The sheriff’s car pulled into the driveway, capturing their attention and interrupting her words. DeeDee hopped out and jogged up the walkway. Dex met her at the front door.
“DeeDee, what are you doing here?”
She stepped inside, her eyes darting from Issy to Dex. Her brow quirked up, and she held a pile of papers out. “New information on the case. I thought you might want to see it right away. I knew you were at home with the cable guy, and you didn’t answer your phone…”
“Umm, I shut it off.” Dex reached out for the papers.
Issy glanced at the stack as DeeDee handed them off. The information must have been important if she'd taken the time to drive it over. Issy’s heart skipped when she saw a name on the top. Linda Brewer. Was it a background check? A criminal record? She was only able to see one other thing before Dex grabbed the papers and hid them from view. Linda Brewer lived in Lowell, Massachusetts—the same town Sarah Landers had been from.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.” DeeDee smirked.
Issy glanced at Dex, heat burning her cheeks. “Oh no. I was just leaving.”
Issy reluctantly picked up Bella. Even though Dex’s kiss still had her all twisted up, she had more important things on her mind now. She needed to convey this new information to her cousins right away. Besides, Dex was breaking his lease. He was leaving town. So what was the point in carrying on with him, anyway?
“See you later.” She tossed the words casually over her shoulder as she skipped out the door and all but ran to Brown Betty.
16
Issy texted her cousins for an emergency meeting, and they decided to convene at Raine’s shop. Inside, the place was lush with tropical plants. The humidity was stifling, and Issy shrugged out of her jacket, tossing it behind the counter. It was as if she’d been transported to a tropical island, right down to the tinkling sound of a waterfall in the back and the scent of gardenias that hung like a cloud in the air.
“So, what’s up?” Gray leaned against the counter next to Mortimer, who angled his toothy petals toward them as if listening in on the conversation. Issy didn’t doubt that he was listening. Raine often left Morty at suspects’ homes or places of business to eavesdrop on conversations. They had a special telepathic link, and he could transmit images or ideas that only Raine could interpret. Sometimes he’d wilt or perk up depending on what he’d overheard.
“I was just at Dex’s,” Issy started.
“We don’t really want to know the details of your sex life.” Raine wiggled her eyebrows.
Issy’s heart dropped. Before she’d left Dex’s, he’d told her he was getting out of his lease. At least he’d been honest and let her know that anything with him would be short-lived. When he’d taken the keys and told her to lock up with magic the night before, she’d taken it as an acceptance of her magic. But he must have changed his mind, and now he was leaving town, dashing her hopes that they could be one of the rare witch-human relationships that worked out. But she didn’t want her cousins to know how devastated that made her, so she made a playful face at Raine. “Not that. While I was there, DeeDee came by with important information. A sheet on Linda Brewer, and guess where Linda Brewer is from?”
“Where?”
“Lowell, Massachusetts. The same exact place Sarah Landers was from.”
“That is interesting. Do you think Linda was somehow mixed up in this case ten years ago? Is that really why she’s here?” Ember played with the stunning pink-and-green striped leaves of a watermelon coleus plant.
“It’s possible,” Issy said. “She was about the same age as Scott. She could have been at that spring break. She could have known Sarah Landers.”
“But if she knew Sarah and she knew something about the murder, why wouldn’t she have come forward back then?” Gray asked.
“She wouldn’t come forward if she was the killer or was protecting the killer,” Raine suggested.
“But when we visited her in the motel, she had all the case files. She was clearly investigating it, and she wouldn’t need to do that if she was the killer, right?” Gray said.
“She looked like she was investigating it,” Issy corrected. “But what if she was really here trying to cover things up? She might have gotten new information just like she said. If she was the killer, it makes sense that she’d try to keep track of the case. The spell Raine put on the orchid was just a relaxing spell, not a truth spell. Even though she gave up a lot of information, she could have been tweaking it to make it look like she was investigating when in fact she had come here to cover things up.”
