Funfetti Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 52

by Susan Gillard

  “Firstly, I didn’t fight with her. She made some mean comments, and I left. Secondly, I offered up this information freely so Ryan could clear me and we could still help solve the case. I barely knew Marcia before today, and I didn’t have a motive to be angry with her until this afternoon. I’m sure I’ll be exonerated soon.”

  “I hope so. I ran away from Jamie to investigate this crime scene.”

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t even thinking about your plans,” Heather said. “I didn’t mean to steal you away.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s whoever-the-killer-is’s fault. And he has other things to pay for besides ending my date early.”

  “That’s true. How was furniture deciding?”

  Amy groaned. “I’d rather track down a killer.”

  “That bad?”

  “Neither of us want to give up certain pieces. And some things clash. And some things are heavy and are going to be impossible to move. The only thing I’m sure of is that the two of us will be inside the house. Everything else is debatable.”

  “Well, you two are the most important part,” Heather said. “If you didn’t take Jamie off the moving truck, it wouldn’t be worth the move.”

  They started giggling as they formed the mental images of Jamie being unpacked from a moving box along with a plethora of packing peanuts. Ryan joined them, and they tried to quell their giggles.

  “You’re all cleared,” Ryan said. “It looks like a bottle of wine was poisoned, and from what we’ve determined so far you’d have to have entered the house to lace it. Your movements are generally accounted for by witnesses today. You wouldn’t have time to come here and kill her after she upset you.”

  “Glad to know you don’t think I’m a killer,” Heather said, smiling. “Now let’s see if we can find out who really did it.”

  “As if Heather could be a murderer,” Amy muttered. “Though it would be our easiest case if all we have to do was arrest ourselves.”

  “The husband was home. He’s the one who called the ambulance,” Ryan said. “We have him in another room with Detective Hoskins right now, so I can show you the crime scene.”

  Amy and Heather exchanged a look.

  “He’s with Hoskins?” Amy asked.

  “Do you think he’s the most sensitive person to be dealing with the new widower?” Heather asked. “Isn’t he more interested in food than witnesses?”

  “You have to remember that the spouse is always a suspect,” Ryan said. “And yes, he is still eating on the job, which in the case of a poisoning makes me nervous. We think it’s only the wine bottle, but if it’s somewhere else, I don’t want my partner poisoned.”

  Heather nodded. Even if she thought Detective Hoskins was an ineffective partner for her husband, she didn’t want him ingesting poison.

  They followed Ryan into the spacious home and to the kitchen. It was a room that was generally tidy, but several items were knocked over. There was a round spot of liquid on the counter.

  “Is that from the wine bottle?” Heather asked, pointing.

  “Yes,” Ryan said. “Forensics took it away already. Based on the smell and coloring, we believe there was arsenic inside, but they will officially confirm it with some more tests. They took the wine glass as well. That’s what the red spill on the floor is over there.”

  “Why are so many things knocked over?” Amy asked. “Was someone trying to stage a break in as a cover for the murder?”

  “I think it’s from the death throes,” Heather said. “As Marcia started realizing something was wrong, she sought help. Then her body started reacting to the poison, and she began flailing.”

  Amy shuddered, but then said, “Duh. I should have realized that.”

  “Any fingerprints?” Heather asked.

  “Forensics took what they found to the lab. They’ll have to compare them to the victim and the family first to determine if anything is helpful,” said Ryan.

  “If it was in the wine bottle, then it was intentionally put in?” Heather asked for confirmation. “There’s no chance it was accidental.”

  “If it is both arsenic and in the wine bottle as we suspect, then it’s definitely murder,” Ryan said.

  Heather frowned. She was not a fan of Marcia Lindau, but no one deserved to be poisoned. She would make sure that they caught whoever was behind this.

  Chapter 7

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Dan Lindau said. He was holding his head in his hands as he sat on the couch opposite Detective Hoskins. “It was just like any other night.”

  “It’s all right,” Detective Hoskins said. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. We’re professionals.” Then he offered Mr. Lindau one of his candies. “Would you like a toffee?”

  “No. I’m not hungry,” Dan Lindau replied.

  “Suit yourself,” Detective Hoskins said with a shrug.

  Heather watched this scene and found it hard not to shake her head. Amy couldn’t help herself.

  “Come on,” Ryan said.

  The trio joined the detective and the spouse of the murdered woman in the living room. Ryan introduced Heather and Amy as private investigators who consulted on cases with the Hillside Police.

  “We have to ask you some questions now,” Ryan said.

  “Go ahead,” Dan Lindau said. “I want to find out what happened too. I just don’t understand any of this.”

