Murder in the Morgue: A Senoia Cozy Mystery

by Susan Harper

  Murder in the Morgue

  A Senoia Cozy Mystery

  Susan Harper

  Fairfield Publishing

  Contents

  Copyright

  Message to Readers

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Thank You!

  Copyright © 2017 Fairfield Publishing

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Except for review quotes, this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the author.

  This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental.

  Thank you so much for buying my book. I am excited to share my stories with you and hope that you are just as thrilled to read them.

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  FairfieldPublishing.com/cozy-newsletter

  Chapter 1

  Felicity drove down the long, gravel driveway that led to a rental cabin only about a half-hour drive from her home in Senoia. She gripped the steering wheel of the Overton’s Events van and glanced in her rearview to see Jefferson pulling in the driveway behind her. Good, she thought when she saw that her assistant was getting there right on time. They had a lot to set up to get ready for their latest event: The Youngling Family Reunion. They had never done a family reunion before, but she was confident they would pull it off like they always did.

  This property in Luthersville was positively gorgeous. To her left was a large horse pasture, and to her right, a tremendous grove of Georgia pines. They pulled up and saw the wooden gate surrounding the enormous cabin that rested right on a sparkling lake. It was a great, roomy venue for a family reunion. She pulled the van in through the back entrance of the building, and Jefferson did the same with his car. As she hopped out, he smiled brightly at her. “You look nice,” he said with that same sweet smile he always wore.

  Felicity blushed slightly as she adorned herself with the orange scarf she had brought. It was mid-October, and there was a slight breeze out today. “Thanks, Jeffrey,” she said, a little embarrassed. “Okay, let’s get going. The owners said the tables are already set up inside. We just have to get the dinner heated and set out before the family starts showing up.”

  “I’m glad we decorated yesterday,” Jefferson said, and Felicity nodded in agreement.

  Apart from the slight chill that day, the weather was just perfect for a cabin setting. The two of them went right to work, bringing in food to the on-site kitchen. They popped what they could in the oven and started setting up tablecloths. “This place is nice,” Jefferson said. “I can’t believe I didn’t know this was here.”

  “Oh, I know, right?” Felicity smiled, admiring the large fireplace on one side of the building. The large open windows offered a great view of a lake on one side and a meadow and horses on the other. “If the Overtons ever want to do a reunion, this would be the place to have it.”

  “Do you even have a family large enough for a place like this?” Jefferson asked.

  “Well, we’re not exactly the Younglings, but we have a good-sized clan,” said Felicity. The Younglings’ family line went back for generations in southern Georgia. They did an annual family reunion, but this was the first time they hired someone to do the party planning. Normally the entire family would pitch in, but with the family having gotten so large, planning the reunion had apparently gotten too hectic. Since this was an annual event for the family, Felicity and Jefferson were determined to make a good impression in hopes of being hired again for the next year.

  “So apparently,” Felicity sang slightly, “the Younglings do an annual Christmas party and Easter egg hunt here for the family every year too. So if we play our cards right, we might just become their official reunion planners.”

  Jefferson gave her a quick thumbs up after placing a casserole dish on the table. “Hopefully, they like the food. Since they do this every year themselves, some of them might not be thrilled about us messing with their family traditions. You know Linda Youngling sent me four family recipes, right?”

  “I got five,” she said and laughed.

  Before they knew it, the building was flooded with people of all ages. The Younglings were a fun, old-fashioned Georgia family. The older men sat around the fire smoking cigarettes and watching the football game on the television while the younger men were outside with an actual football. The children were playing around the fence outside, the young girls admiring the horses while the boys skipped rocks across the lake. The women stood in groups laughing and gossiping about the latest family dramas, and bragging about their kids whenever possible.

  They had set up a table of southern goodness courtesy of the family recipes. There were biscuits and gravy, collard greens, black-eyed peas, many assorted salads—both green and gelatin—assorted casseroles, mac and cheese, and fried chicken. The desserts, which would be laid out later, were scrumptious looking. Pecan pie, bread pudding, and ambrosia would be surrounded by assorted cookies for the children. The table was laid out with a checkered cloth and Mason jar candles to complete the down home, warm country feel.

  A pretty woman, likely in her mid-thirties, came hurrying up to Felicity and Jefferson. “Okay, so…” the woman spoke giddily as she approached them. “I’m very impressed, and the food smells great. I can’t wait to dive in! We might just have to invite you guys back in December for our Christmas party!”

  Felicity smiled. “Linda, right? We only spoke on the phone, but I recognize your voice.”

  “That’s me!” the woman said and did a quick handshake. “This was so much more relaxing having someone else handle everything. I think everyone is glad they didn’t have to worry about bringing food especially.”

  “Candice, where’s my tobacco!” an elderly woman in a wheelchair was shouting nearby, causing Felicity to jump slightly.

  “Grandma Rose…” A young man pushing the wheelchair attempted to calm the elderly woman. “Easy. Candice will be right back.”

  Linda shook her head. “Sorry about that, Felicity.”

