Murder in Mystic Grove

by S F Bose

  Matt frowned. “So he ran to escape disappointing Mr. B?”

  “Remember, Mr. B was a father figure to Jimmy,” I said.

  “I think between the prospect of jail and disappointing Mr. B, Jimmy was off the rails,” Sam said. “He ran away, hid out, and then he shot the deputy. The only thing that surprises me is that he was still in the area.”

  “Eddie said Jimmy talked about going to California, Canada, or New York,” I said. “He didn’t have a plan. He was probably in panic mode.”

  Sam nodded his head. “He also mentioned going to see Mr. B, but couldn’t face him.”

  “We’ll be taking a closer look at Mr. B,” Matt said, sitting forward. “One more thing. We found a bank statement in Jimmy’s home office. He had over one million dollars in one bank account. We’re not sure yet if he had more accounts.”

  Sam whistled. “A million? What was Mr. B paying him?”

  “Around eighty thousand a year. Jimmy could have been gambling or skimming,” Matt replied. “But why would a guy with that kind of money beat up Justin for thirty grand?”

  “Jimmy lost control. He wanted his money and felt Justin was stringing him along. Then Justin offered him fifty dollars and it pissed Jimmy off. He unloaded on Justin,” said Sam. “He tried to tell us he was motivating Justin, which might have been part of it. But I think he just lost it.”

  “I really thought Jimmy was our guy,” I said, feeling deflated.

  “Me too,” Sam admitted.

  Matt stood up and put the Stetson back on his head. “We still have two viable suspects. I can’t push the ballistics for Ben and Sweet. We’ll have to wait it out. Sorry for the bad news. For what it’s worth I liked Jimmy Dietz for the murder too.”

  After Matt left, we sat in silence. Depression rolled over me like a black wave. I’d have to call my mother and break the news. She was not going to take this well.

  Sam exhaled loudly and shook his head. “I was so sure Jimmy did it, especially after he disappeared and shot the deputy.” I searched his brown eyes and could see he was telling the truth.

  “All I know is I really can’t trust my gut like I used to, Sam. It’s been an epic fail lately.”

  “Sometimes my hunches are out to lunch too. Why don’t we call it a day and regroup tomorrow?” he suggested and winked.

  “I want to call Mom first before she hears it from her grapevine.” I stood up, stretched, and went back through the connecting door to my office. “I’ll close the door so you won’t hear the screaming and tears.” Neither one of us laughed as I shut the door.

  Chapter 45

  I made a mug of caramel cappuccino and sat at my desk for a few minutes to collect my thoughts. It was a difficult call to make because I knew Mom would be disappointed. However, I didn’t know what form her disappointment would take. Since we’d grown closer lately, I had to hope for the best. After some deep, slow breathing, I dialed Mom’s cellphone number. She answered the phone on the second ring.

  “Hello?” Mom asked.

  “Hi, Mom. It’s Liz,” I said. I decided to be blunt. “I have news, but it’s not what we were hoping for. Matt Durand was just here. Jimmy Dietz’s gun tested clean. He didn’t kill Justin.”

  “What? Wait a minute, let me sit down.”

  I waited for a second, but all I heard was her breathing. “Mom, are you okay?”

  “I’m not sure. Can you repeat what you said?”

  “The ballistics came back and Jimmy Dietz’s gun wasn’t the one that killed Justin Church.”

  “I don’t understand. You said he was at the top of your list.” There was an edge to her voice.

  “I know. I’m disappointed too. But I always cautioned we needed to wait for hard evidence.”

  “But you sounded so confident he did it,” she replied.

  I closed my eyes. “Matt, Sam, and I all felt Jimmy Dietz was good for the murder. We were wrong.”

  “Wait! What if he had another gun like the murder weapon? One that the police didn’t find. That must be it!” Mom’s voice went higher with excitement.

  “No, it’s not just the gun. They confirmed Jimmy’s alibi. They have security footage that shows him returning to Paulie’s Pub before the estimated time of death. He didn’t do it, Mom. I’m sorry. He ran for an entirely different reason.” I felt a weird connection to Jimmy. He didn’t want to disappoint Mr. B, his father figure. I didn’t want to disappoint my mother. Despite our best efforts, we both failed.

