“I’m not going to let that happen,” Lydia said suddenly.
Her employees turned away from the window to look at her.
“Not going to let what happen?” asked Kelsey.
“I’m not going to sit by and let the killer get away with this,” Lydia said decisively. “If the police don’t want to look for suspects besides me, then I’ll do their job for them.”
“You’re going to investigate this murder?” asked Jeff.
“I was in a murder mystery play my freshman year,” Kelsey said. “It’s always the person you least suspect. Oh no. That’s not me, is it? I don’t want you guys thinking I’m the killer.”
“I don’t think it was any of you,” Lydia said. “But it had to be someone who got ahold of a piece of our taffy. They must have added the poison and then given the piece to Randall Holmes. He ate it while he was waiting for me to let him into the shop.”
“Who could have done that?” Jeff asked.
“Let’s think about it mathematically,” Lydia said. “What taffy is unaccounted for?”
Her employees discussed how many samples they had tried during the course of the day, and they confirmed seeing each other eat them. Lydia remembered the boxes of salt water taffy that she had boxed up to bring to Trina’s shop. After that, it left eighteen pieces of taffy.
“Mr. Holmes took two pieces,” said Kelsey. “But I saw him eat both of them.”
“Sixteen,” Lydia said, keeping count.
“That ice cream lady took one,” Jeff added.
“And the man in the suit took one too,” said Dianna.
“Thirteen,” said Lydia. “And the lifeguard took two pieces. That brings us to eleven. I think I threw out all the extra pieces because I wanted to make a new batch with the new wrappers with our logo on it.”
“I’ll count what’s in the trashcan,” Dianna offered.
Lydia thanked her as Dianna headed toward the kitchen.
“Now, this is important,” Lydia said. “Did we actually see the people who took the free samples eat the taffy? Or did they take it with them?”
“The ice cream lady took hers without eating,” said Jeff with a nod. “She was rude about it. Remember?”
“I think the man in the suit walked away after grabbing his,” said Kelsey. “I don’t remember seeing him eat it.”
“The lifeguard ate one piece of taffy and took one for the road,” Lydia reported. She recalled everything about that awkward encounter.
Dianna returned to them. “There were eleven pieces of taffy in the trash.”
“Then it means that the three pieces of candy that could be the murder weapon,” Lydia said, “because they weren’t boxed up, trashed, or seen being eaten – were given out as free samples. One of the people we gave a taffy to turned it into a means of murder.”
She shuddered as she thought about her delicious treat turned into something so sinister, but she also felt a sense of determination. She had a suspect list now, and she could whittle it down until she found the killer.
8
The Competition’s Claims
After making the decision to conduct her own investigation, Lydia decided to dive into it right away. She had planned on showing her employees how to make some of the other flavors of taffy that morning, but she could tell that they were all nervous about the possibility of the sweets containing poison. She told them that they could have the rest of the day off while she did some work to restore the shop’s reputation.
While Lydia was locking up, Kelsey asked if there was anything that they could do to help her. Lydia paused. She didn’t want to put her staff in harm’s way, especially the girl that she used to babysit. However, there was one element that she could admit she needed help with.
“Do any of you know who the man in the suit was that took the taffy sample?” asked Lydia. “I didn’t recognize him.”
Her three employees shook their heads.
“I don’t know a lot of people in suits,” Jeff said.
“And I’m still somewhat new here,” said Dianna.
Kelsey grinned. “But I bet we could find out who he is. That would be helpful.”
“If you can do a little poking around to find his identity, I’d appreciate it,” Lydia said. “But I want you all to be very careful. Don’t put yourselves in harm’s way trying to find it out. I have to get involved because my name and my shop are affected by this. But you all don’t need to.”
“But I feel involved too,” said Kelsey. “We just saw Mr. Holmes yesterday, and now he’s dead. He was killed soon after we saw him. We have to do something!”
“Just be careful,” Lydia reiterated. “There’s a killer on the loose, and I don’t want him coming after any of you.”
“We’ll be very discrete with our questions,” Dianna promised. “And I’m sure we can find out who he is. Should we meet back here tomorrow with what we’ve learned?”
“Good idea,” said Lydia. “We’ll meet tomorrow as if we really were continuing with our taffy training. If I find enough clues, we might actually be able to focus on the candy again.”
Lydia thanked her employees and made them promise again to be cautious. Then, she headed down the boardwalk alone. She decided she would start by questioning the person she wouldn’t mind pointing a finger at: Amber Allen.
