Coastal Cottage Calamity (A Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Book 2) (15 page)

Chapter Thirty-Two

I must admit it
felt really good having solved the murder along with Miss Vivee. How were we
going to find Koryn Razner, was another story. I had no idea where in Nevada
she’d gone.

If she even went
to Nevada.

Miss Vivee got a
pep in her step after that. We found Brie and Miss Vivee told her she had to go
to Augusta and be with Sydney for Renmar. Brie tried to put up a fuss about it.
Not wanting to drive alone. It was dark out. But Miss Vivee wasn’t having any
of it, and if nothing else Brie, at fifty-something didn’t want to go against
something her mother asked her to do.

I probably could
learn something from that.

Once we put the
clues together and determined that it had been Koryn that killed Oliver, Miss
Vivee was ready to take action. I don’t know what Miss Vivee thought we could
do. Or how she thought we could prove it. But she seemed determined to do
whatever.

Unless, of course,
we got a complete confession from Koryn. Then we wouldn’t need to follow any
clues.

But short of that,
the first thing to do, according to Miss Vivee, was search the room Koryn had
stayed in and see if she’d left any “evidence” behind.

After Brie left
for Augusta, Miss Vivee had me lock up the house. She didn’t want anyone coming
in while we did our search. As late as it was, past desert serving time, I
doubted that anyone would come, still I did as she instructed.

I also doubted
Koryn had left anything behind that would incriminate her. But as usual I
followed Miss Vivee’s lead.

“Maybe we should
tell Bay what we figured out,” I said to Miss Vivee as I checked the lock on
the back door.

“I think that’s a
good idea,” she said.

What? She agreed
with me?

“But I want to
have a looksee first.”

I knew that was
too good to be true.

We headed to the
front of the house, Cat in tow, and locked that door, but before I could get
Miss Vivee halfway up the steps, there came a knock at the door.

“Don’t answer it,”
Miss Vivee said as I turned to see who it was.

“Why,” I frowned
up. “Might be important.”

“Not as important
as getting proof that Renmar didn’t kill Oliver.”

“Miss Vivee,” I
said and went to the door. “Finding out who’s at the door is not going to stop
us from helping Renmar.” I opened the door and couldn’t believe my eyes. So I
shut it back.

“Who was that?”
Miss Vivee asked. Cat scampered over to it and started wagging his tail and
barking.

I turned and
looked at her. “You’ll never believe it.”

“I won’t have to
believe it, if you let them in. I’ll see it with my own eyes.”

I took in a breath
and pulled the door open again.

“It just might
help us even more,” I said staring at the person that stood on the other side
of it.

Cat ran out the
door to the visitor.

“Hey, girl,” the
visitor said and stooped down to scratch Cat around the ears. Cat’s tail was
wagging at full speed, both of them happy as larks. She looked at me. “Why was
the door lock?”

It was Koryn
Razner.

I looked up at
Miss Vivee. “It’s Koryn,” I said, half whispering. I didn’t know what to stay.
Or how to act. I looked at Miss Vivee as she was trying to scramble down the
steps.

“Come on in,
Koryn,” I said.

Wait! Did I just
invite the murderer in the house?

“I was just
getting ready to go around the house and try the back door,” she said. “Thought
I might have to climb through a window,” she chuckled.

“They’re locked,
too,” I said with a dumb smile on my face.

We’re locked tight
in a house with you, you little psychopath.

“Locked. Unlocked.
I can get in,” she said smiling. “It’s easy. I had to run to get out of the way
of trouble lots of times.”

Evidently she was
not only a killer, she was a master at breaking and entering. She would have
been a lot of help to us when we broke into Oliver’s place.

Wait. Oliver.
Killer. Koryn.

I stepped farther
back from her.

Miss Vivee made
her way back down the stairs and sat on her bench. Koryn sat next to her. That
made me want to grab Miss Vivee by her arm and drag her away from Killer Koryn.
Miss Vivee, however, didn’t look the least bit frightened. She sat there,
staring at, or past, I couldn’t tell, Koryn deep in thought.

