Shamrocks and Murder

by Patti Benning

  “Well, it fits the bill, doesn’t it? Some people buy a fancy sports car. I bought a microbrewery.”

  “As long as you’re happy, I suppose it doesn’t really matter,” she said. “Did you get the results from Hector’s background check yet?”

  “No,” he said. “It should be in soon, though. Lenny is watching the email account on the office computer, and he’ll tell me when it’s back.”

  “Good,” she said. “I’m glad you found him. He seems like a great match for you and your business.”

  “He’s a good guy. He’s easy to get along with. And it’s very nice to be able to delegate most of the work, while still getting some income from the office. I should have done it a long time ago.”

  Moira didn’t bother setting her alarm for the next morning. Getting the mail at Denise’s house wasn’t urgent, and she needed the extra sleep after the past few days.

  It was just past nine by the time they got out of the house and were on their way to Denise’s. Denise owned a large home only ten minutes away from where Moira lived. It had a long driveway that hid the house from the road, and a beautifully maintained lawn.

  She and David paused at the bottom of the driveway to get the stack of mail out of the mailbox, then David drove the rest of the way up the drive and parked in front of the house. Moira led the way onto the front porch and put in the key code that her friend had given her. The lock beeped, and she heard something click. She tried the handle; the door opened. She walked over to the chirping security system inside and entered another code, and the beeping stopped.

  “I think that’s it,” she said.

  “If it alerts the police department, Detective Jefferson will be in for a surprise when he gets here to find you breaking into Denise’s house.”

  “I think more annoyed than surprised,” she said with a chuckle. “And besides, I’m not breaking in. I have permission to be here. I think he was standing with her when she made the call, anyway.”

  “This is a nice place,” David said as they went in, looking around. “I’m guessing the mess is from the police.”

  “Her house is amazing. And yes, this mess is far from normal. The police must have searched her house pretty thoroughly. Do you think I should clean up?”

  “That’s up to you. You know her better than I do.”

  Moira hesitated, then decided to do to some basic tidying. Denise was a private person, and probably wouldn’t want someone going through her personal papers, but she wouldn’t want her items spread out all over the floor either. She would stack the loose papers and place them on the nearest surface, pick up anything that might be breakable, and clean the dirt from one of the potted plants that had fallen. She would leave the rest up to Denise when she got back.

  “Do you think you could water the plants while I do this?” she asked.

  “Sure. I’ll put the mail on the kitchen counter for her.”

  It made Moira sad to see the mess that had been made of the house. Denise was a tidy, organized person. She told herself the police had just been doing their jobs, but it was hard not to imagine how violated and stung her friend would feel when she returned from jail to find the mess.

  After tidying up the living room and kitchen, she went back through the first floor to see if there was anything she might have missed. Her eyes landed on the door to Logan’s bedroom. She hesitated before pushing it open.

  It was just as much a mess as the rest of the house, but she decided not to try to tidy his room. She didn’t know him as well as she knew Denise, and she thought it was something that he might prefer to do himself.

  Even though she knew she had no reason to be in there, her curiosity got the better of her, and she walked through the room slowly, looking around. Her relationship with Logan had been strained at best since he had gotten out of prison. She had liked the young man that she knew from before, but he seemed different now; quieter, more withdrawn, and more defensive. Was it all in her head, or had he really changed?

  She picked up one of his old school books and flipped through it, finding it hard to believe that he had been in high school only a couple of short years ago. Something fluttered out from between the pages and fell on the floor. She bent down to pick it up. It was a photo of him, Denise, and a woman who she thought must be his mother. She felt her heart clench. It had barely been a year since his mother had passed away. Denise had lost a sister, but he had lost a parent.

  She studied the photo. The three of them were standing in front of a snow-covered cabin. Judging from Logan’s age, it must have been taken shortly before his mother died. No wonder he had carried it around with him. It must have been one of their last photos together.

  She was about to put it back in the book when something made her hesitate. Logan was missing, and this might be a clue to his whereabouts. If the cabin meant something to him, then he very well might have fled there if he was in some sort of trouble. She squinted at the photo, and saw a carved wooden sign hanging by the door. It had numbers, and a word that she couldn’t quite read, but it looked like an address.

  She carried the photo into the kitchen. She needed a magnifying glass but didn’t know if Denise had anything of the sort. David might, however. It was worth a try, at least.

  A few minutes later, she and David were seated at Denise’s kitchen table. David had a collapsible multi-tool, and one of the tools on it was a small magnifying glass. He handed it over to Moira. “You really think that he might be there?”

  “It’s a possibility,” she said. She held the magnifying glass over the picture and squinted at it. The numbers and words were barely legible now; 5555 Pinecone Drive. It was definitely an address, but without a zip code or town, it might be nearly impossible to find. Of course, she did have a private investigator with her.

