Vanilla Glazed Murder

by Susan Gillard

  “I’m really looking forward to that part,” Jamie said.

  “What can we do to help?” Eva asked.

  “And are there any donuts to feed your happy workers?” Leila asked.

  “I always have donuts for you too,” Heather said, happy that she hadn’t eaten the last two Vanilla Glazed Donuts by herself.

  The two ladies gushed over how delicious the simple new flavor was and about how it seemed to shine in the light.

  “It’s a super star donut,” Leila said.

  “It’s angelic,” said Eva. “Both by the shine and the taste.”

  Eva and Leila were determined to help after their snack and started helping Heather and Amy unpack the kitchenware.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t unpack.” Amy joked, “Then Jamie and I will just have to go to Dos Chicos for dinner every night.”

  They laughed. Then Eva checked in with Heather about her daughter.

  “Where’s Lilly today?” she asked.

  “She’s at her new friend Marlene’s,” Heather said.

  “She’s been spending a lot of time there,” Eva said. “Maybe she’s found her Leila.”

  “Or her Eva,” Leila said.

  The two women chuckled at their own sweetness, then they all set to the task at hand and unloaded the kitchen.

  When everyone called it quits for the day, the house was in good shape. All the boxes were in the proper rooms, and a few of the rooms were mostly set up. The kitchen was unpacked enough to cook a meal, and the living room was ready for friends to gather together. At the end of the day, that was exactly what the friends did.

  “I don’t know if I’ve ever been so tired,” Amy moaned.

  “We have had some all-night stakeouts,” Ryan reminded her.

  “Yeah. But I wasn’t sore when I was just waiting for a criminal to show up,” she said.

  “Well,” Leila asked her friend. “Should we sing the song before we depart?”

  “What song?” asked Amy.

  “Happy move-in to you,” Leila began.

  “Happy move-in to you,” she continued with Eva joining in.

  “Happy move-in, dear Amy and Jamie! Happy move-in to you!” Everyone sang together.

  “Just don’t add the “and many more” part,” Amy laughed.

  Chapter 3

  Heather was so tired when she got home that she couldn’t keep her eyes open during the movie that she tried watching with Lilly. She felt like she had only closed her eyes for a moment, but when she opened them she was covered in a blanket, and the movie had ended. She smiled, thinking about how kind her daughter was to put the blanket on her. Then she began the difficult process of convincing her body to get off of the couch.

  She finally succeeded and was joined by Ryan in the living room.

  “I was just coming in to wake you up to put you to bed,” Ryan said. “I know that sounds like an oxymoron.”

  “But it’s appreciated,” Heather said. “I wouldn’t want to sleep on the couch all night when I have a much better alternative. A comfy bed with my favorite person to cuddle with.”

  She gave him a kiss and then said, “But I think tonight I’m going to fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. If not, while falling.”

  “I’m in the same boat,” Ryan said. “All that moving really tired me out. I’m glad we’re settled here.”

  “Me too,” Heather said.

  Ryan told her that he had already made sure that Lilly was tucked in for the night, so they headed towards their room to tuck themselves in as well. However, their plan for sleeping as soon as their heads hit the pillow was ruined by Ryan’s cell phone ringing.

  Heather groaned as he answered it and forced herself to sit up. She could tell that he was being called in to investigate a case. She didn’t want to be left out of an investigation, and she always wanted to make sure that justice was served, but she couldn’t help feeling that she wished the crime had happened in the morning.

  Ryan hung up the phone and only just kept back a sigh. He started putting on his shoes. “There’s been a murder. I have to get to the scene of the crime.”

  Heather sleepily grabbed her shoes as well.

  “Are you sure you want to come tonight?” Ryan asked. “If you’re too tired, I can catch you up on the case in the morning.

  “No. If I can help at all tonight, I should go there. Just let me find a babysitter to keep an eye on Lilly, and I’ll meet you.”

  “If you’re sure?”

  “Crime doesn’t rest, so I guess neither will we,” Heather said. “Who is the victim?”

  “His name is Barry Rahway,” Ryan said.

  “That name sounds very familiar,” Heather said, trying to get her tired brain to remember it and put it in context. “Where am I going to meet you?”

  “Hoskins is going to send me the address. You know sometimes it takes him a little while to get facts in order.”

  Heather nodded and then Ryan received the address. “It’s 48 Maplewood Street.”

  “What?” Heather said. “That’s Amy’s new street. I’m definitely going.”

  ***

  “I guess it’s nice that there wasn’t any travel time wasted going to a crime scene?” Amy suggested, trying to lighten the mood.

  “I can’t believe this happened so close to home,” Heather said. “Is Jamie all right?”

