Murder, of Course

by Diane Weiner

  Murder, Of Course

  A Sugarbury Falls Mystery

  by

  Diane Weiner

  This book is dedicated to cat lovers everywhere!

  Chapter 1

  Emily bolted upright, gasping as she pulled the quilt up to her neck. Chester meowed and darted off the bed like a black bullet. She shook her husband. “Henry, someone’s pounding on our door. Get up.”

  Henry groaned. “What? Who’s knocking at this hour? They’re going to wake up Maddy.”

  “Come on.” Her bare feet swung over the bed and she winced when they made contact with the frigid wooden floor. She grabbed her velour robe. “Alright, already. Stop pounding. We’re coming.” She climbed down the rungs of their loft bedroom ladder after her husband, nearly losing her footing in the dim light.

  “Emily, Henry, open up. It’s an emergency.”

  Henry felt the night air on his cheeks when he opened the door and came face to face with his flannel-clad neighbor, Kurt Olav.

  “Kurt, what’s wrong?” Having never seen this Minnesota to Vermont transplant rattled, Henry knew by his neighbor’s uneasy demeanor that something was seriously awry.

  “I was walking Prancer, and I stopped by the cabin I bought for Chloe. You know, the one I’m renting while she finishes grad school. The young lady who’s renting it moved in a few days ago. She…she called last night to tell me the porch light was out. I grabbed a new bulb, figuring I’d pop it in this morning.” Prancer pulled against his leash.

  “And?” Emily closed her robe tighter.

  Kurt fidgeted as if it would make his words come out faster. “It was still dark out, but her lights were on, so I figured she was up. Then I knocked to let her know I was fixing it. When she didn’t answer, I…I peeked through the open curtain and she’s laying on the floor, not moving, you know, still––like she’s hurt or something. I used my key, ran inside, and I think…something’s not right. Come on, Henry. You’re a doctor, come help.”

  “Did you call 911?” asked Henry.

  “I don’t have my phone on me.”

  Henry grabbed his keys and they piled into his car, while Emily called 911. Prancer, the chocolate lab, hopped on Kurt’s lap. Henry sped past their barn, behind Kurt’s place, and around the back of his property to a small Lincoln-log style cabin. Kurt and Prancer jumped out of the Jeep before Henry had a chance to turn off the engine and made a beeline for the door.

  “See, there she is. She’s not moving, like I told you.” Kurt pointed to the floor.

  Henry knelt down next to the woman, feeling for a pulse. “She’s not breathing.” He looked around the tiny living area. “Keep the door open for when the paramedics get here.” Prancer stood guard on the porch, a trusty sentinel ready to signal the ambulance.

  “She’s…she’s not dead, is she? She can’t be dead.” Emily paced back and forth, questions racing through her head. Who is she? Where’s she from? She’s young. There isn’t any blood. What happened to her? It felt like deja-vu. She’d been through this before, just last winter when her co-worker was murdered, and again last summer with the biker.

  “Kurt, was the door locked when you found her?” Henry stood up.

  “Yeah. Like I said, I used my key.”

  “She’s wearing jeans and a sweat shirt. Looks like this happened before she went to bed.”

  Emily went into the kitchen area. “There’s a bowl in the sink, and a pot of cold soup on the stove. One spoon and one glass. Poor thing was alone when this happened.”

  Henry said, “Could be an underlying medical condition like diabetes––or a heart issue.”

  A wisp of blond hair matted against the girl’s forehead made Emily’s newly discovered maternal instincts kick in. “Her hair is the same color as Maddy’s. I wish the ambulance would hurry. Her poor parents.”

  Prancer barked. “I hear sirens,” said Kurt. The paramedics rushed in. “She’s over there.”

  Kneeling beside her, one of the EMTs searched for a pulse, while the other set up the portable defibrillator.

  “She wasn’t breathing when we found her,” said Henry. “I’m afraid you’re too late.”

  When the paramedics were satisfied that Henry’s observation was correct, they lifted her onto the metal stretcher. “What’s her name?”

