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

by Susan Gillard

  “Was the injury consistent with a cut of that sort?” Ryan asked.

  “Yes,” the doctor said. “Without seeing the chair, I can’t say definitely. But it looked as if it were cut on metal. I gave him a Tetanus shot as well.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” Ryan said.

  “Was there anything unusual about his visit?”

  “He was drinking so he was saying strange things. But that strangeness is fairly common at the hospital here. Sadly, many people injure themselves while under the influence.”

  “What did he say?” Heather asked.

  “Did he mention his wife?” asked Amy.

  “No. It was all medically themed nonsense. He must have seen too many medical shows and in his drunken stupor thought he was an expert.”

  “How so?” asked Heather.

  “He kept asking for a rabies shot,” the doctor said. “I assured him that what he really wanted was a Tetanus shot. Not a rabies shot.”

  “Is that a common confusion?” Amy asked.

  “I don’t know,” the doctor said. “He was very insistent, but I eventually convinced him that Tetanus was for rusty metal wounds while Rabies was for animal bites.”

  Heather thought about this.

  “I don’t mean to be rude but my break is almost over, and I need to get back to work.”

  They thanked him for his help, though Heather was still frustrated.

  “I had a thought about the animal bite,” Heather said. “What if Curtis bit him?”

  “Like he was trying to protect Lacy and attacked Jay?” Amy asked.

  Heather nodded, but then said, “No. It doesn’t work. That couldn’t have happened after the fireworks because Jay Gwynn was already on his way to the hospital.”

  “I think he has a solid alibi,” Ryan said. “There is no reason for the EMT drivers and the doctor to lie about him coming here, and his whereabouts were documented while here.”

  “Unless it happened before the real fireworks started,” Heather said. “When the kids set off that firework.”

  “Jay Gwynn would either be the luckiest man alive that the moment he shot his wife there just happened to be kids playing with fireworks,” Ryan started. “Or.”

  “Or it was part of the plan.”

  ***

  “I promise we don’t know anything,” the first kid said to Ryan.

  If they had been afraid of Ryan when he spoke to them on the street, they were petrified of him in the interrogation room.

  “Is that right, Alan?” Ryan asked the second kid. The third teen was trying to hide by sinking as low down on the table as he could.

  “It is. We weren’t put up to setting it off. It was just a dumb idea we had.”

  “A dumb idea,” said the first one.

  “So dumb,” agreed the third.

  “Have you ever seen this man before?” Ryan asked, showing them a picture of Jay Gwynn.

  The first and third teens immediately renounced any knowledge of the man. Alan considered it a bit, and then shakily said, “He looks a little familiar. But I don’t know where I’ve seen him before. He didn’t have anything to do with fireworks.”

  “So nobody put you up to setting it off at a certain time?” Ryan asked.

  Heather enjoyed the chance to play “good cop” off of Ryan’s “bad.”

  “It’s okay if you were,” she said. “It’s just very important that you tell us now, so we don’t think you were mixed up in anything else.”

  “We weren’t mixed up in anything else,” Alan said. “It was just a stupid idea.”

  “So stupid.”

  “The stupidest idea possible.”

  “Well, I won’t disagree with that,” Ryan said. “That’s what made me suspicious of it all. Because why would you set it off in a neighborhood unless someone asked you too.”

  “We just set it off there because it was within walking distance from my house,” Alan said. “I didn’t want my mom to know about it. So we walked what we thought was far enough away and set it off. We just wanted to be able to see it.”

  “Where did you get the firework?” Heather asked.

  Alan looked at his feet.

  “Just tell him,” the first kid said.

  “We’ll get in more trouble if you don’t,” said the third.

  “He’ll kill me,” Alan whispered.

  “Who will kill you?” Asked Heather.

  “Tell them,” the first kid repeated.

  “My cousin,” Alan said finally. “He gave it to me for my birthday, but he told me not to get caught.”

