Another Murder In The Inn: Murder In The Inn, #2

By Barbara Fox

A fitness week at a bed and breakfast Inn In Washington DC is going well until the body of a jogger is found on the lawn and every guest becomes a suspect.  Was it the matchmaker, the bride or her nervous mother?  Was it the lawyer, the mystery writer or could it have been the exercise teacher who is hiding a secret?  Fitness week continues, a movie is filmed at the inn,a romance is started and finally, the murder is solved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mystery On The Menu
• Release date: Jan 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9781386262893

Barbara Fox

Barbara Fox is the producer/director of Mystery On The Menu, an interactivetheate company she founded in Washington DC in 1986.  She writes, directs and acts in all of the shows.  She is the author of The Murder in The Inn series of mysteries and dozens of short plays and stories.  Barbara lives in Hollywood Florida; when she isn't writing or acting she spends her time  at the beach or pool, line dancing, the theater and going on as many cruises as possible

Book preview

PROLOGUE

It was six o'clock in the morning. No one was about, no cars were moving. The air itself was silent, as if waiting for something to happen or for the day to begin. A lone jogger, dressed all in white from the sweatband holding back unruly hair to the tee shirt, shorts, socks, backpack and the most popular and expensive brand of high-top running shoes, stopped for a minute to rest and stretch and take a long drink from the bottle of cold water. The old houses on Pearl Street glistened and gleamed as the sun's rays bathed them in a soft, golden glow. The street, hidden away in a corner of the fashionable section of Washington DC. called Georgetown, had once been strictly residential. Over the years many of the houses were sold or converted and now the street was an eclectic mixture of private homes, an office building, an embassy, an art gallery, a country club and a bed and breakfast inn which is where the jogger stopped. The wraparound porch on the inn (named the Ellington Inn in honor of the previous owner) looked particularly inviting. It, along with the rest of the inn, received a fresh coat of paint recently and the owners had purchased a wicker table and chair set, two chaise lounges and several rocking chairs. They looked comfortable and very inviting. The jogger was tempted to collapse into one of the lounges and relax but instead sighed and started running again, this time cutting across the inns front yard, jumping easily over the low, picket fence and circling the swimming pool in the back yard. The jogger stopped again, this to time to take a vitamin pill and wash it down with another long drink of bottled water. Almost immediately, the jogger began coughing and gasping for breath and looked around wildly for help. Finally, chocking and clutching at the air, the jogger fell onto the grass, twitched a few times and was silent. The sun shone and looked almost like a spotlight, glowing on the body lying on the bright green grass. Pearl Street was quiet in the morning sunshine.

CHAPTER 1

Hi Joey, it's Sandy. I just got back to the Inn and I miss you already. What a great vacation. What a great place. I love Miami Beach. Were you serious about buying a house there? If you were, I'm all for it, I love Washington, don't get me wrong but I've always really liked living right near the ocean and being a beach bum. That's why I stayed in Atlantic City for so many years. Anyway, I wish I could have stayed in Florida longer but the inn needs me. Lots of things are happening and I don't know what to do first. Call me when you can and I'll tell you all about everything.

I put the phone down and sort of glared at it. Joey and I have been married for two years and I swear I've left him enough telephone messages to fill three whole books. He's a comedian, (Joey Jason, skinny, red hair, does great imitations) and he travels most of the time doing gigs in clubs and theaters in different cities, wherever they hire him. That's actually how we met. I was the director of guest relations at the Royal Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey and Joey was the featured headliner in the nightclub. The day, no, the hour we met we knew we were, like the song says, meant for each other and three months later, we got married. My boss Danny (Duke) Carleton gave us a big wedding reception and we moved to Washington DC. Joey had inherited a bed and breakfast inn in Georgetown (this very fashionable neighborhood in Washington) from his former landlady, and I was determined to turn it into the best Bed and breakfast inn in the city, maybe in the world. The inn came with a built-in housekeeper named Noah who actually has a small apartment right in the basement; I mean the lower level. He moved in when the former owner turned the house into a bed and breakfast, said he wouldn't think of her being there all alone with a lot of strangers. Noah is a great guy; we became friends right away. He said he'd known Joey for years and if Joey loved me, then he would love me too. Anyway, Noah does everything, he cooks, he cleans, he shops, he even helps charm the guests and most important, he talks to me and explains things. See, I didn't know a soul in Washington and I certainly didn't know anything about it when I moved here and Noah knows everyone and everything. He tried to make me say The District instead of Washington, like the native Washingtonians do but I keep forgetting.

I made one other friend right away; Joey's twenty-three-year-old daughter, Janie. Joey used to be married to the actress Pamela Parker. She's drop-dead gorgeous and at first I was a little, well, a lot threatened by her but they've been divorced for years and she never even calls him and she lives in Florida. Janie is cute and smart and funny and I love her even if she skinnier than I ever was or could hope to be. She comes to stay with us a lot and like I said, we've become really close. She says she thinks of me as a friend instead of a stepmother; we talk on the phone and email all the time. She lives in Colorado for now. She went out there for a few months last year and just stayed. She takes classes at a community college and goes to detective school and, to support herself, works part time in a tee shirt shop and the other part time in a coffee house. She's not sure exactly what she wants to do but like Joey says, she's young; she'll figure it out eventually.

