Mint Fudge & Murder

by Susan Gillard

  “That’s a great idea,” Amy agreed. “I bet she’ll love it.”

  “She?” Larry asked.

  “Do you know who it is?”

  “No,” Amy said, quickly.

  “Because I had a feeling that Mac had figured it out,” Larry said, frowning. “But he wouldn’t tell anyone else.”

  “Mr. Spooner, where were you the night before last?” Heather asked.

  “Is that when Mac was killed?” Larry asked. “My wife and I were out of town at a wedding.”

  “It seems like everyone is getting married,” Amy said.

  “We’ll check into that,” Heather said.

  “I understand,” Larry said. “And please do take those pictures. You can get rid of them when you’re finished with them. I really was going to dispose of them.”

  Amy rolled her eyes.

  “Thank you,” Heather said. “But first, we need to use them to see if they help us narrow down our list of potential killers. And we’ll be taking the drone you found too.”

  Dinner Table Discussions

  That evening, while Lilly finished up her homework and the pets kept her company while promising not to eat said homework, Heather sat at her kitchen table considering the case. Ryan joined her after changing into his casual clothes. She smiled at him.

  “What are you grinning about?” he asked.

  “I was just thinking about how lucky I am. Not only did I marry an intelligent and loyal officer of the law,” said Heather. “But he’s also pretty cute.”

  “Well, you’ve gotten me to smile,” he said as his face lit up. “Which I didn’t think was possible with this case hanging over my head.”

  “No luck today?”

  “Dead ends,” said Ryan. “Mac mostly worked in the warehouse area at his job, so he didn’t have many interactions with customers. He got along with his coworkers.”

  “What about searching for his will?” asked Heather.

  “We were able to track it down, but it doesn’t look like it’s a motive for murder.”

  “Who is the recipient?” asked Heather. “A random relative.”

  “It was left to the Key West school system,” said Ryan. “It’s a very kind gesture. He didn’t have a ton of money, but I’m sure it will benefit the students.”

  “Based on the prize money being offered for the competition, Amy and I think that it might be one of the other contestants who killed him.”

  “Mac Dugan was the favorite to win the competition?” asked Ryan.

  “He wins pretty often,” agreed Heather. “And he built a giant sandcastle last year when it didn’t need to be so large. I wish we could have seen what his design was this year.”

  There was a knock at the door, and Heather couldn’t help laughing when she saw the large group outside. Amy and Jamie were joined by Eva and Leila.

  “I suppose we all had the same idea,” admitted Eva.

  “Do you have any more of those Mint Fudge Donuts?” asked Jamie.

  “Come on in,” Heather said, opening the door wide to admit her friends. “However, they’re not free. You’re expected to let us soundboard ideas off of you to help us solve our case.”

  “We’re happy to do that anyway,” Jamie agreed. “I like helping.”

  “And it’s even better if there’s dessert,” agreed Leila.

  They gathered around the table. Ryan must have heard them approaching because he had already set out the Mint Fudge and a few other varieties of donuts in the center.

  “Where are Josh and Josie?” he asked, after greeting those who were already there.

  “They’re going on a moonlight boat ride,” said Jamie.

  “And we thought they might need some lovey-dovey time alone,” Amy said.

  “Oh,” Jamie said, turning to Leila. “But he said the more, the merrier at The Milburn dinner. You’re welcome to bring a date.”

  “Well, thanks,” Leila said. “But I don’t have any idea who to bring.”

  Eva opened her mouth to speak, but Leila shushed her.

  “I’m not bringing Vernon.”

  “I’ve been thinking about this,” Heather said.

  Leila laughed. “You’re so busy. Solving cases and running a business. You still had time to try and find a date for me?”

  “It was just a thought I had,” said Heather. “Why don’t you invite Rudolph Rodney?”

  “Rudolph Rodney?” Leila repeated. “He certainly is a nice man. But I must be older than him, aren’t I?”

  “I’m not sure exactly how old he is,” said Heather. “But you’re friendly. And it might be fun to have him at dinner.”

  “And if there are romantic feelings, it’s all right,” Eva said. “We’d just call you a cougar. Isn’t that a cute name for an older woman?”

  “If we keep up this line of conversation, you all are going to hear me growl,” Leila said. “Why don’t we talk about something more cheery? Like your murder case?”

  They all laughed at that and Leila blushed. However, Heather decided that a change of subject was a good idea.

  “I’d be happy to talk about the case. Amy and I think that we’ve found a motive for the murder: to get rid of competition in the sandcastle contest that has a large prize this year.”

  “We spoke to two of the entrants this year,” said Amy. “Brogan had a terrible alibi, but he doesn’t seem like a killer to me.”

  “He also didn’t seem worried about winning. He just wanted to show off his hammocks,” said Heather. “Larry Spooner had a better motive, but he has an alibi.”

  “What was his motive?” asked Jamie.

  “He accused Mac of spying on the other contestants,” said Heather. “He gave us the drone he found spying in his yard and gave us the photos it took.”

  “Are you sure that it belonged to Mac?” asked Ryan.

  “No,” Heather admitted.

