Drowning the Daffodils (A Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery) (10 page)

“
Sure,” he nodded and then hesitated. “But Ida, make sure you don't get yourself into any kind of trouble.”

“
Oh honey,” Ida smiled as she kissed his cheek swiftly. “It's trouble that needs to look out for me.”

As she
walked out of the lobby towards the garden, she wondered where exactly the gunshot had come from. She had initially heard it inside the inn so it was hard to place. What wasn't hard to place was the garden shed being closed and locked. The new gardener was a bit of a slob, and not very good at remembering to lock up the shed. It certainly struck Ida as odd that it would be locked. As she stepped closer to it she could hear voices inside. She was relieved to hear Vicky’s voice but she could tell by the tone of it that she was in trouble. Ida looked for the key to the padlock, but it was nowhere to be found.

“
You'll never get away with this,” she heard Vicky growl from inside the shed.

“
That's where you're wrong,” Lawrence chuckled in response, and then growled his words. “I already have.” Aunt Ida was shocked to discover it was Lawrence Carter holding Vicky in the shed, but she didn't allow that revelation to distract her. She had to find a way to get Vicky out of that shed.

Ida crept up to the side of the shed. There was a window that was closed on that side of the shed. She rose up on her toes and peered through it. She could see Vicky toward
s the back of the shed, and Lawrence towering over her. Then she noticed the gun in his hand. So, that was where the gunshot had come from. Aunt Ida shuddered at the idea of Vicky being held at gunpoint.

Ida
looked around for something she might be able to use as a weapon. She spotted a trowel laying on the ground beside the shed and for once was grateful for the gardener's disregard for cleaning up his tools. She picked up the trowel and then walked up to the window. It was just slightly higher than her line of sight. She reluctantly tipped over a clay flower pot that was filled with daffodils into a bucket that was filled with water. “Sorry for the drowning,” she said to the daffodils and then she climbed on top of the clay pot.

Aunt Ida
was high enough then to open the window slightly. She opened it just far enough that it wouldn't be noticed by those inside the shed. She didn't want to alert Lawrence to her presence and have him do something to hurt Vicky before she could protect her. She aimed the trowel carefully at the back of the man's head. Then, using all of her might she flung it towards the back of his head. Lawrence gasped in pain when the metal trowel struck his head. He reached up and knocked the cap off he was wearing. He grasped the back of his head and groaned in pain.

Vicky moved quickly and snatched up a nearby shovel. She swung it hard against Lawrence's head. Lawrence cried out in pain again and stumbled backward
s. He tripped over a pile of bags filled with fertilizer and fell backwards landing hard on his back. In the same moment Aunt Ida climbed through the window and into the shed. She jumped down into the shed just in time to see Lawrence fall.

“
Good shot, Vicky,” she said with genuine admiration.

“
Thanks,” Vicky winced as she kicked the gun from Lawrence's hand. He was not quite out cold, but he was dazed. She carefully picked up the gun off the floor and then looked at Aunt Ida with relief.

“
Let's get out of here,” Ida said quickly and turned back to the window. But as she had climbed inside she had knocked it out of place with her foot. It had fallen closed. When she tried to open it again it was jammed.

“
It's stuck,” Aunt Ida growled. Vicky joined her in trying to pry the window up but it wouldn't budge.

“
We can just break it,” Vicky suggested and picked up the trowel that had fallen on the floor. She struck the glass hard with it, but it didn't even leave a scratch.

“
It's no use,” Aunt Ida sighed and then looked towards the door of the shed. “Let's see if we can get the door to bend open far enough.”

Both she and Vicky pushed hard on the door. But it wouldn't budge even an inch. Aunt Ida stopped to think as Vicky continued to shove against the door.

“Oh no,” Vicky frowned as she pushed hard against the door of the shed. “There's no way out of here!”

“
Vicky?” a familiar voice called out from outside the shed. “Are you in there?”

