Murdered by Prejudice: A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery Series Read online

  MURDERED BY PREJUDICE

  By

  Dianne Harman

  (Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery - Book 10)

  Copyright © 2019 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: 9781792198700

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To all of you who help to prepare my books for publication, thank you!

  To Vivek, who is always able to bring my thoughts on book covers to fruition, thank you!

  To Tom, who is my harshest critic and my biggest fan, thank you!

  And to all of you, for taking the time to read my books, thank you!

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  Table of 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

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  RECIPES

  ABOUT DIANNE

  COMING SOON!

  CHAPTER 1

  Liz Lucas walked into her office and looked at her computer program that tracked the occupancy rate at the Red Cedar Lodge and Spa. Full house. Every cottage was filled. Just the thing to make the owner of a spa with cottages happy. The next thing she checked was the signup sheet for that night’s dinner. Twelve signups. Two of the ten cottages had husband and wives in them, which meant everyone staying there would be at dinner.

  She went into the kitchen where Gina was busy prepping for dinner. Even though Liz was certainly capable of cooking gourmet food, tonight would be more of a down-home type of dinner.

  “Thanks for getting everything ready for tonight’s dinner, Gina. We’ve got twelve guests, plus Roger and me, so we’re definitely full. It may not be the fanciest thing in the world, but who doesn’t like beef stroganoff? And I think the prosciutto and melon salad with the cantaloupe vinaigrette will be the perfect accompaniment.”

  “Agreed, but Liz, I have a confession to make. I just couldn’t help it. I had to try one of the seven-layer dessert bars. My mom used to make those and it brought back all kinds of childhood memories. Glad to see you resurrected that recipe. It was always one of my favorites.”

  Liz felt a furry warmth on her leg and looked down to where Winston, her big boxer, was standing. “Alright, Winston, one dog treat. I know you understand English and that us talking about food makes you hungry. Would I be right?”

  He woofed, confirming that English was a language he was definitely conversant in, particularly when it involved food.

  *****

  When the dinner guests arrived, Liz asked them to help themselves to cheese, crackers, and wine. Just before dinner was to be served, a guest Liz had met earlier that day came hurrying in the door.

  “I’m sorry if I’m late,” Allison Lawrence said, “but I was waiting for my husband, Rick, to get here. We were going to meet at the cottage before dinner, but it looks like it will just be me. I hope that doesn’t cause a problem,” the attractive middle-aged brunette said.

  She wore a turquoise silk tunic with fitted black silk slacks accentuated by large silver hoop earrings and a silver necklace with a large turquoise pendant which enhanced her coffee-colored complexion. Her easy manner and ready smile had made an impression on Liz when she’d met her earlier, and she liked her even more now.

  “Not a problem,” Liz said. “As a matter of fact, my husband was supposed to join us for dinner, but he got tied up in San Francisco and decided to spend the night there rather than fight the traffic both tonight and tomorrow morning. Why don’t you sit next to me at dinner, and we can commiserate about our missing husbands?”

  “How kind of you. I’d like that very much,” she responded. “I’m a little concerned, because this is so unlike Rick. He’s punctual to the point of being early for everything he does. Says it’s because he came from a family that was late wherever they went. I can’t tell you how many times he’s told me about the time they missed the plane for a vacation they’d been looking forward to all year.”

  “Did they still go?” Liz asked.

  “Yes, the airlines got them out the next day, but they missed one full day and when it’s a trip to Disney World, the one thing children don’t want to do is miss a day. That’s probably why he remembers it so vividly,” she said with a laugh.

  “I can well imagine what my children would have done when they were young if something like that had happened. Excuse me, I see my assistant indicating that dinner is ready. I need to tell the others.”

  When the main course was finished, Liz turned to Allison and said, “Your skin looks amazing. I’m hoping it’s due to a treatment from one of my facialists at the spa.”

  “It is, and she was great. It’s a shame Rick isn’t here to see it, because, for the first time in my life, I think I’m glowing.” She continued, “Today’s our 25th wedding anniversary, and his gift to me was this three day stay at your spa. That’s why I’m really surprised he’s not here.”

  “I can definitely attest to the fact that you’re glowing,” Liz said. “Gina is just getting ready to serve dessert. Why don’t you call Rick? He’s probably at your cottage and doesn’t want to bother you. If he is, ask him to join us for dessert.”

  “Thanks, I think I will,” Allison said as she stood up and walked out on the porch. A few minutes later she returned with a worried look on her face.

  “Looks like you didn’t have any luck,” Liz said. “He’s probably wrapping some expensive present for you and intends to surprise you later. I’m sure there’s no cause for alarm.”

  “You’re probably right, but it’s just so unlike him. I mean, that man is at work every day a half hour before anyone else is there. He’s very punctual when he says he’s going to be somewhere at a certain time.”

