by Pam Moll
“I agree with Aurora,” Granny said. “You should call Detective Handsome. It sounds like you’ve got something solid to tell him.”
Did I? “I am starting to piece it all together, Granny. I guess I should tell him what I’ve learned since yesterday. Can I use your phone to call the Palma Sheriff’s department?”
“Where’s yours?” Aurora asked.
“It ran out of juice, and I left my charger at my apartment,” I replied.
“You can borrow my charger.” Aurora rustled through her large Michael Kors knockoff purse and pulled out an iPhone charger.
“Thanks. I’ll return it when I meet you at the café at noon.” I pulled my cell from my backpack and plugged it in. “You know what, this can wait. Instead of calling the station now, can you invite Deputy Drew to the café?”
Aurora nodded. “Okay, let’s go over what we know and see if we come to the same conclusions.”
“We know that the dead fisherman, Jim Grinch …” Granny said.
“Grist,” I corrected her.
“I’m just saying, he was a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce.” Granny grinned. “He’s a mean one, Mr. Grist.”
“Cyanide poison, not arsenic,” I smiled at the reference to the song about the Grinch.
“And the cyanide poison had mint in it?” Aurora asked.
I shook my head.
“Then what does the mint have anything to do with this?” Henrietta asked.
“He was near a mint patch.” I knew we’d been through this before.
“Mint patch?” Aurora scrunched her brows together.
“He had some on his hands,” I replied.
Henrietta , Granny, and I glanced out the kitchen window to Granny’s backyard.
“Then how many people did he know who have gardens or plants?” Aurora asked. “Let’s unearth the real killer.”
I grinned at her pun.
“Exactly,” Henrietta said.
“We can narrow that down. But then what? We can’t search their cabinets for poison,” Aurora said.
“I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t leave the murder weapon in their cabinets.” Granny shook her head. “I think that was a decoy. I’m going with the theory someone wants to set up Mo. Since we have one of the largest gardens in Bay Isles, and everyone knows that, the mint was meant to point to her.”
“I agree. I’ve never seen anyone out in our garden, especially a dead man,” Henrietta said.
I thought about how Jim’s fingers had been tinted green, and I knew he had clawed the ground before he died. But then I knew now where he died, and I had a theory how his murderer got him to the beach. More breaking and entering into backyards was in store for me today.
“We need to end this nonsense today or the police will shut down the café with their search warrant.” Granny twisted a cloth napkin sitting in her lap. “What’s next, an arrest?”
“They won’t arrest me,” I lied to keep Granny calm. “I didn’t have a motive. And even though a lot of evidence points my way, they have to be wondering what would I have to gain by killing Jim?” The cops were getting to me and I knew it was only a matter of time before they arrested me.
“What was the murderer’s motive?” Aurora asked.
“I have a few theories. Our Aunt Tammera’s private investigator found out that Jim and Erica were not divorced, like Aurora suspected. Also, Jim’s wealthy father, Donald, lived in Chicago and recently passed after a short illness. Jim and his older brother were the only heirs.” I let that sink in while I took a sip of coffee. “The older brother hasn’t been seen for years after he moved to Australia, and rumor had it that Jim’s father had cut the older brother out of his will.”
“Could it be the older brother is back in the picture?” Aurora asked. “If he killed off Jim, then he came back to town, he would be the only heir.”
I nodded. “Or there’s someone else who stands to gain.”
“Was Jim’s dad married?” Aurora asked.
“He was, but his second wife passed away a few years ago. She wasn’t Jim’s mom. She was his stepmom. Jim and his older brother’s biological mom died when Jim was twelve.” I glanced at my running watch.
“Did you remember the third thing Aunt Tammera said?” I asked Granny.
Granny shook her head. “Not yet. I’ll call her later. I know you’ll figure this all out.”
I grinned at Granny and patted her hand. “We will.” I wanted to calm everyone down. It had been pretty rough the last week in our sleepy village.
“You have a knack for these things,” Aurora said, placing her cup in the sink and smiling at me sympathetically.
