Dead in the Water (Scarlet Cove Seaside Cozy Mystery Book 1) Page 5

  “Any news on how he died?” she asked.

  “It was just a drunken accident,” Christopher said airily as he looked up at her with his toothy smile. “There is nothing more to it. Was bound to happen sooner or later.”

  Before Liz could interrogate him further, Christopher handed her Paddy’s lead, and told her he was busy. He smiled apologetically before practically shoving her out of the small office. They said their goodbyes before he closed the door and got back to work. She looked down at Paddy and smiled before setting off. She was not the only one who deserved a fresh start.

  Liz arrived back at the flat with her new friend. After placing a beef stew for one in the microwave, she looked around her flat, wondering if there were anything she would need to do to make it more dog friendly. She decided she was going to make a list the following day and buy everything she could remember that dogs needed, but for tonight, they would be fine as they were.

  As her microwave hummed, she flicked through her box of vinyl records, pausing when she found Lewis’ favourite album. She carefully pulled the twelve-inch disk out of the sleeve and turned it over in her fingers before placing it on the player. She dropped the needle into place, and the soft disco melodies of ABBA’s Arrival album filled the flat.

  She sat at the table with the meal for one and scooped some into a dish for Paddy, blowing on it to cool it down. She lit the candle in the middle of the table and unscrewed the lid off a fresh bottle of wine.

  She looked down at Paddy with a smile as Dancing Queen played in the background.

  “It’s just you and me now, little guy.”

  5

  Liz stirred from her sleep, something wet grazing against her face. Trying to cling onto the dream that was already slipping away, she rolled over, brushing her wet cheek.

  “Huh?” she forced her eyes open and stared into her new beagle’s eyes. “Oh, it’s you.”

  Paddy bounced up at her and licked her chin, his wagging tail slapping against her exposed leg. She scratched behind his ear as she looked around her bedroom, her body screaming out for caffeine.

  “You want to go for a walk?” she mumbled as she rubbed her eyes. “Let’s grab a coffee on the way.”

  Paddy bounced off the bed and ran in a circle, his nails scratching against the floorboards. She was not sure if dogs’ grieving processes were anything like humans’, but she was glad he did not seem too affected by the loss of his master.

  After quickly dressing in faded jeans and a thin blue jumper, she clipped the lead onto Paddy’s red collar and set off. He practically dragged her down the stairs to the street. When they were out in the bright daylight, he immediately cocked his leg against the front of her shop and relieved himself. Liz let out a yawn and looked around her new home as she tried to wake up. She had an uneasy feeling that she had dreamed about drowning last night.

  After grabbing a large latte with an extra espresso shot from Driftwood Café, she headed for the shore. As she walked along the pier, Paddy eagerly pulling, she was glad she had chosen a jumper. She knew it was probably quite warm away from the coast, but the breeze was less forgiving.

  The pier was alive with activity. She walked along it, smiling at the people as she passed them. A couple of people looked down at the dog, but none of them screamed that she had stolen a dead man’s companion.

  There was a small rundown amusement arcade called Sea Slots at the end of the pier. The sign blinked in the bright sunlight, which Liz was sure made a more impressive impact in the darker hours.

  Seeing no evidence of a ‘No Dogs Allowed’ sign, she headed inside with Paddy by her feet. The machines flashed brightly in the dimly lit room, a dozen different tunes coming from them. She took in the old place as she walked across the well-worn carpet, the faint scent of old money and popcorn tickling her nostrils. Paddy jumped back when a group of children sprinted past, followed by their less enthusiastic parents. She paused by the air hockey machine and watched as a young couple played a determined match. The girl scored and jumped up and down in celebration.

  Liz turned to leave, but she stopped in her tracks when she spotted Adam and Mandy talking in the corner. She almost left them to it, but her curiosity caught the better of her. She was not entirely convinced there was something suspicious surrounding Frank’s death, but she could not shake the feeling there was more to be learned. Deciding eavesdropping on the man’s former apprentice and daughter was a good place to start, she tiptoed over and hid behind a penny slot machine.

