Free Coastal Cottage Calamity (A Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Book 2) by Abby L. Vandiver

the cancer that had wrecked his
body. And Mac thinking that Miss Vivee had concocted a recipe of death for “The
Hussy” as she called her, who she thought Mac was cheating on her with, making
it look like a heart attack.
    Miss Vivee
definitely knew about poisons.
    But what was the
likelihood of another murder in Yasamee in the course of a few weeks?
    Oliver. Poisoned.
Oliver. Poisoned. I heard Miss Vivee’s voice over and over in mind. I shook my head to clear my
thoughts.
    Very unlikely I
told myself. Another murder was very unlikely. But listening to Miss did give
me pause. Like my mother, Miss Vivee was usually right.
     “I’m sure, Miss
Vivee,” I said probably trying to convince me more than her. “If you noticed
all of that, so did the FBI. No need of poking our noses in.”
    “Wasn’t the FBI
that was there,” she said and snipped at the plant in front of her. “It was
their liaison.”
    “Same difference.”
    “Ask him that
after you ask him if there’s a difference in pay between him and an agent.”
    “What I meant,
Miss Vivee, is it is the FBI.”
    “Doesn’t matter.
I’ve got all that stuff down in new my notebook. Thank you,” she said and
nodded at me. “Now I have to investigate this. It’s different now that my daughter
is involved. She’s a viable suspect.”
    “Viable suspect ?” I mouthed.
    “The right thing
to do is tell Bay,” I said out loud.
    “How is that the
right thing to do?” The volume in her voice rising. “The extinct fish and
Renmar and Oliver’s argument might not have to do with him being murdered,”
Miss Vivee said.
    I rolled my eyes.
    “Especially, as
you always like to say, if Oliver was murdered. Don’t want anyone even
thinking that the two could be related. Not even Bay until I can work this
thing out.” Her level of excitement working up ten notches. “I know what I have
to do,” she said and gave me a firm nod. “Tonight, I’m going over to his house
and see what I can find.”
    “Who’s house?”
    “Oliver’s.”
    “No you’re not.”
    “Yes, I am. Me and
Mac.” She looked at me. “It’s what we’re gonna do,” Miss Vivee said, her face
and tone resolute.
    “Does Mac know
he’s going to help you break the law?” I asked.
    “He’ll know as
soon as I tell him.”
    “I’ve had enough
trespassing onto federally protected lands to last a life time,” I said. “I’m
not going and you can’t go without me.”
    “It’s not
federally protected,” she said.
    “Yeah. No. Not
federally protected. The federal government just marked it as a crime scene to
protect it from people coming onto the property.” I hope she caught the sarcasm
in my voice.
    “I don’t need you
to go, you know,” she said raising her eyebrows as if testing me.
    Sometimes she acts
just like a spoiled little kid.
    Then, as if she
heard me, she turned and gave me a sickly sweet smile. “Just go if you want
to.”
     “I don’t want
to,” I said. “And I am not going to. And I don’t want to hear anything about
you going.”
    “Okay. Suit
yourself.”

 
    Chapter Fourteen
     
    Although I told
her that I wouldn’t go with her to “search” Oliver’s house, I did take Miss
Vivee to the Jellybean Café to meet up with Mac the next day. She said they
needed to discuss “strategy.” I, of course, was very interested in hearing how
two ninety year-old people, one with a limp and a cane, were going to covertly
break into an FBI protected property, gather evidence, and get back out without
getting caught.
    At the prospect of
seeing Mac, Miss Vivee had gotten all dolled up. She put on her “come hither”
red lipstick and swiped her cosmetic sponge with her pressed powder across her
wrinkles. And she left Cat at home. After she got ready to go, I couldn’t get
out the house or drive the 1.7 miles to the diner fast enough for her.
    When we got to the
diner Viola Rose met us at the door. That little bell attached to the handle
must have a special ring