Fruitcake Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 26 (A Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) Read online

  “Do you still have the order for those birds?” Chas asked.

  “It should be in the files, hang on,” Jason said, turning to the file cabinet behind the front counter. “Yep, here it is,” he handed it to the detective.

  “Do you mind if I take this with me?” he asked, taking the paper gingerly by one corner.

  “Not at all, I just need to get a copy of it first, for the file.”

  As he was making a copy, Chas asked if he could remember where the envelope had been mailed from.

  “Yeah, I looked at it, because I thought it was a really strange request. It was mailed from here in town, and didn’t have a return address on it.”

  He handed the paper back to the detective, who then bade him farewell and headed out to check out the address where the birds had been delivered. Arriving at the tiny, ramshackle dwelling, he concurred that the place looked deserted and in need of demolition. He looked for any possible clues, and, finding nothing, decided to do a records search on the property when he returned to his office, suspecting that it would be of no help at all.

  The house actually had been abandoned, years ago, when its final owner died of natural causes. It was scheduled for demolition, and interviews with neighbors of surrounding properties turned up no recollection of anyone having been there in recent history. Faced with a dead end, Chas filed all of the information away, wondering why the birds from the pet shop 45 minutes away had turned up dead in his back yard.

  Chapter 4

  Mornings were always a special time for Missy and the dogs. After Chas headed into the office, the “girls” hit the beach, where Missy would walk, while Toffee and Bitsy romped, played and splashed in the edge of the surf with great abandon. They usually headed out just as the sun was rising and the water was bathed in a gorgeous rosy glow. Today, Missy had slept in a bit, so the sun was higher in the sky, and her canine friends were dancing with the prospect of getting outside.

  Decked out in yoga pants and a hooded sweatshirt to combat the cool dampness of the morning, Missy snapped leashes onto the collars of her wiggling furry friends, and opened the back door, screaming when she saw what awaited her on the stoop. The former Louisianan had a pathological fear of snakes, and right outside the back door was a tangled pile of them. They weren’t writhing, so she assumed that they were dead, but that knowledge did nothing to ease the flood of adrenalin rocketing through her system. She leaned against the back door, trying to catch her breath and slow her pounding heart, shuddering when she thought of what lie on the other side.

  She knew that her girls had needs to take care of, so she led them through the house and out the front door, where, mercifully, there were no dead creatures awaiting her, though she scanned nearby grasses in case any relatives of the deceased happened to appear. Once the ladies had taken care of their necessary business, she hurried them back inside and called Chas, embarrassed at her own weakness.

  “Sweetie, I’m really sorry to bother you, but since Spencer isn’t here to take care of things, I didn’t know what to do,” she told the detective, then explained what had happened.

  “Just stay inside and don’t worry about it,” he advised. “I’ll be home shortly to take care of it.”

  Chas came home and surveyed the mass of snakes on the back porch, staying a respectful distance away until he determined that they all were, in fact, dead. The varieties were harmless types, garter, ribbon and black racers, that were tangled and twisted together in a gruesome glob. He photographed them as they were, then separated them in order to count them. There were twelve of the limp, cold reptiles, and he frowned as he disposed of them by digging a relatively deep hole on the edge of the property, near where he had buried the birds.

  “Chas, what’s going on?” Missy asked quietly when he came into the house after his gruesome task. “Dead animals have shown up two days in a row. Is there a poison of some sort on the property? Is there something wrong with the water? I don’t want Toffee and Bitsy to be in danger,” she worried.

  “I don’t think you need to worry about the girls, sweetie. I’m going to try to figure out what’s going on here. In the meantime, just stay calm and make sure that the doors are locked when you’re here alone.”

  “Do you think that someone is killing the animals and leaving them here?” her eyes widened.

  “Like I said, I’m going to try to figure out what’s going on. Until I do, don’t worry, just be careful,” he advised her gently, kissing her cheek.

  “I hate snakes,” she shuddered. “I just can’t help it.”

