Mrs. Fix It Mysteries (5 Cozy Mystery Books Collection)

by Belle Knudson

  Chapter Twelve

  Kate froze at the sound of the voice. It was Clark. Has he gone mad? What is he doing?

  He switched on a lamp. She realized they were in a stock room at the back of the hardware store. Clark looked weary. As if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

  Then it all fell into place for Kate. “You killed Jackie, but why?”

  “It was an accident.”

  “She had blunt force trauma to her head. How did you accidentally bludgeon her?”

  She couldn’t imagine any scenario where that would be an accident.

  Clark rubbed a hand down his face. “I’ll make my confession to you since you’re going to have an accident anyway.”

  That chilled Kate. She thought of Scott, sitting on her porch eating potpie with no reason to come looking for her. Would hers be the next dead body on his watch? She tugged at the ropes again.

  “I’d hoped you would be my daughter-in-law, but you have this loyalty to that husband of yours. I don’t get it. He left you high and dry to care for adolescent boys.”

  “He left the money,” she said, wanting to defend her husband.

  “He still left, and I’m sure for no good reason.”

  “Tell me what happened with Jackie. Why were you there?”

  “My car was in the shop. I took Larry’s truck because he was using his car. He’s a good kid. You should’ve loved him, Kate. He loves you so much.”

  That made Kate uncomfortable. She didn’t want Larry to love her because she didn’t think she’d ever love him back. Scott’s return had illustrated that for her. If she got out of here alive, she would have to make it clear to him that she wasn’t interested in anything more than a friendship. He deserved to know the truth and be free to find someone to love him the way he deserved.

  “That’s why Larry didn’t remember being there that day. He wasn’t.”

  “No, he wasn’t. I saw Jackie in town and followed her to Scott’s house. She walked in the place like she owned it. That was Jackie. I don’t know what she was doing in town, but I needed to see her. I needed her to give me back that money she owed me.”

  Clark truly looked repentant. Less like a killer than someone who’d made a bad decision. Now he was regretting it. Nevertheless, his bad decision had cost a woman her life. Even if that person wasn’t a good person, she didn’t deserve to be killed.

  Kate tried to reach her phone in her back pocket, but she couldn’t. She wanted to call Scott so he’d hear this.

  The way he’d tied her arms behind her, the phone was just out of reach. He must have been a Boy Scout. Those knots were tight.

  “The money you lost in that deal?”

  “That deal? Dudley is a charismatic and savvy salesman. He had told us it had been a sure thing. And even as a successful banker and investor, I didn’t see the financial collapse coming. Not to that degree. I sank a lot of my savings into that deal. I figured I could sell Grayson’s, which I’d bought to stay occupied after retirement, and maybe buy a nicer boat and spend my time fishing. Maybe go on exotic fishing expeditions. Seemed like a nice idea.”

  “Did the mayor invest some?”

  “He did, but a smaller amount. His loss wasn’t as bad as that of the rest of us.”

  “Who else?”

  “Ken, and even Larry, invested. Larry was smart. He wasn’t so quick to throw so much money in the pot. Guess he gets that from his mother, not me.”

  Kate strained to hear anyone outside. No one came by. Dinnertime. Most people were home with their families enjoying a meal. Even Larry was tucked into food at The Rail.

  She figured there was no hope of him stopping by. Clark had probably told him he’d be doing inventory all night.

  “There’s no one to save you, Kate. I’m sorry to have to kill you, but you were going to figure it out. Larry asked me if I’d borrowed his truck. I did lie, but he knew the mileage was different. He didn’t know that I’d done anything wrong and I can’t risk you putting the idea in his head.”

  “Did you plan on killing Jackie?”

  “No, I didn’t. We got into a struggle and she fell. She hit her head on Scott’s table, and then I panicked and didn’t know what to do. She was lifeless. I couldn’t explain what I was doing there, so I left.”

  “You left her there?”

  That was cold. She wouldn’t have thought Clark would have been capable of being that unfeeling. He’d been so good to her. He’d given her advice when she wasn’t sure how to fix something. He’d been a second father to her when her dad moved out of state. How could she reconcile that man with the one in front of her telling her he’d killed a woman?

  “What if she’d been alive? What if someone could have saved her? You could have called an ambulance anonymously,” Kate said.

  “I was afraid, Kate. I shouldn’t have been there. She shouldn’t have been there.”

  “So you killed her and ran.”

  “That’s it; it’s over and done with now, I can’t think about what-ifs. Now, we’re going out to my truck, and because I love you like a daughter, I’m going to make this quick. I’ll take you out on the state game lands.”

  “My kids aren’t going to know what happened to me.”

  “Probably not. That’s a shame given that husband of yours ran off, but they’ll get over it. You raised them to be strong.”

  She struggled harder now. She couldn’t let him kill her.

  There was a sudden crack as the door broke loose from the jamb. A body flew through the back door and slammed Clark into the opposite wall. Scott and Clark struggled as another officer tried to help in the cramped space.

  And then it was over. Clark was in handcuffs, his face down as they led him out. Scott took a knife out of his pocket and cut her ties. She went into his arms, her heart just now beginning to flutter. She’d been so calm until Clark had said he was going to kill her and leave her in a remote area.

