Valleys, Vehicles & Victims: A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series

by Tonya Kappes

  “I understand you contacted Bree Palmer to look into the case, but she didn’t recall it when Hank had talked to her.” I wanted to see how she responded to that. “I’m mean, she’s older now, and then she was a hungry young lawyer. But we’re talking years ago. I guess her memory has failed her.”

  “I just can’t believe someone who had the opportunity to go after Moonbucks in their career could ever forget something like that.” I couldn’t wrap my head around that theory, which was why I wanted to look into it.

  “She worked on the case for about three months until nothing turned up. It’s a total loss for me.” Gert looked hurt. I could only imagine how she felt. “It’s painful to this day.”

  I continued to look at the calendar as the dates got closer to Shay’s wedding. There was an M next to Wes Millford’s name. Immediately I recognized it from Awakenings Coffee. Quickly I flipped through the pages to see if there were any more dates with Wes’s name beside of it because I distinctly remembered Amy Hill telling me about Tom Moon and Wes Millford’s dislike for each other.

  “It’s a well-known fact that Wes Millord has been trying to buy Moonbucks for years.” She looked left and then right before she leaned in. “As Mr. Moon’s assistant, I know for a fact that Wes Millford and Tom Moon can’t be in the same room together. Kinda like Gert Hobson and Mr. Moon.”

  Why would Amy say that knowing they’d had a meeting? Amy Hill was quickly becoming a suspect, but I wasn’t sure what her motive was or would be.

  “Let’s fast forward to Chicken Fest. Was that the first time you’d seen him in those years?” Abby broke my train of thought. She was getting good at these interrogation questions.

  “No. I’d seen him a couple of days ago at the coffee convention. Before that, I’d seen him a couple of times when I tried to go back and see if I could get my recipe back.” She blinked a few times and took some more sips of coffee. “Now I guess I’ll never know—or the world won’t know. He took it to the grave.”

  A stiff piece of paper was folded into one of the calendar pages, which made the pages flip to its place automatically. I took the postcard-size piece of paper out and unfolded it. When my eyes focused on it, I saw some scribbles that read “sea salt,” “sugar,” “caramel sauce,” “corn syrup,” and other things that made me believe this was the recipe.

  “Maybe not.” I held the postcard up in the air. “Is this your recipe?”

  “Mae!” Gert squealed. “Where did you find it?”

  “Right here in Amy Hill’s calendar.” I knew right then and there Amy Hill was very aware of the recipe in her calendar.

  “His secretary?” Gert’s smile was so big and bright, it could’ve lit up the darkness that had fallen over the Daniel Boone National Park.

  “Amy Hill is now a suspect. Write her name down.” I handed the recipe card to Gert.

  She looked at it like a mother would look at her child. Tears began streaming down her face.

  “Why? Why would he do this to me?” She blinked a few times as if she were trying to see through her tears. “I wish he wasn’t dead so I could wave this in his smug face.”

  We all just looked at her. Some of us had been through something life changing. Of course Paul had been my life-changing event. Betts’s ex-husband was in prison for life for his unthinkable deeds. So we understood some of Gert’s feelings.

  “Amy could’ve been holding the recipe hostage? Shay had told me her father was going to fire Amy any day, so maybe Amy got wind of it and threatened him and it got out of control.” I tried to think back to the timeline. “She wasn’t with the group at Cute-icles.”

  “The Moons and Amy did have that fight when they found out you left.” Dottie had called me when that went on. “In fact, he did tell Amy that her job was on the line.”

  “It’s not out of the question she killed him.” I shrugged, knowing others had been killed for weaker reasons.

  “What about Lewis?” I questioned.

  “You can’t have too many suspects at this point,” Betts said. She leaned over from the chair and grabbed the coffee pot to refill her mug and everyone else’s when we held them close to her.

  Abby wrote down Lewis’s name.

  “Under motive you can write”—I stood up and started to pace as I talked. Pacing helped stimulate the blood and get me thinking. “Tom Moon was found in his room. Lena Malone said Lewis and Dan had rented a car to drive to a meeting they couldn’t cancel.”