“
I'm in here,” Vicky called back as she pounded on the door. “It's locked. We can't get out. Lawrence is in here with us, he's the one that killed Simon!”

“
Don't worry, I'm here,” Mitchell said quickly and tugged at the door of the shed.

“
That's it, I've had enough,” Lawrence gasped as he regained his senses. Only then did Vicky realize she had made the grave mistake of leaving the shovel beside the man. As she turned around she saw him swinging the shovel down towards Aunt Ida's head.

“
No!” Vicky shouted and raised the gun to shoot at Lawrence but before she could he struck her hand with the shovel, knocking the gun out of her grasp.

Mitchell could hear the struggle from outside and was determined to get inside to protect Vicky and Ida. Mitchell leaned his weight against the door of the shed. He could feel it give enough that he knew he would be able to get inside with one well-aimed bullet. But he had to be cautious because Ida and Vicky were inside. Inside the shed Vicky and Lawrence were both scrambling for the gun that had skidded across the floor.
Lawrence got to the gun first and grasped it tightly.

“
Vicky?” Mitchell called through the door. “Vicky can you hear me?” he shouted again.

“
Yes,” she growled as she tried to bend Lawrence's hand backwards far enough to force him to release the gun while Aunt Ida climbed on his back trying to wrestle him to the ground. Her arms and legs wrapped around him.

“
Stand back,” Mitchell commanded from outside the shed. Aunt Ida managed to get Lawrence to the ground and then the three continued to wrestle for the gun. Aunt Ida reached out and grabbed a handful of fertilizer from an open bag. Then she flung it into Lawrence's face.

“
Ugh,” he sputtered and lost focus on the weapon for a moment. Vicky managed to get the gun from his hand but as she started to stand up, Lawrence grabbed the shovel again. Before she could say a word about it Mitchell had fired a bullet through the locking mechanism on the door.

“
Mitchell, watch out!” Vicky cried out in an attempt to warn him about Lawrence and the shovel. Mitchell slammed his weight into the door and it sprung inward just in time to strike the shovel that Lawrence was raising, and knock it backwards into his own face.

“
Ow,” Lawrence groaned as he sunk down to his knees and held his nose which had been hit by the door. Mitchell immediately wrenched the shovel from his grasp and tossed it aside. He pinned Lawrence to the ground, handcuffed him, and read him his rights. As Vicky watched his sharp and well-practiced movements, she was reminded of just how good he was at his job. If he hadn't shown up at that exact moment, who knew what might have happened. Lawrence certainly had no intention of ever letting them out of the shed alive.

“
Thank you, Mitchell,” Aunt Ida said quickly, covering Vicky's silence as she stared at him. “I would have managed to take him out soon enough though.”

Mitchell pulled Lawrence to his feet. He didn't spare the man a single glance as he guided
him out of the shed, but his eyes did lock briefly on Vicky's. Vicky held his gaze in return, and he searched her green eyes until he was satisfied that she was okay, before he pushed Lawrence out of the shed. Vicky felt her heart flutter as he walked out the door. She had so much that she wanted to say, but wasn't quite sure how to say it. As Mitchell walked Lawrence down the path, around the pool, and back towards the inn, the older man began to speak.

“
He was going to ruin everything,” he muttered with absolute disdain. “He was going to give his fortune, my fortune, away to some girl,” he growled in disgust.

“
Some girl?” Jane snapped as she stood between Lawrence, Mitchell, and the inn. “Is that what you're going to say?” she asked with tears in her eyes. She must have overheard some of the commotion and had come outside to see what was happening. “You were the one who came to me, Lawrence. You seduced me, you told me that you loved me! You said that Simon was sleeping around, that he didn't know how to value a real good woman. You put so many horrible thoughts into my head,” she sighed as she wiped at her eyes. “But it was my own fault for believing them.”

