“On the bright side of things, this horrible situation has given us more time to just hang out and enjoy life,” Echo remarked optimistically, tilting her face to the sun.
“That is the one silver lining,” Missy agreed with a faint smile. “I can’t remember if I locked the back door though,” she worried.
“You did. I watched you do it. Stop worrying and enjoy this beautiful day,” her friend commanded, holding up her flowing skirt so that the hem didn’t get wet in the water’s edge.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. This whole thing is just consuming me,” she admitted.
Echo put an arm around her best friend, being careful not to squash Moose, who had gone to sleep in his backpack.
“Don’t be sorry, I get it. I’m scared too. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you,” she confessed. “We’ll get through this, I promise.”
“I know. Thanks for babysitting me and the girls,” Missy smiled.
“It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it,” Echo teased, glad to see her friend smile.
“I was thinking that we could invent some new cupcake flavors after lunch, are you up for it?”
“Oh gee, let me think about it,” Echo rolled her eyes.
The two women meandered down the coastline talking about cupcakes and Echo’s new candle-making venture, completely losing track of time, feeling carefree for the first time in a while.
**
Spencer Bengal couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong back in Calgon. Convincing himself that Chas could handle any challenge that might present itself, he tried hard to concentrate on getting his focus back. Janssen’s sudden departure had taken away the only person he’d encountered in a long time who truly understood what post-war living was like, and the loss had hit him harder than he’d expected.
While the young Marine was honest by nature, there were certain things that couldn’t be shared with anyone. Things that Janssen had also experienced, and although they never spoke of those things, they were secure in the knowledge of the strange bond that they shared having made it through, their bodies and spirits mostly intact.
Spencer had gone to the mountains, wanting to be somewhere remote, where he wouldn’t encounter anyone, and would be entirely dependent upon his skills and instincts for survival. Once he’d re-centered and was ready to be back in the civilized world, he’d head home to Calgon, where there were people who loved and trusted him, not knowing what horrible things he’d had to suffer through.
There were several times that he was glad he’d selected an area where there was no cell service. He’d reached for his phone more than once, wanting to call or text Missy and Chas to make certain that everything was okay at the Inn. He knew that Moose would be well taken care of, Echo and Missy were devoted to caring for creatures of all types, so he planned to take as much time as he needed in order to maintain his cool control before going back. It was only a matter of time.
**
“Wow, we’ve walked quite a ways,” Missy realized after about an hour. “We should probably head back.”
“I agree, I’m starving,” Echo replied, turning around, scratching Moose’s furry head.
The two made their way back to the Inn, chattering all the way, and as soon as they left the beach to head for the back door, Toffee and Bitsy went on alert, the golden retriever’s hackles rising as she growled long and low in her throat, refusing to go any closer to the back yard. Missy and Echo looked fearfully at each other, wondering what had happened in their absence. The normally obedient, perfectly trained golden refused to budge as Missy tried to coax her toward the house, leaving her owner uncertain as to what to do.
“Maybe she’ll go in the front way?” Echo suggested.
“We can try it,” Missy agreed, scared at what they might find once they got inside.
They headed back toward the beach, with the dogs throwing anxious glances over their shoulders, and stayed on the sand until they were well past the house, then walked up to the boardwalk to approach the Inn from the front, which seemed to be perfectly acceptable to the dogs. Once inside, Toffee and Bitsy ran directly to the window in the sunroom that faced the pool. Not wanting to know, Missy slowly followed them, and screamed when she saw what had them so upset.
“Echo, don’t come in here,” she cried out, running from the room, white as a sheet.
“What did he do this time?” Echo asked, trembling when she saw her friend’s face.
Missy just shook her head and shakily pulled her phone from her pocket, speed-dialing Chas.
The madman hadn’t killed six animals this time, he’d killed one sweet-faced doe and hacked the poor animal into six pieces, which were now scattered on the pool deck. Missy was just sick at the thought that another innocent creature had died, and that the killer was getting closer and closer to his ultimate goal of eliminating a human, specifically Missy or Chas.
The detective arrived moments after Missy’s call, with members of the Calgon PD’s forensics team. Despite the gruesome nature of what she’d found, the remains might actually help solve the case if they could determine what sort of implement had been used to kill and dissect the unfortunate doe. With a bigger animal involved, there was also a greater chance for trace evidence from the killer being present.
Chas and the police examined the scene while Missy and Echo escaped the horror by going to Echo’s cute little bungalow, where they could get away from the carnage for the afternoon. Missy would stay overnight if they couldn’t get the blood stains out of the pool deck before dark. They had just arrived at Echo’s house when Kel called, asking if they could meet him for dinner after he was done at the gallery. He’d done some snooping around town and thought of something that they hadn’t yet considered. He set a time and place for dinner, promising to tell them all about it then.
Chapter 13
The three friends met for dinner at a diner that had been renovated to look like it had when it was shiny and new, back in the fifties.
