Look Into My Ice (Garden Girls Christian Cozy Mystery Series Book 12) Read online

  “My,” Eleanor glanced at the brown paper bag sitting on the seat between them. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

  “Me either,” Gloria said. She pulled into Eleanor’s drive and stopped the car near the front steps.

  Eleanor reached for the door handle. “You don’t have to get out,” she told Gloria.

  “Okay.” Gloria nodded. “I’ll wait until you get inside before I leave.” She watched Eleanor climb out of the car, reach inside the back seat for her walker and then turn to close the door. “I’ll call you if I remember.”

  Gloria nodded. “Thanks Eleanor. Be careful going up the steps.”

  Eleanor closed the rear passenger door and slowly made her way up the steps and inside the house. Gloria waited until Eleanor waved before pulling out of the drive and heading home.

  Paul would be home soon, and Gloria hadn’t given dinner a single thought. If it had been just her, she would’ve thrown leftovers or a frozen dinner in the microwave and called it good, but Paul and she were still newlyweds and still adjusting to living together.

  She mentally ticked off the items in her fridge and by the time Gloria pulled the car in the garage, she had decided on hot ham and cheese sandwiches along with tomato soup. It was the perfect meal for a cold winter night.

  The first thing Gloria did when she got inside the house was shove Alice’s love potion in the far corner of the pantry. She wasn’t quite sure what to think of it and decided she would try to dissect it when she had more time.

  It was dusk when Paul arrived and Gloria met him at the door. “I missed you today,” she said as he kissed her lips and pulled her into a warm embrace.

  Paul reluctantly released his hold on his new bride, shrugged out of his winter jacket and hung it on the hook by the door. “I figured you’d be knee deep investigating the death of the man whose body was found out on Lake Terrace.”

  Gloria hobbled to the kitchen sink. “Well, I’m not knee deep in it yet. So you heard?”

  Paul nodded. “Yeah. One of the other security guys, an off-duty cop, told me about it. Said the guy was found inside his ice shanty out on the lake.”

  Gloria’s investigative antenna shot up, on high alert. “Have investigators determined a cause of death?”

  “No. Only that the lower half of his body was frozen in the ice.”

  Chapter 4

  Gloria shuddered. “What a terrible way to die, trapped in the ice and freezing to death.”

  “Investigators don’t believe that he froze to death,” Paul said.

  “But how did he…” Gloria started to ask, but Paul was already shaking his head.

  From the look on her husband’s face, she knew she was wasting her breath.

  Gloria gathered all of the sandwich ingredients and made her way over to the kitchen stove.

  Paul had gotten creative and placed wooden benches in front of both the kitchen sink and stove so Gloria could rest her broken leg on the bench while she worked. “I heard Officer Nelson was seen arguing with Ed Mueller last night.”

  Paul, a retired Montbay County Sheriff, had worked with the other officer on numerous occasions. The two men weren’t friends, but were friendly with one another and Paul had nothing but respect for his former fellow officer.

  “Who told you that?” Paul removed his wet work boots and placed them on the boot tray next to the porch door.

  “Judith Arnett. Her husband, Carl, spotted them out in front of the Quik Stop.”

  She went on. “Eleanor Whittaker, the lady who lives on the hill overlooking Lake Terrace, called me this morning to tell me something was going on.”

  Paul shuffled to the kitchen sink. He turned the faucet on, squirted a glob of soap in his hands and scrubbed them under the running water. “So you decided to run right down there and find out what was going on?”

  Gloria shrugged. “Sort of. Officer Joe Nelson and Officer Smith made all of us leave the area. I barely had enough time to scope out Mueller’s cottage.”

  Paul ripped a paper towel from the paper towel holder and dried his hands. “You went inside the dead man’s cottage?”

  Gloria grabbed the spatula and flipped the ham and cheese sandwich to toast the other side. “Yeah. I only got a brief look around before Officer Joe told me I had to leave.”

  “Ed Mueller was in town last night but when I checked the wood stove inside the cottage, it was cold. If Ed had spent the night in his cottage, it was a mighty cold one.”

