Nosy Neighbor: All 7 complete Nosy Neighbor cozy mysteries PLUS: 2 short Christmas stories (A Nosy Neighbor mystery)

by Cynthia Hickey

  The second floor of the main building had twelve single king-size bed suites. I stared at the doors lining the hall. “We should have asked which room Amber was in.”

  “Mrs. Granger is in room one-o-two,” a maid said, exiting room one-o-one. “She’s not feeling well.”

  “Thank you. We’re checking on her.” I knocked on Amber’s door and waited for her to answer.

  A pale, sweating version of the pretty woman peered through the opening. “Let me get the chain off.” She fumbled for a moment, then opened the door. “Come in. I hope you don’t mind talking to me while I lay down. I have a touch of the flu, I think.”

  She really did look awful, but I couldn’t let my judgment be clouded by sympathy. I chose a chair by the small round table while Mom took the other.

  Amber pulled the blankets up to her armpits. “I assume you’re here to give me some news?”

  “Actually,” I leaned forward, balancing my elbows on my knees and peered intently into her eyes. “I want to know why you lied to me.”

  “Lied?” She paled further, if that were possible.

  “You didn’t find underwear in your husband’s luggage. You went to Australia. Did you purchase the jellyfish there?”

  She hung her head and took a shuddering breath. “I did find panties in the glove compartment of his car. I don’t know how long they had been there, but…” She straightened. “that’s why I flew to Australia. I caught him kissing a woman in the elevator of his hotel, and left before he could see me. I did not purchase anything. Not even a hotel room. I wandered Sydney until my flight the next day.” Tears ran down her cheeks. “You have to believe me.”

  A check of credit card records should answer for sure. “Who is the woman?”

  “I only saw the back of her head. She has blond hair.”

  So did half the population of the resort. “The facts are piling against you, Amber.”

  “Would I have hired you if I were guilty?”

  “Maybe. If you thought hiring a PI would take the attention off of you.”

  “Despite his affair, I loved my husband. I need you to believe me.” She turned green and made a dash for the bathroom.

  The sound of retching had me making a beeline out of her room. Vomit and I did not get along. I leaned against the outside wall and took deep breaths while Mom, being the compassionate type, cared for Amber.

  Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I believed Amber’s declaration of innocence. I’d made mistakes before in who to trust, but my gut told me she hadn’t killed Seth. All I had to do was find the correct blond woman.

  Three of the bridesmaids were blond, Cheri, two of the cleaning maids; those were the only the ones who came readily to mind. What if Seth’s killer wasn’t on the grounds? What if she’d made a special trip up the mountain for the sole purpose of dumping her tiny friends into his bubble bath? I had more questions than the SATs.

  “You are such a baby,” Mom said, joining me in the hall. “That is one sick girl. We need to check on her again in a couple of hours. She may need to see a doctor.”

  I nodded. “As long as you handle…that.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “How can you look at a dead body and see blood, but not stick around while someone is sick?”

  “I have a phobia.”

  She shook her head. “You have a poor attempt at an excuse that you use at every opportunity. Now what?”

  “Let’s see if we can find that bevy of beauties who swarm around Matt and Wayne. Maybe we can do some eavesdropping or, if we’re lucky, witness some suspicious behavior.”

  “You’re grasping at straws.”

  “Yes, I am.” I glanced down. “What is on your shoe? Oh, my, gosh.” I staggered back. “Is that...is it…?”

  “Oatmeal, Stormi. I dropped my breakfast. I guess I missed a spot when I cleaned up.” She sighed and led the way to the elevator. “How did I raise such a child?”

  I ignored her comment and headed for the pool area. The day held a definite nip in the air, but the pool was heated. Sure enough, the group huddled around the hot tub in bathing suits skimpy enough to barely be considered decent. In lounge chairs, reclined my fiancé and his partner. I scowled their way and chose seats away from them, but close enough to the hot tub that I could hear what the girls had to say.

