Killing the Carnations (A Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery)

by Bell, Cindy

  “Oh really?” she asked with a gossipy tone, but then she remembered that there was business to attend to so she moved on. “I just need you to see if you can find Charleston's fiancée, Amanda, remember you met her earlier today?”

  “Yes I remember, how could I forget such a beautiful dress?” she sighed at the memory.

  “She just headed up to her room, room 309, in the elevator but she's more than a little intoxicated so I'm worried that she won't make it to her room,” Vicky explained, her voice fluttering a little with the anxiety she felt.

  “Don't worry, I'll look after her,” Ida assured her. When Ida hung up the phone she turned back towards Nicholas. The call had interrupted them just as he was leaning towards her. Ida was fairly certain he had intended to kiss her.

  “I'm sorry but duty calls,” she said nervously and twisted her fingertips through some of the material of her blouse. She hadn't felt so awkward since she was just a teenager.

  “I understand,” he said calmly, his eyes still locked to hers. “I hope that I'll have the chance to spend a little more time with you before this weekend's over.”

  “I would like that,” Ida replied with a slow smile, “very much.”

  As she walked towards the door she heard him following her. He reached past her to open the door for her, showing he was a true gentleman.

  As she turned to say a final goodbye, she found him waiting there for her, his lips poised to embrace hers. Ida was startled and swept away by the abrupt but soft and sweet kiss. It made her shiver with surprise and elation.

  “I-I have to go,” Ida stumbled over her words. He had her very flustered.

  “I hope to see you again soon,” he murmured and smiled at her as she hurried off down the hallway.

  She heard him close the door and let out a long sigh. She had to pause for a moment to regain her composure. She thought the flirting had been fun, but he had been so bold as to kiss her, and that she had not expected. She reminded herself that Vicky still needed her help with Amanda and forced herself to start walking down the hall. She was almost at the elevator. Her heart was still racing from her encounter and the kiss that she had just shared with Nicholas. With her mind swimming she didn't notice the dark crimson stain at first, not until she stepped down in the middle of it, and the carpet gave a squishing sound. Her heart stopped in that moment and she looked down at the spreading circle that was a very different shade to the tan carpet that covered the hallway.

  “Is that?” she asked herself nervously. She hoped she was wrong, and that what she saw was wine, but it didn't look like it was. She glanced up at the door it was spreading out from under to find that it was not quite closed all the way. When she tried to nudge it open with the toe of her shoe, it only pushed about an inch inward, before it thumped against something. Ida swallowed back a scream and with a trembling hand reached into her purse for her cell phone. She dialled Vicky's number. Vicky picked up on the first ring.

  “Vicky, we have a problem,” she said quickly. “Get up to the third floor, I'm calling an ambulance now.”

  She didn't even give Vicky a chance to respond, instead she dialled for an ambulance right away. She knew that whoever was behind that door was in desperate need of medical attention.

  Chapter Three

  When Vicky reached the third floor, her breath was short from taking the stairs and from panic. She didn't want to believe that this could be happening. But, Aunt Ida had certainly sounded serious when she spoke to her on the phone. As Vicky stepped into the hallway, she found Ida still standing in the hall, shoving her shoulder against the door.

  “We have to get in,” she said with a gasp. “Whoever is in this room is seriously hurt, and if we don't get in...”

  “Aunt Ida,” Vicky said gently as she drew her aunt away from the door. As her aunt stepped aside, Vicky began pushing against the door, too. When she finally managed to get whatever was behind it to budge slightly she braced herself for a groan or a cry for help, but there was only silence.

  “Hello?” she called into the room. “Are you okay?”

  “What is this?” a shrill voice asked from behind them. Vicky and Ida both turned suddenly to discover the woman in the gold dress. She still looked just as pristine but her brows were furrowed with annoyance.

  “Why are you blocking my way?” she demanded as she tried to step past the two women. When she saw the blood spreading across the carpet she shrieked and jumped backward. It was an agile feat, considering the height of her heels and the fact that she was still obviously tipsy.

