Pampered to Death: A Deadly Calm Day Spa Mystery

by Molly Dox

  Chapter 8

  The following morning, Jocelyn stretched and climbed off the sofa. She’d slept well enough, but was sore from her fall. Shock must have kept her out of pain, because today it felt like she’d been tackled by a linebacker. She squeaked as she tried to work out the kinks. She’d take a couple tablets of ibuprofen to take the edge off. After stretching a bit more, she leaned against the doorframe to Andrea’s room. “Are you awake?”

  “Just barely,” Andrea grumbled. “How did you sleep?”

  “Well enough. I’m going to go take a shower and get changed at my place. I’ll be back once I clean up. What time do you want to head to the police department?”

  Andrea sat up in bed and yawned. “I guess the sooner the better. I’ll grab my shower, too. How about in an hour, so we have time to eat and get ready?”

  “Okay,” Jocelyn answered and turned to leave. After taking two or three steps, she turned back toward her friend. “Are you sure about this?”

  Andrea sighed. “I think we’re in over our heads. We should probably just let the police handle things.”

  “Right,” she said. Jocelyn ran her fingers through her purple hair and added, “Unless…”

  “Go on.”

  “Well, what about Olive? Do you think we should talk to her?” She hesitated to ask, especially after yesterday’s close call.

  Andrea climbed out of bed. “I don’t know what to think anymore. I just wanted to find an answer, but I can’t help thinking that yesterday wasn’t exactly an accident. They didn’t stop to see if we were okay or anything. I’m ready to pass this to the police. I just want things to go back to normal. I have no idea what this will do to the spa’s business as it is. We may have to find different jobs. I can’t afford for them to be closed much longer. I know Lonnie has the best place in town, but if it’s not getting any business, I won’t be able to pay my bills.”

  “You’re right. Let’s just tell the police what we know and figure out how to get the spa back open.” Jocelyn nodded and turned to leave. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

  Andrea trudged through her bedroom to the bathroom. As she reached into the shower to turn on the faucet, an idea popped into her head. It would only be one more thing. It couldn’t hurt, right? Andrea shook her head and tried to push the thought out of her mind. No, let the police handle it. It wasn’t until both girls were ready and Jocelyn hopped back over to Andrea’s place that they knew. “Okay, so maybe we just talk to Olive?”

  “Oh good, I thought we were both on the same wave length. You always say no, but you mean…sure I’ll come along for an adventure and look for answers!” Jocelyn bounced as she spoke, excited that their sleuthing moments hadn’t ended quite yet.

  “You make it sound like I solve murders on a daily basis,” she snorted with a laugh.

  “No, not murders, but who found Mr. Wiggles when he got away?” Jocelyn reminded.

  “A rabbit… I found a bunny rabbit. I followed his pellet droppings,” she said, “not exactly rocket science.”

  “But you found him. You’ve been sleuthing since we were in school and didn’t even realize.” A smile spread across Jocelyn’s face after making her point.

  “Yes, solving a class pet problem from back in my school days and looking for a killer all these years later, totally the same thing,” Andrea quipped sarcastically.

  “Well, I think it’s fascinating. I mean, not that I wanted to see the lady bite the big one, but it is kind of interesting to see how it can look like one thing and be something totally different. Don’t you think?” Jocelyn’s sing-song voice filled the air with optimism. She was anxious, impatient, and raring to go.

  Andrea sighed and clutched her belly, not quite sure what to expect. “Did you have a little too much caffeine this morning?”

  “Not my fault that you’re not a morning person,” she sang. “Come on; let’s go to the police headquarters first, before we change our minds.”

  Andrea grabbed an umbrella on the way out. “Looks like rain.”

  “Oh, wait.” Jocelyn stood still.

  “What is it?”

  Jocelyn focused, closed her eyes, and tried to understand a message she was getting. “Cat under car…”

  “What?”

