Coastal Cottage Calamity (A Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Book 2) (14 page)

Chapter Thirty

When we got to
Oliver . . . Sydney’s place they were putting her in an ambulance.

“What happened?”
Renmar asked the ambulance driver.

“Electrical shock.
Almost killed her. She hit the light switch right inside the door, charge went
right through her.”

That was the same
switch that Miss Vivee and I had turned on when we were in the house.

“Did it just
become defective I asked?”

“No,” he said. “It
probably would have had to be like that for a long time.” He glanced toward the
ambulance. “She’s really lucky.”

It might have been
luck that she survived, but it wasn’t because of long defective wiring that
she’d been put in harm’s way.

“Can I talk to
her?” Renmar asked.

“We’re stabilizing
her,” he said. “Pulling off any minute to get her to the hospital. I don’t
think you’ll have any time to visit with her.”

“Were are you
going?” I asked.

“Augusta,” he
said, “Mercy General,” and walked away.

“I’m going to go
up there to be with her.” Renmar looked at me. “I’ll go back and get my car,”
she said. “You don’t need to go.”

“You want me to
ride up there with you?” I felt bad for Renmar. She’d taken a liking to Sydney.
And whatever else was going on with her, and being that she was Bay’s mother, I
felt like I should at least offer.

Plus, I liked
Renmar.

“No, baby. I’m
good. I don’t want her to be up there by herself.” She looked at me and smiled.
“I don’t know why, but I just took to Sydney, you know?” she said. “I liked to
be there for her. I think Oliver would like that, too.”

We got back to the
Maypop, but before Renmar could take off to Augusta, Charlie walked in. We were
all hanging out in the dining room talking about what happened to Sydney when I
saw her standing in the archway coming from the foyer. She stood, tugging on
the bottom of her blouse with tears in her eyes, almost the same way she looked
the day she’d learned about Oliver and was standing on the porch while her
husband and Bay had it out. She didn’t say anything, and I think would have
stood there nervous and immobile until someone took notice of her. Luckily it
didn’t take long for me to see her.

“What’s wrong with
you, Charlie?” I asked. I got up from my seat and ushered her over to a chair.

“Is Sydney dead?”
she asked tears streaming down her face.

“No,” I said. “Why
would you think that?”

“I heard that
there was an ambulance and the Sheriff over at Oliver’s place. I know that’s
where she was staying.” She was crying so hard now that she could barely catch
her breath. “I . . . I thought . . .”

“It’s okay,” I
said trying to calm her. Take your time.” I looked over at Miss Vivee. “Can you
make her some tea?”

Miss Vivee rolled
her eyes. She didn’t budge.

“I’ll get her some
tea,” Brie said. “And some tissue.”

“Did he kill
Oliver?” Miss Vivee asked. “Is that what you came to tell us?”

“What? No!”
Charlie said and shook her head vigorously. “He wouldn’t . . . He couldn’t’ve.”

“Well you came
here to tell us something he’s done,” Miss Vivee said. “Something bad from the
way you’re acting.”

Charlie’s eyes
were wide, showing disbelief. “I know,” she said fumbling with the tissue that
Brie had given her. She held in her hands that sat in her lap. “I didn’t think
he could. Would do something like that.”

“Like what?” I
asked.

“I think he hurt
Sydney. Did something in her house. He was so mad about her getting everything.”

“So then,” Miss
Vivee said not letting up. “Did he kill Oliver?”

“No. Renmar
Colquett did that.”

Not having heard
the bell over the door, everyone turned surprised at the voice behind us. It
was Tom Bowlen. Standing in the archway, he had a smirk on his face, hands on
his hip, legs spread apart, he looked like Peter Pan.

Renmar shot up out
of her seat. “What are you talking about?”

“Your fingerprints
were found on the murder weapon.”

Tom Bowlen’s eyes
never left Renmar’s as he spoke, and she not giving in stared back.

 “Murder weapon?” Miss
Vivee and I said at the same time.

 “There was no
murder
weapon
.” Miss Vivee said. “He was poisoned.”

“And how did you
know that?” Tom asked turning his eyes toward her. “It’s important that FBI
business stays that way. Bay shouldn’t have told you anything.”

“I didn’t tell
them anything,” Bay said coming into the room. “And you shouldn’t have come
here without me.”