  “What type of work does he do?” Liz asked.

  “He’s the postmaster for Red Cedar. As a matter of fact, he was just promoted. Before that we lived in Spring City, about an hour from here. He started out as a rural carrier, then he became a city carrier, a sorting clerk, a mail handler, literally every job there was at the post office. He heard there was an opening for a postmaster here and applied for the job.

  Rick was well qualified, and it sure didn’t hurt that after all these years, he’d finally completed his college degree in Business Administration. I’m really proud of him. It’s pretty rare for someone to stay in that business as long as he’s been there, and, like me, he’s African American, so he’s had to put up with a lot of prejudice over the years.

  “Thankfully, things like that seem to be getting better these days, and I can certainly see why you’re proud of him. H
ow do you like Red Cedar?” Liz asked.

  “I like it a lot. It combines about everything we wanted in a place to live. The city is charming, and there’s lots of hiking and forest service property here, as well as quite a bit of agriculture. I could do without the prison being only a few miles from here, but I guess you can’t have it all.”

  “I’ve lived here for several years, and I love it,” Liz said.

  “Well, I also love this dessert. I can remember having it a few years ago, but it must have fallen out of favor, because it’s definitely been awhile.” She looked at her watch. “Liz, thank you for listening to me, but I want to go back to the cottage and wait for Rick. I’m concerned because…”

  She paused and started to stand up. Liz put a hand on her arm and asked, “Allison, why are you concerned?”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing, but this morning I started to do a load of wash before we came here, and I found something in his pocket.”

  “What was it?”

  “It sounds silly to say, but it’s stayed with me all day. I found a piece of paper that had a slash mark drawn through an American Eagle, you know the kind of slash mark you see on street signs that indicates pedestrians can’t walk across the street,” Allison said as she sat back and waited for Liz’s response.

  “Was that it? Were there any words?”

  “Yes, and that’s what scares me,” Allison replied with an anguished look on her face.

  “What were the words?” Liz asked.

  “There were three words, ‘You Are Next.’ They’d been cut out of a magazine or a newspaper and pasted on the paper.”

  “What did Rick say about what you found?”

  “I never had a chance to tell him. He went to work this morning, and I had spa treatments scheduled for this afternoon. As I mentioned, we were going to meet at the cottage before coming here for dinner. Liz, I really need to go. The longer this goes on, the less good company I’ll be. I hope to see you tomorrow,” Allison said as she stood up.

  Liz sat for a moment. She knew she’d seen or read something about the eagle and the words in the past few months, but she couldn’t remember exactly what it had been.

  A moment later Allison was out the door and on her way to her cottage. The other guests followed and soon Liz and Gina had the lodge to themselves as they began the cleanup. An hour later Gina said, “Unless you have something else for me to do, I think that’s it, Liz.”

  “Not a thing. As always, thanks for your help. I thought it went well. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, and I’m pretty sure we have a full house tomorrow night as well, so just a heads up. Enjoy the rest of your evening, or what little is left of it.”

  “Will do,” she said as she let herself out the door.

  CHAPTER 2

  Liz let Winston out one more time for the night and then walked downstairs to the large apartment on the bottom level of the lodge where she and Roger lived. She looked out at the Pacific Ocean from the great room window and saw a few lights coming from ships that were far out to sea. It was a full moon and the moonlight reflection on the ocean made her think of a quote she’d once read, “You have to be able to appreciate these things. How many people can say it was a full moon last night and appreciate it?”

  She smiled when she thought of the quote and the many times Roger had responded by saying, “Kind of like us, Liz. How many people can say they found the love of their life during their midlife years, after thinking their life was over?” And so they had.

  Neither one of them had ever thought they’d find love again, much less remarry, after the death of their spouses, but they did, and for that, Liz would be eternally grateful. She’d been given a new lease on life with a loving husband, a successful business, and the surprising ability to help find murderers, the last of which certainly had not been in her midlife plans.

  Just goes to show, she thought, you never know what life has in store for you.

  She took a pair of pajamas out of her dresser drawer and was walking into the bathroom to get ready for bed when her cell phone rang. She picked it up off the top of her dresser where she’d put it when she’d come downstairs and said, “This is Liz Lucas.”

  “Hey lady, this is Seth, glad ya’ answered. Looks like one of yer’ guests got hisself offed. Thought ya’ might be wonderin’ what happened to him.”

  “Seth, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Would you care to fill me in?” She looked at the phone in disgust, the Red Cedar Police Chief not being one of her favorite people. In fact, she couldn’t stand him, even though she’d had to help him several times with murder investigations, including one in which he was a principal suspect. The only reason she’d helped him was because he was completely incompetent in her opinion, and that opinion was shared by a lot of other people as well.

