The crash came from behind me. I dropped my coffee mug and spun toward the sound.
A door stood open opposite the living room, and Janine was in it, wearing two hoop earrings and a mask of fury. The wrought-iron fire escape clanged beneath her steps. She held a fire poker, squeezing and twisting so that her knuckles turned white.
“You interfering cow,” she said, and stepped into the room. “It’s about time I got rid of you.”
21
In the past two seconds, I had come to a not-so-astounding conclusion: it was safe to say that Janine had been involved in either Martha or Grayson’s murder.
I’d asked for hard evidence, and, boy, did I have it now.
Janine tossed her bottle blonde hair and pranced into the room, holding that fire poker like it was a baton or a prop in some elaborate dance she was about to put on for me.
And I had nothing but the cat-tree for protection. Dance or no dance, Janine’s eyes said one thing and one thing only: “I’m going to murder your interfering booty.”
“Janine,” I said. “Good to see you again.”
“You weirdo,” she replied.
“That represents a certain degree of irony, wouldn’t you say? You’re holding a fire poker and wearing stilettos.”
“Always look good for work,” Janine replied, grinning at me.
“Murder is a job for you? When did you add it to your resume?”
“Don’t, like, try to get smart with me. I didn’t murder anybody, OK? Like, that is not my M.O. I just do what I have to do to get what I want.”
“And what do you want?” I asked, backing away slowly, stepping around the coffee table and putting it between us.
Janine tottered forward, still squeezing that fire poker. Its sharp end was rusted, and I didn’t doubt a swift jab to the arm would lead to a tetanus shot, assuming I didn’t die from it. I had to keep her preoccupied. Arthur would be here soon.
And the more I got out of her the better. I’d have something to tell him when he arrived, and he’d have caught her red-handed. This was attempted murder, at least.
“What I want is what I deserve. Like, I was raised with a certain standard of living, and I’m going to get that.”
“Did you murder them?” I asked. “Or was it your dad, alone?”
Janine laughed. A cackle that would’ve suited a witch. “Did I murder them? I never get my hands dirty. I get my hands full of ice, ice baby.” She freed one hand from the poker and wiggled the various jeweled rings on it. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”
“But you fooled us all.” It was the flattery tactic. Hopefully, Janine was stupid enough to fall for it. “I was so sure it was your dad who murdered everyone. That he was the mastermind behind it all.”
“Dad killed Grayson,” she said, flippantly.
“And Grayson killed Martha,” I replied. “For money. For you.”
“For both dad and me.” Janine shrugged. “Grayson realized that we were who he needed. See, Grayson was, like, my boyfriend, but he was so super stupid. He never even clicked that, like, a woman like me does not date a lowlife like him. We used him and then we dumped him. Simple.”
I nodded. “That’s smart.” Get more out of her. Keep her talking. Arthur will be here soon.
He surely wouldn’t arrive with his sirens ringing, but gosh, was he taking his time.
“You’re right it’s smart. We used him, and now, my dad’s gone. You’ll never see him again. So there.”
“Did you get what you wanted, Janine? Did you get the money?”
Her lips thinned into a white line because, of course, she hadn’t. Her father had murdered Grayson before the murder could be solved, and that meant they hadn’t gotten any money from the lawyers. Their only option had to be to get it from Nelly. And that was why Janine was here.
Had to be.
The cops would arrest Richard. Janine would use Nelly to phone the lawyer and get that money released, now that an arrest had been made. That was what she thought. And that made her a pea-brain.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” Janine said. “You’re in the way.” She lifted the poker, bracing it in her grasp. Prepping to swing. “Now, I have to get rid of you.”
“C’mon, we both know you’re not the one who does the dirty work,” I said. “You’re the brains behind the operation.”
She came forward. “I, like, know what you’re doing.” She swung the fire poker at me.
I ducked, and it whistled over my head. My palms grew slick with sweat. I dropped to the floor and rolled behind the sofa, rose again, and scrambled toward the hall, but Janine blocked my path. Her eyes were wide now, her pupils dilating. She lifted the poker again.
I had nowhere to go but back. My heels bumped the sofa’s side.
