Christmas Tree Catastrophe (Lily Bloom Cozy Mystery Series Book 6) (8 page)

The front window of the Beautiful Blooms flower shop was back to normal, much to Lily’s happiness. The new window had been installed and the ugly broken glass was gone. Inhaling deeply when she entered her shop gave her a relaxing rush of scents, especially from all the pine and other seasonal greens displayed in containers all around the shop.

“Hi Kari, everything under control?”

“I think so. There are a few deliveries to make before I get back to working on your wedding flowers so you better not be around.” Kari gave Lily a stern look, trying to control her twitching lip threatening to break into a smile.

“You won’t need to worry about me being underfoot. I’m bringing flowers to Malcolm Moss’s mother at the Rosewood Assisted Living Facility, then I’m off to get pampered.”

Lily yanked on the door of the walk-in cooler but couldn’t budge it. Putting both hands on the handle and leaning back with all her weight, she pulled until she managed to get it open and she carried out white calla lilies, red roses, and greens for the arrangement she needed to make for Sara Moss. “Where is the box of baskets that used to be under my design table?”

“Oh, sorry, I moved it. Here, use this one.”

Lily’s fingers worked effortlessly, filling the basket with the greens and flowers. Turning her arrangement to check all sides, she added a bit more of the pine here and there to fill in spaces and add in a flowing element to the design. “Well, I’m heading over to deliver this now. Call me if you get too busy and need my help.”

Kari picked up Sweet Pea, waving the kitty’s paw at Lily.

The arrangement was cushioned on the passenger seat of the minivan as Lily drove to the Rosewood Assisted Living Facility. Lily was happy for the sunshine, except it made the reflection on the snow blinding. She fumbled through her tote, trying to find her sunglasses, nearly driving into a snow bank from the distraction. Lily caught herself humming We Wish You a Merry Christmas from the library opening. She laughed at herself when she realized the song had been stuck in her head since the morning. Only one way to fix this problem, she thought, and she sang it at the top of her lungs as she pulled into the parking lot.

The Rosewood was nestled among a grove of stately hemlock trees. Two small fir trees, decked out in colored lights on either side of the entrance, made an inviting image as Lily approached. Inside, a petite woman sat smiling behind a desk.

“Hello, Ruth Ann,” Lily said as she scanned the woman’s name tag. “I’m here with a flower delivery for Sara Moss.”

Ruth Ann stood up to take the flowers. “Oh, yes, my brother said you would be coming. They are so lovely. I’m sure they will cheer her up.”

“I would like to deliver them myself. Maybe chat with her for a few minutes too?”

“Of course. She’s down the hall, at the end in the sunroom, sitting with her friend Bella.” Ruth Ann pointed to the left toward an open, sunny room.

The hallway sparkled as Lily headed in the direction that Ruth Ann indicated. She glanced through an open door, surprised at how comfy the room appeared to be, with lots of light coming through the window. The hallway widened into a common living room decorated for the season with a six foot tall balsam fir. The room was filled with a pleasant woodsy balsam smell and the sunshine warmed the space perfectly. Two women sat at one end of the sun filled room, one knitting, and the other quietly gazing out the window. Carrying her flower arrangement, Lily approached the two women, assuming the one in the wheelchair might be Sara Moss.

“Good afternoon, mind if I join you?” Lily said as she approached, not wanting to startle them. “My name is Lily and I’m delivering some flowers for Sara Moss.”

The woman in the wheelchair turned her gaze from the window and smiled. “I’m Sara. There’s plenty of room.” She gestured toward a chair nearby.

As Lily made herself comfortable, the other woman put her knitting down. “Did you say your name is Billy? That’s an odd name for a pretty girl like you.”

Lily smiled. “No, it’s Lily.”

“It sure is silly. My name is Bella Parker.” She stared at Lily. “You know, you are as pretty as those flowers. What was your mamma thinking to give you a boy’s name?”

“Are you Eddie Parker’s mom?”

“Eddie? No, my son’s name is Edward.” She picked up her knitting again. “I’m making a baby blanket for my friend’s granddaughter. My fingers have been knitting for so long, they have a mind of their own and fly through the yarn.” Her needles click-clacked back and forth through the pink yarn, making an airy design with the soft wool.

“You’re lucky that Edward visits you so often.”

“Soften? The wool comes this soft. It’s that new washable wool. I love it for the baby blankets.” Bella held up the nearly finished blanket and rubbed the soft wool against her cheek.

“Edward’s visits? Did he visit you last Friday?” Lily tried again.

