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

  “What are those?” Victoria asked. “Are they what I think they are?”

  “Yes, they are! Grandpa’s going to teach me!” She said, sounding delighted.

  “Annie I don’t think...” Victoria was interrupted as the door opened and a triumphant looking Karen hobbled in.

  Karen smiled at her sister, leaned her crutches against the door and smiled. “Had a good day looking after Dad?”

  “Practically a holiday after running the café for a week,” Victoria said. “How about you, Karen? How was your day?”

  The girls had deliberately decided to let Karen run the café that day, and have Victoria stay back home.

  Karen had said, “The entire town’s going to want to speak to me sooner or later. They have their doubts, and they have their questions. If I hide home alone, they’re going to find it suspicious. Might as well get out there, and let them know that I’m not cowed down and that I’m still an Armstrong girl.”

  Victoria smiled and gave her a hug. Karen stiffened.

  “I’m proud of the woman you turned into,” Victoria said.

  “Yeah. Well.” Karen nodded at her. “I guess Mom and Papa did a good job raising us. Both of us.”

  The conversation fell silent here, and Victoria changed the subject.

  “Any news about Boyd?” she asked.

  “It’s all the town can talk about,” Karen said. “I heard there’s some folk who even have bets up. The highest odds are that the case will remain unsolved. After that, it’s a three-way tie between me, Angus and Hanson as the suspects.”

  Victoria winced. “I know you didn’t do it.”

  “Do you?” Karen looked at Victoria, her head tilted. “You haven’t met me in more than fifteen years, and I’ve just inherited millions of dollars because someone died. Do you really believe without a shred of doubt that I didn’t do it?”

  “I’d stake my life on it,” Victoria said quietly.

  “Why?” Karen asked.

  “Because I grew up with you,” Victoria said. “Before those seventeen years of not being around you, I’ve spent twenty years with you. I remember...”

  “People change, Victoria,” Karen said, sounding frustrated. “You’re so… so naïve sometimes. So you grew up in this town? That doesn’t mean that the people in it have been preserved in amber for the last fifteen years.”

  “Seventeen.”

  “Whatever. We all changed, Victoria, every single one of us. As for knowing me, we didn’t even know our own parents. There are so many secrets hiding under the guise of normality. The truth is, it could be me. I know you’re angry at Corporal Jager and that you’re trying to solve this yourself. But you know nothing about this town, or me anymore. The best thing you can do is just… be quiet.”

  “Be quiet?”

  “Yes. Be quiet. Your kids need you, I don’t.” Karen said.

  “Why are you so defensive? All I want is to help you?”

  “By angering Hanson?” Karen asked.

  “Ah.” Victoria raised her hands, placed them on her hips. “So that’s why you’re defensive. Did he come around and threaten you? Is that why?”

  “He didn’t threaten me, Victoria, he threatened you. He told me that I’d better warn you not to poke your nose where it doesn’t belong. I told him it was a habit you’d never break. But Victoria, I wish you would.”

  “I’m doing nothing,” Victoria said. “I’ve made no headway at all. All I’ve found out is that a bunch of dolls appeared in several stores and that Angus claims he was camping, and that Hanson was...” She suddenly stopped, and placed a hand on her head. “I’ve been so foolish.”

  “You always were,” Karen said. “This isn’t a novel, Victoria, you can’t go around trying to do the police’s job for them and expect people to treat you like...”

  “Karen, wait.” Victoria put up a finger. “I have a question for you.”

  Karen sighed. “What is it?”

  “Marley’s Bar. Where is the place?”

  “Marley’s?” Karen frowned. “It’s near the lake. Not a very nice place to be either.”

  “Yes.” Victoria agreed. “It’s considered downright seedy, isn’t it? Not the kind of place a respectable person would want to be seen in.”

  “It’s almost out of business, from what I hear.”

  “Excuse me,” Victoria said and flew out of the house.

  Chapter 23

  Marley’s bar was dark and cool, with only a few men sitting on the stools at the counter. They looked up when Victoria walked in, their eyes studying her intently.