  Jealousy was not an experience I had been around much, and I didn’t like it a bit. Tears pricked the back of my eyelids. I needed to trust the man I loved. He was a good undercover detective. He would do his job and come back to me. As if he could read my thoughts, Matt winked my way, bringing my world back into focus.

  “He is so hot!” A petite brunette glanced Matt’s way.

  I wanted to pull her hair out.

  “A wounded cop. You can’t get dreamer than that!”

  “You’re engaged, Shelby,” one of the other girls said, giving Shelby a playful push. “Things didn’t go so well when you fooled around with that married guy. He ended up dead.”

  My ears perked up so far, I probably looked like a rabbit. I glanced over and noticed a muscle ticking in Matt’s jaw. He’d put on sunglasses and, to anyone looking at him, appeared to be sleeping.

  “I didn’t kill him, but how gross is that?” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “What if I was the last one to…you know…with him?”

  “You didn’t!”

  She covered her face, but not before I saw her smile. “What happens at a bachelorette party stays at a bachelorette party. Besides, I’m tying the knot in a week. A girl needs to have some fun before going to prison.”

  “That’s a sad way of looking at marriage.”

  “I’m only marrying him because of his money. He’s old enough to be my father. He’s the lucky one.” She giggled and leaned back, her little white veil drifting on top of the water.

  How could anyone go through life with that kind of a mindset? I wasn’t a prude, by any means, but I’d made a vow in high school Sunday school class to wait until marriage. This woman did everything but wait. The mysteries I got involved in, sure showed the seedier side of life.

  “If your groom finds out about you playing around, he’ll cancel the wedding.”

  “He won’t find out.” She wiggled her fingers at Wayne. “I don’t leave a trail.”

  The blushing bride-to-be shot to the top of my suspect list. What if she killed Seth to keep him from spilling the beans about their little rendezvous?

  6

  “She’s going to kill my Wayne.” Angela stomped past me and wrapped her arms around Wayne’s neck, then planted the steamiest kiss on his lips I’d ever seen outside of the movies. When she straightened, she sent a smug smile in the direction of the hot tub.

  “Oh, honey, if I want your man, there isn’t a thing you can do about it,” Shelby said. “You remember that. But, if it’s any consolation, I always throw my fish back.”

  Angela’s face reddened, and her fists clenched. Mom took her by the arm and pulled her away before we had another murder on our hands.

  I was torn between staying and keeping an eye on the women clearly interested in our men or helping Mom with my sister. I chose to leave. I wanted to google Shelby Richards.

  On my way, I yanked Rusty from the bushes. “Stop spying. It’s creepy.”

  “Rusty sees—”

  “Yes, I know. Rusty sees things. Go get something to eat. Charge it to cottage ten.” I continued to guide my sister away from the pool. Wait. “Rusty, what did you see?” When would I learn to listen to him?

  “Mean girl.”

  “Yes. Several of them. You stay away, understand?”

  He glanced toward the main building and nodded before dashing back to the bushes. A few seconds later, I spotted him scurrying through the door to the restaurant. His messages might be hard to decipher at times, but I was learning to listen when he spoke, sort of. At least, I was trying. I cast a glance back toward the pool area, then continued to the cottage.

  “This is your fault!”
Angela slapped me on the arm. “I’m going to lose him.”

  “Stop being so dramatic. If Wayne loves you, he won’t go anywhere. We need him and Matt to flirt with these girls to see what they know.” I shoved aside my own gnawing jealousy. “Instead, let’s focus our attentions on finding out more about Bridezilla. Once this case is solved, you’ll have Wayne back full time.”

  I carried my laptop to the round dinette table and booted it up. Typing in Shelby Richards brought up dozens of links. It seems our little bride made the rounds, appearing in several newspapers, attending charity functions, hanging on the arm of a handsome, but much older man. Further digging showed she didn’t come from money. In fact, until being seen on a regular basis with multimillionaire Lawrence Boyd, she was unknown.

  Little slutty, gold digger. I sat back and said a prayer of repentance. Who was I to judge her? I didn’t know the path she’d had to walk through life. But…if she did kill Seth Granger, I would make sure she paid for the crime.

