Daisy McDare and the Deadly Legal Affair

by K. M. Morgan

  “Actually, I do,” Daisy said.

  “How so?” Crumple asked.

  Daisy pulled up a text on her smart phone that had a photo attached. In the photo, she was taking a selfie on her couch at home holding up the brownie sundae.

  “This,” Daisy said.

  “Don’t get me wrong, that’s a delicious looking sundae, but what does that prove?” Crumple asked.

  “Look at the time stamp. At seven eighteen I texted this photo to my friend saying ‘I’ll bet you wish you were here with me.’”

  “So you’re saying a brownie sundae is your alibi?”

  “When you put it that way, it sounds ridiculous. But yes. It proves I was at home.”

  “At seven eighteen yes. That doesn’t mean you didn’t come back here though.”

  “Come on detective, look at that sundae. Do you really think I’d race through eating that to rush back here last night and murder Max Cash, a man I’d known for less than a week?” Daisy asked.

  “Alright. I guess you’re off the hook.” Crumple then stared at the photo again and laughed to himself. “Saved by the sundae. Darn tooting. Who would have thunk it? You know, looking at it makes me hungry.”

  Daisy breathed a sigh of relief. The detective was clearly a little thick in the head, but he still had a badge. The last thing she needed was to be under suspicion for a crime she didn’t commit.

  “Can I go now?” Daisy asked.

  “Now hold on a minute. We’re not quite done yet,” Crumple said.

  “Really?”

  “If you didn’t do it, someone else did. Do you know anyone that would have a reason to want Max Cash dead?”

  Daisy tried not to laugh, but she couldn’t help herself.

  “Did I say something funny?” Crumple sputtered.

  “Look around. Judging by what I saw yesterday alone, everyone here has a motive,” Daisy explained.

  “Is that so?”

  Daisy nodded. “If Max was murdered, you have your work cut out for you.”

  “In that case, I have some more questions for you.”

  “Like?”

  “Tell me everything you saw happen here yesterday,” Crumple said. Then he let out a huge burp. Daisy sighed. She was going to be here awhile.

  ***

  Daisy told the detective everything she knew. The arguments, the innuendo, the wall to wall drama. As far as she was concerned, it was up to him to sort out now.

  When Crumple was done questioning Daisy, she was free to go. With the investigation ongoing, it was clear no redecorating work was going to happen that day. At best, she’d be able to return tomorrow. At worst, not for a while.

  Daisy made her way into the parking lot volleying questions back and forth in her head. She was no detective mind you, but she couldn’t help but be curious as to what had really happened the night before.

  Crumple was stingy with the evidence, but obviously he’d found something pointing to murder. Daisy tried to think back on the last time there was a murder in Cozy Creek. She couldn’t come up with anything.

  As Daisy approached her car, her inner monologue was interrupted by the sound of crying. She stopped and looked around, then spotted the night maid Angela Franklin sobbing to herself again in her car.

  Daisy went over to try and comfort her.

  With all the tension in the air, Daisy thought it might be good to try and lighten the mood a little. “We have to stop meeting like this.”

  Angela cracked a smile. “You’ve seen me cry more than my son has.”

  “Is your son doing alright?” Daisy wondered.

  “As far as I know. That actually wasn’t what I was crying about.”

  “Oh really?”

  Angela shook her head side to side. “I was just thinking of Mr. Cash slumped over his desk.”

  Daisy grimaced. “I’d prefer not to think of the details.”

  “I can’t help it. I was the one who found him,” Angela revealed.

  Daisy’s eyes opened wide. “Is that so?”

  Angela nodded as she wiped her eyes. “I just went into his office to start cleaning and there he was, his face pressed against the desk with his coffee cup beside him.”

  “That must have been a horrible thing to see.”

  Angela’s eyes were filled with shock. “I’ll never forget it. What an awful sight.”

  “Was there anyone else in the office?”

  “No. By then, everyone had left.”

  “When did everyone leave?” Daisy wondered.

