Sleeping Dogs Lie

by Jennifer Mearns

  “Take your time, Chester.” I rolled my eyes at his lethargy.

  I settled into bed with my laptop and decided to do a little more internet stalking. I googled Heather Bing and sifted through all of the Bings and Heathers that didn’t apply. I found her contact information at UNCC. She taught Women’s Studies, like her Facebook profile said. It turned out that she’d gotten a Bachelor’s of Social Work at Appalachian State and worked in Boone for two years before going to get an advanced degree in Women’s Studies.

  After that, she worked for a women’s advocacy group before deciding to teach at the university level. As a social worker she’d worked with women and children in impoverished areas. In the advocacy group, she helped women who were in terrible situations find jobs and housing.

  Wow. She sounded like she was an awesome person. Who would have wanted to kill her? I’m still going with a jealous ex. I logged on to Facebook and looked up her sister again. Jessica Bing was 35 and living outside of Charlotte. She was married with a baby and it looked like she worked from home.

  I decided to send her a message. I’m sure the family had been notified already, but I did have to be careful and tactful.

  Hi, Jessica. I’m very sorry for the loss of your sister. My name is Hannah and I am investigating into your sister’s death. I was wondering if you could give me any information that might help. Did she have a boyfriend? Was there anyone who might have wanted to cause her harm? You can message me back here or call me at (828) 555-6155. Thank you, Hannah

  I hoped she wouldn’t be too upset by my message. Investigating her death might have been overstating my importance, however I didn’t think she’d be forthcoming if I just said I was being nosy.

  I closed my laptop and laid down after switching off my lamp. Chester curled up at my side, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. I didn’t have any clients tomorrow, so I wasn’t sure what I would be doing. I had plenty of time to do some investigating, though I wasn’t sure what else I could do.

  I fell asleep thinking about the case and slept soundly.

  Chapter Nine

  The next morning, I woke early to the smell of sausage. I followed my nose into the kitchen where I found my mom browning sausage while Tracey chopped vegetables.

  “Morning,” I mumbled, reaching for the coffee.

  “You’re up early,” Mom said.

  “I smelled the sausage.” I poured my cup of coffee and doctored it the way I liked it, with sugar and cream. I sat at the kitchen table and sipped.

  “It’ll be a little while, yet.” Tracey said. “We still have to cook the vegetables and bake the casserole.”

  “That’s ok. I’m not hungry. The coffee will hold me over.” I blew on it and took a big gulp.

  “Do they know anything more about the murder?” Mom asked.

  “Not since last night. I might call Grant today and see what he has to say.”

  “Oh, yes! Do that. I’m so worried about this whole thing.” Tracey shook her head. “I can’t believe someone was murdered here! Here! It’s crazy. Pine Forest doesn’t have crime like that.”

  “I know,” I said. “I am pretty freaked out by it too.”

  Mom dumped the sausage in a bowl and Tracey moved to the skillet to dump the peppers, onions and mushrooms in. She had a bowl of chopped spinach beside her. It all smelled heavenly. I finished my coffee and stood up.

  “I’m going to take Roscoe for a walk.”

  “Ok,” Mom said. “Be careful.”

  “I’ll have Roscoe.”

  “He’s no attack dog,” Tracey said.

  “But he’s big!”

  I headed into the apartment and edged Jill’s bedroom door open. I whistled softly for Roscoe. He sat up and lumbered off the bed. He squeezed past me and I quietly shut Jill’s door. She could sleep through an earthquake. When we were kids, she once slept through a fire alarm that went off without cause.

  I hitched Roscoe to his leash and we headed out the back door. I took a leisurely route around the neighborhood and ended up on the main street. I tied Roscoe to a lamp post and went in to the new Smoothie King and got a banana and strawberry protein smoothie. I was getting hungry and it was a long walk back.

  I took my smoothie outside and sat at one of the tables near Roscoe. He sniffed at my drink, hopefully, his head taller than mine when I was seated. “Sorry, bud. Can’t share this.”

