Sapphire Beach Cozy Mystery Collection

by Angela K Ryan

  Throwing her phone on the foyer table, Bob said, "I texted Elyse and canceled your plans for this afternoon, so don't think she'll be looking for you." His voice sounded deeper than before and his eyes looked narrower.

  A sad whimper floated through the air from the direction of the master bedroom. Bob must have locked Ginger in there. Judging from the scratching on the door that followed, the dog clearly knew something was wrong. The thought of Ginger afraid in the other room pushed a shot of adrenaline through Connie's body.

  "Was it really worth killing Hank, because you lost money in a real estate deal twelve years ago?"

  He looked around. "Some of us aren't lucky enough to inherit a fancy condo," he said, bitterness leaking from his words.

  "But why take your revenge now?" She already knew the answer to her question but was hoping to get him talking, so she could stall for time and regain some strength.

  "It wasn't just the money. After we bought the investment condo at Royal Palm, we lived there for a while to give it time to appreciate, so we could sell it and buy our dream home.

  “But in the meantime, Amanda developed respiratory problems from the Chinese drywall,” Connie said, remembering her internet search the night before.

  “She could have died. And on top of that, we went into bankruptcy over it.” Anger flashed in his eyes. “I didn't blame Hank at first. But luckily my son-in-law, Matthew, who is also a developer, is sharper than I am. A couple of weeks ago we were talking about Royal Palm, and he put two and two together – the Chinese drywall and Amanda’s respiratory issues. He knows many of Hank’s former colleagues and did some investigating. Come to find out, Hank used the safe drywall in his own investment units while he sold his friends the damaged product."

  "And her health problems, along with the financial issues, put a strain on your marriage that resulted in a divorce."

  "Now I have nothing. No marriage and no retirement fund. Not to mention what my baby went through. All thanks to Hank. Some friend he turned out to be."

  "What about Paula? She didn't have anything to do with Hank's business.”

  "Paula swore she didn't know what he had done when I talked to her about it a few weeks ago. She was just as furious as I was. She even said she was going to confront him."

  That must have been the conversation Mandy witnessed at Surfside Restaurant.

  "But by the time I went to her place on Sunday night to pick up her wedding gift for my daughter, she had pieced it all together."

  "So..." Connie started to ask another question, but he pressed the side of the knife against her chest.

  "Enough questions! It's time for you to disappear. I think you'll send a text to your friends saying that you are heading back to Boston early, never to be heard from again." He seemed pleased with his cleverness.

  Finally, the fogginess that had settled in her head was gradually beginning to lift, and she could feel some strength slowly return to her muscles. She tried to remember anything from her martial arts training that might help her out of this situation. She wracked her brain for a diversion tactic that might prove useful.

  Maybe if she could let Ginger out of the bedroom, she might create enough of a diversion for Connie to take him by surprise and bring him down. But the bedroom was too far away.

  And her head was pounding.

  Bob ordered her to stand, which she managed with effort, and then forced her towards the living room. This might be her only chance to try something.

  Pretending she was about to lose consciousness again, she stumbled forward toward a narrow sofa table and pressed against it with both hands. When Bob came up behind her to hurry her along, she glanced over her shoulder, making sure to avoid the knife and thrust her foot straight back into his stomach as hard as her strength would allow.

  She turned around to see Bob, stunned and crouched over, holding his stomach. The knife was on the floor, so she kicked it clear across the room, then promptly struck him across the jaw with the back of her fist. Then, just to be sure he wouldn't get back up, she came back across the other side with a hook punch and watched him fall to the ground.

  She opened the bedroom door, picked up a trembling Ginger and held her tight. Just as she went back to the foyer to get her phone and call 911, a pounding on the door almost caused her to drop Ginger.

  "Connie, it's Josh. Are you okay?"

  Breathing a sigh of relief, she threw open the door. Josh ran in, followed by Elyse and then Grace a few seconds behind.

