Literally Murder (A Pepper Brooks Cozy Mystery Book 2)

by Eryn Scott

It was an awkward walk, to say the least. Even though the girl had now officially said something like a hundred words to me, she reverted back to her silent self. Which would've been one thing, but the way she looked over her shoulder every three seconds—as if the murderer was going to jump out of nowhere and drag her into the nearest body of water—made my shoulders pull tight and my fingers clench around the strap of my messenger bag.

  Ernie, the station's secretary, met us with a smile when we entered the foyer, though it was a tired version of his usually wide grin. His eyes focused in on Victoria warily like the way he used to watch large cars rolling to a stop when he had been my school crossing guard.

  "Morning, Pepper." Ernie sighed. "What can I do for you?"

  "Victoria needs to see Detective Valdez. Is he... back?" I swallowed as I thought about the crime scene all over again.

  "Just a little bit ago." Ernie nodded, then motioned to the seats along the wall. "Wait right there. I'll let him know."

  Victoria and I complied. It felt like we were watching one of those time-lapse videos of a busy city street as we sat there. People bustled back and forth, worry written on everyone's faces, in their tight postures and rushed whispers.

  When Detective Valdez emerged from the back hallway, Victoria and I stood. The detective narrowed his eyes at me, but he quickly turned his attention to the young barista.

  "This is Victoria," I said, knowing how nervous Alex's dad made me and figuring Victoria was going to be too intimidated to speak. "She has some information for you, but is a bit anxious, so she wrote it down." I motioned to Victoria and she handed over the statement.

  "Do you mind sitting in my office with me while I read this?" the detective asked. I was thankful to hear him soften his tone when he addressed the shy young woman.

  Victoria's nervous gaze cut to me. She swallowed and those dark eyebrows furrowed together.

  Based on the way Alex's dad was watching me warily, I doubted he was going to let me come back with her, even though I already knew what her statement said. Smiling and nodding in encouragement, I said, "Detective Valdez is really nice, Vicky. I'll be here. I'll wait for you."

  Victoria mirrored my nod and then turned to follow the detective.

  Plopping back into one of the chairs in the entryway, I pulled out my copy of The Sun Also Rises and started to read. I was getting close to finishing and was looking forward to starting A Farewell to Arms.

  But before I could even get through one page, another tall, lanky figure I recognized slunk through the station doors.

  "Nate?" I asked, looking up. "What are you doing here?"

  He held up a spiral-bound book and slumped into the seat next to me. "Just bringing in some evidence."

  Nate was typically a dark and moody person. I mean, the guy's demeanor was normally morose, but the man looked absolutely inconsolable today. His head hung and his hair was greasy, falling into his face.

  "Everything okay?" I asked, placing a hand on his arm.

  "Besides the world losing a beautiful person, yes, everything's fine." He rolled his eyes, looking away and—was that just the sunlight or did I see tears glinting in the corners?

  I bit my lip. "Mindy," I said, then tentatively met his gaze. "Did you know her?"

  He nodded. "Intimately."

  "You two were together?" Nate had been particularly smile-y and chipper lately. Maybe the man was in love.

  Nate shook his head quickly, as if it was crazy of me to assume so. "Definitely not, but I did love to watch her."

  Or he was stalking her. Ick. A shiver ran up my spine.

  Nate's dark eyes wandered off. "She came into the café a lot. Left this behind the other day."

  I swallowed. "And, you're just now bringing it in?" I asked.

  "I was going to give it back the next time she came in." He shook his head. The man smelled slightly acrid and oddly sweet, but I hoped it was from working around coffee beans and pastries all day. He sighed. "But now..."

  My forehead wrinkled and something in my chest pulled tight.

  "Right." I supposed that wasn't too creepy. He had no way of knowing she wasn't ever coming back. My attention settled on the book. It was a planner, the kind the university gave out when someone moved into the dorms for the first time. It was for this year, too.

  Mindy had to be a junior, at least. I mean, she'd been drinking at The Select. But a lot of people completed their first two years of undergrad at local community colleges and then transferred up to the university for their last two years, so a junior in the dorms wasn't unheard of.