  “It’s okay,” Chas soothed. “I think most people would’ve freaked out a little bit upon finding what you found,” he said, holding her snuggled to his chest. “I need to get back to the office, but if you get too weirded out, just give me a call and I’ll try to get some things done from home.”

  “Oh, I’m just being a big baby,” Missy smiled ruefully. “I’ll be fine. I’m just going to curl up with a good book.”

  Chas headed back to the office far more concerned than he had let on. He had some research to do, and if his suspicions were correct, his beloved wife might be in terrible danger. There had been a serial killer a few years ago who used to do a countdown to murder using animals. He’d start at the number thirteen, then work his way down to number one, who was always a human victim. So far, thirteen birds and twelve snakes had perished. If his hunch played out, there’d be eleven more victims of some sort, most likely by tonight or tomorrow. He would look up the killer’s status on the computer when he returned to the office.

  **

  The detective was puzzled. The “Countdown Killer” was still in jail in the Midwest, serving his time for the atrocities that he had committed, which meant that Chas was either dealing with a copycat killer, or a bizarre coincidence, and he didn’t believe in coincidences. Concerned, he made a phone call and arranged for a patrol car to drive by the Inn and cupcake shop periodically to make sure that no strangers were lurking about.

  Chapter 5

  “Eww…that’s disgusting,” Echo wrinkled her nose when Missy told her and Kel about what had happened the last couple of mornings. The duo had arrived for coffee and cupcakes shortly after Chas had finished burying the snakes.

  “That’s more than disgusting, it’s disturbing,” Kel commented, frowning.

  “What do you mean?” Missy asked.

  “Have you ever heard of the “Countdown Killer”?” the mystery buff asked.

  Echo and Missy looked at each other, wide-eyed, and both shook their heads.

  “He killed animals in a descending order, starting at the number thirteen. His first victim had thirteen rats left on her bed,” the artist made a face. “Did you happen to count how many birds and snakes there were?”

  “Goodness, no!” Missy grimaced. “I didn’t want to touch the birds because I thought that disease might be involved, and I don’t go near snakes…ever.”

  “Did Chas count them?”

  “I have no idea, but he did seem to be preoccupied when he left,” she admitted.

  “Well, the good news is that the Countdown Killer has been in prison for years and will be there for the rest of his life because of the heinous things that he did,” Kel said, still sounding grim.

  “Then what’s the bad news?” Echo asked, picking up on his mood.

  “Probably nothing,” Kel shook it off. “We don’t even know how many animals are dead. Have you thought about checking around for spilled chemicals or poisons that they might have gotten into?”

  “I haven’t, but I wondered whether it might not be something like that. I just want Toffee and Bitsy to be safe.”

  “It’s too bad that this is happening when Spencer is on vacation,” Echo mused. “Something tells me you’d feel much better about things with him here during the day.”

  “Yeah, I would, but I’m sure this’ll all turn out to be just one weird coincidence,” Missy said with more confidence than she felt. The three of them si
pped their coffee in silence for a bit.

  “So, are you all ready for the gala?” Kel asked, changing the subject to take Missy’s mind off of it.

  “Yes, everything is set. All that’s left is for Carla to come over and help me decorate. You two are welcome to pitch in and help with that if you’d like.”

  “I’m in,” Echo responded enthusiastically.

  “I believe that I’ll entrust that particular task to the three of you,” Kel demurred.

  “Chicken,” Echo teased her boss.

  “Call it what you will, my lovely, but I’m not anxious to insert myself into a situation where I’ll be overridden and outvoted every time. You talented ladies are more than capable of handling it without me.”

  “But who’ll climb up the ladder and hammer the nails?” Missy asked.

  “Undoubtedly someone whose living does not depend upon the health and wholeness of both hands,” the artist replied tartly.

  “Good point,” Echo nodded. “We’ll make Carla do it,” she chuckled.

  Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the front doorbell.