Joey and I were on vacation in Miami Beach, our first real vacation since we got married and it was wonderful but now, I’m home and back to reality. Joey was off to work on a cruise ship for a whole month. He wanted me to come with him and, I'll admit it, I was tempted, but there were all kinds of things going on at the inn and I absolutely must be here.

This week was The Crandall Family Annual Family Reunion: Elizabeth Crandall is a very social, very elegant society hostess who lives just down the street from the inn in this huge mansion and every year she rents out the entire inn for her family. The inn was full of Crandall aunts and uncles and cousins: they all seemed to like each other and enjoy being together. They were always talking and laughing and going off on adventures. I admit it; I was a little jealous. The only family I have in the world is my twin sister Allison who lives in Florida. We're absolutely identical, five feet four inches tall, blondish brown hair, blue eyes, slender (but wish we weighed ten pounds less). She's the director of casting for the LMM Movie Studio (coincidence — the same one where Joey's ex is under contract and she even knows her.) Our parents died when we were in college and they were both only children so there aren't any aunts or uncles or even cousins. We grew up in Chicago, which is probably why I'm such a beach bum. Home was a big apartment right across the street from Lake Michigan and we practically lived at the beach all summer. The lake water is freezing cold, even in August but it didn't bother us. Allie says she could never swim in it now; she calls herself a Florida wimp! I haven't been back to Chicago in years; there's no reason to go except that it's a wonderful city. Joey says if he ever gets a gig there, I'll go with him; I said great but not in the winter!

Sometimes I feel a little sorry for myself (no family except Allie) but then I remember that I have Joey and Janie and Noah and they're better than blood relations any day. I wish Allie had someone. She was married years ago but it didn't work out. She says she's perfectly happy but I keep hoping.

Anyway, from what I could see, the Crandall Reunion was going smoothly; I was more concerned about the event coming up in two weeks. It was our first fitness week or as we called it, Getaway week. A year ago, when I was trying to think of ways to increase business at the inn, I thought of running theme weeks and so far, it's been working like a dream. We've had bridge tournaments, writing seminars, art appreciation classes, corporate retreats and now, Getaway week. What I do is, I find an expert, like a bridge master or an artist to run the week, and we advertise it together. I put the information on our website and in our newsletter and the particular expert distributes flyers and does a mailing; we usually get about ten or twelve people to participate. The Inn only has six bedrooms so it doesn't take a lot to fill it up. A local exercise teacher, Blake Porter, was organizing Getaway week. I met her at my health Club, Capitol Bodies, and Noah said she has been calling everyday with new requirements. He coped beautifully; he just said yes to everything. He said he knew I would sort it all out when I got back which I'm in the process of doing.

He also said that Allie has been calling every hour since seven this morning and saying that I had to call her immediately. That scared me. Allie is the unflappable one; she never gets upset. Mom used to say that she was the calm one and I was the screamer.

Anyway, I called her and of course, got her answering machine so I left a message, hung up and headed for the kitchen to see what there was to eat.

Noah is a super cook. He makes the muffins and coffee cakes that we serve with coffee and juice in the morning and, at least three times a week, he makes dinner for us. I'm grateful because cooking in not my thing; I can make a few simple things like meat loaf or tuna casserole but what I'm best at is ordering out. I have a great collection of menus from places that deliver. Noah had just finished making spinach balls to serve with wine at five o'clock and he gave me a few to taste. They were hot and spicy and delicious. He said they were very easy to make and very healthy. I don't believe either statement! I helped him make up a fruit and cheese platter; we put it on the sideboard in the dining room with the wine and soda and then we poured ourselves a glass of wine and sat in the kitchen to gossip for a half hour. I love vacations but it was nice to be home.

I really wanted to unpack, take a hot bubble bath and curl up with a good book but Noah told me there was a stack of mail including bills to pay and phone calls to return so I swallowed the last spinach ball and went to my office. I turned myself into Ellen, my efficient secretary who writes checks, answers letters and makes phone calls. It's a little game I play because I really hate office work so, to make it more interesting (bearable) I turn myself into another character. I become Ellen the secretary who is efficient and smart and organized (all the stuff I'm not). It really does help. When I worked at The Royal Hotel in Atlantic City I had a whole support staff; I was the original type this, research that, call them type of boss. I leaned back and thought longingly of myself in a power suit, killer high heels, great hairdo, no responsibilities; I wouldn't have been caught dead wearing an old pair of jeans and a tee shirt that said, In DC, stay at Ellington Inn, my outfit of choice since I'd been home. Those were great days, wonderful days! But wait! There was no Joey. How could I even imagine a life without Joey?

Ellen (that's me, remember?) finished the bills and phone calls, she (I) didn't talk to anyone but left a lot of messages, and then I took over. I wanted to check reservations. Next week looked good but the week after that, Getaway week, was blank. Whoops! Then I remembered that Blake was taking the reservations. I hope she has a lot. I better call and leave her another message. What will we do if no one registers? I'll have an empty inn for a whole week!

On that happy thought I went straight to the kitchen and ate four double chocolate chip cookies; I read somewhere that chocolate is good for stress so you might say the cookies were medically necessary. Anyway, they tasted great and I felt much better.

CHAPTER 2

Hi Blake, It's Sandy at the Ellington Inn; I'm back and really want to know how reservations are coming for Getaway week. Call anytime and if I'm not here, leave a message.