Northwest Cozy Mysteries #1

by Dianne Harman

  “Do you mind if I tell Jake what you said earlier about Greg? And I’m glad you told me about Wayne and the restrictive covenant in the trust fund, because if it turns out that Johnny didn’t die from natural causes, I think identifying anyone who might have had a grudge against Johnny will be important.”

  Cassie’s eyes were glassy. “You mean Greg isn’t the only one who might have wanted to kill Johnny?”

  “We don’t know if anyone killed Johnny, but say someone did. Jake’s a private investigator, and he knows a lot about motives. It sounds like Wayne would have a motive as well as Greg. I don’t want you to worry about all of this. You have enough going on what with everything that needs to happen when a family member passes away.”

  “Okay,” Cassie said, reaching for the paper and taking it out of DeeDee’s hand. “I think telling Jake is a good idea. I’m just going to lie down for a few minutes, and then I’ll finish my list.” She leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes.

  DeeDee waited until she was sure Cassie was asleep, and then tip-toed over to place a blanket on her tiny frame. A faint smile was visible on Cassie’s lips, and DeeDee knew she was dreaming of Johnny.

  CHAPTER 15

  The overcast sky reflected the somber mood in the car when DeeDee and Jake drove back to Seattle the following morning. Even Balto seemed to sense the gravity of the situation, and he laid down quietly in the back seat without having to be told.

  “Cassie told me she and her children were leaving first thing this morning,” DeeDee said. “The coroner told her he’d be in touch with her as soon as there is any news, and then the funeral company will take Johnny’s body back to Mercer Island.”

  “I hope the body can be released soon,” Jake said. “This has to be a very stressful situation for the family, although it sounds like Cassie is dealing fairly well with everything.”

  “Too well,” DeeDee said. “I don’t think the reality of Johnny’s death has hit her yet.”

  They sped along the mountain highway, the spectacular view of Howe Sound filtered by the grainy white morning mist. DeeDee watched Jake’s strong arms holding the wheel steady and glanced up at his serious face.

  When she’d returned from Cassie’s room the previous evening, she’d told Jake about her conversation with Briana, and what Cassie had told her about Greg Baker, as well the details of the phone call with Wayne. Now, she voiced the thoughts that had been running through her head all night.

  “Jake, do you think Johnny was murdered?”

  He glanced over at DeeDee, his face grim. “Do you really want to know?”

  The radio was on, and DeeDee leaned forward to turn the music down. She nodded.

  “Looks to me like the odds are stacking up that way,” Jake said. “Considering what’s come out of the woodwork since Johnny died, I’d say there’s a good chance there was more than nature at work when it comes to examining the cause of his death. Everyone said he was a health nut, and his physician recently checked him over before he started marathon training and gave him the go-ahead for it. What do we know so far about anyone who might have been gunning for him?”

  “There’s Mimi Edmonds,” DeeDee said, “the woman who Briana said had been calling Johnny. All we know is that she worked for him, and it sounds like she’d been stalking him or they were having an affair.”

  “Seems like more than a crush,” Jake said, “based on the phone conversation Briana overheard when she and Johnny were at Starbucks. What else have we got?”

  “Greg Baker,” DeeDee continued, “He’s the man who was in love with Cassie a long time ago and possibly ever since. We know he wanted to meet Johnny in Whistler, and Cassie and Johnny argued about it the night before he died. Cassie was against the meeting taking place, and she’s convinced he’s involved somehow.”

  “I met Greg briefly yesterday morning,” Jake said. “Clark introduced us.”

  “What was he like?” DeeDee asked.

  Jake thought for a moment. “Insipid sort of guy with a floppy handshake and a weaselly looking goatee. Looked like an accountant or something.”

  “Hey, my son’s an accountant,” DeeDee protested.

  “Just kidding,” Jake said with a smile. “You must have mentioned that, and I just slipped it in to pull your chain.” He signaled to change lanes. “Or maybe I can spot a bean counter at fifty paces.”

