Meredith Potts Fourteen Book Cozy Mystery Set

by Meredith Potts

  She went nuclear. “That’s it, I’m out of here.”

  This was the moment I’d been dreading. As she turned on the ignition to her car, I made one last-ditch effort to keep her from bolting away.

  “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about. Driving away only makes you look guilty.”

  My words fell on deaf ears.

  Celeste shifted her car into drive and floored it away, looking desperate to get as far away from me as possible. It was so frustrating, seeing her peel away like that. I felt like I’d gotten so close to making a break, with very little to show for my efforts.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Just because Celeste Cooper didn’t give me much to work with didn’t mean I’d suffer the same fate when questioning her husband. If anything, with the spouses on such unstable ground, I wondered if I could play them against each other. Additionally, with such a divide between them, I didn’t know if Celeste would call Ryan to warn him that I may question him as well, but I decided to speed back to their bungalow just in case.

  As I turned onto the Coopers’ street and approached their baby blue bungalow, a number of questions went through my head. First and foremost was whether Ryan Cooper was still even home. There was a chance that he’d left during the time I was questioning his wife.

  Thankfully, my worries were unfounded. I spotted a black sedan parked in the driveway. That didn’t mean I could breathe a sigh of relief. Just as I was able to get over one hurdle, I was confronted with a new one.

  Ryan’s sedan wasn’t the only one parked in the driveway. There was a second car there as well. A shiver went down my spine as I looked at it, mostly because I knew who it belonged to. It was my brother’s car. This was the worst-case scenario that I’d been trying to avoid all afternoon.

  If it wasn’t hard enough questioning suspects, now I had to navigate my way around my brother’s disapproving gaze as well. With us both investigating the case at the same time, it was probably inevitable that we’d cross paths, but I was hoping to defy the odds. Unfortunately, my luck had run out.

  Knowing that I couldn’t afford to have my brother spot me, I stopped short of the bungalow and pulled over to the side of the road, parking behind a car on the sidewalk a few houses away.

  As I slinked in my seat and stared over at the Cooper residence, I breathed out, comforted by the knowledge that my brother had his back turned to me as he questioned Ryan Cooper on the front doorstep. They were talking so intensely that neither of them noticed my presence.

  In this circumstance especially, I had to be careful to keep my distance. One wrong move and it would spell disaster, not just to me questioning Ryan Cooper, but any of the remaining suspects. With my fires of sibling rivalry burning so hot, if he so much as caught sight of me, I knew he’d drop everything and lecture me, lording his authority over me like I had no business being here.

  Now was the time to take the path of least resistance, which meant hiding in the shadows of this old-growth tree until Joe finished questioning Ryan. Luckily, my brother didn’t keep me waiting long. Less than ten minutes later, Joe wrapped up his interrogation and headed back to his car while Ryan went back inside his bungalow.

  A few moments later, when my brother pulled away and turned onto Sea Breeze Lane, I got ready to make my move. I was happy to have averted disaster with my brother, but talking to Ryan posed its own challenges.

  I’d have a hard time getting him to buy my usual routine. I had to devise a new plan to get him to talk. He’d just said his piece to my brother, so talking to me wouldn’t be something he’d be looking forward to.

  I needed to formulate a new cover story. Over the decades, I’d learned that in acting, sometimes the most important ingredient to pulling off a role was strutting around with confidence. Most of the time, it didn’t matter whether you could back it up. The sheer fact that you were parading around like you knew what you were doing was enough to convince people. I’d need to call on that hubris now.

  I turned my car back on and pulled onto the street, ready to confront Ryan. Naturally, that was exactly when life threw me another curveball. After all my planning, Ryan unexpectedly bolted out of his house and made a beeline to his car, looking like he was eager to skip town.

  That forced my hand. I had to act fast to stop him from driving away. I didn’t want to get into another chase, like what had happened with his wife. That put too many variables into play. I could lose him in traffic or be led on a long drive out of town to which I wasn’t prepared for.

  My best chance to pin him down was now. I reacted on the fly and pulled into his driveway behind his car, blocking him in just before he had the chance to pull out. That was just the twist of luck I needed. Now, he wouldn’t be able to leave without talking to me first.

  I opened the driver’s side door to my car, full well expecting him to try to make his way back to his front door and hide away inside to avoid talking to me. What I didn’t expect was for him to swing his door open and burst out towards me.

  He got out of his car and came at me with a full head of steam, an emotional volcano erupting right before my eyes.

  “Hey, what’s the big idea?” he barked.

  So much for a slow build. He’d gone from zero to sixty in no time flat. If I wasn’t careful, he’d bite my head off.

  “Going somewhere in a hurry?” I said.

  He continued chewing me out. “That’s none of your business. Who do you think you are coming up behind me like that? I could have backed right into you.”

  “I’d watch your tone if I were you. Do you really want to talk that way to a detective?”

  The decibel level of his voice drastically lowered, if only due to the mention of the word detective.

  Confusion clouded his face as he let out a groan. “Detective? You guys on the police force really need to get your act together. I just talked to a detective.”

