Something Different – A Murder Mystery!

I don’t think I’m unique in my writerly tendency to find stories just about anywhere. I think it’s a human tendency. Although this one was a little different from the stories I normally tell (there were no dogs involved). It would involve police and investigators and maybe a murder mystery!

It all started on an average Sunday in which Nick and I found ourselves spending the entire day taking care of things at our two rental houses.

(For those of you not in the know, we have a fledgling business called Shenandoah Dog Friendly Rentals that offers two adorable vacation houses for dogs traveling with their people.)

We started the day hauling new linens and such across the mountains (actually around them) to Bentonville to Chateau Frankie, our cabin just outside Shenandoah National Park. I straightened and sorted and returned things to where they belonged while Nick puttered with the grass and weeds and driveway (it’s a gravel drive uphill and requires a bit of maintenance). He dealt with a tiny wasp nest trying to make a start under the deck and helped me plant a few perennials gifted to us by a friend dividing her plants.

After checking in at home to walk the foster dog and pack up a picnic to take to a winery, we stopped by Gracie’s Place, our other rental house in historic Woodstock. It’s about a hundred years old and has been through many reincarnations—prior to us, it was a flower shop and a bakery, and prior to that, it was offices. Because it was once offices, the bedroom doors have serious locks (the kind that bolt and require keys).

Guests had just checked out that morning, so we were stopping by to be sure the heat was turned off, and everything was okay, water the ferns, take out the trash, etc. When we entered the house, there was a definite smell. I couldn’t place it and Nick called it ‘old lady funk’.

We opened the windows to air it out, and when I went upstairs, I discovered that one of the bedrooms was locked, and there was no key in the lock. Neither of us could figure out how the door got locked since we’d never locked it in the three years we’ve owned the place. The bedroom doors can only be locked from the inside but will unlock when you open the door to leave. If the door was locked, someone must have locked it with the key from the outside.

We decided that someone must have locked the door out of habit and left with the key accidentally. Nick would come back in the morning and unlock the door (and close the windows). We headed out to the spend what was left of the gorgeous day at the winery.

As we were driving to the winery, though, a thought occurred to me. “What if that old lady funk smell is there because someone is still in that room?” I wondered out loud. “And what if it smells funny because she’s dead?”

We raised our eyebrows at each other.

“Should we go home first and get the key?” Nick asked.

We were halfway to the winery, and it was only open for another 90 minutes. If we did that, we’d have to scrap the winery plan and miss out the tiny bit left of the beautiful day.

“Let’s just go. If she’s dead, she’s dead.”

We drove on. “Of course, if she’s dead and we report it, someone’s going to ask how we could just go have a bottle of wine while someone was dead in our rental house.”

“Maybe we need to get our story straight,” Nick suggested. “We didn’t think there was a problem, just that someone took the key inadvertently.”

“Yeah, we had no idea.”

A few miles on, I said, “We don’t need to get our story straight because we didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Other than ignore the dead person in our house and go off to drink wine.”

“There is no dead person in our house.”

He gave me the side eye.

“We’ll be quick,” I said.

Once we got to the winery, we laughed at the idea that there could be a dead person in our house and that we could be so nonchalant about it as we sipped our wine. It was indeed a gorgeous afternoon.

When we’d enjoyed a bottle and the crackers and cheese we’d brought along, we packed up and headed home. We didn’t say a lot, but I was imagining my evening ahead with the coroner and the police and how I could find the contact information for the renters (they’d rented via Airbnb).

At home, I walked the foster dog while Nick hustled our three dogs out and back in, and then we hurried back to Woodstock.

The house still smelled like old lady funk but now it was also cold and there was an overlay of barbeque scent from the Tavern a few blocks away.

I followed Nick up the stairs and waited while he unlocked the room, wondering just how long it would take the police and how long we’d have to hang around, and whether I’d have to cancel the guest who was checking in the next day.

And then Nick said, “It’s empty. No one’s here.”

I was relieved but also a tiny bit disappointed—not that I wanted anyone to be dead! It was just that I had an exciting evening to look forward to, and now I had to figure out where the heck the key went and go back to our regular life—the one without the murder mystery and the story to tell for years to come.

Ah, well. That’s the thing about stories – they always come to an end.

As it turns out, you can lock yourself out of the room without the key. This weekend, Nick plans to take the lock out and disable it. And if the renters enjoying the house this week happen to lock themselves out, we know where the key is.

Hey, thanks for reading. I know you’ve got lots of options, so thanks for sharing a few of your minutes with me.

Honored,

Cara

If you’re curious about what else I’m up to, check out my website, CaraWrites.com.

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I’d love to connect with you on Facebook or Instagram, and I’m thrilled to get email from readers (and writers), you can reach me at carasueachterberg@gmail.com.

My latest novel, Blind Turn is a mother-daughter story of forgiveness in the aftermath of a fatal texting and driving accident. It won the Womens Fiction category of the American Writing Awards in 2022. Learn more about it and find out how to get your copy here.

My most recent memoir, 100 Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues is available anywhere books are sold, but if you’d like some help finding it (or want to read some lovely reviews, click here.)