Roxy Reinhardt Mysteries Box Set

by Alison Golden

  “No,” said Sam. “But if I know Nat, she’ll be at one of the cookout grills.”

  “That’s true,” said Roxy. Nat loved her grilled chicken, but Roxy was starting to get worried. Where were the others?

  The crowd had really grown now. It was getting more and more difficult to pick anyone out of it. Roxy made her way up onto the podium, and peered around, looking for Nat. Thank goodness she loved to wear black, at least. For once she would stand out among this sea of color!

  Finally, Roxy did see her and the rest of the group. And, sure enough, they were standing by a barbecue. It was on the other side of the crowd. “We’ve got all the food in the world here!” Roxy said to Nat when she sauntered over. “Yet you run off to the first man with a pair of tongs!”

  “I worked in that kitchen this morning until I was sweating like a crawfish,” said Nat. “Heck, probably smelling like a crawfish. I needed something different for my palate.” She ripped some meat off the chicken leg she held. She looked around at the party, the colors of the crowd, the music, the food, and the way people were dancing. It was starting to look like a music festival. She saw Sage and Elijah dancing, Sage’s slow and lazy moves contrasting with Elijah’s peppier, upbeat ones that picked up the staccato off-beats of the reggae rhythm. “This is pretty amazing.”

  “Are you ready for your speech?” Sam called over.

  “My what?” Roxy asked.

  “Your speech, aren’t you saying something? Kathy said she was going to ask you.”

  “Yeah, she did.” The truth was that Roxy had forgotten all about making a speech. Now that things were really rocking, though, she was starting to feel edgy.

  Kathy didn’t look too great, either. She had on her trademark smile and a full face of makeup, but her skin underneath was pale, and her blush stood out too brightly on her cheeks. Her blue eye shadow looked wrong too, like she had made herself up as a clown. Her hands shook.

  As the influencers helped themselves to food, Roxy sidled up to Dash’s mom. She linked her hand in hers. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.” Kathy looked like she was about to vomit.

  Before long, Father John stood up on the podium and addressed the crowd. “Hello, New Orleans!” he boomed.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  “GREETINGS TO YOU all,” Father John said into the microphone, more quietly this time. “We are gathered here to celebrate the life of Dashiell Davies in the vivid style that he was known for. His associate, Michael O’Sullivan, has put together a video montage of Dash’s life. Please enjoy this tribute.”

  The priest stepped aside, and the whole crowd stopped and quieted to watch the huge screen. Roxy turned and craned her neck to see.

  What followed was a beautiful montage of pictures and videos: of Dash on top of a mountain, of Dash skydiving, of Dash fooling around at some Hawaiian resort doing the hula on the beach under the twinkling stars, of Dash hanging out of a train in India, of Dash waving underwater while scuba diving. Man, this guy had done so much.

  And how he laughed as he did it all! How he smiled! He had so much light in him, and it beamed across the crowd. People began to cry, and Roxy found a tear slipping down her own cheek.

  Then Michael’s voice thundered out from the speakers, a recording over the video.

  “Dash, you were a hero—my hero—one of the world’s brave people, one who refused to compromise, one who refused to play the game, and one who refused to stop dreaming. You lived life to the full in every moment, in every sense. You never said no. You always said yes. You never said, ‘It’s not possible.’ You always said, ‘How can we make this happen?’ My life is forever changed because of you, and so too are the lives of millions of others. I know you wanted the world to relax because you told me that so many times.

  “You know what, buddy? I regret a lot of things. I regret the way I spoke to you sometimes. I regret that I ever told you to be serious, or to be realistic, or to take your time. Especially that last one, because there was no time to waste. And you knew it. You just went at life, full speed. You DASHED! Your name suited you down to the ground.

  “You wanted to build schools, dig wells, build solar power and clean water systems, give people jobs, the tools to support themselves and their families. When we had money, you gave it all away.” Over the sound of the tribute, a yell rose from the middle of the crowd. The crowd shushed and Michael’s voice carried on speaking without interruption. “I swear, buddy, you didn’t get the chance to do everything you dreamed of, but I’ll do it, and I’ll do it for you. I’ve been close to the edge, but I have a reason to live now—your memory, your mission, and your spirit live on in me. I’ll do it, buddy. And I know you’ll be watching me do it from the other side.”

