Ravenwood Cove Cozy Mysteries Books 1-3

by Carolyn L. Dean

  “Yeah, that must be it. Find a dead guy, make sure you show up,” she deadpanned, playing along.

  James swung his feet back and forth a bit, and Amanda peered over the edge of the wooden walkway. “You always wear your cowboy boots to a police investigation, Detective?”

  “Always. I can run after bad guys faster in these than I can in tennis shoes. I just hate having to put those little fabric booties on ‘em for the CSI guys.” His voice turned serious. “You okay?”

  She thought for a moment before she answered. “Yeah, I am. I just didn’t expect to discover all this on my morning walk, that’s all.”

  There was an awkward moment of silence and Amanda thought back to the last time she’d seen James, at Mr. Peetman’s funeral.

  “So, now you’re talking to me?” She kept her face neutral, even though she was dying to hear his explanation of his cranky mood. “What was the deal at the reception? I thought we were friends.”

  The tall detective sighed and looked down at the water below them. “You should’ve told me about Mr. Peetman being in town, Amanda. Someone just walking away from federal witness protection is a serious matter, and you never said a word to me about discovering his true identity.” He turned to her, more frustration than anger in his expression. “He could’ve been lying to you and been a dangerous criminal. Don’t you trust me?”

  She shrugged, sorry she’d upset him but not sorry for her actions. “You’re a detective for the sheriff’s office. I thought you’d have to turn him in.” When James opened his mouth to rebut her statement she raised a hand and cut him off.

  “He’s the one who hit Charles Timmins in the head with a shovel, not me.” She saw the realization sink in, James’ eyebrows going up in sudden understanding. “He saved my life that day. When I was running away from Charles, Mr. Peetman was the one who stopped him.” She shifted a bit, remembering. “I felt I owed him a debt of gratitude for what he did, that’s all. After I met with him and discovered his secret I could tell he was sincere about being sick and not having much time left. If I’d thought he was a threat to anyone, I would’ve reported him, I promise.”

  “So you lied on your police statement, too.”

  “So sue me.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice.

  “Look, I just don’t want to have to arrest you!”

  He put a broad, warm hand on her shoulder, and seemed about to say something, when a dark van and a small SUV was let through the police line, obviously heading toward the dock.

  “Crime scene crew, probably with the medical examiner,” he said to her unasked question, and stood to meet the investigators, all business once again. Amanda watched him as he talked to the two men who got out of the van, walking them over to the bobbing boat and giving them what little information he already knew. A shorter, baby-faced man emerged from the SUV, snapping on a pair of rubber gloves and following behind James’ broad back. Within minutes the crime scene team was examining and photographing everything in the interior of the boat, while the medical examiner stood on the dock, smoking a pipe while he watched his colleagues work. George went to oversee crowd control and James was busy helping the investigation team, carefully bagging up evidence and looking for fibers and clues.

  Amanda was close enough she could hear a lot of the back and forth conversation between the police and the investigation team. One of George’s younger officers came over to get Amanda’s statement, his face serious as he carefully wrote down everything she said, which wasn’t much. Amanda understood why they’d need to know how she’d discovered the body and every detail of what had happened, but all she could really say was that she’d seen the boat, looked inside, checked for a pulse, and called the cops.

  At least giving her statement gave her something to do. It took quite a while for them to process the scene, including photos and dusting the gunnels and outboard motor handle for fingerprints. Even though she was told that she could go home she enjoyed watching them work. Maybe it was morbid curiosity, but she’d never seen James managing an investigation before and just seeing how he made sure that every bit of data was catalogued and discussed was fascinating. Finally, they seemed to be satisfied with all the evidence they’d collected.

  “Got everything you need?” James asked. The crime scene investigator closest to him hesitated, looking around as he seemed to make a mental inventory of what they’d done and, finally satisfied, nodded. George and James stepped down into the boat as the investigator moved toward the back, trying to keep the rocking to a minimum.

