Murder At The Bed & Breakfast

by Dianne Harman

  “Yes. She received twelve million dollars. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what she’s done with it. Sean said he’d look into it and call me tomorrow.”

  “If anyone can find out, Sean’s the one. I’m whipped. I had a call when I was on the way home and one of my clients needs to see me tomorrow. Evidently it’s an emergency. I have a meeting with him at 1:00 tomorrow afternoon. Sorry, we seem to be getting farther and farther away from our honeymoon. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

  “I promise I’ll let you,” Liz said with a smile on her face.

  CHAPTER 25

  The next morning Liz remembered she’d promised Renee she’d go over to her house that afternoon and help her sort through some papers of Laura’s. She’d told Liz it was just too hard on her mother to do it, and she thought Liz might get a better sense of who Laura was if she went through them with her. Liz sensed she simply wanted someone with her when she did it. She suspected it was just as hard for Renee as it would be for her mother.

  She looked at her watch and decided she better figure out what she was going to have for dinner since she was afraid she might get tied up with Renee and make it back just in time for dinner. She remembered she had some chicken thighs in the refrigerator and started taking out the ingredients she’d need to make coq au vin. She knew it was one of Roger’s favorites and it had been a long time since she’d made it. While she was getting the ingredients together for the slow cooked dinner, her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller I.D. and saw it was Gertie.

  “Good morning, Gertie. How are you?”

  “Hon, if I was any better I’d be twins. Had a coupla new eaters here yesterday and thought ya’ might be interested in what they had to say.”

  “You know I’m always interested in anything you have to tell me. I’m all ears.”

  “Well, there were two guys in here fer’ dinner last night. Never seen ‘em before, so I introduced myself. Matter of fact one of ‘em was purty cute, but that’s another story. Anyway, I asked ‘em what they were doin’ in town, and they said they’d been doin’ a little work over at the Messinger home. Yer’ ears wiggle when ya’ heard that, Liz?”

  “They sure did, Gertie. Did you find out what kind of work they were doing?”

  “Well, yes and no. They told me they were doin’ some gold leafin’ at the house, but they said that’s all they could tell me ‘bout it cuz they’d been sworn to secrecy by Mrs. Messinger. Make any sense to you, Liz?”

  “Absolutely none. The only thing I know about gold leaf is that it’s often used on picture frames. I think some jewelry has gold leaf applied to it but two men working in a house and can’t say what they’re doing? That’s really strange. Did they tell you anything else?”

  “No, nuthin’ other than they’d been there for a day and a half and had jes’ finished the job. They was kind of celebratin’. Said somethin’ ‘bout it bein’ pure 23 karat gold leaf, and their boss was real happy cuz it was a really pricey job. Matter of fact I was curious, so I looked it up on the Internet last night. Lawdy, that stuff is going fer ‘round $1,000 bucks an ounce. I’m as curious as a cat.”

  “If it’s any consolation, I am too. I can’t think of any reason why two workmen would be in a house for a day and a half doing some job with pure gold leaf. I don’t think anyone has that many picture frames.”

  “Well, I’ll leave the info in yer’ hands. If ya’ figger it out, give me a call. Jes’ thought ya’ might be interested.”

  “You know I am, Gertie, but this really has me puzzled. I guess maybe a jeweler could give me information about the various uses of gold leaf. Other than that I don’t know where else I can go to find out information about it.”

  “Why don’t ya’ give Rich Yates a call? He owns the Yates Jewelry Shop in town. Don’t think Roger bought that knuckle buster yer’ wearing from our local jeweler, but if ya’ give him a call, tell him Gertie referred ya.”

  “I’ll call him right now. Again, Gertie, thanks.”

  *****

  “Yates Jewelry Shop” the male voice on the other end of the line said.

  “Hello. My name is Liz Lucas, er Liz Langley. Sorry, I was recently married, and I’m not used to my new name. Anyway, I’m the owner of the Red Cedar Spa and Lodge. Gertie over at the diner suggested I call you. I have a strange request. Do you know of any reason why someone would need two men to work in a residential home with gold leaf for a day and a half?”

