Death by Association: The Wellington Cozy Mystery series

by M A Comley

  Carl greeted them with a nod, but his smile was lacking. “Sergeant, I was about to call you. I can hear voices in there, but no one will answer the door. I also thought I heard a scream at one point. Want me to break down the door? I didn’t want to go in until backup arrived.”

  “Lucy, get back, out of the way, behind the car even,” Brendon ordered.

  She stepped back, giving them space to conduct their duties, her heart fiercely pounding.

  “Go ahead, Carl. Kick it in.” Brendon withdrew his weapon and squatted as the deputy kicked at the door until it hung crookedly on its hinges. Both men entered, taking it in turns to cover for one another. Lucy’s heart raced as the time passed slowly, at least, that’s how it felt. Finally, Brendon reappeared on the porch and gestured for Lucy to join him.

  Brendon pointed down the hallway. “She’s back there, in the end bedroom. I’ve called an ambulance.”

  Lucy ran the length of the house and skidded to a stop outside the bedroom to see Marnie strapped to her bed with ropes. Her hair and eyes were wild, and she was whimpering like a child.

  “Quickly, help her. Get those ropes off her!” Lucy shouted at the deputy. Lucy knew exactly what Marnie was experiencing. “She’s having a panic attack. Let her loose!”

  Brendon’s voice sounded at the other end of the hallway. “I’ve cuffed the suspect and the ambulance is on its way.”

  “No!” Marnie yelled. “No! I don’t want to leave.”

  Lucy quickly sat on the edge of the bed beside her. “Hush now. Try to calm down. You’re panicking, Marnie. I know how horrible it feels. I’m right here with you. You’re not going to die, I promise. Now, do as I tell you. We’re going to take deep belly breaths. Inhale through your nose, hold it, and then exhale slowly through your mouth. Look, I’ll do it with you.” Lucy began the sequence, her finger lightly turning Marnie’s head, forcing her to look at Lucy.

  Marnie began to cry. “I don’t want to leave. No ambulance. Please, no.”

  “Marnie, calm down and listen. I’m right here with you. They’re going to come in and evaluate you, that’s all. They won’t take you away if it’s not necessary. You have bruises on your arms and heaven knows where else. If you aren’t seriously hurt, maybe they can let you stay and I’ll look after you. But if they want you to see a doctor, you’ll be wise to go with them. They’ll understand how you’re feeling, you’ll be safe with the medical team. You hear me?”

  Marnie began the deep breathing exercises and nodded. The EMTs entered the room soon after, and Lucy stepped out of the room to await the verdict. Brendon pulled her close and she rested her head against his chest. A tornado of concern trapped in her mind.

  A paramedic came out of the room a few minutes later and informed them, “We think she needs to be seen.”

  Brendon nodded. “I think it’s for the best. Take her and I’ll be by as soon as I have the suspect locked up,” he ordered, nodding his head sideways to indicate Winnie.

  Lucy felt useless and watched on as the paramedics wheeled Marnie out of the bedroom on a stretcher. She took Marnie’s outstretched hand briefly, and whispered, “I’ll be down to see you soon. I promise.” Marnie nodded bravely and then they were gone.

  She turned around to find Brendon gone too. “Lucy?” he called her into the living room.

  Winnie was sitting on the sofa, her wrists cuffed, settled into her lap, her face lacking any form of emotion.

  Brendon folded his arms. “So, Lucy, you want to tell me what’s going on? I feel I’m missing something here.”

  Lucy glanced in Carl’s direction, as he was standing alongside Winnie. “Could you keep an eye on her while I speak to Sergeant Colt in private outside?”

  The deputy nodded. Lucy took Brendon by the arm and led him outdoors where Winnie couldn’t overhear. “Okay, I know I said I’d tell you on the way over here, but I wasn’t in the mood for you to tell me—again—that I was overreacting and possibly being foolish.”

  “Luce, let’s get past that and just tell me what’s happening here? I have a suspect in there, and I need to lay charges on her. Apart from tying Marnie to the bed, tell me what else she’s done.”

  “Here’s what I think happened. I believe Winnie killed Mrs. Stiltson. As the neighbor confirmed, a woman answering Winnie’s description was seen frequently at the woman’s house. A companion, she described her as being. The doctor, being a man who liked a variety of women, probably flirted a little with her. As I recall, he always had a charming bedside manner.” She sucked in a large breath to continue her supposition. “My guess is she fell in love with him and maybe discovered he had other women on the side when he possibly turned her down. I believe Connie, the waitress down at the Roadside Café, was involved with him. My assumption is that Winnie likely suffocated Mrs. Stiltson with her own pillow to get her out of the way. Her warped mind probably thought the good doctor would call on Winnie for consolation and that he would fall in love with her. Instead, he was furious when he found out what she’d done and ordered her to leave. Possibly threatened to turn her in.” She paused for a breath. “Maybe he was in on it, perhaps it was his idea for Winnie to kill his wife, leaving him looking innocent. What if he put Winnie up to it for the life insurance policy payout? Whichever scenario turns out to be correct, he needs to be held accountable in some way, Brendon.”

