Sage Gardens Cozy Mystery Series Box Set Volume 1 (Books 1 - 4)

by Cindy Bell

  “Walt!” Samantha growled at him. Walt gulped and lowered his eyes.

  “Relax, no guns, no weapons, no bombs,” Jo's muffled voice called out.

  “So, there's nothing up there?” Samantha frowned. “Maybe they got what they came for after all.”

  “I don't think so!” Jo called out gleefully. She tossed something down through the opening of the attic entrance. The big green sack landed on the table below the attic with a thump. When it struck the table a plume of dust flew up into the air, covering Walt with a thin layer of it.

  “Oh no!” Walt gulped, then he sealed his mouth tight and covered his nose. His other hand fluttered in a panic at his skin and clothes in an attempt to get rid of the dust that had gathered there.

  Samantha grimaced and reached out to help him dust off his clothes. “You have to breathe, Walt,” she said. Walt's face was beginning to redden from holding his breath. Walt rushed out of the villa to get some fresh air.

  “What is it?” Bill asked. Before Samantha could look inside the bag two more were tossed down from the ceiling. By the time the dust had settled, Jo had jumped down as well. Samantha looked up at her standing on the table. She expected the woman to be a mess from crawling around in the dust. Instead, her thick, dark hair was shimmering except for a few speckles of dust, her skin was smooth as ever, and she had a smug smile on her lips. Samantha was fascinated by Jo's ability to always look good no matter the circumstances.

  “Look what I found!” Jo spoke proudly. She put one black boot on the top of one of the bags. “Let's discuss finder's fees.”

  “What is it?” Samantha asked. She pulled back the flap of one of the bags. What greeted her was the largest amount of money she had ever seen in her life. The other two bags were filled with just as much money. Samantha was absolutely stunned.

  “Where did all of this come from?” she wondered out loud.

  “That was in my attic?” Bill asked. “Does that make it mine?”

  “Oh no, it's mine,” happiness coated Jo's voice. “I think I am going to buy my own island.”

  “It isn't anyone's!” Samantha said sharply. “We need to find out who it belongs to.”

  “You can't be seriously considering turning it into the police, Samantha,” Jo said. She glared at Samantha. “There is no reason to even think about doing that.”

  “It's the only thing we can do,” Walt said. He had inched his way back into the villa. He had found a napkin and held it over his nose and mouth to keep out the dust that still lingered in the air. “That money is illegal, there's no question about it. Who it belongs to, and how it was earned, those are things we'll have to figure out. But there's no way anyone earns that much money legally and then hides it in a ceiling. Is there Jo?” He locked eyes with the woman who was still perched on top of the table.

  “All the police will do is put it in lock up,” Jo protested. “This is free money. It belongs to criminals, they shouldn't get it back. Why should the police have it?”

  “Uh, excuse me.” Bill raised his hand. He was intimidated by the glares that Walt and Jo were exchanging.

  “Yes, Bill?” Samantha asked. She was relieved at the interruption. From the way Jo was looking at Walt she was expecting the woman to sprout claws at any time.

  “I think we need to be careful about this,” Bill spoke up. “I mean, obviously the two men who broke into my villa were looking for this money. They either didn't find it, or you interrupted them before they could, Samantha. So, if we give the money to the police, they will know that the money has been found. Then they might come back for revenge.”

  “He makes a good point.” Walt looked at Jo grimly. “Criminals can always be counted on to make rash emotional decisions.”

  Jo scrunched up her nose. She leaned closer to Walt. Then she gave her long hair a sharp whip. The hair didn't come near Walt, but whipping it caused all of the dust that had been clinging to it to spray off the thick strands. Walt received a face full of dust.

  “Jo!” Samantha admonished.

  “What?” Jo asked with an innocent smile. “I was just trying to get some dust out of my hair. It gets itchy.” She playfully scratched at her head. Walt had fled the villa again for fresh air. Samantha sighed. She found herself wishing that Eddy was there. For all of his gruff nature he was good at taking charge and keeping things from getting too chaotic.

