Murder in Cottage #6 (Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) (13 page)

Earlier, when she was at
the rest stop, Gina had spent almost half an hour assembling the things she’d
taken from the trunk of her car. She was ready for payback time. She parked her
rental car about a block from her mother’s house.

It was
twilight and normally the street lights would have been on, but the city
workers tended to put new bulbs in street lights that were located in safer
neighborhoods, and the streets in this neighborhood were usually on the tail
end of their list. It was rapidly getting dark.

“Doesn’t look
like any lights are on in the house even though their cars are out in front,”
Rick said. “Probably wanted the perp to think they were still in there. I can
see our backup down the street. Wait, the perp’s getting out of her car. Darn.
The two plum balloons just got out of their car, too. Okay, Louie, you take the
two balloons, and I’ll take the perp.”

They radioed
for the backups to follow them. Gina was so intent on blending into the shadows
she never noticed the men or Judy and Liz. She carried the Sears sack by its
handles. Large trees cast long, dark shadows, making it difficult to see Gina,
who was dressed in black. Rick and Louie struggled to keep all three women in
sight as darkness rapidly fell. All of them moved from tree to tree, hiding
behind first one tree and then another. Fortunately the Sears sack that Gina
carried was white, so it acted as a beacon in the darkness.

When she got
close to her mother’s home, Gina stepped between it and the neighbor’s house
and entered her mother’s unfenced back yard. She ran up the steps leading to
the raised deck, took the pressure cooker out of the Sears sack, and set it on
the deck.

Louie nodded
to Rick. Both had their guns drawn as they crept close to where she was
standing. However, before they were able to take Gina into custody, Liz and
Judy suddenly bolted into the backyard and started running towards Gina to try
and stop her from doing whatever it was she had in mind. The two of them were
forcibly intercepted by Louie who shouted at Liz and Judy to stay back. “Don’t
move!”

Gina heard
Louie’s shout, whirled, and took off, but Rick was faster. He caught up with
her, slammed her against the house, pulled her hands behind her back, and
handcuffed her. The two backup officers arrived within moments and surrounded
Gina. Liz and Judy stared in disbelief, not realizing how dangerous the
situation they’d placed themselves in had been.

Rick was
talking on his handheld police radio with Sergeant Driscoll. “We’ve got the
perp and the two plum balloons. Looks like she may have made a bomb and put it
in some kind of metal container. It’s sitting on the outside deck in the back
of the house. When’s the bomb squad gonna get here? Don’t know how much time we
have!”

He turned to
Louie and the other men. “Bomb squad’s on its way and more backup too. Sarge
said to get out of here in case it’s set to go off momentarily.”

Rick yelled at
Judy and Liz to run as fast as they could away from the house. Louie and Rick
raced towards the front yard, half pulling and half dragging Gina. Loud sirens
filled the air. Tires squealed on the street as the bomb squad truck pulled to
the curb. Four men wearing heavy bomb protection gear got out of the truck
along with a big German shepherd dog.

“It’s on the
deck in back,” Louie yelled to the bomb squad, as they raced to the rear of the
house. He turned to Gina and pointed his gun at her. “When’s it set to go off?”

“You’d like to
know wouldn’t you, fuzz? If I were you, I’d say goodbye to your friends ‘cuz
they’re on their way to meet their maker.” She turned to Judy and Liz. “Look at
you. You’re just like my mother, only now you’re even uglier than she is.” She
laughed maniacally.

One of the
bomb squad members, who was carefully inspecting the makeshift pressure cooker
bomb, cried out, “Evacuate the neighborhood. There’s enough gunpowder in here
to blow it to kingdom come.”

“Louie, go on.
I’ll get the perp and the plum balloons out of here,” Rick yelled. Louie and
the other men began frantically knocking on the doors of nearby homes, urging
the residents to leave immediately, that there was a bomb threat.

Just then one
of the bomb squad members screamed from the back yard of the house. “Take
cover. The bomb’s on an automatic timer, and we can’t disarm it. It’s going to
blow any second.”

Seconds later
a huge blast came from the rear of the house. A massive fireball shot up in the
air as the house exploded. The members of the bomb squad had instinctively run
away from the explosion, years of training kicking in. Even so, all of them
were blown to the ground by the blast and suffered minor burns and injuries.

