Valleys, Vehicles & Victims: A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series

by Tonya Kappes

  It wasn’t like Hank didn’t already know that, since I’d told him, but now that Tom was dead, I guess it was more important now. Hank didn’t give me the name of the lawyer that Gert said she’d use, but Gert would tell me.

  “You already interviewed Amy Hill?” I asked and wondered when she did that.

  “She immediately came down to the station. She had knowledge of how Gert had been trying to find Mr. Moon for years. He even talked to her about it a couple of years ago.” His words made me stop walking as we rounded the lake.

  “Gert told me she’d dropped it years ago and hasn’t talked to him in forever.” I vividly recalled my conversation with her.

  “Amy Hill has every single call and meeting Tom Moon ever had. She’s going to collect all of his cell records to prove it.” Hank had me there. “The District Attorney said I don’t have enough to arrest her to make anything stick. Plus, her fingerprints weren’t found anywhere near the crime scene or on the murder weapon,” he said. “This gives us some time to find another suspect.”

  I was about to give him my theories, but his cell rang.

  “Hey, Mae.” I knew he would have to go because that was how he always used my name to start that type of conversation, no matter whether it was in person or on the phone. “I’ve got to go, but do you still want to go to dinner with Jerry and Emmalyn?”

  “Sure. I’ll meet you there, or are you picking me up?” I asked.

  “Why don’t you just meet me there in case I don’t have time to come back to pick you up?”

  I walked him back to his car hand in hand. Though the murder was on both of our minds, something else was also on mine.

  Was this how a life with Hank would be? One minute he’d be home, and the next minute he’d get a call and go off. I wasn’t sure if I was cut out for this type of lifestyle with a detective.

  “I’ll see you soon.” He ran his hand up my neck and popped my chin in the air to kiss my lips.

  A faint smile crossed my lips as I waved him off, wondering how many times I’d be doing this exact same thing at this time of the night.

  After the fires were put out and the wedding party had concluded that they were staying another night, I took the dogs and retreated back to my camper. It’d been a long day, and though it was dark, the night was still young, and I needed to get ready to go meet Hank and the Trumans at the Red Barn for supper.

  A few things had stayed on my mind that we didn’t talk about. One of those things was where Amy had those logs about Tom’s calendar. Did she keep everything with her? How much did Shay know about her dad’s real dealings? And was Misty as stupid as I had been about not really knowing her husband’s business? Not to mention this lawyer Gert had gotten to look into the recipe-stealing matter. What kind of lawyer would forget such a big accusation?

  The only way to get the answer about Gert and the lawyer was to go straight to Gert. Hank did say he couldn’t keep her.

  Just to make sure I was clear he was letting her go, I called Agnes Swift. She’d know.

  I called the station’s non-emergency line and couldn’t get through, so I called her cell phone. “Let me tell you, the station phone has been ringing off its rocker,” Agnes Swift told me.

  “Are you still at the station?” I’d figured since she answered her cell, she was off.

  “Late hours this week, even for an old lady like me.” She snickered. “National news has picked up the news of Tom Moon. Someone let it out, and now the department has the FBI breathing down Jerry’s neck, not to mention Hank’s.”

  “Hank didn’t say anything about it.” I couldn’t help but think Hank didn’t want me to know how stressed out he really was. “He did say that he couldn’t hold Gert Hobson. Has she been released yet?”

  “She’s getting ready to sign her name now, and Ava Cox is taking her back to the coffee shop,” Agnes observed.

  “Did you get anything from Amy Hill, Tom Moon’s secretary?” I knew Agnes was really good at reading people like I was, and since she was at the station when Amy was there, I figured she’d noticed something.

  “I told Hank that you don’t have to eat the whole egg to know it’s rotten, and honey, this whole situation is rotten.” Agnes made me smile from the other end of the phone. “I told him that secretary knew more than she told him. Getting the calendar, my patootie. She’s buying time. That’s what she’s doing.”

