Scottsdale Sizzle: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 3)

by B A Trimmer

  I hung up with Sophie and thirty seconds later, my phone rang again. This time it was Morningstar.

  “Miss Black, I wanted to remind you of your promise to keep me apprised of your movements. I was surprised I hadn’t yet heard from you yet today.”

  “Hey, it’s not even ten o’clock. Elizabeth and I are in the car heading over to the house on Camelback. We’re going to spend the next couple of hours looking for the chest over there.”

  “Excellent,” Morningstar said. “Magic, Lester, and I will travel back to South Mountain to more fully explore that part of the clue. To me that seems the most promising. However, I’m glad we will not overlap our efforts for the next few hours. Be sure to call me if you happen to find anything of value.”

  “Sure,” I said. “You do the same.”

  “Rest assured,” he said. “You can count on it.”

  Eleven

  In no time at all, we were winding our way up the street to the house on Camelback Mountain. As we got closer, I slowed to a crawl.

  “If there’s already another car there,” I said, “let’s keep going. I’d rather not have to explain to anyone what we’re doing at the house.”

  Fortunately, the courtyard was empty. I parked and we went in through the front door. We quickly went through the house and out the side door to the pool.

  Elizabeth and I both looked up to see if we could see the coffin rock shape from the pool.

  “Wow,” she said. “From down here it only looks like a hill full of big flat rocks.”

  “You’re right,” I said. “Nothing looks even vaguely coffin shaped. But I’m sure this is the right place. The card said the next clue is below the coffin shaped rock. That ends about six feet up and directly over where your granddad has that small bust of himself on the pedestal.”

  We both walked over to the pedestal. It was positioned about three feet from the back wall, which was right against Camelback Mountain. We’d looked at it before and we knew there was nothing remarkable about it. The pedestal was about four-feet tall and I saw it was bolted to the concrete decking of the pool. A small bust of Elizabeth’s grandfather sat on top. From what Les had told me when we first searched the pool area, it was a good likeness. The bust was attached to the pedestal with a piece of wire, presumably to keep it from blowing off in the summer monsoons. A small brass plaque attached to the top of the pedestal read: Wilbur Murdock, pioneer in modern air-conditioning and refrigeration systems.

  “Your granddad had a bit of an ego,” I said.

  “Oh, Granddad didn’t put it up. It was Dad. When he found out he was dying, Dad had it made. I think it was his way of telling Granddad he was sorry for the years of quibbling. Granddad’s had it here ever since.”

  “One thing’s puzzled me about it,” I said. Why are there two busts of your granddad?”

  “Two?” Elizabeth asked, somewhat confused.

  “Well, there is the statue here on the pedestal and there is the same one upstairs on a bookshelf in the office next to your granddad’s bedroom. I was going to ask Les about it, but it never seemed important.”

  “As far as I know, there’s only one and it’s here.”

  “Before we get excited,” I said, “let’s go upstairs and see if I’m right. If I am, let’s bring that statue down here. Then we’ll see what we can find out about this one.”

  Elizabeth and I hurried into the house and up the stairs to the office, which was next door to the master bedroom. I saw there was still crime scene tape and forensics seals strung across the door of the bedroom.

  We walked into the office and on one of the upper bookshelves behind the desk was the exact same statue. It was about two feet tall and it looked slightly weathered, as if it has been exposed to the elements for several years.

  “I’ll be damned,” Elizabeth said. “I’ve searched this room twice and I didn’t notice this statue was the same as the one by the pool. There are so many sculptures in the house it didn’t even register.”

  I reached up and slid the bust off the shelf. It was heavy and it was all I could do to keep it from crashing down on the floor. I carefully sat it down on a pad of paper on the desk.

  “This looks like the original statue,” Elizabeth said. “But if this is the original, what is sitting on the pedestal?”

  “Well,” I said. “There’s only one way to find out.”

  We took turns carrying the heavy statue down to the pool. When we go to where the other sculpture was located, we were both a little winded.

