Old Fashioned Murder (A Ryli Sinclair Cozy Mystery Book 3)

by Jenna St James

  “Not much, Claire.” I took off my gloves and shoved them in my coat pocket. “What about you? How are the fur babies?” Claire had two miniature poodles that went everywhere with her.

  Claire beamed at me. “Minnie and Fifi are fabulous. Thanks for asking.”

  “Glad to hear it. And I love the coloring of today’s outfit.”

  Claire smoothed down the crush of the dark purple velour suit she had on. Claire wore a different colored velour suit pretty much every day of the week. Her love affair with crushed velour was well known. “I love this one, too. Chief Kimble is in his office if you girls want to go on back.”

  We thanked her and made our way back to his office. I knocked once and opened the door, but waited until he motioned us inside.

  “Sin, nice to see you.” He was using the nickname he gave me. That usually meant he knew I was up to no good. “And Aunt Shirley. To what do I owe the pleasure of this lovely visit?”

  I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him. Instead, I walked around his desk and gave him a kiss on the cheek. I was pleased to see he’d put a couple pictures of me on his desk. Usually Garrett kept his office empty of any personal items.

  Garrett smiled at me. “I’m sure you’re here for more reasons than to just give me a kiss.”

  Aunt Shirley sat down in a chair across from his desk. “We’re here to talk about Manning. The paper and the citizens of Granville want answers.”

  I rolled my eyes at Garrett. “We’re actually here on official newspaper business. Hank wants to know about Manning and if you are calling his death a homicide or was it a natural causes death.”

  I knew I had to keep up the pretense of not knowing it was ricin that killed Manning otherwise he’d know Aunt Shirley eavesdropped on his conversation that morning. He already suspected. I didn’t want to give him proof.

  I walked over and sat in the empty chair next to Aunt Shirley. I put my best innocent expression on and waited for his answer.

  Garrett paused a little longer before talking. “I can tell you on the record that the Granville Police Department is treating Mr. Manning’s death as a homicide.”

  “How was he killed?” I asked before Aunt Shirley could jump in and divulge what we knew. “Was it poison like we thought?”

  Garrett narrowed his eyes at me. “You know I’m not going to tell you anything pertinent to this investigation. Just know that we are treating his death as a homicide. When I have anything further to discuss, I’ll call the paper and let you know.”

  Aunt Shirley snorted. “Like heck you will. We had to chase you down here just to get confirmation on how you were treating his death.”

  Garrett gave her a wicked smile but didn’t say a word.

  Not wanting to be in the middle of World War III, I stood up. While I understood why Garrett had to keep certain information secret, it still made the journalist in me grouchy. “The Granville Gazette thanks you for your time, Chief Kimble.”

  Garrett lifted his eyebrow at the mention of his title. He didn’t miss my little tantrum. “Does it now? Well, Sin, I thank you for your time.” He walked over to the door and opened it…signaling the end of our meeting.

  Aunt Shirley huffed the whole way through the door. As I went to walk through, Garrett grabbed hold of my arm and leaned down to nuzzle my neck. I melted.

  “Be safe today,” he whispered. His lips grazed my ear before he kissed my neck.

  “C’mon.” Aunt Shirley grabbed me and yanked me the rest of the way out the door. “You’re a disgrace to your profession, Ryli Jo. This man could sweet talk you into anything.”

  Garrett chuckled and I waved goodbye, still feeling the effects of his lips against my ear and neck.

  “Are you okay to drive,” Aunt Shirley asked snidely as we slid into the Falcon. “Or should I be driving?”

  “Oh, hush up. You’re just jealous.” I pointed the Falcon toward the Manor and tuned Aunt Shirley out.

  There was one spot left open in the visitor’s parking area. It was almost lunchtime, so that wasn’t too big a surprise, especially with Valentine’s Day the next day. Family members were coming to spend time with their loved ones.

  There was an excitement in the air when we walked inside. Someone had brought out an old record player with records, and a few of the residents were dancing.

  “Old Blue Eyes.” Aunt Shirley smiled and waved to a group of ladies standing by the albums. “That Frankie sure could sing.”