“So then where does Jerry fit in?” Ember asked.
“He’s easily manipulated, and he was around back then. Maybe he knows more than he thinks. She might be trying to figure out what he knows… and if he knew too much, she might have gotten rid of him too. That could be why his shop is closed.”
“And she could have lied about him being on vacation to throw us off track. That vacation seems awfully sudden to me, and he didn’t mention anything about that when we talked to him the other day,” Issy said.
Raine pressed her lips together and stroked the back of one of Morty’s glossy leaves. “I don’t like the way this is shaping up. Something isn’t right here.”
“I agree,” Issy said. “Looks like we need to beef up that spell on your pansy orchid and pay Linda Brewer another visit.”
17
Fifteen minutes later Issy was inside Brown Betty rushing toward the Route Nine Motel. Raine was seated beside her with a quivering pansy orchid balanced on her lap.
“This thing is juiced up with the super truth serum. There’s no way Linda is going to lie to us while Prudence is there.”
“Prudence?” Issy glanced at Raine.
“The plant.”
Issy swerved hard right to avoid a big fat toad in the middle of the road. “I hope we get some answers. I’m getting sick of these toads everywhere. You’d think the cold would drive them underground.”
“I agree. Five families of toads have taken refuge inside my Easter lilies in the back of the shop. These things have to go. We need to solve this case soon.”
Issy pulled into a parking spot near Room 127. They hopped out of the car and headed toward Linda’s room.
Raine slowed as they approached the door. “Uh-oh. This doesn’t look good.” She pointed at the slight gap in the door which indicated it wasn’t closed all the way.
“Maybe she forgot to close it.” Issy tapped her knuckles on the door. “Linda, it’s Issy Quinn. I came back with the plant like I said I would.”
No answer.
Issy and Raine exchanged a glance.
“Linda?” Issy yelled louder.
Still nothing.
“Maybe she’s in the shower?” Raine ventured.
“With the door ajar?” Issy pushed down the panic that rose in her chest and nudged the door open slowly.
The room was a mess. Papers strewn everywhere, the maple floor lamp lying on the gold shag carpet, its shade cock-eyed. But the worst part was on the floor next to the bed. Linda Brewer’s bloody body.
Smash!
Issy whirled around to see Raine standing openmouthed in the doorway, the plant smashed at her feet.
“Prudence!” Raine threw herself on the ground, scooping the dirt into a pile and trying to put the pieces of the smashed pot back together to stuff the plant back in. Issy had other priorities. She ran into the motel room and crouched beside Linda. She could still be alive and need her help. But Linda’s glazed eyes staring up at the ceiling told her otherwise. She pressed her fingertips to her neck anyway.
No pulse.
"Is she dead?” Raine stood just outside the door, the pieced-together broken pot encircled in her arms, plant quivering out of the top.
Issy backed carefully out of the room, her stomach churning. “I’m afraid so.” She stumbled a few feet down the sidewalk, pulled out her phone, and called the police.
Dex careen
ed into the Route Nine Motel parking lot, his heart twisting at the sight of Issy sitting on the curb, her knees pulled up to her chest, her face ashen. Relief mixed with self-recrimination flooded through him. When the call had come in and DeeDee had said there was a murder and Issy was here, he’d gone half-mad with worry. Now he was relieved to see she was okay. But his relief was tempered with the sinking sensation of failure. Once again, he hadn’t been able to protect her.
Then again, the woman was a murder-magnet. How could he possibly protect her all the time? He couldn’t. He didn’t know if he could handle Issy’s frequent bouts with danger, especially when he couldn’t be around to keep her safe all the time. Would she even want him if he couldn’t? Maybe things wouldn’t work out between them the way he was hoping after all.
When she’d visited his bungalow earlier that day, it had felt good to have her in his home. He’d finally thought maybe he was getting somewhere with her, getting her to open her heart to him a bit more. Heck, she’d even given him some decorating advice on that quick tour of his place. He’d even been considering inviting her over again to help him spruce up the bungalow. But now…
He slammed the car into park, and Issy stood, a bit wobbly on her feet.