  “I don’t know for sure. When I came in for my shift, most everyone had gone home. A few people were packing up their things to leave. I always start by cleaning the restrooms first. When I came out of the ladies room, everyone was gone,” Angela explained.

  “I’m so sorry you had to be the one to find him.”

  “The world can be a cruel place sometimes. That’s why they invented alcohol,” Angela replied.

  Daisy wanted to get away from the somber tone. She said the first thing that came to her mind. “You know, the police think foul play was involved.”

  “I know. They asked me a whole lot of questions.”

  “Same here. They actually thought I was a suspect for a while,” Daisy revealed.

  “Yeah.” Angela then got really quiet and tense.

  “Do they think you’re a suspect too?” Daisy wondered.

  Angela avoided a direct answer. “By the sound of it, they’re treating everyone as a suspect. They don’t even know it was murder though. He could have had a heart attack or something.”

  “I still can’t believe someone would kill him. I know he was a sleazy money grubber, but murder…”

  “You’d be surprised what people are capable of doing. Besides, Mr. Cash made plenty of enemies,” Angela said.

  What an ominous answer. Daisy couldn’t help but notice the conversation had taken quite a turn. She realized she didn’t know much about Angela. Daisy decided to proceed with caution.

  “What kind of enemies?” Daisy asked.

  “Come on, look around that office. Or his wife even. The fact is, Max Cash was scummy even for a lawyer,” Angela said.

  “Did he make an enemy out of you?”

  Angela got defensive. “I didn’t kill him, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  Daisy’s instincts had done her well in the past. Sometimes she felt like she’d been born with a built in lie detector. It was all about the eyes. People with secrets had shifty eyes. They hated holding eye contact. Because subconsciously they knew their eyes said more than their mouth ever could.

  When Daisy looked into Angela’s eyes, she didn’t see them twitch like she was guilty. When it came to murdering Max Cash, Daisy had no doubt in her mind that Angela didn’t do it. Still, Daisy could see that Angela was hiding something. She just had no idea what it was.

  “I didn’t say you did. It’s just a really shocking time and there’s a lot going on. I’m just trying make sense of it,” Daisy replied.

  “I can’t pretend I liked the man, because I didn’t. But the fact is, murder is wrong. ‘Thou shalt not kill’. It’s right there in the good book. And the Bible has gotten me through a lot of hard times. I don’t know where I and my youngest son would be without it.”

  “Whatever gets you through the day,” Daisy said.

  What was amazing to Daisy was that no one seemed able to compliment Max Cash, even in death. Usually people could find something half decent to say about unsavory characters when they met their maker. Not this time. They weren’t even willing to make up a lie about the guy. That said a lot about Max Cash’s legacy and the enemies he made.

  Angela clearly had some sort of run in with Max in the past that she didn’t wish to revisit. It wasn’t Daisy’s place to make her talk about it either.

  That wouldn’t stop Daisy from being thirsty for answers. She’d just have to sit on her curiosity for the time being, especially considering Angela seemed antsy to skedaddle.


  “Anyway, I should really be going. It has been a long night and I need to check up on my son,” Angela said.

  “I understand. I’ll see you later then,” Daisy replied.

  Chapter Seven

  After such a stressful morning, a run to Sweet Tooth was in order. Daisy’s friend Samantha greeted her with a smile, not realizing what sad news she had to share. When Daisy told her what was going on, Samantha could barely believe it.

  “I still can’t believe there’s been a murder in Cozy Creek,” Samantha said.

  “I know. It still blows my mind too,” Daisy replied.

  “Who do you think did it?” Samantha wondered.

  “Ask the police.”

  “Oh come on. Tell me you aren’t curious.”

  “Of course I am. The problem is, there’s actually too many suspects. It’s hard to pick just one.”

  Granny Annie then jumped into the conversation. “I’ll tell you who did it. It was the butler.”

  Daisy and Samantha both turned to Granny Annie with furrowed brows.

  “What?” Samantha replied.

