Chocolate Chocolate Murder

by Susan Gillard

  “Well, my phone wasn’t dead yet,” Ollie said. “It was just low battery. I was going to have to charge it that night though. I was still able to call 911.”

  “We can check the phone records,” said Ryan.

  “Guys, you’re starting to freak me out. This wasn’t real. Can you stop treating me like a suspect? It scares me.”

  “Was the door locked when you left work at five?” Heather asked.

  “I don’t remember,” Ollie said. “I mean, I was able to leave through it.”

  “But you don’t know if Ms. Lordlittle locked it after you?” asked Heather.

  “I’m not sure,” said Ollie. “I just wanted to go home.”

  “Was anyone with you between the time you left work and returned?” asked Ryan.

  “Like an alibi?”

  “Exactly like an alibi,” said Ryan.

  “I picked up some Chinese food so they would have seen me there, but I was home alone when I ate it. My neighbors might have seen my car though. This is intense,” said Ollie. “Where are the hidden cameras?”

  He looked around the room, trying to find them. He waved at Amy’s tablet, and she made a face. He was having trouble finding other spots where they could have been hidden.

  “There are no hidden cameras,” said Ryan.

  “I know you don’t want to face this,” said Heather. “But Sheila Lordlittle was murdered this evening. And we need to gather all the information we can use so that we can find the murderer.”

  “She’s really dead?” asked Ollie.

  “Have you been listening to anything we said?” asked Amy.

  “She was really murdered?” Ollie asked. “Somebody really did that to her?”

  The knowing smile was completely gone from Ollie’s face. Tears started to form in his eyes.

  “I can’t believe it,” Ollie said. “I saw her a few hours ago. And she was so alive. I just can’t believe it.”

  “Do you know anyone who would want to hurt her?” asked Heather.

  However, now consumed with grief, Ollie wasn’t paying attention to her questions. He was in his own world now. “She wasn’t the best boss. But she was my boss. She could be condescending. But she also made sure the coffee maker was always working for us. I can’t believe she’s really, really dead.”

  Ollie began to cry in earnest. Heather found some tissues in her purse to give to him. She realized that they weren’t going to get any more information from him that night.

  Chapter 6

  Heather and Ryan returned home that night with a million questions. Heather knew the answers would have to wait until the morning when they could interview more suspects and find out some of the forensic report’s findings. It had been a tough night, both because of the crime and because of Amy’s attitude. Heather realized that he bestie was having a strong reaction to a potential move and was going to make sure that Heather knew she was against it. They were just going to have to make sure that their little tiff didn’t affect the case. Sheila Lordlittle deserved justice, and they couldn’t become distracted from that.

  When they entered their house, they were happily greeted. Dave and Cupcake ran to them and demanded that they be pet.

  “You’d think we ignored them all night,” said Eva.

  Heather smiled as Eva and Leila joined them. The two older ladies were just as happy to see the Shepherds return home as the pets, but were more self-contained. Eva and Leila had started out as Heather’s favorite Donut Delights customers, but were now close friends and were some of the few people she trusted to watch over Lilly on short notice.

  “I know Dave and Cupcake got plenty of attention from you,” Heather smiled. “They probably just think that I’m hiding donuts in my pockets.”

  Dave’s ears perked up at the mention of donuts, but Heather just scratched him behind the ears. “False alarm, pup.”

  “We do have a few things to discuss though,” Eva said.

  “Is everything all right with Lilly?” asked Heather.

  “Everything is fine,” Eva assured her.

  “But it is about her,” said Leila.

  “We miss her,” said Eva. “When we were forced to be your houseguests after the fire, we got to see her all the time. And now when we babysit, we’re forced to make sure she goes to sleep at her bedtime instead of hanging out with us.”

  “Well,” Leila admitted. “Close to her bedtime.”

  “So, we would like you to call us over earlier to babysit so we can spend some more time with her,” said Eva.

  “And,” Leila said. “You won’t have to pay us any extra donuts in return for the extra work time.”

  Heather smiled. She knew the ladies were teasing her while at the same time expressing how much they missed Lilly.

  “Based on this case we just took on, I have a feeling that it will allow for plenty of opportunities for you to babysit,” said Heather.

  “And we’ll have you over for dinner again soon,” offered Ryan. “We’d like to spend time with you. And I know Lilly would adore it too.”

  “She’s like a granddaughter to us. We’d like to see her more,” Eva said. “Especially….”

  “Well,” Leila said. “That brings us to our second discussion topic.”

  “Are you moving away from us?” asked Eva.

  Heather and Ryan shared a look.

  “We’ve just started thinking about it,” said Heather. “Rudolph Rodney is trying to convince us to open another Donut Delights in Key West. But we haven’t decided one way or another.”