Bay always seemed
to get in the house without setting the bell off. I’d have to remember how
sneaky he is.

“Oh. Bay.” Renmar
looked to Bay. “What is going on? I was just fixin’ to go up to Augusta with
Sydney. She’s been hurt.” Renmar looked over at Charlie. “What is he talking about?”

“Oliver died from
nicotine poisoning.”

Miss Vivee started
waving her hand. I just knew she was going to try and hit me, so I scooted
over, away from her.

“We checked all
the bottles out of Oliver’s house for a higher concentration than what was
marked,” Bay continued. “Something that would be enough to kill him. But none of
them tested for a concentration higher than what was on the bottle. But then we
found another bottle.” He lowered his eyes and then looked up at his mother. “A
Mason jar that had a butterfly on it. In it we found trace amounts of a lethal
dosage of nicotine. It was nearly pure nicotine.” He took in a sharp breath. “Nicotine
with the same chemical makeup as the one that was used to kill Oliver.”

“And your
fingerprints were found on the outside of the jar,” Tom Bowlen said. He seemed
to be enjoying the whole thing.

Bay, I could tell
was not liking what was going on, but still he was very business-like, which
seemed to be upsetting Renmar.

“Bay. I-I . . .”
She looked back around at us. “Those weren’t my jars.”

“Did you have
those jars, Ma?”

“No,” she said. “I
mean. Yes. I had the jars. But they were Koryn’s. She ordered them to make
preserves.” Her bottom lip started to quiver and she nervously fiddled with her
fingers.

“Where is Koryn,”
Bay asked.

“Gone,” Miss Vivee
and I said in unison.

“I didn’t kill
Oliver,” Renmar said. “Oliver was family.” Tears started to roll down her
cheeks. “I wouldn’t even know how to kill someone. I’m not capable . . .”

Yeah, well, not
according to your mother. She thinks you’re more than capable.

“Don’t worry, Ma,”
Bay said to her. He started to walk toward her but Tom held him back.

“I don’t think
it’s a good idea, Agent Colquett.” Tom looked from Bay to Renmar and back.
“With it being family and all. I called in another agent to handle this.”

Bay squinted his
eyes. “So then why not wait for the agent? Why did you come here?”

“I wanted to make
sure that she didn’t get away.” Tom pointed at Renmar. “Your mother. And I was
right,” he said and glanced over at Renmar. “She was just getting ready to
flee.”

“I was not,”
Renmar southern accent came out fierce and strong. She stood up straighter and
squared her shoulders. “And I resent the insinuation. I am not a woman to shirk
my duties. Whatever they may be.”

Chapter Thirty-One

“We’ll go up to
Augusta,” Miss Vivee said to me. “The two of us. Renmar wanted to be there for
Sydney. Since she can’t, we will.” She looked at me and nodded her head. “Come
with me while I get ready.”

Sure enough
another agent came for Renmar. Actually it was two agents along with the
Sheriff. They took Renmar in for questioning. The agents weren’t nearly as
harsh as Tom Bowlen with Bay. When Bay said he was coming and he’d take his
mother, they were fine with that.

I looked down at
myself and thought I probably needed to change and be more presentable myself. Even
in front of Bay’s coworkers. I had on cut-off shorts and a T-shirt.

Once in the room,
Miss Vivee seemed not to be able to concentrate, even telling me she felt
“discombobulated.” I didn’t know what to say to her.

All this time
thoughts of Renmar possibly being the killer had been swirling around in my
head. Now looking at Miss Vivee, her child being detained, she looked helpless
and I felt bad for ever thinking it.

Now I see what my
mother means, your child, no matter how old, is still your baby.

“I was there when
that box came,” I said trying to help her change her mood. She liked talking
murder. “Those were Koryn’s jars. She claimed them. Said she was going to use
them to make preserves. Just like Renmar said.”

“Koryn’s?” Miss
Vivee said thoughtfully.

“Yeah,” I said. “They
came in the mail. But they came after Oliver died.”

“After?” She sat
down on the bed. Holding on to one of her many coats. She seemed lost, giving
one word answers.

“Yeah,” I said and
sat down next to her. “They were addressed to Renmar. She opened the box and
picked up one of the jars.”

“So she touched
it?”