  “I’ve been reading a lot of mysteries lately, and the murderer is always the butler,” Granny Annie explained.

  “Granny, this is a real murder, not a book,” Samantha said.

  “Hey, I was just trying to help. Watch out for those butlers—or maids for that matter. They always have shifty eyes in murder mysteries,” Granny Annie replied.

  Daisy smiled. “Sometimes they have them in real life too.”

  “A-ha. I’m onto something. I just know it. Then again, sometimes their eyes are just shifty because they’ve been stealing from their employer, not because they are a murderer,” Granny said.

  “Can we get back to reality?” Samantha asked.

  “How about just getting back to my snicker doodles? I hope your mouth is ready to water, because this batch is going to be delicious,” Granny Annie said.

  Daisy licked her lips. “I can’t wait.”

  Granny Annie then moved back to the oven.

  Samantha meanwhile was busy mulling the situation over.

  “Do you have any idea who could have done it?” Samantha asked.

  “I told you. The problem isn’t finding one suspect. It’s narrowing down the seven suspects I can think of in my head,” Daisy said.

  “Seven?”

  Daisy nodded. “There’s the night maid, who had some kind of bad experience with him in the past that she doesn’t want to talk about. Max’s wife, who was desperate to get half his money in a divorce that he was about to fight her tooth and nail over. The receptionist who couldn’t sleep her way to the top and also couldn’t get a pay raise for the life of her. The ambitious protégé that wanted a partnership but kept getting thwarted in his efforts. The legal assistant who was having an affair with Max and was upset he wouldn’t leave his wife for her. The bookkeeper who was in love with the legal assistant but couldn’t seem to win her back because she was in love with Max. Then paralegal, who was overworked and underappreciated. Then finally, at least one irate client who was livid that he’d need to sell his prized brand new pickup truck to settle his legal fees.”

  “Is that all?” Samantha joked.

  “I know, right? The man sure knew how to make enemies.”

  “Those are just the ones you know about too.”

  “I’m glad the police will be solving this one. I just want to get this redecorating job done and get as far away from that office as possible,” Daisy admitted.

  “Still, I’ll be interested to see who did it,” Samantha said.

  “In the meantime, I’m ready for some snicker doodles,” Daisy replied.

  Chapter Eight

  With all the drama going on in Daisy’s life, the last thing she needed was to add more. That meant she couldn’t ever take her Westie Shamus back to their usual dog park again. Odds were she’d run into her ex again. That was a mistake she was tired of making.

  As a change of pace, that morning she went clear across town to the Maple Street dog park. At first she couldn’t believe she was willing to go twenty-five blocks out of her way just to avoid running into her ex.

  That thought faded when she unleashed Shamus in the park and he booked it towards a Corgi puppy across the way. Daisy ran after Shamus. Her little scruffy pooch was as friendly as could be, but sometimes that was overwhelming to dogs that didn’t know him.

  The minute Shamus reached the Corgi pup, he sniffed around and gave him a warm greeting. The little brown Corgi sure was cute. At a quick glance, Daisy suspected the Corgi was probably two or three months old. He had one ear pointing up and another folded down. It was one of the cutest things Daisy had ever seen.

  Luckily, the Corgi liked Shamus. They started rolling around together having a great time.

  “It looks like Rosie has made a new friend,” the Corgi’s Owner commented.

  Daisy nodded. “Shamus is the life of the party.”

  Daisy had been too busy focusing on the dogs to notice Gavin Watson. Then she looked up.

  Gavin was the kind of man women dreamed about. He was effortlessly handsome, as witnessed by the fact that he had just thrown on a ball cap and hadn’t even shaved—yet looked as kissable as ever.

  He clearly took good care of himself. He was probably in an ice hockey league in the winter and a roller hockey league in the summer. The town, like the rest of Canada, was hockey crazed. Gavin managed to be muscular, but not too bulky. He wasn’t like one of those roid-raging maniacs that lived at the gym and went on endlessly about how much they could bench press.

