Caramels With A Side Of Murder

by Meredith Potts

  As Kelly floated the idea that Gregory had a serious sexist streak to him, my thoughts turned to the all-male, invitation-only secret meeting group that David and I stumbled across a few months back. I couldn’t help but wonder if Gregory was a member of that group. Or was this all one big coincidence?

  I didn’t have the time nor the evidence to connect the dots right then. For the moment, I turned my focus back to Kelly’s dilemma.

  “You could be right. I certainly can’t think of a better explanation,” I said.

  Kelly shook her head. “Neither can I.”

  “Either way, I’m sorry that he wouldn’t treat you.”

  Kelly gritted her teeth. “That jerk.”

  “The good news is that there are other hypnotherapists in town,” I replied.

  “I’ll have to do some research,” she replied. “In the meantime, I need some really strong coffee.”

  Chapter Twenty

  An hour later, my friend Shannon stopped by the shop, but she wasn’t alone. Her ex-boyfriend, Gavin Zeller, was with her. Shannon had told me that Gavin had made some significant changes in his life since Shannon had broken up with him eleven months before, but I didn’t truly believe her until I saw Gavin with my own eyes.

  The Gavin I knew had long brown hair, a full beard, and dressed like he was a roadie for a rock band. The entire time I had known him, he had been jittery, irritable, and generally unlikable.

  In contrast, the Gavin I saw in front of me right then had short hair, was clean-shaven, and was carrying around thirty fewer pounds around his waist. That wasn’t the only thing that was different about the twenty-eight-year-old. The Gavin I saw in front of me was impeccably dressed and had a newfound kindness to him.

  It was refreshing to see such a transformation. I almost felt like I was staring at a completely different person. I knew that it was rude to stare, but I found myself holding my gaze as I gawked at him in disbelief.

  Gavin didn’t notice. His focus was squarely on Shannon. “Put your wallet away,” he said. “Your latte is on me.”

  The act of paying for a four-dollar latte was far from revolutionary, but for a known penny-pincher like Gavin who had only ever looked out for himself, this was a really big deal—not just to me, but to Shannon as well.

  “Are you sure?” Shannon asked.

  He gave her a smile. “Of course.”

  Shannon’s eyes lit up. “You don’t have to tell me twice. I’m not foolish enough to turn down free coffee.”

  “How about dinner?” Gavin asked.

  “What about dinner?”

  “Would you turn down a free dinner?”

  “Wait a minute. Are you—?”

  “Asking you out?” Gavin nodded. “So what do you say—will you go to dinner with me?”

  Shannon bit the corner of her lip. “Gavin. I, uh…I—”

  A sense of panic came to his voice. “Did I put you too on the spot?”

  “No. It’s just that, uh...”

  He had a deflated look on his face. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you think it over and get back to me with your answer?”

  Shannon forced a smile. “Absolutely. I promise that I won’t keep you waiting too long.”

  “Take all the time you need,” Gavin replied. “It’s important that you to listen to yourself and determine what’s best for you.”

  Shannon gazed long and hard at him. “I will.”

  A beeping sound was heard.

  Gavin reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He gave it a quick glance. “Anyway, I need to be getting back to work. I’ll see you later—hopefully.”

  He flashed her one last smile, put a five-dollar bill on the counter for the latte, and then took a few steps toward the exit.

  Before he made it any further, I spoke up.

  “Gavin,” I said.

  He turned around. “Yes?”

  “Can I ask you something?” I said.

  “As long as you make it quick.”

  “I heard that you have been seeing Gregory Morton.”

  His forehead wrinkled. “That’s a statement, not a question.”

  “I’m getting to the question.”

  “Fire away,” he replied.

  “Have you ever seen a female patient in the waiting room of his office?”

  Gavin searched his mind. “Come to think of it, no. Then again, I have never really thought about it before.” He checked his phone. “Look. I really do need to be getting back to work.”

  “I understand,” I replied.

  Gavin gazed at Shannon once more. “Later.”

  “Later,” Shannon said.

  Gavin then left the shop.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Shannon immediately turned to me. “Why did you ask him about his hypnotherapist?”

  “It’s just something I’m working on,” I replied.

  Shannon squinted at me.

  “Don’t worry about it. By the looks of it, you have enough on your plate,” I said.

  She sighed. “Don’t remind me.”

  I gave her a playful look. “So it turns out that he really likes you.”

  Shannon chuckled. “Yeah. You think?”

  “The question is—?”

  “I know what the question is,” Shannon said.

  “What’s the answer, then?”

  She exhaled. “That’s the part I’m not so sure about. It’s crazy. When I broke up with Gavin eleven months ago, I never thought that I’d ever consider dating him again.”

  “To be fair, that is not the same Gavin Zeller that you broke up with. I honestly can’t even believe that’s the same person.”

  “I know, right? It’s crazy how much things can change in eleven months.”

  “I have to admit—I was wrong. He cleaned up his act more than I ever thought was possible.”