  The sandwiches were ready and the soup hot.

  Gloria let Paul carry the food to the table. She had made an extra sandwich and while Paul set the table, Gloria tore the sandwich into bite size pieces, giving the larger chunks to Mally and some of the smaller pieces to Puddles, her cat.

  She shuffled to the kitchen table and settled into the chair next to her husband. After arranging her soup and sandwich in front of her, she bowed her head to pray.

  Paul grasped her hand. “Dear Lord. Thank you for the food that you’ve given us. We pray for protection for not only us, but also our loved ones. Please help my wife’s leg heal and the cast come off quickly.”

  “Amen,” Gloria echoed with enthusiasm as she lifted her head and gazed out the window. With mention of a coming snow/ice storm, the last thing Gloria wanted to do was try to navigate a snowstorm on crutches.

  Taking a fall at her age could be deadly and visions of a broken hip or busted rib were scary thoughts. She picked up half of her sandwich and tore the end off. “Was today the last day for the security detail?”

  ‘Security Detail,’ also known as ‘Personal Security Detail,’ assignments were lucrative extra income for Paul and Gloria. Not only was the extra money nice, it kept Paul somewhat busy.

  When Paul first tossed around the idea of retiring from the police force, he had decided on a full retirement, but the more he and Gloria discussed it, the more Paul realized he would be bored out of his mind hanging around the farms.

  There was only so much fishing and hunting, along with honey-do projects to keep him busy. The part-time work broke up his week, and Gloria didn’t feel guilty when she wanted to hang out with her friends or perhaps even start a new investigation.

  He nodded as he picked up his spoon. “I have tomorrow off and then two days working for another political candidate who has scheduled rallies in Grand Rapids.”

  The boys, Gloria’s grandsons, Ryan and Tyler, had called earlier, right after Gloria had gotten home. The school had an in-service day and the boys had asked if they could visit.

  Gloria had seen them briefly, when she’d picked up Mally the day Paul and she had returned from their honeymoon. She still hadn’t given them the souvenirs she’d purchased in Florida. “Ryan and Tyler asked if they could spend the day over here. There’s no school tomorrow.”

  Paul nodded and sipped his ice water. “Sure. Did you tell them about the metal detectors?”

  “No. I wanted to surprise them.” She couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they got their gifts and knew they would be anxious to try them out, although she wasn’t sure how much they could find in the mud and muck that was now her yard and garden.

  “I’ll call them after we finish eating.” She popped the last bite of sandwich in her mouth and emptied her soup bowl.

  Paul offered to wash the dishes and Gloria headed to the house phone to call her grandsons. Tyler, the older of the two, answered the phone. “So can we come, Grams? We’re already bored.”

  “Give me the phone!” Gloria could hear Ryan, her younger grandson, in the background.

  “I had it first,” Tyler insisted. “What time can we get there?”

  “How does nine sound? It will give me time to get up and get around,” Gloria said.

  “We’ll be there at nine, Grams,” Tyler said. The line disconnected, but not before Gloria heard Ryan one final time. “I wanted to talk to her!” he wailed.

  Gloria smiled as she replaced the receiver. She turned to Paul, who was sta
nding in front of the kitchen sink. “They will be here at nine.”

  “We better get a good night’s sleep,” Paul joked as he handed Gloria her crutches and they made their way into the living room.

  ***

  Gloria cradled her cup of coffee as she stared out the window and waited for her grandsons’ arrival. She had spent the previous night tossing and turning in bed, her thoughts ping ponging between her excitement at seeing Ryan and Tyler and thinking about the poor man, Ed Mueller.

  Had he accidentally fallen through? It was possible. She made a mental note to check with the others who had been there when his body had been discovered. Then she remembered someone saying they had covered his body because it wasn’t a pretty sight.

  It had been so hectic she hadn’t had the time to study the ice or the shanty. Her broken leg had slowed her down and Gloria lost precious time trying to make it to the body without falling.

  She also wondered if Eleanor finally remembered whatever had been nagging in the back of her mind and vowed to call her later that evening, after the boys left.

