Bones, Booze & Bouquets

by Marianne Spitzer

  Mitzi has a shelf for her candles in a quiet corner of my bookstore. Books and candles are relaxing, and my customers enjoy the lovely scents that greet them when they enter. Now all I need is a coffee and tea shop in here, and I’d be all set, but there isn’t any room. The owner of the drapery shop next door has talked about retiring for some time. If she does, I could buy that building and connect the two with a lovely arched entrance.

  Mitzi cut into my dreams. “Tell me what you think of this scent, Annie. I think it’s more enticing than the plain vanilla and generic floral I brought to the mansion this morning.”

  “It’s delightful. I think I smell roses and lilacs.”

  “You do,” Mitzi’s eyes danced with joy. “I managed to get the correct amount of both essential oils to make the sweetest scent. Now, you can go with this mixed scent in all the candles, or I can make some rose and some lilac. I can put the rose scent in the pink candles and the lilac in the purple ones or look what I made.” She held up a beautiful candle of pink and purple swirled wax. It smelled heavenly.

  “That’s lovely and perfect. It’s different, and I want the wedding unique. You know me too well.” I hugged my friend.

  “I thought you’d like them. Let me know how many and what sizes you need? I know Glory thinks you need more candles than you wanted.”

  “I scheduled another appointment with the wedding planner. Would you like to meet us at the mansion again and give me more ideas on sizes and the amount you think I’d need? I want the place to look and smell beautiful, but if I go with Glory’s ideas, the mansion will look like noontime instead of sunset.”

  “Sure would. Just text me the details and I’ll be there,” Mitzi said as she repacked her basket and began her walk to the door. She stopped and turned around. “Here, keep this one and think of your wedding day when you feel stressed.” She handed me the swirled candle.

  “Thanks, Mitzi.”

  She waved as she hurried outside.

  I noticed it was ten minutes before five. I clipped Yummy’s leash to his collar and turned the “Open” sign to “Closed” on the front door and decided to walk the two blocks to the florist shop. I arrived just as Georgie pulled up and parked in front of the shop.

  “Hi,” Georgie said. “I see it went well with the mayor.”

  I groaned and told her about my meeting.

  Georgie doubled over laughing until tears ran down her cheeks.

  “It wasn’t that funny,” I insisted tapping my foot.

  “I’d pay money to see the look on the mayor’s face not to mention Phillips. You really tossed the mug out the window and hit the mayor’s car,” she gasped for air as she tried to talk while laughing. “Do you think the mayor has a camera in his office. We could break in to watch.”

  “Georgie, get a grip. It wasn’t funny, and I don’t know if he has a camera, but we’re not breaking into City Hall. You’re crazy,” I bit back a smile. Georgie’s contagious laughter was hard to ignore.

  Lizzy hurried down the sidewalk toward us, and Georgie took a deep breath settling back to her usual self. As near normal as possible for Georgie, that is.

  “Hi,” Lizzy said. “Sorry, I’m late.”

  “It’s okay. We can’t go in until Carolyn gets here. The mayor was adamant about having a police officer with us.”

  Lizzy’s face fell. “I can’t believe what’s happening. The police believe my grandfather might be responsible for that man’s death, and my father hid the evidence somewhere. If there was evidence, how can they think anyone would keep it for that long. I never met my grandfather, but I know my dad wouldn’t have done that. They came and searched the house. Mom was so upset I thought she might have a heart attack. I called her doctor, and he phoned in a prescription to help her nerves. I’m still worried about her. I hope they solve this soon.” Lizzy shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans and paced back and forth in front of the store.

  When she walked past me the second time, I stopped her and gave her a hug. “I know your dad had nothing to do with this. He was a nice man. Georgie and I are going to find out what happened even if the police don’t figure it out. Carolyn’s here. Let’s go inside. It’ll be okay.”

  Lizzy nodded and unlocked the front door but stopped short just after stepping inside. “Look at my shop. It’s a mess, and my inventory is dying. Who pays for this? I don’t think insurance covers this,” Lizzy spun and looked at Carolyn.