If Amber had wanted to kill Randall Holmes, she wouldn’t think twice about using poisoned taffy to complete the job. She would be killing two birds with one stone: Randall would be murdered, and it would also kill her competition by tainting the taffy shop’s image.
Lydia approached the shop called Cones and Cola. The red and white striped awning had an almost hypnotic effect, and it drew the eye to a large ice cream cone statue. The shop advertised that it had a variety of toppings for its soft-serve ice cream and that it could be combined with any of its many sodas to create floats. Lydia had to admit that the treats looked inviting. However, she had already decided that she didn’t want to purchase anything from Amber when she learned how catty she could be. She wasn’t going to change her mind now that she knew that Amber might also be a poisoner.
Lydia felt a pang of jealousy when she saw that Cones and Cola had some customers. The sunny weather had brought out some weekend business, but they were probably avoiding the taffy shop near the scene of a murder.
She scanned the ice cream shop. Some girls in red shirts were manning the counter, but Amber was seated at one of the round tables with another woman whose hair was pulled back in a braid. As Lydia approached her, a malicious smile began to form on Amber’s lips.
“I’m not interested in any of your taffy samples,” she said, clearly enjoying the taunt.
“Did you enjoy the last one you took?” Lydia asked, trying to maintain a pleasant demeanor.
“What?” asked Amber, not expecting that question. “No. I didn’t enjoy it. I mean, I might have tasted the one you gave me. And maybe it was better than the ones that Ruth made. But taffy is still an inferior boardwalk snack.”
“I thought it was a classic,” Lydia countered.
“Whatever,” Amber said, brushing away the thought. “I bet you can’t give that taffy away today. Not with what happened right outside your door.”
Her friend at the table nodded. “The police are treating it as a murder case. They suspect poison, but they haven’t made a statement yet.”
“Maybe I don’t have to worry about competition this summer,” Amber said. “I don’t think tourists will be willing to go to a condemned crime scene for candy.”
She laughed, and her friend joined in.
“It’s interesting.” Lydia pointed out, “You seem a lot more interested in how this death affects my business than in the man who died.”
“Of course I’m devastated that someone from our town had his life tragically cut short,” Amber said with false sincerity. “But I didn’t really know the guy.”
She turned to her friend, who answered as well. “He used to buy
ad space for his business. I think he would have liked the puns that the paper used.”
Then, Amber’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Lydia. “Why are you here asking about the dead guy? Are you planning some sort of memorial? Trying to drum up sympathy for your business?”
“Or maybe it’s for another reason,” said the friend. “Tell me. Do the police just consider you a witness in this matter? Or are you a suspect?”
“There’s no reason why I would want to hurt Randall Holmes or sabotage my shop,” said Lydia. “But I do imagine the police will be asking everyone on the boardwalk where they were last night.”
“Well, we weren’t here to see anything,” Amber said. “I let the kids close a little early because of the rain. And Brie and I were where we are every Friday night. At Crabby Craig’s.”
“I review the live music they have there on Fridays,” said Brie. “And we were there until I heard word of the Holmes’s murder. I have a friend at the medical examiner’s office. I had to rush out to take a picture.”
The phrases clicked into place, and Lydia realized something. “Are you Brie Rankin?”
“That’s right.”
“My best friend,” said Amber.
Lydia could have kicked herself. She had just begun questioning her suspect in front of a local reporter. This could also explain why the photo of the crime scene made sure to feature the sign for her taffy shop in the frame. Brie was trying to help her friend’s business as well as report the news.
“I should get going,” Lydia said quickly. “There’s so much for me to do.”
“Wait,” Brie said. “Do you want to give a quote for the paper?”
Lydia hesitated. “I’ll just say that I’m sure the killer will be brought to justice soon. Doherty is going to solve the crime.”
9
Crabby Craig’s
“It’s a shame it can’t be her,” Trina said with a sigh.
“It would have made things easier,” Lydia agreed.
The two friends were sitting at a table at Crabby Craig’s restaurant and bar, munching on some appetizers as they talked. Lydia had suggested that they meet up for lunch there. She wanted to update her friend on everything that had happened that morning, and she thought she could do some more investigating at this location. There was a server working that afternoon who had also been there the night before. She remembered seeing Amber and Brie at their usual table. They arrived early because of the chance of rain and had enjoyed some drinks before the band began playing.
“It is possible that she could have committed the murder,” Lydia said. “But it would have been difficult. It sounds like she was here at the bar before Randall Holmes came to the taffy shop when it was open. And if she had given him the taffy earlier, he would have eaten it earlier. He said that he had been running around and hadn’t eaten all day.”