  The two officers knelt down and once they’d slid their hands under the shoulder of the dead man James locked eyes with the police chief. At his silent nod they rolled the stiff body over.

  When she saw the dead man’s face Amanda gasped. Even with the purple marks, she recognized it instantly. The last time she’d seen it was at the market, flushed with anger and yelling at the police chief.

  It was Anderson Bowles, mouth frozen in surprise, body rigid in death. George tossed a towel over the lower part of Anderson’s lap and Amanda was surprised at how relieved she felt. Even though Anderson Bowles had been stalking her friend, a square of terrycloth covering his naked body seemed like it preserved a bit of his human dignity. Amanda wasn’t a prude but maybe even a rude creep deserved some modesty in death.

  James and George looked over the body, and the baby-faced medical examiner, still smoking on the dock, peered into the boat. “Probably a heart attack,” he pronounced as he tapped his pipe on his heel, knocking the last bit of tobacco into the water. The investigator gestured for a plastic bag and carefully removed the sweatshirt wrapped around Anderson Bowles’ head, sealing the top of the bag with a practiced swipe of his hand.

  “Heart attack, huh?” James asked, not even trying to keep the disbelief out of his voice. “When’s the last time you saw a heart attack victim strip naked and make his own shirt into a hat? And when have you ever seen anyone out in a boat with no fishing gear or cooler, and no food or water?”

  George was seemingly only listening halfway to their conversation, his gaze fixed on the side of the boat, just below the top edge. “Yeah, and if he’s had a heart attack, why would there be a bullet hole in the boat?”

  James instantly stepped over to George’s side, trying to keep balanced as the fishing vessel rocked with his shifted weight. He and George started scanning the rest of the boat until James made another discovery.

  “And why would there be a bullet lodged in the outboard motor?” He pointed carefully to an indentation near the bottom of the small engine, the dark hole and buried bullet nearly hidden by the silver decal around it.

  The medical examiner was quiet, his initial theory completely shot down. George and James exchanged a knowing glance, and the police chief said what both of them were thinking.

  “This wasn’t just a heart attack. This was murder.”

  Chapter 5

  Weeks before, when Amanda had first seen the name of the lone pizzeria in Ravenwood Cove, she hadn’t been expecting much. There weren’t too many pizza restaurants that she’d ever heard of with the word “Heinrich’s” in the name, but one day she’d given in to her nose and followed the gorgeous aroma of garlic sautéed in butter, and gave it a try.

  The pizza had been amazing and Heinrich, the owner, had looked on in smug satisfaction as Amanda devoured slice after luscious slice. Her mouth still full of melted cheese and perfect pepperoni, she looked up in near-apology, and he knew right away what that look meant.

  “I know, I know. You think this place should’ve been named Luciano’s or something Italian, right? Well, just because my Austrian ancestors didn’t invent pizza doesn’t mean I can’t cook it.” After that, Heinrich’s Pizzeria became one of her regular stops. It didn’t hurt that Heinrich made sure to buy as many of his ingredients as possible from local farmers and merchants, and Amanda often saw Andrew Barton delivering homemade mozzarella or Mrs. Bitterman bringing in bags of her tasty bas
il and garlic.

  It seemed like the perfect place to meet James for lunch, and he texted confirmation that he would be there in an hour. She showed up a bit early to get a table, remembering how busy it had been a few days ago. The local shop owners had been rushing in for a noontime lunch hour, and she’d had to dodge Bob Evans wheeling in a cart of pizza flour and Owen Winters juggling boxes of herbs as they made deliveries, threading through the lunch crowd to get their product to the big walk-in cooler in the back. Even with all the people who showed up at lunch Heinrich was in his element, shifting from welcoming host to expert pizza artist with good humor and ease.

  She chose a back booth by the kitchen so they could have some privacy while they talked, and didn’t have long to wait. James nearly jogged in, quickly sighting Amanda and breaking into a big smile as he slid into the seat opposite her.

  “So sorry I’m late, but I stopped to help a stranded motorist. Have you ordered yet?” Amanda showed him her selection on the paper menu and he nodded happily. “Looks good. I’m starved!”

