Murder At The Knife's Edge: A Mystic Pines Mystery

by T. G. Hanson

  “Makes sense to me,” agreed Lynn. “And I’m thinking it must have been the stranger who messed up your office the first time. He was probably looking for anything to give him an idea where you might have the money stashed.”

  “I think you’re right Lynn. I wonder though, how did he know about the tin? Daisy said he’d agreed to get it for her then backed out of the deal. You suppose she told him about it that day he showed up in the diner?”

  Lynn thought for a moment before answering. “Has to be, unless he found out about it from someone else?” A thought suddenly jumped into Lynn’s head. “Oh wait a minute . . . Nyla is the one who told us Danny’s last name. He knew Nyla’s husband Frank from the factory and they went to dinner one night, here at the diner. I seem to remember John saying that Frank and Danny also met up with Henry that night. So, that means that Frank must have told both men about the tin.”

  “But Lynn, that was what like months ago? How could Danny have been here all that time and nobody noticed him?”

  “Well that’s easy. Remember, he was living out of town over near the factory. It would have been easy for him to sneak around here now and then without anyone paying attention. And from what I saw at his place, and what we read in that notebook, he’d been watching you for some time.”

  Daisy who had been rocking back and forth, but had remained quiet, suddenly jumped up out of the chair. “Daisy and Danny sitting in a tree . . . k i s SING!”

  Both Meg and Lynn turned to look at Daisy. “Well, I guess that is Daisy speak for . . . yes they knew each other and probably hooked up right after Danny came to town I think,” said Lynn.

  Lynn took Daisy by the arm and motioned for Meg to take the other arm. Meg suddenly remembered that Chewy was missing. “Lynn, I need to find Chewy! Daisy threw her out of the store earlier and I’ve no idea where she could have gone to!”

  Lynn frowned, paused and then kept moving towards the front door. “For now, we had better head on over to the station before the guys come looking for us. Once this is all settled, you and I can drive around looking for her okay.”

  Meg nodded okay and the three walked out of the bookstore, Meg on one side of Daisy, Lynn on the other. Daisy looking around wildly and still singing her little song.

  Minutes later they walked through the door at the police station.

  ******

  John and Wade had arrived at the station, to see Randy sitting on the bench outside, with a paper bag in his hand. Once inside, he repeated what Lynn had told him to say to the two men.

  Lynn and Meg walked into the station, not long after, with Daisy in tow. Immediately, Lynn let John know that he should call the Doc for Daisy. “She’s acting crazy John and I think she might need medical attention. Tried to run off twice so if I were you, I’d cuff her to a chair or something.”

  With Daisy secured to a chair and the two men inside the cell. The five of them sat down for a few seconds of silence.

  Meg, unable to sit still stood up and walked over to the coffee pot. She began to fix a pot of coffee when she noticed Lynn had walked up beside her. “Let me do the talking she whispered to Meg.” then turned and leaned against the cabinet.

  “So, you guys want to go first or should I” Lynn asked.

  It was Wade who spoke first. “These two are the same ones that beat-up Henry over the money he owed the shark. Seems Henry, when they took him, told them about some tin with a lot of money inside it. He’d evidently been sneaking around town spying on you Meg, after Nyla had told him she gave the tin to you.

  They came back here the night of Helen’s sale, discovered Henry was in the hospital with no memory, figured he was a loss, and decided to look for the tin themselves.”

  “But Wade, you don’t think it was Henry who knocked me out and trashed the bookstore the other night, do you? I just can’t see him doing something like that.” said Meg.

  “We don’t know yet but I can’t see him doing that either. He might have walked in and snooped around but he doesn’t have it in him to harm someone I don’t believe.”

  John stood up and eyed the two in the cell. “I’ve called Houston and they are on their way here to pick up these two. With what they did to you Meg, they will be gone for some time to come.”

  Everyone looked toward the front door as a car pulled up outside. The Doc walked in with two Houston police officers behind them. “You need my help John,” Doc asked.