Rick yelled
into his radio. “Officers down. Get ambulances here ASAP.”

Three more
police cars raced up, and a few minutes later they were joined by several
ambulances and fire trucks. Whirling blue and red lights were everywhere,
lighting up the area. The police put yellow tape up at both ends of the street
and blocked it off to all traffic and pedestrians. Officers yelled into
bullhorns telling people to evacuate their homes immediately.

After what
seemed like an eternity, the firemen got a handle on the blaze, and the remains
of the house could be seen. The injured bomb squad members were rushed to the
hospital by ambulances, sirens blaring. Rick had called Animal Control, and the
bomb squad dog was on his way to a veterinarian for emergency treatment.

When the
firemen had the situation under control, several backup members of the bomb
squad went to the rear of the house to determine if there was any risk of
further explosions. A few minutes later, one of them returned and said to Rick,
“You can let the people back in their homes. Apparently she didn’t know what
she was doing, and that’s a good thing. It looks like there were enough
explosives in the bomb to blow up the neighborhood, but from what we can tell,
the bomb sort of fizzled and didn’t go off with its full force.”

A policeman
began shouting through a bullhorn. “It’s safe to go back to your homes. The
danger is over.” A steady stream of residents began making their way back to
their homes, several stopping to thank the police and stare in disbelief at the
destroyed house.

Rick was on
his cell phone with Sergeant Driscoll. “It’s over. The house is still
smoldering, and it’s a total loss. Fire Department has it under control and
mop-up’s begun. The backup bomb squad guys said she didn’t know what she was
doing, and that turned out to be a lucky break for everyone. Four of our bomb
squad guys have been taken to the hospital, but they should be okay. The dog is
going to be fine. We’re bringing Gina in. What about her mother and the guy?”

He listened
and said, “I think it’s probably a good thing they don’t see one another. We’re
on our way. Want us to do anything with the two purple balloons? Just a sec.
I’ll get her.” He walked over to where Judy and Liz were standing and handed
Liz his phone. “Sergeant Driscoll wants to talk to you.” 

“This is Liz
Lucas.” She listened to the sergeant for a few minutes. “Well, I began to
wonder if she was planning on making a bomb when I saw what she was buying.
Like I told you earlier, I remember reading about ingredients like that after
the Boston Marathon bomb attack. The more I thought about it, I decided I
better call you. I’m glad we were able to help.”

“Liz, why did
you come all the way up here to Washington from California and do this?”
Sergeant Driscoll asked.

She took a deep
breath. “I know it’s going to sound strange, but I had what I call a niggle, a
feeling, that I should come. It was pretty insistent. It niggled me where to
park our car in the motel lot, so we could see Gina coming out and could follow
her.”

Sergeant Driscoll
was quiet for a few moments. “I usually don’t believe in that kind of stuff,
but in this case, I’m going to have to. Tell you what. If you ever need a
reference for your niggle, use me. And I may be calling you to help us in the
future with some dead end unsolved cold cases. Thanks again!”

“Sergeant,
there was a woman murdered at the spa I own in California. The woman who died
was staying in one of the guest cottages, and according to the coroner, was
poisoned.  I have reason to believe that Gina might have been the one to poison
her. When you question her, would you see what you can find out about that? I’d
really appreciate it, because I’ve talked to everyone else who might be a
possible suspect, and I’m not connecting the dots.”

“Happy to.
I’ll let you know what I find out.”

Rick and Louie
drove to the police station with Gina in the back seat guarded by a policeman
who sat next to her. She was booked for attempted murder, illegal possession of
bomb-making materials, arson, and a host of other charges. Even with a good
attorney, Gina was headed to prison for a long time.

“Judy, let’s get a bottle
of wine and go back to the motel. I’m exhausted. We can fly home tomorrow.

“That sounds
wonderful. I know I’m a little shaky, and I know I was as close to dying
tonight as I’ve ever been, but I’ve never felt so alive. This was absolutely
the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me. You mentioned something
about a niggle when you were talking to the sergeant. What was that all about?”

