The Body from the Past

Book 5: Jazzi Zanders Mystery

by Judi Lynn

Genres: Cozy Mystery; Animal Cozy Mysteries; Crime Fiction

Synopsis

A closed room in her newest fixer-upper leads Indiana house-flipper Jazzi Zanders to reopen a chilling cold case involving a high school girl . . .
 
Jazzi, her cousin Jerod, and her husband Ansel are preparing to renovate a charming house that reminds her of an English manor. Before purchasing it, they had inspected the house for structural issues, but now when they do a more thorough walk-through, they discover a teenage girl's bedroom that clearly hasn't been touched in years. Dust covers the pink canopy bed, clothes still hang in the closet, and a hope chest remains full of journals and memorabilia. They've stumbled on a shrine to a dead girl.
 
They learn Jessica was killed in the middle of her high school graduation party. The murderer was never identified, but the brother-in-law of Jazzi’s friend, who went to school with Jessica, was suspected and never lived it down. He implores Jazzi to review the cold case and finally prove him innocent. Now it’s up to the house-flipper to nail a killer who will do anything to close the door on the past . . .

Release date: September 22, 2020

Publisher: Lyrical Press

Print pages: 256

Sample

Chapter 1

Jazzi opened one eye to scowl at the alarm clock. She hadn’t heard it go off before she felt Ansel’s hand patting her fanny. How had she missed her wake-up buzz? The world was still blurry, so she squinted to focus better. And that was when it hit her. It wasn’t six thirty yet. She opened her other eye and turned to glare at her husband.

Her tall, blond Viking grinned, unrepentant. “I thought we could get an early start on our new fixer-upper.”

She groaned. She’d rather have had another half hour of sleep. Inky raised his head, looking irritated. Her black cat relied on the alarm, too. Marmalade, their nice cat, walked over Ansel’s torso to snuggle between them. Ansel stroked her orange fur. Ansel’s beloved pug, George, snored in his dog bed, as usual.

With a sigh, Jazzi swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I’m up. I’m moving.”

Ansel was more excited than usual about this house. So was her cousin, Jerod. Jerod had found it in a quaint, small town southwest of River Bluffs, farther than they usually drove for a job, but they got it at such a good price, it was worth the extra effort. Merlot was a college town a half hour from River Bluffs, with a population close to six thousand. She and Ansel lived on the north side of town, so their drive would be longer than Jerod’s.

They’d spent all summer and the start of fall working on a house north of River Bluffs in Auburn, Indiana. That town was quaint and charming, too. And they’d made so much money on their project that they’d all decided it was worth driving if they found a special house. And this one was even better than the last.

Jazzi pushed tangled, honey-blond hair out of her face. It had been damp when she fell asleep last night and it had dried funny. No matter. She always pulled it into a ponytail for work. Ansel was tugging on worn jeans and a T-shirt when she stumbled past him to the bathroom. She stopped to ask, “You aren’t going to fall in love with this place when we fix it, are you? I don’t want to move, no matter how awesome it is.”

It was awesome. It looked like it could have been pulled right out of an English novel with its stone exterior, three chimneys, and arched windows. The main structure was three stories high and the wing on the side was two. The house was big, with lots of charm, large rooms, and as much curb appeal as their own stone cottage.

Ansel shook his head. “I love our place. It’s plenty big enough for us, and we have enough property for our pond and gazebo. I never want to leave here.”

Good. She felt the same way, especially since they’d renovated every square inch of it except the basement. And Ansel was already making noises about that. If she wasn’t careful, they’d be turning half of it into a playroom, like they’d helped Jerod do with his.

Mollified, she hurried to get ready, and ten minutes later, she and Ansel were leading the cats downstairs to the kitchen. George, as usual, was carried by Ansel. The pug didn’t like stairs. All three pets went straight to their food bowls, and while she fed them, Ansel poured coffee and started the toast. He barely gave her enough time to pack sandwiches and chips in the cooler for their lunch before he loaded everything, including George, into their work van and turned west toward Merlot. The drive took forty-five minutes.

Jazzi tugged her hoodie shut against the morning chill. Early October days were warm enough, but mornings and evenings were cooler. She glanced at the trees. Too early to see any color yet. In another two weeks, the woods would blaze with reds and golds.

The thought reminded her of their last Halloween. Not the best time for them. They’d been drawn into solving another murder, and that time, instead of finding her aunt’s body in their attic, this one had been propped right on their front stoop. She sighed. She and Ansel had made a pledge: no more bodies.

