Murder At The Bed & Breakfast

by Dianne Harman

  She was clearly torn between not wanting them to enter her house and her desire to see the photographs of the husband she’d idolized. Her desire to see the photos won. “All right, you can come in for a few minutes, but don’t get too comfortable. You won’t be here for long.”

  She turned and walked into the house. Renee looked over at Liz and nodded towards a door off the kitchen. “Let’s sit on the couch, Nancy. That way I can be next to you when I explain the photographs to you.” The couch faced away from the door Renee had nodded towards.

  “Mrs. Messinger,” Liz said, “I’m so sorry, but I seem to have eaten something that isn’t agreeing with me. Would you mind if I used your bathroom?”

  “I’d rather you didn’t, but I suppose I probably better let you. It’s down the hall on the left.” Liz walked down the hall as Renee opened the first page of the photo album and slowly explained where the pictures on the page had been taken and when. Liz knew from the number of pages and what they had pre-agreed on that she only had about seven or eight minutes to see what she could find out about what was going on in the house.

  *****

  “Of course I’ll take my mother-in-law’s call,” Bob said to his secretary. “Good morning, Camille. I hope Celia is behaving herself.”

  “As always, but that’s not why I called. I should have told you this last night, but with everything else, it didn’t seem all that important. I’ve been thinking about it this morning, and the more I think about it the more worried I am, particularly after Don said in his letter that he thought Nancy had some kind of a mental problem.”

  “Camille, I don’t understand why you’re calling. We talked about the letter and the Will last night and decided not to do anything until after we found out who murdered Laura.”

  “Bob, this isn’t about the Will. I’m calling to tell you I overheard a conversation between Renee and Liz late yesterday afternoon. No, that’s not quite true. I eavesdropped, so I could hear a conversation Renee and Liz were having. What I heard is causing me some concern, and I thought I better call you and tell you about it. It seems they’ve cooked up some scheme to go to Nancy’s house and have Renee show her photographs of Don and explain them while Liz snoops around the house. They were talking about the basement in Nancy’s house and trying to figure out a way for Liz to get in it.”

  “If Nancy really is crazy,” Bob said, “they could both be in danger. I’m a half hour away here in Dillon, but I’ll call Roger right now and see if he can go over there. It’s pretty close for him. Did they say anything else?”

  “Something about a neighbor hearing spiritual music coming from the house and candles being delivered. Celia started crying about then, so I couldn’t completely make out everything they were saying.”

  “I’m on my way there. I’ll call Roger now and let you know when I find out something.” He raced out the door of his law office, and over his shoulder yelled to his secretary, “Cancel any appointments I have today. I’ll call you later.” He ran to his car and began speeding towards Red Cedar. As soon as he was on the road, he called Roger.

  “Hi, Bob,” Roger said. “Liz told me about the Will she found yesterday and that we should probably get together and figure out how you should proceed with this. Thought I’d ask a couple of guys at the firm who are experts in probate law what needs to be done. I also want an…”

  Bob interrupted Roger in mid-sentence and said in an urgent tone of voice, “Hold on Roger. Listen to me. Liz and Renee have gone to Nancy’s house. They’ve cooked up some plan for Renee to show Nancy photographs of Don while Liz explores the house and particularly the basement. You need to get over there now. I have a very bad feeling about what they’re doing. If you need help, the Gruber’s live next door. I’ll call them right now.”

  “On my way. I’ll call you when I know something.” He ended the call and looked down to where Winston was lying on the floor at his feet.

  Of all the times for Liz not to take Winston with her. I can’t believe she’s doing something like this and never said a word to me. He grabbed his gun, yelled to Winston, and ran out the door. I just hope I get there in time.