  “Well,” Ryan said finally. “I hope you all learned your lesson about fireworks.”

  He let them go, and they scampered away even faster than the last time. Ryan and Heather joined Amy who had been watching on the other side of the two-way mirror and enjoying the show.

  “I wish I had some popcorn for that,” Amy said. “They were terrified.”

  “Well, now they won’t play with fire,” Ryan said with a pause. “Works.”

  “Unfortunately, they were just kids doing something stupid. It wasn’t related to the murder,” Heather said. “And I guess that means that Jay Gwynn’s alibi is solid. We’re going to have to find another prime suspect.”

  Chapter 13

  “Curtis?” Casey said as she opened the door and recognized the dog.

  “Hello. I’m Heather Shepherd, and this is Amy Givens. We’re private investigators working in conjunction with the Hillside Police. We’re looking into the death of Lacy Gwynn.”

  “Come in,” Casey said. She pet Curtis and welcomed them inside. They took seats in the living room. Curtis moved closer to Casey. She cleared her throat but then welcomed the affection. With her hands free of the dog, Amy set up the Evernote app on the tablet to take notes.

  “I’m glad you came to talk to me,” said Casey. “If there’s anything I can do to help catch whoever did this, I’m happy to do so. Lacy was my best friend.”

  “Her neighbor Marcy Mabel told us you might know some more personal information about her life. Do you know who would want to hurt her?”

  “Jay. Her ex-husband. When I heard she was murdered, I figured it was him.”

  “Why do you think so?” Heather asked.

  “Besides that he made her life a living hell when they were together? He also owed her alimony. I bet he was getting tired of paying it.”

  “We think he has an alibi for the time of the murder,” Heather admitted. “Was there anyone else who might have a motive to kill her?”

  “She didn’t get along with her brother,” Casey said. “They haven’t talked in a year or two. I wouldn’t have thought that he would kill her. But if it wasn’t Jay, it’s possible that he did.”

  “Do you know why they didn’t get along?” Heather asked.

  “I know it had something to do with the inheritance they received after their mother died, but I don’t know the details.”

  Heather looked to Amy. Suddenly the brother was moving into the prime suspect slot. A feud about an inheritance was a strong motive.

  “Was there anyone else?” Heather asked.

  “Not that I can think of,” Casey said. “Lacy was a great person. Almost everyone liked her. Except for Jay. Are you sure he couldn’t have done it?”

  “Are you so sure that he did?”

  Casey cleared her throat and then said, “You never saw them together. He was mean. I honestly can’t think of any redeeming moments of their marriage. The only thing I liked was sometimes a group of friends would go out together. The best thing about Jay Gwynn was his friend Holt. He was a nice guy. I miss him.”

  “Would he have a reason to kill Lacy?”

  “No way. I don’t think he even spoke to her after the divorce. The two groups of friends separated. I haven’t seen Holt in such a long time,” she sounded almost wistful but then cleared her throat again.

  “Can you tell us where you were on the Fourth of July?” Heather asked.


  Casey frowned, but then answered “I know you have to ask me. It’s just that I could never kill my best friend. On the Fourth of July, I was at my boss’s barbecue. It was a small group of coworkers. They can tell you I was there the whole night. I wish I had been with Lacy, but I thought it was important to go to the work thing.”

  “Thank you for all your help,” Heather said.

  Casey cleared her throat. “I really can’t believe she’s gone. I know it sounds silly that we were besties. Casey and Lacy together.”

  “I understand the angst of rhyming,” Amy said.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do without her,” Casey said.

  “Would you be interested in adopting Curtis when this is all over?” Heather asked, surprised that Amy didn’t take the opportunity to do so.

  “Thank you so much for the offer,” Casey said. “But I can’t accept it.”

  “Really?” Amy asked.

  Casey cleared her throat again. “I love the little guy. But I’m allergic to him. First he gives me a scratchy throat and then it gets worse. I usually take an allergy pill when I go to Lacy’s house. But I just don’t think I could do that all the time.”