“Is there anything that I’ll actually be able to eat here?” vegan Echo whispered to Missy after they were seated in a red leather booth. The table was white formica with little silver sparkles in it, and had an aluminum edge.
“Almost every restaurant in America has salad, so we should be able to find you something,” she replied in a low voice.
“We have veggie burgers here that people rave about,” the fresh-faced teenager who handed them their menus said, obviously having overheard their hushed conversation. “I’ll be back to take your orders in a few minutes.”
The friends looked at the menus, placed their orders, and finally got down to the business at hand.
“So, what did you find out from the neighbors?” Missy asked Kel.
“Nothing actually, which made me think of something that we hadn’t yet considered.”
“What?” Missy and Echo said in unison, staring at the artist.
“Missy, right after you had your visit with Warren Casman, you said that he told you he didn’t know who the killer might be. He said it could be your neighbors or his neighbors, but most likely his neighbors. You quoted him on that, and it stuck with me,” Kel began, growing animated.
“Yes, that’s what he said, but why are you thinking that it meant something significant?” she was confused. “You just said that you got no useful info from the neighbors.”
“Exactly!” the artist exclaimed. “I didn’t get any info from our neighbors, but we totally ignored the second part of his answer. What about his neighbors?”
“Prisoners don’t have neighbors,” Echo said, frowning.
“Sure they do. They have the other prisoners in their cell block. What if the killer is someone who heard Casman talking about his crimes and decided to emulate him?”
Their conversation had to pause for a moment because the food arrived, but once the server had disappeared again, Missy addressed Kel’s idea.
“Okay, so I get that perhaps someone wh
o had been, essentially, “roommates” with him might want to act out his crimes, but why on earth would they act them out here? Against me? Casman is from the Midwest and all of his crimes were committed in the Midwest. I don’t fit his victim profile because of my age, and he himself said that whoever this is, is doing a poor job of copying him. I don’t know, there are so many different ways that we could go with this,” she shook her head, frustrated.
“Well, we’ve run out of leads to explore around here, so I’m thinking that our killer may not be a local. Maybe he wanted to get out of the Midwest because he knew that Casman had been caught there, who knows? I’m going to check and see who may have been serving time alongside the Countdown Killer and has been released. That may at least give us some leads to chase down,” the artist shrugged.
“Shouldn’t we tell Chas about this?” Echo suggested.
“He doesn’t know that Kel and I went to Illinois. I didn’t want him to worry,” Missy confessed, reddening.
“Okay…” her friend replied. “Good thing nothing bad happened to you while you were gone,” she arched an eyebrow at Missy.
“I know, I know. But now you see why it would be…awkward to tell him about Kel’s hunch.”
“Awkward…in a potentially life-saving kind of way,” Echo shot back, taking a bite of her veggie burger. “Wow, she was right, this is a good veggie burger. So now what?”
“Now, I’m going to try to find out who the boogeyman’s roomies were, and how many of them are out wandering in public. Let’s hold off on talking to Chas until we actually have something to tell him. No sense in sending him on a wild goose chase,” the artist shrugged, popping a French fry into his mouth.
“Okay,” Missy agreed. “But, please hurry. I really don’t know how much more death of innocent creatures that I can take,” she murmured sadly.
Chapter 14
Chas was working overtime, so Missy had stayed at Echo’s house with Toffee and Bitsy overnight, the two women returning to the Inn the next morning. They opened the doors of Missy’s car tentatively, afraid of what might await them today, but the dogs seemed to be fine, and nothing looked like it was out of place.
Echo had brought Moose and her candle-making supplies with her, and planned to work on developing a brightly colored red, orange and white candle that was scented like a Mango Madness cupcake. If she had time, she also brought supplies for Margarita Madness candles which were green and scented with lime and vanilla. Missy planned to cook several days worth of dinners so that she and Chas could just pop something easily into the microwave, making meals easy, even if their world was turned upside down at the moment.
Unable to help herself, Missy glanced out of the kitchen window and something at the side of her vision wiggled, catching her attention.
“Echo…?” she called, trying not to become alarmed.
“What is it?” her friend hurried into the kitchen after bringing in her wax, scented oils and accessories from the car. She still had Moose strapped into his backpack on her chest.
“Do you see that?” she pointed numbly to the pool.
Echo squinted. “What are those?” she asked, mystified.
“Come outside with me, I don’t want to go alone,” Missy said, grabbing her by the wrist and heading for the door.
Moose got more and more agitated as they neared the water’s edge, and just as they saw what was in the pool, he leaped out of the backpack and bounded for the back door, eyes wide. The women were too astounded by what they saw in the water to react quickly enough to catch the nervous feline, but he clearly had no plans of running away, so they stood and stared down into the pool.
“Do you know anything about snakes?” Missy whispered, still clutching Echo’s wrist, holding on for dear life without realizing it.
“Only enough to know that those kind are dangerous.”
“What are they?” her eyes widened and her knees shook.