  “Actually, we didn’t see a remote control for the drone at Mac’s house,” Amy said.

  “We didn’t find much of anything there,” Heather said, glumly.

  “You found that lock,” Ryan said. “And it was broken. So, someone removed something from the house. It just wasn’t Mac Dugan’s will.”

  An idea sprung into Heather’s mind. “Wait a minute. Larry Spooner mentioned that Mac Dugan hid his blueprints, didn’t he?”

  “Right,” Amy agreed.

  “But we didn’t see any blueprints when we searched the house,” said Heather.

  “That’s what was in the locked box!” Amy exclaimed.

  “I think so,” said Heather. “And someone thought it was worth killing over.”

  Paranoia

  “I’ve been thinking about it,” Amy said. “Larry might have been able to do it.”

  “How?” Heather asked. She was so surprised by the proclamation that she almost made the wrong turn on their way to talk to Ariel Long. She kept her hands on the steering wheel and listened to what Amy had to say.

  “I know he said that he was at a wedding, but he might have been able to murder long distance. He used the drone.”

  “What?”

  “He used a remote control, and he flew the drone over to Mac Dugan’s house. Then, he flew the drone into the back of Mac’s head and killed him. Finally, he had the drone destroy the castle.”

  “That is an interesting way to kill someone,” said Heather. “But I don’t think it’s what Larry Spooner did. He wouldn’t have mentioned the murder weapon when we arrived on his porch.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Amy said. “And I’m not sure the drone really could have flown away after crashing into all that sand.”

  “The medical examiner is also pretty sure that a shovel was the murder weapon.”

  “But it’s not any of the ones found at Mac’s house?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Well, then I hope this next person we talk to ends up being a good suspect,” said Amy.

  As they drove up to Ariel’s house, they thought th
at she might be one. There was a tall fence surrounding her property and angry-looking signs warning people not to trespass.

  “This is someone who is entering a sandcastle contest?” Amy asked with a gulp.

  Heather strode right to the front door and knocked.

  “Can’t you read?” a voice yelled at them.

  “We’d like to talk to Ariel Long,” Heather said.

  “The signs say no trespassing,” said the voice.

  “We’re consulting with the police on a murder investigation,” Heather said. “We can talk to Ariel here or at the station.”

  The door opened a crack and pair of suspicious eyes stared at them.

  “Why do you want to talk to me?”

  “We’re investigating Mac Dugan’s murder,” said Heather. “And we’re talking to everyone involved in the S.A.N.D. castle competition.”

  “Very well,” Ariel said.

  She walked outside and shut the door behind her. She faced the investigators and crossed her arms.

  “I’m very busy building my entry for the competition and trying to keep it secret. Let’s keep this brief.”

  Heather decided to begin asking questions right away. “How well did you know Mac Dugan?”

  “We weren’t friends,” Ariel said. “But we’ve been competing in the castle competition for almost a decade.”

  “We heard he was pretty good,” said Amy.

  “He was,” Ariel agreed. “But he was also one of the people who cheated.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Heather.

  “He tried to see my entry before the contest,” Ariel said, angrily. “I’ve had to be more and more secretive to keep it safe.”

  “But every castle is different,” Amy said. “How would his seeing your entry have ruined it?”

  “He would try and do something to make his more impressive,” Ariel snapped. “My entry had tall towers last year, so he decided to make a giant castle that he could sit inside. Oh, the judges were so impressed.”

  “I bet his cheating made you angry,” said Heather.

  “It was driving me crazy,” Ariel admitted. “I built my fence up very high so no one would be able to see over it. One year I built a fake castle, hoping he would look at the wrong one. I began to fear that he could read my thoughts at one point and wore an aluminum foil hat all summer to protect my brainwaves.”

  “All to protect your sandcastles?” Amy asked.

  “To protect my art,” Ariel said. “No one is going to see it this year until the unveil. No one.”

  “Of course, Mac Dugan won’t ever be able to see it,” Heather said. “Now that he’s dead.”

  “It’s a shame. I wanted to beat him at his own game. I was so proud that I outsmarted him this year. There was no way that he could see my castle. Not this year,” Ariel said, with a crazed smile. “Sure, there were times when I still felt concerned that I was going mad. Sometimes I thought I heard a buzzing noise nearby. But I knew that he couldn’t see my castle.”

  “What was your genius plan?” asked Amy.

  Ariel laughed. “I built it inside my house.”

  “The giant castle?” said Amy, aghast. “You’re building it inside?”

  “I’ll have to let the judges and audience inside the house to see it, but that’s all worth it. Because no one will see it before the official premiere.”

  “But you must have so much sand in the house,” said Amy. “What if it never gets clean?”

  “When I was little, I always dreamed of living in a sand castle. Now I really can.”

  Amy’s mouth was still hanging wide open, but Heather decided to press forward with the alibi.

  “I was at a concert that night. It went really late, but I did come home before the sun came up. I didn’t want to give anyone the chance to break into my house and see my castle while I was gone.”

  “Thank you for all your help,” Heather said, starting to become eager to leave.

  Amy couldn’t help asking one more time, “But won’t there be sand everywhere in your house?”

