Cranberry Glazed & Murder: An Oceanside Cozy Mystery - Book 10

by Susan Gillard

  There was a knock on the door and Jamie came into the kitchen to join them. He carried with him a bag of dog food that finally caused Miss Marshmallow to show some enthusiasm. He poured it into a bowl, and she devoured it quickly.

  “What’s that?” asked Amy.

  “Ryan said he found the victim’s address and did a quick search there. He called me to let me know the brand of dog food that he found there so I could pick some up,” Jamie explained. “She seems to like it.”

  “What’s in it?” Amy asked.

  “It’s a special health food blend,” Jamie said. “Very fancy. It looks like there’s a good amount of kale in it too.”

  Dave gave one sniff of the bag and ran away from it. He moved closer to Heather. He was more of a donut dog.

  Ryan soon joined them. He looked around the room at all the types of food on the floor and counters. “A buffet tonight?”

  “I guess it is,” Heather said. “We were trying to find something that Miss Marshmallow would eat. And now we have our choice of meals.”

  Ryan picked up a hamburger, and the others grabbed some of the main course as well.

  “I don’t like the idea of eating what a dog rejected,” Amy said.

  “Maybe she didn’t reject them,” Jamie said. “Maybe she just wanted the leftovers in a doggie bag.”

  Heather turned to Ryan. “You saved the day by finding her brand of food. Did you find out anything else while you were at her apartment?”

  "It was actually a very impersonal apartment," Ryan said. "There were furniture and her clothes, but there were no pictures anywhere. The only thing that gave the apartment any personality were things that related to her dog. She had a fancy dog bed and lots of canine accessories."

  "That's interesting," Heather said. "I wonder why she didn't have any mementos of her life besides things related to her dog."

  “I wonder why there couldn’t be a clue that would lead us to the killer,” Amy said.

  “That would make it too easy,” said Jamie.

  “Mom,” Lilly said. “Do you mind if I take the pets to the backyard? Now that Miss Marshmallow ate she might be in a better mood.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Heather said.

  She made sure that Lilly was all right with the animals in the yard. Dave was showing off by trying to jump and do tricks. Miss Marshmallow decided to sniff in the opposite direction instead.

  Then, Heather returned to the kitchen. With Lilly out of the room, they could discuss the grittier details of the case.

  “What other things did you find out?” Heather asked. “Did the medical examiner get back to you?”

  “He did,” Ryan said. “And it looks like your idea of the timeline was correct. He estimates that she was strangled between one and four p.m. the day before.”

  “She dropped Miss Marshmallow off at the van around two,” Jamie said. “And she was definitely alive then.”

  “That helps us even more,” Ryan said, putting his dinner down to write a note.

  “And you think she was killed at that palm tree grove?” Heather asked. “She wasn’t moved there?”

  “We think she was killed there,” Ryan agreed.

  “Did Peters find anything else there?” asked Amy. “He was pretty excited.”

  "It's difficult because the crime happened outside," said Ryan. "The scene was exposed to the elements, and it was near a public area. However, we did find a hair near the body that doesn't belong to the victim. It's possible it belongs to the killer. We're running a check on it now to see if it belongs to anyone in the system."

  “It would be really helpful if there were some DNA evidence at the scene,” Heather said, hopefully.

  “And there’s that partial boot print,” Amy reminded them. “If we have a suspect, we can compare him to the evidence to see if it’s a match.”

  “We just need the suspect,” Heather said.

  “I did find out a little more about Melanie Grayson,” Ryan said. “I found out she was working at an architecture firm in town.”

  “Then I think we know where we’re going in the morning,” Heather said. “We’ll interview her coworkers.”

  “And maybe the architects could give us the blueprint plans on how to solve this case,” Amy joked.

  Any Answers from Architects

  Heather and Amy arrived at Burdey Brothers Beach Homes with Detective Peters and Ryan. It was a small office building but captured the beachy theme spot-on. It looked more like an exotic vacation home than a workplace. That was probably what they wanted their customers to think when they came in.

  “I know we came here to investigate a murder,” Amy said. “But is they any chance we could look at their houses? We’ve had a lot of trouble with ours, and these look fantastic.”

  Heather had to admit that they did have many troubles with their building when they first moved in and their tropical home did require a lot of upkeep. However, she thought it would be unlikely that they would find another three-family home that would be perfect for housing Eva and Leila, the Shepherd family, and Amy and Jamie, and still have a backyard for the pets to play in. She also didn’t want to be deterred from her investigation. She decided she needed to keep Amy on task too.

  “The sooner we solve the case, the sooner you won’t have to care for Miss Marshmallow anymore,” Heather pointed out.

  That kept Amy’s attention, and she led the rest of the group right into the office. The first person they saw was a young woman with large glasses and a big smile.

  "Hello," she said. "Are you looking for your dream home? Because Burdey Brothers Beach Homes will help you achieve that dream. Oh, wait. You have badges. You're police. What's going on?"

  “Did a Melanie Grayson work here?” Ryan asked.

  “Yes,” the woman said. “She was an assistant like I was. But she didn’t come to work today. Is she in trouble? Is she okay?”