“
I just wanted to prove to my son what a whore you really were,” Lawrence sneered and then raked his eyes across her from top to bottom. “The worst part is, even when I told him what you and I had been doing, he still came to your defense. Claimed that I must have forced you, or manipulated you.  I never did understand that boy. I guess all of Mike's babying of him finally ruined him,” he shook his head as Mitchell gave him a firm shove towards the sidewalk that led to the parking lot.

“
Well, you'll have plenty of time to think about it,” Mitchell promised as he walked him the rest of the way to the police car that was waiting. Vicky and Ida followed after him, with Jane trailing a few steps behind. As Mitchell pressed his hand to the top of Lawrence's head to help guide him into the back seat of the car, a crowd began to gather outside the inn. It was Mike, and his wife, along with his cousins and their husbands. Lawrence's brother and his wife were also there. Alina was the last to step outside. Alina turned to face Jane and narrowed her eyes as she studied her.

“
Well, how do you feel now, Jane?” Alina asked. “You still want to act like you're better than me?” Jane glanced away as a blush rose in her cheeks. It was clear that she was troubled by how things had unfolded. “Maybe now you'll know better than to fall in love with a man who has only ever loved money,” Alina smirked and shook her head as she studied Lawrence with absolute disgust.

“
Why are you arresting him?” Mike shouted as he approached the police car. “What are you doing? Do you have any idea who my father is?”

“
I know exactly who he is,” Mitchell replied as he turned to look at Mike. His shoulders spread and his chest puffed out as he waited to see if Mike was going to become violent. “Your father is under arrest for murder,” he said sternly. “The murder of Simon Carter.”

“
What?” Mike gasped his eyes wide. “Dad?” he peered into the police car, but Lawrence refused to look at him. “Dad! Tell him it's not true,” he demanded. “You would never hurt Simon. You wouldn't, would you?” he pleaded, and despite the fact that he was a grown man it sounded as if he was begging his father as a child would. “You didn't do this, did you?” he murmured as Charlene walked up behind him and gently placed a hand on his back.

“
Mike, let him be,” she coaxed him.

“
No,” he cried out in a strangled voice. “I want him to tell me the truth! I know he was sleeping with Jane, and I know that was bad, but murder, Dad? Did you really kill your own son?”

Lawrence kept his head turned away from his only remaining son. His
nieces were gasping and whispering to one another as well as to their spouses. It was obvious that none of them had ever expected that Lawrence could be capable of something like this. Mitchell closed the door to the police car and looked at the group of people gathered together.

“
They’re going to take him down to the station. If any of you know his lawyer, it would be best that you contact him.” They all watched as Lawrence was driven away in the police car, leaving Mitchell standing in the parking lot.

Mike hung his head as Charlene slid her arm fully around his waist. She held tightly to him as she guided him
inside.

“
I can't believe he did this,” Mike said quietly as he looked up at his cousins and uncle. “I still just can't believe it.”

“
I can,” Alina muttered as she followed them inside. “A man who only respects money doesn't know the value of his own child.”

Jane remained outside, her hands shifting from her pockets to being clasped behind her back, as if she had no idea what to do with them. She looked so sad with her mascara streaked across her cheeks, her eyes puffy from crying, and her expression dazed with shock.

“I never thought he would kill him,” Jane whispered more to herself than anyone else. “How could I have been so foolish?”

“
Are you okay, Jane?” Vicky asked as she walked towards her. Aunt Ida was talking quietly to Mitchell. Vicky had sympathy for Jane even though she had been having an affair with Lawrence, she had still lost the man who actually loved her.

“
It was my fault,” Jane whispered, her shoulders trembling with tears that had not fallen. “Lawrence convinced me that Simon didn't really love me. He said he was just marrying for looks, that Simon had insisted on a pre-nuptial to make sure I wouldn't get anything. He warned me that in ten years Simon would be trading me in for a younger model, just like Lawrence had his first wife. I didn't believe him at first, I loved Simon so much, but the more he told me these things, the more I guess, I just couldn't imagine someone like Simon actually being in love with me. I can't believe I believed Lawrence,” she groaned and closed her eyes.