Murder at Jade Cove (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 2)

by Dianne Harman

  “Well, looks like someone put this on your windshield while you were at the abandoned shack. I wonder if the person who dropped this cartridge in the old shack is the same person who wrote you the note. Maybe someone was afraid you’d find the cartridge. Did you notice anything else?”

  “Well, there was something else that was kind of strange. When I got back in the van I realized I hadn’t given Marcy the cheesecake that I’d brought for her, so I turned around and went to the ranch house. When I’d looked at the ranch house a few minutes earlier when I was in the shack, her car wasn’t there, but I thought maybe in the interim she’d returned. I pulled in and still didn’t see her car, but there was another car in the driveway. It had a bumper sticker that read “Oregon Needs Lumber.” When I drove in and saw it I thought maybe her car was in the shop for repairs or something, but then I thought a sticker wouldn’t be on a loaner car. Anyway, I took the cheesecake from the trunk and knocked on the front door. No one answered, so I knocked again. Still no answer. I turned around, put the cheesecake back in the trunk, and drove here, which reminds me, I need to get it out of the trunk.”

  “Tell me more about the car that was in her driveway.” Mike said.

  “Well, it was silver colored and I think it was a fairly late model, but I didn’t look at it all that closely other than at the bumper sticker. Why?”

  “Depending on what direction the car was coming from, there’s a fifty-fifty chance that the same car passed your minivan on its way to the ranch. This time of day there aren’t a lot of cars on the highway. I’m just wondering if there’s some connection between the car you saw at the ranch house and the note you found, but we’ll probably never know.”

  “Mike, the only person we know who has been out to that old abandoned shack is Bonnie. Do you think she killed Jeff?”

  He rubbed his eyes. “I honestly don’t know what to think. She knew where the shack was located and she probably had access to one of her husband’s hunting rifles. She also hated Jeff because of the damage he was about to inflict on the spotted owls’ habitat by building the hotel and spa. She certainly had a motive for killing Jeff. From the empty cartridge case you discovered, I think Jeff was killed by someone who was in the old shack and fired the rifle that killed him. As to the motive and who did it – I don’t know. It could be a hunter who mistook Jeff for a deer, although that’s a far stretch and it was after the hunting season for deer. What I do know is that you better bring in that cheesecake from the trunk of your minivan. I’d hate to see it go to waste and I’m rather glad Marcy wasn’t home, that way I can have it.”

  “I get the hint. Time to fix dinner. I am so looking forward to this weekend. Sit where you are and I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

  “Wait a minute. One more thing. Remember awhile back I bought a gun for you and got you a permit for carrying a concealed weapon. I even took you to the range a few times so you’d feel comfortable with it. I haven’t seen it lately, but I’d like you to start carrying the gun with you. Would you do that for me? It sure would make me feel better.”

  “Sure thing, Sheriff Mike, but I know I’ll never need it. Don’t forget, I’ve got Rebel with me.”

  “I’m well aware of that, but there may be a time when he can’t help you. Just say yes and don’t fib when you say it.”

  She made a face at him. “Okay. I will.” She realized he was probably right and this time, she didn’t even mentally cross her fingers when she made the promise.

  CHAPTER 13

  “Mike, I know planning a wedding is not high on your priority list, but please indulge me. Everyone is wondering why we haven’t done anything about setting a date. Can you give me a couple of hours so we can talk about it?” Kelly asked when she’d finished the dinner dishes.

  He put down the latest Stephen King novel he’d been reading. “You’re right. It’s not my number one thing to do and I imagine I’m not the only man in the world who tries to stay uninvolved in wedding plans. It’s kind of a guy thing you probably wouldn’t understand. Okay, I’m all ears. What do you have in mind?”

  “Well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about it. I’d like it to be small. I thought I’d ask Julia to stand up with me and Cash to give me away. Do you think that’s schmaltzy and over the top to have your son and daughter that involved?”

