A Sleuth Mystery Book Series
Gwen Lindstrom Mysteries by Connie L. Beckett
Series Excerpt
It surprised Gwen early the next morning when a haggard Lacey knocked on the cafe door at the usual time.
“Come in, Lacey. Let me get you a cup of coffee. I appreciate your dedication, especially under the circumstances, but, really, I already called Sarah to cover for you today.”
“Are you sure?” Lacey asked, but seemed relieved.
“I’m sure. Get some sleep, take care of what you need to do, and you can come back when you’re ready. Just keep me posted.”
Gwen watched Lacey shuffle her way out, passing Sarah on her way in.
Tourists, as well as their breakfast regulars, kept Gwen and Sarah hopping.
One more day, Gwen thought, one more day, and then I get a day off. The restaurant was closed on Mondays, and that day couldn’t come fast enough.
When the crowd thinned, Gwen’s thoughts turned once more to Lacey, wondering how she was doing and if the girl would even want to come back to work after the funeral.
If she were Lacey, and she had killed Donny, she’d flee the area and never again stay in that isolated house outside of town. Lacey had never mentioned having relatives or close friends in Dubois, making her ties to the community even more tenuous.
“Sarah,” Gwen called out when she saw the waitress wiping syrup off a table where a family with two young children had eaten. “Is your sister still looking for part-time work?”
“Becky? I’m not sure, why?”
“You heard about Lacey’s boyfriend getting killed?” Gwen asked.
“Who hasn’t,” Sarah said, shaking her head. “It’s been all over the news, and everyone was talking about it this morning.”
Gwen was well aware of the rumor scuttlebutt; morning diners had plied her for details as she refilled their coffee cups.
“Have Becky call me if she’s still looking for work. I don’t know for sure if Lacey will be coming back.”
“Will do,” Sarah answered. “You think Lacey won’t be back because she killed him? That’s what everyone is saying. There are all kinds of rumors going around town that they were dealing dope. I mean, I even heard they found a meth lab out in the barn behind the house.”
Gwen wasn’t sure about the last. Once the town gossip line got started, facts sprouted weird appendages. Still, Jay had told her a baggie of something was found in Donny’s pocket, something law enforcement suspected might be drugs. Would Jay or April have told her if they discovered evidence that something illegal was being manufactured in the barn?
“Told you we should have tested the girl for dope,” Mack told Gwen when he escaped from the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee.
Gwen shrugged. “Too late for that now, and who knows if the kid is going to flee the area or come back to work.”
“Hey Todd, you ever come across meth cookers when you’re tramping through the woods?” Mack asked a man in a khaki uniform shirt and cargo pants sitting at one of the nearby booths.
Gwen knew Todd. He was an investigator with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. He was also a cafe regular. The man sitting across the table was his new partner, Mark.
“Came across a guy cooking meth clear out on one of those old ranch roads one time,” Todd answered. “His car got stuck in the mud when he tried to turn around. What fool takes an old Mercury down a path where you need a four-wheel drive? Anyway, he was all nervous and you could smell the solvent when you stood beside the car. We called for the sheriff, and when they got there, we found he had chemicals and containers with liquid inside the trunk. Damn if we didn’t have to call a decontamination team to haul away that piece of shit car. What about you, Mark?” he asked, addressing his breakfast companion.
“Found some marijuana patches here and there, but nothing like that,” Mark replied.
Todd continued, “What we’re mostly finding lately is evidence that poachers have been out hunting.”
Mark nodded. “We’ll catch them, just a matter of time.”
“What are they poaching?” Gwen asked. “I thought that had slowed down.”
“It did for a while,” Mark told them. “Our agency arrested four guys in Montana a few months ago. They were working their way through the Rockies and up toward the western border of Yellowstone. They had out of season game in their trailer— elk and mule deer.”
Mark went on. “Just the other day, we talked to a landowner who had his eye on a buck with a set of big non-conforming antlers he planned to take when the season opened. But one night he saw lights out in the pasture and went to take a look. He found some guys dressing down a dozen deer, including the buck he had his eyes on.”
“Damn, so they’re in custody now?” Mack asked, his muscular arms crossed over a grease-stained apron.
“Nope. They took off. The landowner got his license tag number but turns out it had come off a stolen truck. Far as I’ve heard, they haven’t been apprehended.”
“The close call stopped the poaching?” Sarah asked, having joined them.
