The Blue Butterfly: A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery Read online

  THE BLUE BUTTERFLY

  By

  Dianne Harman

  (A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery - Book 5)

  Copyright © 2015 Dianne Harman

  www.dianneharman.com

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form without written permission except for the use of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Website, Interior & Cover design by Vivek Rajan Vivek

  Paperback ISBN: 978-1523406197

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To each and every one of my readers, I sincerely thank you. You have made my books best sellers beyond my dreams. When I started writing cozy mysteries, I had no idea I would write three series and be in the process of starting a fourth, the Midwest Cozy Mystery Series. Without loyal readers like you, I wouldn’t be a successful writer. It’s as simple as that. My husband recently asked me which of my books was my favorite. I looked at him in shock and replied, “They’re my children. I love each and every one of them equally.”

  I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge my writing Muse who often visits me in the middle of the night, depriving me of sleep, and helping me work out plots and plan for my next book. I’ve come to appreciate her input (and yes, for some reason I’m sure my Muse is a female!)

  There are two people I’ve come to rely on during this writing journey of mine, my husband, Tom, and my friend, Vivek Rajan. Tom patiently reads each book several times and lets me know when I’ve made a mistake in a character’s name or time inconsistencies or anything else I’ve missed. He’s also great at coming up with plot twists and fleshing out characters. Vivek is responsible for the book covers and the formatting – things I’m more than happy to have him do. He’s also been indispensable when it comes to media marketing. I’m a believer that no one is going to look under a rock for my books. He helps me give them visibility. Thanks to both of you!

  Lastly, to my boxer dog Kelly, who has finally become the dog I’d hoped for when I got her. She recently had her first birthday, so thankfully the puppy stage has pretty much ended. I think she topped it off when she ate part of our couch, and it’s going to have to be recovered! It’s wonderful not to have to stop writing to see why she’s quiet or wondering what she’s doing. Many a house plant has suffered from her curiosity. In retrospect, Nature Girl probably would have been a better name for her because she tends to bury her toys in the house plants! Thanks Kelly for letting me write!

  Free Paperbacks

  I'm giving away seven free autographed paperbacks. Find out more at www.dianneharman.com/freepaperback.html

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  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

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  EPILOGUE

  Recipes!

  ABOUT DIANNE

  Prologue

  The Lotis Blue butterfly has not been seen since 1983 and is considered to be rarest butterfly in North America. With a wingspan of only one inch, it’s a beautiful little butterfly with a deep violet-blue color on its wing surface. It was last seen in a few remote coastal bogs not far from Mendocino on California’s north coast. It’s on the U.S. Endangered Species List.

  CHAPTER 1

  “Roger, I have to go into town today. How about meeting me at Gertie’s Diner for lunch? I’ve got a craving for one of her hamburgers and a chocolate malt,” Liz Langley said to her husband.

  “You know you don’t have to ask me twice. Consider it done. Renting the space next door to her diner may not have been the smartest thing I’ve ever done. I think I’ve gained ten pounds in the six months since we got married, and I moved my law practice from San Francisco to here in Red Cedar. Between you and Gertie, I can kiss my former slender fit body goodbye.”

  “Roger, I think that slender fit body label was a figment of your imagination. Not that I’m complaining, but keep one thing in mind. Neither Gertie nor I is forcing you to eat. The hand that takes the fork from the plate to the mouth is none other than your own,” she said with a hint of laughter in her voice. “Anyway, I need to go shopping at the market. It looks like the next couple of weeks will be pretty busy here at the spa.”

  Liz was the owner of the Red Cedar Spa and Lodge, a very popular getaway for people from the San Francisco area, and with the recent publicity about the spa’s mascot, a St. Bernard dog named Brandy Boy, the clientele was now coming from all over the west coast. The attractive widow with the auburn hair, full figure, and sea-green eyes had recently married Roger Langley, a criminal law attorney who worked at the San Francisco law firm that handled the probate of her late husband’s estate.

  Roger looked at his watch. “Would love to stay and talk, sweetheart, but if I don’t leave now I’ll have a client waiting on the sidewalk, and that certainly won’t help when I quote my fee to him. Take care of her, Winston,” Roger said, patting the big boxer dog that stood next to Liz in his usual protective mode.

  He leaned down and kissed Liz. “Love you,” he said as he walked out the door. “See you at noon.”

  Just as Liz closed the door behind him she heard her phone ringing. She looked at the monitor and saw that it was Gertie. “Gertie, you must be telepathic. Roger and I were just talking about meeting for lunch at your diner. I’m hungry for one of your hamburgers and a chocolate malt.”

  “Ya’ know yer’ always welcome at the diner, honey. I’ll make sure ya’ get enuf’ to eat, so you’ll be full as a tick. Got a favor to ask of ya’.”

  “Sure, what can I do for you?”

