The Secret of Chestnut Hall (A Blooms, Bones and Stones Cozy Mystery - Book One)

by Olivia Swift

  “Have to pull myself together,” she thought and concentrated on the driving. Kim was waiting and hugged her sister close.

  “What a dreadful time you’ve had,” She sympathized and held her sister’s hand as they went inside. At the same time, she was wondering why Evan was unreachable. “It won’t be the Wendells having a go,” she thought. “Mr. Sutherland will have me to deal with if he’s hurt my sister.”

  Mackay and Sanchez were both concerned to see if she felt well enough to tell them what happened. She said there was no need for a doctor and was happy to go over her experience.

  “Mr. Sutherland was called to New York urgently, “she started. “And his brother went home to catch up on some things as well. I had some planters to finish in the garden and went down to the alpine garden,” she told them while Kim listened in horror as the story unfolded.

  “I think his gun will have fallen among the stones of the tank,” she said.

  “We found hers,” Sanchez added. He stayed with them while Mackay dealt with the suspects. It took some time and several coffees, but he returned to say that the woman had told them everything. Jazz and Kim waited and Mackay smiled.

  “She was so keen to say that she was not guilty that she turned on her husband. It looks like Jeremiah Wendell stabbed the gardener, Jed Baker, for having an affair with his wife. Mrs Baker called Carlton Wendell to help dispose of the body.”

  “Where is the body?” Kim asked.

  “Down an old well, apparently. We’ll follow that up, but she also says that Molly Baker suffocated Jeremiah Wendell to inherit his money. Carlton hated the old man and just left the house all these years in case anything came to light to incriminate him. She says her husband wanted to stop the two of you finding out more and thought his DNA would come to light. His DNA would maybe make him seem like the murderer.”

  “But he didn’t do the murder so why worry about it?” Kim asked, and Mackay gave a grim smile.

  “We are pretty sure that the watch is actually his and maybe the gardener was not quite dead when he got there. He may be the one who actually finished him off.”

  “So, the property men are innocent,” Jazz remarked.

  “Looks like it but their mother certainly is not,” Sanchez replied. “They let the house stand empty all those years to keep themselves safe.”

  “Then they wanted the money,” Kim observed. “Let’s go home, Jazz.”

  At the nursery, Jazz found that everything was catching up and she sat down unsteadily on the sofa.

  “Sip this,” her sister told her and handed her a drink. “Let me call Evan again.” She took her sister’s phone, but the number was unavailable. There were no text replies. She made Jazz take a couple of tablets and go to bed. “We can sort everything in the morning.” Jazz accepted the instruction and went to bed, but there were tears on her cheeks as she went to sleep

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jazz lay in bed as the light trickled through the window and went back over what had happened the night before. She shuddered thinking about the gun in her back and got a small satisfaction about the way she had thrown the woman against the rocks. All of that faded into insignificance as she wondered where Evan was and, why oh, why had he not answered her calls. She thought back to the times they had been together and how real the relationship had seemed. Jasmine Summer had fallen in love with Evan Sutherland, and she had dreamed that he might feel the same. In the end, she made herself get dressed and have some breakfast. She watered the plants in the nursery and decided to go and find Rob to see when the decking would be completed. When she reached the garden, she found Rob amazed that the alpine garden was roped off as a crime scene and had to tell him the story.

  “I can’t do anything now,” he said. “But I can finish in a day once they take the tape away.” He drove away, and she checked out the garden. It looked fantastic, but she took very little pleasure in that. Depressed and confused, Jazz thought she would check the house and leave the key in a safe place. The place was quiet, but there was a smart car in the yard. Puzzled, she found the door unlocked and stepped inside. Then she stopped short. No Evan and no Dexter, but a strange woman she had never seen before was making herself coffee and croissants as if the kitchen belonged to her.

  “Excuse me,” Jazz started. “Can I ask who you are?” The woman looked her up and down with disdain and took a step towards her. There was a definite menace in the move, and Jazz felt a tremor of fear flicker through her body. The intruder was dressed well and looked elegant and sure of herself. She had hands covered in rings, and the bags on the floor were definitely designer. In fact, she was a very beautiful woman, tall, slender and someone that men would drool over. But Jazz stayed with her hand on the door and felt her heart beat with a decided frightening thump. The woman smiled, but it was not a pleasant sight.

  “You must be the little gardener girl. I’ve heard all about you,” she said. “And I don’t like what I hear. Evan has been amusing himself a little too much.” She flicked her fingers in a dismissal gesture. “I am his wife and have decided to come and join him here. We can keep the apartment in New York. Your job is done, and the bill will be paid. Now run along. My coffee is getting cold.” Jazz was stunned into being speechless. Of all the things you might expect to see, this was not one of them. She had surmised he might have been married before, and she thought it had been a bad experience, but she never dreamed that he was still in a relationship. It was just too much to take in after the evening before and the attempt on her life. She simply stepped back outside and closed the door. On shaking legs, she hurried across the yard. She could almost feel the antagonism follow her and would not have been surprised to hear the door open and feel something hurled after her departing figure.

