Pink Moscato & Murder: An Oceanside Cozy Mystery - Book 15

by Susan Gillard

  "This man was engaging in criminal behavior, and you should lock him up," Amy said.

  “Are you serious?” Ryan asked.

  “It’s lucky we weren’t carrying handcuffs,” Heather said. “She would have used them on him.”

  “Jamie, what did you do that was so bad that your girlfriend wants to lock you up?” Ryan asked.

  "He was hiding the prime suspect in a murder case in his van, and then he helped him escape," Amy said. "Stupid code about camping."

  “Is this true?” Ryan asked.

  “Josh isn’t a killer,” Jamie said.

  Ryan sighed. "His behavior certainly isn't helping his case. He had means, motive, and opportunity. Now, he's also gone on the run."

  “He told me what happened,” Jamie said. “And I believe him. He’s my friend.”

  “He might also be a killer,” Amy said.

  “You’re just saying that because you’re mad that I kept a secret from you,” Jamie.

  “A big secret,” Amy said. “And not a nice one like surprise chocolates.”

  "Jamie, it's up to investigators to gather evidence and the courts to decide someone's guilt," Heather said. "A man was murdered, and we can't ignore that. He was husband and a father. And no one deserves to be killed like that."

  "Besides," Amy said. "You hadn't seen Josh in a long time. Not at all while we were still living in Texas. How do you know he hasn't changed?"

  Jamie didn’t say anything. He looked at the floor.

  “All right,” Heather said. “Let’s stop making Jamie feel guilty, and discuss what we’ve learned.”

  “Did Josh Fulton tell you that he was at the restaurant the morning of the murder?” Ryan asked.

  “Yes,” Heather said. “He said that he went there around nine to ask for his job back and that Clint Trag was already dead. How did you know?”

  “Because his fingerprints were on the counter in the kitchen,” Ryan said. “His were the only ones there. And I’m sure they clean their counters in between preparing food.”

  Heather nodded. “But the prints could have happened because he was the killer or because he stumbled upon the body. He could have been the only one to touch it after the counter was cleaned the night before. Or the killer could have wiped it off that morning before Josh touched it.”

  “That’s true,” Ryan said. “I have some other interesting news too.”

  “About the murder weapon?” Heather guessed.

  "That's right," Ryan said. "We've analyzed all the knives in the kitchen. Only a few were the correct size and shape, but none of them had any traces of human blood on them."

  “You mean the murder weapon wasn’t one of the knives in the kitchen,” Heather said.

  “Exactly,” said Ryan. “The killer must have brought the knife there with him and then left with it.”

  “I bet chefs have a lot of knives,” Amy said.

  “If the killer brought the knife there with him, then it must have been a premeditated murder,” Heather said. “Unless there was another reason why a knife would have to be brought there?”

  “It didn’t seem like there was a shortage of knives in the kitchen,” Amy said.

  "So, the killer knew that Clint Trag would be there that morning and brought a weapon there to kill him,” Heather said, thinking about it aloud.

  Detective Peters joined the group.

  “We’re updating everyone on the case?” Peters asked. “I have some news.”

  “Go ahead,” Ryan said.

  "I don't know exactly what it means yet," Peters said. "But I figured out everything that was in the trash from the morning of the murder. With it all written down, it looks like a grocery list."

  He showed his list to the others.

  “Peppers, onions, asparagus, pasta,” Heather said, reading off a few of the items. “Lots of vegetables.”

  “It does sound good though,” Amy said. “You know if it was a finished meal and not in the trash next to a dead body.”

  “Do we know what it is?” Heather asked.

  “Not exactly,” said Peters. “It doesn’t seem to match anything on the menu exactly.”

  “Well,” Amy said. “Thanks for all the trash talk.”

  “This definitely wasn’t the worst trash can I had to dig through on the job,” Peters said, happily. “I guess I’ll try and figure out what recipe this could be for. Maybe if we can figure out why the chef was making it, it will help.”