  “Lilly was talking to us about it,” said Eva. “She seems happy with the move as long as she can keep in touch with her friends.”

  “She told us she’d be our pen pal too,” said Leila.

  “There’s still so much to look into,” said Heather. “Besides the business aspect, we need to look into the schools there and the police force. We didn’t want to tell our friends until we had a better idea of where we stood.”

  “Well, while you’re finding your footing, you’re always welcome to talk to us,” said Eva.

  “And we won’t try to force you to walk one way or another,” agreed Leila.

  “But if you’d like my advice, I’d always be happy to give it,” Eva said.

  “I think I would like to hear it,” said Heather. Eva was the woman whose advice she valued the most. She had been through so much during her long life but still remained positive and strong. Heather hoped that she would follow in her friend’s footsteps as she aged.

  “Do what you feel is right down deep in your gut,” said Eva. “It hasn’t led you astray before.”

  “And it has helped with your sleuthing a good deal,” added Leila.

  “And don’t be afraid of change. You don’t want to look back on things and regret a missed opportunity. Whether you stay or go, make sure it is what is best for you and your family. Don’t let fear hold you back. Or, for that matter, force you to stay. Follow that gut of yours.”

  “Thanks, Eva.”

  “And one more piece of advice?”

  “What?” asked Heather.

  “Go get some sleep,” said Eva. “I imagine you have a full day of investigating tomorrow. You’ll need your rest.”

  ***

  “Thank you for coming in to speak with us,” Ryan said.

  “It’s no trouble at all,” said Abigail. “I’ll help as best I can.”

  After Ollie’s disbelief over Sheila Lordlittle’s death, they had decided to use a more formal setting to talk to the other assistant. Abigail Browning had agreed to come to the police station to speak with them about her boss’s death. She had not come up with various alternate ideas to dismiss the murder; she had merely asked, “Are you sure she was killed?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Ryan answered. “And we believe she was murdered.”

  “At the boutique?” Abigail asked, shuddering.

  “Yes,” said Heather. She and Amy were seated on either side of Ryan for the questionin
g, instead of next to each other. Amy was still faithfully taking notes but was letting her friend know that she was still upset.

  “We’re going to have to ask you some questions about when you left work to establish a time line,” Heather continued. “You and Mr. Evans might have been the last people to see her alive.”

  “Except for the murderer, of course,” Amy added.

  “I left around five,” Abigail said. “Ollie rushed out as soon as we closed. I wasn’t in as big a hurry because I didn’t have any plans that night. I said goodbye to Ms. Lordlittle and left. I didn’t realize the goodbye would be so final.”

  “Was the door locked when you left?” Asked Heather.

  “Was the door locked?” Abigail asked back.

  “We’d like to establish whether it was locked or not,” Heather said. “Then we can determine how the killer entered the shop.”

  Abigail thought about it. “It wasn’t locked when I left. We never had a problem with theft before. Every dress was one of a kind so it would be easy to track down a thief. So locking up wasn’t a big deal. Ms. Lordlittle normally did it herself. I don’t know whether she locked it after I left or not.”

  Heather nodded as Amy wrote that down in her notes. She looked to Ryan. If the door was unlocked, then anyone could have come inside and killed the victim. If it was locked, then it was either someone who had a key or somebody that Sheila Lordlittle opened the door for to let inside.

  “Who has copies of the store key?” Ryan asked.

  “Besides Ms. Lordlittle, I think only Ollie and I have keys,” said Abigail. “But we weren’t supposed to be in the shop without her knowledge. It was just if we had to finish a sewing project before a wedding. Ms. Lordlittle is – was very particular.”

  “Was Ms. Lordlittle a difficult boss?” Heather asked.

  “Very,” said Abigail. “She expected absolute dedication to her, but wouldn’t accept any creative input. She wanted one of a kind dresses but didn’t want any new ideas. That was very frustrating. She thought of Ollie and me as sewing machines, not as future designers.”

  “Did that upset you?” asked Ryan.

  “I know you want to ask me about it, so just ask,” said Abigail. “I know you spoke to Ollie. He must have told you about our fight.”

  “What fight?” asked Heather.

  “He didn’t say anything?” Abigail asked. “I was sure when you started asking questions about who had a problem with her that he would have mentioned it.”

  “Ollie was preoccupied,” Amy said. “He had trouble accepting the death.”

  “What was the fight about?” asked Heather.

  “It was two days ago,” Abigail said. “And it was about what I was just telling you. About how she didn’t want us to contribute to any designs. She wouldn’t let us make our own designs for the store either. I was really mad at the time. I told her that all her recent designs looked ridiculous. I think that’s why she was really pushing them when you visited with your friend who is getting married. She wanted to show me that she could sell one of them.”