When Ansel pulled into the driveway of the Merlot house, Jerod’s pickup was already there. Her cousin was standing in the front yard, staring at their new project. Ansel went to join him, carrying George. Jazzi tugged the cooler out of the back of the van and, setting it beside the open door, went to join them.

“It’s a beauty, isn’t it?” Jerod asked. “With a new roof, it will look even better.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.” Jazzi licked her lips.

“When you do that, you’ve thought of something that’s going to cost more money.” Her cousin raised an eyebrow. “Spill it, cuz, but it had better be good.”

“You know how much I love English mysteries. Well, I always like the descriptions of English gardens and thatched roofs.”

“We can’t do thatch here,” Ansel said, interrupting.

“No, but we can do fake shake shingles. They’d give sort of the same effect.”

Jerod rubbed his chin, studying the façade of the house. “You know, those just might be worth it on this place. It would fit the vibe of the rest of the house.”

Ansel nodded agreement. “I’ll give you a yes vote, too. This house deserves something extra.”

That had been easier than she expected. Just wait ’til Ansel shared his ideas for the house with Jerod. There was a small room on the first floor that he was dying to make into a library. And he’d already shown her pictures of how he’d like to do the front foyer and create a small mudroom in the back hallway off the patio.

Finished looking, the guys grabbed their gear and Jazzi got the cooler, then they headed inside. Jerod called to order the shingles they wanted, and then he pulled on his heavy work gloves. The previous owner had warned them that she’d left some furniture behind. They had to clear it out. For once, the rooms downstairs and up were so large, they wouldn’t have to knock out walls. The interior of the house was in good shape, except someone had gone crazy with wallpaper upstairs. Every room had some. It all needed to be stripped. The wooden floors could be refinished except in the kitchen, and they might have to refinish the graceful, curved stairs and railings, too. The kitchen and every bathroom needed to be gutted, and the basement’s cement was crumbling. No structural problems, just old cement, worn with time. They’d have to add a new layer on the floor and walls, as well as a new furnace and central air. It sounded like a lot, but they usually had more to deal with.

This time around, they could focus on making every improvement add to the character of the house. Their first job? Clean out every room so that they could get started. Jazzi carried the cooler into the kitchen and tucked it against the wall where the kitchen table used to sit. For once, they’d decided not to gut the kitchen until later in their project. That way, they’d have a refrigerator and sink for their lunches.

Jerod scowled at the pine cupboards and linoleum floor. “The woman who owned this place loved to entertain. You’d have thought she’d spend the money to spiff up the kitchen.”

Ansel shrugged, carrying George’s dog bed to a corner of the room. He took the thickly padded oval from project to project. George immediately curled in it to supervise. “There’s a big dining room. She probably only prepped food in here.”

Jerod had talked to her. They hadn’t. “She didn’t cook. She catered.”

“Well, there’s your answer.” Jazzi plugged in the coffee urn and turned it on. “She never spent time in this room.”

“Sort of like my wife.” Jerod constantly fussed about Franny’s cooking. “I married a wonderful woman, but if I don’t cook, it’s safer to grab food on the way home.”

“We all have different loves and talents,” Jazzi reminded him.

“I guess. She’s a whiz when it comes to furniture restoration.”

“There you go.” Jazzi looked out the kitchen window at the patio and backyard. The landscaping looked professional. And one of the added bonuses of this house was that a balcony led off the upstairs hallway, forming a roof for the patio beneath it. Two more great places to entertain.

Ansel followed her gaze. “I bet it was hard for the owner to leave this house.”

Jerod shook his head. “Madeline gave lots and lots of parties, and that’s how she met her new husband. After he attended one of them, they kept in touch. That’s why she sold this place to us for the same price she paid for it originally. Once he popped the question, she wanted to sell it fast and move east to marry him.”

Jazzi pursed her lips, trying to remember the house’s history. “She got it at a good price, too, didn’t she?”

Jerod nodded. “The same family owned it for years, passed it down through the generations, but the last of the Hodgkills sold it cheap and moved away the minute the ink dried on the contract.”

Jazzi glanced around at the grand, old place. “How could you give up such a beautiful family legacy? It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? There’s probably a story behind that.”

“Hey, it worked in our favor.” With a shrug, Jerod reached for a gateleg table in the entryway. “But enough talking. Time to start working. Let’s get this place ready to go.” He picked up the table. “Anyone want this? It’s a great antique.”

Jazzi and Ansel shook their heads. “No place to put it,” Ansel said. “Give it to Franny. She’ll make it look good again.”

