Murder in Calistoga: A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery Read online

  MURDER IN CALISTOGA

  By

  Dianne Harman

  (A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery - Book 7)

  Copyright © 2017 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.

  Paperback ISBN: 978-1542733427

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To You, My Readers:

  To my readers: Thank you for taking the time to read my books, write reviews, and contact me. I so appreciate your support. Without it, I wouldn’t be a bestselling author!

  To my family: Mike, Noelle, Michelle, Lamine, Chloe, and Liam. Thank you for your support, your suggestions, and your encouragement. I love you all!

  To Vivek: Thank you for your beautiful book covers, handling the technical side of publishing my books, and for your wise counsel!

  And lastly, but not leastly, to Tom: Thank you for supporting me on every step of the journey we’ve shared!

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  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

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  Recipes!

  ABOUT DIANNE

  PROLOGUE

  Nikki Evans stepped out of the hotel and spa building and walked down a short path to a nearby freestanding building that had a sign on the front door which read “Jacuzzi and Sauna.” She opened the door and found herself in a small beautifully appointed reception type of room. There was no attendant on duty, but a sign printed in large letters on the reception desk announced that the jacuzzi and sauna facilities were available to hotel/spa guests on a self-service basis.

  A door on the right side of the room was labeled “Men’s Locker Room” and the door on the left side said “Women’s Locker Room.” Nikki walked into the women’s locker room and exchanged the clothes she was wearing for a fluffy white robe hanging from a clothes rack. She took off her watch and wedding ring, put them in her purse, and placed her purse and street clothes in a metal locker provided for that purpose. The key to the locker was attached to a plastic bracelet and after she locked the locker, she slipped the bracelet with the key attached around her wrist.

  A few moments later she opened the doors to the sauna, looking forward to the warm steam heat getting rid of the tension she felt from the never-ending string of arguments she constantly had with Damon, her husband. She didn’t know how much longer she could stand the pressure and tension resulting from their tumultuous relationship. It wasn’t her fault they had to leave San Francisco when his employer threatened to have him prosecuted for embezzling company funds. She didn’t think her friends knew about it, and all she wanted to do while she was here at the spa was forget everything for a few days, while she relaxed, enjoyed herself, and made good use of the fabulous facilities that the spa offered to its guests.

  So far, she’d been successful in hiding the fact that Damon had taken a job as a heating and air conditioning installer in Sacramento. The last few years hadn’t been easy, and once again she wondered why she even bothered to stay with him. She’d thought Damon would be grateful for the money she’d given him to pay back the company he’d worked for and keep him from going to prison for years. After all, it was her inheritance money that she’d received from her deceased parents. Instead, it only seemed to fuel the anger he directed towards her, as if she was in some way responsible for him having to take a job that was many thousands of dollars below the salary level he was used to being paid when he’d been working in San Francisco.

  Nikki shook her head, glad she was away from Damon for the next few days. Even though she hated to admit it, lately she’d become frightened of him. Although he’d never been physically abusive to her, she was pretty sure it was just a matter of time.

  And what about me? It’s not like the last few years have been a walk in the park for me, she thought as she walked into the sauna and carefully shut the doors. She hung her robe on a wooden wall peg, spread a towel on the redwood bench that stretched the width of the sauna room, and sat down, letting the hot steam seep into her skin and warm her up.

  The heat in this sauna is wonderful. It feels like it’s melting away the frozen feeling I’ve had for a long time, ever since Damon told me we had to sell our home in Hillsborough and leave San Francisco. My life was there, my friends, everything, and it was all over within minutes when he came home and told me we had to get out of town yet that afternoon. I’m so looking forward to my time here at the spa. I’m going to do nothing but pamper myself for the next couple of days, and I really need to make a decision about whether I should stay with Damon or leave him. I know I can’t go on living my life like this much longer. The heat in this sauna is making me really uncomfortable. I wonder if there’s a thermostat in here. It feels like its thirty degrees hotter than it was when I came in a few minutes ago.

  She stood up and took her robe from the peg. The heat had become so intense she had trouble catching her breath and she felt dizzy as she walked to the doors. She finally made it to the doors, only to find they were jammed shut and wouldn’t open no matter how hard she tried to open them. She frantically screamed out for help and banged on the doors, but to no avail. She tried to force the doors open by throwing her full weight against them, but the doors wouldn’t budge.

  A sickening feeling swept over her as she realized she was hopelessly trapped in the sauna. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. That was the last conscious thought Nikki Evans had as she collapsed on the floor while the superheated steam kept pouring into the sauna. Fortunately for her, the heat in the sauna was so intense she died within a matter of a few minutes without regaining consciousness.