  “That’s what I got. Let’s check under the car before we go, just in case.” Together the women headed outside. Jocelyn squatted down to look under the car. There was no cat. That was weird. Somebody was telling her something. “Nothing here,” she said, giving the all clear.

  The women got in the car. Just as Andrea was about to turn the key in the ignition, Jocelyn yelped. “Wait, don’t do it!” She hopped out of the car and instructed her friend to pop open the hood. Sure enough, a small kitten was stuck. It had climbed up from underneath, but got wedged.

  Andrea went to join Jocelyn. “Oh, wow, a cat.”

  They leaned forward to help the frightened animal. Pulling the kitten close to her, Jocelyn whispered to Andrea, “Can I keep her? She’s so cute.”

  “We should probably see if she’s somebody else’s cat first. Let’s head to the police department, and then we can come home and make signs.”

  “Okay, I’m going to put her in my bathroom with some fresh water and a blanket. We better pick up some food and a little box, just in case nobody claims her.” She shrugged, already picking out a name for her new friend.

  When she came back from setting up the kitten in her apartment, Jocelyn’s face was flushed. “We need to go to the police, now.”

  “Why? What happened?” Andrea was stumped. What could have happened in that short of time?

  “The cat said that somebody was prowling around, trying to look inside the windows. She got scared when a mean person went by. She’d startled them, not meaning to, so the stranger stomped hard on the ground toward her, aggressively as to threaten her. That’s why the kitten scrambled and ran, which is how she got stuck in the car.”

  “You got that from a cat?” Andrea worded the next part carefully. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this out loud, but did the cat tell you if it was a man or a woman?”

  “No,” she sighed. “But, we might be in more danger than we thought. And you totally know I can talk to domesticated animals if they’re open to it. Not all of them talk to me. Why do you act surprised?”

  “You really are a physicist, that’s amazing.” She looked at her friend, as if seeing her for the first time.

  Jocelyn laughed. “I’m an animal psychic, not physicist.”

  “Right, I get all those words confused. Why do you think you can talk to animals?” She’d seen her do it before, but it always threw her for a loop. Sometimes she wasn’t sure if it was just Jocelyn thinking she was getting information, but sometimes she was spot on.

  “I have no idea. Not a clue. Believe me, I wish I knew! The gift has been with me since I was younger.”

  The girls got in the car and headed off toward the police station. Andrea couldn’t help glancing at her rear view mirror a dozen times, feel a bit edgy after the last bit of information they got – from a cat. She shook her head, realizing how crazy that sounded. If she hadn’t known Jocelyn for a long time, she’d be more of a skeptic, but the girl had some unique gifts.

  After she parked the car, Andrea spoke delicately. “I wouldn’t mention that cat. You know, the cat telling you stuff. They might not take us seriously.”

  Jocelyn looked at Andrea. “You believe me, right? I’m not crazy. I get that I can’t tell everyone, but it’s frustrating to get information and not be able to use it.”

  “Right, but it’s from a cat.” Andrea winced.

  Jocelyn sighed. “Okay, I know. Let’s go tell them about yesterday and getting run off the road.”

  **

  When the girls went inside to report what had happened, they were shuttled into a small office to talk to one of the staff. A portly police officer plopped down into the chair behind the desk. “I was just looking through this file. We’ve go
t our detectives on it, but we’re sort of at a standstill. We have a lead suspect, but until we tie things together, we can’t make the arrest.”

  “You have a suspect? We’re here about the case, but something happened yesterday that we wanted to add. Maybe it will clarify some things.” Andrea started, clearing her throat, wanting to sound business-like after all that earlier talk about the cat.

  “It looks like your co-worker Carmen is our lead suspect. They’re bringing her in to question again, but it’s not looking good. From what we’ve got here, she had access, a possible motive, and the means to carry the plan out. Sure, she’s got an alibi, but it’s been hard for her to prove. All we need is one solid piece of evidence to link her there. I’d stay away from that one if I were you,” he warned, as if they were in on some sort of secret. “Keep your nose clean, and keep your distance.”

