Champagne Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 27 (A Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries)

by Summer Prescott

  “Why on earth would an international spy kill a local businessman and Cora Greitzer though?” she was puzzled.

  Missy chimed in. “Because the businessman, Ed Sanders was blackmailing him. Ed was a smuggler, who had somehow gotten his hands on documents that outlined who Uri was and what he was up to, so he hid them in a secret compartment in the sandalwood trunk. His brother thought that the trunk was just something that had been recently smuggled into the country, so he got rid of it as soon as he could, selling it to Cora while Sanders was on vacation.”

  “Okay, but, I still don’t understand why Cora and Sanders ended up dead,” Echo frowned.

  “Cora’s grandson, Michael, was hiding in a storage room in the shop when Uri came in to confront his grandmother about taking some documents out of the trunk before she sold it back to him. When the tough old lady stood her ground and refused to admit that she had them, he killed her, but didn’t find the papers in her store, because he had no idea that she had a hidden safe. Michael took the documents out of the safe and left town because he feared for his life after hearing his grandmother’s murder being committed. When he came back to town, he identified Uri by his voice and accent, then the police matched up evidence recovered at the scene to confirm that the spy had done the terrible deed,” she explained, relating what Chas had told her.

  “But then, why did he kill Sanders too?” she asked, hanging on every word.

  “When Uri left the antique shop, he’d recovered the trunk and killed Cora, but still didn’t have the documents. The theory is that he believed that Sanders had them, and even if he didn’t, he knew the spy’s secrets and could go to the feds with the information. Uri couldn’t take that chance, so he eliminated the possibility by killing Sanders.”

  “So, what did Brad, I mean Corbin, have to do with all of this? I mean, he wasn’t stupid, but he wasn’t exactly the smuggler or spy type,” Echo commented wryly.

  “Corbin was just a run of the mill con man who somehow got caught up in something so far over his head that he had no idea of the magnitude of his actions. He’ll do time for all of the thefts that he helped to facilitate, but he actually had no idea who Uri was, or why he needed so much stolen property. The guy had no clue that he was helping to finance a spy. They only communicated via text, and he was always paid in cash, at drop-off points.”

  “That’s so ridiculously scary on so many levels,” she shook her head, grateful that she hadn’t gotten more involved with the phony deliveryman.

  “Deliciously so,” Kel grinned. “What an adventure. This is the type of thing that one sees in the movies, and it happened right here in Calgon. Seeing the police and all of those federal agents standing in the stuffy confines of the Cambridge Club with their weapons drawn was such a treat, I must say. I wonder if they’ll revoke my membership for bringing a spy on the premises,” he chuckled.

  “Well, I’m glad it was good for you,” Echo rolled her eyes. “My experience wasn’t quite so positive. How did they manage to find Cora’s grandson, anyway?” she asked Missy.

  “I don’t know, Chas was rather vague about that part. I think he may have just come in voluntarily. Poor guy, this had to have been hard on him.”

  “Well, he’ll get plenty of time to console himself with Cora’s fortune,” Kel grimaced. “Hopefully he doesn’t fritter away her lifetime of work.”

  “Cora was wealthy? Why on earth did she work in her shop every day if that was the case?” Missy was astonished.

  “Why do you?” the artist shot back.

  “Because, it gives me pleasure and a purpose, and it’s just the right thing to do,” she blushed.

  “Don’t you suppose that sweet, determined Cora Greitzer may have felt that way too?” he arched an eyebrow at her.

  “Makes sense,” she nodded.

  Echo yawned and stretched, still not fully awake after a couple cups of rich, dark Costa Rican coffee. “I’m just glad it’s all over. I think I’m permanently done with dating. I don’t know what I’ll do if a man ever asks me out again,” she shuddered.

  “Echo, my lovely, would you care to join me for dinner this evening?” Kel asked, with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

  “I’d love to, where are we going?” she replied, without missing a beat.

  “Guess that answers that question,” Missy quipped, and the three of them dissolved into laughter.

  Chapter 19

  Echo reflected on the reality that, doing the right thing, was sometimes the hardest thing in the world. She’d baked a batch of poppyseed muffins that were still warm, and was placing them in a basket with a red and white gingham liner, so that she could take them next door to Steve, as a thank you for bumbling in when he did and helping her evade the advances of Corbin “the con man” Rule. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she squared her shoulders and went out the door.

  Placing what she hoped was a sunny and appreciative smile on her face, Echo rang Steve’s doorbell, hoping that perhaps he wouldn’t be home, and she could just leave the basket with a note of thanks. She heard the sound of heavy boots clomping to the door, and knew that she wasn’t going to get away that easily.