  “We should get going,” Heather said to Amy. “There are some more employees from Meals by the Sea that I would like to talk to.”

  “Just a minute,” Ryan said as Jamie started to stand up and join them. “You’re not out of trouble yet.”

  “Are you sending me to jail?” Jamie asked.

  “I’ll talk to the chief and see if we can let you off with a warning,” Ryan said. “But I hope you’ll take this warning seriously. We’re trying to catch a killer.”

  Jamie nodded. “You know I wouldn’t normally have done this. But Josh is a good friend. Amy, can you forgive me?”

  “I don’t know,” Amy said. “It’s not just that you lied about what you knew. But it’s also that you didn’t trust us to find out the truth. If Josh didn’t do it, then don’t you think we would have figured it out? No. You don’t. You don’t believe in me, and that’s what hurts the most.”

  “Of course, I believe in you,” Jamie said. “These were just special circumstances.”

  He looked very sad, and Dave moved closer to him for support.

  “Come on,” Amy said to Heather. “Let’s go question whoever you want to question.”

  “Well,” Heather said. “I think I know who I’d like to talk to first. Since we did find that scrunchie.”

  The Waitress

  Mary Lou Pikipsi opened her door and looked confused. There were two women and a dog she didn’t know on her porch.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “We hope so,” Amy muttered.

  “I’m Heather Shepherd, and this is Amy Givens. We’re private investigators working with the Key West Police. We’re looking into the death of your boss. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”

  "Sure," Mary Lou said. She had short hair like was popular with flappers in the 1920s. They estimated that her house might have been from around then too. It was an old house but looked well taken care of and sturdy.

  Mary Lou pet Dave on the head and then showed them inside. “I’ll tell you what I can. Do you want some tea or something? I was thinking of making some anyway.”

  “Sure,” Heather said, hoping the action would calm the waitress’s nerves. Mary Lou put a kettle on in her small kitchen and then sat down with the investigators.

  "Now how can I help you?” Mary Lou asked.

  “We’d like to know a little more about Clint Trag,” Heather said. “What was he like as a boss?”

  “He was very strict,” Mary Lou said. “But he wasn’t a bad guy. I don’t know why anyone would want to hurt him like that.”

  "You can't think of anyone?" Amy asked. Then she took out the tablet to take notes on the questioning to stop her from saying anything snarky and directing answers toward Josh.

  “No,” Mary Lou said. “I know he and Josh had a fight. It was bigger than usual because Josh stormed out. But they did that sort of thing a lot. I wouldn’t have thought it would lead to murder.”

  “Did the other employees get along with the chef?” asked Heather.

  "Damian got along with everyone. He's such a nice man. And the chef could never ruffle his feathers. He couldn't be involved in any of this. And I don't see Andy acting out. He's a quiet young man. Chef Clint could be mean to him because Andy wanted to be a chef too. He'd give me a hard time too. He said I took too long talking with the customers," Mary Lou said. “But that’s half of my job. Making the customers feel welcome. It’s not all about just carrying food around.”

  “Sounds like a tough boss,” Amy said.


  “He could be,” Mary Lou said. “But again. I don’t see how an employee could have done it. It had to be a random madman or something like that. Do you have any other questions?”

  "Where were you Saturday morning before ten thirty?” asked Heather.

  “I was home,” Mary Lou said. “I don’t have to work until later. I’m afraid I was here alone.”

  “Has your hair always been that short?” Amy asked.

  “Huh?” Mary Lou touched her hair.

  “This isn’t a new hairstyle?” Amy continued.

  “I’ve had it for years,” Mary Lou said. “I think it’s cute and my hair doesn’t get in my way at work.”

  "I guess you wouldn't need a scrunchie then," Amy said. "It's too short to pull back."

  “That’s right,” Mary Lou said, not sure where the conversation was leading.

  "Have you ever seen this scrunchie before?" Heather asked. She showed Mary Lou a picture of the hair tie that they had found at the crime scene.

