by Ginny Gold
“Maybe not. Ask Zach what to do tomorrow night. I’m sure Jay still has the tire. Call him later to make sure.” Nora held out the kettle of hot water for Kori.
“No thanks. I’ve gotta get back to the café. I’ll talk to you tomorrow I’m sure.”
“Have a great night. You deserve it.” Nora put the kettle back on the stove and hugged Kori before she left.
Back in her car, Kori sighed in relief. She didn’t know what she would do without Nora to help her through this. She drove slowly back home in the near darkness and didn’t even realize that the door to The Early Bird was unlocked when she had locked it earlier. She let herself in and locked up for the night.
CHAPTER 6
The next morning, Kori woke up with her alarm earlier than usual. She’d been so drained after the events of getting arrested and making a plan with Nora that she’d eaten a quick dinner and fallen asleep on the couch with her book. At some point she’d dragged herself to her bed but she didn’t remember brushing her teeth.
She threw on the same jeans from yesterday and a clean t-shirt and headed downstairs to the café. Tuesday’s menus were still on the chalkboards, so she erased those and headed to the kitchen to figure out what she’d be able to offer.
The oatmeal was finished and the pot was soaking in the sink—she hadn’t even had the energy last night to clean it after getting home from Nora’s—but she still had more granola that she could offer with yogurt and fruit. There was more arugula and pesto, so egg sandwiches and wraps would be on the menu. The stuffed French toast was finally gone but she would make cinnamon French toast. And finally she would offer waffles with whipped cream and strawberry sauce, or just with maple syrup. With another side of bacon wrapped leeks. It was a smaller menu than the last two days but not out of the ordinary for her.
Kori was completely wrapped up in her work when her mother attempted to open the still-locked front door. In her impatience on her way to spin class, she started pounding on the glass and Kori came running.
“Since when do you lock this?” her mother asked as soon as it was opened.
“Good morning to you, too,” Kori replied sarcastically.
“Good morning, dear.” Gale headed past her straight to the kitchen where she helped herself to a glass of orange juice. “Thanks,” she said, holding it up as if she were toasting something.
Kori nodded her acknowledgement.
“Are you locking your door now because of that murder? Didn’t you know her?” Gale asked once she’d downed the juice and Kori was back to work getting everything prepared for the day.
“Yes I did know her. Her name was Tessa,” Kori told her mother. She was glad to hear that word hadn’t traveled far about the details of the possible murderer. If anyone knew that Kori had been arrested, her mother would. “I was just tired last night and had a lot of work to do this morning so I hadn’t unlocked it yet. Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Gale waved her off. “No problem at all. I just wanted to make sure that I was still welcome.”
Kori let her mother’s concern sit in the air between them.
“So. Jay. Have you found anything out?” her mother asked.
“I didn’t know you were waiting on information from me. But since you brought it up, what’s your angle?” Kori asked directly. “What makes you think Jay is a father? He asked me about you bringing up past girlfriends the other day and I didn’t know what to say. That his mother doesn’t trust him?”
“It’s nothing like that. You know I love both of you,” Gale said evasively. “I got a letter in the mail. It didn’t have a return address, or even a name on the letter. But this person obviously thought that Jay still lived at home or that I would be the best way to reach him. And there were two photos: one of Jay and a young woman, and one of the young woman and a baby. Who looked an awful lot like Jay when he was a baby.”
“So give him his mail. What were you even doing opening it?”
“I know. I know. I shouldn’t have read it. But—”
“And if you read the letter, wouldn’t you have known if the kid was his?” Kori asked accusingly, cutting her mother off before she could even justify her actions.
“That’s the thing. It sounded like she was almost blackmailing him.”
“Do you have the letter? I’ll talk to him about it.” Kori had a much gentler approach than her mother and they both knew it.
Her mother jumped at the offer. “I’ll bring it by later. I’d really appreciate that, Kori.”
So that had been her mission all along; she hadn’t wanted to talk about any of this with Kori, she’d just wanted Kori to take on the responsibility of talking to Jay about it.
Gale picked up her bag and headed to the front door. “I’m going to be late to spin. I’ll see you later with the letter.”
Kori waved to her mother and turned back to her breakfast preparation. She checked the walk-in freezer and saw that she had plenty of frozen fruit. She decided on a last minute addition to the menu—mixed fruit smoothies—and made one for herself for breakfast.
A half hour later, Kori was finally ready for customers and turned the closed sign to open. She only had moments to wait for her first customer—a man she didn’t recognize. She figured he was a tourist and was getting a big breakfast before a hike.
“Good morning,” she greeted him. He nodded in response and looked around, taking in the café.
Kori gave him space and let him read over the menu at his own pace. He had picked up a newspaper and Kori saw that the front page article was about Tessa’s murder. She shouldn’t have been surprised but she still was.
Finally, the man knew what he wanted and ordered an egg sandwich with pesto and a side of bacon wrapped leeks. And a coffee. Black and strong.
There were no other customers yet, so Kori tried to make friendly easy conversation. “Are you visiting Hermit Cove for some early season hiking?” she asked as she prepared his breakfast.
