Murder in Cottage #6 (Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) (2 page)

Fifteen minutes later Seth came
swaggering through the front door of the lodge, his thumbs hooked just inside
his dark blue uniform pants that hung below a large belly which was threatening
to pop the lower buttons of his blue uniform shirt. Gray, oily hair hung in
tufts below a battered black police chief hat with a silver emblem inscribed
“Red Cedar Police Chief.”

Liz couldn’t help but
notice the big yellow stain on his shirt. “See yer lookin’ at that spot on my
shirt,” Seth said. “Egg yolk slipped off my fork this mornin’ when I was havin’
my usual breakfast of ham and eggs at Gertie’s Diner. Jes’ one of those things
that seems to happen all the time to me. Ya’ know what I mean?”

“Seth, thank you so much
for coming out here on such short notice. I have a little problem, and I’m not
real sure what to do about it. Please, follow me.”

“Ain’t seein’ any black
lace on ya’. I’ll git ya’ some if ya’ like. I read the Victoria’s Secret
catalogue from cover to cover every month. You’d look good in some of them
things they got for sale.”

Ignoring Seth’s uncouth
remarks, Liz walked out the door and almost tripped over what she privately
called the “spa dog,” even though his name was Brandy Boy. A massive St.
Bernard, weighing over one hundred sixty pounds, he was a favorite of the
guests who visited the spa.

Although the original St.
Bernard dogs were bred by Augustine monks as rescue dogs in the snowy and cold
Swiss Alps, Brandy Boy had little interest in any type of task that involved
physical activity. The previous owner who sold the spa to Joe and Liz had asked
them to keep Brandy Body because he couldn’t take the big dog with him. Despite
his seemingly constant slobbering and drooling, Liz had grown attached to the
big loveable brown and white giant who spent most of his time sleeping on the
porch. He rarely acknowledged anyone going in or out the door other than to
open his eyes when it slammed.

Occasionally a guest
wanted to take a hike on one of the many trails that led into the forest from
the lodge. Liz always recommended that he or she take Brandy Boy along to act
as an informal guide. Even though he was the easiest going dog in the world, he
knew which trails were safe to travel and which ones weren’t. Many a guest had
returned to the spa from their hike marveling that Brandy Boy had physically
led the way and showed the guest which trail was the right one to take to
return to the lodge.

Just like the famous
rescue dogs in the Swiss Alps, the prior owner had equipped Brandy Body with a
dog collar that had a small wooden cask attached to it. If a guest was in a
cottage and wanted an after dinner brandy, he or she could call the lodge, and
Brandy Boy would be dispatched to the cottage with the “rescue” brandy. When
given the proper command, he even knew which cottage needed the delivery. Each
cottage had a supply of dog treats that were to be given to Brandy Boy as a
reward after he made his delivery.

When they first bought the
spa, Joe thought Brandy Boy was too big to sleep indoors, and he’d asked Zack,
the handyman, to build a dog house for him. The huge dog house was located next
to the lodge and at any given time you could find Brandy Boy either sleeping in
his dog house or lolling around on the front porch of the lodge. Having the dog
house near the lodge was an arrangement which worked out well for everyone.
With his ancestors having come from the Swiss Alps, Brandy Boy was happy and
content to stay outside in his dog house year round, regardless of any
inclement weather conditions.

After nearly tripping over
Brandy Boy, Liz and Seth walked past the large rustic spa building with flowers
spilling out of containers on either side of the front door and down the steps.
Each of the ten cottages located on the premises was a smaller version of the
spa, constructed as log cabin type structures with bright colored flowers
surrounding them. Liz wanted the spa and cottages to project a warm welcoming
feeling for the spa guests when they came for their stay, each of them hoping
to leave refreshed and rejuvenated.

She stopped at a cottage
with a brass #6 on the front door. “Seth, Dave Nelson’s wife, Barbara, is in
here. Dave told her she’d worked so hard on his campaign he was giving her a
two day stay at the spa as a thank you gift. He wanted her to come here, have
some treatments, and relax. My manager found her this morning. She’s dead.”

“What the…?”