  Amy nodded.

  “I feel bad saying no. Lacy loved him so much. I mean, she didn’t let him sleep on her bed. But she spoiled him in other ways. He was her other best friend. And he’s such a good dog.”

  “Yes, he is,” Amy said.

  “Make sure he gets a good home,” Casey said.

  “We will,” said Heather. “Thank you for all your help.”

  They left with Curtis and walked towards the car.

  “Are you implying that he’ll find a good home with me?” Amy asked. “I have a one step plan.”

  “I know,” Heather said. “I only said he’d get a good home.”

  “Okay. I can get behind that,” said Amy.

  “And after we drop this guy off with Jamie, not implying that that is the good home that he’ll end up at, we should go talk to Lacy’s brother.”

  “That’s a plan I can definitely get behind,” Amy said. Even Curtis barked in agreement.

  Chapter 14

  “Lou Murphy?” Heather asked at the door.

  “Yes,” he said, without opening it very far.

  “We’re private investigators working with the Hillside Police. We’re looking into the death of your sister. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?”

  “Do you have some identification?” He asked.

  Heather nodded. She was glad that she had recently gotten identification from the Hillside Police to identify her and Amy.

  Lou Murphy grudgingly opened the door and led them inside.

  “What do you want to know?” He asked. “I haven’t talked to Lacy in over a year.”

  “Maybe why you haven’t talked to her in so long?” Amy asked.

  He unfolded his arms, sighed and folded them again. Heather could see the family resemblance between Lacy’s photos and her brother.

  “It was over something ridiculous in retrospect, but it felt important at the time.”

  “About an inheritance?” Heather prodded.

  “In a sense,” he said. “Our mom had left her some teacups in her will. They reminded me of mom, and I liked them. When Lacy did a big house cleaning after her marriage started crumbling, she donated the teacups to charity. I was very mad that she gave them away to strangers instead of giving them to me.”

  “I could see how that is upsetting,” Heather said, trying to keep him talking.

  “But I know that she didn’t do it on purpose. She wasn’t trying to hurt me. And I was so upset I wasn’t there for her during her divorce. I should have been. That’s what a brother should have done.”

  “Have you been anywhere near her house?” Heather asked.

  “No. Not since I started not talking to her,” Lou said.

  He seemed upset and trivialized his motive, but Heather had to know about his alibi before she made up her mind about his guilt. “Mr. Murphy, where were you on the Fourth of July?”

  “I was at a barbecue at my girlfriend’s family’s house. We were there most of the day,” Lou said. “I returned home about nine o’clock.”

  “Was your girlfriend with you?” Heather asked.

  “No. She decided to stay with her parents that night so that they could have a family breakfast the next morning. I was invited to come back, but I had heard about Lacy by then. I wasn’t feeling very sociable,” he said.

  “We’ll have to check with the family to confirm your alibi,” Heather said. “Could you give us their contact information?”

  “Sure,” Lou said sullenly. He wrote out the names, address and phone numbers.

  “Thank you,” Heather said. She believed that Lou Murphy had attended the barbecue, but needed to check on the times and distance. If he left the party before nine, he could have traveled over to Lacy’s house and murdered her instead of coming straight home.

  “Do you have a gun?” Amy asked.

  “No,” Lou said. “I never wanted one in the house.”

  The Heather asked, “I know you hadn’t seen her in a while, but do you have any idea who might have wanted her dead?”

  “I only know things were bad with her husband. I should have been there for her,” Lou said, looking at a picture of the two of them in childhood. “I can’t believe I’ll never get the chance to make things right with her. I wish I could tell her how sorry I was. Teacups aren’t worth it.”

  Heather thanked him again, and she and Amy returned to their car.

  “Do you want to test an alibi?” Heather asked.

  “Sure,” her bestie replied.