  CHAPTER 30

  As soon as Liz was out of Nancy’s range of vision she walked to the door that Renee had nodded towards when they entered the house. She turned the doorknob, and the door easily swung away from her, revealing steps that led down to what Liz presumed was the basement Renee had told her about yesterday. She could just make out the steps with the light that was coming from several windows at the tops of the basement walls. Liz didn’t talk about her niggle very much, but at the moment it was on high alert. Liz slowly descended the narrow stairwell that was enclosed by walls on both sides. She had no idea what awaited her at the bottom of the stairs.

  Her foot hit the basement floor, and she gasped as she looked around at the basement in astonishment. Every square inch of the basement walls were covered in gold leaf, and even the floor had been covered in gold leaf. At the back of the room on top of a gold leaf table was the emerald and ruby encrusted urn Sean had told her about. Liz assumed it held Don’s ashes. Candles of every height lined the room. About six feet in front of the urn was the Savonarola chair with its silk cushion and diamond woven fringe. Resting on the cushion was a book entitled How to Conduct a Séance and subtitled Calling Your Husband Back from the Dead. There was a CD player on another gold leaf table with a stack of CDs on it.

  Liz walked over to the CD player and looked at the titles: Séances for Calling Your Spouse; Music to Listen to During a Séance; and Music to Bring Back a Loved One were just a few of the titles. She shivered involuntarily.

  She’s crazy, Liz thought. She’s got to be crazy. She bought all this stuff so she could hold séances to reach out and talk to her dead husband. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this.

  She was so absorbed in what she was looking at she didn’t hear the door open at the top of the stairs or the click of the lock on the door. She never heard Nancy descend the stairs until she heard a voice say, “So now you know what I’m doing. I didn’t think you came here the day before yesterday to pay your respects. I knew you were up to something, so I read about you on the Internet. I found out you’re an amateur sleuth who’s gotten lucky a couple of times solving murder cases. I know you know I killed Laura.”

  “Nancy, where’s Renee?” Liz asked, stepping back from the woman who held a large revolver with a metal object attached to the end of the barrel.

  “She’s upstairs, resting. I bashed her real good with the butt of my pistol and she’s out cold. I’ll bring her down here later, so she can permanently join her father for a little while. Rather fitting, don’t you think?” she asked, laughing maniacally. “Once I kill her I won’t put her in the urn. That one’s reserved for Don. After she’s spent a little time down here telling her father how sorry she is she married that Mexican, I’ll kill her like I did her sister and bury her in the back yard garden.”

  “So you own a gun with a silencer on it. That’s what that thing is on the end of the barrel, isn’t it?” Liz asked.

  “Yes, this old revolver was Don’t favorite. He took it to a gun shop and had them install a silencer on it so he could shoot little animals that would get in our garden from time to time. Critters like rabbits, squirrels, skunks, and every once in a while, a coyote. With the silencer on it, there was no sound other than a ‘whoosh’ and the neighbors never heard a gunshot when he shot one of them. It came in real handy when I decided to kill Laura. She just opened the door when I knocked, and when she saw the gun in my hand she moved as far away as she could from the crib. I pulled the trigger, and there was no sound of a gunshot, only the ‘whoosh’ sound. That’s why no one at Cindy’s Bed & Breakfast ever heard anything, but I suppose you already figured out that the gun that killed Laura must have been equipped with a silencer, given how smart you’re supposed to be at solving murders.”

  “Nancy, you won’t get away with this. People know that
strange things have been going on here. When Renee and I are missed, they’ll come here looking for us.”

  “Don’t think so. Both of you are too smart to tell people you were going to come here. I’ll bet neither one of your husbands knows a thing about you being here. And surprise of surprises, you’re going into the garden right beside Renee. Can’t let you go given how much you know, Ms. Hotshot Amateur Sleuth. This is the last murder case you’ll ever work on. Too bad no one will ever know you solved it. The silencer will make sure that no one hears the gunshots. Who knows? Maybe the coyotes will discover both of you. Not much is sacred in a garden when there are wild animals around and living on the edge of town, we’ve been known to get a lot of them.