  Now people were crying in earnest. Even though it was daylight, they had turned on their phone’s flashlights and were waving them above their heads. Father John called Kathy up to the stage.

  She’d rubbed her eyes so much that she had black rings around them where her eye makeup had smudged. All her vitality and her brave, cheerful smile had gone. She was a broken woman.

  She went up to the mic and began to speak. Her voice was choked with tears. “I was going to come up here and say so many good things about Dashiell. But I can’t.” She dropped her chin onto her chest, and it stayed there.

  Roxy could feel the hearts of the people in the crowd going out to her.

  “I’m so sorry,” Kathy said suddenly. “I killed him.”

  What? Roxy’s heart started beating too fast. It felt like everyone in the whole crowd took a sharp intake of breath.

  “I did.” She put her hands up in the air. “I thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but it wasn’t. I did it because I have a huge amount of debt, and I wanted his money. I knew he had left all his money to me. I was blinded, totally blinded, by worry about my future. But now I see…I can’t bring him back. I was crazy! I must have lost my mind! But I did it. I did. And I am so, so sorry.” She broke down, sobbing hysterically.

  Roxy was pushed from behind. As he passed her, she saw Detective Johnson barging his way to the front. The shove shook Roxy and propelled her into action.

  “No!” she shouted. She pushed past the detective, her slight stature allowing her to weave more quickly through the crush of people in front of the stage. She rushed up the steps and onto the platform, wrenching the microphone from Kathy’s hand.

  Kathy launched herself at her. “Give that back!”

  But Roxy wouldn’t. She was standing in front of hundreds and hundreds of people, but she gripped the mic all the tighter and jerked it away from Kathy long enough to say, “She’s lying! Kathy didn’t kill Dash! Derek did! Dash’s brother! Kathy’s other son! She’s only confessing to protect him!” She pointed to Detective Johnson. “Arrest him!”

  Johnson had stopped amid the crowd. He didn’t move. The throng fell into a silence so deep that Roxy felt she might drown in it. The heat of embarrassment rose to her cheeks.

  “Detective!” Roxy hollered almost pleading now. There was a sudden movement in the crowd, and she spotted Derek. Roxy pointed, her forefinger straight and stiff. “That’s him! Somebody! Anybody!”

  “It’s not true!” Kathy cried. “It was me! Not Derek!”

  Chaos ensued. Derek, who had been watching the stage, attempted to bolt from the crowd.

  “Get him!” Roxy shouted.

  The crowd started roaring. Some people were stunned and let Derek through while others tried to grab him. Far from his usual lethargic self, Derek proved to be as quick as a fox and wriggled out of their grasp.

  “No! No!” shouted Kathy above the crowd. “He hasn’t done anything wrong!”

  Derek feinted and dodged his way around the throng, but eventually, several burly men linked arms and together they acted like a trap, encircling Derek, and preventing his escape. A cop pushed his way through the crowd to place Derek in handcuffs.

  Roxy turned to Kathy. “I’m so sorry,” she said,
“but the truth had to…”

  Kathy had gone purple. She lunged at Roxy and grabbed her by the neck. Her warm hands closed around Roxy’s airway and squeezed. Roxy felt herself begin to lose consciousness, and she stumbled. She saw Kathy’s face—three versions of it—swim in front of her eyes.

  Just as the world started to go black, Kathy’s grip on Roxy’s neck loosened. Sam had grabbed Kathy’s arms, and he pinned them behind her back while she screamed, “Derek! Derek!” She kicked out at Roxy, who fell to the floor.

  “Give it up, Kathy,” Sam said. He was holding her tightly and, unable to even thrash against him, she slumped, defeated. Detective Johnson arrived at his shoulder and led Kathy away.

  Sam bent over Roxy, who was still lying on the floor, his dark eyes clouded with concern. He put a hand to her head, “Are you all right?”

  “I think so.” Roxy felt her neck gingerly. “Yes, yes, I’m good. Thank you.”