  “Do you think we could find this place?” she asked. “How many Pinecone Drives can there be?”

  David pulled out his phone and began searching. After a few minutes, he said, “I have something.”

  Moira moved closer to him to look at his phone’s screen. The phone’s GPS system was directing them to an address about forty minutes north of them.

  “If you look at it in the satellite view, you can make out the cabin. It looks like it’s the same one, doesn’t it?”

  Moira agreed that it did. “Let’s go,” she said.

  “Now?”

  “We should have just enough time to make it there and back again before I have to be at work,” she said.

  “Don’t you think this is something we should bring to the police?”

  “I feel like I owe it to Denise to find out the truth before I do anything else,” Moira said. “Imagine if this were Candice. I wouldn’t want her turning my daughter over to the police if she was innocent. We don’t know what, if anything, Logan had to do with any of this. I want to ask him myself before I make the decision to turn him over. It feels like the right thing to do.”

  She could tell that her husband was reluctant, but he agreed to go with her. As they got into his car, Moira told herself that they probably wouldn’t find anything in the cabin. It would be empty and abandoned or someone else would be renting and staying there now. Still, she had to check. If their positions were reversed, she would want Denise to go the extra mile for Candice, so how could she not do the same for Logan?

  CHAPTER TEN

  * * *

  They made good time on their way up to the cabin since the twisting northern Michigan roads were no longer coated with snow and ice. It was nestled along a dirt road that had seen better days. David slowed as he turned on his blinker and pulled into the driveway where he came to a stop before going any further.

  “I don’t know what we’ll find up there,” he said. “Even if Logan is there, he might be frightened. He may try to defend the place. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “I’ll be careful,” Moira said. “But I think you should stay in the car. Logan knows me a lot better than he knows you. I don
’t want to put him on the defensive, if he is there.”

  “Fine,” David said, not looking happy. “I know you’re right, but I don’t like it.”

  “Like I said, I’ll be careful. Let’s go. I do have to be at the deli before too long.”

  He drove carefully up the rest of the driveway. When he stopped a few yards away from the house, Moira got out and looked around. The cabin looked abandoned. She didn’t see any other vehicles, but there was a rough path through the trees that vanished behind the house. Someone could very well be parked there. All of the lights inside were off, and the curtains were drawn. If there had still been snow on the ground, she might have been able to see footprints or tire tracks, but the damp soil and leaves gave her nothing.

  Taking a deep breath, Moira walked up to the door and knocked on it. She listened intently, hoping to hear footsteps or voices inside, but the only thing she heard was her own breathing. Well, we wasted some time, she thought. I suppose that’s not the worst thing to have happen. She was turning to go back to the car when she heard a lock click behind her, and the door opened.

  She spun around to find herself facing not Logan, but Julian, and he was holding a shotgun. The two of them stared at each other for a heart stopping few seconds before Julian put the gun down and breathed an audible sigh of relief.

  “Moira,” he said. “Thank goodness it’s just you. Did Denise send you?”

  “No,” she said. “I found out about the cabin on my own, and I thought I would check here for Logan. What are you doing here?”

  “I’m staying here with him. How is Denise? She said she wouldn’t visit until the police had found the killer, to be sure that she wouldn’t lead them here, but I’m getting concerned. She hasn’t called.”

  “She was arrested,” Moira said. Julian’s face paled.

  “Come in,” he said. “Tell us everything.”

  “David’s in the car,” she said. “Can he come in as well?”

  Julian nodded. Moira turned back toward the car and waved for David to come forward. Together, the two of them followed Julian into the cabin.

  The inside of the cabin was small and cramped. Logan was sitting on a rickety looking armchair by the fireplace. Julian took the chair next to him, which left the ratty couch for David and Moira. The deli owner sat down. There was silence for a moment until Julian spoke.

  “What happened? Why was she arrested?”

  “She’s the lead suspect, as far as I know,” Moira said. “I can understand from Detective Jefferson’s point of view why they brought her in. She was at the scene of the crime, covered in the victim’s blood, and claimed to have no memory about what happened. She and Hector were the only ones there. I think all they’re lacking is a motive and a murder weapon.”

  “We have to go back,” Logan said. “I’m not going to let them blame my aunt for this. She didn’t do anything.”

  “No,” Julian said. “She wanted you here. Remember? She wouldn’t want you to put yourself at risk for her.”

  “I’m assuming that the two of you know something about what happened,” David said. “Can you tell us about it?”

  The two men exchanged a look, then Julian said. “I’ll tell you. I won’t even ask you to keep it from the police. All I’m asking is for you to listen to everything I have to say before making any decisions, okay?”