“I know, Bertha and I are
as shocked as you are. I don’t know what happened.”

“Sheesh. I was jes’ with
Dave and Barbara night before last at his victory party down at the Elks Lodge.
Barbara seemed fine then. She was probably jes’ glad his girlfriend didn’t show
up at the celebration. When did Barbara get here?”

“She checked in yesterday morning,
had two spa treatments, and ate dinner at the lodge with the other guests last
night.” Liz put her key in the lock and opened the door. They both stared at
Barbara lying in the bed. Liz noticed the half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels on
the nightstand that Bertha had told her about.

Seth walked over to
Barbara. “Yup, she’s deader ‘n a doornail. Better call the coroner. Ain’t
nothin’ no one can do fer her now.”

“Wait a minute. What kind
of a vehicle will he come in? I really would like to avoid having to tell the
other guests about this until we know more.”

“He drives a big white
van. Looks kinda like a bread delivery truck. Guess it kinda is, if ya’ know
what I mean. Ain’t much difference between deliverin’ a loaf of bread and
deliverin’ dead bodies,” he said laughing obscenely. “Yer’ guests’ll just think
someone’s deliverin’ somethin’ to you.”

Liz steeled herself not to
comment on his insensitivity.
This man is disgusting,
she thought.
Is
he the best the city of Red Cedar can do? And what was that reference to Dave’s
girlfriend all about?

“Go ahead and call him.
How long do you think it will be before he can come out here?”

“Don’t know. I’ll call him
now, and then I need to call Leroy, my deputy chief. Need to figure out what in
the blazes happened out here, although it looks pretty obvious to me.” He
punched in a number on his cell phone and she heard him say, “Wes, got a cold
one out here at the Red Cedar Spa. Dave’s wife. How soon can ya’ be here?” He
hung up and turned to Liz. “He’ll be here in about fifteen minutes. Give me a
minute while I call Leroy, then I’ll need to ask ya’ some questions.”

He spoke with Leroy who
carried the ceremonial title of deputy chief, which had been bestowed on him by
Seth in exchange for passing on a pay raise, but he was actually nothing more
than a patrol deputy on the small six man Red Cedar police force. After talking
to Leroy for a few minutes he turned to her. “Sorry, Liz, but he’s gonna have
to drive a police car over here cuz his personal car broke down this mornin’
while he was drivin’ to work. No big surprise there. Dang thing’s been smokin’
like a chimney for the last two weeks.”

“Well, I guess that can’t
be helped. Hopefully, the guests will be in town or having a spa treatment.”

Seth took a stubby pencil
and a tattered notebook out of his shirt pocket. He flipped the notebook open
to an empty page that appeared to have a catsup stain on it and asked Liz, “Who
discovered the body?”

“My manager, Bertha.”

“Wouldja call her and tell
her to get over here? Gonna need to get a statement from her. Ya’ said Barbara
had two spa treatments yesterday. Need to talk to the people who gave her them
treatments.”

Liz called Delores, the
spa receptionist.  “This is Mrs. Lucas. Would you check the reservation book
and tell me what treatments Barbara Nelson had yesterday?”
            She listened for a moment. “Are Gina and Cindy free, or are they
busy with clients?” She waited while Delores checked the reservation book.
“Good. Please ask both of them to come to cottage #6 immediately. I also want
you to have them bring the spa registration form that Barbara Nelson filled out
yesterday. Thanks.”

A few minutes later Bertha
came to the cottage, still clearly shaken by the morning’s events. She was
followed by Gina and Cindy who handed Liz the spa registration form for Barbara
Nelson.

“Good morning, Seth,”
Bertha said.

“Hey, Bertha. Liz tells me
you was the one who found Barbara. Need ya’ to tell me everything.” Bertha
related to Seth essentially what she’d told Liz earlier.         

When it was obvious that
Seth wasn’t going to ask Bertha any more questions, Liz said, “Bertha, you can
go now. I think he’s through with you. I’ll stay here while he talks to Gina
and Cindy and I also want to be here to find out what the coroner has to say
about the cause of death.”

