Murder Down Under (A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery Book 17) by K.J. Emrick

baking bread reminded her of their nice breakfast this morning, that a few bits and pieces of information came together.
    “Jon, I think there’s someone else we can talk to.  Besides Lindsay’s ghost, I mean.”
    “Who?  We talked to half the town today.”
    “Yes, we did.  Except for one very important person.”  She grabbed his arm and held him back in the driveway, just short of the front steps.  She lowered her voice, too.  “Lindsay’s sister.  We haven’t talked to Lindsay’s sister.”
    “Well, sure, we can try to track her down but Australia’s a big country.  Lindsay’s sister could be anywhere.”
    “That’s true, but I think she’s right here.  At this Inn.”  She gave him a second or two to let that sink in.  “Remember Maureen saying Lindsay’s sister was the only other person who cared that Lindsay was dead?  And how she was staying in town.  Well, there’s almost no visitors in town right now because people are scared they’ll be poisoned.  There’s just us, and the two other people staying in this Inn.”
    Lights went on in Jon’s eyes.  “One of those people is a man.”
    “And the other,” Darcy finished, “is a woman.  That’s Lindsay’s sister.  I’d bet on it.”
    “There’s one way to find out.  Come on.”
    He took her hand and led her up the steps into the Inn.  The hardwood floors echoed under their feet.  No one was at the registration desk and a little sign read “Out To Lunch.”
    Jon went right up to the sign-in book.  Looking both ways down the hallways and seeing no one around, he opened it up to where the thin fabric place holder marked the last page used.  Darcy caught on to what he was doing and scanned the page with him.  There, just two lines above their own names, was what they were looking for.  A name.  Ellie Burlick’s.
    Lindsay’s sister.
    They heard the floorboards creak just before Dell asked them, “Can I help you two?”
    Sheepishly, Darcy wished that she had been watching behind them instead of looking over Jon’s shoulder.  They’d been caught redhanded.
    Jon didn’t miss a beat, however.  “Hi, Dell.  I was making sure we put down our contact information correctly when we signed in.  I couldn’t remember if I put our area code down.  Not much use to you without it.”
    Dell regarded him closely, then looked down at the book, then back up at Jon.  “Well, thanks for that.  We always post a survey to our guests after your stay.  Like to know how we did.  We don’t usually call people—”
    That beige phone on the registration desk rang again.  Dell frowned at it, then excused herself as she stepped past Jon to pick up the receiver.  “G’day, Pine Lake Inn.”
    She listened for two seconds, then hung up without saying anything else.
    “Problems with your phone again?” Darcy asked.  She thought maybe it was something else, and she was beginning to realize what that something was.
    “The phones have always been a bit dodgy here.  Like someone’s trying to ring us up and can’t get through.”
    She shrugged, but Darcy could see Dell thought there was more to it.  The phone calls to the Inn weren’t wrong numbers.
    “Jon,” Darcy said, “can I meet you up in the room?”
    He seemed surprised, but he didn’t ask why.  He trusted her hunches.  “Sure,” he said.  “We can talk about maybe getting some lunch.”
    “Oh, Rosie’s fixing a mutton stew for lunch if you want to stay in,” Dell said enthusiastically.  “With a nice pav for dessert.  To tell you the truth, she’s been a bit down in the dumps.  She loves to cook.  When there’s not a lot of people staying here she doesn’t get to show off her skills.”
    “That sounds nice.”  Jon leaned over to hug Darcy quickly.  “Meet me upstairs and we’ll come have some of that stew.”
    “Thanks, Jon,” she whispered, not talking about lunch.
    Dell was back around the registration desk, checking something on the