  “OK,” I said. “Let’s undo the wire and take this one off the pedestal.”

  I unwrapped the wire from the statue and lifted it up. I was surprised when it didn’t seem to weigh nearly enough. I knocked on it with my knuckles and I shook it. I then walked over and rubbed the top of the statue against a rock that was part of the back wall. Where I had rubbed, the statue was now a bright white.

  “This one seems to be made of plaster,” said. “It sounds hollow and there seems to be something rattling around in it.”

  Elizabeth was intently watching what I was doing. Her eyes suddenly got big and she yelled out, “There’s something written on the bottom!”

  I turned the statue over. Written into the bottom of the statue in cursive writing were the words: Smash Me!

  With my heart pounding, I thought about the best way to go about this.

  “I don’t want the Chicago thugs finding out about this,” I said. “If you hear a car coming into the courtyard, sing out. We’ll pretend we aren’t doing what we’re doing. We’ll then calmly go back in the house and pretend to look in there until they go away again. Let’s put the original statue from upstairs on the pedestal and put the wire back on. That way, even if Morningstar finds the coffin rock, he won’t be able to get any further.”

  I sat the fake plaster statue behind an oleander bush next to the pool. Elizabeth and I then spent several minutes wiring the real statue onto the pedestal. We laughed when we saw the original bust had holes drilled in the bottom of it and these fit exactly with bolt holes that had been drilled in the base of the pedestal.

  “When this is over,” I said, “We’ll need to find the bolts and put this back on properly. I wouldn’t want it to blow off in the next monsoon.”

  When we had finished, I took a few steps back. With the wire, it looked exactly as it had. Only now, the original statue was where the fake one had been.

  “Where should we go to smash the fake?” Elizabeth asked.

  “The basement,” I said. “It’s the only place in the house where no one will notice some extra dust.”

  We walked into the house and down into the basement. We found a corner that still had a clear section of concrete floor. I lifted the statue up and was about to smash it down on the floor, instead lowered it and gave it to Elizabeth.

  “It’s your fortune,” I said.

  Elizabeth raised the statue up then threw it down on the concrete. It shattered into a hundred pieces. In the center of the pile of plaster shards and dust was a laminated card. I saw it had the same cursive writing as the card in the vault. Elizabeth picked up the card and read it out loud.

  I congratulate you for coming this far. If you still can’t find my jewelry, go to Prescott and look for Penelope. She’ll show you where the jewelry is. But be aware, it will take the efforts of both of my grandchildren to take possession of my fortune.

  “Is that all it says?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Elizabeth said, anger and frustration in her voice. “That’s it. I was hoping the card would say to go to a specific bedroom and pull up some floorboards or something like that. But it’s only another clue leading us on another hunt. This hide and seek nonsense is getting old.”

  I looked down at my watch. I wanted to get this over as soon as possible, but I could tell Elizabeth had had enough treasure hunting for one day.

  “Prescott’s about an hour and a half away,” I said. “Even if we left now, we wouldn’t get there until alm
ost three. Let’s go tomorrow and we can spend the whole day there if we need to. I’m supposed to go to a graduation reception in about three hours. You should come too. It will be fun and you already know Sophie and Gina. It will be a great way to take your mind off of this.”

  Elizabeth blew out a long sigh and actually looked a little relieved. “That actually sounds nice but how fancy is it? I didn’t bring anything dressier than a skirt.”

  “No problem,” I said. You’re taller than I am but we’re about the same size. We can stop by my place and I’ll find you something.”

