Murder at the Geo-Cache...A Citrus Beach Mystery (Citrus Beach Mysteries Book 3)

by Victoria LK Williams

  Megan peered at Lucy, her interest captured. If anyone was to know it would be Lucy. Her business, a custom jewelry design business, gave her the expertise to know the many gems, minerals, shells, and sand found throughout Florida. Seeing the excitement on Lucy’s face, Megan waited for her explanation.

  “This sand is finer and a different color than what you find out here, west of the Groves. This is the type of sand that you would find along the shoreline, more of a beach sand. These particular granules are almost bleached white and there’s only one beach close to us that has this beautiful sand.”

  Megan thought for a moment and Lucy knew when she recognized which beach she was talking about. The two of them grinned at each other and exclaimed together “The lighthouse beach out on Neptune’s Trident”. Reaching into her pocket Megan took out a piece of paper, folding into a funnel. She used the funnel to scoop up some of the grains of sand and folded down the ends to keep the sand in place.

  “Megan, that’s evidence! You can’t take it from here.” Lucy gasped in horror at what her friend was doing reaching out to grab her arm to stop her.

  Megan shook off Lucy’s hand, not feeling at all guilty about what she was doing. As she explained to Lucy, if the police had thought it was a valuable clue, they would’ve taken it as evidence. As far as she was concerned, the police were finished with the scene and anything she found was fair game. Holding the improvised envelope up in the air, she waved it in front of Lucy’s face and waited for her friend to agree with her.

  “So now we need to find someone who was at the lighthouse and was wearing odd shoes. That should be a piece of cake,” said Megan, again with a touch of sarcasm.

  Lucy didn’t answer Megan right away, she was too busy looking closer at the footprint in front of her. After a few seconds, she nodded at her friend and said with a grin,

  “Those shoes aren’t so odd. Do you remember those old-fashioned wedge shoes we used to wear all the time? They’re back in style and who ever walked all over this barn was wearing a pair. You’re so used to wearing flip-flops or sneakers, that’s why you didn’t recognize the prints.”

  “I knew I could count on you, Lucy. Don’t you let Paul nag you about your closet full of shoes again! As a matter of fact, when this is all over we need to have a shopping day filled includes shoe shopping.”

  Lucy laughed along with her friend, promising to hold her to the proposed shopping trip. They shared a smile and then got serious, knowing they had a lot more work ahead of them before Mary’s murder was solved.

  Chapter 17

  Megan and Lucy spent another hour searching every dusty nook and corner inside the barn, but found nothing more that could help identify Mary’s murderer. Lucy even climbed up into the hayloft to make sure they didn’t overlook a thing. The only items she found up there were more spider webs and some old musty hay. As she stepped off the last rung of the ladder, Megan reached over and pulled a few stalks of hay from her hair.

  “There hasn’t been a soul up in that loft for ages. Yuck, I feel dirty and creepy from all these spider webs. Are we done here, Megan?”

  “I guess so. There’s nothing here that the sheriff and his men haven’t found. We may as well head back over to the house and say goodbye to the girls.”

  Disappointed, Megan and Lucy headed to the entry of the barn and the path to the main house. Lucy closed the barn door behind them, while Megan looked over the pastures, seeing that today the cows were where they should be. The sheep glanced up at the sound of the doors sliding on the squeaky hinges and then went back to their grazing when they saw no evidence of food. As she looked around she saw the hay bales that the little puppy had hidden behind she smiled, thinking of Aiden and the sudden attachment the dog had formed for him. She noticed that the puppy had wiggled its way between two bales of hay to form a hiding spot. Megan sighed as she thought about the efforts Mary had been making to give the animal a feeling of security and a home. It was obvious that the puppy had been just dropped off in the middle of nowhere to fend for itself. Bending down, Megan peered into the make-shift home it had made.

