Traci Tyne Hilton - Mitzi Neuhaus 03 - Buyer's Remorse (12 page)

“They didn’t leave a message to that effect.”

Mitzy dipped her scrubber in the bucket of soapy water and squeezed it out. She leaned over and applied the scrubber to the stairs. The viscous fruity syrup looked like it was going to discolor the stairs.
A bloodstain that never went away.
“I think this is another threat,” Mitzy said.

“Like the platter?” Carmella asked.

“Yeah.
A random act of destruction just to show us we are not safe. That is what I think. Is it to tell me to back off of my investigation on Lara’s life or is it to let me know that I’m next?” Mitzy asked.

“Or was it a drunken bridesmaid spilling a tub of drink mix they wanted to consume tonight? I know how you feel, but doesn’t this smell like it might make a nice daiquiri base?
Or at least a cheap one?
There is more than one thing going on here right now. If one of the party guests spilled their tub of mix on the stairs, they would be too ashamed to admit it.
Or if a kid spilled his giant smoothie.
I think one of those things must be true. Unless you find a post-it note somewhere that says otherwise I’m going to stick with my theory.”

“Under normal circumstances, I’d agree.” The knees of Mitzy’s leggings were soaked though and the edge of her sweater dress as well.

 “Sister, these are your normal circumstances,” Carmella said.

“Are you going to call this in to the Feds? I think it counts as unusual and suspicious activity at the inn.”

“And I don’t think it does. I’m sorry. It’s just a spill. It’s a huge one, but what can you do?” Carmella bent to the step and gave it a hard scrub. “It looks like we’ll have to refinish the steps though,” she said.

It’s a bloodstain that will never go away, Mitzy thought. It has discolored the finish on the stairs and it will soak through to the wood. She stared at the shadow of red left behind on the step she had been cleaning. The hotel they were running was tainted. The bloody history of it would discolor all of their business. But that was no reason to give up. She moved up a step and scrubbed more.

Sin had discolored her life but God never gave up. If he could do good work with damaged materials, so could she. She rinsed her scrubber again. She sat up and stretched her back with her hands on her knees. She took a deep breath. If this mess was a threat then she was on the right track. That was a good thing.

Mitzy woke up the next morning with the need to rebel. She had a long day of being taken care of ahead of her. She already hated it. She had coffee and toast with Carmella when her future sister-in-law came in to work at
6:30
.

Carmella was dressed to the nines. She even wore a suit jacket and had her hair done in an up-do.

“How did the bridesmaid’s slumber party go?” Mitzy asked.

“Well enough, I think. Did the noise keep you up?”

“Not at all.
I didn’t hear a peep.”

“Good. I put them upstairs in those little rooms. I think it worked well. But they brought a karaoke machine with them and set a lot of empty bottles outside the door this morning. I’m expecting to hear complaints.”

Mitzy swallowed the last of her coffee. “I’ve got to run to my parents’ house and water the plants. Everything is drying out over there. It won’t take but twenty minutes.”

“Are you going right now?” Carmella asked.

“Yes, the sooner the better. Then I think I need to settle in, either here or at Alonzo’s workplace, or maybe both if I get bored. I have to say this isn’t the most exciting way to spend a leave of absence.” Mitzy took her mug to the sink and rinsed it. She brushed the toast crumbs off her clothes and checked her watch. “I suppose I could have slept in, but I just couldn’t make myself.” She set the coffee mug on the counter next to the sink.

“Explain this to me,” Carmella said, “How can you have a leave of absence if you are your own boss?”

Mitzy smiled, “I guess you could just call it a vacation, or you could say that I have stopped working. You could also call it stress-related medical leave.”

Carmella laughed, “You could call it that. You need it. But it seems like this leave is just as stressful as work was.”

“You’ve got that right.”

“Well if you get bored feel free to come back tonight to help set up for the rehearsal dinner. They are bringing caterers in but we’re providing set up.”

“I can’t wait until we’ve got our own kitchen running,” Mitzy said.

“I can. Do you know how much a good kitchen crew costs?”

“There is that. Oh well. Continental breakfast works until then. I might as well come right back and help with that.”

“Just make sure you come back alive. Alonzo will kill me if you get yourself murdered this morning.”

