Fatality in the Forest (Hearts Grove Cozy Mystery Book 9) Read online

  Fatality in the Forest

  Hearts Grove Cozy Mystery, Book 9

  Danielle Collins

  Fairfield Publishing

  Copyright © 2020 Fairfield Publishing

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Except for review quotes, this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the author.

  This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Thank You!

  1

  Henrietta Hewitt took in the elegant surroundings of the Sandpiper Restaurant. It was by far the fanciest place in Heart’s Grove and boasted a spectacular view of the water as well as indoor and outdoor seating. Seeing as it was cold and rainy, Henrietta and Ralph sat inside, but their table still boasted a waterside view.

  Her gaze slid from the water to the interior. Sparkling lights decorated the tall ceilings and pink hearts in all shades hung at various levels giving it a whimsical, but artful, look. It was certainly ready for the Valentine’s Day festivities and she saw that they already boasted a large crowd of early dinner guests.

  Henrietta looked back at Ralph, her date for the night. It wasn’t a typical, spontaneous dinner date. No, this was the date. The one that has the power to move them past friendship into something more. What that something was Henrietta didn’t know and she hadn’t given it much thought either.

  When Ralph had asked her to dinner during Christmas time she’d known he meant it as a special dinner. She’d agreed then but something had come over her once the holidays were over. The thoughts of her life thus far, her singleness, and even her position as Ralph’s late wife’s best friend had gotten in her way. In reality, it had gotten in her mind.

  She shouldn’t have considered so many things, but she’d found good reasons to put this off. Perhaps if she hadn’t they could have gone out on a much less romantic day of the year, and yet she felt she slightly deserved this.

  “You’re not regretting saying yes to me, are you?”

  Her smile came easily. “No. It’s not that.” She used her fork to spear another shrimp from their appetizer plate. “It’s more that I’m trying to take in the night. It’s…special.”

  He grinned and, was that a blush she saw?

  “Henrietta, I just want you to know that you’re my friend before…” he waved a hand between them as if indicating the meal and them, “any of this. I don’t want this to jeopardize that. It won’t, will it?”

  And wasn’t that what she’d asked herself? They worked well together, solving crimes like the one over Christmas when her friend Blake McPherson had been killed…twice. But this, it was more than that and she understood his hesitance.

  “I think we should just take it slow,” she said, hating the cliché. “It doesn’t have to ruin anything.” The words said, she felt them sink into her heart helping her believe them.

  “Tell me about the recent trip to Seattle,” she said, purposefully changing the subject to something less weighty and with less potential to ruin the night with emotion.

  “Whenever I get together with those guys,” Ralph said, sitting back to make room for the server as she delivered their entrées, “I remember why I work with you and Scott. I also remember why I don’t live in Seattle. Whew, the traffic is horrendous.”

  Ralph had been to a meeting of other private investigators in the Pacific Northwest region. It was something she knew he looked forward to but loved to balk at as well.

  “Did you learn anything new?”

  He laughed. “I should bring Scott next time. He’d go crazy with all the gadgets these guys come up with and the new software they are using. You’d think I’d met up with Q.”

  Henrietta let her mind drift to some of the fun gadgets James Bond got to use. “I hope you’re never in a situation where you’d need some of the things Q created.”

  “Good point,” he said.

  They paused to enjoy a bit of their meal. Both got the salmon and raved about the flavor as well as the side dishes. They had just put in their order for dessert when Ralph tossed up his hands.

  “I nearly forgot! The big news I promised you.”

  Henrietta laughed, wiping at the corners of her mouth. “I almost forgot too. Some P.I.s we are.”

  “Hey, this has nothing to do with that. When in the presence of such a lady as yourself, it’s easy to forget things.”

  Henrietta blushed at his kind words and felt warmth puddle in her stomach in a pleasant kind of way. She could see herself making more of a life with Ralph. With his steady ways, he was a good fit for her sometimes hectic life. At the same time, Ralph was enough of his own person for her to be herself with him without fear of needing to change.

  “Henri?” Ralph said, waving a hand in front of her face.

  She blinked, blushing again at the course of her thoughts. Now who was getting ahead of themselves?

  “Sorry,” she said. “What were you saying?”

  “I was about to tell you that—”

  The shrill ringing of her phone made her jump and latch onto her small purse to snatch the phone out and silence it as quickly as possible. She almost sent the call to voicemail when she recognized the prefix of the number. The police department.

  She flashed a look that said sorry to Ralph and answered. “Hello, this is Henrietta.”

  “Henrietta Hewitt?”

  “Yes, this is she.” Worry twisted in her stomach. Why would the police be calling her? Or had she misread the number?

  “This is Detective Amanda Boston. I’m sorry to interrupt your night but…” the woman trailed off and it sounded like she was speaking with someone in the distance. “Sorry, but is it possible for you to meet me at the entrance to Bowen Park?”

