Leighann Dobbs - Lexy Baker 09 - Ice Cream Murder Read online

  Lexy’s heart stopped as she skidded into the room … and face-to-face with Olivia Banks.

  Olivia was sitting awkwardly in a chair, Farfel balanced in her lap. Her wide eyes were filled with fear. Doubt bloomed in Lexy’s gut. This wasn’t the killer’s sneer she expected to see on Olivia’s face.

  Olivia’s eyes slid to look at something behind Lexy’s left shoulder. Lexy turned in that direction.

  Bam!

  Pain exploded on the side of Lexy’s head and she went down, the can of Mace flying out of her hand and her palms scraping up splinters in the old, rough wooden flooring.

  Her vision became fuzzy, her head spinning. A familiar voice cut through the haze.

  “You just couldn’t stop snooping, could you?”

  Lexy rolled on her side and looked up at the figure. Her vision blurred in and out—she couldn’t quite make out who it was.

  She blinked, clearing her vision enough to see who it was.

  “Cora?”

  Chapter Twenty

  “That’s right.” Regis Banks personal assistant glared down the barrel of the gun. “You were expecting someone else?”

  “Well, actually, I was.” Lexy sat up, eyeing the can of Mace only five feet in front of her.

  “Don’t get any ideas.” Cora kicked the can further away.

  Something in the corner caught Lexy’s eye. It took her a few minutes to realize it was Norman. He lay slumped on the floor facing away from them, his arms and legs tied together with rope.

  “Yes, I found him snooping around, too. Apparently, your head is a bit harder than his—he’s been out since I hit him,” Cora said. “Now stand up and throw your bag over here.”

  Lexy got on her hands and knees, then wobbled onto her feet. She tossed the bag over, her stomach sinking when Cora picked up the Mace and stuffed it inside. The Mace had been her only weapon.

  Cora gestured with the gun for her to sit in a chair beside Olivia, who Lexy noticed was bound to her own chair with some kind of thick rope. As Lexy backed up, Cora moved over toward the door. Behind her, a small window in the other section of the barn taunted Lexy with a vision of freedom.

  In contrast to the dire situation inside the barn, the pastoral scene outside the window was friendly—an old, gnarled oak tree with blue sky and green fields.

  Something niggled Lexy’s memory.

  She knew that scene.

  Then it came to her—she’d seen that same tree in the photo in Cora’s office!

  “That’s the picture in your office.” Lexy thrust her chin toward the window.

  Cora was too smart to turn her back on Lexy. She smiled. “Yes, it is. How observant.”

  “But how…?” Lexy’s brow creased, wondering how Cora had a picture of the view out the barn window of the old farm. Then her mind flashed on Cora’s signature on the birthday party catering receipt, her stomach crunching when she remembered Cora’s signature had a long last name starting with an ’S’.

  ’S’ as in Silversteen.

  Why hadn’t she put it all together sooner?

  “You’re the granddaughter. This is … was … your family farm.” Lexy stared at Cora, whose face flushed red with anger.

  “That’s right. My grandfather was swindled out of this land by Regis Banks,” Cora spat the words out.

  “So, it was you who switched the ice creams at the party?”

  “Right again. That’s why I wanted the timing to be perfect, so he would die before he announced the development of this land … except you were late serving them and almost screwed the whole thing up.”

  Cora gestured again and Lexy sat in the chair next to Olivia, who had been silently watching the whole exchange. Sprinkles and Farfel snuggled together in a ball on the floor.

  Lexy sat down and Sprinkles ran to her, her tail wagging. Cora approached with some rope.

  “Put your hands behind you,” Cora commanded. Lexy did as told, but as Cora started to bind them Sprinkles began growling, the hair on her neck standing on end.

  Cora jumped back, pointing the gun at Sprinkles.

  Lexy’s stomach twisted. “Don’t shoot her!”

  “Get her to back off,” Cora ground out.

  “Sprinkles, sit. It’s okay.” Sprinkles sat and Lexy almost cried with relief. “Good girl.”