  “Do you always talk to your dog?” I heard a voice from above. I squinted up and saw Grant standing there, patting Roscoe on the head. He was easily over six-feet tall and would tower over me, even if I was standing.

  “I do, but this is technically Jill’s dog.”

  He gave Roscoe a vigorous scratch behind the ears. “You guys are pretty much sisters, so I’d guess he’s just as much your dog.”

  “That is true. Have a seat,” I offered.

  “Thanks.” He folded himself into the wrought iron chair.

  “I was going to call you today,” I said.

  “You were? Why?” he asked.

  “I wanted to see how the investigation was going.” I sipped my smoothie.

  “Oh. Yeah. It’s alright. No real suspects yet, though.”

  “Apparently, she had an ex-boyfriend that her family didn’t approve of.”

  “How did you find that out?” he inquired.

  “Facebook.” I shrugged.

  He raised his eyebrows. “That’s more than we have. I’ll look into it.”

  “I sent a message to her sister, asking about it.”

  Grant raised one eyebrow this time. “Are you the investigator for this?”

  “I just want to know. I want to know what happened to her. I didn’t know her but from what I found online, she seemed like a pretty cool person.”

  “Mac won’t like it very much if he finds out you’re investigating this on your own.”

  “So, don’t tell him.” I smiled at him and he smiled back, shaking his head. Here’s a bit of a secret: I had a crush on Grant in school. We were friends, but he was always so shy. I never hinted that I liked him and I think he just thought of me as a friend. He’s very good looking in a young Blair Underwood kind of way.

  “I won’t tell. Just be careful. If the murderer is local, he might not take kindly to someone snooping.”

  “Do you think he’s local?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea. We don’t have a lot to go on. Though we might need to hire you; you seem to have as much or more information than we do!”

  “I’m just pretty good at using the internet for information. I don’t have any other skills.”

  “That’s absolutely not true. You have business skills. Your housesitting business is doing great. I also happen to remember you have good clarinet skills, Ms. First Chair.”

  I snorted. “Right. Because that’s a necessary life skill, trumpet man.” We were in band together for all of middle school and high school, though he was a grade ahead of me. “Do you think you could let me know when you find anything out?”

  “Sure. Within reason, of course. If you do the same, Investigator Hannah.” Grant smiled again, showing his dimples.

  “Of course!” I smiled back.

  “I’ve got to get going. I’m meeting my parents and sister for brunch.” Grant’s sister was a year behind Jill, Ruby and I in school. She currently worked at the Pine Forest Library while getting her Master’s in Library Science.

  “I’ve got to head back too. This smoothie won’t hold me forever and my mom and Tracey are making a breakfast casserole that smelled delicious when I left. I hope there’s still some left.”

  Grant walked with me and Roscoe a little way until he had to turn off on to his parents’ street. Roscoe and I headed back to the B&B. On the way, we passed Mrs. Jessup and Mrs. Diggle getting their morning walk in.

  “Hello, ladies!” I said, as they stopped to pat Roscoe.

  “Hannah, it’s horrible. We heard about the murder at Jill’s B&B.” Mrs. Diggle shook her grey head. “What h
appened?”

  “We’re not really sure. She was found dead, but there are no suspects.”

  “How did she die?” Mrs. Jessup asked, fishing for more gossip.

  “Head trauma.” I didn’t want to give too many details. I didn’t know how much the police were releasing to the public.

  “How terrible,” Mrs. Diggle breathed. She carried tiny one-pound dumbbells in each hand. I suppose they helped her get a better workout.

  “Yes.” I tugged on Roscoe’s leash. These ladies could chat for hours. I had to get back to the B&B. “Well, I’ll see you ladies later!”

  “Bye, Hannah,” they called out as they resumed their walk.

  Chapter Ten

  I arrived back at the B&B, using the back entrance. Jill and Leslie were in the small kitchen. Roscoe pushed past me to visit his water bowl. “Hiding out?” I asked.

  “We’ve already eaten. They were grilling Leslie. They wanted her life story. So, we came in here to get away.”

  “I’m going to go get some food,” I said, and headed into the B&B proper. It smelled amazing.

