Guidebook to Murder

by Lynn Cahoon

  Jackie tore her attention away from the introduction of the plaintiff. “The phone book?”

  “And the mystery that’s on the desk. Unless you want me to get it myself?” I shifted like I planned on getting up, but Jackie popped up first.

  “Stay there. You can rest for a few hours at least.” Jackie headed to the study. “Stubborn as a mule …”

  Grinning, I opened my notebook to a new page and wrote Amy Newman at the top.

  Jackie came back with the phone book. “There were five of these on the bookshelf.”

  “I know, they just keep coming—and I usually don’t even look at them.” I pulled open the Yellow Pages to travel agents. Fifteen listed in the South Cove/Bakerstown area. I wrote down the name and phone number of the first one and punched the numbers in my cell phone.

  After the first ten, Jackie now was watching her favorite soap opera. And I was no closer to finding out which travel agent was TA than I had been during the trial of the two ex-best friends/roommates who broke up when the one slept with the other’s man. At least Jackie knew the soap was fiction, I hoped.

  At agent number fifteen I finally caught a break. Not only did she remember meeting with Amy, she’d booked her a trip.

  “Where did she go?”

  “Hold on, I’ve got the file right here. I’ve been out of town on a cruise junket. I can’t believe after all these years, I finally won a Carnival cruise to Alaska. I’ve got some great pictures if you’re interested?”

  “I’m in the middle of a remodel and can’t get away, but thanks.” I shrugged my shoulders at Jackie.

  The doorbell rang as I waited on hold.

  “If she’s got a good deal going, maybe I should talk to her.” Jackie turned down the volume on the television and went to answer the door.

  “I’m back,” the cheery voice chirped in my ear.

  “So, Amy booked a trip? Do you remember where?”

  “Here’s the file. She didn’t book this trip, she won it.” I could hear pages turning.

  “How did she win the trip?” My gut churned.

  “I got a letter from CD Development saying that a Miss Amy Newman had won a trip to Baratonga and I was to contact her to make the arrangements.”

  “Baratonga? I’ve never heard of the place.” Jackie still stood at the door, talking to the unexpected visitor on the other side. I saw her shake her head.

  “It’s a small private island near the Mexican coast. Known for excellent surfing. All the big names go there during their downtime for practice.”

  “And this letter had you set up a trip for Amy?”

  “The weird thing was, we had to get her on a plane that same day because the offer ran out that Friday. The package included a new designer wardrobe provided on site, and new, top-of-the-line surfing gear. Man, you don’t see prizes this inclusive anymore. When I called to get the credit card approval for the charges, the lady seemed very concerned that Amy not miss out on the opportunity.”

  “Did you get her name?”

  “It should be on my credit approval memo, just a second.” More rustling. “That’s odd. I didn’t get her name. But the charge went through with no problem. I checked it the next day just to make sure.”

  “Can you tell me anything about the woman? Was she old, young, accent, anything?”

  “I’m sorry, it’s been a while. The only thing I remember is she kept having to quiet down her dog. It just kept barking.”

  “Her dog?”

  “Yeah, she called it Honey, or Sweetie, no, that’s not right.”

  “Was it Precious?”

  “That was it. All I could think of was the ugly Gollum character from The Lord of the Rings.”

  As if the thought of Bambi had summoned her, I watched as she pushed past my aunt and stilettoed toward my couch.

  Bambi had sent Amy on the trip. But why? Access to the mayor? This wasn’t making any sense. And now the woman was standing in front of me.

  “So, when was she supposed to be back?”

  “It was a week’s stay, all expenses paid.”

  “She’s been gone three weeks!” Images of planes crashing into the ocean alternated with a vision of Amy, lying in a hospital bed, bandaged from head to toe.

  “That’s not right. She should have been back by now. Wait, here’s a note from my assistant. Miss Newman called and cancelled her return flight.” There was a pause. “That’s odd. She didn’t reschedule a new pickup date.”

  “What do you mean, a pickup date?”

  “Baratonga only has air service one day a week. Even if she’d wanted to stay another week, we should have booked her for the next Thursday.”