“Nope. Not much of a hiker,” he offered, then turned back to his newspaper.
She could tell he wasn’t interested in talking to a complete stranger, so she didn’t press the issue and served him his breakfast. He offered no thanks.
He ate quickly and was ready to pay before the next customer had arrived. She took his card and rang up his total. As she was waiting for the receipt to print, she couldn’t help but notice the name on the card—Dylan Doyle.
It couldn’t be a coincidence that he had showed up the day after Tessa’s murder. He had to be related. And Kori knew that Tessa’s maiden name was not Doyle, so she immediately suspected that he was her husband. Had he been in town the whole time? And why wasn’t he acting at all upset about Tessa’s death? Or had he just arrived after she was killed?
Kori knew she had some work in front of her.
She brought the receipt to Dylan and he quickly signed it—leaving a generous tip—and left. Kori sent Nora a quick message so they could both try to look into him in their free time but then her next customers came in, Betsy Scoop included, and she had to get back to work.
“Good morning, Kori,” Betsy said, taking a seat at the counter near the kitchen window. She was clearly alone but everyone else was eating with a friend and sat in booths.
“Morning Betsy. You look a little more relaxed this morning. What can I get you? Start with your regular?”
“Yeah. And some granola. I’m going to need some energy today.”
Kori poured a coffee and added a flavor shot of maple. “Oh yeah? Big plans?” She had to figure out what was going on with Betsy to see if she still looked guilty for Tessa’s murder. She couldn’t believe her luck that she had sat down right in front of her. And alone.
“Yup. Have you heard about Tessa?” Betsy asked.
“I have heard. Terrible news. I can’t believe someone was killed in Hermit Cove.” Kori was digging.
“It is terrible. But, that means the building is back on the market. Not yet, of course. It’s still a
crime scene. But I’ve already talked to a realtor about buying it. Can you believe it? Just yesterday I was telling you how disappointed I was that I couldn’t move Scoop’s Scoops into it. And now—well, it’s just my luck.”
Kori nodded. “That is quite the turn of events.”
“And did you hear how she was killed?” Betsy went on, completely oblivious to Kori’s expression of suspicion.
She shook her head.
“A knife. First a rock through her window, then someone stabbed her. She really pissed someone off, I guess.”
“That’s horrible,” Kori commiserated, though Betsy didn’t seem too torn up about it.
“Just a simple kitchen knife.” Betsy reached across and took the offered granola, yogurt and fruit from Kori. “Thanks,” she said and dug right in.
Kori used that turn in conversation to visit the other customers and take orders. From that moment until closing time, she was on her feet and constantly taking orders or cooking. It was clear that word had not traveled about her arrest, or The Early Bird Café would have likely been suffering. But with Sunrise and Shine closed, Kori was in full swing. She just had to make sure it stayed that way and she didn’t lose business from her false accusation.
***
When the final customer had finally left and Kori could turn the sign back to closed, she took her phone out of her pocket that had been buzzing all morning. She had half a dozen messages from Nora: Looked up Dylan Doyle. He’s Tessa’s husband; Anything about Betsy?; Just ran into Zach. Setup a non-date with all of us tonight at my house instead of yours; Has word traveled about you being a suspect?; Need to add Dylan and check him out more; Come over when you’re done!
Instead of responding to each message, Kori decided to just go to Nora’s house. She cleaned up the kitchen as best she could, took a quick inventory and realized she needed more eggs and then headed out. She stopped at her mom’s house first to pick up the suspicious letter about Jay.
Kori found her mother’s house empty so she let herself inside. Right on the counter she saw the envelope—opened—that was addressed to Jay. She picked it up and left quickly, not wanting to run into her mother when she had another, more pressing, matter to take care of.
She got another text as she drove to Nora’s but didn’t look at it until she’d parked in front of the house. Mom has a vendetta against me. What’s going on?
Jay.
Kori wouldn’t be able to let that issue lie as long as she hoped. But she had to talk to Nora first.
As soon as Kori had closed her car door, she saw Milo and Otis run toward her, followed by Nora. “Busy morning?” Nora called.
“Yeah. I just got all your messages and decided to come over instead. I could use some time getting my hands dirty if you need help while we talk.”
“Great. I was just heading to the chicken coop to collect eggs. Are you out yet?”
“Running low. I’ll take whatever you have.”
Kori followed Nora to the coop and saw that the chickens were loving the warm spring weather. They had plenty of space to roam in the grass while still enclosed and protected from foxes and other predators.
“What did you find out about Dylan?” Nora asked as they got to work checking each nesting box.
“Nothing. I didn’t have time. You?”
“Well, he’s still married to Tessa. But they have different addresses. So they could have been working through a divorce. Which got me thinking that it could be a messy one. Maybe she was demanding a lot from him and he didn’t want to pay up.”
“Could be. He seemed totally indifferent this morning. If my husband were murdered, I’m not sure I’d go out to breakfast the next day. Wouldn’t he expect people to talk?” Kori asked.
“I would think so. We can add all that to our list. And see what Zach has to say about it.” Kori caught Nora looking up at the mention of Zach and she could feel her face reddening. “What about Betsy? Did she come in today?”
