Busman's Honeymoon (Savannah Martin Mystery #10.5)

by Jenna Bennett

  Her expression was grim. I’d take her word for it, although you couldn’t prove it by me. I hadn’t seen anything remotely resembling charm in Chip.

  “And when you thought she might give in, you killed her.”

  There was a sound in the hallway, and I glanced that way. Vonnie smiled unpleasantly. “Don’t get any ideas about someone coming to save you. Chip and Nina are gone. Groot is keeping the ladies occupied downstairs. He’ll make sure they don’t come up here. And I’ve taken care of your husband.”

  A chill crept down my spine. “What do you mean,” I asked, and it took effort to keep my voice steady, “you’ve taken care of him?”

  “A couple of pills in the mint julep,” Vonnie said with a shrug, “and he’ll be sleeping like a baby.” Her eyes turned angry again when she looked at me. “You were supposed to drink, too. But you didn’t.”

  “I’m pregnant,” I said. Maybe it would make her think twice about shooting me.

  Then again, she hadn’t thought twice about killing her own sister, so probably not.

  “That’s too bad.”

  Yes, it was. “What are you going to do with me? I mean, it isn’t like my... my husband—” I stumbled over the word, “is going to believe that I walked out on him.”

  Rafe would never believe that. Just as, a week ago, when he didn’t show up to our (first) wedding ceremony, I hadn’t believed he’d walked out on me. Mother had been convinced he did. Everyone else had been open to the possibility, even if they’d had doubts.

  I had refused to believe it.

  Mostly.

  And Rafe would absolutely refuse to believe I’d left him. He’d know I wouldn’t.

  But that wouldn’t make me any less dead.

  “I think you must have decided to take a walk on the beach,” Vonnie said, “and unfortunately you got caught in a riptide.”

  “I see. And how do you plan to get me out of the house, past Gloria and Hildy, without them suspecting anything?”

  “I’ll leave that up to you,” Vonnie told me, as she backed slowly through the doorway. “I imagine we’ll be able to work something out.”

  The gun dropped a few inches, from my chest to my stomach. I put a hand on it, automatically. There was nothing my hand could do to protect the contents if she fired, but the threat was effective. Certainly enough to make me determined to draw as little attention to myself as possible on the way down the stairs.

  Vonnie passed through the opening and into the hallway, and that’s when it happened.

  A banshee yell—or war cry—made me jump what felt like a foot in the air. Vonnie jumped too, and thankfully did not discharge the gun. A well-placed foot in a tennis shoe kicked it from her hand, and then a hundred and eighty pounds of irate female landed on Vonnie and knocked her flat. I heard her head hit the floor with a thunk. Luckily she managed to land on the hallway runner; if she’d hit the hardwood floor, she might not have gotten up again.

  Not that she got up. Gloria landed on her and kept her down.

  Yes, Gloria. Not Rafe. He was there, too, but not in any kind of position to subdue a suspect. He had to lean against the wall to keep upright, and his eyes were practically crossed. For once, sheer willpower was unequal to the task. I’d seen him sideline pain and fear and a lot of other things when necessarily, but Vonnie’s sleeping pills had proven to be too much for him.

  “I called Lou,” he muttered, his eyelids at half mast.

  I went over to him and put an arm around his waist. “Thank you.”

  He looked at me, but I’m not sure he saw me. Not clearly. “Got your call. Just couldn’t save the day.”

  “It’s OK. It all worked out.” Hildy had Groot under control downstairs, I assumed, and Gloria was certainly on top of things here. Literally. “Let’s go back to bed.”

  Even half asleep, he managed a grin. “Yes’m.”

  Gloria snorted, but it was a humorous sort of snort. She looked up at me and winked.

  “And maybe we’ll put some clothes on, too,” I added.

  Rafe blinked. Slowly. And peered down his own front. “Shit,” he said.

  “I know.” I led him back toward the door to the bedroom, while he attempted—in vain—to cover his exposed parts with one hand. He has big hands, but not big enough for the task. “It’s all right. I don’t think Gloria cares. And you probably gave Vonnie a thrill.”

  “Did I give you a thrill, darlin’?”