  “What type of guy has a meeting the weekend of their wedding?” Abby asked.

  “One that has somethin’ up his sleeve.” Dottie’s eyes narrowed. “I never trusted that boy since he rolled into Happy Trails. I’m telling you that no matter how slick someone is, they can’t slide on barbed wire.”

  “She’s right. He and Tom did have the fight in the office. Dan and Tom had exchanged some words. Lewis did say that once they were married, things were going to change.” Now his words sent chills up my spine and down my arms. “I thought it had to do with them not spending as much time with Shay’s family, but now I think it had to do with Moonbucks and how Lewis knew Shay was going to give him her shares.”

  “It wouldn’t be unheard of if Tom went to Lewis’s motel room to confront him about the shares. Things got out of hand, and Lewis stabbed him.” Abby had formulated a motive.

  “How did Lewis get my knife?” Gert asked the question that made us all stop.

  “Is it possible one of them came in when you weren’t there?” I asked.

  “Anything is possible,” she said. Abby set the notebook down on the coffee table, and we all looked at the list of suspects and motives. “What about Wes Millford, the owner of Awakenings?”

  “What if Tom did have that meeting with him? Something happened at the coffee convention. Didn’t you say Dan and Wes were talking?” I looked over at Gert.

  “Yes. I overheard them saying Normal was hillbilly.” Gert rolled her eyes and took another drink of her coffee.

  “Okay, put Wes Millford down as someone to go see.” I moved my stare to Abby.

  “Hold on.” Abby got up and walked over to the business center in the far corner of the laundromat that Betts had for any of her clients that needed it.

  Internet service and cell service were spotty in Normal. It just so happened the Laundry Club had a great signal, and Betts offered it for free.

  All of us got up and walked over to see what Abby was doing. She sat down at the computer and started to type away with Betts, Dottie, Gert, and me standing behind her, sipping our coffee.

  “Wes Millford,” Abby said as she typed. “How long is that coffee conference?” Abby looked over her shoulder until she found Gert, making eye contact.

  “It’s all week long. But I only went for some of the new techniques in foam art. I think customers love it. During the holidays especially.” Gert was so good when it came to knowing exactly what her customers liked. The little touches made Trails Coffee stand out from any of the small coffee houses I’d been to, including the ones I visited when I lived in New York City.

  “Great. I’ll put it on my list to go visit him tomorrow,” I noted.

  “You’re working the office tomorrow,” Dottie chimed in quickly. Then everyone looked at her. “But I guess I can do it,” she said.

  “Are you sure?” Gert asked Dottie and placed her palms together as if she were thanking her.

  “I guess,” Dottie said with a groan and pulled out her cigarette case, which was pushed down in the front pocket of her jeans. She unsnapped the top and hit the case up against the meaty part of her thumb until the butt end of one of the cigarettes popped out. She stuck it in the corner of her mouth and let it dangle.

  “Bree Palmer.” Abby moved on to the other person we didn’t know anything about. “She’s a retired lawyer and has history of taking on big companies in lawsuits.”

  Abby clicked on the images tab, bringing up all sorts of photos of Bree Palmer. She was a distinguished woman with tidy
silver hair that was cut to chin length. She had a very thin face with a pointy nose. Her cheeks were almost sunken.

  “We need to get to her too. I’m not sure why she’d say she didn’t remember my case. But I have a sneaky suspicion someone in the Moonbucks organization got to her and that’s why she dumped my case. Then I couldn’t get anyone to touch it. So that’s when I continued to do my own investigation, finally dropping it years later.” Gert’s theory made sense.

  “I don’t think she killed Tom, but I do think she helped cover up the stealing of your recipe.” I couldn’t help but notice Gert hadn’t put the card down since I gave it to her. “Do you think we should give that over to Hank?”

  “Heck no. I’m going to give it to my lawyer.” Gert looked at it and smiled, though we knew she didn’t have counsel, but with this bombshell in her hand, I was sure she’d have no problem finding someone who wanted to take Moonbucks to task even if Tom was dead.

  “I can’t believe it. Now we have to get me off the hook because this is mine, and I now have the proof I need to tell the world what a fraud Tom Moon was.” She still wore a look of shock on her face.