“Well, it’s
kind of a little voice in my head that tells me things. It’s been talking to me
since I was a kid. It tells me things like, ‘Lock the car door, or don’t eat
that.’ I can’t help but listen to it, and I usually do what it says. It told me
to wake you up early this morning and where to park in the motel lot so we
could watch for Gina. I’m wondering if I have a little ESP, you know, some kind
of an extra sensory perception thing.”

“What other
things have you noticed?”

“Once when we
were living in San Francisco, I decided to take a class on ESP. The instructor
told us to bring a metal spoon to the second class. He asked each of us in the
class to take our spoon and try to bend it with one finger by simply
concentrating on bending it. Well, guess what? I was the only one in the class
who could bend it. I bent the poor spoon almost in half with just one finger.
Maybe I do have some sort of extrasensory power going on. I really don’t
understand how it works, but it does. When I was younger I thought everyone
probably had a niggle that told them what to do or not do. Kind of like a
conscience. But over time I’ve come to realize that it seems to be kind of unique
to me.”

“I sure don’t
have any perceptive powers. If I did, and if a voice had told me not to marry
either one of my husbands, I would have listened and saved myself a lot of
grief.”

“I’m kind of
fascinated by the niggle now that all this has happened. I think I’ll take it a
little more seriously from now on.”

“Okay, but
promise me one thing. I want to be part of your next adventure. Who knows? You
may be starting a whole new career by helping the police with unsolved crimes.”

“Right now I’m
so tired and wrung out, all I want to do is have a glass of wine, get some
sleep, and go home tomorrow.”

“Me too!”

*****

“Roger, it’s over. The
police have Gina in custody, and there’s a good chance that she’s the one who
murdered Barbara. When they interrogate her, they’re going to ask her about
Barbara’s death. There’s nothing we can do here, so Judy and I will be flying
into San Francisco tomorrow morning.”

“I’m just glad
to hear your voice. Promise me you’ll never do anything like this again. I’m
glad I didn’t have to put on my case today, because I think my client would
have been convicted if I had. I definitely wasn’t on my game. All I could think
about was you and the danger you were in. Please, please, no more, or I may
have to give up being a criminal law attorney.

She laughed
and said, “Roger, if it helps, I have no intention of doing something like this
again. Matter of fact, I was pretty terrified.”

“Give me your
flight information, and I’ll pick you up at the airport. Tomorrow’s Saturday,
so I don’t have to be in court.”

“Roger, are
you sure you want to see me like this? It’s not a pretty sight.”

“Liz, I don’t
care what you look like. I just want to make sure that you’re okay. I’ll drive
you back to the spa and spend the night. See you tomorrow at the airport.”

“I’m so glad to see you. I
can’t believe it’s only been a couple of days. So much has happened,” Liz said to
Roger when she reached the bottom of the escalator at the San Francisco airport.
“I want you to meet my good friend Judy Rasmussen.”

“It’s nice to
meet you, Judy. Let me take a look at both of you.” He was clearly dismayed by
their reddish, purple, and swollen faces. “Well, from what you told me, maybe
the swelling has gone down a little, and you’re not really looking like plums, but
watermelons wouldn’t be too far off. How are you feeling?”

Liz answered
for both of them. “I think the worst is over. I don’t feel quite as itchy, but my
skin still flakes off if I don’t slop on a lot of moisturizer or aloe vera. I
guess this is just going to take some time. I’m so glad we found Gina, and no
one else will have to go through this.”

“Liz, Roger, I
need to get home. Tiffany was going to stop by and feed Alex, my cat, but I
imagine he’s really missing me by now. I was gone a little longer than I
planned. Liz, I’ll talk to you later. You sure know how to provide someone with
an interesting time when they come to visit you!” she said, laughing as she
walked away, trying to ignore the stares of the people she passed.

“Roger, you
won’t believe what I found out just a few minutes ago,” Liz said as they walked
out the door to the short term parking lot. “I called Sergeant Driscoll at the
Bellingham Police Department to see if he’d found out anything from Gina about
Barbara’s death. Evidently it’s like she’s mentally snapped. She kept talking
about how the police couldn’t arrest her, because she gave money to homeless
people and all kinds of strange things. She rambled on and on in a completely
irrational manner. During her irrational rambling she admitted she’d killed
Barbara.”