“Speak up, I’m a little hard of hearing,” Bella said with her hand cupped behind her ear.

Lily raised her voice and spoke slowly. “Today is Monday. Did Edward visit last Friday?”

“I’m not sure. I think Friday is Bingo night and he doesn’t usually come then.”

Lily made a mental note to double check the sign-in book with Ruth Ann before she left. Turning her attention to Sara, she asked, “Are you comfortable here?”

“It’s okay. I’m waiting for Malcolm to come and take me home. I can’t remember where he is. That friend of his said I had to move. Well, I didn’t want to stay by myself after I heard someone in the house when Malcolm was gone. It gave me quite a fright what with all the racket they made looking through Malcolm’s room. I can’t imagine what they were after.”

Lily patted Sara’s knee. “Eddie sent these flowers over to brighten up your room.” She wasn’t sure if Sara knew what happened to Malcolm or if it didn’t sink into her brain yet.

Sara smiled before turning her gaze back out the window.

Standing up, Lily said her goodbyes and found her way back to the main entrance. Ruth Ann lifted her head up from her stack of papers. “Did you find Sara?”

“Yes. What a lovely room. Bella is quite the talker, but she had trouble understanding a lot of what I said.”

Ruth Ann chuckled. “A conversation with Bella is a test of patience and control. Patience in trying to get her to understand what you are asking and control not to laugh at the funny misinterpretations she makes of your questions.”

“I can see that. She seemed to be confused about when her son Edward, not Eddie, Parker visited her. I was under the impression he came last Friday evening.”

Ruth Ann opened the sign-in book and scanned it quickly. “He was here yesterday, of course, when he brought Sara in and . . .” She ran her finger down the page. “Oh yes, it says he was here on Friday from four in the afternoon until nine.” She showed Lily the entry. “I get Fridays off, but he does come to visit several times a week. Bella has trouble remembering much of anything except how to knit those baby blankets.”

“Thank you for your help. I left the flowers in the sunroom. Can you make sure they make it into Sara’s room?”

“No problem.”

Lily signed out and headed to her minivan.

Eddie’s alibi seemed airtight, she thought to herself. Checking her watch, she decided there was enough time to swing by the police station to see Ryan before she picked up Iris and Daisy for their appointment at the spa.

The police station was much quieter than it had been the day before but Ryan was in a meeting and would be tied up for a while. Lily remembered what Melinda had told her about Tamara needing to talk to her, so she asked if she could visit with Tamara. An officer led Lily into the small visiting area and she found Tamara happily smiling even though she had no access to her make-up or designer spandex outfits. Miracles would never cease, Lily thought to herself. Probably her cellmate entertained her with stories about her customers. Lily certainly hoped Tamara didn’t plan to share any of those details with her.

“You look quite pleased with yourself, Tamara. Aren’t you ready to get out of here?” Lily asked as she eased into a metal chair across the table from Tamara.

Tamara put her hands on the table and leaned toward Lily. With a wink, she told Lily, “Candy told me she knows a lot of men in town.”

“Candy?”

“Yeah, my cellmate. What a hoot she is. You wouldn’t believe the stories she shares with me.”

Lily held up her hands. “I’m not sure I want those details, but what men? Did she give you any names?”

Tamara scrunched up her mouth. “Not yet, but she’s starting to trust me so I’m hoping to get some useful info soon.”

“How will that help to get you out of here?”

“Well, the rumor is that Malcolm fooled around with a lot of women. I’m wondering if one of their husbands made a visit to Candy and unloaded some secrets with her. She said lots of the men want a mommy figure to pamper them. I’m sure it’s a long shot, but you never know what interesting relationship dirt might turn up.”

“I suppose it could lead to something,” Lily said, to make Tamara feel good, but it sounded like a wild goose chase to Lily. “I’ve got a meeting with Ryan next. He’s going to show me some stuff he found in Malcolm’s house. I still can’t shake a funny feeling about Crystal, but I can’t put my finger on anything solid yet.”

“I think it would more likely be Penny. Their dislike for each other was quite public.”

“Kind of like yours, Tamara?”

“Well, yeah, I guess so,” she said with her spirits sinking.

Lily stood up. “See what you can find out from Candy. She may not be the most reliable source, but if you want to get out of here, we need to think creatively and follow every lead.”

As Lily walked to the door, Tamara started to talk again. “The worst part is, the only person to talk to is Candy. If I find out something, I can’t even call you and tell you so make sure you stop in again tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry. I believe you’re innocent and I’ll keep working to get this figured out.” Lily pushed the edges of her lips into a goofy smile with her fingers and waited until Tamara’s face crinkled with a laugh.

