“Had any of you met Mr. Lemon before he came in for a car?”
They all shook their heads. Then Heather nodded. Either they were covering something up or were unable to remember the details. She didn’t think she would get much more information out of them but had to try and get an answer to one more question.
“I’m trying to pinpoint the timeline for Mr. Lemon’s activities, could you tell me what time he came in and took the car?”
“You’ll have to look at the form he signed.”
“It’s not listed there.”
“I’m sorry. I guess we’re a little informal about the borrowing. We’re just so certain that the customer will come back and buy it.”
Uncle George added, “And we truly do think of our customers like family.”
“I can’t really remember the time he was in. It was so busy. The day was just a busy blur.” Rita said, “And speaking of busy I think I see another customer now.”
Rita and Tim excused themselves, leaving Heather alone to thank Uncle George for his time. She left the used car lot feeling uncertain. Should they be suspects? Or was this usual behavior for these sleazy salespeople?
The only thing she knew for certain was that she had not helped Amy’s alibi. They still didn’t know when the car was sabotaged.
Chapter 9
“Hey, boss. Is everything okay with you and Amy?”
“Of course,” Heather said, looking up from the donuts she was dusting with sugar to talk to her assistant. She dusted off some sugar that had landed on her clothes and then said, “What makes you ask?”
Maricela struggled to find the rights words. “It’s just that usually you two are inseparable, and today you’re… separated.”
Heather cringed. That was an apt description of things.
“Amy’s not allowed to investigate a certain case. Not being able to work together on it has been hard for both of us. But it’s been especially hard on her because the evidence had been pointing to her involvement in the murder.”
Maricela laughed at the idea of Amy committing a crime before remembering the gravity of the situation. “Do you think someone is trying to frame her?” She asked. “Didn’t that sort of thing happen to you before?”
“Yes. But I don’t think that’s happening this time,” Heather said, considering the facts. Everything against Amy was circumstantial, and she had no motive to hurt Inspector Lemon. The only thing that really worked against her was Lemon saying her name before he died. Honestly, the only person who had the ability to frame Amy was Inspector Lemon, but Heather couldn’t believe that he had sabotaged the car and done that to himself. So why did he say her name?
There were so many questions in this case that needed to be answered. Heather was becoming lost in case-solving thoughts, and almost missed Maricela’s next question.
“Do you think we should pack up some donuts to give to her and cheer her up?”
“I think that’s an excellent idea. And I’m positive that as soon as I prove who the real criminal is, things will be fine with us again.”
“I hope you catch him soon. You’re both like parental figures to us here. We don’t like it when you fight.”
Heather assured her that her intention was to solve the case as quickly as possible, and Maricela assured her that she really meant “big sister figures” and that she didn’t think they were old enough to really be her parents.
Maricela took over donut decorating duty, and Heather headed towards the customer counter. Her mind was racing with thoughts of the case as she served some customers donuts with a practiced ease. She realized that she had another important reason to solve the case. Besides the important reasons of serving justice and helping her bestie, she also needed to restore morale with her employees if they were worried about Amy too.
After boxing up a dozen Chocolate Chip Custard Donuts for a customer who was more than excited to try this new treat, Heather was pleased to see who was next in line. Ryan was smiling at her. She smiled back.
Heather asked another assistant to keep an eye on things, while she and Ryan sat down at an empty table. It was time to trade donuts for new case information.
“Any good news?”
“The only good news is I have is that these donuts taste even better than they smell,” Ryan said. “Case-wise there haven’t been any big developments. I visited Lemon’s house. I wanted to check out the garage. There were no signs of a break-in, so no one broke into the garage to sabotage the car. The again, I’m afraid it’s impossible to tell if the car actually was parked inside it overnight.”
“This car business doesn’t make any sense. Someone would have to be following Inspector Lemon around to see he was in a new car. And if they didn’t break into his garage to tamper with the car, when did they do it?”
“It’s possible that he parked it in the driveway, but the neighbors don’t remember seeing it. They didn’t notice anything out of the usual.”
“I wish we could figure out the timeframe for what happened. Right now we think that Inspector Lemon made a scene at Donut Delights, started investigating a case, borrowed a used car, and then went driving early in the morning and crashed? Where was he going? And what was he doing?”
“Based on some information at his house, I found out who his most recent clients were.”
“That’s great,” Heather said. “I bet I could talk to some of them this afternoon. Could I look at his house too?”
“Sure. Forensics should be finished collecting fingerprints soon. Then you can look around as much as you like. I’ll send you the address. Maybe you should…” Ryan trailed off. Heather realized that he was probably about to suggest that she bring Amy with her like he often did when she was headed somewhere where there was a chance of trouble, before remembering that this was an unusual case.
