Murder, Mayhem and Bliss (Myrtle Grove Garden Club Mystery Book 1)

by Loulou Harrington

  “Well, you don’t normally think of Lindsey as delicate,” Jesse said, then dropped her voice to a whisper. “Hey, you don’t think one of those news guys tried to hit on her, do you? That really seems to set her off.”

  SueAnn covered her cheeks with both hands. “I was too busy eavesdropping on everyone else to pay any attention to Lindsey.”

  “Speaking of which, did you hear anything?” Jesse asked, her voice returning to normal as she remembered her promise to let SueAnn speak before the meeting ended.

  “Oh, not much. It looks like Lindsey got all the action today. There was just this one lady. She said something kind of weird. I pointed her out to you,” SueAnn said to Sophia.

  “Yeah, that was.…” Sophia frowned. “Uh, Marjorie, what’s her name. Her husband’s a CPA. Fred, uh, Dawson. That’s it, Marjorie Dawson. She was sitting with Bea Turner. She certainly seemed to have Bea’s attention. So, what was she saying?”

  “I didn’t really understand it, but it was like, if Harry Kerr had lived, there was going to be a big shakeup not too far in the future. And I got the impression it was something she knew from her husband, the accountant. Like he had some kind of business with Harry or something. She wasn’t really going into detail. Just kind of dropping hints about a big scandal. The woman she was talking to seemed all ears.”

  Jesse looked to her mother. “How well do you know Bea Turner?”

  “I know her from church. We talk occasionally. Better than I know Marjorie Dawson.”

  “Do you think Bea would be offended if we dropped in to see her, and confessed to overhearing something we’d like to know more about? Vivian and I were discussing bringing in an auditor to go over Harry’s books at the dealership. We could use that as an entry, if we needed to.”

  “Well,” Sophia conceded, “Bea does like to talk. And she’s not above a little gossip.”

  “Since the books are about to be examined, Fred or Marjorie might want to come forward beforehand with anything they know. And it would certainly be helpful if Bea shared whatever information Marjorie told her so we could approach the situation tactfully. Does that sound reasonable?”

  “You are a sneaky woman,” Lindsey said, returning to the table, apparently recovered from whatever had upset her.

  “Thank you. In case you didn’t notice, it takes some thought.”

  “So, are we visiting Bea right after Mrs. Culpepper?” Sophia asked. “Because I think she’s more of a cinnamon roll type of person.”

  “Say a half-dozen? With icing?” Jesse suggested.

  “She’ll tell us everything she knows,” Sophia said with a nod. “Maybe we should do a few extra just in case you think of someone else to grill.”

  “Oh, good idea. Very good idea.”

  Remembering the surprise meeting she hoped to have with Cindilee Marshall, the planning session with Vivian and the possible inclusion of Fred Dawson, plus the mysterious young boyfriend she needed to locate, Jesse grabbed the bag of dessert and headed up the stairs for her next group counseling session, thinking that maybe several dozen rolls would be a good idea.

  Tomorrow promised to be a very busy Monday.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Hey,” Jesse greeted as she entered her side of the second floor, also loosely referred to as her apartment. Even she hesitated to call it that. What had once been several bedrooms and a bathroom had now been completely redesigned as an open-concept kitchenette, living/dining room and a bedroom only marginally separated from the rest by an armoire, a bookcase, and a folding screen that was more decorative then functional.

  “Hi,” Connie and Matt chorused. They sat at the old harvest table that also served as Jesse’s extra prep area.

  Matt had been the primary designer and contractor on the redo of both Jesse’s side of the upstairs and her mother’s, which was directly across the landing at the top of the stairs. The generous landing was large enough to hold a small sitting area and a set of French doors that opened onto a veranda running the width of the house across the back. The veranda overlooked a private, walled garden and was Sophia’s favorite hideaway, especially on the evenings when Jesse could join her there.

  With Jesse’s arrival, Connie flipped open the lid of the pizza box and slid two pieces onto a plate. Matt popped the top on a bottle of Modelo Negra, a dark brew from Mexico that was a mutual favorite. Jesse sank into her usual kitchen chair and accepted the plate from Connie, who had helped pick most of the furnishings in the apartment, including the mismatched collection of chairs around the oversized pine table.

