Home Sweet Homicide: A Cozy Mystery (A Gemma Stone Murder Mystery Book 5)

by Willow Monroe

  Before either of them could answer her, the bell over the door tinkled. All three women turned to see Peggy Langstrom entering the space. Were they ever going to get rid of that woman? Dressed in a dark suit that was a size too small, she wore way too much make up and her short gray hair looked like it was plastered to her head. Her bulging briefcase looked like it had seen better days.

  “Peggy, can we help you?” Gemma asked, trying not to sound as impatient as she felt.

  “Just attended an emergency breakfast meeting with the Chamber of Commerce,” Peggy boasted, placing her briefcase on the floor and crossing her arms over her chest. “With Katie out of the picture, I mean, gone, they had to elect a new treasurer.”

  “Oh,” Gemma said.

  “And they elected me,” Peggy finished. “Natural choice.”

  “Well, congratulations, Peggy,” Holly said, although she sounded rather uncertain.

  “I’m also the head of the committee welcoming new businesses to the city,” Peggy continued. “Me being such a commercial real estate mogul and all. I know when all of the new business owners come to town.”

  “I thought Essie handled commercial real estate,” Gemma said. Wasn’t that why they had sought her out to find them a shop?

  “But she just handles the small stuff. Nothing big like I can facilitate,” Peggy assured her.

  “Oh,” Gemma said, a thought forming at the back of her mind.

  “Anyway, I want you to attend next month’s breakfast meeting as my guests. It’s great for networking and that sort of thing. I’m sure you’re going to need all the help you can get. Perhaps after you meet everyone, you’ll want to be on one of our committees.”

  “So, do you only do commercial real estate now?” Gemma asked, cutting off the tirade as gently as possible.

  Peggy picked an imaginary thread from her knee length skirt and tugged gently at the lapels of her fitted jacket. “Oh, no. I do it all. So, Holly, when you’re ready to start house hunting again, you just let me know.”

  “Peggy, what do you know about some land over off of Route Two-fifty?” Gemma asked and then added quickly. “Perhaps Holly and Mitch would like to build.”

  Gemma could feel Holly staring at her but she kept her gaze trained on Peggy.

  “I’m afraid Katie already purchased that land,” she finally said. “It belongs to her mother now, I guess.”

  “So you don’t have any land of your own?”

  “No and there’s good reason for that. Katie was somehow able to buy several large tracts of land just outside the city limits at an unheard of price. I’m sure she had something going on with the zoning commissioner. Big surprise. I tried to buy that land, even offered more money but they wouldn’t even talk to me. Me,” Peggy said loudly and thumped her chest with a fist. “President of the Board of Realtors for the county.”

  “I didn’t know you were President of the Board of Realtors,” Gemma said.

  The older woman did her best to hide it but she was becoming more agitated by the minute. “Oh, I’m not yet but I will be now that Katie is gone.”

  “Did you know the land that she built on was slated to be taken by the state to widen Route Two-Fifty?” Gemma asked.

  Peggy cleared her throat. “I know it now but I didn’t know it at the time.”

  “Did Katie know it?”

  “Probably.”

  “What about the other pieces of land?” Gemma asked.

  By this time, Peggy’s face was red. Her neatly combed hair was beginning to come undone and her hands were fisted at her side, clenching and unclenching rapidly. “That is none of my concern,” she snapped, turned on her heel and stormed out of the building.

  Silence filled the space where before had been nothing but white hot anger and the reek of cheap cigarettes.

  “Well, that was interesting,” Natalie finally said, her voice quiet. She picked up her paint roller and went back to work.

  “Pushed her a little bit didn’t you?” Holly asked, looking at Gemma.

  “Just a little,” Gemma conceded. “Do you think she hated Katie enough to kill her?”

  “She was pretty hot,” Holly said, turning back to her work as well. “Don’t know if she was angry enough to kill but she’s certainly taking advantage of Katie being gone.”

