Fourth Victim
by
Kathi Daley
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Katherine Daley
Version 1.0
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
Table of Contents
Books by Kathi Daley
The Writers Retreat Residents
Townsfolk:
The Victim
The Other Players from 1964
The Suspects and Witnesses
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
A New Series from Kathi Daley Books
Books by Kathi Daley
Giveaway:
I want to thank the very talented Jessica Fischer for the cover art.
I so appreciate Bruce Curran, who is always ready and willing to answer my cyber questions, Jayme Maness, who helps out with my book clubs and special events, and Peggy Hyndman, for helping sleuth out those pesky typos.
And, of course, thanks to the readers and bloggers in my life, who make doing what I do possible.
Thank you to Randy Ladenheim-Gil for the editing.
And finally I want to thank my sister Christy for always lending an ear and my husband Ken for allowing me time to write by taking care of everything else.
Books by Kathi Daley
Come for the murder, stay for the romance.
Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery:
Halloween Hijinks
The Trouble With Turkeys
Christmas Crazy
Cupid’s Curse
Big Bunny Bump-off
Beach Blanket Barbie
Maui Madness
Derby Divas
Haunted Hamlet
Turkeys, Tuxes, and Tabbies
Christmas Cozy
Alaskan Alliance
Matrimony Meltdown
Soul Surrender
Heavenly Honeymoon
Hopscotch Homicide
Ghostly Graveyard
Santa Sleuth
Shamrock Shenanigans
Kitten Kaboodle
Costume Catastrophe
Candy Cane Caper
Holiday Hangover
Easter Escapade
Camp Carter
Trick or Treason
Reindeer Roundup – December 2017
Zimmerman Academy The New Normal
Ashton Falls Cozy Cookbook
Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries by Henery Press:
Pumpkins in Paradise
Snowmen in Paradise
Bikinis in Paradise
Christmas in Paradise
Puppies in Paradise
Halloween in Paradise
Treasure in Paradise
Fireworks in Paradise – October 2017
Whales and Tails Cozy Mystery:
Romeow and Juliet
The Mad Catter
Grimm’s Furry Tail
Much Ado About Felines
Legend of Tabby Hollow
Cat of Christmas Past
A Tale of Two Tabbies
The Great Catsby
Count Catula
The Cat of Christmas Present
A Winter’s Tail
Taming of the Tabby
Frankencat
The Cat of Christmas Future – November 2017
The Cat of New Orleans – February 2018
Seacliff High Mystery:
The Secret
The Curse
The Relic
The Conspiracy
The Grudge
The Shadow
The Haunting
Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mystery:
Murder at Dolphin Bay
Murder at Sunrise Beach
Murder at the Witching Hour
Murder at Christmas
Murder at Turtle Cove
Murder at Water’s Edge
Murder at Midnight
Rescue Alaska Paranormal Mystery:
Finding Justice – November 2017
A Tess and Tilly Mystery:
The Christmas Letter – December 2017
Road to Christmas Romance:
Road to Christmas Past
Writers’ Retreat Southern Mystery:
First Case
Second Look
Third Strike
Fourth Victim
Fifth Night – January 2018
The Writers Retreat Residents
Jillian (Jill) Hanford
Jillian is a dark-haired, dark-eyed, never-married newspaper reporter who moved to Gull Island after her much-older brother, Garrett Hanford, had a stroke and was no longer able to run the resort he’d inherited. Jillian had suffered a personal setback and needed a change in lifestyle, so she decided to run the resort as a writers’ retreat while she waited for an opportunity to work her way back into her old life. To help make ends meet, she takes on freelance work that allows her to maintain her ties to the newspaper industry. Jillian shares her life with her partner in mystery solving, an ornery parrot with an uncanny ability to communicate named Blackbeard.
Jackson (Jack) Jones
Jack is a dark-haired, blue-eyed, never-married, nationally acclaimed author of hard-core mysteries and thrillers, who is as famous for his good looks and boyish charm as he is for the stories he pens. Despite his success as a novelist, he’d always dreamed of writing for a newspaper, so he gave up his penthouse apartment and bought the failing Gull Island News. He lives in an oceanfront mansion he pays for with income from the novels he continues to write. He does not live at the retreat at this point, but his relationship with Jill brings him to the retreat on a daily basis. He is also an integral part of the Mystery Mastermind Group, a name he came up with to describe the writers who join together to solve mysteries.
George Baxter
George is a writer of traditional whodunit mysteries. He’d been a friend of Garrett Hanford’s since they were boys and spent many winters at the resort penning his novels. When he heard that the oceanfront resort was going to be used as a writers’ retreat, he was one of the first to get on board. George is a distinguished-looking man with gray hair, dark green eyes, and a certain sense of old-fashioned style that many admire.
