“Yeah, so you said,” Heather replied, and dipped her finger into the bowl of soy sauce. She licked the salty liquid off her forefinger and stared at the table.
“Yeah, so, I started snooping around a bit on my own,” Hailey said. “And I found some stuff you’ve got to see.”
What was it, amateur sleuth week?
“What kind of stuff, Hailey?” Heather’s heart skipped a beat.
“Stuff on Sophia’s computer. I can’t talk. I’m in her bedroom, and I’m pretty sure she’ll be home soon.”
“All right,” Heather said. “Can you email it to me? My address is Heather at donut delights dot com. All lower case.”
“I can do that – oh, I think she’s home. I think, oh boy. Yeah, I’ve got to go. Just hurry up, please. This is important,” Hailey whispered.
The line went dead.
“What on earth was that about?” Amy asked, around a mouthful of sushi rice. “Suspicious much?”
“Hailey said she found some kind of evidence. She was in Sophia’s room. She’s emailing it to me,” Heather said.
“Good thing I finished off the last of our sushi, then,” Amy replied, and grinned at her. She had a rice kernel stuck between her two front teeth.
Heather waved her hand in the air, to summon the waitress.
Chapter 16
Heather hurried up the stairs and into her bedroom. Amy chased her steps and huffed complaints every other second. “What’s the rush? It’s not like the email is going anywhere,” she said.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Heather said. She clutched her cell in her fist and resisted the urge to dial Ryan immediately. Hailey’s tone had set off alarm bells in her mind.
“That bad feeling is probably indigestion,” Amy said. She pressed her fists to her stomach. “At least, I know it is for me.”
Heather opened her bedroom door, and Dave jerked out of his doggy bed – he had two now – beside her dressing table. He barked once, wagged his tail, then settled down again.
Heather hurried to the laptop, flipped open the lid, and bit her bottom lip. “Start up, start up.” She broke into a bout of humming – Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson – the plonked down in the chair in front of her dressing table.
Amy paced to the bed and lowered herself onto it. “You’re way too tense.”
Heather tapped her fingers on the side of the mousepad. The computer pinged to life, and the desktop screen appeared. She’d changed her background to an image of the new and improved Donut Delights store.
She clicked on the email icon and opened it up.
A message popped up a second later. “Here it is,” Heather said.
Amy lurched off the bed and hurried to her side.
“One attachment.” Heather opened it, and a picture appeared on the screen. An orange date on the bottom left corner of the image told her it’d been taken ten years ago.
Two girls stood side by side. They were Lilly’s age and wore matching outfits. Pink dresses. Their hair in pigtails.
“What? I don’t get it,” Amy said.
“It’s the twins. Isabella and Sophia Hunt,” Heather replied. “I don’t get it either. Why would Hailey Jaine send me a picture of them?”
Heather’s hopes for an answer collapsed around her ears. She bowed her head and shook it. She’d never figure this one out.
“Maybe, Hailey’s just trying to confuse you. You know, maybe she’s the killer, and this is her way of throwing you off the scent,” Amy said and stood straight. She walked back to the bed, then sat down on the edge.
“Why even bother, though? I was nowhere near to solving this, picture or no picture,” Heather replied. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Yeah, but she didn’t know that. The whole locker room incident freaked her out, so she’s grasping at straws to try to clear her name. When really, she’s only incriminating herself further,” Amy said and clicked her fingers. “I bet I just solved the case.”
Heather turned and pursed her lips.
“Fine, so it’s just a theory.” Amy raised her palms, then winked at Heather. “Relax, hon. This wasn’t your last lead in the case.”
“How do I know that? I’m getting nothing from the suspects. It’s like the evidence has disappeared without a trace. None of them have a solid alibi or a sturdy connection to the crime scene,” Heather replied.
She turned back to her PC and placed her elbows on either side of the laptop, then balanced her chin on her hands.
