Small Town Murder: Midwest Cozy Mystery Series

by Dianne Harman

  Before long Lennon arrived, carrying a box of red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. “Gideon made these this morning,” she said. “He insisted I bring some over for you.”

  Kat smiled. What a lovely family to be friends with. “Thank you so much, Lennon. Please thank Gideon for me, okay?”

  “Of course.”

  “Will you have one if I make us something to drink? I have iced tea, if that sounds good?”

  “That would be wonderful,” Lennon said.

  “I’ve been sitting out on the back deck in the yard, watching the dogs,” Kat said. “Feel free to walk through the house. I’ll just fix the iced tea and join you out there.”

  She carried the tea, plates and the cupcakes out to the deck and soon they were sipping on their sweet tea and eating the red velvet cupcakes.

  “My compliments to the chef, or should I say the baker!” Kat said. “Gideon did a great job with these.”

  Lennon laughed. “That was my first priority with the kids. I wanted to get them to make me amazing baked goods, so I could gorge on them,” she joked.

  Kat laughed along with her. Then she remembered why she’d asked Lennon there, and she felt sick to her stomach. Her cupcake suddenly tasted sickly sweet. “Lennon, I want you to know that I can’t investigate Jay’s murder anymore. I think I felt awful earlier, because I knew I was letting you down, and…”

  “Hey, hey, hey,” Lennon said, resting her hand on Kat’s arm. “You’re not letting me down at all. Don’t think that way.”

  “Jay had a stalker, and he called me last night, wanting to talk about her. I didn’t give him my telephone number.”

  Lennon gasped.

  “I called Detective Butler,” Kat continued. “He said if I continued to investigate the case, he’d arrest and charge me.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “No, that’s why I really can’t go around and talk to people anymore. I can still think about it and do internet research though, so I won’t completely stop.”

  “Yes, you will,” Lennon said softly. “Please, do. When I asked you to look into it, I sure didn’t want to put you in danger or get you in trouble. I feel terrible. I realize now how selfish I was to ask you to do that. It was from my own guilt, because Jay had died at the event I’d put on. I’m really sorry, Kat.”

  “You had perfectly good intentions,” Kat said. “We both did.”

  Lennon sighed. “I know you did. I’m not so sure about me, maybe I just wanted to assuage my guilt. I’m not even sure. In any case, the police are on it. I’m sure we can count on them to secure justice for Jay.”

  Kat wasn’t so sure, but she really hoped so. “Yes,” she responded, but she still felt depressed.

  They were silent for a while, and Lennon didn’t look all that cheerful either.

  “I’ll tell you what,” Lennon said eventually. “Why don’t we go and do a good deed? That always cheers me up.”

  Kat never would have thought of that. It was just such an unusual request. “Good idea. Got anything in mind?”

  “Well, we could go see Jay’s sister Georgina. You know, my pastor’s wife. They love dogs, so we could take Jazz and Rudy and Goldie and Oliver. I’ll take some of Gideon’s cupcakes and maybe we can pick up some flowers on the way to her house. I know Georgina loves roses and white chocolate as well. Pastor Hunter’s said so in his sermons when he was telling personal stories about his family.”

  Kat looked at her. “You’ve got such a good heart, Lennon.”

  “Oh, no I don’t,” Lennon said. “I’m a sinner just like everyone else.”

  Kat felt energized by the idea. “Why don’t I pick up the flowers and chocolate and meet you at your home? Then we can go to the Moncherry’s home together.”

  “Perfect,” Lennon said, then she giggled. “This is kind of fun, isn’t it? It’s like a kindness ambush. I hope it’ll make her feel better. It must be terrible to lose a sister.”

  “Probably even worse when you lose someone to murder,” Kat said. “What a terrible thing to have happened. I think about Jay’s children occasionally, too. They’re with Reiss Talbot, of course, but having heard what Jay divulged about him, I can’t help but worry a little.”

  Lennon nodded. “Me, too. I’m praying for the poor little things. Now, I’m going to head back home. Remember, white roses and white chocolate. Is that okay?”