  “Hang up the phone.” Bambi held her hand out for my cell.

  “Call the police,” I yelled into the phone as Bambi ripped it from my hand.

  “Hey, stop that.” My aunt tried to squeeze in between me and Bambi. “You need to leave now.”

  Bambi shook her head and pulled out a small handgun from the bag that usually held Precious. “Sit down or I’ll shoot you.”

  My aunt slipped down next to me. “I couldn’t stop her from coming in. She had flowers.”

  “It’s okay.” I put my hand on my aunt’s arm, trying to think of a way out of this. The beating I’d taken from George yesterday and the painkillers the hospital had given me made me feel like I was in slow motion. I said the first thing that popped into my head. “No Precious today?”

  “He’s back at the hotel. He’s not fond of loud noises.” Bambi glanced around the living room. “I like this blue much better than the tan the old lady had on the walls. Too bad you won’t be around to enjoy it.”

  Of course, Bambi had been here before. She’d been trying to get Miss Emily to sell. But why? “You did this for Eric’s development?”

  Bambi laughed. “Actually, Eric did this for me. Of course, he couldn’t know the real reason I wanted this run-down shack. So I convinced him that an upscale residential development would make him millions. Men are so easy. All they want are two things. Sex and money.”

  “And power,” my aunt added.

  I squeezed her arm, but Bambi just smiled.

  “And power. Your mayor falls under all three of those vices.” She shuddered. “Luckily, I didn’t have to actually sleep with him to seduce him.”

  “So, why did you want the house?” I figured as long as Bambi was talking, she wasn’t shooting.

  “I think you know the answer to that.” Bambi smiled. “Where did you hide the coins?”

  “What coins?”

  “Playing dumb isn’t as easy as I make it look, sweetheart. And after teaching high school for a few years, I can tell a lie a mile away.”

  Kevin’s story came back. “You taught history here. And had the kids tell you the town’s secrets.”

  “Kids will tell a cute, flirty teacher anything. And, hey, they all got excellent grades, so what was the harm?” Bambi smiled. “Now, this gun is getting heavy, so can you just tell me where the coins are and I’ll be leaving.”

  “And you’ll let us live?” My heart leaped at the hope.

  Bambi seemed to consider my question for a few seconds. While I watched her, the hope drained out of me. She was debating between lying or telling me the truth. Either way, Aunt Jackie and I were dead when she took her stilettos and left.

  “Of course.” Bambi had decided on the lie.

  I pushed myself into a standing position.

  “Jilly, you shouldn’t move,” my aunt protested.

  I stared at Bambi as I answered, “I don’t think it matters much right now.”

  Her lips turned into a slight grin. “I think under different circumstances, you and I could have been friends.”

  “I think you would have to grow a heart first in order to have a friend.” I pointed to the kitchen.

  “Now, that was cruel.” Bambi waved the gun toward the kitchen. “After you.”

  I shuffled slowly into the kitchen, touching the blue wall
I’d just painted, saying good-bye to the house as I walked. After Bambi shot Aunt Jackie and me, no one would ever live in the house again. Too many deaths, too close together. Tears filled my eyes when I walked into the sunny yellow kitchen.

  “Now, this is nice. You should have been a decorator. Your store is precious, by the way.” Bambi giggled at her wording.

  “Thanks.” Now, the world was surreal. I walked over to the cabinets and pulled open the drawer. I wished I’d gone to the bank days ago. Before everything went to hell. But instead, I’d been too busy tracking down Crystal and buying paint. My hand found the napkin and something else. I glanced down at the smooth cylinder. Was it what I thought?

  I grabbed the makeshift bag, hoping that Jackie had taken advantage of Bambi’s absence and run. I heard the door opening right at the same time Bambi had. Her face went gray.

  “Here!” I held the bag in the air, trying to distract her from my aunt. “The coins are here.”

  “Put them on the table and untie that.” Bambi’s full attention focused on me.

  Run, Jackie. Run.

  I slowly walked toward the table, keeping my right hand covered by the bag. As I untied the handkerchief, the coins tumbled out on the table.