  “Fat chance,” Amy said. “Not that I want to speak ill of the dead.”

  “There was still some tension between us, but I hoped eventually she would come around,” said Abigail. “I designed some dresses that I think brides would love.”

  “Where were you after work?” Heather asked.

  “I wish I had a better alibi,” Abigail said. “I didn’t have any real plans. I was home alone. I just ate dinner and watched a movie. I bought the movie on demand though. Maybe you could check that? You could see that I watched it.”

  “We could check it,” Ryan said. “But that would only prove that you played the movie. It doesn’t prove that you stayed to watch the whole thing.”

  “I could answer questions about it,” said Abigail. “To prove I watched it.”

  “No spoilers,” piped up Amy.

  “Thank you for the offer, Miss Browning,” said Ryan. “I think we have some other questions to ask you instead.”

  “I have a question too,” said Abigail. “That is if it’s all right.”

  Ryan nodded, inviting her to proceed. Sometimes a question that a suspect or a witness asked could be as telling as the answers that they gave.

  “Ms. Lordlittle’s death, well,” Abigail began. “I heard it was somewhat brutal. Was the killer just going after a woman who was alone? Or was he going after Mr. Lordlittle? If I was there, would I have been killed too? Or could I have saved her?”

  “That’s more than one question,” Amy said, trying to lighten tension with a joke.

  “We can’t tell how a killer would have reacted under different circumstances,” Ryan said. “But we do believe that Ms. Lordlittle was targeted in particular.”

  “We could read the handwriting on the wall,” said Amy.

  “I see,” said Abigail.

  “Do you know anyone who would want to harm Ms. Lordlittle?” Heather asked. “Maybe an unhappy customer?”

  “We had a few of those,” Abigail said. “There was only one who we called the police on.”

  Ryan nodded and looked to Heather. “Based on that information that you gave me before about that, I asked Hoskins to find the police report on it.” He turned back to Abigail, “But, Miss Browning, why don’t you tell us what you remember about the incident?”

  “It was about a week ago. I was sewing in the back room when I heard shouting, and I came out to see a bride screaming at Ms. Lordlittle. She probably would have hit her if her maid of honor wasn’t holding her back. Ollie and I called the police, and they asked the bride to leave. She threatened Ms. Lordlittle on her way out.”

  “What did she say?” Asked Heather.

  “Something like “you can’t get away with what you did, and you’ll be sorry.” Then the policeman and her maid of honor got her to walk away,” said Abigail.

  “What had made her so angry?” asked Ryan.

  “She said that her wedding dress was basically see-through. But Ms. Lordlittle said it was part of the design,” said Abigail. “Ms. Lordlittle didn’t seem especially phased by the bride’s concerns, and I think that’s what set her off. She wanted a reaction from Ms. Lordlittle.”

  “Was there anyone else who wanted to harm your employer?” Heather asked. She knew they could find out more information about this angry bride from the police report, but wanted to know more about other suspects that they should consider.

  “We’ve had a few angry customers. I wouldn’t have thought that it would escalate to murder except that now she is dead,” said Abigail.

  “Could you write those names down for us?” Heather asked.

  Ryan provided Abigail with a pencil and paper, and she began writing.

  “I’m sorry I don’t know everyone’s name. But you could trace who they are by the dress description. Ms. Lordlittle kept great notes,” said Abigail.

  Heather examined the list as it was slid over to her: bride and maid of honor from police call, mermaid blue dress, teal corset dress. They would have to examine the records to determine who the people were. She doubted anyone would ever be named “Mermaid Blue.”

  “Thank you for answering our questions,” Ryan said. “Before you leave an officer is going to show you some pieces of fabric to see if you can identify what any of them came from.”

  “Of course,” said Abigail. Ryan showed her to another room. Heather looked to Amy.

  “I think our suspect list just grew,” she said.

  Chapter 7

  Heather brought out some Chocolate Chocolate Donuts for her team to enjoy. She could already tell that this was going to be a difficult case. They needed some chocolate to keep their spirits up.

  Hoskins heard the sound of a donut box opening and hurried over to where they were at the police station.

  “Hi partner,” he said. “I found that police report you wanted.”

  He grabbed one of the Chocolate Chocolate Donuts before handing over the report. Hea
ther was reminded of her discussion with Ryan about the chocolate fingerprints on evidence and hoped they weren’t about to see a repeat of the behavior. Ryan intercepted the report and started looking through it.

  “Thanks,” Hoskins said as bit into a donut. “I could use some more energy. These should give me a boost.”

  “You need more energy because of how hard you’ve been working on this case?” Amy asked.