  Carolyn answered, “You can get a form at the station to fill out for any loss you believed the police caused.”

  “And I’ll pay for whatever they don’t,” I added.

  “It’s not your fault,” Lizzy quipped.

  “Maybe not directly, but I found the body that started this investigation. I promised you it’d be okay and it will.”

  Lizzy tried to smile and looked at Carolyn. “Annie’s wedding things are in the back room.”

  We followed her into the back room, and the odor of rotting plants assaulted our noses.

  “Look at this,” Lizzy explained throwing her hands up in the air. “They pulled the exotic plants out of the water. They’re dead.”

  Carolyn walked over to Lizzy and placed her hand on her shoulder. “I’ll help you toss out the dead plants, so the odor doesn’t permeate the entire building.”

  Lizzy nodded and began to throw the dead plants into a large plastic garbage barrel. We pitched in, and it didn’t take long to clear the shop of the dying plants and remove the barrel out next to the dumpster behind the shop.

  Lizzy left the back door open to help air out the shop and looked at me. “Okay, I have all your wedding items in one place. It’ll only take me a minute to get them together.”

  Carolyn watched Lizzy as she opened a cabinet and pulled out three large spools of ribbon, a plastic container that held the dyes for the flowers, and two boxes of small crystal vases. She placed them on the counter.

  I turned to look at Carolyn, “Thanks for helping us. The ribbon was specially dyed to order to match the flower colors. We’d never get this in time for the wedding.”

  Lizzy interjected, “I can have the flowers delivered to my house. I’m able to dye them there and make the bouquets, but I needed the correct colors. Thanks for helping me, Carolyn. I know this isn’t your fault.”

  Carolyn smiled and nodded. “I appreciate that.”

  Georgie said, “Let us help you carry this out to your car.”

  Lizzy looked at Carolyn. “I know we’re just supposed to get the things for Annie’s wedding, but there are bouquets in my showroom cold storage unit. Why don’t each of you take a bouquet home and I’ll drop the rest off at the nursing home on my way home. I hate to see them go to waste, too.”

  “I think that’ll be okay,” Carolyn said. “I don’t think you hid any evidence in them.”

  Lizzy bit her lip hard and then spoke, “They tore this place apart. I’m surprised they left the bouquets intact. How can they still expect to find evidence?” She hurried into the back room and returned with a large box. She filled it with the bouquets and stormed out of the store.

  Carolyn and Georgie picked up a box of vases, and I took the ribbon and dyes. We followed Lizzy to her car and waited until she packed everything in the back seat.

  After locking the store, Lizzy returned and said, “Thanks for letting me get into the store and for helping me move the decorations to my car. Don’t worry Annie; your flowers will be perfect. I promise. Don’t forget to text me about meeting at the mansion.” She climbed into her car and drove off.

  Carolyn blew out a big breath. “This is one of the parts of my job that’s difficult.”

  “Lizzy will be all right,” I insisted. “I intend to prove the police wrong. Nothing personal, Carolyn.” I shrugged.

  “I know,” she answered and strode to her patrol car.

  ~ * ~

  It had been a long day, and I was tired. The house was empty when I arrived home. I didn’t expect Laci to be there. She didn�
��t say a word during the meeting with the wedding planner. Beth Ann had a ton of questions, but Laci was silent. I wonder if she forgot we were supposed to car shop today. I’m going to wait for her to bring it up. After the way she’s acting, I need to play tough mom which is hard for me, but she needs to apologize first.

  I filled Yummy’s food and water bowls then sat down with my “too tired to eat go to meal.” A cup of tea and two granola bars will have to do. Tomorrow I’ll eat better, I hope. I let Yummy out for a run and then we settled down to watch TV. Several hours later I woke cold and stiff. I fell asleep on the sofa…again. I have to stop doing this.

  Yummy was nowhere in sight. I can’t believe I slept through Laci coming home and Yummy following her upstairs. The meeting with the mayor must have taken more out of me than I thought.

