Peach Cobler Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 57

by Susan Gillard

Hannah of Hannah’s Home Cooking was a large woman who greeted them with a handshake covered in flour. Heather couldn’t begrudge her that. When she was in the kitchen of Donut Delights, she could end up covered in icing and sprinkles herself.

  “How can I help you, investigators?” Hannah asked. “I’m so happy to see lady investigators. It’s inspiring. Maybe with your inspiration, I can solve the case of who keeps breaking my water glasses.”

  Hannah glared at an employee who quickly ran away under the guise of finding napkins. She turned her attention back to Heather and Amy.

  “Breaking glasses?” Heather asked.

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” Hannah said. “You’re just supposed to admit when you or a customer breaks a glass. Not just throw it away and hope I don’t notice. But what can I help you with?”

  “We’re here about Mindy Montrose,” Heather said.

  “Of course,” Hannah said. “I was so sad to hear what happened to her. She was a good worker. Very friendly to the customers.”

  “Any customers in particular?” Heather asked.

  “She was friendly to everyone,” Hannah said.

  “Do you remember a customer named Rudolph Rodney? He’s new but said he was becoming a regular,” said Heather.

  “From Florida, right? Yes. He’s been here,” Hannah said. “He and Mindy would small talk and flirt. I thought it was harmless. He was too old for her. Did he have something to do with her death?”

  “We’re investigating all possible leads,” Heather said. “Do you have any reason to think that he would?”

  “He seemed like a nice man. He was polite, and he tipped well,” Hannah said. “But I guess you never can tell about people.”

  “Did you know of anyone who would want to hurt Mindy Montrose?” Heather asked.

  “She did have an ex-boyfriend who gave her some trouble,” Hannah said. “He’d follow her to work sometimes. I had to kick him out because he caused a scene before. He couldn’t accept that it was over, I guess.”

  “Had he been here recently?” asked Heather.

  “Actually, the day after her death he was in here. He came in that morning asking if she was working. She normally worked lunch and dinner shifts, so I didn’t know why he was there. But after learning about her death, I thought he was probably having trouble getting in contact with her and so was looking everywhere,” said Hannah. “But she wasn’t responding because she had been killed. Poor girl.”

  “Do you know his name?”

  “Eric Brant,” said Hannah. “I almost banned him at one point, but Mindy didn’t want me too. Maybe she still had some feelings for him.”

  “Thank you,” Heather said. “We’ll look into him. Was there anyone else who was angered by Mindy? An unhappy customer or something like that?”

  “All my customers are happy,” said Hannah. “I can’t think of anyone else who would harm Mindy. I hate to cut this short, but are we almost finished? I need to get ready for the next rush.”

  “Yes,” Heather said. “Thank you for your time.”

  “You’re welcome to stay for some cooking if you like,” Hannah said with a smile before hurrying off to make sure that her employees were preparing as they should.

  “What do you think?” Amy asked. “She did say that Rudolph and Mindy were flirting like what fit into Hoskins’s original theory. But we hadn’t considered a jealous ex-boyfriend before.”

  “I think we should definitely talk to him,” Heather said. “I just wish I had – glasses!”

  “Glasses?” Amy asked. “To see better?”

  “No,” Heather said, pointing to a table that had just been set with silverware and water glasses for dinner. The glasses had floral shapes on them. They matched the pair found in Mindy Montrose’s kitchen exactly.

  “Hannah’s glasses haven’t been broken. They’ve been stolen,” said Heather.

  “Mindy took them back to her house?” asked Amy. “To set her table?”

  “I think we need to see this crime scene again,” said Heather.

  Chapter 13

  “What did we miss the first time?” Heather asked.

  “Well, forensics did find a lot of clues,” Amy said. “We were working. It wasn’t an intentional miss.”

  Heather and Amy had returned to the scene of the crime. They stared at the kitchen and dining room area and tried to determine what had been overlooked.

  “These are definitely the same glasses as the restaurant,” Amy said.

  “There was something strange about them the last time that I didn’t realize the significance of,” said Heather. “I mean, maybe it’s nothing. Or maybe it’s an important clue. Maybe—“

  “Stop,” said Amy. “Tell me what it is, and I’ll clarify it for you.”

  “The glasses were both empty,” said Heather.

  “What does that mean?” asked Amy. “Maybe it is nothing.”

  “It just means that if two people were having dinner before the fight that caused the murder happened, then they both completely finished their drinks at their meal.”

  “I see,” said Amy. “That does happen, but not all the time. Sometimes there’s still liquid leftover after dinner.”

  “So, one possibility is that Mindy Montrose and Rudolph Rodney had dinner together and completely finished their drinks.”

  “And the other possibility?” Amy prompted.

  “If you were going to frame someone and use a glass that they touched to set the scene, you wouldn’t travel with a full glass to bring it there. And you might not think to put any water inside it when you placed it,” Heather thought aloud.

  “You think the killer took a glass Rudolph Rodney used at the restaurant and brought it here to frame him?”

  “If the killer was taking a glass from him at the restaurant, he might have also had the opportunity to take a hair from him then,” said Heather.

  “Wow,” said Amy. “Who hates him that much to frame him?”