  CHAPTER 1

  Liz and Roger were sitting in the warm sunshine on the patio restaurant of the L’Auberge du Soleil resort located on a ridge high above the Napa Valley. They were enjoying an incredible Mediterranean lunch of goat cheese phyllo stacks with crushed olives, grilled vegetables with a green olive dip and pita chips, and roasted lobster tails with seasoned bread crumbs, which ended with baklava cups. The boxer guard dog Roger had given Liz two years earlier, Winston, was basking in the sun just off the patio. Although the hotel allowed dogs, they had a firm policy that none were allowed in the restaurant, so Roger had looped Winston’s leash around a nearby tree while they enjoyed their lunch.

  “Roger, would you look at that view?” Liz said. “Being located high on the side of this ridge makes i
t incredible. On the other side of the highway down below there are vineyards for as far as the eye can see, and this oak-lined canyon makes me feel like I’m in a world all of my own. To think we have today and the rest of the weekend to do nothing but enjoy ourselves. This is such a treat, and what a wonderful anniversary present. Thanks for calling Judy and arranging it.”

  “Actually, she called me. You know how excited she is about the boutique hotel and spa she bought in Calistoga, and she can’t wait for us to see it. It’s an older building she’s completely remodeled along with adding a number of modern conveniences. I told her we’d do a little wine tasting this afternoon here in the Napa area, and she could plan on us arriving at her hotel in Calistoga around five this evening. I made sure she was okay with us bringing Winston. It worked out great, because I’d been wondering what to do for our anniversary.”

  “Again, thanks, but I have to tell you I never thought she’d do something like what she’s done,” Liz said. ‘It’s a pretty big step for a woman who hasn’t worked in thirty years and only then when she got a couple of cameo roles in movies. I knew her three divorce settlements were very generous, but I didn’t realize they were that generous.”

  “Well, I’m sure we’re going to hear all about it when we get there. I understand we have the honeymoon suite, and the other five rooms have been rented out by a wealthy woman Judy knows from San Francisco who’s hosting a reunion for four friends of hers from college. Judy said they meet every five years, and it was Judy’s friend’s turn to arrange it this time. Judy told me since this was the first week her hotel was open, she was sure her friend was just trying to throw some business her way, but it was a nice thing to do.”

  “Roger, you said we were going wine tasting. What wineries did you have in mind?”

  “I know it’s schmaltzy, but I want to go to the Castello di Amorossa first. That’s the one that looks like a castle, and it even has a moat and a drawbridge. After that I want to go to Schramsberg. One of my partners at the law firm in San Francisco told me we shouldn’t miss it, because it’s got one of the oldest hillside vineyards in Napa. After that, we’ll play it by ear. Since you serve wine and appetizers before dinner at the Red Cedar Lodge and Spa, I thought you might like to expand your knowledge, and maybe even buy some wine while we’re here.”

  “Let’s get started, but first I need to make a visit to the ladies’ room. Be back in five minutes. You might want to give Winston some water while I’m gone. I’ll tell the waiter to bring you a soup bowl with water in it.” Roger looked at Liz as she walked to the ladies’ room. Short auburn hair framed her heart-shaped face and porcelain complexion. Her figure was full-bodied, but he’d never been a fan of thin women. He thought she was even more beautiful now than when he’d first met her at his law office in San Francisco.

  As he walked back to the table after giving Winston some water he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the screen which showed Judy’s name and number. “Hi, Judy. We’ve just finished lunch, and we’re getting ready to do some wine tasting, then we’ll drive up to your hotel, arriving right around 5:00.”

  “Roger…” was all Judy could blurt out before she had to stop talking, because she was crying so hard.

  “What’s wrong, Judy? Are you all right?”

  “Yes. No. Oh, Roger, please come now. The police and the coroner are here. It’s just horrible.”

  “Judy, tell me what’s happened.”

  “The woman I told you about, you know my friend Renee from San Francisco.”

  “Yes, I remember,” he said.

  “One of the women she brought with her was murdered here at the spa. I can’t believe it. She told Renee and the others she wanted to go to the sauna before she even unpacked, because she hadn’t had an opportunity to go to one since moving to Sacramento. The others said they wanted to unpack first, and they’d meet her there later. Renee was the first one there and the doors had been jammed shut with some kind of a steel bar. She came to get me, and when we went into the sauna, her friend was slumped over on the floor. She was dead. Roger, please come now.”

  “We’re on our way, Judy. Don’t give any statements to the police or the media until I get there. Remember, I’m an attorney. If they ask you anything, tell them your attorney is on his way, and you want to wait until he gets there.” He looked at the bill the waiter had brought and put enough cash on the tray to cover it as well as a nice tip. He hurriedly walked over to where he’d secured Winston’s leash to a tree and unhooked it.

  “Ready, Roger? I am so excited about this,” Liz said as she joined them.