  “Always,” I said, guiding him through the door. “Here we go. Just crawl back into bed. That’s good...” I pulled the blanket over him. I think he was probably out cold by the time his head hit the pillow. I was frankly amazed that he’d managed to drag himself out of bed and out to the hallway in the condition he was. He’d even been coherent enough to call the sheriff. Or at least he’d managed to dial the number. Whether he’d made himself understood was another matter. God only knew what he’d told her.

  Right on cue, there was a knock on the door downstairs. Gloria lifted her head, and Vonnie stirred feebly.

  “I’ll get it,” I said, as a voice hollered, “Sheriff’s deputy. Open the door!”

  It took me thirty seconds to get down the stairs and through the house. By then, Lou Engebretsen was going crazy on the front porch. When I opened the door—and took a prudent step back—she burst into the foyer with gun drawn, sweeping the room from left to right before turning to me.

  It took a second for her to recognize me, I think. At first, it looked like she didn’t know who I was. Then her eyes cleared. “Good. You’re alive.”

  I nodded.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I was snooping,” I said. With a grimace, since I figured I knew how the sheriff would feel about that. “Rafe fell asleep, and I went out in the hallway to call my sister.” Whom I still hadn’t called, incidentally. “I knew nobody was upstairs, so I tried Chip and Nina’s door.”

  Lou tsked, but not in a serious way.

  “They’re gone. I assume you already know that?”

  She nodded. “David caught up with them before they crossed the county line. They’re cooling their heels in jail.”

  Good to know. However— “They actually didn’t do it. I guess they just freaked out when they came under suspicion. Vonnie said that Chip had been trying to convince Frenetta to sell. I got the sense he might have used some undue pressure.”

  Lou nodded. “He admitted as much. But swore up and down he hadn’t had anything to do with killing her. They both swore they’d been together all night, except for the few minutes when Nina came downstairs to open the door for you.”

  She hesitated a moment before she added, “They’re still trying to blame you for it.”

  “We weren’t here,” I said. “And really, I should have figured it out a long time ago. Chip wouldn’t have needed to drug Frenetta to kill her. He was a young, strong, big guy, and she was a smallish, older women. He could have twisted her neck and been done with it.”

  Lou nodded.

  “Hildy is the follower in their relationship, and Gloria the leader. If one of them was going to kill Frenetta, it would be Gloria. And she’s also big and strong. Bigger and stronger than Frenetta.”

  “Gym teacher,” Lou said.

  “I don’t think she would have bothered with the sleeping pills, either. I also don’t think she’s the type.”

  “So who did it?”

  “Vonnie,” I said.

  “Vonnie?”

  “She’s the only one of us who’d need Frenetta sedated in order to kill her. Not just because she’s older than Frenetta, and probably weaker—Frenetta worked all day, every day, and Vonnie doesn’t look like she does much except go to the hairdresser and have her nails done—but I’m sure she wouldn’t want Frenetta awake and cognizant of what was going on while Vonnie killed her. They were sisters, after all.”

  Lou nodded. “Makes sense. Can you tell me why?”

  “Frenetta wanted to sell the place,” I said. “Vonnie did
n’t want her to.”

  “And that’s why she killed her?”

  “Frenetta wasn’t interested in selling to Nina’s father. But she had agreed to sell to Gloria and Hildy. My guess is, they wanted to keep the B and B as a B and B, and weren’t going to develop the land. They told me they fell in love with the place the first time they came here.”

  “So what happened tonight? Your husband was asleep and you were snooping.”

  I nodded. “I didn’t know until later, but Vonnie put something in his drink. When we came home from dinner earlier, all four of them were in the parlor watching TV and drinking mint juleps.”

  Lou glanced at the door to the parlor, from behind which we could still hear the sound of the TV.

  “Vonnie gave us each a drink. I didn’t drink any of mine, since...”

  She nodded. “But your husband did?”

  “He finished it. I think it tasted weird, though, because he grimaced. I figured it was just too sweet—he prefers beer—but now I wonder.”

  “So you went upstairs, and he fell asleep?”

  “Eventually. We’re on our honeymoon, as you know.”

  “Right,” Lou drawled. “So he fell asleep, and you decided to snoop.”

