Pumpkin Pie Brulee & Murder: An Oceanside Cozy Mystery - Book 9

by Susan Gillard

“About two hours before we started cooking, he took the equipment outside and started setting up,” Chris said.

  “Where were you at this time?” Ryan asked.

  “I helped him take things outside, and then he asked me to pick Jocelyn up from the airport. He wanted to have it all set up for when she arrived,” Chris explained. “He showed it off when we got back. Then Jocelyn went inside to pack, and I stayed outside to help.”

  “Did Jocelyn touch anything when your father showed off his cooking set up?” asked Heather.

  “I don’t think so,” Chris said.

  “Do you know if anyone came by while he was setting up?” Ryan asked.

  “I left to go to the airport,” Chris said. “But it wouldn’t have been strange if anyone stopped by to check out his set up.”

  “Craig Caulfield would have welcomed the visits?” Heather asked.

  “Sure,” said Chris. “He was prepping for Thanksgiving. That’s all about family getting together.”

  “Did everyone in the family know he was going to fry that afternoon?” Heather asked.

  Chris nodded. “He told everyone about it because he thought it was exciting. I think most of the family planned on stopping by a few hours later. You know, when the turkey was finished cooking and was ready to eat.”

  “But you were the only one there when he put the turkey in the oil?” Detective Peters asked.

  "I was the only one outside," said Chris. "If they wanted to see it done again, they could see it on actual Thanksgiving. I was just there to help my dad. I didn't do a great job of it though."

  “Mr. Caulfield, how extensive are your injuries?” Heather asked.

  "Nowhere near as bad as my dad's," Chris said. "I have some burns, mostly on my arms. They gave me some painkillers, so it doesn't feel too bad. I think they just want to make sure that nothing gets infected."

  Then, Heather asked, “Do you know anyone that would want to harm your father?”

  Chris shook his head.

  “We heard he might be changing his will,” Heather prompted.

  “He had been talking about that,” Chris said. “But it was to give money to charity. It was a nice thing.”

  “Would anyone who would be receiving less of an inheritance be upset by that?” asked Ryan.

  "You mean my brothers and sisters?" Chris asked. "Well, I guess some of them didn't like the idea of an organization getting the money instead of family. But we were still going to get a lot of money."

  "Could you think of a motive besides money?" asked Heather.

  “No,” Chris said eventually. “My dad was such a kind man. He didn’t have problems with anyone. Everyone liked him. I guess it would have to be for the money.”

  “Then we will have to talk to your siblings,” Heather said. “Are they all in town already?”

  “Yes. Everyone arrived by yesterday. Most of them are staying at the house,” Chris said.

  “If only his family has a motive to get rid of Craig Caulfield,” Amy said quietly to her friends. “We should have a nice simple suspect list.”

  “I can’t believe any of them could have done it,” Chris said. “Not Riley or Kaitlin or Bonnie or Sparky. Not even Rachel or Kevin. And certainly not Kiki.”

  “Um, that seems to be a lot of names you’re listing,” Amy commented.

  “I’m one of five children,” Chris said. “And I have a brother-in-law, a sister-in-law, and a niece in town.”

  “And they’d all inherit in the event of Mr. Caulfield’s death?” Heather asked.

  “In one way or another,” Chris said.

  “So much for a simple suspect list,” Amy muttered.

  Airport Arrival

  “Do you think it’s silly to have a sign?” Lilly asked.

  “I think Nicolas is going to love it,” Heather assured her. “He’ll know how excited you are for his visit from the first moment he sees us.”

  Heather, Ryan, and Lilly were waiting at the airport to pick up Nicolas. They were by baggage claim, keeping their eyes peeled for the young flier. Lilly had made a sign so that he would see them when he entered the area. His name was written in large letters, but above it, she had written: "I'm thankful for my friend." She had also drawn cornucopias and turkeys on the sign.

  Lilly had put a lot of work into the sign, but at the last moment had started to worry that it wasn’t cool. Heather could tell that her daughter starting to approach her teenage years would present their own set of difficulties. However, she knew that today the two friends would be so happy to see each other that nothing else mattered. She was thankful that they were able to arrange this holiday reunion.

  Some people entered the baggage area, and Lilly held up her sign. However, they must have been from an earlier flight because Nicolas was not a part of the crowd.

  Lilly conferred with her parents once again to make sure that everything would be perfect for his arrival: that Pumpkin Pie Brûlée Donuts were waiting in the car, that a guest room had been prepared, and that Eva and Leila were the ones who would cook the turkey on Thanksgiving. After she was reassured, she continued scanning the area for Nicolas.

  Heather put an arm around her husband.

  “I’m glad we were able to do this,” she said.

  “Me too,” Ryan said, but his smile wasn’t complete.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, really,” he said. “I was just thinking that I hope we can solve the case before the holiday. I wouldn’t want its shadow hanging over us as we try to enjoy ourselves.”

  “I can understand that. We can be thankful for the good things in our lives, but would be very unthankful that a murderer was still on the loose,” said Heather. “But I think with the four of us on the case and a firefighter we can call in, we should be able to solve it in time.”

  “I hope so. It appears there are many suspects in the family,” Ryan said.

