by Ellery Adams
And was he implicating her own mother? This news would devastate Mama.
“Did you know she was deathly allergic to peanuts?” he asked.
“Yes. My mother prepared the inn’s treats without nuts, however. The label of all Magnolia’s Marvels nut-free varieties states that the product is prepared in a facility that also has nuts. Mrs. Atwood was well aware.”
He nodded, his expression blank.
“Detective Olson, it was my understanding that Mrs. Atwood had a great many allergies. Nuts, roses, and perfume. Why would you make the leap to foul play?”
“Did I say foul play?” He cocked his head and frowned. “I believe I said that her death was suspicious.”
So he had.
As he turned to leave, she thought of one more question. “Detective, are Mindy Atwood and Alice Mayberry all right?”
“Yes. Both Ms. Atwood and Ms. Mayberry provided their statements at police headquarters and were released. That’s all I can tell you at the moment.” He glanced toward the door, effectively dismissing her. “Could you please ask Ms. Knapp to come in next, please?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh, and Ms. Lee. Please don’t discuss this with your friends until we complete the interviews with the staff and guests.”
She nodded and walked slowly back to the dining room, reeling from what she’d learned. A woman was dead, and the implications were far-reaching. What would happen to the inn? What was she going to tell her mother?
“Coop, are you all right?” Quinton met her at the door and walked her to the table where her friends sat.
“I’ll be fine. He wants to talk to Savannah next.”
Savannah reached for her white cane and stood proudly, with her head held high.
“The hallway to the right of the reception desk,” Cooper said. “The first door on the right.”
“Thank you, Cooper.”
Cooper picked up her coffee cup from the table and headed to the urns.
“Are you okay, Cooper?”
She looked up to see Jon peering down at her. Worry was etched around his normally smiling face.
“Yes. What about you?”
He shrugged. “I’m concerned about both Mindy and Alice.”
“Me too. This is a horrible turn of events.”
“Cooper. Cooper, come in here,” Bryant hissed from across the room.
“Excuse me.” Cooper wove her way around people and tables to where Bryant stood in the open entrance to the great room.
“Follow me and pretend everything is fine.”
“Fine? It’s anything but,” she murmured. Following behind the meteorologist, she walked into the empty room. As they approached the far wall, Bryant stepped out from in front of her. Cooper stared at the wall above the cherrywood side table. The wall was naked.
“It’s gone,” she murmured. “The Austin Deveraux painting is gone.”
“Uh-huh.”
“It was here last night,” she murmured.
“Yes, it was. Directly in my line of sight while we played Scrabble.”
“What are we going to do?” Cooper asked.
“Nothing,” Bryant said. “Not until we see Mindy. It’s her painting. We should talk to her first.”
“Where did she say the other one is hanging?” Cooper asked.
“It’s in the library,” Savannah said.
Cooper swung around. “You’re done already?”
Savannah had joined them in the great room, along with Jake. “I didn’t have anything to tell him. I heard raised voices and slammed doors. With my vision, I couldn’t identify anyone if they were standing next to me.”
“But you can sniff them out.”
“True, though I doubt that’s going to be helpful in this case.”
“You never know,” Jake said from right behind Savannah. “Lesser things have broken cases wide open.”
Cooper scanned the room, checking on her friends. “Who’s Detective Olson talking to now?”
“Quinton,” Savannah said. “He was sweating up a storm and nervous as can be.”
“Why? He didn’t do anything,” Cooper said.
“Oh, you know Quinton. The man is a tenderhearted teddy bear,” Savannah replied.
“Maybe we should go see if the other painting is still there,” Trish said.
“Where is the library?” Cooper asked.
“On the left side of the staircase, across from the great room,” Savannah said.
Trish linked her arm through Cooper’s. “I’m not letting you go alone,” she said. “There might be a murderer walking around this place.”
“Trish, the detective said it was a car accident.”
“What he said was that it was suspicious, and you and I both know that’s code for homicide.”