  “No, I think they’d both be honored. What would you think if I asked Doc to stand up with me? I’ve gotten to know him over the last few months and we’ve become friends, plus he adores you. There are several other friends I could ask, but I think it would be a nice touch if I asked him. Would that be okay with you?”

  “Oh, Mike, I would love it. He’s such a wonderful man and I know he likes you, however, there’s one issue I’ve been hesitant to bring up.” She took a deep breath and continued, “I would really like to be married by Father Brown in the Catholic Church. I talked to him today and he said he could conduct the ceremony in the church even though you’re not Catholic, since you were baptized as an Episcopalian. When I told him you were divorced, he said he could still conduct the ceremony in the church, but it might really anger some members of the congregation who still feel very strongly that anyone who is divorced should not be married in the church.”

  “Well, I can understand that. Could he perform the ceremony somewhere else, like here at the house? Maybe we’d just have a small ceremony and then go somewhere for a reception. What would you think about that?”

  “Mike, I just want to be your wife. That’s far more important to me than where we get married. He did ask me a question I couldn’t answer.” She looked at him and began to chew on her lower lip. It was an unconscious gesture on Kelly’s part and Mike knew she only did that when she was really nervous about something.

  “What are you keeping from me, Kelly? Are you going to tell me you’re already married to someone else?” he asked, laughing.

  “Of course not. Okay, here goes. Father Brown asked if I knew if your ex-wife was alive. He wondered how long it had been since you’d had any communication with her. He said often a former spouse has died and in that case, the surviving spouse can be married in the church.”

  Mike sat quietly for a few minutes deep in thought. “Kelly, I haven’t seen or heard anything about Denise for at least ten years. I know she married that doctor, Brian Hill, the one she met in Las Vegas. I left town when we got divorced and lost track of her. I’m not sure there’s any way I could find out anything about her. I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

  “Why don’t we try and look her up on Google. I know it’s a longshot, but maybe we can find something out.”

  “Kelly, I’ll try it for you, but if that doesn’t work, and believe me, I have strong doubts that it will, I think that’s the end of the road, but let’s find out one way or the other.” He stood up from his chair, walked towards the bedroom Kelly had made into her home office, and sat down at her computer. Kelly followed him and sat down on the couch in the cozy office.

  Mike pulled Google up on the computer and typed in the words, “Denise Hill.” Kelly watched and then saw Mike’s eyes widen as he uttered, “What the…”

  “Did you find something, Mike? Is something wrong?” He sat quietly looking at the screen intently and sliding the mouse around. After a few minutes he sat back, never answering her.

  Kelly got up and walked over to computer to see what had caused his reaction. There on the monitor she saw the headline “Dr. Brian Hill and Wife Killed in Car Crash.” She quickly read the article that said they had been returning from a visit to his parents in Northern Oregon when a big rig swerved across the center divider and hit their car head-on. The article went on to say they were killed instantly as was the driver of the big rig. The article was five years old.

  “Mike, I’m sorry. This must be hard for you. I know you two were estranged and you’d been divorced for a number of years, but it must be hard to read about her death.”

  “Not really. About the only emotion I f
eel is surprise. I told you about how she found the doctor on the Internet and then went to Las Vegas to meet him and how she’d lied to me, telling me she was going to a ‘girl’s weekend’ in Las Vegas. I remember telling you that she filed for divorce as soon as she returned. She got what she wanted – status. A small town sheriff never could give her the status she wanted. No, it was not a good marriage and it ended even worse. It’s just really a strange feeling to think that a person you lived with is dead and you didn’t know it.”

  “If you want to be alone for awhile, I’ll understand. I’ll be in the other room. Come on Rebel.”

  Rebel sensed something wasn’t right with Mike and as Kelly had predicted, his loyalty was beginning to shift to Mike. He stayed in the room with Mike.

  A few minutes later Mike walked out of the room with a big smile on his face. “Well, babe, things have a way of working out. Why don’t you call Father Brown and tell him we’d like to be married in the church. Looks like with the death of Denise, it shouldn’t be a problem. When do you want the wedding to take place?”