  “Okay, let's all take a breath,” Samantha did her best to keep her voice calm. “We don't need to make any quick decisions. Right now we know what the criminals were looking for. Knowing who and why is important, because like Bill said, they're not going to quit trying to get this money. They will be back to try to retrieve it, and they might be violent this time.”

  “That's very possible.” Jo nodded solemnly.

  “Wait a minute.” Samantha snapped her fingers. “We do have one clue. How the criminals got inside the villa in the first place.”

  “What do you mean?” Walt asked.

  “I mean, they didn't break in. Bill claims everything was locked up. So, how did they get in?” Samantha pointed to the front door. “There's no evidence of any damage to the door.”

  “You think they had a key?” Jo suggested.

  “Yes. I think maybe they did. Bill, does anyone have a spare key to your villa?” Samantha asked.

  “No. No spares. I mean if I ever get locked out, the office always has a spare.” He shrugged.

  “Ah, I see,” Samantha said.

  Walt met her eyes. “Which brings us back to Lily.”

  Samantha nodded slowly. She didn't want to believe it, but Lily had quite a large sum of money when she paid Maury. Was it possible that she had been paid off to somehow take Vince out? She really hoped that wasn't the case, but she couldn't be sure.

  Chapter 12

  Eddy walked into the police station cautiously. He watched for any sign of Detective Brunner. He knew that if he was caught again, he would be in some serious trouble. He didn't relish the idea of ending up in handcuffs. However, Detective Brunner didn't seem to be there. Eddy walked carefully towards the lab. He could see Chris through the window, leaning over his computer. He hoped that Chris would still be willing to help him after the lashing that Detective Brunner had likely given him.

  A few of the officers noticed him as he walked towards the lab, but only gave him a slight nod of respect. The veteran officers knew Eddy or at least knew of him and never gave him a hard time. Once he reached the lab Eddy knocked lightly on the door. Chris spun around on his computer chair. When he saw Eddy through the window he grimaced. Then he stood up from the chair. He walked over and opened the door.

  “Eddy, you shouldn't be here,” he warned him.

  “I know that. But I'm here.” Eddy offered a charming smile.

  “I don't want to see what happens if Detective Brunner spots you.” Chris looked very worried.

  “Then we should make this quick. I need to know if there were any break-ins recently in the area around Sage Gardens.” Eddy leaned back against the table and waited for Chris to look up the information. As Chris' fingers flew over the keys he spoke to Eddy.

  “I don't know what you're getting yourself involved in, Eddy, but you should know that Detective Brunner isn't flexible. He's one of those by the book types.”

  “Maybe, if he were more by the book this murder would be solved.” Eddy cast a glance grimly through the windowed door.

  “He's not a bad detective. But there's a lot of pressure right now to close cases as soon as they open.” Chris shook his head. “I'm not seeing a single reported break-in in the past six months within ten miles of Sage Gardens. Do you want me to go further out?”

  “No, that's fine. I thought we might be barking up the wrong tree, anyway.” He sighed. “I'm not sure which tree to be focusing on to be honest.”

  “Well, I think you better consider disappearing, because Detective Brunner just stepped off the elevator. Use the side door.” Chris pointed to the door on the other s
ide of the lab. “You should be able to get out without being seen.”

  Eddy nodded and headed straight for the door. The last thing he needed was a run-in with Detective Brunner.

  On his way back to Sage Gardens, Eddy sent a text to Samantha. He wanted to discuss the case as soon as they could.

  Samantha, meet me at my villa please.

  Samantha read over the text. It didn't offer any more information. She knew that if Eddy had texted her there was a good reason. He was not one for using technology for fun. She hurried across the courtyard towards Eddy's villa which wasn't very far from her own. As she neared it she noticed Jacob, a maintenance worker for Sage Gardens. He was replacing one of the light bulbs in the street lights that lined the pavement that led down to the water. Samantha was glad to see that he was doing it, as she hated to walk down near the water when the lights weren't working.