  “I—Bowen Park?”

  Ralph leaned forward, obviously wanting to know what was going on.

  “Yes, we, uh,” the detective hesitated. “We need you to identify a body.”

  Henrietta blinked. “A…body?”

  Now Ralph was nearly leaning across the whole table. He’d even shooed away the woman with their desserts, asking for the tab instead.

  “Yes. I’m sorry to have to tell you this over the phone but,” Amanda cleared her throat, “I need you to identify the body of Olivia Braddock. You’re listed as her emergency contact.”

  2

  Two days earlier…

  Henrietta walked toward the shelf filled with antique books. “I think I have room over here for that Edgar Allen Poe collection.”

  “Perfect.” Olivia bounced over to Henrietta and handed her the rare book. She treated it like a treasure and Henrietta knew exactly how her employee felt. She smiled back at the young woman and noticed that she was grinning.

  “That’s quite a big grin you have there, young lady,” Henrietta said, an eyebrow raised in question.

  Olivia laughed. “I…I’m not smiling any more than usual. Am I?” she added as an afterthought.

  “Perhaps a little. You said you had a dinner last night, didn’t you?”

  She nodded. “It was with Scott.” There was that grin again but the woman quickly turned back to the box of new arrivals before Henrietta could see the full extent of joy on her face.

  “I assume things are going well? I doubt I’d see such a smile if they weren’t.”

  “You could say that,” she said, feigning extra interest in the book she was holding, not noticing that it was actually upside down.

  “So, tell me, will you have special plans for Valentine’s Day?”

  When Olivia turned around she had her bottom lip between her teeth and a nearly-bursting grin on her face. “I think so.”

  While that could be interpreted many ways, Henrietta wanted to believe that it perhaps meant there might be an engagement to celebrate in the future. Not one to pry, she merely nodded. “I’m happy for you, dear.”

  “Oh, Henrietta.” Olivia sighed in the way young girls in love do. “I am just so happy. I know I was such a mess just a few months back and I treated Scott so badly when I was going between dating him and Abe,” she blushed at the mention of the head detective and her remembered foolishness, “but I really think Scott is the one. You know what I mean?”

  As a woman who’d been single for most of her life, Henrietta couldn’t exactly know what the young woman meant, but she had an idea. “I think so.”

  “It’s just…the best feeling. And I told Scott the other day that I just felt so bad about what had happened before and he was so understanding. I mean, I even saw Nelson at the store the other day and it didn’t even bother me.”

  Henrietta smiled as the girl rambled on about how happy she was with Scott. It made her happy that her employee and friend had found such a wonderful relationship after the failed one she’d moved to Heart’s Grove for. The young man she’d mentioned, Nelson Stern, had dated her online and convinced her to move across the country from Maryland, but she’d soon found out that he wasn’t the man for her.
r />   After a spell of misadventures in dating it was wonderful to see the young woman settled with the right man. And the son of Henrietta’s best friend, Ralph as well!

  “Henrietta?”

  Henrietta blinked several times, realizing she’d slipped into thought and missed what Olivia had said.

  “I’m sorry, dear. What was that?”

  “I think that was the front door bell. Want me to go see?”

  Henrietta surveyed the progress—or lack of—they’d made on the new shipment. “Why don’t you go ahead and keep working on these. I’ll see who it is.”

  Just as she moved to make her way toward the aisle that would lead toward the front of her shop nestled in the heart of an old, converted Victorian, Sepia jumped into her path.

  “There you are,” she said, bending to rub the cat’s back for a moment before straightening. “Shall we go greet our guest?”

  Meowing her agreement, the tan, Flame Point Siamese trotted ahead of Henrietta. They stepped into the widened hallway and she saw a young man outlined by light from the clear glass front door.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “Hi,” the voice replied. It sounded familiar but it was still too bright to make out the man’s features. “You aren’t hiring, by chance, are you Henrietta?”

  Apparently, he knew who she was. Why was she having trouble placing his voice?

  “I, well,” she paused, she was looking to hire a new helping hand but first she needed to see who it was. “I’m sorry, I’m blinded a bit by the light.”

  “Oh, sorry.” The young man came forward and she was finally able to make out his features.

  “Jacob?”

  “Hi,” he said, his grin widening. “Good to see you again—and under better circumstances.”

  Memories flooded Henrietta of the last time she’d talked with the young man. She’d introduced him to his grandmother, a woman who hadn’t known she even had another grandson. It had been a joyous occasion, even as it had been difficult due to the fact that Jacob’s father had been killed only days before.

  “How are you?” she said, accepting his hand in a warm handshake.

  “Doing well. Actually, better than well. I have a family, and that’s thanks to you.”

  “Don’t you go giving me all of the credit,” she said laughing. It had been a difficult case and yet somehow it had all ended for the best. “How is Louella?”

