50% off Murder

by Josie Belle

  “I always knew you were weird,” Summer said. She stepped away from Maggie’s car as if she were backing away from a crazy person. “But now you’re just plain nuts. I didn’t know John knew the book geek, and I’m not a reader. I’m more of a TV gal, so I certainly wouldn’t have a copy of one of her books. You know, you might want to have Dr. Franklin check you out, because you are losing it.”

  She was so smug. Maggie watched her walk away and really wished she had conked her with the slab of beef.

  Well, Summer could protest all she wanted, but the truth would come out. The information Maggie had gotten from Trudi that morning confirmed in her mind that Summer was the most likely candidate to have stabbed Templeton.

  Maggie rushed home to unload the groceries. While she was there, Mrs. Kellerman from the dry cleaner called to tell her that Max’s suit was ready.

  Maggie left Sandy to cook dinner while she hurried back into town. She wanted to get Max his suit as soon as possible so he could try it on and make sure it fit. Also, she wanted to stop by the jail and talk to Sam about her suspicions regarding Summer.

  Maggie paid Mrs. Kellerman, who had done an amazing job with the tailoring and the cleaning. The suit looked brand new. Then she hung the suit carefully in the back of her car and headed over to the Frosty Freeze.

  She didn’t see Hugh Simpson’s car, which was a relief. She no longer thought his e-mails, although shocking, were proof that he had murdered Templeton—not now that she had Summer Phillips in her sights.

  Maggie waved to Max through the front window. There was no one in line for ice cream, so she signaled that she’d meet him by the back door. The door opened, and she handed him the plastic-wrapped suit on the wire hanger.

  “Here you go,” she said. “Do you have a place to hang it? You don’t want it getting wrinkled.”

  “I think I can hang it on the door to Hugh’s office,” he said.

  Maggie followed him in—not to micromanage, she told herself—just to make sure he did it right.

  “So, Max, I found out some news today that I think might help Claire,” she said as she followed him down the short hall.

  “What?” he asked. His eyes were big beacons of hope.

  “I think Summer Phillips may have killed Templeton.”

  Max rolled his eyes. “Maggie, just because the woman slammed you with a banana split does not mean you can accuse her of murder.”

  “No, listen. You were in the dressing room when I was talking to Trudi, but she said that Summer is broke and was going after Templeton to be her new sugar daddy.”

  “Then why kill him?” Max turned the hook part of the wire hanger forty-five degrees and hung it over the top of the door.

  Maggie ran her hand over the plastic covering, making sure the suit was smooth.

  “Because he rejected her,” she said. “She’s a vicious, evil woman and probably couldn’t stand the rejection.”

  “I think you’re reaching,” Max said. “What about the lack of prints on the cake knife? What about Claire’s book The House of Mirth being found beside the body? That was premeditated, with Claire being the object of the frame. Summer isn’t capable of that. I doubt she even reads.”

  “Well, who do you think murdered Templeton?” Maggie asked.

  “Well, I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve been busy trying to defend her, not solve the murder. Who is your next best suspect?”

  “Whoever Claire loaned The House of Mirth to,” Maggie said. She sucked in a breath. Just like that it all came into focus. “The key is the book.”

  “Brilliant deduction, Maggie,” a voice said from behind them. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to get there.”

  Max and Maggie whipped around to find Gwen Morgan standing in the open back door, holding a very large, very lethal looking knife.

  Chapter 33

  “Gwen,” Maggie said. “What are you doing?”

  “Sadly, it appears I’m tying up loose ends,” she said. “I knew when you were in the Perk Up today that I’d said too much. I knew it as soon as I mentioned the book. Who else would know about the book but the killer?”

  “You killed John Templeton,” Max said. His voice cracked, and Maggie knew he was as shocked as she was.

  Gwen didn’t answer him. She didn’t have to. Maggie felt so stupid. Her hatred of Summer had blinded her to the real killer. She should have picked up on the fact that Gwen knew about the book. Sam had told her that the killer was probably a woman, and she knew from talking to Jay that Gwen had probably been working with John behind his back.

