Murder in Cottage #6 (Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) Read Free Page A

questions, Liz said, “Bertha, you can
go now. I think he’s through with you. I’ll stay here while he talks to Gina
and Cindy and I also want to be here to find out what the coroner has to say
about the cause of death.”
    “Ladies,” Seth said to
Gina and Cindy, “wanna know what kind of treatments Barbara had and if she
seemed to be okay when you saw her yesterday.”
    “I saw her yesterday
morning at 10:00,” Cindy said. “She’d requested the stress-releasing massage. She
was fine while she was with me and was feeling good when she left. She didn’t
say or do anything that seemed unusual to me. There’s really nothing more I can
tell you,” Cindy said
    Seth turned to Gina. “How
about you?”
    “Pretty much like Cindy
just said. I saw her at 3:00 yesterday afternoon. She had a facial and
purchased some beauty products from the spa that I recommended. She was quiet
during the facial, thanked me when I was finished, and left. Other than that, I
don’t know anything about her.”
    “Thank you ladies. You can
go back to the spa now. If I got any more questions, I’ll get back to ya’, but
I’m pretty sure I know what happened to her.”
    He had just finished
getting statements from Cindy and Gina when a white van drove up the narrow
lane that led to the lodge and spa followed by a Red Cedar police car. They
pulled to a stop next to cottage #6.
    “Hey,” Seth said as they
got out of their respective vehicles, “Wes, Leroy. Stiff’s in there. Got a
statement from Liz and Bertha as well as the two wimmin who treated her at the
spa yesterday. Leroy, you go in, and see what you can find. Probably better
wear gloves, but there’s not much to dust. Maybe ya’ oughta do that Jack
Daniels bottle in there. When you finish with it, take it back to the station.
We oughta send a sample of the contents to the state police lab for testin’,
but I reckon me and you might have to do a little testin’ of that Jack Daniels
ourselves. Hate to let good booze go to waste, if ya’ know what I mean. Wes,
like to know what ya’ think caused her death, but it seems purty black and
white to me. Be willin’ to bet she decided to buy the farm when she found out
Dave had the hots for Darcy. Whole town knows they’ve been getting’ it on.
Maybe she jes’ found out. Decided to come out here and mix a little Black Jack
with a handful of night-night pills and bingo, the deed is done.”
    Who is this Darcy woman? Liz thought . I wonder
if Barbara knew about the affair? And if she was going to commit suicide, why
would she buy beauty products from the spa? Could Seth be right, that she came
here to end her life? If that’s true, sure wish she’d gone to another spa. I
don’t need this kind of publicity.
    Liz took a couple of deep
breaths and a few minutes later followed the men into the cottage. She walked
over to the coroner and asked, “Wes, do you have any idea what caused her
death?”
    “No. There’s no sign of a
struggle or foul play of any kind. Leroy quickly examined the door, and he said
he didn’t see any signs of forcible entry or that the lock had been tampered
with. I’ll know more after I do an autopsy on her. Maybe it’s like Seth thinks,
that she took some sleeping pills and combined it with the alcohol, although I
don’t see any prescription bottles. I understand she ate dinner at your lodge
last night. Did you serve anything that might have caused her to suffer an
allergic reaction? Sometimes a severe allergic reaction can lead to
anaphylactic shock and death.”
    “I don’t think so. I
served the guests wine with several different kinds of cheeses and crackers.
Dinner consisted of lamb chops baked in a wine sauce, broccoli with almonds, a
rice pilaf, and an ice cream sundae with caramel sauce. When guests come to the
spa they have to fill out a registration form and one of the things they’re
asked is if they have any food allergies. I know people can have life
threatening allergies to things