“How was your talk with Uncle George?” Ryan asked instead.
Heather recapped her experience at the used car lot and summed up her suspicions. “They’re up to something, but I can’t tell if it’s criminal. Maybe you could determine if this borrowing a trial car is a regular promotion and if they have had any other customers do it. I don’t think they’ll willingly give up specifics though. You might have to get a subpoena for their paperwork.”
“I’ll see what magic I can work convincing a judge,” Ryan said.
They finished their snack, enjoying a moment of delicious rest before they had to dive into the case again. Heather was excited to talk to some of Inspector Lemon’s clients though. Maybe she finally had a lead that could tell her who would want to kill this man.
Chapter 10
Heather’s morale was fading fast. She thought that reviewing Inspector Lemon’s client list would help her form her own list of suspects. Instead, she was hearing customer complaints and wishy-washy reviews. It seemed that most of his former clients found him to be a mediocre detective. There were plenty of people who were annoyed with him, but no one was angry enough to do anything other than decide not to hire him again.
She knocked on the door for the last client on her list, Mindy Dawkins. She was becoming fast afraid that this lead had been a waste of time. However she had come this far, she might as well follow it through to the end. Also, if this was the last client, perhaps this was the “big fish” that Inspector Lemon said he was going after.
The door opened and her thoughts that she was facing a criminal mastermind worth chasing after disappeared. Mindy Dawkins was a small middle-aged woman with glasses nearly as large as her face. She looked nervous about meeting a stranger.
“Hello?” She squeaked.
“Hello, Mrs. Dawkins. My name is Heather Shepherd. I’m a private investigator working in conjunction with the Hillside Police. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
Heather was all set to show her identification to prove she was who she said, but Mindy opened the door and ushered her in before she was able to.
“A private investigator? I’ve used one of
those before. Very good people.”
Mindy showed her into a sitting room. The house gave the impression of having been filled with items, but of being recently cleaned up. The only real décor was a ballerina statue on the mantle. The chairs were mismatched, but Heather had to admit it was comfortable when she sat down. Mindy offered some lemonade and was ready to help Heather with her questions. She also didn’t mind that Heather was going to take notes during the interview, but seemed to find it more exciting.
“Are you familiar with Kelly Lemon?”
“Yes, of course.” Mindy said, “He was the investigator I was referring to before. He helped me so much.”
“So you were satisfied with his service?” Heather asked. She had to double-check because so far this was his first happy client.
“Of course I was. He practically saved me from myself.”
Heather asked for details and Mindy was only too happy to provide them. “This beautiful ballerina statue was returned to me because of him. Inspector Lemon had mostly been investigating robberies and missing items. He told me there were other investigators in town that helped with the murders. So he made something else his specialty so he could help others.”
Heather nodded. That did fit with what she had been told that morning. He had not been successful in his attempts to find the stolen bicycle or missing lawn furniture but had been investigating missing items. Even the stolen sandwiches that he wanted to investigate fit into this pattern. She and Amy must have really made his case load in this town light, not that it was their fault that they were good at solving murders.
“My ballerina statue had been missing. And it was a family heirloom. And look at it. It really is too precious. Well, I was sure that it had been stolen, so I hired Inspector Lemon to investigate. He was very thorough. He said I should first make sure that I hadn’t misplaced it inside my house. Well, we cleaned the whole house. Organized everything. Because really I had too much stuff. And lo and behold, we found my ballerina. She had danced behind clutter. But now she gets to be on prominent display, and all thanks to Inspector Lemon.”
Heather thought that this actually sounded more like the work of a talented maid than a detective but kept the comment to herself. Mindy Dawkins was clearly fond of Kelly Lemon, and he had kept this promise of reuniting her with the statue she loved. Heather felt terrible that she had to be the bearer of bad news but felt it was dishonest not to tell Mindy why she was there.
“I’m so sorry that I have to tell you this, but I’m here because I am investigating Inspector Lemon’s death.”
It took Mindy Dawkins a moment to compose herself and a declaration to leave the ballerina statue on permanent display to honor Inspector Lemon before she was able to answer Heather’s questions again.
“Did he mention anyone who held a grudge against him or who might want to hurt him?”
“No. He had always wanted a high profile case but said all the good ones were normally taken. He didn’t mention anyone who was angry with him.”
“Did he mention friends or family?”
“No one was in the area. He wasn’t originally from Hillside, but he came here for a case. Then with business being so tough, he didn’t quite have enough money to move. I planned to help him as much as I could.”
