Funfetti Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 52

by Susan Gillard

  “Finally,” Amy muttered.

  “And how did you feel about this?” Heather asked.

  “How do you think I felt? Disgusted. They were both cheating on the spouses,” Susan said. “I was furious with Spencer.”

  “Were you furious with Marcia too?” Heather asked.

  “I was angry at the time, but well,” Susan said. “It seems like she’s gotten her taste of karma, so I won’t speak ill of the dead anymore.”

  Heather raised an eyebrow. That was an incredibly harsh thing to say. It seemed that Susan was emotional enough to have committed murder, but did she have the physical opportunity to commit the crime?

  “Do you know where Marcia Lindau lives?” Heather asked.

  “Why?” Susan responded. “Did someone say they saw me driving by her house? Maybe I drove by to see what that tramp was up to. But I didn’t stop and sit there. For very long.”

  Amy made sure to take good notes during this interview. Susan Port was saying many incriminating things.

  “You sat outside and watched her?” Heather asked.

  “Just once,” Susan said “But you have to understand I was very upset. I thought my husband and I were going to reconcile and then I learned that this mean lady was trying to steal him from me. That she was trying to convince him that she was a decent human being. That’s laughable.”

  “Mrs. Port, did you ever go inside Marcia Lindau’s house?”

  “Of course not,” Susan said. “I’m not crazy.”

  Amy locked her jaw to keep her from saying something to rebut that statement.

  “Did you ever get close to the house?” Heather prodded. “Maybe just to look in a window?”

  “The closest I ever got was the street,” Susan said. “I wasn’t looking to fight the woman. And I certainly wasn’t looking to kill her.”

  Heather thanked Susan Port for her time. She and Amy left quickly.

  “Well, she jumped to the top of my suspect list,” Amy said.

  “She certainly showed that she had a motive,” Heather agreed. “And if she were staking out the house, it would be possible for her to sneak inside after she learned the family’s routine.”

  “Right,” Amy nodded. “She could sneak inside, add the poison, and return to her car waiting on the street.”

  “She’s definitely a strong suspect,” Heather said. “But there’s no smoking gun to tie her to the murder directly.”

  “Can you have a smoking poison?” Amy asked.

  Chapter 12

  “I knew we’d be coming back to talk to him,” Ryan said. “But I didn’t realize that we’d uncover an affair.”

  He stood on the doorstep to the Lindau house with Amy and Heather. They were all set to talk to Dan Lindau and discover what he knew about the affair.

  Dan opened the door. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

  “This is good timing,” he said. “My mother just took Marlena out for a bit, so we can talk about the death without upsetting them. Did you find out any more information?”

  “We’ve found out some things,” Heather said, evading an answer.

  “We’ve learned the names of the people who attended your wife’s wine gathering,” Ryan said. “Maybe you could give us more details about them?”

  “I’ll certainly try,” Dan said. “But I’m not good with names. And I didn’t think any of her friends would want to kill her.”

  “Give it a try,” Ryan said.

  Dan agreed, and so Heather began listing names while Amy took notes.

  “Alexandra Kerr.”

  “That name doesn’t ring any bells,” Dan Lindau said.

  “She’s the tall brunette,” Heather said.

  “Oh,” Mr. Lindau said. “She seemed friendly. I thought she and my wife got along well.”

  “Sally Whitley.”

  “Who’s that?” Mr. Lindau asked.

  “The one who can’t park,” Amy said.

  “She also got along well with my wife. They were all friends.”

  “What about Claire Miller? She was in the wine gathering too.” Heather asked.

  “That is a name and face I know because Kiki and Marlena are friends. Claire was probably Marcia’s best friend too. No problems there.”

  “What about Susan Port?” Heather asked.

  “I don’t recognize that name,” Dan said.

  Then Heather asked, “How about Spencer Port?”

  “Now what would a man be doing at the girls’ wine night?” Dan demanded.

  “How did you know Spencer Port was a man?” Ryan asked. “I know several women named Spencer.”

  “Unless you did know who Spencer Port was?” Heather prodded.

  “You tricked me,” Mr. Lindau said.

  “We’re trying to catch a murderer,” Heather said. “We needed to know how much you knew.”

  “I didn’t know,” Mr. Lindau said. “At least not for sure, but I did suspect it. That my wife was having an affair.”

  “What made you suspicious?”

  “The way she would answer her phone. And a few times she told me that she was going out with Claire, but then Claire wouldn’t have any idea what I was talking about when I asked how the new restaurant they tried was.”

  “How did this make you feel?” Heather asked.

  “More sad than anything,” Dan Lindau said. “She was my wife, and I wanted to trust her, but she was making it difficult. I thought about confronting her about it but was afraid of what she might say. What if I was wrong? Or what if she wanted to leave me for him when pressed? We had built a life together. And we had our daughter to think about.”

