Before my mind was able to drift too far into the clouds, I saw a police squad car streak by on Main Street. Suddenly, my focus shifted to David.
It dawned on me that I hadn’t heard from my fiancé yet that morning, which was highly unusual. He typically came in to the shop to grab a cup of coffee before his shift began. But even on days that he didn’t, he was good about calling or texting me when some big development occurred.
Since he had not checked in with me, I could not help but wonder why. It would be easy to fear the worst, but I tried to keep a level head.
I pulled out my phone and gave him a call.
Thankfully, he picked up after the second ring. Although, he did not seem to be in a very good mood.
“Sabrina, I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier,” David said.
“Would it be foolish of me to assume that you just slept in this morning?” I said.
He scoffed. “I wish that was the case.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” I replied.
“It turns out that it has been an unexpectedly hectic morning.”
“Working on the case?”
“Yeah.”
“Does this have to do with the murder-for-hire theory I floated to you last night?”
“No.”
My eyebrows rose. “Really? Did a suspect finally emerge, then?”
“You’re not even close,” he replied.
I squinted. “Then what is it?”
“Before I tell you, I need to ask—are you sitting down?” David said.
My face strained. “Why does that matter?”
“You didn’t answer my question. If you’re not sitting down, you really should be.”
“Uh-oh. This must be really awful news if you feel the need to preface it like that. Although, what else could go wrong with this investigation?”
“When you find out the answer, I think you’re going to regret asking that.”
“Now I need to know what’s going on.”
“Rick Olson is dead,” David said.
I did a double-take. Briefly, I wondered if I had heard David correctly. I certainly wished that was true. Unfortunately, deep down, I knew that I hadn’t misheard him.
A shiver went down my spine as the gravity of David’s words weighed heavily on my mind. I opened my mouth to reply, but no words came out. For the next ten seconds, I tried to untie my tongue, but was unsuccessful.
Finally, the silence became too much for David.
“Sabrina, are you there?” he asked.
“Yeah. I just, uh…can’t believe it,” I said.
“I know. Just when you think things can’t get any crazier around here.”
“This is insane. So that means Valerie and Rick Olson were murdered on back to back nights?”
“Mind blowing stuff, huh?” David said.
Chapter Fifteen
It was such jaw dropping news that it took me a few minutes to get my bearings back. When I finally did, I rushed over to the motel room where Rick’s body had been discovered.
With the Olson house still cordoned off after Valerie’s murder, Rick had checked in to the Treasure Cove Motor Lodge on Route 32 last night. Now he’d be leaving in a body bag.
When I pulled up in front of the motel, it looked like every member of the Treasure Cove Police Department was there. I parked my car and walked toward room number seven, where most of the police personnel was congregated.
As I approached the room, I spotted a security camera mounted just outside the front lobby, pointed at the parking lot. That gave me a glimmer of hope that perhaps the camera had recorded some useful footage around the time of the murder.
David met up with me at the door to the room and walked me inside. A number of things immediately stood out to me as I entered.
Most notable was the sight of Rick Olson’s dead body on the ground in the middle of the room. There was a stab wound on his back. The room itself was completely trashed. It looked like a burglar had ransacked the place. In addition, the back window of the room was wide open.
There were an eerie number of similarities between the Valerie and Rick Olson crime scenes. My mind was eager to connect the dots, but my heart had other plans. The sight of Rick’s corpse made my emotions swell, causing me to turn away from the scene and recoil.
“What is going on in this town?” I asked.
“Treasure Cove is coming unhinged, that’s what,” David said.
“How blunt of you to say.”
“Why should I hold back? No one else in this town is. Most certainly not Rick’s killer.”
I took a few deep breaths and regained my composure. “Speaking of, how did you know that Rick was even dead?”
“The 9-1-1 operator got a call from the motel manager this morning. Apparently, one of the maids came in to clean the room an hour ago and discovered Rick’s body on the floor.”
“Did the maid happen to see or hear anything suspicious?” I asked. “Other than the body, I mean.”
“No. But that isn’t surprising. After all, according to the medical examiner, Rick was killed last night.”
“Was the examiner able to narrow it down a little more than that?”
David nodded. “It looks like the murder occurred between nine and ten o’clock.”
My eyebrows arched. “That’s exactly the same time frame that Valerie’s murder took place two nights ago.”
“It sure is,” David said. “And that’s not the only similarity between the two murders.”
“Well, yeah. Rick has a stab wound in his back, just like Valerie did.”
“Plus, no murder weapon was found at either scene.”
“I doubt you’ll ever find the weapon, either. If the killer was smart, they will have already disposed of it.”
David nodded. “Exactly. But, clearly, a knife was used to kill both victims. Even more, the wound in Rick’s back is the same size as the one found on Valerie’s back as well.”
