Meredith Potts Fourteen Book Cozy Mystery Set

by Meredith Potts

  “Clearly you didn’t mean to become a drunk,” I said. “No one sets out to turn into a degenerate. The thing that eats at me, and has been for a long time, is how you could have let things get so out of hand.”

  Wally looked down at the ground. “I wish I had a good answer for that.”

  That wasn’t going to cut it. If he wanted my forgiveness, he would have to do better than that. I didn’t care how far he had to dig. The truth was inside him somewhere.

  “Do you have any answer?” I asked.

  He stared me down with shame in his eyes. “If life has taught me anything in the last few years, it is that things rarely go according to plan.”

  The last part of his statement really stuck with me. The term “according to plan” especially struck a chord inside my head. Wally had been talking about himself, but his point resonated deeply when I applied it to my life as well.

  The more I went over his words in my head, the more fixated I became on them. After all, I had to look no further than this murder case to see how true Wally’s words were.

  If all had gone according to plan, Andrew Stewart would still be alive. And if the universe intended for Andrew to die so early, life could have at least mercifully let David have found his killer. Yet, between David’s casework and my additional sleuthing, this case refused to go as planned.

  There was another reason I couldn’t get my ex-boyfriend’s words out of my mind. Something deeper was at play, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

  While the gears turned inside my head, Wally became worried about how quiet I had gotten. He tried to pull my head out of the clouds.

  “Sabrina, are you okay?” he asked.

  Finally, the answer I had been looking for came to me. For the first time since Andrew’s murder, things actually made sense. I had found the missing piece of the puzzle that had stumped me.

  None of that would help Wally. He was still caught up wondering if I was going to accept his apology. My mind had moved way beyond that. All that was on my brain right then was the murder investigation. And even though he didn’t realize it, Wally had provided me with a lead that would break this case wide open.

  Excitement came to my face. “That’s it.”

  Wally’s face contorted in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  I hated to just cut out on Wally, but I was desperate to follow up on my new lead.

  “I have to go,” I said.

  By then, my ex-boyfriend was reeling. “Go? But I just gave you a deep, heartfelt apology.”

  With far more important things on my mind now, I didn’t have the time or the energy to hold onto the grudges from the past. “Right. Look, you really hurt me, and I never thought I would get over it, but I have. I forgive you.”

  “You do?”

  I nodded while putting one foot out the door.

  Wally continued to be baffled by my behavior. “That’s great, but it still doesn’t explain why you are in such a hurry to leave.”

  Not wanting to leave him completely in the dark, I gave him a brief explanation as I darted out. “I know who killed Andrew Stewart.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  What started out as a hunch became so much more as I followed my instincts and was rewarded with some fortuitous results. All the while, David joined me as we took our investigation down a bold new road.

  Once my boyfriend and I felt like we had accrued enough material to work with, David brought Patrick Doherty into the police station for further questioning. While my goal was to get answers from Patrick, I couldn’t help but take notice of how intimidating the interrogation room was.

  Then again, what else should I have expected from a place that was cold, dark, and dirty? There was a metal table in the middle of the room, a few chairs, and a one-way mirror on the wall. I was uncomfortable sitting in there, and I wasn’t even a suspect. I couldn’t even imagine how I would feel if I were in Patrick’s place.

  Ironically, even though Patrick was sitting in the hot seat, the unwelcoming environment didn’t appear to be getting under his skin.

  “What’s the big idea?” Patrick asked.

  “Drop the act, Patrick. We know you killed Andrew Stewart,” I replied.

  He scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I shouldn’t even be here. And neither should you. You’re just a barista.”

  David stared him down. “I would be careful who you underestimate.”

  My boyfriend nodded at me.

  I pulled an evidence bag out of my purse. Inside the bag was the pink earring that was found at the scene of the crime. I stared Patrick down.

  “Recognize this?” I asked.

  Patrick gave the earring a brief glance before shaking his head. “No.”

  “Why don’t you look a little closer?” I asked.

  Patrick shrugged. “What does that earring have to do with me?”

  “Everything. To start, it’s not just an earring. It was found at the scene of the crime,” I said.

  Patrick’s voice took on a nervous tone as he replied, “Like I said, I don’t recognize it.”

  I folded my arms. “I find that hard to believe, especially after talking to Mort Miller from Main Street Jewelers.”

  Patrick stared at me with confusion on his face. “You’re not making any sense.”

  “Patrick, I don’t know who you think you’re fooling, but it’s not us. It took us a couple jewelry stores, but we finally found one that sold those exact earrings,” I said.

  “I had Mort Miller pull the security camera footage from his store on the day of the murder. He has video of you buying a pair of these exact earrings a few hours before the murder occurred,” David added.

  Patrick jumped on the defensive. “That doesn’t prove that I killed Andrew. Someone else could have bought those earrings at a previous date—”

  “We thought about that possibility,” I said. “That’s why we had Mort pull up all the receipts in the last few years that included a pair of those earrings. When we went through those receipts, we discovered that none of those purchases were made by any of the other suspects.”

