Killer Dress: A Small Town Cozy Mystery (Shot & Framed Book 1) Read online

  Contents

  Killer Dress

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  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

  One More Thing

  Disclaimer

  BONUS: The Locked Room Murder

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Contact Nancy

  SHOT & FRAMED

  BOOK 1:

  Killer Dress

  By

  Nancy McGovern

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  At the end of this story, there is an offer to join my mailing list, through which you will receive updates, special offers & discounts on my future books as well as information about joining my Street Team. Plus, you will receive a FREE BOOK from my series, A Murder In Milburn, as a Thank You for signing up! If interested, the link is immediately after this story…

  Chapter 1

  Return To Innocence

  The day before the murder that cast a shadow over her entire life, Dani Hedley was driving back to the hometown she hadn’t visited in ten years. At the time, darkness, light and texture were on her mind. Unaware of the future that was hurtling towards her, Dani was, instead, focused on what she felt was most important: the question of how she could possibly capture the essence of Innocence. That is, her hometown of Innocence in Northern California.

  As a professional photographer, even when she wasn’t at work, her brain automatically arranged the world around her into potential images. Unlike other photographers, who fought over lenses and argued about composition and lighting, Dani had only ever believed there was one thing that could make or break a photo…emotion. So when she saw what felt like the perfect image to her, she knew she had to capture it. There was no other option.

  This was one of those moments. Dani pulled her car to the shoulder of the highway and sprang out.

  A large man in dirty jeans and a checkered shirt stood next to a rusty pickup truck, hood popped open. He’d lifted who Dani assumed was his daughter so that she could take a peek into the mechanical monstrosity that was the vehicle’s engine. The little girl, wearing a pink sweater and neon green shoes, frowned and shook her head with all the seriousness of a doctor delivering grave news.

  “We need a new spark plug,” the little girl said.

  The man, Dani noticed, was rather handsome, in a rough sort of way. There was no one element of his face that could be called “picture perfect”. In fact, seen by themselves, his features weren’t elegant at all. His nose was a little too sharp, his ears stuck out a little, his forehead was a little too wide and crow’s feet were etched into the skin next to his eyes. Yet all of it fit together to create a face she just itched to photograph.

  “Could you hold it there?” she asked.

  “Huh?” He looked up, noticing her for the first time. Confused, he lowered the little girl onto her feet

  “Could you hold her up again?” Dani asked. But even then, she knew that the picture she’d seen was gone. She should have been quicker. The spontaneity would have added magic to the photo; a magic she couldn’t possibly recreate.

  The man must not have heard her words because he said, “We do need some help. Thanks for pulling over.”

  “Help?” Dani stared at him questioningly and then blinked. What was wrong with her? Of course, they needed help. Here she was thinking of the perfect picture instead of doing the right thing and helping the man with the broken down truck.

  She sighed. Growing up, Dani’s older sister, Sharon, had often called her a ditz and, for once, Dani agreed with her. Of course, it had been a long time since she and Sharon had spoken. Or she and her other sister, Caroline, for that matter.

  “Um…yes…help,” Dani stalled.

  The man gave Dani a crooked smile.

  “You did stop to help us, right? Not to carjack us or something like that?”

  “No…yes…no, of course,” she stammered.

  Where were her words? She was acting like a twelve-year-old girl meeting the star of a boy band. Taking a deep breath, she decided to act like a human instead of the Martian which Sharon had also enjoyed accusing her of being.

  “Would you like me to call someone? Or maybe I could offer you a lift?”

  “A lift would be great,” he said. “I’ll come back later for the truck. Ellie here really needs to reach her class on time.”

  “Chemistry,” Ellie said matter-of-factly.

  “Excuse me?” Dani asked, glancing at the man and wondering if the girl had read her mind.

  “It’s a chemistry class,” the girl clarified. “And if I miss I’ll be sooo behind.”

  “She’s in the advanced class,” the man said with evident pride. “Learns about stuff I never even knew existed. Some of the homework I’ve tried to help her with makes my head spin.”

  “Oh, wow,” Dani said. “Quite a little genius.”

  “You said it,” the man smiled.

  “But we’re not supposed to take rides from strangers. Right, Dad?” Ellie asked.

  “Right, cookie, we aren’t,” he replied. “But this isn’t a stranger. This here is Dani Hedley. We went to school together. So you see, I know her well.”

  “Wait…what? How…” Dani questioned, taken aback. After ten years of living in the heavenly anonymity that San Francisco offered her, this felt rather like being accosted by a paparazzo. “Have we met before?”

  The man raised an eyebrow. “You don’t remember me?”

  She looked at his face a little longer, mentally erasing some of the lines, trying a few different hairstyles and, suddenly, she let out a gasp.

  “Darwin?” she exclaimed. “Darwin Scholl? Madboy Scholl?”