  “Oh, it’s nothing. She just surprised me,” Felicity said with a slight laugh.

  “That’s my grandma,” Linda whispered. “She’s sort of the family monarch. She used to be really sweet, but her Alzheimer’s has been getting to her a bit lately. My brother Tommy has been living with her. He’s a big help.” She waved at the young man pushing the wheelchair and the man shook his head with an annoyed grimace. “He’s got a big heart,” said Linda. “No one else pitched in and offered to stay with her; everyone wanted to put her in a home.”

  “That’s very sweet,” Felicity said and smiled in Tommy’s direction. The poor young man looked incredibly stressed.

  A young, perky woman came darting into the cabin, holding a can of chewing tobacco and scurrying up to Tommy and Grandma Rose. “I have your tobacco, Grandma,” the young woman said, and Felicity cringed slightly to see the elderly woman swab the chewing tobacco in her mouth. She had to grin and bear it to keep from gagging; chewing tobacco had always disgusted Felicity, but she certainly didn’t want to appear judgmental in front of Linda.

  “So you guys do all sorts of parties, right?” Linda asked.

  “Oh, ye
ah,” Jefferson said. “We’ve got a Halloween fundraiser coming up at Newnan Hospital Halloween night. They’re raising money so that they can expand their NICU.”

  “Aww, that’s amazing!” Linda exclaimed. “I was a preemie. So is that like an open invite thing?”

  “It is,” said Jefferson. “We’re going to have a lot of games and stuff going on. Music. Dancing. All at the hospital. Even a creepy haunted house in the morgue for those who are brave enough. You’re welcome to come.”

  “I don’t have any Halloween plans,” said Linda. “Tell you what, I’ll invite the family. If even half of this group comes, it’ll be a lot of money for the hospital. We had two preemies born in the family in the past two years, so I bet if I send out an email invite, you’ll get a lot of support from the Younglings.”

  “That’s wonderful, Linda,” said Felicity. “We have a bunch of friends who work at that hospital, so they’re all really excited about the party.”

  If they could provide some of the funds for the NICU, that would go a long way, thought Felicity. It was a fundraiser for a good cause. The more people they could attract, the better. Maybe Linda’s family would invite their friends, too. The sooner the funds were raised, the sooner the hospital could start on the new unit.

  A man, probably in his thirties who was dragging a few kids around, had obviously been eavesdropping and said, “Hey, Linda, you ought to bring the walking table up to the party fundraiser. I bet that would attract a lot of attention. You got it right now, right?”

  Felicity raised an eyebrow as Linda introduced them. “Felicity, Jefferson, this is my cousin Stacy’s husband, Rodney.”

  Rodney extended a hand to Jefferson as one of the kids jumped onto his back. “Hey!” Rodney snapped. “Can’t you see I’m talking to someone?”

  “That’s why men shouldn’t be stay-at-home wives!” Grandma Rose shouted in their direction.

  Rodney rolled his eyes. “Shrew,” he grumbled under his breath.

  “In my days, the men worked and the women stayed at home with the kids,” Grandma Rose snarled. “My granddaughter deserves better than a gold-digging man.”

  “Grandma!” Tommy, Linda’s brother, scolded and rolled her away, shaking his head and uttering a quick apology to Rodney.

  Rodney rolled his eyes. “Kids, go find your mom,” he ordered, and the group of wild children ran off, giggling about their great-grandmother’s comments toward their dad.

  “You’re a stay-at-home dad?” Felicity asked. “I think that’s sweet. It’s modern.”

  “Try telling one of the Younglings that,” Rodney said angrily and shot a dirty look toward Linda. Evidently, Grandma Rose wasn’t the only one who wasn’t super thrilled with Rodney and his wife’s family situation.

  Linda held up two hands defensively. “Don’t start anything with me. I didn’t say anything.”

  “So,” Felicity said, trying to quickly change the subject. “Tell me about this so-called walking table?”

  Linda grinned. “It’s an old family heirloom. And it’s just what it sounds like. It’s a table, and it walks.”

  “Bull,” said Jefferson.

  “I said the same thing when Stacy told me about it back when we were dating,” said Rodney. “But I kid you not, that thing walks. I swore up and down they were tricking me somehow, but I got it walking by myself one day, and it scared the life out of me.”

  “Seriously?” Felicity questioned. “It really walks?”

  “They’re pulling your leg, Felicity,” said Jefferson.

  “We’re not!” Linda exclaimed giddily. “It’s been in our family for generations. It gets passed around from household to household every few months.”

  “Except for your Uncle Donnie,” Rodney whispered with a slight laugh.

  “Oh?” questioned Jefferson.

  “Yeah. His teenaged son invited a bunch of friends over one time and they busted it up and knocked the drawer out of the thing. Everyone freaked out and thought it wasn’t ever going to walk again, but then it did. Grandma Rose then forbade Donnie’s family from ever having it at their house. He’s still pretty peeved about that one,” said Linda. She shook her head and laughed. “But, hey, if you’re interested in having an awesome side-show for the party, you can borrow it. It’s for a good cause. You could set up a tent outside, and it’ll be like a creepy side attraction.”