  “I… we…don’t know.” Emily spotted the woman’s purse on the floor in front of the sofa and pulled out a wallet. “Danielle LaPierre. From Falls Church, Virginia. We’ll follow you to the hospital.”

  The sun had just begun to rise above the mountains. On the way to the Jeep, Henry picked up a piece of thick, dew-covered plastic from the grass just beyond the porch.

  “Kurt, do you know what this is from?”

  “It’s sealant. Plugs up the drafts. I prefer good old-fashioned weather stripping myself.”

  Henry wondered what it was doing in the yard, especially since, despite the chillier nights and mornings, it was technically still summer. Kurt always did his own repairs, and he just said he preferred weather stripping, so why was it lying on the lawn?

  They dropped Prancer off at Kurt’s, then continued to the regional hospital. Once inside, they waited for Pat Hester, the medical examiner and Henry’s best friend, to give them a preliminary cause of death.

  “What’s taking your buddy so long?” asked Kurt. “Why don’t you go in there and hurry him up?”

  “Pat’s thorough. He’ll take his time making sure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed. If he suspects foul play, he won’t tell us anything unless he’s sure.”

  Emily sank into the plastic chair in the waiting room, wondering if Maddy was awake yet. She sent her a text to let her know they were at the hospital. She and Henry were new to parenting, having become recent guardians of a fourteen-year old when Emily’s former college roommate had died suddenly. Kurt paced, and Henry checked his phone. It seemed as if hours had gone by. Emily considered going home, just as the town’s two best detectives, Megan O’Leary and Ron Wooster, walked into the waiting room.

  “Detectives? Does that mean this was a murder?” said Emily, addressing no one in particular, but within earshot of Kurt and her husband.

  “We investigate whenever there’s an unexplained death. Just following protocol.”

  Detective O’Leary was about the same age as her partner—mid-thirties—both talented cops who’d risen quickly through the ranks. “Can you tell us how you discovered the body?”

  Kurt stood up. “Last night, the new tenant called to say the front light was out, so this morning, I dropped by to replace it. It wasn’t yet dawn, but all the lights were on, so I knocked on the door. When I didn’t get an answer, I peeked through the open curtains and saw the girl sprawled on the floor. I didn’t have my phone, so I ran over to Henry’s, since he’s a doctor, and brought him and Emily over. Henry said she was dead.”

  “I checked for a pulse, and she wasn’t breathing.”

  “We called the paramedics on the way to the cabin,” said Emily.

  Pat came through the door of the waiting room. Acknowledging the detectives and his friends, he stated, “I have to wait for test results, but it looks like carbon monoxide poisoning.”

  “Carbon monoxide? How’s that possible?” said Kurt.

  “One of the appliances may have been faulty. Perhaps the hot water heater. She wasn’t grilling indoors, was she?”

  “No, of course not. And I keep those appliances in good repair. Don’t go telling me this was my fault.”

  Detective Wooster finished typing into his iPad. “No one’s saying it’s your fault, Mr. Olav. I understand you found her ID?”

  Emily pulled the wallet out of her purse. “Her name is Danielle LaPierre, from Falls Church, Virginia.
”

  “Thank you. We’ll notify the next of kin. We went over to the cabin, and we called the crime scene unit from Burlington. They have more advanced equipment than we’ve got here.”

  “Crime scene?” said Emily.

  “Just a precaution. Go on home,” said Detective O’Leary. “There’s nothing you can do here.”

  Back in the Jeep, Emily checked her texts. “Maddy must still be asleep.”

  Henry had a thought. “Do you want to stop at the Outside Inn and grab breakfast? We can bring home some pancakes for Maddy.”

  “I guess so,” said Emily. “I was going to take Maddy shopping for school clothes, but the stores aren’t even open yet.”

  Kurt agreed that breakfast sounded like a good idea. “I don’t get it. Carbon monoxide? Those appliances are in tip-top shape. I bought the place for my daughter. You know I put in the best for Chloe. Wasn’t expecting to have to rent it out to a stranger. If she smelled gas, why didn’t this girl get on out of there, or call me?”