  “Oh my,” Bambi leaned closer and picked up a coin. When she did, I swung my other hand as close to her face as I could and sprayed her with the pepper spray I’d bought when I worked in the city. I hoped it didn’t have an expiration date, or I’d be dead sooner than later.

  Bambi screamed and dropped the gun and the coins. Her hands flew to her eyes.

  I grabbed the gun off the table and stepped out of her reach. Now, where the hell was my phone?

  “You bitch.” Bambi tried to open her eyes wide enough to find me, but just then, my kitchen door burst open and Greg and Toby stood in the kitchen, guns drawn.

  Greg nodded to Toby, who grabbed Bambi, pulling her hands behind her back. He walked over to me and gently removed the gun from my outstretched hands.

  “It’s over,” he said gently.

  “You’re paying for that lock,” I said before I fell into his arms.

  Chapter 21

  Greg had sent Toby off to get Bambi settled into the one South Cove jail cell and wait for the county sheriff to arrive. I’d told Greg about Amy; now all I could do was wait. Jackie kept trying to get me to eat or watch a movie, but I felt exhausted. My aunt had been a trooper, dialing 911 as soon as she hit the porch. Of course, Greg had already arrived after receiving a call from the state troopers who’d heard from the travel agent about my desperate plea.

  I grabbed my laptop and keyed Baratonga into my search engine. All I got was a bed–and-breakfast website, an article about the surfing, and a Google map showing the island just off the Mexican coast. All I could think about when I thought of Mexico was the horrible drug wars and the fact that shooting Americans had become the new blood sport.

  “Please, Amy, just hold on a little while longer,” I kept whispering over and over. At least I knew my friend was somewhere, hopefully alive.

  Night came and Jackie made pasta with artichoke hearts with a wine reduction white sauce. I barely touched the food. I was still twirling the noodles with my fork when a knock came to the back door. Jumping up, I almost knocked my plate off the table.

  Swinging open the door, Greg walked in. I’d never been so glad to see anyone. The sight of him coming in the kitchen reminded me of his rescue earlier that day. The man played Prince Charming well. He gave me a quick hug before he said anything, rubbing his hands down my hair, probably trying to get it to stay out of his eyes.

  “We have her.”

  Tears fell and I started sobbing.

  “The Coast Guard went down to the island and picked her up, no worse for wear. She was mad as hell that the plane hadn’t come for her, though.” Greg smiled. He nodded at Aunt Jackie. “Got any more of that pasta? It smells amazing.”

  “Jill, let the man come through the door. I’ll dish you up a plate since my niece seems to have lost her appetite.” Jackie hurried over to the stove, but not before I saw her wipe tears from her eyes and grab her Saint Christopher medal.

  “Sorry, come in.” I held on to his arm for support, as I wasn’t quite sure my legs would carry me back to my chair. “She’s all right? Really?”

  “She was in the kitchen with the bed-and-breakfast owner when the Coast Guard came up the beach. They were making muffins.” Greg shook his head. “She had no idea we were looking for her. She thought her call on Sunday went through but then she realized she was talking to dead air.”

  “And Bambi? What did Bambi say?” Fire flashed through me as I waited to find out what excuse she had given for putting me and Amy through this hell.

  “She’s down at the station. She admitted sending Amy the trip. And more, she confessed to killing Miss Emily.”

  Greg sat down at the table and continued his story. “Apparently, before she met Eric, Bambi Kelly was a history teacher right here in South Cove. But you figured that much out already. She found enough in her research to make her believe that the missing mission story was more fact than fiction. She had been searching on Miss Emily’s property, but had run into Sabrina stealing paintings. And when Eric couldn’t talk Miss Emily into selling, she slipped into the house and snuck a healthy dose of ma huang into her tea. Which caused a heart attack, killing her.”

  “How did she? I mean, she doesn’t look that strong.”

  “Miss Emily was poisoned, not strangled. The marks on her neck happened after death, according to Doc Ames. I guess Bambi wasn’t sure the ma huang had worked.” Greg smiled wearily at Jackie when she put a plate in front of him. “Thanks, this is the first food I’ve had since the sandwich at the hospital last night. Your aunt has been the main source of my meals the last few days.”