Clara Kline
Clara is a self-proclaimed psychic who writes fantasy and paranormal mysteries. She wears her long gray hair in a practical braid and favors long, peasant-type skirts and blouses. Clara decided to move to the retreat after she had a vision that she would find her soul mate living within its walls. So far, the only soul mate she has stumbled on to is a cat named Agatha, but it does seem that romance is in the air, so she may yet find the man she has envisioned.
Alex Cole
Alex is a fun and flirty millennial who made his first million writing science fiction when he was just twenty-two. He’s the lighthearted jokester of the group who uses his blond-haired, blue-eyed good looks to participate in serial dating. He has the means to live anywhere, but the thought of a writers’ retreat seemed quaint and retro, so he decided to expand his base of experience and moved in.
Brit Baxter
Brit is George Baxter’s niece. A petite blond pixie and MIT graduate, she decided to make the trip east with her uncle after quitting her job to pursue her dream of
writing. Her real strength is in social networking and understanding the dynamic behind the information individuals choose to share on the Internet.
Victoria Vance
Victoria is a romance author who lives the life she writes about in her steamy novels. She travels the world and does what she wants to who she wants without ever making an emotional connection. Her raven-black hair accentuates her pale skin and bright green eyes. She’s the woman every man fantasizes about but none can ever conquer. When she isn’t traveling the world she’s Jillian’s best friend, which is why when Jillian needed her, she gave up her penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park to move into the dilapidated island retreat.
Nicole Carrington
Nicole is a tall and thin true crime author with long dark hair, a pale complexion, and huge brown eyes. She has lived a tragic life and tends to keep to herself, which can make her seem standoffish.
Garrett Hanford
Garrett isn’t a writer, but he owns the resort and is becoming one of the gang. He had a stroke that ended his ability to run the resort as a family vacation spot but seems to be on the mend and has plans to move back to the resort. He has lived on Gull Island his entire life and has a lot to offer the Mystery Mastermind Group.
Townsfolk:
Deputy Rick Savage
Rick is not only the island’s main source of law enforcement, he’s a volunteer force unto himself. He cares about the island and its inhabitants and is willing to do what needs to be done to protect that which he loves. He’s single man in his thirties who seldom has time to date despite his devilish good looks, which most believe could land him any woman he wants.
Betty Sue is a homegrown Southern lady who owns a beauty parlor called Betty Boop’s Beauty Salon. She can be flirty and sassy, but when her town or its citizens are in trouble, she turns into a barracuda. She has a Southern flare that will leave you laughing, but when there’s a battle to fight she’s the one you most want in your corner.
Gertie Newsome
Gertie Newsome is the owner of Gertie’s on the Wharf. Southern born and bred, she believes in the magic of the South and the passion of its people. She shares her home with a ghost named Mortie who has been a regular part of her life for over thirty years. She’s friendly, gregarious, and outspoken, unafraid to take on anyone or anything she needs to to protect those she loves.
Meg Collins
Meg is a volunteer at the island museum and the organizer of the turtle rescue squad. Some feel the island and its wildlife are her life, but Meg has a soft spot for island residents like Jill and the writers who live with her.
Barbara Jean Freeman
Barbara is an outspoken woman with a tendency toward big hair and loud colors. She is a friendly sort with a propensity toward gossip who owns a bike shop in town.
Brooke Johnson
Brooke is a teacher and mother of two who works hard in her spare time as a volunteer coordinator for the community. She first met Jack and Jill when she was a suspect in the first case they tackled.
Sully
Sully is a popular islander who owns the local bar and offers lots of information about the goings-on in the community. When Blackbeard manages to escape for a day on the town, one of the first stops he always makes is to see his buddy Sully.
Quinten Davenport
Quinten is a retired Los Angeles County Medical Examiner who is currently dating Gertie. Although retired, Quinten is more than happy to help the Mystery Mastermind Group when they need a medical opinion, and his presence provides stability to them.
The Victim
Francine Kettleman
Frannie lived in a cabin at the Turtle Cove Resort from April 1963 to August 1964. She moved there after her husband, Tom, was drafted and sent overseas during the Vietnam Conflict. During her stay at the resort she received love letters from a man named Paul, who was also stationed in Vietnam. Fifty-three years later, the letters, which she tied in a ribbon, placed in a metal box, and hid in the wall of one of the cabins, were found by the contractor in charge of the remodel of the resort. In August 1964 Tom was injured and sent back to the States. On August 14, 1964, Frannie became the fourth victim of the Silk Stocking Strangler, who murdered thirteen women over a ten-month period. All the victims were strangled with a pair of women’s silk stockings, their bodies found in cemeteries along the East Coast from Florida to Massachusetts. The Strangler was never caught and the murder cases were never closed by the FBI.