It would be quick work getting the inside ready to paint. They’d decided to start on the roof first, though, because it was October and the weather might not hold.

The guys decided to tackle the downstairs, and Jazzi headed up to the bedrooms. There were five of them, and three baths. When they’d walked through the house, they’d seen most of them before the owner had to leave for a business meeting. They’d seen enough, though, that they knew the structure of the place was solid, and the house was a good buy.

The third step from the top creaked. She made a mental note to fix it, then started on the rooms on the left side of the wide hallway at the top of the stairs. Only a few night tables and a mirror were left in those, and she carried them into the hallway. Once that was done, she crossed to the last room on the right side of the hall, close to the French doors that opened onto the balcony. This room was the only one that was shut up. She pushed on its door, but it wouldn’t open. The knob wouldn’t turn. It was locked.

She went to the top of the stairs and called down, “A room’s locked up here. Did we get a key for it?”

Jerod stopped what he was doing to come to look up at her, frowning. “I forgot about that. The owner told me about it, said it was locked when she bought the house. She had plenty of other bedrooms, so she just never bothered with it. And she never found a key.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Take off the door handle and hardware and break in. We have to get inside it, one way or another.”

With a nod, Jazzi returned to the room and got busy, unscrewing the hardware and removing the knob. When they were off, she reached inside to the working mechanisms and clicked the door open. Then she stood and stared.

So much dust covered a double bed that its soft pink comforter looked gray. Strings of dust hung like Spanish moss from its pink canopy. Posters of movie stars who’d been popular when Jazzi was in high school were taped to the walls, their edges yellowed and curling. In the corner, tubes of lipsticks littered the top of a makeup table with an oval mirror—all buried under a thick gray coating. Cobwebs dangled to eye level and more dust coated the floor and its flowered rugs. Jazzi crossed the room to raise the blind on the wide window and sneezed. Dust flew everywhere. A hope chest sat under the window. She shivered, memories of Aunt Lynda’s folded skeleton returning. She reached for its lid, then yanked her hand away.

The closet door stood open a crack. Cautiously, she pushed it wider with her toe, keeping a safe distance away. Clothes lined the rod that stretched across it. High heels sat under party dresses with matching colors, followed by slip-ons and gym shoes for jeans and flirty skirts. It felt like she’d walked into a time warp.

Why hadn’t anyone ever emptied this room? Or at least cleaned it? She walked to the top of the stairs and called down to the guys. “You might want to see this.”

Jerod carried a floor lamp to the door and started up the stairs. “Did someone leave a loose floorboard with a stash of money hidden under it?”

“Always the optimist. No. You’ve got to see this for yourselves.”

Ansel climbed up after him, and she led them to the pink room. They stopped and stared. Jerod scratched his head and gave a low whistle. “Curiouser and curiouser.”

Ansel’s gaze riveted on the hope chest. “Have you opened it yet?”

“I didn’t want to; at least, not alone.”

He nodded understandingly and let out a long breath. “Let’s see what’s in it.”

He lifted the lid, and Jazzi put a hand to her throat. “Treasures,” she said. “Special moments in a young girl’s life. Someone left them all behind.” She reached down to ruffle through grade school pictures that showed the same young girl with long blond hair, serious gray eyes, and a willowy figure. She stood in the center of the back row where the tall kids were placed. Yearbooks. Jazzi reached for the newest and flipped it open to the girl’s name—Jessica Hodgkill. Her picture smiled out at them, but no signatures peppered the page. She glanced at the front and back of the book. No friends signed it. A corsage with dead flowers. Swim team ribbons and tennis trophies. Report cards. Jazzi flipped through a few. All As and Bs. Stones, shells, and souvenirs from trips.

Why were her treasures still here, locked away? Why was this room left untouched all these years?

“Hey, no body!” Jerod said, relieved.

But something was wrong. Why had the family moved so quickly, they’d left everything in this room behind? Had something happened to Jessica?

Chapter 2

“What should we do with this stuff?” Ansel’s gaze swept the room.

“We can’t just get rid of it,” Jazzi said. “We should ask Jessica’s parents if they want it. They didn’t when they moved away, but they might regret leaving it by now.”

Jerod nodded agreement. “I’ll call Madeline. She’ll have the family’s information, and I’ll find out how to get in touch with them.”

“Ask about the furniture,” Ansel said. “They’re antiques. They’re probably worth something.”

Jerod scrubbed a hand through his light-brown hair. “We might as well take a lunch break while I make the calls. What did you bring for us today, cuz?” On the job, when his thoughts weren’t on working, they turned to food.

