Blueberry Stars & Stripes Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 51

by Susan Gillard

  “And you weren’t carrying anything then either,” Heather said.

  “No. I wasn't bench pressing lawn chairs,” he agreed.

  “I just realized that if they had you patrolling the area as well as the street police, they must be taking safety pretty seriously.”

  “Well, as you know, there weren’t any cases that required a detective over the last couple days.”

  She smirked. She and her partner-in-solving-crime Amy had been consulting with Ryan and the Hillside Police whenever a murder occurred these days. She would have been called over to the crime scene if one had been committed.

  “So I did join the force in making sure that everything was safe for the bonfire,” Ryan said. “After last year’s hidden corpse and the exploding grill we encountered recently, I wanted to make sure that I was part of making sure that nothing interfered with the festivities.”

  “I do feel a lot safer when I know you’re on the job,” Heather said and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Ryan always instilled a sense of wellbeing with her. He was the man she loved, the man she raised a child with, and the man who had been known to save her from being held up at gunpoint on occasion.

  Lilly and Nicolas were still playing their racing game, but were being responsible and stayed within sight. They were walking down a residential street that would lead to the large empty field where the bonfire and other outdoor community events were held. Perhaps the field was originally planned to be turned into something else like a shopping area or a football field because there were many houses on the route they traveled.

  Heather couldn’t help thinking that the houses were too close together. It seemed to her that if the neighbors got along, they could reach out of their windows and high five each other. If they didn’t get along, they could make things very unpleasant for the person next door. She certainly would have found the spacing too close for comfort, but maybe this neighborhood enjoyed being so tightknit.

  Ryan smiled at the kiss and continued to talk about how he was doing his best to keep the events safe and secure. “We’ve increased security and kept an eye on all aspects of set up. We wanted to make sure that families and friends can enjoy each other’s company and the firework display without any unease. This is a time to celebrate the United States of America becoming a country, and not worry about a crime occurring in Hillside.”

  “I’d love to not worry about a crime occurring for one night.”

  “Nothing is going to go wrong at the bonfire,” Ryan said.

  It was then that they heard the sound of an explosive bang.

  Chapter 4

  Heather would later be proud of herself for neither dropping nor squishing the donut box she was carrying in her surprise and alarm. She and Ryan both jumped into action right after the noise sounded. All her work investigating and catching murderers had sharpened her reflexes and taught her not to waste a moment with hesitation.

  Heather ran directly to Lilly and Nicolas and placed herself between them and the source of the sound of danger. She scanned the area and made sure that Eva and Leila were safe as well. They had expressions of shock on their faces but appeared unharmed.

  While Heather had hurried to secure the safety of her loved ones, Ryan had run directly toward the cause of the noise. Heather allowed herself to marvel at what a wonderful team they were together. They might sometimes switch roles about who ran into danger and who protected the innocent civilians, but they always made sure that every important job was covered. Often, like this time, they made the decisions intuitively.

  She was trying to make sense of what had happened. Was someone after them? Was this a prank? Was Ryan in danger?

  Luckily her questions were soon answered. The motive was less diabolical than she had feared but was still dangerous. Ryan caught the teenage boys, only a few years older than Lilly, who had set off a firework.

  “I hope you understand how dangerous what you did was,” Ryan said. His voice was a mixture of disappointed dad and angry officer. Heather couldn’t imagine anyone staying brazen while hearing that tone. Combined with the stare that Detective Ryan Shepherd was giving them, the boys were practically cowering.

  “We were just trying to have some fun,” the first one said.

  “Just wanted to celebrate,” the second choked out.

  “You’re celebrating in a residential area,” Ryan said. “These houses could have sparked, and the fire would have spread quickly. There are people here who could have gotten hurt. I don’t imagine you even looked before you set it off, because right here in front of you now are children and…” He trailed off for a moment.

  “You can call us grandmothers,” Eva offered. “It has more of an effect, and sounds better than elderly women.”

  “It might make them feel worse about their behavior too,” the ruffled Leila seconded. She had spilled some of the lemonade when the sound made her jump and now had to deal with wet socks.

  “Children and grandmothers,” Ryan said. “Also, you could have been injured by setting if off. I don’t believe any of you took a safety course about fireworks. Because, again, you wouldn’t have set it off on this street. I hope you know how lucky you are.”

  After receiving this admonishment, the boys weren’t feeling lucky. They were feeling embarrassed and afraid of what punishment they would receive.

  Heather didn’t normally like to watch people get reprimanded, but after the fright they had caused her and her friends she felt this stern talking-to was justified. Ryan was perfectly right. The boys were lucky that they had not hurt themselves or anyone else with their reckless behavior.

  “Do you have any more fireworks?” Ryan asked.

  The boys all looked at their feet and shook their heads. Ryan decided to let them off with a stern warning, though he did take down their names to make sure that they kept their word. After he had let them go, the boys ran off faster than a firecracker.

  Lilly smiled at her dad. “I wouldn’t want to get on your bad side, Officer Dad.”