  As with most puppies, it seemed that she had found a few treasures and she had hidden them in the burrow. Reaching in, Megan pulled them out one by one. There was an old sock that looked as if the dog had spent time chewing, a pair of what were sure to be Mary’s gardening gloves, a bone of some sort and a bright pink oblong piece of rubber. Smiling, Megan commented to Lucy about someone searching for the match to the sock and then looked closer at the pink object in her hand.

  “Lucy, do you remember these? My grandmother always had one that she kept her loose change in. I can remember the fun I had squeezing the ends to make it open. She always let me pick out a coin to keep for myself.” As Megan spoke, she repeated the process she remembered from her past and squeezed the coin holder open.

  “There is more than just a few coins in here, Lucy.”

  Megan pulled on a tightly folded piece of paper wedged in the bottom, under a few pennies. Lucy peaked over her shoulder as Megan gently tugged the paper loose and pulled it out of its holder. Holding her breath, she unfolded the paper, feeling something hard within the folds. Opening the last fold, they uncovered a small key. Picking it up, Megan held it up in the sunlight to exam it. At Lucy’s request, she handed key and the paper it had been wrapped in to her.

  The paper was a pretty stationary page, the kind that came as a set with matching envelopes and pen, often given to young girls to write to pen pals years ago. The paper was a light pink with a border of daisies, faded with age. There was writing on the upper half of the page, the blue ink now blurred. After quickly reading the words, Megan dismissed them as the start of a letter from years past. Who it was to was of no consequence now, the letter had never been finished and was full of pre-teen gossip.

  “There’s nothing written here that is helpful. That key is to something special. It’s too small to unlock a door, so what would it be used for?”

  “Did the dog pick it up from somewhere else? Or do you think she stole the coin case from Mary?”

  “Oh, she stole it from Mary. It’s relatively clean inside, so it hasn’t been exposed to the elements. I seem to remember Mary had one of these that she carried around with her most places.”

  “I suppose that we are going to try to find the object this key opens before we turn it over to the sheriff. You know, we shouldn’t be so nosy.”

  “I prefer to call it curious rather than nosy, and yes we will turn the house upside down if we have to. Mary kept that key hidden, so it must be important. I want to know what is going on.”

  “So do we tell Emma and Taylor what we are doing? There is no way we will be able to search the house without them noticing.”

  “We do not. I don’t want them involved.”

  “And how do you plan on getting around that?”

  Megan was silent as she contemplated Lucy’s words. She was right, they would have to keep the younger women out of the way so they could investigate. Megan got a satisfied expression on her face as she came up with a solution.

  “I’m going to call in reinforcements. I’ll call Charlotte and see if she can keep the girls busy with the petting zoo while we search.”

  “That’s a great idea. Except you know that Charlotte will want to be involved, too.”

  “I know. But I hope she will be too busy keeping Rita Thomas out of Mary’s business.”

  Lucy made a face at the mention of Rita’s name and brought up the subject of Aiden taking on the case.

  “I was really surprised when he agreed to take on Rita’s investigation. I mean, isn’t it a conflict of interest since he’s been helping the sheriff with Mary’s murder?”

  “It’s a fine line, Lucy. I don’t think Rita is a suspect in the murder and the murder has no ties to Mary and Rita’s heritage. I’m not sure what Aiden’s thinking, but I do know he told the sheriff he would step back from the investigation of Mary’s murder and explained to him
why. For this being his first local case it’ll be hard on him, because most of the people in Citrus Beach will take Mary’s side. Aiden is going to find it pretty slow going trying to get information from anything other than legal documents.”

  “Well I can’t say that I’ll go out of my way to be cooperative, that’s for sure. I do feel bad for Aiden, but I sure hope he has no luck with his investigation.”

  Megan nodded her agreement, but she was also hoping that Aiden’s investigation would not cause a rift between the two of them. Giving a sigh, she picked up her phone and punched the speed dial number for Charlotte. She spent a few moments explaining to Charlotte what was going on and asking her to keep the girls busy. Charlotte quickly agreed, reminding Megan to keep her up to date with their activities. Megan promised, said goodbye, and hung up the phone. Turning to Lucy she motioned for her friend to follow her to the back door of Mary’s house.