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Langley, but is this some kind of prank call? I’ve never heard of anyone needing that much gold leaf.”

  “No. This is very legitimate.” She didn’t mention any names but gave Rich Yates the basics of why she was calling him.

  “Quite frankly, I can’t think of any reason why someone would need that much gold leaf. It’s commonly used on small pieces of jewelry and in some art works. There are large figures of Buddha that are known to be covered in gold-leaf, but I haven’t heard of any that are recent. I would think if something was being gold-leafed and required a day and a half worth of work from two men it would be newsworthy. Something else to think about is why workmen would be using it. I could understand it more if it was a jeweler or artisan, but workmen? It makes no sense to me at all. I will tell you one thing though. If workmen were applying gold leaf in quantities that required two of them to do it for a day and a half, you’re talking about a great deal of money that would be needed to buy that much gold leaf, truly a lot of money. I know I’m not being much help, but that’s about the best I can do.”

  “Thank you very much. I have no idea what this is about, but the fact it could involve a great deal of money is a start. Again, thanks for your time, and the next time I need a jeweler I’ll be in to see you.”

  “I’ll look forward to it, and if you do find out what someone is doing with that much gold leaf, I’d love to know about it.”

  “Consider it done,” she said, ending the call, more baffled than ever by the gold leaf mystery.

  CHAPTER 26

  Roger had gone downstairs to do some work in his new home office in the remodel he and Liz had done to the lodge before they were married. Two existing storerooms had been converted into an office and a “man cave” for Roger along with floor to ceiling windows being installed, allowing him to enjoy the ocean view.

  While Roger was working Liz decided to prep the coq au vin and then put it in the slow cooker to finish cooking. She decided if she got tied up when she went to Renee’s, it wouldn’t matter. The longer the chicken dish cooked, the more the flavors blended. Chicken, mushrooms, wine. Mmmm! Who wouldn’t like that? she thought.

  Once again she praised the original owner of the lodge for having the foresight to install a walk-in pantry. She was just beginning to get the ingredients out of it for the coq au vin when her cell phone rang again.

  “Good morning, Sean. You’re always the bearer of information of some type I can use. Find out anything about Nancy Messinger’s finances?”

  “Yes, Liz, but I don’t know what you’re going to do with this information. It’s some of the strangest I’ve ever run across.”

  “You’re making me very curious.”

  “Here it is. I was able to get all of Nancy Messinger’s bank deposits and disbursements for the last year. Before her husband died, there were the usual expenditures for food, clothes, utilities, you know, the normal household things. As far as deposits, I’ve already told you he was a wealthy man. He had monthly dividends from different investments that were quite substantial. When he died, his wife inherited the investments and liquidated them, resulting in about twelve million dollars being added to her account. For several months after his death, her expenditures didn’t change.”

  “Why do I get the feeling the other shoe is about to drop, Sean?”

  “Because it is. In the last few weeks, there have been some very strange expenditures. One was paid to a company called A-One Gold Leaf in the amount of one million dollars. I don’t know much ab
out gold leaf other than it goes for around a thousand dollars an ounce, so that’s a lot of ounces.”

  “That’s about the strangest thing I’ve ever heard. Why would she buy that much gold leaf?”

  “Good question. I asked myself the same thing. I called the company and talked to the owner. I used the excuse that I was her CPA, and I needed to know the purpose of the purchase for my records. I’ve got to give the guy credit. He was completely discreet and wouldn’t tell me a thing. Usually I can unearth something, but not in this case.”

  “Did you find out anything else?”

  “Yes. She bought an urn that had emeralds and rubies embedded in it. I talked to the jeweler who had set the stones in the urn. It was made of 24 karat gold, and you can just imagine how expensive that alone was, plus the cost of the gems.”