  He stared at her, and his eyes narrowed as he contemplated her evaluation.

  “Anyway, the crux of the matter is, after Winnie lost her job at the Stiltson’s and he asked her to leave, she went in search of a similar position and ended up here, at Marnie’s. During the interview, I remember her telling us that she had worked with several women who suffered with agoraphobia and that the last one had died. I just didn’t put two and two together.” She thumped her clenched fist against her thigh. “Dammit, if it hadn’t been for me introducing her to Marnie, none of this would have happened.”

  “I knew that was coming. You can’t blame yourself for this, it was Marnie’s decision to welcome the woman into her home in the end.”

  “I know. It doesn’t stop me from feeling bad though. I reckon her plan all along has been to go after Marnie’s money.” She fell silent, and Brendon comforted her by rubbing her arm. “Oh, fiddlesticks, there’s something else I forgot to tell you. My damn head has been filled with my own self-pity these past few days.”

  “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. Anyone in your shoes would have reacted the same way. What have you remembered?”

  “Thanks. Okay, the day I went to the bank I overheard the assistant manager on the phone telling someone, I think it was probably his boss, that he was uncomfortable because Winnie and Marnie had just left. You remember, you had to have a word with them about driving dangerously.” Brendon nodded and gestured for her to continue. “From what I can gather Marnie closed her old account and opened a new one in Winnie’s name. She even arranged to have her Disability check directly deposited into Winnie’s account. Poor, poor Marnie—it would appear that she’s easily manipulated.”

  Brendon listened intently, continuing to nod every so often.

  “Right from the word go, after she moved in here, Winnie didn’t like me. I bet she saw me as a threat because I was close to Marnie, well, as close as anyone was likely to get, given her condition. If she regarded me as a threat, I bet Winnie felt the same about the other women in the doctor’s life.” Lucy clicked her fingers as something else dawned on her. “I bet it was her intention to get rid of me with the incident in the attic. What if she sourced the two by four from Sal’s? In the process, framing Sal in my eyes, if nobody else’s, and locked me in the attic? Anyway, when that didn’t work, she had to think up another cunning plan to get rid of me, so she tried to kill me, as well as Jenny and Sophia, by setting fire to the car and the house. Thinking about it, neither of them have expressed sympathy toward me for my loss–that’s a major thing to consider, right?”

  Brendon was still deep in thought, working through the
possibilities, so she continued.

  “There were footprints outside Marnie’s house that first night when she shot at the burglar. It wasn’t a man at all. I think it was Winnie. Look at the size of her; from the back and wearing the right clothes, she could look like a man, couldn’t she? I found prints outside Marnie’s window the next day. Big feet. They led off into the cluster of trees behind the house and disappeared among the wet leaves. I forgot about it until I found the prints leading to my house. You know… the ones under the snowbank?”

  Brendon nodded. “That’s right, you showed them to me. Go on.”

  “Last night, when I was going through the photos I took at my house, I spotted more footprints in the snow. I neglected to spot them at the time… I was distracted by the damage and was busy taking the photos, maybe I shot that picture by mistake when I put my phone down by my side. But they were big feet—not heavy—just long. Go take a look, Brendon. You’ll see Winnie’s shoes by the door. They’re huge.”

  “So, she’s a…”

  “That’s right,” Lucy agreed. “Winnie is a serial killer posing as a companion who does it for the money or some other reward. In the doctor’s case, she became besotted with him. Therefore, she couldn’t kill him because she’d fallen in love with him. Turns out she was insanely jealous. In my case, I stood between her and Marnie’s money. I suspect if you put the word out, Brendon, you’ll find a string of similar crimes and circumstances up and down the coast, all connected with her.”

  Brendon looked down at her, clasped her head between his hands and kissed her on the lips. “Mrs. Colt-to-be, you are a marvel. An absolute marvel.”

  “And a danged good cook, too!” She giggled, relieved it was over and doubly relieved that he believed her version of the events.

  “Yes, and a danged good cook,” he agreed.

  Epilogue

  “I knew there was something strange about her the moment I saw her,” muttered Cecilia, her arms folded and her mouth crooked with satisfaction.

  “As a matter of fact, you did,” Lucy conceded. “And here we thought you were just being your usual contrary self.”

  “Did she admit to it all, Lucy?” Jenny wanted to know.

  “Yes, and much more besides about her previous posts. All down the coast, there are police wrapping up cold cases that have irked them for years.” She reached for Jenny’s hand and squeezed it. “We were very lucky, Jenny. It was her intention to kill us the other night.”

