Sara Investigates: Maple Leaf Retirement Home Mysteries

By S. L. McGregor

After working many years as a Data Analyst in a local hospital, Sara decides to move into a retirement community to enjoy her retirement years in a peaceful environment surrounded by friends. The Maple Leaf Retirement Community seems like the idyllic community for Sara. That is until shortly after she moves in a murder occurs. Sara finds the chief detective in that case attractive, so gets involved in the investigations as other murders happen within her building.

Sara becomes involved in her first murder by accident.

She blunders her way through the other murders in her building trying to catch the Chief Detective’s attention.

She’s pleasant, so people tolerate her meddling, but the murderers just want her dead.

Can Detective Hanson save her every time?

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781663241719

S. L. McGregor

S.L. McGregor lives in a retirement community in downtown Toronto ON. Ms McGregor worked as a Data Analyst prior to her career as an author. Ms McGregor has been a fan of cosy mysteries for many years, so decided to write one herself.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 S. L. McGregor.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

844-349-9409

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6632-3506-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-4171-9 (e)

iUniverse rev. date:  06/25/2022

CONTENTS

Murder on the Terrace

Murder in the Family

Death in the Dining Room

Murder of a Friend

A Robbery Cold Case

Murder of a Resident

Robbery in the Rhododendrons

Murder because of a Pest

DISCLAIMER

I do not condone murdering people or animals, just characters in a novel or short story.

Sara Investigates is a work of fiction. The characters herein are either composites of people I know now or people I have known in the past, or they are totally made up to accomplish a task necessary to the plot. The variety of activities and the delicious foods are real.

MURDER ON THE TERRACE

T his was the perfect move for me. I sat in my living room as I enjoyed my coffee while looking at my view of the CN Tower and the office buildings of downtown Toronto.

I had just recently moved into the Maple Leaf Retirement building after living for the past five years in an apartment in Scarborough. I was finding everything, especially the view, just perfect. My apartment was a lot smaller than I was used to, but it had amenities I’d never had before. In the bathroom I had a washer and dryer. No more going down to the laundry room with my coins and dirty laundry once a week.

In the kitchen I had a dishwasher, which seemed extravagant for one person, but I knew I would enjoy it.

I had brought my own furniture and electronics with me so that both Ryder, my 18-pound cat, and I could feel right at home.

I had had Ryder for almost 10 years. I found her in the barn on my parents’ property and couldn’t resist the cute little furball. Now, of course, that furball was huge and shed fur all over my furniture and the floor of my apartment. But I wouldn’t give Ryder up now—she was a part of the family.

My other indulgence was my fish tank. I had always found tropical fish to be a calming, relaxing hobby, both pleasant to look after and enjoyable to watch as they swam around the tank. So there was a 10-gallon tropical fish tank in the living room for my and Ryder’s enjoyment.

Some of my favourite eating places were just a short walk away.

Because I l now lived in downtown Toronto, the essential businesses were just a short cab ride away.

There was a pool across the road. I realized some places had a pool in the building, but I was never really into swimming, so this pool was close enough.

The elementary school next door would provide entertainment as I watched the children playing in the schoolyard. There was something calming about listening to children playing. From twelve floors up, even the screamers and screechers sounded pleasant. I might have felt differently if I lived on a lower floor, but from up here it was just fine.

The residents living on the other side of the building would hear the children on the soccer field and the track. There was also a skating rink, or what I was assuming would be made into a skating rink in the winter. For now, I could see the children Rollerblading on it.

This seemed like the ideal place to live out my retirement years after so many years of having worked at the hospital. I couldn’t wait to get to know my neighbours. I was sure they would be as pleasant as my surroundings.

After getting myself ready for dinner, I went down to eat in the dining room and meet my new friends. After years of making my own meals, it was a pleasure to have someone else make the food and then do the dishes. I just had to go down to the ground level in the elevator and enjoy the food, along with the view of the park across the street and the witty conversations of my new friends.

I met up with Matthew, Donna and Joan. Matthew was a tall, handsome man. He appeared to be a little older than I. He had that swagger that said, I know I’m good-looking.

Joan appeared to be about my age. She was a very pleasant Englishwoman.