  I didn’t understand. “Your wife doesn’t cook?”

  Greg choked on the bite of garlic bread he’d just taken. “My wife? Well, when we were married, she might have cooked once in a while. But now, Sherry’s too busy dating the hospital staff to cook for me. You thought I was married?”

  “Your brother said …” I stopped, not wanting to open a can of worms between the two men.

  “Jim thinks marriage is forever. He lost his wife in a car accident and has been at me ever since to make it right with Sherry. He doesn’t understand that there’s too much water under the bridge for me to go back there.” Pain crossed his face.

  “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

  “You didn’t cheat. She did. End of story.” Greg dug into the pasta.

  I took a bite of the pasta on my plate. Amy was on her way home, Bambi was in jail along with George and Sabrina, Jimmy was fighting the council to save the house, and I had only one more loose end to tie up. I stood up.

  “Where are you going?” Jackie asked.

  “I need to make a quick phone call.”

  The house was filled with people. Half the town had to be in my backyard, some taking pictures of the mission wall, even though Frank Gleason was still undecided about the wall’s origin. I had set up a display area with Miss Emily’s paintings, letting the townsfolk view the talent of my friend. Sadie and the women from the Methodist Church had been the first to arrive, arms filled with covered dishes.

  Greg had set up the galvanized tub on the deck and filled it with ice and a variety of soda and adult beverages. He’d been a regular on the back porch these last few months, and we’d gotten a lot closer, now that I wasn’t having to worry about somebody coming up and knifing me from behind. He’d even come with me when I spoke in front of the council about the advantage of mixed use property codes. Apparently that had been Amy’s grand plan all along, to convince the council that single family dwellings brought up everyone’s property value over large apartment buildings. I had to admit, she’d done her homework on the subject. I was in the kitchen setting up another appetizer tray to take out to the backyard.

  “The grill’s
ready anytime you want to start up the hot dogs and hamburgers.” He put his arms around me and pulled me close. “Happy housewarming.”

  His lips found mine, and I melted into his kiss. Soft, warm, promising.

  “Ahem,” a woman’s voice came from the kitchen door.

  I broke away from Greg and handed him the tray to take outside. “Make yourself useful.”

  He grinned and headed out the door, nodding a greeting to the newcomer.

  I studied the young woman in front of me with the baby in her arms. “Crystal! I’m so glad you could make it.”

  Annie pointed to the pile of yellow lying on the kitchen floor. “Puppy.”

  Emma’s head popped up at the sound of the child’s voice. Greg had brought the golden retriever over to the house the weekend after Amy came home. The dog stretched and skidded over to meet her new best friend.

  “Annie, meet Emma.” I put my hand on Emma’s head, hoping that would calm her down just a bit.

  Crystal put Annie down, and she toddled over to pet Emma.

  “I wanted to thank you.”

  “No problem, I’m glad you agreed to come. We have lots of food and room. Did you see Miss Emily’s paintings?” I kept my eye on Emma, but so far the dog was too busy giving Annie kisses to worry about the child’s hands being a little too rough.

  “That’s not what I mean, Jill. You didn’t have to set up those scholarship accounts for Annie and me.” Tears glistened in Crystal’s eyes.

  “It wasn’t much, just enough for you to get through school. Now, Annie’s should be worth some cash when she’s ready. Maybe she’ll want to go to Harvard or Yale.” I squeezed Crystal’s shoulder.

  “No one’s ever done something that nice for me, ever.”

  “Then it’s about time. Just study hard and make her a good life.” My voice got raspy, but I wasn’t going to cry. Jimmy Marcum had thought I was a fool for setting up the education accounts, but I viewed the gift as paying my good fortune forward. And I was sure Miss Emily would have agreed with me.

  “We are all waiting for you outside. Greg wants to start up the grill.” Amy’s voice came through the screen door before she did. My friend was no worse for wear, but I still gave thanks every time I saw her.