  “Then, honey, please just don’t set off any dangerous fireworks near houses.”

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m more than happy to watch them at the bonfire with everybody else.”

  Lilly led the way, and they resumed their walk toward the bonfire field.

  “This has been a most exciting day,” Eva said.

  “I’ll say,” Leila agreed. “Explosions and jalapenos!”

  “It definitely keeps us on our toes,” Eva said.

  “I’m no ballerina though,” Leila said. “I think I’d be content being flatfooted for a while.”

  They all laughed. Then Heather complimented her husband on dealing with the boys. She was sure they wouldn’t be setting off fireworks anytime soon.

  “I don’t want to ruin anyone’s fun on a holiday, but what they did was wrong. If it were a larger firework, there could have been a good deal of damage. Plus, it makes the residents feel unsafe.”

  “Case in point,” Heather said, pointing to an upset dog.

  The dog was inside a screened porch and was running around and making upset barking noises. She wondered if the owner had left the small dog outside on porch all night. That would seem like a mean thing to do with scary loud noises going off all evening. Then Heather noticed a doggy door and realized that the dog must have come outside on his own to investigate the noise.

  “They set off that loud firework right by this dog’s house, and now he thinks the world is ending.”

  “I’m afraid he’ll still hear the fireworks from the field over here. It might be a stressful night for him,” Ryan said.

  “It’s a shame Dave doesn’t understand fireworks,” Lilly said. “They’re so pretty.”

  “Remember that dogs see colors differently,” Nicolas said. “It might not be pretty for them.”

  Lilly laughed as she said, “Of course nothing looks so good to Dave as a donut!”

  On that happy note, the group continued their walk to the fie
ld. They were one of the early groups there. The sun had not quite gone down yet, and the bonfire didn’t officially begin until sunset.

  They selected a spot that they thought would give them a prime view of both the bonfire and the night’s sky that would soon be lit up with fireworks. They enjoyed some donuts. Leila apologized that there was less lemonade to go around because it was now in her shoe. She decided to go barefoot for the rest of the night, even though Eva teased her that stinky feet might ruin their appetite.

  “My feet don’t stink,” Leila responded good-naturedly. “And I don’t think there really is anything that could ruin your appetite for donuts.”

  “Maybe not,” Eva said. “I’ll test it out. I’ll try another Blueberry Firecracker Donut.”

  That was a popular idea, and everyone decided to join her by having one of the exciting new donuts.

  Heather enjoyed people-watching as others joined the crowd. She saw another family with children and a group of coworkers who were all wearing the same matching shirt and looked like they had come right from a shift. There was also a group of adult men who looked like they had enjoyed one too many beers before coming over to the bonfire. More and more Hillside residents joined the festivities, and the bonfire began. When the fireworks began, she was in awe of the spectacle.

  However, Heather was happy that they were seated on the opposite side of the field from that unruly bunch of beer drinkers, especially when the most boisterous of the group injured his leg and had to be taken away. Ryan went over to check on the gash on the man’s leg. He helped the friends bring the man to an ambulance that was waiting on the outskirts of the event.

  “Maybe I should put my shoes back on,” Leila said when he returned. “I don’t want to cut myself too.”

  “I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Ryan said. “It wasn’t anything on the ground that hurt him. He tripped on one of their lawn chairs that wasn’t in the best of shape. It had some jagged edges on it. That was partly why I suggested he go to the ambulance. It probably will require stitches, but he’ll also want to get a Tetanus shot since he cut himself on rusty metal. It was easier to convince him to go to the hospital than I thought it would be.”

  “Did you use the same voice you did on those kids?” Heather asked. “I don’t think anyone could ignore a suggestion you made with that voice.”

  “I might have,” Ryan said with a chuckle.

  “Here’s a donut for your hard work,” Heather said, handing him a reward. He gratefully accepted it.

  “Are you all right?” He asked in between jelly-filled bites. “You have that look on your face.”

  “I’m fine. I’m happy to relax and enjoy the fireworks with everyone,” she said. “I was just thinking that I’m also happy that we only faced a drunk and disorderly injury tonight and not a murder.”

  She smiled at her family and enjoyed the firework display. However, her happiness at the lack of crime would not last long.

  Chapter 5

  The rest of the evening’s colorful festivities went off without a hitch. No one else had to leave by ambulance, and everyone seemed to have a fun time enjoying the light show. The bonfire crackled and glowed. One of the Hillside chemistry teachers was brought in and carefully added some chemicals to add bursts of red and blue colors to the flames.

  However, the real color display was when the fireworks started. There were, of course, showers of red, white and blue fireworks to celebrate the holiday. The display didn’t hold back from using every other color as well. This was one of the biggest fireworks shows that Heather could remember.

  There were bursts of color that started small and then grew. There were some fireworks that shot through the air and seemed to spin around. Some gold flashes sizzled and sparkled as they fell down. Some fireworks appeared as shapes. A big chrysanthemum spark was common, but there were also some fireworks that appeared to look like hearts. There were moments of high intensity where one firework sounded right after another, illuminating the sky so brightly that it seemed like daytime again, albeit a colorful day. Then there were moments of calmness where only a few beautiful fireworks crackled to allow the audience to catch its breath.