Cooper blinked as she realized that Trish was absolutely right. Something at Atwood Inn was not right. Could Loretta’s death have been murder?
• • •
It was hours later before the members of the Sunrise Bible Study were released from Atwood Inn and able to check out and head home. Enough time for everyone to be interviewed and for Trish and Cooper to verify the Deveraux painting in the library remained secure on the wall.
It was as Trish and Cooper left the library that they realized Detective Olson had followed them into the room. For a big guy, he was as stealthy as a ninja.
Cooper shivered, recalling the moment he caught them in the doorway.
“Ladies, I thought I was very clear about the procedure this morning. Your group will not involve yourself in this investigation.”
“Yes, sir. You were very clear. We just wanted to take a look at the painting in the library,” Trish said.
“May I ask why?”
“Because this is an original Austin Deveraux painting,” Cooper said. “And we just discovered that the other one like it that was hanging in the great room . . .” She cleared her throat. “It’s not there anymore.”
“When was the last time you saw it hanging in the great room?”
“Last night. Our group was playing Scrabble at the table near the fireplace, and Bryant Shelton faced the painting. It was there at least until eight.”
“And when you went up to your room, Ms. Lee?”
“I didn’t look, and the room was dark by then.”
Detective Olson stared at the painting. “Is Mindy Atwood aware?”
“I don’t know,” Cooper said.
He jotted a few more notes on his pad and looked up to assess first Cooper and then Trish. “Thank you, ladies. I’ll be in touch if I have any further questions. Until then, please refrain from wandering around the inn until all the statements have been taken.”
“Yes, sir,” Cooper said.
Trish grabbed her arm again as they left the library. “Do you think you might have stumbled into the middle of a burglary on Saturday night?”
Cooper didn’t know, and right now, she didn’t want to think about it. Her head ached, and her stomach reminded her that she never got breakfast.
• • •
She was never so happy to pull into the drive of her parents’ home at noon.
The first stop was her mother’s kitchen. She opened the back door and stood in the doorway and inhaled deeply. The kitchen smelled like coffee and chai scones, which only made her stomach grumble.
Her parents and Grammy were silent. Daddy wasn’t even reading the paper, and Mama stood at the stove, concern etched on her normally smiling face as she stared at a batch of cookies on the cooling rack. As usual, she wore one of her colorful, well-worn aprons. But unusual was the fact that she didn’t offer Cooper a cheery greeting.
“What’s going on?” Cooper asked.
“It’s been a three-ring circus around here, that’s what,” Grammy snapped. “’Cept without the popcorn and clowns.”
Confused, Cooper again looked around the room.
“That nice Detective Olson just left,” her mother said.
“Detective Olson took
your statement? That man doesn’t let any moss grow on him,” Cooper murmured.
Her mother wiped her hands on the apron and took a deep breath. “Cooper, I’m a suspect in a murder investigation.”
“Person of interest, Mama,” Cooper said. “That’s all, and there are eight persons of interest, plus the entire Bible study.”
“That is not comforting,” Maggie returned.
“I told you going to that inn was a bad idea,” Grammy said.
Cooper opened her mouth to respond to her grandmother and thought better of it. Instead, she put her arm around her mother. A moment later, the back door burst open, and Ashley rushed into the kitchen with Hannah in her arms.
“Cooper, you didn’t answer your phone. I called your friend Trish, and she said you were headed home.”
“Sorry, Ash,” Cooper said. “I’m sure my phone is in my luggage somewhere. I left the inn so fast I didn’t even check it.”
“The coppers think your mama did it,” Grammy announced.
“Mama, you are not helping,” Earl said.
“Did what?” Ashley asked. Her face searched Cooper’s for answers.
Cooper reached for Hannah, but Grammy edged her out of the way. “Not so fast, Granddaughter. I only have a few privileges at my advanced age,” she said with a laugh. “Holding the great-grandbabies is one of them.”
“Mama, are you going to answer me?” Ashley asked.