She stared at the image of the girls. They both wore bright smiles. Sun shone on the tops of their dark, curly hair. A single moment of happiness captured in a time before Isabella’s life had become complicated.
Light glinted from their eyes, their necks and… wait, their necks? Why would light glint from their necks?
Heather leaned in and squinted at the frame. A glimpse of a heart peered from behind the glare. “Necklace!” Heather leaped to her feet.
Dave barked twenty times in the span of as many seconds. Amy choked out a cry and grabbed her neck.
“What?!” She yelled. “You scared the sushi outta me.”
“Look, Amy,” Heather said, and excitement bubbled through her core. She pointed at the screen. “Look at their necks.”
Amy shuffled from her spot on the bed and walked to the laptop. She bent and narrowed her eyes, then tilted her head to the side. She popped up straight. “Necklaces!” She shouted, and Dave broke into another bout of barking. “You’re right. Are those what I think they are?”
“Yeah, they are. They’re the twin’s necklaces. From when they were kids. The very same,” Heather said, and drew in a deep breath. She couldn’t contain herself. The revelation was huge.
A watershed breakthrough.
“What does this mean?”
“It means that Isabella fought with her sister before it happened. It means that Sophia tried to frame Hailey, and it means that I have to call Ryan, right now,” Heather replied.
She grabbed her phone off the dressing table and swept her thumb across the screen. Two taps later and she pressed the phone to her ear. It rang twice.
“Detective Shepherd,” he said.
“It was Sophia’s necklace. She planted it in Hailey’s locker,” Heather said and took two more deep breaths. “Sophia killed her sister. We have to get to her apartment, now.”
“You’ve got hard evidence of this?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah, Amy’s emailing it to you, right now,” Heather said and gesticulated at her bestie.
Amy sat down in front of the laptop and stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth.
“Good,” Ryan said. “I’m on my way over there now.”
“I’ll meet you there,” Heather said. “And hurry. I think Hailey Jaine is in danger.” She hung up, then tucked her cell into her pocket.
“We’re going there, aren’t we?” Amy asked though she didn’t look up from the computer screen.
“I’ll get the Taser,” Heather replied.
Chapter 17
Heather launched herself up the stairs to Sophia and Hailey’s apartment. Amy huffed more complaints behind her.
“Lot of cardio in one day,” she said.
“Oh come on,” Heather called over her shoulder. “I thought you worked out.”
“I do squats, not jogging.”
Heather clutched the cold, hard plastic of her Taser and skidded to a halt in front of the door to the apartment. It was ajar. A sliver of light leaked from the hallway and splayed across the wooden boards in front of the threshold.
“Creepy,” Amy whispered.
“Just don’t fall over anything,” Heather replied.
“Spare me. If they didn’t already hear us clomping up the stairs like two dinosaurs, then they won’t hear me fall over a sofa.”
“I see you’ve already identified the next victim of your clumsiness.” Heather didn’t wait for Amy’s quick retort. She pressed her palm to the cold, wood of the door and it s
wung inward.
Amy gulped.
Thumps and clatters echoed through the apartment. Heather stepped inside and tiptoed down the short hall, Taser raised. She clicked the safety off, then entered the living room.
The lights flickered overhead. “Empty,” Heather whispered to herself.
Another door stood open to the left. The bangs came from with it. A series of hard knocks against wood, and then rustles of fabric.
Heather strode toward the source of the noise. Amy whimpered but joined her.
Who could it be? Was Hailey Jaine safe? Oh gosh, what was she about to see in there?
Heather kicked the door open and raised the Taser. “Freeze.”
And oh boy, did Sophia freeze.
The ballerina put her hands out, one grasped a handful of clothes, the other a handbag. She stared at Heather, jaw dropped. Her hair had been gelled into a bun on top of her head, and she wore heavy makeup and a costume.
“I take it, Shawn chose you to be the lead in the show,” Heather replied.
“This is why you’re pointing a Taser at me?” Sophia asked. She didn’t move, though.