  She braced to push herself up, and he helped her to her feet.

  “You really didn’t want to give that speech, did you?” he said.

  “I did give a speech. It just wasn’t the one anyone was expecting.”

  CHAPTER FORTY

  LATER, ROXY, SAM, Nat, Elijah, Sage, Lily, Sylvia, Ada, and Michael were gathered in the lounge of the Funky Cat, nursing hot milky drinks even though it was still only afternoon. Evangeline, after hearing about the commotion on her radio, had come back to the hotel to take care of them. They were drinking sweet hot chocolate laced with brandy and topped with whipped cream and a dusting of chocolate powder. It was going down a treat.

  They watched Detective Johnson on the TV. He looked very pleased with himself. “Derek Davies has admitted to the murder of his brother, Dashiell Davies. He has confessed fully. Fratricide is a heinous crime, and our thoughts are with the rest of the family.”

  Sage shook her head. “I accompanied Kathy to the police station. Her soul is very damaged, poor love. She was hysterical at times, and at others, her spirit left this plane to inhabit another. She told me Derek had committed the crime to help her, and out of guilt and a misplaced sense of maternal feeling, she confessed to it falsely. Kathy has been having financial problems and Dash had helped her a lot over the years. In the past few months, Dash had stopped giving her money because he felt she was wasting it, and that Derek was enabling her in her bad habits. Derek was furious about this, and he killed Dash so that they’d inherit all of his money. Thing was, until Michael announced it in his tribute to Dash, Derek didn’t know that Dash had given all his money away.

  “Kathy had no idea that Derek had killed his brother, but when she looked in Derek’s brown bag, she found your note, Roxy. Once she heard Derek yell out from the crowd once he learned that Dash had donated all his money, she figured it out.”

  Roxy sighed deeply. “I’d written that I would expose him unless he confessed. I had hoped the note would encourage him to be honest, that I would flush him out, but Kathy must have got his bag by mistake after they fell on the floor.” Roxy pursed her lips in frustration before continuing. “So Derek killed his brother, just for money? That’s terrible.”

  “Yes,” said Sage, looking pained. “Just awful. And poor Kathy, it will take a long time for her spirit to shed such a weight. Maybe not even in this lifetime.”

  “What a mess,” said Roxy. “But how did Derek manage to kill Dash? They live in another state. How did he make it here and back home without Kathy noticing he was missing and how did we not know he was in the hotel? Surely we would have heard something? I would have heard something?”

  Sage shook her head. “Kathy admitted to me that they’d come to the city to see Dash around the time he arrived here in New Orleans. They planned to ask him for more money. When he was killed they were actually staying in a rundown B&B nearby and tracking his movements because they wanted to catch him when he was away from Michael. They knew Michael wouldn’t approve of what they were doing. After Dash’s death, they waited a few days to show up here so it looked like they’d come from home. But Kathy genuinely didn’t know what Derek had done. I’m sure of it. Who would suspect one son of killing her other son? Kathy’s bewilderment was real.”

  Roxy sighed again. “My goodness. I suppose Derek must have sneaked into the hotel that night, perhaps during the drama over Ada’s dress. He must have hidden somewhere to wait for Dash to fall asleep before going to his room to kill him.”

  “So,” said Nat. “Are you going to tell us, Roxy? How did you know it was Derek?”

  Roxy cradled her hot chocolate. “You remember the night you were attacked, Michael? The ‘Evening of Love and Light’? Kathy had said Derek was going to talk to the priest. Well, when I mentioned that to Father John he looked confused and said he’d only met Derek at the memorial. I think Derek told Kathy he was going to see Father John that night, but instead, he lay in wait for Michael and attacked him on his way back to the Hilton.”

  “But why did he attack me?” Michael asked.

  “That boy was full of jealousy. His soul is very dark,” Sage said. “Extremely dark. As dark as dark gets.” She looked very grave. “We may never know what was truly in his heart.”

  “Wow,” said Sam. “It was lucky you ended up speaking to that priest, Roxy.”

  “Yes,” she agreed. “It proved to me that Derek was a liar. I also remembered that when he and Kathy arrived here, Sage said that Derek knew where Dash’s room was—even though he’d supposedly never been here before.”