Donna was a bubbly, very outgoing woman. She was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, and I could see her well-defined arm muscles and flat stomach. She looked as if she went to the gym every day. I would have to ask her about that. The gym was one of the reasons I had moved into this building.

I sat down with my new friends at their usual table and ordered the featured dinner—chicken parmesan. It was wonderful and, according to Joan, as delicious as usual.

The conversation during dinner was interesting. Joan was telling us about her day. She still worked part-time at a local shoe store. The stories she told us about the women trying to fit into shoes one or two sizes too small if the shoes they wanted didn’t come in their size were both entertaining and sad.

I had the Nanaimo bar for dessert. Matthew had lemon meringue pie, and Donna had the fresh fruit.

Matthew told us about his day. He had spent a lot of the afternoon at the bar.

That wasn’t my idea of a fun afternoon. I would prefer a cup of tea and pastries and sitting in the sunshine on a beautiful day like today had been.

Matthew seemed like a bit of a cad, but I was sure I could get along with him. I was positive I would develop a friendship with Donna and Joan.

I realized I had better start to get ready for the housewarming party on the terrace this evening. My tablemates, or my friends as I was starting to consider them, were going as well, so we all left dinner with a friendly See you in a bit.

A little later, I got out of the elevator on the ninth floor. Stepping outside onto the terrace, I took a look around at the beautiful view. Seeing my new friend Donna starting to put out the hors d’oeuvres, I went over to help her. We set up the fresh fruit platter with melon chunks on picks, as well as a large shrimp platter and a dessert tray with squares and cookies for those who preferred sweets.

Did you hear Carmen and George yelling at each other this afternoon? Donna asked me. Even in my short time living there, I knew that Carmen was a bossy woman who lived on my floor.

Yes, I did, I replied. I was surprised to hear George so angry. He is usually very quiet. I was in Louise’s apartment just beside George’s apartment, so I heard the whole thing,George was extremely angry that Carmen had taken apartment 1255. It has the best view and the most closet space. He tried to get it when he signed up for an apartment months ago, but Carmen insisted that she had gotten that one when she put her deposit down. George was insisting that she give up her apartment to him. I’ve never heard him so angry, I added.

I was needed at the drinks table, so I moved on.

As I had helped Donna put out the hors d’oeuvres, I couldn’t help but notice our chef, Michael, had outdone himself. Donna and I stood back to admire Michael’s creations. I’m sure they will taste as good as they look, Donna said just before she screamed. As I started to walk towards her, I looked over at her. She appeared terrified. She was pointing at something behind the table. From where I was standing, it looked like a pile of clothes.

What is that behind the table? I asked Donna. She was unable to answer. She just kept pointing at the pile of clothes. I continued to walk over to the table. As I got closer, I could see that it was Carmen. It looked as if she had been hit over the head with a patio umbrella. I pulled out my cell phone and called 9-1-1. I had to look away from Carmen. I now understood Donna’s reaction. I was speechless as well.

When the 9-1-1 operator answered, I managed to let her know what I had seen. At least I hoped my response to the operator was coherent enough for her to understand. Then Donna and I both moved away from the table and waited for the police to arrive. Talking to the operator had calmed us both sufficiently enough that we could speak.

I have never seen a dead body before, Donna told me in a trembling voice.

As we put our arms around each other, I replied, I hope she’s not dead. I had never seen a dead body either. This was very upsetting.

The police showed up before the guests started to arrive. Donna and I answered their questions as best as we could. Unfortunately, we weren’t much help, both of us having been so focused on the food and how best to display it that we hadn’t noticed anything or anyone unusual on the terrace.

After the questioning was finished, Donna and I both went back to our respective apartments. I don’t know about Donna, but I had a lavender tea when I got back to my apartment, and tried my best to ignore Ryder, my 18-pound cat, who was trying to convince me she was starving.

The next morning, I got a visit from Kevin Hanson, the detective in charge. Detective Hanson was a good-looking man about my age. He was wearing a suit and tie, but I could see that he was very muscular under that suit. He had short salt-and-pepper hair and eyes that looked determined but caring with just a slight twinkle to them. However, the one feature that really caught my eye was his crooked smile. I wasn’t sure why, but I had always been attracted to men with a crooked smile. I invited him into my apartment.

I was definitely attracted to Detective Hanson and was willing to help out with this case in any way I could. By