  DeeDee rolled her eyes. “You haven’t met Mitch yet. Let’s move on. Next up is Wayne Roberts, Johnny’s younger brother. He’s a down-and-out loser with a love for the high life, but his trust fund was controlled by Johnny. According to Cassie, he has a low moral code and is desperate for money. With Johnny out of the way, he gets full access to all of his trust fund cash. After talking to him, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s waiting outside Cassie’s house when she arrives home today, so he can get his hands on the money.”

  “Okay,” Jake said. “When we stop for coffee I’ll call my assistant, Rob, and have him run some background checks on Wayne Roberts, Mimi Edmonds, Greg Baker, and Derek Adams. He should be able to have some preliminary information for us by the time we get back to Bainbridge Island.”

  One of the names was unfamiliar to DeeDee. “Wait a minute,” she said. “Who’s Derek Adams? I don’t think I’ve heard his name before.”

  “Ah,” Jake said. “Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to tell you. Derek is the golf pro at the Island View Golf Club. A man called Ray Wentworth overheard me telling some of the other men that I’m a private investigator and you’re a friend of the Roberts’ family. He said he thought I should know about a heated argument Johnny was involved in at the golf club about a week ago.”

  DeeDee looked over at Jake. “Really? I can’t see Johnny picking an argument, but knowing him, I don’t think he’d back down from one if he was challenged.”

  “From what Ray told me, Johnny was taunting Derek about beating him in a golf game, and said he could do it again at Whistler,” Jake said. “Also, Derek said he thought Johnny was trying to get him fired, and Johnny retorted by saying Derek was already going about it the right way. Apparently, Derek swore that Johnny would be sorry for saying that. There were several witnesses who saw and heard it all.”

  DeeDee sucked in her breath. “That doesn’t sound good. Did you meet Derek?”

  Jake shook his head. “No. Ray told me Derek was booked for the trip, but he hadn’t seen him. I took a quick look at the registration list for the tournament, and Derek’s name had been crossed off. When I casually mentioned it to the young man at the registration desk, he said Derek had called the club earlier to cancel.”

  “Do you think he changed his mind about playing because he was worried Johnny might beat him again?” DeeDee asked.

  “Possibly,” Jake said. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, checked the rear-view mirror, and abruptly changed lanes. “I think we should get Rob on this sooner rather than later.” He pulled the car off at the next exit and stopped in front of a small doughnut shop. “Unplanned coffee stop. You get the coffee while I make the call to Rob. Let’s wait and see what he comes back with. This should keep him busy for a while.”

  *****

  It was late afternoon when they arrived back at DeeDee’s home on Bainbridge Island. DeeDee stretched her legs while Jake carried her luggage inside. She threw some of Balto’s toys into the garden, and Balto ran after them. He chased them and then began to wrestle in the grass with his toy rabbit.

  DeeDee followed Jake inside, and stepped around the large black suitcase in the hallway. The light on her answering machine was flashing.

  “I’ll call you as soon as I hear anything from Rob,” Jake said, smoothing her hair. He tilted her chin upward and leaned down for a gentle kiss. DeeDee closed her eyes, and Jake’s lips skimmed hers with a light touch that she knew would linger in her mind long after he was gone.

  “Get some rest,” Jake said as he left. “It’s been a stressful couple of days, and I have a feeling it’s not over yet.” />
  DeeDee watched Jake get into his truck and drive away before she walked into the kitchen. She looked at the meager contents of the refrigerator and made a mental note that a trip to the supermarket was definitely in order. She’d shopped a week ago, but deliberately hadn’t gotten groceries before she left. She didn’t want everything to be spoiled when she returned. By the time she’d showered, changed clothes, made coffee, and opened her mail, it was a far more relaxed DeeDee who pressed the button on her answering machine to pick up her messages.

  There were a couple of messages about catering bookings for Deelish, the message she’d missed from Roz about the change in accommodation plans for Whistler, and finally, an hysterical message which was hard to decipher. DeeDee’s hand shook as she rewound the machine to play it again.