  As Samantha walked past him he reached up and adjusted his cap. Something about his cap made Samantha's mind come alive with warning bells. It took her a moment to figure it out. Finally, she registered that the ratty cap had the exact same emblem on the front of the cap which was inside the backpack that she had found in the water. This made her breath catch in her chest. Was it possible that she had just walked past a murderer? She took a breath and tried to calm herself down. Just because Jacob was wearing the same type of cap, that didn't mean that he was the killer. Maybe the backpack had nothing to do with the murder anyway. There were likely hundreds of those caps in the area. There was no way to be sure that it was the same one. But it made her skin crawl just the same.

  Samantha made her way down the sidewalk to Eddy's villa. When she knocked on the door, Walt opened it. She blinked a moment and wondered if she had gone to the wrong villa.

  “Eddy called me.” Walt held the door open for her.

  “You will not believe what I just saw,” Samantha's voice trembled with a mixture of fear and excitement.

  “What?” Eddy asked as he sat down at his dining room table. Samantha noticed that his expression looked very grim. It was clear that whatever he had found out that morning had not been good.

  “Jacob, the maintenance worker, was wearing the same cap that was inside the backpack.” Samantha sat down beside him. Walt joined them as well. “Do you know what this means?”

  “You think that Jacob is the killer?” Eddy said dubiously.

  “He seems like a nice enough fellow,” Walt offered.

  “So did Vince, but he was obviously involved in something that he shouldn't have been,” Samantha remarked. “I just think it can't be a coincidence that it was the same cap.”

  “Are you sure that it was the same cap?” Walt asked. “You only saw it briefly. Is it possible that you have them mixed up?”

  “I don't think so.” Samantha closed her eyes for a moment and recalled the cap she had seen. “No, it was the same one. I know it was.”

  “So, what does that tell us?” Eddy sat back in his chair. “Either Jacob just happens to have the same cap, or the backpack belonged to him, or he stole the backpack and the drugs and kept the cap. None of those things actually make him a killer.”

  “Did you tell Eddy about the money?” Samantha asked Walt.

  “I did.” Walt nodded. “He agrees with me that we should turn it into the police.”

  “Just a minute. We haven't figured out how the two men got into Bill's house last night. But if it was Jacob he would have access to the spare keys in the office to make repairs. That means he could have been the one to hide the money, and to try to get it back.”

  “She's right.” Walt rapped his knuckles against the table. “It makes sense that he would be able to move around undetected. He could have been watching to see when Bill left for the buffet.”

  “That does make sense,” Eddy said thoughtfully. “The only problem is that we have no real proof. We can't prove that Jacob was in Bill's house, let alone that he was involved with a murder, based on a cap.”

  “What we do have is the chance to set a trap,” Samantha's voice rose with a hint of excitement.

  “What do you mean?” Walt looked at her warily.

  “I mean that if Jacob thinks that money is still in Bill's attic, he's going to try to steal it again. We could have Bill make sure that Jacob overhears that he is going out, and then we could wait for Jacob to break in. If we catch him trying to get the money, it will be clear that he's involved.”

  “I don't know,” Walt muttered. “That sounds rather dangerous.”

  “It sounds like a sting.” Eddy rubbed his hand along his cheek. “It might just work. But I think we need to connect the dots first. So, Jacob might be involved, but how was he connected to Vince?”

  “I can do a little research on Vince to see if he has any connections to Jacob. But we need to hurry if we're going to do anything. We can't just wait and give Jacob time to disappear.” Samantha shivered as she remembered being alone with Jacob once before beside the tall grass where Vince's body had been found. It made her anxious to think that she might have been that vulnerable around a killer.

  “All right, Samantha, you see what you can find out. Walt, look into the finances and see if you can figure anything out on that end. I'll check in with my contacts regarding Jacob. We're getting close now, I can feel it.”

  Samantha nodded at Eddy. “For Simon's sake, I hope you're right.”