  Kat called Rudy and Jazz over to her, and smiled at Lennon. “No problem. Sounds great. I’ll pick them up and meet you at your home in half an hour.”

  CHAPTER 18

  Kat stopped at the local grocery store, and rushed in to buy the white chocolate. They had bouquets of flowers there, too, but no roses, so she had to make another stop at the florist shop.

  She left Jazz and Rudy in the car with the windows rolled down. She was able to park in front of the stores each time. Since she was only going to be in each one for five minutes, she didn’t think it was worth taking them out of her car.

  After making her purchases, she drove to Lennon’s house. While she was there, she wanted to compliment Gideon on his red velvet cupcakes. She found him in the kitchen and thanked him.

  “Thank you, Ms. Denham,” he said. “It was my pleasure.”

  Kat always got a kick out of talking to Lennon’s kids. They were a model of perfect manners.

  Kat helped Lennon pack the cupcakes into a Tupperware with special dividers, so they wouldn’t squish against each other. Rhett came in the kitchen with Esther on his shoulders. She had to duck through the doorway, so she wouldn’t hit her head. “Hi Kat, great to see you again,” he said. “Sorry there won’t be time to talk. We’re heading to a burger joint in about a half hour.”

  “That’s okay,” Kat said. “We’re not going to be here long either.”

  “We’re going to the Moncherrys,” Lennon explained. “To support Georgina however we can.”

  “Great idea,” said Rhett. “Send her and Hunter my regards.”

  “Sure thing, darling,” Lennon said, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Come on Goldie, Oliver. Time to go.”

  Kat didn’t know where the Moncherry family home was located, but Lennon assured her it wasn’t too far away, and that Kat could just follow her. Rhett was taking the Chevy, because he could fit all the kids into it, and Lennon would use their other car, a small Ford. It was a bright shade of electric blue, so Kat was unlikely to lose her.

  It was a very upscale neighborhood that they drove into. The homes on the wide, tree-lined avenue were quite literally mansions.

  “Looks like pastors of megachurches don’t do so badly for themselves,” Kat said, chuckling to herself. “I wonder if he has a private jet.”

  Lennon pulled her car into an enormous driveway, in front of a white French-style mansion. It had a large arched front door with ornate stained-glass patterns in the window. Above it was a black wrought iron balcony. The exterior of the house stretched out on either side of the front door with rows of large windows, perfectly symmetrical on the left and right. There was another row of windows located above on the second floor, nestled into the gray tile roof.

  Directly in front of the house were perfectly manicured bushes at about calf-height, curling into patterns. Two fir trees on either side of the front door flanked the walkway leading to the entrance.

  The paved driveway seemed to stretch on forever, and there was a huge fountain in the middle of it, though currently it wasn’t spouting water. The cars in the driveway were very flashy and gleamed in the mid-morning sun. There was a luxury Mercedes SUV in a pearlescent white shade, and an executive style black BMW. Then there were two other brand-new cars, though not as luxurious, a Toyota and a Honda. Kat guessed those must be the cars of their teenage boys, very lucky teenage boys at that, to have their own cars. All the cars were immaculately clean. So was the front of the house and the landscaping around it. There wasn’t a leaf out of place.

  Kat swung her car up next to Lennon’s and g
ot out. “Wow, this is some place,” she said.

  “I know,” Lennon said. “Our church believes in rewarding its pastors.”

  Kat grinned. “I can tell,”

  She opened the back door and let Jazz and Rudy jump down onto the driveway, but she put them on their leashes, just in case. She thought it was the polite thing to do when visiting someone for the first time. Lennon did the same with Goldie and Oliver.

  They were about to knock on the front door, when they heard a loud piercing scream. It was a woman’s voice and she screamed, “No!”

  Lennon and Kat stared at each other in alarm. The voice seemed to have come from over the fence that separated the front yard from the rear of the house. They’d parked right next to the fence when they’d arrived.

