“Let’s say Leah didn’t do this. It doesn’t change the fact that I found an earring that looks like it belonged to her at the scene. Given Leah’s distinct taste in fashion, do you think the killer might have left the earring at the scene in an attempt to frame Leah for the crime?”
He arched his eyebrows. “Those are some great instincts.”
“Is that a yes?”
“That’s my working theory.”
I tapped my fingers on the counter. “In that case, someone went to a lot of work to frame her without realizing she’d have an alibi.”
“The killer probably figured that planting the earring at the scene would be enough to sufficiently frame her.”
“They were wrong. Although they almost got away with it.” I took a breath. “So what now?”
“I have been asking myself who else had a reason to want Andrew dead.”
My eyes widened. “You don’t have to look far for that. Take Jake Williamson, for example.”
As the real estate developer who had put in an offer to buy the chocolate shop from Andrew, Jake had a lot to gain from Andrew’s death.
David nodded in agreement. “I have him on my list.”
“I hate to say it, but there’s also Nathan Stewart,” I said.
As Andrew’s only son, Nathan would no doubt inherit a large amount of money after his father’s passing.
David nodded again. “It’s hard to rule out someone who stands to inherit significant amounts of money.”
“How about Hank Stewart?” I asked.
Hank was Andrew’s younger, less successful brother. He had spent his entire life living in Andrew’s shadow. Had he taken a killer step to get out of that shadow?
“He’s on the list, too,” David replied.
“And of course there’s Andrew’s business partner.”
While Andrew owned one half of the shop, Patrick Doherty owned the other half. In addition to being Andrew’s business partner, like Andrew’s family, Patrick also wanted Andrew to sell the place.
“I thought of Patrick, too,” David said.
I bit the corner of my lip. “Is that all?”
David nodded. “Leah told me that Andrew had been having an affair with Melissa Wilcox.”
My eyes widened. “His assistant manager? Wow.”
David exhaled. “Yeah. That was a real bombshell.”
I put my hand on my chest. “I’ll say.”
“That salacious detail aside, there is plenty of suspicion to go around. Why do you think I needed that triple espresso?”
I worked through all the names in my head again. “That’s a lot to sort through. Have you talked to any of the other suspects yet?”
He shook his head. “No, but I’m about to.”
I exhaled. “Well, good luck.”
David sighed. “I’ll need it.”
Just as my boyfriend was about to make his way to the exit, I stared at him long and hard. “David, I really need you to be careful.”
“I will.”
Chapter Thirteen
For the second day in a row, Kelly O’Reilly looked shell shocked as she began her work shift. This time, I was sure that a lack of sleep wasn’t the issue. After all, it was one o’clock in the afternoon. She had plenty of time to catch up on her rest.
Like the rest of the town, no doubt she was shaken up after hearing news about the murder. As she clocked in for her shift and joined me behind the counter, I got the sense that something else was bothering her. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw a troubled look in her eyes.
While I was curious about what was on her mind, I decided to ease my way into the conversation. “Crazy day, huh?”
Kelly watched the zoo of onlookers and police officers that stood outside the chocolate shop.
“More like terrifying. What’s going on in this town?” Kelly replied.
I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“I don’t have a guess. All I can tell you is the whole town is going mad.”
I agreed that at least one person had gone mad—Andrew’s killer. At the same time, one psychopath did not constitute an entire town going nuts.
I scrunched my nose. “The whole town?”
Kelly’s muscles tightened up, but I couldn’t figure out why. Did she know something that I didn’t about this case? Had she heard something? Or worse—had she seen something pertinent to the murder investigation?
I gave her a warm smile. “Kelly, what’s the matter?”
She hemmed and hawed before responding. “I mean, between the murder, the weird meeting you saw the other night, and…”
Kelly unexpectedly trailed off. What was the end of that sentence? Why did she have such a hard time getting it out?
“Kelly, what is it?”
Whatever was on her mind was really weighing heavily on her. It took her a moment, but she finally replied. “I know it’s going to seem strange to bring this little detail up now after a murder has occurred, but I didn’t sleep well again last night.”
“Why?”
She didn’t answer.
“Wait a minute. Did you see the light on at the Watterson estate again?” I asked.
She slowly nodded. “Unfortunately.”
“That’s crazy.”
She looked down at the ground. “That’s why I said the whole town has gone a little nuts. There’s so many weird things going on at once.”
“It does make for some strange coincidences, but maybe it’s just one of those weeks. You don’t think they might all be connected, do you?”
Kelly shrugged. “I could ask Miss Terri.”
My forehead wrinkled. “Miss Terri?”
What was it with my friends and psychics all of a sudden? Shannon, I could kind of understand. After all, she had always been drawn to mystical things.
Not Kelly, though. Yet there Kelly was bringing up Miss Terri’s name. Maybe this town was a little crazier than I thought.
“Miss Terri predicted that strange things would keep happening as long as we’re living under a suspicious moon.”