  “Really?” It wasn’t really a question but more of an a-ha moment that told me Amy was hiding something. “I can’t help but think someone so close to the victim didn’t know all of his comings and goings, not to mention his routine.”

  I quickly remembered Amy wasn’t with the group at the spa. Dottie said there’d been a fight between Tom and Amy about not keeping an eye on Shay. Did she go with Tom to the motel? How did Tom get to the motel?

  All sorts of questions fluttered in my head. So many uncertain things needed to be answered, and only Amy could do that, so I put her on the list of people to see after I talked to Gert.

  “What are you thinkin’?” Agnes asked. “I can hear your cogs turning through the phone.”

  “I’m thinking I need to go see Gert and ask her about that lawyer. And I want to talk to Amy to see why she didn’t disclose more information or times, since she was Tom’s right hand.” These were just simple observations that tickled my curiosity.

  “Honey…” There was a warning in Agnes’s word, and then she continued, “You and I better give our hearts to Jesus, ’cause after I give you this lawyer’s name and Hank finds out, our butts are gonna be his.”

  “I’ll deal with Hank.” I wasn’t scared of Hank Sharp. The only thing I was scared of was that if the FBI or anyone else on the force knew I was looking into this, they’d fire Agnes for giving me the information.

  “Bree Palmer.” Agnes rattled off the lawyer’s name and number while I quickly grabbed my phone and texted Violet Rhinehammer.

  Me: I know you’re really focused on Tom Moon’s murder, but I think we need to look into a lawyer named Bree Palmer. She had looked into the stolen recipe for Gert Hobson years ago. When the police found her and asked her about it, she claimed she didn’t remember Gert or the incident. Don’t you find it odd?

  Violet: Very. On it!

  No doubt in my mind that Violet Rhinehammer would get her nose to the ground and sniff out exactly why Bree Palmer had suddenly lost her memory of one the biggest cases she could’ve ever had.

  That made me think someone or something erased the entire case from Bree’s mind. And Violet Rhinehammer had the contacts and resources to figure things out that I couldn’t. It was good to know people in high places.

  ELEVEN

  While I was waiting to leave to meet Hank and the Trumans, I went ahead and started to write down everything I knew about the murder in my notebook. Tom Moon owned Moonbucks. He was accused of stealing the original recipe from Gertrude Hobson, who used a lawyer named Bree Palmer. I made a note to head to the library tomorrow to see what information I could get about Bree. Gert had the perfect motive to have killed Tom. Old feelings resurfaced when she saw him. Her knife was used as the weapon, which brought me to where Tom was found.

  He was in the Old Train Motel in Lewis Malone’s room. I also wrote Lewis’s and Gert’s names down as suspects. Even though I truly didn’t believe Gert could’ve killed Tom, she still had the best motive in my opinion.

  Back to Lewis. I didn’t recall Lewis ever going into Trails Coffee when I was there, but it didn’t matter.

  “Mae? You home?” Betts Hager knocked on the camper door.

  Fifi barked, signaling Chester to join her in a howling rendition. They both howled in harmony.

  I got up from the table, leaving my thoughts and ideas lingering, and then opened the door.

  “Where are you going?” Betts looked me up and down.

  “I’m going to meet Hank and the Trumans at the Red Barn for supper. What’s up?” I opened the door farther to invite her in. />
  “I found this on the church bus after I took it back to the church and thought someone was missing it.” She held out what I instantly recognized as Amy Hill’s calendar.

  I grabbed it out of her hands.

  “Oh my gosh.” My jaw dropped. “Amy Hill wasn’t with us.” My mind darted between events. I gasped, “I remember Amy smacked it into Shay Moon’s hands before Shay ordered her to go back and get the money.”

  “You seem awfully excited about this calendar.” Betts’s brows furrowed.

  “Sit.” I looked around for my phone. “Call the gals. We have to have a meeting at the Laundry Club. See if Dottie can bring me home.”