  “No,” Mary Lou said a little too firmly. “I’ve never seen that before in my life. Why? It couldn’t have something to do with the murder, could it?”

  "We're just following all leads,” Heather said, calmly.

  “You know what,” Mary Lou said, jumping up. “I think I have some dog treats somewhere that this fellow might like.”

  Dave wagged his tail appreciatively at the word “treats.” Mary Lou hurried down the hall. Heather and Amy looked at each other.

  “She’s hiding something,” Heather said.

  “But what?” asked Amy.

  Then, they heard the tea kettle whistling in the kitchen. When Mary Lou didn’t head back towards them right away, Heather and Amy headed to the kitchen. Heather turned off the kettle and looked around.

  “Do you think we should pour the tea?” Heather asked. “Do you see any mugs?”

  Amy poked around the kitchen too and then stopped.

  “I didn’t find mugs,” Amy said. “But I found some knives.”

  Heather hurried over. There were large kitchen knives in the drawer.

  “Do you think one of these could be the murder weapon?” Amy asked.

  Heather shushed her and then said quietly, “It’s possible. Maybe Ryan and the medical examiner could tell by the shape.”

  The began taking pictures of all of her knives using their cell phones. They tried to be silent as they worked so they would not arouse suspicion.

  It was because of this that they could hear Mary Lou speaking in the other room.

  “Is she on the phone?” Amy asked.

  “I think so,” Heather said.

  They could only hear snippets of the conversation, but it didn’t sound like an innocent chat. They heard phrases such as “don’t tell them,” “on to us” and “deny it.”

  The heard Mary Lou coming and quickly closed the knife drawer.

  “What are you doing out here?” she asked when she saw them.

  “The water was boiling,” Heather said brightly. “I was going to pour the water, but I couldn’t find the mugs.”

  “Did you find the dog treat?” Amy asked.

  “What?” said Mary Lou. “Oh. No. I couldn’t find it. I must have given them away to a neighbor’s dog or something.”

  Dave looked glum.

  “Who were you on the phone with?” Heather asked.

  “What?” Mary Lou asked. “I wasn’t on the phone.”

  “Oh,” said Heather. “We thought we head you.”

  "No. I wasn't on the phone," Mary Lou said. "You must have heard me talking to myself. I was saying how I was starting not to feel well. I think that's all the questions I can answer today."

  “Well, thank you for your time,” Heather said.

  Heather and Amy left her house with a disappointed Dave.

  "It’s a shame she made us leave,” Amy said. “Maybe we could have found out what she was hiding.”

  “We did already find out a lot,” Heather said. “We saw her knives and can check to see if they match the murder weapon. We also know that she felt she needed to call someone after we arrived. And that means – she has a partner.”

  The Scrunchie

  After dropping Dave off and giving all the animals a treat, Heather and Amy headed to Donut Delights.

  Business was going smoothly at the shop, and Heather was glad that this was one thing she didn’t have to worry about. With the murder investigation and Jamie’s interference on his friend’s behalf – not to mention thinking of donut flavors for the upcoming wedding, Heather was feeling stretched thin. Luckily, she had amazing assistants.

  The shop was clean, the donuts looked delicious, and customers were happy. The only downside was that Digby was looking morose.

  “Is this still about his New Year’s Resolution?” Heather asked.

  “He started breaking his one donut of the day into little pieces that he could dole out through the day,” Janae said.

  “I guess that’s a smart plan,” Heather said.

  “It would be if the pieces weren’t so small that they blew away and fell on the ground,” Janae said.

  “I told him not to worry about it,” Nina said, feeling proud that she had told someone else not to worry.

  “I think you’re right,” Heather said. “There’s no reason to impose something upon yourself that makes you miserable unless there is just cause."

  “And I prefer just desserts instead,” Amy joked.

  "My resolution is coming along a little better,” Janae said. “I finally tracked down one of my friends from school online. We’re going to get together for drinks later in the week.”

