Memories and Murder Read online

  It’s October in South Cove, California, and the locals in the quaint resort seem to be happily pairing off in the lull before the holidays. Everyone, that is, except for Jill Gardner’s elderly aunt, who just dumped her besotted fiancé—and she won’t say why.

  When Jill hosts a talk at Coffee, Books, and More on the topic of elder abuse, all that’s really on her mind is lunch. But the topic hits close to home when she discovers Aunt Jackie has been getting mysterious calls. Jill’s certain the caller is a con artist, of course, but her feisty aunt claims to understand this, though she’s still shaken—and Harrold’s still heartbroken. Who’s behind the scam and why was her aunt targeted? When a volunteer from the Senior Project is found murdered, Jill’s detective boyfriend is on the case—and it soon becomes clear no one is safe when a caller from beyond becomes a killer in their midst.

  Also by Lynn Cahoon

  The Tourist Trap Mysteries

  Killer Party

  Hospitality and Homicide

  Tea Cups and Carnage

  Murder on Wheels

  Killer Run

  Dressed to Kill

  If the Shoe Kills

  Mission to Murder

  Guidebook to Murder

  The Cat Latimer Mysteries

  Sconed to Death

  Slay in Character

  Of Murder and Men

  Fatality by Firelight

  A Story to Kill

  The Farm-to-Fork Mysteries

  One Potato, Two Potato, Dead

  Killer Green Tomatoes

  Who Moved My Goat Cheese?

  Memories and Murder

  A Tourist Trap Mystery

  Lynn Cahoon

  LYRICAL UNDERGROUND

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  Copyright

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  LYRICAL UNDERGROUND BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2019 by Lynn Cahoon

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  All Kensington titles, imprints, and distributed lines are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotion, premiums, fund-raising, educational, or institutional use.

  Special book excerpts or customized printings can also be created to fit specific needs. For details, write or phone the office of the Kensington Sales Manager: Kensington Publishing Corp., 119 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018. Attn. Sales Department. Phone: 1-800-221-2647.

  Lyrical Underground and Lyrical Underground logo Reg. US Pat. & TM Off.

  First Electronic Edition: November 2019

  ISBN-13: 978-1-5161-0304-1 (ebook)

  ISBN-10: 1-5161-0304-1 (ebook)

  First Print Edition: November 2019

  ISBN-13: 978-1-5161-0307-2

  ISBN-10: 1-5161-0307-6

  Printed in the United States of America

  Contents

  Also by Lynn Cahoon

  Memories and Murder

  Copyright

  Contents

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Welcome back to South Cove!

  About the Author

  Guidebook to Murder

  Mission to Murder

  If The Shoe Kills

  Dressed to Kill

  Killer Run

  Murder on Wheels

  Tea Cups and Carnage

  Hospitality and Homicide

  Killer Party

  Dedication

  Dedication to the crew at IDHW—Region IV—Teresa, Roger, Gaylynne, Randy, Loretta, Shirley—Thanks for teaching me that the most important factor in caring for people is not the rules but the implementation and delivery of the news.

  Acknowledgments

  Memories and Murder brought me back to my time working in social services agencies serving the poor, elderly, and people with disabilities. I have strong feelings about making sure we care for others, but being my Libra self, I see both sides of the political discussion. Even if we don’t always agree, I love people like Paula, Sadie Michaels, and Pastor Bill. I’ve worked all sides: the state/federal agencies, the nonprofits, and the long-term care industry, but if I’ve gotten something wrong, it’s my error, not my research assistants.

  Finding myself in the publishing world, I’ve surrounded myself with caring and supportive team members to support my career as an author. Big thanks to Esi and the crew at Kensington for their attention to both me as their author and the books we develop together. And thanks to my amazing agent, Jill Marsal, for her help in developing my career.

  Chapter 1

  To everything, there is a season. This truth was given to us in the Bible as well as through the sacred music of the Byrds. Life goes in cycles. As I sat and listened to Paula Woods from the Senior Project talk to the business-to-business meeting, I pondered my own life and seasons. And, of course, the seasons of the ones I loved. As the South Cove city council liaison for the business community, it was my job to set up these monthly meetings. Most months we talked about upcoming marketing festivals or rules and regulations that the city council had taken up for discussion. This month, the topic was hitting closer to home.

  I’m Jill Gardner. I set up the meeting and its agenda, but I also own Coffee, Books, and More, our regular meeting place. We are the only coffee-shop-slash-bookstore in our small coastal town.

  In addition to the community business agenda items, we had a guest speaker. Paula was also a member of Sadie Michaels’s church. Sadie had advocated for Paula to have a slot on this month’s agenda.

  October was a slow month for topics, with everyone getting back in gear from the holidays, so I’d scheduled her in for the last hour of our meeting. I could tell she was winding down and so was the attention span of our attending members. Me? I was checking my dark, curly hair for split ends.

