Murder in Ashville Read online

  Murder in Ashville

  A Samantha Degan Mystery

  Jane T O’Brien

  ISBN-13: 978-1-946063182

  This book is fiction. All characters, events, and organizations portrayed in this novel are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons –living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2016 by Jane T O’Brien

  All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

  Books by

  Jane T O’Brien

  Bristol Falls

  Glenwood Hills

  Cumberland Heights

  Murder in Forest Glen

  The Mystery at Shelby Lake

  The Mystery of Waverly Island

  Murder in Pinewood Bluff

  Camden Corners Collection

  Camden Corners Book One

  Camden Corners Book Two

  Camden Corners Book Three

  Samantha Degan Series

  Murder in Stonehill Manor

  Murder in Lancashire

  Murder in Ashville

  Murder at Seabrook Shores

  Molly Ryan Series

  Murder in Hillsboro

  Murder in Kincaid Towers

  Murder in Evergreen

  Murder at Coventry Hill Inn

  (Introducing Cassandra Cross)

  Cassandra Cross Series

  Murder on The Isabella

  Murder at Channel Two

  Finian Frog Children’s Series

  Fabulous Finian Frog

  Finian Frog Falls in Love

  Finian Frog and Farley’s Wishes

  Finian Frog and Froglet Freddy

  Hennessey Hound Tales Children’s Series

  Happy Hennessey Hound

  Prologue

  Samantha Degan, the author of the best-seller, Memoirs of Professor Fenwick Stonehill, mystery writer, and sometime sleuth, is on her way to her hometown of Ashville.

  Samantha is struggling to keep her mind on the road because of the conversation she'd had with her mother the day before.

  Think of the wedding, she told herself. The wedding is her own. She is marrying Detective Joseph Fletcher next week. Detective Fletcher, known as Fletch, is the love of her life. Thinking back, she knew she'd fallen in love with him even before he slapped handcuffs on her wrists and arrested her for Professor Stonehill's murder. Not only was she innocent of the crime, she and Fletch discovered the real culprit.

  Now she is on her way to Ashville alone. Fletch won't arrive until next week, he has limited vacation time because his partner, Detective Robin Wells, is on maternity leave.

  Although Robin is a new mother to an infant, her parents will be sitting with the baby and two older boys while she and her husband, Frank, attend the wedding. Megan Fairchild, Samantha's friend and assistant, and her boyfriend, Mike, are the maid of honor and best man for the couple.

  Samantha and Fletch's mothers are arranging a simple wedding for the couple. From what Samantha gathered through conversations with Colleen Degan, the wedding was becoming anything but simple. Samantha didn't want to dampen their enthusiasm but was afraid they were getting carried away. She would arrive in Ashville early to help with the wedding and pull on the reins, if necessary.

  Samantha and Fletch hadn't been apart for more than twenty-four hours since the day they met. There was an ache in her heart thinking about how much she missed him, and they'd been together one hour ago.

  It would be good to see all her high school friends. She hadn't been home for any length of time since graduation. School and working part-time jobs had kept her in Lancashire for the last few years. The day she began working for Professor Stonehill was a turning point in her financial woes. Not only did he pay her well, she was given a beautiful room in his mansion and three meals a day. She paid her school expenses and saved a little too. He also left her a sizable sum when he died.

  Fletch encouraged her to continue to write, his salary would be enough, and she needn't even think about getting a job. Her hope was that her mysteries would take off and she would be able to kick in her fair share.

  The closer she came to Ashville, the more she thought about her mother's phone call telling her Patsy Burke was seriously injured in an automobile accident. She could hear Colleen Degan's words in her ear. The police suspect foul play.

  Samantha hadn't known Patsy well. She was a quiet, studious girl who always seemed to have her nose in a book. Patsy called Samantha a few days ago. She was anxious to talk to her privately about C J Sinclair's death. She claimed there is reason to believe, his fall nine years ago was not accidental.

  Now, It’s Patsy who could be dying under suspicious circumstances.

  Chapter One

  Colleen Degan and Sandy Fletcher ran out of the Degan house when they heard Samantha's Volkswagen bug pull into the driveway.

  Archie Degan and Jack Fletcher circled around from the garage where they were struggling to put Archie's new charcoal grill together.

  Samantha was happy to be home and happy too that her folks and Fletch's were getting along so well.

  “When are you going to get rid of that beat up old car?” Archie asked his daughter.

  “Don't say that Dad, you'll hurt his feelings,” Samantha said in all seriousness as she patted the car’s fender.

  Jack Fletcher gave her a bear hug, he and Fletch's mother, Sandy were crazy about their soon-to-be daughter.

  Archie carried her luggage into the house while Colleen and Sandy walked with their arms around her.

  Colleen poured everyone iced tea and set a plate of cookies on the large table in the country kitchen where Samantha and her brothers ate dinner every night when she was growing up.