  “Are you expecting someone?” Echo asked.

  Missy shook her head and went to the door, opening it to find a man in blue coveralls, carrying a canister with a hose and nozzle protruding from it.

  “Hello,” she said, curious and a bit frightened.

  “Hi. I’m Gus, from Perkins Pest Control. I’ve sprayed the areas that Maggie had asked me to, and…” he began.

  “Oh! Pest Control – that makes sense! Were you out here a couple of days ago?” Missy asked, relieved.

  “Uh…no ma’am, I just got here about an hour ago, but I noticed something that you might want to take care of,” Gus replied.

  “Really, what?” she asked, with trepidation, as Echo and Kel hovered in the background.

  “I found a bunch of dead mice over behind the pool cabana. They may have gotten into the pool chemicals or something, but I’m thinking that you might want to do some preventative maintenance for mice. I can come back on Thursday and take care of that for you. Did you want me to dispose of the mice that are over there?

  “No, my husband will take care of that,” Missy murmured, disheartened and afraid. “Are mice problems common in this area?”

  “No, not really, but it can happen, no reason to be embarrassed,” Gus tried to be helpful.

  “I’m not embarrassed,” she shook her head, unable to concentrate. “Let me get back to you on the preventative measures, okay?” she asked him.

  “Sure thing,” he nodded. “I’ll just finish up here and mail you your bill if that’s alright.”

  “That’s fine, thank you Gus,” Missy said before closing the door.

  “Do you think he’s the animal killer?” Echo whispered, wide-eyed. “I mean, that would totally make sense.”

  “No, Gus is legit,” Kel shook his head. “He’s been doing pest control in Calgon for years, but I’m really wondering if he found eleven mice.”

  “Should we go look?” Missy asked, a horrified look on her face.

  “I’ll do it,” the artist volunteered with a sigh. “If there are eleven, it’s definitely time to call Chas.”

  “Well?” Echo demanded when Kel came back into the Inn a few minutes later.

  The artist was more serious than they’d ever seen him. “Make the call,” he said quietly.

  This time when Chas came out to investigate, he brought a forensics team with him, determined to get to the bottom of the strange series of events that always seemed to happen when he wasn’t home.

  Chapter 6

  As usual, when Missy was stressed, she invented new recipes and baked in order to keep her mind occupied. It almost worked, but she nearly jumped out of her skin when the doorbell rang.

  “Oh, Carla, thank goodness,” she breathed, answering the door.

  “Well, it’s good to see you too, honey,” the decorator laughed, breezing past her friend. “I’m ready to attack that ballroom. Let’s take a look before I bring in all of the decorations,” she strode toward the empty ballroom.

  Missy’s heartbeat returned to some semblance of normal as she trailed after Carla, who was clearly full of energy and ready to make things happen. She’d be the perfect distraction today.

  “Mmm…something smells good,” the decorator remarked, surveying the ballroom with a critical eye.

  “The cupcakes!” Missy exclaimed, dashing from the room.

  “Did you save them?” Carla chuckled when the harried baker returned.

  “Fortunately, yes. They were perfect.”

  “Good. Now, I think that we can leave some of the Christmas decorations up. I like the “snow” and the twinkle lights, we can just put the tree and garland away and supplement with lots of glitter and glitz. I have some fabric that really sparkles. We can use it for bows and to soften up some hard surfaces, like tabletops,” the decorator mused, in full décor mode.

  “That sounds great. I trust your vision,” Missy nodded. “What do we need to do first?”

  “Well, you can start taking down the tree, and I’ll run out to my car to get the boxes that I brought.”

  “Sounds good. We’ll take a break later so that I can frost the latest batch of cupcakes.”

  “And I’ll be your quality control supervisor,” Carla joked, heading for the front door.

  Missy had just climbed the ladder to take the star from the top of the majestic tree, when she heard a piercing scream come from the front of the house. Clamoring down as quickly as she could without falling, she ran for the front door, only to see Carla dash back in, her eyes round with horror.