  Vintage, repurposed, and re-imagined was how Connie liked to describe her decorating style. Jesse’s heart belonged to the salvaging of antiques, giving them new life in a modern world. It had been one of the many things her grandfather had taught her when she was young, and it had never left her. The love Jesse and Connie shared of things old and their desire to see them reused and appreciated by a new generation was part of the bond that had forged the unlikely friendship between the two women.

  “So…” Matt set the beer next to Jesse’s plate and proceeded with his usual directness. “I take it, you don’t think Bliss Kerr killed her husband.”

  Jesse took a quick drink to wash down the pizza she was already chewing, then swallowed. “No.” She took another drink before continuing. “Admittedly, she would probably be the prime suspect, but it’s been less than two days, and nobody’s really looked very hard at anyone else.”

  “Who else is there?”

  “Well, Harry Kerr was not exactly an angel. There has to be a ton of people we don’t know anything about.”

  “Was she home at the time of the murder?” Matt asked, brushing aside everything Jesse had said to that point.

  “Yes.” She glared at him, but it wasn’t Matt’s fault that the truth sounded so bad when you said it out loud.

  “Does she have an alibi?”

  “No.”

  “Does she have a motive?”

  Jesse heaved a sigh of disgust and went back to glaring at him. “Some people would say that she does.”

  “Means? Opportunity?” Matt asked with the irritating air of a parent making a point to a child.

  “Would you like to go arrest her now, Mr. Prosecutor? Nobody has said that it doesn’t look bad.” Jesse tried to keep her voice down, but it kept creeping up. “That’s why we’re trying to come up with a list of some of the other dozens of people who also have motive, means and opportunity. I mean, good grief, the man was a car salesman. He screwed around with countless women, many of whom were not single. And many of whom he just dumped when he was done. One that we know of killed herself. That had to have been motive for somebody!”

  Connie lifted her beer in a salute. “Yes! Murder, suicide, and jilted lovers.” She laid her hand on her husband’s arm and gave him a pat. “And you didn’t want me to get involved.”

  He turned his piercing gaze from Jesse to the buoyant woman on the other side of him. “A murder has been committed, Connie. That means there is a murderer running around out there. From my point of view, it would be really nice if a cute, little blonde did it. She probably wouldn’t be trying to kill anyone else, since she was primarily pissed at her husband. If someone else did it, we don’t know who else they might end up killing before this is over.”

  “Ooh,” Connie said with a shiver, then looked at Jesse and grinned. “This is just like being in a movie. So, who else could have done it?”

  Matt groaned, but Jesse ignored him. Once she started listing the other possibilities, she knew he would see her point. Bliss was the easy target, but there were many others with reasons that were just as powerful, if not so obvious.

  “Well, the first one who jumped out was Bill Marshall. He seems like a nice, relatively passive guy, and no one really thinks he did it, but technically he’s a serious candidate.”

  “Oh, I know him!” Connie seemed pleased with the first suggestion. “And his wife. I went to school with her. Sort of.
I was a few years older, but we went to the same church. I was a bridesmaid at their wedding.”

  “Get out of here!” Jesse said, amazed. “A bridesmaid?”

  “Yes. So was Bliss Kerr.”

  “So, you were friends with Cindilee? Actually friends?” Jesse’s mind flickered to her high school days, which were not typical. Her best friends were Michael Windsor and Fisher Daniels. It wasn’t that she didn’t have any female friends, they just weren’t her best buds like Michael and Fisher were.

  “Well, sure,” Connie answered, as if it were completely natural and not a huge coincidence. “Cindilee was kind of quiet and intellectual. A little older than her years, if you know what I mean. But we were both on the cheerleading squad, and I sort of took her under my wing.”

  “Cheerleading?” Jesse wasn’t quite stunned, but she was close. “So, her health was okay when she was in high school? And she was a cheerleader?”

