Trunk Show Murder (A Seagrove Cozy Mystery Book 2) (2 page)

Tracey was pulling on her sweater when Sadie and Lucy returned from the kitchen.

“I’d better be going,” Tracey said. “Thank you for a lovely time.”

“I’ll come with you.” Mara joined her at the door. “We can walk across the park together.”

Lucy handed the two women their bags of merchandise and thanked them for coming. Sadie walked them down the stairs and let them out the front door. She was halfway back up the stairs when the screaming started from outside. She turned around and rushed through the shop and out the door. Mara and Tracey were standing with their backs against the building. Tracey had her hands over her mouth and Mara was crying. They were looking at a pile of rags on the ground between two cars parked nose in on the street.

Sadie stepped off the sidewalk to toe the pile of rags, only it wasn’t a pile of rags, it was Marjorie Rumstocking. Sadie sucked in a breath and bent down to feel for a pulse. Marjorie was dead.

The door to the shop opened and the party spilled onto the street, everyone talking.

“What’s wrong?” “Who is that?” “Is that a person?” “I know CPR.” “How can I help?” “Is that the mayor?” “Marjorie?”

“Do either of you have a cell phone?” Sadie asked Mara and Tracey. Mara nodded.

“Then call 911 and report a suspicious death.” Sadie turned to the others. “The rest of you stay back.” She spotted Lucy at the back of the crowd. “Lucy!”

“Back here, Sadie.” Lucy waved a hand in the air.

“See if you can get them to all go back inside, would you? Make them some coffee,” Sadie said. She waved a hand at the women who’d discovered Marjorie. “Mara and Tracey too.”

They seemed only too happy to file back inside, and then Sadie was distracted by the lights and sirens of the Seagrove PD. The officer in charge was Jude Weston and when she saw Sadie on the sidewalk, she pulled out her cell phone and made a call.

Ten minutes later Chief Zachary Woodstone drove up in his personal car, a battered Jeep of indeterminate age, and joined Sadie on the sidewalk. Sadie was a little surprised, Chief Woodstone was clearly not on duty, not only was he driving his jeep, but he was wearing jeans and a button down shirt. He looked relaxed.

“You okay?” he asked tucking a stray piece of hair back behind Sadie’s ear.

“I’m fine,” she said. “A lot better than Marjorie Rumstocking.”

“That’s Mayor Rumstocking?” He sounded shocked.

“Yeah. I thought that’s why they called you in,” she said. “Didn’t Jude tell you?”

“What Jude told me was that there was a suspicious death outside Sadie Barnett’s. I didn’t wait around to hear anything else. Stay here.”

The Chief went to talk with Jude Weston. Then he stooped to look at the body. He spoke to Jude again then the medical examiner showed up with an ambulance and Zack came back to Sadie.

“Did you find her?” he asked.

“No. I was hosting a trunk sale for Lucy. Two of the women who came to the party found her. Mara Jones and Tracey Starkey.”

“They still here?” he asked.

“Yes. I sent everyone back upstairs with Lucy,” she said.

“Do you know what happened to her?” she asked, nodding in the direction of Marjorie’s body.

“Can’t tell for sure. We’ll need to get statements from the women at your party. I’m not on the case, but I’ll come up with you for moral support if you like.”

“I would like that if you don’t mind.”

“Not a problem,” he said.

Chapter Two

Sadie trooped up the stairs with Chief Woodstone right behind her. Behind him were Jude Weston and two officers she asked to help with questioning. Sadie got the impression they were used to working together and she wondered if they were a discreet team in the Seagrove P.D.. She made a note to ask the Chief about it later.

The women were stuffed into the living and dining rooms, standing in subdued little groups. Jude gathered them into larger groups, sent one group downstairs to be interviewed. The other two groups she split between Sadie’s bedroom and the living room.

Sadie’s group stayed in the living room and she sat on the couch, waiting her turn. The chief sat next to her, and they surveyed the other women left in the room. There wasn’t anything about them that screamed murderer or mayhem. And really, why should there be. These were women Sadie counted as friends.

Jude questioned her about the events of the evening and Sadie told her everything, including Marjorie’s visit earlier in the day. Mara, who was in the group with Sadie and Lucy, went red in the face.

“She came here early to get a jump on the rest of us?” Mara asked.

Sadie nodded, her lips forming a thin line.

“That’s awful,” Mara said. “So unfair.”

