Cozy Suburbs Mystery Box Set

by Lisa B. Thomas

  Hurley barked and ran up to check on Deena. As she bent down and scratched his head, she asked Sylvia, “What exactly happened? Is Hurley all right?”

  Sylvia patted her chest as if to stave off a case of the vapors. She described the morning’s events with dramatic flair. She closed the story by saying, “Luckily, I saved your dog’s life before he could eat any more poison. I thought you’d be grateful.”

  “I am, I guess.” She looked from Hurley to Sylvia. “Why do you think it was poison though? I’ve seen Edwin give Hurley treats before. Are you sure that wasn’t what he was doing?”

  A bright red blush covered Sylvia’s cheeks. “I can’t imagine the kind of man that would stare into someone’s yard day and night would offer a dog treats. You can just go on believing that if you want to. It’s a good thing I was here, that’s all I can say.” She picked up the remote and turned the volume up on the TV.

  Deena looked over to see a courtroom reality show with a man and woman screaming at each other. Oh brother. That’s probably where she got this silly idea. It wouldn’t serve any purpose to call her out on it. Deena let it slide. “I’ll make us sandwiches,” she said, not sure if she was heard over the television.

  She poured out a cup of hot tea, picturing Sylvia in the backyard attacking Edwin with the water hose. It was a funny sight indeed. She couldn’t wait to tell Gary the story when he got home from work. Even though he was an accountant who worked as a financial adviser, Gary had a good sense of humor and would get a kick out of his mother’s escapades.

  Or not. Deena thought about leaving Sylvia alone for a few more hours. Would Gary be annoyed? Would he blame her for Sylvia’s brush with the law? He would surely understand that she had a job to do. A job she was being paid to do. Either way, she was anxious to talk to Wendy and would have to chance ticking off her husband, this time.

  After all, the officers had mentioned their other cases. They were probably working on the Brewster case with Detective Guttman.

  Guttman. He was someone else Deena wanted to talk to. She would pay him a visit after seeing Wendy. Deena couldn’t let this petty incident between Sylvia and Edwin get in her way. They were small fish in a small town pond. She had bigger fish to fry. There was a murderer on the loose, and she had just the right bait to catch her.

  Chapter 7

  The area where Wendy stored the inventory for her business was south of town and generally considered to be a little sketchy. Deena pulled up to the warehouse a few minutes early.

  A commercial truck plastered on the side with the name of Wendy’s business and a red Tahoe were parked in front of the metal building. Good thing Wendy was already there. Who knew what dangers could be hiding around the corner in this part of town.

  Deena hurried to the warehouse door and rang the buzzer. Her hands were cold, and she jammed them in the pockets of her jacket as she waited.

  “Come in,” Wendy said as she pulled back the heavy door.

  Deena felt like Alice in Wonderland. Everywhere she looked were piles of chairs and tables and props and decorations. One area had cardboard palm trees and tiki torches. Another had a life-sized Santa Claus and a sleigh. She never realized how much stuff it took to run a party planning business. “Wow! This place is amazing. I feel like a kid in a candy store.”

  “It’s not so amazing when you have to try to get something out of here. Trust me.” Wendy went over to a small desk covered with papers and a laptop computer. “Thanks for coming. I’m buried to my eyeballs in taking inventory and didn’t want to have to drive into town.”

  “No problem,” Deena said, setting her satchel in one of the folding chairs by the desk. She needed to stretch this visit out so she could get Wendy talking. “Are those the trees you used at Carolyn Fitzhugh’s Christmas party?” She pointed to a grove of fake pines.

  Wendy’s blond hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. Her bright blue eyes seemed to have lost some of their sparkle. As a former homecoming queen and Miss Teen pageant winner, she had always been one of the most beautiful girls in Maycroft. Deena was surprised she had stayed single so long. Apparently, it had taken her until she was thirty-something to find her millionaire Mr. Right.

