Mixing Up Murder

by Emmie Lyn

  His lips pursed into a thin line. He meant business, like he was ready to charge the first person he came across with his friend’s death.

  I glared back at him. I hated it when anyone called me Danielle. It reminded me of every time I got in trouble and my mother said ‘Danielle Rose Mackenzie’ as if saying my full name was the biggest insult she could bestow upon me. In her mind, it probably was, since she hated that my father won the battle of naming me after his mother—Rose Mackenzie. Those two women couldn’t get along if their life depended on it.

  “I’m not sure,” I said, suddenly feeling like there was no air in the room. “After we discovered the body, I knew I was going to lose my breakfast.” Thinking about it made me weak in the knees. “I rushed outside, making it just in time before I threw up, and when I came back inside, Lily was gone.” I was just as curious about Lily’s whereabouts as the detective was, but probably for very different reasons.

  He took my arm, gently, and guided me toward the door. “I’ll have to secure this building and you’ll have to wait outside.”

  At least that was a relief. Getting away from Ray’s body couldn’t happen quickly enough to suit me. I stepped back into the sunshine and fresh air, with half the town of Misty Harbor gawking at the diner. News sure does travel when it has a hint of scandal attached to it. Then I saw a big straw hat you’d never forget and a face that has always made everything better for me. I fell straight into the open arms of my grandmother.

  “Oh, Rose …” That was all I could manage before I sagged into her embrace. Her familiar patchouli scent both calmed and soothed me.

  My grandmother, Rose to everyone, including me, had been a dominant force in my life ever since my dad died when I was sixteen and my mom decided she had other plans and they didn’t include hanging around Misty Harbor, raising a daughter and fighting with her mother-in-law. I guess I should have been bitter, but truth be told, I’m sure I ended up with the better deal in the bargain. Maybe Mom knew that, too, as she drifted in and out of my life.

  Rose took me in and never looked back. She didn’t ever let me think I’d been abandoned. To her, I was the daughter she’d always wanted and surrounded me with her unconditional love. Tough sometimes and unbending, but always, always with my best interest in mind.

  “What’s going on, Dani?” she asked in her special soft, we’ll-get-through-this-together voice. “I was right next door in my office, and I heard the sirens.”

  I sniffled and wiped away a tear with my shoulder. “Ray Lemay is inside…dead.”

  Why was I crying? I didn’t like the guy. I didn’t mourn him. But, oh, the way he died. The horror that somebody murdered him. I tried but I just couldn’t keep it together.

  Rose pushed me far enough away so she could look into my eyes and whispered. “An accident, right?” An unmistakably hopeful ring laced her question.

  I shook my head because I couldn’t utter another word just then, not even a no.

  She leaned close to my ear. “You didn’t kill him, did you? For pulling that ridiculous prank on Lily?”

  I could feel my eyes pop open. The hits just kept coming. “You know about that?” Had that fake funeral already made the rounds through Misty Harbor? Did someone decide they preferred the dead Ray Lemay to the live one?

  Rose straightened her straw hat. “Of course, I know. It’s my job to know everything that goes on in this town. You know that, Dani. How else could I keep the Blueberry Bay Grapevine filled with enough news to get people to actually read it in the age of the Internet? I write articles they can’t find anywhere else. So, answer my question…did you kill him?” She mouthed the question since more and more people were crowding around the outside of the Little Dog Diner.

  The yellow police tape probably wasn’t going to be good for business.

  I had started to regain my composure. I shifted Pip in my arms and stood a little taller. “Of course I didn’t, Rose. Just because I couldn’t stand him, murder isn’t exactly my style. Especially not with my favorite cherry rolling pin.”

  Rose’s mouth dropped open. “The one I gave you? That belonged to my mother before I gave it to you. That’s the murder weapon? Someone will pay for this.”

  Her question and answer dialogue shot out faster than I could squeeze in an answer. The outrage in her voice barely matched the enraged expression on her face—clamped jaw, eyes the color of a dark storm cloud, all of it spoke to a determination to get to the bottom of this no matter what—I knew that expression from my ten years of living with Rose.