“She thinks just because she’s the mayor she deserves better than any of us,” Tracey said and blanched. “Thought she thought she was better. And now she’s dead.” Her face went pale.

“That was just like her,” Shannon said, coming in from the bedroom. “She felt because she was Mayor she should get special treatment. And if you didn’t offer it to her, she just took it. I say she deserved what she got.”

“Surely you don’t think people should be killed for being assholes?” Mara asked. “We’d all be dead.”

“I just meant the karma of it all. She was trying to get her foot in, and she slipped and died on the sidewalk instead. That’s karma intervening.” Shannon made a show of digging through her purse, and she wouldn’t look anyone in the eye.

“Ouch,” Sadie said. “I guess I’d better keep an eye out for karma if it’s going to start bumping us off for being self-interested.” She was trying to lighten the mood, but she knew as the words came out it wasn’t going to work. Damn it, she should have just changed the subject.

“The downstairs people have already left,” Mara said. “Can we go now?”

“Sure,” Jude said. “I think we’ve covered everything. Thank you for your cooperation, ladies.”

They trooped down the stairs and Sadie thanked them for coming to her party. Thankfully the ambulance had already left and there wasn’t anything to remind the women of who had lain there an hour before.

Chief Woodstone asked if he could stay for a while and followed Sadie back upstairs after she let Mr. Bradshaw out of her office. Mr. Bradshaw sulked off into the bedroom while Sadie and Chief Woodstone joined Lucy in the dining room. Lucy was packing up what remained of her jewelry.

“Let us help you with that,” Sadie said, grabbing a cloth bag and sliding a necklace into it.

The three of them stood around the table packing away the rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings that hadn’t been purchased.

“Did you do okay, tonight?” Sadie asked. There seemed to still be quite a lot of jewelry left. Surprising because so many of the women had been covered in it.

“I did very well,” Lucy said. “I brought more than usual because this group complained last time. They were very competitive even without Marjorie. What do you suppose happened?”

“She was murdered,” Chief Woodstone said. “A blunt instrument to the back of the head.”

“How do you know that?” Sadie asked. “You were with me the whole time.”

“The ME texted Jude, and she told me while you were seeing people out,” he said.

“Ugh. Now I’m not going to want to go out my front or my back door. I can’t believe it. No murders in Seagrove for something like fifty years and then there are two in a month and they are both right outside my shop.” Sadie suppressed a shudder.

“Jude is going to have her hands full, finding the killer,” Lucy said. “Didn’t half the town hate the mayor?”

“Hating the mayor and killing Marjorie are two different things,” the chief said. “Killing is very personal – unless you are a contract killer, and contract killers don’t bash people over the head.”

“So you are saying that someone who doesn’t like the mayor can vote against them next election. But to kill her there would have to be a very personal motive. Or what seemed like a personal disagreement?” Lucy said.

“Pretty much,” the chief said. “And right now I can think of two people who fit the bill.”

“Can you tell us?” Sadie asked.

“Its common knowledge,” the chief said, “but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go around town talking about it. No need to get the wind-up.”

“Who is it?” Lucy asked she had stopped packing up and was looking at Chief Woodstone with anticipation.

“There is a developer that has been trying to put a hotel on property overlooking the ocean. City Council has blocked him at every turn. He might think getting the mayor out of the way would change the atmosphere in his favor.” The chief rubbed his forehead.

“Ryan Pallone,” Sadie said. “He wants to ruin our one remaining bluff.” The chief nodded.

“The other is Britt Rumstocking’s boyfriend. Marjorie has forbidden Britt to see him, and he threatened revenge. Did a bunch of property damage at the Rumstocking place doing donuts with his car and driving through hedges.”

“Lawrence Hall,” Lucy said. “I’d forbid my kid to see him too, if I had one, I mean. That kid is up to no good and he thinks he’s untouchable because his dad is rich and on the town council.”

“Is he untouchable?” Sadie asked. “Could you lose your job if you arrested him, Chief?”

“This is Jude’s case, so I won’t be doing the arresting in any case. But no. The town council can’t touch the police department.” The chief held up a pair of earrings – a sliver of a silver moon with a small crystal dangling in the crescent. “You should have these,” he said to Sadie. “They make me think of you.”

“Why do those make you think of me?” Sadie asked, perplexed. A breeze found its way into the room from the open balcony door and she shivered.

“Because you are mysterious like the night?” The chief said. “No, I’m kidding. I’ll tell you some time, but not tonight.”

