Beware the Orchids (A Shady Acres Mystery Book 1)

by Cynthia Hickey

  I wished I had his optimism. In my mind, the killer stayed three steps ahead of us.

  19

  I woke the next morning to the sight of sheets of ink smeared paper hanging from twine extended across my living room. It might be funny if it weren’t so sad and so important that we find out what Maybelle knew.

  I’d just pulled my shirt over my head when someone knocked at the door. Tugging the blouse over my mid-section, checking to make sure all the buttons were lined up properly, I pulled the door open. “Alice.”

  “Good morning. May I speak with you?” She glanced over her shoulder. “In private?”

  “Of course. Where? Cheryl is still here.” Please don’t say the cabin. The files are fluttering in the breeze from the door.

  She thought for a moment. “It’s fine if she hears.”

  I stepped aside and let her enter. “Coffee?”

  “If you have some made, thank you.” She eyed the papers hanging from the ceiling and plopped onto the sofa. “Those are the very things I want to speak with you about.”

  Oh, boy. I measured coffee grounds into the maker and pressed the button. “What about them?”

  “Where did you find them?”

  I turned. “Buried in the greenhouse under where Maybelle’s body was found.”

  She sighed, the sound heavy in the room. “I know that, despite my uncle Ted’s warning not to, that you are looking into Maybelle’s murder. Oh, Shelby, I fear I’m in a terrible spot emotionally.”

  The weariness in her voice tugged at my heart. I sat next to her. “What’s wrong?”

  “I have feelings for Heath, it’s not a secret, and I fear that I may have vouched for a murderer.”

  “Why would you say that?” I shoved down the words telling her that I, too, had feelings for our handsome handyman.

  “I discovered those files missing weeks ago, before Maybelle died. Not only that, but I’ve been helping my uncle collect information on several of our tenants, including Heath McLeroy.”

  “Why Heath?”

  She speared me with a glance. “Our gorgeous handyman has a past, Shelby. He spent time in jail as a teenager.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Why hadn’t he come clean with me? Weren’t we close friends? “Time for what?”

  “Assault.” She folded her hands in her lap. “He’d gotten into a fight over a girl. That’s all I know, but with a past like that…Maybelle’s death…it makes him a suspect. He’s the only one besides me with a master key.”

  “Maybelle had one. Didn’t you lose a key a while back?” I pushed to my feet, the morning soured by her confession. Maybe coffee sweetened with creamer would wash the taste from my mouth. I leaned my back against the counter. “I think Maybelle took those files. She was watching Bob, Marvin, Harry, and William. In none of her things was there any mention of Heath. I think you’re wrong on that regard.” I squared my shoulders.

  “Oh, I see.” Alice paled. “You like him.”

  “He’s a great guy.” Or at least I thought so until finding out he kept such a big secret from me.

  “Having a crush on a man clouds a woman’s judgment.”

  “I don’t think so in this case. Heath has been nothing but helpful in trying to find Maybelle’s killer. All he wants to do is clear his name. Are you willing to help us do that or would you prefer to put the handcuffs on him right now?”

  “My. My. You’re like a mother lion defending her young.” She hung her head. “If I help you, we can’t let my uncle know.”

  “No problem.” I poured us each a cup of coffee and without asking added vanilla flavored creamer to both, before rejoining her on the sofa. “Tell me what you know about the men in those files.”

  “Bob is innocent. He would never raise a hand to a woman no matter how angry he became. The man loves women.” She grinned and reached for her mug. “Too much if you ask me. I think we can take him off the suspect list.”

  “All right.” I caught Cheryl watching from the corner of my eye and motioned for her to be quiet and join us. “The others?”

  “Marvin spent jail time for assault. William was fired for handing out free prescriptions, but I don’t think that necessarily makes him a killer. Harry, well, Harry is an enigma. According to him, he’s had more jobs than all of us combined.”

  “He lied about being a teacher.”

  She shrugged. “Harry has lied about a lot of things, but he pays his rent on time and doesn’t bother anyone.”

  “What about the vampire?”

