Stored to Death: Lily Thistle Cozy Mystery, #2

By Maggie West

When Lily Thistle opens her storage unit, she finds more than just her stuff. There's a beautiful antique trunk. With a body inside.

Everything points to her brother-in-law Dr. John Wisdom as the killer, but Lily knows he couldn't hurt a fly. Will she be able to find out who the real killer is and get John off the hook?

This culinary cozy mystery includes two recipes: Make 'Em Your Way Muffins and Almost Omelets. 

This cozy mystery is a clean read suitable for most ages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maggie West
• Release date: Apr 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781540177575

Book preview

~For everyone who has ever rented a self-storage unit (hopefully you never had this happen to you)~

Day 1, Saturday, October 17

Chapter 1

LILY THISTLE FLOPPED down on the bed in the Maritime room of her sister and brother-in-law’s ocean side bed and breakfast and let out an audible sigh. I have to get out of here, she thought as she stared at the ceiling. The more she took in the beautiful ceiling with wood beams that accented the cream-colored walls and ceiling, the heavy dark wood bed, the soft sea blues and greens of the drapes and bedspread that mirrored the outdoors, the more she realized how nice this place was. But I bet Rose and John are just as sick of me as I am of imposing on them, she thought. A crisp breeze blew through the bedroom window causing the sheer lace panel on the window to flutter and dance. Watching the fabric flow into the room, Lily had second thoughts about getting a place of her own. This place is awfully nice, she decided.

Lily had moved to Port Peculiar, Washington just before school started to teach fifth grade and had been taking up space in one of the inn’s four guest rooms. Her brother-in-law Dr. John Wisdom was the town’s only dentist, and Rose Wisdom, Lily’s sister, ran the inn that resembled a woodsy lodge. Lily’s twin niece and nephew, Sadie and Beau Wisdom, rounded out the permanent residents of the house. But being a non-paying guest in one of the inn’s four rooms, Lily felt more and more like a slacker. She realized all she did was go to work, come home, and sometimes help out Rose here and there. After moving from Portland, Oregon to the seaside town of Port Peculiar to teach fifth grade, Lily felt like it was time to move on. Start making a life for herself here in Port Peculiar. She was more than ready for her own space again.

She stared at her phone on the oak nightstand for a few minutes, then Lily heaved herself to a sitting position and grabbed it. She chose one of her mostly frequently dialed numbers and waited.

Hello, Chief Thomas here. It was a strong take-charge voice, and Lily’s heart swelled as she listened.

Hey, Nick, she said. Instead of waiting for a response, Lily decided to plunge ahead with her burning question. She and Nick Thomas, Port Peculiar’s chief of police, had given in to the attraction that had been almost instantaneous when they’d met at the end of August. Lily had discovered a body on the beach and had had to convince the sexy lawman that she had nothing to do with the murder. After diving into the town’s gossip pool and figuring out who killed Greg Lindstrom, Lily felt free to get to know Nick Thomas better. Much better. And Lily and Nick had stoked the smoldering embers they both felt, but with their busy schedules, they’d only managed two real dates. To move things along, Lily was going to impose. Impose big time.

Want to help me move? she asked.

What? You mean you’re not going to live in a room at your sister’s inn the rest of your life? Nick chuckled and Lily could almost feel the virtual elbow in the ribs through the phone.

No. I’m not. In fact, I am sick of this place. I mean, not sick of it since it’s so darned nice, but I’m sick of being in the way and not having my own place. Rose keeps saying it’s fine, they’re glad to have me, blah blah blah, but I’m not buying it. I bet they’re just as sick of me as I am of them. Realizing what she just said, Lily quickly added, Nick, I have to get out of here. That’s all there is to it.

Well, as you know, I have a truck. Do you have a place picked out? As Nick was speaking, what she thought of as a totally inappropriate thought passed through Lily’s mind. What if Nick asks me to move in with him? What would I say? Lily’s thoughts were interrupted with Nick’s voice registering an insistence he didn’t often use. Lily, did you hear me?

Oops, sorry. What were you saying? Lily knew she needed to work on her bad habit of zoning out and daydreaming during conversations, but dang, she thought. There was just something about Nick’s voice that nearly put her in a trance.

