Cozy Mystery Box Set: Murder Mysteries in the Mountains Read online

  The little town where she’d grown up had been good for her children. Annie, who had developed a lot of anxiety after Michael’s death, was now coping just fine. She seemed to love the atmosphere of the small town where she could run around the woods with her friends, read her books in the shadow of the pine trees, and hang out in the little café that Victoria now operated. After all these years, this was one of the first times Annie had mentioned her father without tears springing to her eyes, or that particularly heartbreaking tone of sadness creeping into her voice.

  As for Byron, he hadn’t liked Larch at first, with his career aspirations as a musician, and Larch does not have too many opportunities to play gigs. Still, the dark, moody boy with his fascination for goth music seemed to have transformed himself into a more mature, sensible, dare she think, man? Yes, in its simple way, Larch had crept into Byron’s heart. Although he still longed for the bustle of New Your city where he'd grown up, Victoria could sense that the rhythms of small-town life had made Byron feel more stable and content.

  As for Victoria herself? In between her job at the café, helping out with her sister Karen’s various projects, being invited to sit on various town committees, and raising two kids, Victoria never really found time to think of herself. She thought, there was no need to. She’d adjust, she’d manage. She always did.

  Byron and Randolf trudged back from the lake, carrying their fishing rods with them. “The fish are on a diet, it seems,” Randolf said. “Not one nibble between the two of us.”

  “Vanilla here thought we’d just gone to nap,” Byron said, smiling and stooping down to pet their enthusiastic Labrador. Vanilla, delighted at the attention, began to shake her entire behind in a joyful dance, and cover Byron with sticky kisses. Byron laughed like the small boy he had once been, and buried his head into her shoulders, enveloping her wriggling body in his arms.

  “Hey Randolf, what’s your idea of personal bliss?” Annie wanted to know.

  “A good hot meal, good weather, a puppy or two playing around, and some work.” Randolf said, “Why?”

  “Just asking,” Annie said. “So I can figure you out. I’m planning to take over the world, one person at a time.”

  With a laugh, Randolf swept her up and hoisted her on his shoulders. “I know one unruly child who’s going to get dumped in the lake if she doesn’t take her nose out of her books and enjoy nature a little bit.”

  Annie laughed in delight and screamed as he pretended to drop her.

  It always amazed Victoria just how quickly the kids had adjusted to Randolf. Of course, that was the kind of man he was. There was not a person in town who didn’t like him.

  Her phone buzzed, and she opened the message.

  “We Got It!!” Karen had sent. “We’re catering at Larch Luminary next month!”

  Victoria grinned, but there was a bit of disappointment too. She’d been half hoping they wouldn’t get this order because it would mean a weekend away from her kids.

  Chapter 2

  “The client insisted on you,” Karen said. “So you’ll have to spend the weekend at Larch Luminary hotel.”

  “Why me?” Victoria asked.

  “Beats me,” Karen said. “But with the law firm Mason and Bailey canceling their annual holidays and the café losing tourist traffic to the new art gallery/café that opened up in Banff, I think we need to make this particular client very happy.”

  Victoria frowned. “Karen, this was one of our highest earning seasons yet.” She said. “I don’t think you should worry about a few cancellations.”

  “Costs are increasing too.” Karen pointed out. “You live in the moment, Victoria, but when running a business, you must live in the future. Three years down the line, are our revenue streams going to dry up?”

  “I doubt it,” Victoria said. “Café Spring Hopes has stood the test of time. It’s been around for nearly forty years now.”

  “Thirty-four,” Karen said. “But who’s counting? My point is, this new client is an international sensation. If he gives us a few words of praise, we’d probably get a huge boost in our sales.”

  Victoria smiled at Karen and said. “As always, I’m going to do my best to please. But who is this client? Why did he want me?”

  “He’s invited you to meet with him today,” Karen said. “Can you make it at 4 p.m?”

  “I’ll be there.” Victoria agreed.

  At 3:45 p.m, Victoria’s 1997 Honda Civic hatchback sputtered up the winding roads that led to Larch Spring’s most famous historic hotel.

