Murder, Mayhem and Bliss (Myrtle Grove Garden Club Mystery Book 1)

by Loulou Harrington

  “And pizza,” Connie said. “We’ll bring pizza.”

  ∙∙∙•••●●●•••∙∙∙

  Across the hall, the customers were gone, the closed sign was up, and the curtains were drawn. A center table held a tuna salad sandwich on fresh bread Jesse had helped bake before leaving that morning, and hot tea brewed in a hand painted, six-cup, English china teapot.

  A cup and saucer, small bowl of fruit, and the plate with the sandwich were also English china in complementing floral patterns of green and gold. It was standard dinnerware for the tea room and part of Jesse’s personal collection, or obsession as some had suggested. She sat down, took a deep breath and began to relax.

  “We thought you might be hungry,” Sophia said from across the room.

  “We were pretty certain you would be hungry,” Lindsey amended, leaving the coffee bar to join Jesse at the table.

  “We have dessert if you’re still hungry after that,” SueAnn called from the kitchen.

  “Matt and Connie want to have a meeting a little after closing, so I think I’ll hold off on dessert,” Jesse said. “If there’s enough, SueAnn, you could put it in a bag and I’ll take it upstairs with me.”

  “Sure thing,” SueAnn answered. By the time Sophia joined Lindsey and Jesse at the table, SueAnn set a bagged container on a neighboring table and joined the rest of them.

  Everyone else drank coffee and nibbled at slices of pumpkin tea bread while Jesse ate her sandwich and drank a hot cup of Earl Grey. “I don’t suppose there’s any pumpkin bread in that sack over there?” she asked SueAnn hopefully. She hated to ask, but the smell of cinnamon and spices were wooing her. “Because if there isn’t, I may have to have a piece before I leave.”

  SueAnn grinned. “I put in three slices of pumpkin bread, and a big chunk of millionaire pie, since I know that’s Matt’s favorite.”

  “Oh, you’re an angel,” Jesse said. “No wonder people like eating here. This stuff is good.”

  Lindsey made a snorting noise and rolled her eyes.

  “Okay,” Jesse answered her unspoken meaning. “The recipes are mainly mine, but you all are doing most of the cooking now, and it really is good.”

  “Finish that sandwich,” Lindsey said, “so we can quit patting ourselves on the back and get down to business.”

  “Ohmigod.” SueAnn drooped in her chair with a sigh. “They nearly killed us today. Thank goodness we’re off tomorrow.”

  “Vultures.” Disgust dripped from Lindsey’s voice. “I swear there were some people who came through here three times today. Especially after the news crew got here.”

  News crew? Jesse choked on her tuna, then downed a cup and a half of tea before her coughing stopped.

  “Oh, good grief,” she sputtered when she could speak again. “I suck at sneaking anyway. Now I have to worry about getting caught on film while I’m doing stuff the sheriff already wants to arrest me for.”

  “Cheer up.” Lindsey leaned closer. “We heard stuff.”

  “Good stuff,” SueAnn confirmed with a grin.

  A sudden, heart-pounding anticipation pushed aside Jesse’s second thoughts. “What?”

  “Finish your tuna first, dear.” Sophia nudged the plate closer. “We don’t want you choking again.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Jesse diligently applied herself to what remained of her sandwich, then paused to suggest, “Why don’t you do the lead-in while I’m still eating. I think that’s safe enough.”

  She slanted a sideways glance toward her mother to see if the sarcasm had hit home, but Sophia’s attention was focused on Lindsey, who appeared to be silently seeking permission to proceed. Sophia answered with a one-shouldered shrug.

  SueAnn scooted forward in her chair until she was leaning over her elbows on the tabletop. “You start,” she urged Lindsey, clearly exerting all of her self-control not to rush ahead with whatever news she was sitting on.

  Jesse took the last bite of her sandwich, savoring the mouthful even as she hurriedly chewed. She couldn’t be sure where this tale was going, but she was pretty sure she didn’t want to risk a full mouth when it got there.

  Lindsey rolled her eyes toward SueAnn in warning before she started.