  Jill’s car pulled into the drive and barely stopped when the rear passenger doors swung open. The boys darted across the soggy yard, racing each other to the porch.

  Gloria set her coffee cup on the kitchen table, opened the door and stepped onto the porch. “We stayed awake all night ‘cuz we couldn’t sleep,” Ryan told his grandmother when he got close.

  She wrapped both arms around her youngest grandson. “That makes three of us.” Gloria hugged Tyler next and then her daughter, Jill, who rolled her eyes. “They have been driving me nuts!”

  Tyler cut his mother off. “What did you get us in Florida, Grams? Did you bring us back an alligator?” He turned to his brother. “That would be cool! We would be the only ones in our whole school to have a pet alligator.”

  Gloria quickly burst their bubble. “No, I did not bring back an alligator.” She thought about Rumble and Thunder, the resident alligators Liz, Frances and she had encountered.

  Ryan’s smile faded, but he quickly brightened. “How ‘bout a lizard. I heard they have lizards in Florida.”

  Gloria shook her head. “No, I didn’t bring back a lizard, either. In fact, I didn’t bring any living creature back.”

  Jill’s hand flew to her chest. “Thank heavens!”

  Gloria hobbled over to the corner of the kitchen, picked up the two store bags she’d gotten from the beach shop and handed one to Tyler and the other to Ryan.

  Ryan and Tyler tore the tops of their bags open and reached inside. “Cool!” Ryan’s eyes gleamed. “Can we try them out?”

  The ground was wet but still frozen solid. She doubted the boys would be able to get a hit on anything in the yard. “Try the barn first,” Gloria suggested.

  The boys headed to the barn while Gloria walked her daughter, Jill, to her car. “What time would you like me to pick the boys up?”

  Gloria would’ve loved for them to spend the night but they had school the next day and would have to save the sleepover for another time. “Paul and I plan to take them down to Dot’s Restaurant for dinner so maybe around seven?”

  “Sounds good.” Jill nodded and then hugged her mother. “Thanks for saving my sanity,” she joked.

  Paul, who had been puttering around in the workshop he’d set up in the garage, came out to say hello. “Did your mom tell you about the summer resident whose body was found in his ice shanty?”

  Jill, halfway in her car, paused. “Who was that?”

  Many of the summer cottages had been family-owned for decades and passed down from generation to generation. During the summer months, the “city” kids would hang out with the local kids and many of them formed friendships that lasted a lifetime.

  “Ed Mueller,” Gloria said.

  “The first cottage at the bottom of the hill, right on the lake?”

  Gloria nodded. “Yeah. His body was found partially submerged in the ice.”

  Jill wrinkled her nose. “Ew. What a terrible way to die. Did he accidentally fall through and then couldn’t pull himself back out?”

  “Good question,” Gloria said. And one I intend to find the answer to she added silently.

  They watched Jill back out of the drive and pull onto the road.

  Gloria slipped her arm through Paul’s. “Perhaps I can accompany you to the workshop?” she asked.

  “Nice try!” Paul said. He had spent his last several free days holed up in his workshop, working on a “secret” project. Every time Gloria tried to find out what kind of project he was working on, he clammed up.

  She knew he loved woodworking projects and had handcrafted some lovely birdhouses, along with a magazine rack Gloria had placed next to her recliner. She couldn’t wait to find out what he was making and the suspense was killing her!

  Patience wasn’t Gloria’s strong suit, but she was trying. To ensure her curiosity didn’t get the better of her, Paul had placed a padlock on the workshop door.

  “Grams! Come quick!” Ryan stood just inside the barn, waving his arms frantically in the air.

  Chapter 5

  Visions of Tyler hanging from the rafters again, or the boys having cornered some wild creature filled Gloria’s head as she limped to the barn as quickly as possible, cursing the crutches every step of the way.

  By the time Paul and she reached the barn doors, Ryan had disappeared.

  “Ryan?”

  “In here.” Tyler’s voice rang out from the direction of the milking parlor.

  Paul led the way and Gloria followed behind as they made their way across the cement barn floor and to the milking parlor.

