by Lyndsey Cole
Hannah paused to take in the tranquility. Nellie woofed at the gulls but they ignored her.
“Enough dawdling, let’s find Jerry so we can get to Cal’s boat and enjoy his delicious chicken salad.” She patted Nellie’s head. “Don’t worry, he’ll have some treats for you, too.”
Hannah knocked on the door of Jerry’s office. No answer. She turned the knob and cracked the door open. “Hello. Are you here, Jerry?”
Only silence filled the dim office.
“What do you think, Nellie? I guess I can leave the check on his desk. He was so desperate for it earlier and I don’t want him to bother me tomorrow.” They walked into the poorly lit office. A door clicked further back.
“Jerry? Is that you?”
A sucking noise from someone walking with tall rubber boots approached from the back of the building.
“Hannah? Be right with you.”
Jerry dropped a stack of boxes of frozen fish on a small table. “Trying to get organized.” He nodded to the boxes. “I have to break these down into smaller units for a special order.” He rolled his eyes. “Kind of a pain in the neck, but what other choice do I have? So, what can I do for you?”
Hannah pulled the envelope with his check out of her jeans pocket. “Here. I told you I’d stop by with your payment.”
“Right.” He walked past Hannah, took the check, and tucked it in the top drawer of his desk.
Nellie sniffed his boots.
“You must have some good odors on those boots; Nellie is quite interested in them,” Hannah said as she reached for Nellie’s collar to pull her away.
Nellie growled.
“What is it? Come on, Nellie, you know Jerry.” Hannah tugged a little harder on her collar.
Jerry moved to the side so a chair was between him and Nellie. “I’m not a big fan of dogs. Get her under control. Is she going to bite me?”
“Naw.” Hannah tried to defuse the situation while she pulled harder on Nellie’s collar.
Nellie wouldn’t budge.
“Sorry, Jerry. It must be all the fish guts and smells on those boots.” Hannah finally managed to drag Nellie out of the office and back into her car.
“I’ll have to leave you home next time if you don’t behave better.” She was annoyed.
Chapter 23
Hannah considered bringing Nellie back to her cottage, but since she was only five minutes away from the marina, and she was already running later than Cal expected her, she pulled into the parking lot.
“Really, Nellie. I hope you don’t pull anything like that again,” Hannah said as she opened the back door for Nellie.
Nellie took off.
Hannah stood with her hands on her hips. She couldn’t believe it. I hope she doesn’t find some stinky fish guts to roll in, she said to herself.
Cal waved from the back of his boat.
Hannah clumped down the dock. “I have to go back toward Jerry’s warehouse. Nellie is obsessed with the fish smells and took off when I let her out of my car.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No. You don’t want to be with me right now.”
“Think about the glass of wine that’s waiting for you. And I have dessert tonight, too,” he added, a hopeful look on his face.
His tempting suggestion didn’t even crack a smile on Hannah’s face. She was too annoyed with her dog.
Hannah screeched into the parking lot for Jerry’s warehouse and grabbed Nellie’s leash before she got out of her car. “She’s not having any more freedom tonight, that’s for sure,” she mumbled.
“Nellie!” Hannah didn’t see her on the pier but Jerry’s office door was pushed halfway open.
Hannah barged inside.
Growls met her ear. Nellie had Jerry backed into a corner, holding his tall black boots while she stood about a foot away with her teeth bared.
“Nellie!” Hannah hollered again.
“What’s wrong with your dog tonight? She’s trying to take my boots,” Jerry said, fear obvious in his voice.
Hannah held her hand out. “Give them to me. Maybe I can use them to get her back into my car. What did you step in?”
Jerry held the boots tight against his chest. “No. Just get your leash on her and get out.”
“Give me the boots, Jerry.”
“Back off, Hannah. Don’t come any closer. Just get your dog under control.” Jerry’s eyes darted to his desk. His t-shirt was soaked with sweat.
Hannah’s heart raced. Something was off with Nellie, but what was going on with Jerry? Her frustration with Nellie turned into fear of Jerry; fear of his wild eyes, his loud voice, his body odor filling the small office space.