  She had to call her kids. She wouldn’t tell them what happened, but she needed to hear their voices. But first she needed to calm down. Scott wrapped his arms around her, murmuring that it was all okay.

  “How’d you know to come here?”

  “Instinct. It just didn’t feel right to me.”

  “Did you know he was the killer?”

  He tucked her next to him and walked her out to his car. “Not until I heard him talking to you.”

  “I hadn’t figured it out yet, either.”

  “Enough detecting, Katydid. No more. My heart was in my throat thinking that you could be in real danger.”

  “Walk me to my truck.”

  “You’re going to drive home?”

  “How else am I getting there?”

  “You okay to drive?”

  “I’m a pretty tough lady, Scott.”

  “I know. You’re so much stronger than you were in high school. I’m kind of proud of the woman you’ve become. I think you became that way because I wasn’t in your life.”

  They reached her truck. “Maybe. Do I need to make a statement?”

  “It can wait until the morning.”

  “Who’s going to tell Larry?” she said.

  “I think he’s still in The Rail. I’ll talk to him. I left the potpies on your porch.”

  “You still joining me for dinner?”

  “Sadly, I have hours of interviewing and paperwork to do. Make sure you turn on your security system.”

  “Promise.”

  ***

  Kate stood next to Scott as Jackie’s casket was lowered into the ground. The ceremony had been as nice as a funeral could be. Most of the town had turned out. Now they had all gone for pie and coffee at the Rock Ridge Community Center.

  Only Scott, Dean and Kate were left. Dean was on the other side of the grave. His eyes were red from crying. When her casket hit the bottom, they took turns throwing handfuls of dirt on it.

  Dean skirted around the grave and held out his hand to Scott. “Thanks for providing her with a
decent burial.”

  Scott shook the man’s hand. What had transpired between them years ago no longer mattered in the face of a murder.

  Clark had confessed to the police and signed over his hardware store to his son. Larry wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He could retire as fire chief and run the place; he was doing inventory there now. He hadn’t felt right about attending the funeral of the woman his father killed.

  The two men stared at each other for a moment. They’d been friends as far as Kate knew. Jackie had come between them. Sad. Suddenly, the two men did that one-arm embrace, and then let go.

  “You heading back to the city?” Scott said.

  “Yes. I’m not interested in coffee and pie. I need to clean up our apartment. Her will is going to be read tomorrow.”

  “You quitting the force? She had a lot of property she probably left for you.”

  Dean smiled sardonically. “I’d live in a cardboard box to have her back.”

  Scott nodded. “She was quite a woman.”

  Dean walked away without saying anything else. Scott turned to Kate and squeezed her hand. “Thanks for being here. I have to say this bothered me more than I thought it would.”

  “You were married to her. You probably still felt something for her.”

  “I would have said it was anger, but I just feel as if it was such a waste. She didn’t deserve to die. No one so vibrant should die alone.”

  “That isn’t your fault. You didn’t have a hand in killing her.”

  “I wonder if he’d called the ambulance, if she would have lived.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up like that. Let’s go get some pie and coffee,” Kate said.

  It had been an hour since her last coffee, and she needed a caffeine jolt. She’d called her boys yesterday, not letting on why. They’d be home in two weeks, and she looked forward to the noise in her house again.

  “I need another minute,” Scott said.

  “You want me to leave you?”

  He took her hands in his. “No, I need you here. Life is short, Katydid.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “You need to know that Greg is probably not coming back.”

  She knew that Scott wanted her to be free. She wasn’t able to be free. “Let’s not talk about this. If you make progress on finding him, let me know. Otherwise, we are no more than friends.”

  He brushed a hair out of her face. “A guy can hope. And I’ll keep hoping and keep searching for him. I promise you that.”

  “Fair enough. I need coffee, Scott.”

  “That always was your favorite addiction.”

  “You remember?”