  Knocking on the door, they only had a few moments wait before Taylor open the door to let them in.

  “So did you find anything up at barn?”

  “Dust and cobwebs. Which has made us extremely thirsty. Is there any chance we can get something to quench this thirst?

  “Sure. Come on in. Emma’s in the kitchen and I just made a fresh pitcher of iced tea.”

  Taylor turned and led the way to the kitchen, Megan and Lucy following behind her. When they entered the kitchen, they found Emma was already pulling glasses out of the cupboard over the sink and filling them with ice cubes and Barney was sitting at her feet hoping for a handout. They each grabbed a chair at the table and sat down to catch up with each other. Emma and Taylor were full of information about the farm and how Mary had run the petting zoo. They briefly asked about Megan’s ‘sneaking around the crime scene’, but were too excited about their own tasks and the welfare of the animals they were now responsible for. The four women talked, interrupting each other when they remembered something important. As they were working their way through a second glass of ice tea, Emma’s cell phone rang. It was Charlotte with a list of items that needed to be checked on up at the petting zoo, right away. Lucy and Megan exchanged smiles as the younger women excused themselves to head up to the front of the property.

  After they left, Megan and Lucy finished their glasses of ice tea, giving plenty of time for the possibility of the girls returning for a forgotten item. Getting up once they had finished, Megan gathered all four glasses, rinsed them and then put them on a dish towel to drip-dry. Turning back to Lucy as she set the last glass on the towel, Megan suggested they begin their search.

  “Do you want to split up and cover more ground, or work together?”

  “Let’s stick together. There will be less chance we’ll miss something as we go.”

  “We should start upstairs. Get it out of the way before the girls come back.”

  Megan agreed with Lucy’s suggestion and they left the kitchen to head upstairs to begin their search. The upper floor had four bedrooms and a reading area on the oversized landing. Two of the rooms were made up for guests and they were able to quickly go through them. As expected, they found nothing, except an overnight bag in each room, one for Emma and the other for Taylor.

  The other two rooms consisted of Mary’s bedroom and her office. Megan felt uneasy about rifling through Mary’s personal belongings, but realized it might be the only way to find what that key would unlock. Squaring her shoulders, she open the door and took a step inside. The bedroom was a surprise, considering the type of person they knew Mary to be. Mary had been straightforward, right to the point, with no fussiness, but her bedroom belied that. Megan stood in wonder at all the lace, frills, and dainty accessories. It was if another person lived in this room, a very feminine woman who seemed to like the color pink.

  “Wow, this is about the last thing I expected to see. I never would’ve expected this of Mary. She always seemed so, I don’t know, hardy?” Lucy stepped in behind Megan, surprised at what she saw.

  “I guess you never know everything about a person, do you?” Megan answered, shaking her head.

  “Lucy, why don’t you start with the large dresser and I’ll go through the closet and night stand. If you finish before me, start in the bathroom.”

  Lucy agreed and pulled open the top drawer. Megan opened the door to the closet and was relieved to find it full of Mary’s everyday clothes that they were used to seeing her in. To be honest, after seeing the bedroom decor, Megan was wondering if she would find dresses for high tea, or ball gowns, that was how thrown off she was. She pushed aside jeans and cotton blouses, searching for any kind of box or case that might fit the key in her pocket. Not finding anything, she pulled out the step stool Mary kept in the closet. Climbing up, she searched through the sweaters and lightweight blankets stored on the shelf above the hanging clothes. Having no success, she climbed down and backed out of the closet, closing the doors behind her.