  “Hey! I was wondering where you’d gotten to!” Mom cut a piece of the casserole and handed it to me on a plate. I grabbed a fork and sat down at the kitchen table. I dug in. Delicious.

  “Want some more coffee?” Mom asked.

  “No, thank you. Can I have some ice water though?”

  “Sure.” Mom filled a glass with ice and water and handed it to me. I took it and drank deeply.

  “Thanks. This is really good,” I said, forking up some more casserole.

  “I’m glad you like it. We are good for something, I guess,” Mom said.

  “You’re good for a lot of things,” I said.

  “Well, thanks.” Mom rolled her eyes. I guess I had sounded a little sarcastic, but I hadn’t meant to. “What do you have going today?” she asked.

  “Not much. Next weekend I’m staying at the Stanley’s house while they go out of town. And I have my regulars all next week. But today I have off.” The Stanleys were Elizabeth and John and they had three dogs, two cats and a parrot. They always had me stay when they went out of town.

  “Do you want to run to the store with me?” Mom asked. “Tracey’s going to stay here with Jill.”

  Now, I rolled my eyes. “Mom, I’m sure Jill is fine here, alone, in the daytime. But, sure, I’ll go with you.”

  I went back to the apartment to get my bag and met Mom in the parking lot. I got into the passenger side of her Honda. She climbed behind the wheel.

  As we backed out of the spot, she turned to me and said, “I know Jill asked you to be her business partner. Are you thinking about it?”

  “I am. It’s a big decision.”

  “It is. Any decision worth making deserves proper thought. Just make sure you don’t wait too long. She might find someone else.”

  “I know. I’m leaning toward doing it. I feel like I need to make a change.” Mom signaled left and pulled into the grocery store. “What are you getting here?” I asked.

  “Just some stuff for the next few days. We’ll take over meals since we’re taking up one of the rooms. I hope this gets wrapped up quickly.” We headed into the store and grabbed a cart.

  “Me too. I’ve been looking into her background a little. Facebook and whatnot.”

  “Find anything interesting?” Mom asked as she expertly negotiated the produce department, tossing vegetables and fruits in the basket. She picked up a cantaloupe and gave it a sniff and a thump. She shook her head and set it back down. I don’t know what kind of voodoo that was. I usually just picked one and hoped for the best.

  “She had an ex-boyfriend that her family didn’t like, but there were no pictures of him. There was a comment on one of her selfies from her sister.”

  “Ah. Jealous ex?”

  “Maybe. Don’t know.” Mom turned the cart into the bread aisle. She chose a healthy nut bread of some sort and tossed it in the cart.

  After we finished the shopping, we headed back to the B&B with the trunk of the Honda loaded. Jill met us in the parking lot and helped us carry the bags in. We hauled them into the kitchen where Tracey started unpacking the food.

  “Oh good, you got the steak,” she said, unpacking a round steak and some fresh mushrooms. “We’ll have that for dinner tonight with some pasta.”

  Leslie came into the kitchen. “Do you need any help?”

  “No, that’s fine, dear. We have it.” Tracey kept unpacking the groceries. She sounded a little stilted. I wonder what was going on there.

  Leslie shrugged and sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of water. Jill met her eyes and rolled her own. I took the healthy bread out of the bag and a packet of lunch meat and cheese and brought them to the table with some plates and napkins.

  “Thanks, Hailey!” Leslie said.

  “Hannah,” Jill reminded her.

  “Oh, right. Sorry!” Leslie reached for some bread and began making a sandwich. I studied her for a minute. Oh, well. Easy mistake to make when you’re meeting a lot of new people.

  I retrieved a Diet Coke and a glass of ice and joined them at the table. “Your kitchen is stocked for the apocalypse now,” I told Jill.

  “I can see that. Is there anything left at Henry’s?” she asked, naming the grocery store in town.

  “Some. I think I saw a can of anchovies left on the shelf.”

  “Ha.” Jill began making her own sandwich. Mom brought over some mayonnaise, mustard and freshly washed lettuce and sat at the table to make a sandwich.

