Blueberry Spangled Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 48

by Gillard, Susan

  “I have to run to the vet,” Heather said. Dave eyed her warily with that phrase, but she assured him, “You don’t have to be worried, my friend. It’s not time for your check up, so you don’t have to be worried about getting any shots. I’m running low on his heartworm prevention tablets, and I have to pick up some more. But he likes them. They taste like dog treats.”

  “If only they tasted like donuts,” Amy joked. “We can head over now if you want.”

  Heather nodded, and they started leading the walk towards the car. She would take care of this errand first, and then get back to trying to figure out the grim grill.

  Chapter 9

  Dave was wary about entering the vet’s office but allowed Heather to lead him in. Vet visits had not been much fun, but they did save his life before after he had been a brave little hero that put himself in harm’s way to save another.

  Cupcake was not sure what to make about this visit and climbed up on Amy’s shoulders to get a better view.

  The front desk was momentarily empty when they entered, so they sat down in the waiting room. Heather was surprised to see who else was sitting there until she saw the sick dog.

  Janine Templeton was sitting with the sickly Bingo.

  “What are you doing here?” Janine asked.

  “Just picking something up. How’s Bingo?”

  “He doesn’t look too good,” Janine said. “I had to bring him in today. He wouldn’t eat his breakfast. That never happens.”

  Heather nodded. She knew that if Dave ever refused breakfast, especially a donut one, there was something seriously wrong.

  “I told Eddie the dog wasn’t just depressed. But nobody wants to listen to me.”

  “They didn’t think this was anything serious?” Heather asked, surprised. The way this pup looked, he gave meaning to the phrase “sick as a dog.”

  “Maybe they’re just distracted by everything else that’s going on.”

  “Of course. People react to death in different ways. Grief can be a hard thing to deal with.”

  “Yeah. But I’m not going to let the dog die just because my step-dad died. That doesn’t make sense.”

  Dave moved a little closer to sniff the poor Bingo. He sat down by Heather’s feet to keep her company.

  “What do you think is wrong with him?” Amy asked, balancing the kitten on her shoulders.

  “How should I know?” Janine snapped. “I’m not a vet.”

  She pet the dog, trying to keep him feeling safe and loved. Then she looked up at the investigators. “Sorry. I just hope he’ll be okay. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

  “I understand,” Heather said. “I’d be stressed if Dave were sick.”

  Janine pet Dave as a greeting and then went back to comforting her own sick furry friend.

  Amy caught Heather’s eye and then mouthed “Do you think this could be related to the case?”

  Heather thought it couldn’t do any harm to ask. They were still waiting for the doctor, so she might as well gain some information before Janine and Bingo went into the examination room.

  “Was Bingo near the grill when it exploded?” She asked as gently as she could.

  “I don’t think so,” Janine said. “I hadn’t seen him for a little while beforehand. But there are lots of places for him to chill in the backyard and house. He doesn’t have any cuts on him.”

  Heather made a quick examination as well. It didn’t look like he had any wounds. Whatever was causing this guy trouble was an internal issue.

  “Maybe it’s not related to the grill explosion?” Amy offered.

  “That’s a weird coincidence though,” Heather said.

  “It might be shock waves or something,” Janine said. “I don’t know a ton about explosions, but that’s mentioned in the movies.”

  “That’s true,” Heather said. She hoped the vet would see Bingo soon. Maybe he could shed some light on what had happened – both in regards to Bingo’s illness and if it related to the case.

  “Then again, maybe it was just Dad and Eddie making him sick.”

  “What do you mean?” Heather asked. Eddie had seemed very attentive to Bingo when they first spoke to the family, but he also didn’t want to bring him to the vet. Could the father and son have done something to hurt the dog?

  “I mean they spoiled him. They were always giving him snacks. He’s thrown up before because of it. Though nothing like this.”

  “What sort of snacks?”

  “They made fun of me for those vegetarian snacks I gave him. But they gave him all sorts of people food. They used to give him leftovers from meals. Dad used to sneak him bits of meat from the grill. Sometimes when it was just raw meat. It was gross. But he used to say ‘Bingo was descended from wolves. They don’t cook their deer in the wild.’ I hate meat.”

  “Did Mr. Templeton give Bingo any food the day of the explosion?”

  “Probably. He was always giving him snacks. That’s what I’m saying. He might have given him some bad meat.”

  “You might be on to something,” Heather said, an idea forming in her head.

  A woman in scrubs returned from the examination room, ready to bring Bingo in to see the veterinarian.

  “Wait!” Heather said.

  “Ma’am, this dog was here before you arrived, and I think you can agree that he is not looking too good. He’s going in before you.”