  “After I put you and Renee in the garden, I’ll take her car and roll it off a cliff into the ocean. I can walk the two miles back here. Everyone will assume the two of you were in the car when it went into the ocean. The only thing is they won’t be able to find your bodies. The authorities will figure they washed out to sea with the tide. They’ll never know you and Renee will be in the garden, and no one would ever think to dig up my yard. Why would they?”

  Liz was starting to panic and wished she’d brought her purse with her. If she had access to it, she thought maybe she could have tried to grab the gun Roger insisted she keep in her purse. And what about Winston? She wished she’d at least brought him and let him stay in the car. As perceptive as he was, he might have sensed something was wrong. The only thing she could think to do was stall for time. She didn’t know what good it would do, but she knew she wasn’t quite ready to die.

  “Nancy, I have to admit I kind of find all of this fascinating. My first husband died, and I never thought to hold a séance for him. How do you do it?”

  “I had to do a lot of research on it, and that’s why I’ve just started to hold them in the last few days. I needed a quiet room with a lot of candles. The gold leaf was my touch. Don deserves the best. Traditionally, three or more people are at a séance, but I found some instances where only one person held it. Every night I sit here playing music and talking to Don. I ask him questions, and the answers are always revealed. I know he’s here with me, right here in this room. He didn’t want to leave me. It was his anger over his daughters that caused his fatal heart attack. He’d never leave me.”

  “That’s a lot of candles to light. Do you light each one of them every night?”

  “Yes, I have more in the garage for when I use these up. Candles are a critically important part of a séance.”

  “Don’t you think the neighbors will wonder what you’re doing?”

  “No. They’re all asleep. The best time to contact the spirits is between 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. Don’s always waiting for me. It’s so reassuring to be with him again, but we’ve talked long enough. I know you’re hoping someone will rescue you, but there’s no one here but me. Oh, Renee’s here, but as hard as I hit her, she won’t be available for quite awhile.”

  Liz took a deep breath and knew that time was running out. She just hoped Roger knew how much she loved him and how happy she’d been to be his wife, even though it had been for only a few short days. She didn’t want him to go through the death of another wife, but she didn’t know what she could do about it. Nancy held all the cards in her hand in the form of the gun with the silencer.

  CHAPTER 31

  Roger parked his car around the block from the Messinger home. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t seen. He and Winston turned the corner running and saw a couple he assumed were the Grubers standing in the yard next to Nancy Messinger’s house.

  He ran over to them and said, “I’m Roger Langley. You must be the Grubers. Do you know anything about what’s going on next door?”

  “I’m Jeff Gruber. Thank heavens you’re here. Bob called and said there might be trouble next door, so I looked in the front window. Renee’s lying on the floor in the living room, and she’s not moving. See those windows at the base of the house? They’re basement windows. When I didn’t see Nancy in the living room, I looked in one of them. I saw a woman and Nancy standing in the basement, and Nancy had a gun pointed at the woman. Looked like there was gold everywhere. Dangedest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “Is there a door leading to the basement from outside the house?” Roger asked, taking his gun out of its holster.

  “No. You’ll have to go in the house through the front door. The door leading to the basement is just off the kitchen,” Jeff Gruber said. “Want me to come with you?”

  “No. I’ve got pretty good protection here,” he said, looking at Winston who was quivering. Anything else I should know?”

  “No. I’ll call the police.”

  “When you call, ask for the chief of police and tell him Liz Langley’s in trouble. She knows him,” he said over his shoulder as he and Winston sprinted towards Nancy’s house. He put his hand on the front doorknob, and it easily opened. A moment later he and Winston were in the house. He saw Renee lying on the floor. He could see her chest move and knew she was breathing, but he couldn’t take the time to help her. It was critical for him to get downstairs to where Liz was being held at gunpoint.

  Roger walked quietly to the door the Grubers had mentioned, Winston beside him. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. He heard the squeak it made from his effort and jumped to one side, pulling Winston with him. A bullet whizzed silently through the door and lodged in the wall across from it. Roger jumped back in front of the door and kicked it as hard as he could. Fortunately, the hinges were old, and it easily flew open.