  “You were the one who called the ambulance?” Heather asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what was wrong, but it was obvious she needed help. I thought it was a heart attack or a stroke or something. But you think she was poisoned?”

  “We’re looking into that possibility,” Heather said.

  Amy took out their tablet so she could take notes during this interview. She opened the Evernote App and prepared to record what the spouse had to say.

  “I don’t know who would want to kill her,” Mr. Lindau said.

  “Your wife didn’t have any enemies?” Asked Ryan.

  “She wasn’t perfect,” Mr. Lindau said. “She might ruffle some feathers. But I can’t think of any enemies. I can’t think of who would want her to die.”

  “Whose feathers did she ruffle?” Heather asked.

  “She could be pushy and particular. She was that way with everyone.”

  “Even you?” Heather asked.

  “I loved her,” Mr. Lindau said. “I think she might have ruffled some feathers at the PTA. I know not everyone wanted her to be president.”

  “Anyone in particular?” asked Heather.

  “No,” he said. “I can’t always put names to faces in her stories. She has so many people that she talks about. The moms. The teachers. The kids. She expected me to know exactly who she was talking about all the time, so I just nodded and pretended a lot. Maybe that’s a bad thing to admit now.”

  “I’m afraid we have to ask this,” Heather said. “Were you and your wife having any troubles?”

  “No, nothing. I admitted I wasn’t perfect either because I couldn’t keep up with all her gossip. But I would never kill her. And certainly not in a terrible way like this. When I was home, and I could see her suffer. It was terrible.”

  Detective Hoskins wanted to help, but all he could do was offer another toffee that Dan Lindau refused again.

  “Can you take us through what happened tonight again?” Ryan asked.

  “The only silver lining in all this,” Mr. Lindau said. “Is that our daughter wasn’t home tonight. She was at a sleepover so she didn’t have to see what happened.”

  “Where is she staying?” Heather asked.

  “With her friend Kiki Miller. Her mother and Marcia are friends. Were friends. Oh no, I have to tell them, don’t I?”

  “We can help inform whoever you need,” Heather offered. “But first we need to ask you these questions because we need to find out what happened to your wife, and you’re the one who can help us the most.”

  “Okay,” Mr. Lindau said, tryi
ng to keep his cool in the height of great emotion. “The order of events. It seemed normal. I came home from work. I paid the babysitter and let her go home. Marcia came home from whatever event she was working on. We had a late dinner. Claire Miller and Kiki came to pick up Marlena for the sleepover. Then I watched some TV. I guess Marcia had a glass of wine. She does that most nights. And I guess that was what caused this.”

  “Do you ever drink wine with her?” Heather asked. She needed to determine if the killer killed the right person with their murderous drink. It was possible that the poison was meant for both parents.

  “Sometimes,” Mr. Lindau said. “I like beer better, but sometimes I’d have wine with her. Though I didn’t really like red wine. I much prefer white.”

  Heather looked at Ryan.

  “It was a bottle of red wine,” he said to her. It looked as if the killer had laced the proper drink for only killing Marcia Lindau. If this was intentional, then the killer knew the family’s habits. If it was unintentional, then the killer was even more dangerous because he didn’t care if anyone else got hurt as long as Marcia died too.

  “I’d like to know more about that wine bottle,” Heather said. “How long has it been in the house? Was it a gift?”

  “I think it was one of the leftover bottles from Marcia’s wine nights,” Mr. Lindau said.

  Heather nodded. She had heard a little bit about them at the bake sale. “This is where friends from the PTA come over for drinks?”

  “It’s a girls’ night sort of thing.”

  “When was the last one?” Ryan asked.

  “Just a few days ago,” Mr. Lindau said. “On Friday.”

  “And who came?” Heather asked.

  “Well, Claire Miller. And the tall brunette and the short brunette. And the one who always parks wrong in my driveway,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’m not good with names.”

  “Did Marcia usually keep the wine bottles from these events?” asked Heather.

  “Yeah. I think she kept the red wines. If it was unopened, she might save it for the next meeting, but if it were open she’d keep it by her wine glasses and have some every so often. I guess she won’t anymore.”

  Mr. Lindau looked like he was about to cry. Again, Detective Hoskins tried to help in the only way he knew how.

  “Toffee?” He asked, offering again.

  “No, thank you,” Mr. Lindau said. “I’m diabetic and need to watch what I eat. Especially when I’m upset.”

  “You’ve been very helpful,” Ryan said. “That’s all our questions for now.”

  Heather and Amy thanked him as well, so did Detective Hoskins but his “thank you” was through a mouth full of candy.

  “Now,” Heather said. “What can we do to help with your daughter?”