  They worked in silence for a while, with Gemma trying to concentrate on her computer screen. All she could see was Peggy’s eyes flashing anger, a violent anger that was almost tangible. But she couldn’t have moved Katie’s body. It was too heavy and unless Peggy was pretty strong... Perhaps she had help.

  While she pondered this, the door to the shop opened and a short, heavy set man wearing a dirty t-shirt and jeans stepped into the shop. He rubbed his bald head with both hands and gazed around the shop, looking more and more confused as the door closed behind him.

  “Can I help you?” Gemma asked, stepping toward him.

  “I’m Frank McCoy. I was told to meet someone from the newspaper here, name of Nick Leonard,” he explained in a deep, gruff sounding voice. “I’m a bit early.”

  “Oh, Nick’s not here yet,” Gemma said, surprised that he asked the man to meet him at their shop. Why not the newspaper office or a restaurant somewhere? “He should be here any minute.”

  Almost before she finished speaking, Gemma saw Nick trotting down the street toward the shop. He passed the big display window, pushed open the door and scanned the room. His smile grew wider when it landed on Natalie. Then he saw McCoy and entered the shop.

  “Mr. McCoy, I’m Nick Leonard with the ... newspaper,” Nick said, offering his hand.

  “Frank McCoy. Nice to meet you,” Frank said and shook Nick’s hand.

  Gemma, pretending to go back to work, noted the size of the man’s hands.

  “I just wanted to talk to you a little bit about the law suit you had against Ms. Mack,” Nick explained.

  “I hate to speak ill of the dead but that woman cost us a fortune. We paid a pretty penny for our house and within six months the state came through to widen the highway. Went right through the middle of the house. Took the whole thing out. She had to have known it was going to happen.”

  “What’s going to happen now?” Nick asked.

  Frank shrugged, his shoulders drooping. “I don’t rightly know. Haven’t talked to our lawyer in the last few days. We weren’t the only ones who lost almost everything we had. And the ones who weren’t wiped out totally lost front yards, not to mention the property values going down.”

  “The state paid for your homes,” Nick suggested.

  “Not even half of what we had in them,” Frank argued and then shrugged. “But now she’s dead so I suppose, if we win the suit, her estate will pay off.”

  The men continued talking and Gemma’s thoughts whirled. Ross was right. This information opened up a whole new line of suspects. She still felt that Peggy was involved somehow. Perhaps she had managed to coerce one of them into helping her kill Katie?

  Finally, she heard Nick thank Frank for his time and they shook hands again. As the men shook hands, Gemma saw a flash of pink on Frank’s wrist.

  “That’s an interesting bracelet, Mr. McCoy,” she observed.

  Frank held up his arm. “I lost a sister to breast cancer but I prefer the Paracord to a pink ribbon.”

  “Did you hear all of that?” Nick asked when he was gone.

  “Enough.”

  “That’s one reason I brought him here,” he explained.

  “Thanks,” Gemma said.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I promised your new employee I’d take her to lunch,” Nick said.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Now he had Gemma’s attention.

  Holly grinned and gently elbowed her in the side.

  Natalie blushed and placed her paint roller in the tray. “Let me go wash up,” she said.

  Gemma watched Nick watch Natalie hurry out of the room. So, that was the reason he was so acting so weird, like a love struck puppy
.

  “Isn’t she a little young for you?” Gemma said, the first thought that popped into her head.

  Nick shrugged. “Maybe, but she’s cute. We had dinner last night and agreed we’d both like to spend more time with each other.”

  “Oh,” Gemma said.

  “We’re going tonight to pick out paint and start working on her apartment,” Nick told them. “If that’s okay with you.”

  “I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Holly said, giving Gemma a quick hug. “Isn’t that great, Gemma?”

  “Yes,” Gemma said, not really sure if it was great or not.

  Hurt, surprised, stunned, she hadn’t known what to feel but she would never let him know that. They had remained friends, though he seemed somewhat distant now and they didn’t talk as often. Emotions swirling, Gemma wasn’t sure what she was feeling right at this moment. She just knew that she liked having Nick on her side again.

  “Ready?” Natalie said, coming out of the bathroom.