  Glancing at Ernie sitting at the front desk and seeing he was wholly focused on something on his computer screen, I reached for the planner.

  "Can I see it, Nate?" Nervousness rolled about in my stomach as I realized this thing might have a clue about what happened to her. Too late, I also remembered I really wasn't supposed to be getting involved and this would definitely qualify for the "involved" category.

  Nate shrugged and handed it over. When I flipped to yesterday's page, he said, "I already checked. There's nothing written there other than a reminder to practice a monologue."

  A quick flick of my eyes across the page confirmed Nate was right. I chewed on my lip for a second before flipping backward through the pages. The rest of them were full with little drawings and due dates for other assignments.

  Remembering back to her reading War and Peace at the bar and being so into it, I was surprised I didn't see any evidence of her taking any English classes. I mean, someone that into Russian literature had to be an English major, right?

  But Mindy didn't appear to be.

  I flipped another page and stopped. At the bottom of that day, there was a big, bright, circled event. She'd traced it in multiple colors.

  The Great Comet with The Music Man—5th Ave

  Confused, I latched onto the one thing which made sense about the note. The 5th Avenue was a theater in Seattle. I'd seen The Music Man—Maggie had constantly forced me to watch musicals with her growing up—but I'd never heard of The Great Comet.

  Thinking of Maggie made me realize that she would know. Pulling out my phone, I texted my question to her.

  "Hey, you ever heard of The Great Comet?"

  I watched my screen, willing Maggie to pick up her phone. A response came through seconds later. I held my breath as I read the text.

  "Natasha and Pierre and The Great Comet? It's a Broadway musical based on the last part of War and Peace. Just went on tour."

  Oh! So that's why Mindy had been reading that book. Not because of some random interest in Russian literature, but because she'd just seen the musical.

  "Like, it would be at The 5th Avenue?" I asked.

  "Sure. Heard tickets are ridiculous, though. Super hard to get."

  I nodded. "Yeah, and it being a double feature."

  Maggie didn't respond right away. After a few seconds, she texted, "Double feature? Peps, they don't do those. The Great Comet is almost 3 hours long."

  I bit my lip as I thought about watching The Music Man with Maggie. It sure had felt long when we'd watched it. She was right. A double feature of those musicals would've taken all day. Nate squirmed next to me in obvious boredom as I continued to stare blankly at the planner.

  "How's Margaret faring with that new baby of hers?" he asked, breaking my concentration.

  I blinked up at him. "Hudson?" I got the urge to shake my head as if that might help sort out the mess of thoughts. But before Nate could say another word, I thought about the last time I'd seen the baby, with Maggie in the park. Gasping and pointing to the page. "With!" I texted Maggie again.

  "What was the nickname you called Garrison the other day?"

  "Pepper?" Nate cleared his throat, irritation coating his tone.

  "Sorry." I reluctantly pulled my attention away from my phone. "I think Mindy may have been having an affair with—" I cut out, not wanting to start rumors, so I finished with, "a married man."

  "That's
..." Nate shook his head. "No. She wasn't that kind of woman."

  As Nate tutted some more about the implausibility of my theory, my phone buzzed in my hand with a response from Maggie.

  "The Music Man."

  Yes! My hunch had been right. I just needed to check one last thing.

  "And were you the only one who called him that or does everyone?"

  Maggie responded right away with a quick, "Everyone who takes his classes."

  Equipped with the last piece of the puzzle, I locked my wild eyes with Nate's dark questioning ones and everything clicked into place.

  Mindy was practicing a monologue because she was taking a theater class, which Garrison taught. Katie thought he might've moved on to someone new, which is why he'd broken it off with her. This information, plus Carson's intel about Mrs. G's alibi being fake didn't look good. Professor Garrison had been sleeping with both of the victims.

  Anger rose in me as I thought about Katie being pregnant. Had he gotten Mindy pregnant, too? Was this just his sick way of cleaning up after his affairs? Or had Mrs. Garrison found out and started to off his lovers out of revenge?