  “I won’t say a word till you’re done.” The promise was accompanied by a crossher-heart gesture and a look of deep sincerity in SueAnn’s chocolate eyes.

  With a nod of acceptance, Lindsey turned to Jesse and began, “Well, there was this woman. She came in by herself and took a seat at the bar. Then, while I fixed her half-caff, low-fat whatever, she started talking to me. No foreplay at all—she just started right in about that poor Mr. Kerr, and how she felt really sorry for his wife when everything started becoming public.”

  Sophia refilled Jesse’s tea cup and nudged it closer. Rather than letting it distract her, Jesse took a drink and refocused her attention on Lindsey.

  “So, instead of mumbling something discouraging and pointing her toward a table, which were all full anyway, I asked her what she was talking about.”

  “Whoa…” Laying a hand at the base of her throat, Jesse feigned shock. “We may have to send you to counseling when this is all over.”

  “I seriously doubt that,” Lindsey countered, “but it does appear that I can be as shallow and duplicitous as anyone else given the proper motivation. Now, if you’ll let me continue…”

  “Please.”

  “Okay, moving on. As it turns out, this woman had a friend who lived across the hall from her apartment. And this friend, who was a college student, killed herself last summer.”

  Jesse felt a shock pass through her. This couldn’t be the same girl Maria had been telling them about. That would just be too…well, not good. That wouldn’t be the right word, but maybe an amazing coincidence. It would be a really amazing coincidence to find another connection to the girl Harry was having an affair with.

  “Excuse me?” Lindsey said, staring pointedly at Jesse. “Are you still with us?”

  “Sorry. Please continue.”

  “So, anyway,” Lindsey went on, “about a month before that, this girl’s boyfriend, or sugar daddy as this woman called him, had dumped her.”

  Trying hard to focus past her excitement, Jesse let out the breath she had been holding, lifted her tea cup and drained it. Then she returned the cup to its saucer, stacked them both in the empty plate in the center of the table and, striving for nonchalance, asked, “Did this college student have a name?”

  “No,” Lindsey said with a shake of her head, “but the boyfriend does. According to the neighbor, he was Harry Kerr, the car dealer. She recognized him from his TV ads.”

  Everyone turned to Jesse, waiting for her reaction.

  “Did the lady mention her own name?” Jesse asked. She had no idea what this all meant, but they had just turned over a rock and found something that slithered. A suicide and a murder with a connection and occurring within a few months of each other couldn’t be a coincidence.

  “Adele Culpepper,” Lindsey said. “She left her address and phone number on a sheet of paper. I have it behind the bar.”

  “Wait,” SueAnn said. A look of disappointment tugged at her face as she studied Jesse closely. “She already knew! Didn’t you? How did you know?”

  Ignoring SueAnn, Lindsey continued, “I told her that someone might want to talk to her. She said that was fine, so long as it wasn’t the police. She’s not too happy that they didn’t do more when the girl died. So, now she doesn’t want to help them any more than she has to. She also said that a woman came by to look around the girl’s apartment right after the suicide. The woman said she worked with Mr. Kerr, but Mrs. Culpepper never got a name.”

  Lost in thought, Jesse tried to remember if Maria Ortiz had said anything about visiting Ginny Spurber’s apartment. She couldn’t remember, but if it hadn’t been Maria, it would be very interesting to know who it had been.

  “Look at her face,” SueAnn insisted, pointing to Jesse and soun
ding very offended. “She’s not surprised by any of this.”

  “Calm down,” Jesse said gently. “We came here to share information, and I’m waiting for you all to finish. All you’ve done so far is confirm one thing I had heard. First, we’re going to let Lindsey finish, and then I want to hear what you know. And then I’ll tell you what I know, but I don’t want to distract you. Okay?”

  SueAnn heaved a sigh and her expression shifted from injured to disgruntled. “Okay.”

  “Was there more?” Jesse asked Lindsey.

  Her responding, “Oh, yeah,” was accompanied by a smug grin. “Apparently there was also another ex-boyfriend who got dumped for Harry Kerr and had been coming back around just before this girl killed herself. Afterward, he took it hard and blamed Harry for her death.”