  “Well, don’t talk about my family much, but I got a brother, actually he’s a step-brother, who’s about twenty years younger’n me. He works fer the California Forestry Service, doin’ somethin’ or other, but I never could figger out what it is. Anyway, he’s drivin’ over to Red Cedar today and asked if I knew someplace he could stay. I thought of you and wondered if ya’ got a cottage there at the spa he could use fer a few days beginnin’ tonight. He squeezes a quarter so tight the eagle screams, but he can sure afford it. Been tellin’ him fer years that sometimes the squeeze ain’t worth the juice. Don’t think it registers with him.”

  “Gertie, I don’t know if anything’s available. Let me check with Bertha, and I’ll get right back to you.”

  “Thanks, honey. Appreciate it. Talk to ya’ later.”

  Kelly pressed the intercom on her desk and said, “Bertha, I just had a call from Gertie. Her step-brother’s going to be in town for a few days, and she wondered if we had an opening in one of our cottages.”

  “Must be Gertie’s lucky day. I just received a cancellation from a woman in Los Angeles. She’d planned her spa trip months ago, but her elderly mother broker her hip yes
terday, and she had to cancel her trip. Do you want me to call Gertie, or do you want to?” Bertha, Liz’s long-time spa manager, asked.

  “I’ll give her a call. I’m going into town, and Roger and I are planning on meeting for lunch at Gertie’s Diner. Before I leave I’ll pick up the key from you and give it to her for her step-brother. She didn’t say when he was coming into town.”

  “I’ll put the key on my desk in case I’m not here when you come to the office. I need to spend some time at the spa. I have some interviews scheduled today for people who have applied to work here. We need to add a couple of massage therapists and facialists.”

  “As always, Bertha, thanks. See you later.”

  She pressed Gertie’s cell number on her phone and a moment later heard Gertie say, “That was fast, lady. What’s the answer?”

  “The spa just had a cancellation,” Liz said. “We’d love to have your step-brother stay here. The woman who cancelled had booked the cottage for a week, so that should give him plenty of time to do whatever it is he needs to do. When I come to the diner for lunch today I’ll bring the key, and you can give it to him. Gertie, I’m a little curious. I know it’s none of my business, but why isn’t he going to stay with you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Don’t mind none at all, honey. Probably jaw ‘bout stuff like that too much as it is. Like I said earlier, we’re ‘bout twenty years apart. My mother divorced my dad and then re-married. Her new husband had a son named David Sanders, and he became my step-brother and is the one who’s coming to town today. My mother’s new husband was bucks up, and when he died he left it all to my mother. And then ten years later when my mother died, she left it to me. Never did set real well with David. He kinda’ thinks that money my mom left to me mostly came from his father, so it shoulda’ gone to him, not me. Think it’s better if we don’t stay in the same house. Old hurt feelin’s and all, ya’ know.”

  “I’m sorry, Gertie. I feel like I know you well, but then again, I guess we never know much about someone else unless they want to tell us. I’ll see you at noon. I have one last question. If you two aren’t that close, why is he coming here?”

  “Danged if I know. Said somethin’ ‘bout a blue butterfly. Guy always was a little strange. I mean, why’d anyone travel all the way from Sacramento because of a blue butterfly? Don’t make no sense to me.”

  “Me neither. See you at lunch.”

  Liz put the phone down and looked out the window at the sparkling blue ocean and the constant activity that went on both in it and above it. Sea gulls circled overhead, diving and twisting as they rode the air currents looking for a morsel of food on the ocean’s surface. The day was blustery and white caps constantly shifted and changed the look of the ocean’s surface. It was as if the ocean was a living thing, a scene that never failed to enchant her. She often felt she must be one of the most fortunate people in the world to be able to live high above the ocean and watch the play of nature taking place in front of her.

  An added bonus during this time of the year was catching sight of pods of grey whales as they migrated from Mexico to Alaska. She often saw them when their migratory path brought them closer to shore. It never failed to thrill her, but it wasn’t to be today. The whales were either farther north or farther south, but today none of them were in the ocean in front of the Red Cedar Spa.

  CHAPTER 2

  Liz took the sacks of food she’d bought at the market and put them in the back of her van. After they were loaded, she got in and drove the few blocks to Gertie’s Diner. “Winston, you stay here. I’ll be about an hour. Here’s some water, and I’ve put the window down for you. Guard the car, boy.”

  A few moments later she walked into Gertie’s Diner. She was greeted by Gertie, the owner, who was a throwback to another era with her bleached blond hair piled in a tall beehive, five inch high stiletto heels, lips smacking with her ever present wad of bubble gum, and a pencil stuck behind her ear. Even though she looked like she belonged in a bygone era, Gertie had a heart of gold, and once you were her friend, you were her friend for life. While her malted milk shakes and hamburgers were legendary, with people coming from as far away as San Francisco which was about an hour south of Red Cedar, her warm personality was even more legendary. Although Liz wasn’t really sure why the diner was so popular with customers, she was pretty sure many of them came not only for the food but to bask in the warmth of Gertie, the loving non-conformist owner of the diner.