  “Well, well, well…if you don’t look like Little Red Riding Hood, bringing a basket of goodies to grandma,” he leered, making even a reference to a nursery rhyme sound somehow lascivious.

  “Hi Steve,” Echo kept her smile firmly plastered in place. “I brought you some warm, fresh muffins as a thank you for rescuing me,” she held out the basket.

  He grabbed the handle of the basket and her hand with it, keeping her from leaving. Peeling back an edge of the gingham cloth, he peered in.

  “Muffins, huh? I’d like to butter your muffin,” he waggled his eyebrows and sucked his remaining teeth in a manner that would have been comical if it hadn’t made sour bile rise in the back of her throat.

  “They’re lemon poppyseed, they don’t need butter.” It was a struggle to maintain a ghost of a smile as she dragged her hand out from under his and turned to go.

  “I’ll bring your basket back later,” he promised.

  “Oh, no. No, that’s…for you. You keep that,” she insisted, backing away.

  “Well that’s mighty kind of you, darlin. I’ll have to return the favor sometime,” he leaned against the doorjamb.

  “Oh no, not at all. We’re even. You have a nice day,” she called out as she fled from his porch.

  She had just climbed her own front steps, when a man in a delivery uniform appeared behind her.

  “Hi. Excuse me, is there an Echo Willis who lives here?” he asked, pleasantly enough.

  “Who wants to know,” her eyes narrowed.

  “Uh, I’m from Fast Trak delivery…I have some parcels for an Echo Willis at this address.”

  “I bet you do,” she clenched her teeth. “What’s your name?” she demanded of the young man who looked to be around Spencer’s age.

  “Uh, Marvin, ma’am,” he replied, confused by her reaction.

  “Well, if you’re really Marvin, you just stay right there, and I’ll be back in a minute,” she ordered.

  She pulled up Fast Trak on her phone and called the manager to verify whether or not they actually had an employee named Marvin who was working in her area. When the manager confirmed Marvin’s identity, Echo felt a bit overreactive and foolish.

  “Okay, Marvin, bring in the boxes. Sorry about that, I just had to verify your identity,” she explained sheepishly.

  “Can’t be too careful these days ma’am,” the young man smiled at her, his teeth white against his mocha skin.

  “Exactly right, Marvin.”

  Chapter 20

  Spencer Bengal was enjoying a rare day off, lounging in a chair by the pool after his workout.

  “You look like a man who could use one of these,” Chas said, setting down a six-pack of craft beer on the table beside the Marine.

  Spencer opened his eyes and sat up.

  “You reading minds these
days?” he grinned.

  “Thankfully no. I think that if I could read what’s hidden in that mind of yours, it’d probably rock my world.”

  “Nah, I’m just a simple handyman,” he shrugged, twisting the cap off of his beer and taking a long draw from it.

  “Uh-huh, and I’m just a mall cop,” the detective’s voice dripped sarcasm. “I noticed that you spotted federal agents somehow when no one in this town outside of police personnel even knew that they were in the area,” he probed.

  “Lucky guess,” Spencer took another drink.

  “You’re never going to tell me what you did for a living before you came here, are you?”

  “Nothing to tell. I was a Marine, end of story.”

  “I don’t know how you know what you know, or how you do what you do, but I’m grateful for your help. This case was a big one, and our department got kudos from some pretty high-ranking guys, thanks to you. I appreciate it,” Chas raised his beer to toast, then took a drink.

  “Sometimes it’s better not to know things,” Spencer remarked. “I didn’t do anything special, really. Just a little babysitting,” he grinned.

  “Babysitting that helped us catch an international spy that the feds had been after for years,” the detective replied dryly.

  “Kinda cool when things work out,” the Marine sat back, enjoying his beer.

  “I noticed you weren’t too keen on being around when there were federal agents all over the place,” Chas remarked.

  “Well, who would be?” he shrugged, giving nothing away.

  “Afraid you’d see some old friends?” the detective prodded.

  “I don’t know what you mean. I’ll take another beer though,” Spencer changed the subject.

  “More than one today…you’re actually allowing yourself to relax?” Chas teased, handing him the beer.

  “Seems to me like things around here may just calm down for a bit.”

  “Here’s hoping,” the detective agreed wholeheartedly, clinking his bottle against Spencer’s.

  Chapter 21

  “Your candles are selling like crazy,” Missy exclaimed when Echo came in for coffee.

  “Really? That’s great,” she grinned, moving over to check out her display space, where there were clearly several candles missing.

  “Vanilla Creamsicle seems to be the most popular flavor, but they’re all selling well, and a gal this morning asked me if you have a website.”

