Deadly Surprise (The Early Bird Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 2)

by Ginny Gold

  “What about a gun? Does he own one?” Jay asked.

  “I don’t know how to look that up. We’ll let Zach know to look into that. Do you even have a gun?”

  Zach looked down at the floor and nodded.

  “Since when?” Kori asked, shocked.

  “Dad took me to the shooting range a few times when we were kids. When he died he left me his. I’ve never even used it.”

  “Do you know where it is? Could someone have used your gun to kill Heidi?”

  The look of fear Jay had worn earlier returned. “I don’t know. I haven’t really kept tabs on it.”

  “I think you need to go home and check on it.”

  CHAPTER 4

  Kori spent a significant part of her evening looking up whatever information she could find about both Brett Carr and Heidi Fischer. She figured finding Tyler would be easier so she focused on the harder tasks for the moment.

  As she suspected from their different last names, Heidi and Brett were not married. They’d remained divorced after Jay’s relationship with Heidi. They did have a kid together, but Kori couldn’t find any information about that.

  Beyond what Jay had shared about Heidi, Kori was also unable to find any other potentially useful information. She eventually called it a night. Ibis looked at her new dog bed, then gave Kori sad eyes. Kori laughed, patted the bed next to her and let Ibis curl up next to her on the bed instead of on the new dog bed on the floor.

  Ibis seemed to know that Kori was an early riser, because just minutes before her alarm was set to go off, Ibis crawled closer and started licking Kori’s face.

  “Good morning to you too. You have to go out?”

  At the mention of going out, Ibis leaped off the bed and raced toward the stairs down to the café.

  “Okay. But you have to give me a few minutes first.”

  Kori put on yesterday’s jeans and a clean t-shirt and headed to the bathroom. She was faster than usual, not wanting Ibis to have to wait too long, and then grabbed the leash Vera had given her and took Ibis outside.

  They walked up and down Main Street in the early morning quiet. It was refreshingly chilly and Kori was soon wide awake and ready for her day.

  Back inside, she quickly went back upstairs and brought down one of the dog beds. She put it in her office at the back of the kitchen where she would easily be able to keep an eye on Ibis throughout the day. She hoped that she wouldn’t have to take Ibis out until she closed.

  Ibis happily lay on the bed and watched Kori work. The dough she’d prepped Sunday afternoon was risen and ready for baking. She turned the oven on high and got out her Dutch ovens.

  While the oven preheated, she assembled the breakfast casseroles—potatoes, eggs, and veggies for the vegetarian casserole and potatoes, eggs, fewer veggies and plenty of bacon for the meat lovers.

  She stuck the bread in the oven and then got the pancake batter ready, slicing bananas that she would add to each individual pancake as they cooked.

  Just as the bread was coming out of the oven and she turned down the temperature for the breakfast casseroles, the front door opened and she looked up. It was exactly who she expected—her mother, Gale.

  “Morning, Mom,” she called before the front door had even closed.

  Gale hurried into the kitchen, helped herself to orange juice from the fridge and then launched into what Kori knew was coming—a crisis. “You will never guess what happened this weekend.”

  Instead of indulging her mother, Kori told her, “Jay told me you went to Scoter Circle for the weekend.”

  Gale nodded, eyes wide, as she chugged the juice. “And you’ll never guess what happened when I was there.”

  Kori knew her mother didn’t actually want her to guess. “What happened?” she asked instead of telling her what she already knew was coming.

  “There was a murder.” Gale waited for Kori to react.

  “No.” Kori put on her best shocked voice for her mother’s benefit.

  “I knew you wouldn’t believe me. But check the papers. Someone name Heidi Fischer.”

  Kori decided to continue her front of ignorance and find out any details her mother would divulge. She knew she’d be more likely to talk if she thought Kori didn’t know anything.

  “Who’s Heidi Fischer?”

