Daley Buzz Cozy Mystery Boxed Set

by Meredith Potts

  Before I had a chance to answer, she threw another question my way.

  “I mean, why do you think I would want to talk about one of my ex-boyfriends at all, much less with you?”

  “I know it’s the last thing you want to do. But like I said, this is important,” I replied.

  “To you or to me?”

  “To everyone living in Treasure Cove.”

  “Does this have something to do with Gregory Morton’s murder?”

  “It might. That’s why I’m here. To try to find out,” I said.

  Melissa shook her head. “You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I would love to live a quiet and peaceful life. It’s this town that can’t stay out of trouble. I’m just trying to get things back to normal around here. But that’s not going to happen with a killer on the loose.”

  Melissa groaned. “Fine. Which of my ex-boyfriends did you talk to?”

  “William Bolton.”

  Her eyebrows arched. “You actually got him to talk to you?”

  “In all honesty, I did most of the talking,” I said.

  “That isn’t surprising. So what connection does William have to the murder?”

  “I’m not sure that there is any. That part I’m still trying to figure out. But it does appear that William might have been supplying an illegal drug called dextramaltin to Gregory Morton.”

  Melissa took a deep breath. “Murder. Illegal drugs. A killer on the loose. And you wonder why I warn you not to poke your head where it doesn’t belong. You could end up becoming the next victim if you’re not careful.”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I’d much rather be out getting a mani-pedi this afternoon—”

  “Then go get one.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Sure you can. And you should. Trust me when I say this—get as far away from William as possible,” Melissa said.

  “Because William was definitely the one to have supplied Gregory with the drugs?” I asked.

  “I didn’t say that,” Melissa replied.

  “What can you tell me about William? Not to mention the secret society that he is a member of.”

  Melissa groaned. “I can’t stop you from behaving like a fool, but I’m not going to let you drag me down with you.”

  “If you know something, just tell me what it is. I just want to know the truth.”

  “The problem is that the truth hurts. That’s why I want nothing to do with this conversation.”

  “You do know something, don’t you?” I asked.

  “How many different ways can I warn you to mind your own business before you listen to me? Say that William did provide Gregory Morton with illegal drugs. And say they were part of the same secret society. Gregory is dead. So by sticking your head where it doesn’t belong, what do you expect to accomplish other than getting yourself killed, too?”

  “Melissa, I’m not afraid of William or some secret society.”

  “You should be. As a matter of fact, you should be terrified.”

  Melissa had a harrowing look in her eyes. It was enough to send a shiver down my spine.

  I tried to get her to elaborate, but as I opened my mouth, she cut me off.

  “I’m done talking about this. And if anyone asks, we never spoke. Got it?” she said.

  Melissa had asked me a question, but she didn’t wait around for my answer. Instead, she took a few steps back inside her house and closed her front door.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  After that dispiriting conversation with Melissa, I met up with David at the police station. Despite my best efforts to shake it off, my sour mood decided to tag along. Such a thick storm cloud hung over my head that David couldn’t help but bring up how deflated I looked when I reached his desk.

  “Is this case getting you down, too?” David asked.

  “Wait. So you don’t have any good news, either?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. But you know what they say about misery loving company.”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I love your company, but I could certainly do without the misery.”

  “I know what you mean,” David said. “Any suggestions about how to break through this block we’re having?”

  “I was about to ask you the same thing,” I said.

  “I don’t have an answer. Do you?”

  I shook my head. “Where’s the crime lab with some case-breaking evidence when you need them?”

  “Unfortunately, the lab told me that they have done everything they can.”

  “That’s really unfortunate.”

  “Especially since they weren’t able to tell me any new information.”

  “What did they tell you exactly?”

  “Well, they confirmed the time of death and cause of death. They also confirmed that the pills in Morton’s office were concentrated dextramaltin. Other than that, not much.”

  I winced. “That’s not what I want to hear.”

  “It may not be what you want to hear, but it’s the truth.”

  “Yeah. A sad truth,” I said. “How about Gregory’s office? Or his house? Or his car? Did your team find anything out of the ordinary there?”

  David shook his head. “My deputies searched all three of those inside and out and didn’t find anything useful.”

  “Wow. Talk about striking out.”

  “It is not this department’s finest hour, that’s for sure.”

  “So basically we’re right back where we started, then?” I asked.

  David let out a sigh. “Unfortunately.”

  “You really are full of good news today,” I deadpanned.

  “Did you really expect anything else?”

  “Kind of,” I said.

  “I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

  I took a deep breath. “It’s been one of those days already.”

  “And it’s still early.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  As David gazed into my eyes, a concerned look came to his face.

  “Does that mean you don’t want to talk about your morning?” he asked.

  “What I want is to get a break in this case.”