  “You can’t smell carbon monoxide,” said Henry. “The stove she was cooking on was electric, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah. I replaced the old gas stove as soon as I bought the place.”

  Emily said, “What about the pot-bellied stove? Or the water heater?”

  “I checked everything myself before I rented it out. I don’t get it. They better not try and pin this on me.”

  “No one’s saying it’s your fault, Kurt.” Henry pulled into the bed and breakfast. “It’s a horrible tragedy, but accidents happen. Don’t blame yourself.” He pulled in front of a yellow inn with white shutters and a wrap-around porch. “Let’s eat.”

  Emily salivated at the aroma of fresh cinnamon rolls that met her at the door. Coralee, the sparkly-eyed, gray-haired owner, came out from behind the desk.

  “You’re up bright and early. Come on in. The specialty this morning is blueberry French toast.” She led them into the dining room, where a few vacationers were already eating. “What are you all doing up so early on a Saturday morning?”

  Emily said, “To make a long story short, a few days ago, Kurt rented out the place he bought for his daughter, Chloe. This morning, he found the tenant dead on the cabin floor. They say it was carbon monoxide poisoning.”

  “Those appliances in the place were all working fine. She must have fooled with them some way,” said Kurt.

  “How awful! It was the pretty, blond lawyer, wasn’t it?”

  “A lawyer? I don’t know, but she was pretty and blond. You know her?”

  “Yeah, Em. She was staying here. Said she was looking for a longer term rental. I was surprised, since summer season is coming to an end, and the foliage seekers aren’t due for another month. She said she was here on business and it might take a while to see it through. I sent her Kurt’s way since I knew Chloe had decided to go out of town for grad school. She moved out of here just a few days ago.”

  “Thanks for the referral,” said Kurt. With his dry personality, Emily couldn’t tell whether or not Kurt was being sincere, or sarcastic.

  “That was her, then. Danielle LaPierre,” said Henry.

  “Yeah, that was her name––Danielle. Noah noticed her right away. That boy of mine has an eye for beauty and smarts. Can’t believe she’s dead, God bless her soul.” She made the sign of the cross.

  “Did she mention any family?” asked Emily.

  “She said her parents were celebrating their fortieth anniversary and were taking a world cruise. I thought that was pretty neat.”

  “They will be devastated when they get the news,” said Emily.

  “Now that you’re a parent, can you even imagine?” said Coralee.

  “I’d be destroyed if anything happened to Maddy. So would Henry.” Henry nodded in agreement.

  “Speaking of being a parent, Maddy seems to be adjusting well. Are you thinking of adopting her?”

  “Fiona named me legal guardian in her will but it’s only been a few months. I don’t want to push Maddy. She’s still coping with her mother’s death.”

  “She’s lucky to have you both. I’m sure she’ll love Sugarbury High.”

  “We’re going back to school shopping later, for both of us! I start teaching my classes at St. Edwards soon. The summer flew by.”

  “I’ll get your food going. French toast all around?”

  “Sounds good,” said Henry. “And pack up a to-go plate for Maddy.”

  Chapter 2

  As soon as they got home, Emily checked the kitchen. “She’s not in here.”

  “She’s not in here, either.” Henry gently opened the guest bedroom door on the other side of the living room. Guest bedroom—he’d have to stop calling it that. It was Maddy’s room now. Maddy was snuggled up with Chester. She opened her eyes when the door creaked.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you. We just got back from the hospital and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “The hospital?” Maddy picked up her phone from the night stand.

  “Kurt’s tenant. I’ll explain over breakfast. We brought you some of Coralee’s French toast.”

  Maddy sleepily pulled on a plaid robe dusted with black cat fur that had belonged to her mother. She scooped up Chester and followed Henry into the kitchen.

  “There you are. Did you get my text?” Emily poured water into the coffeemaker.

  “What text?”

  “Em, she just now woke up.”

  Emily couldn’t help glancing at the rooster-shaped clock on the wall. It was nearly noon and she worried Maddy wouldn’t be able to wake up early once school started.