  “So it turns out she worked at a bank, some high up position.” Kori noted that she must have quickly worked her way up the ranks if just two years ago she’d been a teller. “But she had a long history of online relationships. So they’re looking into all of those men, thinking that one of them might have been using her to launder money or get access to the security vault or a safety deposit box. The talk was that she knew something illegal was going on at the bank but was being manipulated by one of her online boyfriends. Can you believe that? The way dating has gone for your generation.”

  “Mm hmm,” Kori mumbled, wishing she could write down everything her mother had just told her. “Were there any specific suspects or just anyone who knew her?”

  “I don’t know. The only thing I heard about was her online dating past.”

  Kori suspected that wasn’t the only thing she heard but the only thing she chose to focus on.

  “You don’t know any of her past online boyfriends?” Kori asked.

  Gale shook her head. “I never met the woman. Just heard people talking.”

  “Why’d you go to Scoter Circle anyway?”

  “Yoga retreat. And you’ll never guess who was leading it!” The excitement in her mother’s voice was palpable.

  “No? Who?” Kori asked. This time she had no idea of the answer.

  “Heidi’s ex-husband, Brett Carr. I personally think he did it and used the yoga retreat as a cover up. No one would look to a yogi as a murderer. And he was supposedly at the retreat all weekend. But it would have been plenty easy to slip out for an hour. I even did!”

  Kori was intensely interested. Not only did Brett have a history of violence, but he seemed to have an alibi. But not an air tight alibi perhaps. And what about a motive?

  “How was Brett? Why do you think he did it?”

  “Well, after Heidi was killed, I heard people talking about the child support he had to pay. Since he was well off and had a great job—yoga is a side business, I don’t know what he does but everyone said he’s a millionaire—he had to make huge payments every month.”

  “If he was making such large child support payments, why was Heidi still working?” Something didn’t line up with what Jay had told her about Heidi wanting to work her way up at the bank and retire early. Had she just played Brett into having a kid with her so she’d make easy money? But then why was she still working? Maybe Gale’s story about Heidi being involved in shady business at the bank was true.

  “That was a big question everyone was asking.” Gale looked at the clock. “I’ve gotta run! Anita doesn’t wait for anyone at spin. She gets started whether the class is full or not.”

  Gale walked quickly to the front door and waved goodbye. Kori hadn’t even had a chance to introduce her to the new family member, Ibis, who was sleeping quietly in the office. She was turning out to be the perfect café dog if she didn’t even bark or get up when someone she didn’t know came in.

  Kori checked the casseroles and then turned the sign on the door to open, leaving the door unlocked. Then she started slicing the still-warm bread and got out all of the jams that she and Nora had made last summer. She was getting down to the last jars and was looking forward to refilling them soon. It was only a month until Nora’s strawberries would be producing and she’d spend her afternoons harvesting them for her.

  Just after six, Jay walked through the door. Kori was glad that it was a quiet morning so far so she could sit and talk to Jay about anything he’d found out—and the status of his gun—and what their mother had shared with her. But the look on his face was anything but calm and she knew he had bad news for her.

  “I don’t know where my gun is,” he said,
panicking.

  “What do you mean? When was the last time you saw it?” she asked, pouring two mugs of coffee and placing them across from each other in a booth. Jay sat and picked one up, taking a long swallow.

  “I haven’t shot it in years, since Dad was alive. I never even thought about it until you brought it up last night. I don’t know the last time I saw it.” Jay hung his head, clearly stressed about his possibly missing gun.

  “Where did you used to keep it?”

  “I thought it was hidden in my closet. But it isn’t there. So I checked my home office, my car, the kitchen—”

  Kori chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “Why would it be in your kitchen?”

  Jay shrugged. “I don’t know. I just tore my house apart looking for it.”

  “Can you think of anyone who might have had access to it?”

  “No. I never talked about it. Clearly I didn’t even know where I kept it so I wouldn’t have told anyone where it was. I have no idea. What if it was the gun that killed Heidi?”

  Just then the front door opened and Kori got up to greet her new customers—Zach and Lani.