  “Well, other than questioning all the suspects again, I’m not sure how we’re going to do that.”

  I scrunched my nose. “Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.”

  “Do you really want to question them all again one by one?”

  “If we have to.”

  “Here’s the problem. Without any hard evidence against any of them, we’re going to have a hard time getting them to talk.”

  I squinted. “That’s not necessarily true.”

  “How do you figure?” David asked.

  “Maybe we have just been asking the wrong questions.”

  “And what are the right ones?”

  “We’ve spent a lot of time focusing on his professional life and his romantic life, but there was another side to him. A secret side,” I replied.

  “Are you talking about the secret society?” David replied.

  I nodded. “I just finished talking to Melissa Wilcox, and she gave me a bunch of cryptic responses when I asked her about her ex-boyfriend’s involvement in the society.”

  “What else is new?”

  “That’s the thing. Nothing is new. We just keep getting the same old tired answers. Which is why I feel like we need to go and ask some fresh questions.”

  “I don’t disagree with you. The problem is, we haven’t gotten any of the members to even admit the society is more than a business mixer group, so how do you propose that we expose their deepest and darkest secrets?” David asked.

  A few weeks ago, David and I had spotted a line of cars coming out of the banquet hall. We had recorded the license plate numbers of nine of them. Later, David had looked up their names in the DMV database. That meant that we theoretically knew of nine of the members in the secret society.

  The longer I thought about the
names of the members we did know, the more my mind raced until an idea came to me.

  “Bring the members in here,” I said.

  “Which ones?” David asked.

  “All of them. All at once. If we put pressure on each of the members that we know, I’ll bet we could get one of them to break down. You know just as well as I do that we just need to find one weak link and the entire chain will break.”

  David chuckled. “Sabrina, you have been watching too much TV. In the real world, you need to have reasonable cause to detain a suspect, much less an entire secret society. And trust me, we do not have reasonable cause to do that.”

  “Fair enough.” A smile crept across my face as I thought of an alternative. “But we do have cause to question at least one of the members again.”

  “Are you talking about Doug Stevenson?” David asked.

  I nodded. “So what do you say? Do you feel like paying Doug another visit?”

  David got up from his desk. “Let’s do it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  When David and I pulled up in front of Doug Stevenson’s sleek glass office, we saw two surprising figures exiting the building. The first was Tom Dillon. The other was William Bolton.

  Most of the residents of Treasure Cove knew Tom as a noted residential real estate developer. The paunchy five-foot-ten fifty-six-year-old man had an angular face, a thick mustache, and short black hair. But his physical attributes didn’t interest me quite as much as my suspicions that he was a member of the secret society that was operating in town.

  I believed that William was a member of the society as well. While I could not confirm that, what I did know for sure about him was that he ran an import-export business in town.

  I could not overstate how rare of a sight it was to spot two suspected members of the society speaking in public. The fact that they had just come from Doug Stevenson’s office, who I also believed to be part of the society, made me curious beyond belief.

  Tom and William continued talking as they made their way to the parking lot of the small office building.

  David and I decided to follow them. We caught up with them at Tom’s car.

  “Funny running into you here,” David said.

  The moment William spotted David, he couldn’t wait to get as far away from him as possible. “I was just leaving.”

  David held his hand out. “Not so fast.”

  “I have somewhere that I need to be as well,” Tom said.

  “Neither of you are going anywhere until we get a few questions answered,” David replied.

  William scowled at David. “I already answered your questions.”

  “I have new ones,” David said. “That happens when I see you coming out of a murder suspect’s office. What were you just doing here?”

  William folded his arms. “I have an alibi for the time of Gregory’s murder. You have no legal grounds to hold me for questioning. Now we’re done here. If you have a problem with that, you can call my lawyer.”

  David stared William down. “Suit yourself. But do you really want me to drag you and your lawyer into the station for a few questions that you can just answer here?”

  William shot David a glare. “You wouldn’t.”

  David smirked. “Try me.”

  William smoldered.

  “I just want to know what you were doing here at Doug Stevenson’s office,” David said.

  “I was here about business,” William replied.

  “What kind of business?” David asked.

  I stepped in. “And don’t say none of our business.”

  “I was here to discuss possibly opening up an account with Doug’s investment firm,” William replied.

  “Possibly? So you don’t have any money invested with his firm right now?” I asked.

  William shook his head.

  “And you expect me to believe that you just happened to go and see Doug the day after one of the members of your secret society was found murdered?” I asked.

  “I have already told you. I’m not a member of a secret society. It’s a—”

  I cut William off. “It’s a business mixer group. Or whatever you are calling it these days. The point is that the timing of your meeting with Doug is very curious.”

  “Says you,” William replied.