  “Yes. I spent a fortune on those. Luckily, I was able to use them again at the Christmas in the Park event last year.” Wendy picked up a pen. “Do you have the papers for me to sign?”

  Deena took off her jacket and sat down in the chair. “How many parties do you typically do in a year?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Between weddings and kids’ parties, I’d say thirty to forty.”

  “Are you planning to move your business to Dallas after you get married?”

  Wendy must have gotten the message that this wasn’t going to be a quick visit. She let out a sigh and sat down, crossing her arms. “No. David doesn’t want me to work. That’s fine with me. I’ve gotten a little burned out lately anyway.”

  “I guess it’s tough trying to work for other people while planning your own wedding.”

  “Actually, David is doing most of the work for our wedding. We’re getting married in Dallas, and he hired this super pretentious woman to coordinate the whole thing. I’m surprised she let me choose my own wedding gown.” Wendy uncrossed her arms and clasped her hands together on the desk in front of her. It was a sure sign she was starting to open up.

  “I can’t even imagine how this awful business with Ray Brewster has added to your stress. First, he harasses you, then he shows up dead at one of your events.” Deena put her hand on Wendy’s shoulder. “How are you holding up?”

  Wendy seemed to stiffen a bit. “I’m all right. Do you have those papers? I really need to get back to work.”

  “You know,” Deena said, “Ian wanted me to make sure any loose ends were tied up on this problem you were having with Ray. Since his cause of death was questionable, he didn’t want you to end up having any...entanglements.”

  “What do you mean? I don’t know anything about his death. You’re the one who found him.”

  “Oh dear. I’m sorry if you think I implied anything like that. It’s just that you were there, and you were having issues with him. The police might look for people who had a grudge against him if it turns out he died from foul play. Can you explain how exactly Ray was ‘harassing you’?” Deena made air quotes with her fingers to emphasize her question.

  Wendy clenched her jaw and her neck turned red. “I told Ian all about it. There’s nothing else to say.” She dropped her eyes and began making stacks out of the papers on the desk.

  It wasn’t hard to tell she was keeping something back. “But what exactly was he doing? Was he making obscene phone calls? Was he showing up when you were working?”

  “What does it matter now? He’s dead.”

  Deena’s eyes widened as she stared at the young woman.

  Wendy must have realized how bad that sounded because her eyes began to moisten with tears.

  Deena waited.

  At last, Wendy stopped her nervous stacking and slumped down in her chair. “You see, he was trying to cause trouble...trouble between David and me.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  “He said he was going to break us up. Look, I really don’t want to talk about this right now. Can I just sign the papers, please?”

  Deena’s stomach lurched when she saw the pleading look on Wendy’s face. She wouldn’t be able to crack this nut today. She pulled out the document and laid it on the desk.

  Wendy signed it and stood up. She squared her shoulders and walked toward the door to show Deena out. “Thanks again for coming by.”

  Deena headed for the door. Just as she stepped outside, Wendy touched her arm.

  “I didn’t do anything to Ray. You believe me, don’t you?”

  Deena smiled and nodded. As she got in her car, she looked back at the warehouse. Who would have known all that cool stuff was in that plain building. Just goes to prove that you can’t judge a book by its cover. That goes for
people, too.

  Chapter 8

  In order to build a case against Wendy, Deena needed to know more about what occurred at the time of Ray’s death. She decided to return to the scene of the crime. She pulled up in front of the church and had a déjà vu moment. When she had done this on Saturday, she was carrying a cake for a friendly event. Today, she was on a mission.

  Darlene Watson sat behind her desk in the church office filing her fingernails. The phone was propped between her ear and her shoulder, making her look like a 1960s receptionist instead of a forty-something church secretary. Only thing missing was the gum-smacking. At first, she didn’t seem to notice Deena.

  “...I don’t know what they were looking for, but they made me leave while they went through the whole building. Is that usual when someone dies? I don’t think—” She looked up to see Deena. “I’ve got to go.” Darlene hung up the phone and dropped the nail file in her pencil holder. “Deena, I didn’t see you there. How can I help you?”