  The Larch Luminary was an olive green building with light yellow trim, standing as stiff and proud as the Scottish Baron and military leader who had built it in 1892. The Baron’s Hold, as the locals jokingly called it, could be seen from the highway as you drove to Calgary. Whenever she drove by it, Victoria had always thought of the man who had given up his old life and started anew in Canada. She thought of him again now, as she crept her way up past manicured gardens and drying vines. Would he be proud of the hotel that four generations of his family had maintained?

  Inside, the main hallway made Victoria stand up a little straighter. On one side, a giant marble staircase swept in an elegant curve, its giant banisters lit up with mock candles. Marble dominated the entrance hall, as did faded tapestries. Knightly armor, empty on the inside, stood politely on one side while fake cast heads of bears and elk stared blankly from high up the walls. Being here always made her feel out of place, like mac and cheese at a table of Foie gras. It also reminded her of the first time she’d come here at nineteen and how she’d met her future husband.

  A smiling usher in a tuxedo greeted her. He led her to a waiting area that had several plush, olive green sofas with shiny mahogany wood.

  On one such sofa, sat a man so odd, that Victoria had to blink rapidly to make sure she didn't imagine him. The man wore a garish combination of clothes with loud red jeans, a yellow belt, and a gray half sleeved sweater. A bright shawl with swirling Indian patterns was wrapped loosely around his shoulders while three separate necklaces with plenty of beads and colors hung low down his neck. Most striking of all, though, were the huge round glasses that framed his eyes, and the large smoking cigar stuck in his mouth. The effect of it all was that though although the man looked very distinct, you could not see him at all. Victoria was sure that if the same man appeared a few minutes later, dressed in a plain black shirt and trousers, he would be unrecognizable.

  “Mister Leo Loams?” Victoria asked. “I’m your caterer. You asked to meet me today?”

  “Victoria Armstrong.” The voice, Victoria had expected, would be scratchy and hoarse. Instead, it was strong and yet slightly feminine.

  “Yes.” She said.

  Leo looked her over once, then twice, letting the silence lengthen; Victoria, unsure whether to sit or stand, stared back at him, letting the silence play out.

  “Yes. I will hire you.” Leo said. “It was a good decision.” He raised his hand and snapped his fingers twice. In minutes, a beautiful young blonde with a briefcase in one hand and a tape recorder in another was by their side.

  “Deedee, it will be known that I want only vegetarian food,” Leo said. “Let it also be known that the food should have pure, local origins; Preferably plucked out of the garden that very morning. I want food that is conducive to a spiritual mind.

  You understand?” He turned back to Victoria.

  “Green smoothie for breakfast, dinner and lunch?” Victoria smiled. “But seriously, Karen and I have come up with a wonderful menu that will help your guests in your weekend mindfulness getaway. A sample menu includes a lentil soup with locally grown mushrooms, and basil pesto pasta with zucchini. I’ll be hand-cutting the pasta myself with local whole wheat flour.”

  “Perfect,” Leo said. “I knew you were the right choice. I felt it in my bones ever since Adam told me about you.”

  “Adam?”

  “Adam Danes. He said he was once your literary agent.” Leo said. “A fine
man. He’s my agent now. Is it true you once wrote True Crime books?”

  “I did, yes,” Victoria said.

  “Perfect, perhaps I will talk to you about things other than catering this week; how would you like that?” Leo smiled. “I’ll trade one professional opinion for another.”

  “My profession is related to food now,” Victoria said. “I haven’t written in a long time.”

  Leo stared deep into her face and frowned. “A tragedy, perhaps? Let me see. The loss of a close relative? A creative collaborator?”

  “Yes to all those,” Victoria said. “Good guess.”

  “Not a guess.” Leo tapped the side of his head. “I see myself as a seer if you will. I see people the way a carpenter will see a block of wood, knock on it, and know the kind of faults it may have on the inside.”

  “Ah,” Victoria smiled but did not comment. The man, superstar or not, seemed slightly unhinged to her. She also felt mildly irritated at his last comment.