“Ladies,” Seth said to
Gina and Cindy, “wanna know what kind of treatments Barbara had and if she
seemed to be okay when you saw her yesterday.”

“I saw her yesterday
morning at 10:00,” Cindy said. “She’d requested the stress-releasing massage. She
was fine while she was with me and was feeling good when she left. She didn’t
say or do anything that seemed unusual to me. There’s really nothing more I can
tell you,” Cindy said

Seth turned to Gina. “How
about you?”

“Pretty much like Cindy
just said. I saw her at 3:00 yesterday afternoon. She had a facial and
purchased some beauty products from the spa that I recommended. She was quiet
during the facial, thanked me when I was finished, and left. Other than that, I
don’t know anything about her.”

“Thank you ladies. You can
go back to the spa now. If I got any more questions, I’ll get back to ya’, but
I’m pretty sure I know what happened to her.”

He had just finished
getting statements from Cindy and Gina when a white van drove up the narrow
lane that led to the lodge and spa followed by a Red Cedar police car. They
pulled to a stop next to cottage #6.

“Hey,” Seth said as they
got out of their respective vehicles, “Wes, Leroy. Stiff’s in there. Got a
statement from Liz and Bertha as well as the two wimmin who treated her at the
spa yesterday. Leroy, you go in, and see what you can find. Probably better
wear gloves, but there’s not much to dust. Maybe ya’ oughta do that Jack
Daniels bottle in there. When you finish with it, take it back to the station.
We oughta send a sample of the contents to the state police lab for testin’,
but I reckon me and you might have to do a little testin’ of that Jack Daniels
ourselves. Hate to let good booze go to waste, if ya’ know what I mean. Wes,
like to know what ya’ think caused her death, but it seems purty black and
white to me. Be willin’ to bet she decided to buy the farm when she found out
Dave had the hots for Darcy. Whole town knows they’ve been getting’ it on.
Maybe she jes’ found out. Decided to come out here and mix a little Black Jack
with a handful of night-night pills and bingo, the deed is done.”

Who is this Darcy woman?
Liz thought
. I wonder
if Barbara knew about the affair? And if she was going to commit suicide, why
would she buy beauty products from the spa? Could Seth be right, that she came
here to end her life? If that’s true, sure wish she’d gone to another spa. I
don’t need this kind of publicity.

Liz took a couple of deep
breaths and a few minutes later followed the men into the cottage. She walked
over to the coroner and asked, “Wes, do you have any idea what caused her
death?”

“No. There’s no sign of a
struggle or foul play of any kind. Leroy quickly examined the door, and he said
he didn’t see any signs of forcible entry or that the lock had been tampered
with. I’ll know more after I do an autopsy on her. Maybe it’s like Seth thinks,
that she took some sleeping pills and combined it with the alcohol, although I
don’t see any prescription bottles. I understand she ate dinner at your lodge
last night. Did you serve anything that might have caused her to suffer an
allergic reaction? Sometimes a severe allergic reaction can lead to
anaphylactic shock and death.”

“I don’t think so. I
served the guests wine with several different kinds of cheeses and crackers.
Dinner consisted of lamb chops baked in a wine sauce, broccoli with almonds, a
rice pilaf, and an ice cream sundae with caramel sauce. When guests come to the
spa they have to fill out a registration form and one of the things they’re
asked is if they have any food allergies. I know people can have life
threatening allergies to things like peanuts or shellfish, so I’m very careful
to always check each guest’s registration form and make a note if they have any
food allergies. Barbara wrote on her registration form that she wasn’t allergic
to anything. The people who work in the spa also have each guest fill out a
general health form, and one of the questions asked is if they’re allergic to
any beauty products or chemical substances. According to what she filled out on
her form, she wasn’t allergic to anything.”

“Well, we probably won’t
know anything until I complete the autopsy tomorrow. I have another one I need
to do today. Dave been told yet?”

“No. I wanted to wait
until I talked to you. I’m planning on going to his insurance agency and
telling him shortly.”

“Liz, be happy to do it
for ya’, course you’d owe me somethin’ in return, if you know what I mean,”
Seth said suggestively.