  “No. That’s not what I meant,” Heather said. She started texting Ryan as she spoke to them. “I just need to get a copy of the chemical list they found at the crime scene.”

  “I don’t understand,” Janine said.

  The vet’s assistant also looked at a loss.

  “I’m having a chemical list faxed over here. I need the vet to see if any of those chemicals are in Bingo’s system,” Heather said.

  “Why would chemicals be in his system?” Janine asked. “Would you be able to save him if there are? Is he going to be okay?”

  The assistant agreed to have the vet check Bingo for the chemicals, and they brought the dog to see the vet.

  “What’s going on?” Amy asked.

  “I think I solved two parts of the crime. What caused the explosion, and why the dog is sick.”

  Chapter 10

  “Are we sure it wasn’t an accident?” Detective Hoskins asked.

  Heather couldn’t quiet her groan this time. Wasn’t he listening to a word she said?

  “No, it wasn’t an accident,” Heather said through gritted teeth.

  “I’m just making sure we consider all possibilities,” he replied.

  Ryan stepped up this time and said, “While you were considering the accident possibility, Heather solved the mystery of how the murder weapon was set off.”

  That quieted Hoskins who took out another candy bar and crunched on it while resignedly listening to her explanation again. They had all met at police headquarters again. After the veterinarian had confirmed her hunch, Heather just needed the police lab to say their results were the same.

  They were awaiting the results and discussing what she was pretty sure had happened.

  “What set off the explosion was the burgers,” she said.

  “How do burgers explode?” Hoskins asked.

  “When they’re filled with chemicals that ignite when they touch flames,” Heather responded.

  “It was smart because we kept looking at who has an opportunity to mess with the grill,” Amy said. “But the killer messed with the food instead.”

  “Eddie mentioned that Mr. Templeton was putting the burgers on the grill right before the explosion. He didn’t think anything of it because that’s a regular part of grilling.” Heather continued. “Everyone thought it was a part of the machine that caused the damage.”

  “But isn’t Eddie a suspect too?” Amy thought aloud. “Why would he mention it if he is the killer?”

  “Nancy Templeton was outside so there was a chance she could have seen it too. It’s better to give a seemingly
meaningless detail away than to call attention to it by letting it come up in contradictory stories.”

  “But how do we know it was the burgers?” Hoskins asked with a mouth full of candy.

  “Because of the dog,” Ryan answered.

  “Bingo was sick because Ed Templeton had fed his dog some of the raw burger meat. He didn’t know there was anything wrong with it.”

  “That was a smart conclusion to draw,” Ryan said smiling.

  “When Janine said that she didn’t see Bingo for a little while before the explosion, it made me think that something was wrong. Dave would always be where the food is. If there are donuts, he might not be as excited as for burgers, but he wouldn’t hide from the food. Unless he were already feeling sick.”

  “Then Janine told us that Ed Templeton used to give the dog food when he was cooking,” Amy said. “That’s when you figured it out.”

  “Yes. The dog was sick before the explosion. So something was wrong with the burgers,” Heather said. “The vet confirmed that some of the explosive chemicals from your crime scene list were in Bingo’s system.”

  “Do you think he’s going to be okay?” Ryan asked, putting aside his cop-ly duty for a moment to show his concern for animals.

  “Actually, giving the vet the list also helped with determining what made him sick and how to treat it. He’ll have to stay at the doggy hospital for a few days, but they think they can cure him. We might have saved his life by asking for this check.”

  “You might have saved his life,” Amy said. “You gotta take credit where credit is due.”

  “This is a fine theory,” Hoskins said. “But until our lab confirms it, there is just a chance that the dog licked the grill. Before or after the explosion. And that’s when he got sick from the chemicals.”

  “He licked the grill?” Heather asked.

  “It’s possible,” Hoskins said.

  Luckily a rookie cop brought Ryan the lab report soon after that, and they were able to confirm Heather’s burger blowup theory.

  “So this could change the suspect list,” Ryan said. “We had been assuming that someone needed to alter the grill after Mr. Templeton checked it. That was a small window of time, and the family agreed that they were the only ones there. Now the burgers could have been spiked anytime between when they were purchased and set on the grill.”

  “We’ll have to figure out how big a window of time that is,” Heather agreed. “No neighbors arrived for the party that day yet, but it’s possible that a neighbor or friend stopped by the day before or something like that.”

  “I still think the changing will is a pretty good motive for murder,” Amy said.

  Heather agreed. “We’re not taking any suspects off the list. We’re just raising the possibility that there might be more to add.”

