Chocolate Heart Killer: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 14

by Kathleen Suzette

  “We have a daughter,” Connie said. “Melinda lives in Ohio these days. She got married right after high school and they moved away. I miss her. She’ll be here for the funeral, of course. I told Bradley that it might be better if we sell the barber shop and the house and move to Ohio to be near her.”

  “I wouldn’t blame you for doing that. You’d be missed, but it’s understandable. Is Melinda younger or older than Logan?” I asked.

  “Melinda is two years older than Logan,” she said. “She’s devastated that her little brother is gone.”

  “I can only imagine,” I said.

  “I know Ethan is looking for the killer,” Bradley Michaels said. “I know he’ll have the person responsible behind bars soon.”

  I sat up in my seat. “Killer? What do you mean killer?”

  He looked from me to Christy. “Didn’t Ethan tell you? That wasn’t an accident that killed Logan. The police discovered the brake lines had been cut. They think when Logan went around the curve on the highway that he may have hit some black ice or he could have just been going too fast, and when he tried to hit the brakes, they didn’t work and he went off the road and hit the tree.”

  Ethan hadn’t told me this. I was shocked and saddened by it. “I didn’t know that. Ethan never mentioned it.”

  He nodded. “I don’t think he knew right off. He stopped by earlier this morning and told us about it.”

  I sat back on the couch and glanced at Christy. “I’m so sorry. What an awful thing to have happen.” Ethan probably hadn’t had a chance to talk to me. I felt sick over someone killing Logan.

  “I bet the police didn’t know it was an accident until they towed the vehicle in to be inspected,” Christy said.

  Connie nodded. “That’s exactly what happened. They thought it was an accident until they moved the car. Ethan said they saw some fluid in the snow, so they took his car to a repair shop to be inspected. I guess it took a couple of days for them to determine the brake lines were cut.”

  Bradley sat back on the couch. “He probably had enough brake fluid to drive through town and as he was driving, the rest of it leaked out.”

  I nodded, taking this in. “Where was Logan going?”

  “He was driving to Truckee,” Connie said. “He left late the night before the morning his car was found. He was going to visit some friends.”

  The news that Logan had been murdered was shocking. I didn’t know Logan nearly as well as Ethan had, but from what I knew, he was a nice guy. I wondered who wanted to kill our local barber.

  “Do you have any idea who might have done this?” I asked gently. I hated to stir things up, they were grieving so. But I had to ask the question.

  Connie and Bradley looked at one another and then turned back to me. “If we had to guess, we would say that Mel Tillman might have had something to do with his death.”

  I knew Mel. “Doesn’t he work at the Pumpkin Hollow garage?”

  She nodded. “They’ve been friends since junior high school, and we never did like him. He was a little on the wild side.”

  “I told Logan back when he was in the seventh grade and started running around with Mel that he was trouble. He wouldn’t listen of course, because at that age kids think they know everything,” his father said. “It’s crazy to think that the warning I gave him so many years ago would suddenly come back to haunt us.”

  “Has he done anything recently? Anything that would make you think he might have had something to do with Logan’s death?” I asked.

  “Their relationship was always kind of volatile. I think Mel was the controlling type. Logan was just so mellow and laid back, he went along with anything Mel said. And it hasn’t been that long ago that the two of them had an argument and weren’t speaking,” Connie said. “I was disappointed when they got back together again. Logan was better off without him.”

  “If you ask me,” Bradley said, “I think Mel is involved in drugs. I think he’s a dealer.”

  “Why do you think that?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I guess I don’t know for sure, but I’ve seen the shady people he hangs around. Those kind of people are dangerous.”

  I wished that the Michaels’s had something more solid. Just saying that Mel was hanging around with people they thought were dangerous wasn’t enough to go on.

  “We told Ethan all of this,” Connie said, nodding. “He promised he would talk to him.”

  “I know he will,” I said. “Ethan will do everything in his power to arrest the killer quickly.”