I nodded. “Let’s meet at the café at noon. And don’t forget to invite Deputy Drew,” I added, hoping he was willing to listen to my theories. I rolled a muffin into a napkin and placed it on my backpack. I was zipping it up when Aurora walked over and handed me my cell.
“Don’t forget your phone.” She glanced at it. “You have 12 % battery now.”
“Thanks.” I slipped it into my backpack.
“Be careful,” she whispered as she hugged my neck.
After I loaded Snickers into the golf cart, I told him to stay as I went in search for Jet.
My meeting with Jet confirmed what I already suspected. He had been nervous about what he’d done, but he apologized for selling some of our garden cuttings to a few of his friends without asking Granny first. That was one of the reasons he had lied when I had asked him the other day about the gardens.
I checked my cell and read two texts, one from Missy at the Grille and one from Aunt Tammera. Both texts cemented my clues.
I was excited and nervous about my theory of the killer. Would it be enough to stick?
Do you know how helpless you feel
if you have a full cup of coffee in your hand and you start to sneeze?
Jean Kerr
CHAPTER TWENTY
The quaint neighborhood I had visited the night before looked quiet and safe in the late morning sun.
I hurried across the perfectly manicured front lawn of Felix’s next-door neighbor’s house. Clutching my backpack which held the pruning shears, I hoped I could sneak in the owner’s backyard to cut off more evidence.
The broken gate swung open as easily as it had the night before. As I got closer to the garden, I slipped the mask over my mouth and put on the gloves. In the daylight, the colorful garden bloomed with an assortment of perennials and a neat row of herbs. My nose didn’t even need to warn me, because in the middle of the garden, a foot off the gravel path, a large overrun patch of mint grew. I glanced behind me, and the shades to the house were drawn tight. I turned and knelt on the edge of the path, placing my backpack on the ground and removed the shears. I snipped off a few hearty twigs and placed them in a baggie.
I had placed the baggie in the sack and started to stand up, when I caught a glimpse of the shiny muzzle of a gun pointed at my head.
“Stand up slowly and turn around,” said a menacing voice.
With a sweaty hand, I dropped the shears into my vest pocket. I stood up and turned slowly around.
“Well I’m not surprised to see you here,” she said as she slowly waved the gun at me.
“You’re not?” I gulped and stared at the barrel of gun that Kate Hawkins held. I wanted to confront her, but not now, and not like this. My fingers slid to the cold steel of the shears in my pocket wondering what kind of weapon they’d make.
“Can you lower your gun, so we can talk about this?” My heavy backpack threw me off balance a little, and I accidently stumbled.
Kate snorted. “Why should I?”
“Look I know how this may look. I thought I was in Jack’s backyard. Sorry, I’ll leave immediately, if you just lower your gun.”
“You’re lying. I knew it was you snooping around my backyard last night. Your sneezing gave you away. Too bad you dashed out of here. I could have shot you, saying I’d mistaken you f
or a burglar.” She shrugged. “Any case, I hear the police are about to arrest you.”
“Arrest me?” I wanted to keep her talking. “You’re the one who will need a lawyer,” I said, sounding muffled through the cloth mask.
“Take off that mask. I want to see your mouth when you talk.”
I took off the mask and immediately sneezed.
She laughed. I sneezed, and she laughed again.
“Let’s move inside.” Kate used the gun to motion me toward her patio and into the back door that led to the kitchen.
With her free hand, Kate tugged on the sliding glass door that seemed stuck. Her other hand held the gun. She would need to put the gun down to use both of her hands. I thought about trying to stab her with the shears while she struggled with the sliding door. As if she read my thoughts, she quickly turned, leaving the sliding door slightly ajar.
Once inside, I had to stifle a gasp. Her kitchen made the Bridgeport Mount Trashmore county dump look like a country club. We were surrounded by precarious stacks of paper products of every imaginable kind − manila folders, crumbled papers, magazines, newspapers, and paperback books. Kate had weighed down the paper piles with clay pots filled with sprouting herbs. Messy piles of loose papers were spread out all over the kitchen table. The rest of the room was in shambles. Every inch of every surface was covered with stacks. It was hard to believe she would live like this.