  “I thought after breakfast we could ride over to the outlet mall,” said Emily. “Did you make a list of what you need in the way of school clothes like I asked?”

  Maddy picked at her breakfast. “No, not yet. Just some jeans and a few shirts I guess.”

  “We don’t have much time left for shopping. I have to go in this week and set up my writing class at the college, and next weekend is Labor Day. Then it’s back to school for both of us.”

  Henry, noticing Maddy’s reticence, said, “The first day’s the hardest. Once you get in there and see what it’s like, I’m sure you’ll make new friends.”

  “We can stop at the Sugar-buried Shoppe while we’re there,” said Emily. Her phone vibrated. “It’s a text from the new department chair at St. Edwards. She says she expected to have my syllabus on her desk by now. If I don’t send it to her by the end of the day, she’ll make one for me. What? I haven’t even met her yet and already I don’t like her.”

  Henry said, “She’s probably just feeling the pressure of starting the new semester. Everyone loved your summer class—you know what you’re doing.”

  “Still, I don’t appreciate the tone. Like I haven’t made a syllabus.”

  “We don’t need the money. You can stay home and concentrate on writing your next book if you want. When you retired from the newspaper, you weren’t planning on another stressful career.”

  “Yeah, but I can’t even collect social security for another decade. I feel like I should still be contributing to society, you know? Besides, I haven’t gotten an inspiration for my next book yet.”

  Maddy said, “Tell me what happened this morning? Who died?”

  “Kurt rented out his daughter’s cabin to a young lawyer. This morning when he peeked in, the tenant was dead! Apparently she died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Kurt says he checked all the appliances and everything was in working order.”

  “There you go. That sounds like a true crime book to me,” said Maddy.

  “Maddy, a woman is dead. And no one said anything about it being a crime.”

  “We can assume it was an accident unless proven otherwise,” said Henry. “How’s the French toast?” Henry himself wasn’t convinced the girl’s death was an accident.

  After breakfast, Maddy pulled on a pair of denim shorts and grabbed her meager list.

  Emily cleared the breakfast dishes a
nd said, “Henry, are you sure you don’t want to come along?”

  She needed Henry beside her, though she’d never come out and say it directly. She was afraid of saying the wrong thing, of being too overbearing, or not confident enough in dealing with Maddy. She’d watched enough TV to know clothing is a ripe battleground between parents and teens. Did she just say parents? Some days she felt like Maddy’s parent; other days she felt like an imposter and worried about scarring Maddy for life by saying the wrong thing or giving poor advice. She’d certainly failed in taking care of her own sister.

  “No, I have a few things to do. I’m almost finished making Maddy’s bookshelf. She’ll need it for when school starts.” Henry had converted the barn into a woodworking studio shortly after they inherited his parents’ cabin last year. Besides, he was hoping Pat would get back to him with more details about the dead lawyer after he completed the autopsy. He loved a good puzzle.

  Emily and Maddy headed to the outlet mall. The lush, green trees would soon be changing color and Emily couldn’t wait. They’d moved to Vermont at the tail end of the season last year. Fall was her favorite time of the year. With the days growing shorter and the crops dying off, many found the end of summer to be depressing. To her, it was a new beginning—a new school year for Maddy, a new semester for her at St. Edwards, and hopefully, the beginning of her next true crime book. This, she was struggling with. The harder she strained to find an idea, the more elusive it was.

  “What do you think happened to that lady they found in Kurt’s rental cottage?” said Maddy. Like Emily, she and Henry shared a love of mysteries.

  “So far, they know it’s carbon monoxide poisoning, but Kurt swears all the appliances were in good working order. I think he had to have overlooked something. I’m not saying it’s his fault or anything. I just don’t have another explanation.”

  “Where was she from?”

  “Virginia. She was looking for a short term rental.”

  Maddy spit out a stream of questions. “Why was she up here? Didn’t Henry say she was a lawyer? Didn’t she have a job back home? A short term rental sounds like a vacation, not work. From what I’ve heard, lawyers, especially when they’re starting out, work like dogs.”