  “Jay doesn’t know, does he?” Maggie asked. “You did a deal with Templeton behind his back.”

  Gwen shrugged. “Jay is a child, a big, lovable child, and the realities of business are beyond him.”

  “Why?” Maggie asked. “Why did you do it? Why did you frame Claire?”

  “I should think it would be obvious,” Gwen said. “John demanded payment on the loan, we couldn’t afford it, so I did some…favors for him, but then even that wasn’t enough. He was going to take our shop.”

  She sagged, looking suddenly very tired.

  “So, you were the woman Templeton was fooling around with,” Maggie said. “Eva said she found a bra in his car.”

  “Mine,” Gwen admitted. “I had no choice. Then, when Templeton called in the loan, I couldn’t tell Jay what I had done or what I had been doing. As for framing Claire, John had told me all about her. I knew when he was killed their past would come out, so I figured it was her or me. She was kind enough to leave her cake knife behind at the library. I used a plastic glove from the restaurant, and between that and the book, my setup was complete.”

  They were all silent. Max kept opening and closing his mouth as if he couldn’t believe what was happening, and Maggie was trying desperately to think of a way out. There was none. Gwen had the knife. Gwen had the power.

  “On the upside,” Gwen said. “I’m not really up for stabbing anyone again, so you two will just have to suffer an unfortunate accident.” Her eyes lit on the door to the walk-in freezer.

  “Open it,” she said to Max.

  He balked. “You can’t put us in there. We’ll freeze to death.”

  Gwen gave him a look that said, “Duh.”

  “Wait. Give me your keys,” she said to Maggie. “I’m going to need to move your car. I wouldn’t want anyone to notice it and get suspicious too soon.”

  Slowly, trying to buy time and think her way out of this, Maggie held out the keys. Gwen snatched them out of her dangling fingers.

  She gestured with the knife for Max to open the door. Frosty air misted out at them when Max opened it.

  “Get in,” Gwen said.

  “No,” Maggie said. “Don’t do it, Max. She can’t stab both of us.”

  “Can’t I?” Gwen asked. She did some complicated twirl thing with the knife, flipping it over the back of her hand, while never breaking eye contact with them. When she got done with her showmanship, the knife appeared a mere centimeter from Maggie’s nose.

  “I used to work at Benihana,” Gwen said.

  Maggie gulped, and when Max grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back into the freezer, she went. The door slammed shut behind them with a loud thunk.

  “I don’t like closed-in spaces, Max,” Maggie said.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “There is a safety latch. Even if she locks it on the outside, we can get out. Let’s just wait a few minutes until she clears out.”

  “Okay,” Maggie said.

  She walked down the narrow aisle to the end of the freezer and back. She counted in her head to try and mark the time. Max, meanwhile, stayed near the door with his head cocked, as if trying to hear what was going on outside the steel door. When she hit the five-minute mark, Maggie was ready. More than ready. The cold was beginning to seep into her bones, and she was shivering uncontrollably

  “Let’s try to open it,” she said.

  Max nodded and press
ed the safety lever. The door moved, but barely. He tried it again. Nothing. He threw his full body weight against it. Still, it didn’t budge.

  “Yeah, sorry about that,” Gwen called in through the tiny crack. “I know about the safety latch, you see, and I can’t have you getting out, so I wedged a broom under the handle. And don’t worry, I locked up the Frosty Freeze for the night. You should remain undisturbed.”

  Max and Maggie strained to listen, but all they heard was the sound of the back door closing.

  “Oh my God!” Maggie said. “We’re going to freeze to death. She’s going to let us freeze to death.”

  “Calm down, Maggie,” Max said. He sounded completely unconcerned. “We’ll find a way out of this.”

  “Do you have a phone on you?” Maggie asked.

  “No,” he admitted.

  “We’re going to become human popsicles,” she said.

  “Relax, it takes a while for hypothermia to set in,” Max said. He was running his hands over the tiny crack in the door as if looking for something.