  “Leroy Manning? He has a skin condition and can’t be in the sun. He’s harmless.”

  I swirled a spoon in my mug. “Surely you know more than that about these men. We know as much as you do.” The glint in her eye told me she withheld information. Well, I wouldn’t help her if she didn’t plan on repaying the favor.

  For several seconds we sat there and stared at each other. “Oh, very well. Alice set her mug on the coffee table hard enough to splash some of the liquid out. “Uncle Ted is trying to pin the murders on either Heath or Harry. Heath had the ease of getting close to Maybelle, and Harry is pretending to be something he isn’t.”

  “Explain.” I met Cheryl’s excited gaze. It looked as if we’d been on the right track in our amateur investigations.

  “You cannot tell anyone I told you this. Oh, Uncle Ted is going to kill me. Look to him first if I turn up dead.”

  “I promise.” A glance at the clock told me we were going to be late for breakfast.

  “No, I can’t tell you.” She jumped to her feet. “Pretend we never had this conversation.” She bolted out the door as if her heels were on fire.

  “That was interesting,” Cheryl said. “Who do you think she was going to spill the beans on?”

  “I wish I knew. Let’s head to breakfast. I have a bone to pick with Heath.”

  “I heard, but why say anything? It happened a long time ago, Shelby. Maybe he wants a clean start.”

  True. “I’ll think on it.”

  “The bigger problem seems to be the fact that you and Alice both have eyes for the same man.” She grinned and bumped me with her shoulder.

  I laughed. “You’re right. I’m making the proverbial mountain out of a mole hill.” I slipped my arm through hers as we made our way to the dining room.

  It took some effort to act with Heath as if I didn’t know his secret. I still felt betrayed. Friends were open with each other, weren’t they? Or was it that my close friendship with Cheryl gave me an unrealistic expectation of other friendships?

  I headed for the buffet, choosing pancakes with butter and powdered sugar, then chose my customary chair next to Heath. “We don’t need the files anymore.” I told him of most of my conversation with Alice, leaving out the fact we both liked him.

  “They still suspect me?” His hand paused halfway to his mouth, a slice of bacon wiggling from his fingers.

  “Unfortunately.”

  He groaned and tossed his bacon to his plate. “After all the hard work I’ve done to get my life straight.” He shoved to his feet and marched out of the building.

  “Nice going.” Cheryl sat down.

  “Yeah, this day isn’t starting off well.” I needed to find something to do that allowed me to do my job and snoop at the same time. Preferably something with Harry.

  “What’s going on in that dark head of yours?” Cheryl tossed a strawberry onto my plate.

  I popped it in my mouth. “How can I get Harry to answer some questions about who he really is?”

  “Let me help. As a teacher at Cooper Elementary, where he supposedly worked, I can at least get him to confess to lying about working there.”

  “Great idea. We’ll follow him back to his cabin after breakfast. You can say you’re taking a look at his bathroom for possible renovations. Anything that gets him to stop and talk to us.”

  I knew there was a reason I wanted her along. “There he goes.” I shoved a last bite of pancake into my mouth and grabbed my
plate. The last thing I needed was Alice on my case for not cleaning up after myself.

  Outside, Cheryl and I made no pretense about following Harry. Not that it mattered. The man seemed to be on a mission, looking neither to the right or the left. Instead of heading to his cabin, he headed for the thick woods at the property’s border.

  We cast a questioning glance at each other and quickened our pace.

  “Is it wise to follow?” I stopped at the trees edge. “We don’t have a weapon if he turns rough.”

  “How bad can it be with two of us and one of him? I’m twice his size.”

  “In height maybe.” I took my bottom lip between my teeth. If Harry did turn out to be the killer and turned on us, he couldn’t take us both down. One of us would be free to run for help.

  I gripped her hand and we started down the path. The early morning sunshine cut through the thick foliage overhead, dotting the path with rays of gold. A bird serenaded us. The morning was beautiful. I took a deep breath.

  “What in Sam’s Hill are the two of you following me for?” Harry stepped from around a thick tree.