  It's good being home again, but I can't wait until Fletch gets here too, Samantha thought to herself.

  After inquiring about her brothers and their families and Fletch's brother and sisters, Samantha asked her mother about Patsy Burke.

  “It's a tragedy; I didn't know it until I saw in the paper that Patsy Burke is Dear Patsy, the advice to the lovelorn columnist from the Ashville Tribune.”

  “I didn't know the Tribune had an advice columnist.”

  “Oh yes, it started over a year ago. Dear Patsy is popular in our town. There isn't a problem she doesn't have an answer for and she always does it in a clever and humorous way.”

  “You said the accident was suspicious, have you heard any more about it?”

  “Only that it's under investigation. Dad heard the brake line had been cut. She was driving down from the hills and the brakes failed, the car careened off the highway and dropped some fifty feet below. She somehow opened the door and fell or jumped out before the car hit the ground. The poor thing. I heard she has a head injury and has not regained consciousness.”

  “That's terrible,” Samantha said, “I'll stop by the hospital this afternoon to see what I can find out.”

  She thought it best not to tell her mother about the conversation she had with Patsy a few days earlier. Mom wouldn't intentionally gossip but she knew how the ladies of Ashville liked to get together and discuss the happenings in town. The temptation to share the information with her friends might be too great for her mother.

  After lunch and hearing all the details of the mothers' plans for her wedding, Samantha called the small hospital for an update on Patsy Burke's condition. The nurse said Patsy was allowed visitors. Samantha excused herself and drove through town to the hospital.

>   She'd forgotten how small the town she grew up in was. She spotted the ice cream shop on the corner where she and her friends hung out after school. The gazebo in the center of town. The drug store that always carried the latest fashion magazines. She devoured those books when she was going through her wannabe fashion designer phase. So many memories were going through her mind. Samantha spent more time with her friends in high school than she did on her studies. It was fun while it lasted but she realized after her first week in college, she wouldn't have time for fun if she was going to make it to her sophomore year.

  She drove into the parking lot of the hospital. Other than a new wing on the south end of the building, it looked the same. Samantha remembered, with sadness, spending the last few days of her grandmother's life in the waiting room. She was only eleven when her beloved Gran suffered a stroke and never recovered. Eleven-year-old children were not encouraged to visit hospital patients, but the nurses allowed Samantha to sit by Gran's bedside and hold her hand. Samantha smiled to herself remembering her wannabe nurse phase.

  After checking with the front desk, she walked directly to Patsy Burke's room, expecting to see the timid girl with her nose in the book. Instead, a very attractive woman with wavy, auburn hair and carefully applied makeup sat surrounded by papers and writing feverishly.

  “Patsy?” Samantha said, thinking she had the wrong room.

  “Samantha, you haven't changed a bit. It's been almost ten years and you still look like a teenage cheerleader.”

  “Thank you for that, Patsy. You have changed, you look terrific. How are you feeling? I didn't expect to see you looking so healthy.”

  “I've got a hard head, the doctor promised I could get out of here tomorrow if I behave myself today.”

  “Is it true someone tampered with your car before your accident?”

  “That's what the police tell me, they say the brake line was cut. I received a strange phone call earlier yesterday. The voice was low and muffled, the person told me to meet them at Hill Point, that they had evidence proving C J Sinclair's accident was murder. I drove directly to Hill Point and waited over an hour and nobody showed up. I finally gave up and started driving down the hill. As my speed picked up, I stepped on the brake. I knew immediately that something was terribly wrong. I heard a snap and my foot went to the floor. I was certain I was going to die when the car headed toward the cliff. I was panic-stricken but managed to open the door and pushed myself out. I don't remember a thing after that until I woke up in Intensive Care. They tell me I'm lucky because I landed in heavy moss and missed several tree trunks that would have killed me.

  “I guess I am lucky, although my car exploded and there is a possibility someone tried to kill me.”

  “What questions did you have about C J's accident? You mentioned, over the phone, that it might not have been an accident.”

  “It started over a month ago. I don't know if you are aware that the Ashville Tribune now has an advice column. It's called Dear Patsy, and I'm the Patsy. I receive letters all the time, sometimes they are from people who have serious problems and sometimes they are cranks. I received one that looked strange because it was typed on a typewriter. You just don't see that anymore. All it said was ...all have sinned... with the initials CJS I didn't think much about it and filed it away. I keep old letters in a file even though they don't make sense, or they are obvious pranks

  “A week later I received another letter. ...revealer of secrets... I didn't take it seriously and filed it away too.

  “After that, the letters began coming every other day. I began keeping a list of the words when I received the letters... a lying tongue is but for a moment... do not lie to one another... lying lips are an abomination... he who breathes out lies will not escape...

  “I must have received fifteen letters, all with the initials CJS. I decided to take them to the police. They were in my purse as I walked to the parking lot to my car. I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground and my purse was missing. It all happened so fast, I didn't know what hit me. There wasn't anyone around to witness the incident.