  “How about on Valentine’s Day? It falls on a Saturday. We could get married in the church and have the reception here. I suppose we could have it at the coffee shop, but I think it would be nice to have it here. Let’s make it a Celebration of Marriage. If we got married in the morning, we could have the Celebration here from say, one to four. That way people could come and go and we wouldn’t have a traffic jam of people. Parking might be a problem, but in a town this small, most people would probably walk here anyway. How does that sound to you?”

  “Whatever you want sweetheart, I’m just here to please you and if that pleases you, it will please me as well. Let me ask you a question. Am I going to have to wear a monkey suit?”

  “No. I thought we’d wear jeans.”

  He raised his eyebrows at her. “Kelly, we both have an image to uphold in this town and I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  “Oh, Mike,” she said laughing, “you are so easy. I’m just kidding! Actually, I thought I’d wear a cream colored or pale colored dress and you could wear a suit. We’ll keep it simple. After all, it’s a second wedding for both of us, so I don’t think I need to be in some fancy white wedding gown with a long train and you don’t need to be in a tuxedo. Anyway, Cedar Bay’s more of a casual town.”

  “I’ll call Doc tomorrow and ask him. You’ll probably want to call your kids and Father Brown. Now, is there anything else you need from me? I’d kind of like to see what’s going to happen in the King book I’m reading. I stopped at a crucial place.”

  “Go on. I’ll call them now. Since I don’t have anywhere I have to be for the next two days, I’m going to drive up to Portland tomorrow morning and see if I can find a dress. I don’t want to leave it to the last minute and things get pretty crazy around the holidays. I’d feel a lot better if I could get that out of the way.”

  “Portland, tomorrow, okay,” he said opening his book and reaching down to scratch Rebel’s ears.

  CHAPTER 14

  Saturday morning Kelly luxuriated in bed, finally getting up at 7:30 a.m., much later than her usual time of 5:30 a.m. I am so glad the coffee shop is closed on the weekends. I feel absolutely decadent getting up at this time of day, she thought. She put on a robe and walked out to the kitchen where Mike was sitting at the table, drinking coffee and reading his book.

  “Mornin’, love,” she said. “Tell you what. I’ll fix breakfast for us before I leave for Portland. I’ve got some of that salmon gravlax you like so much that’s been curing in the refrigerator for a couple of days. It should be ready. I’ll slice it ultra-thin and we can put it on some bagels I got at Marsha’s bakery yesterday. Sound okay to you?”

  “You know it’s one of my favorites. Could I have some cream cheese on mine? How about adding a little chopped red onion and chopped hardboiled egg to it? Do you have any mustard and dill? A few capers would really finish it off.”

  “You’re a lucky man to be living with a woman who owns a coffee shop. You know I don’t like to leave things in the coffee shop that we can eat here at home on the weekends, so I’ve got all of them. Give me a couple of minutes.”

  “Take your time. Matter of fact, I probably won’t be doing anything all day but reading. King’s got me hooked for sure this time.” Rebel put his paw on Mike and looked up at him. “Actually, I think I’ll get dressed and take Rebel for a run later on.” He looked down at Rebel who was wagging his tail.

  I knew it. It’s just a matter of time. First he starts secretly giving Rebel treats, and then he runs with him. Rebel’s loyalty is definitely shifting away from me. Anyway, I’m glad Rebel has accepted him. It would make it pretty difficult if that ninety pound dog decided he didn’t like Mike. Can’t decide whether the new puppy should be a Christmas present from me to me or a wedding present from me to me.

  An hour later, she walked over to where Mike was sitting, totally engrossed in his book. “I’m leaving now. It takes about two hours to get to Portland. I’ve got a few shops I really like there. I’ll see what I can find. I’m planning on being back here about five this evening. I really don’t like driving on highways in the dark and anyway, shopping for just the right thing is always tiring. Wish me luck. Sure would like to find the perfect dress at the first place I go, but that probably isn’t realistic.”