  “I don’t know,” said Heather. “He’s new. He doesn’t know that many people in town.”

  “Except Roadkill Rodney,” Amy said. “You don’t think he could have framed his uncle, do you? His uncle is worth a lot of money.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Heather. “It’s true I thought of him as a suspect before when we first met, but now we know him. He does a dirty job picking up roadkill, so no one else has to do it, and he’s had his heart broken by murder before. I don’t think he could be our killer.”

  “So who could have framed him?” Amy asked.

  “Let’s look around and see if there is any other evidence of a frame,” said Heather. “We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves.”

  They searched the kitchen again. Amy even looked in the trash, and then she said, “The one food container. Remember you noticed that before?”

  “Right,” Heather said. “I didn’t think one container of Chinese food would be enough for Ryan and me.”

  “It wouldn’t be enough for Jamie and me either.”

  “It probably wouldn’t even be enough for Dave and Cupcake either,” Heather joked.

  Amy laughed and then said, “I think that’s part of the frame though. What if Mindy Montrose just ordered dinner for herself? But the killer wanted it to look like a date that went wrong? So he just spread the leftover food on both plates to look like two people had eaten it instead of one?”

  “That’s a great thought,” said Heather. “He was setting the scene with the food and the glasses, and we almost believed it.”

  “Does this prove Rudolph Rodney was framed?” Amy asked.

  “It’s just conjecture right now,” said Heather. “But I have a little more conjecture if you’re interested.”

  “Of course,” said Amy. “I love your theories.”

  “Hannah said that Mindy Montrose’s ex, Eric Brant, was in the restaurant the morning after the murder. What if it wasn’t to check up on her?”

  “He was trying to establish that he didn’t know she was d
ead?” Amy asked.

  “That,” said Heather. “And that’s when he could have grabbed glasses and a hair from one of Mindy’s regular customers. He wanted to frame someone that she knew from work, so it would look like she brought one of her regulars home.”

  “And Rudolph Rodney already told us he was having breakfast there that morning!”

  “Yes,” Heather said. “And that’s when Eric Brant took the fake evidence to frame him.”

  “Well, you were right,” Amy said. “That is all conjecture. How do we prove any of it?”

  “That’s what I’m having trouble with,” said Heather. “There’s nothing here to definitively prove this was a frame and not Rudolph Rodney panicking after a date and murder.”

  They thought and thought about it. There were lots of little things that indicated to them that Rudolph Rodney was being framed. However, the all the physical evidence still only related to him.

  “Well,” Amy said, finally. “With your investor and reason for your move detained, you have plenty of time to solve this case.”

  “Time,” Heather said, suddenly.

  “What did I say?” Amy asked, wondering about her intensity. “Did telling you we have time convince you to take a vacation or something?”

  “No,” Heather said. “It made me realize something about the case.”

  She quickly called up Ryan to confirm her suspicion. She hung up with triumph.

  “He was framed,” Heather said.

  “How do you know?” Amy asked.

  “I just checked with Ryan. There were no fingerprints on the clock that was used to kill Mindy Montrose. The killer wiped his fingerprints off it. Are we supposed to believe that someone would wipe their fingerprints off of the murder weapon, but not hide any of the other evidence of his date from the scene?”

  “You’re either panicking, and you run away without doing anything to clean up the crime scene. Or you’re level headed and take some time and clean up everything you can,” Amy said.

  “Right,” said Heather. “But the killer had to wipe off his prints. And he had to leave Rudolph Rodney’s.”

  “It definitely was a frame,” Amy said, smiling.

  “I think we need to talk to Mindy’s ex now.”

  Chapter 14

  “Do I have to talk to you?” Eric Brant asked after they had introduced themselves as private investigators.

  “You can either talk to us or the police,” Heather said. “But I think they might wonder why you refused to speak with us.”

  “They might find it suspicious,” said Amy.

  “Fine,” Eric Brant said. “What do you want to know?”

  He made no effort to invite them inside his house. He brushed his long dark bangs out of his face and crossed his arms, giving them a sullen expression.

  “Were you romantically involved with Mindy Montrose?” Heather asked.

  “I knew this was about her,” Eric said. “I heard that she was killed. Who did it? Some guy she flirted with at work? She was always flirting.”

  “We’re trying to find out who killed her,” Heather said, evenly. “You had been involved with her.”

  “We dated for about a year. Then she got tired of me. She said I was too jealous. I wasn’t jealous,” he said.

  “It certainly sounds that way,” Amy muttered.

  “But we would still talk,” he said. “I’d visit her at work sometimes. We were friendly. I think there was a chance we would have gotten back together.”

  “We heard about some of those visits to her work,” Heather said. “The owner Hannah said that you caused trouble. She had to kick you out before.”

  “It was a misunderstanding,” Eric said. “I overacted a little, but Mindy liked to make me jealous.”

  “Did this make you angry?” Heather asked.

  “On occasion,” Eric said carefully. “But I didn’t kill her.”

  “We heard that you were looking for her the morning after her murder,” Heather said. “Why were you looking for her?”