“I’d gotten to
Augusta, headed for the airport,” Koryn was just talking away. “When I got a
call that said my place that they got for me wouldn’t be ready for another
week. So I’m back. For another week.”

She seemed quite
pleased with her announcement.

“You think that’ll
be okay with Renmar?” Koryn asked she jumped up and headed up the stairs
without waiting for an answer.

“I think it’ll be
fine,” Miss Vivee said. “But Renmar isn’t here.”

Koryn stopped and
put her hand on the banister. Looking down at us, she said, “Oh. Well I can
speak to her when she gets back.”

I don’t think I’d
ever seen Koryn so full of energy and definitely, I’d never seen her smile so much.

Maybe she really is
a psychopath.

“They arrested
Renmar for killing Oliver,” Miss Vivee said. Koryn’s face went flush.

“Renmar? No!” She
said.

“Found her
fingerprints on a Mason jar. One with a butterfly on it,” Miss Vivee said
watching Koryn. I had my eyes on her, too. I wanted to know how a psychopath
would act when confronted with the truth. “Do you know anything about those
jars?”

“Are you talking
about those jars that I ordered?” Koryn asked. “The ones I was going to use for
preserves?” She looked at me.

“Those very same,”
I said.

“Well how could
she have used those?” Koryn asked. “They didn’t come until after Oliver was
dead.”

“It’ll all be
okay,” Miss Vivee said to Koryn. Her voice had changed and the lines that had
been etched in her forehead since Renmar was taken away had disappeared. “Bay
is on it. He’ll see to them knowing that his mother didn’t do it.” Miss Vivee
smiled at her. “Go on up to your room, it’s just like you left it.”

Miss Vivee just
smiled after her as she climbed the rest of the steps. I on the other hand, was
in shock. I slid onto the bench next to Miss Vivee.

“What the heck is
going on?” I whispered. “We’ve got to call the Sheriff. Tie her up. Something.”

“We don’t need to
do anything.”

“Why, Miss Vivee,”
I said. “What is it?”

“I don’t think she
did it.”

“What? Yes. She
did.” I said nodding vigorously. “Motive. Opportunity. Means. Remember?”

She didn’t say
anything for a long time. It made me nervous. My left leg shaking, I kept
licking my lips.

Now what was she
thinking about?

“There’s another
person with all of those things.”

“All what things?”

“Motive. Opportunity.
Means.”

“Who? No it’s not
and we need to call Bay so he can get somebody here to get Koryn.”

“You’re right,”
she said and looked at me. She put her hand on my knee. “Call Bay. Tell him to
get here. And tell him to bring the Sheriff.”

«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»

Bay came in with his
mother. She looked worn out and weary. Miss Vivee went and hugged her. It was
the first time I saw Miss Vivee show any affection to anyone but Bay.

“You okay, baby?”
Miss Vivee asked Renmar.

“Just a little
tired, Mother. They asked me a million questions.” She glanced at Tom Bowlen
and Sheriff Haynes who’d come in the door behind her.

“What’s going on,
Grandmother?” Bay looked at her. “I’m trying to work this case. And you’re
getting in the way.” He cocked his head to one side. “What are you up to?” He
directed his questions to Miss Vivee, but looked at me.

I held up my
hands. “I had nothing to do with this.” I shook my head. “I thought Koryn did
it.”

“Did what?” Bay
and Renmar asked almost simultaneously.

“Kill Oliver.” I
said.

“Kill Oliver,”
Renmar repeated barely audible.

“Yeah. But Miss
Vivee, who I might add put all the clues together that led me to believe that,
has changed her mind and wanted to tell you all about it.”

“See what I mean
about you being a tattletale, Missy?” Miss Vivee frowned her face up at me.
“Tongue always wagging.”