I waited for Kelly to crack a smile or give any indication that she was joking.
That didn’t happen.
Since she appeared to be deadly serious, Kelly’s response opened up a whole new set of questions in my mind.
“Back up for a second. What are you doing going to a psychic?” I asked.
“After I heard Shannon saying such glowing things about her, I decided to give Miss Terri a try.”
“And Miss Terri told you we are living under a suspicious moon?”
Kelly averted her gaze. “I know what it sounds like, but look at all the insane things that are going on around here these days.”
While I could not dispute that, I also couldn’t help but be critical of the psychic reading that Kelly had received.
“What is a suspicious moon?” I asked.
“It’s a playground for surprises. Apparently, all bets are off when a suspicious moon ushers in the tides of change.”
“Can you repeat that to me in English, please?” I said.
“According to Miss Terri, for the next few weeks, odd things will continue to occur in great numbers,” Kelly replied.
“Did Miss Terri happen to have any specifics?”
“Nothing along the lines of a murder.”
I scoffed. “You’d think being able to predict a murder would be a big priority if you really did have the power to see the future.”
“In Miss Terri’s defense, I didn’t go there for that.”
I gave her a bemused look. “What did you go to her for?”
“To try to get some answers about my love life,” Kelly said.
Or lack of a love life, for that matter. Poor Kelly. She had been single for months. It had been a very rough time for her.
“Did Miss Terri have any answers?” I asked.
“She told me not to be deceived. That it’s a very tricky time. Thankfully, a bountiful moon i
s coming. That is when fate will be more likely to smile on me.”
It was hard not to roll my eyes with all this jargon being thrown around. That being said, I restrained myself. I just listened without adding my own unsolicited commentary.
“Uh-huh.”
Even though I had not outright criticized the psychic’s advice, Kelly saw the peculiar look on my face and could not refrain from commenting on it.
“I know it sounds crazy,” Kelly replied. “I thought she was kooky myself until…”
Kelly trailed off again.
I tried to fill in the gap she had left in her statement. “Until you saw the light on again at the Watterson estate?”
“No,” Kelly said. “Until Miss Terri said that just because an opportunity comes along, doesn’t mean I should take it. What looks like gold may be the fool’s variety. And after what happened last night, those words really hit home.”
“What happened last night? Did you get a hit on that dating site you signed up with?”
“No. After I had left Miss Terri’s place, I ran into Trevor.”
My eyes widened. “Trevor?”
Trevor Jensen was her ex-boyfriend. He was an arrogant man. The kind of guy who acted like he was the center of the universe. In addition to being shamelessly self-centered, he had also been unfaithful to Kelly.
My friend nodded. “He told me that wanted me back.”
I folded my arms. “Too little, too late.”
“Trevor told me that he’s changed,” Kelly said.
I scoffed. “He has said that before.”
“Except that it looked like he had. Believe it or not, he was actually very humble yesterday.”
“That is hard to believe.” While that was a distinct change from the Trevor of old, my opinion of him didn’t change. “Don’t get tempted by whatever act he is putting on.”
“That’s actually why I took Miss Terri’s advice to heart. Running into Trevor again seemed like the fool’s gold that she was referring to.”
“You have to admit that fool’s gold could apply to a lot of things. Miss Terri’s advice sounds like a horoscope come to life—just vague enough to apply to almost anyone.”
“Except that Miss Terri made the remark before I ran into Trevor,” Kelly said.
“Did Miss Terri tell you when real opportunity would come knocking?” I asked.
Kelly shook her head. “She couldn’t nail down a specific timeframe.”
“What good is a psychic who can’t tell you the future?”
“You can stand here all day and dispute Miss Terri’s words all you want. But can you really argue that things aren’t going crazy in this town?”
Kelly had me there. As much as I wanted to think of a witty comeback to that, my mind drew a blank.
Chapter Fourteen
After a day filled with unexpected and horrifying twists, I couldn’t wait for my shift at the coffee shop to be over. Unfortunately, the night didn’t look any more promising. Granted, I was able to head back to the comfort of my home, but I couldn’t relax until I received an update from David.
My boyfriend finally called shortly after eight o’clock. Any hope of him having good news to share with me was dashed the moment I heard the dejected tone in his voice. Understandably, he didn’t want to get into specifics of the case over the phone. Hearing the details of his day would have to wait until he met up with me at my house twenty minutes later.
After hearing David sound so grumpy on the phone, I had a hunch that he hadn’t eaten. David’s voice cracked when his blood sugar was low. Before receiving the phone call, I had originally planned on just throwing a TV dinner in the microwave for myself.
I scrapped those plans and decided to prepare David’s favorite meal for him. A grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup were waiting for him when he arrived. It was times like that when I was greatly appreciative that he was a comfort food kind of guy who had simple tastes. There was no way I would have been able to prepare anything more complex on such short notice.