  Pretty Pictures

  “That was one of our strangest interrogations,” Amy said.

  Heather nodded, as they walked into Donut Delights. They felt like they deserved some donuts after an unusual morning, and they wanted to find a place to sit down and discuss the case.

  “She certainly was concerned about her castle’s privacy,” Heather agreed. “And what she told us were things she was willing to admit to private investigators. I wonder if there is even more erratic behavior that she didn’t mention.”

  “Like murder?” Amy suggested.

  “It could be possible,” Heather agreed. “She was angry with Mac Dugan.”

  “So much so that she’s turning her house into something that will need to be perpetually vacuumed.”

  “And even if she did go to the concert, which will be hard to verify because she went alone, she could have come back in time to kill Mac Dugan,” Heather said.

  “If it was one of his shovels that were used, it could have been a crime of opportunity.”

  Heather nodded. “And then she decided she might as well break into his house.”

  “She’s high up on my suspect list,” Amy said. “She sounded like she was starting to lose her mind too. Wearing aluminum foil hats and hearing buzzing noises.”

  “Buzzing,” Heather repeated as she brought some donuts to a table where they could both sit down together.

  “Yeah,” Amy said, as she grabbed a donut. “Remember she said that she thought she heard it?”

  “That’s right,” Heather said. “But what if she wasn’t going crazy?”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “What sound would you say that a drone makes while flying?”

  “Buzzing,” Amy said, shaking her head as if she should have realized this earlier.

  “What if the noise she heard was the drone trying to spy on her and see her entry in the competition?” asked Heather.

  “Then, there might be a picture,” Amy said.

  Heather opened her purse and removed copies of the pictures that she made before handing the originals over to Ryan. They began looking through them.

  “Larry said that the star design is his,” said Amy, pointing at the picture.

  “And this looks like Brogan’s,” said Heather.

  “It doesn’t look like much,” Amy quipped.

  “Stop it,” Heather said. “He’s trying. And you, yourself, said how difficult the big sandcastles are.”

  “I know,” Amy admitted. “Maybe I’m just jealous because he wasn’t too afraid to try and make an entry. And once he finishes the walls, it will look like a castle. It’s because he keeps sitting in the hammock inside the half-done building that it looks silly.”

  Heather kept going through the photos. “I think this is Ariel’s.”

  Amy nodded when she saw it. “It looks like the picture was taken through a window. And I think I see a couch in the background. There’s no way she’s going to get all the sand out of that.”

  “So, that leaves three photos,” Heather said, laying them on the table.

  “That makes sense,” said Amy. “Because Mac wouldn’t have taken a picture of his own castle. He was just trying to spy on the others.”

  “Based on what Ariel and Larry said, it does sound like this is Mac’s drone, but we’re not one hundred percent sure of that,” Heather reminded her. “We didn’t see evidence of the drone in his house.”

  “Maybe that was stolen too.”

  Heather nodded. The locked box was empty, so everything inside of it was taken. It’s possible that more than the blueprints were snatched by the killer.

  She looked at the last three pictures of sand castles. They were all different design styles. One looked like a small cottage with seashell flowers surrounding it, while another looked like a miniature scale medieval castle. The third castle looked reminiscent of a boat with round windows and a sail.

>   “Which one do you think is going to win?” Amy asked.

  “They all look pretty impressive,” said Heather.

  “I’m not sure about the boat design,” said Amy. “It’s not quite a boat and not quite a castle. It feels like an awkward in-between for me.”

  “I wonder which of the other contestants made which one,” said Heather.

  “Oh. I want to try guessing!” Amy said. She looked at the pictures and the names on their list. “Well, I think Gardenia Daniels made the cottage. I feel it has a woman’s touch to it. But I’m not sure which of the other two are Rusty’s or Hank’s. It might help if I knew anything about them besides their name.”

  “It might help us with the case too,” said Heather. “I wonder if the spying and the castle designs even do have any bearing on the case.”

  “Hello, ladies.”

  Heather looked up and saw Rudolph Rodney approaching their table. Heather invited him to sit down and have a donut.

  “I’m starting to see you here as much as I am,” Amy joked.

  “After having a near-death experience, I’ve decided to make sure I enjoy the little things. And the big things too. I’ve booked a trip to visit my nephew next month, and he’s agreed to come out here later in the year.”

  “That’s good news,” said Heather.

  “I’m afraid I have an ulterior motive for visiting you today though,” he admitted.

  “Besides donuts?” asked Amy.

  “I was worried about your friend Leila,” he said.

  “How so?”

  “Well, she called me several times today and then hung up. I think she forgot that I had her number saved in my phone because I’m technically her landlord.”

  “Oh,” Heather said. “I think that, maybe, she wanted to invite you to be her date to Josh and Josie’s engagement party dinner. She’s been embarrassed about not having someone to ask. And she might be afraid that you read too much into this.”

  “She’s afraid that she’s too much older than you,” Amy added quietly.

  “She needn’t be afraid of that,” said Rudolph Rodney. “I find her company very charming. I can’t promise that I’ll settle down with anyone, but I would be delighted to accompany her to the dinner. But how do I go about it if she hasn’t asked me?”