The boots. Where had she seen those boots before? The yellow strip at the top jogged her memory.
Jerry lunged for a wooden baseball bat on his desk but tripped over a chair, sending his boots flying through the air and landing near Hannah.
It came to her, where she’d seen those boots before, as weakness traveled to her legs. She put her hand on the wall for support. “It was you, wasn’t it? You killed him. You killed Gavin.” She flattened herself against the wall, wishing she could get farther away.
Nellie ignored the boots and charged for Jerry. She sank her teeth into his ankle and shook her head violently.
Jerry screamed and fell, his arms outstretched but they fell short of reaching the baseball bat on his desk. With Nellie growling and keeping a tight hold on Jerry’s ankle, he curled one arm around his head for protection while his free foot kicked at the ferocious dog. “What’s wrong with your dog?” he yelled over and over as his foot hit nothing but air.
Hannah dashed toward the desk but Jerry’s free arm grabbed her leg. She fell against the desk, wrapped her fingers around the bat, and smashed it down on his arm. A loud crunch followed by a scream let Hannah know she hit her target.
His fingers relaxed enough for Hannah to jump out of his reach. She managed to find her phone and dial 911. Breathlessly, she told the dispatcher, “I need help at Jerry’s fish warehouse. Please hurry.”
As she leaned against the wall, gripping the bat with clenched fists, Hannah sucked in deep lungfuls of air and her eyes scanned the room. Nellie stood over Jerry, making sure he didn’t move a muscle.
“These boots . . .” She picked up the one that was near her foot. Her finger rubbed over a chewed section at the top. “These were Gavin’s boots. Why did you do it?” she whispered.
Jerry whimpered. “He threatened to expose me.”
“For what?”
He sighed in defeat. “I mixed old fish in with every order. You have some, too. I couldn’t afford to throw it away with all the bills for my new truck and my new warehouse.”
“So the inedible dinners weren’t Chef Belair’s fault?”
Jerry shook his head.
“When I went in to deliver Gavin’s special order Thursday night, he was in his freezer dumping all the fish out. He looked at me. He screamed at me. He figured out what I had done. The knife was right there.” Jerry dropped his head. “I only wanted to scare him but he lunged and impaled himself on the knife. My shoes,” he looked at his bare feet, “my shoes had blood on them so I grabbed his boots. They were next to the door when I ran out. I never even noticed the chewed part until your dog wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“And no one saw you go inside the kitchen?”
“I guess not. I planned to leave right away but I was too shaky to drive off. Then Chef Belair walked inside and came back out less than a minute later. I was afraid he found Gavin but he only went in to get his knives.”
Sirens screamed into the parking lot. A wave of relief flooded through Hannah’s body. Her muscles relaxed and the bat fell to the floor as the office door crashed completely open. Light streamed in, along with Deputy Larson.
Chapter 24
Hannah slumped into a chair. She felt weak, exhausted, and emotionally drained.
Deputy Pam Larson led her out of Jerry�
��s office. Nellie stuck to her side like Velcro.
Cal’s truck screeched in behind all the police cars. He raced to Hannah’s side. “What happened? I heard the sirens. I knew you were here and couldn’t imagine what happened.” Concern filled his eyes.
Hannah kept her hand on Nellie’s head. “Somehow she figured it out. Nellie’s the hero tonight.”
“Figured—”
A police officer led Jerry out of his office in handcuffs, head down, unintentionally answering Cal’s unfinished question.
Another officer had the boots in an evidence bag. “These are the boots, Ms. Holiday?”
Hannah nodded. “Those boots belonged to Gavin Abbott.” She pointed to the chewed part. “That’s where his dog did some damage. He told me about it Thursday morning.”
“Jerry was wearing them tonight when you were in his office?” Pam asked.
“Yes. When I went the first time, he had them on but I didn’t pay any attention. Everyone wears those tall boots down here on the pier. When I went back to look for Nellie, he had them off. That’s when I noticed the boot that had been chewed by a dog. Gavin’s dog. I think Jerry was planning to dispose of them but Nellie had him cornered. Jerry told me his shoes got covered in blood after Gavin fell on the knife. He panicked and took the boots.”