  “That sounds fun,” Heather said. “Feel free to bring some Pink Moscato Donuts if you think they’ll go with what you’re having.”

  “That will make for an even more wonderful evening,” Janae said. “And I can talk to her about how confusing men are here on the island. Sometimes you think that they’re interested in you, and sometimes you can’t tell. Maybe they do just like my bike tours and baking and don’t really like me.”

  “I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Heather said. She happened to know that both Detective Peters and a firefighter in town were harboring crushes on her assistant.

  "Men can be confusing though," Amy said. “You can think that they are honest and trustworthy, but then they do things to make you doubt them. And you might find out that they don’t really believe in your abilities at all. They can be so two-faced.”

  “I feel like I should defend my gender,” Digby said. “But I just don’t have the will.”

  “Digby, just have another donut,” Heather said.

  "No," Digby said. "I made a resolution, and I will stick by it. I will not be a glutton. I will limit myself to one donut per day. And I had one. It just so happened that my donut pieces fell on the floor. But if I find any of them, I can eat them."

  “I can’t believe I have to say this to an employee,” Heather said. “Don’t eat food off the floor.”

  Some more customers started flooding in and the assistants got to work. Digby seemed more like his old self as he talked to them and served up snacks.

  Heather sighed. “This is one complicated case, isn’t it?”

  “It’s made my relationship more complicated,” Amy said.

  "Our best lead with the scrunchie disappeared," Heather said. "But I suppose it’s possible that one of the male employees wears one.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Amy said. “We don’t know for sure that the scrunchie was there around the same time as the murder. And even after we talked to Mary Lou, it still seems most likely that Josh is the killer. We’re just deluding ourselves because we don’t want to upset Jamie.”

  “Come on,” Heather said. “I think we could use a walk.”

  “I don’t want to walk,” Amy grumbled.

  “We’re also starting to talk loudly because you’re upset and I don’t want to scare our customers away with talk of murder,”
Heather said.

  “Fine,” Amy sighed. They started to head out, but before they were out the door, she made sure to call out, “Digby, eat a donut!”

  “It’s all going to work out,” Heather said, as they began walking down Duvall Street. Heather was reminded how lucky she was to be part of such a vibrant street. The shops were eclectic and fascinating.

  “I know we’ll catch the killer in the end,” Amy said. “We caught Josh once. We just let him slip away because we trusted them, instead of realizing that Jamie’s camping talk was code.”

  “I know we’ll figure out who the killer is too,” Heather said. “But whether it’s Josh or another person who is guilty, I’m confident that you and Jamie can work things out.”

  “I’m just so mad at him,” Amy said. “I’m not going to bring him home any donuts tonight.”

  “He’s probably not pleased that you tried to arrest him either,” Heather pointed out.

  “I guess so,” Amy sighed. “I just wish we could crack this case. Maybe then it would be easier.”

  Heather stopped her aimless window shopping when she saw something worthwhile.

  “Look,” Heather said.

  “I don’t want to have anything to do with Mr. Rankle’s shop,” Amy said, referring to their crotchety old neighbor who had tried to close them down before.

  Heather ignored her and walked into the shop. Amy groaned and followed. However, she felt less annoyed when she saw the reason for their entrance.

  “What are you doing here?” Mr. Rankle asked. “No chance you decided to close up shop and move back to Tennessee?”

  “Texas,” Heather said. “And no. We came in to ask about those scrunchies you have on display.”

  “They are nice, aren’t they?” Mr. Rankle said, being kinder than usual when he thought he was going to make a sale. "They're a limited-edition design. An artist designed them, and you can really tell. I got them in on Friday."

  “On Friday?” Heather asked. “No one could get this particular design before then?”

  "Are you suggesting that someone else could have gotten this product before me?" Mr. Rankle asked indignantly. "I am on top of all the trends. I got them as soon as possible. No one could have sold them before Friday."