  “Not me Doc but you might want to take a look at Daisy over here. She’s not exactly herself right now. You by chance know where her folks are?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes. I just spoke with them yesterday. I was worried about how this one has been acting and suggested they might want to head on home and get her looked at. She’s been sort of stalking Kevin and calling the house all hours of the day and night. They should be here sometime tomorrow or the next day I believe.”

  Doc walked over to Daisy and began to examine her closely.

  ******

  Daisy had begun to snicker behind them. Turning, Lynn asked, “That was you wasn’t it Daisy, who trashed the bookstore the first time, just like you did tonight. You were looking for the tin even then.”

  “Mum is the word, is the word, is the word.” is all Daisy would say.

  “I’ll take that as a yes” Lynn replied. “And now, for the rest of it, best I can figure.” Lynn sat down and began her story.

  “At some point, though I don’t know when, for certain, Henry, Daisy and Danny must have found that Frank Hanson had stashed some money in the Prince Albert Tin that is now in Randy’s possession. Most likely Frank told them all about the tin, the night they went to dinner. Remember, Nyla told us about that part.”

  Listening to Lynn, Meg suddenly realized what her friend was doing. She is trying to protect me by including Danny in with those who had been searching for the tin, making it appear as the reason he was here in town. Meg appreciated it but she hoped it wouldn’t come back and cause Lynn problems in the future.

  “My guess is that Daisy here must have also been in the diner and overheard the conversation because from what she said earlier, she’s also known about the tin for some time now. So, the three of them have been looking for it all this time with no idea that Meg had given the tin to Randy.”

  “So you think Daisy trashed Meg’s office the first time and not finding the tin, came back tonight with a repeat performance?”

  “Yes Wade I do. You see Daisy said something earlier. She mentioned that Danny had promised to get the tin for her and then changed his mind.” Lynn paused long enough for the last part to sink in.

  Both men sat up straight. John was the first to speak. “So Daisy knew the victim? Is that what you are telling us Lynn?”

  “Yup, seems so, from seeing him at the diner with Frank, I believe. At some point, she made a deal with him to get the tin and share the money inside, based on what she said to us earlier tonight at the diner. But, Danny was just using Daisy to help him find the tin and when she approached him about it, he changed plans on her.”

  “So she must have seen him that night in the alley.” John didn’t like where this was going.

  “Yes, Daisy saw him in the alley the night of the Mystery Dinner when she went out to get the food carts for Meg. They must have had words about the tin and in a fit of rage, Daisy shoved him. Again, I’m getting this from what she said to us in the bookstore tonight. She must have shoved him hard enough to leave hand print bruises on his chest. Let’s face it, the guy was on the small size and Daisy is a big girl.” Lynn had stood and walked over to the board and was pointing to the hand print marks on the victim they had talked about a few days ago. “I bet if we were to measure Daisy’s hands against these bruises, they would match.”

  “So you think Daisy killed our victim in a fit of rage?” Wade paused in thought. “I mean, I agree with you about the size thing but do you really think she had it in her to kill someone?”

  John who had been listening to
everything, shook his head. “No, Daisy didn’t kill him, not directly anyway. I think she shoved him, hard, like Lynn said and he lost his balance and fell over. That must have been when the one shoe fell off. He probably hadn’t noticed it was untied and when he started to fall, tripped himself on the shoe string. When he fell to the concrete he must have hit his head on that rock, knocking himself out, and laying there, bled to death. That rock put a good size gash in his head. Sound about right to you Lynn?”

  “Sounds exactly right to me John. I think Daisy was indeed mad but I don’t think even a crazy Daisy would intentionally kill someone. From something she said earlier, I don’t think she even realized at the time that the guy had hit his head and was laying there bleeding to death. I think she just shoved him and the went back inside the diner.”

  Once again Daisy began to laugh and repeat “Sounds good to me, sounds good to me.”

  They all looked over at Doc and then Daisy.

  “Doc, you think maybe our Daisy here might need a little ride up to Mercy?”