  “Oh, hello.” I thought ignorance the wisest course of action. “We thought it a perfect morning for a stroll. Fancy meeting you here, though, since I do need to stop by your cottage in a bit. Shall we go now?”

  Cheryl elbowed me in the rib to stop my rambling. “When it’s convenient, she means.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Just out for a stroll, huh?”

  “Yes, sir,” we said in unison.

  “Seems like you’re following me. What do you need at my cottage? I respect my privacy and make repairs myself.”

  “Alice is tossing around the idea of remodeling bathrooms and your’s was chosen.” I plastered a big grin on my face.

  “Not interested. She can do it when I move out, which might be any day now with all the meddling you two do.”

  Perhaps he should buy a cabin high in the mountains instead of living in a retirement community. “I’ll let Alice know. Thank you for your time.” I grabbed Cheryl’s arm and set off back the way we’d come. Once we were out of earshot, I said, “We have to solve this mystery before he leaves.”

  “If we could guarantee he’d be out of his cottage for a bit tonight, we could do a bit of searching.”

  “Absolutely.” But how? It was time for Heath to be the one delaying a person.

  We found him scooping leaves from the koi pond and explained what we needed.

  “Are you crazy?” He tossed the leaves into a bucket. “If he is the killer, I’m a sitting duck.”

  “No more so than Cheryl and I. You aren’t going into his cottage.” I crossed my arms and glared. “I occupied Alice during an illegal fire alarm. This is the least you can do.”

  His shoulders sagged. “I want all this to be over with.”

  “So, you’ll do it? How?”

  “I’ll flood his apartment. He’ll have to leave. The two of you can go in with boots on.”

  I hadn’t expected anything so drastic. “Are you sure?”

  “It’s not like he’ll come out if I knock on his door. I’ll go loosen a pipe now while he’s out for a walk. If he is the killer, and we solve this, no harm done. If we’re wrong, you’re helping me pay for damages.”

  I thrust out my hand. “Agreed. Cheryl?”

  “Very well.” She placed her hand on top of ours. “We’d better be right or there goes my savings.”

  We’d better be right or there goes my job. We pumped our hands before Cheryl went to find Grandma and I went to work replacing the flowers in front of the main building. Alice might be a bit lenient knowing I was trying to solve the murder, but she wouldn’t let me skip work altogether. Not that I wanted to. Each thing I did to improve the looks of Shady Acres filled my heart with joy.

  By the end of the day, a lush profusion of blooms provided a riot of color against the white siding of the building. I stretched and popped the kinks from my back. When I gathered my supplies and turned to leave, I came face-to-face with Harry.

  20

  “You can go look at my bathroom now.” He scowled, arms folded over his paunch. “Pipe burst.”

  Heath had succeeded. I grinned. “I’ll do that. Please leave the door unlocked.”

  “I don’t know what you’re grinning about. It isn’t funny. I’ve been displaced.” He turned and waddled off, looking more like Mr. Toad than ever.

  I couldn’t wait to tell Cheryl we had plans for that evening. I went back to the gardening shed and struggled with a bag of mulch until I got it into the wheelbarrow. Sometimes, even such a simple job required more muscles than I had.

  “I’ll get that.” Officer Lawrence, in uniform, stepped forward and lifted the bag.

  “Thank you.” I straightened and waited for the lecture I was sure to hear.

  “Alice told me that she informed you she was helping me get information on a couple of the residents.”

  I nodded. “I didn’t force her to. I found stolen files buried in the greenhouse. She saw them drying out in my cottage and decided we should join forces.”

  “It’s bad enough that I enlisted the help of my niece, Miss Hart, but to endanger another civilian—”

  “Sir, I’ve been asked by friends to solve Maybelle’s murder. I’m not doing anything dangerous, other than asking questions while doing my day job.” I crossed my arms. “Are you going to arrest me if I continue?”

  He studied me for a moment. “I’d like to, but Ida would string me up by my toenails. Let’s compromise. You do nothing more than ask questions, then relay any information you find to me. Deal?”