  “I know he was my father, and I am upset over what happened, but he was a drunk, and he fired you,” Mandy said in an agitated tone.

  “Do you really think that’s how he died? Come on, even he isn’t that stupid,” Adam said.

  “How should I know?” Mandy shot back defensively. “Aren’t you mad he fired you?”

  “Of course I am, but I didn’t want the man dead! Simon offered me some casual work at the farm, so that’s not a problem. Before he - before the accident, he had been acting strangely. He constantly looked exhausted.”

  “Trouble in paradise?” Mandy spat back.

  “He never really mentioned anything about Laura when we worked, but he knew about us,” Adam said.

  “It’s a small town and people talk. Secrets are hard to hide,” Mandy said with obvious venom. “At least we can be together in peace now.”

  “You must know-”

  But before Adam could finish his sentence, Paddy barked and yanked on his lead. Adam and Mandy quickly turned around, spotting Liz in an instant. Liz quickly scrabbled with her purse and pulled out some change. She added pennies into the machine, knowing it was a feeble attempt at a recovery. Mandy looked Liz up and down before striding off and flipping her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulders. Adam narrowed his eyes on Liz before scurrying after Mandy.

  Liz dropped a penny into the machine, but she was not paying attention. She thought about what Mandy had said before Paddy had interrupted them. ‘At least we can be together now’. Her mind flicked back to seeing Frank firing Adam, and she was sure Adam had mentioned Mandy as one of the reasons for being fired. She did not have to be a genius to figure out that Frank and Laura’s was not the only age-gap relationship in Scarlet Cove. She turned and watched as the teenager and woman in her late twenties walked out of the arcade.

  Paddy barked again as a shelf of brown pennies fell off the edge of the machine and into the tray below.

  “My undercover work is a little rusty,” she said, stroking him on the top of the head. “Let’s go.”

  Liz walked away from the machine with Paddy, smiling to herself when she heard a kid squealing with delight as he scooped her winnings from the bottom of the machine.

  As she walked back along the windy pier, she saw Adam and Mandy sitting on an iron bench. They were deep in conversation again. She almost wanted to walk over and sit by them, but she knew getting caught twice in one day was going to be more embarrassing than anything.

  Deciding she had heard enough on her morning walk with Paddy, she headed back to her shop.

  When Liz arrived back at the shop, she was surprised to see someone looking through the window into the dark store. Liz approached, recognising the small woman as Laura, Frank’s girlfriend.

  Liz placed a hand on Laura’s shoulder, making her jump out of her skin. She turned to face Liz, and it was obvious she had been recently crying. Her doe eyes were bright red, and she had small watery streaks of mascara trailing down each cheek.

  “Are you ok?” Liz asked, regretting the question the second it left her lips. She knew it was a useless question to ask after having lost a loved one.

  Laura opened her mouth to speak, but instead of words, she blubbered incoherently. Liz awkwardly embraced the short woman, and for a moment, she shared her grief as though her own was raw again.

  “I’m sorry,” Laura mumbled through the tears as Paddy began to yank on his lead. “You don’t even know me. I don’t know what you must think of
me, it’s just – I - I loved him.”

  Laura blubbered against Liz’s jumper again, no doubt leaking mascara onto the fabric. Liz patted her back softly and looked down at Paddy.

  “Do you want to come inside and talk?” Liz asked. “I’ll make us some tea.”

  Laura pulled away and nodded. She wiped her nose on the sleeve of her jacket and stepped back to let Liz unlock the shop door.

  Once inside, Liz offered a box for Laura to sit on. She let Paddy off the lead before running upstairs to prepare the tea. When she returned, she was touched to see Paddy seated at Laura’s feet.

  “Frank loved this dog,” Laura mumbled as she tickled behind his ears. “I always wondered if Paddy was the only one Frank truly loved.”

  “Christopher was going to send him to a shelter,” Liz said. “We’ve become quite attached.”