  “Morning. What can I get for you?” she asked, her heart leaping at the sight of Zach. She made sure to remind herself about the last two nights and Nora’s reassuring words that there was no way Lani would be able to get him to notice her looks.

  “Just coffee, thanks. Jay, can we join you?” Zach asked, not waiting for a response and sliding into the booth opposite him. Lani followed suit.

  “Did you get the results of the DNA?” Jay asked hopefully.

  “Yeah. And it’s relatively good news. It’s not a perfect match. So Scoter Circle Police Department is looking for a second sample since they couldn’t rule you out as a suspect or confirm that you were there. They think it could have been contaminated.”

  Jay sighed.

  Just then, the morning rush finally started. Teddi West was the first in the crowd and ordered just a coffee to go. He opened the Hermit Market pretty early and probably had to get to work right away.

  Spencer Graff and Derek Spears came in with Betsy Scoop and they all sat together in a booth. Following them were two families visiting Hermit Cove and Kori was cooking breakfasts as quickly as she could to keep up.

  As expected, the bacon-filled breakfast casserole was a hit. Many customers ordered a side of toast, so her bread was quickly running low as well. Midway through the morning she had to make a second bacon casserole and put it in the oven before the first ran out.

  Ibis was quiet all morning. Every time Kori looked her way, Ibis was intently watching Kori work. But she never barked and not once showed interest in being with the customers. Kori was confident that if Ibis was in the dining area she would have acted the same way but she’d give her a longer trial time to make sure.

  Just before Kori was about to close, Jay walked back inside. “Hey. You look more relaxed than I’ve seen you in a couple days,” Kori said, wiping the last of the tables. “Turn that sign around for me, would you?”

  Jay did as asked and sat back in the same booth they’d shared that morning. Kori made her way to him and sat across.

  “What’s up?” she asked.

  “I was able to hack into Heidi’s online dating profile to get a better idea of the guys she was connected to.”

  Kori hadn’t had a chance that morning to update Jay on their mother’s findings so she did so now, sharing every detail she could remember. When she was finished, Jay said, “Well, I found the three most recent guys she talked to or dated. There’s Wesley Sanders who works on Wall Street but is from Scoter Circle, Oscar Baer who is Brett’s cousin—who dates their ex-husband’s cousin or their cousin’s ex-wife?—and Larry Downing who is a billionaire in Scoter Circle but I couldn’t find out anything about how he came into that money.”

  “Do you know any of them?” Kori asked. “Anyone who could have gotten their hands on your gun? Or your DNA?”

  “We don’t even know that my gun was the weapon that was used or that it’s even my DNA. But no, I don’t know any of them. Maybe it’s time to track down Tyler.”

  Just then, Gale walked in with a whirlwind of energy.

  “Oh good. Jay, you’re here. I just stopped by the Auto Body looking for you and Spencer didn’t know where you’d gone. I know my kids so well.” She walked over to their booth and kissed Jay on the cheek. “How was business today?” she asked, turning to Kori.

  “Good. How was spin class?”

  “Oh, you wouldn’t believe it. We had four intervals with only short rests. I didn’t think I was going to finish it!”

  Kori didn’t know how she and Jay had turned out so calm when their mother was such a drama queen.

  “But anyway, Jay, I was looking for you because I’d borrowed your gun a couple weeks ago to take to a shooting range and I wanted to return it.”

  Jay’s mouth dropped open. “Mom, when did you take it?” he asked, giving Kori a knowing glance.

  “Oh I don’t know, two, three weeks ago? It had just been in the coffee table drawer. I didn’t think you’d miss it. I’ve had it in my car so I could give it back to you whenever I saw you. But I never did!”

  “No, I didn’t miss it—”

  Kori could tell that Jay was going to keep talking and tell Gale about Heidi’s gunshot wound to the head but she cut him off before he could. “Don’t you think you should have let him know you’d taken it?” Kori asked.