  “Oh-kay.” Betts was always the voice of reason in our little group. She walked over to the table and looked at the notebook. “You’re trying to figure out who killed Tom Moon, aren’t you?”

  “Well, when Gert was accused, it just kinda happened.” I bit my bottom lip and felt her words ring so true that I almost felt guilty. “And I know she didn’t do it. Now that we have this.” I smacked the calendar on the table. “We just might have proof.”

  “I think you need to give it back to Amy.” Again, Betts gave the voice of reason, which just didn’t agree with me.

  “I’m thinking nah.” I shook my head and finally found my phone. “I’m texting Hank to tell him that I can’t make it to supper.” I read out loud what I was texting, “I forgot I have a Laundry Club book club meeting.”

  “So now you’re lying to him?” Betts made me feel even guiltier.

  “Fine.” I pushed the delete key and stopped at the word “Club.” “Meeting.” I retyped that word.

  “Honestly.” Betts gave me a flat look.

  “We are having a meeting.” I gestured for her to continue. “Text them.”

  She let out a long sigh and paused. Was she trying to see if I was going to forget it and change my mind? Not on her life.

  “Hank told me that Amy had every single meeting and every single appointment Tom Moon had. Someone wanted him dead and used Gert’s perfect motive to do it and get away with it.” I gathered all my things and grabbed my keys. “You comin’?” I asked and stood at the door. The dogs were fine for the next few hours. I’d already let them out and fed them before she got there.

  “It looks like everyone is good. Dottie will be there after she closes your office and will take you home.”

  “Perfect.” I felt like we were on to something. “I need to call Gert.”

  “I thought she was being detained.” Betts had already started up the car, and we were halfway down to the entrance of the campground.

  “She lawyered up, and they can’t hold her. The District Attorney doesn’t feel Hank has enough to charge her, so they let her go for the time being.” The first thing I would do when we parked was head over to the Trails Coffee and see if Gert was there. “Agnes said Ava Cox drove Gert back to the coffee shop. We need her for this.”

  I held up the notebook and the calendar.

  “I’m going to use the laundromat’s computer if you don’t mind.” I wanted to get a jump on Bree Palmer. “Did you hear back from Abby?” I asked.

  “Yep. Everyone but Queenie is coming because she’s teaching Jazzercise tonight,” Betts confirmed.

  The twinkling lights on the downtown median’s trees were little dots coming into view. The thought of looking in the calendar was exciting, and I should’ve probably given it back to Amy, but a little snooping wouldn’t hurt. Besides, I made myself believe the members of the wedding party were tuckered out and probably trying to get some rest.

  When we drove down the one-way street in front of the coffee shop, I could see a light was still on in the back. I quickly sent Gert a text message to see if she’d be willing to come to the laundromat to talk with us about the case and find out if we could help.

  The three little dots on the screen of my phone showed me she was reading the text but the ellipsis went away.

  “I just texted Gert. No response.” I looked at my phone again to see if maybe there was a delay. Nothing. “I know she read it because those dancing dots appeared.”

  “The dreaded dots. Whoever invented that needs to be shot,” Betts joked but quickly added, “Bad timing. Sorry.”

  “Oh, I don’t care. There’s just no privacy anymore, and so what, she read it. Why should those little dots make me think she won’t respond?” I shrugged it off and secretly wondered why Gert read my text and didn’t respond.

  Betts pulled up in front of the laundromat. Through the window I could see Abby Fawn with her head stuck in her phone as she sat on one of the couple of couches. No doubt she was engaging with some sort of social media, at which she was a whiz.

  Abby was the local librarian. She was young and super sweet. Her brown hair was normally pulled up in a ponytail, but tonight it was down.

  “Hey!” She looked up from her phone. “I’m so excited we are back to our meetings. I’ve missed them. I know with the summer we had, we all just took a little break.”

  A group of us had decided to go camping in one of those primitive campgrounds. The experience was definitely not our cup of tea, especially since a couple of people also staying in the campground had died… by murder.