  “Commissioning an urn that close to Don’s death indicates to me she was going to use it for his ashes. From the way everyone said she was almost obsessed with him, I’m not completely surprised by that. Did you find out the name of the mortuary that cremated the body? I’d like to know if she said anything to them about an urn.”

  “I’m one step ahead of you there, Liz. I called the Eternal Life Memorial Home. They’re the ones who handled Don’s cremation. I told them the same thing I’d told the gold leaf guy about needing to know the details, so I could keep the accounting records straight. Had better luck with them than I did the gold leaf guy.”

  “What did you find out?”

  “Don Messinger was cremated and Nancy picked his ashes up from the memorial home the day they became available. The director of the home was the one who took care of her, and he told me something he thought was quite strange, and I agree.”

  “I’m beginning to not be surprised by anything strange this woman does. What did he have to say?”

  “He said she held the urn in her hands when he gave it to her and said to it, ‘Darling, you won’t be in this one for very long. I’m having one made for you of gold, rubies, and emeralds. You deserve it.’ Guess that was the urn she had made.”

  “I’m afraid to even hear the answer to this, but is there anything else?”

  “Yes. She bought an antique Savonarola chair from an auction house in New York. Do you know what that is?

  “I’ve heard of it, but I can’t place it.”

  Sean said laughing, “Glad you’ve heard of it, because I didn’t have a clue what it was. It’s a wooden chair that’s designed in the form of an X. In times past it was used in military campaigns because it could be folded. The one she bought was from the 18th century, but here’s the kicker. The auction house told me that the Savonarola chairs are so uncomfortable that most people who buy them today use a padded cushion when they sit on them. Nancy Messinger had a special cushion made for it out of silk.”

  “Well, that’s understandable. If it was nothing but wood, having a padded cushion for it seems like the first reasonable thing you’ve told me she’s bought recently.”

  “I don’t think having a padded cushion with diamonds is all that reasonable,” Sean said wryly.

  “What?” Liz practically screamed through the phone. “Are you telling me there were diamonds in the cushion?”

  “No, not in the cushion. I talked with the pillow cushion seamstress who had been instructed to enclose each of the diamonds in white gauze and attach them to the fringe on the sides of the pillow. The seamstress was pretty excited about it. She told me the diamonds were brought to her by an armed guard, and the guard was in the room with her the whole time while she sewed the diamonds onto the fringe of the pillow. He paid her and took the pillow with him when he left. She didn’t know why someone would do that, but she was happy to help. I haven’t been able to get ahold of the jeweler who sold her the diamonds.”

  “Sean, I know you’ve seen a lot of things during your time as the chief investigator for Roger’s law firm, but I have to ask you this. Have you ever been involved in a case quite like this?”

  “No. I don’t know what to make of it. I’m just telling you what I found out. Guess it’s up to you to figure out the relevance of it.”

  “Thanks. You have a lot more confidence in my abilities than I do.”

  “My other line is ringing, Mrs. Langley. Talk to you soon.”

  *****

  She ended the call and realized a voice mail had come in on the lodge line. She’d been so intent on what Sean was telling her she’d missed it. She pressed the replay button and listened to it.

  “Liz, it’s Mike Hadley at Serenity Center. I have some news about Nick Hutchinson. He’s in jail in San Francisco. Evidently he was arrested in a drug bust. It bothered me we hadn’t heard from him. I have friends in a few of the police forces ariybd the state, and I emailed them to see if they knew anything about him. When I got the email he’d been arrested and was in jail I emailed my friend back and asked him when Nick had been arrested. I got one of those replies that someone is out of the office until a certain date. I don’t have his cell phone or a private email address. I seem to remember your husband works for a law firm that’s based in San Francisco. He might be able to find something out. Sorry I missed you. Call me if I can help, but that’s all I know.”

  She hung up the phone, trying to digest what Sean and Mike had told her. The first thing that needed to be done was to find out when Nick had been arrested. She walked downstairs to Roger’s home office.