  “My daddy was not a fraud.” Shay Moon had come into the Laundry Club without us even hearing her.

  We were so enthralled with Abby’s searching that we hadn’t heard the bell ding over the door.

  “He was, and I have the proof.” Gert flung the recipe up in the air. “Here is my recipe that your secretary had been keeping for your dad safe in her calendar.”

  “Only you left her calendar on my church bus when you took the bridal party to Cute-icles.” Betts took a stance next to Gert with her arms crossed.

  “Let me see that.” Shay trotted across the room, her eyes fixed on the recipe card and her arm extended.

  “No way.” Gert held it close to her chest. “I’m giving this to my lawyer. This is coming to an end.”

  “So this is why you killed my dad?” Shay’s eyes had a light of fire in them.

  “I didn’t kill your father. In fact, I was at the Milkery at the exact time Colonel Holz placed your father’s death. There’s even video footage to prove it.”

  This was news to me. Why didn’t she tell us that when Abby listed her as a suspect in the notebook?

  “There’s not even one single fingerprint of mine on the knife someone stole from my coffee shop.” Gert pointed to Shay. “Someone is framing me.”

  “Who on earth would want to frame you?” Shay’s eyes narrowed.

  “You two arguing back and forth is not going to solve anything.” I stopped the bickering. “Shay, you want to know who killed your father so you can lay him to rest and bring the killer to justice. Gert, you want to know who killed him so you can obviously not remain a suspect, because according to Hank, you’re still a suspect.”

  “Mae is right. We need to collectively work together,” Betts suggested, though Shay didn’t appear to buy it.

  “What do you suggest I do?” Shay asked.

  “Do you know Wes Millford?” I asked. “From Awakenings?” I tried to ignite a little spark in her eyes as she attempted to recall how she knew that name.

  “Yes. He’s been after Moonbucks for years.” Her eyes grew. “I’d told him to leave the office several times when he’d show up.”

  “Since he knows you, do you think you could go with me tomorrow to the coffee convention?” I asked.

  “Okay, but we’ll have to leave early because everyone will question where I’m going, and I don’t want Pierce to follow us.” She looked over at Gert. “I had no idea Daddy took your recipe. But I’m sure we can compensate for the loss.”

  It was the first sign of decency I’d seen from Shay.

  Her cell phone rang from the purse dangling off her shoulder.

  “Hello?” she questioned the caller. “Right now?” she asked with a little bit of shock in her tone. “Fine. I’ll be there shortly.”

  “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  “I’ve got to call my Uber back.” Her nails clicked on the phone screen as she typed. “Carl is insistent on reading Daddy’s will at the campground. He said to meet at Mom’s bungalow.”

  “You don’t need an Uber.” I looked at Dottie. “Dottie will take us back.”

  In no way was I going to stay at the Laundry Club when there would be a reading of Tom Moon’s will at my campground.

  After all, the killer just might be revealed.

  THIRTEEN

  I’d never seen Dottie drive so fast to get back to Happy Trails. A couple of times, I held on for dear life when she took those back curves around the Daniel Boone National Forest to get us back.

  “Dottie, stop by the office so I can grab some coffee and some treats.” I knew I wanted to stay around and hear exactly what the will said, and playing hostess was how I was going to accomplish it.

  Dottie brought the car to a screeching halt at the front door of the office.

  “Sit tight,” I told Dottie and Shay before I darted into the office to grab all the snacks and coffee packets I would need.

  I jumped back in the car and didn’t even get the door shut before Dottie took off in the direction of the bungalow where the Moons had been staying.

  “What about the recipe?” Shay looked at me. Her lashes were wet where she’d been crying silently away from our sight. “I can’t believe Daddy did that…” Her voice trailed off as we stood under the full moon in front of the bungalow.

  “Don’t say anything yet. We will let the police handle it.” It was a lie. Gert wasn’t going to tell the police. She was going to find herself a lawyer and give it to them.

  But if we played our cards too soon, the killer might have time to strike again, and we certainly didn’t want that to happen.

