh, I’ve got it, make a branch fall down on someone we didn’t even know was out there. At just the right time to make it look like an accident.” Annie turned her back on Tyler before whipping around again. “Sounds like a great pre-wedding plan, doesn’t it? Come on, Tyler, we were all in here sipping wine and having a good time until the storm revved up.”
Tyler held his hands up, palms face-out. “Slow down, Annie. I wasn’t accusing anyone of anything. Why are you so defensive?” He looked around the room. “Who identified the body to be Steve Fitch, anyway?”
Annie glanced at Leona, realizing that Tyler never mentioned the identity of the body. “Maybe we were wrong about that,” she stammered. “You know, in the dark, Leona might have made a mistake.”
“No mistake. Leona? Is there a reason why Steve Fitch would even be here on a night like this?”
Leona didn’t bother to turn her head to look at Tyler. “I don’t know, Tyler. I did speak to him earlier today and he said he wanted to discuss something with me.”
“Did you tell him you would be here?”
“As a matter of fact, that may have come up in our conversation—you know, Annie getting married and us girls getting together—but I didn’t expect to see him tonight. As you may have noticed, this is more of an all-girls thing.” The sarcasm in her voice dripped like melting ice.
“What’s going on, Tyler?” Annie asked, her hands on her hips. “If he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when that branch came down, what difference does it make if Leona, or anyone else for that matter, knew he might come here?”
Tyler snapped his notebook closed. “That’s what I intend to find out. I only said it could be an accident, but I can’t rule out foul play yet.”
Christy entered the room with a thick two-foot-long branch. “This could be
what did the damage. It was lying near the body.” She held the branch carefully at one end and pointed to the other end. “It looks like this could be blood and hair.”
Annie moved closer to examine the branch. She pointed to the red wood at the broken end near Christy’s hand and sniffed it. “That’s cedar. I don’t think this was an accident.”
“How would you know that, Annie? Unless you were the one to swing that branch into Steve Fitch’s head,” Tyler said angrily.
“Or, someone else carried it while they followed Steve Fitch through the dark. This storm made for a great cover but for one little detail.” She glared back at Tyler. “That branch didn’t fall from one of the trees around this house. There aren’t any cedar trees here.”
Chapter 3
Tyler told Christy to bag up the branch for further testing.
He questioned everyone at the house with Annie, not that they had much additional information to offer.
The body was removed and Tyler said he would be back in the morning to examine the area more thoroughly in the light of day and hopefully better weather.
“Good riddance,” Leona mumbled after Tyler finally walked out the door. “I can’t believe how he treated all of us. Like we’re involved in some sort of conspiracy or cover-up in the Who Killed Steve Fitch Club.”
Annie plopped down next to Leona. “I called Jason to fill him in before he hears from someone else about a body showing up just off his front porch. He’ll be back as soon as he can convince the guys to let him leave. Will all of you stay until he gets home?”
“Of course,” Leona spoke for the whole group. She sat up straight. “And I’m over my pity party. This night is your night, Annie, so let’s get back to some fun.”
As if on some prearranged cue, the lights flooded the room and music started up in the middle of a sappy old love song. Everyone laughed, which helped to break the tension from the storm and finding Steve Fitch’s body. Mia walked around the room refilling all the wine glasses and Martha piled a platter with Leona’s tasty nibble food—bacon wrapped scallops, thin slices of Italian bread with mozzarella and fresh basil, smoky deviled eggs, pretzel bites, artichoke dip, and, Annie’s only request, chocolate covered strawberries.
Annie sipped her wine and nibbled on a strawberry as the others chattered away. She licked chocolate off her fingers, then those fingers absentmindedly strayed to the silver strawberry pendant hanging around her neck. The first gift Jason ever gave her.
“You know,” she interrupted. “This murder is a big problem. Tyler and Christy will be back in the morning. We should figure out as much as we can before he puts Leona on the suspect list.”
“That’s crazy talk,” Leona sputtered. “I was in here with all of you.”
“Listen, I know Tyler likes to wrap something like this up as quickly as possible. We don’t know when that branch bashed into Steve’s head. Leona, do you have an alibi for the time before you arrived here?” Annie straightened her legs and wiggled her ankles before she stood up and got a notebook and pen from Jason’s desk drawer.
“Come on, Annie.” She stuffed a scallop into her mouth and held up a finger while she chewed. “I didn’t kill Steve Fitch. He and I have been friends since high school. If you want to know the rest of the story about your gown, I hoped he would ask me to marry him, not that scheming lying Trisha.” Her hand covered her mouth and her eyes widened with the realization that what she just said out loud sounded pretty incriminating. She quickly added, “But that was a long time ago.”
Annie sat down across from Leona. “Exactly. You were angry that Steve didn’t choose you all those years ago. Tyler could jump to the conclusion that you snapped when Steve showed up and you acted on those old feelings. Especially now that I’m getting married in that gown that you hoped you would wear down the aisle with Steve Fitch waiting and smiling at you. So, where were you?”
Leona’s voice hushed to barely a whisper. “After I finished making all this,” her hand swept over the food everyone was enjoying, “Steve was waiting outside the café to talk to me.”
“In the rain?”
Leona shook her head. “We stayed inside, out of the rain. Then I came here and he went,” she shrugged, “I have no idea where he went.”
