Death by Coffee

by Alex Erickson

  “What in the hell are you doing here?”

  I just about jumped right out of my shoes. Regina Harper was standing against the wall, tucked away in the corner near the window. I hadn’t seen her when I’d come in, yet I was pretty sure she’d seen me. And from the way her foot tapped and her eyes bore into me, I was pretty sure she remembered me.

  “Mrs. Harper, Mrs. Lawyer,” I said, still trying to sound professional. I almost wished Vicki were here. She was a far better actress than I was.

  “I asked you a question.” Regina moved to put herself between Heidi and me. “What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to ask Heidi a few questions.”

  Regina snorted. “What business do you have here?” she demanded. “You are nothing more than a coffee shop girl.” She made it sound like I was so far beneath her, I wasn’t worth her time.

  “Mom, it’s okay.”

  “No, it isn’t, Heidi.” Regina glanced at her daughter, shot her a withering glare, and then turned back to me. “You can turn around and walk right out of here. We have nothing to say to you.”

  What I really wanted to do was slap the older woman. What right did she have to talk to me like that? Just because she had a better job—or, at least, I thought she did based on how she dressed and how she acted—it didn’t mean she had the right to treat me like something she’d scraped off the bottom of her expensive shoes.

  And I wasn’t there to talk to her, anyway. I’d come to talk to Heidi and, darn it, that was exactly what I was going to do.

  “I’d heard rumors that you were going to get a divorce from your now-late husband,” I said, looking around Regina, who shifted from one foot to the other as if she thought she could block the words with her body. “Is that true?”

  “Well . . . ,” Heidi started. Her lower lip trembled. She wouldn’t meet my eyes.

  “Don’t answer that,” Regina cut in. “Her relationship is none of your business.”

  Of course, she was right. I had no business looking into this at all, but I couldn’t help myself. The police might like to hear what I’d deduced. I’m pretty sure they hadn’t looked too close at the Lawyers’ relationship. As much as I liked Paul Dalton, the department he worked for did seem a little on the Mayberry side.

  “You were getting back together, weren’t you?” I asked quickly so Regina wouldn’t have a chance to stop me.

  There was a moment of silence. Regina’s face reddened in anger and her hands balled into tight little fists. I took a step back, afraid she might actually hit me.

  Heidi groaned and sat heavily onto the couch. She covered her face with her hands as sobs wracked her body. After a moment, she nodded.

  I stepped carefully around Regina, keeping myself out of punching range, and went to Heidi’s side. I didn’t have experience with this sort of thing, but I knew what to do. I rested a hand on her back and rubbed gently.

  “This isn’t your fault,” I said, and I meant it. Something about the way she cried made me believe she could have had nothing to do with her husband’s death. No one could fake misery like this.

  She sniffled and looked up into my face. “I don’t understand why this had to happen,” she said. “Things were finally getting better for us. We’d come to terms with our mistakes and had just started putting our lives back together when . . .” She shook her head as more tears brimmed in her eyes. “It was no accident.”

  My blood ran cold. Was she confessing? Had I misjudged her tears? Was she crying, not because she missed her husband, but from a guilty conscience, instead?

  “What do you mean?” I asked, carefully controlling my voice.

  “Heidi . . .” Regina warned. She glared at me as if this was my fault.

  “Mason agrees with me, Mom,” Heidi said. “Brendon would never have forgotten his EpiPen. He’s too careful for that. And I’m positive I saw it in his briefcase before he headed to work. You know I always double-check to be sure.”

  Regina stood stiffly in the middle of the room. She didn’t nod or make any sign that she even heard what was said. She continued to glare in my general direction. Her eyes had taken on a glazed look, as if lost in thought.

  “Someone killed him,” Heidi all but whispered. “I know it.”

  “Do you have any idea who?” I asked. Could it really be this easy? I was almost positive Heidi hadn’t talked to the police much about her suspicions. There was something about the way she talked to me that told me she was expressing her doubts to someone—outside of Mason—for the very first time.