  Jenny shuddered. “I know. I have a suggestion to make. The next time you go after a murderer, you should get someone else to help. I don’t think I could stand the drama a second time.”

  “You’ve got it. However, I do have another job lined up for you, if you’ll agree.”

  Jenny’s mouth and nose screwed up. “Umm… I’m bracing myself. Go on.”

  “Would it be too much for you to be my maid of honor?” Lucy asked, her eyes sparkling.

  There was a collective gasp around Sal’s Sweets.

  “Are you serious?” Jenny squealed, leaning forward to hug Lucy. “I’d love to! Oh, I just knew this was going to happen. Actually, it was Sophia who said it. She told me on the side that she saw you in a wedding gown and that I would be included.”

  “I need to ring her, to share the news. Scratch that, she’s probably raising a cup of coffee with us right now.” She giggled. “Sal, now tell us about your daughter.”

  Sal’s chin lifted and a smile broke out. “Thanks to Jenny here, she’s made a vast improvement. Jenny got my girl motivated and the doctor said they’re seeing movement in her legs they never anticipated seeing so soon. Could be that she’ll be walking again a year from now. Jenny, you’re her savior.”

  “Aww…” Jenny muttered, blushing. “I had to help, like others tried to assist me in the past. She was just luckier, the damage wasn’t as bad as…” Jenny wiped away a stray tear.

  Sensing that Jenny would prefer it if the spotlight didn’t remain on her a moment longer, Lucy shouted, “So, will you all come to my wedding?”

  Cries of “yes” and “of course” spilled across the cafe.

  “When?” Grace asked.

  “Gosh, with all that’s been going on, we haven’t set a date. Maybe this fall. An outdoor wedding in the park when the leaves are in full color. It’s my favorite time of year, after all.”

  That drew a round of applause. Women loved nothing better than a good wedding to look forward to.

  “And you’ll all be glad to know that Marnie is doing very well. The state found a new companion for her—but not as a live-in. The woman comes once a day for an hour just to help her get the little things taken care of, then she leaves. I’m glad she’s not alone now that I’ve had to move away.”

  “Will you rebuild, Lucy?” Jenny asked.

  “Not sure yet. Again, too much going on to even consider it.”

  “How about Dr. Stiltson?” Cecilia shouted from the back.

  “Accessory to murder, he’s down at the station now, being questioned; we don’t know how many other charges he’ll be up for. That investigation is open, but he won’t be practicing anymore, that’s for sure.”

  “You haven’t said anything about Sylvia, Lucy. Did Winnie kill her too?” Grace asked. “If so, why?”

  “Yes, poor Sylvia. Out of all of us, she did her best for Marnie and for what? Winnie admitted killing her so she didn’t come to the house anymore.”

  “Wow, talk about extreme,” Jenny said, shaking her head in disgust.

  The bell on the door tinkled and the women looked up to see Brendon walk in. The women all stood and applauded him, making his neck flush. “Sal, any chance I can get a cup of your wonderful coffee and a cinnamon donut?”

  “Coming right up,” she said, her hands already wrapped around a to-go cup.

  “It’s good to have you and Dan back. You had us worried there for a few days. Especially Lucy.”

  Lucy had the grace to blush, but only she and Brendon understood why.

  Lucy grabbed her new purse and left with Brendon as yet another round of applause emanated from the café behind them. They stopped outside on the sidewalk. Brendon looked around, beaming. “It’s good to have things quiet around here again.”

  “It sure is.”

  “And it’s all due to you, sweetheart.”

  Lucy grinned. “It’s the least I could do since I was the one with the big idea that got it all started.”

  “No, I won’t allow you to shoulder the blame, Lucy. I’m led to believe Winnie had already chosen Marnie. That’s why she was outside her window that night. It’s a shame Marnie didn’t have a better aim. Would have saved herself a lot of trouble.”

  Lucy slapped his arm. “Brendon! I can’t believe you’re saying that.”

  “Oh, sweetheart… you need to relax a little. There are only good things ahead of us now, you have my word on that.”

  Lucy sighed and snuggled up to him. “I can’t wait.”

  THE END

  Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed Death by Association, if you did, maybe you’d consider leaving a short review. I love hearing what you think about my stories.

  If you’d like to read more of my cozy mysteries why not check out the Carmel Cove cozy mystery series? You can find the first book here - Murder at the Wedding

  On the other hand, if you enjoy reading thrillers for a change, why not check out a couple of my thriller series?

  Perhaps you’d also consider reading another of my most popular series? Grab the first book in the Justice series here, CRUEL JUSTICE

  Or the gritty first book in the Hero Series TORN APART.

  Or my gripping DI Sara Ramsey series, you can get the first book, No Right To Kill

  Thank you for reading.

  Mel x

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