Meredith Potts Fourteen Book Cozy Mystery Set

by Meredith Potts

I nodded. “That’s so true. I mean, even Leah Stewart, who has a verifiable alibi, seems suspicious.”

  His forehead wrinkled. “Do you think she convinced her friend to falsely corroborate her alibi?”

  “I didn’t say that, but I wouldn’t put it past her.”

  David scrunched his nose. “The problem is, we can’t prove that theory. The one thing I’ve learned about being a detective is that instincts can only take you so far. At some point, you need evidence to prove your hunches right.”

  I exhaled. “Unfortunately, I don’t have a shred of evidence.”

  David stirred his cola anxiously with his straw. “Which is exactly why we’re stuck treading water.”

  “The crazy thing is, all of the suspects seemed to be on the verge of breaking when I questioned them. Then, at the last minute, they managed to find restraint.”

  One of the refreshing aspects of sharing the nitty-gritty details of investigating this case was that I knew David could relate to what I was going through. Especially when it came to my last statement.

  His eyes widened as a look of familiarity came to his face. “Interviews can be frustrating like that. Especially when a near-revelation slips away from you at the last minute.”

  Typically, discussing what bothered me brought me relief. In this case, airing my frustrations only made me even more irritated.

  “So what do we do now?” I asked.

  David stirred his drink again. “I know it sounds counterproductive, but sometimes the most effective strategy is to sit back and wait.”

  My face contorted in confusion. “I have to admit. That was the last thing I expected you to say.”

  “In my experience, when given enough time, a killer will eventually slip up.”

  I didn’t question his experience. He certainly had more than I did. There just seemed to be one big flaw in his logic.

  “What if this one doesn’t?” I asked.

  A disturbing silence followed. Instead of replying, David took a big chug of his drink. He could delay answering, but I wasn’t about to let him refrain from responding. As I looked into David’s eyes, a queasy feeling came to my stomach. I began having awful flashbacks of my sister going missing.

  “David, we can’t let this case go cold,” I said.

  “I never said we would. I just told you that you need to be patient.”

  If my mind wasn’t disturbed enough, at that moment, my subconscious decided to dig up an old factoid that David had once revealed to me about murder cases.

  “You’re the one who told me that when the case is more than forty-eight hours old, the chances of solving it go drastically down,” I said.

  David’s muscles tensed up. “While that’s technically true, it doesn’t mean the case can’t be solved. It just means that cracking it becomes harder.”

  I exhaled. “It has been almost a week since the murder. The last thing we need is for this case to get even harder. As it is, I feel like we’re staring at a big puzzle and we’re missing one crucial piece.”

  His eyebrows arched. “Welcome to my world.”

  I retreated into my mind, hoping that the more I thought about the case, the better my chances would be that an answer would come to me.

  David put his hand on my shoulder. “Do you know what I do in situations like this?”

  As so often happened when I found myself in an emotionally uncomfortable position, a joke sprang from my lips. “I’m guessing the answer isn’t wine and chocolate.”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “No.”

  “Then what?”

  “Sleep,” he said.

  “Sleep?”

  He gazed deep into my eyes. “Trust me.”

  “It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just don’t understand how sleeping is going to help right now.”

  “When you’re in the middle of a case, sometimes you focus on the details so intensely that your brain goes on overload. During times like that, the answer isn’t to keep taxing your mind but to give your head a break. I have found that it’s amazing what my mind can come up with if I give it a good night’s rest,” he replied.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  It wasn’t the worst idea in the world. After all, I had been pushing myself all day. In addition, at that juncture, a better plan did not materialize in my mind. By the time we got done eating, my brain had turned to mush.

  Maybe David was on to something. I had thrown myself at this case with complete abandon. The rest of my life had been pushed aside. In my desperation to uncover Andrew’s killer, I had become fixated on every detail to the point that it had become an obsession. Perhaps David was right that I was looking at everything at such a microscopic level that I could no longer see the forest for the trees.

  In that case, some breathing room was truly in order. When I arrived home, I took my boyfriend up on his advice. My body didn’t put up an argument. I ended up crashing out shortly after my head hit my pillow.

  The next thing I knew, it was morning. The sun peeked through my window blinds as it climbed up the sky. For a moment, I wondered how much longer I would have slept had the sun not woken me from my slumber. That thought proved to be fleeting as my corgi, Snickerdoodle, jumped on the bed with his tongue out and his tail wagging.

  A walk was on his mind, and I couldn’t turn down a jovial face like his. Unfortunately, while the walk brought joy to Snickerdoodle’s heart, it did not succeed in shaking off my grogginess. This was one of those times when caffeine would really come in handy. Knowing just the right place to get my coffee fix, I dropped Snickerdoodles off at home then headed over to Main Street for a latte.

  Granted, I could have made my own latte at home, but I figured that a trip into town could do me good. Instead, on the drive over to Daley Buzz, I was struck by the fact that even with a full night of rest under my belt, I was still no closer to the truth than the day before.

  Sigh.

  So much for David’s plan.