  “I can’t believe this. I was so sure we were going to get good news,” Mom said quietly. “Ben is going to be so disappointed.”

  “Mom, listen. I’d bet all the money I have that Ben is innocent. We just need to wait for the ballistics on Ben’s gun and Mark Sweet’s gun to come back. I know Ben’s gun will come back clean. If Sweet’s gun isn’t a match, then we have a mystery man we’ll have to track down.”

  Mom’s voice turned frigid. “I’ve explained so many times that we never wanted to wait for the results on Ben’s gun. That’s already taken forever. We wanted to clear his name quickly.”

  “I know,” I agreed. “I really thought Jimmy Dietz was our guy. We’ll keep working, Mom.”

  “I have to go now, Elizabeth. This is so disappointing,” Mom said. Her voice was still icy. Elizabeth? She saved my given name for the worst transgressions.

  I opened my mouth to reply and heard a “click.” Mom had hung up on me.

  I sat at my desk looking at the cellphone in my hand. Mom had not ranted or cried. Her reaction of frosty disappointment was something I had experienced in the past. In fact, when we first took the case, I had feared this day would come. Although I felt sad that I’d disappointed Mom, I was also angry that she’d been both manipulative and unreasonable.

  Then my thoughts shifted to the job. What if I had made a terrible mistake? What if I couldn’t make it as a PI and would have to retreat to Virginia and Worldhead Global Security as a failure? A chill seeped through my body.

  I packed up to leave and stopped at Sam’s main office door, but the lights were out. He had left. When I got to the front door, I found a large sticky note with his bold handwriting.

  “Liz. No regrets. No doubts. Tomorrow we start again. Sam.”

  I took it down and stared at it. Tears burned my eyes and I fought them back. Sam still believed in me. I opened my messenger bag and slapped the sticky note on the cover of my notebook. Then I turned on the alarm, turned out the lights, and left for home. Tomorrow was a new day.

  Chapter 46

  That night, I couldn’t fall asleep. I lay in bed thinking about the case and Jimmy Dietz. I tried to figure out where I’d gone wrong. On paper, he had looked perfect for the murder. It was reassuring that both Sam and Matt also thought he was the killer. But it was hard to start over again and look at Mark Sweet, the next, most likely suspect, with any enthusiasm.

  I drifted off to sleep and had a disturbing dream that woke me up. I stretched in bed and felt the details of the dream disappear from my memory like smoke into the air. With a groan, I dragged myself out of bed and took a hot shower. Then I went downstairs, fed the cats, and ate a bagel in the kitchen.

  When I arrived at the office at 8:00 a.m., Sam wasn’t in yet. I was cranky because I hadn’t slept well. I was also in such a funk over the case that I’d avoided the Farmhouse Café. Abbie would already know through the grapevine that Jimmy Dietz had not killed Justin. If I received an ounce of sympathy from anyone, I’d hit them. So I brewed a mug of caramel cappuccino and hunkered down in my office.

  At 10:00 a.m., my cellphone rang. I glanced at the Caller ID and saw it was Mom. I felt a nervous quiver and groaned.

  “Hello?”

  “Liz, it’s your mother.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I know, Mom. What’s up?”

  Mom paused. Then she said, “Liz, we’re going to terminate our contract with you and Sam. It was a mistake.” Her tone was cool and businesslike.

  “You’re what?”


  “We need professionals and you and Sam are both so…young. I’m going to look for a more seasoned PI from Madison to take over the investigation.”

  I stood up and started pacing in my office. “You’re firing us?” My voice rose in surprise.

  “You are not terminating them,” Ben shouted in the background. He was really starting to grow on me.

  “I am so!” Mom shouted back to Ben. Then her voice lowered. “Liz, we need to get what we paid for. It shouldn't be that hard to prove a man is totally and completely innocent of murder.”

  “Mom, I told you at the beginning that the best thing to do would be to wait for the ballistics report. I’m sure it will clear Ben. You were the one who couldn’t wait, because of the gossip mill.”