  “This is great! I really think I don’t need to look for a place to stay in town. I’ll just live here!” Leslie said, before she took a huge bite of her sandwich.

  “We don’t typically serve lunch to guests,” I said. “That’s why it’s a bed and breakfast.”

  “Hannah!” Jill said. “If there aren’t many guests, I will occasionally provide sandwiches or something easy for lunch.” She gave me a pointed look. I furrowed my brow back at her. Something about Leslie was starting to get under my skin.

  I munched my own sandwich and Tracey brought over a bag of chips and joined us, squeezing in between Jill and Leslie.

  We finished our lunch in near silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

  After lunch, I returned home to get some more clothes and supplies. Dad was on the couch watching a baseball game. He was so into baseball, it didn’t matter who was playing, though his favorite team was the Cubs.

  “Hey Dad!” I said as I came through the door.

  “Wassup?” he replied, in a vain attempt to be hip. He might have managed it if he’d used that phrase fifteen years ago when it was popular.

  “Not much. Just going to grab some stuff to take to the B&B.” I headed upstairs to my room. Once there, I grabbed another bag and stuffed some extra clothes in it. It didn’t look like this murder was going to be solved very quickly and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving Jill there by herself. And by herself, I mean with our mothers.

  Not to mention, Leslie was starting to irritate me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it seemed that she’d gotten comfortable in Jill’s B&B and apartment way too quickly. Plus, all this talk about moving in-I didn’t think she was kidding. She hadn’t looked into buying or renting any place of her own since she’d been there.

  I hefted my bag over my shoulder and headed back downstairs. “Bye Dad!” I called as I headed back out the door.

  Chapter Eleven

  Back at the B&B, the couple had arrived to stay. They sat in the sitting room drinking coffee while Jill and Leslie carried their luggage upstairs. I joined them.

  “Hello,” I began, “I’m Hannah.”

  “I’m Steven and this is my wife, Monica.” I shook Steven and Monica’s hand in turn. Steven look lanky, though he didn’t stand up. He had brown hair and brown eyes and wore casual jeans and a hooded Duke University sweatshirt. Monica had jet black hair and blue eyes. She was striking, even just wearing jeans and a pale
blue cardigan. They appeared to be in their early to mid-twenties.

  “Well, one of you has the right color on,” I said, gesturing to Monica’s sweater. I placed my thumb and forefinger over my nose when I looked back at Steven’s Duke shirt.

  “I went to Carolina,” Monica said. “He went to State, but he’s a huge Duke fan.”

  “Couldn’t get in.” Steven shrugged.

  “I probably wouldn’t have either. I went to Carolina, too, though I probably graduated way before you!”

  “I don’t know about way before.” Monica laughed. “It’s been about four years now.”

  “Three years after me,” I said. “But that does mean we were there for a year at the same time.”

  “I suppose so,” Monica said.

  I sat down in another of the wingback chairs. Jill came back down the stairs.

  “I put some extra towels in your room,” she said. “The bathroom is right across the hall, but you don’t have to share with anyone.” One of the things that Jill ensured when she renovated the B&B was that each room had their own bathroom, even if they weren’t en suite. Only the Lavender Suite and the Green Room had bathrooms in them.

  “Is it ok if we take our coffees upstairs to unpack?” Monica asked.

  “Absolutely! There is a binder in your room with recommendations of restaurants if you want to eat out tonight. Otherwise, you have use of the kitchen. I don’t typically provide meals besides breakfast, but knowing our mothers, there will be enough food for everyone.”

  “Are you sisters?” Steven asked, looking from Jill to me.

  “Cousins, actually. Our moms are twins.”

  “So, basically sisters,” Monica laughed.

  “Pretty much.”

  Monica and Steven took their mugs upstairs and Jill came and sat in the chair across from me. “Shew. They brought a ton of bags. I’m glad I had Leslie’s help.”

  “Where are Mom and Tracey?” I asked her.

  “I think they are in their suite. My mom said something about making cookies this afternoon for the guests, so I assume they will be back down soon.”