  Both David and Moira agreed. Moira found herself sitting on the edge of her seat, eager to finally be learning something new about the mystery that had plagued her for the past few days. With luck, what they learned here could help lead them to the real killer and might eventually help to free Denise.

  “The night of the murder, I was supposed to be working, but Logan’s car broke down on his way back from his job and Denise asked me to go pick him up. I called Hector in and traded shifts with him, then I went to go and get Logan. We were all going to meet at the Grill after closing and have a quick meal there before going home.”

  “When I got to the grill, the front door was unlocked, but it was dark inside. Logan and I were worried about Denise and searched the building for her. We found her in the kitchen, kneeling by Hector’s body. I think she had been trying to stop the bleeding, but it didn’t work. She was covered in blood. She told me that she had been in the back office figuring her taxes for the year when she heard shouting. She said at first, she didn’t take much notice of it because Hector was a naturally loud person, and often shouted when he was on the phone, but soon she realized it was more serious than that. She hurried into the kitchen, but it was too late by then. Hector had already been attacked and was laying on the floor. That’s when Logan and I showed up. She was horrified to see Logan at the scene of the crime and asked me to take him away while the police figured it out. She didn’t want him to be linked to yet another murder and was worried that he would end up back in prison.”

  The deli owner nodded. Everything Julian had said sounded believable. Logan was still on probation, and it wouldn’t look good to anyone if he was found at the scene of a violent crime.

  “You don’t believe that Denise had anything to do with the murder?” David asked.

  Logan looked at him sharply, but it was Julian replied. “No, I don’t,” he said firmly. “She was trying to save him. You didn’t see her. She was a mess.”

  “She came to me that night. She told me that she didn’t know what happened, and that she woke up covered in blood after being hit on the head with something. She didn’t seem surprised at first when we found Hector, but faked it a moment later,” Moira said. “Why did she lie to me?”

  “Probably to give her nephew more time to get away,” Julian said. “I can’t speak for her, though. What’s important right now is clearing her name.”

  “Do you have any idea who killed Hector?”

  “We don’t. It’s all we’ve been talking about while we’ve been hiding here, but we can’t think of anyone who disliked him enough to kill him.”

  “He was having troubles with one of the employees at the Grill,” Moira said. “A boy named Zach. Zach admitted to me that he didn’t like Hector very much.”

  “I know him,” Julian said. “He’s a nice kid. I couldn’t see him murdering someone, but I suppose it’s possible. Have you mentioned this to the police?”

  Moira hadn’t. She’d meant to call Detective Jefferson that morning, but one thing had led to another and she had forgotten.

  “I’ll mention it to him as soon as we get on the road,” she said.

  “There’s still the question of what we’re going to do now,” David said. “The police are looking for you two.”

  “We would appreciate a little more time. I think Denise’s fears about what will happen to Logan if it comes out that he was at the scene of the murder are valid. With luck, the police will find the real killer soon, and then we won’t have to worry about anything,” Julian said.

  “How about forty-eight hours?” Moira said. “If we don’t hear anything back by Sunday, then we’ll tell him where you two are. I’m not comfortable hiding this from the police, but I understand why you want to keep Logan’s location a secret.”

  “I think that’s fair,” Julian said. “Thank you.”

  With that, Moira and David parted ways with the two men. All four of them had a lot to think about. Moira wasn’t sure what the right answer was anymore. She could only hope that she was doing the right thing.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  * * *

  Moira called Detective Jefferson as soon as she and David got back into the car and told him about Zach, including everything he had said during the interview. He didn’t ask about Logan and Julian, and she didn’t volunteer the information. If he had asked, she knew that she probably would have told him. The thought of actually lying to the police made her very uncomfortable.

  Julian’s explanation about the night of the murder answered a lot of the questions she had. In fact, it answered everything except for the who and why of the murder. Hector sounde
d like he hadn’t been an easy person to work for, which meant that even if Zach wasn’t the killer, one of the other employees might have snapped.

  Who else would want to kill him? Without knowing more about Hector, that question was an impossible one to answer. She should have asked Julian more about him while she was there; he probably knew more about Hector than anyone, besides Denise. Once again, she wished that she could talk to Denise, but it was out of the question for the time being.

  Even though Moira was in no mood to work that afternoon, she had to begin preparing everything for Thelma’s party the next day. She hadn’t minded throwing things together at the last minute for her friend earlier in the week, but now, with everything else that was going on, it had become a chore.

  She planned on waking up early Saturday morning to cook the mini quiches and breakfast cookies, but she still had to make sure the serving dishes were clean, double check that the hot plates still worked, load everything into the refrigerated truck, and prepare all of the ingredients. It was a busy afternoon, but one benefit to the activity was that it made the time go by faster.