  Mom snorted in my ear. “Gossip can ruin a man’s reputation. That’s not going to happen on my watch.” It was my turn to snort but I didn’t have a retort.

  “Liz, I’ve made up my mind.” Her voice had dipped into the frigid zone.

  “Mom, that’s fine. But it will take any new investigator weeks to come up to speed.”

  “I’ll expect you and Sam to orient any new investigator.”

  “That will be entirely up to Sam.”

  “Elizabeth—”

  I interrupted her. “Mom, we can do this. We can solve this case faster than any outsider you bring in. You just have to trust us.”

  There was silence on the line. Then Mom replied, her voice almost a whisper. “I did trust you, Liz. You made us believe it was Jimmy Dietz. Our hopes were so high—“

  I interrupted her again. “Mom, I told you and Ben that Jimmy was at the top of my list for the murder but that we had to wait for the police to question him. We needed hard evidence and didn’t have it yet. I cautioned you every time.” Anger hardened my voice.

  “You shouldn’t have gotten our hopes up. This has devastated Ben. I’ve never seen him this depressed.”

  “What are you talking about Lilly? I am not depressed!” Ben shouted.

  “Quiet,” she barked at him, then returned to me. “I have to get this accusation resolved for our peace of mind. I’m sorry, Liz. Consider the contract terminated. We’ll be looking for a new investigator.”

  The click was like a gunshot in my ear as she disconnected the call.

  ***

  I was filled with white-hot anger. After a while, I pushed up the sleeves of my sweater and went out to the reception area. After pushing the chairs and table closer to the couch, I started shadow boxing. I began with footwork, just to warm up. After that, I worked on jabs. Single, double, and triple jabs. I was in the middle of a cycle of combination punches when Sam walked in and the chime went “ding dong.”

  The door closed and Sam watched me work. When I stopped to catch my breath, he came all the way into the office. My hands were on my waist and I bent forward slightly, breathing deeply.

  “Good footwork. You could use a little more snap on your jabs. Did your mom fire us?”

  I swiveled my head to look at him. “How did you know that? Did she call you?”

  Sam shook his head. “No, I just had a feeling. Come in my office.”

  I straightened up and stretched my back. Glancing at my watch, I saw it was 11:30 a.m. I followed Sam into his office. He put a shopping bag on his desk and hung up his parka. When he turned around, my jaw dropped.

  Sam wore his Irish cap, a white shirt under a gray, vee neck sweater, a bow tie, and jeans. I walked closer. The tie was black with tiny white dots and a white design of some sort.

  “It’s a beautiful tie. What’s the pattern?”

  Sam touched it with one finger. “Skulls,” he replied proudly and grinned. I looked closer and laughed. Sure enough, tiny little skulls.

  “So cool! Is this the new you?”

  “I’m not sure. I might add bow ties to my look. Professional but fun, you know?” he asked seriously.

  “I agree. Did you tie it yourself?”

  “No, it’s pre-tied, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. But I found a YouTube video that helped.”

  I laughed again and fell back into the closest visitor chair. “Well you look really sharp, Sam.”

  “Thank you, thank you. So in the event we got canned, I stopped at the Café,” he said. He reached into the bag and put a big cup on the desk. I got you some high-octane coffee guaranteed to take the enamel off your teeth. Also, enough cream and sugar to skyrocket your blood sugar.”

  “Oh Sam, thank you!” I pulled the coffee and packets of cream and sugar closer to me.

  “And I got you this,” Sam said, placing a wrapped bacon butty in front of me. I looked at the sandwich and then at Sam, who stood, smiling down at me. I felt the prickle of tears and blinked them away. Damn, I’m turning into a crybaby, I thought angrily.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, looking uncertain. “I thought it would help you feel better.” He sat down and leaned forward, his hands crossed on the desk.

  I reached out and covered his right hand with my left hand. “Sam, it’s the nicest thing you could have done. It’s perfect. Thank you.” I looked him in the eyes and squeezed his hand. Then I ripped the wrapper away from the bacon butty and took a big bite.

  “Mmm,” I moaned, chewing happily. I uncapped the coffee and dumped some cream and sugar into it. I took a sip and felt the warmth spread through my body.