“Now tell me what you’re doing here,” she snorted. “And no more lies.”
For a few seconds, I was at a loss for words. I wondered how much evidence she knew the police had. “I came to ask you about Jim and your relationship with him.”
“Me? Why do you think I knew him?”
I glanced around the kitchen, and in the hallway, I caught a glimpse of framed photos of seagulls, sunsets and palm trees. One particular photograph of the iconic Sydney Australia harbor bridge caught my eye.
“You’ve been seen together. And the police know this too.” I had no idea what the police knew, but I had an idea that when Missy said Jim was seen with a dancer, that it could have been Kate Hawkins. She always wore yoga clothing, which could resemble a dance studio outfit. When I received the text from Missy saying that she remembered the lady with Jim drank the iced tea and lemonade combination, an Arnold Palmer, I knew it was Kate.
“So we travel in the same circles.” She smirked.
I leaned against the kitchen table while she talked trying to look casual. But really my legs were about to buckle.
A slight breeze came through the open door and some papers rustled to the floor. I bent to pick them up, and when I did, I read the title of the document in my hand. It was a copy of a marriage certificate between Donald Grist and Melanie H. Racatelli. Aunt Tammera had told me Jim’s dad was named Donald and Granny had said he married an Italian socialite from Chicago. Everything seemed to fall into place. Jim wasn’t on a date with Kate at the Island Grille last week when they were seen together.
Holding the paper, I flipped it at Kate. “This is your relationship to Jim? He’s your stepbrother? The “H” stands for Hawkins. Correct? Your mom’s first late husband’s name and your father’s name.”
“You really should mind your own business and stop snooping. You and your Granny think you know everything.”
What did Granny know? Time to manipulate Kate’s sense of arrogance. “That’s right. We both know. You’re crazy if you think you’d get away with another murder.”
She shot me a look. “Murder?”
“Yes, it’s an easy trail to follow, Kate. You thought if you poisoned Jim, you’d be in line for his father’s inheritance. But then you found out he and Erica were still married, and she would have rights to his inheritance as his wife. You tried to kill her too.”
“Neither Jim nor Erica deserve my mom’s money.” She waved the gun around. “Yes, my mom was married to his dad, and it killed her. Donald Grist killed her with his indiscretion. Jim’s dad was a pig, just like Jim was. He drove my mom to drink, and eventually it killed her. They killed her.”
I wondered if I didn’t do something quick, I’d be shot. “So you thought by killing Jim and Erica, you’d be next in line? What about his older brother?”
She rolled her eyes up. “Oh, he’s not coming back. Ever.”
This sent a chill down my spine. I swallowed hard. I was playing with fire. “Did you kill him too?” I thought about the photo in her hallway of the Sydney harbor. Wasn’t Australia the last known place for Jim’s brother?
“You’ll never know.” She lifted the gun and pointed it in my direction.
“I know if you shoot me, you’ll go to prison for a long time and never see that money. It will be hard for you to hide my body. Just like you tried to throw Jim’s in the water that night. You don’t know the tides, do you?”
“You think you know everything.” Her eyes went wide.
“I know he didn’t drown.”
“He deserved to die. He was so mean and treated everyone like they were dirt. Just like his dad treated my mother.” Kate sniffled. “I was sure the cyanide would work. I hoped it would cause confusion and I’d have time to get him to the boat. The poison would disappear from his system quickly, so after a few days in the Gulf there wouldn’t be any trace of it and it would look like he was drunk and fell off his boat and drown.”
“How’d you do it?”
“I lured him here to talk about his father’s will. It was easy to put the poison in his third beer. We walked out back. He immediately became confused and started calling me names.” She paused recalling that night.
I was glad for the distraction. I had to get her to let her guard down enough so I could go for the gun.