  “Yeah. He’s so kind and generous and courteous now. It makes it really hard to say no to him.”

  “I understand completely. I could see how close you were to saying yes back there,” I said.

  Shannon leaned across the counter. “The truth is, if Gavin had asked me out yesterday, I probably would have said yes immediately. But after what Miss Terri said to me last night…”

  She trailed off.

  “It really got you thinking, huh?”

  “You mean it really got me doubting myself. I could barely sleep last night.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “It didn’t stop there. This morning, things got so bad that I was all ready to go over to Miss Terri’s place and beg for her answers. Then I heard that she’d been murdered.” Shannon took a deep breath. “It’s just crazy what happened to her.”

  “Yeah. I can’t really believe it myself.”

  She got a faraway look in her eyes. “I mean, another murder in town. It’s just so disturbing—”

  My pulse started to race. “You don’t have to tell me. I have had this queasy feeling in my stomach all morning.”

  “I’ll bet. Plus, I can’t stop thinking about the surreal timing of it all. I mean, we go see her last night, then this morning, she’s dead.”

  I held my hand out. “Actually, she died last night. Not too long after we left.”

  “How do you know…?” She stopped herself. “Let me guess. David told you her time of death.”

  I nodded.

  Shannon grimaced. “Wow. What if the killer had shown up when we were still with her?”

  My eyes were as wide as saucers. “Let’s be glad that didn’t happen.”

  Shannon nodded. “Yeah. Talk about a close one.”

  “It really makes you count your blessings.”

  “True, but it also makes me really sad. Not to mention confused.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, Miss Terri was psychic. You’d think that she would have been able to predict her impending murder.”

  “That’s what David said,” I replied.

  “He’s right.”

&n
bsp; “Maybe she did predict her murder, but just not in time to prevent it.”

  Shannon scrunched her nose. “Maybe. I mean, she did have a weird way of predicting things. Not to mention how she managed to be both bold and vague at the same time. Like how she predicted that I would choose the wrong guy, yet she couldn’t tell me which guy that was.” She rubbed her forehead. “Even now, I’m still trying to make sense of it all.”

  “So you have no idea who the wrong guy is?”

  Shannon shrugged. “Not a clue. All I know is that the pressure is on.”

  “Pressure about what?” a male voice said.

  Shannon turned and was surprised to see a man approaching her from the front of the shop.

  “Joe,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

  Joe Marlowe was six-foot-two and muscular, with a handsome face, short black hair, and blue eyes. He wore a full suit and had a big smile on his face.

  “Last time we spoke, you told me how great the coffee was here. I thought I would try it out for myself,” he replied.

  “You won’t be disappointed,” Shannon said.

  “My taste buds are ready to find out,” he replied.

  “Trust me, Sabrina serves the best coffee in town,” Shannon said.

  I blushed. “Well, thank you. Although now I wonder if our drinks can live up to those lofty expectations.”

  Shannon waved her hand flippantly. “Don’t mind her. She’s just absurdly humble.”

  He glanced at me. “That’s a good quality to have. By the way, I’m Joe Marlowe.” He extended his hand.

  I shook it. “Sabrina Daley.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said.

  “Likewise,” I replied. “So I hear that you are relatively new in town.”

  He nodded. “You know, I’ve only been here about four months, but I’ve gotten such a warm greeting since moving here that I already feel right at home.”

  “That’s nice to hear. I imagine that Shannon has had something to do with that,” I said.

  He beamed at Shannon. “She certainly has. She’s a wonderful woman.”

  Shannon’s cheeks got red. “Now you’ve made me blush.”

  I stared at Joe. “You’re right. She is wonderful. And she deserves a man who is going to treat her right.”

  He smiled at Shannon. “I think I could be that man. If you’ll let me.”

  Shannon flashed him a quick smile before turning her attention to the menu board that hung on the wall behind me. “I think it’s time for you to order.”

  Joe looked shocked at how quickly she had changed the subject on him. He took a moment to get his bearings back. “Oh, right.”

  “What can I get for you?” I asked.

  Joe looked up at the menu board. “A double espresso would be great.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Joe handed me two dollars.

  While I fired up the espresso machine, Joe went back to talking to Shannon.

  “You know, I was hoping to run into you,” Joe said.

  “Really?” Shannon replied.

  He nodded. “Yeah. There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

  “What is it?”

  “I was actually wondering if I could discuss it with you in private.”

  “Tell me what it is first.”

  I turned around with his order in my hand. “Double espresso.”

  Joe’s focus remained solely on Shannon. “I was wondering if you’d like to go to dinner with me.”

  Not wanting to be in the middle of their conversation, I decided to back away. “I’ll just leave this on the counter. Your espresso will be here when you’re ready for it.”

  From there, I excused myself.

  As I moved to the cash register, I kept my eyes on Shannon. I had never seen such a strange cocktail of delight and apprehension on a woman’s face before. What a surreal position to be put in.

