Picture Perfect Murder (Ryli Sinclair 1)

by Jenna St James

  Hmmm…that sounded good. Maybe Aunt Shirley was going to be handy after all.

  "Also, now is not the time to kill someone so influential just for sport. This murder has crippled the school district. No one that works for the district would do something so drastic to the whole community. If they were going to kill her, they'd do it right after the end of school. Gives everyone time to find a replacement."

  Disturbing to think about...but I got her meaning.

  “And why the fingertips?" she continued. "It’s saying more than just she didn’t have a heart. It’s more personal.”

  I watched her smother her pancakes in butter and maple syrup, spreading it evenly over the top. She cut a huge chunk off with her fork and stuffed it in her mouth.

  Miss Molly wondered into the living room, winding her body slowly through my legs, meowing loudly. I knew what that meant.

  “Hold on, Miss Molly, I’ll get your food in a second.”

  I picked up a knife from the table and started to open the cardboard box I’d dropped when we all came in. Odd, there was no return address on the box, just my name. I reached in and moved the packing peanuts aside. I hated those things…they’re always clinging to my clothes and hands.

  I lifted the square, glass container out of the box and shook off the last of the clinging peanuts. I heard the “tink tink” sound of the contents hitting against the glass, but it wasn’t until I heard Paige screaming and saw her bolt from her chair that I realized something was wrong.

  As if in slow motion, I brought the container up so I could easily peer through it. When my mind finally caught up with my eyes, I let out a blood-curdling scream so loud it hurt my throat. I was staring at a heart and three fingertips with Cherries in the Snow nail polish on them. I quickly dropped the glass container on the table, which caused even more tinkling sounds to fill the air.

  Miss Molly jumped onto the table and began batting at the glass, as if she were trying to catch a mouse. Every time she moved the container with her paw and it made a tinking sound, I heard myself scream even more.

  “For the love of God, could you two sissies stop screaming? You’re giving me a headache.”

  I looked over at Aunt Shirley calmly eating pancakes and felt myself starting to gag. How in the world could she be eating at a time like this, didn’t she know what was inside the container…and how weird was it that I knew the nail polish color. I mean it was my favorite color and all, but gross!

  By this time Miss Molly had ceased to be entertained by the glass and had taken up washing herself on the table. Out of habit I batted her off the table and then sat back down in a chair.

  Paige stumbled back over and righted her overturned chair. Plopping down hard, she asked the question I’d been wondering, “Why would someone do this to you?”

  “I’m not sure. Maybe because—”

  “Maybe because you pissed someone off, duh,” Aunt Shirley said sarcastically as she waived her empty fork at me.

  I didn’t say anything…mainly because I was afraid she was right. Who had I pissed off enough to send me their little trophies as a warning?

  Gag!

  “Why did it make that weird sound?” Paige asked.

  “I think they’re frozen,” Aunt Shirley said as she continued shoving pancakes into her mouth. “Killer must have put the heart and fingers in a deep freeze or something.”

  I have to admit, I kind of felt bad for Dr. Garver. It’s one thing to be murdered, but to have your body frozen on top of it was actually quite sad.

  “What should we do now?” Paige asked.

  I knew what we had to do, I just didn’t want to do it because Garrett was gonna be livid. Somehow this was going to be my fault.

  “I’ll tell you what you should do now,” Aunt Shirley said as she pushed her half-eaten plate aside. “You should learn to make pancakes. These things taste like cow shit.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. I’d just gotten some killer’s trophies in the mail and she had the nerve to bitch about my pancakes! “What’s the matter, Auntie, is the cinnamon a little too much for you to handle in your old age?”

  “Ha!" my aunt snorted. "Watch your mouth before I wash it out with soap. And believe me, that ain’t no cinnamon.”

  More because I wanted to get away from the table than anything, I raced to the counter and grabbed the spice, shoving it in her face. “See, cinnamon.”