  “I guess if a neighbor were a killer, he’d feel safe enough away from the impending explosion if he knew Ed Templeton liked to start cooking before guests showed up.”

  “But the family did still have a good amount of opportunity to tamper with the food.”

  “Lots of potential suspects and lots of interviews to conduct,” Heather said.

  This time it was Detective Hoskins who groaned.

  Chapter 11

  “Thanks for what you did at the vet,” Janine said. “I think you saved his life.”

  “We’re glad we could help,” Heather said, truthfully. “But now we need some help from you. We need to ask some more questions about Mr. Templeton’s death.”

  “Sure,” Janine said, leading them into the living room. She sat on a sofa and waited for them to sit across from her. Amy took out the tablet and opened the Evernote app, ready to take notes.

  “This is an official interview then, isn’t it? That’s okay, I guess. After what you did for Bingo, I won’t complain. He’s my favorite family member.”

  “Do you get along with the rest of your family?” Heather asked.

  “My mom and I are okay, I guess. Eddie is so annoying though. I’m glad he moved out. But he’s still home all the time.”

  “And you still live at home?”

  “Yeah. I go to the community college, but I commute. I don’t really know what I want to do yet, so it seemed like the best option.”

  Amy piped up. “Why is Eddie annoying?”

  “He just always thinks he’s right. And he plays off like he’s such a good businessman, but I don’t think he is. I think he’s been having financial problems. And that’s why he comes home for dinner so much. Because it’s free. Not because he’s a good son.”

  “Did your father think he was a good son?”

  “I think so. They seemed to get along well. Still played catch in the yard sometimes. It was nerdy. Because neither of them is very good at it either.”

  “Did Mr. Templeton think Eddie was having financial problems too?”

  “I don’t know. I tried to bring it up before, and he thought I was just insulting Eddie. He said that wasn’t nice to do. He could be lame like that. But I mean, he was a dad.”

  “How would you describe your relationship with him?”

  “I don’t know,” Janine said. “I found him annoying a lot of the time. But I’m pretty sad that he’s gone now. I guess he became my dad. He didn’t treat me like an add-on. He treated me like his daughter. And it could be annoying. And also, I loved it. Does that help?”

  “We heard that Mr. Templeton wanted to change his will. He might have been going to cut someone out of it. Do you have any idea who that would be?”

  “No. I hadn’t thought of him having a will. I guess he would though,” Janine said. “Did he leave stuff to me?”

  “To you, your mother and Eddie.”

  “That’s nice of him.”

  “But he did want to change it.”

  “I don’t know why,” Janine said. “I haven’t done anything differently. Mom is the same.”

  “Would Eddie’s financial problems have influenced his decision?”

  “I don’t think he would have written him out for that. If anything, he might have given him more. You’d have to do something really bad or really disloyal to get kicked off of something like that.”

  It was time to switch gears. “Have you thought of anyone else that might have wanted to hurt your father?”

  “No,” Janine said. “He was well-liked. Work seemed fine. I don’t know who would want to blow him up.”

  Now Heather had to determine if Janine was the one who would want to. She wasn’t admitting a motive and even denied knowing about the will, but if she had access to the burgers, she could have committed the crime.

  “Do you know when the burgers for the barbecue were bought?”

  “No. Gross. I don’t concern myself with the meat in the house. I’m a vegetarian for a reason.”

  “That’s convenient that you say that you don’t deal with meat when it’s the murder weapon,” Amy said.

  “It’s not convenient. I’ve been one for years. And since we live in Texas, everyone thinks I’m crazy when I say I am one. But meat is gross. I’m glad I don’t eat it.”

  “No one else in the house is a vegetarian?”

  “No. And Eddie gives me such a hard time for it.” She crossed her arms. “He can be a jerk.”

  “You might not have eaten it, but did you notice if the burgers were in the fridge?” Heather asked.

  “I guess they were. Maybe the day before. I don’t know. I don’t really pay attention to things I find disgusting.”

  “Maybe you wanted to teach a meat eater a lesson with explosive burgers,” Amy suggested.

  “If I poisoned the burgers, I would have made sure that the dog didn’t eat any. Wouldn’t I?”

  “Unless that would have blown your cover,” Amy said.

  “I thought I was thanking you guys for helping my dog, not being accused of murder,” Janine said.

  “We have to follow every lead. Everyone in the house had access to the murder weapon, so we have to
question you.”

  “Fine.”

  “One more question. Did you notice if anyone visited the house shortly before the barbecue? Maybe the day before?” Heather still wasn’t completely sure when the burgers had been purchased because Janine either didn’t know or was hiding it, but she could guess that a killer wouldn’t leave poisoned meat out for long.