  “I actually decided to call my sister. I was going to do it earlier, but I forgot. She was the one who booked us in here. She was here with her family once. I figured I ought to tell her what had happened.” And pick her brain. But it was probably better not to mention that. “And I didn’t want to disturb Rafe, so I got dressed again, and took my phone out on the landing. And then I had the idea to check whether the doors were locked.”

  “And what did you discover?”

  “That Chip and Nina were gone. You already know that. That Vonnie and Groot have lots of medicine bottles in their toiletries bag. You probably know that, too.”

  She nodded.

  “And in Gloria and Hildy’s room, I found a purchase and sale contract between the two of them and Frenetta, for the B and B. Signed and ratified. I was looking at it when Vonnie came upstairs and found me. She had a gun.”

  Lou’s eyes narrowed.

  “She made me give her the paperwork. But when she backed out of the room, Gloria kicked the gun out of her hand and landed on her. I assume they’re still upstairs.”

  “And Hildy and Groot?”

  “In there,” I said, pointing to the parlor. “Or so I assume. You knocked, and I didn’t take the time to check.”

  “Leave it to me.” She headed for the door.

  I trailed behind, of course.

  Yes, they were there. Groot red-faced and furious on the sofa, and Hildy standing over him, armed with a fireplace poker.

  Lou took in the scene in a single glance. “You can put that down,” she told Hildy. “Evening, Mr. Jenkins.”

  Hildy lowered the poker reluctantly. “He wanted to go upstairs and check on his wife.”

  “I’ll go check on her in a minute,” Lou said, at the same time as I told them, “She’s fine. Gloria’s on her.”

  Literally.

  Lou glanced at me, but didn’t say anything. “Just sit tight,” she told Groot.

  “I wanna see my wife!”

  “I’ll bring her down in a minute. Try to be patient ‘till then.”

  She nodded to Hildy, who took a better grip on the fireplace poker and tried to look fierce.

  I didn’t think there was anything I could do upstairs, so when Lou went to the bottom of the staircase and headed up, I stayed where I was. “What happened down here?”

  “As soon as you left,” Hildy said with a grimace, “Gloria told Vonnie that it didn’t matter whether she wanted to sell the house or not; it was already a done deal. Vonnie didn’t like that. Gloria said she could prove it, that she had the paperwork upstairs on the bedside table. Vonnie said she’d go look for herself, since she was cold anyway, and wanted a sweater.”

  “Why didn’t she leave the gun with Groot?”

  “She didn’t have a gun when she went upstairs,” Hildy said. “She must have picked it up on the way.”

  And I hadn’t even noticed her stopping off in her room. Some detective I was.

  “When she didn’t come back down,” Hildy continued, “Gloria decided to go after her. Groot tried to stop her—he even got physical, and Gloria had to put him back in the chair—and then she gave me the fireplace poker and told me to keep him there. So I did.”

  She glanced at Groot, who glowered at her.

  “They killed Frenetta,” I said.

  She nodded. “We figured that out.”

  Groot muttered something, and I turned to him. “What?”

  He raised his voice. “It wasn’t fair. She getting the house and Vonnie getting nothing.”

  “Maybe not. But it wasn’t fair to kill her, either.”

  He had no response to that. Outside in the hallway, we could hear steps on the stairs. Lou came down with Vonnie in front of her, while Gloria made up the rear.

  “C’mon, Mr. Jenkins,” Lou said, herding Vonnie through the foyer. “Out to the car.”

  Groot heaved himself to his feet. “Where ya taking her?”

  “Just over to the office so we can talk.” She passed through the front door with Vonnie in front. Groot lumbered after.

  “Do you need help?” I asked.

  Lou shook her head. “We’re fine. Stay here with your husband.”

  No problem. Although if Groot and Vonnie overpowered her on the way to the sheriff’s office, I was totally going to remind her of this.

  “I’ll talk to y’all tomorrow.” She closed the door. All that was left was silence, and a bit of an anticlimactic feeling. I looked at Gloria and Hildy. They looked back at me. I daresay we all looked a little shell-shocked.

  “So you own the place,” I said. It explained a lot. Or at least it explained why Gloria was making breakfast tomorrow. “Congratulations.”