  “And we can get down to interrogating them right after we pick up Nicolas,” Heather said.

  "There are a few things that are bothering me about the case already,” Ryan said.

  “Those extra ounces in the turkey?”

  “Exactly,” said Ryan. “Something could have been added that could have provided extra fuel for what happened.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” said Heather. “Even if there was just some ice added to its center, with a faulty thermometer, it could have affected things.”

  “Unfortunately, there’s not much of the turkey left,” said Ryan. “The fire destroyed any evidence of what could have been added. So what was inside is only speculation now.”

  “That does make it more complicated, but there still are things that we can investigate. The thermometer had to be tampered with during that two-hour window between bringing out the equipment and adding the turkey to it,” said Heather. “So, we just need to determine who could have done it at that time and it narrows our suspect pool.”

  “Alibis will be really important for this case,” Ryan agreed.

  Lilly thought that she saw Nicolas, but was disappointed to find out it was another little boy.

  “Do you think Chris could have been involved in the sabotage?” Ryan asked.

  "He was injured by the fire," Heather said. "But it's nothing too damaging. His freezing after the turkey shot out could be a natural human reaction, or it could have been calculated. He might have wanted to avert suspicion by making it look like he was in danger himself when he really knew how to act, so he was only slightly hurt."

  “That’s what I’ve been thinking,” Ryan said. “He had access to the cooking equipment before he went to the airport.”

  “However, he did seem genuinely upset about what happened,” said Heather. “He’d have to be a great actor to act so convincingly if he’s lying about causing it.”

  “That’s true,” said Ryan. “But it is still possible that he could have done it, isn’t it?”

  “Yes!”

  However, Lilly wasn't respondi
ng to Ryan's question but to seeing her best friend enter the room. Nicolas ran over to her, and the two friends hugged.

  “I love your sign,” Nicolas said. “And I love that I get to be here with you for Thanksgiving.”

  “I hope you’re hungry,” Lilly said. “There’s going to be a ton of people and a ton of food at our house.”

  “Will there be donuts?” he asked.

  “Of course,” said Heather.

  “And we have some donuts in the car too,” said Lilly. “In case you were hungry.”

  “I’m always hungry for those donuts,” he said with a smile.

  They collected his small bag and hurried to the car. They piled in and headed home. Everyone stuffed a donut into their mouths except Ryan who had graciously agreed to drive. Lilly happily narrated their ride home about the Key West houses and how close they were to the beach. Nicolas said he was excited to see their new house and to see Dave and Cupcake again.

  “Dave missed you. His tail is going to wag so hard that it might fall off,” Lilly joked.

  Heather happily listened the to the children's plans for the week and then agreed with Ryan's earlier sentiments. She wanted to catch the killer before Thanksgiving.

  Lavish Questioning

  “The one good thing about this is that we already had a hotel room,” Riley Caulfield was saying. “I know poor Kaitlin and Kevin are scrambling to find other accommodations, but it’s approaching the holidays. They should have planned ahead.”

  "I'm sure they didn't plan on your father dying," his wife Rachel replied. "It was perfectly reasonable to plan on staying at his house until this happened."

  “I’m just saying that we were lucky that we planned on getting a hotel,” Riley said.

  Heather and Amy had met the married couple at the hotel room where they were staying, and that seemed to be the topic of conversation so far. Riley had shown off their master suite and explained how wonderful it was that his business success allowed him to stay in such a lavish setting. His wife had seemed more shaken by his father’s death than he was.

  Heather was determined to steer the conversation away from the accommodations and back to the murder.

  "Mr. Caulfield, how would you describe your relationship with your father?" Heather asked.

  “Perfectly normal,” Riley said. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “We didn’t get to see him very much,” Rachel said. “We live out of state. But we loved him, and tried to see him at the holidays.”

  “That’s why we’re here now,” said Riley.

  “And he loves seeing his granddaughter,” Rachel said. “He always says she’s growing up so fast, and it’s true. She’s almost sixteen now.”

  “So, you didn’t have any fights with him?” Heather asked.

  “Of course not,” said Riley. “We got along very well.”

  “Did any of your other siblings have any disagreements with your father?” asked Heather.

  “Not that I know of,” said Riley. “But we really only see the family around the holidays. Everyone has started to spread out.”

  "You mean they moved away from Key West?" Heather asked.

  “We all left when we went to college,” Riley said. “Only Chris and Sparky are somewhat nearby. They could drive to visit my father if they wanted. We had to fly. At least it was first class. That makes all the difference, doesn’t it?”

  “Riley, stop showing off,” Rachel said.

  “Showing off?” asked Riley. “What am I doing?”

  “You’re trying to flaunt wealth, but it comes off as tacky. Please stop,” she said.

  "I wasn't showing off anything. I was going to offer our guests some of the complimentary Bonbons that this superb hotel provided us with, but I suppose that would showing off, wouldn't it?" Riley said. “I suppose I’ll just be rude and won’t offer our guests anything to eat.”

  “We’re not interested in the Bonbons,” Heather said. “We’re interested in answers.”

  “We’re really more fans of donuts anyway,” Amy added.