  “Don’t worry,” Laura said with a strained laugh as she accepted the tea. “I’m not going to ask to keep him. He reminds me too much of – well –”

  Laura’s voice trailed off as she began to cry again. She looked down into the murky surface of her tea before taking a shaky sip.

  “I’m afraid there isn’t much here at the moment,” Liz said, pulling up a box to sit on. “I’m still waiting for the stock and furniture deliveries. I couldn’t get anything here sooner.”

  Laura looked around the bare shop, but she looked too exhausted to notice or care that it was completely empty. She let out a long sigh as Paddy shuffled away from her to settle at Liz’s feet.

  “I thought he was being too nice to me,” Laura chuckled forcefully. “He always preferred Frank, or maybe he just didn’t like me. He seems quite content with you.”

  Liz looked down at Paddy, and even though they had only been together for a day, she felt like she had created a bond with the animal.

  “I think he only likes me because I let him sleep on the bed,” Liz offered. “I’m sure he misses Frank a lot.”

  Paddy looked up at Liz, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth, his eyes half closed. If the dog was grief-stricken, he was hiding it better than Laura.

  “I know what everyone used to say behind my back,” Laura said suddenly after a sip of tea. “I know they wouldn’t have put me and Frank together. I wouldn’t have either, until I got to know him.” Laura paused and looked down into her tea, but she somehow managed to hold herself together. “Nobody knew him like I did. It just happened. People said he was a drunk, but he had a good reason.”

  “Do you mean because of his past?” Liz asked.

  “You mean his dead wife?” Laura scoffed, almost sounding amused. “You can mention her. Frank’s daughter, Mandy, made sure to remind me about her every chance she got, even if she didn’t see her father very much. But to answer your question, Frank didn’t drink because of his wife, it was something else entirely. It’s not my place to say, even now, but knowing the gossips in this town, his secret will get out eventually. I just don’t know what I’m going to do without him. Sure, we had our disagreements, but what couple doesn’t?”

  Liz rummaged in her handbag and passed Laura a tissue. She took it thankfully and blew her nose. Despite her curiosity, Liz decided not to push the subject further.

  “My mum used to own this shop, ya’know,” Laura said, looking around the store again. “It was a long time ago.”

  “Really?” Liz replied, her brows arching. “What was it?”

  “A sweet shop,” Laura said with a soft smile. “She used to bring me here on Saturdays when I was a little girl. My grandmother owned it before her, too. The supermarkets squeezed us out. She always thought I might take over one day, but it wasn’t a viable business. We tried everything to keep it open, but loyalty is quite fickle when it comes to money around here. I’m just glad you’ve come to give it a new purpose. I heard you were opening a clothes shop?”

  “Arts and crafts shop,” Liz corrected her. “But close enough.”

  “That’s how this place works,” Laura said with a roll of her eyes. “It’s one long game of Chinese whispers. I heard you used to be a police officer too.”

  “That part is true.”

  Laura looked at Liz suspiciously for a moment before blowing her nose on the tissue again.

  “Well, either way, I’m glad you’re going to be opening this old place,” Laura said with a soft smile. “It’s been empty for far too long. Bob Slinger has been trying to rent it out for a while, but nobody was interested.”

  “Well, I hope I can make your mother proud,” Liz said, smiling at the woman.

  “Me too,” Laura replied, returning the smile. “I’m sure you will.”

  Laura’s gaze wandered into the corner of the room where Liz had managed to display a few pieces of her work on easels in hopes it would pique the interest of passing locals. Most of them were paintings of the city. The biggest of them was a large canvas of a city skyline just before sunset, reds and purples licking the tops of the buildings, lights of offices dotting the structures. Laura stood up to take a closer look at the work.

  “You painted these?” Laura asked.

  “For my sins.”

  “They’re really good,” Laura said as she ran her fingers along the textured grooves of the oil paints. “You’re very talented.”

  “Thank you,” Liz said, feeling her cheeks blush a little. She had never been good at accepting compliments about her work.