  It was looking more and more like I'd brought Victoria here for nothing. Sam may be a terrible human being and he may have been doing something sketchy down by the creek the night Katie was murdered, but it was looking more and more like Garrison was the killer.

  That was, until I looked at the date on the top of the page. Sunday. That was the night Katie had been killed. Which meant Garrison was in the city that night, hours from Pine Crest.

  Doubts filled my mind. The doors to the station opened and Alex walked inside with Frank. He spotted me and walked over instead of following Frank into the back.

  His hair was ruffled, falling into his face instead of brushed back like usual. Those delicious dark eyes were also sporting some equally dark circles underneath. Seeing him made me feel instantly better.

  At least, for a second.

  Until his expression darkened and he said, "Wait. Pepper, why are you here?"

  11

  I shoved Mindy's planner back toward Nate then stood, holding up my hands in defense. "Victoria told me some stuff about the case and I came with her for support since she was nervous. I'm trying to hand things off to you guys, swear."

  After a few moments, Alex's gaze softened and he nodded. "Sorry. It's been a long day."

  "It's only ten thirty," I said, cringing.

  Alex groaned, looking at his watch. "You know the funny part? I really thought this small town thing was going to be boring." He shook his head. "Little did I know..."

  Biting my lip, I frowned. "I'm so sorry." I set my hand on his arm, squeezing down once.

  Nate, who I'd forgotten was still sitting behind me, cleared his throat. Alex nodded a hello as the tall café owner stood, then walked up to us.

  "A police officer. Finally. I would like to submit this planner as evidence." Nate held the planner out and turned it over. "It was found at my business, left on a table on Wednesday midday. I had intended to give it back to its owner upon her return to my establishment since she is—" he paused, closing his eyes for a moment, “—was a regular. Alas, I am bringing it to the police as I have learned she will never be returning." To demonstrate his point, Nate flipped open the planner's plastic NWU cover so we could see Mindy's name filled out in the This Belongs To section. She'd written "Room 205—Howard Hall" on the Return To line below. Howard Hall had been my dorm during my first two years.

  Nate snapped the planner shut, making me jump, and then he shoved it toward Alex. "I need to make my way back to the café." Clasping his newly emptied hands behind his back, Nate tipped his lanky body forward in a bow. "Pepper, I'll be seeing you sooner than you know." He eyed me and then spun on his heel.

  Alex frowned at Nate's retreating form. "Sooner than you know?" Alex mumbled, turning his concerned gaze to me.

  I sighed and swatted the air. "That's most likely not as terrifying as it sounded. I think that's just Nate's way of saying he'll see me later."

  Alex watched me for a moment. "Remind me why you're here again?" He ran a hand over his face. "Sorry, my memory is shot right now. Frank and I were on night patrols and we got the call about the... fountain, right at the end of our shift. We stayed on to help out."

  "That's okay." I gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm waiting for Victoria. She's with your dad giving a statement."

  "Statement?" Alex squinted one eye. "The barista that works at the Bittersweet cart?" When I nodded, he added, "I thought she didn't talk."

  Shrugging like it wasn't a big deal, I said, "She does now, to me. Trusts me or something." I picked at one of my nails, peeking up at Alex.

  Chuckling, Alex said, "More like she hasn't learned not to trust you yet." He elbowed me playfully.

  "Hey! I'm very trustworthy." I raised an eyebrow at him.

  "You are." He winked at me. "Sorry."

  "Oh! Speaking of..." I blinked, remembering I had yet to tell him about Katie and the news we'd learned about her from the bar the other night. "I have a piece of information for you about Katie that might be of interest."

  Alex furrowed his forehead and leaned in close.

  "Katie Landin was pregnant." I watched him take in the news.

  "No she wasn't." Alex shook his head.

  "Um... yeah, she was."

  "No. She wasn't."

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I said, "Says who?"

  Alex opened his hands in front of him. "The coroner who did the autopsy."

  My mouth formed an O and my arms dropped in defeat. "But wait. Someone thought she was."

