Murder in the Marigolds Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  About This Book

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  About Nabbed in the Nasturtiums

  Get Your Free Book Now

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Copyright Page

  About This Book

  A new cozy mystery series from USA Today best-selling author Dale Mayer. Follow gardener and amateur sleuth Doreen Montgomery—and her amusing and mostly lovable cat, dog, and parrot—as they catch murderers and solve crimes in lovely Kelowna, British Columbia.

  Riches to rags … Chaos has never been so supreme … Now a suspect herself … No calm in sight …

  Being a suspect in the murder of her ex-lawyer is not the fun Doreen thought it would be. And, of course, she’s been ordered to stay away from the case, … but she can’t help being interested. So she enlists Mack’s brother, Nick—her new lawyer—to help.

  Mack’s first priority is to clear Doreen as a suspect. No one in their right mind would seriously believe she’d done the deed, of course. … But, the fact is, she had both motive and opportunity, so clearing her of suspicion isn’t the walk in the park that Mack would like it to be. Especially not when she insists on sticking her nose into his case, where it doesn’t belong.

  And just when Doreen is certain things can’t get any worse, answering her doorbell shows her that this nightmare has just started. Who just walked into her life? None other than her soon-to-be-ex-husband, … Mathew …

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  Prologue

  Saturday Morning …

  Three days later Izzy and Isaac, after promises were made to stay in touch, had been dispatched to Vancouver and a family who awaited their joyous reunion. Martin would be in jail for a very long time. He had finally confessed that he couldn’t take his eyes off Izzy, when he was down on the coast for a trip stocking up, and had managed to snatch the girl from her parents and had kept her with him ever since. Nobody had been any the wiser, and, when Isaac had been born, Martin just made up lies about how he’d arrived, and everybody had basically accepted it.

  If Izzy hadn’t caught Thaddeus and hadn’t put that message on his leg, she might still have been a captive there. It just didn’t bear thinking about.

  As soon as she got dressed and made her way downstairs, Doreen made coffee. Three days had passed since all that. Three days and her shoulder was finally nowhere near as sore. It still hurt to lift her arm above her head, but at least the oozing of blood had stopped, and it wasn’t the gut-wrenching agony that she’d been dealing with. The pain was much lighter now, much softer, more distant. As she sat outside on the deck, she heard a vehicle drive up. Mugs immediately woofed a welcome. She looked down at him and laughed. “It’s Mack, isn’t it?”

  Mack, instead of coming through the house, walked around the back, then smiled at seeing her. He had something large in his hand. She looked at it and asked, “What the devil is that?”

  He lifted it up, and she saw that it was a table—he’d been carrying it sideways. He plunked it down on the deck beside her, and she cried out, “Where did you get that from?”

  “One of the guys at work was getting rid of it,” he said. “I said that you needed it, and he immediately offered it up. I’ve got the chairs in the back of the truck too.” He disappeared and made two trips, carrying two chairs at a time. She just froze. Finally she had a table with four chairs sitting on her deck. She stared in amazed delight.

  “It’s just beautiful,” she said. It was glass and acrylic, and it looked lovely. It was also the nicest outdoor set she’d ever had since living here. She immediately moved to sit down at the table with her coffee and grinned up at him. “Now, if only there was something to eat. And more coffee. I’m almost out.”

  He sagged into the chair beside her and stared at her. “I doubt it’s that bad but if it is, I can stop and pick up a pack,” he said. But something was strange about his voice.

  “I’m really happy you came,” she said, “and thank you so much for the table and chairs.”

  He nodded, but he was slightly distracted. He motioned at her shoulder that had been nicked by a bullet. “How are you doing with that shoulder now?”

  “I’m better,” she said, cheerfully lifting her cup and taking a big drink. Mack just glared at her. “Okay. It still bothers me. But not like it did.” When he remained silent, she worried. “What’s the matter?” she asked, her gaze sharpening. He shrugged and wouldn’t meet her eyes. “More coffee’s in the kitchen, if you want a cup.”

  “I’m fine,” he said.

  “Uh-oh.” Something was really wrong. “And that means something pretty ugly is going on.”

  He nodded. “There is, and you’ll hear about it soon enough,” he said, his fingers tapping the table.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  “Have you—” And then he stopped.

  “Have I what?”

  He sighed. “You know the marigolds in the flower garden down at the big Welcome to Kelowna sign? The old one? There’s talk of a new one north of the airport.”

  “Yeah, the one that I spent a lot of time on, trying to design a layout for the city? It was a pretty bunch of flowers, as I remember. I can’t remember all of them, but some lovely marigolds were there, I think. They are tearing that one down? So that’s why the contract didn’t go through. Or maybe I misunderstood, and they were designing the new one.” She frowned at that thought. It did explain why that scenario never moved ahead.

  He nodded. “Yeah, that one. We found a body there this morning.” He shrugged. “It’s the first I’ve been there and was quite surprised the sign was gone.”