  “Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself first?” Detective Peters said. “What’s your name?”

  “I’m Kim McConnell. I’ve worked here for about four years, and with Melanie for about two. What’s going on?”

  “Did you know her well?” Heather asked. “How would you describe her?”

  "She was quiet," Kim said. "She was nice, but she didn't share a lot of personal details. Except about her dog. She loved Miss Marshmallow. She'd bring her to work whenever there wouldn't be clients stopping by. She was such a cheerful dog. We loved when she visited.”

  “You did?” Amy asked. “Would you like her to visit now and stay awhile? I wouldn’t mind getting her out of my hands.”

  “Why would she visit?” Kim asked. “And it sounds like she’d be here without Melanie. Something is wrong. Melanie wouldn’t leave Miss Marshmallow alone. What happened? Is she sick? Did someone hurt her?”

  Kim was starting to look quite upset, and another coworker noticed. He was a tall man with a bit of a paunch.

  “What’s going on here?” He asked, striding into the situation. “What are you saying to upset my employee?”

  “You’re in charge here?” Ryan asked.

  “I’m one of the Burdey Brothers. So, yes, I’m one of the people in charge. I’m Jason Burdey. And I’d really like to know what’s going on.”

  “It’s about Melanie,” Kim said. “They haven’t told me what’s wrong, but they have Miss Marshmallow.”

  Jason Burdey’s hand moved to the wall for support. “She would never leave Miss Marshmallow alone.”

  “That’s what I said,” Kim replied.

  Jason Burdey looked directly at Ryan. “Officer, is she dead?”

  “I’m afraid we are investigating Melanie Grayson’s murder,” Ryan said. “And we’d like to find out all the information we can about her.”

  Jason Burdey paled. “Her murder… Will you excuse me for a minute?”

  Without waiting for an answer, he hurried away towards the restroom. Heather suspected that the news turned his stomach. But was
the reason for his illness because he was upset about losing a coworker and possible friend? Or was this the result of a guilty conscience?

  “How was she killed?” Kim asked. “Do you know who did it? You’re going to catch him, right?”

  "It sounds like Jason is getting sick," a man said running up to them. He stopped when he noticed there were people there besides Kim. He was shorter than Jason but had the same hair and features. Heather suspected he was the other Burdey Brother.

  “Officers, is there a problem?” he asked.

  “Melanie was murdered,” Kim said. “They want to know whatever we can tell them about her. She was so private, but…”

  “Yes. Thank you. I’ll take care of it from here.” He turned to the investigators. “I’m Junior Burdey. Let me see what I can tell you about my employee. Let me find her file.”

  He started to lead the investigators to an office. It looked as if Kim was about to protest, but he spoke instead. “Tell Jason that we’re very serious about the New Year’s Eve Party rule. If he makes a mess in the bathroom, he’s the one to have to clean it.”

  Then, he gave the investigators his winning architect smile. He realized the salesman side of things might not be appropriate for the proceedings and adjusted to a stoic grim face.

  He led them to the office.

  “Now what would you like to know?” Junior Burdey asked.

  “Everything,” said Heather. “Anything that might lead to us catching a killer.”

  Office Notes

  Junior Burdey showed them into his office, which also looked like a tropical bungalow but had filing cabinets in it. It had a large window with a beautiful view of the ocean in the distance.

  Junior opened a drawer and pawed through it, while the others looked at his seating arrangement. Because of a large waterfall fixture, there was only space for two small chairs. They all tried to be polite and offer them to each other.

  Amy got bored of gesturing for one another to take the chair and plopped into one. She took out the tablet they used for taking notes and prepared to listen to the questioning. Heather thought that one of the detectives should sit because they were more official, but Ryan wanted to be a gentleman and refused. Detective Peters was feeling awkward about the situation and began admiring the art on the wall as an excuse to stop the exchange. Heather finally relented and sat down.

  Junior Burdey turned around. Having missed all the quiet commotion, he sat down at this desk and faced the investigators.

  “This is my personnel file on Melanie Grayson,” he said. “She was a good worker. I can’t believe she was involved in any trouble. But you said she was murdered?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Ryan said. “Now what was her job here?”

  “She was an assistant here,” Junior explained. “Jason and I design beach houses for clients, and our assistants keep us on track.”

  “And whose assistant was Melanie’s?” asked Heather.

  “They both worked for both of us,” Junior said.

  “Your brother seemed very upset by the news of Melanie Grayson’s death,” Detective Peters pointed out.

  “It’s upsetting to know that we lost a part of our team, especially in such a violent way,” said Junior. “And he’s always been a bit soft.”

  “Was she working on any projects that were giving you difficulty?” Ryan asked.

  “Do you mean could one of our projects have been related to her murder?” Junior asked. “I don’t see how. We just design beach homes here. There’s nothing sinister about that. And we haven’t had any unhappy clients.”

  “What do you have in her file?” Ryan asked.

  “Not much,” Junior said, pushing the file towards them. “We never had to fill out any incident reports about her. This is just her information from when she was hired. I have her resume in here too. She worked in a few offices before this one. It looks like she moved from Atlanta.”

  “Did she ever tell you why she moved?” Heather asked.