  He opened his mouth to try to defend himself.

  I wasn’t about to let him get a word in before I finished my point. “Even more, we showed Mort photos of all the other suspects in this case. He didn’t recognize any of them other than you.”

  Patrick went into full denial mode. “Just because I bought a pair of those earrings doesn’t mean I killed Andrew.”

  I scoffed. “Come on, Patrick. You bought the earrings, you had a killer motive, and you have no one to verify your whereabouts during the time of the murder. Face it, Patrick, it’s over. We know you did this—”

  Patrick shook his head vehemently. “No. I didn’t—”

  “Life sometimes works out much differently than you planned, doesn’t it?” I said.

  Patrick shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You bought those earrings as a present for Leah, didn’t you?” I asked. “Only you didn’t get the chance to give them to her. Your fight with Andrew in the alley made sure of that. You probably went back there trying to change his mind about selling the place to Jake. But things didn’t go as planned. The conversation got heated. A scuffle ensued. In the heart of the skirmish, one of the earrings fell out of your pocket, but you didn’t even notice. You were too busy killing Andrew to pick up on a small detail like that. Then, once you had murdered Andrew, you were so worried that someone would spot you in the alley that you ran away as fast as possible and didn’t look back. Isn’t that right?”

  Patrick became very quiet. He averted his eyes and looked at the ground.

  When a few seconds went by without a reply, I pushed him for a response. “It’s over, Patrick. We know you’re guilty. You’re just wasting your time trying to convince us otherwise. Just come clean and admit it—you killed Andrew Stewart,” I said.

  In a fit of anger, Patrick lashed out.
“If Andrew wasn’t so stubborn, he’d still be alive right now. But no, he just refused to sell his shop—no matter the price. I wasn’t going to let a deal like this fall through, especially since Andrew was only refusing to sell the place out of spite.”

  “Spite?” David asked.

  Patrick nodded. “He knew his marriage was over. That Leah loved me more than him. And that Leah and I wanted to sell the place.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “Andrew was determined to get back at us. What better way to do that than to stand in the way of the deal? I approached him in the alley that night trying to convince him to change his mind. He refused. When I saw the determination in his eyes, I knew the only way we could sell the place was over Andrew’s dead body. He shoved me and started to walk away. That was when I became desperate. Looking around, I spotted the frying pan on top of the dumpster beside me and grabbed it. In a fit of rage, I hit him in the back of the head with the pan then watched as his body fell to the ground. Worried that I would be spotted, I threw the pan back in the dumpster and dashed away.”

  I shook my head, disgusted by his actions. “You ran, all right, but you couldn’t hide from the truth. Have fun spending the rest of your life behind bars, you scumbag.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  As Patrick was dragged off to a jail cell, a huge wave of relief washed over me. Thankfully, this case could now mercifully be closed. And while catching the guilty party wouldn’t bring Andrew back to life, at least justice would be served. Granted, it was only a small victory, but when it came to homicide investigations, this was the best resolution I could have hoped for.

  The tension had been so thick in the interrogation room that I felt compelled to get some fresh air. A fresh breeze of salty ocean air filled my lungs as I exited the police station. I basked in being outside again. With each breath I took, I felt more refreshed.

  Unfortunately, I began to wonder if another tense conversation loomed. As I had made my way out of the police station, I couldn’t help but notice how quiet David had been. I was unclear why. If anything, he should have been thrilled. The killer was behind bars. What more did he want? Yet relief was nowhere to be found on his face.

  I would have asked him why, but in my mind, it didn’t take a detective to figure out the source of his internal strife. My hunch was that he was torn over the fact that I had been the one to have cracked this case. That made it difficult for him to admonish me for investigating against his wishes.

  I had no doubt in my mind that if things had turned out differently and the risks I had taken had not produced a reward, that I would be getting an earful right now. That being said, the guilty party was in jail because of me. So even though I had broken standard protocol, it was hard to argue with the end result.

  Or so I thought. Was that why he was taking so long to open his mouth? Because he was trying to mount an argument against me?

  The uncertainty put me in an awkward place. Initially, I wanted to wait for David to say the first word. When the silence became a little too protracted for my taste, I stepped in and broke the ice.

  “You don’t see that every day, huh?” I deadpanned.

  “You sure don’t.”

  “Let’s hope that doesn’t become a regular feature in our lives,” I said.

  If there was one constant in life, it was stress. It couldn’t be outrun. Nor could it be avoided. It was just part of daily existence.

  Everyone dealt with stress in their own way. I had found sarcasm to be a powerful tool to combat my stress levels. Letting loose a wry one-liner every once in a while had a way of softening life’s harder edges.

  David was different. While I was deft at making light of situations, he wore his emotions on his sleeve. At that moment, his serious demeanor kept levity from entering the conversation.

  “Sabrina, there’s something I need to say,” he replied.