  “It isn’t ours yet. We haven’t exchanged the money.” She glanced at Hildy. “Now it might not be.”

  “It’s all right.” Hildy took Gloria’s hand. “We still have the money. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll find another place to buy.”

  “I liked this one,” Gloria said, but she leaned against Hildy, who leaned against her. I guess they needed the comfort.

  Comfort sounded pretty nice, actually. In another minute, I intended to crawl under the covers with Rafe and be comforted, too. Even if he was dead to the world. But first—

  “She might need to sell. I don’t know how much money they have, but a good defense attorney doesn’t come cheap. Not in a murder trial. And anyway, isn’t there some rule about not benefitting from a crime?”

  “I don’t know,” Gloria said, but she looked a little more cheerful. “I guess we’ll have to look into it tomorrow.”

  “After we cook breakfast,” Hildy reminded her.

  “I’m going upstairs,” I said. “I want to make sure Rafe is all right and is sleeping off the medicine.”

  They both nodded. “We’ll see you tomorrow. Breakfast at eight.”

  “We’ll be there,” I promised, and headed for the stairs.

  Epilogue

  “Feel free to stay another night,” Gloria told us over breakfast the next morning. “We intend to.”

  She exchanged a look with Hildy, who nodded. “As soon as it’s business hours—ten o’clock hereabouts—we’re calling the lawyers. The house is rightfully ours, and we intend to keep it.”

  I wished them luck. Hopefully Vonnie would be busy elsewhere and wouldn’t have time to contest anything.

  We were sitting across from one another at the dining room table, over a spread of pecan coffee cake—the one Frenetta had been preparing two days ago, I assumed—frittata, roasted potatoes, and some other things. Rafe was sucking down coffee like his life depended on it, and looked like he could use a couple of toothpicks to help keep his eyes open. He was hardly eating anything at all, just drooping over his plate.

  �
��I don’t think so,” I said. “This hasn’t been very relaxing. I think we’ll just go on home and sleep in our own bed tonight.” Where nobody was trying to poison or shoot us.

  Hildy nodded sympathetically. “Maybe you can come down again sometime? Maybe after the baby’s born?”

  If the inn is still here. But I didn’t say it. Didn’t want to throw cold water on their parade, and was trying to keep a positive attitude. “Sure. Rafe enjoyed the ocean. It was just all the other stuff going on that was the problem.”

  They both nodded. “I don’t understand how anyone can kill someone over a house,” Hildy said, with a shudder. “And not just anyone, but a sister.”

  I didn’t either. And speaking of sisters, I still hadn’t called mine.

  Before I could pursue that thought, however, there was a knock on the door.

  “I’ll get it,” Gloria said. Rafe barely even stirred, so hopefully whoever was outside, wasn’t a threat.

  Then again, the three of us had managed pretty well last night, so maybe that wouldn’t be the end of the world.

  We heard voices in the foyer, and then footsteps coming back toward us. Gloria came into the dining room followed by Lou Engebretsen.

  The sheriff looked beat, like she hadn’t slept much last night, and Hildy immediately went into hostess mode. “Have a seat, Sheriff Engebretsen. Coffee?”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Lou said and dropped down onto the nearest chair. Meanwhile, Hildy bustled about getting her a place setting and a cup of coffee.

  “What’s new, Sheriff?” Gloria asked.

  Lou sighed. “Nothing. Just the same as was new last night.”

  “Did they confess?” I asked. “To killing Frenetta?”

  “Vonnie did.” She took the mug of coffee Hildy put in front of her and lifted it to her lips for a swallow. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Hildy sat back down beside Gloria. “That’s good, right? That she admitted it?”

  Lou nodded, her eyes a little clearer as the coffee took effect. “It’ll make it easier. Or at least more pleasant. I could have prosecuted her without that, but this’ll be better.”

  “Did she say anything else?” I asked.

  “Beyond what she said to you?” Lou shook her head. “She confessed to killing her sister. She told me why. Frenetta was thinking of selling the B and B, and Vonnie didn’t want her to. Her main concern was with Chip and Nina’s father, the developer. She didn’t realize a deal had already been worked out with someone else.”