  “Now, the next thing I want to know is whether you were having any financial problems,” Heather said.

  “Financial problems?” Riley scoffed. “Does it look like I’m having any financial problems? Look at this hotel room. Look at my suit.”

  Heather had to admit that they were both very nice, but they also were mere pennies compared to the amount of money that Riley would be inheriting.

  “Were any of your siblings having financial troubles?” asked Heather.

  “I don’t know,” said Riley.

  “I think Kaitlin and Kevin were doing fine,” Rachel offered.

  “I try to stay out of their problems,” said Riley. “We just talk about the friendly things.”

  “Riley is very busy with his job,” said Rachel. “And we do have a daughter that we are raising. It’s not that we don’t care about the rest of the family, but we do have a lot going on ourselves.”

  “Where is your daughter now?” Heather asked.

  “She’s in her room next door,” said Rachel. “Losing her grandfather was very stressful. She’s also been worried about her Uncle Chris. I believe she’s lying down.”

  “More likely she’s playing on her phone,” Riley muttered.

  “Where were you the two hours before the fire?” Heather asked them, coming to the heart of the matter.

  “I don’t understand all these questions,” Riley Caulfield said. “What happened was unfortunate, but surely it was an accident. Shouldn’t you be questioning the company that made the frying equipment if you suspect something went wrong?”

  “We would do that,” Heather said. “If there wasn’t evidence of sabotage.”

  “Sabotage?” asked Rachel.

  “That’s right,” said Heather. “We believe he was murdered. So, now do you mind telling us where you were?”

  “Well, certainly,” Riley said. “We have nothing to hide. We’d be happy to tell you.”

  “Yes,” said Rachel. “I was at the Caulfield house.”

  “We both were,” said Riley, putting an arm around his wife. "We were having breakfast."

  “And catching up with some family. Kevin was there,” said Rachel.

  “Yes. And Kaitlin too,” said Riley.

  "Did any of you go outside and help with the setup?" asked Heather.

  “No,” Riley said firmly. “We tend to avoid that sort of thing. We don’t like to get in the way.”

  “No one left for any period of time?” Heather asked.

  “No,” said Riley. “We were always within eyesight of one another.”

  "Let me just get this straight," Amy said to Riley. "You and your wife were eating breakfast with your sister Kaitlin and her husband, Kevin? And you were together the whole time that your dad was cooking?"

  "That's right," said Riley. "We all left right before he was set to cook. We wanted to pick our daughter Kiki from the hotel, so she didn't waste all day with the TV."

  “And Kevin and Kaitlin?” asked Heather.

  “I think they went for a walk?” Rachel suggested. “To stretch after a large meal.”

  “Thank you for talking with us,” Heather said. “We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions.”

  Heather and Amy made their way out of the lavish hotel.

  “Maybe we should have accepted some of those Bonbons,” Amy said. “I’m getting hungry.”

  “We can get some donuts after one more interview,” Heather said.

  “Don’t you already think we’re ahead of the game?” Amy asked. “If those four were together, it takes our suspect list down from eight or nine to four or five.”

  “That’s assuming that the other couple validates their alibi,” said Heather. “And out of curiosity, who are you considering the maybe suspect. Chris?”

  “His getting hurt does make him less suspicious,” said Amy. “But I was really thinking about Jocelyn. We might have considered what happened an accident if
she didn’t push us towards thinking it was murder by telling us about the will.”

  “That’s true,” said Heather. “And she probably did have access to more money while her husband was alive. Now his wealth is going to be divided up.”

  "So, this brings our suspect list down to three," Amy said excitedly. "If we dismiss both Chris and Jocelyn, and the two married couples were together, then it just leaves the teenage girl Kiki, Bonnie, and Sparky. And I don't really think it was the teenager."

  “Let’s talk to everyone before we dismiss them all as suspects,” Heather said.

  “All right,” Amy agreed. “And then donuts?”

  The Other Couple

  “You’ll have to excuse us,” Kaitlin Caulfield-Brown said. “I can’t stay at my father’s house after he died like that. We need to find another place to stay. Unfortunately, most of the rooms in our budget are already reserved.”

  She was typing furiously on her laptop, searching for rooms. Her husband was looking at his smartphone device at the same time.

  “Yes, it’s been very hard looking for a place to stay,” he said.

  “Maybe you could spare a moment to help us find your father’s murderer?” Amy suggested.

  “Murderer?” Kaitlin asked. That certainly got her attention.

  “That’s right,” said Heather. “It wasn’t an accident.”

  Kaitlin stopped typing on her laptop. Kevin still has his smartphone out but looked up at the others.

  “Now, you were just mentioning hotel rooms within your budget,” Heather began.

  “Yes,” said Kaitlin. “But forget about hotels, we want to help you catch my father’s killer. Who would want to hurt him?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” said Heather. “Can you think of anyone who would want to?”

  “No,” said Kaitlin. “He didn’t have an enemy in the world.”

  “That’s right,” Kevin agreed. “He was a good man.”

  “You did mention hotel rooms within your budget,” said Heather. “Is money an issue right now?”

  “Not a big issue, but we don’t want to be excessive,” said Kaitlin.