Killer Dress: A Small Town Cozy Mystery (Shot & Framed Book 1)

by Nancy McGovern

  “Should I?”

  “I’ll handle it. Just stay there. And, Jim, stay alert.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  *****

  Half an hour later, Darwin was standing over the body, his hands on his hips.

  “This is bad,” he said.

  “Sure is,” Jim nodded. “Do you recognize her? It’s-”

  “Yep,” Darwin said, nodding. He took out a tape recorder from his pocket and started speaking into it.

  “Subject was found dead in the woods behind Hedley Mansion at 3 am, March 13. Subject is about 30 years old, female. Death was possibly caused by a gunshot to the head. Blood splatters on the dress and ground.” He paused, taking a breath. “Subject was wearing a white lace wedding gown. Subject identified as Jessica Thorne by Deputy Jim Miller, confirmed by Deputy Darwin Scholl.”

  “Why was she wearing a wedding gown, Darwin?” Jim asked. “She wasn’t even dating anyone. Not as far as I know!”

  “Not sure, Jim,” Darwin replied. He had a theory, but he didn’t want to voice it just yet. He paused suddenly, as the corner of a small white paper caught his eye. It peeked out from under the body. With a gloved hand, he removed it. It was a polaroid picture.

  The photo had been torn in half. But the half that remained clearly showed a much younger Jessica, wearing a silky dress that billowed out behind her. Jessica stood to the left and her arm was thrown around someone. In the photo, her eyes were bright with happiness and her tongue stuck out the side of her mouth. She couldn’t have been very old when it was taken, perhaps 18. Darwin searched around the body for the other half of the photo but found nothing. He had a strong suspicion that the missing half of the photo was now in the murderer’s possession.

  *****

  Chapter 5

  Veiled Murder

  Dani woke up on the couch with a blanket around her. She’d stayed up long after her father retired to bed and the bottle of wine they’d been drinking was empty next to her.

  The door pounded and she groggily went to it, sneaking a peek at the time on the way. 6 am. Who on earth would want to disturb them at such an early hour?

  She opened the door and blinked in surprise. Darwin Scholl stood in full uniform, hand raised to knock again. Next to him, white haired and sharp eyed, was Sheriff Elaine Mackenzie.

  “Sheriff? Darwin?” She looked from one to the other.

  The last time Sheriff Mackenzie had knocked on their door had been two days after their mother’s disappearance. Seeing her now brought the bad memories rushing back.

  “Is your father home, Dani?” the sheriff asked. “And your sister, Caroline? We need to talk.”

  “Uh, Sure. Yeah,” Dani sighed, her mind still fuzzy from sleep. “Come on in. Can I get you some coffee? Maybe breakfast?”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Sheriff Mackenzie said.

  “That’d be great,” Darwin said at the same time.

  He and the sheriff exchanged a glance.

  “Maybe just some coffee,” Sheriff Mackenzie clarified.

  “I’ll brew a pot,” Dani smiled. “I’ll rouse Dad and Caro. They’re still upstairs in bed.”

  Only, Caroline wasn’t. Her father woke up quickly and rushed downstairs to meet their guests. But when Dani went into Caroline’s room, she found it empty.

  A chill ran down her spine. Caroline’s bed was untouched. The sheets still crisp and tucked in. Her bedroom window was wide open, the yellow curtains blowing in the wind. The room was exactly the same as it had been ten years ago. The twin bed stood at one end, the dressing table at a right angle to it. A guitar was hung up on the opposite wall, along with a few gold medals. Above the dressing table was a corkboard on which were pinned all of Caroline’s favorite memories. There were photos of their family, photos of her best friends, maps, concert tickets, and the occasional postcard.

  “Caro?” Dani called, knocking on the bathroom. “You in there?”

  There was no answer.

  “Caro!” Dani called again, louder. She headed out into the hallway, and found Deputy Darwin climbing up the stairs towards her.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked as she ran to him.

  “Caro’s not here!” Dani exclaimed. “She’s not in her room and…”

  Nodding, Darwin swept past her and threw open the door. His sharp eyes took in the untouched bed and the open window. Leaning out, he spotted footprints on the sill. He frowned a little. Part of the sill had been dusted off, as if someone were working carefully to keep only one footprint visible.