  While the additional sleep had proven fruitless so far, getting a latte in my system had managed to shake off my grogginess. With my brain fog now cleared up, I could focus on the case once again. I said a quick good-bye to Kelly, who had the unenviable job of working the early shift that morning.

  After finishing up with Kelly, I headed toward the exit. As I approached the front door to the shop, I pulled out my phone to call David.

  That was when life threw me a serious loop. The door to the coffee shop swung open, and a man from my past entered. Unfortunately, it wasn’t someone who I ever looked forward to seeing again. Instead, I found myself staring face to face with my ex-boyfriend. Talk about a surprising sight. As far as I knew, Wally Tuttle had not set foot in my family’s coffee shop since I had broken up with him nearly a year and a half ago.

  That had been perfectly fine with me. He had been a drunk when I put an end to our relationship. That alcoholism was still dominating his life when I randomly ran into him at Treasure Pier one day a few months after our breakup. If anything, he looked like he had started to hit the bottle even harder after I had broken up with him. That unexpected encounter on the pier had been incredibly uncomfortable—mostly because Wally had gone on a drunken rant about how I had made a big mistake in cutting him loose.

  He had been so belligerent that day that the idea of ever crossing paths with him again made my stomach feel queasy. I told myself that if I did spot him again in the future, that I would turn around and walk the other way.

  As he stood before me in the coffee shop that morning, it was shocking how much had changed. Not just because I had taken on the role of amateur sleuth. It was more that Wally looked drastically different. I almost couldn’t believe how kind time had been to him.

  What caught my attention the most were his eyes. I was used to seeing them bloodshot, but that morning, they were clear and vibrant. The alterations in his appearance didn’t stop there. His long shaggy hair and beard were gone. He was now clean-shaven with neatly trimmed brown hair.
Wally had also upgraded his wardrobe. That morning, he wore a long-sleeved dress shirt, a sweater vest, and a pair of khaki slacks. There was no doubt in my mind that he was a changed man.

  My mouth hung open. “Wally, is that really you?”

  He smiled and nodded. “It is.”

  “Wow. You look so different.”

  Wally chuckled. “It turns out I clean up pretty well.”

  “Yeah. It’s safe to say you’re in much better shape than the last time I saw you.”

  I saw a look of embarrassment in his eyes. He took a moment of silence before speaking up. “What can I say? I’ve done some really disgraceful things in my life. When I look back on our relationship, I’m really ashamed of how I treated you.”

  That apology was a long time coming—a little too long for my tastes. Don’t get me wrong. It was nice to finally hear the words. But for him to say them now, when I had already moved on to another chapter of my life, meant that they didn’t have nearly the same effect they would have once had.

  If anything, having the topic of his past indiscretions brought up again made old wounds resurface. As an additional unexpected side effect, a slew of unwelcome emotions returned. I had spent so much time covering up those scars that I didn’t want to go over them again.

  After all, I was in a good place in my life romantically. The last thing I wanted to do was rehash the details of an old breakup. Especially since Wally and I had gone our separate ways on such bad terms.

  To me, the more interesting topic was how Wally had been able to make such a stunning turnaround. Unfortunately, he wasn’t done talking about the past. That put me in a difficult situation. I knew what he wanted to hear—that I forgave him. That I accepted his apology. That I didn’t hold any grudges.

  It was a good thing he wasn’t holding his breath. I didn’t know what I was going to tell him, but it definitely wouldn’t be one of those things.

  At the moment, silence was all I could muster.

  What a time for words to fail me. Especially since my lack of a vocal response did not go unnoticed.

  In an effort to get me to warm up to him, Wally elaborated on his previous statement.

  “I know it’s a little late,” he said.

  That might have been the understatement of the year. I could have brought up the fact that self-improvement had not been on his mind at any point during our relationship, but what good would that do? It was hard enough working through the pain when it had happened. The last thing I wanted to do was dredge it up again.

  Instead of belaboring the point, I opted to take the high ground. It would be nice if I could tell you that I did that out of the goodness of my heart. In truth, I knew that accepting his apology was the shortest route to bringing an end to this conversation.

  “Late is better than never,” I replied.

  I prayed that he would leave the subject alone. The unsatisfied look in his eyes made me feel like the opposite was the case. Sensing that there was more that he wanted to get off of his chest, I felt a tinge of anxiety begin to course through my body. Despite my best efforts, my emotions started getting worked up again.

  I had to change the subject before my anxiety spiraled out of control. “I’d rather not pick those old wounds.”

  He looked away. “I understand.”

  A subject change was in order. “It looks like you really turned a corner.”

  He nodded. “I’d like to think so. I have been sober two hundred and nine-five days now.”

  “Good for you.” I bit the corner of my lip. “How did you do it?”

  At first, he wasn’t very forthcoming. I could see embarrassment take hold of him. In the absence of an explanation, my mind tried to fill in the blanks. The problem with an overactive imagination like mine was that instead of gravitating to a simple explanation, I ended up conjuring up wild theories to explain how he had managed to get sober.