“Where’s Hailey?” Heather took a few steps into the room, and Amy walked to the right side, then positioned herself beside a pale, white armoire. She didn’t look at Sophia. Instead, she stared at the empty doorframe.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sophia replied.
“Don’t play dumb,” Heather said. “What did you do to Hailey?”
“Seriously, I haven’t seen her since this morning at practice. She just locked herself up in her room afterward. Shawn is super angry because she was supposed to be in front line of the chorus.” Sophia’s mouth flapped open and closed around the words.
Robot speech. Her gaze danced past Heather’s shoulder and to the open door.
“I don’t believe you,” Heather whispered.
“I don’t care,” Sophia replied.
“You should.” Amy folded her arms but didn’t tear her gaze from the doorway. “She’s not afraid to use that Taser. I’ve seen her in action before.”
That wasn’t technically true. To date, Amy had been the only one to shock a suspect.
“Look, I’m just trying to pack up, I mean, reorganize my things,” Sophia said and flashed a smile which spoke of fear and nothing else. “Do you mind?”
“Yeah,” Amy and Heather said, in unison.
“I know you killed your sister,” Heather said. “I just don’t know why.”
Sophia stared at her for a second. Slowly, she dropped her arms to her sides. She didn’t let go of the handbag or the clothes. “Why?”
“Yes,” Heather replied.
“Why? Why wouldn’t I have killed her? She was a horrible human being. She stole my boyfriend from me. She stole the lead part from me. Every dream I ever had, she took it away.”
“What do you mean?”
Sophia shut her eyes. “I lived in her shadow since we were kids. Isabella was the pretty one, and I was the goofy twin. Isabella was the smart one, and I got bad grades. Isabella had the perfect turnout. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella!” Sophia roared.
Amy flinched and cleared her throat. “Now, now, there’s no need to upset the donut cart –”
“Sweet Isabella,” Sophia said, and threw the handbag against the opposite wall. “Perfect Isabella. Everyone thought she was such a saint, but I knew better. I knew how rotten she was inside. Rotten to the core.”
“So you murdered her,” Heather replied.
Sophia paused and drew in her breath. “No. I didn’t want to murder her. I just. I went to the stupid dance studio early, because I wanted to practice,” she said. “I drove there, this time.”
She’d driven? That’d explain how she’d gotten there in time to murder Isabella.
“And then what happened?” Heather asked. Sophia had forced herself to the edge of the abyss. She teetered there, on the brink of reality and memory.
One tiny nudge and –
“I went up to the office because I thought Shawn would be in. But he wasn’t. Instead, she was there. She’d written him this pathetic little note. A love note. Like he could love her. And I lost it. I screamed at her and told her to get out.”
“What did she say?”
“She said I was nothing, and then she left. Stormed out of the office and slammed the door in my face,” Sophia said and poked herself in the chest. “So I went after her and told her exactly what I thought of her. That she was a home wrecker and a terrible dancer and –” Sophia grasped at her throat, then dropped her hand. The necklace wasn’t there anymore. “Then she laughed at me. She told me that Shawn was in love with her and that he’d do whatever it took to be with her. That my relationship was over. I didn’t want to believe it.”
Heather pressed her lips together and glanced at Amy. Her bestie mouthed the word ‘police.' Sirens wailed in the distance, but Sophia didn’t hear them.
“Was that when it happened?” Heather asked, and focused on the murderer again.
“Yeah,” Sophia croaked. “She ripped her necklace off, the ones we bought together when we were kids. Used our pocket money. She tore it off, then turned her back on me. Ha, well it was the last time my sister would ever turn her back on me. I hit her.”
“With your slippers?” Heather asked.
“No,” Sophia replied. “I forgot mine at home. I borrowed a pair from the studio, but I lost the other one in the office, I think. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. She’s dead now.” Sophia’s face crumpled, and tears streamed down her cheeks. “My sister is dead.”
“It’s over Sophia,” Heather said and softened her tone. “The police are here. Don’t make these any worse for yourself than you already have.”