  “Why do you think we are here?” I asked and nodded to Betts when she held up the coffee carafe to see if I wanted a cup.

  “Oh no.” Her eyes fixed upon the notebook. “Not again.” She backed up farther on the couch as if she were trying to get away. “The coffee guy?”

  “The coffee guy stole my recipe.” Gert Hobson stood at the door of the Laundry Club. “He got what he deserved.”

  Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure she was innocent.

  TWELVE

  “Gert.” Even though her ugly words about Tom’s death stopped me in my tracks, I was still glad to see her. “Come on in.” I waved her over.

  Betts had made a fresh pot of coffee, of course using Gert’s ground coffee in her laundromat. She brought the pot over with five cups and all the fixings to doctor the coffee up any way you pleased.

  Me, I liked mine black tonight. I needed it to be strong so I could help figure out the next step in this murder. By the time we all got situated, Dottie had shown up.

  “Gert, you know I sorta stick my nose in things where they don’t belong.” I was going to tell her a bit about the little sleuthing group that I had formed with the ladies of the Laundry Club, but apparently, Ava Cox had told her already.

  “Ava told me to see you. She’s unable to represent me due to a conflict of interest, but she helped me get out of jail free of charge. She told me that you find out things that no one can.” She had a wobbly smile on her lips. “I want you to help me.”

  “Conflict of interest?” I asked, totally unsure of how this could be right.

  “She gave me a couple of names to call for representation, but it’s too late to call them tonight.” Gert really looked defeated. There were dark circles under and deep lines around her eyes, and the corners of her lips dipped.

  I’d definitely call Ava when I had a moment.

  “Then we will need to get some information from you.” I welcomed Abby’s sudden shift. She had all the computer knowledge and techy things we needed. Without her, it’d take twice as long to figure things out. “But first, let’s list our suspects.”

  On top of the piece of paper, Abby wrote Suspect. She drew a line down the middle and wrote Motive on the other side of the line.

  “Gert.” I pointed to Gert, and she frowned. “I’m sorry, but this is our process.” I knew it hurt her feelings for me to put her on there, but the Laundry Club ladies had really gotten good at this detective thing by using this process. “Obviously, Gert’s motive is her claim he stole her coffee recipe.”

  Gert started to speak up, but when I looked at her, she clamped her lips shut.

  “I think we need to put Lewis Malone on the list, and under motive, put how he will more than likely be the owner of Moonbucks now that he
and Shay will be getting married. According to Amy Hill, Shay is supposed to take over for her father. From what Shay told me, she doesn’t want anything to do with it, and that’s why she gave Lewis the shares she already has.”

  “There’s not a whole lot to tell.” Gert took one of the mugs Betts had filled.

  I watched as she lifted the mug to her nose and inhaled the perfect cup of coffee brewed from her own batch of beans.

  “Let us be the judge of that.” Betts sat down and took the notebook from me. She handed it to Abby, who by chance had become our note taker. “First, tell us about your history with Tom Moon.”

  I sat down next to Gert on the couch, and while she answered Abby’s questions, I thumbed through Amy Hill’s calendar. It was just a pretty basic calendar with the month following the week layout. She had a chart listed with various letters and a key at the front of the planner. The letter A was for appointments, the letter M was for meetings, and the letter P was for personal. The appointments appeared to be for Tom while the personal matters seemed to be for Amy.

  “We worked together during college at a small bakery. Rose’s Bakery.” As Gert talked, Abby took notes, and I made side notes on my phone. “Rose had an industrial pot that she used to make basic coffee. I started to add different spices and ingredients to it. One day, I’d asked a customer if they wanted to try it. Day after day, the request for that particular blend started to come in, and that’s when Tom took notice. My recipe card that I left by the register was gone, and Tom never came back.” She shook her head. “A year later, Moonbucks started to pop up all over the place. That’s when I noticed Tom Moon not only took my idea of the coffee shop but took my recipe with him.”