  There was a gate leading into the back yard. Kat nodded towards it. “Do you think we should go back there?”

  Lennon bit her lip. “I think so. It sounds like someone’s in trouble. I hope it’s not Georgina. I’m glad we brought the dogs.”

  They rushed to the gate, which Kat opened, and hurried through it. They found themselves in a large side yard, but they were standing close up against the house, so they couldn’t see where the voice was coming from.

  “You shut up!” they heard a woman yell.

  Lennon creased her brow. “Is that Georgina? It doesn’t sound like Georgina.”

  Kat turned to her. “Do you mean it doesn’t sound like her voice? Or it doesn’t sound like something she’d say?”

  “It doesn’t sound like something she’d say,” Lennon said, looking worried. “But I guess it did sort of sound like her voice…”

  They heard a man’s voice talking, but not as loudly. They couldn’t make out the words he said.

  Kat and Lennon, with the dogs, edged along the side of the house. Kat was leading the way, fascinated by what was going on. Lennon looked very disturbed. Kat got the impression she thought the Moncherrys never argued, and more particularly never said things like ‘shut up.’

  As they got closer to the rear of the house, they could hear everything. The smell of barbecue filled the air. Kat wondered if they were on the patio.

  “I’m a fraud, Georgina. I can’t carry on like this any longer.”

  “Yes, you can and you will,” she said in a furious tone of voice. “How many times do I have to tell you?”

  “No, I can’t,” he said firmly. “I’m a hypocrite. Jesus gives second chances, and I want to take my second chance. But first, I have to repent.”

  “Fine, but do it privately,” Georgina said. “You will not air out our dirty laundry in public, Hunter. I simply won’t allow it.”

  “What if it’s not your decision?” he said. “What if I’ve spoken to God and listened to the Holy Spirit, and have made the decision to come clean, to confess my sins to all the congregation?”

  “You better not,” she said in an aggressive tone of voice.

  “I have to, Georgina. Gambling is an addiction. Even though we’re in this mess, I still want to do it every day. Every single day. I need to go into treatment and try to rid myself of this demon, gambling, that is destroying me. And when that happens, we’re going to lose the house. What are you going to tell the congregation when that happens?”

  “None of that is going to happen. We won’t lose the house. In terms of the treatment, you can say you’re going to visit another congregation in Florida. Take pictures and send them back, but get some treatment while you’re there.”

  Hunter raised his voice in anger and said, “What you’re telling me is that you want me to lie to the congregation?”

  “You’ve been lying all along, haven’t you? You might as well continue.”

  “Georgina, I’m trying to do the right thing, here.”

  “No one wants to know you’re a gambling addict, Hunter. People don’t want to hear that about their pastor. They want someone they can put on a pedestal, and that’s you.”

  “It doesn’t matter what people want. What matters is the truth,” Hunter said with exasperation in his voice. “I can show them the perfect example of God’s grace and forgiveness, but to do that, I have to be courageous and show them my sins first.”

  “Over my dead body,” Georgina spat. “We’re the perfect first family, and it’s going to stay that way. Do you want me to be ashamed? Do you want me to walk the street with my head bowed in shame? Is that what you want?”

  “Of course not!”

  “Well, you’re doing everything you can to make that happen. Now you listen, and you listen good, Hunter Moncherry. We’re keeping the cars, we’re keeping the house, and you’re going to tell the congregation that you’re going to speak at another church in Florida for a month. It’s settled.”

  “And how do you figure that? We won’t have any money.”

  “We’re getting Jacqueline’s money, the money from her book sales. I persuaded her to go to a lawyer and put it in my name when she was having problems with Reiss, so he wouldn’t be able to get his claws on her money.”

  Hunter became quiet. “How much is it?”

  “Ten million,” she said, victoriously. He was quiet for a long while. She piped up, “Aren’t you going to thank me?”

  “Please, please, please tell me you didn’t have any kind of involvement in her death?”

  “Of course I didn’t! What an awful thing to say, Hunter!”

  “Georgina.” His voice was quavering.

  “What?”