Janine grinned.
Trapped,
A figure appeared in the doorway to the bedroom. Nelly, her glasses askew, her teeth bared. She yelled wordlessly and dived toward Janine. Her arms connected with the stiletto-queen’s midriff, and the pair crashed to the floor.
I tripped backward over the sofa to avoid the collision and one of my sneakers flung off the end of my foot. It turned end over end once and smacked me on the nose. Bad, but better than having my face broken in with a fire poker.
“Get off! Get off me, you witch,” Janine shrieked.
“Christie, I’ve got her.” Nelly’s yell was strangled.
I sprang upward.
Nelly had one hand pressing Janine’s face into the carpet and sat astride her back. Janine kicked and gasped, turning her head this way and that. Her hand reached for the fire poker, which had rolled under the coffee table during the altercation.
I kicked it further away. “Rope?”
“Cable ties in the kitchen drawer,” Nelly said, heaving breaths as Janine bucked and screeched.
I was into the kitchen and back again as fast as I could manage. “Get her arms behind her back.” I slipped the cable-tie over her wrists and tightened it in place. “OK, Nels, you can get off now.”
Nelly slid sideways. She exhaled and grew pale all over again, staring wide-eyed at Janine. Perhaps, the enormity of what had just happened had hit home.
“Thanks for saving my neck,” I said, rubbing the sore spot on my nose where the sneaker had hit. I slipped the offending shoe back onto my foot.
“You can’t do this to me,” Janine screamed. “You can’t—”
A banging started up at the front door. “Sleepy Creek police. Open up!”
“There’s Arthur.” I settled the sneaker back on my foot. “I’ll get it. You, uh, make sure she doesn’t try anything.”
And that was it. Another two cases solved, the murderers soon to be behind bars, assuming Liam had gotten his hands on Mr. Huxley.
I was left with one question and one question alone: would there ever be a peaceful, murder-free week in Sleepy Creek?
22
The Burger Bar buzzed with activity. The end of a long week had come, and Grizzy had the restaurant open for brunches and lunches after church. Folks sat in their Sunday best, slurping down milkshakes, sipping on coffees, eating their Breakfast Burgers and their fries.
I leaned against the counter, keeping an eye on my tables, my tray tucked under one arm, and the load significantly lighter on my shoulders than it had been all week.
The case was closed.
The Huxley’s had been imprisoned, though Janine would likely get a lighter sentence than her father since she hadn’t done any of the murdering herself. And because she’d squeal on her dad. I wouldn’t put anything past her.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Missi had arrived, and she bore a frown that wrinkled her already creased brow to the maximum degree. “Just what I expected. A Watson. A Watson who knows exactly how to ruin my afternoon.”
“What have I done now?” I asked.
“Oh, I think you know exactly what you’ve done,” Missi said.
Virginia stepped up beside he
r sister, patting her curls into place. “Don’t worry about her, dear, she’s just mad that Mona is back at church and smiling.”
“What did you do?” Missi asked. “The woman was finally out of my hair. Finally out of the way. And now…”
“Excuse me for help bringing two murderers to justice.” I explained about the Huxleys, in brief, and Vee gasped.
“I can’t believe we hadn’t heard about this. There must have been a breakdown in the gossip vine,” she said.
“Likely because Mona wasn’t around to head it this week. See, Missi? It’s a good thing I helped solve the case, after all.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her.
“Debatable at best. I’ve got my eye on you, Watson.” She marched off to her usual table, shooing customers and poor Hedy, our newest waiter, out of the way. She plonked her butt down in the booth that was reserved for the terrible twins on Sundays and picked up the newspaper from the tabletop.
“Don’t mind her, dear. She’s just angry that the respite from Mona’s ministrations is over. Oh well. Two shakes please? Of the usual flavor. And a Breakfast Burger each will go down heavenly. You’ll see, after she’s gotten some food in her system she’ll be back to her normal self.”
“So, just as grumpy then?”
“Don’t you start.” Virginia pinched my cheek then patted it. “Good job on the case, dear. And on not getting caught interfering.”