  “Roger’s over there waitin’ fer ya’. Refused to order ‘til ya’ got here. What a gentleman,” Gertie said as she motioned to a booth that was near the entrance to the kitchen. “Know what yer’ thinkin’ Liz, ain’t the best seat in the house, but honey, it was the only seat left when he got here. Better to eat sittin’ than standin’ I always say. Be with ya’ in a minute.”

  Roger stood up when Liz walked over to the booth and gave her a hug. “So how was your new client?” Liz asked as she gave the waitress her menu and said, “We already know what we want, right Roger?”

  “Yep. I know I should make it past the hamburger and malted milk shake, but it’s not going to happen today,” he said looking up at the shiny-faced young teenage girl who had just started working at Gertie’s. “Make that a double order, one for my wife and one for me.” The young girl wrote down their order and walked through the swinging kitchen doors. Liz heard sounds of laughter and talking coming from the kitchen staff.

  A few minutes later Gertie walked over to their booth and sat down. “Ya’ got that key fer my brother? He’s in the kitchen, and I’ll give it to him. He said somethin’ ‘bout gettin’ a bite to eat and then headin’ out to do some work. Told him he could either eat dinner here or out at yer’ lodge, but he said he didn’t think he’d make it back in time for dinner with ya’. Glad ya’ were comin’ to town, so he can get the key and not have to bother ya’ late tonite.”

  “Here it is. He’ll be in cottage number one. It’s easy to find, because it’s the first one you come to when you get to the end of the lane. Please tell him I look forward to meeting him.”

  “Will do. You two lovebirds have a nice lunch, and I’ll see ya’ later. Need to work the room a little. Ya’ know what that’s like,” she said winking. “Keep thinkin’ of yer friend Bob, that new County Supervisor, and how he and his wife can work a room. Lawdy, went to a fundraiser for him and never seen nothin’ like it. Took a few lessons from them I did,” she said leaving the booth and greeting the people at the table across from it. After stopping briefly at every table in the diner, she walked back into the kitchen.

  When Roger had finished the last bite of his burger he rubbed his hand over his stomach and said, “I’m glad you cook healthier than this, although sometimes a man just needs to surrender to his animal instincts, and this certainly is one of mine.”

  “Been my experience that’s not the only animal instinct you’re capable of indulging in, Roger,” Liz said, laughing.

  “Careful what you say, lady. I’ve got my downtown image to protect here.”

  “Right,” she said, rolling her eyes heavenward. She cocked her head, suddenly aware of angry voices coming from the kitchen. “Roger, do you hear that? It sounds like Gertie, and she seems to be very angry.” Liz realized the other diners had stopped talking, and many of them were looking towards the kitchen, obviously having heard the angry voices being raised in what sounded like an argument.

  Liz, Roger, and the other diners clearly heard a loud male voice shout, “You know you stole it from me. You made your mother give it to you, and you made sure that she left me out of her Will. Well, I hope you’re happy. If it hadn’t been for my father’s money, you never would have been able to open up this dirt bag rinky-dink diner.”

  “That’s not true. I saved everything I could to open it up. Had nothin’ to do with ya’ or yer’ father,” a voice that sounded like Gertie’s responded.

  “Sure you did. You’re just as blind to that as you were to all the loser h
usbands you had that you spent my dad’s money on.”

  “Get outta my kitchen,” Gertie angrily shouted. “This is my diner, and I want ya’ to get out now.”

  “Roger, I’m going back there. This is so unlike Gertie. The way they’re yelling at each other it could get dangerous for her. She’s my friend, and I want to make sure she’s all right,” Liz said, sliding out of the booth and hurrying through the swinging doors leading to the kitchen.

  Gertie was standing in the middle of the kitchen, the staff having moved to the sides. She was glaring at a handsome large man with a black beard and bright blue eyes wearing a uniform of green pants and a grey shirt with a California Forestry Service patch sewn on the left sleeve of the shirt.

  “Gertie, is everything all right?” Liz asked.

  Gertie pulled her attention away from the man and said, “David here likes to holler like a stuck pig. Ain’t no truth to what he’s sayin’. Always did like to hear hisself talk.” She threw the key to cottage number one at him. “This here’s Liz, the owner of the Red Cedar Spa and Lodge where you’ll be stayin’ tonight. Can’t miss it. Take the road north out of town. It’s about a mile. Big sign. You’re in cottage number one. Now git out ‘afore I do somethin’ I might regret, but probably wouldn’t.”

  The big man caught the key and stormed out through the back door of the diner, slamming it behind him. “So what are ya’ all lookin’ at? Get back to work. We gots a lot of people out there who are hungry,” Gertie said to her staff who were staring at her wide-eyed. They’d never seen this side of Gertie, and they were obviously shocked at what they’d just witnessed. They drifted back to what they’d been doing before the angry exchange of raised voices had taken place, and soon the kitchen returned to normal.

  “Gertie, the voices of you and your step-brother were quite loud, and I’m sure some of the people out in the seating area heard the two of you arguing. Do you want me to do anything?”