  As I gazed into his eyes, I realized it was no time to make jokes. The moment of truth was upon us, whether I was ready for it or not. David’s stare was intense. So much so that I grew concerned the longer we held eye contact.

  I abandoned my sarcasm and approached the topic gingerly. “What is it?”

  Any number of words could have rolled off of his tongue. So imagine my surprise when he said the exact ones that I wanted to hear.

  “That was some fine detective work,” he replied.

  Phew.

  Talk about a relief. So much for my fretting. It turned out he didn’t hold a grudge about me investigating his case, after all. I had never been happier to be wrong in my entire life. In addition, not only had I avoided being scolded, but David had even paid me a compliment.

  I felt free to get playful with him again. “For a coffee shop manager, you mean?”

  David was quick to correct me. “No.” He looked determined to make his stance on the topic perfectly clear. “That was some fine detective work—for anyone. Myself included. After all, you were able to do what I couldn’t—find Andrew’s killer. I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

  Wow.

  Not only had I been wrong again, but he was effusive with his praise. Refreshingly, I didn’t see even the slightest hint of resentment in his eyes about me being the one to crack this case. I had to admit, I definitely didn’t expect him to be so gracious. Especially after the awkward buildup to this conversation. Either way, I was happy to have his gratitude.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He turned the spotlight back on me. “No. Thank you. I truly couldn’t have done this without you.”

  Make no mistake, it was great to hear the kind words. Suffice it to say, it was infinitely better than being chewed out. But after having spending almost an entire week thinking about Andrew’s death almost nonstop, even more than the praise, it was the relief that mattered most to me.

  I exhaled. “I’m just happy this is over.”

  He concurred. “That makes two of us. I can suddenly breathe a little easier.”

  Despite my sarcastic attitude and my attempts to make light of situations, the reality of what had just transpired back in that interrogation room lingered with me like a ghost that had decided to hang around and give me a spook every now and then.

  Suddenly, I found myself a little shaken. After all, I had never confronted a killer before. Like an emotional earthquake, I had survived the initial shaking but was now staring down some unexpected aftershocks.

  “The breathing is still a little heavy over here,” I said.

  David saw how deeply this case had affected me. He leaned in and gave me a hug. When he was content that he had calmed me down, he turned to lighter conversation fare. “You look like you could use a donut.”

  I couldn’t help but flash him a smile. “Is that your way of welcoming me into the investigative fold?”

  He kept up the playful banter. “There’s no higher compliment I can give you as a police detective than being willing to share a donut with you.”

  I chuckled. “In that case, I won’t turn you down.”

  He offered me more words of encouragement. “Besides, it’s hard to feel anything but happy after eating a donut.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.”

  Just as my attitude was improving, I was rocked by another emotional aftershock. This one really shook me. I became lost in thought, to the point where David became concerned about me.

  He couldn’t reconcile the sudden dip in my mood. “Sabrina, what’s on your mind?”

  I took a deep breath before revealing what was on my mind. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy that we were able to get justice for Andrew, but by that same token, I can’t help but wonder when we’ll be able to do the same for my sister.”

  “I know it’s hard, but you just have to hang in there. It’ll happen,” David said.

  I knew what my boyfriend was trying to do, and I appreciated his attempts to keep hope alive, but after all this time, I wanted answers.

  “It has been ten years,” I replied. “Ti
me has brought me no closer to finding out what happened to my sister. I’m tired of being patient.”

  He looked at me with sympathetic eyes. “I know you are. I wish I had an answer for you.”

  I groaned. “But you don’t, I know.”

  He tried to instill some confidence in me. “What I know is that there’s an answer out there somewhere. We just haven’t found it yet.”

  That was of little consolation to me. “That’s the problem. It has been so long that I can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever figure out the truth.”

  He offered me words of encouragement. “Sabrina, you have to keep searching. You never know what might happen.”

  David was doing his best, but I remained unconvinced.

  I took a deep breath. “I guess.”

  With each uninspired response that he heard from me, David became more desperate to keep me strong. “Look at this case, for example. All hope seemed to be lost. It looked like Andrew’s killer might not be found. Then you cracked the case.”

  There was no way I could take complete credit for solving Andrew’s murder. There was another factor that had played a big role in apprehending his killer. “I can’t pretend like I didn’t get a little lucky.”

  All of the usual means weren’t succeeding in cheering me up. David tried to appeal to my senses another way.

  “I wish I could tell you that we have some big lead about your sister’s whereabouts. What I can tell you is this—losing faith will do no good. Hope is the most powerful thing we have. You have to keep believing that one day we’ll find her.”

  I couldn’t dispute that, mostly because I knew he was spot-on. If I was ever going to find out what happened to my sister, I would need to keep faith. Hope wasn’t just the best tool I had at my disposal, it was the only one.

  As David’s words sank in, I found myself instinctively clutching the heart-shaped locket around my neck.

  “You’re right,” I said. “I will keep praying for answers—no matter how long it takes.”

  The End.

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