  “You have heard of me, yes? I am famous.” He said this matter-of-factly as if it were impossible that he was unknown.

  Victoria wanted very much to tell him she had not. Instead, she said, “As a matter of fact, my twelve-year-old is reading your book right now. She’s quite obsessed with it. She keeps trying to figure out my personality type.”

  “Good, good.” The man smiled. “We need more intelligent children in the world.”

  “Leo!” A voice called out loudly from across the hall. “This is intolerable! Inexcusable!”

  Chapter 3

  Leo turned around, and, to Victoria’s shock, his entire personality seemed to change. His shoulders were thrown back straighter, his eyes, which had been twinkling, seemed to spark with electricity. “Lower your voice.” He commanded.

  The woman who had shouted, approached, unabashed. The first thing Victoria noticed about this woman was her size. She looked as if she would barely fit through a doorway, and had to move sideways as she moved between two chairs to reach them. Her face and hair, though, were immaculately made up. The clothes she wore, while covering her rolls of fat, were stylish both in cut and color. In fact, Victoria felt rather shabby in front of her.

  “I paid $8000 for this.” The woman said, still loud. “$8000 for a single weekend! That’s how much business I lost by choosing not to work. But now I’m being told that the promised outdoor yoga is canceled because of a possible storm!”

  “Tess, we couldn’t help it. The weather was supposed to be good all weekend; now there’s talk of a possible blizzard.” Deedee, the secretary, moved forward as if to block Leo from Tess’ wrath.

  “Terrible planning,” Tess said. “That’s always how it is with you, Deedee, isn’t it?” She snorted. “Of course, the weather would suddenly turn bad on the one day of the year that you planned this out. Leo, you should say something to her.”

  Leo said to Tess, “I’m glad it turned out this way, Tess.” He said. “As a matter of fact, I believe that it will help teach you an important lesson.”

  “How’s that?” Tess blinked.

  “The weather is like humans,” Leo smiled. “No matter how much scientific types try and predict it, in the end, an old woman who has pain in her knees every time it rains can sometimes be more accurate about knowing what’s what.”

  Tess looked confused, then scowled. “All I know is, Deedee should be punished. I don’t know how you continue to employ her. The last three emails I wrote you never got answered because she probably just didn’t remember to tell you about them.”

  “Enough now,” Leo said. His voice was gentle but had an underlying threat to it. Immediately, Tess stopped speaking. From the tightness of her lips, Victoria could tell she was holding back.

  “Let me introduce you to Victoria,” Leo said.

  Tess turned to Victoria with a slightly suspicious frown. “Who’s she?”

  “Victoria is our caterer this weekend,” Leo said. “Victoria, I’d like you to meet one of my earliest students, and ex-secretary. Tess Miles. We’ve known each other what, ten, fifteen years?”

  “Seventeen,” Tess said, looking coy. “I wasn’t much more than a child of twenty-five back then.”

  “I took Tess under my wing after she broke up with an abusive boyfriend,” Leo said.

  Not expecting this rather personal declaration, Victoria only nodded. What could she possibly say? Good to meet you, Tess, and sorry about your jerk of a boyfriend?

  “He told her she’d never amount to anything without him,” Leo said. “When I first met her, she was so shy she had to practice several times before even placing her order at a restaurant. Remember those days, Tess?”

  Glancing at Tess, Victoria couldn’t believe it. Tess was a lot of things, but shy was the last word Victoria would have used to describe her.

  “It was horrible,” Tess said, shuddering. “I was… such a different person. Such a broken person. All I cared about at the time was the weight of my body. I thought that being fat meant that I was worthless and being poor meant that I was just a parasite living off society. I was suicidal, to be honest. Then I met Leo.” She looked at him with love in her eyes. “He changed everything. He taught me confidence. He taught me to love myself first.”

  What was this? Victoria wondered. Why were they so open? She felt as if they were putting on a play for her benefit, with scripted lines.