  We then spent several minutes cleaning up the mess from the broken statue. I was determined not to leave any evidence that anything unusual had happened in the basement. I found a plastic bag, put the pieces in, and then carried it to my car.

  ~~~~

  The drive to my apartment took about twenty minutes. When we parked, I took the plastic bag and tossed it in the apartment dumpster. I felt a sense of relief when the dumpster lid clanged shut.

  We rode the elevator up to my floor and I apologized for the mess as I unlocked the door. Marlowe was sleeping on the couch. When he saw someone new had come into the apartment, he quickly left through the cat door in the bedroom.

  I showed Elizabeth the side of my closet where I keep the dresses and my nicer outfits. I told her to pick out anything that would fit.

  It took her only three tries to pick out a pretty purple cocktail dress with wide black trim. I had gotten it about a year before and had only worn it once when Reno had taken me to a party at a police captain’s house.

  Elizabeth looked at herself in the mirror. She was almost as skinny as I was, but she also had me by two cup-sizes. Since most dresses are made with this body type in mind, she filled it out perfectly.

  “I don’t have any purple shoes,” I said, “but I have tons of black. What shoe size are you?”

  “I’m a nine,” Elizabeth said.

  I started digging through the closet. “That’s all right. I’m an eight, but I remember buying a pair of nines last year.”

  Elizabeth looked at me with a slightly puzzled look.

  “They were cute and on clearance,” I said.

  I started pulling boxes out of the closet and making a pile on the floor. I finally found the right box on the shelf in the back. I took the shoes out and gave them to Elizabeth. The shoes had an open toe and a wide four-inch heel. She slipped on the shoes and stood in front of the mirror. After looking at herself for about ten seconds, she giggled, and then twirled around twice.

  “Wow,” I said. “You look better in that dress than I do. All right, you work on your hair and makeup while I figure out what I’m going to wear.”

  After four attempts, I found a short maroon sleeveless dress and a pair of workable black flats. Even though this was supposed to be a quiet reception, I knew better than to wear heels.

  My bathroom counter has two sinks. Elizabeth and I each took one while we went through my collection of makeup. Elizabeth and I then traded the curling iron back and forth until we were both presentable.

  Since I knew Jackie was going to be at the reception, I went into my hiding place and took out my small jewelry case. I removed the bracelet Jackie had given me and put it on.

  “Wow, that’s a beautiful bracelet,” Elizabeth said as she came over to look closer at it.

  “I know,” I said as I turned my wrist and watched it sparkle. “I really love it. It’s one of the two nice things I have.”

  Elizabeth took my wrist and slowly turned it while she bent over to look at the bracelet.

  “The diamonds are beautiful and the rubies are matched well. I’ve never seen a bracelet quite like it. Where did you get it?”

  “I got it from a friend, her name is Jackie. She’ll be at the reception today and I’ll introduce you. How I got it is a long story. Maybe I can tell it to you sometime.”

  ~~~~

  The Scottsdale Saguaro Sky Resort and Spa is one of the newer resorts in north Scottsdale. It was built about ten years ago in the hilly foothills north of the McDowell Mountains. Unlike most of the older resorts along the southern part of Scottsdale Road, the Saguaro Sky embraces the desert and makes it part of the golfing experience. The resort has two desert style golf courses, the Sonoran and the Mojave. The Sonoran course is ranked in the top twenty-five in Arizona and has been since the resort was first built. The only parts of the resort to keep with the more traditional Scottsdale tropical oasis theme are the areas surrounding the reception buildings, the swimming pools, and the conference center. This is especially true around the pools. Here they seemed to make up for the desert landscaping in the rest of the resort by seemingly turning each of the pools into a lagoon on a tropical Pacific island.

  I’d only had a chance to visit the resort a few times over the years and this was the first time I’d been up here since Jackie had taken ownership. I was looking forward to seeing the resort now that she was in charge.

  The drive up to the resort was going to take a half an hour so Elizabeth and I left the apartment at about three-thirty. We took Indian School to the north Loop-101 then got off on northbound Pima Road. We stayed on Pima until we got to Dynamite Boulevard. From there it was a short drive east to the resort.

  The invitation to the reception instructed us to use valet at the main entrance and I gladly did as I was told. Valet is one of those nice things I never allow for myself. Mostly because I can never justify spending money so I don’t have to walk an extra hundred yards. But if the reception included valet parking, that was a completely different story.