“Did you find
out how she did it?”

“It’s kind of
hazy, but from what the sergeant told me, she said she’d made a tea and laced
it with juice from the roots of a plant called Water Hemlock. Sergeant Driscoll
was curious and looked it up on the internet. Evidently it’s one of the most
poisonous plants found on earth and has an almost immediate effect on the heart
and breathing and causes a quick death. That fits in with what I learned
yesterday evening from Wes, the coroner. He told me that the San Francisco
crime lab results indicated Barbara’s blood sample had shown traces of something
called Water Hemlock. He was familiar with hemlock, but not water hemlock and
was getting ready to do some research on it. Anyway, the sergeant also told me
she was rambling about finding the circuit breaker at the lodge and was able to
turn the security lights off. Then she went over to Barbara’s cottage after
she’d returned from dinner at the lodge and told Barbara she’d forgotten to
give her the soothing tea she always gave her clients. That’s all I know.”

“Well,” he
said, as he turned north on the freeway towards Red Cedar, “that explains about
the security lights. She didn’t want to be seen going into Barbara’s cottage.”

“Yes, and her
roommates said she often stayed out late looking for plants and herbs in the
forest near their cabin and often used them for treating her clients. She must
have found the water hemlock plant there and then made it into a poisonous tea.
Wes said he’d found traces of honey and because it was sweet, Barbara probably
never suspected there was anything wrong with it.”

“Okay, I can
go along with all that, but why kill Barbara? From what you’ve told me, she’d
only met Barbara the one time, when she gave her a facial that afternoon.”

“That’s true,
but remember what she did to Judy and me because we evidently reminded her of
her mother. I learned from her roommates she mentioned that one of her clients
had looked exactly like her mother. She must have been referring to Barbara
when she made that statement. I imagine when she saw Barbara, something snapped,
and it only got worse after she got the phone call from her mother. That must
be when she decided in her twisted mind to kill her mother.”

“What a
bizarre turn of events. How are you going to handle the publicity when this
breaks?”

“I’m going to
call Bart over at the Red Cedar Tribune and tell him what I’ve found out. He’s
a very fair newspaperman, and I’ll tell him that as soon as there was even a
hint one of our employees had murdered Barbara, I went to Washington to find
her. I think I can put a pretty good spin on it, and publicity-wise, the spa
will come out okay.”

They pulled
into the lodge parking lot. “It is so good to be home. I can’t wait to see
Winston. I wonder if he missed me.”

“I’m sure he
did, and he’s not the only one. Sweetheart, I’ve been miserable the last couple
of days.”

Good grief,
she
thought
. He’s called me sweetheart a couple of times now. He must really care
for me. Wow. That just popped out of him like it was natural. I know I must look
like I just stepped out of a science fiction horror film. Return of the Giant
Plum or something like that. I like him more than I care to admit, and from
what he just called me, “Sweetheart,” it sounds like he’s not going to be
leaving me, because I went off “half-cocked,” and I look like a watermelon.

“Liz, I’m not
Jewish, but there’s a wonderful Yiddish word my mother used to say to me. She
learned it from one of her closest friends who was Jewish. I can still hear her
telling me, ‘Roger, that was a mitzvah.’ Loosely translated, it means a good
deed. So, Liz, you did a mitzvah for Gina’s mother.”

“That’s
lovely, Roger, thank you. I’ll remember that.”

They walked
inside the lodge and went downstairs to her apartment. He closed the door
behind him and said, “Come here. I’m not going to kiss you or anything, at
least not for a few days, but I want to hug you. And I do wish you’d hurry with
this healing process. When you’re up to it, I’d like to resume where we left
off last time.”

“Oh, Roger,”
she said stepping into his embrace. “I can’t think of anything that would make
me happier. Matter of fact, I have an idea. Close your eyes.”

She walked
over to a nearby drawer, pulled out a brown paper bag, and with a pair of
scissors cut two eyes and a nose in it, and then slipped it over her head. She
took Roger’s hand and said, “Okay, Roger, you can open your eyes now.” She took
him by the hand and led him down the hall to her bedroom, laughing, enjoying
life.

“Why don’t we
just resume right now?”

Winston would
have to wait.