The Other Players from 1964
Tom Kettleman
Frannie’s husband at the time of her death. He has since passed away, but those who remember him say he came back from Vietnam not quite right. It is rumored that if Frannie hadn’t been killed, she may very likely have died at the hands of the man to whom she was married.
Paul Kettleman
Tom’s brother and believed to be the man behind the letters. As far as anyone knows he is still alive, but no one knows his current whereabouts.
The Silk Stocking Strangler
The person believed to have murdered thirteen women over a ten-month period from 1964 to 1965, all with a pair of women’s silk stockings, all found in cemeteries along the East Coast from Florida to Massachusetts. The Strangler was never caught and the murder cases were never closed by the FBI.
The Suspects and Witnesses
Ned Colton
Ned was the deputy in charge on Gull Island when Francine Kettleman went missing. Because Frannie was believed to be a victim of a multistate mass murderer, the FBI was the lead agency in the investigation. The FBI was certain Frannie was the fourth victim of a killer who would ultimately kill thirteen women, but Ned found some irregularities in her case that led him to question whether she died at the hands of the Strangler or a very clever copycat.
Sherry Pierce
Sherry was a friend of Frannie’s who still lives on the island. She knows a secret about Frannie no one else does, a secret she has kept to this day.
Edna Turner
Edna is a retired librarian who knew Frannie when she lived at the resort and still lives on Gull Island.
Roland Carver
Roland was the mayor of Gull Island at the time Frannie was living at the resort and still lives on the island. While on the surface he seems to be willing to share what he knows, it seems obvious he is guarding a secret.
Clint Brown
Clint owned a local real estate agency at the time of Frannie’s murder. He seems willing to cooperate but, like Roland, he seems to have a secret.
Wes Gardner
Wes is a lifetime Gull Island resident who once owned a used bookstore. He often sat and chatted with Frannie when she came in each week to check out the new inventory.
Chapter 1
Monday, December 11
“Fifty-three years ago, Francine Kettleman—Frannie K for short—lived at the Turtle Cove Resort while her husband, Tom, was away in Vietnam. Frannie, who was just nineteen when she arrived on Gull Island, lived there from April 1963 to August 1964. During her stay, Frannie received love letters from a man named Paul, who was also stationed in Vietnam. Years later, the letters, which Frannie had tied together with a ribbon, placed in a metal box, and hidden in the wall of the cabin where she was living, were found by the contractor in charge of the remodel of the resort. After a cursory investigation, we know that on August 14, 1964, Frannie was found dead in a cemetery fifty miles from here. It’s believed by most that Frannie was the fourth victim of the Silk Stocking Strangler, a mass murderer who was never caught or identified. The Strangler was credited with killing thirteen women over a ten-month period from 1964 to 1965. All the victims were strangled with a pair of women’s silk stockings, and all were found in cemeteries along the East Coast from Florida to Massachusetts.”
I paused to look around the room at the people who had gathered to hear my proposal. I could see this case had everyone’s attention. Love, intrigue, and tragedy all wrapped up in
one package. We’d stumbled upon the letters Frannie had left behind before Thanksgiving, so we were familiar with the specifics, but in the interest of tradition, it was the task of the submitting author, who in this case is me, Jillian Hanford, to officially present the case to the other members of the Mystery Mastermind Group.
“Are you asking us to track down a serial killer?” Alex Cole, a fun and flirty millennial who made his first million writing science fiction when he was just twenty-two, asked.
I turned to answer him. “Not at all. If Frannie was indeed killed by the Strangler, finding her killer is beyond our ability to research.”
“Is there any doubt Frannie was a victim of this madman?” Brit Baxter, a blond-haired pixie and aspiring writer of chick lit, asked.
“While I haven’t yet come up with any hard evidence that would indicate Frannie wasn’t the fourth victim of the Silk Stocking Strangler, I do have reason to question that assumption. I recently met with Ned Colton, who was the deputy in charge on Gull Island when Frannie was murdered. Given the fact that her body was found fifty miles away, and the FBI was already investigating the Silk Stocking Strangler, Ned wasn’t asked to take an active part in this investigation. Ned shared with me that he took the liberty of looking in to things on his own. He admitted that, on the surface, it appeared Frannie had been murdered by the Strangler, but there were some anomalies he found interesting.”
“Anomalies?” Victoria Vance, a romance author who lives the life she writes about in her steamy novels and my best friend, asked.