Heather Horrocks - Who-Dun-Him Inn 01 - Snowed Inn (36 page)

Martha shrugged. “I have a reputation to uphold.”

Garrett laughed. “We played chess. But don’t tell anyone, because I have a reputation to uphold, too.”

“And do you lie to the police often?” Paul asked Martha.

Martha shrugged again and shook her head. “I knew I was innocent.”

Liz tapped Paul on the hand. “Did you ever find out who Kevin meant by the scary-looking woman?”

“Oh, yes. It was Alexis, the only person on the second floor that night. She had some sort of sleep cap on and her mascara must’ve run down her cheeks. I don’t think he actually got much of a look at her, though, just a glance.

“She confessed to seeing him as he tried to break in through the window, and when she knocked on it, he was so startled, he fell off. She also confessed to seeing his knife in the snow when he fled the night of the murder, which was when she saw her chance to kill Calabria and make it look like Kevin was guilty.”

DeWayne took a turn. “Alexis still had the knife because she considered killing BJ, too. She stabbed her own pillow after Kevin showed up because she had to get rid of the murder weapon while throwing suspicion off herself.”

“What did the note say?” Grandma leaned forward eagerly, and I could easily see why Dr. Ray found her so charming. I envied her talent to live life to the fullest.

“It said,” Paul lowered his voice menacingly, “you’re next!”

“That’s it?” Liz snorted.

“It did the trick.” DeWayne looked at her like he had in high school, poor man. “It was meant to make her look like a victim, so we wouldn’t suspect her as the killer.”

“How come you didn’t catch her alias on the police records like you did mine?” asked Xavier.

“We did.” Paul shrugged. “But there was no criminal record under her real name.”

“Like in Clue,” Xavier said. “It was Alexis in the dining room with the candlestick.”

“And the proverbial smoking gun,” added Grandma.

Liz said, “And Alexis in the carriage house with the knife.”

“I always suspected you had a hard head.” Paul grinned at me. “The dent in the candlestick confirmed it.”

“We had to have hard heads to survive growing up with you,” Liz told Paul, winking at me. “What I really want to know is whether BJ left with Kevin.”

DeWayne said, “Last I heard, she decided to stand by her man. She’s at his hospital bedside.”

“I knew she’d cave.” Liz smirked. “Long eyelash power prevailed.”

“Will he still go to jail for stabbing Lonny?” I asked.

“Nope.” DeWayne took a sip of water. “Lonny decided not to press charges. Neither is the Attorney General. And, interestingly enough, neither is Alexis, who cut her own arm.”

“How is your arm?” I asked Lonny.

He pouted with a smile. “It hurts.”

I smiled back. “I’m sorry.”

“How about the radio conversation about the murder weapon?” Liz asked. “Did BJ overhear it?”

DeWayne played with his empty glass. “She said she didn’t.”

The phone rang. Liz answered and handed it to me.

The man on the other end of the line was excited. He read the newspaper article in this morning’s
Salt Lake Tribune
and wanted to schedule three rooms for next weekend. He gave me his VISA information. Hallelujah! My favorite kind of customer— the kind who pays in advance.

I glanced at David, who was watching me quietly. He kept his promise to put the Inn in a positive light. I smiled at him, and, because Lonny was sitting directly between us, Lonny thought I was smiling at him and they both smiled back at the same time.

I could be in real trouble here.

Liz asked how Calabria ever got the authors, who were all intelligent, to agree to such high-percentage contracts.

Xavier grinned. “Have you ever heard of Melissa Owens?”

“Are you kidding?” Grandma asked. “Who hasn’t? Her suspense novels have been on the bestseller list for years.”

“Well, suppose Melissa Owens put an ad in the paper saying she would present a writing workshop?”

“Every author in the state would sign up,” Grandma said.

“And what if she offered to personally mentor only select talented, but unskilled, beginning authors in exchange for taking a high percentage of their royalties as a training fee?”

Liz said, “They’d sign in a heartbeat.”

Xavier pointed at Martha. “My mother has been writing for years under the pseudonym, Melissa Owens.”

As appropriate oohs and ahhs came from all of us, I caught Martha’s eye. “Couldn’t sign in as an author, eh?”

“I wanted to make my grand entrance; remember?” She grew thoughtful. “I offered to train the authors for two years. If they didn’t hit the bestseller list, they wouldn’t owe me a penny. If they did, they’d pay me a high-percentage training fee for five years. I wanted to help other authors get established, but Gregorio preferred to line his own wallet. He put the contracts in his name, which is why I lost the authors during our divorce. He also neglected to include the five-year cap on the higher rate.”

“How did you find out he was coming up here?” I asked.

“Oh, honey, I sent him the brochures anonymously. He was a creature of habit, and this is just the kind of place I knew he’d book. I knew Xavier was planning to work here when it opened, because he and I were still in contact, but I didn’t tell him I was coming, either. I wanted to see if I could get father and son reconciled. But Gregorio was too stubborn.”

When the phone rang, Grandma said, “Let the machine get it.”