  “Deal.” I kept my arms folded. I couldn’t shake his hand and then snoop through Harry’s cottage later. I’d have to keep my promise to only ask questions after my snoop fest.

  “Somehow, I don’t believe you.”

  “That’s your prerogative.” I grinned. “Tell Grandma I said hello.”

  “We’ll see you at supper.”

  Uh-oh. That felt like he planned on keeping an eye on me. I’d need to find a way to sneak away without him following.

  I watched him leave then hurried out to find Grandma. I’d need her help to get away from her boyfriend.

  She was in my cottage giggling with Cheryl. “What’s so funny?” I asked, heading for the kitchen sink to wash my hands.

  “Cheryl told me of Heath’s diabolical plan to get Harry out of his home. Genius.”

  “Speaking of…I need your help tonight. Your dear Teddy is suspicious of me. I need you to keep him occupied the moment it gets dark so Cheryl and I can snoop in Harry’s place.”

  She pouted. “Tough decision, sweetheart. I enjoy the man, I really do, but snooping through someone’s things is a big temptation.”

  “Will you help me?” I wrapped my arms around her neck. “Please.”

  “You know I can’t resist you. Yes, I’ll keep him out of your way.” She unfolded my arms from around her and stood. “I’d best go make myself look gorgeous. I’ll try to get him to take me to supper in town. That should keep him out of your hair until nine o’clock, but no later. That’s our bedtime.”

  “It doesn’t get dark until nine.” I threw myself on the sofa. “We need a new plan.”

  “He’ll be home getting ready for bed, I promise.” She kissed my cheek. “When he drops me off at home, let him see you in your pajamas. He’ll think you’re going to bed and not have a second thought about you snooping.”

  It was the only plan we had. I could snoop in baggy shorts and a big T-shirt. I’d done it plenty of times. “Thank you. You’re the best.”

  The rest of the day passed in a blur of weeding, pruning, and mulching. By the time night hit and Officer Lawrence saw me give Grandma a goodnight kiss while in my slumber clothes, I wished I were going to bed. Exhaustion weighed me down. Instead, I clipped a small flashlight to the waistband of my shorts and told Cheryl to hurry up.

  “I’m tired.”

  “Coming.” She s
tepped out of her room. She was dressed in black from head to toe. “You’d better change. Those white legs of yours glow in the dark.”

  “Right.” I quickly slipped off the shorts and slipped on a pair of dark leggings and a long-sleeved black T-shirt. I immediately started to sweat in the summer humidity. “This is awful.”

  “Stop complaining. At least you have boots to wear. I have to traipse through his flooded place in flip flops.”

  “Remember, we’re trying to find something that convicts Harry and/or clears the other suspects’ names. Anything of interest to give to Officer Lawrence.”

  “I know.” Cheryl held the door open, then closed it behind us.

  We stayed behind the cottages and in the shadows as much as possible until we reached Harry’s cottage. Every door and window were open to help the place dry out. Still, at least an inch of water covered the floor.

  “If he has anything to hide, it will be in a secret place.” I stepped inside, an area rug squishing under my rain boots.

  “No, duh. I thought he’d leave it out in the open. Yuck. Something floated across my toes.”

  “Stop whining and check the kitchen.” I headed for the master bedroom.

  A desk that sat against one wall seemed the logical place to look. I opened all the drawers and searched for false bottoms. Books and television taught me something at least. I didn’t find any secret hiding places or files that generated my interest. In fact, I didn’t find anything with Harry Weasley on them, but I did find a Harvey Weston. Why would Harry have a letter with another man’s name? Was there a suspect in the murders we didn’t know about? I snapped a copy of the envelope.

  After finding nothing else of interest there, I moved to the closet. The moment I opened the door I was assaulted with the strong aroma of Polo cologne. No surprise. I already knew he wore the vile scent. Still, did the man not do his laundry?

  I rifled through the few items of clothing hanging on the rod, ignored the clothes in the hamper, then transferred my attention to the shelf. Plain brown boxes were lined up in a neat row. “Cheryl!”

  The sound of splashing feet arrived before she did. “Find something?”