  The car was a haven that beckoned, and she started the engine on auto pilot and powered away down the road without knowing where she was driving. The tears started and poured down her cheeks. She brushed at them angrily with her hand, but it made things worse. It had all been just too much to handle, and the breaking point had been reached. The sobs came, and she caught her breath. To be lied to and left without an explanation and then the wife in the house, it was all just a shock to her system. The experience of having guns pointed at her and fighting off the attackers was still having an effect as well. She had handled the situation well, but now it all came back in a rush. The car lunged to one side as she saw another vehicle loom in front of her and she mounted the sidewalk. Luckily there were no pedestrians, and as the speed was quite high, the car bounced off the side and rolled over onto the roof. It slid across the ground and ended up launched against a tree. Then everything went black. Her phone was ringing unheeded as people who had seen the crash, rushed to try and help.

  Evan had switched his cell off in the aircraft on the way to New York and then rushed to the lawyer’s office without putting it back on. The person watching his ex-wife had seen her board the plane for Colorado and telephoned the office. They had checked the flight with police and sent for Evan to let him know. That was all the news they had, but there was no doubt that the woman that had been his wife was flying to where he now lived. She had been released from jail and lost no time in taking up where she left off. The restraining order against her was breached, and the local police could pick her up. Evan raced back to the airport and booked the next flight back home. He was panic stricken because the woman was quite capable of setting his home on fire or lying in wait to beat him up. Not for the first time, he asked himself why he had not told Jazz about the terrible times he had spent being accused of cruelty and assault. He thought back to the newspaper stories she had generated and the way that he had to fight to prove himself innocent. He managed to get through to Dex and tell him what had happened. Dexter was not at the house but tried to call Jazz to warn her. There was no reply, and neither man could find out where the woman that he divorced was. Dexter decided to call Carly. She went to the house to find Jazz and saw Clementine Sutherland inste
ad. She was confronted by the same person that Jazz had encountered and felt the same antagonism, but had the sense to pretend that she was picking up some tools and fled away to phone Dexter back again. Jazz was nowhere to be found.

  Dex arrived back at a flying speed and met up with Carly.

  “She’s in the house and making herself at home,” Carly told him, but was devastated to learn that in the past, in revenge the woman had sprinkled gas on Evan’s clothes to set them on fire. The neighbors had seen smoke in time to stop the fire from spreading to the whole house.

  “She went to jail for arson; she’s seriously deranged,” Dex said. “If we disturb her, it could be disastrous.” He called Mackay and told him the story. As it happened, the New York Police Department had already sent the warning and the detectives, with a contingent of uniformed men and women, surrounded the house. The detective shouted a warning as they rushed the building. Clementine Sutherland was adept at making herself look innocent, and she smiled as the force entered the house. She knew her best weapon was charm, and she was an excellent actress.

  “Gentlemen,” she smiled. “and ladies. There is no need for violence. I am the wife of Evan Sutherland.” Then Dexter stepped inside the door, and her attitude changed in an instant to snarling, face-twisting nastiness. Sanchez stepped forward and slapped the handcuffs on her wrists. He pushed her roughly towards the door and read her the rights as he went. She was violating bail and a restraining order and had made an illegal entry into the house. Mackay stopped to tell them that she would be sent back to New York and probably go back to jail.

  “Where’s Jazz?” Carly asked, and her phone rang from Kim who had been called to the hospital.

  “Good Lord,” Dex exclaimed, and they ran for their cars.

  Jasmine Summer was in a world of white. It seemed to be everywhere. She wondered if maybe she was in heaven and the clouds were holding her up but gradually the peeping of electronic meters filtered into her senses, and she knew that this was no cloud. She struggled to make her way out of the white mist that seemed to stop her from seeing anything. Something was holding her hand, and it tightened the grip.

  “Oh, please open your eyes and speak to me. Please come back to me. This is all my stupid fault,” a voice pleaded and she knew it as Evan. As she heard the voice, the whole awful story came back to her and tears ran from her eyes although she was still drugged. She felt his head fall down onto her hand and thought that maybe she would stay in the dream. It was soft, white, and comfortable and much better than the real world. She drifted off again into a drugged sleep, and when she finally opened her eyes and managed to focus on the hospital room, she saw he was asleep with his head on the edge of the bed, and he still held her hand. Jazz tried to lift her other hand to stroke his face, but it was tied to a machine and felt very heavy. She slightly turned her head, and the movement made the pain shoot through her legs. She gave a little moan, and Evan wakened in an instant.

  “Jazz, sweetheart. Are you awake?” He sat up and gently stroked a wisp of hair from her face.

  “I will never ever leave you again without telling you where I am going. I am so sorry. So so sorry.” Tears trickled out of the corners of his eyes, and she lifted her free hand to brush them away.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “You saw Clementine and rushed off. Then the car crashed, and you have been asleep for two days.”

  “She told me she was moving back in with you,” Jazz said quietly. “She said she was your wife. She is very beautiful.”

  “And you had caught the murderers and been held at gunpoint,” he smiled at her. “I heard the story and wasn’t there to help.”