  “What have you done?” she demanded. “Have you hurt my Charleston?”

  Vicky's heart began to pound very loudly. She looked up at the room number. It was Charleston's room. Not only did they possibly have a murder on their hands, but it was the murder of a man who was next in line to be the CEO of a multi-million dollar company. She slammed her shoulder against the door just as the elevator dinged, alerting them to the arrival of Mitchell. Before Vicky could catch herself she nearly fell into the room. She caught herself with the doorknob of the forced open door, and stopped herself from landing directly on top of Charleston Davis, who was gazing up at the ceiling with wide empty eyes. Those eyes that had impressed her when she first saw them, the eyes that looked so intelligent and confident, were now dull and glazed. It was quite obvious that he had been murdered.

  “Oh no,” she said under her breath as she felt a strong grasp tug at her elbow.

  “Come out of there, Vicky,” Mitchell insisted as he gently pulled her away from the crime scene. Vicky was a little dazed at first, and glad that it was Mitchell's eyes she was now looking in to.

  “What happened?” he asked her as he continued to hold her steady.

  “I have no idea,” she admitted as other officers brushed past her. “Aunt Ida was the one that found him,” her voice wavered as she glanced back into the room. It was hard to think that the man she had just met was truly gone.

  “Are you okay?” he asked and tried to meet her eyes. She nodded without speaking. Ida was trying to reassure Amanda who was getting more frantic by the second.

  “No! He can't be dead!” she exclaimed, her voice rising. “We weren't married yet! He hadn't changed the will! He wasn't even a CEO!” she moaned and leaned heavily against Ida. Ida looked over at Vicky with astonishment. Vicky returned the shocked expression. She had heard of some cool and calculated women that married for the sake of money, but she had never seen such a careless display. Vicky walked over to her aunt and attempted to shift Amanda from her aunt's shoulder to her own.

  “Amanda, let me take you somewhere quieter, is there anyone I can call for you?” she asked as gently as she could. Amanda threw her arms up into the air, brushing Vicky off her as she did. She glowered at Vicky and Mitchell who had straightened his posture and was prepared to restrain Amanda if he needed to.

  “I don't have anyone,” she hissed, and stumbled on her shoes. “He was all I had. Charleston. Someone took him from me!” she wailed. One of the EMTs walked up to her and spoke to her soothingly.

  “Miss, why don't you let me take a look at you, okay?” he asked as he guided her towards the elevator. “We'll get you some water, and I have something you can take for your nerves.”

  Amanda reluctantly allowed him to lead her away, but she shot a withering glare over her shoulder at Vicky.

  “I'm going to sue this place,” she hissed.

  Vicky tried to keep a poker face, as she knew she needed to remain professional, but she was so disgusted by the way the woman was not even concerned about her fiancé’s death beyond the financial consequences, and then to have her threaten to sue her, Vicky's eyes naturally narrowed into a glare.

  “Vicky,” Mitchell said calmly from beside her. “Don't let her get to you, she's obviously drunk, and emotional. She won't be able to sue you.”

  “She might not be able to,” a voice said from behind both of them. “But I'm sure my lawyers will want to know about t
his.”

  When Vicky turned to look she saw that it was Jeremy Minkle. “We booked our conference here assuming there would be sufficient security. You are housing some very wealthy and powerful people here, so how is it that someone can simply murder one of them?” he demanded as he stepped closer to Vicky. “We haven't even been here for a day!”

  “Mr. Minkle, I understand you're upset,” Vicky attempted to calmly explain.

  “No, you don't,” he growled in return and those brooding eyes that had been so attractive to Vicky earlier filled with fury. “You have no idea how upset I am. But you will,” he added. “Trust me, you will.”

  “Oh Nicholas don't look!” Ida exclaimed suddenly as she saw him running down the hall.

  “What's all the commotion?” he asked as he looked between Jeremy, Ida, and the officers that were moving carefully back and forth in the room.

  “I'm so sorry,” Ida said quickly. “It's Charleston.”

  “Charleston?” Nicholas asked with a gasp as he looked back at the body.