  I raced upstairs for a shower and let Yummy out of Laci’s room. By the time we were ready to go to the bookstore, I didn’t have time for breakfast. So much for eating better. A cereal bar and a cup of coffee is a good breakfast, right?

  Thirty minutes later, I unlocked the back door of the bookstore and let Yummy loose to run free. I heard someone knock at the front door, and it was still ten minutes before opening. Yummy barked and ran up to me and sat down. He looked up at me and barked again.

  “Yes, I hear it, too. It’s okay, Yummy. Let’s see who wants to come in early.”

  I could see Lou from the diner standing outside waving a paper bag at me before I got to the door.

  “Good morning, Lou. Come on in. What brings you in so early?”

  “You, my dear. I’m worried about you with all this dead body thing and then Willy’s murder. I know you aren’t eating well, so I brought breakfast. It’s something new. I hope you like it. It has your favorite things. If you like it, I’ll add it to the menu.”

  I opened the bag and removed the foil package. When I unfolded the foil, I saw one of Lou’s buttery croissants, but I could smell eggs and bacon.

  “What is this?”

  “You love my scrambled eggs and turkey bacon for breakfast but never seem to have the time to sit and eat. You also love to have your sandwiches on a croissant instead of bread, so I combined them.

  I picked up the croissant and took a bite and tasted eggs and bacon. It was heavenly. “Mmm, Mmm,” I mumbled while I ate.

  A broad grin spread across his face. “It’s a winner. I’ll add it to the menu, and you can eat a healthy breakfast on the run anytime.” He hugged me and rushed out the door.

  I spent the morning putting new books on the shelf and dusting the books already there. Midway through my chores, my mind began to mull over the entire situation. It seemed odd to me that the mayor and Phillips both think the florist shop needed to stay closed. Their reason that if it initially opened using illegal funds, then it needs to remain closed doesn’t make sense. How can they prove anything? One of them knows more than they told me. I think Georgie and I need to investigate.

  That’s when the idea hit me. Whatever evidence that’s being used to keep Fred’s closed must have been found at Willy’s. There wasn’t anything in the mansion’s cellar with the body. I think we need to do our own investigating.

  I texted Georgie:

  Free to investigate tonight?

  About ten when it’s dark.

  A few minutes later she texted back:

  You bet. I’ll pick you up at ten.

  My next text went to Laci asking her to put one of the casseroles I have in the freezer in the oven for dinner. Her text back saying she wouldn’t be home told me all I needed to know. I’ll be grabbing something from the diner for dinner again. Maybe I’ll take a break tonight and sit in the diner and have a full meal. I think it’ll make Lou feel better. He’s a lovely man and acts more like my dad. Lou and his wife hover over me. Last month when I was stuck on the top of my bookshelves after trying to clean them, Lou came in when the fire department arrived, and I thought he’d had a heart attack when he saw me up on the shelves. I was fine, and the paramedics took him to the hospital. It was only stress and his blood pressure. I can’t imagine life in Heavenly Corners without Lou.

  I left Yummy in the bookstore and headed over to the diner. It was just two doors down, and Yummy is so good when I leave him alone.

  Lou fed me more food than I could eat, but I finished it just to see his smile. After I finished and told him I needed to go home, he hugged me and whispered, “Everyone knows Willy was murdered. It’s fishy. Fred and I were good friends. There’s no way he had anything to do with that body in the mansion or covering it up for his dad. Find out who killed Willy and you’ll know who shot the man in the mansion and that Fred’s innocent. He’s not here to defend himself. Then Lizzy can get her shop back. Her mom was in today and cried a lot. She’s scared they’ll lose everything. The police won’t look at things the way you do, Annie.”

  “I’ll do my best, I promise.”

  It was a promise I intended to keep.

  Chapter Six

  I climbed into Georgie’s car and closed the door as quietly as possible. When I heard the seatbelt click, I said, “Ready, let’s go before someone sees us.”

  Georgie shifted into Reverse and rolled out of my drive and into the street. When she drove down the street putting a bit of distance between us and my house, she spoke. “Are you sure about this?”

  “Yes,” I answered. “I explained this to you earlier. We need to help Lizzy.”