“Why not tonight?” Lucy asked.

“Because, I don’t want my explanation all tangled up with Marjorie’s murder. It needs its own moment.” The chief looked around. “Are we all done here?” Lucy nodded.

“Good. Can we go into the living room and talk some more? I have some questions.”

Sadie brought three wine glasses and the remains of three bottles of wine. “We might as well finish these up,” she said. “Or I’ll be using them for vinegar.”

They settled themselves, Chief Woodstone on the couch next to Sadie, and Lucy in the comfy chair across from them.

“What I want to know is if any of the women that were here tonight might have wanted Marjorie dead? Because, while it’s possible that her death outside your door was a coincidence, it’s very possible it wasn’t.”

“None of them liked the way Marjorie always turned up early to these things and tried to get the best deals before the others even saw the merchandise. She would say that being mayor should have some perks, but most of the sales reps I know refused to cooperate with her. That doesn’t mean there weren’t plenty that caved. If there was only one of something, you could count on Marjorie going home with it.”

“Anything pointing to a woman with a grudge this evening?” the chief asked.

“Shannon Sinkwater spent a lot of time saying how happy she was that Marjorie didn’t show up. And she made that crack about karma. You heard that.” Sadie said.

“Marjorie had a way of making herself unpopular,” Lucy said. “Just about anyone at the party could have held a grudge against her, including me and Sadie.”

“Neither you or Sadie would hit someone over the head over a grudge,” the chief said. “Of that I’m confident.” He stood up and stretched. “It’s late. I’d better be going.”

“Me too,” Lucy said. “Or I’ll end up sleeping on the couch and wake up with a crick in my neck.” Sadie and Mr. B. walked the chief and Lucy down to the street and helped Lucy load the car.

“Lock the door when we go,” Chief Woodstone said.

“I have to take Mr. Bradshaw for his evening constitutional,” Sadie said.

“Do you even have your keys with you?” the Chief asked.

“As this little conversation could go on for a while, I will say goodnight,” Lucy said. She gave Sadie a hug and shook the Chief’s hand.

“Good luck on the case,” she said. Sadie waved as Lucy drove away.

“I’m just going to take Mr. B. across the street,” she said to the Chief, who was looking at her through slitted eyes. “I’ll never be out of sight of my door.”

“I’ll stay here and wait for you,” he said. “Just to be safe.”

Sadie made sure to avoid the spot Marjorie had been lying, and dashed across the street to let Mr. B. do his business. The Chief was leaning against her door waiting for her when she and Mr. B. got back.

“Now go in and lock the door,” he said.

“I like to stand on the sidewalk and watch my visitors leave,” Sadie said. “Closing the door on people seems so impolite.”

“I’m not leaving until you are locked inside, Sadie Barnett.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “There is a murderer on the loose in this town, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“Oh pooh. No one wants to murder me,” she said.

“I’m sure Marjorie Rumstocking would have said the same thing. Now in with you.” He opened the door and held it for her.

She stood for a moment and then gave up and walked in. Probably he was even more stubborn than she was. And besides that it was late. He closed the door behind her and she locked it.

“Good night, Chief” she called through the door.

“It’s Zack, Sadie. Zack.”

She waited downstairs until she heard the jeep engine roar to life and then she and Mr. Bradshaw went upstairs to bed.

The next morning dawned clear and warm. Not that Sadie was up to see the dawn. She barely had time to make herself coffee in her new one serving coffee maker before going down and opening the shop. Normally, she would have set herself up at a table on the sidewalk, with her coffee and the shop financials. But she imagined she could see a blood stain on the street where Marjorie had fallen, so she stayed inside.

The shop had been open for an hour when Sadie’s new assistant, Betty Versa, came in. She was a little taller than Sadie, and a little rounder, with short black curls and dark, smiling eyes.

“I’m here,” she said. “And I’ll never understand why you don’t just let me open in the morning. Do you ever have customers before nine?”

“No, not really,” Sadie said. “But I’m so used to having an early cup of coffee with Roger next door, it’s hard for me to get out of the habit of getting up early. And once I’m down here I may as well open. Don’t you think?”

“Just know that if you are ever not here in the morning, first I’ll open the shop and set everything up. And then I’ll panic and call the hospital and the police department,” Betty said.

“Maybe you should check upstairs to make sure I didn’t just sleep in before you call the Chief. He has a tendency toward overdramatization where I’m concerned,” Sadie said. “I wish he’d get over it.”