  When she got in the minivan she turned on the radio, listening to soft jazz as she drove. The drive was beautiful, hilly and green, with many trees, creeks, and rivers dotting the landscape. Two hours later she pulled into a parking garage in downtown Portland. Okay, I can do this, she thought as she got out of the minivan. I’m going to trust in the god of wedding dresses for second marriages. With luck, I can be finished in a couple of hours.

  She started at Nordstrom’s, looking through rack after rack. No dress spoke to her and asked her to try it on and take it home. She continued her search at two more department stores. Again, nothing. She stopped at her favorite restaurant for an early lunch and had a craft beer and a Reuben sandwich. Refreshed, she was walking down 4th Street when a sign in a boutique bridal shop caught her eye. “Sample Sale – One Day Only.” She opened the door of the small shop and realized today was obviously the day of the sale. The store was packed with women, brides-to-be, mothers-of-the-brides, sisters, friends, and anyone else who wanted to help the bride shop for a dress for her big day.

  She caught the eye of a frazzled looking sales clerk. “It looks like you’re really busy, but I was wondering if you have anything that would be appropriate for a woman my age getting married for the second time. I’m thinking of a cocktail dress or something like that.”

  The sales clerk looked closely at Kelly, mentally gauging what size she would wear. “You know I do have something I think would work well with your hair and skin coloring. If you’ll give me a minute to finish up with the woman standing at the counter, I’ll get it for you. Just have a seat and I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Kelly sat down and began leafing through a bridal magazine that was one of many on the coffee table.

  A few minutes later the sales clerk tapped her on the shoulder. “Come with me. I’ve put the dress I had in mind in a dressing room for you.” Kelly followed her down the hall. When she walked into the dressing room she audibly gasped. The most beautiful dress she had ever seen was hanging in front of her. “I definitely want to try it on,” she said to the sales clerk. “Thank you for helping me. I’ll be out in a couple of minutes.”

  Kelly pulled the dress over her head. It seemed like the designer had Kelly in mind when he’d designed it. The high-necked long-sleeved sheath was made of champagne colored satin and lace. It fit perfectly. She examined herself from every angle. I can’t think of one reason not to buy it. It’s perfect. The only reason may be the price. I probably better see what it costs before I get too attached to it.

  She walked out of the dressing room and over to the sales clerk. “Could you tell me what the price is for this dress?”
Kelly asked. Several women in the shop smiled at her. One of them said, “That dress was made for you. You look beautiful.” Kelly thanked her and turned to the sales clerk who glanced at the tag on the side of the dress and then pulled a book out from under the counter. She examined it closely, turned several pages, and then looked up at Kelly.

  “I think you’ll be very happy with the price. The designer is discontinuing this particular line and this dress is the last one. It’s on sale and priced at $475.00. I’m sure you’ll agree that’s a steal.”

  “I’ll take it. Do you have shoes in a size seven that would go with it? I don’t want satin dyed shoes. I’d just like something that would work with it, but I could also wear with other things.”

  “Let me see what I have in the back room. I’ll meet you in a few minutes in the dressing room.” A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. “I think these would look good with the dress,” the sales clerk said, handing Kelly a shoe box containing a pair of very light tan leather high-heeled sandals. Kelly slipped them on and smiled at her.

  “This must be my lucky day. They fit like a glove. I’ll take them.”

  “I think this definitely is your lucky day. Those shoes are part of the sale as well. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

  “No. This will do it.”

  Five minutes later Kelly walked out of the shop feeling a huge sense of relief that she didn’t need to worry anymore about an important part of the wedding. She was walking by the Hilton Hotel when she saw a silver-colored car that looked exactly like the car she had seen the day before at Marcy’s. She noticed the bumper sticker, “Oregon Needs Lumber,” and remembered that there had been a similar bumper sticker on the car that had been parked in Marcy’s driveway. That must be the same car, she thought. It’s too much of a coincidence not to be the same car.