  “What’s Caro’s shoe size? Any idea?” he asked.

  “Six, maybe six and a half,” Dani said. “Why do you ask?”

  “When’s the last time you saw her?”

  “About 8 pm last night,” Dani was beginning to feel more and more uneasy. “Darwin, what’s going on? Is Caro in trouble? Has something happened to her?”

  “She’s fine. Nothing’s happened to her,” Darwin said.

  I hope, he thought to himself.

  “Well, she went to bed early last night. Said she had a headache,” Dani said.

  “What time did you go to sleep?” he asked.

  “Midnight, I think. Dad went upstairs at about ten thirty and I fell asleep on the couch.”

  “Right,” Darwin nodded.

  “Darwin, you have to tell me what’s happening. If something’s happened to Caro-” Dani’s voice was rising dangerously.

  “Hey, calm down,” Darwin said, cutting her off. He put a hand on each of her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. “I promise she’ll be fine.”

  “So why are you here so early? What’s the deal?”

  “Jessica is dead,” Darwin said.

  “J-Jessica?” Dani stared at him, then took a step back. “Jessica Thorne?”

  “Yes, we had a very interesting call to the station from Martin yesterday afternoon,” Darwin nodded. “Something about Jessica trespassing. And now she’s found dead in your back yard.”

  “That’s stupid, she wasn’t trespassing,” Dani said. “She and Caro just had a tiff, that’s-” She bit off her words. “How did Jessica die?”

  “Gunshot to the head,” Darwin said. “We suspect murder.”

  “You suspect Caro!” Dani exclaimed.

  “I didn’t say that,” Darwin replied. “Stay calm, would you, Dani? There’s nothing to be gained by falling apart like this.”

  His words seemed to shake her fully awake. Other horrible possibilities invaded her mind.

  “Caro could be hurt,” Dani said. “Couldn’t she? We don’t know where she is and-and…Jessica’s dead.”

  “Did Caro have a smartphone?” Darwin asked.

  Dani nodded. “I’m pretty sure she has an iphone. Why?”

  “We can track her down if the location services are on,” Darwin replied.

  He walked over to the dressing room table and stared hard at the corkboard.

  “What are you looking for?” Dani asked.

  “She’s pinned up at least a hundred photos here,” Darwin said.

  “I must have photographed half of them,” Dani said. “She always encouraged me to follow my passion.”

  “Well, one’s clearly missing,” Darwin pointed at a red thumbtack that had a slight torn edge wedged under it. “Looks like there was a polaroid there, doesn’t it?”

  “Why does that matter? You should be looking for Caro!” Dani exclaimed.

  “Do you remember what photo was hanging there?” Darwin asked.

  “I haven’t been here for ten years, my memory isn’t that good,” Dani said.

  “Right. Of course,” Darwin smiled. “Okay, let’s go downstairs, shall we? Don’t worry about Caroline. She probably just snuck out to see Martin, you know?”

  “You don’t really believe that, do you?” Dani asked. But he refused to answer.

  Downstairs, the sheriff held a mug of coffee in one hand and sat facing Dani’s father across the dining table.

  Harry had his head
buried in his hands. “That’s horrible,” he said.

  “I know,” Sheriff Mackenzie nodded.

  “Behind our house?”

  “That’s right.”

  “But we didn’t hear a thing!” Harry exclaimed. “I mean, surely we would have heard the shot, you know?”

  “We think she was killed at about two thirty in the morning,” Sheriff Mackenzie said. “You could have slept right through it.”

  “Impossible. I’m a light sleeper.”

  Sheriff nodded to the wine bottle that stood by the couch. “Are you? Even with wine in you?”

  “It’d take a lot more than that to knock me out,” Harry said.

  “Well, never mind. Jessica and Caroline had some sort of altercation yesterday, didn’t they?”

  “It was a silly fight,” Harry said. “They’ve been best friends since grade school, I’m sure they’d have worked it out.”