  Looking over at Lucy, she saw her opening the bottom drawer. It was obvious she was having no better luck than Megan. She shook her head no to Lucy’s silent question, and walked over to the nightstand and pulled open the top drawer. She found a romance novel that Mary had been half way through and a stash of hard candy along with a pair of over the counter reading glasses. She put these items on the bed, out of her way, and Megan pulled out a small drawing pad that had been underneath. Opening the pad, Megan drew in her breath in astonishment. On the page in front of her was the most detailed, tiny drawing of a pasture. Mary had captured not only the everyday things she saw in her life, but also their essences. Looking up from the drawing, she noticed framed pictures on the walls very similar to what she held in her hand. Megan felt sad for the talent lost and the fact that Mary had never shared her works with her friends. She walked over to Lucy to show her what she had found.

  Lucy turned over the pages of the drawing pad, one by one, not saying a word. After she was finished, she turned to Megan with tears in her eyes.

  “You know I’m positive that there are more of these drawings throughout the house. And I’ve even seen some at Charlotte’s. I’m sure if we went to the gift store in the petting zoo, we would find more as well. I’m getting the glimmer of an idea, Megan, a way to honor and let others know just how talented Mary was. Let me think about it for a bit and then we’ll talk. I want to work things out in my head first. But in the meantime we need to find whatever this key opens. Let’s get back to work.”

  Megan didn’t push Lucy for information. She knew when her friend was ready there would be lots of discussion about her idea and how to implement it. Knowing Lucy, Megan was sure it would be a top-shelf idea and she would be there to help her.

  “That appears to be the whole bedroom. I guess all that’s left upstairs is the office.”

  “And her reading area. I’ll finish up in the bathroom and take the reading area. Why don’t you start in the office? I’m sure that will take longer, and maybe you can glance through her paperwork as well. See if Mary had made any notes about anything unusual. She might have noticed strange activity on or around the farm.”

  “Sounds like a plan, Lucy. I’d like to be done upstairs before the girls come back from the petting zoo.”

  They split up and went in their assigned directions to search for clues. As Lucy had expected she found nothing in the bathroom that would fit the key they had found. She made her way into the reading room and quickly looked over the piles of books and comfortable chairs overstuffed with fluffy pillows. Although the room held many bookshelves, there were just as many piles of books on the floor next to the chairs. The books ranged from agricultural guides and romance novels, to books on art. There was no TV on the upper level of Mary’s home, it was evident how Mary spent her hours after she finished her chores. The woman had loved to read and draw and Lucy could picture her spending hours curled up in a chair enjoying her books or sketching on her drawing pad.

  Lucy fluffed the pillows she picked up and put back in the chair. Running her fingers thro
ugh her hair, she pulled it out of her eyes and turned towards the office where Megan was working. Lucy found Megan sitting behind Mary’s roll top desk, going through the papers in front of her.

  “So far I’ve found no place to put this key. But I can tell you Mary was extremely organized and thorough. Charlotte will have no problem having somebody take over the running of the farm, all they will have to do is follow the program Mary had already made out. I’m not finding anything personal here. Everything seems to be related to the farm, the petting zoo, and her family legacies to the town. Mary may not have any children of her own, but she considered the town as her child. According to these notes, she’s provided well for the town and the future of her farm.”

  “I didn’t have any luck either. While you finish up there, I’ll check out these bookshelves and see if there is anything here.”

  It didn’t take long for them to realize there was nothing left in the office to inspect, and they still had no clue where the key belonged. They left the office and headed back downstairs, reaching the last step just as the front door opened and Emma and Taylor walked in. The four of them looked at each other, the older women with a little bit of guilt, which Emma picked up on right away.

  “You’re snooping, Mom. What exactly are you looking for? Let Taylor and me help, we’ve been here long enough to have a good idea where things are and we might be able to make things easier for you.”

  As much as Megan hated to admit it, her daughter was right. She had to realize that Emma was a young woman now, not a child to be protected. She had a mind of her own, and it was a sharp mind just as her father’s had been. Instead of trying to work around her daughter, it was time to involve her in their search. Maybe the girls had seen something they had missed. Putting her arm around Emma’s shoulders, Megan led the way back to the kitchen explaining what they had found, and what they were doing, as she walked. She pulled the paper out of her pocket that she had folded the key backed up into, Megan placed it on the table for Emma and Taylor to survey.