  “Deputy Darwin Scholl now, thanks.” he smiled at her. “Not too many people use that nickname anymore. Now about that lift…”

  *****

  As soon as they got into Dani’s car, Ellie kicked up her feet and had her mobile phone out. Dani could hear the pew pew pew of a video game from the back seat. She could also hear the sound of her own breathing and wondered if it wasn’t too loud. She was hyper-aware of Darwin’s body filling out the cramped passenger seat. Her little 1993 Ford Focus wasn’t meant to hold a 6’3” giant like him. He was smiling pleasantly, however, and didn’t appear uncomfortable in the least.

  She’d always had a crush on Darwin Scholl. But he’d been five years older than she was and far too aloof for her to even think of approaching. Back when they were younger, he’d occasionally worked for her parents, cutting the grass in front of their mansion every summer. She remembered watching him from her upstairs window, peeping through a gap in the curtain as he mowed in jeans and a sleeveless t-shirt, his earbuds blasting what she could only assume was rock and roll music.

  The more she thought of those days, the more uncomfortable she became with the fact that Darwin was sitting right next to her after all those years. Though she’d have liked to s
trike up an easy conversation, that had never been her thing. In fact, even now, she had to rehearse mentally before she so much as ordered take-out. Consequently, being so close to him so unexpectedly was making her brain short circuit and her hands sweaty. Very unromantic. She’d already looked at his hand and noticed the absence of a wedding ring. Still, he had referred to Ellie as his daughter so maybe he was just allergic to wearing rings or something like that. Maybe he was very much married and would get offended if she flirted with him.

  Not that she even knew how to. Of course, Sharon would have known how. Sharon would have known just the thing to say and just the right way to laugh to make any man swoon. All Dani could do, on the other hand, was clutch the steering wheel and hope her sweaty palms dried before they got where they were going. She just wasn’t the type to break the silence with some clever or witty opening line.

  Thankfully, Darwin broke the silence and got the ball rolling.

  “So you’ve come down for Caroline’s wedding, right?” Darwin smiled. “Caro said she wasn’t sure you were even going to make it.”

  “She did?” Dani asked.

  “Said you were on assignment somewhere exotic.”

  “Cameroon,” she said. “I was taking photos for Lonely Planet.”

  Darwin looked impressed. “Wow. Central Africa? I don’t think I’ve ever even met someone who’s been to Africa before.”

  “That sounds amazing!” Ellie suddenly stuck her head in the gap between their seats. “Have you travelled a lot?”

  “A fair bit,” Dani said.

  “How many countries have you visited?” Ellie asked.

  “About… thirty,” Dani said after a quick mental count. “Maybe thirty-two.”

  “Thirty two?!” Ellie’s eyes were the size of saucers. “I don’t think Dad and I could even name thirty two countries!”

  “Hey now, I can name thirty two sports teams. That should earn me some credit.” Darwin gave Dani that crooked grin, making her clutch the steering wheel a little tighter. “Anyway, Caro will be so excited that you’re back. When’s the last time you even visited Innocence?”

  “I haven’t,” Dani said. “Not since…well…”

  Darwin’s eyes softened as he nodded. “Not since ten years ago.” There was a hint of sympathy in his voice.

  Right. Ten years ago.

  A bolt of shame and unease sped through her as she realized that Darwin knew exactly what she was referring to. After all the years and all the distance she’d put between herself and Innocence, Dani had hoped that it would sting less when people talked about the scandal. She’d only been eighteen when it happened. But, even now, it was in her heart like an old, rotting tree, infecting the very ground in which it was buried.

  As if he sensed her discomfort, Darwin blurted out, “I hope I didn’t upset you. Caroline wouldn’t have held a grudge if you didn’t make it. She just thought you might not because the wedding’s happening so soon. It was all so sudden, really. They only got engaged two weeks ago!”

  “Yes,” Dani said. Then, after a pause, she added, “I mean…yes, of course, I would make it. She’s my sister.”

  Darwin looked as though he wanted to say more but Ellie chimed in, “Hey, that’s where we need to get off! Could you pull over right there, please?”

  Darwin and Ellie thanked her as they got out and Dani wondered just how red her cheeks had become as she spoke with her old crush. She spied herself in the mirror and decided they were just a shade under “tomato”.

  “Have a great day, Dani.” Darwin bent down and smiled at her through the passenger window. “Maybe we can catch up later. You could tell me all about those thirty two countries.”

  “That’s as many countries as I have teeth,” Ellie chimed in.

  Darwin gave his daughter a look of indescribable fondness and, this time, Dani was quick. Her phone was out of her pocket, in her hand and snapping a photograph before the moment passed. It was perfect; Darwin’s kind eyes framed in the passenger window, Ellie’s gap-toothed smile through the back window and the slightly torn seat of the Ford Focus between them. If she could edit it properly, maybe give it the right effect…

  “Hey.” Darwin’s voice was harsher, the voice of a deputy. “Did you just take a photo of me and Ellie?”

  “Yes,” Dani nodded. “Sorry. I’m a photographer and that moment was too good to miss.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re not planning on selling that, are you? Or posting it publicly?” Darwin’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t want Ellie’s face plastered all over the internet. You never know what weirdos are lurking out there.”