  “No,” Junior said. “She didn’t talk much about her personal life. Not that we would encourage that sort of thing in the office. We did focus more on our business here. I do know that she had a dog.”

  “I wonder if her move has any bearing on what happened,” Heather said.

  “Maybe she just wanted to be closer to the beach,” Amy said.

  “A lot of our business comes from clients wanting exactly that,” said Junior.

  “Did Melanie Grayson come to work on Monday?” asked Ryan.

  "Yes," answered Junior. "But that was her half day. She leaves at one on Mondays. Kim leaves early on Thursdays. The rest of the week is a typical nine to five.”

  “And you didn’t think it was odd that she didn’t show up yesterday?” Heather asked.

  “I wasn’t quite sure that she didn’t request the day off. Her friends were covering for her. And she did have to take some time off before when her dog got sick,” Junior said.

  “Does she get sick a lot?” asked Amy.

  Junior didn’t know the answer or the relevance to the case and shrugged.

  “Where were you Monday between two and four?” asked Ryan.

  “I was still at work. Jason and Kim were both here with me,” he said.

  “And how did Melanie Grayson seem that day?” Heather asked. “Did she seem nervous or worried about anything?”

  "It seemed like a normal day at work. The assistants are always a bit happier on their half days, and she acted like things were fine," Junior said. "But she was always a very private person. She didn't share very much about herself here at the office. Here's her file. I'm sorry we can't be of any more help."

  He was about to show them out, when Heather said, “I think there is one more thing that could be of help. Does she have a desk here?”

  Junior nodded and led her back into the room where they had met Kim. Melanie Grayson’s desk was opposite from Kim’s, both spatially in the room and in décor. Kim’s desk had novelty office supplies with references to her favorite shows, there were pictures of her friends and family, and there were trinkets from places she visited. Melanie Grayson’s desk was stiff and impersonal. The only thing that she had added to the workplace supplies was a picture of Miss Marshmallow.

  “It’s just like her apartment,” Detective Peters said. “That might have been a hotel room because there was nothing there to mark it as a certain individual’s.”

  “Except for the dog stuff,” Amy added.

  “You’re welcome to take anything that you think might be relevant,” Junior said. “I don’t know how it could be, but I’m not a detective.”

  “Thank you,” said Ryan.

  Kim returned to the room, but Junior sent her off on an errand. “These detectives might take some paperwork from Melanie’s desk. Could you make sure we have copies of the Pasquale contracts and the Sanderson blueprints?”

  Kim nodded and walked away. Junior eventually left too to check in his brother.

  Most of the paperwork on the desk was strictly business related. There were blueprints and contracts and permits.

  “We can sort through this more at the station,” Ryan said. “And make sure that none of these projects could be related to her death.”

  Heather nodded. “Though if I were upset about a dream house I bought that turned into a nightmare, I’d be more upset with the architect than with his assistant.”

  They continued going through the drawers and piles of papers, until Heather saw something that was as red as her Cranberry Glazed Donuts. It was a paper heart cut out of red construction paper.

  “Looks like we found something personal,” Amy commented.

  “And a clue,” Heather said. “Look at that message.”

  It read: Meet me by the trees in the park when you get off work.

  Barks and Backgrounds

  “That’s weird though, right?” Amy asked.

  “I think it means that the killer suspected we might check for prints if we found the
note,” Heather said.

  Heather and Amy had come to the police station to see the results of Ryan’s fingerprint test on the love note that they had found in Melanie’s desk. Unfortunately, the only prints on it were the victim’s.

  “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up,” Amy said. “But fingerprints on the note sure would have been helpful.”

  Even Miss Marshmallow had been disappointed by this turn of events. They had brought her to the station with them, and she had been pacing back and forth. Heather had thought that getting her away from adoring Dave and suspicious Cupcake would be good for her, but she was still antsy.

  “I love when you bring donuts into the station, but you’re bringing pets now?” a voice asked.

  They turned and saw Chief Chet approaching them. He was the most laidback police chief that Heather had ever encountered and was normally seen in shorts and sandals. Today was no exception, but he was also wearing a pair of novelty sunglasses. He pushed them up on his head to look at the dog.

  “She’s a witness in a murder case,” Ryan explained. “This was the victim’s dog. And she’s one of the last living things to see Melanie Grayson before she was killed.”

  “Jamie is one of the others,” Amy said. “And he’s not feeling too happy about that. He's been feeling guilty about it happening so close to his van, and he wasn't able to help."

  “That’s not his fault,” Heather said. “It was too far away for him to hear anything, and there’s no way he could have known what was happening at the time. He’s also done everything he can to care for her dog now.”

  “Maybe you can tell him that,” Amy suggested.

  If Chief Chet was annoyed by having animals in the station, it was soon forgotten. He began petting Miss Marshmallow and soon found himself talking baby talk to the dog.

  “Who’s the pwettiest widdle pupdog? That would be you. Yes, it would. Yes, it would,” he cooed.

  Miss Marshmallow seemed to enjoy the attention. It took all of Ryan and Detective Peters’s willpower not to laugh. Heather covered up hers with a cough.