  “I’d like to speak to Marley, if possible,” Victoria said to the man at the bar.

  “I only talk to customers,” He replied coolly.

  “I’ll have a coke then,” Victoria said.

  “Mix it with some whiskey, and you’ll have a good time.” One of the men at the bar said. He and his friends began to snicker.

  Victoria ignored them and focused on the bartender, a slim man with a bald head and tattoos crawling up his neck.

  “I’m only here to ask you about the night Mayor Boyd got murdered.”

  “I already spoke to the police about it.” The man said.

  “Did you tell them Hanson Johannson was here?” Victoria asked.

  The men at the bar sat up straighter, suddenly interested. They kept their eyes trained on Victoria.

  “Who says he was?” The bartender asked. “I’ve got no memory of it.”

  “I have a friend who saw him come in,” Victoria said.

  “You’ve got nothing.” The bartender smiled.

  “Angus told me,” Victoria said. “Angus said he’d heard Hanson was here, drinking up a storm.”

  “Sure, Angus says a lot of things. I still say you’ve got nothing. But suppose you did, suppose he was here. So what?”

  “So did you tell the police he was here?”

  “No one asked me about Hanson.” The bartender said.

  “So why did the police come here anyway?”

  “What’s it worth to you?” The bartender growled.

  “I’ll have another soda.” Victoria slapped a twenty on the counter.

  The bartender nodded, pocketed it. “They only came to check that Angus wasn’t here. Well, he wasn’t. That’s what I told them. Then they left.”

  “So they didn’t ask you about Hanson?”

  “Hanson and his kind don’t frequently come around here.” The Bartender said. “If anything, they’d rather see this place torn down. So it made no sense for the police to ask me, did it?”

  “Well, was he here or wasn’t he?” Victoria asked.

  The barkeeper only smiled infuriatingly. “That information’s worth a lot more than a few sodas.”

  “I could just call the RCMP, you know,” Victoria said angrily. “Have them ask you these questions.”

  The bartender’s face soured. “I don’t like people who threaten me,” He said.

  “A man’s dead,” Victoria said. “A good man, at that. Don’t you care?”

  “I’d say it’s about time you got out of here.” The bartender said.

  The other men were whispering to themselves.

  “I’m going to tell the police what Angus told me,” Victoria said. “It didn’t click for me, that Hanson’s alibi says he was in Calgary, when in fact, he was here at your bar. But now that it has, expect the police to come down here soon.”

  The bartender walked out from behind the counter, his eyes narrowed. “You got some guts, lady, coming in here with your big talk about setting the police after me. Do you even know who I am? Or what I’m capable of?”

  Victoria saw him advance, his eyes mean, and his muscles tensed, and for a horrible moment, she felt afraid. It was bright daylight outside, but in here, the shades were drawn and darkness soaked through the bar. The few men who were sitting at the bar had gotten up too, now, and seemed to be advancing towards her.

  Then, the door opened, and sunlight flooded the room.
A voice called out in surprise. “Victoria! What are you doing here?”

  Victoria turned around to see Adam Denner and Troy Smith standing together in the doorway.

  “Good to meet you,” Victoria smiled at the bartender. “Hope we never meet again.”

  He grunted at her and retreated back to the bar.

  “Adam, Troy.” She hugged the two old men, very glad to see them.

  “Long time,” Troy said. “Come have a drink with us?”

  “It’s a little early for me,” Victoria smiled.

  “When you get to be over 70, a beer with lunch is just the kind of thing that keeps you alive,” Troy smiled. “Come, join us. I just came back to town today. I’d gone over to my son’s house in Edmonton this week. His wife just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.” He sat at one of the booths, and Victoria sat by him.

  “I’ll just have a coke, thanks,” She said as the bartender came to serve them.

  “Why are you here anyway?” Adam asked suspiciously.