  Heidi shook her head. “I don’t know. At first, I thought it might have been one of his girlfriends, but I . . .” She trailed off and then shrugged. “I just don’t know anymore.”

  Was that why I’d caught her in Tessa’s Dresses? Had she gone to accuse the other woman of murdering her husband? I mean, it sounded pretty feasible that Tessa could have killed Brendon after he’d broken things off with her. Then again, hadn’t she said she’d been the one to break up with him? If she’d killed him, I wouldn’t put it past her to fudge the facts to make herself look better.

  My mind drifted to the other, other woman: Brendon’s secretary, Beth Milner. Could she have killed him, instead? There were just too many variables, too many things that were unclear. I made it a point to talk to Beth before the day was out.

  “It just isn’t fair,” Heidi said. Her eyes brimmed over, yet she fought hard to keep the tears from falling. “After my own indiscretion, I realized why he’d done what he’d done. It gave me insight into his mind that I never would have had before. I realized I truly wanted to be with him, that sometimes we all make mistakes.” She looked at me, almost pleadingly, as if she desperately needed me to believe her. “We were going to be happy.” She covered her face in her hands, once more overcome by her tears.

  “Indiscretion?” I asked, almost to myself. Did Heidi mean what I thought she meant?

  Heidi glanced up and her eyes widened. She gave a panicked look to Regina, telling me she hadn’t meant to let that information slip.

  I instantly thought of what Tessa had said about unfaithfulness running in the Lawyer family. Is this what she meant? Could Heidi have cheated on her husband with his brother?

  It was like a lightbulb went on in my head. If Heidi had cheated with Mason and then suddenly realized she wanted to be back with her husband, it had to have devastated Mason. Could he have killed his own brother so he could have his wife?

  “Get out.” A hand clamped down on my wrist and jerked me away from the sobbing Heidi. “You’ve done enough damage.”

  Regina pushed me toward the door. I rubbed at my wrist and took an involuntary step backward. The look on Regina’s face was enough to tell me that she was perfectly capable of murder and I was number one on her list.

  “Who was it?” I tried to ask, but Regina shouted over me.

  “Get out!” she roared. She took a couple of threatening steps my way and I scrambled back. I balled my purse strap in my hand, ready to swing if she whipped out a knife or perhaps an Uzi she had hidden away in her skirt somewhere.

  “I just want to understand what happened,” I said, still wanting to reach Heidi. If only I had a name, I was sure I could fit the rest of the puzzle together.

  “Listen to me,” Regina said, advancing slowly. “My daughter is devastated right now. Her husband just died. You are making it worse.”

  I bumped up against the door and yelped, but Regina didn’t stop coming.

  “She is better off without that cheating asshole.” She almost hissed the words. “I’m glad he’s dead. It might very well have saved my daughter’s life.”

  I reached for the doorknob. I really wanted to ask Heidi who it was that she’d cheated with, but I knew I would never get past the dragon before me—with or without her Uzi. I turned the knob and was forced to take a step toward Regina to open it. Her hands were still balled into tight little fists, and I think she very well might have hit me this time if I hadn’t sc
uttled out the door like a scorned puppy, purse held up to shield my face.

  “Don’t come back!” she shouted after me. “If I see you here again, I’m going to call the police.” She slammed the door without waiting for a reply.

  I slunk to my car and slipped inside, thankful Regina hadn’t thrown anything at me. Or shot me. I started the engine and backed out of the driveway, still not quite certain she was done with me.

  As soon as I was back out onto the road, my shoulder muscles eased and I could breathe again. I glanced back, half expecting the little blue Toyota to be barreling down on me, Duel style, but the road behind me was empty.

  I considered calling it a day right then and there, but decided I had one more thing to do before I could go back home to my mug-breaking fluffball.

  I just hoped Brendon Lawyer’s secretary would be more willing to talk than Regina Harper had been.