  The boys, metal detectors in hand, stood peering down into the center floor drain. A portion of the grate consisted of thick wood and the outer edge was metal.

  Ryan pointed. “There’s something down there.”

  Gloria shuffled forward. “Where? Are you sure the metal detectors aren’t going off because of the metal?”

  “Nope. There’s something in there. See those shiny things?”

  She tipped her head to the side and caught a glimpse of several small, round objects. “We need a flashlight.”

  “I’ll get it!” Tyler raced out of the barn and headed to the garage where he knew his grandmother kept a heavy-duty flashlight.

  He returned moments later and handed it to Paul, who turned it on and aimed the light toward the grate. “Yeah. There’s something down in there.”

  He lowered onto one knee and grasped the sides of the grate. Using both hands, he gave it a firm tug. It wouldn’t budge. “The grate is screwed into the cement floor.”

  Gloria wasn’t sure how long the grate had been in place but it had been there for many years, so many she had no idea when the grate had been installed.

  “I’ll go get the drill.” Paul stood, brushed the dirt from his pant leg and walked out of the milking parlor.

  Ryan and Tyler dropped down onto their hands and knees and peered into the grate.

  Tyler stuck his fingers between the slats. “I can touch something.”

  Ryan, not to be out done by his older brother, stuck his hand in another slat. “Me too.”

  When Paul returned, he removed the drill from the case, placed a drill bit in the drill and knelt down next to the corner plate.

  He placed the bit in the slots of the screw and pressed the on switch.

  Burrupp!

  Paul turned the drill off. “The screw is stripped.” He moved to the other corner and tried again.

  Buzz.

  Burrupp!

  He shut the drill off and leaned back. “This isn’t going to work. The screws are stripped.” He set the drill on the cement floor. “We’re gonna have to try to pry it off.”

  Gloria wasn’t concerned about damaging the decades-old barn floor. The milking parlor hadn’t been used in years. “As long as we can place the grate back on top so no one falls into the drain, then pry away.”

  Paul headed out of the b
arn a second time to search for a crowbar and hammer.

  Ryan and Tyler crawled forward and Ryan stuck his fingers inside the slats again. “I can try to move them to the end.” He wiggled his fingers.

  “Ouch!” Ryan tugged on his hand. “My hand! It’s stuck!”

  Gloria shifted on her crutches. “Ryan Adams. That’s not funny!”

  Ryan’s lower lip started to quiver. “I’m not kidding, Grams. My fingers are stuck,” he yelped.

  Gloria inched closer and bent forward, balancing on her one good foot. She could see his fingers were indeed stuck between two slats. “Oh good heavens! Don’t pull. It will only make it worse,” she warned and then turned to Tyler. “Go get the bottle of vegetable oil in the kitchen pantry.”

  Tyler jumped to his feet and darted to the door. “Bring some Q-tips from the bathroom, too,” she hollered after him.

  Tyler passed Paul, who was on his way back with a hammer and crowbar. “Where’s he going?” Paul asked as he stepped into the milking parlor.

  “Ryan’s fingers are stuck in the grates. I sent him into the house to get some vegetable oil and Q-tips.”

  Paul set the tools on the floor, and knelt next to Ryan, whose eyes were full of unshed tears. “Hang in there, buddy. Your fingers will be free in a jiffy,” he said as he patted his back.

  “Here you go, Grams!” Tyler had returned with the vegetable oil and Q-tips in hand.

  “Set them next to Ryan.” Gloria turned to Paul. “Help me get down on the floor.”

  Paul wrapped his arm around Gloria’s waist and slowly lowered her onto the milking parlor floor.

  She scooched forward so she was within easy reach of her grandson. “Close your eyes,” she told him.

  Ryan obediently shut his eyes while Gloria removed the cap on the vegetable oil and poured a generous amount onto several of the Q-tips.

  Next, she doused her young grandson’s hand with the oil and then slipped her index finger next to his. She wiggled gently.

  The two fingers that were stuck shifted apart. With space in between, she rubbed the Q-tip coated with oil between his fingers. “Try moving them,” she said.