He should have tended to the crime scene first, but the hell with it. He rushed to her side.
“Are you okay?” He wrapped his arms around her. She melted into him, as if she belonged there, making his doubts about their budding relationship vanish at least temporarily. He pushed her to arm’s length, just to make sure she wasn't hurt.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Me too.” Raine waved from beside Issy. Had she been there the whole time? Dex had only had eyes for Issy.
He took a deep breath and stepped away. “What happened?”
“We came to talk to Linda and found her in there.” Issy nodded toward the motel room. “Dead.”
DeeDee squealed to a stop a few parking spots away from Dex and walked over to join them. Refocusing his attention on work, Dex reluctantly left Issy and led the way into the motel room. More squad cars arrived, and soon clusters of cops and detectives stood around the scene, talking or keeping away rubberneckers.
Someone set up police lights, and soon the gruesome scene was lit up like a Broadway play. Linda Brewer was sprawled on the floor beside the bed, a growing crimson stain spreading across the front of her shirt from her bullet wound. Glass littered the floor where the thief had smashed the mirror above the dresser. The victim’s belongings were strewn all over the place. The coppery smell of death mixed with mildew.
“Did anyone see what happened?” Dex asked.
“They’re still rounding up witnesses.” DeeDee scanned the area, frowning. “From the way they trashed this place, though, I’d say whoever killed her was definitely looking for something.”
“Adele’s place was trashed too.” Dex narrowed his gaze. “Maybe whoever killed Adele didn’t find what they were looking for at her place and came here instead.”
“Or maybe Linda stumbled onto something she shouldn’t have,” Issy said, venturing into the room and straight to Dex’s side. “Who would do such an awful thing?”
DeeDee leaned in closer and whispered, “You were both here the other day. Do either of you notice anything missing? Something that might give us a lead?”
Dex looked around, but with all the crap everywhere, it was hard to tell.
Issy walked over to the dresser then to the bathroom and finally to the closet before she returned to Dex’s side. “The file she had is gone. When Gray and I came here, she showed us the folder she’d been gathering on the murder. She said she was getting closer to proving Scott was innocent once and for all. She said she came here to talk to Jerry to get the whole picture of what Scott was like before he went on that vacation to Florida, but I think she was lying about something. I don’t see the folder anywhere around here now.”
“Makes sense the killer would take it,” Dex agreed. “If there was something incriminating in those files, they’d want that information hidden. But what was she hiding? I felt like she wasn’t being straight with me either.”
“The only thing I could think of is that she was involved in the murder,” Issy said.
DeeDee paused from her task and squinted up at Issy. “I don’t think so. Not after what the background check revealed.”
“What was that?” Linda must have known Sarah, but what else had been on that paper that would make DeeDee so sure that she wasn’t her killer?
“Linda Brewer was Sarah Landers’s sister.”
Issy stared at DeeDee. “So that’s why she’s from the same town.”
DeeDee narrowed her gaze. “How’d you know that?”
“Umm… I did some research. No wonder she was out here looking for the killer. That’s why she’d followed the case all these years. I guess she was telling the truth. She really did find new evidence.”
“Yeah, too bad the killer must have figured that out,” Dex said.
“But who would have known that she had the new evidence?” Issy asked.
“Good question. We might find the answer in the missing paperwork,” Dex said.
“Right, well, this kind of speculation is baseless. We need facts.” DeeDee sighed. “Too bad the killer could’ve done anything with that paperwork by now. That doesn’t leave us much to go on here.”
“Wait.” Issy leaned closer to the bed, her gaze narrowed on Linda’s corpse. “There’s something in her hand.”
DeeDee moved in as well and squinted. “You’re right.”
Dex pulled Issy close to his side once more. Part of him wanted to carry her out of here and shield her from all this carnage, to keep her safe and secure and near him forever. The other part of him was duty bound to stand guard over the victim and make sure justice was done.