“Uh-huh. Yep. She
touched it. But Koryn took the jars. Picked up the whole box of them and said
she was going to put them in the trash.” I looked at Miss Vivee, the incident
replaying in my head. “I remember Renmar saying she didn’t want them. She’d said
with your bottles of herbs in her cabinets, it would just be more clutter.”

“When was that?”
Miss Vivee asked.

“The day of the
memorial service. And other people were in the kitchen. Charlie. Me. Brie.” I
glanced at Miss Vivee. “So that means she didn’t do it and that the jar had to
be put there after the murder.”

“Well, there sure
weren’t any Mason jars like that when we were there. Unless it was in the
kitchen. We never had a chance to look there.” She thought for a moment. “But I
can’t picture Oliver having anything like that at his house. He wasn’t one for
canning. He wanted something to eat, he came to the Maypop.”

“We could ask Bay
where it was found,” I suggested. “Speaking of Bay,” I said recalling something
else. “He’s the one that told Sydney she could stay in the house, remember? He
said they were finished searching it. And that was after the memorial service.”

“Yes. I do
remember,” Miss Vivee said. “It was at the lawyer’s office. After the reading
of Oliver’s will. He told her she could go and stay there.”

“That’s when she
left the Maypop,” I said. “So that means it had to be put there after the
memorial service but before Sydney moved in.”

“Right,” Miss
Vivee said lost in thought.

I sat thinking for
a moment. “So. It wouldn’t even make sense for Renmar to plant a jar with her
fingerprints if she’s the one that killed Oliver.” I said.

 “Maybe Koryn went
later and pulled them out,” Miss Vivee said slowly. I could see the wheels in
her brain churning.

I hunched my
shoulders. But I thought,
Why would she throw away the bottles just to go
back and get them?

“She’s been putting
on a good show for all of us,” Miss Vivee said.

“Who? Koryn?” I
asked. “You think she’s been putting on an act?”

“If she killed
Oliver she’s been putting on an act.”

“Wait! Whoa! Remember
how you thought her not capable of murder,” I said and lifted an eyebrow. “When
Gemma Burke was killed you said she’d have to be a psychopath to have committed
the murder and still go about her daily life without a second thought.”

“People change,”
she said and shrugged.

“Maybe so. But
people don’t turn into psychopaths overnight.” I really couldn’t decide whether
I bought the idea of Koryn Razner being the killer.

“Did you tell
Koryn about Oliver’s argument with Renmar?” Miss Vivee asked.

“Nooo,” I said
drawing out the word. Trying to remember. “But,” I said. “She was sitting
behind us when we were at the Jellybean.”

“The day we told
Mac about it,” Miss Vivee said and gazed off.

“She could have
heard us.” I nodded. “She also told me she had a degree in chemistry,” I said.

“She said that?”

“Yeah. The day Oliver
died. When we were on the Island.”

“So. She’d know
about nicotine being a plant alkaloid.”

“And that is was
lethal.” I agreed with that. “But why?” I said. “Why would she kill Oliver and
blame Renmar?”

“Remember that day
she was in the closet?”

I chuckled. “The
day she was
screaming
in the closet.”

“Yes. That day,”
Miss Vivee said. “She hated what Oliver was doing to those woman.”

“Enough to kill?”
I asked. “Not liking someone . . .” I stopped mid-sentence. “You know what?” I
said and looked over at Miss Vivee. “Koryn told me she didn’t like Renmar.”

“Do tell,” Miss
Vivee said.

“That day at the
site,” I said slowly.

“So. Motive,” Miss
Vivee said. “She didn’t like what Oliver did to those women. And she didn’t
like Renmar.” She looked at me. “For whatever reason, right?” I nodded in
agreement. “So she could kill, no pun intended, two birds with one stone. Get
rid of Oliver and Renmar by killing one and framing the other.” I nodded again.
Miss Vivee put up a finger and held it, then added another. “Two,” she said.
“Means.”

“She’s a chemist,”
I said.

“So she’d know
that nicotine could kill.”

“But where did she
get it from?” I asked.

“I don’t know,”
she said. “We’ll have to work that one out.” She patted my knee. “Now.
Opportunity.”

“I don’t know,” I said.

“I do,” Miss Vivee
said. “She left Mac and I that day on the shoal after we ate. You were still
out doing your work. I thought at first she went back over where you were until
she screamed.”

“When she found
the body,” I said slowly my eyes wide.

We looked at each
other and said, nearly in unison, “Koryn did it.”