“Ham salad sandwiches and chips.” He wrinkled his nose, and she gave him a look. “You like ham salad.”

“I know.” He dug his cell phone out of his jeans pocket as he started toward the stairs. “But we’ve had sandwiches all summer. Sometimes you change it up, is all.”

“Are you in the mood for something different?” She didn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice. When they reached the kitchen, she might only give him one sandwich. Then he might appreciate them more.

Jerod purposely missed the sarcasm. He’d developed the skill when they were kids, bickering with each other. By now, he’d perfected a special ability to tune it out. “I was hoping you’d be in soup mode again. You usually are in the fall.”

“It’s not chilly enough outside. Give me a couple more weeks.” But he was right. She’d made every sandwich type thing she could think of all summer long—paninis, tacos, burritos, and sloppy joes. She was getting tired of them. “It’s not cold enough for potato soup.” One of his favorites.

He grinned. “But it’s perfect weather for your minestrone.”

Ah. She should have known. The man couldn’t get enough of that. When she wanted to spoil him, that was one of her go-to meals. She gave him an indulgent look. He loved to heckle her, but she gave as good as she got. That was why they got along so well. She glanced at her watch. “We’re going to get home early enough tonight, I guess I could make you a pot.”

That earned her a hug. Almost as tall as Ansel and heftier, Jerod always made her feel small, but she was above average height for a woman—five-eight and curvy. She always envied her younger sister Olivia’s willowy figure, but Ansel liked her curves.

“You’re the best,” Jerod told her.

“Remember that when I bring peanut butter and jelly someday.”

“Won’t ever happen.” He motioned to Ansel. “Your man burns too many calories. Those would only hold him for half an hour.”

True. Her Viking was all muscle, and she swore he burned more calories than any human should. Oh, well, both men were easier to work with when their stomachs were happy. A pot of soup was worth the effort.

Jazzi started handing out sandwiches and bags of chips while Jerod made his call. Madeline picked up on the fifth ring, and Jerod asked her about the room upstairs. He put her answer on Speaker for them to hear.

“That room was shut up tight when I bought the house,” she told them. “When I asked the Hodgkills about it, the wife told me she couldn’t go into that room, not even to clean it. I always meant to call a locksmith or contractor to open it, but I didn’t need it, so I just never got around to it.”

“We have to clean it out,” Jerod said. “Do you want any of the furniture? Anything in there at all?”

“Oh, no, none of it’s my stuff. Do whatever you want with all of it. And I’m sorry I left it for you.”

“No problem. My wife restores antiques. She might be interested in some of the furniture.”

“Good. It would be nice if someone wanted it again, but not me.”

Jazzi could understand why Madeline avoided that room. It had given her the creeps, too. And it wasn’t like the woman hadn’t had enough other bedrooms for guests.

Jerod asked, “Do you happen to have contact information for the Hodgkills?”

She looked it up for him.

“Thanks for the help. And congrats on your new life.” Jerod ended the call and looked at them. “Should I try the Hodgkills?”

Ansel nodded. “Jazzi’s right. Whatever happened took place a long time ago. Jessica’s family might wish they had something of hers now.”

Jerod made the call, and again, he put the phone on Speaker. When a woman answered and identified herself as Mrs. Hodgkill, he explained about the room.

“Throw everything out or give it away,” she said. “That room holds too many sad memories. I can’t face them. And please, never call here again. I’ve tried to put those memories behind me.”

What memories? What had happened here? Jazzi wouldn’t be able to resist looking up the family’s history. And she couldn’t throw away Jessica’s treasure chest. It would feel wrong to trash so much personal history.

When they finally sat down to eat, Ansel frowned at her. “We made a pledge. No more dead bodies.”

He knew her too well. “I’m guessing Jessica died and was buried a long time ago, and the mom was so broken up by it, they had to move away and try to put whatever happened behind them. Maybe she died in a car accident before she graduated from high school, or from some medical problem. Who knows?”

“That’s the problem.” Ansel pinched off a small bite of his sandwich to share with George, who’d come to beg. “I don’t want to get involved in whatever happened. It couldn’t have been good if the family had to run away from it.”

“I can’t throw away her treasure chest.” Jazzi raised her chin, digging in. “I’m taking it home with us and looking through it.”

Ansel closed his eyes and counted to ten. “And what if someone murdered her? What then?”

“They’re probably in prison, and I won’t visit them.”

He sighed. “And you’ll leave it alone? Even if the case wasn’t solved?”

“I don’t know Jessica. I’ll feel sorry for her, but we’re not involved with her past. . .