  “Hmm…that’s not a bad idea. I could sell them in the store and online. The only issue that I can see is getting too many orders and not being able to fill them quickly enough,” Echo mused.

  “Good problem to have,” Kel remarked. “Perhaps it’s time to train an apprentice to help you out?”

  “That’s a good idea, but I don’t have any clue as to who’d want to do that.”

  “What about Spencer?” Missy suggested.

  “I’m sure that young man knows his way around a knife,” Echo nodded. “I’ll ask him about it.”

  “Now that life has calmed down and gotten back to normal around here, is there anything interesting happening in town, Kel?” Missy asked.

  “Actually, a real estate investor friend of mine that I ran into at the grocery store was just telling me that he finally sold a property that he’d had on the market for months. It’s in an up and coming area that has a fresh, artsy vibe,” he said mysteriously.

  “So, why is that news, exactly?” Echo asked.

  “Because the house happens to be right next door to yours. You’re getting a new neighbor, apparently.”

  “Oh my, I hope it’s someone more palatable than Loud Steve,” she shuddered.

  “Hey, that man quite possibly saved you from something awful happening,” Missy reminded her.

  “I know. He’s just so awkward and icky,” Echo sighed. “Do you know anything about the new neighbor, Kel?”

  “No, my friend got a call and had to run before we could finish our conversation, so I have no idea who’s moving in.”

  “You’ll have to take them some poppyseed muffins,” Missy teased, and Echo stuck out her tongue in response.

  “What about you? Any new guests arriving at the Inn?” Kel asked Missy.

  “Yes, actually. I have a family with four children coming in, as well as a couple. We’ll have lots of fun and activity around here starting this weekend.”

  “Wow, sounds like Maggie got back just in time,” Echo remarked.

  Missy nodded. “She planned her vacation around guest arrivals. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

  “You seemed to manage pretty well, aside from the occasional international spy,” her friend teased.

  “It’s so strange to think that I gave house tours to a professional thief and a spy. I had no idea – they just seemed like relatively normal people.”

  “Just be glad you didn’t date one of them,” Echo sighed, plopping her chin down onto her hand and staring into her coffee cup.

  “Well, just be thankful that things didn’t turn out any worse than they did,” Missy reminded her.

  “Yeah, I know. I guess there are worse things than being terminally single.”

  “I certainly hope so,” Kel snickered.

  “Well, here’s to “all’s well that ends well,” Missy raised her mug in a toast and the others clinked their cups against it.

  Chapter 22

  The watcher waited for the Marine and his prey to leave their cabins before slinking inside to see what had been left behind. The cabin that the Marine had occupied was left cleaner than it had been found, with no trace left behind of the man who had occupied it for a few days. The ashes had been cleaned out of the grill, and the grate scraped clean. In his temporary domain, there was not so much as a footprint or smudged fingerprint to indicate habitation.

  The scared kid that the Marine had been hunting had left all sorts of signs that he’d been there and been forcibly vacated in a hurry. There were wrappers tucked in between the wall and the bunk’s mattress, there was a small, sticky puddle of dried soda pop on the counter, and dirt, leaves and debris had been tracked in by shoes that were clearly not suitable for wear in such rugged territory.

  The young man hadn’t been convicted of any crime, and had, in fact, been commended for his testimony, which had helped federal agents build a case against the spy. The Marine’s identity hadn’t been discovered, nor his status compromised, and for now, at least, all was well. Slinging his backpack and crossbow on the bunk, the watcher assessed the tiny cabin for survival suitability once winter decided to rear its ugly head.

  Nodding, he figured he’d stay here for a while, resting, waiting.

  Chapter 23

  On the last day before guests arrived at the Inn, Missy decided to start her morning with a long romp on the beach with Toffee and Bitsy. The “girls” had been itching to get outside and play, and the thought of fresh air and sunshine appealed to Missy as well. The rising sun bathed the salty waters in a rosy glow, and she took a deep breath, enjoying the quiet and the beauty of the morning. The dogs splashed and cavorted in the edge of the surf, and their owner grinned with delight watching their antics.

  Reflecting on how sweet the simple things in life are, Missy was thankful…for a loving and clever husband, for an innkeeper that made her life so much easier, for the capable and sensitive Marine who protected her like a son, and the amazing friends with whom she had the joy of laughing and sharing on a daily basis. Life was good, and it seemed as though it just kept getting better and better.

  Copyright 2015 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved.

  A letter from the Author

  To each and every one of my Amazing readers: I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know what you think by leaving a review!

  I’ll be releasing another installment in two weeks so to stay in the loop (and to get free books and other fancy stuff) Join my Book club.

  Stay Curious,
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  Summer Prescott