  “John, that’s exactly what I think. I’m going to give her a sedative and with your permission, drive her there myself. Sound all right with you?”

  “Sure thing Doc. Sounds like a great idea. You think based upon what you are seeing now they will be able to hang onto her till her folks get back home?”

  “I’d say that’s a fair assumption John.”

  Daisy had begun rocking back and forth in the chair repeatedly saying; “I’ll never tell, I’ll never tell.” Thirty minutes later Daisy was fast asleep slumped over in the chair. Wade stood up and helped the Doc get her into his car and Doc drove off towards Mercy.

  The two cops from Houston cuffed the two men from the cell and carted them off to the car. “Just fax your report over to the station as soon as you can John, we’ll hold them for questioning till then.”

  “Thanks guys, will do.”

  Wade had stood and walked over to the board while Doc was leaving with Daisy. “Ok guys, it all makes sense except for one thing.”

  Looking over at Wade, Lynn and John spoke at the same time . . . “And that one thing is?”

  Meg who had been listening and watching the three sat up in her chair. If Wade was going to bring up what she thought he would, she wasn’t for sure how Lynn would explain this one.

  Wade pointed to the little mini body part in a sealed bag, tacked to the board. “If our victim was here looking for the tin, why did he need the mini part and how did he get them?”

  Lynn walked over to the board and put her hand on Wade’s elbow, slightly moving him away from the board. “I think that’s easy to figure out. He broke into Meg’s house and took them, intending to use them to scare Meg into handing over the tin.” Neither Lynn nor Wade mentioned the envelope or the contents inside.

  John stood up scratching his head. “Wait a minute here. When did the victim break into Meg’s house, and why is this the first I’m hearing about?”

  Meg stood up placing her hand on John’s shoulder, “Oh that’s my fault John. I only recently realized that someone had broken in. It was back before the guy died. Chewy woke me up in the middle of the night barking. I thought I’d heard a door closing but when I got up and checked the house, and didn’t find anything wrong, I assumed she was barking at some random noise. I’d forgotten all about it till recently when Lynn and I were talking one night.”

  Lynn looked a bit on the sheepish side and remarked, “Sorry John, I was going to let you know about that but then all that stuff with Henry happened and I forgot.”

  John unsure what to think, decided that in the long range, the mini body parts were not that important. They knew why the victim was here in the first place and that his death had been an accident. And that’s all he needed for his report. The rest was simply better forgotten.

  “Okay Lynn. With this being the first time you have been involved on a case with us, to this extent, you’re allowed a mistake or two. I won’t hold it against you. I’ve got what I need for my report and all that other stuff, I think in the whole picture, it’s truly not relevant.”

  Meg and Lynn looked at each other and smiled. Meg felt as though a huge weight had been lifted and for the first time in a week, her stomach was free of knots.

  THIRTY

  After Doc left, the five sat around the office drinking coffee and discussing what had happened. The group had almost forgotten about Randy; he’d been so quiet. Leaning over towards Meg, he handed her the paper sack saying, “Miss Meg, here I think this belongs to you.”

  Meg turned the paper bag upside down emptying the contents onto the table, then handed the tin back to Randy. “Randy, I think you have earned this so you should keep it. You did a fantastic job of cleaning it up and it should look nice in your collection don’t you think.”

  “Gosh Meg, thanks. It sure will! Thanks!” Holding onto the tin like is was made of gold, Randy asked if it was okay for him to go home now.

  “Sure thing Randy, go right ahead. You need a ride?”

  “Nope Sheriff. Thanks, but after this evening, I think I might need a little walk in the quiet night” and he walked out the door.

  Everyone was now staring at the folded-up paper towel. “So sweets, think you might want to unwrap that and see what all the fuss was about?”

  Meg smiled at Wade. “Guess so.” She slowly unfolded the paper towel to reveal what was inside. All four stared at the contents and then burst out laughing.

  “Oh my gosh, you have got to be kidding me! This isn’t funny you guys!! I nearly got my head bashed in, twice and for what . . . a measly hundred dollars!”