  A high-pitched recorded voice filled the hallway. “DeeDee? It’s Cassie. Are you there, DeeDee? Please call me as soon as you get home.” If the person hadn’t said it was Cassie, DeeDee wouldn’t have recognized her voice at all. Cassie, who was normally quiet and soft-spoken, had sounded loud, shrill, and very upset.

  DeeDee lifted the receiver and dialed Cassie’s home number, which she knew by heart. Cassie answered immediately, making DeeDee suspect she must have been sitting beside the phone or else holding it in her hand. In her mind’s eye, DeeDee could imagine Cassie pacing back and forth on the marble kitchen floor of her large home on Mercer Island.

  “DeeDee, is that you?” Cassie shrieked when she answered the phone.

  “Yes, I just picked up your message. What is it Cassie, what’s wrong?” It was clear to DeeDee that something was very wrong indeed.

  Between Cassie’s heaving sobs and the sound of Briana trying to soothe her in the background, DeeDee could just barely make out what Cassie was trying to say.

  “Poison, DeeDee,” Cassie said. “The coroner thinks Johnny was poisoned. Can you help me DeeDee, please? I think I’ve lost it. I can’t cope with making the funeral arrangements, writing the obituary, and getting the house ready. I’m at the end of my rope. Please, can you come over?” she wailed. “The children are doing the best they can, but they’re as devastated as I am.”

  “I’ll be there tomorrow,” DeeDee promised. “Please, Cassie, don’t worry about any of those things. I’ll take care of them. Try to keep calm. I’ll see you tomorrow around noon, okay?”

  There was mumbling and choked crying coming from the other end of the line, then DeeDee heard Briana’s voice speaking quietly.

  “DeeDee, Mom can’t talk any more. If you could come over from Bainbridge tomorrow, we’d all appreciate it. I’m worried about Mom. I’ve never seen her like this. You could probably tell from talking to her that she isn’t coping well at all.”

  DeeDee assured Briana she’d be there the next day following an appointment she had in the morning. From what she’d just heard, like Briana, she was worried about Cassie too, but not surprised that Cassie had finally cracked under the pressure. The news about Johnny hadn’t sunk in the day before, but now the gravity of what had happened had gotten through to her, loud and clear.

  DeeDee lifted a jacket from the coat rack and went out to the front deck, closing the door behind her. “Let’s go for a walk, Balto,” she called across the garden. She needed to feel the ocean breeze on her face. So what if it messed up her hair, if it would help clear her troubled mind, that was a small price to pay. Clipping the leash onto Balto’s collar, she led him on a brisk walk down the path towards the beach.

  Balto ran in and out of the gentle ocean waves lapping at the beach, and DeeDee let the wind wash over her body and quiet her mind. The walks she shared with Balto on the beach at Bainbridge Island were like a form of therapy for her. She’d never attended therapy sessions in the past, but there were many times when she thought it would have been helpful, particularly when Lyle had told her he was leaving her for a younger woman.

  She thought about how her life had changed over the past year, and how Cassie’s world had been upended in the space of a few moments. When the funeral was over, she thought she’d invite Cassie to spend some time with her on Bainbridge Island. Maybe Cassie would find the beach walks as therapeutic as DeeDee did. In the meantime, DeeDee was happy to go and stay with Cassie on Mercer Island for as long as she was needed.

  She decided to take a pot roast she’d slow cooked and frozen before she’d left for Whistler with her. She doubted that food was a very high priority for Cassie right now. First though, there was one stop she’d decided she was going to make on her way to Cassie’s the following morning. J.R. Mercedes was on the way to Cassie’s home, and there was someone there DeeDee wanted to meet.

  CHAPTER 16

  “Looks like you’re my date for tonight, Balto.”

  DeeDee was relaxing in one of the chairs on the outside deck, Balto lying at her feet. Instead of the planned getaway to Whistler, she found herself on a Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. in the company of a husky dog, a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, and a bowl of nachos. She was exhausted after the events of the last two days, and the bubble bath she’d taken when they came back from the beach to help her relax was making her sleepy.