I did, and was immediately grateful when I recognized Manny Much’s voice. “Vicki, you missed the mineral meeting. I’m giving you good leads here, baby. But you have to take some action. I hope I can count on you next time, you being family and all. Maybe we can do a meeting at your place and invite some of your friends. Female friends would be great, too.”

“Yeah, that would be so great,” Paul teased.

The others laughed.

“Will you see Dr. Ray again, Grandma?” Liz asked gently.

“Nicholas told me he’s setting his next book in Silver City. He’ll be moving here in two months to begin research.” Grandma flashed a smile. “Did I mention I’m his new research assistant?”

“Way to go, Grandma,” I said.

Grandma leaned over so the others couldn’t hear. “Well, it hasn’t escaped my notice that you have two nice young men vying for your attention. Way to go yourself.”

Martha nodded. “Nicholas is an excellent catch.”

David leaned against the counter. “I can cook for you for the next few weeks.”

I thanked him.

And I suddenly realized I didn’t want to grieve the rest of my life. I loved Robert dearly, but I had a lot of— how did Grandma say it?— kick in my young legs left. It was time for me to open my heart to the possibilities, two of whom were sitting in a line right here.

I guess Zach figured this was his best bet. You know, go after your Mom when she’s semi-coherent and relaxed. He hugged me again. “Mom, I’d like to do something for you, too.”

I smiled at him. “Anything, squirt.”

Zach grinned. “All right! She’s going to let me get her a watchdog to keep her safe from murderers.”

“Oh, no, you don’t,” I said.

Zach got down on his knees before me. “Please, please, please, please, please can we have a dog?”

“Grovel all you want, but it won’t change my answer.”

Paul exchanged glances with Lonny. David set down the wooden spoon. And then the three idiots knelt beside Zach and joined in his chant. “Please, please, please can we have a dog?”

I looked at them all and risked shaking my head.

“Please?” The four of them continued to beg and ham it up.

Finally, I started to laugh. “Maybe. Next year.”

“That means no,” Zach said sadly.

BJ wasn’t the only one to cave. I laughed. “Definitely, yes. But I get final say on the dog we get. And I do not want a puppy.”

Zach’s grin was huge. “Thanks, Mom. And, um, Mom?”

I stared at my son suspiciously. “No, you cannot have a car. It doesn’t matter how many people grovel for you.”

He hugged me again. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too, squirt. So very much.”

The phone rang again. This time, I answered and listened carefully to the slightly irrational woman on the other end. When I hung up, I turned to Paul. “You think puppies are good?”

He grinned and winked at me. “You bet.”

“Good, because Jennifer said if you’re not home in ten minutes, she’s driving herself to the hospital and you’ll be sleeping in a big puppy house.”

I bet he made it.

The Inn’d

Thank You!

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my cozy mystery,
Snowed Inn,
the first in the Who-Dun-Him Inn series
.
I love to write these light-hearted, humorous mysteries to allow people to curl up with a good book for an afternoon. I hope you were entertained.

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www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com
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Did you see any (gasp!) errors or typos?

Though this book has gone through numerous edits, by myself and others, including two professional editors, we are human. If you spot any errors or typos, please email me at
[email protected]
and let me know! I want my books to be as clean as possible, both in content and in format.

Author’s Note.

The Who-Dun-Him Inn in my book is based, both in architecture and some of the great history, on the wonderful Armstrong Mansion located in Salt Lake City, Utah. To enjoy a romantic stay there, go to
www.ArmstrongMansion.com
.

Thanks again…

For your time and interest, and for telling your friends about my books. If you’d like to know more about my other books, that section is just a page or two away.

Happy tales, Heather Horrocks

www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Diane Darcy and Kristin Holt, for reading and giving me valuable feedback which, as always, added so much to the finished manuscript.

Thanks to Anissa Wall and Teri (Editing Fairy.com), my two awesome editors, for making sure I got it right. Thanks for making me look good.

Thanks also to my previous teaching partner and members of our Friday class for the brainstorming. It was fun to do the initial plotting and characterization during class, though you might notice I deviated
greatly
from the original plan. I had a lot of fun coloring outside the lines (and I recommend it highly).

About the Author

Raised overseas by her shop-til-you-drop mother and pay-for-the-purchases oilman father, avid mystery and romantic comedy lover Heather read her way through Columbia, Venezuela, London, Kuwait, and Iran— and later bought a video store so she could watch stories on the little screen, too.

She’s written numerous bestselling novels; two mystery series (
Who-Dun-Him Inn
and
Bad Mothers Club),
romantic comedies (including the
Chick Flick Clique
and
Christmas Street
series), and inspirational books (
Women Who Knew the Mortal Messiah)
.

She loves anyone who can make her laugh, which explains why she adores her witty husband, her funny friends, Anne George mysteries, Bill Cosby, and her cute little dog Gus. She loves to cook for friends, siblings, and especially her nine children and stepchildren and their families. She and her husband reside in Utah. You can find her online at
www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com
.

Books by Heather Horrocks

Christmas Street Romantic Comedy Novella Series

Bah, Humbug!

Kissing Santa

Deck the Malls
and
The Naughty List (2013-14)