  “Oh, you two. You’re always so clingy with your stuff. I’m your mother. We shared everything when you were growing up. That shouldn’t have to change just because you don’t live with me anymore.”

  Kori rolled her eyes and crossed her fingers that Jay wouldn’t pursue the topic.

  “Well, here you go.” Gale nonchalantly handed Jay the gun. “I used it last week at the shooting range so it’s empty.”

  “Thanks,” Jay said, sounding stunned.

  “Mom, before you go, have you kept in touch with Dad’s sister or Tyler and Janie at all?” Kori asked, making Gale turn back toward them and stop walking to the door.

  “Not really. Why do you ask?” The expression on her face didn’t convey complete trust.

  “Oh, you know . . .” Kori stalled for time, trying to come up with an excuse. “We’re not getting any younger and they’re the only extended family we have. I just thought it’d be nice to get to know them maybe.”

  “Well isn’t that nice. But no, I haven’t been in touch with any of them for years. I’m not sure where they’re even living now. Ever since your father had that falling out with his sister all those years ago, I hardly heard anything when he was still alive. And once he was gone—I don’t think they even came to his funeral. Trust me, you’re better off without them.”

  Gale waved her hand and turned back to the door.

  As soon as she was gone Jay turned to Kori, completely ignoring the comments about their extended family, and said, “This means that my gun was in Scoter Circle this weekend. And with my DNA possibly at the crime scene, this has gone from bad to worse.”

  CHAPTER 5

  “What time is it?” Kori asked Jay, letting her mind race away from her while trying to devise a plan.

  Jay glanced at his watch. “Almost one thirty. Why?”

  “I think we need to go for a drive. Come on.” Kori heard Ibis walk toward their table from the kitchen where she had been sleeping. She looked like she was asking if she was invited. “Ibis, let’s go.”

  “Where are we going?” Jay got up and followed Kori who was on a mission and Ibis who was at her heels. She noticed that he grabbed his gun from the table where their mother had placed it. She hoped that he would find a secure place for it when he got home and start keeping tabs on it. Guns weren’t something he should be so careless about.

  “We’re going to Scoter Circle.”

  “What? What are we going to do there?”

  Kori held the door open for Jay and Ibis, locked it behind her
and then led the way to her car. “We’re going to start asking the questions that need to be answered.”

  “Don’t you have work to do?” Jay jogged to catch up. Kori was walking too fast.

  “Yes. But it can wait. Family comes first. And it looks like you need to get some more information before you get arrested.”

  “Shouldn’t you just call Zach and tell him to do this?”

  Kori couldn’t figure out why Jay needed so much convincing to solve this murder that he was constantly looking more and more guilty of committing.

  “I could. But then he’d have to go through too many hoops to get where he needs to be. Where we need to be. Get in.” Kori had unlocked her car and was holding the driver’s door open, ready to get in and drive away but Jay was still hesitating. Ibis jumped into the open door and headed to the back seat where she happily lay down. “Are you worried about missing work?” she asked.

  Jay nodded slightly.

  “Don’t be. Spencer will understand. Call him on the way. Let’s go.”

  Jay finally opened the door and sat in the passenger seat, still looking stunned. “Who are we even going to talk to?”

  Kori didn’t really have a plan. “Well, there are the three guys you found who we could look into. You said Larry Downing lives in Scoter Circle?” Jay nodded and Kori started the car, glanced at him for his answer and backed out of her parking spot behind the café. She was always thankful she didn’t have to deal with parallel parking on Main Street. There wasn’t much traffic, but there weren’t many parking spots either. “We could start with him. And Brett Carr. He might be easier to approach. We can tell him Mom was at his yoga retreat and she’s having some muscle pain now. Ask him about the weekend. See if there were any gaps in classes or when he could have been gone.”

  “Okay.”

  “And while I drive, try to find Tyler. He’s our cousin, we should be able to figure out how to contact him.”

  Jay obediently took out his phone and waited for more instructions. “Where should I start?”