  “True, but new details have since been brought to light. Detective Hadley wanted me to follow up with you as he has pressing matters to attend to…concerning your wife.”

  His anger instantly gave way to confusion. Ryan was completely on his heels, fumbling with multiple thoughts. “Wait, what? I’m sorry, what new details are you referring to? And what are these pressing matters concerning my wife?”

  His emotions continued to be all over the map so I made sure to keep mine as steady as could be. “Mr. Cooper, I’m the one asking the questions here.”

  “But I already told the other detective everything I knew.”

  “That was before news came to light of the big blowout argument you had with your wife. Or, should I say, your soon-to-be ex-wife?”

  He tried his best to undermine my point. “Look, that argument wasn’t what it seemed.”

  I folded my arms and stared him down. “What was it then?”

  There was a nervousness in his voice that made it crack as he replied. “Couples argue all the time.”

  I remained steady. “You can’t really expect me to believe this was an ordinary argument given the extraordinary circumstances surrounding you both. Why don’t we face the facts here? Your wife was having an affair with a man who was murdered last night. Who do you think that points the finger of suspicion towards?”

  He answered coldly and without hesitation. “My wife.”

  “Do you think she did this?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “It’s a yes or no question. Do you think your wife killed Mark Butler?”

  I grew increasingly frustrated and made that clear by the tone of my voice. “Why are you having such a hard time answering the question? Is that a yes or a no?”

  His face contorted, wavering back and forth, unable to settle on a definitive answer. “That’s the thing, I don’t really know.”

  “Fair enough. How about you?”

  He played dumb. “What about me?”

  I don’t know who he thought he was fooling, but it certainly wasn’t me. “Your
wife had an affair with the deceased. That makes you a suspect as well.”

  Ryan shook his head in vehement denial. “I had no part in this.”

  “All right, then prove it.”

  He got snappy with me. “How do you want me to do that exactly?”

  “That’s simple. Where were you between eleven and midnight?” I said.

  “I was at home,” he said.

  “Were you alone?” I replied.

  He snarled at me, annoyed that I didn’t take his answer at face value. “Yes. Why?”

  “Because if you were alone, it means you have no one to verify your alibi.”

  He groaned. “Yes, I was alone.”

  “I’d like to believe that. Unfortunately, since you were alone, there’s no one to corroborate your story.”

  His temper was winning out as he lost control of his emotions. “I’m telling you the truth. I just told you I was here. I don’t know why you’re not listening to me.”

  I countered. “I am listening to you. I just don’t necessarily believe you. There’s a difference.”

  “Don’t push your luck.”

  In an attempt to avoid a physical altercation, I approached the questioning from a new angle. “So, let’s just say you were here alone. Where was your wife last night then?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know.”

  I raised my eyebrows at him. “You don’t know?”

  He snapped at me. “What are you, deaf? That’s what I just said.”

  “I find that hard to believe. She’s your wife, how could you not know where she was?”

  He exhaled. “We had a fight last night, and she left.”

  I turned up the heat on him. “You mean you kicked her out.”

  He held his hand out to stop me as he shook his head in denial. “Now you’re just jumping to conclusions.”

  I wasn’t going to let him dodge the truth anymore. It was time to throw down the gauntlet. “Cut it out. Celeste told me you had a big fight about her affair and you kicked her out. That means you were alone and absolutely livid right before the murder occurred.”

  “I know where you’re going with this, and I don’t like it one bit.”

  “Fine, prove me wrong. I’d love it if you did.”

  He was losing the last grip he had over his temper. “I already told you, I was here. You can’t prove otherwise.”

  “True, but you can’t prove you really were here either. The only thing that’s a hundred percent clear is that you had a motive and seemed to be in a hurry to get out of here the moment after Detective Hadley spoke with you. Where were you just headed?”

  He began backtracking. “Just, to the grocery store.”

  “In such a hurry? What, were you worried you’d miss out on that big sale they’re having on papayas right now?”

  He opened his mouth to defend himself, but I continued.

  “It seems more likely that you were trying to skip town.”

  Ryan fired back at me. “That’s baseless speculation.”

  “I’m all ears and ready to hear the truth,” I said.

  “I already told you--”

  I interrupted him. “The whole truth.”

  He remained defiant. “I’m going back inside.”

  Ryan continued stepping backward towards his front door.

  “I thought you had to go to the grocery store.”

  “I changed my mind.”

  “Hey, we’re not done here,” I said.

  “I have nothing else to say to you.”

  As he reached his front door, I couldn’t help but be overcome with frustration. Not only did I not get the answers I wanted from him, but he’d found a way to evade any further questions from me. It was a shame because I felt that I was so close to making a breakthrough, only to watch him slip away.

  Before he disappeared inside his house, I made sure to get in the last word, if even to give a warning to him.

  “Don’t even think of leaving town. We have our eyes on you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  So far, I had done my best to keep frustration at bay, but it was all coming out now. After going from one contentious confrontation to another, it was clear that I needed to take a break to clear my head.