  “No problem, purty lady. I was jes’ on the edge of Red Cedar givin’ out some speedin’ tickets when I got a call ‘bout a dead guy over at the post office. One of the workers had left her purse there and drove over to the post office tonight to get it. She went ‘round to the back where the parking lot is and right next to the door was a dead guy. She called 911 all hysterical and they called me. I’m at the post office now. Got me a couple of my deputies here.”

  Liz began to have a sick feeling. “Seth, do you know the name of the man who’s dead?”

  “Yeah, and that’s why I’m callin’ ya’. His name is Rick Lawrence. Had a printout from the Red Cedar Lodge and Spa in his pocket. Looks like he and his wife were ‘sposed to stay there tonight. She ain’t home. One of my deputies went over to their house to tell her. Thought she might be at yer’ place.”

  “Yes, she is. I saw her just a little while ago,” Liz said.

  “Well, ya’ sure could help me out. This time of night is prime time fer speeders, an’ I really need to git back out there. Would ya’ mind tellin’ her fer me? Say how sorry the department is and all that.”

  Liz had absolutely no desire to tell one of her guests that her husband was dead, but she knew she’d be a lot better at it than Seth would be. His people skills were on the very low end of the sensitivity spectrum.

  She took a deep breath and said, “This is really not something I want to do, Seth, but I will. Tell me how he died.”

  “Looks like murder to me. Big ol’ gunshot straight through his heart. Tell ya’ this. Whoever did it was one heck of a dead shot. Yup, pretty impressive shot. Blood all over the place, but he’s deader than a doornail. Tell Mrs. Lawrence she can get his body from the county coroner once he does an autopsy on it. Jes’ called Wes, and he’ll be here pronto. Ya’ know, anyone that’s been offed has to have one of ‘em. Well, that’s ‘bout all I have to say. Gotta git goin’. Talk to ya’ later,” he said as he ended the call.

  A thank you would have been nice, particularly considering the circumstances, Liz thought as she mentally began to prepare herself for what she knew would be a very emotional encounter with Allison Lawrence.

  *****

  A few minutes later she and Winston walked down the trail leading to cottage number nine, where Allison was staying. The light was on and Liz’s heart hurt, knowing that Allison was waiting for Rick to return.

  She knocked on the door and softly said, “Allison, it’s Liz. I need to talk to you.”

  A moment later Allison opened the door and said, “Have you heard from Rick? Is he on his way? This is just so unlike him.”

  “Allison, I have some terribly bad news for you. Please sit down,” Liz said as she and Winston walked into the cottage, shutting the door behind her.

  “What are you talking about? What bad news?”

  “Allison, I just received a call from the police chief. I’m so sorry, but Rick won’t be coming here. He’s dead.”

  “You’re kidding? Right? This is some kind of sick joke. I didn’t think you were that kind of person. Get out now. This is not funny,” she said as she started to walk towards Liz.

  Winston seemed to sense that s
omething was wrong and stood in front of Liz as if to protect her, the guard hairs on his back erect. “Allison, please sit down. I am so sorry. His body was discovered just outside the post office a little while ago.”

  The message that Liz had delivered was starting to seep into Allison’s consciousness, and she could tell by the look on Liz’s face that it was not a joke. She sat for several minutes, silent, and clearly in shock. “What happened? Tell me everything you know.”

  Liz related what Seth had told her and Allison began to silently sob. Liz walked over to where she was sitting on the bed and put her arms around her, knowing words could not possibly ease the pain Allison was going through. Winston sensed Allison’s anguish and put his paw on her knee. She reached out and put her hand on him, a moment of silent communication happening between them. Liz thought, as she often did, that dogs seem to sense things and people respond to them instinctively in a situation like this.

  After several moments, Allison pulled away from Liz and said, “Liz, could you take me to the post office? I want to see him, and I don’t think I’m in any condition to drive.”

  “Allison, I’m sure he’s gone by now. The coroner is going to do an autopsy, and I’m certain he’s been taken to the medical examiner’s county office. There’s nothing you can do for him. Seth Williams, the chief of police, said his body would be released once the autopsy has been completed.”

  Allison was quiet for a moment and then said, “Do you remember what I told you I found this morning in his shirt pocket? The eagle and the words? Do you think his murder had something to do with them?”

  “I have no idea, Allison. What did you do with that piece of paper?”

  “The words scared me, so I put it in the trash.”

  “When is your trash picked up?” Liz asked.

  “It was picked up this morning. The trash truck was coming around the corner when I put our trash barrel out on the curb in front of our house. I remember thinking I wanted to get rid of that offensive piece of paper with the slimy words written on it, so I was glad I could get it in the trash before the truck took it. Why, do you think that was the wrong thing to do?”