Roast Turkey and a Murder

by Kathleen Suzette

  He smiled. “That’s sweet of you, Rainey,” he said. “Would you like to come in for a minute?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I’d like that,” I said and followed him into the living room. His two daughters were headed out as we were headed in. Elizabeth was right. They were beautiful girls, but whether Elizabeth wanted to acknowledge it or not, they did resemble their mother.

  “Rainey, I don’t believe you’ve met my daughters, this is Tabitha and Sarah,” Rick said.

  I nodded and extended my hand to each of them. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said.

  They nodded, and we exchanged pleasantries for a moment, and then they left, saying they were going to see friends.

  “I feel so terrible for my daughters,” Rick said taking a seat on the sofa and indicating that I should sit on the loveseat across from him.

  I took a seat and set the pumpkin roll on the coffee table. “I can only imagine. Losing their mother at such a young age has got to be difficult.”

  He nodded. “Especially since they were all so close. I don’t know how they’re going to get along without Tori.”

  “That makes it extra hard, doesn’t it?” I asked, wondering about what Elizabeth had said about them not being close to their mother and that that was the reason they didn’t come home for Thanksgiving.

  He nodded. “It really does. Tori was the best mother,” he said and his eyes watered at the memory. “She was homeroom mother when they were in grammar school. She would get so excited when they would have class parties. She’d stay up late baking cupcakes or cookies and bring them for the parties. She loved to make all kinds of arts and crafts with the girls.”

  I sat back in my seat. “Really? How fun!” I was surprised by what he was saying, but I kept it to myself.

  “She really was a fun mother. I told the girls they were probably the luckiest kids in school with a mother like Tori.”

  The picture he painted of Tori was completely different from the one Elizabeth had painted, or anyone else that I had spoken to for that matter. I remembered what Cade said about people overlooking bad memories of a person after they died.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss, I know I’ve already said that but, I really do feel bad about it,” I said for something to say.

  He nodded. “That means a lot to me. The support of this community has really helped me to cope.”

  “It’s one of the benefits of living in a small town I guess,” I said. “I hope the police are able to find the person responsible for Tori’s death soon.”

  He nodded. “I spoke with Cade and he assured me they were working very hard on it. I can’t imagine someone hitting a person and then running off and leaving them to die in the cold like that.” His brow furrowed and he sighed heavily.

  “I know that Cade will make good on his promise,” I said. “Rick, do you think there’s any way that Tori’s death wasn’t an accident?” I wanted to be delicate in how I approached that question since he seemed to only have wonderful memories of his wife.

  He shook his head vehemently. “No. I don’t believe it was murder. Why on earth would someone kill Tori? She was such a wonderful person. Everybody that knew her loved her.”

  I had to force myself not to let the surprise show on my face. Could he really be that ignorant of the feelings of so many other people? How had Tori managed to fool him?

  “Oh, of course,” I said quickly. “I mean, it’s not that she might have provoked anyone. But you never know what’s going through a person’s mind. Maybe somebody took offense to something Tori did.” As soon as I said it I knew I should have kept my mouth shut.

  He stared at me a moment. “No, Rainey,” he said resolutely. “I know that nothing like that could have happened. Is that what the detective thinks? Is that what he told you?”

  I shook my head quickly. “No, not at all. Cade keeps most details of his cases to himself. I guess I just had this crazy thought, but it is crazy, isn’t it?” I hated to upset him, but I couldn’t imagine him not understanding that Tori had enemies.

  He sat back in his seat and relaxed a little. “It would be crazy to think anyone would want to harm my Tori. But you’re right, sometimes people get crazy ideas in their heads. Maybe somebody did try to hurt her.”

  I felt bad for having led the conversation in this direction if he was genuinely surprised that anyone might have negative feelings toward Tori. “I bet someone was just driving too fast and didn’t see her in time. They probably got scared after they hit her,” I said, trying to ease his mind.

  He nodded absently. “Of course, I will say that my own mother had issues with Tori. But then, what mother-in-law doesn’t have issues with her daughter-in-law?” He turned and looked at me and shrugged. “I never understood it. Tori always bent over backward to be kind to my mother, and yet my mother never did warm up to her even after all these years.”

  “Sometimes in-laws just have problems,” I said noncommittally.

  “I never could understand it,” he repeated. “It’s not like my mother is a difficult person. She’s another person that everyone likes, and it confused me when she couldn’t get along with Tori.”

  It was then that I noticed that Rick’s eyes seem to be a little glazed over. Maybe he had gotten a prescription for something to help settle his nerves after Tori had died. And maybe that influenced his memories of his wife.

  I nodded. “I’m so glad you have wonderful memories of your wife. Some people don’t have that, and I know you and your daughters will treasure those memories.”