  “Wow!” Jesse couldn’t help herself. An ex-boyfriend was definitely something new. A suicide, a murder, and now someone with a motive for revenge. If this new development wore a size nine and carried a cane, they just might have a bingo.

  “Finally, she’s surprised,” SueAnn said, then held up her hands in defense when everyone glared at her at once. “Shutting up now.”

  “Thank you,” Jesse said. She turned back to Lindsey. “Did this woman happen to have a name for this boyfriend?”

  Lindsey shook her head. “The only name she didn’t seem to mind mentioning was Harry Kerr’s. But she did say that she has notes, names, and pictures all from around the time of the suicide. Sounds like a one-woman neighborhood watch.”

  “And she didn’t tell any of this to the police?” Jesse’s heart was pounding, but she didn’t want to get too excited. How much could this woman have known that the police wouldn’t have already found out on their own?

  “They came around again yesterday evening, but she didn’t tell them anything new. The things she found since then, like some of the pictures, she kept to herself. I think she’s just dying to get involved in this, and yes, she sounds more than a little squirrely.”

  “Okay,” SueAnn said. “That’s the big stuff we’ve got. Now, tell us what you already knew. Then I’ll tell you what I found out, but it’s nothing like Lindsey’s stuff.”

  Jesse stretched her shoulders and arched her back, amazed at the tension that could build up from sitting around talking. Of course, they were sitting around talking about murder and suicide, so maybe that was part of the problem. She leaned back, thinking they would need to have their next powwow in a more comfortable location.

  “Well,” she started, trying to sort out the many small facts she needed to share, “last night I found out from Harry’s assistant, who answered the phone and took a lot of messages for him, that he had an affair with a college student last spring, who killed herself about a month after he broke up with her. Her name was Ginny Spurber, and after she died, Harry became very cautious for a while. He eventually returned to his old ways, but didn’t have another long-term girlfriend, which is noteworthy.”

  “Noteworthy, how?” Lindsey asked. “He only lived a few months after she died. I’m sure his new leaf wouldn’t have stayed turned over very long.”

  “No,” Jesse agreed. “But something scared him enough to change his ways, even for a while. And since I wouldn’t count on it being his conscience, there must have been something there he didn’t want catching up with him. It would be very interesting to know what that was.”

  “What did you say that girl’s name was?” SueAnn asked. “The one who killed herself?”

  “Ginny Spurber.” For the first time, Jesse realized that Ginny would have been about SueAnn’s age. They came from different towns, but could easily have crossed paths in high school. “Did you know her?”

  “I don’t know, but her name sounds familiar. Do you have a picture of her? Did anyone ever call her Gigi?”

  “I could maybe get a picture tomorrow. But the only name I know is Ginny.”

  “It’s probably nothing,” SueAnn admitted. “But there was a girl I knew a couple of years ago. She went to a different school, but the guys we were dating were friends. We all went out together a few times. Then he and I broke up and I didn’t see her anymore. Anyway, I heard she died last spring. I can make some calls while I’m off tomorrow and see what I can find out. Do you know what town she was from?”

  “Turtle Creek. In the meantime, I’ll pay a call on Adele Culpepper and find out what else she knows.”

  “I think I’ll tag along, if it’s okay,” Sophia suggested.

  “You sure you want to?” Since her mother didn’t have a terribly inquisitive nature, Jesse suspected she was going along just to make sure her child didn’t get into trouble. “I doubt that Mrs. Culpepper will pose any danger. And I know you enjoy your day off.”

  “I’ll have plenty of time to run errands in the afternoon. Besides, I promised Mrs. Culpepper the recipe for our tuna melt. That, plus a loaf of freshly baked bread should have her singing like a canary.”

  “Geez, Mom, when did you become devious?”

  Sophia fluffed her hair and smiled. “One does what one has to. I also happen to be very good at knowing when someone’s not telling the whole truth.”

  “Yeah, she is that,” SueAnn agreed.

  “Uh-huh,” Lindsey said with an affirmative nod.

  “Okay.” Jesse expelled her breath in a puff. “I have noticed that particular talent myself. So, thank you, I guess. You can soften her up, and then I’ll go in for the kill.”