  “I remember many things about you Kate.”

  ~~~

  SCREWED DOWN MURDER

  Chapter One

  Kate Flaherty, Rock Ridge’s resident handywoman, parked her work truck in front of the coffee shop. She liked her truck. It was gray and had the words Mrs. Fix It on it. The idea was that women were more comfortable letting a woman into their house to fix things than they would be with a man. The wives of the house usually were the ones to call for repairs.

  None of the big chain coffee shops had seen fit to put one of their stores in the small town in Central Pennsylvania. Kate liked that idea. She would rather support a local person with her business than a corporation. Even if a Starbucks café moved in, she would still frequent this shop.

  She’d been out of coffee at home and hadn’t been to the grocery store in days. With her sons off at college, Kate didn’t cook as much as she used to. It was no fun cooking for one, though once in a while she had a dinner companion in the form of Police Chief Scott York.

  He had made it clear that he had romantic designs on her, but she was having none of it. Until she found her missing husband, in her mind she was still married. The chief would just have to get used to that idea.

  Today Kate had to fix some shelves in the mayor’s office. The Department of Public Works, who should have made the repair, was backed up so Mayor Dudley Stuart opted to pay for the repair himself.

  But first Kate needed coffee; she lived on coffee some days.

  The day was dawning warm and the humidity of the summer was in full swing. She could see it in the trees on her property, like smoke hanging on the leaves. When she walked out the door that morning, it felt like she was walking into a wet towel. It took away her breath.

  Summer was not her favorite season. No, she preferred the coolness of fall.

  At least most of what she had to do was inside today. Everywhere she had to work had air conditioning. It would be cranking in the mayor’s office—he always kept it cold.

  The bell above the door in the coffee shop jangled as Kate entered.

  “Hey, Kate,” said Clara, the young barista behind the counter.

  She was young, but she owned the place. Instead of going to college, she’d opened Bean There. Having contracted with the local baker, Cookie, Clara also served baked goods in the morning. They were probably the best baked goods in the whole county. Kate could rarely resist one if she hadn’t had breakfast.

  “Hi, Clara. I need a plain coffee,” Kate said.

  She pulled her red hair up into a ponytail as she ordered. The hot day meant she needed her hair out of her way.

  “Coming right up.”

  “Hello, Kate,” Dean Wentworth said.

  Dean had been a cop in Philadelphia when Scott was on the force there. He gave that up to become a contractor and had moved out to Rock Ridge after his girlfriend was found dead. He did the big jobs and Kate did the little jobs. They often recommended each other to customers, and Kate had seen her business grow in the months that Dean had been in town.

  He was a young man. Up until recently, he’d been wearing only black, but had toned down his dress to fit into the small, conservative town. He even stopped wearing guyliner. Now he looked more like a respectable businessman.

  She found him to be smart and a good entrepreneur. She had learned a thing or two from him about running her business.

  Kate admired his ability to adapt after having come from Philadelphia. Dean sat at a table with a half-eaten cinnamon bun. Kate slid onto the chair opposite him to wait for her coffee.

  “Hi, Dean. I hear you put a bid in on renovating the community center.”

  He frowned. “I did, but I’m up against the mayor’s brother from what I understand.”

  Clara handed Kate her to-go cup of coffee then left them alone.

  “The lowest bid is what they have to take. That’s how government works out here in the sticks,” Kate said. She’d like to think that little Rock Ridge didn’t have the corruption of a big city like Philadelphia. Then again, this was still Pennsylvania.

  Dean looked concerned about getting the project. She knew he did good work, but she understood that sometimes nepotism occurred. She hoped not in this case. She didn’t trust the mayor’s brother. She’d heard rumors, and when she’d met him, she’d gotten a bad vibe from him.

  “I saw your plans. They were top-notch.”

  Dean shrugged. “We’ll see how it goes.”

  “Good luck,” she said.

  Kate had a special place in her heart for the community center after having taken her sons to classes there when they were small. Now the twins were soon-to-be sophomores in college, spending their summer with AmeriCorps, and she figured the center was probably ready for a redo. Dean would do a great job.

  She’d seen what he’d done to a vacant strip mall that was now thriving.

  “I’m sure Dudley will do the right thing,” Kate said.

  “You have more faith in him than I do.”

  That Dean was worried about this one job made Kate wonder about the stability of his fledgling company. She couldn’t imagine that he’d been having any trouble getting business.

  She sipped her coffee while studying him. He had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t been sleeping. She didn’t know him well enough to ask any personal q
uestions. Then there was the fact that she had been the one to discover his girlfriend’s dead body.

  For a time she’d been a suspect simply because she had stumbled upon the body. But she had been cleared that same day because she had an alibi for the time of death. She had no idea what Dean thought of her, but he’d always been nothing but professional in her presence.

  As if wanting to change the subject, he said, “Did you see that new office building I just completed?”

  “Yes, I was wondering why it was so far out of town.”

  The building had been constructed to house all types of offices, including medical doctors.

  He shrugged. “I have no idea either, but a bunch of the bigwigs in town own it, so they must have a reason.”

  She’d thought it odd that the mayor, among others, had bought the land out there. It was as if they knew that the town would eventually grow in that direction. Rock Ridge hadn’t made any leaps in growth like that in years. She also didn’t want it to grow in that direction because her house was there.

  When her husband, Greg, had wanted to raise their sons in the country, Kate had been opposed to the idea. But since then, she had grown to love her little piece of heaven outside the town.

  “Whatever they were thinking, the building looks nice. Your work is always good. The mayor should know that,” she said.

  He didn’t seem to want to be mollified, and it wasn’t Kate’s job to be his cheerleader. She had her own business to worry about.

  She stood. “I need to be on my way. The mayor is waiting for me.”

  “What are you doing for him?”

  “Some shelves the DPW can’t seem to get to. He’d rather pay me than wait for them to come around and do it.”

  “Isn’t the mayor’s other brother head of that department?” Dean asked.

  “Yes.”

  Dean ran a hand through his black hair. It stuck up at odd angles, and the mother in Kate resisted the urge to brush it back into place. He was a grown man, even if he was a young one.

  “Is everyone related to everyone else in this town?”

  Kate understood how it could feel that way to an outsider. Her husband had not been born here, and he’d remarked on many occasions that everyone was related to at least one other person in town.