  “How a killer makes their kill says a lot about their state of mind. When someone stabs another person, they are usually filled with malevolent passion. They can act in the heat of the moment in anger. When someone poisons someone, it can take some time before the victim takes a sip. It can be a more calculated kill.”

  “I didn’t kill my wife,” Dan Lindau said. “I could never hurt her. And I wouldn’t have left poison around the house. What if something went wrong? I live here too. I could have poisoned myself. Or what if something spilled and I had hurt my little girl?”

  “You said you don’t normally drink red wine. And your child wouldn’t drink the wine either. It might have been a calculated risk,” Heather said.

  “No,” Mr. Lindau said. “I didn’t kill my wife. Even though she was having an affair, I didn’t kill her.”

  The trio of investigators looked at one another.

  “Thank you for your time today,” Ryan said.

  “We’ll be in touch soon,” said Heather.

  Chapter 13

  Heather was happy to take a little break from the case and enjoy a movie night with her family. She was feeling stumped by the case. There were so many opportunities for the killer to make his move, and there were so many suspects who could have done so. Luckily, she did know the answers to a happy movie night. It involved good friends, a fun film, and some donuts for snacks.

  They decided to watch one of Lilly’s favorite movies again, Jurassic Park and enjoyed some Funfetti Donuts as the dinosaurs moved about on screen. Dave and Cupcake were content to get donut scraps and have their fur petted. Eva and Leila enjoyed a lazy night in with friends after such an athletic night the other day. Amy had happily joined them for the movie but suggested that they watch her favorite Beaches next time.

  Everyone was feeling lazy after the movie, and they just chatted together until they all became sleepy. Ryan arrived home from the police station just before it was time to put Lilly to bed. He and Heather kissed her goodnight, and then wished Eva and Leila a good night without the kiss.

  They wandered into the kitchen where Amy had been waiting.

  “I should be getting home soon, but I wanted to see if Ryan had any updates on the case.”

  “Nothing right now,” Ryan said. “I was waiting for the new lab report to see if they determined what else was found in the
wine. There were trace amounts of something else besides the arsenic.”

  “And they don’t know what it is yet?” Heather asked.

  “I asked Hoskins to send it to me if it arrived while I was out with you today. Then I was waiting for it this evening. I eventually got tired of waiting, so when I finished my other work I came home,” he said.

  “This is a tough case,” Heather said. “Maybe whatever else is in that wine will give us the clue we need.”

  “That’s why I’ve been so impatient for it,” Ryan agreed.

  “If the wine was out on her counter for several days there were many opportunities for the killer to tamper with it,” Heather recapped. “A few people admitted to being in the house.”

  “Alexandra and Claire both said they were there,” Amy said.

  “And, of course, Mr. Lindau was in the house with access to the bottle,” Ryan pointed out.

  “And if anyone snuck into the house just to plant poison, they wouldn’t admit to being in the house,” Heather said. “There are just hours and hours where the wine could have been tampered with. And there are too many suspects.”

  “Is there anyone that jumps out at us?” Ryan asked.

  “I hope not,” Amy joked. “I don’t want any killers jumping out at me.”

  They laughed and then thought about what Ryan was really asking.

  “I think Susan Port is the most likely candidate,” Amy said. “She tried to hide it at first, but it was clear she hated Marcia Lindau. And she might have thought that getting rid of her would help her get her husband back.”

  “She does have a strong motive,” Heather agreed.

  “And she knew where Marcia lived. She practically admitted to stalking her. She could have killed her as well,” said Amy.

  “Dan Lindau also has a strong motive, though he didn’t appear as emotional when he spoke to us,” Heather said.

  “He had access to the wine all week,” Ryan said. “He said that it would have been dangerous or him to leave the poison in his home, but he would have known what to avoid.”

  “I don’t really think Spencer Port is the killer based on our meeting with him,” Heather said. “But I’m not sure we can completely dismiss the lover.”

  “Then there are the friends from PTA,” Amy said. “Marcia was difficult to get along with and might have pushed a friend too far.”

  “They’d certainly have an excuse to be there if they say they were visiting their friend,” Heather said. “And two of them already admitted to visiting.”

  They all thought about it and then let out a collective groan.

  “I’m just not sure how to narrow it down,” Heather said.

  Ryan’s phone buzzed, and he read the message he was sent.

  “This might help narrow it down,” Ryan said.

  “What is it?”

  “The lab report about what else was in the wine.”

  “Why are you getting it at this time of night?” Amy asked.

  “I don’t want to think poorly of him, but I have a feeling that Hoskins was given this report earlier and forgot to give it to me.”