  16

  I parked down the street from Lawyer’s Insurance. I could have pulled right up front, but something told me not to be too obvious. Chances were good I was just being overly paranoid, yet I couldn’t bring myself to drive any farther. It looked like I was going to walk.

  A part of me felt bad for what I was doing. I could see Death by Coffee and knew Vicki was inside, working alone. I should have been there, standing at her side, praying for more customers. Yet here I was, going to confront a woman who very well might be a murderer.

  It seemed as if I was doing that a lot lately.

  I straightened my shoulders and faced forward as I walked briskly toward Lawyer’s Insurance. Dad’s books always had the detective moving as if he belonged wherever he went and I planned on doing the same. If I approached the secretary timidly, there was a good chance she would laugh in my face and call Raymond Lawyer to deal with me.

  I can do this, I thought as I pulled open the door and stepped into the chilly office.

  The secretary looked up as I entered. Her hair was brown, streaked with bottled blond. It was pulled up into a bun that was supposed to look professional, but it made her look like a model pretending to be a secretary, instead. Her nails were polished and her makeup crisp and perfect. No wonder Brendon had hired her, especially if he’d planned on sleeping with her from the start.

  She gave me one of those fake smiles that all people who hate their jobs seem to have. “Can I help you?” There was a hint of nervousness to her voice.

  “Hi,” I said, putting on my own fake smile and chipper voice. “Are you Beth Milner?”

  Her eyes narrowed, though her name was right there on the plaque on her desk. “Why do you want to know?”

  If that wasn’t suspicious behavior, I didn’t know what was.

  Then again, who was I to come in and ask after her? She probably remembered me from when I’d come in chasing Mason Lawyer the other day. She would know who I was, that I wasn’t really a cop.

  “I’m just wondering how well you knew Brendon Lawyer,” I said. “I talked to Tessa.”

  Beth’s face darkened so much, I thought she might actually strike out at me. It was a good thing she spent so much time on her nails. There’s no way she’d ruin a manicure like that.

  “Tessa, huh?” she asked. “That tramp was all over Brendon, begging him to come back to her. And then when he told her he’d moved on, she got all up in his face.” She glanced at the closed door of the office where Brendon had died. “They fought in there a week ago.” She looked meaningfully at me before adopting an unconcerned air. “Not that I was listening or anything.”

  “Of course not,” I said. “Tessa told me that Brendon was seeing another woman?” I made it a question.

  Beth snorted in a very unladylike way. “She was the other woman. She was the one who was little more than a fling. What Brendon and I had together was special. He was going to leave that cow of a wife of his to be with me.”

  “Really?” I asked, sneaking a glance toward Raymond Lawyer’s door. It was closed, but I was pretty sure he was inside. I only hoped he couldn’t hear our conversation from there. “I thought he was going to get back together with Heidi?”

  Beth’s face did something I couldn’t decipher. She looked disgusted, aghast, and sad—all at the same time. It made her lips dance around on her face in what might have appeared comical, if it wasn’t so pitiful.

  “He was, the bastard.” She bit her lip, took a deep breath, and then glared at me like it was my fault. “I think she threatened to take him for everything he had. It’s the only thing that makes sense. He didn’t love her. He loved me. She had to have said or done something horrible to make him turn away from the love of his life.” A tear slid down her cheek.

  Good Lord, but this woman was a mess.

  I fumbled into my purse for a tissue and handed it to her. She took it and mumbled, “Thanks.”

  Still, a few tears wouldn’t deter me. “So he broke up with you?” I asked, making it sound as if I was siding with her. Really, it wasn’t that hard, considering how unlikable Brendon had been.

  She nodded. “He said he was doing the right thing for his family or something like that.” She shrugged. “‘What family?’ I asked him, but he didn’t talk about it any further. I don’t know what happened to make him change his mind, but I do know he loved me more than either Tessa or Heidi.” Her fist tightened on the tissue as she glanced back at the empty office. It looked like she wanted to go in there and break something.