  Darwin hurried over to the sheriff and whispered something in her ear. She nodded. “Right. We’ll be off then. If anything comes to mind, let us know.”

  “Have-have you informed Jessica’s mother yet?” Harry asked. “Poor Matilda must be grief struck!”

  “We haven’t had the time,” Sheriff Mackenzie said. “As a matter of fact, we were on our way over there right now.”

  “Can I come with you?” Dani asked. “I mean, she’ll need support.”

  “We can handle it,” Sheriff Mackenzie said. “If you hear from Caroline, call us, would you? Immediately.”

  “We will,” Harry said. He threw on a coat over his pajamas and turned to Dani. “Let’s go to Martin’s house, Dani. Hopefully Caroline will be there!”

  *****

  She wasn’t.

  Martin was alarmed, to say the least. He appeared at the door to his apartment, dressed in sweatpants and an old college T-shirt, looking frazzled after Harry and Dani had rung his doorbell again and again. After his initial confusion, he quickly confirmed that he hadn’t seen Caroline last night.

  “I thought she was going to be with you all night, honestly.” Martin said. “She was so excited that you were coming back home, Dani.”

  “She was?”

  “Of course. You were all she could talk about for the last few days. I think she was more excited to see you than she was about the wedding.”

  “Not true, I’m sure,” Harry said politely.

  “Have you called her?” Martin asked. “Have you checked if she’s with Sharon?”

  “She isn’t answering her phone,” Dani said. “But, maybe you’re right, maybe she went to Sharon’s last night. Only…why would she sneak out the window? Why didn’t she leave the house in a normal manner? It’s not like she had a curfew or something! She’s a grown woman.”

  “None of this makes sense to me,” Martin said. “Anyway, if she came here for some reason last night I wouldn’t have even known. I didn’t even reach home until 1am. I had the late shift at the hospital.”

  Harry was rocking himself anxiously and biting his lower lip as he considered what to do next. Dani gave her father a worried glance and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Dad. She’s fine, I’m sure.”

  “If she’d only pick up her phone!” Harry exclaimed. “I don’t like this, Dani. I don’t like this one bit.”

  “Nothing will happen.” Dani said. “Nothing has happened.”

  “I know that but…I can’t help thinking about your mother,” Harry’s breathing was heavier and he grimaced as a shooting pain ran down his arm. “Remember when it happened? One moment we were all living happy lives together. The next, it all fell apart! I can’t let that happen again, Dani. We have to find Caro. We just have to!”

  “We’ll find her, Dad,” Dani promised, tears in her eyes. “This is…this is just a scary patch. Things will be back to normal in no time. I promise.”

  He nodded. “I hope so. I pray so.”

  Martin stepped up, and placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Harry, are you alright?”

  Harry’s breath was coming out in gasps now. He was sweating all over. He clutched his hand. “I’m fine. We need to find Caro. We need to-”

  “You need to take a deep breath,” Martin said. “A deep breath. Let’s do it together on three, alright? Three!” He took one steadying breath and then another but continued to look worse and worse. “Are you with me Harry? Can you take a deep breath for me?”

  Harry nodded but continued to pant and sweat. He grasped at his left arm.

  “Dani, we need to get him to the hospital immediately.”

  “No! Caro-” Harry said with a croak.

  “We’ll find Caro, I promise you,” Martin said, his voice hard as steel. “But first, we’re going to take care of you. I’m going to get him an aspirin, just in case, and then we have to get him to the hospital.”

  “What’s happening?” Dani exclaimed.

  “Don’t panic, but I think your father is having a heart attack,” Martin said. “Let’s get him to Roarke as fast as possible. An ambulance would take too long to come here. Can you drive? I’d like to monitor his condition. I’ll be in the backseat with him.”

  Dani’s own world seemed to tilt. This was all so unreal. Caroline, disappeared. Jessica, dead. Now her father…

  “Hey!” Martin exclaimed, breaking through to her. “Come on, Dani. Work with me. Let’s go!”

  *****

  Chapter 6

  Sharon

  Half an hour later, Martin stepped out of a hospital room and tossed a surgical mask aside. Dani, who had been waiting outside, jumped up.