  Lynn patted Meg on the arm, “Sorry Hun, but even you have to admit it’s a bit funny. All these folks running around town thinking there was a fortune in that thing. By the way, I spoke to Nyla about it and she said whatever money was inside now belongs to you. She thought if it was a sizable amount it might help get your house back in order and with what you’ve been through over it, you deserved it.”

  Meg held the hundred-dollar bill up and began to laugh with the rest of them. “I’m not so sure this will help much in the way of putting everything back in order.”

  John stretched out his arms while standing up from the table.

  “Gang, hate to break this up, but I’ve got a long report to write up in the morning and it’s late. Time for this old man to get some sleep.”

  The rest agreed following him out of the diner. Wade walked up to Meg and put his arm around her.

  “Don’t worry Megs, Chewy will show up or someone around town will see the little thing and pick her up. She’s too cute to be on the streets for long.”

  Meg had been worrying about Chewy since she knew Daisy had let the dog outside, but with everything else going on, there wasn’t much she could do about her for now.

  “I hope so Wade. She’s just such a little thing.”

  Lynn hooked her arm around Meg’s other arm.

  “We will both help you look for her tomorrow. We’ll find her, you’ll see.”

  “Thanks you two but you know, right now, I’m so tired I can hardly stand up and the thought of all that clean up. The diner, the bookstore, and my house. It’s going to take weeks. I’ll have to close the stores again, till I can get everything back in order.”

  Wade looked over at Lynn and winked at her.

  “Megs, let’s just get you to Lynn’s and we can worry about all that tomorrow. You’ve been through a lot and right now you need some rest.”

  ******

  Ten minutes later Meg was snuggled up in Lynn’s bed with a borrowed pair of Lynn’s PJ’s.

  “Here, Doc left these for you Meg. Take two now and if your head hurts in the morning, two more.”

  “Yes Doctor Foster,” Meg giggled.

  “See you in the morning. You may as well try to sleep in. Nothing to be gained by getting up at the crack of dawn.”

  Meg rolled over on her side and was asleep before Lynn had set the water glass in
the kitchen sink.

  Looking in on Meg, a few minutes later and hearing her snore slightly, Lynn pulled the bedroom door closed and retreated to the living room. She picked up her cell phone and called Wade.

  “Hey Lynn, she okay now.”

  “Sound asleep and snoring even. You get everything arranged? Was everyone okay about the diner and bookstore instead of her house?”

  “Sure did, you think you can keep her occupied till noon-ish?”

  “Think so. If nothing else I can take her to her house and we can kill some time, there.”

  “Works for me, see you tomorrow.”

  “Night Wade.”

  Hanging up the phone Lynn realized she was tired herself. She turned off the lights and curled up on the couch. What a good guy, she thought and promptly fell asleep.

  ******

  After leaving the diner last night and realizing how late it was, Sherry decided to take a little drive around the town then get a room at the Haunted Inn. She checked out the lovely tree lined streets, finding it interesting that each one had different themed houses.

  How fun, she thought. All these street names in a town that loved Mysteries. Unique - just like the people in it. I just hope that article hasn’t brought trouble to this nice little town or a certain person. Unfortunately, there isn’t much more I can do.

  Before leaving the office and coming to Mystic Pines, Sherry had made a phone call to a cop she had dated while living in California. Filling him in on her story, he promised to keep it quiet, but do some checking around as well as keep his eye on a certain person. At least she knew he’d call if anything funny happened or if he ran across something she might need to know. For now, it was the best she could do for Meg.

  The last street she drove down was Psycho Lane where she noticed a large old Victorian home. It had grayed and weathered over the years of neglect. Broken shutters hung askew here and there and a few windows had been broken. Local kids no doubt.

  But even in its state of disrepair, it spoke to her. She loved the porch on the front of the house with the ornate trim work at the top of the posts, the way the front part of the house jutted outward, and the small oval shaped window at the very top.