  “Good. Actually, better than good now that Mack is out of her life. I’ve been staying up at the house getting to know her better and helping out where I could, but it’s getting to be a bit…stifling.” He grinned.

  “How so?” she asked, folding her arms and leaning against the doorframe.

  “Don’t get me wrong. I love my grandmother and have really enjoyed this time to get to know her—to have family.” A soft smile tugged the corners of his lips upward. “But you can only stay in a mansion for so long before you need to get out of the house.”

  “I see.”

  “That’s why I’m looking for a job. Louella told me I didn’t have to work but I’ve worked all my life and I didn’t want anyone to think I had started up a relationship with my grandmother only to mooch off her.” He shrugged but the look on his face was genuine. “I thought I’d ask around town but it seems it’s the slow season. I thought, on a chance, I’d inquire here.”

  Henrietta’s head tilted to the side in consideration. During her time up at The Mansion on the Hill, as they called her friend Louella McPherson’s home, she’d seen Jacob to be a responsible and kind young man. And she was looking for another employee to level out some of the work.

  “You know,” she admitted, “I am looking for someone.”

  “Henrietta,” Olivia said, coming up behind them. “Oh, hello.”

  Henrietta made the introductions and then explained that Jacob was interested in their job opening.

  “You’d love working here,” Olivia said. “Surrounded by so much history. It’s amazing.”

  “Then again, that is what Olivia has her degree in so you may love it a bit less.” Henrietta laughed.

  “It sounds awesome to me. I love history and I love a good mystery—which is sometimes what I imagine happens here with different items.”

  “True,” Olivia said and jumped into a story about a puzzle box they’d found and had to decipher.

  Just then Henrietta’s cell phone rang in the back of the shop. “Excuse me,” she said, rushing to grab it before the call ended.

  “Hello, Henrietta Hewitt of H. H. Antiques.”

  The line was quiet, but she thought she heard the sounds of breathing.

  “Hello?”

  The next instant the line went dead.

  By early that afternoon, Henrietta had given Jacob all of the paperwork to fill out and had agreed to have him come back in once she’d reviewed it.

  “He seems like a nice young man,” Olivia said. She held the remnants of the boxes the books had come in and was on her way to the dumpster at the side of the shop.

  Taking some of the boxes Henrietta followed her out the front door and down the steep steps. They walked around the corner of her yard and tossed the boxes in the recycle bin.

  “I think he’d do a good job. He’s certainly bright, and from what I saw at the McPherson’s, he was kind and caring as well. I may call Louella, but I think I’ll take a chance and hire him.”

  Olivia smiled. “Good, because I’ll be needing some time off soon I think.”

  “Oh?” Henrietta’s eyebrows rose and the woman just smiled in reply.

  “Just a feeling I have.” Olivia smiled mysteriously and they walked back to the front of the shop. Henrietta spun in a slow circle, taking in the gray day. It was chilly with white clouds sending a pale hue over everything.

  “Do you think it’s going to rain?” Henrietta said.

  “I don’t think so. I checked the forecast for this week and it said cold but no rain. I’m so ready for some spring weather.”

  Henrietta laughed and turned toward her employee. “It won’t be here for a while, dear. You’ve lived here long enough to know that.”

  “True,” Olivia said with a sigh. “I just keep hoping, you know?”

  They walked up the steep steps and in the front door.

  “I will be ready for business to pick up though,” Henrietta said. While she didn’t need the money to keep the shop afloat, having made a considerable fortune in good investments before she moved to Heart’s Grove, she still liked to see the shop filled with tourists.

  “Yes, that’ll be nice. And we’ll have that new employee to carry the load as well because we all know you’ll be called away on a case at any moment.”

  Henrietta shook her head. “That’s not a guarantee. Besides, that last case was a…difficult one. In fact, the last two have been very personal for me. I’d like something a little less close, if you know what I mean.”

  “Just a good, old fashioned car thief, huh?”

  Now they both laughed. “Not exactly what I had in mind,” Henrietta said. “But then again, I don’t know that I have anything in mind. I know that Ralph has many cases he’s working now but a lot of them aren’t ones that he needs help with or any particular, acute skills. I suppose I’ll just need to be content with running my shop.”

  They walked back to the register area of the shop and Henrietta positioned herself on the stool behind the counter, keen to catch up on some of her bookkeeping for the rest of the quiet afternoon.

  “Henrietta,” Olivia said, hip resting against the tall counter. “What about your book?”

  Henrietta’s eyes went wide. “My book. Well, no one’s asked about that in a while.” She shook her head and propped her head on her hand, elbow resting on the countertop. “I suppose I should be working on the new story I started a while ago but…it’s just so not literary.”

  “Is it another mystery?” Olivia said, hopefulness shining in her eyes.