  Aunt Shirley started laughing. “Only thing I see is a bottle of cumin, you nitwit!”

  I turned the label toward me and groaned. She was right.

  “Truth be told, I think I’d rather eat that heart right there than another bite of your cooking,” Aunt Shirley hooted.

  Paige made a gagging noise.

  Aunt Shirley ignored her. “You know who could cook? Sean Connery. He once made me breakfast. You catching’ my drift here girls…breakfast!” Aunt Shirley said, wiggling her over-grown bushy eyebrows in a lewd, suggestive way.

  Now I really did gag.

  Chapter 5

  “What the hell do you mean you don’t know why the box came to you?” Garrett shouted.

  We decided we had to call Garrett. There was no way around it. We also decided we'd keep the answers simple and not volunteer too much information. We didn't want to tip our hand, even though there was nothing to really tip just yet.

  He arrived with another police officer in tow, and the two began collecting the evidence. I was just thankful it wasn’t Officer Chunsey with him. Just like I knew would happen, he was currently pacing in my living room, muttering to himself because I couldn’t answer his questions.

  “Like I said, I don’t know. I left kinda early this morning. I went and got Paige and we went a few places to ask some questions for the paper. Later, Paige and I went to visit Aunt Shirley, then we decided to bring her back to my house for pancakes.”

  “Keep talking,” Garrett said.

  I decided to take the higher ground and ignore his rude behavior. “I put the box on the table and started to make pancakes.”

  “She started to make some pancakes that tasted like shit she means,” my aunt said from the lounging position of my recliner.

  A small tic appeared in Garrett’s cheek. “While Aunt Shirley was eating, I opened the box.”

  “Didn’t you find it odd the box only had your name on it? It didn’t have a return address, yet you decided to open it anyway.” I could hear the sarcasm in his voice, but I chose to ignore it.

  “I thought maybe I had ordered something off Amazon and forgot. I didn’t realize what was going on until Paige started screaming.”

  “You poor girl,” Matt said to Paige as he hugged her against his body. “I still can’t believe this happened to you.”

  Ummm...hello! I think it happened to me!

  We decided to call Matt after we called Garrett, just in case we needed a cool head to prevail. When Matt heard that Paige was involved, he sped right over. I'm not quite sure how I felt about my brother being more concerned about the welfare of his girlfriend than the welfare of his own sister, but I’d deal with that little jealousy later. Basically he was just sitting next to Paige on the couch, stroking her hair, rubbing her hands, and making sympathetic cooing noises to her.

  Meanwhile, I had Attila the Hun on my ass like an irate drill sergeant. Garrett never once asked me if I was okay, or held my hand, or stroked my hair.

  Nope, he just automatically assumed I’d done something wrong. Which I probably did…but still, life was so not fair.

  “Keep going,” Garrett motioned to me, ignoring Matt.

  “That’s it. I opened the box and then we called you.”

  Garrett stopped pacing and looked at me. “So why you? What have you done recently to warrant this kind of action?”

  “I don’t know! And stop assuming I did something!”

  Matt chuckled. I shot him my best evil eye. If he wasn’t going to come to my rescue, then why the hell was he even here?

  “Okay, so
assuming the killer didn’t always mean to drag you into this, then we can assume that it’s someone you’ve been in contact with within the last seventy-two hours,” Garrett said.

  “That’s like half the town!” I exclaimed. “I’ve questioned tons of people about the murder.”

  “Then we start with half the town. Make a list of people you have interacted with within the last seventy-two hours and give it to me ASAP,” Garrett said. "Oh, and one more thing...why were you visiting your aunt? And please don't give me some ridiculous story about just wanting to see her. I know she used to be a private investigator. I'm going to assume it has nothing to do with dragging her into this mess you're in, right?"

  I looked at Aunt Shirley. She gave me a tiny shake of her head. Remembering what she said about giving away as little info as possible, I said, "Just a friendly visit is exactly what Paige and I were doing."