  Heather loved the display, but she enjoyed seeing the look on Lilly’s face even more than the fireworks. She alternated between looks of awe and looks of joy as the fireworks illuminated. She and Nicolas came up with their own names for the fireworks as they went off. Some made sense like Purple Showers, while others were sillier like Shiny Dog Chasing Strawberry. She was reminded of how she came up with her own names for the unique donuts in her shop and tried to remember if she had honed this skill in her childhood in the same way that Lilly was now.

  The finale for the fireworks included a bright display where the red, white and blue fireworks shot up into the sky and flowed down in a way that looked like the American flag. The crowd cheered.

  Everyone seemed to take a moment to collect themselves after such a brilliant display. Then the crowd started to gather their belongings and disperse. Heather’s group decided to take their time. They didn’t want to fight the crowd down the street or in the parking lot. Since school was out for the summer, they didn’t have to worry about going to bed early to be prepared for class the next day. Lilly and Nicolas were still wide awake and excited after seeing all the fireworks. Anticipating a late night, they had already made arrangements for Nicolas to sleepover at their house that night. The blow-up mattress was already set up, so if everyone was tired when they arrived home, they could go straight to bed. Heather thought it was quite likely that the two kids would giggle throughout the night and not get any sleep at all.

  They munched on another late night snack donut, and after the crowd had thinned out a bit, they decided to start their march back to the car. The good thing about enjoying all their snacks meant that there was less to carry back to the vehicles. All they needed to bring with them were their chairs and an empty drink pitcher.

  This time Heather carried some chairs as well. She and Ryan handled the lawn chairs and allowed the rest of the group to wander ahead of them.

  She was about to tell Ryan that it had indeed been a successful night and that everything that the Hillside Police did to protect the event and its guests had worked when she saw something that distracted and upset her.

  The dog they saw before was still on the porch and still was upset. However, his barking was more subdued, and he was shaking.

  “Has that dog been stuck outside all night with the fireworks going on?” Heather asked.

  She looked at the small black and white dog on the porch. The name of the breed popped into her head, and she remembered it was called a Papillon. The breed name came from the French word for butterfly. The dog’s ear did look butterfly-like, especially as he was fluttering around the porch and crying.

  Heather left the chairs she was carrying on the sidewalk and marched up to the screen door of the porch.

  “What are you doing?” Ryan asked, and then added another question. “Do you need back up?”

  “I’ll be right back,” Heather said.

  She knocked on the door and didn’t receive and answer. She pounded a little harder and then yelled, “Are you there? You need to pay attention to your dog. He’s terrified and upset.”

  When she still didn’t receive an answer, she checked the porch door. It was open, so she entered. The dog ran right up to her and jumped into her arms.

  “It’s okay, buddy,” she said. “The fireworks are over. You’re all right now.”

  She pet the dog’s head who was still crying softly.

  “It wasn’t very nice for you to be stuck out here all night,” Heather said.

  She knocked on the house door and still received no answer to her pounding. The dog lay his head on her shoulder and tried to remain as close to her as possible.

  A thought occurred to Heather, and she checked the doggy door. It wasn’t locked. The dog had chosen to come outside and stay outside
on his own.

  Something was wrong.

  Heather tried the handle on the door to the house. It was unlocked.

  She was filled with an ominous sense of doom. However, she held the dog close to her and opened the door.

  She hurried back outside to the street to meet Ryan.

  “Why do you still have the dog?” He asked.

  “Ryan, we need to call the police. Or more of the police. You’re going to have to go inside. This dog’s owner was murdered.”

  Chapter 6

  Heather returned to the crime scene after driving the rest of her group sans Ryan home. Eva and Leila graciously agreed to watch Lilly and Nicolas, as well as the little dog. Heather knew that the dog would be important to the case, but she also knew that the little pooch had just gone through a traumatic experience. It would be much better for him to be in a home with four dog lovers to look after him than in a cage at police headquarters. She hoped that he would get along with Dave and Cupcake, but decided that she would worry about that after examining the murder scene.

  Amy had just arrived at the scene as well.

  “I want to say we can’t catch a break, but that would be disrespectful to the woman who was just killed,” Amy said.

  “I understand the sentiment,” Heather said.

  “Dave and Cupcake are still with Jamie,” Amy said holding back a sigh. “I figured it was better for them to stay with him until we figured out what was going on. You said you brought home a witness dog?”

  “I’m pretty sure it was the victim’s dog. He was on the porch, and there’s a doggy door. He was crying when we walked back towards our car, so I went knocking on the door looking for his owner. It was unlocked, so I peeked my head in. When I saw her lying on the floor with blood around her, I knew that Ryan had to declare it a crime scene.”

  “So what are you thinking? A shooting? A stabbing? A suffocation?” Amy asked. “I know the last one should leave a lot of blood, but once I started with the alliterations, I couldn’t stop.”