  Elizabeth and I had dropped off my car and were heading into the main lobby when we saw Sophie and Gina walking toward us from across the lobby.

  As usual, Sophie looked great. She had on a green spaghetti strap sundress and matching heels. What surprised me was Gina. I almost never see her in anything other than her conservative navy blue pantsuits and her hair is almost always tied up or in a bun. Today she had on a flowing red skirt and matching blouse. She had let the top buttons of the blouse open to show off a thick strand of pearls. I also noticed she had let down her hair. I had forgotten how long it was.

  “Wow,” I said as we got together. “Everyone looks great today.”

  “Yeah,” Sophie said. “Well, you never know who you are going to meet at a fancy reception at a nice hotel. We’ve been looking at the map to find the Hohokam terrace. It’s on the other side of the main pool.”

  “How goes the hunt for the treasure?” Gina asked.

  “You said you found the coffin rock?” Sophie asked.

  “Elizabeth found it,” I said. “Gina, you were right. The rock was on Camelback Mountain and it was only visible if you looked at it from the overlook. The coffin rock led us back to the house and we found the clue. It says we have to go to Prescott and find someone called Penelope. Apparently, she’ll show us where to get the jewelry.”

  “Prescott’s where Elizabeth’s granddad owns the bar on Whisky Row,” Sophie said. She then thought about it for a second. “It’s called the Gilded Garter.”

  “So that makes the second clue,” Gina said. “I wonder how many there will be before you can actually get the treasure?”

  “It’s so frustrating,” Elizabeth said. “I know Granddad wanted to leave us his heirlooms, but all of these clues are a little maddening. It would be so much simpler if he came out and told us where the jewelry is. I’m not sure why he’s putting us through all of this nonsense.”

  “What?” Sophie asked sounding a little annoyed. “You’re on a treasure hunt to find a treasure chest filled with millions of dollars of famous and antique jewelry. Your granddad thought enough about you and Les to come up with an interesting way to find it. You’re living out a story that’ll be passed down for generations in your family, no matter if you ever find the chest or not. But if you do find it, you’ll never have to work another day in your life. If you ask me, that doesn’t sound so bad.”

  �
��You’re right,” Elizabeth said, now a little embarrassed. “And I am grateful. But when you’re in the middle of the whole thing it really makes your head spin. We were so excited to find the clue and all it did was tell us to find another one. Not to mention I’ve found out my brother’s working with gangsters and that terrifies me.”

  “How is Les?” Gina asked me. “Did it appear he was being held against his will?”

  “It’s hard to say. He said no but his associates were standing nearby at the time. It looks like they’re in a relationship where the bad guys are only in it for the jewelry. Les only wants to pay them off then be done with them. At the moment everything’s at a stalemate.”

  “Well,” Gina said. “Let me know if you’d like to get together and talk about this. I’d also like to ask you about the friends who were following you the other day and what happened with them.”

  “Friends?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “They turned out to be Federal agents. But they’re not directly related to the treasure hunt.”

  “This whole trip to Scottsdale keeps getting better and better,” Elizabeth said as she shook her head.

  ~~~~

  We followed a couple of long hallways around the main building and eventually found the right room. The four of us walked in and looked around. The space Jackie had picked out for the party was beautiful. Half of it was inside in a fairytale ballroom and half was outside on a tropical terrace.

  The outside had the advantage of a splashy waterfall and several fountains mixed in with black lava rock and lush tropical landscaping. Wide steps down from the terrace led to more gardens and one of the resort’s larger pools. Water misters and overhead fans were working overtime to keep the temperatures on the terrace at a manageable level.

  The inside ballroom had air conditioning and a high domed ceiling with a huge crystal chandelier hanging down from the center. An open bar had been set up against the left wall and had already attracted a crowd. A long buffet table was against the wall on the right side.