  Her eyebrows shot up, and she had to admit—even though it was ghoulish and wrong of her—that she was definitely curious as to what was going on. “I am too. I’ll have to follow up on that garden design bid. And of course, I’m sorry for whoever it is,” she said, “but don’t keep me in suspense. Who was it, and what’s going on?”

  “Well, that’s what I came to ask you about.”

  She stared at him in surprise. “Okay, now I’m confused.”

  “It might be somebody you know.”

  “Someone I know?” she asked incredulously. “Oh, dear, I hope not.”

  He pulled out his phone and slowly flicked through the photos there.

  “So this is a delay tactic,” she said, “and I admit you’re scaring me.”

  “No, it’s not that,” he said, “but circumstances require that I ask you a couple questions.” He proceeded to ask where she’d been an hour ago, where she’d been four hours ago, and if she had an alibi.

  She sat back and stared at him in shock. “Seriously, Mack?” she said. “I woke up about an hour ago. I was home alone all night. Why? Who is dead?” Suddenly she leaned forward. “Is it one of the bad guys?”

  “Well, maybe,” he said. “I’m sure a lot of people would
say it definitely was a bad guy, but a lot of people wouldn’t.”

  “Stop now,” she said, raising both hands in frustration. “Just tell me who it is.”

  Then he held out his phone.

  She looked at it and stared in shock.

  “That’s the thing,” he said. “This is our dead body. So where were you last night? And where were you early this morning?”

  She stared at the picture of Robin, her former divorce lawyer. Her very dead former lawyer. “What on earth?” Doreen raised her gaze slowly to stare at him.

  “And I’m sorry, but I have to ask,” he said. “Did you murder her in the marigolds?”

  Chapter 1

  Saturday Morning …

  Doreen’s mouth was wide open, as she caught sight of Arnold and Chester, fidgeting where they stood behind Mack. “Are you arresting me?” she asked in a hushed whisper, her gaze zipping to Mack.

  Immediately Mack shook his head. “Of course not,” he said, yet he pulled out an official-looking document from the inside pocket of his jacket.

  She looked over at Chester and Arnold to see them still standing there, afraid. They obviously couldn’t hear what she had said, but they knew something was up with her. She shook her head. “That’s just unbelievable.”

  “I know,” he said, “but you also must understand that we have to check it out.”

  Her gaze slowly slid back to Mack. Inside, what she felt was almost anger, yet, at the same time, betrayal. “You know I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

  “Of course I do,” he said instantly.

  Her shoulders slowly sagged, out of relief or despair she wasn’t sure which. “I never thought I’d be in this situation,” she muttered.

  “Well, it’s to be expected, if you keep interfering in these kinds of cases.”

  At that, her eyes opened wide, and she stared at him. “But I didn’t do anything, and nothing in my cases was involved.” Then her eyes opened wider yet again. “But your brother was.”

  He nodded.

  “And you’re right. The lawsuit obviously involved me.” She frowned, her hand automatically stroking Mugs, who had come over for comfort. “What is it you need to know?” she asked quietly.

  He rattled off a series of questions, but she couldn’t give him any help with any of them.

  “I went to bed around nine-thirty p.m.,” she said. “Yes, I went to bed alone. Except for the animals, of course. Yes, I armed the security, but, no, I have no recording to say it was set and to confirm that I didn’t leave. Nothing like that is available—as you well know, since you put in the system.”

  “We need to upgrade that apparently.”

  “Well, considering I was attacked inside the house several times, maybe that wouldn’t be a bad idea,” she muttered.

  He nodded and made a note. That made her smile and regain a little bit of faith in her world. He wrote it on a small notepad off to the side, not on his official documents, as if it were a note for himself personally.

  She sighed. “You know what the town will do when they hear.”

  “Some will laugh. Some will cry. Some won’t believe it, and a whole lot won’t care.”

  She studied the other two cops, who had seemed to relax now that she was easily talking to Mack, and she said, “As long as you know I had nothing to do with it.” She slid a sideways glance at him, checking his reaction. Seeing the truth in his gaze, she relaxed further.

  “I know that,” he said. “We just have to make sure.”

  She nodded. “She really is dead?” she asked. How impossible that seemed.

  “She really is,” he said quietly.

  She looked at him. “What about my ex? Did you check on his whereabouts?”

  “Well, we’re looking for him too,” he muttered.

  “Because he’d make a much better suspect, you know?” she said.

  “The thought has crossed my mind,” he replied. “Don’t you worry.”

  “Well, of course I will worry,” she said. “My ex’s girlfriend, who also happened to be my unscrupulous divorce lawyer, has been murdered. We always know that the scorned partner is the suspect.”

  “Well, that’s certainly true,” he said. “We are looking at everyone with close ties to the victim. Especially if hard feelings or financial motives exist.”