“For two seconds, maybe. Been picking up again,” Todd told them. “Mark and I have been out patrolling since about four this morning. Nothing, but we’ll get them yet.”
After lunch, Gwen spent an hour in the restaurant office catching up on bookwork and preparing the bank deposit. She locked the deposit bag in the safe for Tuesday since the bank closed at noon on Saturday.
Before she knew it, Marilyn, Gwen’s evening manager, was knocking on the frame of the office door.
“The evening staff is all here if you’re ready to take off,” she told Gwen.
“Almost done,” she replied.
April had invited Gwen over for dinner, and she was looking forward to it. April and Rod Erickson had three boys, one in high school, one in middle school, and one still in elementary. It made for a boisterous household, and Gwen was happy both for the noise and activity, and afterward for the quiet of her little cottage with its tidy garden in the back.
Before that happened, Gwen needed to call Lacey. She had pulled her employment application out of the file earlier wondering if the girl listed any relatives, but the only contact person was the now-deceased Donald Myers. She punched in Lacey’s cell phone number. No one answered, so Gwen left a message asking her to call. She thought about going by Lacey’s house, but she had promised April she’d be at their house by five-thirty, and she still had potato salad to make.
***
“Yum,” April said to Gwen as she lifted the aluminum foil that covered the bowl of potato salad. “When you decide to cook, you always make the best stuff.”
“Mom, I’m starving,” whined Phillip, joining them in the kitchen.
“You’re always starving,” April told her 15-year-old-son. “And stay out of the fridge—your dad’s almost done with the burgers.”
“I’m starving, is it ready yet?” Sven, the 13-year-old said, echoing his brother’s whine as he entered the room.
“Teenage boys,” snorted April. “I swear, I can load up two carts at the grocery store, and in less than two days they’ve munched their way through a whole fridge full. Go outside, you two, and see if your dad is about ready.”
“Hi, Aunt Gwen,” said the youngest, Marcus, hugging her.
Rob and April were both tall and Gwen noticed that even 8-year-old Marcus was edging his way to her shoulder.
“You, too, kiddo,” April ordered her youngest son. “Go out and see how your dad’s doing. And here, take a plate out for the burgers.”
“Sometimes I envy you,” a smiling April told Gwen. “I wanted a daughter like your Jackie and what did I end up with—three sons. It’s twenty-four-seven food, stinky sports gear, wrestling in the living room, and more food.”
Gwen laughed. “With girls, it’s giggling, clothes, and girl drama. Oh yeah, and boyfriends.”
April set out plates and silverware on the counter. “We aren’t too involved in the dating scene yet, but Phillip does spend an inordinate amount of time prepping in the bathroom.”
They pulled condiments out of the fridge and opened cans of baked beans.
“I tried calling Lacey this afternoon but all I’m getting is her voice mail. Do you know if she or Donny have any family around here?” Gwen told her, breaking their busy silence.
“I don’t know about her, but some guy called the office today claiming to be Donald’s brother.”
“Asking about what happened?” Gwen probed.
April turned to Gwen, and her blue eyes narrowed. “Mostly, he wanted to know if we had Donald’s truck, trailer, and barn keys, and when he could collect his brother’s things.”
Gwen chewed on that for a minute.
“So, he didn’t ask what happened to his brother? That would be the first thing I would ask.”
“Briefly, just to ask if we have any suspects, but mostly it was about the truck and stock trailer. Apparently, the brother didn’t approve of Lacey. He claims Lacey got Donald into drugs.”
“And brother knows this because he lives close by?” asked Gwen.
“Somewhere in Idaho, he says,” April went on. “Lacey, she’s still working for you, right?”
“I guess. At least until she tells me otherwise. I told her to take whatever time off she needed.”
“You spot any evidence she’s using drugs, like meth?”
“I never saw her taking anything, but she’s fidgety like she can’t stand to be still.”
April looked out the window at Rob forking the meat off the grill. “Before we’re overtaken by a herd of hungry males, I need to ask. You and Mack require a drug test before you hire people for the restaurant, don’t you?”
“No, although we had one grill cook come in drunk a while back, and we had the city cops do a breathalyzer test. Then Mack fired him.”
“Might be a good policy to implement, starting with that Lacey,” April said as Sven opened the sliding glass door for his dad.
“Mack said the same thing.”
“Smart partner you have there. We’ll talk later,” April quickly told Gwen as the hungry herd trooped in behind Rod.
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