  “You keep her there and I won’t have to shoot her.” Cora approached, more cautiously this time. Sprinkles glanced up at Lexy who shook her head. Thankfully, Sprinkles stayed where she was. Her brown eyes regarded Cora with distrust, but she didn’t make a move toward her.

  Lexy winced as Cora jerked the ropes tight, cutting into her wrist. All this time, the killer had been Cora!

  If only she’d been more observant that day in Cora’s office she might have noticed where the picture was from and put two and two together. She remembered the dark smudges on Cora’s shoes that day—black, just like the powder that she’d seen spilled in the photography store.

  “You stole the photos of the birthday party from Wolf’s, too,” Lexy said.

  “Yes, of course.” Cora wrenched the ropes tighter. “I couldn’t take a chance that a photo had been taken of me switching those ice creams.”

  “So that’s why they were missing!” Olivia piped up from her chair.

  “You were there, too that day, though,” Lexy said. “I thought it was you who broke in.”

  “No. I was supposed to go pick out some pictures of Daddy and my brothers, but I got the appointment date screwed up. I’m not very good at remembering appointments.” Olivia’s voice cracked. “Our family hasn’t been close in recent years and I just wanted pictures of them. I used to be close to my brothers and father when Mom was alive and I miss that. Anyway, I figured there wouldn’t be many more pictures of Daddy, but never realized those would actually be the very last ones. And I didn’t even get one because when I went back the next day they were missing.”

  Cora snickered as she got to work on tying Lexy’s ankles to the legs of the chair. “Oh poor you, I never got those last pictures of my grandfather, either. He shot himself after your father stole the farm from him.”

  “So you killed Regis as revenge for his tactics in purchasing the farm land … but did you kill Winston, too?” Lexy figured it couldn’t hurt to keep Cora talking while she tried to come up with an escape plan.

  Cora smirked. “Of course.”

  “You killed him?” Olivia’s forehead creased. “But I thought he died of a heart attack.”

  “That’s what I wanted you to think,” Cora boasted. “I used a highly toxic herb that leaves very few traces and has the same symptoms of a heart attack.”

  “Aconite from the wolfsbane plant,” Lexy said.

  “How did you know Winston was murdered?” Cora wrinkled her brow at Lexy as she stood up from her rope tying task.

  “We just thought it seemed suspicious, two deaths in the family like that. And seeing as Regis’ death wasn’t natural …” Lexy shrugged.

  “Yes, you and your meddling grandmother,” Cora wrinkled her nose. “My only regret is that she and her troupe of old biddies aren’t here so I could do away with all of you. If it wasn’t for your meddling, no one would have suspected anything!”

  Lexy’s stomach tightened and she said a silent prayer of thanks that Nans hadn’t been with her.

  “But how did you know about the aconite? I thought it wouldn’t show up on a toxicology screening?” Cora narrowed her eyes at Lexy.

  “It won’t show up on the regular screening, but we had our suspicions and convinced the police to do an extended screening. The aconite showed up on that.” Lexy tilted her head. “It was pretty risky to put aconite in Winston’s food before the meeting, though. Anyone could have eaten some and suffered the same fate. Weren’t you worried that more than one person would end up dead … or that Winston might not eat the food you poisoned?”

  Cora’s laugh sent a chill up Lexy’s spine. “You underestimate me. Ingestion isn’t the only way to
die from aconite. It can also kill you by being absorbed through the skin.”

  “The skin? But how would you do that?” Lexy’s mind flashed to the pile of wet naps in Cora’s trash barrel. “Of course! The wet naps!”

  “Yes, it took me quite a few tries to perfect my technique.” Cora’s voice was tinged with pride. “But eventually, I was able to get the aconite oils on a wet nap and seal it back up so no one would notice. Of course, no one really looked at them carefully anyway, and Winston was the only one that ever used them. It would have been the perfect murder if it wasn’t for you being so nosy.”

  “But where did you get the aconite?” Lexy asked.

  “Why, I grew it, of course,” Cora spread her arms wide. “Right here on this farm. Actually, you helped me, Olivia. I wouldn’t have been able to grow it or harvest the oils without your book on herbs.”