“I won’t.” Mitzy gave Carmella a quick hug. In fact, staying alive was Mitzy’s top priority.

Mitzy had that sense of being followed as she walked the rooms of her parents’ house. She told herself it was just the cats, but when she turned to look for them, the cats were nowhere to be seen.

The day was damp and cold, but not bad for December. In the mudroom, she refilled the cats’ auto-feeder and their pan of water. She had to run outside and water the plants in the greenhouse as well. She let herself out the back door and trudged across the frosty deck. She stepped gingerly onto the grass so that the heel of her boot wouldn’t sink, but the ground was hard with frost, so her shoes were safe. The night must have gotten colder than she had realized. She made a mental note to adjust the heat in the greenhouse.

The greenhouse was toasty warm and a little moist, the way a well-tended greenhouse should be. Mitzy stopped in the doorway. She hadn’t been taking care of the greenhouse. Why was it so warm?

Mitzy let go of the door handle, and it swung shut behind her. She expected to find shards of her platter behind every plant. But at this point, the person trying to scare her must have run out of them. Mitzy filled the watering can at the pump sink and began to water the plants.

She passed the thermostat and saw it set for 80. That seemed high, but at the same time the heater needed to compensate for the cloud cover. There would be very little heat from the sun this month. Mitzy stared at the gauge. She hadn’t set it for 80. She was sure that her mom had left it at 72, just a tad higher than the heat in the house. Her heart was beating so hard it felt like it was going to come out of her throat. She began a careful search of the greenhouse to calm herself down.

She lifted the plant pots and looked under them. Dirt that had dried out on top of the plants scattered on the pine shelves. She took a deep breath and slowed down. A whiskbroom hung next to the sink so Mitzy picked it up and cleaned the mess.

Then she opened the cupboard and looked through it. There was nothing there either. By all accounts Mitzy knew she could calm down, but her heart wouldn’t get quiet. Could the heat setting on the thermostat be the next threatening message?

A game of hot and cold maybe?
Or would they have left the greenhouse freezing for that?

Mitzy leaned back on the potting bench, her thumb hooked around the watering can handle. She chewed her lip and thought about the heat. “A watched pot never boils?”
“A blister in the sun?”
“Liar, liar, pants on fire?”
“Death warmed over?”

Death warmed over. She lifted the watering can and set it on the counter. She stood up, alert. The temperature was a warning to her. She needed to get out of here.

The door to the green house slowly swung open.

“Good morning!” A little round woman with white hair in curlers and a bright pink housecoat stepped inside the greenhouse. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said.

Mitzy reached behind her and gripped the handle of the watering can.

“Oh goodness!
You don’t know me, do you? I’m
Pearl
. I live next door.”

Mitzy nodded, and her face relaxed into a more natural smile. “Well hi,” she said. “Can I help you?”

“I just wanted to check the plants. I noticed your car hasn’t been here in the last few days. I hope you don’t mind my coming over. We had that cold snap last night so I snuck over and turned up your heater in here. I’d hate for your mom to lose any of her plants. She sure loves it in here.”
Pearl
walked over to the wall of geraniums and sniffed. “Aren’t they a lovely sight in the winter?” she asked.

Mitzy bit her tongue to suppress an almost hysterical urge to laugh. Death warmed over. She had let her imagination run to the ridiculous. The greenhouse was warm because she had a friendly neighbor.

“Oh thank you so much. I hate that I had to leave the house unattended…”

“I heard about the murder on Facebook.”
Pearl
said. “It was at your condo, and if you ask me, she looked just like you. I wouldn’t want to stay alone either. I saw you had a friend come over to feed the cats but I noticed he didn’t come out here to the greenhouse.”

“Do you mean Alonzo? He’s come here with me, but I haven’t sent anyone else over.”

“No, not that good looking man you’ve been here with.
The other one, the younger skinny one.
I’m sure you sent him because he let himself in with a key.”

“Could it have been my brother?” Mitzy asked.

“No, he was much younger than your brother, I’d say. And I don’t think Brett would ever wear a green plaid fedora.”

“I have to agree, he’d never do that. But I’ll ask him if he sent anyone over. I certainly didn’t.”

Pearl
didn’t seem at all worried about the man in the plaid hat, but it was sending shivers of fear down Mitzy’s spine.