  “I think he’s too tired to be upset about it happening just across the street from us,” Amy said. “He said he was going to make some hot cocoa for us to have when I get home from sleuthing. I think I’m going to find him asleep at the kitchen table instead.”

  Ryan joined them. “You’re not going to like what I’m going to tell you,” he said. “I didn’t like it.”

  “What is it?” Amy asked. “Is it a serial killer in my neighborhood?”

  “I don’t think we have to worry about that yet,” Ryan said.

  “What is it?” asked Heather.

  “The time of death,” said Ryan. “He was killed between three and four p.m.”

  “He was murdered while we were moving in?” Amy asked. “That’s terrible.”

  Heather nodded. “We would be some of the witnesses we would normally ask for clues. But I don’t think I noticed anything suspicious.”

  “I don’t think we would be able to tell if someone was acting out of character or if a pattern was off,” Ryan said. “We’ve only been to the house once or twice before.”

  “I hate to think that man was murdered so nearby and we had no idea,” Amy said. “I feel guilty about complaining about carrying a couch if someone was getting killed next door.”

  “I hate it too,” Heather said. “But the best thing that we can do now is to solve his murder and find some justice for him.”

  “I guess you’re right,” she agreed.

  “We met Mr. Rahway outside around noon,” Heather said, remembering. “He seemed in good spirits.”

  “He did the stupid prank where he had us smell a flower and sprayed us,” Amy said. “Oh no. What was the last thing I said the victim? Was it mean?”

  “I think you were nice to all your neighbors,” Heather assured her. She turned to Ryan. “What else can you tell us about the case?”

  “It looks as if he were hit over the head with a blunt object,” he said. “After the medical examiner is finished the autopsy, we might have a better idea what the murder weapon was.”

  “Some time has passed between the time of death and our being called in,” Heather said.

  “The victim’s daughter found him,” said Ryan. “She was worried when he didn’t answer her calls and came over to check on him. She called us as soon she found the body.”

  “Where did she find him?” Heather asked.

  “This way.” Ryan gestured and led them to the back yard. Forensics had finished collecting the evidence, and the body had been taken away to the medical examiner’s office. The spot where the body had been found had been outlined on the ground.

>   Amy was shaking her head, thinking about the proximity of the crime to her house. Heather was also thinking about the proximity of the crime but in relation to the other houses.

  “These hedges aren’t very dense,” Heather remarked. “They could obscure a neighbor’s view of the yard if they weren’t paying attention, but it would also be possible for someone to sneak through the bushes and enter the backyard.”

  “You think someone snuck into the backyard to commit the crime? Rather than enter from the house?” Ryan asked.

  “I think it’s a possibility,” Heather said. “If not before the murder, then probably after. We didn’t notice anyone carting off a murder weapon.”

  “Then again, we were carting around our own heavy objects,” Amy said. “I hope we don’t look like suspects.”

  Chapter 4

  Heather had found Ryan’s partner Detective Hoskins to be rather inept and somewhat lazy. However, he seemed to be the perfect supportive counselor for the victim’s daughter that night. Heather suspected it was because she was holding a box of fudge. Hoskins had more than a sweet tooth; he had an entire mouth of sweet teeth.

  “I can’t believe he’s dead,” Crystal Rahway said.

  Hoskins nodded solemnly, keeping one eye on the box of fudge, as Heather, Ryan, and Amy joined them.

  Crystal Rahway had dark hair, a shocked and glum expression, and a cast on one arm.

  “Miss Rahway, we’re so sorry for your loss,” Ryan said. “We have just a few questions that we need to go through if you think you can manage.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Crystal said. “This officer has been very kind. He let me catch my breath and hasn’t asked me anything yet.”

  Heather kept her mouth shut. She was fairly certain that Hoskins had been avoiding asking questions because that meant more work for him, and not as a kindness towards her.

  “I think I’m ready to talk to you,” she said. “Anything I can do to help my father I will.”

  “We really appreciate that,” Ryan said.

  He introduced himself and then Heather and Amy as private investigators who consult on cases.

  “It was definitely a murder, wasn’t it?” Crystal asked. “It looked like he had been attacked. I didn’t think it could have been a medical issue. It looked like he had been hit on the head. Someone killed him, didn’t they?”

  “It looks that way,” Hoskins said, trying to stay involved in the conversation.

  “Did you touch anything out here?” Ryan asked.

  “I came from inside the house,” Crystal said. “I was looking for him and couldn’t find him. Then I came out back. I know I leaned on the door for a minute as I processed what I saw. I ran up to my dad and kneeled beside him. I checked for a pulse on his arm and didn’t feel one. Then I moved away from him and went inside to call 911.”

  Heather nodded. This was a perfectly understandable reaction for her to have. However, kneeling next to and touching the body might have contaminated some evidence left by the killer. Forensics would have to process everything very carefully.