  I leaned in with a question of my own. “Did you?”

  I had to ask because, as much as I didn’t like Ray, Rose had a problem with him, too. Frankly, she didn’t have much use for the whole Lemay clan. It went way back, to the time Ray’s grandfather snubbed her at the altar. Why she stayed in town, I’ll never know, but I always guessed that she wanted to make life miserable for him. And that she did.

  Rose graced me with her I-won’t-even-grant-you-with-an-answer, glare, which I also knew well. “Don’t be silly,” she said indignantly. “I was working in my office on an article about that ridiculous fake funeral.”

  Interesting answer. She didn’t exactly deny murdering him, and she was right next door at the time of the assault. The Little Dog Diner and her building that housed the Blueberry Bay Grapevine were barely a car width apart. The building that Lily had just told me she wanted to buy. My heart fell into my toes at the direction my thoughts were taking me. Motive and opportunity.

  Pip had had enough of my clutching her for dear life and wiggled out of my arms on to the ground. She looked at me, and I swear, she laughed before she dashed under the yellow police tape, despite my calls for her to stop. The last thing I saw was her little tail wagging as it disappeared inside the diner.

  Pip had a mind of her own.

  She’d fit right in with Rose and me.

  Chapter Four

  Detective AJ Crenshaw stomped out of the Little Dog Diner crime scene with Pip in his arms. Her pink tongue swiped a path from his chin to his cheek before he could turn away from her reach.

  “Danielle!” AJ plopped Pip unceremoniously into my arms as if she had a contagious disease. “Control your dog!” he demanded.

  I gave her a snuggle and said in her defense, “Apparently you forgot, but this adorable girl is…was…Ray’s dog. She only wants to stay near him.” I gave AJ the most pathetic look I could manage. Inside, I cringed at the thought that I had to defend this cute Jack Russell terrier before AJ decided to send her to the pound or something worse. “And, of course, I’ll take charge of her.” I hugged her close. “That’s exactly what Lily asked me to do.”

  Okay, that was a little white lie, but Lily, who was officially Pip’s owner, now, wasn’t around to correct me. She knew I was a sucker for just about any type of animal, and I knew that’s what she would have said.

  If she hadn’t flown the coop.

  “Well … whatever,” AJ muttered. “You keep her then. Away from my crime scene,” he added for emphasis. Then he lowered his voice so all the town folks milling around couldn’t hear him. “And, don’t leave town.”

  That was an odd thing to say to someone who called this small-town home. Where did he think I might dash off to, Timbuktu? “What are you saying, Detective? Am I a suspect?”

  “Of course you are. At this point, you and Lily, by your own admission, were at the scene of the crime. If you know where Lily is, tell her she’d better come see me soon…to answer questions about an unusual financial transaction.”

  “What transaction are you talking about?” I decided to play coy. How could he know about the payoff? Who knows, maybe there was more than one.

  AJ’s face had taken on a reddish hue; evidently investigating a crime scene is hard work. “I’m sure your friend told you about the large sum of money Ray planned to deposit in an account for her.”

  I feigned surprise. “So what’s wrong with that? Lily’s husband isn’t allo
wed to give her money?”

  The fact that AJ already knew about the transaction shocked me, but I certainly wasn’t going to let him know that.

  AJ took hold of my arm and pulled me away from the crowd. I took Rose’s arm and pulled her along with us. Pip had no choice but to be part of this cozy group.

  From the stern look on AJ’s face, you’d never know we had a long history going back to grade school. “The timing is suspect,” he snarled, “and don’t try to tell me otherwise. Ray told me all about Lily’s money demands. He wanted my advice about whether he was doing the right thing or not. For some crazy reason, he had convinced himself that he couldn’t live without her.”

  “What did you tell him?” Rose asked, her straw hat flapping in the light breeze that came up.

  A look of confusion grew on AJ’s face. “There was only one answer to that question in my opinion—no! What on earth possessed Ray to even consider a deal like that? If Ray had to pay Lily to come back to him, there wasn’t much hope for a real reconciliation. Surely, you can see that too, Dani. Make sure you let Lily know she has some questions to answer.” He stomped back inside and closed the door this time. No more chance of Pip messing up the crime scene.

