Many Unpleasant Returns (23 page)

Miss Miller shook her head. “So, he pleaded guilty?”

Creighton yawned. “Not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.”

Miss Miller smiled. “I guess those pictures did it.”

“That, plus the little fragments of wood and paint that got stuck in the tongue and laces of those hiking boots.” He smiled. “The pictures were pretty incriminating: Johnny's feet, then Johnny's feet and the chair leg, still intact. Then Frankie's feet on the chair. And the time and date programmed into the camera.”

Creighton laughed. “The joys of modern technology.”

“And then,” Brisbois added, “when Carla realized what Johnny'd done, she put the nail in the coffin when we interviewed her again at the station by remembering that he didn't come back to the cabin as quickly as he said he did.”

“Did she suspect him at all at the time?” Simpson asked.

“I think she suspected he knew more than he was saying.”

Simpson thought for a moment. “It seems Mrs. Gowling played a major role in the solution of the case.”

“Yes, I noticed before that Mrs. Gowling was a keen observer.” Brisbois turned to Miss Miller. “Tell me again how you set the sting up.”

Miss Miller smiled. “We needed to get a closer look at the camera. We thought if you were to ask for it, he would think something was up and refuse. Then by the time you sorted out the legalities, he might have had time to destroy the memory card.”

“Go on.”

“Tim delivered a note to Norman, telling him in ten words or less what was up and asking him to figure out how to get hold of the camera legitimately. We realized it would be important to get Johnny to part with the camera voluntarily. We were merely hoping to confirm that the camera was Frankie's. Then we saw the pictures and realized we had more incriminating evidence. So we turned the situation over to you.”

Brisbois smiled. “It was a creative plan.”

“We had Geraldine in on it and Mrs. Rudley and Tim.”

“Their jobs were to distract and obstruct, I guess,” said Brisbois.

“Yes,” said Miss Miller. “I think Johnny got a little edgy once Norman got out of his sight with the camera.”

“What were you planning to do if Johnny had decided to run after Norman, yelling, ‘Give me back my camera'?” Creighton asked. “That would have looked like theft.”

“I guess we would have been sunk,” said Miss Miller.

“Guess so,” Brisbois said. “I think you did very well putting all of that together on the fly.”

“Thank you.”

“But even without your creative efforts, we would have solved the case,” Creighton said. “Once we'd assembled all the trace evidence, it would have come together.”

“Detective,” Miss Miller smiled, “I doubt if you would have ever figured out that Johnny had the wrong camera. And therefore you probably wouldn't have realized he was the one wearing the hiking boots that broke the chair leg.”

Brisbois shrugged. “I probably would have stumbled onto that. I've been known to do that.”

Simpson took a sip of tea. “What about the other things, Detective? The candy? Mr. Sawchuck's seasoning?”

“I went through that little case of things Walter carts around. He had a few other things in there he didn't know he'd brought — nutmeg, for one, pumpkin-pie spice. I mean, what did he think he was going to do with pumpkin-pie spice?”

“The chocolates?” Miss Miller prompted.

“That was most likely Frankie's work,” said Brisbois. “It was his trademark prank in university.”

“And the Little Santas?” Simpson asked. “Were they Frankie's work as well?”

“We have no evidence of that so far,” Brisbois admitted. “We're…working on it.”

Miss Miller raised an eyebrow. “How hard are you working on it?”

Brisbois laughed. “Not very.”

Creighton chimed in. “You might say hardly at all.”

 

The next fall: The Pleasant Inn

 

Margaret Rudley hung up the phone. “That was the book reviewer from the Brockton paper,” she told Rudley. “He wanted to know what we thought of Mr. Thornton's latest book.”

Rudley paused, his pen poised over his paperwork. “And?”

“I told him the photographs were lovely.”

“I agree, Margaret. Much better than the ones in his previous book. What was that?
Famous Outhouses in Ust'shchugor
?”

“Something like that, Rudley. Anyway, he wanted to know what effect the book had had on our business.”

“I can't see that it's had any effect. The story was in all the papers, in any event. I haven't noticed any fall-off in our reservations.”

“In fact ” — Margaret sighed —“I would say there's been an increase in inquiries, as is usually the case after one of these things.”

“People are ghoulish.”

“I did tell the reviewer I didn't like the cover much. That picture of a little Santa hanging by his neck…that was a bit uncalled for.”

“With any luck, it might have a negative effect on sales.”

“Quite the opposite. The reviewer says he thinks it will do quite well.”

“In that case, perhaps we should sue him.”

“I don't think we can, Rudley. Not if the book is factually correct.”

He shrugged. “I imagine you're right.”

“It will all blow over. It always has.”

“Yes,” he agreed, “and it wouldn't be the first time someone has profited from insider knowledge. I suppose he couldn't resist the temptation. In fact, Margaret, I wouldn't be surprised if that were his intention from the beginning — coming here to get the inside story of an inn with a history. Planting those wretched little Santas to add a little spice. And Tiffany thought she was the main attraction.”

“Now, Rudley, we don't know if Mr. Thornton had anything to do with the Little Santas.”

“What about that felt-tipped pen Tiffany found under his bedside table after he left? The Little Santas were defaced with a felt-tipped pen.”