  Chapter 20

  Before Connie could say a word, Josh was standing over Bob, who was still unconscious, and calling for an ambulance, while Grace and Elyse rushed over to examine Connie.

  "My gosh, you look like death warmed over," Elyse said, gently hugging her. "Thank heavens you're okay."

  Grace led Connie to the couch, and she caught a glimpse of her pale skin and disheveled hair in the mirror. Her appearance pretty much matched the way she felt.

  "How did you know I was in trouble?" Connie asked Elyse, once she was off her feet and settled into the couch. There was still a dull pain lingering in the back of her head, so it felt better to sit.

  Grace went to the kitchen and returned with a tall glass of water.

  "I had a feeling something was wrong when I got your text," Elyse said. "The wording didn't sound like the way you usually talk, and after what happened yesterday with Grace's phone, I thought I'd play it safe. I called Josh right away, and the rest is history."

  "Elyse called me, too," Grace said, "but I hadn't seen you all morning. I promised I'd stay put just in case the killer was afoot, but when I heard Josh banging on your door, I peeked out."

  "Lucky for me your wife has good instincts," Connie said to Josh, who was keeping a close watch over Bob.

  "That may be true, but it looks like you had this guy under control," Elyse said, pointing to Bob, who was still lying motionless on the porcelain floor.

  Connie squeezed Elyse’s hand. "Still, I can't tell you how happy I am to have you here right now. I wouldn't want to be alone with this guy a second longer, conscious or unconscious."

  While they were talking, Collier County EMS and Sapphire Beach Fire Rescue arrived, followed by a patrol officer and Zach. EMS took Bob away on a stretcher, and the officer left to accompany the ambulance.

  A huge weight lifted from Connie's shoulders as they wheeled him out.

  Despite her protests, Elyse insisted on taking Connie to the hospital to get her head checked as a precaution. She wrapped a scarf around the back of her head to hide the wound and make herself somewhat presentable as she passed through the lobby, and off they went.

  Fortunately, it turned out she only had a minor concussion and was advised to take it easy until the symptoms disappeared. She still had a slight headache and a touch of dizziness when she turned her head too quickly, but she felt better by the hour.

  The next stop was the police station to give her statement. She was anxious to get that part over with and to put this mess behind her. In her whole life, Connie had never been any further than the lobby of a police station, and here she was in an interrogation room for the second time in two days. She hoped she wouldn't be back for a long time.

  On their way back to Palm Paradise, Connie convinced Elyse to make a quick stop downtown, so she could take a final look at the shop. It was just as perfect as she remembered it. When she walked through the faded-gray door, the stress of the past few hours melted like ice cream in the sun, and her heart nearly burst from anticipation. Everything about it felt right. She promptly gave Elyse the go ahead to draw up the necessary paperwork to make it hers.

  "Are you going to let me in on the details of this plan of yours, or at least tell me what changed your mind about staying?" Elyse asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Will this be a jewelry shop, or are you going to use the space for something else?"

  But Connie wouldn't relent. She insisted that Elyse hear her plan at the same time as the others - when t
hey would all be gathered together for dinner at Connie's home the following night.

  Less than an hour later, Connie was settled in on her couch after promising Elyse that she would rest for the remainder of the day. Elyse even called Grace, who was more than happy to see to it that that happened. Grace kept Connie well fed and hydrated and didn't permit her to move from the couch all evening. She even pampered Ginger, who spent the evening nestled by Connie's side. Grace had joked that they looked like two battle-worn soldiers.

  Thanks to Grace, Connie woke up refreshed and restored on Friday morning. With Hank’s and Paula’s killer behind bars, Connie was grateful to be able to focus on other matters. She had invited her friends over for an early dinner that afternoon to reveal her big news, and she was hoping to hear more about what would become of Bob, as well. Despite Grace's best efforts to drag it out of her, Connie insisted that she, too, wait until everyone was together that evening.