  “Carmen? No, it can’t be her. I mean, she’s not the type…” Jocelyn started. But how well did she really know Carmen? She shook her head. “We were run off the road yesterday after we went snooping. I think we’re onto something. The Chadwick’s have something to hide. We were over talking to the victim’s daughter. We went to school with her back in the day, anyway, she said something…and Monica’s key, and there are details you don’t have.”

  The officer sat up straighter. “I sure would like to catch a break. Tell me what you know. I’m tired of people overlooking me for promotions,” he muttered.

  “Okay, so there was a van, it was a van right?” Jocelyn turned to Andrea, who was flicking off the edge of her nail polish.

  “A dark, green mini-van, but we didn’t see the tags,” Andrea finished. “Anyway, one of our co-workers, her key went missing. We think someone might have lifted it out of her purse. Monica was at a local bar and this woman was watching her, acting weird. She can’t be certain, she didn’t see someone touch her purse, but the next day it was gone. We went back to the bar, talked to some people, and they described somebody who looked like Cassie, but not quite. Something was off. Anyway, so we went to go see Cassie to talk to her, and we saw a picture on a bookshelf of her father with her aunt from when they were younger. She looks a lot like Cassie does, but now older and with different hair. We think she might have something to do with it.”

  “Good information, is there anything else?” The officer jotted down notes, adding them to the file.

  “No, but that’s why we’re here. We’re looking to see what else you may have learned.” They knew they were walking on eggshells asking for information.

  “I’m going to say this as gently as I can, ladies. You’re tampering with a working case. I’d step back, stop nosing around, and let us handle the rest. I think we’ll have somebody in custody soon enough. Let the police handle this.” He spoke down at them, as if they were small children.

  Jocelyn grumbled under her breath. She thought better of the words that wanted to come out, but held them back.

  After the officer sent them on their way, they noticed a cute cop at the front desk who wasn’t there earlier. Maybe he was covering shifts for somebody, but he looked nothing like the gray-haired woman with a pinched nose that had been there just a few moments ago. “Let’s go talk to him,” Andrea whispered.

  “Got it,” Jocelyn said, taking the lead. “Hi officer, that nice police officer that we just spoke to told us to ask you to look up the information we need. He wanted to finish typing up his notes on a case.”

  The cop looked at her, suspicious. “He told you-”

  Andrea added in, hoping to pour on another scoop of credibility. “He said something about details and having to call a detective about a new lead. He wanted to get right on it, so they didn’t arrest the wrong person. He said you could help us.”

  The girls flirted, leaned in, smiling, and happened to mention how well the young officer filled out his uniform. After a little extra sweet talk, he did a quick search, ‘just give him a second’, ‘oh, here it is’, and the girls were on their way with Olive’s address in their hand.

  Chapter 9

  Olive Mackanack, sister to Brad Chadwick, aunt to Cassie, and sister-in-law to the deceased made her home on an interesting corner of space. The land was overgrown with grass up front, looked a mess, but once you passed down the driveway and around a band of trees, there was a magnificent home. It was as if somebody took a large wooden lodge and dropped it onto the land. It was as from the front of the property, she didn’t want people to know what was back there. Not quite curb appeal, but the home had definite driveway appeal.

  In the driveway there was an older green minivan, and a silver luxury car. Andrea stiffened on seeing the minivan. “I think that’s it.”

  Jocelyn took a picture of the van with her smart phone and then another picture of the license plate. She snapped one of the other car’s plates as well, to see if they came back to the same name. The silver car looked to be a Jaguar. The house was a twisted puzzle. The porch was grand and lovely, but it was littered with flea market finds. Pieces of old junk and furniture were stacked to the side. It was almost like a hoarder’s treasures that were now seeping out of the main house and onto the porch.

  Was it a mistake to go there? She’d already tried to run them down once. Walking up to her front door was hardly the smartest choice they’d ever made. They’d willingly gone to confront the woman that had possibly killed one person, and almost took them out, too.