The moment I opened my front door, I was glad I had made him the sandwich. The expression on his face that evening was one of extreme turmoil.
I was eager to hear an update about the case, but I managed to find enough patience to serve him the grilled cheese and let him get a few bites before asking him what had transpired. As expected, he was supremely grateful for the meal. When he had made quick work of the grilled cheese, I finally brought up the investigation.
“I take it you haven’t found Andrew’s killer yet,” I said.
“Not even close,” David replied.
I had not expected him to be so candid with his opinion. Going into this conversation, I knew it had been a rough day for him, but I suddenly got the feeling that the situation was grimmer than I had originally thought.
“What have you found?” I asked.
David groaned. “You’re not going to want to hear this, but all I really have is a crazy amount of frustration.”
I gave him a look of deep empathy. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
At the same time, he wasn’t the only one who was frustrated. I had prayed that this would be an open-and-shut investigation. Clearly, that was far from the case. If anything, it sounded like things were going to get a lot worse before they got better.
Before I jumped to any more conclusions, I turned to David, looking for any glimmer of hope.
David provided none. He remained dour. “Trust me. You’re not as sorry as I am.” He took a deep breath. “I can tell this case is going to be a beast.”
Once again, he was short on details. Without knowing all the facts, I couldn’t tell if he was letting off steam or if things truly were as dire as he was making them out to be.
“What information was the medical examiner able to give you?” I asked.
“As we both assumed, the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the head.”
“Which means the killer either snuck up behind him—”
“Or Andrew and the killer were engaged in some kind of conversation,” David replied. “Then when their discussion was over, Andrew most likely turned around to walk away—”
“Giving the killer the opportunity to hit Andrew from behind,” I said.
David nodded. “That’s the working theory.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Was your team able to find the murder weapon?”
“Believe it or not, Andrew was killed by an old frying pan.”
“A frying pan?”
“The forensics team found the blood-stained pan in the dumpster. The crime lab has confirmed that blood on the pan belongs to Andrew Stewart,” David said.
“Were you able to pull any prints from the pan?”
“That’s the crazy part. There were no prints on the pan of any kind.”
I stared out into the distance. “Well, at least now you know that this murder wasn’t premeditated.”
“How so?”
“Who brings an old frying pan to a back alley to kill someone? If the killer had planned on murdering Andrew, they would have brought a gun—or at least a knife.”
“That’s a fair point,” David replied.
“It’s funny that you mention the murder weapon being a frying pan.”
David wrinkled his nose. “Why?”
“A couple of days ago when I was on my break, I saw the chocolate shop getting a delivery of brand-new pots and pans. To make room in the kitchen, Andrew threw a bunch of his old pans in the dumpster.”
His face was filled with disbelief. “In doing so, he unknowingly provided his killer a weapon to later murder him with.”
I exhaled. “Crazy, huh?”
“Everything about this is nuts.”
“Do you have the time of death?” I asked.
“Between nine and ten o’clock.”
“Can all of the suspects account for their whereabouts at the time of the murder?” I asked.
“They all have stories. I just can’
t verify any of them.”
“At least you have a bunch of leads, though.”
He was quick to stop me from getting too excited. “The problem is that I have almost too many. I mean, it’s one thing to have a handful of suspects. It’s another thing to be able to prove one of them is guilty. Despite my suspicions, the one thing I am missing is hard evidence against any of the suspects.”
I took my boyfriend’s hand. “It’s still early. Some might surface. In the meantime, are you leaning toward anyone in particular?”
“It’s still too early to single anyone out.”
I groaned. “You’re right. That is frustrating.”
Irritation came over David’s face. “The problem is, each of the suspects looks guilty in their own way. And after having talked to them, I wouldn’t put it past any of them to have done this.”
There was plenty of doom and gloom to go around. Instead of wallowing, I tried to determine how to move forward. “So what now?”
“I’m waiting on some more results to come back from the crime lab. If we get lucky, those tests might produce a lead that can pin down the killer.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”
“Please do. This is our last best hope for a simple resolution to this case.”
I almost hated to ask, but there was one question that continued to gnaw at the back of my mind. “And if you don’t get a simple resolution?”
David stared out into the distance. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Chapter Fifteen
The rest of the night, David and I tried our best to relax. I said tried because neither of us succeeded. He wasn’t able to shake off his stress any more than I was. All either of us was able to do was to try to make the best of a bad situation. Even though the evening had ended in a disappointing fashion, a new day provided a new hope.
In the morning, I tried to muster all the optimism that I could as David drove over to the police station in search of an update from the crime lab. While my boyfriend made his way to police headquarters, a work shift awaited me at the coffee shop.
It would have been fine by me to do nothing but stand behind the counter all day waiting for news about the case. My eighty-year-old grandma, Betsy Daley, wasn’t about to let that happen.
Meredith Potts Fourteen Book Cozy Mystery Set Page 90