  “I’m going to check on Amber. Anyone want to come with me?” Mom paused at the door.

  “I’ll come.” I closed my laptop and followed, leaving my sister to continue her dramatics.

  Shrill laughter and splashing came from the pool area. I sincerely hoped Matt wasn’t romping in the water with those women. Everything in me wanted to go see. But, what little common sense I possessed at the moment said to let them be.

  We took the elevator to the second floor and knocked on Amber’s room. No one answered.

  “Turn the knob,” Mom said.

  “We can’t just barge in. What if she’s in the shower?”

  “As sick as she looked? No way.” She reached around me and turned the knob. “Locked.”

  I rolled my head on my shoulders. “The doors lock automatically when closed, Mom.”

  “We need to get in that room. I have a bad feeling in my gut.”

  “You aren’t catching whatever Amber has, are you?” I took a step back.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m never sick. Wait here.” She marched away.

  I knocked again, louder and longer, then leaned against the wall to wait. Either Mom would return or Amber would open the door. Until then, I picked at my cuticles and tried to decide how to trip up the killer into making a wrong move. By the time Mom returned with Cheri, I had no idea how to proceed next.

  “Are you sure she was ill enough this morning to warrant us entering her room uninvited?” Cheri frowned. “We try to respect the privacy of our guests.”

  “We’re sure. Open the door, please.” Mom gave a definitive nod.

  The room reeked of one of the things I feared most in life…upchuck. I pinched my nose. “Amber?” I shared a worried look with Mom, then stepped further into the room.

  Amber lay curled up on the bed in her vomit.

  “Stay there.” Mom stepped next to the bed and felt for a pulse. “She’s dead.”

  I dug my cell phone out of my pocket with my free hand and called Matt. “I need you. Main building. Second floor. Hurry.”

  “Be right there.” Click.

  My next call was to the police.

  Mom pulled up the bed sheet and covered Amber, before doing the grossest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do. She leaned close and smelled the throw up. “Did Amber smoke?”

  I shrugged. “I’ve never seen evidence of it,” I said, nasally, slowly backing from the room until I found my way blocked by a heavy breathing Matt.

  “Whoa.” His hands on my shoulders steadied me. “What is that smell?”

  I pointed and continued backing from the room as Wayne rushed in. At the end of the hall was the bridal party.

  “What’s going on?” Shelby marched toward me, her eyes grew wide, and she froze. “Oh, my…” She gagged and joined her friends.

  Wayne marched from the room and back to the girls. “Nothing to see here, ladies. Go on back to the pool.”

  They tried to peer around him, to no avail. Wayne made evasive moves worthy of any NFL player.

  “What happened?” Shelby planted her fists on her hips. “As a guest here, I demand to know why you can go in and I can’t.”

  Because you’re a spoiled brat, is what I was thinking, but wisely kept my mouth shut and watched Wayne try to corral a bevy of curious women. Under different circumstances, I would have found the show very entertaining

  Officer Rodrigues stormed down the hall alongside two paramedics. He glanced at me and shook his head. “You’re like a virus.”

  I’ve been called worse. I moved back to Amber’s doorway, hearing things like poison and murder. Why would someone want to kill her? Her cheating husband—I could understand—but Amber seemed sweet and forgiving, despite being a liar.

  “Shelby.” A loud voice boomed down the hallway.

  I turned and spotted none other than the unhappy groom-to-be stepping into the middle of the bridal party.

  “It’s time for you to come home. This resort is a dangerous place.”

  Matt shot past me. “I’m afraid that can’t happen, sir. Shelby Richards is a suspect in a murder investigation. We’re asking all the guests to stay here, if possible, until the investigation is complete.”

  Lawrence Boyd turned and glared. “What constitutes impossible to stay?”

  “Death in the family.” Matt met his stare. “I’m Detective Steele. This is my partner, Detective Jones, and Officer Rodrigues from the local police station. We’re in charge of the investigation. Feel free to stay with your fiancée if you must, but she isn’t going anywhere.” He turned and marched back to Amber’s room.

