Hang on, I’ve found a follow up newspaper article on the killing. According to this the girls all left a month after Polly’s body was found and it wonders if there is a connection.”
“So do I, there has to be a link to Polly and Mercedes’s death,” Lottie said, “but why kill Genevieve? And where does Doris fit in?” She suddenly remembered what Doris was saying the morning of the wedding.
“Doris said something about a girl being found in a lake when I was making breakfast before we headed to Mayleaf. Could she have known about this?”
“I can’t see how,” replied Abner. “Doris doesn’t even know what planet she’s on, most of the time.”
“Is there anything else about Polly?”
“I’m just having a look at the Schmidt family,” Abner said. “Wealthy family, extremely influential in Germany, deeply shocked by the killing, etc, etc.
Ah, here’s a picture of Polly when she was alive. It’s her with her family on holiday.” Abner suddenly went deadly quiet.
Lottie glanced over to him. “What? What is it?”
“You’d better pull over and take a look at this,” Abner said in a numb voice.
“It really is a lovely photograph of Polly and her family. It’s also a great shot of Polly’s governess as well.”
* * *
Lottie opened the flowered covered lychgate leading into Olga’s cottage and headed down the narrow stone path to her front door.
It was late afternoon and the sky was a glowing canvass of gold and pinks. Up here overlooking the cliff tops, Olga’s rented home commanded a magnificent view of the cobalt bright sea that stretched off toward the edge of the world.
As Lottie stood before the picturesque white stone cottage, with roses around the door and well tended garden, a deep sense of sadness filled her. Why did such terrible things happen in the most beautiful of places?
Without knocking, she tried the door latch and found it was unlocked. She opened it cautiously and stepped into hallway beyond.
“Hello,” she called out to the silence. “Olga, are you here?”
She heard a whimper come from the direction of the living room and she headed towards it. As she entered the pleasant little space and looked around she froze and tried to process the scene.
Olga was sitting at the head of the dining table at the back of the room, a gentle breeze coming in from the open French doors behind her. She smiled serenely, the gun sitting on the surface of the table in front of her.
Sitting either side of her were Terri and Sonia. They stared at her in terror and Lottie looked at the ropes lashed around them and holding them in their chairs. In front of all three women was a sherry glass that contained a pale yellow liquid.
“Hello, Lottie,” Olga said cheerfully. “I knew you couldn’t resist following up on your leads so I decided to take advantage of your absence to complete my business with these two young ladies. How did you know I was here?”
“When you weren’t at the hotel, I figured you might have come home,” Lottie said. “Me and Abner found out some things linked to the poisonings. Things connected to you.”
“Please help us!” shrieked Sonia. “She’s crazy!”
“Be quiet dear,” Olga said, lashing out and slapping the girl across the face. “Nobody is coming to help you.”
“How do you know?” Lottie said. “I’ve already called the police.”
Olga shrugged her bulky shoulders. “It doesn’t really matter. I will have completed my task before they arrive.” She reached over to a side table and picked up two straws, which she placed in each of the girls’ sherry glasses.
“All that’s left is for the remaining Devils’ Daughters to choose how they wish to depart this world. Mercedes’s poison or a bullet to the brain.”
Terri let out a frightened moan and Sonia started crying. Lottie stepped closer to the table, her heart beating fast. “You don’t have to do this,” she said. “I know about Polly and that you were her governess.”
“She was such a sweet girl, so naïve, innocent,” Olga said wistfully. “Not like these harlots!”
“Why are you doing this? What have they got to do with her death?” pressed Lottie.
“She was a shy little thing, so studious and quiet and gentle natured,” Olga continued, not seeming to hear her.
“I was her only real friend. I watched her grow up and became like a mother to her. Her real mother was too busy with her career and so was her father. They never really noticed Polly and when she was old enough, they packed her off to that dreadful boarding school.”
“The article I read said that Polly was a popular and happy pupil,” Lottie said.