  “I just wanted to thank Jill again for inviting me to speak with you. Elder abuse is a serious topic that our country needs to address. And I hope all of you will think about the care and attention older people in your life need and deserve. Thank you.” Paula looked my way, and I took that as my cue, jumping up to take the microphone before Mayor Baylor could even get out of his chair.

  “Thank you, Paula, for your thoughtful presentation. I know a lot of us will be thinking about what you said for a while.” That got me a glare from my aunt, who neither acted like nor admitted to being elderly. “I just wanted to remind everyone that our next meeting is after Octoberfest finishes, so I though
t Darla might have some last-minute instructions for us. Darla, do you mind? I know I didn’t have this on the agenda.”

  “Not a problem.” Darla Taylor made her way to the front table. She’d been in charge of South Cove’s festivals for as long as I’d owned my shop. Well, except for that one Christmas, but even then, she’d saved the day after the mayor’s wife had messed up the planning. “I was going to jump in with some reminders before we closed anyway.”

  As Darla came up, the mayor glanced at his watch. I passed by his chair and he grabbed my arm, bringing me down to his level. He whispered in my ear, “I need to get back to my office.”

  “Go ahead and leave. You’re not being held hostage.” I turned toward him so my voice wouldn’t carry over Darla’s.

  “You know I like to close the meeting. Besides, its election year and I need to remind people to register to vote.” He cocked his head and studied me. “Your boyfriend isn’t thinking about running for mayor this year, is he? Maybe this is a ploy to keep me from getting in front of the business owners?”

  “I’m not Greg’s campaign manager.” I saw the fear my choice of words had caused. I pulled my arm free, certain everyone was pretending to listen to Darla but really focused on our little spat. “Anyway, he’s not running. At least, not to my knowledge. Stop being paranoid. Go now or stay and talk. It’s your call.”

  When I sat down, Aunt Jackie leaned over, unable to squelch her curiosity. She was dressed casually today in the blue Chanel suit that made her silver hair shine. She wore pearl earrings, but instead of the matching strand, she had on an old, silver heart necklace I hadn’t seen her wear in years. “What did Mayor Bird want?”

  I snorted at the nickname our mayor had been given, mostly because of his too-high voice. He glared at me across the table, like he knew what I was laughing about.

  “He’s afraid he won’t have time to campaign with the group this morning. We’re taking too much of his precious time.” I glanced over at Deek Kerr, who was watching the proceedings with interest. Of course, the newest barista thought everything was interesting. He claimed to be a professional student, but at least with the barista job, he could convince his mom he was trying to be self-sufficient. He fit right in to the casual California lifestyle, with his blond dreadlocks and surfer-boy tan and looks, but the kid was scary smart. This month, his dreadlocks were tinged with electric blue.

  He saw my look and held up an empty coffee carafe. I shook my head. If we gave the group another round of coffee, they may never leave the shop. It was almost ten and time for Coffee, Books, and More to be serving actual customers.

  “Well, maybe if he would actually do some mayor-type work, he wouldn’t have to campaign so hard.” Aunt Jackie checked her phone. It was a habit she’d picked up since she’d abruptly canceled her engagement with Harrold Snider a few months before. From what I could tell, Harrold, the owner of The Train Station, was my aunt’s soul mate, so I had no clue why she’d taken such a drastic step. Soul mates were hard to find, and my aunt had gotten two in one lifetime. She’d loved her first husband without hesitation, and I wondered if her fear of losing that memory was what had made her run scared from Harrold. Whatever the reason, I was hoping for a quick reconciliation. My aunt was better when she was with Harrold. That wasn’t just my opinion; it was a fact.

  Fifteen minutes later, when the meeting closed—after the mayor had cheerfully reminded everyone to register to vote and that he would appreciate their support in the May primaries—I drew in a deep breath. I know these meetings only happened once a month, but they took a toll on me. I guess it was my nature to worry about things going horribly wrong with each meeting just because of my planning or lack of planning. Kind of like those dreams where I didn’t study for the math test.

  Sadie Michaels waved me over to where she stood talking to Paula. Sadie owned Pies on the Fly, which was my dessert supplier for the shop as well as being one of my best friends. Sadie looked like a baker out of a fairy tale. Her cotton dress and sweater had a fifties vibe, and she always seemed to have a bit of flour on her somewhere. She took Paula’s arm and turned her toward me as I walked up. “Tell her she did awesome.”

  “It was a great talk. You gave out a lot of statistics I didn’t know about.” I had known Sadie would put me in this position, and because Paula’s talk had been almost painful to listen to due to her shyness and lack of speaking skills, I had found at least one good thing to say.