  Ultimately, when he finally mustered the nerve to explain himself, none of my theories ended up being as juicy as the truth.

  “It’s going to sound crazy, but I have been going to hypnotherapy,” Wally said.

  It took all the restraint I had to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. I had heard more references to hypnotherapy in the last week than throughout the rest of my life combined. The first time hypnotherapy had come up, I had dismissed it as a random occurrence. The second mention had hit me like déjà vu. After hearing about it a third time, it was hard to deny that a strange pattern was emerging.

  While it would be easy to dismiss the transformative claims that I had heard as nothing more than people behaving like a bunch of kooks, it would be impossible for me to deny that the Wally that stood in front of me looked far different than I had ever seen him before. So whether I was willing to believe that hypnosis was solely responsible for the change, there was no debate that he had made great strides in improving himself.

  “Hypnotherapy, huh?” I replied.

  His eyebrows arched. “That’s exactly how I reacted the first time hypnosis was suggested to me. Yet it has worked miracles. I don’t even get tempted to drink anymore.”

  Knowing his checkered past with alcohol, it was hard not to be stunned by that statement. “Really?”

  He nodded.

  It was safe to say that my curiosity had been stoked, not just about the topic of hypnotherapy, but also which specific therapist had been able to work such wonders on him. When I had heard hypnosis mentioned in the past, one name kept being referenced.

  “Have you been going to Gregory Morton?” I asked.

  His eyes widened. “Yeah. How did you know? Are you going to him, too?”

  I shook my head. “No. I have just heard a lot about him.”

  “If what you have heard is positive, it’s true. The man can make the impossible happen,” Wally said.

  “How?”

  Wally was cagey. “It’s one of those things that you have to try for yourself.”

  “Come on. Just tell me.”

  Wally remained shy. “Words don’t do justice to the power of hypnosis. Go and see him. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.”

  I put my hands on my hips. “You’re really not going to give me more than that?”

  “I told you. Go for a session. It just might change your life.”

  My interest in hearing a sales pitch for the hypnotist’s services dissipated. I decided to put that portion of the conversation to bed. “I’ll think about it.”

  Wally was happy to move on to another topic as well. He gazed at me. “So how are things going for you?”

  Even though he had asked me the question, he wasn’t prepared to hear the truth. Nor was I in the mood to go over the blow by blow of everything that had occurred in my life. If a vague answer had been good enough for him, it would be good enough for me as well.

  “It has been an interesting week,” I replied.

  Wally smiled widely at me. “Well, you look great as always.”

  Uh-oh.

  Where was he going with that? I didn’t like the flirtatious look in his eyes. Was he crazy? Even if I wasn’t in love with David—which I was—did Wally really think I would ever be interested in getting back together with him?

  Apparently so.

  I needed to draw a line in the sand. “Wally, I don’t want you going and getting any ideas. I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but I’m dating David Carlson, and we are very happy together.”

  “Oh, I’m not here to try to get back together with you.”

  My forehead wrinkled. “You’re not?”

  He made his opinion on the topic very clear. “No.”

  Phew.

  I wasn’t in the mood to have to wriggle out of some awkward conversation. At the same time, I couldn’t help but be filled with a sense of confusion.

  “Why are you here, then?” I asked.

  Wally had been very loose throughout the entire conversation. That changed the moment he heard my question. Suddenly, his face tu
rned as stiff as stone. In addition, words became difficult to come by.

  I opened my mouth to urge him to respond, but before I could get my thought out, he spoke up.

  “I want to give you the apology that you deserve,” he said.

  So much for being able to bury the past. When he had brought up this topic earlier and I had quickly changed the subject, I thought that would be the end of it. Instead, it looked like I would have to talk about his demons, no matter how much I wanted to avoid them.

  There was such an adamant look in his eyes that I didn’t even bother putting up a fight.

  “I’m all ears,” I replied.

  With the ball back in his court, he took a deep breath before coming out with his thoughts. “I was an awful boyfriend. When I look back, I can’t believe how poorly I treated you.” He grimaced. “You deserved so much better than me. I’m just really sorry for the way I behaved.”

  He clearly felt better after getting that off of his chest.

  I couldn’t say that I felt the same way. While it was a nicely worded apology, the only one feeling catharsis was him. I just felt bitter and wasn’t in the mood to keep my feelings bottled up.

  “I’m sorry about how you behaved, too,” I replied.

  His eyes were as wide as saucers. “I know it doesn’t change anything, but I just want you to know that I didn’t mean for things to happen that way.”

  If he thought I was going to let him off the hook after the way he had treated me, he had another thing coming. I was the one who wanted to leave my radioactive feelings buried. He was the one to have dug them up. If he was going to force me to talk about one of the low points in my life, then he’d have to listen to my honest opinion.

  “You’re right. It doesn’t change anything,” I said.

  Discouragement was all over his face. This was playing out a lot differently than he had planned. The crazy thing was that I considered myself to be a forgiving person, but this conversation was really testing my limits. After all, Wally had put me through so much. So while he sought forgiveness, there was something I wanted more than anything—answers. Would he give them to me?