Olga’s face darkened. “Lies told by the school to protect their reputation. Polly had a terrible time. She was bullied mercilessly by Mercedes and her gang, and the school did nothing.
Polly emailed me in desperation, begging me to ask her parents to take her away from there. I spoke to them but they dismissed her pleas as easily as they dismissed me when Polly went to boarding school. A few weeks later, Polly went missing. When they found her body, her father was so overcome with guilt he killed himself.”
“It wasn’t our fault!” Terri suddenly cried out. “It was an accident! Things got out of hand! We couldn’t stop Mercedes when she was in a temper.”
“The police investigation went nowhere, thanks to the school who pulled strings to protect their reputation. I knew when the girls left there was a connection to them and Polly’s death. I conducted my own investigations but got nowhere for years.
I kept a track of the Devils’ Daughters, watching for years, as they became party girls, losing themselves in a whirlwind of excess and decadence. I watched but couldn’t get close enough to find out more, but then that changed when finally, I got to speak to Regan.
She had developed a drug addict and was in rehab when I went to visit her. She broke down and told me what happened. She had been carrying the guilt around for too long and she saw me as her means of redemption.”
“What happened?” Lottie asked. “Did they really kill Polly?”
“The Devils’ Daughters were a law unto themselves,” Olga said.
“Mercedes was the ringleader, she had been left a huge trust fund and had connections and power that terrified the school. She loved driving fast motorbikes and living life on the edge, she got the other three girls to become her cohorts.
They wore red leathers and had special helmets with horns on them and went around the countryside terrorising people. Polly told me of all the humiliating acts they forced her to do as well. Mercedes had it in for her because she was so quiet and gentle.
“The night that Polly died, they had dragged her out of bed and took her to an outhouse in the school grounds to perform a kind of hazing ceremony.
Regan told me how they dressed her up as a milkmaid and made her do unspeakably vile things while they laughed and sneered. After months and months of bullying, this was too much and Polly finally snapped. She lashed out and hit Mercedes.
“Well, Mercedes completely lost it. She smashed Polly’s head against the wall of the outhouse and broke her nose. That was when they realised they had gone too far.
The school would have to intervene if Polly lived. Polly, terrified and scared, managed to get away but they hunted her down like a wild animal and finished the job. Mercedes delivered the killing blow and they dumped her in the lake.”
“It was all Mercedes’s fault,” exclaimed Sonia. “She swore us to silence! You don’t know what it’s been like! The guilt has eaten us alive.”
Olga nodded. “Yes, it was eating Regan alive too. It was fortunate that the car accident she had ended her suffering once and for all.”
A chill went through Lottie. “So you came back to Lincolne Bay to complete your revenge.”
“After I got rid of Regan, I was at a loss as to how to murder the remaining three girls,” Olga explained. “Then I learnt about Mercedes’s wedding to Orlando be
ing held at my home town and I knew that was sure to bring the three of them together. So I came back to make my plans.”
“You killed Tommy too,” Lottie said. “He helped you.”
“I needed an agent to carry out the little jobs I couldn’t. He provided me information about the wedding that I could use in my scheme. He needed money so didn’t ask too many questions. When he was no longer useful I had to have him removed in case he threatened to spoil my revenge. I went over to his apartment and made him the same choice as I am making these two ladies here. He chose the poison and had just died when you and Abner showed up. I’m sorry I had to hit you, but you shouldn’t have been snooping around.”
“I forgive you,” Lottie said dryly. “But I’m still confused, how did you know that Mercedes was behind the food poisoning?”
A smile spread across Olga’s face. “There I was fortunate. I visited Genevieve at Mayleaf a couple of days before the wedding and happened to overhear Mercedes on her phone telling one of these girls her plan that she had made a poison and intended to implicate you in the food poisoning.
When she explained that in small doses, it caused major distress but a large dose would cause certain death, I knew I had to get hold of it.