  As they walked closer to the door, they heard voices on the other side. “Thanks for lending me the van. I was able to move some things I’d been wanting to,” Cassie said.

  The women wanted to hide, but it was too late, the front door swung open. Cassie and Olive were oblivious to the fact that Andrea and Jocelyn were standing on the porch. As Cassie turned, she was caught off guard. “What are you doing here?”

  “We came to talk to Olive,” Andrea said, trying to steady her voice.

  “What about?” Cassie eyed Andrea suspiciously.

  “Who owns that van?” Jocelyn asked, pointing to the incriminating vehicle.

  “I do, why?” Olive said sharply.

  Andrea drew a deep breath and looked to Jocelyn. She looked back to Olive. “It tried to run us off the road yesterday.” She glared at the woman, trying to read her expression, but she was simply staring back at them.

  “That’s ridiculous. I own it, but I don’t drive it. I drive the Jaguar.”

  Everybody turned slowly toward Cassie.

  “What? You don’t think I….” She shook her head.

  “Cassie?” Olive questioned her niece. “What’s going on? You were using my van yesterday.”

  “They’re nosey, and prying where they shouldn’t be,” she said in a panic. “They were asking about you, and…”

  Everyone turned toward Olive.

  “I think you should leave,” she said calmly to the women. “You’re trespassing here. I’d hate for something to happen.”

  “Are you threatening us?” Jocelyn snapped.

  Sarcasm laced her voice. “Of course not, but I can’t be responsible for your negligence or clumsiness.”

  “Aunt Olive?” Cassie was now the one trying to figure out her aunt.

  “Come on, Cassie, I’ll drive you home.” She acted like nothing had just been said.

  “Not so fast,” Andrea said. “I think it’s time to have a conversation. Cassie, I wouldn’t get in the car with her. She’s already killed one person – your mother.”

  “What?!” Cassie looked at Andrea like she had two heads. “She didn’t like my mom, but she certainly wasn’t the one who killed her.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” Jocelyn said. “And we think she was framing you.”

  Cassie spun around toward her aunt. “What’s going on here?”

  “They’re crazy. I have no idea what these girls are up to, but I’m calling the police.”

  “Please do,” Andrea challenged. “I can’t wait to show them the vehicle sitting in your driveway that we’ve alread
y reported.”

  A gunshot was fired into the air. Everybody froze.

  A portly officer stood by his car, brandishing his weapon. It was the officer that the girls had seen earlier. He spoke before anything got more out of hand. “I’m Officer Gregory, not Greg, Gregory is the last name. I’m Stan Gregory, well, Officer Gregory to you. The officer at the front desk that you bribed for information, he checked in with me after you left, letting me know he’d given you the information that I said you should get.”

  “Oh,” Jocelyn said sheepishly. “Umm…”

  “Alright, all four of you, back inside. We’re going to have a discussion. Back up is on the way, so no funny stuff.” The officer waddled toward the porch and shuffled the four women into the living room, then barked, “Sit.”

  All four women grumbled and muttered under their breath at one another.

  “Enough,” he snapped. His gaze fell to Jocelyn and Andrea. “It’s time to sort things out. I’ll deal with you two later.”

  “Officer, I want to report that these women are harassing me,” Olive started.

  “Nobody is doing anything, until I say so.” He looked at Cassie. “You go first.”

  Chapter 10

  As Cassie started to talk, Andrea looked toward her, but what she saw was something else. She didn’t mean to talk over the officer or Cassie, but the words came out. “Olive, what happened to your arms? Did you get into a scuffle, say, near a hot tub?”

  All heads turned toward Olive’s arms. She quickly yanked her sleeves down. “Oh, that’s nothing. My cat…”

  “What cat? You don’t have a cat.” Cassie was confused.

  “Yes, darling, the cat;” she emphasized. “You know the one, the feral one I feed time to time?”

  “Oh, the cat…” She went along, but wasn’t sure why. Things weren’t adding up.