  "Okay... and since when do we believe everything we hear?"

  Before I could spit out a clever retort, Alex's dad emerged with Victoria. The poor reticent barista looked just about as frazzled as I usually felt after talking with the somber detective.

  "Ernie, how are we coming with that warrant?" The detective shot the question at the secretary as he nodded a goodbye to Victoria.

  Ernie cringed. "They're still saying tomorrow morning, sir."

  Detective Valdez cleared his throat. "Call again." He looked to his son and motioned back to his office. "You have a minute?"

  "Yeah." Alex nodded to me and then followed his dad back.

  I stood there, mouth open, blinking at the retreating Valdezes. Eyes wide, I turned to face Victoria. "He must've really thought you had something there if he's getting a warrant."

  Victoria grimaced, looking the least like someone who had just helped bring down a serial murderer I'd ever seen.

  "I don't think he thinks it's Sam," she whispered.

  "What?" I scoffed. "That's crazy. Of course it's Sam. I mean—" I bit my lip for a second. "If they're not going for Sam. Who are they...?"

  Pulling Victoria outside with me, I glanced around. "They've gotta be going for one of the Garrisons then, right?"

  Victoria shrugged.

  "Is it Mrs. Garrison they suspect?" I asked as I thought out loud and paced outside the station.

  It couldn't be Mr. Garrison after what I'd just seen written in Mindy's planner. If she had been with the man the night Katie was murdered, no matter how bad it looked that he was dating both of them, he couldn't be the serial killer.

  But if Alex had just gotten Mindy's planner, the police didn't know any of that yet. Which meant they were about to make a terrible mistake.

  My fingers curled into fists as I fought with indecision. On one hand, I'd told Alex I would stay out of this case. On the other, I think he would appreciate me stopping the department from arresting the wrong person. My feet itched to move forward, to storm up to Detective Valdez's office. But ultimately the small amount of doubt I still had about my theory was enough to keep my feet planted.

  I was mostly sure Garrison didn't do this, but if I was going to break my promise to Alex, I needed proof. Spinning to face Victoria, I said, "Ever break into someone's dorm room in the middle of the day?"

 
; Her eyes widened and she shook her head.

  Wrinkling my nose in disappointment, I said, "I need your help, Vicky. How's your vision? Have you ever been a lookout for someone before?"

  Victoria stammered, “I—uh—I need to get back." She pointed right, then left, then turned around. She skittered away, head swiveling as she checked over her shoulder every few steps.

  Sighing, I watched my potential sidekick disappear around the corner and wished Liv wasn't in classes. She would help me break into Mindy's place. The girl was my hot Watson, after all. Thinking of Liv reminded me I hadn't talked to her since I'd found out about Mindy this morning. I pulled out my phone and saw I'd missed a few texts.

  One was from Maggie.

  "Hope you're okay. Did you know her?"

  The next one was from Liv.

  "Do you think we're cursed? I mean, first Katie and then Mindy goes days after we meet her…"

  The last text was from my mother.

  "Thinking of you."

  I blinked down at the trio of words from my mother, surprised at how so little could make me feel so much. Our failed dinner date from the other day was still raw in my memory, however, and instead of feeling elated at proof that the woman thought of me, I felt anger surge inside me. Did it really take students dying for her to start paying me any attention?

  Responding quickly, I wrote to Maggie first.

  "Not really."

  Then to my mother.

  "Thanks, Mom."

  And then to Liv.

  "OMG. I know. I hate this. Any chance you're available to break and enter with me? #hotwatson"

  Liv texted right back.

  "Always."

  Smiling, I wrote, "Meet me outside Howard and headed that way."

  Liv arrived before me since she was already on campus and I had to make my way from the police station in town. She was waiting outside our old dorm building, arms crossed, looking completely overdressed for breaking and entering. A few students milled about around the concrete steps leading up to the dorm, but it was obvious word had yet to get out about who the victim was. This would definitely work in our favor.

  "Um... business suits are not necessarily ideal for what we're about to do." I gestured to her smart gray pantsuit and red blouse.