  “Let’s drive.”

  Chapter 15

  Heather and Amy sat outside of Lacy’s house, pondering. They had checked out Lou Murphy’s alibi. He had left the time he said he did, and they made the drive from the barbecue house to Lacy’s. It was just possible to get there in time before the 9 p.m. time of death cutoff.

  “It’s possible,” Heather said. “So why do I still have the feeling that he didn’t do it?”

  “Because it’s a weak motive?” Amy suggested. “He’s not gaining anything from her death. He’s not going to get the teacups back.”

  “Still, siblings could have other dark secrets or grudges that he wasn’t willing to share.”

  “Possibly,” Amy said. “But then he was a really good actor. He seemed very upset with himself over what happened.”

  “Maybe he’d be upset with himself for killing his sister too.”

  “Okay, Devil’s Advocate,” Amy rebutted. “Then he did do it.”

  Heather groaned. “It just doesn’t seem right. Why shoot her then? He had this grudge for such a long time. Why act then? If something changed, no one in Lacy’s inner circle knew about it. And if he had been planning this for a long time, he didn’t give himself the best alibi.”

  “Maybe he knew that a great investigator would overthink that,” Amy suggested.

  “Maybe,” Heather said. “We are becoming famous around town.”

  “You’d think it might deter criminals if they knew they couldn’t get away with it.”

  “We should put up a poster saying that,” Heather joked.

  “I just had an idea,” Amy said.

  “For poster slogans?”

  “For another person to talk to about whether Jay Gwynn was involved.”

  “Who?”

  “His friend Holt,” Amy said. “Maybe he’ll tell us that Jay wasn’t with him the whole time.”

  “It’s worth a try,” Heather said. Besides, anything was better than sitting outside the home of the victim while feeling like you were going in investigative circles.

  ***

  “I’m not sure what you want me to say,” Holt said. “They weren’t very good for each other, and that’s why they’re not together anymore.”

  “Why weren’t they good for each other?” Heather asked.

  �
�They knew how to push each other’s buttons. And they’d do it all the time. Jay is a good friend of mine, but I can’t say it was all Lacy’s fault. They just didn’t belong together.”

  “How were they after the divorce?”

  “I don’t think they saw each other after it, so it was fine,” Holt said. “I did miss some of our group hangouts. Lacy’s friend Casey was so nice. I miss seeing her. That was the one downside of the divorce. There were many positives. But one negative was that we never saw the other’s friends anymore.”

  Heather and Amy exchanged a look. Heather thought about it. She needed to solve a murder before she could play matchmaker, and she needed more pieces of the puzzle before she could solve her case.

  “So Jay Gwynn never saw Lacy after the divorce?” Heather asked.

  “I don’t think so. I feel like he would have told me and been mad about the experience. Everything she did ending up bugging him. Actually, after the divorce there was one thing that still bugged him. The alimony.”

  “Was it a lot of money?”

  “I didn’t think so, but he never liked paying her,” Holt said. “And he was about to finally to get a raise. He really resented that he was going to have to give her more money. I don’t understand the legalities, but I understand that Jay was mad.”

  “Mad enough to kill?”

  “I don’t think I’m friends with a killer. And I don’t see how he could have done it that night. We were together practically all night, and then he was at the hospital,” Holt said.

  Heather nodded. This case was becoming more and more frustrating. Jay Gwynn’s motive was getting stronger, but it still seemed impossible that he did it.

  “Let’s go over the timeline of that night one more time,” Heather said. “What time did you arrive at Jay’s?”

  “It was about six thirty. I picked up our other friends, Matt and Rossi, and went to Jay’s.”

  “How did he seem that night?”

  “If I’m honest, I was annoyed with him. He was drunk when I arrived and encouraged everyone else to go wild. I was the designated driver, and some drinking was planned, but they were getting out of hand. That became obvious later when he hurt himself at the bonfire. It was such a stupid injury.”