  I loved that man. He managed with a few words to put one of the most influential men in Arkansas in his place.

  “Why are you a suspect?” Lawrence turned on Shelby.

  “I don’t know. They must hate me because I’m marrying you. Those officers haven’t had a problem flirting with me until now. If you knew the things they’ve asked me to do.” She wrapped around his arm. “Come to the cottage.”

  “Things I’ve no doubt you weren’t willing to do. I’ve reserved a room for the two of us on this floor. I had hoped to leave in the morning. Now, that cannot happen.” He pulled free. “What did you do, Shelby?”

  Cheri exited Amber’s room. “Everyone should leave. Go to your rooms. If the authorities need to speak with you, then they will come to you.” She held out her hand to Lawrence. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Boyd. I’m the manager of this resort. Let me know if I can do anything to make your stay more pleasant.”

  “You can start with telling me why Shelby is being detained.”

  “You poor dear.” She flicked a glance at Shelby. “Your fiancée has been rather, well, to put it delicately, unfaithful. With the man who is now dead. Please, enjoy your stay.” She glided down the hall as if she hadn’t a care in the world.

  I scratched my head. While the entertainment in the hall was riveting, I wanted to know what was happening in Amber’s room. Instead, I plastered myself against the opposite wall as Lawrence marched his naughty fiancée to room number five. The man looked angry enough to kill.

  Could he have found out about her dalliance with Seth and taken out the competition? But, that didn’t give him a motive to kill Amber, if she had, indeed, been murdered.

  Matt looked out of the room. “You can leave. I’ll come to the cottage when I’ve finished here and showered.”

  I blew him a kiss and grabbed Mom’s arm. “What did you see in there?”

  “The same thing you saw, only I didn’t run out like a rabbit. That poor girl. What an awful way to die.”

  “How do you think she died?”

  “Remember that police drama episode we saw a while back where the man killed his wife by nicotine poisoning?”

  I gasped. “You think?”

  “She had the symptoms, and her vomit smelled a lot like an ashtray. There wasn’t a single thing in that room to show she smoked. I think it’s a strong possibility.”

  Seth died by jellyfish
poisoning and, now, Amber by nicotine. One which is difficult to acquire, the other very easy.

  I needed to find a way to get into Shelby’s room.

  7

  “You have to get that master key card,” Mom said, blowing on a mug of hot coffee. “I’m sure there are more than the one Cheri carries.”

  The trick will be getting into the office again. I doubt I could be that lucky twice, and Mom’s silly diversion about a cougar on the grounds wouldn’t work again.

  “Are we going hiking at all on this so-called vacation?” Cherokee plopped next to me.

  “First thing after breakfast tomorrow. I promise.” I rested my head on the back of the sofa. “How are you at stealing?”

  She shrugged. “I’m okay at it. I took stuff from Mom’s purse all the time when I was little. What do you want me to steal?”

  “You did what?” Angela glared from the chair opposite us. “No wonder I never had any money.”

  “This is different than taking twenty dollars out of your Mom’s purse. I need Cheri’s master key card.”

  “Oh, that will be easy. One of the busboys in the restaurant has the hots for me. I’ll just tell him she confiscated something of mine and I need a card to get it back.”

  I shook my head. “Too risky. I don’t want to involve a third party.”

  “I got it!” Mom tapped her temple. “Always thinking, I am. I was in the restroom in the atrium and Cheri walked in. She hangs her card on a hook next to the sink. All you have to do is follow her until she goes in there. Voila!”

  I closed my eyes and rubbed my temple. “That’s one of your craziest ideas. If she knows the card is missing, she’ll change it.”

  “Let’s hear your great idea.” Mom frowned.

  “I don’t have one. That’s why we’re brainstorming.”

  “I’m telling you to leave it to me.” Cherokee pushed to her feet. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. A girl has to have some fun on vacation.”

  I glanced at Angela, who shrugged. “Okay, if it’s all right with your mother—”

  She grinned. “Be right back with the card.”

  “She’s an adult now.” Angela sighed. “She doesn’t need my permission.”