“Felt-tipped pens are not uncommon.”

“No, but the one Tiffany found was the same brand we use here. I'll bet Thornton stole one from the desk.” He gave the register a triumphant thump. “Case solved,” he said. He gave her a lopsided smile.

“You've taken this very well, Rudley.”

“In the grand scheme of things, we didn't come out badly. No one seems to think any less of us.”

“I don't think they could, Rudley.”

“And we didn't lose Tiffany to that idiot. And the whole episode wasn't as dreadful as it could have been.”

“It was pretty awful, Rudley.”

He signed an invoice with a flourish. “It was a friend-killing-friend situation. It could have happened anywhere. It'll make future guests feel more secure, knowing they won't be killed by strangers.”

“That's true. It is more likely you will be killed by someone you know.”

“And,” he said, “according to Doreen's postcard, Walter has recovered from his surgery and is in wonderful spirits.”

“He'll be ready for Halloween then.”

He smiled. “I'm looking forward to that, Margaret. I think I'll dress up as Santa Claus.”

She gave him a stern look. “Be nice, Rudley.”

“Aren't I always?”

 

Judith Alguire's previous novels include
Pleasantly Dead,
The Pumpkin Murders,
A Most Unpleasant Wedding
, and
Peril at the Pleasant
, the first four books of the Rudley Mysteries, as well as
All Out
and
Iced
, both of which explored the complex relationships of sportswomen on and off the playing field. Her short stories, articles and essays have also appeared in such publications as
The Malahat Review
and
Harrowsmith
, and she is a past member of the editorial board of the
Kingston Whig-Standard
. A graduate of Queen's University, she has recently retired from nursing.

Print book ISBN 978-1927426-26-5

EPUB ebook ISBN 978-1927426-27-2

Kindle ebook ISBN 978-1927426-28-9

 

Margaret Rudley has finally persuaded her husband to take a vacation, a week-long canoeing expedition in Northern Ontario. Rudley hates the idea of leaving the Pleasant, but he is reluctant to deny her a cherished dream. They set off, with long-time guests Elizabeth Miller, Edward Simpson, and the Phipps-Walkers, and a pair of neophytes, Vern Peters and Eric Turnbull. They leave the Pleasant and a few regular guests, including the Sawchucks and their incorrigible eight-year-old grandchildren, Ned and Nora, in the capable hands of Mrs. Millotte.

But contrary to their hopes, it is chaos at the Pleasant. Ned and Nora disappear and a ransom note is received by the local paper. Tiffany encounters an intruder in the kitchen. The laundryman's truck is stolen. And a serial murderer is on the lam in the vicinity. Detectives Brisbois and Creighton are on the scene to investigate these various crimes, including the appearance of a dead body in a ditch a few miles from the Pleasant.

Meanwhile, the canoeists continue downriver, oblivious to the threat that lurks around the next bend.

Print book ISBN 978-1897109-99-1

EPUB ebook ISBN 978-1927426-07-4

Kindle ebook ISBN 978-1927426-11-1

 

Another summer, and The Pleasant Inn, nestled in beautiful Ontario cottage country, is filled to capacity. This season is especially exciting, as perennial guests Miss Miller and her long-time admirer Mr. Simpson have chosen to marry at the Inn. The guests and staff are clamouring to be involved, particularly Bonnie Lawrence, a young wife adrift while her husband is off fishing. Margaret and Trevor Rudley are delighted to host the wedding, and barring Mrs. Lawrence's obsessive interfering, everything is set to go off without a hitch. 

But when a neighbour is found dead in the woods behind the inn, the possibility of a joyous occasion starts looking distinctly less likely. Detective Michel Brisbois, who is heading up the case, is back on the Pleasant Inn's doorstep. Rudley barely tolerates the presence of the police, who are once again on site interviewing the guests as possible suspects. Even though she's prenuptially preoccupied, the fearless Miss Miller refuses to be left out from solving yet another murder at The Pleasant…much to her own peril.

Print book ISBN 978-1897109-45-8

EBook ISBN 978-1897109-69-4

 

Autumn returns to Ontario cottage country. Leaves redden. Pumpkins ripen. And Trevor and Margaret Rudley, proprietors of the Pleasant Inn, expect nothing more than a few Halloween high jinks to punctuate the mellow ambiance of their much-loved hostelry. However, the frost is barely on the pumpkin when Gerald, a female-impersonator friend of the Pleasant's esteemed cook Gregoire, turns up, dragging his very frightened friend Adolph behind. After witnessing a drug deal in Montreal, they're on the lam, hoping to blend into the Pleasant's pleasant rhythms until the heat is off. Alas, they hope in vain.

As the bodies pile up, the intrepid Elizabeth Miller jumps into the fray, fully armed with her peculiar intuition, her maddening charm, and her devoted swain, Edward Simpson, who proves a useful fellow behind the wheel of a car. Detective Michel Brisbois, in the past bested by Miss Miller in rooting out unpleasantness at the Pleasant, finds himself racing — quite literally — to keep up with his amateur challenger. But when the chips are down — as they inevitably are — it's the laziest creature on Earth who ends up saving the day for the kindly and rather eccentric folk of Ontario's most peculiar country hotel.