  Chapter 8

  “Well, that was heartbreaking,” Heather said, thinking about the night before and how they had helped Mr. Lindau explain to Marlena what had happened. They also notified Mr. Lindau’s mother who was hurrying into town to care for her granddaughter while Dan Lindau dealt with his grief.

  “Tell me about it,” Amy said. They were enjoying a break at Donut Delights as they encountered a rare lull in between customers, but they were feeling anything but relaxed.

  “We probably shouldn’t get so involved when someone is still a suspect,” Amy said. “But it’s tough when kids are involved.”

  “I agree. But I think our help was all right as long as we continue to look at the case objectively.”

  “The spouse is always a suspect. It makes me want to never get married.”

  Heather gave her a look. She knew things were getting more serious between Amy and Jamie. Moving in together might only be the first step of many bigger ones. However, then Heather’s thoughts drifted back to little Marlena.

  “I don’t ever want to leave Lilly alone like that. We have to make sure we don’t get killed, all right?” Heather said, even though she knew making a promise like that was impossible to be sure of.

  “I’m game if you are,” Amy said. “Though we do get into some dangerous situations.”

  Heather thought about it. “Maybe I get into too many dangerous situations for a mom.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Well, investigating murders and chasing down killers is risky.”

  “So? What do you want to do?” Amy asked. “Do you want to retire?”

  Heather wavered.

  “Do you want to stop looking for Marcia Lindau’s killer?” Amy asked.

  “No,” Heather said. “I know myself. I can’t stop. Not when a killer is on the loose. Not when he thinks he can get away with murder. And not when he takes a mother away from a child.”

  “I don’t want to stop either. So enough of this wishy-washy talk. Let’s solve this thing!”

  “Okay,” Heather said, with a smile. “Let’s discuss the case over some donuts.”

  Heather brought two donuts over to a table, and the friends sat down to eat and analyze.

  “Any news from forensics?” Amy asked.

  “Ryan did have some news for us,” Heather agreed. “He confirmed what they thought about the wine. It was poisoned with arsenic. Though they think they were trace amounts of something else there too.”

  “Like what?”

  Heather shrugged. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

  “I hate waiting,” Amy said.

  “And the fingerprints news is a bust so far. They only fingerprints on the wine bottle were Marcia’s.”

  “Poison is a tricky murder weapon,” Amy said. “When a murderer kills with a knife, they obviously need to be with the victim at the time of death. But with poison, they can drop it in and walk away.”

  “Right,” Heather agreed. “If Marcia had the wine bottle since her gathering on Friday, then there were many opportunities for someone to plant the poison.”

  “It could have happened at the party itself,” Amy said. “As long as the killer was careful not to drink the wrong thing at the end of the night.”

  “Or the killer could have planted it when it was sitting on Marcia’s counter any time during the last few days. That would mean that anyone who entered her house could have done it.”

  “So it was someone she knew well enough to invite inside her house,” Amy thought aloud.

  “Most likely,” Heather agreed. “Though it is possible that someone could have sneaked inside without her knowledge.”

  They chewed on their donuts and their thoughts. There was still so much that they had to discover about the case.

  “I feel like this is going to be a long list of suspects,” Amy said. “Where do we get started?”

  “We have to still consider Dan Lindau a suspect,” Heather said. “He definitely had access to the wine.”

  “Right.”

  “And we should look into the ladies who went to the wine gathering.”

  “Short, tall, and bad parking job.”

  “That’s them.”

  “I wonder what Tall’s last name is?” Amy joked. “Could it be Drink-Of-Water?”

  Heather laughed. “Dan Lindau might not know their names, but I’m sure they have them. There’s a PTA meeting tonight that I think we should go to. If Claire Miller is the Claire I met at the bake sale, then I know who she is. And she could tell us who the other ladies are.”

  “One of them might have a motive for killing their friend.”

  “Or they might know of someone who has.”

  “Why are they having a PTA meeting tonight?” Amy asked.

  “It was supposed to be about summer plans and how they would hit the ground running in the fall. Now it will probably be a bit of a memorial, and a bit of deciding who the new president will be,” Heather said. “I bet we can get a lot of good information out of it.”

  “Then I’m happy to go with you,” Amy said. “But if they serve any, I’m not having any of the wine.”

  Chapter 9

  The PTA meeting was held in a sc
hool cafeteria. Heather and Amy arrived a little early and were surprised to see how many people were there as well. Perhaps parents were eager to find out how their children would be affected by a forced change in leadership, or perhaps morbid curiosity had brought people out of the woodwork to hear details about the murder. Regardless of the reason, Heather and Amy had to search out two seats together.

  “This is more crowded than usual, right?” Amy asked.