“Meaning that the same knife, or same type of knife, was used for both murders.”
“Correct.”
I scratched my chin. “Interesting.”
“That’s not all. In addition, forensics wasn’t able to pull any unexpected fingerprints from the scene.”
“Which is pretty amazing, considering how this room is trashed,” I said.
“If I didn’t know better, I would think this was the work of a burglar,” he said.
“But let me guess, there doesn’t appear to be any notable items missing from the room?” I asked.
“Not one. The TV is still here. As is Rick’s suitcase. And his wallet,” David said.
“So, another scene staged to look like a burglary gone wrong.”
“That’s my current theory,” David said. “I certainly don’t believe this was the work of an actual burglar.”
“I’m with you on that,” I said. “I mean, what are the odds that Rick’s house and his motel room would get broken into on back to back nights, only for nothing significant to be stolen?”
“Slim to none.”
“I’d go with none.”
“I can’t disagree with that.”
“I noticed a security camera pointed at the parking lot. Have any of your deputies gone over the footage from last night?” I asked.
David nodded. “Yes, but unfortunately, there’s nothing useful there.”
“Is that because you think the killer came into the room through the back window?”
“All signs are pointing to that being the case.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear.”
“I’m sorry to break the bad news to you.”
I winced. “Great. Just what we need—a smart killer who knows how to avoid being recorded on a security camera.”
“I know. It’s supremely frustrating,” David said.
“I have a different word for it.”
“I’ll bet you do.”
I put my hands on my hips. “I don’t
suppose you have any good news for me, do you?”
David shook his head.
I scanned the room, looking for any piece of evidence that the forensics team might have missed. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to spot anything. Even worse, when my eyes caught sight of Rick’s body again, my breath shortened.
“Why don’t we step outside for a minute?” I said.
Chapter Sixteen
It never failed. Every time I set foot at a crime scene, my breathing inevitably became constricted.
I took some deep breaths as I stepped outside. It felt good to have some fresh air in my lungs. A few moments later, my muscles slowly but surely began to loosen up.
Now that I was able to breathe again, my thoughts drifted back to the case. What an absolute disaster this was. Two murders in as many days. No murder weapons. No fingerprints. No obvious motive. This was the kind of thing that nightmares were made of.
David stood beside me, watching me stare out into the distance. He waited for me to say the first word. When I just continued to look at the collection of trees that were behind the motel, he grew tired of waiting for me to speak up.
“Are you good now?” David asked.
I turned to him and looked at him like he had two heads. “Of course not. This town has gone nuts…again. I mean, you’d think eventually that Treasure Cove would run out of new surprises, but nope. The insanity just keeps coming.”
He gave me a concerned look. “Should I have a deputy drive you home?”
“No. I’ll be fine.”
He squinted at me. “Are you sure about that? Because if this is too much for you to handle, I understand.”
“I just needed to get that rant out of my system. Besides, what made you think I would be good, anyway? Even as stoic as you are, I’ll bet you’re far from okay right now.”
“What I meant was, are you good to talk about the case again?” David said. “You were really deep in thought there.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry. My emotions are kind of all over the place right now.”
“I can see that. But look, I’m here for you.” He took my hand. “Now, tell me, do I need to be worried about you?”
“No.”
He stared deep into my eyes, no doubt to try and detect if I was lying to him.
“It’s just that with all the crazy twists that have taken place in the last few days, I can’t help but worry what’s going to happen next,” I said.
“If all goes well, we will put whoever did this behind bars,” he said.
“That’s a big if. Especially since nothing has gone well in the last forty-eight hours.”
“True. But with a killer, or possibly even two different killers on the loose, there’s no time for wallowing. We need to bring whoever is responsible for this to justice.”
David’s words snapped me out of my existential funk. From there, resolve came to my face.
“You’re right,” I said.
His eyes lit up. “That’s the Sabrina I’m used to seeing.”
“As for this case, I believe we’re dealing with one killer, not two.”
“I was leaning that way too. All the evidence is pointing toward this being the work of a single perpetrator.”
“Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any clues pointing to the killer’s identity.”
“Not yet, at least. Remember, it’s still early.”
“Normally, I’d agree with you. But with the killer claiming two victims already, patience is a luxury that neither of us have.”
“I understand,” he said. “What doesn’t add up to me is the motive behind these murders. As it is, I still have no clue who even wanted Valerie Olson dead, much less Rick.”
I bit my lip.
David waited a number of seconds for me to respond. When I didn’t provide him an answer, he spoke up. “Any ideas?”
“When it comes to Valerie, I have no clue,” I said.
“What about Rick?”
“That depends. Did he have any enemies?”
“As a matter of fact, he did.”
My eyes widened. “Maybe now we can finally get somewhere.”
“It actually turns out that a number of people had a reason to want him dead.”