  He nodded and smiled again. “That’s exactly it. I will treasure these memories for the rest of my life, as will my girls. I wish they had stuck around a little longer to talk to you. I know they have lots of good memories of their mother.”

  I nodded again. I was beginning to feel a little like a bobble head doll. What Rick was saying was puzzling. “Well, I just wanted to stop by and bring you that pumpkin roll. I’ve been working on the recipe to use in my new cookbook and I hope you and your daughters enjoy it.” I got to my feet.

  His eyes went to the pumpkin roll. “I can smell it from here and it smells wonderful. I sure do appreciate you taking the time to make that for us and bring it by.” He got to his feet. “Let me show you to the door.”

  I followed him to the front door and as I left, I put a hand on his arm. “You’ll let me know if you need anything, won’t you Rick?”

  He nodded. “I certainly will. I appreciate the offer.”

  I got into my car feeling as puzzled as I had while I’d sat in Rick’s living room. I needed to check around and see if anybody else felt the same way about Tori. And then I remembered the fan girl club that several people had mentioned. Would they have the same opinion of Tori now that she was gone as they did when she was alive?

  Chapter Fifteen

  I had the day off and after I dropped the pumpkin roll by Rick Wells’ house; I texted Cade and asked him if he was free to meet me for coffee. I was delighted to get a quick text back saying he had some time. I didn’t get to see Cade nearly as much as I would have liked while he worked a new case.

  Just as I was getting to the door of the British Tea and Coffee Company, I saw Cade pull into the parking lot. I waited as he parked and got out of the car. He was dressed in a black suit and looked as handsome as ever.

  “Look at you, looking all spiffy and professional,” I teased when he got to me.

  He bent down and kissed me and then grinned. “I try.” He opened the door for me and we went up to the front counter to place our orders. “Wait, did you do something to your hair?” he asked, looking me over.

  “Bonus boyfriend points for you! I got my hair trimmed when I went to see Elizabeth Wells to have my color brightened up. Not that this isn’t my natural color mind you,” I said giving him a look.

  “I was not besmirching your color. It looks very nice and I’m sorry I didn’t notice it sooner.”

  “You’re off the hook. You haven’t seen m
e since I had it done,” I said with a chuckle.

  “Well thank goodness for small miracles,” he teased.

  “What are you going to get?” I asked, looking around for Agatha.

  “Well, seeing as how Christmas is almost here, I think I’m going to order a candy cane mocha. How about you?”

  I turned back to the menu board. “A candy cane mocha? That does sound good, doesn’t it? I think I’m going to join you in one of those.”

  We gave our orders and waited while the young college-aged girl behind the counter made our drinks. “Where’s our British friend?” Cade asked, looking around for Agatha.

  “I was just thinking the same thing,” I said and glanced around again. It was unlike Agatha not to be at the coffee shop. She enjoyed meeting and greeting her customers and always had time to take a few minutes to sit and chat with us when we came in.

  “Maybe she’s feeling a bit under the weather and didn’t come in today,” Cade said. The coffee shop was bustling with customers. Agatha had decorated for Christmas and it did feel a bit like an English country cottage at Christmas.

  I thought it was a possibility that Agatha wasn’t feeling well, but I couldn’t remember when the last time was that Agatha hadn’t come to work.

  When the barista put our coffees on the counter in front of us, I turned to her. “Where is Agatha today?”

  She smiled. “She called in sick. She said she might be coming down with something and didn’t want to spread it around.”

  “Really? I hope she’s okay. She never gets sick,” I said.

  The barista rang up our orders and turned to us. “I said the exact same thing to her when she called me. But she said she just felt like she might have a touch of the flu and would rather stay home than come to work and make other people sick. She said she thought it would pass quickly and she would be back tomorrow.”

  “Well if she doesn’t make it in tomorrow, I’ll give her a call and check on her,” I said to both the barista and to Cade.

  Cade paid for our drinks and we went to a table to sit down.

  “This is really good,” Cade said closing his eyes as he took a sip of his coffee.

  “Isn’t it? Agatha has the best coffee in town. She buys the whole beans from Seattle I think, and it’s always so nice and smooth,” I said and took a sip of my drink.

  “Well, good on her then,” he said in a terrible accent and chuckled. “I think I sound British, don’t you?”

  I rolled my eyes. “If that’s what you consider sounding British, then sure. You sound British.”

  He gave me a look that said he was offended and then chuckled. “The medical examiner said the vehicle that hit Tori Wells was red,” he said lowering his voice and sounding serious now.

  “How does he know that?” I asked and took a sip of my coffee.

  “Some paint was left behind,” he said.

  I realize what that meant and I felt bad for Tori again. “Really?”

  He nodded. “She was carrying a purse that had a hard shell and it took on some paint from the car on impact.”