“There must be blood on these, too, the way your dog went after them,” the officer said as he held up the bag and looked closely.
“Nellie knew something was wrong with those boots,” Hannah said. “I thought it was the fishy smell she was after.”
Nellie wagged her tail and woofed when she heard her name.
All the commotion of the police cars attracted attention, and townspeople milled around along the edge of the cars.
After Pam told Hannah she could leave, Cal walked her to his truck and told her she could get her car another time. Hannah was in no mood to drive, even if it was only five minutes to Cal’s boat.
Leah approached Hannah before she had time to get in the truck. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Hannah couldn’t imagine what Leah was thanking her for.
Sally and Matt appeared behind Leah. Matt had his arm around Sally’s shoulders. He was smiling. The first smile Hannah ever saw on his face.
“It’s Nellie you need to thank.”
Sally wrapped her arms around Nellie’s neck and whispered, “Thank you, Dog Extraordinaire.”
“Is everything all right?” Hannah asked Leah.
“It will be. That dark cloud is beginning to blow away.” Leah looked at her daughter and her husband and smiled. “It will be,” she repeated.
By the time Cal managed to get through the onlookers and drive Hannah to the marina, a few other people were crowded inside his boat.
Jack handed Hannah the glass of wine that had been waiting for her. “Pam called me and told me the short version. She asked me to tell you, ‘nice work’.”
Hannah smiled. That was a big compliment coming from Pam.
“We couldn’t stay away,” Meg said.
“We had to find out what happened,” Samantha explained.
“I was so worried.” Ruby could barely manage to get the words out as she hugged her sister.
“Do you have more ice cream?” Olivia asked Cal as she leaned over the edge of the bunk.
Cal laughed. “Ice cream for Olivia, and you can eat it up there. But don’t make a mess in my bed,” he warned as he handed her a chocolate covered ice cream bar.
Hannah sipped her wine and let its magic sooth her body. Nellie leaned against her leg, sending Hannah a different kind of magic—a feeling of contentment and safety.
“So, Jerry?” Meg finally asked. She shook her head. “I can’t believe it was him all along. I thought he was distracted because he lost The Chowder House account, but all along he must have been worried about being discovered for what he had done.”
“He said it was an accident. If it hadn’t been for those boots, and Nellie, he might have gotten away with murder.” Hannah set her glass down.
“Nice work, Hannah,” Samantha said as she held her glass up for a toast. “But next time, let me come along with you. I was supposed to have your back. Okay?”
“Next time?” everyone said at once.
This is the end of A Fishy Dish. I hope you enjoyed it. Click here and start reading my next book today!
A Note from Lyndsey
Thank you for reading my cozy mystery, A Fishy Dish.
If you enjoyed this book in the Hooked & Cooked Cozy Mystery Series, be sure to stay up to date with all my latest work and sign up for my newsletter here —http://LyndseyColeBooks.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lyndsey Cole lives in New England in a small rural town with her husband who puts up with all the characters in her head, her dog who hogs the couch, her cat who is the boss, and 3 chickens that would like to move into the house. She surrounds herself with gardens full of beautiful perennials. Sitting among the flowers with the scent of lilac, peonies, lily of the valley, or whatever is in bloom, stimulates her imagination about who will die next!
OTHER BOOKS BY LYNDSEY COLE
The Hooked & Cooked Series
Gunpowder Chowder
Mobsters and Lobsters
The Black Cat Café Series
BlueBuried Muffins
StrawBuried in Chocolate
BlackBuried Pie
Very Buried Cheesecake
RaspBuried Torte
PoisonBuried Punch
CranBuried Coffee Cake
WineBuried Wedding
The Lily Bloom Series
Begonias Mean Beware
Queen of Poison
Roses are Dead
Drowning in Dahlias
Hidden by the Hydrangeas
Christmas Tree Catastrophe