  “I spoke to her on the phone earlier that night and then didn’t hear from her again. I was worried something might have happened. It turned out I was right.”

  “Why did you look for her at Hannah’s Home Cooking? We were told she rarely worked morning shifts,” Heather said.

  “I looked for her there because she worked there,” he said.

  “But you looked for her there at a time you knew she didn’t work? Instead of looking for her at her house?” Heather prodded.

  “I looked for her there because it’s closer to my house,” he said. “So I looked there first.”

  “Do you know a man named Rudolph Rodney?” Heather asked.

  “No,” he said. “Should I?”

  “Where were you the night of the murder?” Heather asked.

  “I was with my brother, Adam. We were together all night. You can ask him.”

  “We will,” said Heather.

  “Do you have any other questions?” He asked, moving towards his door.

  “That’s all for now,” said Heather. “We’ll be in touch if we do.”

  He went inside his house, and Heather and Amy walked away.

  “I think he could have done it,” said Amy.

  Heather nodded.

  Heather and Amy each picked up a donut and munched on it as they thought about the case. Ryan was tracking down Eric Brant’s brother to see if there was any validity to the alibi, so Amy and Heather went to check on Donut Delights. It was relatively calm at the moment, so they were able to think about the murder and the framing. However, their thoughts were soon interrupted by the arrival of a despondent customer.

  Roadkill Rodney went up to the counter and ordered a dozen donuts in a downcast voice.

  “Are you getting those to share with Cicada Katie?” Heather asked.

  “Why would I share a dessert or anything else with that schemer?” he asked.

  “A schemer?” Amy asked, more intrigued by his word choice than by the sentiment behind the insult.

  “Don’t pretend you don’t know,” Roadkill Rodney said. “I heard all about my uncle’s alibi. About the setup that was forced on me.”

  “You’re angry about it?” Heather asked. “He was just trying to help you meet someone nice. And Cicada Katie is really nice.”

  “He did it after I told him I didn’t want it. I didn’t think I was ready after what happened to Norma. But he didn’t listen to me at all. He’s just been trying to manipulate me every step of the way,” Roadkill Rodney said. “He followed me here and convinced me to be a family again. But now he’s trying to be a puppet master with me. But I ain’t no puppet.”

  “Regardless of how it happened, aren’t you happy to meet Cicada Katie? You two seemed great,” said Heather.

  “I thought so too, but she was just playing me. She lied about our meeting. What else did she lie about? I can’t trust her,” he said.

  “She might have gone along with a plan to meet you,” Heather said. “But it was because she really wanted to meet someone she was a perfect match for.”

  “My perfect match wouldn’t have seen some matchmaker,” he said, stubbornly.

  “She was honest when it counted,” Heather said. “She told us about Rudolph’s alibi even though she knew it cost her something she cared about – you.”

  “And your uncle has moved out of the “prime suspect” slot because of her,” Amy said. “With just a little more sleuthing on our part, he could be released soon.”

  “I don’t want to see either of them,” Roadkill Rodney said. “I just want to go home and eat a dozen donuts by myself.”

  On that note, he left the store.

  “I wouldn’t mind eating a dozen donuts. Especially your specialties,” Amy said. “But I hate seeing someone so upset doing it.”

  “The sooner we can clear Rudolph Rodney’s name, the sooner we can clear up this whole emotional matter,” Heather said, hoping that she was right.

  Ch
apter 15

  “Is everything all right, Mom?” Lilly asked.

  She was walking Cupcake and Dave with her mom and Amy, but the group had been unusually quiet. Dave was the one who had been “talking” the most and informing them when other dogs were in the area with an authoritative bark.

  “I’m sorry, honey,” Heather said. “I’m just distracted right now. I don’t like not knowing things, and right now I feel like I don’t know a lot.”

  “I know how you don’t like know knowing things,” Lilly said with a smile. “Whether it’s figuring out a missing ingredient or figuring out a case.”

  “Or figuring out what to get me for my birthday,” Amy joked. “Very important things to figure out.”

  “Right now,” Heather said. “I feel like I don’t know if we’re moving forward with the move to Key West. I don’t know how to prove who the real killer is. And I don’t know how to fix Roadkill Rodney and Cicada Katie’s relationship.”

  “You’re already a private investigator and a business owner and a mom,” Amy said. “I don’t think we need to add love guru to that list. Their relationship isn’t your fault.”

  “But the alibi came out during our investigation,” Heather said. “I can’t help but feel a little responsible. I just wish we could solve this case.”

  “Would it help to talk about it?” Lilly asked.

  Heather thought about it. She didn’t want to expose her daughter to the more grisly aspects of the crimes she investigated, but she worked as a sleuth so often that it would be foolish to never talk to her about her work.

  “We’re investigating a case,” Heather said. “And the killer wiped his prints off of the murder weapon, but he left some other clues around the place to frame Mr. Rodney.”

  “That’s terrible,” said Lilly. “Murdering someone is the worst. But blaming someone else on top of it? Can something be worse than the worst?”

  “I’m not sure,” Heather said. “But I understand what you’re saying.”

  “Worst-est,” Amy said, trying out the new word.

  “And Mr. Rodney is such a nice man,” said Lilly.