  “Well, that’s a pretty harsh thing to say,” she said quietly. He just looked at her, and she shrugged. “Whatever.”

  “Do you think any of your neighbors saw you last night?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I didn’t even talk to Nan last night. I still haven’t been feeling all that well, so I just went to bed.”

  He leaned forward. “You’re still not feeling well?”

  Her hand instinctively went up to her shoulder. “No,” she said, “I’m not. I was doing well for several days, then suddenly I was worn out. Maybe I just need a few more days to rest.”

  “Have you had that shoulder looked at recently?”

  She shook her head. “No, I should probably go to the doctor, but I haven’t bothered.” She looked at him. “So how was she killed?”

  “She was stabbed.”

  At that, she stared at Mack, the color draining from her face. “Well, that’s up-front and personal.”

  “Which is also why your name has to be considered.”

  “Can they tell if it was a right-handed or a left-handed person?”

  His gaze sharpened. “We haven’t gotten those results yet.”

  “Well, let’s hope it’s a right-handed person as my injury would have prevented me from doing this deed.”

  He looked at her injured shoulder and said, “That would be very helpful.”

  “And, of course, you won’t let me work on the case at all.”

  “Nope,” he said decisively. “Absolutely not.”

  She glared.

  He shrugged. “Come on. You know how this works.”

  “Right, new cases are yours. Old cases are mine.”

  “And this is not an old case,” he said. “And you remain on the suspect list until we have a better suspect. So don’t add further suspicions.” His glare added emphasis to his terse wording.

  She shook her head, disagreeing with him. “But she’s a visitor here right now. It’s not like she even came from this area.”

  “That doesn’t mean that we pay her death any less attention.”

  “Of course not,” she said, with a wave of her hand. “Don’t mind me. You just shook me a bit. And here I’ve been sad and depressed about Isaac and his mom leaving and returning to the coast.”

  “And yet,” he said, studying her carefully, “that’s a good thing. She and her son can have a beautiful life. And she has her biological family to help her raise Isaac.”

  “It is a good thing,” she said, “but, I guess, I was hoping to see more of Isaac.”

  “You really like the little guy, huh?”

  She beamed. “He’s a character, and he’s very sweet.”

  “Well, he will have a much better life now,” Mack said. “And just because he’s gone to Vancouver doesn’t mean he’s out of your life forever.”

  “And that’s a good thing too,” she muttered. “At the same time, it’s odd, you know? I find these people or make friends—or it seems like maybe I’ll make friends—but then something goes completely wrong, and I end up destroying their lives.”

  “Well, you didn’t destroy anybody’s life this time,” he said. “It’s very important to remember that you did a very good thing here.”

  “True, they were in a terrible situation,” she said, “but I don’t know. I have just felt a little bit down.”

  At that, Thaddeus, who’d been on her lap, walked up closer and curled up on her belly. She stretched out a hand and gently stroked his beautiful feathers. “He’s been better though.”

  “Good,” Mack said. “Thaddeus, you doing okay now?”

  Thaddeus immediately stretched up his wings and called out, “Th
addeus is here. Thaddeus is here.”

  She chuckled. “I don’t know how people can live alone,” she said. “These animals provide so many hours of joy and comfort.”

  “And it sounds like you need that right now,” he said, his gaze low and worried.

  She caught the odd note in his tone, and she smiled. “I’m okay. Really, I am. I just, you know,” and she gave a wave of her hand at the policemen standing behind her. “This is a very odd day.”

  “We’ll be gone soon,” he promised.

  “Well, good,” she said. “I don’t really have anything else to offer. I need to contact some people and see about getting some money from somewhere,” she muttered distractedly, as she stared down at the creek. “At least the water is going down, so that’s good.”

  “Yeah, you don’t want to take any more crazy unexpected swims.”

  “I’d be okay not doing that again,” she said emphatically.

  He smiled, stood, and said, “I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Good,” she said. “You might bring some coffee, when you come.” He snorted and she smiled. “Hey, at least I didn’t tell you to bring groceries, although it seems like it is about time for another cooking lesson.”

  He stopped and looked at her with interest. “What do you want to make?”

  “Well, I’m still eating tons of pasta, which is good, since it’s keeping some weight on my frame,” she muttered. “But there must be other things to eat too.”

  “Name them.”

  “Granola would be nice.”

  “You know you can buy that, right?”

  She looked up at him in surprise. “Really?”

  He nodded slowly. “Yes, really. It’s just as simple as picking it up at the grocery store.”

  She frowned. “Maybe it was the price then,” she said. “I thought it was expensive.”

  “I guess it depends on what you call expensive, but, if you don’t buy tons and if just you eat it, it won’t be very much at all.”

  She nodded. “That might make me happy,” she said, with a smile. “Maybe I’ll walk down to the store and buy some then.” She stopped with a quizzical look. “Just like any store or a specialty store?”