  “Oh, I’d come to see Angus.” She lied. “I suppose… to talk to him about…” she trailed off, wondering what excuse she could give. “Never mind,” She said finally. “Why are you two gents here?”

  “Oh, we have lunch here every day,” Troy said. “This place is a great way to get away from the town gossip when you grow sick of it. Besides, Adam and I wanted to talk about the historical society’s next meeting.”

  “How large is your group?” Victoria asked.

  “Oh, not too many of us. There’s your father, Nathan Gordon, Troy and me.” Adam said. “Boyd used to be one of us too. Before the tragedy took him.”

  “How’s your sister doing?” Troy asked.

  “She’s... well, she’s moving on,” Victoria said.

  “Must have been a shock,” Adam said. “Poor girl.”

  “Well, let her eat lunch, Adam,” Troy said. “No use badgering her about it.”

  Victoria smiled gratefully at him and took a bite of the hamburger before her. It was surprisingly delicious, as only hamburgers at the seediest of bars can sometimes be. Next to it were thick wedges of fried potato with cocktail sauce drizzled on them.

  “Were either of you here last Tuesday night?” Victoria asked. “The night I arrived.”

  “I was,” Troy said. “I was alone. It was the anniversary of my Doris’s death. I was drowning myself that day.”

  Victoria nodded. A sudden hope was rushing through her. “So, then did you see Hanson in here that night?”

  “Hanson?” Troy laughed. “Hanson was here alright. He was here till at least midnight and that’s when I left for home.” Troy lowered his voice. “I remember because it kind of surprised me. This isn’t his kind of place.”

  “So he was here. Not Calgary but here.” Victoria said triumphantly.

  “Calgary?” Troy looked confused.

  “When I met him, he said he had an cast iron alibi for Calgary,” Victoria replied.

  “Now why on earth would he say that? No. He was here. Definitely here.”

  Chapter 24

  Corporal Jager raised himself from his desk when Victoria came storming in.

  “Every time I see you, your eyes are like storm clouds,” He said, smiling. He drew a white cotton handkerchief out of his pocket and waved it. “Flag of truce, madam. I’m waving the flag of truce. Let’s have peace between us.”

  “Peace? I’ve come to give you peace alright. A piece of my mind.”

  “Oh?” Corporal Jager sat back down and folded his arms across his chest.

  He was a remarkably handsome man, Victoria thought to herself. It helped that he looked strong enough to lift cars and uproot trees. Still, he was clearly a remarkably unethical man.

  “You and your police department should be ashamed,” Victoria said. “You’ve been utterly inept at investigating Boyd’s murder.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know.” The Corporal replied. “Victoria. Just say what you came to say, and leave. I haven’t had lunch yet, and I’m starving.”

  “I was at Marley’s bar,” Victoria said.

  She paused, her eyes raking over Jager’s face. He remained stonily expressionless. “So? Are you here to tell me all about your drinking habits?”

  “I’m here to tell you how to do your job,” Victoria said.

  “Yet again.” Corporal Jager smiled. “Would you like me to take notes this time?”

  “Maybe you should.” His casual tone was infuriating her to the point of madness. “Do you know where Hanson was the night Boyd got murdered, Corporal Jager?”

  “Yes, I do.” The Corporal said.

  “Because I do.” She continued, ignoring him. “He wasn’t in Calgary like the whole town seems to think. He told me he’s given you hotel receipts and has people who gave him an alibi. But it’s not the truth.” She was just gaining steam now.

  “I know.” The Corporal smiled.

  “No! The truth is that he was at Marley’s bar, getting steadily drunk. He was even there past midnight. There’s no way he was in Calgary that night!”

  “He wasn’t.” The Corporal agreed, still calm.

  Victoria stared at him, unable to process his calmness. He was supposed to be shocked by this news. She’d pictured it in her head all the way to the police station. The look of surprise on his face. After that, in her imagination, he’d either prove to be corrupt, and be angry with her for what she’d found out or he’d prove to be merely inept, and be grateful that she had supplied the information. Instead, he was sitting there, just looking mildly amused.