“Well I’m going to head back home and warm up. Do you want me to pop in and water the plants tomorrow? I could see to the cats as well, if you’d rather.”

“That would be lovely. But don’t bother with the
cats,
they’re set up with a nice auto feeding thingy.” Mitzy didn’t want
Pearl
in the house if that mystery man came back.

“It wouldn’t be anything,”
Pearl
said. “Your mom and I exchanged keys years ago for emergencies.”
Pearl
opened the greenhouse door to let herself out. “Have a good morning, sweetie,” she said with a smile.

“Just a minute!”
Mitzy called out. She stepped out of the warm greenhouse into the cold morning air, “One more thing.”

Pearl
stopped and turned again.
“
Brrr
.
Yes?” She patted her arms.

“If someone comes back by, would you call me?” Mitzy took a business card out of her wallet and handed it to
Pearl
.
“If you don’t mind.
I would really appreciate it.”

“Oh that’s no problem, my dear. I’m off to get my coffee now.”
Pearl
crossed the frosty lawn and let herself through a little gate into her own backyard. Mitzy watched until
Pearl
was safe in her own house.

Such a sweet lady should not be coming over to the house while that maniac had her set of keys. Nothing would convince Mitzy that the man in the plaid fedora had been sent over by her brother.

Now Mitzy had concrete evidence that someone had been sneaking around her parents’ house. She didn’t want to hang around or be alone.

Mitzy went back to the inn and tried to make
herself
useful by putting out the continental breakfast for the guests. She was dying to get Alonzo alone and to talk about the man with the plaid hat. As soon as he had picked
a Danish
and a glass of orange juice she grabbed him by the elbow and led him back to her room. He stopped in front of the door and took her hand.

“What’s the rush?” he asked. He pulled her in for a kiss, but she turned her cheek to him.

“You’re cold.” Alonzo said. “Have you been out already?” He let them into his room but left the door open.

Mitzy sat on the edge of his bed while he took his arm chair.

“I went to my parents’ house. The cats and the plants needed tending to.”

Alonzo furrowed his brow. “I wish you hadn’t gone alone.”

Mitzy nodded, “I know. And I might have learned my lesson.” She relayed the news of the man who had been letting himself into the house.

“Pearl said he was young and wearing a plaid hat? Could it be someone your brother Brett sent over for something?
Or one of your mom’s students?”

“No to the first because Brett is tied up in a case right now and Aerin doesn’t care about what happens at mom’s house.
Possibly a student, but why?
So far as mom is concerned, I’m still living there. The young man with the plaid hat has to be the one who is planting bits of broken plate everywhere. It may even be the person who left the call on my answering machine.” Mitzy picked at the fringe of the bedspread.

“It doesn’t sound like a description of Hector, does it?” Alonzo leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling, his eyes narrowed.

“No. I think she’d have said he was huge and covered in tattoos instead of young and in a hat if it had been Hector. If Hector is covering for Trish, he could have sent someone there. But why would that person wear a hat like that? He’d stand out like a sore thumb.”

“Maybe he’s not bright. You’d have to be stupid to break into a house and plant a broken plate.” Alonzo looked at Mitzy again with a frown.

“It wasn’t a break-in though. He has the keys.” Mitzy scrunched her mouth up in concentration.

“That’s right.” Alonzo sat up and leaned forward. “We know whoever killed Lara took the keys away with them because they locked the dead bolt when they left.” Alonzo began tapping his foot; his eyes sparkled as though he was having a new idea. “Why would they want the door locked behind them?”

“To slow down the discovery of the body?”
Mitzy asked.

“And to throw suspicion on people who were known to have a set of keys.” Alonzo chewed on his bottom lip. “That’s you and me.
Maybe your parents.”

“So the Mafia again…” Mitzy looked down at the bedspread. She had denuded one whole tassel with her nervous plucking.

“Not necessarily. Maybe it was more general: throw suspicion on the homeowner.”

“That still leaves the problem of the hat. Who wears a bright plaid hat when they are supposed to be sneaking around?” Mitzy tucked her hand under her thigh to protect the rest of the blanket.

“And as we said before, that can only be a stupid person. Would Hector have given the keys to someone he couldn’t trust?” Alonzo took a bite of his Danish.