Annie drummed her fingers on her cheek. “Okay. Steve waited outside the café for you. Did anyone see you two talking together?”
Leona scrunched her lips. “I don’t think so, at least not then. Everyone was gone.”
“I don’t like the sound of, not then, Leona. There was another conversation?”
“Yeah. Earlier, he came into the Black Cat Café with Trisha and her parents, Aunt Milly and Uncle Harold. They’re all in town for your wedding so they popped into the café for coffee and muffins. Uncle Harold was very friendly when he paid, Aunt Milly had her nose in her book, and Trisha pretended she never even saw me. She stayed scrunched in the corner of one of the booths when Steve walked over to the counter and said hello.” Leona shrugged. “No big deal.”
“Except that Trisha saw your old flame, Steve, chatting with you. How do you think that went over?”
Leona crossed her arms and legs. “I didn’t think about it at the time.”
Annie rolled her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
Leona leaned forward. “Okay, I made sure to give Steve a huge smile and I touched his arm when we laughed about something. You know, I flirted a little. Trisha’s face was an angry scowl and I enjoyed every second of it. I’m positive that she didn’t miss one moment of our interaction.”
Camilla sank onto the couch next to Leona. “That’s it! Trisha killed him in a fit of jealousy. It’s always the spouse.” She looked at the others. “Right?”
“Sometimes,” Annie said, then turned back toward Leona. “Trisha and her parents left without Steve?”
“No, they all left the café together. He must have come back alone. Later.”
Annie scribbled some notes in her pad. “This is something I guess. We’ll have to find out what Trisha and her parents did.”
“I’d look into that business of hers, too,” Camilla suggested. “Maybe Trish Designs isn’t doing well, or maybe someone working for her is skimming profits off the top. If his jealous wife didn’t kill him, it could be something to do with money.”
Everyone stared at Camilla. “Wow. That’s a great idea, and you’re just the person to do the digging since you’re a fan of Trish Designs,” Annie said.
Camilla beamed. “I’d love to meet Leona’s nemesis and take her down a notch or two. She won’t even know what hit her.” Camilla smacked one fist into her other open palm, making the other women jump.
“Camilla? Since when did you have such a vindictive streak?” Annie asked. “I like it, but where did it come from?”
Camilla laughed. “Oh, I’m full of surprises, and when one of my friends is in trouble, you can count on me to jump in with both feet. Or,” Camilla lowered her voice, “I just had another idea. Maybe she stole design ideas from the wrong person and Steve found out.”
Leona’s mouth fell open. “Now you’re right back pointing the evidence in my direction.”
“Well, look at it this way, Leona. Trisha stole your designs to use when she launched her business. Maybe her whole design line is based on stolen ideas, not just yours, but someone else who decided not to walk away.” Camilla raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow with a diamond stud and looked at the others. “Well, it’s possible. And you all know how I’m gifted when it comes to reading other women. If I can get in a conversation with Trisha, I’ll know if she’s hiding something.”
The door opened and Jason dashed inside, stripped his dripping raincoat off, and hung it on a hook next to the door. “Glad you’ve got the power back. It certainly is a wild night out there. Anything could happen.”
Annie handed him a glass of wine. “How was your night out with the guys? Less excitement than we had, I hope.”
“Different excitement. No body to
trip over but I did overhear an interesting conversation.” Jason settled into his comfy leather recliner. Smokey, Annie’s cat, curled up on his lap as soon as he lifted the footrest up. “So, fill me in on the details. If I know Annie, you already have plenty of suspects, clues, and motives.” He sipped his wine and looked at each of the women in turn.
Camilla paced around the room. “Trisha murdered Steve in a fit of jealous rage after he and Leona had a somewhat, in her words, flirty conversation.”
Jason raised his eyebrows. “That’s an interesting theory. Any others?”
“Actually, there is another angle,” Annie said. “Trisha stole design ideas from Leona a long time ago. Camilla suggested there could be more disgruntled designers who Trisha stole from.”
“Wouldn’t they kill Trisha instead of Steve, then?” Jason asked.
“That would have done this world a favor,” Leona said before downing the rest of her wine and refilling her glass.
“And since that’s not what happened, what if Steve discovered what she was doing and she stopped him from exposing her fraud?” Annie suggested. “Or someone else did the dirty work. Someone who was trying to protect the golden goose egg.” Annie paused to let that sink in. “The bottom line is, we intend to find out more about Trisha’s business.”
Leona slurred her words, “I don’t think Trisha killed Steve in a jealous rage. One thing he did hint at in our conversation was that their marriage was heading for the rocks.”
“That’s an interesting angle,” Annie said. “Maybe there’s a jealous boyfriend wanting to get Steve out of the way. Someone tired of waiting in the background.”
“Um, Annie? Did you forget something important?” Jason asked.
“Absolutely not. This is important so our wedding doesn’t end up in the middle of some kind of scandal. Or worse, another murder.”
Everyone stared at Annie.
“Listen,” she continued, “the murderer may think Steve told Leona something important. Now Steve is out of the way, but Leona could be in danger.”
Jason ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m tired and I thought I would sit down, relax, visit for a bit with all of you before heading to a good night’s sleep in my apartment while the four of you keep Annie company and spoil her rotten.” He rested his elbows on his knees. “Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned. What I heard at the pub after listening to your theories does have more significance now.”