“Grandmother,” Bay
said. He dropped his shoulders and let out a breath. “I told you don’t go
putting your nose into this.”

“If you think I’d
let my daughter go down and do a stint at the big house for a crime she didn’t
commit, you got another thought coming.”

Miss Vivee could
have been a scriptwriter for Goodfellas.

“Look,” Bay said.
“I’ve got to go. I don’t want my mother ‘going down’ for a crime she didn’t do
either. But Tom and I will solve this. Okay?”

“Okay,” Miss Vivee
said. “But I’d be careful of ole Tom Bowlen there.” She pointed to him. “I
don’t know if he really would be any help in finding out who killed Oliver.”

“And why is that,
Grandmother?” Bay asked. He seemed drained, too tired to put up with Miss
Vivee’s antics.

“Because he’s the
one that did it,” Miss Vivee said.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Tom laughed. “How
absurd,” he said and looked at Bay. “You don’t believe her do you?”

“How’s your wife?”
Miss Vivee asked him.

“Tom doesn’t have
a wife, Grandmother.” Bay shook his head and closed his eyes.

“I know that,” she
said. “No ring.”

“B-But . . . He
told me – us that he had a wife,” I said and looked at Miss Vivee.

Everyone looked at
me.

“At the repast.
Came into Miss Vivee’s greenhouse and said he had a beautiful wife.”

“Brown hair and
violet eyes if I remember right. Isn’t that so, Mr. Bowlen?” Miss Vivee added.

“You must’ve
misunderstood me,” he let out a nervous chuckle.

“No. I don’t think
I did,” Miss Vivee said. “Isn’t that what you heard, Logan?”

“Yes ma’am,” I
said. “That’s what I heard.”

I didn’t know
where Miss Vivee was going with this, but I definitely knew that this guy was
lying.

“Brown hair that’s
now dyed white-blonde,” Miss Vivee said in a teasing voice.

“Lindsey Grace?” I
said, more than a hint of surprise in my voice. Memories of Mac’s comment about
dying her roots brown came flooding back. “Is that your wife?” I asked.

“Ex-wife,” Bay
interjected. “I told you he isn’t married.” He looked at Tom. “Is Lindsey your
ex, Tom? Because if she is that might compromise things. She’s a suspect.”

“A suspect? She
couldn’t hurt a fly.” He shook his head and eyed Miss Vivee. “Yeah, she is my
wife. But she’s not a suspect.”

“Of course she
isn’t because you’re the culprit,” Miss Vivee said.

“Grandmother,” Bay
said. “Let me do this.”

“Do what?” Tom
seemed surprise that Bay gave Miss Vivee even the slightest bit of recognition.
“Surely you couldn’t think-”

“Think that my
grandmother could be right?” Bay said. “Like I always say, my grandmother knows
everything.”

“Ask him why he
was the first one at the shoal that day?” Miss Vivee said.

“Why were you, Tom?”

“You know why,
Bay. I’d been visiting family at home. In Dover. You knew that.”

“Is that why you
had a gun on you?” Miss Vivee asked. “Because I’ve noticed ever since that day,
you haven’t carried one.”

“I didn’t have a
gun,” he said as if the notion was ludicrous. “I can’t carry a gun in my position.”

“You had one that
day,” Sheriff Haynes spoke up for the first time.

“Oh. Okay. Now I
remember,” Tom said running his tongue over his bottom lip. “It was my personal
revolver from home. I have a permit. County permit which covers Yasamee. And
Dover.”

“Where you and
Lindsey lived before she divorced you and changed her name,” Miss Vivee said.

“Grandmother,” Bay
warned.

“I don’t know why
she changed her name,” Tom said. “All of this wasn’t permanent. The Divorce.
Her moving here. We were going to get back together.” He licked his lips.
“Eventually.”

“Not now. Not
since she’d taken up with Oliver. Ole cheating Oliver, huh, Tom? He was breaking
her heart.” Miss Vivee looked at me. “What did he say about protecting his
wife, Logan?”