  “Congratulations, Brendan,” Jeremy said as he clapped the man hard on the shoulder. “Looks like you're going to be the new CEO.”

  Mitchell shifted his gaze sharply in Nicholas' direction as Nicholas looked up with a bewildered expression.

  “I'm going to need to speak with both of you,” Mitchell said in an even tone as he looked between the two men. “As well as anyone else that is here for the conference.”

  “You think one of us did this?” Nicholas said with shock in his voice. “Who could do something so...” he stammered as he searched for a word. Jeremy narrowed his eyes as he studied Nicholas.

  “People will do the strangest things, for money,” he stated grimly, clearing his throat. “But I doubt it was anyone from our company. However, whatever you need we'll cooperate. There's nothing to hide,” he glanced over his shoulder at Vicky again. “My lawyer will be in touch.”

  Nicholas walked over to Ida and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Are you okay? A woman such as yourself should never witness something so terrible.”

  Vicky eyed the man suspiciously as he held her aunt close to him in his arms. But Ida didn't seem to mind one bit. In fact she rested her head on Nicholas' shoulder. It suddenly struck Vicky that she and Sarah always had someone to turn to. Sarah had her husband, and now Vicky had Mitchell, but Ida hadn't had a companion to rely on in quite some time. Vicky wanted to be happy for her aunt, but something about Nicholas left her uneasy. When Mitchell finished talking to the officers he walked back over to Vicky, his gaze still filled with concern.

  “Are you really okay?” he whispered as he paused beside her.

  “I will be,” Vicky said but her voice was trembling. She stood nervously beside Mitchell as he rubbed her arm soothingly and tried to get her to look him in the eyes.

  “It's going to be okay,” he promised her. “We'll find out who did this.”

  “I know you will,” Vicky said quietly and lowered her head. She wanted to let Mitchell soothe her, but it was very difficult to stop thinking about what she had seen. Not only was Charleston dead, but they had no idea who had killed him. As well-connected and high-powered as Jeremy Minkle was, could his threat come true? Would he sue them?

  “Do you think we should evacuate the inn?” she asked him with a frown. “This huge conference is going on, it will be difficult to get everyone out smoothly.”

  “I don't think we need to do that,” Mitchell assured her. “Not just yet, it seems to me that whoever did this had a target, and it was Charleston.”

  “But who would target him?” Vicky asked with growing aggravation. “He had only just arrived. Who would do something so terrible?”

  “Well,” Mitchell reached up and ruffled his fingers through his hair. “We do have a suspect in mind.”

  “You do?” Aunt Ida asked as she walked up behind Mitchell. Nicholas had walked off with a uniformed officer to answer some questions about what he might have seen or heard. Vicky was beginning to calm down, knowing that there was a suspect was a very good thing.

  “Who is it?” Vicky inquired.

  “I can’t say,” Mitchell said but he glanced over his shoulder as more uniformed officers surrounded Nicholas.

  “Nicholas?” Ida asked with surprise as she realised what was happening. “That's not possible. He would never do this. He's not that kind of man.”

  Mitchell arched an eyebrow and lowered his voice to a respectful tone. “Forgive me Ida, but how long have you known this man to be able to make such an assumption?”

  “Long enough,” Ida snapped back with confidence. She frowned as Nicholas was led past them to the elevator. “This just isn't possible,” she insisted sternly. “Nicholas is a good man.”

  “And he was also up for the same promotion as Charleston,” Vicky pointed out with widening eyes. “After Charleston teased him at the reception desk, he must have been livid. He probably decided to make sure that he was the one to get the promotion.”

  “Those are all assumptions,” Aunt Ida huffed and shook her head. “There is no way that Nicholas did this.”

  “No one's saying he did,” Mitchell replied calmly and met Ida's eyes. “Right now the evidence points in his direction. We just want to find out a little more information from him down at the station,” he glanced past Ida to Vicky.

  “Are you going to be okay?” he asked her tenderly.

  “Yes,” Vicky nodded. “I'll be fine, I promise,” she insisted when he hesitated to leave her side.