  He heard Liz’s voice. “Whoever’s there, please help me. I knocked Nancy down when she turned her back on me and shot at the door, and I was able to get her gun. I have it aimed at her. Please, help me,” Liz said in a terrified voice.

  Roger and Winston raced down the stairs. Winston ran over to Liz and sat in front of her, growling and snarling at Nancy who was laying prone on the golden floor. Roger aimed his pistol at Nancy and said, “Liz, tell me what happened.”

  “She’s the one who killed Laura. She admitted it. She blames Laura for Don’s death. She told me when Laura told Don she’d decided to live with Renee and Bob, it was the last straw. She thinks it put Don over the edge, because he had his fatal heart not long after.”

  “Liz, the Grubers called Seth. He should be here any minute. What’s with this room? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “It’s a room Nancy built, so she could hold séances in it and speak to Don. It’s pretty unbelievable. This room is probably worth more than all of the houses on this street put together. I have no idea if you can take gold leaf off of walls and sell it or whatever, but if you can, it would be worth a fortune.”

  Nancy was sobbing and through her sobs she said, “Don loves this room. His spirit is here. You have to leave it like it is for him. He’ll be lost forever if it’s changed.”

  “Mrs. Messinger,” Roger said, “I’m no expert in matters like this, but from what I’ve heard Don is elsewhere and not in this room. It isn’t going to make any difference to him what happens here, and the jail cell you’re going to soon be in is definitely not going to be covered in gold leaf.”

  The sound of a siren neared, and they heard brakes screeching as the chief of police’s car came to a stop in front of the house. It was quiet for a moment, and then the fat police chief yelled from the top of the stairs, “This is Police Chief Seth Williams. Who’s down there?”

  “It’s okay, Seth. This is Roger Langley. Liz and I are down here and we’re holding someone you need to arrest.”

  “Liz, Roger, I’m comin’ down. Yer’ safe now. Seth’s here. Everything’s gonna be okay.” He waddled down the stairs, careful not to let the gravitational pull from the weight of his belly pull him forward and make him fall down the stairs.

  When he got to the bottom he stopped and looked around in awe. “Ain’t never seen nothin’ like this.” He turned and saw Roger aiming a gun at Nancy. “Well, I’ll be d
urned. Don’t this beat all. Uptight, snippety, better than everyone else Nancy Messinger got caught with her tootsie in the candy jar. Can’t think of anyone I’d rather see in a cell than her. Always thought she was better than everyone else jes’ because ‘ol dead Don used to be the mayor of this here city. Soon’s my deputy gets here, we’ll take her in. Roger, what am I s’posed to charge her with?”

  “First degree murder, attempted murder, and assault and battery. That ought to keep some lawyer busy for a while,” Roger said. He looked over at Liz who was sitting on the floor with Winston’s head in her lap. “Are you all right?”

  “Barely, just barely. How did you know I was here?”

  “Bob’s mother-in-law overheard what you and Renee were planning to do this morning and became worried. She called Bob, and he immediately called me. He’s on his way here. You probably better go upstairs and see how Renee’s doing. Seth and I have this covered.”

  Liz walked up the stairs, carefully keeping a wide distance between Nancy and herself. As she left, she looked around the basement one more time in complete and total amazement. Winston followed her. She was half-way up the stairs when Roger said, “By the way, Liz, you promised me you would have your gun and Winston with you at all times. What happened?”

  “Well, Roger. It’s kind of like this. I told Nancy I had to go to the bathroom, so I left my purse in the living room. Thought it might look strange if I took it into the bathroom with me. As for Winston, guilty as your voice implies. I knew Nancy wouldn’t let me bring him into her home, and I didn’t want him sitting in Renee’s car, so I decided to leave him at home. I know. I made a big mistake.”