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” Sam said with a laugh. He had tea and bagels for his breakfast. We ate in comfortable silence.

  After we both finished eating, Sam asked, “So what did your mother say?”

  I made a face. “She plans to find a PI in Madison who can solve the murder in a day. She wants a professional. You and I are too young. Yada yada.”

  He nodded. “Kind of what I expected.”

  “You were right, Sam. I shouldn’t have gone out to tell them about Jimmy Dietz. Despite all the warnings I gave them, all they heard was we had a guy who looked good for the murder and Ben would be cleared.”

  “It’s water under the bridge. We all thought it was Jimmy,” he said and took a deep breath. “So what are you thinking?”

  “I don’t know. This is exactly what I was afraid would happen, if we worked for Mom and Ben. I hate the wasted effort.” I sipped some coffee.

  “We don’t have to quit, you know.”

  “We were fired, Sam.”

  He shrugged. “That just means we’d be working the case to get to the truth. We don’t need you mom or Ben for that. The question is do you want to keep going?”

  I thought about it. “I don’t know. I was so sure it was Jimmy. It would be hard to start over again with Mark Sweet.”

  Sam nodded. “I understand. I was thinking we’d continue to help Peter and Martha. But whatever you decide is fine.”

  I grimaced. I’d forgotten about Peter and Martha. “Can I let you know tomorrow? I think I’m just tired and angry.”

  “Sure. Take the day off. Let me know tomorrow morning,” he agreed and smiled.

  “Okay, thanks…for everything,” I said and smiled. He sat behind his desk in his Irish cap, preppy bow tie, and sweater. I felt a surge of warmth and wanted to go over and hug him. Instead, I said, “That is such a cool tie.” Sam beamed at me.

  Chapter 47

  I left the office and drove back to the B&B. The overcast day made me feel even gloomier. After parking in the guest lot, I walked slowly into the B&B.

  Grace and Millie Todd were in the kitchen making lunch for some of the B&B quests. The lunch menu was always simple and limited to guests. I waved at Millie who smiled and waved back. Grace took one look at my face and hurried over.

  “Liz, what’s wrong?”

  “Mom fired us from the Justin Church case.”

  “Oh Liz, I’m sorry.” She pulled me into a hug and I hugged her back.

  “It’s okay. We always knew she could pull the plug.” I stepped back and smiled at her. “I’m taking the day off to recoup.”

  Grace bright
ened. “Are you hungry? I could make you a sandwich.”

  “No, thanks. I’m just going to grab some coffee. Is Daddy around?”

  “He and Ryan went up north to get something for the stable.” Grace looked at me with concern, but then her face brightened. “Your friend is in the dining room, though.”

  “Friend?”

  She wrinkled her nose at me. “Well you call him Raven but Addie and Anna call him Dan.”

  “Oh thanks! Yes, Raven is his nickname. That’s what we called him out east,” I replied, brewing a cup of caramel cappuccino on the Bunn coffee maker.

  “What an odd nickname,” Grace said.

  “He said it was from his childhood,” I lied and her face lit up again.

  “Oh people do get stuck with the strangest childhood nicknames, don’t they?”

  I sipped my cappuccino and nodded. “People get stuck with all sorts of weird things from childhood,” I replied.

  ***

  Raven sat at a small table toward the back of the dining room, working on a small laptop. A young couple sat at one table, looking at a map. Across the room, an older man sat at a table reading his Kindle. I didn’t see Grandma Addie or Nana Anna at their usual table.

  “Hey,” I said to Raven. I put down the coffee and dumped my parka on an extra chair.

  “Liz Bean, how are you?” he asked, shutting the laptop. He stood and I realized he was waiting for me to sit down. There was something nice about Raven’s good manners. I dropped into the chair across from him and took a sip of coffee. Raven sat back and smiled. He’d gone all Northwoods with a black tee shirt under a black and red plaid shirt and blue jeans. A gray canvas baseball hat with the John Deere name and logo sat on the table.

  “So-so. You’re looking very rural.”

  He looked down at his clothes. “Too much?”

  “No, you look more relaxed and comfortable.”