  Chapter 13

  As the three friends went their separate ways, Samantha kept an eye out for Jacob. She hoped that she hadn't done anything to tip him off that she was onto him. She hesitated outside the door of her villa. Instead of just unlocking the door as she usually did she stood back a few feet and searched for anything that might be out of place.

  Since everything seemed to be in order she finally stepped forward and unlocked her door. She eased it slowly open and peeked inside. She checked for anything that looked out of the ordinary before stepping in. Nothing seemed to be disturbed. She locked the door behind her. Samantha was still nervous as she walked into her office and sat down at her computer. She was looking forward to a time when the murder was solved and she could relax.

  She laid her fingertips on the keys. She knew what she wanted to research but her mind drifted back to Vince. She thought of the man who had often been a daily part of her life, and yet she barely knew who he was. She wondered how life could get like that, with people remaining strangers despite daily interaction. That was the task ahead of her. Who was Vince? How was he linked to Jacob? Was there any connection at all.

  One trick that Samantha had learned during her years of doing research for stories was to follow the forwarding addresses, and the family. First she looked up Vince's immediate family members. His parents were deceased many years earlier. He had one brother and one sister. The sister lived across the country which made her an unlikely source for a connection, but not completely off the table. It was possible that Jacob was an old boyfriend or husband of hers. As Samantha followed the trails between the siblings, and Jacob, she found no connection between Jacob and Vince. Despite the fact that they were both at Sage Gardens at the same time many days, there was no evidence that either of them spent any time together outside of work.

  Once she began looking into Vince's brother, Carl, she started to feel she might be getting somewhere. He had lived in some of the same towns as Jacob. In fact at one point Carl and Jacob had lived in the same apartment complex. Samantha dug a little deeper and found that they had lived there at the same time. She also checked on the crime rates for the complex and found that there had been a heavy problem with drugs at the time. It made sense to her that Carl and Jacob could have gotten to know each other while living in the complex. Maybe Carl had connected Jacob with his brother, Vince. Or maybe there had been some bad blood between Carl and Jacob.

  Maybe Vince had started trouble in an attempt to settle the score. Samantha now knew how the two men were connected. What she didn't know was whether the relationship between them was on
e of friendship or business. She sat back from the computer and smiled to herself. There was one way she thought she could find out exactly how Vince and Jacob got along. She picked up her phone and dialed the office.

  “Hello?”

  Samantha recognized the voice right away. It was the office assistant, Lily.

  “Hi Lily, it's Samantha.”

  “Oh, hi Samantha,” Lily sounded uncomfortable. She had good reason to be after Samantha and Eddy had pretty much interrogated her about her relationship with Vince. Samantha still suspected that Lily might have somehow been involved in the murder.

  “I have a question that I hope that you can answer,” Samantha said warmly.

  “Oh, more questions.” Lily cleared her throat. “Fine. What is it?”

  “Jacob, the maintenance man. Is he a friend of Vince's?”

  “Jacob? Why are you asking about him?” Lily asked grimly.

  “I was just wondering if maybe you put in a good word to get Jacob his job here.”

  “Why would I have?” Lily asked.

  “Because Jacob and Vince knew each other.”

  “Look, all I know is that one day Vince brought Jacob into the office to apply for the job. I didn't recommend anybody. But the manager liked Vince, and he hired Jacob on the spot because of it.” Lily sighed. “I still can't believe he's gone.”

  Samantha felt a twinge of guilt for putting Lily through the difficult conversation. But she knew that guilt would be erased when she figured out the truth about who had killed Vince.

  “What do you think of Jacob, Lily?” Samantha asked.

  “I'd rather not say.” Lily was beginning to get very short. “I need to go, Samantha, I have work to do. If you have any more questions for me, why don't you get the police to ask them?” With that she hung up the phone. Samantha grimaced. She knew that Lily was quite upset. The question was, why? Was she upset because Vince was dead, or because she was about to be caught? Samantha wasn't convinced that Lily wasn't still a suspect, though she hoped it wasn't true. After hanging up with Lily she placed a call to Walt.