  His tic suddenly became more noticeable. “Can you keep an eye on them?" he asked Matt. "I don’t want anyone coming back to finish what they started.”

  By the look on Garrett’s face, I wasn't sure I totally believed him.

  “Sure,” Matt said. “I’ll take them all back to my place, there’s more room there.”

  “I ain’t going to your house, boy. I’m old enough to take care of myself. Been doing it for longer than you’ve been alive, and I’ll keep doing it until the day I die. If ever a time comes that some man needs to hold my hand,” Aunt Shirley barked, “then take me out back and shoot me!”

  Garrett stared down my aunt with those steel, blue eyes.

  She gave them right back.

  Impressive.

  “Suit yourself,” Garrett relented.

  “I always do!” my aunt replied.

  * * *

  I figured I’d drive the Falcon back to Oak Grove Manor and then drive my Honda over to Mom’s house to stay the night. I wasn’t excited about telling her what I’d gotten myself into, but I figured she couldn’t be any madder at me than Garrett. Plus, I hated the idea of being a third wheel at Matt’s house.

  Aunt Shirley insisted we stick around too, just in case we got more clues. This didn’t sit well with Garrett. Personally I didn’t want to stay, but I hadn’t seen Aunt Shirley this excited about something in years.

  As the officers were finishing up, Matt finally grew a pair and stood up to Aunt Shirley. “Let’s go,” Matt said.

  I was about to walk out the door when Garrett said, “Stay.” He was leaning against my kitchen counter bar, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else.

  “Or I could just drive the Falcon and Aunt Shirley back to Oak Grove Manor,” I insisted. I actually didn’t want to give the car up now that I’d had a taste of her.

  “Yes, I noticed the Falcon was out and about,” Garrett said, giving Aunt Shirley the eye.

  She flipped him the bird.

  A nervous giggle escaped. I couldn’t help it.

  “The girl can keep the car,” Aunt Shirley growled.

  My heart soared…had I heard right? I could keep the car!

  Aunt Shirley turned to me. “Matt can take me home. You keep the car here, make it look like some badass chick who can kick some killer’s ass lives here…not some Honda driving sissy reporter.”

  At that moment I was so excited to have the car, I didn’t care she’d just called me a sissy. The Falcon was mine!

  I hugged Paige goodbye and promised I’d text her later to see how she was doing. “I got one of them cellular phones too, you know,” my aunt pouted. “It sure would be nice if someone checked in on me…especially since I don’t have a car anymore.” The last part was said with a glare my way.

  Message read loud and clear!

  “I’ll text you tonight too, Aunt Shirley. Make sure you're settled in fine.”

  “Well, don’t go putting yourself out any. I’m sure I’ll be just fine. I’ve dealt with worse when I was a private investigator.”

  Aunt Shirley…always the passive-aggressive one.

  The front door closed and I turned to face Garrett. I didn’t want to be alone with him in my house—especially when he was this annoyed with me. I avoided looking at him and started picking up the drinking glasses from the end tables.

  “I’ll just be a second,” I said as I put the glasses in the sink. “I need to grab some clothes for church tomorrow and then we can go.”

  Garrett didn’t say anything, so I snuck a peek at him. He’d straightened from the bar and started walking toward me. I felt my pulse start to race and realized I was trapped in the tiny kitchen with him.

  I braced myself for yelling, but instead he picked up one of my curls and started twirling it around his finger. For some reason, this panicked me even more. “Do you always attract danger, Sin?”

  I laughed and relaxed a little. “No, trust me on this.”

  To my disappointment, Garrett let go of my curl. “Go get your clothes, I need to get back to the station.”

  I stuffed some clothes in a tote and left some food in a dish for Miss Molly. I didn’t want to take her to Mom’s, I was afraid it would be too much for her. She was already in a tizzy that so many people had been traipsing through the house earlier.