  “That’s right, he did,” Sage said, nodding slowly. “I got chills when I met him for the very first time. I knew something wasn’t right. My intuition was talking to me, but I just wasn’t sure what it was trying to tell me.”

  “He must have watched the Instagram video Michael made when they first arrived. That’s how he worked out how to get to Dash’s room the night he killed him,” Roxy said.

  “But what about the poison? We never did find out exactly what killed Dash,” said Ada.

  “Our food was never in the frame. Detective Johnson knew Dash had been murdered from the outset and how but deliberately didn’t tell us, leaving us to wonder if the food he’d eaten here was involved in some way. Johnson thought that if suspicion fell on the hotel and if the killer was one of us, they would relax if they thought the investigation was headed in the wrong direction. He thought they would make a mistake and reveal themselves. I can’t tell you how much I didn’t appreciate that tactic when he told me this afternoon. He threw the reputation of this hotel on the fire to help his case!”

  “So what did Derek kill him with?” Elijah asked.

  “They couldn’t work it out to start with, but when he came into the kitchen this morning, Johnson saw the model airplane Derek always carried with him. Apparently, the poison consisted of noxious fumes from some kind of glue. The police think that Derek held model airplane glue to Dash’s nose while he was asleep to render him unconscious and then suffocated him with his pillow.”

  “Ugh,” Nat said grimacing.

  “What a complete ass,” Michael spat.

  “Goodness, you’re quite the detective, though,” Sylvia said to Roxy.

  “Oh, it’s nothing. You know, I was convinced it was you at one point. Someone put a note under my door trying to implicate you. Now I think it must have been Derek.”

  The color drained from Sylvia’s face. She shook her head. “Oh no. Really? I’m so glad you saw through that.”

  Roxy considered talking to her about her ex-husband and the murder case, but she was too tired to even think. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said to everyone, slipping off her shoes and tucking her feet under her. “I need to relax. Let’s chat about other things.”

  “Yes,” said Nat, clearing her throat. “And I’ll start. Ada, I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry for speaking to you badly at times.” She was blushing red, but to her credit, she looked up and kept eye contact. “I was really out of order, and I’m so sorry.”

 
Ada actually smiled at her. “That’s very gracious of you, Nat. Thank you. Let’s talk no more about it. It’s all forgotten.” Ada reached out and clasped Nat’s hand. Nat responded with a squeeze and a smile.

  “I will ask Archangel Michael to bring healing to us all,” Sage said. “He will not let us down.”

  “And while Archangel Michael is doing his thing, I’ll do everyone’s laundry for free,” Sam said, standing.

  “And I’ll provide the beignets!” Elijah piped up. He literally bounced out of his chair.

  “Well, I’m goin’ home,” Evangeline said. “I’ve had enough excitement for one day. ‘Bye, y’all.”

  Roxy sank back into the couch, allowing the cushions to envelop her. She beamed despite her exhaustion. Harmony, peace, and the bonds of friendship had been restored, and her world was just as she liked it. Even Nefertiti jumped into her lap and stayed for a while.

  Ada, Sylvia, Lily, and Michael, despite coming to the end of their stay at the Funky Cat Inn, seemed reluctant to leave. They continued to chat with Sage, Nat, Roxy, Sam, and Elijah all through the evening and well into the night, talking about their lives, their hopes, their dreams, their careers, their families, what they would do next, and how much they had enjoyed their stay at the Funky Cat Inn, murder notwithstanding. It was a long, meaningful, and expansive discussion; social media wasn’t mentioned even once.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  ROXY, SAGE, AND Nat sat together in Roxy’s tiny office. Sage sat on a stool beside Roxy in the office chair. They were staring intently at Sage’s laptop screen. Nat lounged on the floor, sprawled out on a beanbag, which suited her just fine.

  “Well, it’s not all terrible,” said Roxy, checking their Instagram page. “We’ve gone from 5,000 fans to 105,000!”

  “That will translate into plenty more bookings,” said Sage, crisply. She even sounded different when she was talking about business. “Visibility is key here. We need to appear everywhere. The more followers we have, the better.”