  “So that’s why you borrowed it!” Olivia’s eyes grew wide. “To poison my own brother.”

  “At least I made good use of the book,” Cora said to Olivia. “Seems like you weren’t doing anything with it.”

  Olivia straightened in her chair. “That’s not true!” She looked at them, then snapped her mouth shut.

  What’s that all about? Was Olivia up to something with herbs, too?

  Lexy didn’t have time to wonder about what Olivia was up to. There were more pressing matters at hand. Like how to escape from the barn.

  “Well, you sure did go to great lengths to get revenge against the Banks family.” Lexy said.

  Cora’s face grew dark. “Yes, I’ve been planning it for decades. My parents died when I was a baby and Grandpa and Grandma raised me on this farm. The farm had been in my family for several generations and my grandfather sunk into a deep depression once it was stolen from him. He shot himself, and Grandma died shortly after from a broken heart. They were the only family I had … so I decided to take the same type of revenge on the Banks family. Let them see how it is to lose family members, one by one.”

  “But the police are onto you. They know the deaths were murder now and they’ll open an investigation,” Lexy said.

  “That’s right. Your nosiness ruined my plan to make the deaths look accidental.” Cora let out an evil laugh, “I even had a backup plan once it came out that someone switched Regis ice cream. That’s why I told you Regis had planned to cut Winston out of his will when you came snooping around. To cast suspicion on Winston. Then once he was dead, it would seem like he’d killed Regis and then died from the stress.”

  Panic lapped at Lexy’s stomach as Cora backed toward the door, the gun still trained on them. Lexy’s eyes darted around the room, looking for anything she could use as a weapon, but all she saw were old pallets and bales of hay.

  Cora zoned the gun in on Olivia. “So now that I’ve killed Regis, Winston and Larry, you’re the last one left.”

  Olivia gasped. “You killed Larry, too?”

  Cora nodded, a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

  “Actually, Larry isn’t dead,” Lexy cut in.

  Olivia gasped and looked at Lexy hopefully.

  Cora’s face crumpled. She swerved the gun toward Lexy. “What do you mean? I stuffed up his flu good and tight.”

  “I guess you didn’t count on someone going over to visit him and getting him out of there before he died. Oh, and the police know someone blocked up the flu.” Lexy shrugged. “It’s just a matter of time before they trace it to you.”

  Cora narrowed her eyes at Lexy. “I don’t believe you.”

  “It’s true. Why don’t you go check before you shoot us? You wouldn’t want too many deaths on your hands. That would make for a very long jail sentence.”

  “Oh, I’m not going to shoot you.”

  Lexy’s brows raised hopefully. Was Cora going to leave them unharmed? Maybe she was only planning on leaving them in here tied up so she could make her getaway?

  “Nope, I’m going to burn the barn down with you in it,” Cora continued. “My original plan was to just burn Olivia, but since you two came around snooping, I have to burn all of you. Anyway, what’s a few more bodies?”

  “No, wait. You don’t want to do this!” Lexy pleaded.

  “I figured you’d say that.” Cora backed out the door and stood in the hall, the gun still on them. “Now if you will excuse me, I must get going. I have to push your cars into the pond so no one will think to look for you here before I start the fire. With no cars in the driveway no one is going to care about an old dilapidated dried-out barn burning down. The fire marshal even said it was a fire trap.”

  “You can’t just burn us alive,” Lexy’s voice quivered.

  “Oh, but I think I can.”

  And with that, she slammed the door shut, locking Lexy, Olivia and Norman in the dark.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  After a few seconds, Lexy realized that it wasn’t totally dark in the silo. A sliver of light cut across the room from a slit of a window about fifteen feet up the side. Lexy blinked back tears as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light.

  “Wow, can you believe that?” Norman’s excited voice boomed from the corner, causing Lexy to jump. With her eyes now adjusted to the dim lighting, she saw that he was sitting up.

  “Are you okay?” Lexy asked.

  “Oh, yeah.” He worked his wrists back and forth. “I was awake the whole time, but pretended to be asleep so Cora wouldn’t see me chewing on the ropes.”