  The quick ride to Mom’s house was in silence. I wanted to ask some questions, but I could tell by the stony look on his face he was done talking to me about the murder or the evidence he gathered from my house. He pulled into my mom’s driveway and left the car running.

  “I’ll touch base with you either tonight or tomorrow after church,” Garrett informed me.

  I reached for the handle on the door. Before I could change my mind, I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. “Be safe.”

  Garrett stared at me with those electric blue eyes, “Back at ya, Sin.”

  Then he winked at me. I fled from the car as fast as my feet could carry me.

  * * *

  To say Mom was not happy with what went down at my place was an understatement. Thankfully my stomach started growling mid rant and she started making dinner. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take of people thinking I’d done something to attract this kind of attention.

  Mom fixed a light meal of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches—one of my favorite comfort foods. I figured she was feeling a little bad about grilling me so hard about what happened. Whatever her reason, I was happy and full by the time I made my way upstairs to my old bedroom.

  Nothing had really changed in my room since high school. I still had the same pink and white comforter on my bed that I’d had since sophomore year. An ancient white vanity with a checkered pink stool that I'd used daily for hair and makeup was against one wall. The white paint on the vanity had cracked and chipped so much over the years, that it now had patches showing the light colored wood that was underneath the paint.

  I walked over to my bulletin board and looked at the articles I had pinned. They were mostly articles I had written for our school newspaper. I was made editor-in-chief my senior year, which netted me one of the many scholarships I received to help with the expense of college. I leaned down and read the title of one of my articles. It was a story about Dr. Garver being hired as the new superintendent of our school. I remember interviewing her, and she told me she was sure she would have “many joyous years” in Granville.

  Guess she was wrong about that.

  I decided to relax and take a bath before turning in. Mom had recently put a large Jacuzzi tub in the upstairs bathroom, and there was no way I wasn’t trying that puppy out. I lit a few lavender candles and sank into the warm, jetted water. The massagers went to work on my body and I closed my eyes.

  Tapping at the door had me bolting up in the tub. I must have dozed off.

  “Honey, you left your phone downstairs. It keeps going off. Do you want it?” Mom asked as she opened the bathroom door.

  “Thanks. Just set it on the sink over there, and I’ll get it when I get out,” I told her. “This is awesome, Mom. I could stay in here forever.”

&nb
sp; Mom laughed. “I also brought you a cup of chamomile and lavender tea to help you relax before bed,” she said as she set my phone and tea down on the sink.

  “Don’t stay in there too long, you’ll get all wrinkly like one of those California raisins,” she laughed as she leaned down and kissed my head before leaving. Closing the door softly behind her, I could hear her singing “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” softly to herself.

  I knew she was right. I let the water out of the tub and started drying off. Wrapping the towel around me I picked up my phone and tucked it into the front of my towel. I then grabbed the hot tea and candle and headed back to my room to change into my pajamas and start answering phone calls.

  The first four messages were from Paige.

  The last two were from Aunt Shirley.

  Zero from Garrett.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” I asked as Paige picked up on her end.

  “What on earth have you been doing? I’ve been trying to reach you forever,” she lamented.

  “Sorry. After mom chewed on me for my part in this whole debacle, she made dinner, and then I came upstairs to take a bath. I left my phone downstairs. How’re you doing?”

  Paige giggled. “Your brother is hovering over me like a mother hen, which I kinda enjoy. We decided to come back to my place instead of staying in town.”

  We made small talk for a while longer then promised to see each other the next day at church to go over our next move. I decided to just text Aunt Shirley. She would only exhaust me even more if I had to actually speak to her. Falcon or no Falcon, I didn't think I could handle an actual conversation at this point.

  Opening the messaging icon I scrolled down and found her name: "It's Ryli...just checking on u."

  A few minutes later my phone dinged. I opened her text: "I was sleeping. Leave me the hell alone."

  So much for stimulating conversation from Aunt Shirley. I blew out the candle, and crawling under the down comforter I was asleep in minutes.