  Dani gaped at him. That hadn’t even occurred to her. It should have.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I can delete it if you want.”

  “I’ll do that for you.” He took the phone from her and froze as he looked down at the photo. “That’s…that’s pretty good. In fact, it’s incredibly good.” He looked up again, and his eyes were full of an undefined emotion.

  This was the moment that Dani considered her true payment — when people looked at her photos, and then looked at her as though, with a twist of the kaleidoscope, she had shown them a side of their life they hadn’t considered before.

  “She looks so proud and happy. I love it,” Darwin said.

  Dani grinned. “Well, I’ve been itching to photograph you two since I first saw you. The way you look at your daughter is nothing short of magic. The way she looks at you, too.”

  His voice was friendly again as he handed the phone back to her.

  “Alright, fine. You can keep the picture. But next time try and warn me before you take one, will you? And, hey, send me a copy?”

  “I’ll do that. And I promise, no publishing it without your permission.” She smiled. “Have a great day, Darwin. You too, Ellie.”

  “Cool.” Darwin blinked. “Oh yeah, could you tell Caro that I’m okay with the antelope?”

  “The antelope?” Dani gaped at him.

  “She’ll know what it means. See you!”

  *****

  Chapter 2

  Doctor, No!

  As Dani drove away, her mind was busy wondering if Darwin had meant ‘See you’ as in ‘I want to see you’ or if she was just being far too hopeful. The rational part of her brain told her she was just reading into it. Darwin didn’t seem interested in her. He was just being polite. But still, there had been that one moment when he’d looked down at her photo and his eyes had widened. He’d seemed to look up at her again with a newfound respect.

  “Get a grip, Dani!” she said out loud. “You’re here to support your sister as she marries the love of her life, not to drool over random men.”

  Thinking of her sister made her think of where she was driving to. It was going to be hard to see it again. The mansion. It was funny how she thought of it as just that - a mansion. Not her childhood home. Yet she’d been born there, grown up there. She knew every nook and cranny.

  It was a colonial style mansion. White, marble pillars supported a red-tiled roof and a wide balcony overlooked the red, brick walls. Her mind conjured up pictures that were fuzzy around the edges. A picture of her in a green dress playing hide and seek as her sisters, Sharon and Caroline, searched for her, laughter echoing from somewhere in the background. Another of the three girls playfully chasing their beloved beagle, Puppet, around the expansive yard. And that brought a third picture to mind, an unwelcome one, of her sobbing on the porch when Puppet passed away, her father’s arm wrapped around her shoulders.

  Then there was the picture of the last time she’d been home. When she’d left for college, knowing she wouldn’t be back. That last time, the mansion had been a symbol of everything she wanted to leave behind. It had a cloud of grief hanging over it then, wiping out all the happy memories.

  As she pulled into the wide driveway, she saw it standing as proud as any mountain, dominating the landscape around it. Home. She was home.

  “Dani!” Caroline ran down the steps
of their house with a whoop and lifted Dani up into the air, twirling her around like she was ten. “Dani! You made it! You made it!”

  “Of course, I made it! How could you even think I wouldn’t come?”

  “I don’t know! You’ve hardly talked to me all year, you know? I thought maybe…” Caroline shrugged.

  “Right, well…” Dani said slowly, uncomfortably.

  In fact, it had been a year and a half since they last spoke. Partly Caroline’s fault, and partly Dani’s. But all that was in the past. The happiness on Caroline’s face was infectious, and Dani found herself hugging her sister extra hard.

  “Oh, Caro!” Dani said. “You look… resplendent!”

  “Resplendent, wow! Well, it’s all because you’re here so maybe you should have come home sooner!” Caro teased. “Oh, look at my baby sister all grown up!”

  “Car-ooo,” Dani protested as she was engulfed in a hug.

  “Okay, okay.” Caroline smiled and threw an arm around Dani’s shoulder. “Let’s go inside. I’m sure you’ve had a long trip.”

  “Oh, you have no idea,” Dani said, grinning as she thought of running into Darwin.

  “Martin is here, too, so you can meet him,” Caroline said.

  “Oh, I’ll do more than say hi!” Dani exclaimed. “He’s my new brother, isn’t he? Some hazing is in order! How does he get along with dad?”

  “Oh,” Caroline’s face closed off a little, her smile dimming. “They’re alright. You know… I’m the first of us three getting married. So dad’s still being a little protective.”

  “Speaking of which, how’s Sharon taking it?” Dani asked.

  “She’s happy for me, of course,” Caroline said, though Dani heard the hesitation in her voice. “Why did you put it that way?”

  Dani shrugged. “Nothing. It’s just that… growing up, Sharon loved to play Bride-In-The-Attic. You remember that game?”

  “Do I ever!” Caroline laughed. “I was always tallest so she used to snag me as the groom! And that old prom dress of mom’s was always the wedding dress. Oh, wait till you see mine, by the way! It’s killer!”