  I knew that Ethan had a personal stake in this murder since Logan was his friend, and he was going to go after this case with everything he had. I just hoped he found the killer soon.

  Chapter Five

  What Logan’s parents told me about the accident was disturbing. I’d had just a few minutes to talk to Ethan the night we had talked to Connie and Bradley Michaels’s and he confirmed what they told me. I could see in his eyes the pain of having discovered this.

  The next day I walked over to Amanda’s coffee shop. Amanda and Brian Shoate were my closest friends, and they own the Little Coffee Shop of Horrors. I glanced up. The sky was overcast, and I wondered if we were in for another snowstorm. I stepped into the warm coffee shop and inhaled the scent of freshly ground coffee beans. There was a customer at the front counter that Amanda was waiting on, so I got in line and waited my turn. Amanda glanced at me from behind the counter and grinned.

  When the customer had paid for her order and left, Amanda came out from behind the counter. “Where have you been?” She hurried over to me and gave me a hug. It had been five days since I had been in. It wasn’t that I hadn’t meant to not stop by and see her, it’s just that things had gotten in the way. Namely, a car accident that had turned into a murder.

  “Oh, you know how it is,” I said, hugging her back. “Time flies when you’re making tons of candy.”

  “Oh, of course. I know you all are busy at the candy shop with Valentine’s Day just a few weeks away,” she said, nodding. “What can I get for you?”

  I stepped up to the front counter, and she went back behind it. “How about a mocha almond fudge latte?”

  She nodded. “That’s what I like about you, Mia,” she said with a grin. “You’re both a chocolate and a coffee lover.”

  “I know, right? What more could you ask for in a friend?”

  She went about making my drink and looked over at me. “So really, where have you been? I know you’re busy, but the busier you get, the more frequently you stop in to get coffee.”

  She had a point. The harder I worked, the more likely I was to need a caffeinated pick-me-up. I shrugged and looked into the baked goods display case. “I really meant to come by and see you, but with all the snow and the cold we’ve had lately, I just wasn’t up to trudging through it to come visit. Sorry, I really didn’t intend to stay away so long.”

  “It’s okay, as long as I know you’re doing well.” She poured coffee into a cup for me and the steam rose from it.

  I looked at her. “Ethan and I came across a murder scene. We didn’t know it was a murder at the time, we thought it was an accident.” There. It was out there.

  She looked at me, eyebrows raised. “Really? Who was it?”

  “Logan Michaels. Do you know him?”

  She nodded. “He owns the barbershop. Brian goes there all the time. What happened?” She steamed the milk for my latte.

  “His car hit a tree. That’s where we found him, outside of town where the highway makes that curve. We thought he had hit some black ice, but it turns out someone cut his brake lines.”

  She looked at me wide-eyed. “Wow, I would never have thought something like that would happen to Logan. Does Ethan have any ideas who did it?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. He’s investigating, of course.”

  “I’m sure he’ll find the killer soon,” she said.

  “He definitely will. How are things with you? How is the baby doin
g?”

  When I mentioned the baby, she grinned. “She’s doing fine.”

  I gasped. “She? Do you know that for sure?”

  She nodded. “I sure do. We just found out yesterday. I was going to call you, but I was exhausted when I got home last night. I’m telling you, this pregnancy thing is wearing me out.”

  I chuckled. “I heard it makes you tired. So do you have a name yet?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. Brian and I have been tossing around a handful of different names. And of course, I want it to be perfect. I know this baby is going to be perfect, and she deserves a perfect name.” She chuckled and put the lid on my cup. “Would you like a scone or a muffin?”

  I glanced at the display case. Amanda made great baked treats, and they were hard to resist. “How about that apple pie scone?” I pointed at the one with the white chocolate drizzled over the top of it.

  “You got it,” she said and removed it from the display case, putting it into a little bag. “I’ve been looking online at nursery decor to try to get an idea of how we want to decorate the nursery. There’s a part of me that says don’t make everything pink, but the part that’s winning out right now says make everything pink. Everything!”