Sophia shrieked, wordlessly, then threw her clothes at Heather. The smacked her in the face and flopped to the ground.
Sophia dashed for the door. Her clunky ballet shoes clopped on the boards.
“Stop!” Amy yelled.
Heather launched herself at the ballerina. She slapped her arms around the woman’s waist and tackled her to the floor. They landed in a tangle of arms and legs – though, Sophia was nothing more than skin and bone.
Heather struggled the Taser up, then wormed into position on top of the murderer.
“Hold still,” Heather said and pressed the Taser against Sophia’s chest. “It’s over.”
The ballerina snarled and spat at her. Hair fluffed from the net over her bun, and her red lipstick smudged. The picture of grace and femininity, ruined.
“I take it that ballet show isn’t going to happen then?” Amy asked, and pushed off from the armoire. She hurried to Heather’s side, then sat down on Sophia’s leg. “It’s a pity. I bought us tickets and everything.
Heather rolled her eyes.
Heavy footsteps stomped up the stairs to the apartment, then traveled through the living area. Ryan burst into the room, cuffs at the ready.
Chapter 18
Heather drew in deep breaths to calm herself. “She’s coming. Everything will be fine. Nothing went wrong,” she whispered.
Dave padded around in circles at her feet. He wagged his tail, then whined and looked up at her.
“She’ll be happy with it. She’s coming,” Heather said, again.
Lilly would arrive in approximately two minutes. Heather checked her watch again. Oh, no, it was only one minute, now.
Ryan had to work. Now, that they had the murderer in custody, the paperwork would stack up. Luckily, they’d found Hailey Jaine, hidden in the very armoire Amy had leaned against.
Heather paced back and forth in front of the door. She checked her watch again.
A knock sounded at the door, and her heart popped into her throat. “Coming,” she said and rushed forward. She wrenched the front door open and put up a querulous smile.
Pamela stood, resplendent in her crisp, gray suit, beside Lilly. The young girl beamed at Heather and held her suitcase in both hands.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Shepherd,” Pamela said. “I’ve come to deliver Lilly to your care.”
Heather’s calm façade collapsed. She dropped to her knees and opened her arms. “I thought you weren’t coming,” she said.
Lilly dropped her suitcase and rushed into her new Foster mother’s arms. “Are you kidding?” She asked. “Who would walk Dave if I didn’t come, Au-Heather? He’d get as fat as a house.”
Heather burst into laughter.
Lilly pulled back from the hug, then picked up her suitcase again. “So, where do I sleep? The guestroom?”
“It’s not the guestroom, anymore,” Heather said and grinned from ear to ear. She tapped the side of her nose. “Right, this way, young lady.”
Heather grabbed Lilly’s bag and walked up the stairs. The young girl followed her, and Pamela hovered in the front hall. “Mrs. Shepherd,” she called out. “I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll be in touch.” And then she walked out the front door and shut it behind her.
“Are you ready?” Heather asked, and marched down the hall to Lilly’s new room.
“Oh yeah,” Lilly said, then bent and picked up Dave. She cuddled him against her chest for support. “This is so cool. Now, it’s going to be like a movie slumber party every night.”
“Apart from school nights,” Heather said, then stopped in front of Lilly’s door.
Lilly laughed, but the mirth died on her lips. She stared at the nameplate. “What’s that?”
“It’s your name, Lils. This is your new room,” Heather replied. She turned the burnished door knob, and the door swung inward.
Lilly stepped into her new bedroom. Her gaze swept over the dresser, the curtains, the bedding. She gasped. She turned on the spot and took it all in. And then she burst into tears.
“What? Oh, Lilly, no, what’s the matter?” Heather asked, and dropped the girl’s bag, just inside the room. “Is something wrong? Is something missing?”
Lilly shook her head and buried her face in Dave’s fur.
“Tell me, please,” Heather said and hurried to Lilly’s side.
Banana Coconut Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 21 Page 6