  “How long?” Maggie asked.

  “That depends,” he said. “It sets in faster if you’re wet and it’s windy, but basically once your core body temperature is below ninety-five, you’re in trouble.”

  Maggie’s teeth began to chatter, and she wasn’t sure if it was from fear or the freezing cold.

  “I think this is all a case of leverage,” he said. He glanced around the freezer. “I need something metal and strong.”

  Maggie looked at the shelves of ice cream cakes and tubs of flavored ice cream. “Like what?”

  “A makeshift crowbar,” he said. “Here, help me.”

  Max began to off-load ice cream tubs onto the floor. Maggie helped him. The huge five-gallon tubs were heavy and hard, but once the steel shelf was clear, Max was able to pull it from its fasteners.

  He wedged one end into the tiny crack in the door and then began to pull, trying to pry it open. Maggie moved to stand beside him, and together they pulled using all of their body weight.

  Maggie grunted, and Max said, “No, no noise. Focus all of your energy on the opening.”

  “What are you, a labor coach?” she asked.

  “On three,” he said. “One, two, three.”

  They pulled, and Maggie could swear she felt the door move, but when she looked, there was no notable difference.

  She sagged against the shelf.

  “Again,” Max ordered.

  Maggie let him be bossy, because at least the physical activity was warming her up. They tried again and again. Still, it didn’t feel as if they were making any progress.

  “Max, there has to be another way,” Maggie said. She couldn’t feel the tips of her fingers, and she was pretty sure her lips were blue.

  “If there is, I can’t think of it,” he said. “Come on, try again, and this time you can yell and scream all you want.”

  They stood shoulder to shoulder, and Maggie let out a war whoop as they pulled against the shelf. Even Max let out a few throaty yells, and Maggie echoed them. And suddenly, they weren’t pushing against the shelf anymore but free-falling through the open freezer door to the hard tile floor beyond.

  A strong hand grabbed Maggie by the arm and Max by the collar as they hurtled out of the freezer. Maggie looked up through her tumbled red hair to see Sam staring down at her.

  Chapter 34

  “Maggie! Max! Are you all right?” he asked as he lifted them to their feet.

  He let go of Max, but his arm went around Maggie, pulling her close as he rubbed her bare arms, trying to warm her.

  “It’s Gwen,” Maggie said. “She’s the one who killed Templeton.”

  “I know,” Sam said. “In fact, she’s outside with Deputy Wilson.”

  “You mean you caught her?” Max asked.

  Sam nodded. “We’re taking her in right now. She actually thought she’d get away with it all. Oh, and your client, Claire Freemont, is being processed out as we speak.”

  “I have to get down there,” Max said. “She might need me.”

  “Come on, I’ll give you a ride,” Sam said.

  “How did you…?” Maggie asked, letting the question dangle.

  “Your note,” he said. “The note you left with Deputy Crosthwaite put it all together. Come on, I’ll explain while we drive.”

  Outside, a very unhappy-looking Gwen Morgan was sitting in the back of one of the sheriff’s squad cars. Deputy Wilson—Dot—had her arms crossed over her chest while she glared at the woman in her car as if daring her to make one false move.

  “You ready to roll, Dot?” Sam asked.

  “I was born ready,” Dot answered, and she climbed into her car.

  Sam gestured for Maggie and Max to climb into his car, and they followed Dot all the way back to the jail.

  “So, how did you figure out from my note that the killer was Gwen, when I was pretty emphatic that it was Summer?” Maggie asked.

  She turned in her seat so that Max, who was in back, could hear her.

  “I took the note to Claire,” he said. “You know, the book that was left at the scene of the murder—we just assumed it came from the basement. But because you singled it out as having been put there on purpose by Summer, well, it made me rethink.”

  “I asked Claire who she loaned the book to, and she—”

  “Said Gwen Morgan,” Max jumped in.

  “No,” Sam said. “She said Tyler Fawkes.”

  “Huh?” Maggie was confused.