“I’m not sure, but I think they may be water moccasins,” Echo’s voice shook a bit. The women looked at each other and simultaneously turned to run for the back door, Moose slipping in ahead of them.
**
“Let me guess…there are five of them,” Chas sighed when Missy called him.
When she confirmed that, yes, that was indeed the case, he told her that he’d be there shortly, along with some Fish and Game officers who would remove the reptiles.
“They won’t kill them, will they?” she worried.
“No, sweetie. They’ll relocate the lethal animals that are happily swimming in our pool,” the detective couldn’t help but smile at his tender-hearted wife’s concern. He knew that she hated snakes, but still couldn’t bear the thought of an animal being hurt, even a cold, squirmy one.
While Chas was busy dealing with Animal Control and the snakes, that were identified positively as water moccasins, Missy’s phone rang. Seeing that it was Kel, she picked up.
“Missy, what number are you on?” he asked breathlessly, without so much as a hello.
“Echo and I just found five water moccasins in our swimming pool, so I guess it would be four, why?” she asked, alarmed at his tone.
I have a friend who’s an ER doctor, and I ran into him this afternoon. He said that a man staggered into the ER last night, having lost a lot of blood because he’d had four of his fingers chopped off.”
“Oh my goodness, that’s awful,” Missy gasped, drawing a concerned look from Echo, who had been trying to coax Moose out from under the sofa, where he’d been hiding since his escape from the backpack.
“And you’ll never guess who the man with missing fingers is…”
“Who?”
“Gus, from the pest control company,” Kel dropped the bombshell.
“Oh my goodness. Chas needs to know about this.”
“He already does, dear lady. The ER called the police, but Gus has been unconscious, so they can’t talk to him yet.”
“Do you think Gus has been the one doing all of these horrible things?” Missy asked.
“I don’t know, but I’d be awfully interested in knowing what they found when they searched his house after he showed up at the hospital,” Kel replied.
“I may have had conversations with a killer and not known it,” she shuddered.
“Looks like that might be the case.”
“Did you find out anything about people who may have been in prison with Casman yet?”
“I’ve made some calls, I’m still waiting to hear back. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something,” the artist promised, hanging up soon after.
As soon as Missy put her phone back in her pocket, Chas came in, looking grim.
“You two need to stay inside for a bit,” he cautioned them.
“Why, did you find number four?” Echo asked.
The detective nodded. “We might have some real evidence, finally.”
“Fingers?” Missy asked, and he stared at her in disbelief.
“How did you know that?”
She told him about her conversation with Kel, and while he couldn’t confirm that the police had found evidence, he did hint that there might be some “items of interest” that were found.
“Oh Chas, does this mean that this whole mess might be over?” she sighed with relief.
“Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet,” her husband cautioned. “There’s still plenty of investigating to be done.”
“Are you going to be gone for most of the night again,” she looked at him, her eyes moist.
“Probably, sweetie. We’re at a crucial point in the case, I need to hit it hard and hopefully get it resolved,” he ran his thumb along her jaw. “Echo, are you able to stay tonight?”
“Of course, I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” she reached for Missy’s hand.
“Good. Thank you. Hopefully this will all be over soon,” the detective replied. “I’d better get going. You girls do something to take your minds off of this mess, and have fun. I’ll be back when I can,�
�� he promised, kissing his wife soundly on his way out.
Chapter 15
It had gotten to the point where Missy was almost afraid to open either her front or back door, not wanting to find dead or dangerous animals or body parts, but on this sunny morning, she didn’t encounter anything gruesome on her way to the mailbox, while Echo watched protectively from the door. In fact, everything seemed fine until she sorted through the mail and found a postcard with a bright red “Approved by the Dept. of Corrections” stamp on it. The card, addressed to Missy, featured a touristy photo of New York City, and had a cryptic message printed in block letters on it:
Perhaps instead of trying to fix everything yourself, you should look to the one who fixes everything for you.
Missy’s hand shook as she read the card that had been handled by the Countdown Killer, trying to fathom what his strange message meant. She showed it to Echo, who was equally mystified. The two women went to the kitchen to make coffee, and were startled when the doorbell rang. Kel wasn’t due to arrive for at least another twenty minutes, and they exchanged a worried look.
Both went to the door, and Missy was relieved when she looked through the peephole and saw Kel on the other side.
“Wow, you must really need coffee to be here this early,” she teased when she opened the door. “I have something to show you that the Countdown Killer sent me.”
“Really?” he asked, seeming agitated. “Well, let’s see it then, dear lady, because I’ve made a very important discovery that you need to know about.”
“Oh boy,” Echo sighed. “Okay, you two go take a seat in the kitchen. I’ll pour the coffee and get us some cupcakes while Missy shows you what she got in the mail,” she directed.
When Missy showed Kel the postcard, he nodded. “This is right in line with what I’ve discovered.”
Fruitcake Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 26 (A Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) Page 5