  Just when she was contemplating whether to call it a night or to replenish the nachos, her cell phone rang and Jake’s name flashed up on the screen. She reached down to the side table, lifted up the phone, and tapped the glass to accept the call.

  “Hey, DeeDee,” Jake said, the deep timbre of his voice causing a warm tingle to travel down her spine. She wished he was there with her, instead of at the other end of the line.

  “Hey, yourself,” she said. Her voice was the only sound in the still, evening darkness. The light on the deck came from the faint glow visible from a table lamp inside the living room. She loved the peace and quiet of her new home on Bainbridge Island. She was close enough to other nearby houses to feel safe, but her location allowed her to have plenty of privacy. “I spoke to Cassie earlier. It’s not good news, I’m afraid. The coroner’s tests indicate Johnny was poisoned.”

  There was a long pause on the other end of the line while Jake digested the news. “I’m not really surprised,” Jake said when he finally spoke up. “Considering how health-conscious Johnny was, it would be more of a shock if he’d died from natural causes, however I’ll let Inspector Stewart know, if he doesn’t already.”

  “Thanks Jake,” DeeDee said, swirling the wine around in her glass before taking a sip. “What do you think will happen next?”

  “If it’s a murder investigation, Inspector Stewart will probably have to come down here, since that’s where all the persons of interest are likely to be. I suppose there could be some other suspects we don’t know about, but Rob’s come up with some very interesting information about the ones we were talking about earlier.”

  DeeDee was pretty sure Jake had been working right alongside Rob to investigate Johnny’s death from the time he’d gotten home from Whistler.

  “What did Rob find?” DeeDee asked.

  “First of all, he spoke to the manager of Island View Golf Club,” Jake said, “and explained Cassie was using a private investigator in case it turned out Johnny didn’t die of natural causes. Rob said he was gathering as much background information as possible about Johnny’s various business and social relationships and wondered if the manager could tell him about the Whistler trip or anything else that might be relevant.”

  “I see,” DeeDee said. “Did the manager have much to say?”

  “Just that about twenty of them went on the golf trip,” Jake began. “It was an all-male group, and a mix of ages. He said the group consisted of members that play together regularly. Johnny had been a member of the club for years, and everyone knew he took his position as president of the Men’s Golf Excursions very seriously. The group was really looking forward to this year’s trip because Johnny always made sure it had a personal touch. He spoke highly of Johnny and said they would all miss him,” Jake added.

  “Oh,” DeeDee said, “that’s
nice. Did he mention anything about Derek Adams?”

  “Patience, DeeDee,” Jake said with a laugh. “I’m just getting to that part. Rob asked if the golf pro went on the trip. The manager confirmed what they had told me at the Chateau Fairmont Golf Course on the day of the tournament, that Derek Adams was a no-show. Evidently he was planning on going, but something personal came up at the last minute and he said he couldn’t make it. Rob found out that Derek lives in the Sunrise Apartments on Mercer Island with his girlfriend, Annette Lewis.”

  “I know exactly where that is,” DeeDee said. “When Mitch was a young boy, one of his friends lived there. I used to spend a lot of time driving over there to take him and pick him up from sleepovers.”

  Sunrise Apartments was not the most desirable address, but it was one of the few places on the island where the rents were reasonable. DeeDee remembered that Mitch’s friend was the best video game player at their school, and she heard he’d gone on to become a YouTube gamer millionaire, so it was pretty unlikely he’d still be living there.

  “Rob also did some digging on Mimi,” Jake continued. “He found out that Ms. Edmonds has had relationships with several wealthy men in the Seattle area. She apparently met them when they bought cars from her. It would start with a test drive, then she’d keep in touch with them as part of the follow-up service. You can figure out the rest.”

  “Hmm. So that’s what they’re calling it these days,” DeeDee said with a chuckle, “follow-up service, what a convenient term.”

  “Rob talked to the General Manager of Johnny’s dealership,” Jake went on. “He said it was pretty well known that Mimi had a thing for Johnny. It seems, however, that Johnny was the last one to catch on. Or if he knew about it, his way of dealing with it was to simply ignore it.”