“Sorry, Ashley. I’m plum out of words. I’ve been answering questions for an hour.”
“The police were here?” Ashley’s voice became a squeak.
“Your mother is a suspect in the suspicious death of Loretta Atwood,” Earl said.
“I am as well,” Cooper said. “Everyone at the inn is, for that matter.”
“I think it’s safe to say that I am at the top of the list, Cooper,” her mother said. She grabbed a wooden spoon and beat the icing in the bowl with fury.
“Mama, Lincoln has an excellent attorney. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of things.”
“Oh, sugar. Thank you. I am praying it doesn’t come to that,” Maggie said.
“How did it . . . how did it happen?” Ashley asked. “I called the police station, but they wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“Then how did you find out about Mindy’s stepmother?” Cooper asked.
“I heard it on the news. All they reported was that it was a fatal car accident, and then I called Mindy. She said it was true but she couldn’t talk. Mindy said I best get right over to Mama’s house, but she couldn’t tell me why.”
“A car accident due to an allergic reaction. They found one of my scones in the car. The package was open and in Mrs. Atwood’s purse,” Maggie said. “That detective thinks Mrs. Atwood’s death was premeditated. He said the person responsible would face first-degree murder charges.” She shook her head and dropped the wooden spoon into the sink. “Who would do such a thing?”
“A very disturbed individual,” Cooper murmured. And she and the Sunrise Bible Study had, unfortunately, run into plenty of people who fit that description over the last few years.
“What was she allergic to?” Ashley asked.
“Nuts,” both Cooper and her mother said at the same time.
“Oh, Mama,” Ashley exclaimed, her shoulders slumping.
“But Mama didn’t put nuts in the treats for the inn,” Cooper said.
“The police are running some sort of report on the scone found in Loretta Atwood’s car right now,” Maggie said.
“Did they tell you that?” Cooper asked.
“Yes.”
“Mama, this is ridiculous,” Ashley said. “I watch those crime shows all the time. You do not have a motive.”
“Apparently I do and didn’t know it. Detective Olson said that Loretta wanted to eliminate Magnolia’s Marvels from the inn and go with some swanky shop. The same place where the Maymont Mansion gets the designer cookies they use for their special events.”
“There you have it,” Grammy said. “Motive.”
“Grammy!” Ashley, Cooper, and Maggie all chastised the Lee matriarch at the same time. At the outburst, little Hannah looked around, and her lower lip trembled before she began to cry. She reminded everyone that she had a healthy set of lungs, just like her own mama.
“Oh, now look what you women have done,” Earl said. “Give her here, Mama.” He took Hannah and held the toddler against his shoulder until her sobs became a soft hiccup. Earl headed for the back door. “Hannah and I are going outside to look for bunnies.”
“Cooper, you and your friends are going to have to get to the bottom of this,” Ashley said. “You know Angela’s reception is supposed to be at the inn. There are a lot of things at stake here.”
“The police are investigating, Ashley. I am not a law enforcement officer. I repair copy machines.”
“I don’t think you understand. The grand opening of the inn has been postponed until Mindy is cleared. After all, she was the one suspect with the most to gain. Atwood Inn. And as for our mama, well, imagine if it got out that she was a suspect too? As far-fetched as we know that is, this could get Magnolia’s Marvels blackballed across the city.” Ashley took a breath. “As for Angela, I don’t want to be the one to tell her we’re ruining her wedding day.”
Cooper ran a hand through her hair, trying to think. As much as she hated to admit it, Ashley was right. On all counts.
“We’re thinking about ourselves here,” Maggie said. “Cooper, Ashley, you two need to keep an eye on Mindy. That poor girl is all alone in the world. Go and check on her.”
“Oh, Mama, you’re right,” Ashley said. She wrapped her arms around her mother. “We were just thinking of ourselves.”
“Hmm, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” Grammy said. “You heard what Ashley said. Mindy is the one with the real motive. Maggie, do you want your daughters to hang out with a murderer?”