I asked you if you had a place picked out. You know, somewhere to move to?

Well, no, and I really need to work on that, I guess, don’t I? Lily felt foolish for having called without a solid plan in place.

Um, yeah. That seems like a good idea to me. Nick laughed, and Lily could picture his brown eyes sparkling.

What are you doing this afternoon? I could stand to check on my storage unit. I haven’t visited my stuff in a few weeks. Want to meet me there? We could use your truck, well, to maybe get rid of some stuff I didn’t have time to sort and pitch before leaving Portland.

Nick let out an exaggerated sigh then replied, Oh, I guess. After a snicker from Lily, he added, You just like me for my truck, don’t you?

Yes, yes, I do. See you at Odd Ball Self-Storage then? In fifteen minutes? Is that good?

Sure. Works for me. See you then.

Lily smiled and said, Great, I’ll park out front and open the gate when I see you. I’ll hop in your truck and we can drive in, if that’s okay.

At your service, ma’am.

SINCE IT DIDN’T TAKE more than twenty minutes to get anywhere in the small town, just ten minutes later Lily found herself in the front parking lot of the storage facility. She stood near the black iron security gate at Odd Ball Self-Storage. It was Port Peculiar’s premiere storage facility, the place to store your junk, according to Rose, who of course hadn’t used the word junk. As Lily remembered, Rose had said something like, Oh, Lily, use Odd Ball Self-Storage. It’s really clean. Your stuff will be safe and sound there.

So at the end of August Lily had moved all of her worldly possessions into unit G7, taking just her clothes, shoes, school supplies, some books, and a few other necessities to the inn. The other storage facility in Port Peculiar was called Your Overflow Trunk and had a reputation for flooding in some the units. With all of the rain in the Pacific Northwest, it was a no-brainer for Lily on which place to choose.

Lily had meant to spend a few hours each week sorting through the boxes she’d hastily packed when she’d been hired at the last minute by the Port Peculiar Primary School. It was her plan to donate or toss items before she moved into her own apartment or house, but something more exciting always seemed to come up, like solving a murder or watching Cupcake Wars with her niece Sophie or Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader with both Sophie and Beau, her nephew. Since Lily taught fifth grade and the twins were in Mrs. King’s fifth grade class just across the hall, the three of them never missed a show, live or a repeat. But Lily hadn’t even been to her storage unit in more than two weeks.

The last time she’d been to the unit was to try to find a pair of shoes, black flats, but to no avail. In Portland, she’d asked the movers to load the two wardrobe boxes and five large black plastic totes with her extra clothes and shoes on to the truck first so they’d be the last items unloaded but one of the plastic totes was missing. The day she’d looked, shed removed her tennis shoes and carefully climbed on top of her desk in the storage unit, Lily had peered around at the sea of boxes and furniture. She didn’t see another black tote anywhere. Today she hoped to find the tote and maybe pull out a box or two to sort. But do I really want Nick seeing my junk, she wondered, especially the stuff that I don’t want. Yeah, no. Well, maybe. On second thought, maybe I’ll just eyeball it all, and then see if he has any recommendations of a place I can rent. Then I can go through everything at my leisure, she thought. And she hoped they’d go out for dinner, have a relaxing evening getting to know each other better.

While she waited for Nick to show up, Lily held her key chain in her hand and felt the gentle bite of the crisp fall air on her face. The small key for the padlock on her storage unit was tiny compared to her car key, the house key to the door at the inn, and the school key. She watched as Nick pulled into the parking lot and gave him a quick wave.

From his truck window, Nick greeted her with Hey, Lily as he pulled up beside her. Lily pressed five keys on the keypad that opened the gate and hopped into the truck.

Hey, yourself! Thanks for doing this. I’m not really sure you want to watch me sort my junk, er, stuff, so. . . She looked at Nick and grimaced.

We all have stuff, Nick said. He laughed and added, You haven’t been to my place, have you? I have plenty of stuff that you’d probably call junk.

Oh really? Lily decided she’d love to get a good look at Nick’s junk. She imagined his place to be tidy and shipshape. His truck was always clean as a whistle, and his desk at the police station rarely had even a stack of papers. Surely his house is just as orderly, she thought. So you’re Mr. Clean?