  “I’m very proud of Tess,” Leo said. “She was one of my first success stories. At the time, I worked as a psychiatrist in Boston. Tess was my receptionist. Even when she was so broken, I saw so much potential, and so much pain in her.” He shook his head. “I knew I had to help, so I started talking to her. As it transpired, she was suffering internally. Her mind was a battleground of negative thoughts that beat upon her soul.”

  “It’s true.” Tess nodded. “But Leo here was my savior.”

  “Oh, it wasn’t much.” Leo demurred. “You did the work yourself, my dear. I simply showed you the way.”

  “Thanks to Leo, I got the confidence to date men, and the confidence to follow my art,” Tess said. “I started by selling custom-made T-shirts on the internet, and today my website handles over 1000 orders per day.” She handed Victoria a card. “It’s a website selling custom made clothes for those who want to look good and can’t bear to shop at plus-size stores that sell unfashionable tents.” Flicking her eyes over Victoria, she said, “I suppose you shop in the children’s section, but if you have any friends, feel free to tell them about CustomPlus.com.”

  “Definitely,” Victoria smiled. This performance was a little weird to her, all of it. Almost like Tess and Leo had played out a complex and oft-repeated dance, and she was now expected to clap at it. Still, even if Victoria thought Leo was weird, he was clearly helping his customers out as a, what? Psychiatrist? Guru? Motivational Speaker?

  Leo was looking at her with a considering eye as if waiting for her to speak her lines. It made Victoria uneasy. Then she looked at Deedee, and the uneasiness turned to shock. For in Deedee’s eyes, there was hatred. Pure, undisguised loathing.

  Before she could say anything, though, Deedee had moved away with Tess, and Leo was talking to her about the timings of their meals.

  Chapter 4

  “Careful out there,” Randolf said as Victoria loaded up the car the next day. “The weather’s shaping up to be something terrible. I sent a photo to my buddies and asked them if they believe ten inches of snow was possible right after one of the sunniest days of the year. Well, that’s weather in Banff for you. It can change from one hour to the next. It’ll get worse too so take care.”

  “A Mountie is telling a caterer to be careful,” Victoria smiled. “You be careful, Randolf. Don’t flirt with danger and death while on duty.”

  “So I’m allowed to flirt with people other than death and danger?” Randolf asked. He leaned in, and his smile grew a little broader.

  “You can flirt with who you like,” Victoria said, suddenly very focused on the positioning of h
er bags. She felt Randolf shift even closer.

  “I can?” He asked. “Well, what if they don’t flirt back? What then?”

  Victoria turned around, ready to say something, but the door to her house flew open, and Randolf immediately took two steps back as Annie and Vanilla flew out to give Victoria a parting hug.

  “Vanilla knows you’re leaving Mom,” Annie said, as the golden retriever frantically pushed her nose against Victoria’s leg. “She’s been crying all day.”

  “Awww.” Victoria bent down and rained kisses on the dog. “It’s alright, Vanilla. I’ll be back Monday morning, and I’ll make you a big batch of doggie treats. Maybe even some bacon.”

  “I’ll skip the doggie treats, but you can make my bacon too.” Byron emerged from the house and gave his mom a casual, one-armed hug. “Miss you, Mom. Take care.”

  “I’ll miss you too.” Victoria felt a sudden shake in her chest as she stared at her children. This weekend was going to be the first time, in a very long time, that they’d be apart for so long. “Are you sure you’ll be alright? Maybe…”

  “We’ll be fine. Mom, get out of here, go on.” Byron shooed her playfully. “Annie and I have a fun weekend planned out. Annie will sit at home and read books; I’ll hang out with my friends like a cool kid.”

  “I’ve got friends too!” Annie protested.

  “Imaginary ones don’t count, kiddo.” Byron teased.

  “Byron! Take care of your sister and don’t tease her too much.” Victoria said. “And both of you text me, at least three times a day, alright?”

  “Don’t worry.” Karen came and stood by the door, wiping her paint-stained hands with a slightly torn towel. “I’ll watch the kids and make sure they don’t go feral.”

  Randolf gave Victoria a smile full of warmth and a look full of promises, as he nodded and went his way. With a final hug to Byron and Annie, Victoria too was on her way back to the Larch Luminary.