  “Are you done?” The Corporal asked. “I could explain now if you’d let me.”

  “Yes,” She said, in a small voice.

  “Hanson Johannson, as you know, is my uncle.” The Corporal said. “Now, as a nephew, I know that his wife is rather sick of his antics, and has threatened to leave him more than once. As a policeman, none of that matters to me. What matters is whether or not he committed a crime.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying I know Hanson was at Marley’s bar until late that night because I’m the one who got a call from the bartender saying Hanson was drunk and getting into fights.”

  “See!” Victoria exclaimed.

  “Hanson was more than a little upset. He’d just bought Marley’s land, and planned to put a casino on it. Only thanks to Boyd, his plans were ruined.”

  “Just proves that he had all the motive in the world.”

  “But no opportunity.” Corporal Jager said. “Victoria, I was sick of my uncle’s behavior. As a warning to him, I picked him up and threw him in jail for the night. He stayed until morning when he begged me not to ruin his reputation, and to let everyone else think he had been in Calgary. I agreed, on the condition that he begin attending a group that would help him stop drinking.”

  Victoria didn’t know what to say.

  “By then, news of Boyd’s murder had leaked out. I ruled out Hanson as a murderer for rather obvious reasons.”

  “Oh.” Victoria felt all the breath was taken out of her. “No. He couldn’t have done it, then.”

  “No. He couldn’t.”

  “You didn’t say anything even when I accused you of being corrupt,” She said, looking at him in a new light. “You protected him because you’d made a deal.”

  “Yes. Well. Your little scene at the café didn’t help. The townsfolk gave me some side-eyed looks for a while after that. Hanson went around making sure he told everyone he had an airtight alibi so that they wouldn’t suspect him.”

  “Well, Troy saw Hanson at Marley’s,” Victoria said. “But he left town to visit his son the day after, so he had no chance to tell anyone what he saw.”

  “Well, there you go.” The Corporal said. “Is there anything else you’d like to say?”

  “Yes,” Victoria said. “I’d like to say I’m sorry, Corporal.”

  “Not accepted,” He said. “You did a pretty serious thing, damaging my reputation and al
l. I think I need a lot more than a simple sorry. How about… dinner?”

  “Dinner?” She raised an eyebrow.

  To her shock, he was grinning, a broad smile that formed dimples on his cheeks.

  “Well?” He asked. “You do eat, don’t you? You could eat at the same table as me.”

  “Are you asking me on a date?”

  “I’m a very manipulative man.” He grinned. “I use every situation to my advantage.”

  She paused, then shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’d have to…” she thought of a polite way to say it, then decided to do away with being polite. “I can’t. Sorry.”

  “Do you still think I’m corrupt?” He asked, looking a little hurt.

  “No. It’s just…” She shook her head. “I’ve met the love of my life, and married him, and seen him die in my arms. Romance isn’t possible for me anymore. I can’t.”

  He looked sympathetic. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  Changing the topic, a habit she didn’t realize was similar to her father’s,Victoria said, “But if Hanson didn’t do it, who killed Boyd? It can’t have been an accident, can it?”

  “No. It was murder.” The Corporal said. “As to who killed him, there are two suspects in this case. Two people who could have profited by Boyd’s death. One is Angus. The other…”

  “Is Karen,” Victoria said. “I’ll show myself out, Corporal. Good day.”

  “Victoria, wait...”

  But she had already gone.

  Chapter 25

  Victoria was lost in thought.

  So it couldn’t possibly be Hanson. Yet Boyd had certainly been murdered. So who could it be? Then there were the dolls. What possible motive could anyone have to break into stores, place the dolls inside them, and then leave everything else undisturbed?

  It pointed to a psychosis that an average person like her could not even begin to understand. Yet, she knew that once a criminal explained his thought process you might not agree with him, and you might be reviled by him; but you would always understand. There was a twisted logic to every crime that had ever been committed, and once the logic was pinpointed, the solution fell into place.