  “You miss this place, don’t you?”

  Aunt Shirley shrugged. “Maybe just a little. Guess not all these old people are awful.”

  We stopped in front of Sheri Daniels’s office door. It was wide open. Not very smart for someone trying to hide something. We stepped inside the empty office. I’m not sure what miracle I was hoping for, but I really wanted to find something incriminating. Because like Aunt Shirley, I really didn’t want the killer to be Virginia.

  “You watch the door,” I whispered. “I’ll look around on her desk and see if I see anything relevant.”

  Aunt Shirley huffed. “That used to be my job. Do you even know what you’re looking for?”

  “Just watch the door.”

  The truth was I had no idea what I was looking for. Maybe a piece of paper giving step-by-step instructions on how to kill Manning or something along those lines. I rushed over to Sheri’s desk and gingerly leafed through some papers. Most were shipping orders for the kitchen. I tried to hide my disappointment.

  “Psst. I hear someone.” Aunt Shirley motioned me over. We both flattened ourselves against the wall next to the open door. No one would see us as they walked outside in the hallway unless they walked inside the room.

  “And he didn’t say anything else when he was here this morning?” I recognized the voice as Thomas Shifley’s.

  “Like what?” Sheri demanded.

  “Like for sure how he died,” Shifty said impatiently. “Did he tell you that?”

  “Why? You know something?” Sheri asked.

  “Me? No! Don’t you dare try to pin this on me. You have just as much to lose as I do. Even more really. Maybe you’re the one that killed him.”

  Sheri sucked in her breath. “Don’t you ever say that out loud again. I didn’t kill him. All that Kimble guy said was they were treating the death like a homicide. He told Lucy she couldn’t rent out Manning’s space yet, and that he’d be back with a search warrant for the Manor.”

  Garrett had been by this morning?

  “I didn’t sign up for this,” Shifley whined. “I didn’t kill anyone.”

  They walked through the door and into Sheri’s room. They still hadn’t seen us.

  “You sure about that?” Aunt Shirley demanded.

  So much for going unnoticed and sneaking out real quick while their backs were turned.

  Sheri and Shifley whirled around. Each gave us the stink eye.

  “What’re you doing in my office uninvited?”

  Aunt Shirley shrugged. “Just thought we’d come by and say hi. Catch up on old times.”

  Sheri’s face turned red. “Get out, and don’t ever come in here again.” She hurried over to her desk, looking around frantically. I didn’t know if she thought I took something or if she was trying to hide something.

  “Let’s go,” I whispered and tugged on Aunt Shirley’s arm.

  We made our way to the elevators and got off on Aunt Shirley’s floor. There was still yellow tape over Manning’s door. I knocked on Virginia’s door and waited a few seconds before it was opened.

  “Hello ladies,” Lovey said. “We’re just having a couple celebratory Valentine’s Day drinks, won’t you join us?”

  “You bet,” Aunt Shirley said and pushed me aside.

  I decided then and there to never stand close to Aunt Shirley when near a moving car or train. She’d push me in front of it just to get to booze.

  “It’s not Valentine’s Day yet,” I joked as I followed them inside. Nor is it even noon yet. />
  “That’s my fault,” Virginia said.

  Dotty was in the kitchen putting things away while Virginia was sitting at the table nursing a drink.

  “I have a Valentine’s Day date tomorrow with Bert, so we decided to have our annual Valentine’s Day luncheon and drinks today.”

  “And now,” Dotty announced, “we’re gonna top off our day-early Valentine’s Day luncheon with my famous Black Forest Manhattan.”

  “Sounds yummy,” Aunt Shirley said. “What’s in it?”

  “Basically cherry juice, cherry liqueur, whiskey, and chocolate bitters. Very healthy drink.”

  Lovey and Virginia laughed.

  “We’ve been drinking this drink on Valentine’s Day for years,” Lovey said. She walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a jar of cherries. “Then garnish the drink with these bad boys…whiskey soaked cherries.”

  “But only one for me today,” Virginia said. “I want to make sure I’m perky and rested up for my date tomorrow.”