A thought occurred to Heather. “Were you going to help him get a new car?”
“A car? I’m afraid that’s more help than I could provide. I do have some lovely statues, but I am not a wealthy woman. I meant more along the lines of cooking a hot meal for him.”
Heather nodded. So far it seemed that no one had a motive for killing Kelly Lemon, but people weren’t murdered for no reason.
“And he didn’t mention any upcoming cases?”
“No. I think he was planning on seeing if any local stores needed a detective, but no concrete plans.”
There was one more question Heather had to ask. “Did he ever mention an Amy Givens?”
Mindy thought about it. “That might sound familiar. It’s possible she was one of those private investigators that got the good cases. But I don’t mean to make it sound like he was jealous. I think he admired those ladies. And I don’t see how they could have been involved in his death.”
“Thank you for your help, Mrs. Dawkins,” Heather said.
She left Mindy Dawkins feeling worse than before. Mindy had made Kelly Lemon sound like a saint. While that might have been pushing it a bit, it was true that Inspector Lemon had helped the woman and he had solved her case. Meanwhile Heather felt she was no closer to solving her case. She still had no idea who would want to make sure Inspector Lemon crashed.
Chapter 11
“I didn’t expect to find you here,” Heather said.
“I figured if I can’t help with a case and if I’m bringing happy donut eaters down with my bad mood, then I might as well help where I can.”
Heather smiled at her friend. Even with everything seeming to go wrong for her, Amy was trying to help others. They surveyed the fire damage to Eva’s house.
“It’s not as bad as it could be,” Amy said. “I mean I wouldn’t purposely decorate like this, but a lot of things survived.”
“I think it can be rebuilt. We’ll just have to find a contractor that is not, you know, evil.”
“We can rebuild it. We have the technology. Better than it was before. Better, stronger, faster.” Amy laughed. “I think Eva would have appreciated that reference.”
“Does she know you’re here?”
“It’s a little emotional for her and Leila to visit right now, but they gave me the go ahead.”
Heather nodded. She could understand that. It was emotional for her to stand in the ashes of what had been a room in a happy home, and she wasn’t the one who had lived there for decades. Still, her friend was right. It could be fixed. It could become a home again.
“And,” Amy continued. “It’s no longer considered a crime scene. I rented a storage locker, and I’m going to put things that could be exposed to the elements in there. Maybe I’ll hang some tarps. Maybe I’ll play dress up with Eva’s hats,” Amy said, adding a joke into her plans.
“Do you need any help?”
“Not from you. You need to clear the Givens name.”
“But you’re moving furniture.”
“Jamie is going to come after work and help me with the big stuff. And to provide me with an alibi in case I need one.”
If she could make jokes like that, maybe she was starting to feel more like herself. Maybe she was that confident in Heather’s ability to solve the mystery. Heather normally felt self-confident in her abilities, but this case was giving her trouble.
“How is the case coming along?” Amy asked. “You can tell me at least a little bit, right? Pretty please with a cherry on top.”
“So far I haven’t found anyone with a motive for killing Inspector Lemon.”
“Besides me?”
“Including you. You don’t have a motive, and I’m not best friends with killers.”
Amy decided that it was time that the friends should hug.
“I know this case has made me cranky,” Amy said. “But you are my best friend. Thanks for putting up with it. And thanks for not believing for a second that I could kill someone.”
“Anytime. Well, not anytime. Let’s not make getting accused of a crime a habit,” Heather said.
“Hear! Hear!” Amy seconded.
“I wish you could help me on this one. Especially because it has to do with cars. There’s something funny about the car in this case, but I don’t know exactly what yet. I know how to put a key into the ignition and go, but you know so much…”
Heather trailed off as a thought occurred to her. She tried to remember what she had seen at Uncle George’s Pre-Owned Cars before being taken to the office.
“Keep going,” Amy said. “I love compliments about my skills.”
“You probably would have noticed this right away. The key that was in the evidence pict
ures, it was a distinctive blue. I think the mechanic was hiding a blue key in his hand when I came in.”
“What does that mean?”
“Oh, maybe nothing. I guess if a car is being lent out, they might keep one of the keys at the office. Someone could go and collect the car with it if they needed to.”
“So you don’t know who the killer is? Stop slacking, Shepherd.”
Heather knew her friend was joking but didn’t want to allow herself to start slacking. She kept her focus on the case and took out her cell phone.
“Ryan texted me the address for Lemon’s house. I’m going to go over there now and see if there’s anything helpful.” She paused as she looked at the address in the text message.
Chocolate Chip Custard Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 46 Page 4