  “Hello, my beautiful wife. I heard you talking on the phone. Anything you want to share with me?”

  “I want to share everything with you,” she said sitting down on the grey and rust plaid upholstered chair next to his desk. “I had a long talk with Sean, and then I had a message from Mike over at the Serenity Center.” She told him about both of the calls.

  “Liz, I’ll handle finding out about Nick. Remember Jim, my friend with the San Francisco Police Department. He was the one who helped you with that tarot card murder. As I remember, he even said he was indebted to you for helping them crack a credit card scamming ring they’d been working on. I’ll give him a call. Do you want me to do anything about what Sean told you?”

  “No. Renee asked me to come over to her house this afternoon and help her go through some of Laura’s papers. She thought it would be too traumatic for her mother. I think the real reason she wants me there is that it’s too traumatic for her. Anyway, let me pick her brain and see if any of this latest information about Nancy rings a bell, although since Renee’s been estranged from both her father and Nancy for quite a while, it probably won’t, but maybe I’ll get some ideas.”

  “I have that meeting this afternoon with a client. Want me to fix something for dinner when I get home?”

  “No. I thought we’d have coq au vin. I’ve prepped it, and I’ll put everything in the crock pot and just let the flavors blend all afternoon. I can make a salad and cook some noodles to go with it. Should be perfect when we’re ready to eat. Good luck with your client, sweetheart. See you later.”

  “Liz, remember to take your two friends with you, your gun and Winston.”

  “I love you, but you’re beginning to sound like a broken record. I will. Promise,” she said, walking out the door.

  CHAPTER 27

  Liz pressed the doorbell on the large ranch style house that Bob and Renee had recently purchased on the outskirts of Dillon. They’d previously been living in an older Arts and Crafts style home, but when Renee found out she was pregnant, she convinced Bob that their daughter-to-be would need a large yard for her toys and pets. Liz laughed to herself as she looked around the yard. Celia was only a few months old, and already one side of the yard had a swing set along with riding toys that were scattered here and there.

  She smiled and thought, not the first time a child’s been spoiled when it’s the first child for a parent who just turned fifty. I’d be willing to bet that little girl will get whatever she wants, and she’ll have Bob wrapped around her finger in no time. Hope Renee is strong enough to counterb
alance Bob’s tendencies.

  The front door was opened a moment later by a woman about Liz’s age. “Come in, come in, you must be Liz. I’m Camille Messinger, Laura’s mother. Congratulations on your recent marriage. I’m sorry you have to deal with all of this this during a time when you should have been enjoying your honeymoon.”

  “It’s nice to meet you. I’d like to express my condolences. I am so sorry. What a senseless thing to have happen. I never met Laura, but I’m a mother, and I can only imagine what you must be going through,” she saud as she walked into the house and was greeted by Renee.

  “I’m so glad you could come. I haven’t gone through anything yet. It’s so painful, and yet I know it needs to be done. I’m hoping there will be something in Laura’s papers and things that can help identify who murdered her. I keep thinking if it’s Nick, maybe there’s an angry letter in there from him. Have you found out anything?”

  “Yes, actually I’ve found out quite a bit, but I’d rather get this over with first. We can talk later. How do you want to go about it?”

  Renee and her mother exchanged a look. “Liz,” Camille said, “I don’t think either one of us can do this without getting so emotional we probably wouldn’t be of much use. Renee told me you’d asked her if there was anything you could do for her. Would you go through Laura’s papers? You’ll know if something’s important. I think if either of us did it, we’d dissolve in tears.”

  “Of course. I understand, and I’d be happy to do it for you. Where are her things? And do you want me to go through her clothes as well?”

  Renee began to walk down the hall, indicating Liz was to follow her. “I put a pile of papers and correspondence on her desk. Why don’t you start there? When you finish with that, call me. Laura had a habit of sticking letters and things in her pockets to be read later. I’m wondering if she stuck something important in one of them and forgot about it. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I’d be forever grateful if you could check her clothes, too.”