Ryan was coming out of his meeting when he saw Lily leaving the visiting area. Looking around quickly to be sure no one was within earshot, he winked at her. “Hi beautiful.” With a nod of his head he added, “Follow me.”

Ryan had several items in plastic bags laid out on his desk. The leather glove, the brick, and another bag with a small piece of jewelry inside. Lily picked the bag up, looking at it carefully. “This looks familiar. Where did you find it?”

“Hooked onto the bedspread on Malcolm’s bed.”

“This matches Crystal’s necklace. The one she wore at the opening.” She handed the bag back to Ryan. “She told me she lost one of the matching earrings on Friday and wondered if anyone found it in the library after we did the decorating.”

Ryan took the bag from Lily and studied it. “How did it get from the library onto Malcolm’s bedspread?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. She probably went to Malcolm’s house before we all met at the library.” Lily’s eyes widened. “I wonder if Crystal and Malcolm were having an affair and he wanted to break it off and she killed him.” She wagged her finger at Ryan. “A woman scorned is a dangerous creature. Crystal had means, motive and opportunity, just like Tamara.”

After checking the time, Lily realized she needed to hustle to get to her mother’s house or they would be late for their appointment. Iris was treating Lily and Daisy to an hour of spa heaven. Whatever that meant.

Iris’s VW bug was idling in her driveway and Lily saw Iris and Daisy already waiting inside. Iris tooted her horn and waved her arm, motioning for Lily to hurry up and jump in her car.

“It’s been a busy day. Am I late?” Lily asked as she slammed the door closed after Iris was already zooming out of the driveway.

“Perfect timing. As long as the cops don’t pull me over for speeding.” Lily kept an eye on the speedometer, hovering at sixty, as they zipped through Misty Valley right past a speed limit sign that read thirty.

“Oops.” Iris laughed. “I won’t tell if you don’t. So, Lily tell us what you’ve been so busy doing. Uncover anything useful to get Tamara out of jail?”

Lily took a deep breath and leaned back into her seat, watching the houses fly by. “First, I delivered some flowers to Sara Moss at the Rosewood. Have you ever been there? It’s a lovely set up.”

Daisy turned around. “Sara Moss? Is she related to Malcolm?”

“Yup. Malcolm’s mother. She didn’t seem to understand Malcolm is dead, but I didn’t touch that subject. She was sitting with Eddie Parker’s mom, Bella, who also lives there. I tried to get some information about Eddie’s visits to Rosewood, but she was forgetful and confused about everything I asked her.”

Lily’s body was thrown against the seat belt as Iris slammed on her brakes and narrowly missed rear ending the car in front of her. Iris laid on her horn and waved her arms to get the slow poke moving faster. “Must be some old driver, poking along like it’s a Sunday afternoon sightseeing trip. Pull over,” she yelled as she hit her horn again. The car pulled to the right slightly and Iris zigzagged around as the driver in the other car raised her hand in a rude and unfriendly gesture. “Yeah, same to you.”

Daisy brought the subject back to Eddie. “Why do you want to know when Eddie was visiting his mother?”

“After his drunken rant at the opening about how Malcolm was a lying cheat, I wanted to check into his alibi for Friday night. His name was on the sign-in sheet at the Rosewood for Friday night so that puts him in the clear. My next stop was at the police station where I had a little visit with Tamara. Her cellmate, Candy, seems to know a lot of men in town and Tamara is trying to get information from her that might give one of them a reason to have killed Malcolm. I’m not convinced that will go anywhere but it gives Tamara something to focus on.”

Daisy handed Lily a piece of apple pie and a hot cup of tea. “I thought you might need a little snack before we get to the spa.”

“This looks delicious.” Lily put the travel mug of tea between her knees and took a couple of big bites of the pie, then washed it down with some tea. “You brought my favorite tea, too, the herbal peach passion.” After carefully tucking the mug between her knees again she continued, “The last visit was with Ryan and he showed me something the police found when they searched Malcolm’s house.”

“And?” Iris asked, looking at Lily in the rear view mirror.

“And, it was an earring that Crystal told me she lost on Friday night. She thought she lost it at the library but it was hooked onto Malcolm’s bedspread. How do you think it got there?”

Iris hit her steering wheel. “Sounds like some hanky panky going on between Crystal and Malcolm. Do you think she’s the murderer?”