“Then Jim hit me. Enraged, I struck back and hurled myself at him. We both fell in the garden. He was bigger and a lot stronger than me, and maybe just as desperate.” Kate wiped her free hand under her nose. “His knee to my stomach knocked the wind out of me. I gagged and struggled, and then suddenly he let go. He fell on all fours, his hands clutching the plants as he seemed to struggle for breath and then he died. The poison had done its work. I had to come up with another plan to get him to wash up on shore.
It happened so fast. I thought I would of had time to get him to sit in the canoe where he would slowly die while I paddled offshore away from the island.”
Her words gave me chills. She was a psychopath. A pure, evil person. And I didn’t doubt for one minute that she would kill me too.
I kept my eyes locked on the muzzle of the gun while I felt the shears in my pocket. If only I could distract her for a second.
Suddenly, I heard the low rumble of a growl coming from behind Kate. I held my breath as Snickers slunk into the room with his teeth bared. Kate, having heard Snickers, spun around to point her gun at him.
Snickers must have had a sixth sense of what was happening. He didn’t hesitate at all and charged forward and clamped his jaws around her leg. With her free leg, Kate viciously kicked at him. With a few whimpers, Snickers let go, and went down.
Enraged, I jumped toward her, intending to stab her with the shears. We both lost our balance and fell to the kitchen floor. The impact knocked the gun from her hand and it went flying across the floor. I knew I needed to act fast. But I’d never been in a fight, so my reactions were slow. Fortunately, my sidekick, Snickers knew what to do.
Snickers started snapping at Kate’s ankles as she tried to stand up.
“Get off me!” Kate cursed and kicked.
I scrabbled across the floor, grabbed the gun and jumped up. “Stay still,” I said, gasping for breath. I felt confident, until I saw Deputy Drew Powell standing at the doorway, gun drawn.
Drew looked at me sharply, then over at Kate. When he looked back at me his eyes were wary.
“Put the gun down, Molly,” he shouted.
“It’s not what you think.” I put the gun carefully on the table and instinctively held my hands up in the air. “Wait a minute. It’s Kate who
should be in trouble here. She’s the killer.”
Shaking and kicking her feet at Snickers who was snarling with a mouthful of her pant leg, Kate yelled, “Thank goodness you’re here, deputy. She and her dog attacked me! Arrest them!”
I opened my mouth to explain, but Drew surprised me when he pulled out his cuffs and instead of snapping them on me grabbed Kate’s wrist.
His eyes met mine in a silent thank you as he put the handcuffs on her. “You’re under the arrest for the murder of James Grist and the attempted murder of Erica Alltop.” He read Kate her rights after he secured the cuffs, and then called for back-up on his radio.
I was impressed that Mr. Handsome could multitask and was very relieved that the cuffs weren’t going on my wrists.
I knelt down and hugged Snickers, and buried my face in his neck. “Thank you.” I whispered. “Good boy, I love you.”
I wiped the tears from my eyes.
“Are you alright?” Drew asked me.
“Yeah. A little shaken up, but I’ll be fine.”
“Let’s get you some fresh air.”
Snickers squiggled out of my grasp, slurped his pink tongue up the side of my face, and scampered outside in search of a hedge.
Deputy Drew guided my shaky legs past Kate toward the back door. We stepped out on the porch. I looked back at Kate squirming faced down on the kitchen floor.
“You’ll both pay for this,” she yelled.
We stood in silence for a few seconds as we watched Snickers chase a squirrel up a tree by the mint garden.
We both laughed.
“It doesn’t take too long to make everything better for a dog,” I said.
“It doesn’t take this cop very long to make everything better too.” He crossed the patio and took me into a giant bear hug, released me, and looked me in the eye. “Mo, seriously, don’t ever pull a stunt like this again, or I’ll …”
“… You’ll what? Arrest me?” I let out a nervous laugh.
“If that’s what it takes to keep you safe. Promise?”
“Then I promise,” I said, with my fingers crossed behind my back. “How’d you know I was here?”