During the reception, I searched Mercedes’s room and found several bottles of the poison she had created. She was so drunk, it was easy to overpower her and get her into the study. There, I made her drink her own poison or I would shoot her. She seemed to enjoy having the choice and opted to take the poison, dying in front of my eyes.”
“But what about Genevieve?” Lottie asked. “Why did she have to die?”
“It was a case of bad timing. She came in and found us. I had no choice. I told her if she didn’t drink the poison I’d go back to the ballroom and shoot Orlando dead. Mercedes was already dying and I could live with Sonia and Terri surviving. Genevieve could not bear me to hurt her grandson so consented to taking the poison.”
“You killed your friend,” Lottie said in a dead voice. “How could you?”
“I had to avenge Polly,” Olga said fiercely. “Nothing else matters.”
“What about Doris? Have you killed her too?”
“Ah, poor Doris. When I learnt of Polly’s death, I was utterly distraught and Doris had always been a good friend to me. I called and told her what had happened, I was in floods of tears. I told her all about the bullying and how cruelly Mercedes and her gang had treated Polly.
When she started talking about Switzerland, I knew she was a risk to me. I had Tommy get her away from the house. He told her that she had to go on a secret mission for the ambassador. She’s in the next room, sleeping under a sedative.
I couldn’t bring myself to harm her and after I’ve disposed of these two ladies, I will use the same method to end my own suffering. Now that I have avenged Polly, my work is done.”
“Thank you Olga, that’s all I needed to know,” Lottie said. “Now, Abner!”
Olga climbed out of her seat as Abner rushed forward from the direction of the open French doors and snatched up the gun. He pointed it at the older woman. “It’s over Olga! Don’t move if you know what’s good for you!”
Olga looked at him and then punched him hard across the jaw. Lottie rushed forward as Abner was sent sprawling backwards. Calmly, Olga picked up her own sherry glass.
“Unfortunate,” she said. “I’d hope to tie up all the loose ends, but thanks to you Lottie the job is half done. You always were an irritating child.” With that, Olga swallowed the poison down in one go.
“Olga! No!” Lottie cried out, moving round the table to reach her.
Olga let out a choking noise and her face turned purple. Terri and Sonia screamed in unison as Olga flopped over the table and shuddered. In a few moments, it was all over.
“Abner, are you okay?” Lottie said anxiously, turning to her friend.
Abner groaned and clambered to his feet. “I’d forgotten Olga had a mean left hook,” he said. He stared at Olga’s body and gave Lottie a grim look. “Is she . . . ?”
Lottie nodded. “The poison did its work.”
“She deserves it for Genevieve,” Abner said coldly.
“Untie us, you idiots!” snarled Terri. “Get us out of here!”
“We will,” Lottie said, giving the girls a cool look, “but you’re going to be having a long talk with Detective Gable about what happened to Polly.”
“You don’t have any evidence!” Terri retorted. “That crazy old bag is dead and no-one can prove we had anything to do with Polly’s death!”
“I’ll tell him what happened,” Sonia said in an ashen voice.
Terri stared at her friend. “Are you crazy?”
“I’ve had enough, Terri,” Sonia said. “My life has been hell after what we did to Polly. I can’t live with myself any longer. We owe it to Polly’s memory.”
Lottie gave the girl a sharp nod of approval. At the moment, Doris ambled into the room.
“Oh, I had such a wonderful sleep,” she said, yawning. “Hello Lottie, Abner, is the wedding over? It was such a splendid affair.” She stopped talking when she saw Olga’s body. “Oh good,” she said. “You’ve defeated the assassin. The ambassador will be pleased.”
*** ***
PREVIEW OF ‘CUPCAKES AND DEATHLY STAKES’ BY CYNTHIA TART
Chapter 1: The Vanishing Vamp
“What? Are you kidding me?” Tania Leigh exclaimed at the top of her voice as she sashayed through the front door of the Sleepy Fox Bakery Coffee Shop. “You must be way more dumber than you look if you think I’m buying that load of baloney!”
From the counter, Lottie raised her head and smiled as her friend swept towards her like a brightly painted galleon.