  “All right, I'll let you know of any developments, okay?” he glanced between the two and then narrowed his blue eyes slightly. “Even though I don't think that there is any danger to be concerned about, the two of you should be cautious. Call me for any reason.”

  “We will,” Ida assured him and then waved him away. “Now hurry off and release Nicholas, he's obviously innocent.”

  Mitchell offered Ida a tight smile and then joined the other officers on the elevator. Vicky watched the elevator doors slide shut, and tried not to think too much about what had just happened. She didn't have much time to, before Ida grabbed her firmly by the arm and pulled her into a nearby room.

  “Hey...” Vicky started to say as she was pulled slightly off balance. Aunt Ida might have had a slender frame but she was very strong.

  “I need to talk to you,” Aunt Ida whispered and closed the door behind them.

  As soon as they were alone in the room together, Ida spun around to face Vicky. “We have to do something about this,” she said sternly.

  “Aunt Ida, we need to stay out of this,” Vicky argued as she stepped closer to her aunt. “This is a very high profile situation, and it looks to me that Mitchell and his crew have things under control. I don't want to step on your toes, but I would suspect Nicholas as well.”

  “Of course you would,” Aunt Ida growled and threw her hands up into the air. “Don't you see? That's why this is the perfect crime. It was expected that someone would have to take the fall for the murder, what better person to frame than Nicholas?”

  “If that's the case then I'm sure Mitchell will figure it out,” Vicky pointed out as calmly as she could. “I know that you and Nicholas had a moment...”

  “Not just a moment,” Ida corrected sharply. “We shared wine together, we talked, I know he's not the one who did this.”

  “Aunt Ida, just because a man is friendly to you doesn't necessarily mean...” Vicky attempted to inject reason into the conversation, but Aunt Ida cut her off before she could succeed.

  “Don't tell me what a man's intentions are Vicky, I know them very well. I also know a good man when I meet one, and Nicholas is just that,” she was so determined that she jabbed a finger towards Vicky's face, causing Vicky to raise her eyebrows with surprise and narrowly dodge the offending finger.

  “Listen to me, Aunt Ida, if you were with Nicholas then why didn't you tell Mitchell?” Vicky asked with some annoyance. “You could have been his al
ibi.”

  Ida pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side as she considered the best way to say what she knew she had to say.

  “The problem is that Nicholas did leave the room,” Ida reluctantly confessed. “He left for just a few minutes because he thought he had left his wallet in the car.”

  “And did he?” Vicky pushed gently.

  “Honestly, I found it in his suitcase while he was gone,” Ida said in a whisper. She knew how this would look to Vicky.

  “Aunt Ida, it sounds to me like he was trying to use you as an alibi,” Vicky pressed her lips together with annoyance. “Can you recall how long the two of you were alone together?”

  “It wasn't very long. I left when you called, he uh,” she cleared her throat. “He was very nice to me,” she was blushing when she looked back towards Vicky.

  “Being nice doesn't make him innocent,” Vicky reminded her aunt though she tried to keep her words tender. “He would only need a few minutes to commit the crime,” Vicky pointed out and sighed as she smoothed her hands down along her hips. “Aunt Ida, I know that you like this man. But just imagine. What if while he was gone he was taking another man's life? What if sharing wine with you was all an attempt to distract you or create an alibi for himself?” she searched her aunt's eyes intently, hoping that she wasn't hurting her feelings.

  “Vicky,” Aunt Ida drew a slow breath and then released it just as slowly. “I know the man I met did not do this. He even told me over the wine that he had no expectation of getting the position, and it was just a charade he had to go through for the sake of the CEO, to make it look as if he was choosing fairly.”

  “Don't you think that might have hurt him more deeply then he was admitting?” Vicky asked tentatively and guided her aunt to the small table in the corner of the room.

  “No,” Ida said with determination. “I may not be the most grounded person,” she pursed her lips and rolled her eyes a little. “But my instincts about people have always been good. He was so caring, and so courteous. I can't even imagine him striking a fly let alone taking a life.”