Well, I’m not a pig, if that’s what you mean. But, I’ve been known to have my fair share of clutter around. But you had to pack up your stuff pretty quickly, didn’t you? If you didn’t get a chance to purge, that makes sense. And if you want me to turn my head while you sift through some unmentionables, just say the word. He winked at Lily and asked, G, what was the number?

Seven, G7. Lily pointed down the row at a garage door on the right that was just ahead of them. Here it is. Thanks for doing this. Lily hopped down from the truck so quickly that the bottoms of her feet stung from the impact. She walked to the large door and lifted the padlock. After removing the plastic cover on the bottom, she stuck the key in the slot. Or tried to. When it didn’t slide in, she tried again. Nothing.

Nick walked up and watched her try again before he said, Um, you’d think you’d know how those things work by now. He snickered and took the keys from Lily and tried with the same dismal results.

That is so strange, Lily said, lifting the padlock. It worked last time I was here. Weird.

Yeah? When was that? Nick tried the key again as if the passage of time would cause a different outcome.

A few weeks ago. I was looking for this pair of shoes, Lily paused and when she saw Nick look at her feet, she added, Well, not these shoes. A different pair of shoes. I didn’t find the shoes I was looking for, but that’s not important. What is important is the fact that my key no longer fits this lock. She held up the key for Nick to see and said, What’s up with that?

I don’t know. Nick jiggled the handle of the storage unit door. It held tight. The good news is it’s locked. Tight as a drum. Bad news, you can’t get into it. Nick looked down the row of doors and said, Are you sure this is the right one? They all look the same.

Lily nodded. Yep. This is it. She kicked the steel gray door squarely in a rusty spot the size of a tennis ball. I remember that from when I moved in.

Nick shrugged as he held the padlock in his hand a few seconds then said, Does anyone else have a key? These locks usually come with two keys.

Yes, I gave one to Rose after I locked it up when I moved my stuff in. We could go get that key and try it, I guess. But this is so weird. This key should work.

Nick nodded and walked to his truck. He held the passenger door open for Lily then drove them to the B&B.

Rose, John? Lily called from the kitchen when they entered the back of the house. Only guests staying at the inn and kids trick or treating used the front door of the lodge style home that Lily thought was beautiful but so enormous. She often wondered why they had bought such a big house, but her sister seemed to enjoy the extra work that came with the bed and breakfast’s four guest rooms.

In here, Lily, Rose called from the dining room. Lily pushed open the saloon style doors and held them so they didn’t whack Nick in the chest.

Hey, Shorty, do you have that extra key I gave you for my storage unit? Lily watched as Rose folded a stack of cloth napkins and placed them one by one into a rectangular basket that looked like it was made specifically for the purpose.

Hi, Nick. Rose said. Her husband John was friends with Port Peculiar’s chief of police and Lily thought Rose’s extra wide smile must be her approval of Lily and Nick’s budding relationship. A key? Rose looked up and shrugged. What are you talking about?

Oh boy, Lily said and laughed. She looked at Nick with a look of ‘see what I have to put up?’ You know, to my storage unit. That little key I gave you in case I lost mine. It’s to my padlock on the door of the storage unit.

Oh, that! Rose finished folding the last napkin and placed the basket on the buffet. She then walked to the kitchen, and Lily and Nick followed. I think I put that on John’s key ring. Let me check.

Lily reached into the refrigerator for a soda and held it out to Nick. He shook his head and said, No thanks. Lily popped the can open and took a long drink.

Rose had disappeared into the pantry then reappeared with a key ring that rivaled any janitor’s worth his salt. She looked at Nick and said, Think fast, and tossed it to Nick. The keys clicked together as the mass of metal flew through the air and hit Nick squarely in the chest. He reached up and reflexively grabbed it before it could drop to the floor.

Whoa, what is all of this? Why does our town’s illustrious dentist have so many keys? Nick studied the large key ring for a few moments. There must be twenty-five, thirty keys on here. Seriously, why?

Rose shrugged, closed her eyes, and shook her head. I have no idea, Nick. I’ve told him having that many keys is going to ruin the starter on his car. But he doesn’t listen to me. She walked to the refrigerator and set a lemon meringue pie