  “My keys were in the purse and I had no way of starting the car. My extra set was at home which meant I'd have to break into the house to retrieve them. I walked back to the newspaper offices to call the police to report the crime. Maggie, the front desk clerk, stopped me. Apparently, someone dropped off my purse saying they'd found it on the sidewalk. Maggie said it was an older gentleman who walked with a cane. My keys, my identification, my money, everything was in the purse except the letters I was taking to the police station. I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't think the police would be able to do anything about it just on my word that there was something suspicious about the letters. It dawned on me at that point, the initials could stand for C J Sinclair. That is when I called you. I thought it could wait until you arrived but then I received the call asking me to come to Hill Point.”

  “Have the police interviewed you since the accident?”

  “No, my doctor hasn't given them the okay. I wish I had those letters to show them.”

  “I'd better let you get some rest, Patsy.”

  “Please don't leave, I feel fine and I'd love to hear all about the wedding and your guy, I heard he is a detective.”

  Samantha told her friend the story of how she and Fletch met and the rocky start to their relationship.

  “Now, tell me about yourself, what caused this transformation?”

  “You noticed,” Patsy laughed. “I hope I've changed for the better since high school. I was painfully shy when you knew me. I lived with my mother on the outskirts of town, Mom did her best but there was never enough money for any extras. Thinking back, it was my fault that I didn't have friends, you and some of the others tried to include me in your circle but I was too ashamed of my appearance to join in.

  “I found, if I stuck my nose in a book, people ignored me and that was the way I liked it. All that reading did me some good because I was given a full scholarship to a college near Albany.

  “On the first day, my roommate, Jenny Davenport, walked into our room and shrieked. 'Girl, what have you done to yourself, or what haven't you done? I can't possibly have a mousy thing like you as a roommate.'

  “I was mortified, I didn't know where I'd go, but I began to pack my suitcase. 'What are you doing and where do you think you're going? We have work to do. Let's start with that hair.'

  “To make a long story short, Jenny transformed me. I felt pretty for the first time in my life and more than that, I felt like I fit in. I was still quiet and shy but after living with Jenny for four years, I finally came out of my shell.”

  “You do look terrific, I'm glad you feel good about yourself. What brought you back to Ashville and Dear Patsy?”

  “After graduation, I began working as an intern for the local newspaper. Brad Collins was a sports writer, we started seeing each other outside of work and one weekend we flew off to Vegas and got married.

  “We cared for each other, but we had nothing in common. Being a sports writer, Brad attended every game of every sort. What he didn't see in person, he recorded and watched into the wee hours. Mom and I never watched sporting events on television and I never went to any of the high school games. I knew nothing about sports and cared even less.”

  “The marriage lasted less than two years. Although we were still friends, it was awkward working so closely. Mother became ill and it was a good excuse to come home to Ashville, so I could be with her during her last few months. I needed a job and Mr. Stanford was looking for someone to write an advice column. It's not the newspaper job I envisioned but I enjoy it, and in a small way, it fills a need for some people.”

  “From what my mother tells me, your columns are very entertaining, I'm glad you found something that brings you pleasure. Do you have columns written in advance?”

  “Yes, my assistant will publish them daily. Do you remember Amber Beardsley? She's an intern
at the newspaper as part of a work-study program through the high school. She's Coach Beardsley's daughter.”

  “Amber Beardsley? She was just a little girl, I can't believe she's in high school and working too.”

  “She's a sweetheart, she's interested in journalism, she's a smart cookie and has a good chance of succeeding.”

  “How is Coach Beardsley? I remember him at C J's funeral, it was the first time I'd seen a grown man cry.”

  “I don't know him well but Amber talks about him often, her brother, Josh, is on the junior varsity football team and doing well. There is talk around town that he'll be going pro in a few years. They said the same thing about C J, didn't they?”

  There was a knock on the door and Officer Allison Jennings entered Patsy's room.

  Chapter Two

  Officer Jennings introduced herself to Patsy, saying she had questions for her about the accident if she felt up to it.

  “Hello Allison,” said Samantha.

  “Samantha, I never expected to see you in this room. I knew you were coming to town for your wedding. I can't tell you how excited we all are for you.”

  The two women hugged.

  “I'd better get going and let you interview Patsy. I'll catch up with you later.”

  “Samantha, please don't go,” said Patsy, “I'd like you to stay if you have the time.”

  “I can stay if it's all right with Officer Jennings.”

  “I don't see why not, wait a minute, are you the Patsy Burke who went to high school with us? I thought you looked familiar, but I couldn't place you. You certainly have changed, you look terrific.”

  “Not only that”, said Samantha, “Patsy is the famous Dear Patsy of the Ashville Tribune.”

  Allison nodded her admiration but needed to get business taken care of. She questioned Patsy thoroughly about the accident and why she answered an anonymous caller's request to meet at Hill Point.