  Paula adjusted the purse strap on her shoulder. “You don’t have to be nice. I know I’m not the most powerful speaker. But I am working on it. My boss tells me I need to practice more. She’s always sending me out of town to talk to different groups. I keep telling her I’m not ready, but I still get sent. I’m part of a Toastmasters club that meets twice a month in Bakerstown. Your mayor attends our group, and man, can he talk.”

  That was probably an understatement, but apparently, Paula had a good impression of our mayor, so I’d leave her with that. “Sounds like you’re really working on your career path. How long have you worked for the Senior Project?”

  “Just over fifteen years. I started as an intern in college. My grandmother was dealing with some fraud issues, and when I went to talk to them, I decided to become part of the solution.” She glanced outside, where a tall man with dark hair stood near the door. She waved at him, and I saw the come-to-me wave he gave her back. “I hate to cut this short, but I have to go. Ben, my boyfriend, is here. He’s taking me to lunch today. He’s such a sweetheart. I swear, he spends as much time volunteering at the center as I do working there.”

  As she walked away, Sadie watched her leave the shop before turning to me. Over Sadie’s shoulder, I saw the couple through the window. Paula reached for the guy’s hand, but he ignored it and started walking away. “He could have come in and heard her talk.”

  “It’s probably a good thing for their relationship that he didn’t.” Sadie grimaced at the memory. “I owe you big-time for that one. I had no idea she was such a bad presenter. She’d told me she’d been in that speaking club for years.”

  “Yeah, but if Mayor Baylor is in the same club, she probably doesn’t get a lot of practice time.” I nodded to the coffee bar. “It’s been forever since we talked. Do you have time for coffee and one of your brownies?”

  I knew tempting Sadie with the treats she supplied us with for the shop wasn’t the best incentive, but it was all I had. And her brownies were really good.

  “I think I can squeeze out fifteen minutes for a friend. Amy and Justin are coming over Saturday afternoon to test cakes. I’ve already got fifteen sample cakes done, but I want to give her a few more choices.” She walked with me to the bar, where she sat while I got the coffee and brownies.

  “After fifteen cakes, I wouldn’t know what I liked because I’d be on a sugar high.” I filled cups and sat them in front of her, then went for the brownies. Amy Newman, my friend, worked at City Hall doing a little bit of everything. And a few months ago, she’d announced her engagement. Now, it was all about the wedding for her.

  As Aunt Jackie moved behind me, she leaned close. “Don’t forget to charge those to the marketing budget. We don’t get those brownies for free, you know.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I dished up the brownies, then wrote out a receipt and put it in the till. When I heard the door at the top of the stairs shut, I walked over and sat down next to Sadie. “She’s still in a funk. I keep trying to get her to tell me what Harrold did, but she insists he didn’t do anything and this is none of my business.”

  “Well, she’s right about that.” Sadie put a comforting hand on my arm as I started to object. “It’s not about you, Jill. This is her life, and if she called the wedding off, there has to be a good reason.”

  “I’ve talked to Harrold. He’s as confused as I am. One minute Aunt Jackie’s all bridezilla about the weight of the paper for the invitations. The next, she ver
y calmly and politely dumps him the night of Amy’s engagement party.” I sipped my coffee. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Have you thought about talking to her doctors? Or Mary?” Sadie bit into the brownie and groaned. “I know it’s prideful to talk about your own cooking, but these are amazing.”

  “Mary’s as confused as Harrold. And what’s worse is Aunt Jackie won’t talk to her. She’s canceled three get-togethers at the last minute with very flimsy excuses.” I broke off a piece of brownie and popped it into my mouth. Chocolate explosion. After I chased it down with a sip of coffee, I frowned. “That’s not like her at all. Maybe I should call her doctor. She gave me a health power of attorney last year. That should get me around the doctor-patient confidentiality stuff.”

  “It might. If you need someone to get her out of her apartment so you can go snooping, let me know. We’ve been talking about visiting this restaurant supply place to get me new pans. She has connections.” Sadie finished the brownie, then looked at the clock. “I better go. Three cakes today. Three tomorrow, and I’ll be done. Then I’m helping Pastor Bill sort the food pantry. We got a ton of donations during the holidays. There’s no way to figure out what we have to give away.”

  After Sadie left, Deek finished setting the dining room back up, then leaned over the bar, looking out the window. “Your friend is crushing on the preacher dude.”

  I smiled as I turned back around. Sadie was precisely crushing on Pastor Bill, but I had thought I was the only one who saw it. Deek was intuitive. His mom was a psychic and friends with South Cove’s only fortune-teller and my neighbor, Esmeralda. “And why do you say that?”

  “Don’t play coy with me. She brightens up when she talks about spending time with him. And don’t tell me it’s because she loves serving God. I mean, yeah, there’s some of that, but she wants that guy. I watch her every Sunday before, during, and after service. She’s by his side, at his beck and call. Personally, I think it sets a bad example. She should be a little less available.” He took Sadie’s cup and plate and rinsed them to put into the dishwasher.