  “And me,” David said. “I can’t help but think that it’s more than a coincidence that you decided to meet with Doug today.”

  “You can think whatever you want. But you can’t prove anything. Face it. You have nothing on me and you know it. Now, I have answered your questions. I am out of here,” William said.

  David held his arm out. “Not so fast. Mr. Dillon hasn’t answered our questions yet.”

  William’s forehead wrinkled. “What does that have to do with me?”

  “That’s what I intend to find out,” David said.

  “I’m not saying another word without my lawyer present,” William replied.

  “Fine. You don’t have to say another word. But you aren’t free to leave yet,” David said.

  Tom spoke up. “I’m not talking to you without a lawyer, either.”

  “So be it. Why don’t you both call your lawyers and tell them to meet you at the police station? Because that will be exactly where you’ll both be headed if you continue to refuse to answer my questions,” David said.

  Tom scoffed. “This is ridiculous.”

  David shook his head. “No. What’s ridiculous is how you’re trying to avoid a few simple questions. I just want to know the truth. The quicker you give me answers, the faster you can leave.”

  I stared Tom down. “Besides, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.”

  Tom shot me a glare. “I don’t have anything to hide.”

  “Good. Then tell me what you were both doing here at Doug’s office at the same time,” I said.

  “I was discussing business,” Tom said.

  “So all three of you were discussing business together?” I asked.

  Tom shook his head. “No. Not together. I met with Doug, then William met with Doug separately.”

  I gave him a wary look. “If the meetings were separate, then why did you two come out together?”

  Tom nearly tripped over his tongue as he answered. “I, uh, waited for William to finish because we had scheduled to go out for lunch afterward.”

  I stared Tom down. “Is that so?”

  Tom shot me a glare. “Yes.”

  “If we go in there and ask Doug if he met with you and William separately, will he agree?” I replied.

  Tom nodded. “Absolutely.”

  “We’ll see about that,” I said.

  “You have a lot of nerve—”

  I cut Tom off. “When you say that you and Doug were discussing business, are you sure that you don’t mean secret society business?”

  William broke his silence. “There is no secret society. For the last time, it’s just a mixer group of local business leaders.”

  David stared William down. “I thought you weren’t going to say another word without your lawyer present.”

  William shut up in a hurry.

  Tom became defiant with me. “I have answered your questions. As far as I’m concerned, we are done here.”

  David held his pointer finger up. “I just have one more quick one for you. Where were you between seven and eight o’clock on Wednesday?”

  “I was at home,” Tom replied.

  “Alone?” David asked.

  Tom shook his head. “No. My wife was with me.”

  David gave him a critical stare. “Uh-huh.”

  “Call her. She’ll confirm it,” Tom said.

  “Don’t think I won’t,” David replied.

  “You don’t scare me.” Tom pulled out his phone and started dialing a number. A few seconds later, he put his phone up to his ear and began speaking into it. “Danielle. Hi. This is Tom. Will you please tell this man where I was on Wednesday night?”

&
nbsp; Tom put his phone on speaker. A female voice was heard over the phone.

  “Tom was with me all night,” the voice said.

  Tom talked into the phone. “Thank you, honey. I’ll call you later.”

  Tom hung up the phone and narrowed his eyes at David.

  “See. I was with my wife. Now, are we done here?” Tom asked.

  David took a moment before replying. “For now.”

  A smug look came to Tom’s face. “That’s what I thought.”

  William and Tom then headed off. Although my suspicions about them remained.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  David and I stormed into Doug’s office, much to his dismay.

  Doug’s face filled with outrage when he looked up from his desk and spotted us. “What do you think you’re doing just barging in here like you own the place?”

  “Don’t worry. We won’t take up much of your time,” David said.

  “I’d rather you take up none of my time,” Doug said. “I’m working here.”

  “When we’re done, you can get back to work,” David replied.

  “What more could you possibly want from me?” Doug asked.

  “Right now I only want one thing from you. The truth,” David said.

  “I gave you that yesterday. Yet you’re here again,” Doug replied.

  “And just in time, too,” David said. “I can’t help but notice that you just had some interesting visitors.”

  Doug’s forehead wrinkled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t even think about lying to us. We just saw Tom Dillon and William Bolton coming out of your office,” I said.

  “So?” Doug replied.

  “Doug, we know they are members of the same secret society that you are,” I said.

  Doug could barely contain his frustration as he replied. “I already told you. It’s not a secret society. We’re just a group of local business leaders.”

  “Speaking of business, what were Tom and William just here about?” I asked.

  “That’s none of your business,” Doug replied.

  David stared him down. “I disagree.”

  “They were here to talk about money. It turns out that’s the kind of thing that people discuss at a wealth management firm,” Doug replied.