  “Sounds like you’ve had a busy morning with the police here. Not that I was eavesdropping.”

  “Oh, that’s fine,” Darlene said. “And you’re right. They were here. They asked a ton of questions and spent a bunch of time out in the portable building where you found Ray.”

  “Huh. I wonder why?” Deena knew why, but she surely wasn’t going to tell one of the fastest mouths in Maycroft.

  “It seems suspicious to me. You don’t think they suspect he was murdered, do you? Why, that would be just awful.”

  Although her words expressed dismay, there was an unmistakable glint in her eyes. Could the church secretary know more than she was letting on? Maybe she wasn’t sorry to see Ray gone. After all, Penelope said Darlene used to fight with him all the time and tried to get Reverend Abbott to fire him. Deena would file that thought away. For now, she needed to keep her eye on the prize, and the prize was getting into that building. If the police had designated it a crime scene, she’d be out of luck.

  “Speaking of the portable building, I wanted to see if I could get in there myself.” Before Darlene could protest, she added, “It seems I lost an earring—a diamond stud Gary gave me for our anniversary. When I got home on Saturday night, it was gone.” She reached up and rubbed her shoulder. “I took quite a spill, you know, when I tripped over...” Sylvia wasn’t the only one who knew how to play the sympathy card.

  It worked.

  “Oh, I’m sure it will be all right. Let me just get the spare key.” Darlene opened her top desk drawer and picked up a box of syringes.

  Deena’s heart skipped a beat. “What are those?”

  “Shots. For peanut allergies. We keep them on hand in case one of the parishioners or kids has an attack.” She pulled out the spare key and closed the drawer. “Follow me.”

  A picture of what she’d just seen was burned in Deena’s mind. An open package of syringes with one obviously missing. She walked a step behind Darlene, trying to process this new information.

  The wind had picked up and slapped Deena with cold air as they crossed the parking lot to the portable building. “Who else has keys to this building?”

  Darlene chuckled. “You sound just like those cops. I bet it’s because you used to be a reporter, right?”

  “Right,” Deena said. “I guess you have keys to all the doors.”

  “Yep. Me, Reverend Abbott, and Ray. Now that you mention it, the police haven’t returned Ray’s keys.” She opened the door and switched on the lights.

  The room was just as Deena had left it, minus the curtains that had been used to create the pathways for the haunted house. There were still bits of cake on the floor next to the piles of hay. Across the room by the back entrance was a table where Charlie and Stephanie had been filling treat bags for the kids.

  “So where do you think we should look first?” Darlene asked.

  “What?” Deena’s eyes darted around the room, looking for anything unusual.

  “Where should we look for your earring?”

  “Oh, right. This is where I fell.” She motioned toward the hay bales.

  Darlene got down on her hands and knees. She didn’t seem the least bit concerned that she was crawling around on the area where Ray’s body was found.

  “Watch out for that icing,” Deena said. “Actually, you should get up. I can do this.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t mind helping.”

  “I’m sure.” Deena bent over and walked around the whole room while Darlene stood by the door texting on her cell phone.

  Deena didn’t find anything unusual. She looked at the back door. “Darlene, did you know this door was unlocked?”

  “Oh, dearie doodles! I bet we forgot to lock it on Saturday after the ambulance took the body away.” She walked over and turned the deadbolt.

  “Has anyone been in here besides the police?” Deena asked.

  “Why? Are you thinking someone found your earring and stole it?”

  “Um—well...maybe,” Deena muttered.

  “I doubt she would have done that, although she was in here yesterday hauling off the curtains.”

  “Who was in here?”

  “Wendy Fairmont.”

  Chapter 9

  Deena was itching to know if the police had any suspicions about Wendy. She pulled out of the church parking lot and headed to the police station. Maybe Detective Guttman would agree to talk to her. She’d have to be careful not to reveal any confidential information.

