Seeds of Suspicion (Lack of Luxury Cozy Mystery #1)

Chapter 9

Liz marched across the front yard, catching up with their new neighbor seconds before she cleared the lot line. “Hey!”

Christi stopped mid-bolt, frozen in her tracks. “H-hello.”

“What are you doing?” Liz motioned to the taser the woman was holding.

“I…uh. I thought I saw someone trying to get inside your house.”

“You should’ve called the police instead of taking it upon yourself to start snooping.” The words slipped out of Liz’s mouth before she could stop them. The last thing she wanted was to start off on the wrong foot with the neighbor .

“I called them. The dispatcher told me she would send someone out, but I don’t think she was taking the matter as seriously as she should have. I’ve been hearing gunshots too, although it could be a local farmer. Country folks and farmers love their guns.”

Liz softened her tone. “I’m sorry for seeming ungrateful, but you shouldn’t be on our property if you think something suspicious is going on.”

“I noticed the Designer Diva van parked in the driveway the other day. The owner, Deanna something, is dead.”

“She is,” Liz replied in an even voice.

“You knew her,” Christi said.

“Not…really. She was giving us a quote.”

“At the risk of stating the obvious, the place is in rough shape. When are you moving in?”

“I’m not sure. Perhaps within the next month. ”

“The sooner, the better.” Christi turned to go, and Liz stopped her. “Did you see anything?”

“No, although you might want to consider installing cameras. My husband travels frequently, so extra security is a necessity for us.”

Liz thanked her and, as she walked away, she wondered why the woman hadn’t brought a gun over to investigate if she thought something suspicious was going on.

Shrugging it off, she returned to the SUV, grabbed her supplies, and headed inside. Keeping necessity in mind, she focused her attention on the bathroom’s toilet and sink. While both cleaned up fairly easily, the tub was a different story. No matter how hard Liz scrubbed, she didn’t make a dent in the tub’s black ring.

She finally gave up, grabbed a bottled water and took a break out on the back steps. Had Christi spotted someone messing around the house and by the time she got here, they were gone? She was still mulling over the possibility when she spotted Ruth Carpenter’s van, nicknamed the spymobile, cruise into the driveway. Dot Jenkins, former owner of Dot’s Restaurant, pulled in behind her.

Ruth, Margaret, Lucy, Gloria and Dot climbed out and began carrying bags of food, cans of soda, and cleaning supplies toward the house.

“What are you doing?”

“When I told Ruth and the others the house needed a good top-to-bottom cleaning, they offered to help. Think of it as our housewarming gift to you.”

“You don’t know how much this means to me.” Liz blinked back sudden tears as she gazed at the close-knit group of friends. “It’s a mess. I mean, the house. The dead designer diva, the secret room.”

With a sympathetic audience, Liz babbled on about being overwhelmed. “When I got here this morning, I caught my nosy neighbor snooping around.”

“Nosy neighbor?” Margaret interrupted .

“Secret room?” Ruth chimed in.

“We found a secret room beneath the front foyer.” Liz led the women inside and showed them the spot. “I tripped on a loose floorboard, and we discovered it was loose for a reason.”

“Cool.” Lucy’s eyes lit. “Mind if we check it out?”

“Be my guest.”

The women gathered around, watching as Lucy carefully stacked the floorboards off to one side. “What was down there?”

“A cool old box and map.” Liz showed them the built-in cabinet where she’d stashed the red velvet box. “This is what we found.”

The box and its contents made the rounds, with the women closely examining what each unanimously agreed was some sort of coat of arms.

Gloria was the last, and she ran her finger along the back. “This goes to something.”

“Goes to something,” Liz echoed .

“It’s more than a fancy decoration. I think it’s some sort of key.”

“Echo took a picture of it and is going to do some research. I figure it’s probably worth a few hundred bucks,” Liz said.

“A few hundred bucks?” Gloria’s brows drew together. “You can’t sell this.”

“Why not?”

“I’m with Gloria,” Margaret said. “I know a few things about antiques and this looks like the real deal. You’re making a mistake if you sell it before you figure out what it is.”

The others chimed in, attempting to convince Liz she should hang onto it.

Finally, she lifted a hand. “You win. I’ll keep it.”

“Good.” Gloria carefully placed it back inside the box. “Something tells me one day I’ll be telling you I told you so.”

“For once, I hope you’re right. ”

“I snapped a picture of the map.” Margaret patted her phone. “I’ll email it to my friend, a cartographer, when I get home.”

“Maybe the box and contents belonged to the Gagnon family,” Ruth said. “I remember when Pierre Gagnon’s body was found. He went missing a few years back, right after his wife died. His children set up a search. They found him near the creek out back.”

“I’ve never heard of the man,” Liz said. “Now that I think about it, I was probably living in Florida.”

“I’m starving,” Lucy said. “Can we eat before we start cleaning?”

With a plan in place, the women arranged a makeshift serving area in the kitchen. They filled their plates with leftovers from Dot’s Hot Meals on Wheels’ food truck. The women feasted on roasted chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, macaroni salad and chocolate chunk cookies for dessert .

Floyd showed up mid-meal and grabbed a bite to eat. He finished with minutes to spare before his first appointment arrived.

With lunch out of the way, Margaret and Gloria tackled the dining room and living room while Lucy offered to clean the front and back porches.

A glimmer of hope bubbled up in Liz that they might actually make the place habitable—perhaps not modern and magazine cover worthy, but good enough to live in until they could complete the most pressing renovations.

Paige and Echo arrived and offered to clean out the smaller of the barns, the one closest to the house.

It was late afternoon when Liz, covered in grime, insisted they call it a day.

“The place is going to be fabulous,” Margaret said. “I’ll let you know if I find anything out about the map. ”

“Thanks, Margaret. Thank you everyone. I owe you all so much. In fact, I’m going to throw the biggest party this side of the Mississippi when the chateau is done.”

“We can’t wait.” Ruth gave her a quick hug.

Liz trailed behind, following her friends to their vehicles, exhausted from a hard day’s work. The only thing she wanted now were clean clothes and a long soak in a hot tub.

The sound of tires on gravel caught Liz’s attention. She watched a vehicle coast into the driveway and pull in behind her SUV. Her heart plummeted as the driver emerged from the car. “Here we go.”