  I decided I better stop Dotty before she gets out of control with my drink. “Just a tiny shot for me, please. I’m driving today.” I turned to Virginia. “What are you doing on your date tomorrow?”

  “Well, the Manor is having a movie matinée around two and showing Pillow Talk with Doris Day and Rock Hudson.”

  “That Rock Hudson sure was a hunk,” Aunt Shirley said dreamily.

  “Yes, he was.”

  “And Cary Grant.”

  “And Gregory Peck.”

  While the ladies tittered and giggled over men I’d never really heard of, Dotty delivered our Black Forest Manhattans to the table. I took a tiny sip as the others all plopped whiskey-soaked cherries in their drinks.

  “Then after that, there’s dancing in the ballroom, and then the cafeteria is having a Valentine’s dinner of Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, and chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert. It should be a blast.”

  It actually did sound like fun.

  “That’s why,” Virginia said, “I want to take it easy today and rest up. I want to be in tip-top shape for tomorrow.”

  I knew my time was coming to an end, so if I wanted to ask Virginia about Manning, I’d have to do it soon. The thing was, I didn’t want to upset her. I really couldn’t see her being the murderer. But then again, I’d been fooled so many times before.

  I took a deep breath. “Did you know Manning’s death has been ruled a murder?”

  CHAPTER 18

  * * *

  “A murder?” Lovey asked. “You’re sure?”

  “Yep,” Aunt Shirley said. “Got official word this morning from Chief Kimble to put in the paper that it’s been ruled a homicide.”

  “Wow,” Virginia said. “I can’t believe that. I mean, he wasn’t exactly liked, but I can’t believe someone would kill him.”

  “How did he die? Do you know?” Dotty asked. “Was it the ricin thing?”

  I didn’t want to overplay my hand. “I’m not sure, but since it’s being ruled a homicide, I’d say it was the ricin.”

  “That’s terrible.” Virginia finished off the last of her drink. “He must have been in a lot of pain.”

  “I guess so,” I said. “Can I ask you a question, Virginia?”

  Virginia looked surprised. “Of course.”

  “Did you write a threatening note to Mr. Manning?”

  Virginia’s mouth dropped open. “How did you know?”

  I knew I had to tread lightly. “Just something in passing that was said.”

  “Oh dear,” Lovey said, twisting her hands. “Maybe sending him that letter wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

  “What letter?” Aunt Shirley demanded.

  “Weeks ago I may have slipped a note under Manning’s door.” Virginia put a hand to her chest. “Am I a suspect?”

  “I’m sure you’re not,” I lied. “There are far more guilty people running around this place than you.”

  Dotty sniffed. “I’d think so. They should be looking at Sheri Daniels or Thomas Shifley before they thought to look at Virginia. We were just getting Mr. Manning back for the threatening notes he sent Virginia.”

  I nodded. “I understand. I’ve been thinking about those chocolate covered espresso beans he was always eating. Do you think someone could have done something to those?”

  “Poisoned his chocolate?” Virginia asked. “How?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I was just brainstorming aloud.”

  Aunt Shirley took one of her whiskey soaked cherries out of her drink and ate it. “Where did he get his stash from, do you know?”

  The three ladies looked at each other. Finally Lovey spoke. “Well, I don’t know for sure, but I’d say Sheri Daniels. I know that sounds bad for Sheri. Manning couldn’t run a computer, so he couldn’t order them himself. Sheri and Kaylee Jones deal with placing orders for folks here at the Manor.”

  I was at a loss as to how to trip up Virginia into admitting she doctored the chocolate.

  “Did you guys see anyone visit Manning Friday night after Aunt Shirley and I left?” I asked.

  Lovey and Dotty exchanged horrified looks.

  “Well,” Lovey said and slowly raised her hand. “We did. After the altercation in the hall, Dotty and I decided it would be rude seeing as how we are the hospitality team to just leave him in misery. Not so much because we cared about him—but because we didn’t want others to whisper about us not doing our job. So we heated up some canned soup and took it over to him. The funny thing is he actually let us inside. We knew then he must be pretty sick. Usually when we stop by, he’d slam the door in our faces. But that night he let us in. We set the soup down on the counter and then let ourselves out. I didn’t see anyone else around his place later that night, did you Dotty?”