  Amanda fidgeted a bit, and then plunged into what she’d been mulling over while she waited. “I was hoping we could talk about what you’d discovered about Anderson Bowles. James, I know you found a bullet lodged in the motor –“

  “And a bullet hole in the side of the boat,” James added helpfully.

  “Yes, so if there were at least two shots fired, why wasn’t there blood on the body, or under it? If Anderson had been shot, wouldn’t there be more…” Amanda struggled for the proper word – “Gore?”

  James lowered his voice so that the two of them were the only ones who could hear. “I don’t think he was shot. I didn’t see any bulletholes in the body. Someone definitely was firing a gun around that boat, but I don’t think that’s what killed him. Also, they could’ve been firing a gun weeks or months beforehand. We won’t know until the crime lab goes over all the evidence.”

  Amanda paused, putting together what James was saying and trying to shift gears from her previous thought that Anderson had been killed by a gun. “Do you know anything about the bullets?”

  James leaned forward, his face deadly serious. “Amanda, if I talk to you about this I need to be sure that nothing’s going to wind up in the paper. I know you’re friends with Lisa, but any time too much information gets out it can jeopardize an investigation.”

  She looked surprised. “I promise, okay?” Maybe James had to say what he did, but it still kind of hurt her feelings that he would think that she would blab to the local reporter, even if she was her friend. “Whatever we say at the table stays at this table.” She shifted in her chair, and finally said, “I have to admit I feel kind of involved in all this because I was the one who found the body. Also, since I was there when he had the argument at the farmers market I think I deserve to know what’s going on with the investigation.”

  “I know you’re not involved in his death, Amanda, or I wouldn’t even be talking to you about all this. They’ve installed videocams at the cannery to keep vandals away, and one of them clearly shows you walking on the beach and then discovering the body.”

  It had never occurred to her that there would be any question about whether she was a part in Anderson Bowles’ death.

  “So I’m not a suspect, right?”

  He grinned. “You’re only in trouble if you don’t keep your voice down. Glad we’ve got a back booth.”

  James flagged down a passing waitress and asked for coffee with cream, then turned back to Amanda, his face serious. “Okay, we did learn some things about the bullet but not as much as I’d hoped. Only the caliber. It was a .38.”

  Amanda didn’t know much about guns and most of what she had learned had been gleaned from TV. “Is that an unusual size of bullet? Is there any way you can find out who it belonged to?”

  “I can’t tell you whose gun it was fired from, but I can tell you the bullet that was shot into the motor had a trajectory that started about two feet above the bottom of the boat.” Amanda looked surprised and James continued. “Whoever fired that gun wasn’t standing up when pulling the trigger. It looks like somebody was lying down or crouching.”

  “Crouching? Wouldn’t somebody who was trying to kill him have shot it from a different boat, or would have been standing over him?”

  “That’d be what I’d expect, too. We checked the markings on the bullet and searched the national database but didn’t get any matches. Whatever gun that came from, it hasn’t been recorded as being used in any crime.”

  James poured some cream in his coffee and started to stir it, his mind obviously not on what he was doing. “Amanda, I need to ask you some questions about Meg and her relationship with Anderson Bowles.”

  There it was, the question that Amanda had been dreading. “What do you want to know?” She asked, trying not to sound defensive. Meg had been the first friend she’d made in Ravenwood Cove, and she felt protective of her.

  “I need to know what their relationship was like and why they stopped dating. I know all about the argument at the farmers market, and I just need you to tell me what happened.” When she leaned back and crossed her arms across her chest, James pressed on hurriedly, knowing that whatever he said would upset her.

  “Look, Amanda, you talk to your girlfriends all the time and I know you three talk about your personal lives, including who you’re dating.”

  “They met over the internet, dated a couple of times, and he turned out to be a total jerk who only wanted one thing.” James raised his eyebrows and Amanda continued. “When Meg wouldn’t give it to him and dumped him he started stalking her.”