  Two men wanted to take Shannon out. And while that was enough to make almost any single woman’s heart swoon, I could tell she was still stumped as to who the wrong guy was for her. Until Shannon could figure that out, I knew that her mind would continue to be a mess.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Forty-five minutes after Shannon and Joe left the coffee shop, I got the phone call that I had been waiting for all afternoon. David had finally gotten a hit on the all-points bulletin that he had put out on Erin Baxter. She had been spotted by a gas station attendant on Route 32. A deputy bolted over to Route 32 and pulled over her green sedan. Erin was detained and had been brought back to the police station for questioning.

  David called me into the police station so I could confirm if Erin truly was the woman I had spotted running away from the scene of the crime earlier. When I arrived at the station, Erin was sitting at a table in the interrogation room. David had me stand in an adjacent observation room that shared a one-way mirror with the interrogation room.

  I looked through the glass at the forty-eight-year-old brunette. Erin was five-foot-two, with a slender body, an oval face, and hazel eyes.

  David turned to me in the observation room. “So?”

  “That’s her,” I said.

  “Are you sure?”

  I nodded. “I’d stake my life on it.”

  “All right. Stay here.”

  David left the observation room and headed over to the interrogation room. I watched the action unfold through the one-way mirror.

  Erin didn’t waste any time. The moment David entered the interrogation room, she pled her case.

  “This is all a big mistake,” Erin said.

  David narrowed his eyes at her. “Ms. Baxter, I’m not in the mood to play games.”

  “I’m not playing a game. You’ve got this all wrong.”

  “You say that, but I’ll tell you one thing we have right. Your sister is dead.”

  Erin’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

  “Ms. Baxter, you know that it’s a crime to lie to a police detective, don’t you?”

  “I’m not lying.”

  “Are you going to tell me that you weren’t at your sister’s house this morning? Because I have a witness who spotted you there.”

  Erin held her pointer finger out. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

  “Care to explain yourself, then?”

  “Terri was already dead when I got there.”

  “Then why didn’t you immediately call the police?” David asked.

  “I panicked,” Erin said.

  “You did more than that,” David replied. “According to the witness I talked to, you ran from the scene of the crime.”

  “I can explain.”

  “Please do.”

  “I made a mistake. Like I just told you, I saw Terri on the ground, and I panicked. When I heard footsteps approaching, I worried about how it would look if I was spotted with the body.”

  “You were right to worry,” David said. “Things look terrible for you right now.”

  “It doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t kill her.”

  “Ms. Baxter, let me tell you something. In my experience, innocent people don’t run—”

  “They do when they are scared.”

  “That’s the story you’re sticking with?”

  “It’s not a story. It’s the truth.”

  “If you are lying to me—”

  “I’m not,” Erin said.

  David stared long and hard at her. “You keep proclaiming your innocence, but you haven’t told me why you went to your sister’s house this morning.”

  “We were supposed to go out to breakfast. I drove over to her place to pick her up.”

  “Were you and your sister having any problems?”

  “No,” Erin replied.

  “That’s not what I heard. I have it on good authority that you asked your sister for money just a few weeks ago.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “That doesn’t matt
er.”

  “It does to me.”

  “That isn’t all I heard. According to my source, your sister refused to give you the money,” David said. “Apparently, you and your sister haven’t gotten along since then.”

  “That’s not true,” Erin replied.

  “Which part of it?”

  “Any of it.”

  “I’m going to remind you that it is illegal to lie to a police detective.”

  “All right, so I asked Terri for the money, but when she said no, it wasn’t the end of the world.”

  “Are you saying that you two were still on good terms?” David asked.

  Erin nodded. “Yes.”

  “This breakfast you were supposedly taking your sister out for, what restaurant were you going to?”

  “Patricia’s Pancake House.”

  “Did you have a reservation?”

  “No. You don’t need a reservation to get a table there.”

  David gave her a critical stare. He took a quiet moment to himself then resumed his questioning. “So walk me through this again. When you showed up to pick your sister up for breakfast, was her back door already open?”

  Erin nodded. “It was cracked open. I called for Terri, but she didn’t answer. So I went inside. That’s when I saw her on the floor.”

  “That’s also when you should have called the police.”

  “I don’t know why you keep making me repeat myself. I heard footsteps coming. I didn’t know who it was. For all I know, it could have been the killer.”

  “Are you saying you ran because you were afraid for your life?”

  “I had every reason to be afraid,” Erin said.

  David scoffed. “That’s why I keep making you repeat yourself. You just changed your story on me. First you told me that you ran because you panicked. Now you’re telling me that you were afraid the killer might have been coming up the walkway. Which is it?”

  Erin’s face contorted. “You’re twisting my words around.”

  He shot her a glare. “Which is it?”

  Erin let out a sigh. “I panicked. I was worried that whoever was coming up the walkway would jump to the wrong conclusion if they saw me beside the body.”

  “I have jumped to a conclusion of my own. One of my deputies found something very interesting at the scene.”