“Yeah. And you’re not going to believe this. She’s already planning to make an offer on the building so she can move Scoop’s Scoops!” Kori was getting herself worked up about it, hoping she was getting closer to clearing her own name.
“She doesn’t even wait until Tessa is buried before she starts talking about it? She must be desperate for that space.”
“A little too desperate, if you ask me,” Kori said, beginning to relax.
Just then, Kori’s phone rang. She placed the eggs she was holding into the carton Nora handed her and looked at the number. It was local but she didn’t know it.
“Hello?” she asked.
“Ms. Cooke? This is Detective Gunn.”
Kori’s heart sank. “What can I do for you, Detective?” she asked, looking at Nora to make sure she heard who she was talking to.
“I’m here at The Early Bird Café with Lieutenant Gulch—you call him Zach. We’ve got a search warrant and would appreciate if you came by to let us in. We’ve been knocking, so we assume you’re not here.”
“I’ll be right there.” Kori hung up without waiting for his response.
“What is it?” Nora asked, panic crossing her face.
“Zach and Detective Gunn are at The Early Bird. With a search warrant. I’ve gotta go.”
“Come back after. Zach’s coming over at seven. Just drinks.”
“Sure. See you later.” But Kori wasn’t confident she’d be able to make it.
***
Kori saw Zach and Detective Gunn waiting outside the café’s front door. Gunn didn’t look pleased to have to wait. She parked and walked quickly to meet them.
“Afternoon,” she said as calmly as she could. “Can I ask what exactly you’re looking for here?”
“We’ll let you know when we find it,” Detective Gunn said menacingly.
“If,” Zach corrected, stressing the one word. “If we find it.”
“Right.”
Kori opened the door and the two men followed her inside. She didn’t want to watch them tear apart her nicely organized kitchen, so she sat down at a window booth and called Jay, trying to ignore the noise they were making.
“What’s going on with Mom?” he asked without a greeting after the second ring.
“What’d she do now?” Kori asked. She wanted to know exactly what Jay knew before she grilled him about his fatherhood.
“She’s just adamant that she’s a grandmother and I never told her.”
“Well, is she?” Kori asked gently.
“You too? What even makes you ask that?” Jay was getting frustrated, she could hear it in his voice.
“I’m on your side here. Remember that. Mom gave me a letter with some photos that came to the house. I haven’t looked at them because it was all addressed to you. But she opened it. One of the photos was of you and some girl, and the other was that same girl with a baby who she thinks looks just like you. And she said the letter sounded like she was blackmailing you. Mom jumped to the conclusion that the baby was yours and you were hiding something from her.”
“Jesus. Mom needs to start asking actual questions instead of making me sound like the psycho. You have the letter with you?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Do me a favor and open it. What does the girl look like?”
Kori took the envelope from her back pocket and slid the photos out. “She has long, dark curly hair.”
“I thought she might. Don’t judge me but I’ve been using online dating sites.”
“Where did you meet her? There’s a photo of the two of you.”
“I know. Remember that weekend this winter I went skiing?” Jay asked, much calmer than he had been the entire conversation.
“Uh-huh.”
“I met her then. It didn’t go well. She was convinced that I was the answer to her problems and I was convinced she was only going to bring problems to my life.”
“So why’d she send you these? And why’d they come to Mom’s house?”
“I ne
ver gave her my address. And I still use Mom’s address for some stuff. Like online dating. I should have told her. But I didn’t. She’s trying to blackmail me into being in a relationship with her. So Mom was right on that. But the baby isn’t mine. I never even met him.”
“So you’re not a father?” Kori asked, relieved that her brother hadn’t been hiding it from her.
“No. And don’t worry, I’d tell you if I was.”
“Great.” Kori looked up and saw that Detective Gunn and Zach were coming back out from the kitchen. “Before I hang up, do you still have my slashed tire? I think I’m gonna need that.”
“Yeah. It’s here.”
“Great. Don’t get rid of it. I’ve gotta go. Call Mom later and explain all of this to her.”
“Sure. Thanks, Kor.”
Kori hung up and her stomach dropped when she saw what Detective Gunn was carrying. It was a knife that wasn’t hers. A knife that she could only suspect was the weapon that had been used to murder Tessa. She saw blood still on it.
And it had been in her kitchen.
CHAPTER 7
Kori couldn’t form any words. Her brain was reeling and her stomach was in her throat. If that was the murder weapon, how did it get into her kitchen? Had Detective Gunn just planted it? But she knew Zach wouldn’t have allowed that. Had the actual murderer put it there? When? How?
“Do you know what this is?” Detective Gunn asked her, not kindly.
Kori assumed that her face gave away her answer but she shook her head anyway. She wasn’t positive that she knew what it was, so she decided to find out if they’d tell her.
“This appears to be the murder weapon that was used to kill Ms. Doyle. Can you tell me what it was doing in your kitchen?” Detective Gunn continued.
Kori shook her head again.
“Lieutenant Gulch has been kind enough to offer twenty-four hour surveillance on you so that we don’t have to arrest you but know that I am not happy about that setup, Ms. Cooke.”