  “There’s been a change of plans,” Roger said grimly. “One of the women Judy’s friend brought to the spa has been murdered. Judy and the woman found her body in the sauna at Judy’s spa. We’re going to have to pass on the wine tasting this afternoon. Judy’s pretty hysterical, and I’m concerned what she might unwittingly say to the police,” he said as they quickly walked to the valet desk to get their car.

  “Oh, Roger, the poor thing,” Liz said as they headed up the highway towards Calistoga. “To have a murder happen at your spa the first weekend you’re open could be the kiss of death for ever making a success of it. I’m sure the media will pick it up, and a brand new business couldn’t get any publicity worse than that.”

  “I agree. Obviously, we have to do everything we can to see that the murderer is found, and the spa’s name is cleared. Fortunately, Calistoga is close by, so we should be there in less than half an hour.”

  CHAPTER 2

  “Hi, Judy. It’s Renee. I was cleaning out a desk drawer and found an old photograph from years ago of both of us and our children when they were attending nursery school. It brought back some good memories. How are you and your new boutique hotel and spa doing? Be forewarned, I have an ulterior motive for asking,” she said.

  “It’s coming along great. The hotel is ready to go, and the spa is almost finished. The hotel just needs some painting to make it warm and inviting. I also want to bring in a lot of flowers and plants. You know, things like that.

  “The workmen are putting the final touches on the jacuzzi and sauna. It was too expensive to build them as part of the main spa building, so I had a small structure built next to it which contains the jacuzzi and sauna. Since they both had special requirements for heat and water, my contractor decided that was the best way to go. I’m going to open for business on July 28th. My contractor assures me he can finish everything by then. Of course, having the spa and hotel open for business is only the beginning. Now I need to find people to come.

  “I’ve been reluctant to advertise it anywhere, because I was afraid there would be some kind of a snag in the construction schedule, but it looks like it really is going to open on the 28th. I’m so excited I can barely stand it. I’m spending the next two days doing nothing but advertising it on social media sites, updating my web page, and taking out some ads in travel and spa magazines. Who knew I’d become so computer savvy at this age?” she asked laughing. “I guess you really can teach an old dog new tricks.”

  “You’re way ahead of me,” Renee responded. “I’m doing well to answer an email, and the thought of having a web page is quite beyond me, which is probably good, because I wouldn’t have anything to say on it.”

  If Judy didn’t know Renee so well, she would have thought she was making a tongue-in-cheek statement, but the refreshing thing about Renee, and the thing that never failed to amaze Judy and everyone else, was that Renee was completely oblivious to her beauty and her wealth.

  At 5’7” she still looked like the woman Judy had met years ago at the nursery school their children attended. She had a little help from her hairdresser to cover up the grey in her auburn hair these days, but her figure didn’t look a bit different than it had then. Everyone in her circle of friends was jealous she’d never even had to visit a plastic surgeon to have a little “work” done. Her complexion was as flawless and as unlined as it
had been when they’d first met.

  People often commented on how unfair it was that a woman as beautiful as Renee should also be as wealthy as she was. Growing up as an only child, she’d been pampered and adored by her parents who had met an untimely death when she was only twelve years old. They’d been in an automobile accident on their way back to San Francisco after attending a red-carpet movie premiere in Los Angeles. When the pilot of their private plane told them that San Francisco was fogged in and the airport was closed, they’d made the decision to drive home, because they missed their daughter. They’d rented a car and driven north on Highway 101. Unfortunately, it was foggy on the freeway, and they died in an auto accident when a driver making a lane change didn’t see their car because of the heavy fog.

  Her wealthy parents had willed their considerable estate to Renee. While she was a minor, she was cared for by her uncle who was appointed her guardian and had moved into the family home. When she became twenty-one, the estate her uncle had been holding in trust for her was distributed outright to her. While she was in college at Berkeley, she’d fallen in love with a young man from an equally impressive family. They’d moved into her old family home. Her new husband took over his father’s brokerage firm, and his ability to make money for his clients had become legendary in the San Francisco area, surpassed only by his attraction to members of the opposite sex.

  The wealth and his irresistibility to women was a combination which took its toll on the marriage. It ended in divorce a few years and two children later, and Renee’s uncle, who was a lawyer, made sure that her vast estate was substantially augmented by what she privately thought of as “guilt money” from her ex-husband.

  Over the years, she became a well-known patron of the arts in the San Francisco area. While her life seemed to be nothing but a merry-go-round of gallery openings, first nights at whatever event was opening, and having her picture in the San Francisco Chronicle on a weekly basis for attending the parties that mattered to socialite San Franciscans, few people knew that was only a very small part of her life. Her favorite charity that was very close to her heart was the San Francisco Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Even though it was hardly as glamorous as the opera and the other things she attended, the amount of money she gave to the SPCA kept them solvent.