  “Were you here on the day he died?” I asked, making sure not to sound like I was accusing her of anything. She might have loved the man, but you know what they say about a woman scorned. I wouldn’t have put it past her to kill him in a jealous rage, though rages usually aren’t thought out ahead of time. Plus, most people didn’t have peanut dust lying around.

  “I was,” she said. “This is my job.”

  “Did you happen to see anyone enter Brendon’s office that day, before he died?”

  Beth frowned in a thoughtful way. “Well, Raymond always went in for a morning meeting with Brendon, and Mason had stopped by earlier that day. Come to think of it, Heidi came in right before he went to lunch . . .” She trailed off then, with her frown deepening.

  “And what about you?” I asked. “Did you go into his office at all that day?”

  Beth lowered her eyes and started tearing the tissue into tiny little pieces. “I usually do when he wants something. It’s my job.”

  It was my turn to frown. “Why are you still here?” I asked, more to myself than to Beth. Something was starting to bother me.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Why did you stay here after what Brendon did to you? Wasn’t it hard to stick around and see him every day after he dumped you?” It wasn’t the most delicate of wording, but it did the job.

  Beth shrugged and tossed the remains of her tissue into a wastebasket by her desk. “I suppose,” she said. “But where else was I supposed to go? If I quit, the Lawyers would have made sure I never worked in Pine Hills again. They are a vindictive bunch, in case you haven’t noticed.” She sighed. “I had to keep the job so I could pay my bills, you know?”

  I nodded. It made sense. Beth didn’t look as if she was the brightest of bulbs, though she wasn’t stupid, either. She could have found another job in town if she really wanted, but I had a feeling this one paid better than working at the local grocery store ever would. It would be far easier to suffer the Lawyers than to find another job, hoping you could pay the bills in between.

  There was no doubt about it: Beth Milner might have once loved Brendon Lawyer, but he’d hurt her pretty badly. A part of her probably still loved him, yet a bigger part of her hated and resented him for what he’d done to her. People have killed for a lot less.

  And what if she’d decided to kill him as a way to equal the score? The easiest way to do it would be to stick close to where he worked. If she’d quit, she wouldn’t have had access to his office. Stay here and she could go in and out as she pleased, possibly even contaminate his food while h
e wasn’t watching. All she would have to do was wait until he had to go to the restroom, slip some crushed peanuts into his food or drink, grab his EpiPen, and then sneak out before he was back. It would take all of a minute, maybe two. It was almost too easy.

  For whatever reason, I flashed to the dust in Brendon’s office. It had been all over the place, especially under the vent. It might have been too much of a risk to try to sneak in there to contaminate his food while he was taking a leak. But what if she found a way to set something else up while he was out of the office, something that would cause the dust to get into his food while she was out of the room?

  Before I could think things through any further, a door opened and Raymond Lawyer stepped out of his office. He froze when he saw me, mouth open as if he’d been just about ready to speak. Beth jumped, startled, and looked at him guiltily, as if talking to me was a crime in itself.

  “Oh, hi,” I said, plastering on the fakest smile I’d ever attempted in my life. Just looking at the man terrified me. He wouldn’t have to kill anyone physically; he could just stare them to death. “I was just talking with Ms. Milner here.”

  “Out,” Raymond said, face turning red. “I want you out of here before I call the cops and have them drag you out.” He took a threatening step my way. “I might have been lenient on you before, but I’m done playing nice.”

  I backed toward the door. Apparently, someone had informed Mr. Lawyer about my late-night intrusion into his office building. Either that or this was a very, very angry man.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I just wanted to talk.”

  I glanced toward Beth in the hopes she’d take my side. Instead, she was doing her best to look as if I’d been torturing her. Long strands of hair had somehow come loose from her bun and hung around her face, which was swollen and red, as if she’d been crying for hours. She held her hands up close to her face, like she was afraid I was going to strike her.

  “If I ever see you in here again, harassing my employees, I’ll make sure you’re locked away for good!”