  “What do you think, Jefferson?” Felicity asked.

  “I think they’re messing with you,” he said again. “There’s no way they have some walking table.”

  “I promise you, we do!” Linda said excitedly. “And I’ll prove you wrong at the Halloween party.”

  Jefferson laughed and gave Felicity an approving nod. “All right. Walking table side-show sounds fun.”

  Felicity giggled at the thought, but it sure did sound like something fun that would draw some more people in. While the family ate their southern-style lunch, Felicity and Jefferson set up the dessert table. Jefferson smiled. “Looks like everyone is enjoying the food,” he said. “I was worried about Grandma Rose’s weird mac n cheese recipe, but Linda’s Uncle Donnie told me he couldn’t tell a difference, and that’s the woman’s son, so I think I must have pulled it off.”

  “You did great,” Felicity assured him.

  Candice, one of Grandma Rose’s granddaughters, appeared in the kitchen while they were gathering desserts. She smiled happily. “I know we weren’t supposed to bring food,” she said as she opened up a pantry to reveal three apple pies. “But some traditions are hard to break. I live on an apple orchard, so it’s not like I don’t have a huge supply of apples. I only made three this year, though. I normally make seven! Short on apples this year, unfortunately.”

  “They smell great,” Jefferson said, and she handed him one with a wink.

  “All yours,” she said. “Consider it my personal thank you for pulling this whole thing together!”

  Jefferson smiled. “Thanks!”

  “You better give me a slice of that,” Felicity teased, and they continued bringing out desserts. Candice kindly stayed with them to help.

  A short distance away, Grandma Rose could be heard yelling at Tommy about something. Candice sighed. “Poor Grandma,” she said and then turned to Jefferson and Felicity. “She really didn’t used to behave that way.”

  “It’s a good thing that your cousin Tommy helps out as much as he does. Your grandmother is very fortunate,” said Felicity.

  Candice nodded, but there seemed to be a look of discontent about her. “Yeah, so long as he is doing it for the right reasons.”

  Felicity wasn’t quite sure what Candice meant, but she didn’t press her further. The rest of the reunion went over without a hitch—apart from Grandma Rose constantly shouting at Candice to bring her some tobacco or shouting at Rodney that he was a lazy bum. Soon the cabin was cleared of people, and Felicity and Jefferson got to work on cleanup duty. With such a big group of people, there was a huge mess to clear. A few cars appeared around back, and Felicity went outside to meet their friends Autumn, Monte, and Dawn, who had all volunteered to help. “Where’s Veronica?” Felicity asked, referring to their other friend from the hospital.

  “She got stuck on the graveyard shift,” said Monte. “She’s getting ready for work.”

  “Bummer,” said Felicity as she escorted her friends inside. “Thanks for coming, you guys.”

  “So how are those night classes going, Dawn?” Jefferson asked once they were inside.

  Dawn then went on a ten-minute, excited rant about the night classes she had been taking to work toward her education degree. Felicity still couldn’t believe that Dawn had spent so much time working toward her nursing degree and was ready to make such a dramatic change, but she was happy for her friend—she had finally discovered her true passion. Monte was in a similar boat. He was training with a friend of theirs to become a DJ. They were both trading lucrative careers for something they loved, and Felicity was proud. It just seemed a little s
trange to her, though, that the two friends had decided to make this change at the same time, but she wrote it off as a coincidence. They were both still employed at the hospital while Monte was in training and Dawn was in school, but they were working toward their dreams.

  Felicity and Jefferson used the kitchen to clean up the dishes while their friends gathered up any trash that was left on the tables. “So,” Jefferson said with a slight nudge. “Have you noticed that Monte and Dawn are acting a little…flirty?”

  Felicity glanced out the window that looked out into the cabin, and she could see Dawn and Monte laughing together in a corner, making Autumn look like a third wheel. “Hmm…” Felicity said. “Do you think they’re secretly dating?”

  “I always thought it was weird that they both suddenly decided on a career change at the same time. I think it must have come out of a conversation they had together about, you know, their futures… They’re totally dating, I think,” Jefferson said, and Felicity giggled.

  “Well, good for them.”

  “I wish they’d tell us though, instead of keeping us guessing.”

  “They’ll tell us when they’re ready,” Felicity assured him. She smiled as she spied on Dawn and Monte, and nodded approvingly at this new development.

  Chapter 2

  Two Weeks Later…

  It was only eight at night, but the Halloween party fundraiser at Newnan Hospital was already in full swing. About half of the hospital—namely the lobbies and a small section of the parking lot—was dedicated to this extravagant event. Obviously, the majority of the hospital had been taped off to avoid guests from pestering the doctors and patients still working, but for the most part, the place was hopping. Felicity and Jefferson had hired a security team to keep people away from certain areas to ensure a safe environment for the patients and staff.