“I told you there was no way that was happening,” Tania snapped into the cell phone pressed to her left ear. She paused to listen to what the person on the other end was saying, a frown visible behind her designer sunglasses and she suddenly burst out laughing. It was a high, melodious sound that was pleasing on the ears but with a sharp mocking undertone. Like Tania herself, it was both kind and cruel at the same time.
“You’re a joke,” she said with obvious disgust once she’d finished laughing. Her cherry red lips became a hard line. “Don’t threaten me,” she added after another pause. Her sultry voice iced over. “You’ve no idea who you’re messing with.”
By now, Tania had reached the counter and Lottie had just finished preparing her usual Macchiato and placed it in front of her. Tania flashed a smile of brilliant white teeth and mouthed a thank-you.
Lottie nodded and picked out an oversized chocolate and vanilla cupcake for Pacey, Tania’s five-year-old son, who was trailing behind her, his head bent over his phone as he played his chess app.
“Up, up,” Tania said to her son, indicating with an impatient gesture that he should climb up onto one of the stools that lined the counter. Slowly and sullenly, Pacey obeyed, not once taking his attention from the game on his phone.
“Hey, Pacey, how’s it going?” Lottie asked, putting the plate with the cupcake on it in front of him.
Pacey shrugged his little shoulders and said nothing. Holding onto his phone, he leaned forward and started licking the top of the cupcake. Lottie didn’t bat an eyelid at Pacey’s strange behaviour. She was used to his little ways by now.
“What did you say?” Tania demanded, speaking to the person on the phone. “I didn’t hear a word of that. Wait a minute.”
Scooping up her coffee, Tania strode across the floor in a haze of fruit-scented perfume to the table by the window. She sat down with a flourish and her mini-skirt went up several more inches, much to the obvious disgust of old Abner Kelley, who was busy munching on his egg and bacon brioche bun.
He gave the woman a haughty look of disapproval, which Tania roundly ignored. Realising his silent indignation was falling on stony ground; he went back to devouring his breakfast with sullen determination.
Lottie watched the little displ
ay with a sinking heart. Prim and proper Abner wasn’t the only person in town whose ire Tania had earned. She had hit Lincolne Bay like a hurricane a year and a half ago, and many of the residents of the sleepy little backwater hadn’t quite fully recovered.
She’d already had several very public run-ins with some of the prominent members of the community and her rather eventful romantic life had kept the town gossips working overtime. Few people had a good word to say about her or her eccentric son, and she hadn’t made many friends. In fact, Lottie was the only person who really had time for her and Pacey.
“Your mom seems distracted today,” Lottie said to Pacey. “Who’s she talking to?”
Pacey kept licking his cupcake for a little longer, before deigning to glance up at her. “Someone who’s going to get a big surprise,” he said cryptically before putting down his phone and taking a big bite out of his chocolate and vanilla cupcake.
Lottie frowned and was about to question him further when Abner shuffled over to the counter with the remnants of his breakfast. “It’s getting to the point when a man can’t eat his breakfast in peace around here,” he grumbled. “The quality of the clientele in this place is really going downhill,” he added, shooting a meaningful glance at Lottie.
“I know,” Lottie said in a sympathetic tone, “but who else is going to put up with you, Abner?” She gave him a sly wink and Abner’s walrus moustache bristled.
“Highly amusing,” he grumbled. “You should go on the stage.”
“Now, now, don’t be grouchy,” Lottie chided. “Here, have one of those lemon cupcakes you like so much, on the house. You never know, it might sweeten you up a bit.”
“You’re lucky this is the best bakery in town, young lady,” Abner said sternly. His face was like stone but his eyes glittered hungrily as she passed him a cupcake. “I wouldn’t take this level of sass from anyone else.”
“This is the only bakery in town,” Lottie corrected him, “and a little sass is good for the digestion.”
Donuts And Dead (Sleepy Fox Cafe Cozy Mystery Book 2) Page 10