“Which is why only your taffy was found in his stomach,” said Trina.
“Amber also said that she ate the piece of taffy I gave her. She could be lying about that to throw me off the track. However, it does seem like the timeline doesn’t fit for her being able to commit this crime.”
“Like I said before – it’s a shame. I’m not the one who deals with her at the salon, but I hear how demanding she is. And I hate the way she treated you when she visited your taffy shop. What you told me was awful.”
“But being mean doesn’t make you a murderer,” said Lydia.
They ate quietly for a few moments. Then, Trina asked, “Liddy, are you sure you want to do this? Investigate? It could get dangerous.”
“I think I have to. I can’t let Leo railroad me for this crime because he’s upset with me.”
“But what if the killer comes after you? What if he tries to poison you too?” Trina trailed off and stared at her food suspiciously. “If he could poison taffy, he could poison anything.”
Lydia was starting to lose her appetite, but she took another bite just to prove that she wasn’t afraid.
“I don’t think there’s a reason to be scared right now. If the killer did want to hurt me as well as Randall Holmes, he already did that by using my taffy as the murder weapon. It definitely hurts my business, and it practically frames me for the crime,” said Lydia. “What I’m more scared of right now is what Brie will write in her next article.”
“What is she going to write?”
“In the last article, she only knew that the police were treating the crime as a murder and that poison was possible. If she does have a friend at the M.E.’s office, then the next time she talks to him, she’ll find out that Randall Holmes only ate taffy that day. I think she does have some journalistic integrity, but she’s certainly willing to make me look bad if it helps Amber.”
“It’s a shame I don’t work at the paper to help you that way,” Trina said. “But I could always start a nasty rumor at the salon for you.”
“How about telling people I’m not guilty?” Lydia suggested.
“There’s nothing nasty about that. That’s the truth.”
Lydia poked at her food for a moment and then said, “I think I’m finished here. Are you?”
“Sure,” Trina said with a nod. “We did everything we needed to do here. We confirmed an alibi, had some crab nachos, and then became nauseous when we realized the implications of a dead man who was killed waiting to meet you, a vengeful brother cop, and a reporter with an agenda against you.”
Lydia gestured to the server that she wanted their check. She felt like she had wasted enough time there. She wanted to keep moving and to feel like she was making progress on the case. She took the money out of her purse as she waited for the check.
“What’s the next plan of attack?” asked Trina.
“Since I don’t know who the man in the suit was, I’m going to track down the lifeguard next. I’m hoping he’ll be working and will be by the water. Hopefully, he’ll be easy for me to find.”
“For us to find.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to let you do this alone,” Trina protested. “He might be a killer.”
“But then you’ll be facing a killer too,” said Lydia. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do. You’re my best friend. If anything ever happened to you… well, I wouldn’t be able to take care of a dog that snores all night. So I just can’t let anything happen to you.”
The friends smiled at one another, grateful that they meant so much to one another.
“Thank you,” said Lydia. “So you know - I didn’t take you out to lunch so you’d offer to do this. But I think it might be easier if there were two of us.”
“Sure. If we get into trouble one of us will distract him with our dazzling looks, and the other will throw sand in his face. Then we’ll both kick him.”
“I think you’ll have to do the dazzling,” Lydia said.
“Oh, please,” Trina said, rolling her eyes. “You’re as gorgeous as I am. You just never do anything with your hair because you’re too busy making candy. Not that I mind that. Because I do get to eat it.”
The server brought over their check, and Lydia immediately paid it. She stood up, and Trina followed her.
“Let’s go find that lifeguard,” said Lydia.
“Right,” Trina agreed. “And we’ll find out if the job description is really fitting or if it would be better with the word death in it.”
10
The Lifeguard
“Are you ready for our date with a potential killer?” Trina said as they made their way onto the beach.
“This isn’t a date,” Lydia said without thinking. “I haven’t gone on a date in years.”
Trina stopped and stared at her friend. “I know. I was joking. Just how cute is this guy?”
Lydia shook her head and started walking ahead of her friend. She didn’t want to answer that question. Yes, the man was very handsome, but she had already made a fool of herself in front of him. Now it turned out that this might be a good th
ing because the man might be a murderer.
“Really cute?”
“Hopefully, you’ll see for yourself in a few minutes,” said Lydia. “And his appearance is beside the point. We need to find out what he did with his second piece of taffy and whether he has an alibi for the time between when Randall Holmes left my shop and when I arrived back there to find Randall dead. It would also be great if we could establish a connection between him and the victim.”
Pineapple and Poison Page 4