Lily shrugged and finished the pie. “Malcolm has a history of love ‘em and leave ‘em. Maybe she followed him to his car Friday night after Tamara left, argued, and in a fit of passionate rage, smacked him with the brick. That’s what I said to Ryan. Motive, means, and opportunity.”

Iris took a sharp right turn, making Lily and Daisy lean to their left, as she pulled up to the Tranquil Spa, right on time. Zipping into a spot between two beamers, she told her girls, but was directing her comment at Lily, “No more talk of murders for the next hour. We’re going to relax and enjoy a glass of champagne, well, you two can have the champagne, and a massage to work out all the stress from the last few days. How does that sound?”

Lily nodded. “Sounds perfect. How do you know about this place?”

“Are you sure you want to know?” she asked with raised eyebrows but didn’t wait for a reply. “Walter and I came for a couple’s massage.” Her lips twitched into a big grin. “It really got him in the mood.”

Daisy got out of the car. “Thanks for that image, Mom. I’m not sure I’ll be able to enjoy this now.”

Walking inside was a treat in itself. Quiet Zen music had an immediate calming effect and the scent of lavender filled the air. Lily inhaled a deep relaxing breath and it surged all the way to her fingertips. “I could get used to this sensation.”

Iris nudged her with her elbow. “If you like this, wait till after your massage.”

A tall woman, dressed in loose, flowing clothes, met them and introduced herself, leading them to a room with three massage tables. “Make yourselves comfortable.” She placed a silver tray with two glasses of champagne on the table near them. “I’ll be back shortly.”

Candles were spaced throughout the wood paneled room giving off a new scent that Lily couldn’t identify but was delicious, none the less.

“Drink up girls. The massage won’t start until your champagne is gone.”

Lily and Daisy clinked there glassed together. “To you and Ryan,” Daisy said before savoring the amber liquid.

The hour flew by in complete peace with gentle music humming in the background. Lily wasn’t sure if she had fallen asleep for part of it because she was so relaxed by the time the massage was done and she had to make her legs carry her out to the car.

As they started to drive out, Lily recognized a car leaving ahead of them with a dent in the front fender.

“I think that was Crystal’s car. Was she spying on us? Follow her, let’s see where she goes.”

“So what did you two think of the massage?” Iris asked as they headed back to Misty Valley at a safe distance behind Crystal’s car.

Daisy let out a loud breath sinking down into her seat. “The massage was amazing. Thanks. I think I’ll treat Adam to one for a Christmas present. Well, probably a couple’s massage so I get to enjoy it too.”

Iris patted Daisy’s knee. “You will certainly enjoy it. Believe me.” Iris’s head fell backwards as she laughed at the red blush on Daisy’s face.

“Quick, pay attention.” Lily hit Iris’s shoulder and pointed to the disappearing sedan. “Crystal’s turning here. Isn’t that the road that Malcolm lived on?”

Iris slowed as she approached the intersection and they peered down the street. Crystal was pulling over to the side of the road.

“What should we do?” Iris asked Lily.

“Pull over here behind this big truck until we know what she’s going to do.” They watched Crystal exit her car, glance up and down the street, then scurry up to the front door. “She has a key and is going right in through the front door.” Lily opened her door of the VW.

Daisy reached around from the front and grabbed Lily’s arm. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to peek in the window and find out what she’s doing in there.”

“There goes the relaxing feeling, right out the door. Can’t you give it a break Lily?”

“Geez, Daisy, don’t you want to help get Tamara out of jail?”

“I guess so, but don’t do anything stupid.”

Lily waved her hand. “Of course not.”

The sidewalk was shoveled, but when Lily got to Malcolm’s house she had to wade through the snow to get around to the side. She looked down at her comfy shoes, sighed, and took the biggest steps she could until she was at the side of the house, peering in a window. This must be the living room, she said to herself, and nothing is going on here. Carefully stepping around to the back of the house, her feet getting wet and cold from the melting snow in her shoes, she found another window, barely at eye level. She squeezed between the shrubs, stood on her tippy toes and peered into what she guessed was Malcolm’s bedroom. Crystal was on her hands and knees searching the floor and feeling under the bed. Lily thought she must be looking for her earring. Crystal sat up and she turned her head, checking around the room before she stood and opened the bedside table. She removed some papers but put them back. Next, she opened the closet door and searched around inside pockets of Malcolm’s jackets. What was she looking for?

A hand curled around Lily’s shoulder and she squeaked in surprise. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it was going to burst through her chest and her knees buckled as she fell backwards into the snow.