  I laughed. “I don’t blame you. That little girl is going to be spoiled.”

  She nodded. “As much as I hate to admit to it, I’m afraid she will be.”

  “Do you have a due date yet?”

  “June thirtieth. Can you believe it? It seems so far away, but I know it will be here before we know it. So, now that you and Ethan are engaged, have you set the date?”

  I shook my head. “No, we were just discussing that the other day. We thought about having a June wedding, but we don’t want you to be uncomfortable during the wedding, and we certainly don’t want you to go into labor during the wedding.”

  She looked at me. “Now that would be terrible. But you need to set a date, so we can get planning. There’s so much to do for a wedding and we’ve got to get busy. You and Christy were so much help for my wedding, and I want to help out with yours.”

  “And I’ll really need your help. Let’s just hope the caterer doesn’t die,” I said.

  She nodded and her eyes went wide. “Don’t remind me. What a nightmare that was. But don’t you worry. Your wedding will be perfect.”

  The door opened, and we turned as Polly Givens walked in. She smiled and hurried inside, letting the door swing closed behind her. “Oh, it’s so nice and warm in here. And the smell is heavenly.”

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I said.

  “How are you girls today?” Polly asked, looking from me to Amanda. “I hope you’re staying warm. It’s so cold outside.”

  “I’m cold, that’s how I’m doing,” I said and laughed. “So, so cold.”

  “I’m with Mia,” Amanda said. “Only you can add tired to it, too. Pregnancy doesn’t agree with me in that way.”

  Polly nodded. “When I was pregnant with my kids, I was tired all the time. But then in the middle of my third trimester I would suddenly get a burst of energy. I used it to clean the house top to bottom, decorate the nursery, and make meals I put in the freezer for after the baby came home.”

  “That is a great idea,” Amanda said. “I know I’m not going to want to cook after the baby gets here.”

  “Do you know what you’re having yet?”

  Amanda grinned. “A girl.”

  She smiled. “Good for you. Congratulations, I’m really happy for you.” Polly turned to me. “Mia, I heard about Logan Michaels. Isn’t it a shame?”

  “It really is,” I said as I paid for my coffee and scone.

  “Does Ethan know anything yet?” she asked.

  “Not yet,” I said turning to her. “I just can’t imagine who would want to kill Logan Michaels.”

  “Me either. But you know, he and his girlfriend, Mariah Anderson, had a lot of trouble. They broke up and got back together more times than I can count. He lives next door to me, you know.”

  “No, I didn’t know that. So they broke up a lot?”

  She nodded. “I hate to gossip, but I could sometimes hear them arguing from inside the house. It sounded bad.”

  I was surprised by this. Logan had seemed quiet and easy-going. “What did they argue about?”

  She shrugged. “I really couldn’t hear what they were arguing about, only that they were yelling at one another. I hated to see it, they were both such nice people. But sometimes the nicest people just can’t seem to get along.”

  I nodded, taking this in. “What a shame. I thought they were happy together.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe that was just the way they communicated with one another. Some people don’t seem to be able to keep from arguing with one another.”

  “But then there were the breakups,” I pointed out. “That sounds like more than just people who don’t communicate well.”

  She shrugged. “You’re right. Those two had trouble, I guess,” she conceded. “I hope Ethan can find the killer soon.”

  “You and me both,” I agreed.

  She turned to Amanda. “And now, I think I’d like to order a vanilla latte. Large, please. I need something to warm me up and I just know that’s going to do the trick.”

  “You got it,” Amanda said. “I need to stop by the gift shop and see what you’ve got for babies. I bet you have all kinds of cute stuff for the nursery.”

  “I have the cutest little ballerina prints to hang on the wall, and a set of canisters that you can put things like cotton swabs and little odds and ends, and baby wipes in.”