“Grammy Lee, you stop that. She’s no more a murderer than I am,” Maggie said.
“Besides, Detective Olson said the cause of death was suspicious. He has to prove murder. That’s his job,” Cooper said. She turned to her mother. “I still can’t believe he got over here and took your statement so fast.”
“Sounds to me like he wanted to talk to your mama before you could,” Grammy said.
“I need coffee,” Cooper declared.
“That’s a fresh pot,” Maggie said. She turned to her younger daughter. “Coffee, Ash?”
“No, I’m off caffeine.” Ashley plopped down into a chair. “And I can tell you that’s making me cranky as can be.”
“You’re off caffeine? Why?”
Cooper’s little sister’s eyes popped wide as she realized that she let the cat out of the bag. “It’s not good for the baby.”
“Baby? What baby?” Maggie asked.
Ashley smiled serenely and laid her hand on her abdomen.
Maggie’s mouth dropped open. “Are you saying you’re going to give me another grandbaby?”
Ashley grinned. “Yes, Mama.”
“Oh, bless the Lord!” Maggie screamed.
“What’s wrong?” Earl said as he came rushing through the back door with Hannah bouncing in his arms.
“Wrong? Why nothing, Earl.” A smile lit up her face. “We’re just going to be grandparents again. That’s all.”
“Woo hoo!” Earl said. He handed Hannah off to Cooper and gave Ashley a bear hug. “Congratulations, daughter.”
“Two grandbabies from your younger and your older can’t even get a date for Saturday night,” Grammy grumbled. “Something is mighty wrong with this picture.”
“Grammy, that is not true. Cooper could have a dozen beaus,” Ashley said. “She’s just selective.”
Cooper melted at her sister’s kind words and she kissed little Hannah on the nose. She briefly let her thoughts wander to Jon Eason, before she dismissed them. She didn’t want to think about the fact that Jon was a person of interest too, nor the fact that she told h
im to come over next Saturday. No, she had enough to think about without adding that to the mix today.
“I’ll bet Lincoln is just over the moon,” Earl said.
“He is. Especially since he’s sure this will be a little boy. Little Lincoln Love Junior,” she mused.
“It’s too soon to know, isn’t it?” Cooper asked.
“We’ll know at sixteen weeks. Right now, I’m only eight weeks along.”
“Will you be a high-risk pregnancy again?” Maggie asked. Concern had her frowning as she peered at her daughter.
“Yes, but it will be better this time. I know what to expect, and that cloud of fear of the unknown is gone. I just need to do the usual. Relax, eat right. Let go and let God.” Her smile was beatific and serene as she placed a hand on her abdomen.
Cooper couldn’t help but admire her little sister. She’d really grown into being a mother. In a very good way.
“Well, now. This news truly trumps everything else that’s happened today,” Maggie said. “The good Lord knew I needed something to cast away the shadow on today.”
“A baby,” Earl murmured with a silly grin on his face. “Another grand. I’ll be.”
“Now, no more talk about negative stuff,” Ashley said. “It’s not good for your grandbaby.”
“That’s right,” Grammy said. “Don’t want little Baby Lee Love to grow up to be a criminal or anything, do we?”
“Grammy!” Ashely said.
“I’m just saying.” Grammy Lee shrugged. “Now, will someone please tell me what’s for Sunday supper?”
Cooper laughed as the chatter continued around her. She poured a cup of coffee and reached for a scone. Biting in, she savored the flavor that only Magnolia Lee could bake.
Oh, it was so good to be back home where she belonged. Tomorrow she’d worry about getting Mama off Detective Olson’s radar. For now, she’d just give thanks for all the good Lord had blessed her with and pray for a solution to their problems.
Chapter Six
Monday morning, Cooper closed the door to her apartment and walked down the flagstone path to her car, parked in the drive. She yawned, longing for a decent night’s sleep. Last night she’d tossed and turned thinking about the inn, only to finally fall asleep around three a.m., and then to wake up and discover she was out of coffee.