  Sophia rubbed her hands together. “I think this is going to be fun. You can be Sherlock and I’ll be Dr. Watson.”

  “Oh, wow,” SueAnn said with a big grin. “Yes! It’s so you.”

  “Anyway, as I was saying,” Jesse continued, trying to get the conversation back on track, “I had a chance to wander around the Kerr property today.”

  “I thought that was still off limits,” Lindsey said.

  “It is, and I got chewed out by three different people, but I also got a chance to look at the pool area, which didn’t really net a whole lot. Except, there is one area in the corner that’s in the shadow of a large tree, and even with the lights on around the pool, I think someone dressed in dark clothing would have been pretty inconspicuous.”

  “Who chewed you out?” Sophia asked.

  “A lot of the same people who are going to chew me out if they find out I’m talking to Adele Culpepper,” Jesse answered. “I guess I’d better help you with that bread. A second loaf might come in handy since I’m also planning to drop by the Marshall’s to have another talk with Cindilee. I don’t even know what I’m going to ask her, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

  “Maybe a third loaf for the sheriff wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Sophia suggested. “It might soften him up a little bit.”

  “As long as he doesn’t think I’m trying to bribe him.” Her mother’s brows went up in question, but Jesse left that tale untold and continued, “Anyway, after I left the pool, I wandered back toward the garden shed and pool house. That’s where I tripped over Frank Haney while he was checking some impressions at the side of the path.”

  “Impressions?” Lindsey leaned in, her interest clearly piqued. “Of what?”

  Jesse pulled out the drawing she had made earlier of the circles within a circle, and the approximate size of the imprints, plus the partial shoe print that looked to her like the toe and side of a dress shoe.

  “What size shoe?” Lindsey asked.

  “Looked like maybe a nine or a ten. A big woman’s or a small man’s. Smooth sole.”

  “That could be a cowboy boot with a low heel.” Lindsey pointed to the drawing, where the side of the shoe was visible down to the broad, square heel.

  “Or a motorcycle boot,” SueAnn added.

  “Ooh, hadn’t thought about that,” Jesse said, her imagination taking flight with visions of a young male dressed in black leather swooping in to exact revenge on the man who drove the woman he loved to suicide.

  “What’s that?” SueAnn’s fing
ertip pointed to the series of circles on the paper.

  “Your guess is as good as mine. Frank had garden tools laid out where he had poked the end of the handles in the dirt. They were too round and smooth. These were next to the footprint, and they look flat with circular grooves, like maybe for traction.”

  “Like the end of a cane?” Lindsey asked.

  “Or a crutch?” Sophia offered.

  “That’s all I could think of,” Jesse agreed. “But there has to be something else in the world with a tip like that.”

  “If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck,” SueAnn said with a shrug, “maybe it’s just a duck.”

  Lindsey’s brow quirked. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning, unless we can find something else it could be, let’s just assume it’s either a crutch or a cane.” SueAnn spread her hands with a flourish.

  “Meaning, don’t overthink it,” Jesse commented. “I like that idea.” She expanded her mental image of the young man in black leather and motorcycle boots to include an injury requiring the assistance of a crutch.

  “Not really much to go on, is it?” Sophia said into the silence that had fallen over them.

  “I don’t know how the police ever solve anything.” SueAnn sat back with a frown and crossed her arms in front of her. “No wonder they always arrest the spouse.”

  “Well, we’ve got one week to get this thing wrapped up. ‘Cause I don’t ever want another weekend like this last one,” Lindsey said with a snort of disgust. “Those news crews drove me nuts. It was like they’d never heard of a tea room before. This one guy got all bent out of shape because we weren’t going to be open for supper. It’s the first time I ever wanted to tell a customer to shut the hell up and get out.”

  “No, it’s not,” SueAnn quickly countered. “You’ve actually done that. Remember that guy?”

  “Are we done here?” Lindsey scooted her chair back and stood up.

  As her coworker stalked toward the kitchen, SueAnn made a face of chagrin. “Oops.”

  Sophia hung her head. “I will never try to set her up again. Who knew she was still that sensitive?”