  He grunted and struggled, then pulled his arms apart, the rope snapping in two. He shrugged his hands free then got to work on his ankles. “I’ll get you guys out as soon as I’m free.”

  “Great. There has to be a way out of here.” Lexy wriggled in her chair, craning her neck to study every inch of the room. The only door was the one Cora had just closed and bolted shut.

  “I’m sure you already have a good plan,” Norman said.

  “Plan? Umm … not really.” Lexy continued to look around.

  “What?” Norman looked up at her. “I thought you and your grandmother had plans to get out of anything.”

  “Maybe she does, but I don’t. Cora took my bag with my cell phone and everything.”

  “She took ours, too,” Olivia cut in. “Car keys, cell phone, even my emery board.”

  “So this Cora person was the killer the whole time?” Norman asked, still working on the ropes.

  “Yes, she was Regis’ personal assistant. I guess she must have been planning this for a while.” Lexy turned to Olivia. “How long did she work for your father?”

  “Two years.”

  “Two long years of plotting and planning her revenge,” Norman said. “That’s going to make a great story—”

  The sound of a car engine cut him off. Lexy’s gut clenched. “That must be her getting rid of one of our cars.”

  “My fiat is around back,” Olivia said. “Cora kidnapped Farfel and told me if I wanted to see her alive to get out here and park around back.”

  The little orange dog whimpered and snuggled into Olivia’s lap.

  “That’s why I saw you driving like a bat out of hell down Meadow Road.” Norman undid the last knot on his ankles. “You were weaving all over the place. I knew something was up.”

  “So you followed her here,” Lexy said. “I got your message and tried to call you, but your phone was off. We thought Olivia was the killer.”

  “Me?” Olivia sounded hurt.

  Another engine started up and Lexy cringed. “Yeah, sorry, but once we realized all the members of your family were being targeted and you were the last one left, we looked at the evidence and it seemed to point to you.”

  Norman had worked Lexy’s wrists free. She rubbed at them, trying to get the circulation back. Sprinkles licked her hand and Lexy petted her head. “Good girl. I’m glad Cora didn’t shoot you.”

  “I can get my legs free. You work on Olivia,” Lexy shooed Norman over to Olivia and bent down to work at the knot on her right ankle.

  “Wait, what eviden
ce?” Olivia scrunched up her face.

  “Well, I had seen you with the herbs book, so we figured you knew about the toxic properties of aconite. Plus, you were seen at the photographer’s the morning of the break in and … well … I know there’s something secretive going on with you and Steve at the K9 Center.”

  Even though it was now clear Cora was the killer, Lexy was still convinced something was going on at the K9 Center. She just didn’t know what and she didn’t want to admit she’d been snooping around behind the building.

  Another engine started up.

  “That’s the last of our cars,” Norman said. “We’d better hurry. She’ll be starting this place on fire next.”

  “There’s nothing going on at the K9 Center.” Olivia’s hands had been freed and she scooped Farfel up in her arms while Norman worked on the ropes around her legs. “If you must know, Steve and I are working on a special dog food formula. One with special herbs to enhance the dogs’ performance in agility.”

  Lexy undid the last knot around her ankle and looked up at Olivia. “A special dog food formula? That’s what all the secrecy was about?”

  “Yes. The dog food market is very competitive and if someone discovered our recipe, they might beat us to market and all our hard work would be for nothing.”

  “So you were researching the herbs and baking the food at the K9 Center?”

  “That’s right,” Olivia said. “Steve and I are partners. In fact, we’ve just perfected the recipe and had some sample bags made, which we were handing off to our potential investor tonight.”

  Lexy remembered the conversation she’d heard when she was hiding behind the dumpster. “Is your investor named Michael?”

  “Yes, how did you know?”

  “Oh, just something I heard.” Lexy felt silly. She’d imagined a big drug smuggling operation when the whole time all the secrecy had been about dog food. “Anyway, enough chatter. We need to get out of here.”

  Lexy jumped up from her chair, went to the door and tried pushing, then pulling. The door didn’t move even an inch. “It won’t budge!”