  I remembered seeing Tori carry a navy blue purse like he described. “Do you think she tried to shield herself with the purse?” A purse wouldn’t provide any protection, but I could see where it might be a reflex when you’re surprised.

  “It’s a possibility. She may have seen the car coming and knew she couldn’t get out of the way, and in a feeble attempt to shield herself she put that purse between her and the car. We found it on the ground near the dumpster and it had her wallet and identification in it.”

  I sat back in my seat taking this in. “How terrifying.”

  “Isn’t it though?” he said.

  I nodded, suddenly feeling unwell. “I spoke to Rick Wells this morning. It’s so weird, it’s like he lives in this different world where everyone loved Tori.”

  “Agreed. Like I said before, you never know what goes on in other people’s lives. Maybe she really was a wonderful person, at least when it came to her family.”

  “Elizabeth Wells didn’t feel that way. She said Tori was a terrible mother and was hard on her two daughters. Of course, we already know Tori couldn’t get along with Elizabeth. Rick swears it had to be an accident because no one could dislike Tori.”

  Cade shook his head. “I really don’t believe there was an accident anymore. Somebody had it out for Tori and came after her.”

  “I agree with you there. I wonder why she had her purse with her out in the alley? It seems like she would have set it down once she was inside the community center.”

  He nodded. “There were minutes from the business owners association meetings, a list of ingredients and food that she needed for the Thanksgiving meal, and a schedule of people that were supposed to show up to help.”

  I looked at him. “I can’t imagine why she would have meeting minutes with her. I can see the papers concerning the Thanksgiving meal, but not the minutes,” I said taking another sip of my drink.

  “Maybe it was just habit. Maybe she put everything into her purse from the last meeting and forgot about it,” he said. “It makes sense that there was more than one copy of the papers regarding the Thanksgiving meal.”

  That sounded plausible, I thought. “After speaking to Rick, I have to say I really think Elizabeth is the most likely suspect.” I had wanted to eliminate her as a suspect after I talked to her, but after speaking to Rick, I had reconsidered. Things just weren’t right in that family.

  “She does make a very good suspect,” he said thoughtfully. “I’m still asking around to see if I can find anything else out about Elizabeth and a couple of other people.”

  “When I spoke to her on Thanksgiving Day, she seemed sympathetic toward Tori, but when I talked to her again, she was very bitter toward Tori. She thought she was a terrible mother, and she really resented her.”

  He nodded. “Duly noted.”

  “Someone else that you might want to speak to is Kayla Wright. According to Elizabeth, when Tori set her sights on being elected president, she went to Kayla and told her she needed to just step down so somebody with fresh ideas could take over. When Kayla refused, Elizabeth said someone egged Kayla’s house, broke the flowerpots on her front porch and keyed her car.”

  “Really?” Cade said considering this. “That’s kind of scary. And how does Elizabeth know this?”

  “Apparently Kayla told her,” I said. “But that’s not all. Elizabeth was ran off the road one night and it happened to be after she had had an argument with Tori. John Greenlee told me that.”

  “I heard about Elizabeth being ran off the road. Too bad she couldn’t ID the driver. I haven’t gotten around to speaking to Kayla yet, but I will definitely put that at the top of my list. Did she call the police about any of this and file a report?”

  I nodded. “She did, but of course the police weren’t going to do anything because there was no evidence that Tori was behind it. You know how you police folk are.” I grinned at him. “After that, Kayla got cameras for her house, but of course nothing else happened.”

  “What does your mother say? She’s a business owner. She usually has an opinion on everything.”

  I shrugged. “She doesn’t say a lot, to be honest. She never liked Tori, but she apparently wasn’t in on a lot of the things that were going on between Tori and other business owners. I guess for once my mother didn’t irritate the one person that probably could have made her life miserable.”

  He chuckled. “Thank goodness for that. I asked Agatha if she had any thoughts on what happened, but she said she didn’t know.”

  I looked behind me to make sure no one was within earshot. “I think it’s silly that Elizabeth even brought Agatha’s name up,” I whispered.

  “I agree. I can’t imagine Agatha having anything to do with a murder.”

  Agatha didn’t have a murderous bone in her body. I made a mental note to check on Agatha if she didn’t come to work the following day. I hated to think that she
was sick and home alone by herself. I decided to make some chicken soup and drop it by her house. I would have to stop by the store and buy the ingredients, but it wouldn’t take me long. It would make another great recipe for my cookbook.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I was true to my word and stopped by the payday loan center that Kayla owned. I had never been inside before, and when I walked in I was surprised to see a booth where the teller sat that was behind thick glass that looked suspiciously bulletproof. I suppose it shouldn’t have surprised me since a place like this handled a lot of cash and would be prone to robbery. I could see Kayla behind the glass in the little booth. She was waiting on a customer who spoke to her through a small microphone in the glass.