“Isn’t that always the way? Either no one hates you or a whole slew of people do. There’s rarely any middle ground.”
“What did you expect, that there would be exactly one person who hated Rick enough to kill him?”
“It would certainly make this case a lot easier, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s some serious wishful thinking.”
I threw my arms out. “So, what? Is that really too much to ask for?”
He chuckled. “Are you kidding? You might as well ask for a smoking gun while you’re at it.”
“If Rick had been killed with a gun, I would do just that. After all, we’re due for an easy case,” I said.
“True. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to get one anytime soon.”
I became deflated. “You’re probably right.” I took a deep breath. “Why don’t we just get to these suspects?”
“Well, I called up one of Rick’s fishing buddies. Off the top of his head, he was able to name three different people who had a reason to want Rick dead.”
“Interesting,” I said. “Did you also ask this guy if any of those potential suspects had a reason to kill Valerie as well?”
He nodded. “That’s where things get really frustrating. According to Rick’s buddy, none of the suspects had a motive for wanting Valerie dead.”
I bit my lip.
“I know. It’s infuriating,” David said.
I scratched my forehead. “Actually, that might clear things up a little.”
“How do you figure?”
“So, on the night that Valerie was killed, Rick was on a fishing trip with his friends, right?”
“Yeah. But I don’t see how that clears anything up,” David said.
I held my hand up. “Bear with me. You and I know that Rick was out of town that evening. But what if the killer didn’t? Suppose the murderer thought Rick was at home. Perhaps they were counting on him being there that night. But they were wrong.”
“And when the killer broke into the Olson house, they discovered Valerie inside instead of Rick.”
“Exactly,” I said. “That would explain why we couldn’t come up with a motive for her death. She was never the intended victim. Instead, she was just a casualty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Which takes us back to the killer. They still wanted Rick dead. So last night, they tracked him down here to his motel room and took him out.”
I nodded. “To me, that theory makes the most sense.”
“On the surface, the pieces do fit together.”
“Then why do you seem like you aren’t fully convinced? Do you have a better theory?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m just trying to consider all the possibilities.”
“Until a better one surfaces, this is the one I’m sticking with.”
“Fair enough. We’ll certainly find out sooner or later.”
“The sooner the better.”
“Unfortunately, we have no control over that part,” David said.
“No,” I said. “So, let’s skip to what we do have control over. Namely, interviewing Rick’s enemies.”
Chapter Seventeen
Mark Thornton was a muscular thirty-eight-year-old who had a shaved head, a mustache, and a sleeve of tattoos up and down his arms.
He stood in the doorway to his ratty Eastside apartment with folded arms and a snarl on his face.
“I know what you’re thinking and I didn’t do it,” Mark said.
“Mr. Thornton, you seem awfully defensive considering that I haven’t accused you of anything,” David said.
“Not yet. But you were about to,” Mark said.
“What makes you so sure about that?” David asked.
“I’m not an idiot.
I watch TV. Police don’t just show up at your house unless they have suspicions,” Mark said.
“You shouldn’t believe everything you see on television.”
“Yeah? Tell me I’m wrong.”
“We’re just here to ask you some questions,” David said.
“About whether I murdered Rick?”
“This will be a lot easier if you let us ask you the questions.”
“Easier for who? You? Or me?” Mark asked.
I lost my patience. “Why are you being so defensive?”
“If a police detective showed up at your door, I’ll bet you’d be pretty defensive too,” Mark said.
“Not if I was innocent,” I said. “If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about.”
“I don’t have anything to hide,” Mark snapped.
“Then don’t worry. Now, can we please get to our questions?” I asked.
“I didn’t have anything to do with Rick’s death. That’s the only answer that matters,” Mark said.
“To you, perhaps. But there are a number of other things that we would like to know,” I said.
“I’m sure you would, but I don’t have anything else to say to you,” Mark replied.
David groaned. “All right. That’s it. I’m going to make this perfectly clear. You can either answer our questions here or back at the police station. The choice is yours.”
Mark saw David staring him down. “I didn’t kill him. What more could you possibly want to know from me?”
“Your whereabouts last night and the evening before,” David said.
“Of course. The nights that Valerie and Rick were killed,” Mark said.
“I know you think I’m the enemy, but if you have an alibi for both evenings, I’d be happy to be on my way,” David said.
For the first time during the entire conversation, Mark did not immediately fire back at David. Instead, Mark remained quiet.
When the silence turned awkward, David spoke up.
“So, do you want to tell us where you were the last two nights?” David asked.
“Last night I was here,” Mark said.
“Were you alone?” David asked.
“Look. I just told you, I was here,” Mark said.
“Judging by your response, I’m guessing that you were here alone,” David said. “How about two nights ago?”
Chocolate Cake with a Side of Murder Page 5