  Matt had gone back to eating pizza, content to watch and listen. Connie took a sip of her beer before saying, “Well, yes, of course. Oh, you mean, when did she get sick? That was after she was married.”

  “Are you still friends with her?”

  “I try to stay in touch. She doesn’t get out much anymore, unless she’s having one of her good days. But I don’t want her to feel like she’s been abandoned.”

  Once again, Jesse was touched by the deep well of kindness that was such a part of Constance Oliver. Jesse had never aspired to saintliness. It just wasn’t a part of her. But she was aware of the honor when someone as innately good as Connie called her a friend.

  Which led Jesse to admit, if only to herself, that Matt was probably right. This poking around the edges of a murder could be dangerous stuff, and the last thing she wanted to do was expose anyone else to harm, especially someone like Connie.

  “So, what’s suspicious about Bill?” Connie asked.

  Pulled back from her reverie, Jesse shook her head to clear the emotions more than the thoughts. She glanced toward Matt and saw that he was watching her with clear-eyed skepticism. “Several things,” she answered, determined not to show the irritation he so easily aroused in her. “The sudden ending of his partnership with Harry, and the ill will that caused. Possible lingering feelings for Bliss, maybe with resentment for Harry’s treatment of her. The mysterious illness of a wife who stands between him and the woman he truly loves.”

  “So, that would be love, jealousy, money, and trapped in a life he doesn’t want,” Matt said, not sounding nearly so skeptical. “Does he have an alibi for that night?”

  “He was at home with his wife, who takes sleeping pills.”

  “Which is the same as no alibi at all.” Matt took another piece of pizza from the box. “Okay, keep going. This has possibilities.”

  “But, he’s so nice,” Connie protested. “Can’t we find somebody who deserves to go to jail?”

  “Practically everyone in this case is nice,” Jesse pointed out. “And SueAnn would really prefer it if the killer turned out to be a stranger.”

  “Oh, yes. That’s a wonderful idea,” Connie agreed. “So, who else is there?”

  “Well, Vivian isn’t very fond of Cindilee and wouldn’t mind her being the villain. But there were no wheelchair tracks at the crime scene, and I can’t see her being able to push a sturdy guy like Harry Kerr into a swimming pool, much less keep him there until he died.”

  “What would be her motive anyway?” Matt asked, holding his half-eaten slice of pizza aloft.

  “Uh, honestly, other than Harry shuffling her husband off to a used car dealership eight years ago, I can’t think of anything. And I really couldn’t tell that she held any resentment at all toward Harry. Or toward anyone. To all appearances, she is a very ill woman who has her own problems to focus on.”

  “Physically, she sounds like a real stretch,” Matt added. “Even if she was carrying around a ton of resentment, Harry Kerr was no lightweight. Besides, I agree with you that she seems like a woman who’s too busy concentrating on herself to worry about what somebody else is doing.”

  “Oh, Matt,” Connie said. “That’s not nice. Cindilee is reserved, but she’s not mean.”

  “I didn’t say she was, hon. But this is a murder, and we can’t worry about saying unkind things when we’re discussing possible killers.”

  Just then Jesse’s cell phone rang. Her first instinct was to let it go to voice mail. But at the moment there was no telling what would happen next, and she didn’t want to miss anything.

  Pushing back her chair, she stood. “I’ll just be a second. A new name popped up this afternoon that has some real possibilities. You’ll want to hear about him.”

  Turning her back, she pushed the button on her phone and walked the few feet that took her more deeply into the living room. “Yes?”

  “I did it,” SueAnn’s excited voice said. “I found him!”

  “Him?” Jesse shuffled through her mental notecards for which “him” they were talking about. Then she gasped. “Oh, my God! The boyfriend?”

  “Yes!”

  “You weren’t going to do that until tomorrow.” Jesse didn’t want to sound like she was complaining, but she’d had most of a strong beer and a very long and eventful day, and her bed was starting to seem pretty sweet right about now.

  “Well, I got to thinking, and I realized that tomorrow he would probably be at work, and tonight he might be a lot easier to find. So, are you ready?”

  “Ready?” Jesse hoped she didn’t sound as slow on the uptake as she felt. “For what?”