“I can’t get caught if I practically hand myself over,” I said.
Virginia hurried off to join her sister, and I put in their order with Grizzy behind the milkshake bar and Jarvis in the kitchen. The sizzle of patties, the hum and hubbub of chatter, and the clink of forks was the perfect ending to a seriously weird week.
I kept myself busy serving up burgers to my tables, sometimes trying for a smile, other times barely hearing what they said. The fact was, the case was solved, but I still hadn’t gotten any closer to solving my mother’s murder.
It had truly gotten under my skin now. The choice was clear: find a way to investigate it and lose my job, or do nothing and potentially watch as more people in town got hurt.
The Huxley’s might not have been connected to my mother’s case, but the mystery the week before definitely had been.
The afternoon arrived, and the yellow light that came with it brightened the interior of the Burger Bar, warming it and me too. Things had to get better. They would, and I’d had a pretty great birthday week all things considered. A new book, time with my best friend, and—
“Christie.” Liam’s cologne hit me smackdab in the nose, and I inhaled deeply.
Boy, when had I started sniffing the guy? This had gone too far.
My insides did the twist and flip. I turned from the milkshake bar and smiled at him. “Hi,” I said. “Come in for an afternoon snack? Or is this one of those ‘I’m reporting you to your superiors’ chats?”
“Neither,” he replied, and took a seat on one of the barstools, looking as handsome as ever in a fitted white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. The man had muscles. And I had to keep my eyes on his face or I’d wind up humiliating myself.
“Oh? Then what can I help you with?”
“I wanted to give you a birthday gift,” he said. “But I didn’t know what was appropriate, given that we’re not… anything. Friends, I guess, is the best way to put it.”
There went my stomach again.
“So, tough to get you a gift.”
“You really don’t have to,” I said. “I’m fine with no gifts. I’ve never been good with accepting them anyway. So. That’s fine. Do you want a milkshake? Burger?”
“Well, shoot. I did get you a gift. Now, I’m wondering if I should have at all.”
I licked my lips. “What is it?” If it was jewelry, I wouldn’t handle it well. That seemed so serious, and we’d only just started dating.
“I spoke to my captain. I’m reopening your mother’s cold case, and I’m the lead detective,” he said. “I’ll need to consult with you on it, frequently, since you were the only one around at the time who might have seen anything. I might even be able to show you pictures, documents. Won’t need to talk to your superiors in Boston either.”
Heat flushed through my body from the tips of my toes, all the way up to my head. “Are you…? Are you serious, Liam?” My throat tightened. “You did that?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Is it a good gift?”
I leaped off my stool and threw my arms around his neck, my tray clattering to the floor. “Thank you,” I said. “Thank you so much.” Tears came—I never cried—and I couldn’t stop them. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
He drew me to his chest and hugged me tight. “I want to help you,” he said, into my hair. “In any way I can.”
“Hey! Get a room, you two,” Missi called.
“What’s going on?” Grizzy asked, as she rounded the milkshake bar again after having been in the office.
I told her as Liam slung his arm around my shoulders and held me to his side. Grizzy clapped her hands, Missi and Vee came over to find out what was going on, and I closed my eyes, taking in the moment.
Finally, I’d have the chance to find out the truth. And it was all thanks to Liam, to Sleepy Creek, and to the people I cared about the most.
But I’d get to the investigating later. “Let’s have a round of milkshakes,” I said. “With extra cherries on top.”
“Coming right up,” Grizzy said, and grinned.
We served the last of the customers then closed the Burger Bar early and sat down at one of the longer tables together, me next to Liam, Missi and Vee with Griz. Jarvis came out to toast to another good week of sales, burgers, and a case solved.
I’d come back, alone, to take a break from work, dreading Sleepy Creek and my mother’s cold case. Chaos had ensued. And somehow, in the middle of it all, I’d found myself a family.
“To next week,” Grizzy said, raising her milkshake glass.
“To next week,” we echoed.
Who knew what it would bring?
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The Hawaiian Burger Murder is a short cozy mystery featuring Christie and the girls.
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The Breakfast Burger Murder Page 10