  “It’s much better than that pompous, overpriced stuff they show at the gallery,” Laura scoffed as she moved along the row of paintings. “It’s supposed to be ‘classic’, but it’s not my cup of tea. You should ask if you can have some of your work displayed there. I can’t tell you how much that gallery needs some real art.”

  “I’m not sure they’re good enough to sell,” Liz said sheepishly.

  “Best art I’ve seen recently,” Laura announced. “You have a real eye for colour and detail.”

  Liz thought about it for a moment, wondering if her work was good enough to be displayed in a gallery. It had been a dream of hers when she was younger and studying for her art degree in university, but lately she had settled on painting for her own enjoyment.

  “I’ll think about it,” Liz said with a nod. “I’ve heard the owner is a bit scary.”

  “Katie Monroe?” Laura asked with a chuckle. “She might like to think she is, but she’s just another rich toff who thinks she’s better than the rest of us.”

  They both looked down at Paddy as he slept on his back on an old rug, his ears splayed out as he snored softly.

  “Can I get you some more tea?” Liz asked as she looked down at Laura’s empty cup.

  “I should get going,” she said, her air of sadness returning. “I suppose I should face the funeral plans. Thanks for taking my mind off things.”

  Liz followed Laura to the door and held it open for her. Liz liked to think their ten minutes together had provided a little distraction from her grief.

  “I think you will make my mum proud,” Laura said with a firm nod as she looked up at the building. “You’re a good woman.”

  Laura turned on her heels, dropped her head, and hurried down the street and out of sight. Liz called for Paddy, who jumped up and scurried towards her. She locked up the shop and opened her flat door. Paddy ran upstairs as soon as it was open, but Liz paused and looked around the square. She had never expected to be so integrated so quickly, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult to remember a life before Scarlet Cove.

  Just as she turned back to her door, she spotted Simon walking past the Fish and Anchor with Ellie skipping happily by his side. Simon waved in her direction, flashing his dimpled smile. She felt a familiar squirming in her stomach as she waved back.

  6

  Liz looked wearily out of the shop window, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She caught her reflection in the window as she watched the deliverymen unload the boxes of flat pack furniture off the back of the van. Her hair was a mess of red frizz, and her eyes were half
-closed. Her mind was still asleep after being awoken by the buzzer minutes earlier. She tucked her messy hair behind her ears and held the door open, smiling meekly at the men as they carried the giant boxes into the empty shop.

  When they were done, Liz handed them a generous tip for not asking her to help. She stepped back and looked at the furniture, her heart sinking to the pit of her stomach. She still had Bob Slinger’s electric drill, but she was not going to be able to assemble everything herself. With a cheeky smile, she pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through her recently added contacts.

  “Well, first things first, we need to make some room,” Nancy announced as she scratched at the messy bun on top of her head. “Is all of this even going to fit in this tiny shop?”

  “Maybe I read the measurements wrong,” Liz mumbled as she looked down at the pile of giant boxes. “Or Bob Slinger measured the shop incorrectly?”

  “He has impeccable eyesight,” Nancy announced without irony. “He’s been asked to be the judge of the tug-of-war contest at the Scarlet Cove summer fair for –”

  “As long as anyone can remember?”

  “How do you do that?” Nancy giggled with a shake of her head. “Are you sure you’ve made the right decision quitting the police? You’re quite intuitive.”

  “It’s a gift,” Liz replied with a smirk.

  Liz used her keys to rip open the tape on the first box. She peered inside, instantly recognising it as the distressed eggshell blue shelves she had painstakingly picked out from the catalogue.

  “I think I want this next to the entrance on the right,” Liz said, resting her keys against her lips as she looked at the blank wall. “It will look nice with paints on it, so they’re the first things you see when you walk in.”

  They dragged the large box over to the spot near the door before assembling it using Bob Slinger’s drill. To Liz’s surprise, Nancy was quite adept at reading flat pack instructions, meaning the shelves were built quicker than Liz would have managed alone.