  “I know, but it sounded like a better idea in the daylight.” She gripped the steering wheel tightly as she drove. “We’ll get arrested for sure this time, Annie.”

  “I’ve been arrested for investigating before but don’t plan on it this time. It’s in the middle of the woods. Who’s going to see us?” I turned to look at her, but she stared straight ahead at the street.

  “I don’t know Annie, but you told me the same thing the night you fell in that open grave. Another night like that and Paul will kill me,” she insisted. “He threatened to tell my mom.”

  I patted her arm. “Don’t worry. I’m not letting anything get in the way of my wedding, and that includes getting arrested. We’ll be okay, I promise. Besides your mom is a sweetheart. She loves you and me, too.”

  Georgie chuckled. “If I had a dollar for every time you promised we wouldn’t get in trouble, I’d be rich. You’ve been telling me that since grade school.”

  I smiled in agreement. “You’re right, but they never arrested you. The grumpy detectives only seem to want to arrest me. Remember that.”

  “Uh huh. I’ll try.”

  “Whistler’s Body Shop is just ahead. Kill the headlights,” I told Georgie as I looked around the empty highway in case there were any other vehicles around.

  “Geez, Annie, you sound like a crime movie,” Georgie chuckled again as she killed the lights and pulled into the body shop lot.

  “Pull over there between those two cars,” I pointed to her left. “No one will see the car from the road.”

  She backed into the parking spot and glanced at me. “It’s faster to escape if I don’t have to back out.”

  “Smart thinking, let’s go.”

  Georgie stood next to her car glancing around. “For the last time, are you sure about this?” She looked up at the full moon brightening the pavement where we stood. “Someone is sure to see us.”

  “Yes, I’m sure. We need to check out Willy’s place. It’s after ten o’clock and the only house in sight is the Bergliner’s across the road. They have six kids, and I’m sure they’re asleep. Wouldn’t you be if you had six kids?”

  “Uh huh,” Georgie murmured.

  “Come on; we’ll walk on this side of the road until we get to the edge of the property. It’s less than a block I think. Clark said there’s a drive that takes you back to the woods. We’ll follow it.” I began to walk down the road thankful for the full moon and cloudless sky.

  When I saw the dirt drive I assumed Clark meant when he said Willy had a driveway back to his
place; I ran across the road whispering to Georgie to follow me. She stood next to me at the foot of the long drive.

  “It’s a long walk back to the woods. Maybe two blocks. Are you sure we need to do this?”

  “Georgie, what happened to you? Where’s your adventuresome spirit? Where’s the girl who was first to jump off Broken Neck Rock into the river each summer?” I turned and hugged her and held her hand.

  “I’m still here inside. Outside I don’t want to jump off rocks or tumble down hills. I think I break easier now.” She bit her lip, but I could see the mischief sparkle in her eyes.

  “Ready,” I asked.

  “You bet,” she replied and gripped my hand tighter. We began our walk up the long drive. We passed the house without incident and followed the edge of the cornfield on the other side of the drive.

  I stopped at the edge of the woods. “I think we should sneak through the woods rather than continue up the drive. Clark told me when the drive ends; you need an ATV to get to the cabin. Either way, the walk will be slow, and the woods will give us better cover.”

  “Better cover from what? I thought you said the cabin would be empty.”

  “It should be, but just in case we should creep up quietly.”

  “Just in case?” She stared at me. I shrugged.

  “All right,” she agreed. “You first, I’ll follow. Try not to fall in any holes this time.”

  “These are woods and not a cemetery,” I retorted.

  After a few feet into the woods, Georgie whispered. “I can barely see. The trees are too thick. So much for your idea of going when the moon is full. It’s too dark; I’m going to use the flashlight on my phone.”

  “No, someone will see the light. We can see well enough if we walk slowly.”

  I heard Georgie groan and mumble, but she followed me.

  A few minutes later we both stopped when we heard a twig snap.

  “What was that?” Georgie stammered. “It could be a poisonous snake. Maybe it’s a Timber Rattler. We have them here, don’t we?”