  “Come on Dani.” Rose had her arm tucked through mine as we headed toward her office. I was still in shock about this whole money transfer thing. AJ was right, of course, even if I’d never tell him that. Something smelled fishy about this money arrangement, and I couldn’t figure out what Lily was up to. Why did she all of a sudden, out of the blue, think she needed to own this building?

  “Hey Dani,” someone in the crowd shouted. “Did your chowdah kill someone?” Everyone laughed.

  I turned around and locked my eyes on the person I thought had yelled the insult. “For your information, Joe, I seem to recall that you had some yesterday. How are you feeling?”

  Maybe it was the light, but it looked like his face took on a green tint.

  More laughter filled the air but at least it wasn’t directed at me this time. Rose got me moving again. “Don’t let them ruffle your feathers, Dani. Ignore those comments.”

  Just as we arrived at the Blueberry Bay Grapevine office door, an old pickup truck pulled to a stop. “That must be Spencer with my blueberry delivery,” I said as a tailpipe disgorged a cloud of blue smoke. “What am I going to do now? I have no place to store blueberries with the diner locked up tight.”

  Was she going to ask me to help out? I imagined my little apartment crammed full of blueberries. Maybe I would have to start a new decorating trend.

  Rose released my arm and marched over to the truck. She stuck her head in the driver side window while I whispered to Pip. “You and I are going to be a great team. I can tell.” I fastened her pink bow on her head, and she licked my chin. “You’re very welcome, Pip. I’ve got the feeling you want to be sure no one mistakes you for a male. Am I right?”

  Another lick made me think Pip actually understood what I was saying. It was nice to think that someone, even if that someone was a Jack Russell terrier—a bundle of dynamite packed into a neat little package—agreed with me. I let myself into Rose’s office while she solved the blueberry storage dilemma. Dealing with the Little Dog Diner orders, deliveries, and any associated problems was her responsibility.

  I put Pip down, found a small bowl, and gave her some water. After she sniffed around the room, she helped herself to a drink. I took one of Rose’s old sweaters and made a nest on a chair, patting it so Pip knew she had a comfy place to curl up when she was ready.

  Rose’s office had one of those coffee machines that made single servings, so I fiddled with a pod until a stream of hot French roast filled my cup, and then I walked to the front window to see what was taking Rose so long. She stood next to the Blueberry Acres delivery truck with her arm on the open passenger window and the growing Misty Harbor crowd of gawkers staring them down. I guess I couldn’t blame them. Our little town had never had an event that was this gory. Not by a long shot.

  As the driver unfolded himself from the truck, my mug of hot coffee shook and almost slipped out of my hand.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked the empty room, too shocked at the sight of Luke Sinclair heading up the walkway with his arm linked with Rose’s. Luke, who left town eight years ago – taking my heart with him.

  With a smile pasted on my face to cover up the total upheaval of my emotions, I opened the door to let them in.

  “What a surprise,” I said. The words sounded almost normal, if you ignored the dash of scorn that slipped into my tone.

  “Dani?” Luke blinked as he said it with what I could only imagine was disbelief. Over Luke’s shoulder, Rose graced me with a, you’ll-thank-me-later smile. Apparently, she hadn’t told him I was in her office, preferring to blindside both of us. What was she up to?

  “Luke’s come home to help his dad,” she said. “Did I forget to tell you that, Dani? He’s got some great new ideas to bring more customers to their blueberry farm. We’ve been brainstorming a bit, so I can promote the events in the Grapevine—pancake breakfast, wagon rides around the farm, pet photos—it’s just the beginning.”

  I stood in shock, knowing my mouth was hanging open, barely hearing Rose’s chatter. All that registered was that somehow Luke was more handsome than I remembered with his deep tan, a few smile wrinkles, his hair swept casually back and his body toned and muscular. With his mouth turned up into a smile, nothing had changed about the deep blue eyes that stared at me as if he could read my thoughts. “Hi, Dani. Good to see you.”