  “Carla, what is it?” Missy asked, her heart in her throat.

  “Oh gosh, Missy, I’m so sorry. I’m overreacting. I’m just such a baby about these kinds of things,” the decorator apologized, trembling. “It’s no big deal, really.”

  “What’s not a big deal?” Missy was confused.

  “Go look at the door knocker.”

  Missy opened the door inward to see the lion’s head door knocker, and discovered what had Carla so spooked. There were nine huge brown cockroaches dangling from fishing line that had been tied to the knocker, obviously in the short time frame that Carla had been in the Inn. Whoever was doing this was growing bolder, striking when people were in the house in broad daylight.

  “Actually, this is a very big deal,” she murmured, closing the door slowly. “But why were there only nine of them. We’re supposed to be on number ten…”

  “Missy…are you okay?” Carla gazed at her friend with concern, never having seen her behave this way.

  “I need to call Chas,” she replied, pulling her phone out of her jacket pocket.

  **

  “Well, who on earth would do such a thing?” the decorator wondered as they waited for the detective. “I mean, not only is it incredibly weird, but what kind of sick person would actually touch those…things?” she shuddered.

  “I wish I knew,” Missy said, wide-eyed.

  “Honey, what’s going on here? You’re having a reaction that is far too profound for a handful of bugs. I’m a drama queen and I got past it more quickly than you are, what’s up?”

  Missy told her about the things that had been happening, the Countdown Killer, and the fact that Spencer was on vacation.

  “Well, that was poor timing,” she remarked.

  Chas came to the house and photographed the bugs, taking them down and disposing of them so that Missy and Carla could come in and out of the house to unload the car without encountering roach carcasses.

  “What are we going to do?” Missy asked, when Chas came back inside.

  “I’m trying to figure out who’s doing this and why, but until I do, I’d really feel safer if someone was here with you at all times while I’m gone.”

  “Echo and I could take turns keeping her company, depending upon who’s busy and who’s not at any given time,” Carla suggested.

  �
��I like that idea,” Missy said, and her husband nodded his approval.

  “Good. You three work that out, and I’ll keep trying on my end,” he promised, giving her a kiss on his way out. “Just try to be aware of what’s happening around you,” he cautioned them.

  “Chas, why do you think he skipped number ten?” his wife asked, biting her lip.

  “My suspicion is that number ten didn’t get skipped, we just haven’t found it yet,” he said grimly. “If it was skipped, that could be significant. I’m going to get a couple of my guys out here to take a look around. They’ll be in uniform, so you’ll know that they’re supposed to be here.”

  “Thanks, sweetie,” Missy hugged him hard.

  “You girls have fun,” he smiled at her fondly, then nodded at Carla and left.

  “Well, even if it’s for a bad reason, we just got ordered to have girl’s days until further notice,” Carla pointed out.

  “I guess there’s a silver lining to every situation,” Missy smiled weakly, trying to play along.

  The decorator saw through her pitiful façade and gave her a hug. “It’s going to be okay, honey. That handsome devil of a husband that you have will catch the bad guys and life will be back to normal in no time,” she encouraged.

  “I sure hope so.”

  “I know so. Now, we’re going to go outside and bring in the boxes from my car, then we’re going to come back in here, and you’re going to frost cupcakes while I decorate, then we’re going to indulge in coffee and cupcakes. I’ll text Echo to see if she can join us.”

  “Thanks, Carla,” Missy smiled gratefully.

  “No thanks needed, I just discovered that I get to hang out with you instead of going back home and watching TV. Life is good,” she winked, dialing Echo’s number.

  Chapter 7

  “Wow, you two did an amazing job,” Echo nodded appreciatively, gazing at the glitter and glitz of the ballroom.

  “Thanks. Carla really knows how to keep my mind off of my troubles.”

  “Just keep feeding me cupcakes and I’ll keep you busy,” the decorator grinned.