  Her cell phone rang. It was Ian and he sounded like a nervous bumblebee. He told her to go to meet Sandra at the Maycroft Animal Shelter and that Sandra would explain everything when she got there. Normally, Sandra would be working, but it was Monday and the thrift shop she owned was closed on Mondays.

  Deena wondered if this had anything to do with the baby. Surely, he would have told her if Sandra was having problems.

  Last spring, Sandra and Ian found out that they were finally having a baby. As their best friends, they had asked Deena and Gary to be the baby’s godparents. Deena had also agreed to take over running the thrift store for a few months after the baby came. Sandra’s due date was less than a month away, and Deena was getting more excited by the day to hold that new little baby in her arms.

  Sandra was standing outside in front of the shelter when Deena pulled up. She came up to the window. “Hey there. Did Ian tell you what was going on?”

  “No,” Deena said. “He said you would explain. Is it about the baby?”

  Sandra glanced behind her and lowered her voice. “No. Detective Guttman called the shelter and said we needed to send a couple of trucks out to Ray Brewster’s place. They went out there to check on his house and found numerous dogs and cats running around. Since I volunteer here, the shelter called me to help.”

  “And you called your hubby.”

  “Right. He’s told me about his suspicions about Wendy and Ray, and I thought this might give you a chance to check out Ray’s place for yourself.”

  “Good girl! Even waddling around at eight months pregnant, you’re still the best sidekick an investigator could ask for.” Deena got out of her car and followed Sandra to one of the shelter’s vans.

  “Get in the back seat,” Sandra said. “I’ll get Alan. He’s going to be driving us. Don’t say anything about this in front of him, of course.”

  Deena did as instructed. Good thing she wore her jeans and sneakers today. If indeed she had to handle strays, it might get messy. She hoped she wouldn’t have to spend too much time around any cats since she was terribly allergic. She felt like sneezing just thinking about it.

  RAY’S HOUSE WAS IN the country on the outskirts of town. The little wooden structure was about as shabby as she could have imagined except for the satellite dish connected to the sagging roof.

  Several police cars and another van from the shelter were already there when they arrived. She noticed Detective Guttman on the front porch. Perfect. Maybe she could kill two birds with one stone.

 
; She walked up to the detective, who uncharacteristically smiled at her. Maybe since he had only been in Maycroft a short while, he didn’t have many friends. Of course, Deena had been more of a thorn in his side than a friend on the last case.

  “Mrs. Sharpe,” he said. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

  Deena stuck out her hand, and he shook it hesitantly.

  “Sorry,” he said. “Still trying to get used to your friendly ways down here in the Lone Star State.”

  “That’s okay. It’s nice to see you smiling for a change.”

  Guttman immediately scowled. “Oh. Didn’t realize I was.”

  Deena laughed. “I’m here to help round up these poor animals. How many do you suppose there are?”

  “Ten, twenty—hard to say. Looks like most of them were well cared for, at least.”

  Deena needed more info. “Poor Ray. Maybe he should have taken as good of care of himself as he did his animals. Maybe he’d still be alive.” She watched Guttman’s face, but there was no reaction. “Unless he died from some other means,” she added.

  The detective raised a bushy eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, just that rumor has it there were some people who’d just as soon see Ray in the ground instead of standing up on top of it.”

  “Rumors,” he scoffed. “You know better than to listen to gossip.”

  “Do I?” She gave him a sideways look.

  Guttman didn’t take the bait. He stepped down from the porch and followed one of the officers who was trying to untie a pit bull from the fence.

  Deena took the opportunity to go inside the house. She opened the screen door just as something furry flashed by. Luckily, it was a cat and not a police officer. The front room seemed to be the main living area. There was a desk with bills, magazines, and newspapers piled on top. A cardboard box sat on the floor holding what was apparently Ray’s computer. It looked like the police were preparing to confiscate it.