  “To go find him. I have his address.”

  “Whoa!” Adrenaline pumped through her like a flashflood, and all of Jesse’s fatigue was forgotten. “Can you find it? Do you know who he is?”

  “Yes, and yes. His name is Bobby Donald. He called his girlfriend Gigi, at least in high school, but her name was really Ginny, as in Spurber. He lives in a trailer on a back road just outside of Turtle Creek. And I’m sitting out front with my Jeep running. Hurry up!”

  “Are you sure you want to go with me? You could just give me the directions. I don’t want you to put yourself in any danger.” Again, Jesse realized this little game was getting very real, and innocent people were flirting with situations that could go out of control without warning.

  “I know him. You need me. Don’t argue,” SueAnn said in a voice that didn’t invite discussion. “Besides this is the most fun I’ve had in I don’t remember when. Don’t even think you’re going to talk me out of it.”

  Jesse let out a sigh and gave in. SueAnn was young, but she had a head like a brick once she got a firm hold on an idea. “I’m on my way. I suppose you’re going to want to drive.”

  “I know the way, and he knows my Jeep. So he’s not going to get all defensive when he sees it pull up.”

  Half-impressed by SueAnn’s planning, Jesse said, “You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

  “I’m maybe going to add some criminology courses to my class load next semester,” SueAnn responded. “I’m beginning to like this stuff.”

  Jesse was grinning when she ended the connection and turned back to Matt and Connie. “Well, it looks like…”

  “We’re all going for a ride,” Matt said firmly, not giving her a chance to say whatever she was preparing. “I’m assuming this is about the new suspect you were going to fill us in on.”

  “Well, yes, but…”

  He slid his arm around Connie’s waist and they both turned toward the door. “Let’s walk and talk,” he said, again cutting off Jesse’s argument.

  “We’re going in a Jeep,” she said, insisting on finishing her sentence.

  “It has a back seat.”

  “Not much of one,” she argued, “and I’m not sitting in the back just because you have long legs.”

  Matt opened the door and motioned her forward. “Walk and talk. And I’m still flexible enough to handle a small back seat. Though I do appreciate your consideration for my advanced years
.”

  “You can be such an ass,” Jesse said, glowering as she went by him and out the door. “And I’m talking to him by myself. You’ll scare him.”

  “Connie and I are perfectly fine waiting in the Jeep. Just scream if you need help. You want me to lock the door?”

  “Just pull it to. I’ll lock the front door as we go out.”

  She hooked her arm through Connie’s and the two women went down the stairs side by side. “Honestly,” Jesse whispered, “how do you put up with him?”

  Connie slid a glance toward Jesse and batted her turquoise eyes innocently. “It’s amazing really, but he and I communicate in an entirely different way from the two of you.”

  Then Connie slowly smiled, and after a reluctant beat, Jesse joined her. It was true. Matt and Connie got along in a way that Jesse and he never had, and apparently never would.

  “Just one more reason why you and he are happily married, and he and I are happily divorced,” Jesse said with a tug on the arm hers was hooked through. “Look, are you okay with this?” she continued quietly. “I really don’t know anything about this guy we’re going to see. If you’d rather just go home, I can take you with me to see Cindilee tomorrow.”

  “We’re grownups, Jesse. We can take care of ourselves. Quit worrying. And, in all honesty, I’m not sure I would be an asset with Cindilee. Sometimes, people are more honest with strangers than they are with people they know. And I think Cindilee’s one of those.”

  At the bottom of the stairs, the front door opened, and SueAnn appeared. “Wow, you brought the cavalry. Are they coming with us?”

  “Yes,” Matt answered.

  “They’re staying in the Jeep when we get there,” Jesse said, just as decisively.

  “Whatever. Let’s saddle up and ride. I’m so excited I can’t stand it.”

  “Me, too,” Connie said and hurried down the remainder of the staircase to join SueAnn on the front porch. “Let’s go everybody. The game’s afoot.”

  Together the two turned, scurried down the steps and across the yard toward the waiting yellow Jeep where it sat bathed in the glow of a street light.