  “Apparently he didn’t want to take no for an answer.”

  She nodded. “Exactly. I don’t know if he’d never been rejected before or what his problem was, but the day at the farmers market he started yelling and grabbed her, and then George took him off to jail. By the way –“she straightened up, her face serious. “why didn’t he stay in jail?”

  “Owen Winters didn’t press charges, and Meg wouldn’t, either. He was out the next day after paying a fifty dollar fine for disturbing the peace. I know George advised him to leave town and that he’d planned to keep an eye out for him, but apparently that didn’t work out.”

  “What about the boat? Did it belong to Bowles?”

  James shook his head. “Nope. It’s from Ian Victor’s boat rental business, and he’s not very happy that we’ve had to keep it as evidence, even if it is one of the smallest fishing boats he rents out. Says he was going to sue us and then we’d all be working for him. The whole police force, sheriff included.” James rolled his eyes and took a sip. “As if I’d work for a boss like that.” He winked mischievously at Amanda and she laughed.

  “Isn’t Ian the balding guy who always seems to be drinking coffee at Ivy’s and working the crossword puzzle in the newspaper?”

  James nodded. “That’s the guy. On bad weather days there aren’t many people who will rent boats and Ian would rather drink two gallons of coffee and chat about who’s catching what off the bar than go home to that wife of his.”

  Heinrich brought the hot pizza over himself, the top of it still steaming from the brick pizza oven. He slid it in front of James with a smile and stuck out his hand. “Always happy to feed the local peacekeepers, Detective. How’s the knee?”

  James shook Heinrich’s hand and grinned. “Right as rain, Heinrich. How’s biz?” Heinrich face lit up. “Best it’s ever been, thanks to that little lady right there,” he said as he gestured at Amanda. “Lots of new customers every weekend, and now we’re busy even during the week. She’s a wonder!”

  James’ eyes lingered on Amanda’s face. “Yep, she is.” Just the action of James looking at her face made her feel self-conscious and she dropped her eyes and smoothed back a stray lock of her hair. Heinrich headed back to the kitchen and James started dishing up the pizza onto crockery plates as if the conversation was done, but Amanda had other plans.

  “What�
��s up with your knee?”

  James made a face of disgust. “I fell off a horse about a week ago. I was riding a gelding that hadn’t been ridden for a while and well, he had an attitude.”

  “He dumped you.” Amanda couldn’t help but grin at the mental image of her tall friend being unceremoniously bucked off a horse.

  “My foot was still in the stirrup so it twisted my knee a bit. No big thing.” He brushed it off but she could tell he was a bit embarrassed.

  “Let me guess. Your spiffy cowboy boots got caught?”

  “I don’t wanna talk about it.” His voice was serious but his eyes were sparkling, and he finally shrugged in confirmation.

  “After we polish off this pizza, I think we should swing by Ian’s boat rental place. The weather’s decent and I didn’t see him sitting by the front window at Ivy’s so it should be a good time to ask him a few questions.”

  Amanda sat back, surprised. “You want me to come with you?”

  The detective nodded and shook some extra red pepper flakes onto his slice of pizza. “Yes, I do. Ian doesn’t care much for anyone telling him what to do, and that definitely extends to anyone with a badge. I’ll bet he’d talk to a pretty girl, though,” he added, taking an enormous bite of pizza and smiling at her.

  “So I’m your partner, detective?” she teased.

  James’ enigmatic smile stayed in place. “You really haven’t met Ian yet, have you?”

  Chapter 6

  Within twenty minutes, James was sitting in the passenger seat of Amanda’s car, and Amanda was pulling into the gravel parking lot by Ian Victor’s small boat rental business. Amanda loved her new car, even if it wasn’t truly new. She’d bought it right after her old one had been totaled by Charles Timmins when he’d tried to kill her. It felt good to be rid of the battered car, because just looking at it brought back the feelings of fear and pain from that terrible day, and besides, it didn’t have cargo space for supplies for the Ravenwood Inn or enough headroom for her tall friend, James.