  Gavin flashed Daisy a smile that sent her heart aflutter. She smiled back and looked into his hazel eyes. Oh dear.

  Daisy got so caught up in his gaze that it took her a moment to remember that she wasn’t wearing any make up or done more with her hair than quickly run a brush through it. She wasn’t expecting to meet a hunky guy at the dog park. Heck, she was just looking for a new place to bring Shamus to.

  The added distance of taking Shamus all across town meant Daisy didn’t have time to do much with herself before leaving the house. She’d just thrown on some sweats and slapped on a ball cap to keep her hair from frizzing out.

  Now she regretted the decision. This wasn’t exactly the best look for Gavin to be seeing. Unfortunately, there was nothing Daisy could do now. Not that it mattered. He probably already had a girlfriend. He wasn’t married though—she saw no wedding band on his finger.

  “It’s funny. Rosie is usually shy around other dogs,” Gavin revealed.

  “I’m sorry Shamus just came barging on over then,” Daisy replied.

  “No, it’s quite alright. She really seems to like little Shamus. It’s a relief actually. She’s had a couple of bad run in’s with male dogs.”

  “Haven’t we all?” Daisy joked.

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “That’s why God invented chocolate…and wine coolers.”

  “On behalf of the male gender, I’d like to apologize for the doggish behavior you’ve apparently been put through,” Gavin said.

  “I didn’t know you were authorized to speak for the whole male gender,” Daisy joked.

  “Strictly in an unofficial capacity of course,” Gavin said, playfully.

  “I have a feeling you should take on a more official role. A guy like you could give men a good name.”

  “That’s very kind of you, but I’m not sure I can live up to that billing,” Gavin laughed.

  “I don’t know. You look like a good guy from here.”

  “Looks can be deceiving.”

  “Are you telling me I’m wrong?”

  Gavin grimaced. “I don’t know what I’m telling you. The fact is, it’s just a very confusing time in my life.”

  “Uh oh. Sounds like there’s a story in there,” Daisy said.

  Gavin was quick to change the subject. “It’s not really dog park material.”

  “What is it then—coffee shop material?�
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  “More like ‘best forgotten’ material.”

  “Bad break up, huh?” Daisy asked.

  “Is there such a thing as a good break up?”

  “You got me there. If it makes you feel any better, you’re not alone.”

  “Actually, I feel like I am. That’s the problem. I’m thirty-three and starting completely from scratch again after six years,” Gavin sighed.

  “At least you didn’t drive to a dog park clear across town just to avoid having to see your ex,” Daisy said.

  “It would be hard to run into my ex. She ran off to Vancouver to be with some douche hedge fund manager.”

  “Ouch.”

  “That’s not even the worst part. Here I am, a private investigator digging up dirt in other people’s lives. But I didn’t even realize what my fiancé was doing with Douchey McSixPack right under my nose,” Gavin sighed.

  “You sound like you could use some chocolate.”

  “A lobotomy would work too,” Gavin joked.

  Daisy laughed.

  “I’m sorry. Here I am prattling on about my break up with a complete stranger.”

  “I’m guilty of that too. But I’m not a complete stranger—at least not anymore. I’m Daisy McDare.”

  “Daisy. What a pretty name.”

  “You can thank my flower power hippie of a mother for that. I was about two seconds away from being named Petunia.”

  “I’m glad she went with Daisy. It’s a fitting name for a beautiful woman,” Gavin said.

  “Now I know you’re just being nice.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “I’m not even wearing makeup. This ball cap is the only thing keeping you from seeing the battle of the frizz my hair is trying to wage.”

  “I think you’re prettier than you give yourself credit for.”

  Daisy smiled and blushed. “Well thank you.”

  “By the way, I’m Gavin Watson, and I promise I’m not always such an emotional grease fire.”

  “Is that how you always introduce yourself?” she joked.

  “No. But you had the misfortune of hearing me blather on about my break up, so I felt like that caveat was in order,” he explained.