If the good deputy noticed him holding Issy’s hand, she didn’t say a word. DeeDee hailed over one of the crime-scene techs and got a pair of gloves to remove the evidence from Linda’s hand to prevent contamination. Nose wrinkled, she held up the crinkled object. “Looks like a photograph.”
Issy clutched Dex’s forearm tightly. Even under the current circumstances, awareness zinged over his skin from their point of contact. “I’ve seen that picture before,” Issy said. “When Gray and I were here, Linda showed us that one. It’s of the plastic visitor’s badge Jerry gave Scott at the paper mill before he left on his Florida trip.”
“What do you think this means?” DeeDee asked.
“Could be Jerry cooperating with Linda had less to do with him studying to be a PI and more so he could keep an eye on her and see exactly what kind of evidence she’d uncovered.” Dex scowled. “Maybe Linda’s trying to tell us the identity of her murderer.”
“Jerry?” DeeDee said.
“Jerry can’t be the killer. He’s out of town on vacation, remember?” Issy straightened. “Or maybe Jerry just tried to make it look like he was out of town so he’d have an alibi.”
Dex remembered how squirrelly the guy had acted at his body shop the other day and squeezed Issy’s fingers reassuringly. If Dex hadn’t shown up when he did, there was no telling what Jerry might’ve done to Issy. Which put the guy at the top spot on Dex’s most wanted list.
“Well, either way”—DeeDee slipped the tattered photo into an evidence bag held by one of the techs then snapped off her gloves—“I’d say we need to locate Jerry Blaisdale and bring him in for questioning.”
18
“Look who decided to join us.” Issy held her hand over her eyes to block out the midafternoon sun. She and her cousins had called another emergency meeting at The Main Squeeze after what had happened to Linda Brewer that morning. “Had some cancelations this afternoon, Gray?”
“No.” He took a seat at their table and leaned back slightly to allow Cosmo to step off onto his chair. “Just a lighter schedule than normal today. So, catch me up on what I’ve missed.”
“Well, I was just telling
them what I found out from my friend at the airport,” Ember said. “My friend is pretty sure Jerry got on that plane—or at least someone who looked exactly like him did.”
“How are they so sure?” Issy asked then took a sip of her Pumpkin Perfection spiced juice blend. Owing to the cooler weather, the owner of the juice bar, Karen Dixon, had changed up her menu and was trying out some new seasonal promotions. The flavors of cinnamon and cloves filled her mouth and tickled her nose.
“Security footage at boarding,” Ember said.
“That’s what I’m saying.” Raine wrinkled her nose at the green concoction in her cup—a Green Goblin Surprise, according to the menu board nearby. “With all the security checks these days, it would be hard to impersonate someone else. Not to mention the steep fines and possible jail time if you got caught. Seems like an awful lot of trouble and risk for Jerry to have someone impersonate him.”
“I’ll have my friend double-check the tapes again to be sure,” Ember said, kissing the top of Endora’s furry black head. Then she bent to do the same to Bellatrix’s white coat, stopping and squinting at the next table over. “Hey, isn’t that the guy DeeDee was talking about the other day? The movie producer?”
Gray leaned slightly to peer past Issy. “Looks like him, yeah. Must be one of his out-of-town blond babes sitting with him. I’ve not seen her in my shop.”
Issy glanced over as discreetly as she could then turned back to her cousins, a familiar tingle starting deep inside her. “He’s paranormal. They’re drinking Pomegranate Passions too. And you know the effect those things have on us.”
“Aw, man.” Raine shook her head and pushed her cup away, grimacing with distaste. “I was trying to ignore that tingle, for DeeDee’s sake. The last thing she needs right now is more paranormals to look after. Especially now that the poor thing is being forced into a marriage with a virtual stranger. Sounds crazy to me.”
Nothing To Croak About (Silver Hollow Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) Page 10