  “Oh, that’s going to be pink, then,” Amanda said. “I love pink.”

  She nodded. “The prettiest pink you’ve ever seen.”

  “I’ve got to stop by then. I don’t want to go crazy spending money on fun things when I know she’s going to need diapers and formula, but I want to give her a cute nursery to sleep in.”

  “I can help with some of that.” Polly nodded.

  “I had better get back to the candy store, it’s good seeing you both,” I said and picked up my coffee and scone and headed to the door.

  “See you later, Mia,” Amanda said.

  I didn’t know if what Polly had said would lead to anything, but it was something to keep in mind. I knew that Mariah worked at the gym, and I decided I needed to stop by and see how she was. Even if the two of them had broken up recently, she would still be grieving him. Going back and forth breaking up and getting back together was an indication that there was still a lot of love there, regardless of whatever their troubles stemmed from.

  Chapter Six

  “Where are we going?” Christy asked.

  I turned and smiled at her. “The gym.”

  One eyebrow shot up. “The gym? I thought you were allergic to exercise?”

  I snickered as I pulled out of the parking spot in front of the candy store and headed down the street. “Allergic? Me? What are you talking about?”

  She shook her head. “As long as I’ve known you you’ve done everything you can to avoid any kind of physical activity. I’ve come to the conclusion that you must be allergic to exercise.”

  I gasped, pretending to be offended. “Avoid physical activity? Me? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  She chuckled. “You are the least physically active person I’ve ever known. Honestly, with all the candy you eat, I don’t know how you maintain your figure.”

  I laughed. She had a point, but it wasn’t one that I was happy about. “I guess I was blessed with great genes. And maybe I will take up some sort of exercise. I am not allergic. At least, I don’t think I am.”

  She nodded. “You sure were blessed with great genes. I don’t think I was blessed with the same ones.”

  “What are you talking about? You don’t do much to maintain your weight either,” I said. “It’s like magic.”

  She chuckled. “I was thinking about joining the gym anyway. I wanted to do i
t the last time we stopped by to talk to a possible killer. Is that why we’re going? Is there someone there that you want to talk to?”

  “There is a very good possibility that that is true,” I said slyly. “Mariah Anderson.”

  “Oh,” she said nodding. “Now that makes sense. She’s a trainer there, isn’t she?”

  “She is indeed,” I said. “I’ve been thinking, if Logan’s brake line was cut, then somebody had to have crawled beneath that car. A person would have to be nimble and flexible to do that and what better person that could do it than somebody that works out all the time? Plus, she and Logan just happened to have argued a lot. So there’s that.”

  She nodded. “It’s that arguing thing that tells me there’s a good possibility she may have had something to do with his death. Being physically agile is secondary.”

  “You’re becoming quite the detective these days,” I said sarcastically.

  She shrugged. “What can I say? I’ve learned from the best.”

  I pulled into the gym parking lot and we got out and headed inside. The same perky blond that had been there the last time we wanted to talk to a suspect was there now. She smiled at us. “Hello ladies, how are you this afternoon? Is there something I can help you with?”

  I nodded. “We’re great. Is Mariah Anderson around?”

  She nodded and beamed. “Are you ladies looking for a personal trainer? We have several on staff. Do you have a membership yet?”

  “No, we don’t have a membership. We’d really like to speak with Mariah Anderson,” I said, glancing around.

  Her brow furrowed. “Well, you’ve got to have a membership in order to work with a personal trainer here. Why don’t we go over the various plans that we offer?”

  I shook my head. “No thank you, we just need to speak with Mariah.”

  She whipped out a sheet of paper and laid it on the counter in front of us. “Now let’s see, we have a monthly plan, or a six-month plan, or a yearly plan. You get a bit of a price break when you go with the longer plans.” She looked up at me and smiled again.

  I glanced at the sheet of paper in front of me. The gym was more expensive than I had imagined. “And does a personal trainer come with this fee?”