  “Georgina, tell me the truth.”

  There was a long pause.

  “All right, yes, I did it. I poisoned her.”

  “What?” Hunter shrieked.

  Kat glanced back at Lennon, who was very pale and looked like she was going to pass out. Kat put her arm on Lennon’s back, just in case, and stood there listening, as stunned over Georgina’s revelation as Lennon was.

  “You should be grateful!” Georgina shouted back. “It’s all your fault. If you hadn’t gotten us into debt, I wouldn’t have had to do it.”

  “You’re crazy!” he screamed back at her. “Why would you do it? What on earth?” He sounded like he was going out of his mind. Kat didn’t blame him.

  Just then, a bird flew out of a nearby tree, and the loud sound of the tree rustling startled Goldie. She barked.

  Georgina was in the middle of shouting something, but she stopped when she heard Goldie bark. “Was that a dog?” she asked more to herself than to Hunter.

  Kat’s legs turned to jelly. She looked back at the gate, but they were quite a distance from it, because they had been edging up along the side of the house so they could hear better. There was no way they’d be able to get back to the gate in time to escape unseen.

  Her heart pounded in her chest.

  At that moment, Georgina rushed around the corner of the house, her eyes blazing so bright they looked crazed.

  CHAPTER 19

  Georgina’s face was a spectacle to behold as she came upon Kat, Lennon, and the four dogs. First, it was set in the frenzied rage she’d been in while talking to Hunter, then it morphed into complete and utter shock. Finally, it settled into a totally fake smile.

  “Well, hello there,” she said. “Lennon, and Kat Denham. Ha ha, that rhymes, doesn’t it?”

  Kat wondered what kind of parallel universe they were in. She couldn’t think of anything to say. Georgina just stared at them with a horrible vacant smile.

  Lennon was the one to break the silence. She was shaking, and looked furious. “We heard everything, Georgina.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “Yes, we did,” Lennon said.

  Georgina suddenly turned and walked back around the side of the house.

  Kat looked at Lennon. Lennon was shaking. “I’m calling the cops,” she said. She tried to take her iPhone out of her purse, but she was shaking so badly she dropped it.

  Kat picked it up and dialled 911. She quickly gave the address, and told the operator what was happening.

&
nbsp; Just as she ended the call, both Georgina and Hunter came back around the side of the house. Hunter came first with Georgina running after him.

  Upon seeing Hunter, Lennon burst into tears. “How could you?” she said to them. “I thought you were such a perfect couple. Such Godly people.”

  Hunter looked sad. “There’s no such thing as a perfect person,” he said. “I tried, and the pressure nearly killed me. I think that’s why I gambled in the first place. I was trying so hard to be perfect, putting myself under so much pressure, that I had to have a secret outlet in private. Somewhere I could be bad. Somewhere I could feel a rush. I understand why you’re disappointed, Lennon. I’m disappointed in myself.”

  “This conversation is not appropriate!” Georgina said in a loud commanding voice. She was leaning against the side of the house in an awkward way, her hands behind her back. “Don’t discuss this with our audience.”

  “We’re not an audience, Georgina,” Lennon said, sounding so angry she was close to tears. “We’re part of your husband’s congregation, and just so you’ll know, we’ve already called the police.”

  “Audience, congregation, it makes no difference. I don’t care what it is.” Georgina pushed Hunter away from Kat and Lennon and then pulled a huge gleaming carving knife out from behind her back.

  The dogs barked. Kat and Lennon gasped.

  “No!” Hunter said.

  “No one is going to find out about this,” Georgina screamed as she threatened them with the knife. “No one. Do you promise?” She hurried over to Hunter and held the knife inches from his face. “None of you talk to the cops when they get here.”

  Lennon and Kat looked at each other, and without a word, they let go of the dogs’ leashes they were holding. Even though golden retrievers weren’t usually thought of as guard dogs, they held their own, and went after Georgina. They pushed her down on the ground and the knife she was holding flew out of her hand and landed harmlessly in the grassy area of the back yard.