  Dotty shook her head. “I sure didn’t.”

  I turned to Virginia. “What about you, Virginia? Did you see anything or anyone suspicious that night? I know you were still out when I came to pick up Aunt Shirley.”

  Virginia pursed her lips in thought. “Let’s see. I got in that night around eight from my date. Bert and I sat downstairs in the main lobby area next to the fireplace and talked for hours after our dinner in the Manor cafeteria. He walked me upstairs to my door and I went inside. We didn’t see anyone in the halls during that time.”

  I thought back to what I’d read online about ricin poison. It could take anywhere from six hours to a couple days for symptoms to become fatal. Maybe I needed to go back and rethink my timeline of where everyone was and who had motive.

  I finished off the Black Forest Manhattan, which really was amazing, and pushed back my chair. “I basically wanted to stop by, Virginia, to remind you your article will be in the Gazette tomorrow morning.”

  Virginia clapped her hands together. “Thank you, dear. I can’t wait to read it.”

  They walked Aunt Shirley and me to the door, and we said our goodbyes. I was stalling because I just knew I was missing something.

  “The last time we all saw Manning before he got sick,” I said. “When would you say that was?”

  Lovey looked up in thought then turned to the other ladies. “I’d say it was last Thursday—after the interview. I remember we had just shut the door, and a few seconds later we heard the commotion in the hallway. Manning and Mr. Shifley were out here, and we interrupted the fight between Manning and Shirley. Do you guys remember that?”

  Virginia nodded. “Yes. Manning had threatened to get Shirley kicked out and Shirley had threatened to shove those chocolate covered espresso beans down his throat.”

  The ladies all snickered—including Aunt Shirley.

  Once again I was back to square one with either Sheri Daniels or Thomas Shifley as the killer…with a possible motive of Manning being able to identify the Manor thief as the catalyst.

  We said goodbye to the girls and headed to the elevator.

  “We need to find Kaylee and talk with her,” Aunt Shirley said when we got in the elevato
r.

  I looked at the clock on my cell phone. “Wonder where she eats lunch?”

  “There’s a lounge outside the cafeteria for the workers. Let’s start there.”

  The Manor cafeteria was in full swing for lunch. Dozens of residents were milling around the tables, some talking, some eating. A few of them called out to us as we made our way toward the employee lounge.

  I pushed open the lounge door and walked in. There were about twelve workers eating their lunch at the round tables in the workroom. There were three vending machines lined against a wall, one selling sandwiches, apples, yogurt, and candy, another selling soft drinks, and another one selling different types of coffee.

  A bald-headed burly man looked up from his meal when we opened the lounge door and walked through. “Hey, you two can’t be back here.” He stood up. His broad upper torso and massive arm muscles flexed. I saw the bottom half of a tattoo peek out of his shirt uniform. I definitely didn’t want to catch this guy in a dark alley.

  Aunt Shirley whipped something out of her coat pocket so fast it left me dizzy. “This is official newspaper business. My badge here says I’m with the media. You go back to your lunch and no one will get hurt.”

  Big Baldy looked momentarily confused. He looked back and forth between us, then shrugged his massive shoulders and went back to his lunch. I blew out the breath I’d been holding.

  “I see her,” Aunt Shirley said and tugged on my arm.

  “Since when do we have official media badges?”

  Aunt Shirley grinned. “Since I printed one off the Internet a few weeks ago.”

  Kaylee Jones was methodically pulling the crust off her sandwich when we pulled out the two empty chairs on either side of her. Her straight brown hair fell over her eyes and covered most of her face. She looked tired and miserable. I instantly felt horrible that someone this young would be shrouded in this much sadness.

  “Mind if we sit down?” I asked.

  She shrugged but didn’t say anything.

  “My name is Ryli, and this is Aunt Shirley. And we were—”

  “I know who you are and why you’re here,” she whispered. “Please just leave me alone.”