  First thing in the morning, before they were due at work, Josh and Zach came by to check in on Connie, and they insisted on loading her car. A trip home would still be necessary to tie up several loose ends and bring her mother some of Concetta’s belongings. She was confident she would be feeling one hundred percent by the next morning, in time for her twenty-four-hour drive north. When she talked to her family on the phone the night before, her sister had joked that it was probably because she had such a thick head.

  Now that the main task of the day was complete, she had the rest of the afternoon to leisurely prepare a simple dinner of lemon chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a salad. But she was having a tough time relaxing with all that had happened. Her thoughts kept returning to the double tragedy that took place at Palm Paradise, her soon-to-be home.

  A lump formed in her throat when she thought of Hank, who, no matter his shortcomings, deserved the chance to live out his life to its natural end.

  And Paula, whose solarium bore witness to her extraordinary gift for nurturing life and bringing beauty into the world. Her death wasn't just a loss for her family, but for the world around her, as well. She had gifted so many people, literally with the fruit of her labor. Tears stung the back of her eyes as her thoughts became a prayer for everyone involved.

  Chapter 21

  By 6:00, all her friends - Grace, Stephanie, Elyse, Josh, Gertrude and Zach - were circulating between her living room and balcony, enjoying drinks and appetizers, while Emma played with Ginger in the spare bedroom. The double sliding doors were wide open, with only screen sliders separating guests between the two areas. A warm sea breeze floated off the Gulf of Mexico, refreshing the air throughout the house.

  She smiled at how the unexpected blessings in life often turned out to be the best. Connie felt closer than ever to Grace, and, even though she had only known Elyse and Stephanie for one week, she felt as if they were longtime friends. It reminded her of some of her trips abroad on behalf of Feeding the Hungry. With so many new and intense experiences jam-packed into such a brief trip, she would quickly forge deep, even lifelong, friendships with people she knew for only a short time.

  Zach had come bearing a gift in the form of a framed canvas painting of downtown Sapphire Beach, with the Gulf of Mexico as its backdrop and a red and white parasail, like the one they had seen on their walk, flying above the Gulf.

  "I saved some room for it when we packed your trunk,” Zach said. “I thought you would like to have it as a remembrance of Sapphire Beach when you're back in Boston."

  Given her change of plans, it was more appropriate than he knew. She had the perfect spot in mind in the new shop.

  As Connie checked on dinner, the sound of joyful chatter, which filled her new home, put a broad smile on her face. When the conversation moved to the murder investigations, she eagerly joined the others, who had congregated into the living room. Josh and Zach had promised to give them the latest news, and she didn't want to miss it.

  "Our warrant to search Bob Morgan's condo came through last night," Zach was saying, "and guess what we found in one of his closets?"

  "The angel statuette?" Grace asked.

  "You guessed it," Josh said, putting his empty Corona bottle on the coffee table. "Between that and learning that his prints were all over the Royal Palm folder in Paula's condo, he confessed to everything."

  Zach filled his plate with nachos. "It turns out that Roger had also begun to suspect Bob. If you recall, after he killed Hank, Bob went up to Roger's condo on the tenth floor, claiming he had plans with Hank, but Hank wasn't home."

  "Wait," Gertrude interrupted. "How did Bob get in the building if Hank wasn’t in his condo to buzz him in?"

  Connie answered the question, even though it wasn’t addressed to her. "One of the residents must have recognized him and let him in.”

  “That’s right,” Zach said. “According to Bob, they really did have plans, but when Bob got upstairs, Hank was in the hallway and had just realized he left his key at Grace's. That's when Hank called Stephanie."

  "So, Bob followed him upstairs to my apartment and surprised him?" Grace asked.

  "Yes. Hank took the elevator, and Bob took the stairs, so he could sneak up on him. He ambushed Hank from behind with the statuette, then threw him off the balcony. Hank probably never knew what hit him," Zach said.

  "When did Roger start to suspect Bob?" Stephanie asked.