  “Okay.” Shay shook her head and sucked in a deep breath just as the bungalow door opened.

  Lewis stood there with his arms outstretched. The edges of his eyes dipped as he looked at her. He reached for her hand, and she gave it to him.

  “I’m sorry. Family only.” Lewis stopped us when we tried to follow her inside.

  “Lewis, I asked them to come and serve refreshments.” Shay batted her eyes. “Besides, you aren’t even family yet.”

  “Shay, what kind of lies have these women been telling you?” He glared over Shay’s shoulder at Dottie and me.

  “What are you talking about?” Shay jerked away from his grip. “Dottie and Mae have really helped us out this week. I’m still paying them while we are here.”

  I could tell Lewis wanted to protest, but he gave in and opened the door.

  The inside of this bungalow was a cute one-bedroom tucked in the back of the house. A deck off the bedroom had a spectacular view of the sunset, so at night the guests could enjoy a very romantic evening with the doors wide open or a glass of wine on the deck.

  The front of the bungalow where we stood was an open concept with a large room, overstuffed furniture, and lots of quilts for chilly nights like tonight.

  There was a stone fireplace that was just big enough for the gas logs to keep the room warm and the glow of a fire cozy. The bungalow also had a kitchenette with a small table, microwave, sink, and refrigerator. None of the bungalows had a stove because my idea was for the guests to enjoy their food over the campfire pit located in front of the little house.

  Misty Moon, Amy Hill, Carl, Lena, and Dan Malone were all seated in the room with all their curious eyes on Dottie and me.

  “I’ve asked Mae and Dottie to provide us with a few refreshments. So please”—Shay lifted her hands to Carl–“now that I’m here, please read Daddy’s wishes.”

  Dottie and I busied ourselves in the kitchenette, pretty much pretending to look through the cabinets and find something to display the cookies and sweet treats I’d grabbed from the Cookie Crumble stash I used for the guest baskets.

  “I’d like to let everyone know that though we are mourning our dear beloved Tom Moon…” Carl began to speak and took a standing positio
n in front of the glowing fireplace. He leaned over the coffee table and unlocked his briefcase.

  Shay shifted in her seat. I was positive she was uncomfortable in her skin knowing her father wasn’t on the up and up as she and everyone else here had thought.

  “Carl!” Misty called his name out, making him pause. Just as he looked over at her with the papers he took from his briefcase in his hand, I heard a knock on the door. “I’m expecting someone else, and she’s just in time. Come in!”

  Everyone turned to see who Misty had invited, including Dottie and me.

  “Everyone, please welcome Ava Cox.” Misty blindsided me more than anyone.

  Ava stood at the door with her long black hair pulled up in a wavy bun. Her olive skin looked flawless against the black turtleneck and black pencil suit skirt she was wearing. She didn’t look like a fifty-year-old woman, though she was. I could see her hand grip the handle of her satchel as she walked across the floor and next to Carl. When she turned around to face the group, we caught each other’s eyes.

  “Welp,—Dottie’s sarcastic tone stung me like a bee—“there’s your conflict of interest.”

  This was what Ava must’ve been referring to when she told Gert she wasn’t able to represent her. I should’ve remembered how Ava’s husband had known the Moons, just like Paul West and I did—and exactly how I knew Ava Cox. We all run around in the same circles, only Ava lived in Kentucky. Unfortunately, her husband had become a victim of Paul’s scheme. It was a rocky start to my relationship with Ava, but somehow we’d found a common ground that helped us move more toward the friend category. We’d helped each other out a few times. Not this time.

  “Tom and I have known Ava for a very long time.” Misty’s eyes glanced around the room and set her focus on me. “When we were coming to Kentucky, Tom had a nice meeting with Ava at the coffee convention. It was there that Ava and Tom talked about the future of the company.”

  Ava smiled. She whispered something in Carl’s ear. It was like the wind was knocked out of him, and when he looked at Ava, all the blood drained from his face. He put the papers back in his briefcase and tried to close it, but he couldn’t get it to close. He grabbed it up and closed it under his arm before he took a seat next to Amy Hill in the open chair.