  She had brushed her long, straight hair and touched up her makeup, Gemma noticed.

  “I’ll have her back in an hour or so,” Nick promised.

  “Take your time,” Holly said, waving them out the door. “Mitch and I are getting together this afternoon to do some hiking. We’re pretty much done here.”

  “I’ll help you clean up,” Gemma said.

  Why was she fighting back tears? She should be happy for her best friends. Nick appeared to be embarking on a new relationship and Holly and Mitch were perfect for each other. Soon she would be at their wedding.

  “Uh oh,” Holly said, when they’d managed to stow all the paint supplies in the storage room.

  “What?” Gemma asked, turning to where she stood toward the front of the shop.

  “Peggy forgot her briefcase,” Holly said, holding up the bulky looking object. “I guess we should call her, but I really don’t have time to wait around.”

  “Her office is on the way to my house,” Gemma said. “Let’s just drop it off there.”

  “Good idea,” Holly said, already checking to make sure the shop was locked securely.

  Holly parked in front of the Langstrom Real Estate office that was smack in the middle of a small strip mall. Gemma hopped out, lugging the briefcase with her, and headed for the glass door with the garish orange logo emblazoned across the front.

  A petite blonde sat at the front desk. She looked up and frowned when she saw Gemma, glanced at her watch and frowned even more. She must have taken customer service lessons from Peggy herself, Gemma thought.

  “Hi, Peggy left her briefcase at my shop when she stopped by today. Would you let her know I’ve dropped it off here for her?” Gemma asked.

  “Peggy’s gone home for the day and I was told not to disturb her,” the woman said curtly. “And I don’t want that nasty thing cluttering up the place.”

  “Okay,” Gemma said, retreating from the office with the bag. “I’ll just...I’ll just figure something other way of getting it to her.”

  “You do that,” the woman snapped.

  “What was that all about?” Holly asked when Gemma climbed back into the SUV still carrying Peggy’s briefcase.

  “She’s trained her staff well,” Gemma said. “Just drop me off at my place and I’ll take this to her house.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure. You have plans and, well, I don’t,” Gemma said, forcing a smile at her best friend.

  “Okay,” Holly said, pulling back into traffic.

  Gemma found Ross and Aunt Maisy out on the back patio again, enjoying the afternoon sunshine. This was probably the closest thing he’d had to a vacation in years. She watched them from her bedroom window a moment and wondered if she and Ross had a future together. Had Nick really dumped her so she could be with Ross? Had Ross dumped her, thinking she wanted to be with Nick? But he’d hooked up with Katie much too quickly. Was he telling her the truth about their relationship? One thing for sure, she was going to have to think long and hard before she even considered dating either one of them again.

  These were the thoughts that filled her head while she showered and dressed in a comfortable, cotton dress. The soft blue fabric reminded her of summer and the style was just perfect for the warm afternoon.

  “You’re home,” Ross said when he found her in the kitchen fixing a sandwich.

  “Yeah. I have an errand to run and then I’ll be back. Where’s Aunt Maisy?”

  “Taking a nap,” he answered. “What is this hideous thing?”

  “Peggy left her briefcase at the shop when she came by today to invite us to join the Chamber of Commerce. I’m going to drop it off at her house,” Gemma explained.

  “Have you looked inside?” Ross asked, fumbling with the clasp.

  “No. That is her private stuff,” Gemma told him.

  “Maybe there’s some incriminating evidence in there,” Ross said. “Maybe a clue that would lead us to something else.”

  “She hated Katie, that’s pretty evident, but enough to kill her?” Gemma reasoned. “And what kind of clues would she be carrying around in her briefcase?”

  Ross shrugged. “I’m going to look.”

  Despite the fact that Gemma knew they were doing something wrong, she inched closer as he lay the leather briefcase on its side and flicked the latches open with his thumbs. It was filled with papers, none of them neatly stacked, nor did they look like anything important.

  “See, I told you,” Gemma said, watching Ross shuffle the papers this way and that. “There’s nothing...”

  Ross lifted up some papers and she caught a flash of orange.