  Heather shook her head as she realized that was probably true. Could they have been without an important clue that could break the case for hours now? She couldn’t wait any longer.

  “What does it say?” she asked.

  “Now this is interesting,” Ryan said. “The trace amounts are insulin.”

  “Insulin?” Amy asked. “Why would that be in there?”

  “Does it make the poison more potent or something like that?” Heather asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Ryan said.

  “Then why is it there?” Heather pondered.

  They all thought about it. Finally, Amy said, “I just don’t see what the purpose of it is.”

  “That’s it,” Heather said. “Or rather the opposite.”

  “The opposite of purpose?” Amy asked, trying to follow Heather’s line of thought.

  “Yes,” Heather said. “If it’s not on purpose, it’s by accident. I bet the killer didn’t mean to put the insulin in the wine. Why would they?”

  “No idea,” Amy said. “Is this their fatal slip up where we can catch them because of it?”

  “I think that the killer inserted the poison into the wine bottle using a diabetic needle. One that used to hold insulin. The killer probably thought it was empty or clean, but there were still traces inside.”

  “If it was a wine bottle that was already open, did the killer need to use a needle to poison the wine?” Amy asked.

  “Maybe. Maybe not,” Heather said. “Depending on the circumstance of when it was poisoned, it might still have been ideal to go through the cork. Maybe it was faster. Or maybe the killer did remove the cork, squirt the poison in, and replace the top.”

  “But then why use the diabetic needle if that’s the case? Amy asked.

  “Because it’s a lot easier to explain why you’re carrying around a medical device than it is a vial of poison. This was actually pretty smart of the killer,” Heather said.

  “Smart?” Amy said.

  “Don’t worry,” said Heather. “Not so smart that we can’t catch him.”

  “Agreed,” said Ryan. “And now who is someone on our suspect list that we already know if diabetic?”

  Chapter 14

  “Being diabetic doesn’t make me a murderer,” Dan Lindau said.

  “Can you explain why insulin was found in the poisoned wine bottle?” Ryan asked.

  “No,” Dan said. “But I can’t explain why there was arsenic in there either.”

  This time the interrogation was taking place at police headquarters. Dan Lindau was less collected when they last spoke as well. He seemed angry.

  Ryan and Detective Hoskins were seated at the table across from Mr. Lindau. Heather and Amy were relegated to a corner so that they would all fit inside. Heather didn’t really mind. She thought Ryan was capable of “making the suspect talk” in this setting, and she was close by if there was an important question she thought of that needed to be asked.

  Detective Hoskins was patting himself on the back for an entirely undeserved reason. “It was pretty smart of me to offer him those toffees,” he said. “We found out he had diabetes and that seemed to be the break in the case. That was some good work I did.”

  Amy rolled her eyes.

  “I didn’t kill my wife,” Mr. Lindau said. “And you’re wasting your time talking to me instead of trying to find the person who actually did it.”

  “You can’t pretend we’re making up a case against you,” Ryan said. “We know your wife was having an affair, which gives you a motive.”

  “But I didn’t act on it. I was too afraid to confront her,” Mr. Lindau said.

  “You had access to the wine which served as the murder weapon for several days.”

  “I don’t know what else you want me to say,” Dan Lindau said. “I didn’t do it.”

  “Traces of insulin were found in the wine, and you use insulin,” Ryan continued.

  “Maybe somebody is trying to frame me,” Mr. Lindau said. “It’s the only explanation I could come up with.”

  Heather thought of something else incriminating and piped up. “You were the one who called the ambulance. To an extent, you could control when they arrived.”

  “Are you saying I purposely made sure the ambulance would be too late to save my wife?” He asked angrily.

  “It’s a possibility,” Heather shrugged.

  “That thought already haunts me. If I had been just a little faster. If I had realized what was happening a little sooner. Could I have saved her?” Dan Lindau folded his arms. “I don’t have anything else I want to say to you. I want a lawyer.”

  Ryan closed up his notebook and left the room with his cohorts, while Mr. Lindau waited for a lawyer.

  “Well,” Hoskins said, clapping his hands as if clearing dust. “Looks like this one is in the bag. Good work everyone. Even my toffees helped
out. And to celebrate I think I might have some more.”

  Hoskins walked away, and Heather was pleased that the three hardworking investigators could discuss this turn of events more in-depth.

  “I really thought he would confess,” Ryan said.

  “Something does seem a little off about this,” Heather said. “Dan Lindau lived in the same house as Marcia. He probably wouldn’t need a clever hiding place for his poison. He wouldn’t have to carry it around in an insulin needle. He had plenty of time when he was alone in the house or others were sleeping to carry out this few second task.”