  “So, then I tracked down Tyler Fawkes,” he said. “And he had loaned it to—”

  “Gwen Morgan,” Max said again.

  “No,” Sam said. “He loaned it to Alice Franklin, who loaned it to Bill Parsons, who loaned it to Cheryl Kincaid, who used it for third base during a softball game, and then left it in the Perk Up after the game for Gwen Morgan.”

  “Whoa, talk about your six degrees of separation,” Max said.

  “Indeed,” Sam agreed. “From there it was pretty easy to read the Perk Up’s financials and see that Gwen had taken money from Templeton and that they were in trouble.”

  Sam pulled into the parking lot behind Dot. While Dot escorted Gwen into the building to be processed, Max ran around them to help expedite Claire’s release.

  Sam opened the car door for Maggie and looked her over when she stood before him. “Are you all right? No frostbite?”

  She shook her head. “No, we got lucky. I don’t know what would have happened to us if you hadn’t gotten there when you did.” She placed her hand on his arm while her gaze met his. “Thank you, Sam.”

  Sam looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he opened his arms and pulled her in for a hug. He held her for a minute without speaking, and then he leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Don’t ever scare me like that again, Carrots.”

  Maggie smiled into his shirt front, surprised that she didn’t feel the need to knee him in the privates for use of the abhorred nickname.

  Sam must have been surprised, too, because he pulled back to study her face. “Don’t tell me we’re going to become friends now.”

  “Why not?” she asked.

  “We’ve been everything else,” he said.

  “Enemies,” she said.

  “Lovers,” he said.

  Maggie felt her face get hot, but she ignored it.

  “Maybe being friends will suit us,” she said.

  “Maybe.” But the look he gave her scorched, and Maggie wondered if perhaps he viewed friendship a bit differently than she did.

  “There is one thing we need to clear the air on, however,” he said.

  “What’s that?” Maggie asked.

  “I was never in the library basement with Summer Phillips,” he said. “That was someone else.”

  “But I saw your football jersey,” she said. “Clear as day. The name on the back of it read Collins.”

  “Yeah, I gave that jersey to Tim Kelly to hang in his bar at the end of the s
chool year,” Sam said. “When I was in his bar the other night, he told me Summer Phillips had borrowed it the night before I left town. She told him she was going to have me autograph it. I checked the signature. It isn’t mine, but I didn’t have the heart to tell Tim that.”

  “So that wasn’t you?” she asked. “She set me up.”

  Sam nodded. Maggie felt as if she’d been sucker punched. She had a million more questions for him, but she never got the chance to ask them.

  Just then the doors to the building burst wide open and out ran Claire with Max, Ginger and Joanne right behind her. Maggie was enveloped into a group hug that included tears, crusher squeezes and lots of laughter. When she did extricate herself from her peeps to look for Sam, she saw him walking into the building. He didn’t look back.

  The Good Buy Girls’

  Top Ten Thrifty Tips

  Do as Maggie does and sign up for every free customer rewards program you can. Dedicate one e-mail account to these programs, which you can monitor for special savings and deals. Even if you rarely shop at some of these stores, having a rewards card will eventually earn you coupons and discounts.

  Joanne is the list-maker, and her advice is to write a list before you go shopping—and stick to it. Make a careful plan of what to buy before you go and don’t put anything in the cart that’s not on the list.

  Follow Maggie’s advice and clean out your closet. If you haven’t worn something within the last year, get rid of it. You can have a yard sale or take it to a consignment shop, or even donate it for a tax deduction.

  Ginger’s best tip is to plan your meals around your grocery store’s flier. With five men to feed, she can get creative in the kitchen but needs to buy the food that’s on sale in the grocery store’s flier. You can do the same.

  Claire recommends doing your holiday shopping right after the holidays. And she doesn’t mean just for Christmas—the day after any holiday is an excellent time to stock up. Buy your plastic eggs the day after Easter or your Fourth of July decorations the day after Independence Day, when the prices are usually 50 to 75 percent off.