  “Wait.” Gemma reached out and pushed the papers aside.

  Ross froze and their eyes met. “This is Paracord. Peggy uses it to tie her trunk shut so she can haul those big-ass signs around with her.”

  “I think she uses it to anchor them as well,” Gemma whispered as if someone might hear.

  They stood there looking at each other for a moment.

  “And I think that’s what was wrapped around Katie’s neck in that closet,” Gemma whispered as if someone might hear her.

  “Are you sure?” Ross asked.

  Gemma nodded, her heart pounding.

  “We need to let someone know...” Ross began.

  “Not yet. I want to make sure before we talk to Gilmore,” Gemma said, her thoughts buzzing. “Let me take this to her house and see what else I can find out.”

  “Gemma, if she killed Katie, she’s a dangerous woman,” Ross said. “I can’t let you do that.”

  Gemma was already shaking her head. “She hated Katie. She doesn’t hate me. At least I don’t think she does.”

  “But if she thinks you know something...”

  “I’ll play it cool,” Gemma promised him, snapping the briefcase shut and pulling it off the table. “Besides, you’re kind of under house arrest until we get this figured out.”

  Ross closed his eyes and shook his head. “You’ve never been able to play it cool about anything in your life. But if I don’t hear from you in one hour, I’m coming after you.”

  “Deal,” Gemma said, turned and marched out the door with Peggy’s briefcase weighing heavily in her hand.

  “Good girl, Rosie,” Gemma said to the Subaru when it shifted into gear easily and she rolled out of the driveway without a hitch.

  With the window down, she drove slowly out of her neighborhood, through some backroads toward Peggy’s address. It appeared to be a quiet neighborhood much like her own with newer, larger homes, wider streets and fewer trees. Gemma circled the block a time or two to make sure she wasn’t being followed. Either Gilmore felt she wasn’t worth watching or the officers on the task chose to look the other way.

  Peggy’s house wasn’t large nor small, really unremarkable, and her car was in the driveway. Gemma stepped onto the shaded front porch and rang the bell.

  Nothing.

  She rang it again and waited, glancing around the side of
the house. When there was no response after the third time, Gemma set off around the side of the house. Perhaps Peggy was in the back yard gardening or stirring up some potion in a giant black cauldron...

  The back yard was empty but there were several small flower beds and a walk that led out to a potting shed. Gemma wasn’t sure whether to try the potting shed or the back door so she simply stood in the middle of the yard and said Peggy’s name loudly.

  The potting shed door opened a crack and Peggy’s gray head popped out.

  “Gemma Stone. What are you doing here?” Peggy asked, walking toward her.

  Gemma couldn’t tell if she was angry or not but she did seem a bit nervous.

  “You left your briefcase at the shop and I thought you might need it,” Gemma explained, holding the heavy object up.

  “Oh, Lord, I hadn’t even missed it yet. Thank you so much for bringing it by,” Peggy said, reaching for the briefcase. “You didn’t look inside did you?”

  “Oh, no, ma’am,” Gemma lied.

  Peggy laughed and it sounded like a witch’s cackle. “Just bustin’ on you.”

  They stood there facing each other in the afternoon sunshine for a moment.

  Finally Peggy said, “Won’t you come in and have some iced tea. I made a fresh pitcher when I got home today.”

  “That would be great. Thank you,” Gemma said and followed Peggy into the back door of her house.

  Peggy led the way through a narrow mud room and into a large, well-equipped kitchen. Gemma took a seat on one of the stools at the island and watched Peggy carefully while she filled glasses with ice and poured tea. Strangely enough, the house didn’t smell like cigarette smoke at all.

  “To us working girls,” Peggy said and they touched glasses.

  “Yeah, working girls,” Gemma said. She didn’t drink the tea but let the cold glass rest against her palms while she formulated her next question. “Peggy, how long have you been in real estate?”

  Peggy thought for a minute although Gemma knew she didn’t have to think about it. It was all for dramatic show. “Almost thirty years.”

  “Wow. I guess it’s hard to keep up with the new agents and all the technology they have today,” Gemma guessed.