  “He’s going to be fine,” Martin said. “It’s just the shock of the day that got to him.”

  “Are you sure?” Dani still felt numb and cold. The entire day had been an inescapable nightmare. She was just glad that they’d been with Martin when Harry’s attack happened.

  “Has he had cardiac issues before?” Martin asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Dani said.

  “Yes, I think it’s just been brought on by the shock,” Martin said. “He’s a young man, isn’t he? Barely 65.”

  “68,” Dani said.

  “Yes, well, no reason he won’t have a very long and happy life,” Martin said. “We’ve sedated him for now. I thought it best, given the circumstances.”

  “Thank you,” Dani choked out. “You were so calm, even on the drive over here, you kept me sane. If you hadn’t kept talking to me, I think I would have fainted myself.”

  “Oh, I did nothing. You were brave,” Martin smiled. Dani nodded at the compliment, but she knew it was a lie. The truth was, she had completely fallen apart. Even now, she was barely holding herself together. But she needed to be stronger, for the sake of the family. Squaring up her shoulders, she mentally vowed to stay calm, no matter what happened. She smiled up at Martin. Yesterday, she’d thought of him as stiff and a little boring. Today, seeing the way he stayed calm and focused under tremendous pressure, her respect for him had shot up. She felt a little bad for wondering last night if he were the right choice for Caroline.

  “I’m serious, Dani, you were great,” Martin said. “Not everybody holds up under pressure as well as you did.”

  “You held up just fine,” Dani pointed out.

  “I’m a doctor. We have training,” Martin smiled. “So, what’s the next step? Have you called Sharon?”

  Dani nodded. “It took me awhile to get the story across to her. She says she hasn’t seen Caroline either. She told me she’d-”

  It had been torturous, speaking to Sharon. At first, Sharon had simply hung up when she heard Dani’s voice. She only called back when Dani messaged her about their father’s condition and the fact that Caroline was missing.

  “She’s here,” Martin pointed down the hallway. Dani swung around.

  The three sisters all looked similar yet Sharon was, by far, the most glamorous. The three of them all shared the same cutting cheekbones and silky brown hair, yet Sharon’s face held an impeccable symmetry that neve
r failed to draw the eye. Where Dani’s jawline was softer, and her nose a little more rounded, Sharon’s features were made of granite all around - sharp nose, sharp jaw, sharp cheek bones. And, above them all, sharp eyes. In the years since Dani had last seen her, Sharon had grown a little skinnier, and a lot more powerful. As she walked down the hall in her well-tailored jacket and A-line skirt, she looked as though she expected people to jump to attention when she snapped her fingers.

  Ignoring Dani completely, she halted in front of Martin. “Is my father doing alright?”

  Martin nodded. “He’s out of danger now.”

  “Oh, thank God!” Sharon threw her arms around him and gave him a brief but tight hug. “Martin, we owe you. You took care of Caroline when she broke her arm and now, if it hadn’t been for you-”

  Martin looked uncomfortable with the situation. “Dani’s the one who drove us here. Really, she’s the hero. She was like a Nascar driver.”

  “Right. Dani.” Sharon gave her a cold stare, and turned back to Martin. “Look, I talked to all of Caroline’s friends and none of them have seen her. But they all agreed this isn’t like her at all. I’ve organized a search party. Darwin will help.”

  “Darwin?”

  “Deputy Scholl.”

  “Oh, right. That Darwin.” Martin nodded. “Nice guy.”

  “Yes, well, he’s arranging for a K-9 unit,” Sharon said. “Do you think you’ll be able to join us in the hunt?”

  “Of course, I will,” Martin said. “If it weren’t for Harry, I would have torn down half the town to look for her by now. Let’s go!”

  “I want to come, too,” Dani said.

  “Maybe you’d better stay back,” Sharon replied.

  “What?” Dani scrunched her forehead in disbelief. “Sharon, this is Caroline we’re talking about. You really think I’ll just sit this one out?”

  Sharon only shrugged. “Dad needs someone here.”

  “The hospital staff will look after him. Won’t they, Martin?”