  "Over the past couple of weeks, he noticed that Bob kept harping on the Royal Palm project,” Josh said. “He thought it was strange that he would bring it up again after all these years, but, at first, he didn't think much of it. Over the weekend, he learned that Bob’s son-in-law, Matthew, had told Bob that Chinese drywall wasn’t used in Hank's units. That explained Bob's fresh rage when he talked about it. At that point, Roger thought about it and realized that Bob would have had time to kill Hank and get up to his place before we arrived on the scene.”

  “Roger also must have remembered that Bob had been carrying a gym bag, since he and Hank had planned to play tennis, and realized that Bob could have changed his clothes to hide any bloodstains,” Connie added. “I remembered seeing Bob with a gym bag when I first met him in the lobby last Thursday, right after Hank was killed.”

  “As it turns out, that is exactly what Bob did,” Josh said.

  “And I’ll bet Bob had visited Roger on Sunday, the night Paula was killed, and again at the time of the threatening text, when Bob had also just left Roger's apartment,” Connie said.

  “Yes, but even when Roger put all those pieces together, he was still hesitant to say anything, because he didn't want to get his friend into trouble unnecessarily. All of the evidence was still circumstantial,” Zach said.

  "I guess you'd have to be pretty certain to turn your best friend in for murder," Stephanie said.

  Josh nodded and let out a deep breath. "Exactly. But when he heard what happened to Connie, he came straight to the station and told us everything."

  "Now I understand why Roger followed me the other night and warned me not to interfere,” Connie said. "I thought he was threatening me, so I added him to my list of suspects.”

  "He was trying to protect you," Josh said. "At that point his suspicions about Bob were growing."

  "I have one question for you," Zach said, looking at Connie. "Did you know it was Bob before he attacked you?"

  "Not for certain. I had just eliminated Anton as a suspect, and it was down to Roger and Bob when I rode up the elevator with him. While Grace and I had been waiting for the police at Paula's, I noticed the Royal Palm folder, so I snapped a photo of each page."

  Josh clenched his fists and looked up at the ceiling, as if trying to regain his composure. “We’re lucky the prints were still there."

  "I promise I didn't touch the folder,” Connie assured him. “Anyway, yesterday I looked over the documents again and noticed that Hank hadn't lost any money in the units he purchased. Aside from Anton, Roger and Bob became my prime suspects. Roger had threatened me, but Bob had lost the most
from the investment, both financially and with his daughter's health issues. A little bit of online research revealed that lengthy exposure to Chinese drywall can cause respiratory problems. But it wasn’t until Bob slipped about the angel that I knew for sure it was him."

  "There's one more thing we found out," Josh said. "I managed to track down some of the contractors from the Royal Palm Project. They said that Hank most likely didn't know about the damaging effects of the Chinese drywall until long after the project was complete."

  "So, he didn't take advantage of his friends after all?"

  "Probably not. It turns out that only a portion of Hank's drywall was from China. The men I spoke with said they just happened to use the Chinese drywall in Bob's and your units," he said, looking at Grace, "and the other drywall in the units Hank and Paula ended up purchasing. He probably learned that it was defective along with everyone else, when the units in question began smelling like rotten eggs."

  "Does that mean Bob killed him for nothing? Hank never knew the drywall would cause Bob's daughter health issues or result in a bad investment?"

  "It appears that way."

  Connie remembered how Paula didn't want Hank teaching her son about the business because of his immoral practices. Perhaps his methods weren’t as shady as she thought. Still, there was Anton and his family, who were evicted in the name of making a profit, but that was different from knowingly letting his friends make a bad investment and putting Amanda’s health in danger. She wished Paula could have known the truth before she died.

  Connie noticed tears forming in Grace's eyes as she took it all in.

  "Grace, are you okay?"

  She took a sip of her Merlot. "You know, that angel statuette was a gift from Concetta when I first moved to Sapphire Beach after the death of my husband."

  "I never knew that," Stephanie said, draping an arm across her mother's shoulders and giving her a sympathetic hug.