  “You’re back. For more than a few days?” For the life of me, I couldn’t get the snark out of my voice, but who could blame me?

  Luke had an aw shucks smile that didn’t fit the picture I had of his life since he left Misty Harbor. “It looks like it,” he said. “Dad can’t run the farm by himself anymore, and I couldn’t bear that he actually considered selling the property. So,” he held his hands out to his sides and raised his eyebrows, “I’ve decided to keep the farm going and maybe find some work on the side while I’m here.”

  Rose straightened the papers on her desk and picked up her hobo bag. “How about we go to Sea Breeze, have some lunch, and make a plan?”

  By Sea Breeze, she meant her drop-dead gorgeous house on Blueberry Bay.

  “A plan?” I was still in a daze from seeing Luke and couldn’t think past the fact that he’d moved back to Misty Harbor. Rose acted as if this was all an everyday occurrence—murder, my old flame back in town, and my best friend nowhere to be found.

  Rose snapped her finger in front of my face. “A plan about this murder. And, by the way, where’s Lily? I saw her scoot out the front door like her hair was on fire.”

  That brought me back to earth. Lily. Right. Had she fallen off the edge of the earth? I pulled out my phone and called her.

  To my surprise, she answered after the first ring. “Dani?”

  “Where the heck are you, Lily?” I wanted to tell her more, but not in front of Luke.

  “Are you alone?” Why did she sound tense? And a little frantic?

  “Yes,” I lied. I turned my back on Rose and Luke, lowered my voice, and hoped their hearing wasn’t great. “Where are you? Detective Crenshaw wants to talk to you, like, half an hour ago.”

  “I think I’m in trouble, and I’m afraid to tell you where I am.”

  If this day got any crazier it would qualify for free tickets at the nearest zoo. “Listen, Lily, the longer you stay away, it looks like you’ve got something to hide.”

  Rose sneezed.

  “Who was that?” Lily asked. “You said you were alone.”

  “Just Rose…and Luke Sinclair.”

  “Luke? He applied for the part time summer deputy job. Don’t tell him you’re talking to me.”

  Oh, for crying out loud. Was there a conspiracy against me? “How come everyone in town knows what’s going on with Luke except me?” Oops, I sort of raised my voice with that question. I cou
ld feel two pairs of eyes burning holes in my back. Pip chose that moment to jump against my leg, which threw me off balance and straight into Luke’s chest.

  I have to admit, it felt good.

  “Dani? Are you still there?” My hand had dropped to my side when I fell. It was no secret to Rose who I was talking to, so she grabbed my phone.

  “Lily, listen to me. Meet us at Sea Breeze. Now.” Rose said in her no-nonsense mode. “Sheesh,” she went on. “Enough of this cloak and dagger stuff. If you’re in trouble, you’ll need us to help you get out of it.” She handed the phone back to me.

  I hit the speaker button. Pip was running wild around my feet and I needed to pick her up. “Did you hear all that, Lily? Meet us at Sea Breeze. You know, Rose’s house. We’re on our way now.”

  “Okay,” she said, giving up the fight. “Dani?” she added before I disconnected the call.

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t tell them about the money.”

  “Okay,” I said. She didn’t know she was on speakerphone so, of course, Rose and Luke could hear what she said for themselves. I kept mum about it, and their confused expressions told me she’d be doing some explaining before too long.

  Chapter Five

  Luke left Rose’s office first, strolling calmly to his truck and driving away. No one in the crowd that had yet to disperse seemed to take any notice of his old vehicle rattling down the road.

  I turned on Rose with my lips pursed, barely controlling my anger. “Why didn’t you tell me that Luke was back in town?”

  Rose took my arm and led me out the door and around the side of the building to her car. Pip, tucked under my other arm, squirmed and wiggled to get down. “Dani, what difference would it have made? Luke is back and now you know.”

  She did have a way of putting everything in perspective, but it still rankled me. What would I have done? Rushed out to the farm to welcome Luke back with open arms? Of course not!