  Getting a solid jolt of energy wouldn’t hurt either. I was sapped trying to keep track of all the double-talking and finger-pointing. These suspects made Hollywood agents look trustworthy, which was saying a lot, considering that agents were self-confessed bloodsuckers infamous for stabbing each other in the back with shocking regularity.

  Luckily, I knew a place to get both a breather and the boost in energy I needed. Bill’s Buzz was a local java joint on Ocean Boulevard that had the best lattes in town. I knew that from experience. It took me some time and a whole lot of sampling, but once I stumbled upon Bill’s, I didn’t trust any other place in town to satisfy my caffeine needs.

  I was in such a hurry to get my latte that I almost forgot to take off my disguise before going into the shop. Thankfully, I caught sight of my disguise in the rearview mirror and stopped myself. Phew, there was a near disaster averted.

  I quickly took off my hat and wig and left them on the passenger seat of my car, then went in to order my drink. Their vanilla lattes had never let my taste buds down before, and this time was no exception. The drink hit my system immediately like a caffeine I.V. and gave me new life. A few sips later, I was ready to tackle the seedy side of Hollywood again.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Despite the concentrated effort to shift my focus back to the case, it wouldn’t stay there for long. I only managed to make it a few steps out of the java joint before I stopped in my tracks. Lucky, I was in for a pleasant surprise. That came as a serious relief after spending my morning in the angry and reluctant company of potential murderers.

  Charlotte the terrier approached me on the sidewalk with Daniel Jacobsen in tow behind her. The little fur ball wagged her tail at me the moment she saw me and let out a yip.

  “I can’t help but wonder who’s walking who?” I asked.

  Daniel clearly felt the same way. He was just trying to keep up and wasn’t exactly doing a stellar job at it. He shrugged his shoulders, at first not realizing that I wasn’t just a casual onlooker attempting to poke fun at him.

  It was only when he looked over and saw that it was me giving him a friendly ribbing that the expression on his face changed. A nice, wide, warm smile followed.

  “There’s no doubt in my mind,” he replied. “It’s definitely not me. If I’m supposed to be her master, someone forgot to tell her that.”

  Apparently, the only thing that could stop Charlotte’s bullish sprint was seeing me. When I caught her eye, she made a beeline over to me and gave me a hind-legged welcome, jumping up on my torso with plenty of licks to spare. Every dog expressed their excitement a little differently; Charlotte did it with her whole body upright.

  “Down, girl,” Daniel said.

  “That’s ok. I’m used to shelter dogs using me as a tackle dummy. Although, this is the first time old Charlotte has done it to me,” I replied.

  Charlotte’s newfound verve clearly came as a surprise to Daniel as well.

  Daniel answered wide-eyed. “She does have more a lot more spring in her step than when I picked her up at the shelter.”

  It wasn’t often that a fire hydrant proved to be a welcome sight. In our case, it was just the distraction we needed. Charlotte eyed the hydrant and bounded over to it, smothering it with attention, sniffs, and a generous marking of her territory.

  With the mutt’s energy devoted elsewhere, Daniel and I were free to talk in relative peace.

  “So, it’s good to see you,” he said.

  As I looked into his hazel eyes, I realized how easy it would be to get lost in them. For one sweet moment, I actually did. My heart began to flutter as I suddenly felt like a character in a romantic comedy.

  The funny thing was, while I dreamt of genuinely romantic moments
like this to come along, I was altogether unprepared for them when they did. Romance had been absent from my life for so long that I nearly didn’t recognize it, no less how to react to it.

  Telling jokes was my go-to when faced with an unfamiliar situation. That’s what I did here.

  “Yeah, long time no see,” I cracked.

  “Just because it’s only been a few hours doesn’t mean it isn’t nice to see you.”

  “Besides, a lot can happen in a few hours.”

  He didn’t know the half of it. I didn’t think it was a good time to fill him in on all of the details. Talking about his new dog provided a lighthearted and welcome distraction.

  “It’s a shame you two don’t seem to be getting along very well,” I cracked.

  Daniel gazed at Charlotte with a fondness that typically took longer to develop. “I was worried there would be an adjustment period, but she’s taken to me right away.”

  “I have to say, I’ve never seen Charlotte like this. It’s like she’s a whole new dog.”

  “Like she has a new leash on life,” Daniel joked.

  The joke was corny, but it still made me laugh. I didn’t have some kind of highbrow barometer when it came to humor. It either brought a smile to my face or it didn’t, and in this case, I was smiling from ear to ear.

  “It seems like she could walk for days,” he continued.

  “If you spent as much of your life in a cage as she did, you’d probably want to stretch out your legs too.”

  “No argument here. Besides, we can’t stop walking yet, there are still a few fire hydrants in town she hasn’t peed on.”

  “You know how it is. A dog has never met a fire hydrant it doesn’t like.”

  “They’re loyal creatures, both to men and inanimate objects,” he joked.

  Unknowingly, I must have been sending out mixed signals, because while my mouth was smiling, the look in my eyes concerned him.

  “How’s your day going?” he asked.