Now I saw where she
was going.

“Said he do anything
to protect her,” I said smiling, happy to be helpful. “Said he’d protect her
with his life.”

“Would that
include getting rid of someone that broke her heart? Made her cry, Tom?”  Miss
Vivee was on a roll.

“I don’t know what
you’re talking about,” Tom said.

“Grandmother!” Bay
looked like he was going to pounce on her if she didn’t stop asking questions.

“Okay, Grandson.
No more questions. But how about if you ask him what he uses as a pesticide in
his little greenhouse?”

Bay flapped his
hands on his side. “Why am I even trying to stop you?” He gestured toward his
grandmother. “Answer her question, Tom.”

“I don’t have a
greenhouse,” he smirked.

Bay looked at his
grandmother and studied her for a moment. Miss Vivee didn’t flinch she kept her
eyes locked on Tom. Bay looked back at him. “Do you have plants?”

“Sure. Who
doesn’t?”

“A lot of plants?”
Bay asked.

“Not as many as
your grandmother.”

“Tom,” Bay’s voice
became sterner. “Don’t play word games with me.”

“I said I have
plants,” Tom grumbled.

“Do you use a
pesticide on them?” Bay asked.

“Yeah. I do. But
that’s no concern of yours. Doesn’t mean anything,” Tom said. He was starting
to fidget, shifting his weight from one brown leather wing-tipped shoed foot to
the other.

“If it doesn’t
mean anything, Tom, then just tell me.”

Tom didn’t say
anything for a long moment. He was thinking, it seemed. Thinking really hard. “You’d
need probable cause to search anything at my house. Fourth Amendment.” Tom’s finally
said, his eyes darting from Bay to the Sheriff’s then to the door. “And a
little old lady’s speculation is not probable cause.”

Renmar shuddered at
his answer, but it made Miss Vivee smile.

“Got him,” she
whispered to me.

The Sheriff slide
in front of the door. Spread his legs shoulder width apart and let the palm of
his hand rest on the handle of his holstered gun.

“I don’t need
probable cause if I’ve got exigent circumstances, Tom. Don’t even need a
warrant,” Bay said arching an eyebrow. “If I suspect you have nicotine over at
your house, and I believe you will try to destroy it before I could get a
warrant, I can go in without one.”

“Lots of people
have nicotine, I’m sure,” Tom said.

“I’m sure of that,
too, Tom. But everyone’s nicotine won’t match the chemical composition of the
nicotine found in Oliver’s body. So how about if we eliminate you as a person
of interest and see if the nicotine you have at your house matches anything?”

“You won’t see
anything at my house.” Tom voice got more forceful, but he didn’t move from
where he stood.

“You got those
Mason jars out of my trash, didn’t you?” Renmar said, her worn look had turned
into one of rage. “You planted them at Oliver’s,” she shouted at him. “That’s
the only way that jar could have gotten there.”

“That day at the
repast. Huh, Tom? When you were helping clean up.” Miss Vivee said. “Is that
when you found them while you were on ‘trash detail,’ as you put it.”

He took in a
breath and shook his head. A smile on his face. “Didn’t know whose fingerprints
was on them,” he chuckled. “Just happened to be yours, Renmar.” He looked at
Bay. “Sorry about that,” he said in a voice that was almost taunting.

“You son-of-a . .
.” Bay struck Tom across the jaw, so hard that he flew backwards into the
Sheriff’s arms.

“Cuff him, Lloyd.”

“You’ll pay for
that, Bay,” Tom said. “You can’t hit people like that and get away with it.”

“Hit who, Tom? I
didn’t hit you. Anyone in here see me hit Tom?

“No,” we said in
chorus.

“Let’s go, Sheriff,”
Bay said. As he walked past us, Bay pointed his finger at me and Miss Vivee. “I
told you two to stay out of this.” My eyes got big as he spoke. “The next pair
of handcuffs may just be for the two of you.”