  “The murderers---not a problem. The wife---“He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

  “I should have told you the whole story. She tried to burn my house down. She accused me of assault, and now she has broken the restraining order. The woman is a frightening nutcase.” He paused. “And a good actress. She would fool you into believing her very easily. She is violent. It’s a good thing you left. There is no knowing what she would do. She was let out of jail early for good behavior.” He shook his head at the thought of the woman charming the prison officers into believing she was just a woman in a bad situation.

  “Where is she now?” Jazz asked.

  “Dex and Carly saved the day and Mackay with a whole squad took her into custody, and she is on a plane back to New York.” He kissed her again. “Hopefully she will go back to jail and for a long time.” Jazz relaxed back onto the pillow. At least the woman had been taken away.

  “The garden will be finished tomorrow when Ben completes the deck. You can enjoy the place in quiet and start on the renovation of the house.” She turned her head away so that he could not see the pain in her eyes. “We will leave you in peace and go on to the next garden job. It was an interesting garden, and we did solve a thirty-year-old murder.”

  Evan went around to the other side of the bed to see her face. The pain was undeniably there, and the knife inside him twisted when he knew it was all because he had kept the bad things locked inside himself. He knelt beside the bed and stroked her face with his finger.

  “Forgive me for not being honest with you. I swear by everything there is that it will never happen again.” She gave a small nod and said that, of course, she forgave him.

  “You must have had a dreadful time in New York.”

  “But I left it behind, got a divorce, started again, and found a woman who made me live again.” He kissed her cheek and then wiped away the tears that were covering her face. “I should have told you that, and I should have told you other things as well.”

  “There is more?” she asked in surprise, and he smiled.

  “Nothing more from the past. Although I will tell you all the horrific details eventually. Dex was my only support. He knew what Clementine was like.” He took her hand. “What I should have said was that I had fallen in love with you and never wanted to live without you.” Jasmine Summer’s heart missed a beat and the feeling that she was trying hard to put on one side flooded her system all over again. She returned the squeeze of his hand.

  “I knew that I was in love with you but refused to admit it, even to myself. Was it possible to find love at first sight and know it was real after such a short time? I told myself it was a garden to restore and a client that I liked. Then you went away without a word and I told myself I was right to keep it to myself,” she whispered.

  “I refused to believe that I could fall in love with someone who would love me back. I am on my knees beside you Jasmine Summer, and I am asking you to marry me. I love you more than words can say and I always will.” Jazz gazed at him speechless, and there were a heart-stopping few seconds when he thought she would turn him down. She lifted her free hand and touched his face.

  “This is so unreal, and I cannot even put my arms around your neck.”

  “Jasmine Summer for heaven’s sake say yes or the poor man will explode.” The voice came from the doorway, and her sister stepped inside. Jazz looked at his face and whispered the words he wanted to hear.

  “Of course, I’ll marry you. I cannot think of living without you,” She said. “Kiss me.” He leaned over and placed his lips on hers. The sizzling tremors of electricity that happened every time they came together flooded through her entire system and the doctor who had treated Dex stepped into the room.

  “Congratulations,” she said, “but we have to make you better, or it will never happen.” Kim and Evan waited while the doctor checked all of the machines, wrote in the notes, and detached some of the wires. The nurse came, and they raised the bed to a sitting position. Jazz smiled her thanks. She felt much better sitting up, and her arms were free to wrap around Evan’s neck when he came and sat close.

  “Can we come in?” Carly’s voice queried from the door, and she and Dex stepped inside. “The doctor says a few minutes only.” Kim told them that Evan had just asked Jazz to marry him and Carly’s face b
eamed with delight as she went to embrace her friend.

  “Oh, I am sooo glad,” she said. She kissed Evan as well.

  “The monster is on her way back to jail,” Dex confirmed. “That woman is evil.”

  “Tell you what,” Jazz said from the bed. “If she shows her face again, she will leave wishing that she never set eyes on Jasmine Summer.”

  “That’s my sister on the mend,” Kim grinned. “Feels much better.” In the midst of the chuckles, the doctor insisted they leave, but Evan flatly refused.

  “I’ll just sleep in this chair until I am sure everything is fine.” The doctor gave in with a smile and left them in peace.

  “I love you so much,” Evan told Jazz. “Get better soon, so we can start a life together.”

  “Happily ever after, my darling. Happily ever after,” she said and lay against his chest.

  THE END

  Afterword

  “Thank you for taking the time to read the book. Please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and is much appreciated. Click here to leave a review on Amazon.

  Thank you.”

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  About the Author

  Olivia Swift loves writing cozy mysteries! Her stories are inspired by her varied interests…gardening, spirits, crystals and so much more. Of course, there must be a romance or two in her books and a happily-ever-after ending!

  Growing up in a small English village, Olivia is only too familiar with the various characters that make up a community. There is always an event, drama, or mystery amongst the village folk.

  Only a few years ago, Olivia and her husband chose to take an early retirement and moved to the Aquitaine region of France. There, in her sun-filled study, she is able to sit and write her books. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the window overlooks her lovely French country garden.