  Heather also considered that if Crystal had been the one to kill her father, she might have intentionally “contaminated” some evidence so they would dismiss what they found of her there and not consider her a suspect. However, Heather didn’t think it was very likely. It would be hard to deliver a death blow to someone with a broken arm.

  She looked over to Amy to see if she had reached the same conclusion that she had. Amy was focused on taking notes of their discussion with the witness. She was typing up notes on their tablet so they could refer to them later. Heather had learned long ago that taking good notes was an important aspect of investigative work. It also was something that Amy could focus on that night, instead of whether her new neighborhood was safe or not.

  “When did you first suspect that something was wrong?” Heather asked Crystal.

  “He wasn’t answering my calls,” Crystal said. “I used to visit my father several times a week, but with my broken arm, it’s been hard for me to drive. I would call him though. I called him today because I had some fudge delivered today. I wanted to see if he wanted to visit me and have it together. But he wasn’t picking up, and that wasn’t like him. I eventually decided to drive over and check on it. It was tricky driving but was doable. I brought the fudge with me, hoping that I was wrong and that we could laugh about my scare and enjoy the candy together. Unfortunately, I was right that something was wrong.”

  “How did you break your arm?” Heather asked.

  “I went on a skiing vacation a few weeks ago,” she said. “I discovered I wasn’t very good.”

  “Do you know anyone who would want to hurt your father?” asked Ryan.

  “No,” Crystal said. “I know he had a bit of a silly sense of humor. Not everyone appreciated it.”

  Amy mouthed “guilty” to herself.

  “But I can’t think of anyone who would want to hurt him,” Crystal said.

  “Any trouble at work? Family issues? Legal disputes?” Heather prompted.

  “He was retired,” Crystal said. “There were no legal disputes. And I’m his only family in the area. His brother is in a nursing home in Arizona. But they got along too. I really can’t think of anyone who would have done this.”

  “How did he get along with his neighbors?” Amy piped up.

  “I think there might have been some squabbles,” Crystal admitted. “It sounded like there was some drama on the block. But nothing that would have escalated to murder.”

  Heather and Amy shared a look, both thinking “you could be surprised what could escalate to murder.”

  “You will catch whoever did this, won’t you?” Crystal asked.

  Hoskins responded before they could. “Of course, we will, miss,” he said. “We won’t quit until we catch the killer. But it can be hard work. Hard, long work. Skipping meals to work on the case.”

  “Would you like some fudge?” Crystal asked. “I don’t have a use for it now. Given the circumstances, I don’t think I ever want to eat fudge again.”

  “Thank you,” Hoskins said. “Don’t mind if I do.”

  He took the box and started sampling the different flavors, forgetting to invite the other investigators to do the same.

  “It’s the least I can do,” Crystal Rahway said. “If you’re going to catch whoever did this.”

  Heather, Amy, and Ryan shared a quiet word while Hoskins stuffed his face.

  “If her arm is really broken, I don’t think we can consider her a suspect,” Heather said. “I don’t think she’d be physically able to kill him with one arm.”

  Ryan nodded. “I agree. I’ll get a subpoena tomorrow for medical records to make sure that the injury is real.”

  “Or,” Amy said. She grabbed a piece of fudge from Hoskins and threw it at Crystal Rahway, yelling “think fast.”

  Crystal reacted, trying to catch the fudge, but only used her one arm. Her broken arm still hung limply in its sling, moving its fingers just slightly.

  “What was that?” Crystal asked.

  “We’ve just eliminated you as a suspect,” Amy said.

  “Well, I should hope so,” Crystal said.

  “What a waste,” said Hoskins.

  Heather knew that he was referring to the fudge that was thrown and wasted from being eaten, but Crystal Rahway took it another way.

  “Thank you, officer. Yes. I believe that was a waste of time,” she said. “I’m really glad you’re on the case.”

  Hoskins gave her a smile through a mouth full of fudge.

  Heather decided to let him have the undeserved compliment. She had more important things to do than correct a flawed impression of Detective Hoskins. She had a murderer to catch, and if neighborhood squabbles were the only potential motive that they had to go on, then it sounded like they had a lot of interviews they would need to conduct.

  Chapter 5

  Heather spent her morning at Donut Delights. She tired and sore, but
was grateful for her staff of employees. Her assistants were at the top of their donut game and were keeping up with all their orders. Maricela handed Heather a coffee as soon as she walked in.

  “Thank you,” Heather said, appreciatively.

  “No problem, boss,” Maricela said. She always called Heather “boss.” Heather tried for the longest time to get her assistants to call her by her name, but now they called her “boss” in jest as well as title. Heather was a wonderful employer and was very caring towards her staff. They all felt more like family than like employees, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t work very hard around the shop.