Hope Hadley Eight Book Cozy Mystery Set

by Meredith Potts

  Michelle was a blue-eyed woman in her early forties with shoulder-length black hair, an angular face, a petite build, and a chic green dress. She looked up from her paperwork with outrage that two complete strangers had walked back to her office and interrupted her.

  “How do you know what turmoil I have been through? And what are you doing back here? This is a private area,” Michelle said.

  Joe held up his badge. “This badge gets me into a lot of private areas.”

  “And we know plenty about what turmoil you’ve been through. For example, that your husband kicked you out of the house when he found out that you were having an affair with Benjamin Norton,” I said.

  “I don’t see how that’s a police matter,” Michelle replied.

  “It wouldn’t be if Benjamin Norton hadn’t been found dead this morning,” I said.

  Michelle tensed up. “Wait a minute. Dead?”

  Michelle responded like she was in complete disbelief. As if she had no idea that Benjamin had been killed. At the same time, her muscles completely tensed up, which commonly happened when a suspect realized that we had suspicions about them.

  “Are you saying you didn’t know?” Joe asked.

  “No. This is all news to me,” Michelle replied.

  “I find that hard to believe,” I said.

  “Believe it or not, it’s the truth.” Michelle put her hand over her mouth and took a deep breath. “That’s horrible.”

  “It is, and we’re not going to stop until we find Benjamin’s killer,” Joe said.

  “Why are you here talking to me, then?” Michelle wondered.

  As she looked into Joe’s steely eyes, the reason occurred to her. She squirmed.

  “No, you can’t think that I had anything to do with this,” Michelle continued.

  It was a strange experience interviewing Hank and Michelle Dillon back to back. Even though they were in different locations and were now estranged from each other, they both had the same initial reaction to finding out that they were suspects in this case. Either they were both very good actors, or they just happened to believe they could play my brother and me for fools.

  I was tired of dancing around the issue. It was time to get down to business. “How could we not? After all, you were having an affair with Benjamin. One that cost you your marriage.”

  Michelle shook her head. “No, I didn’t do this. I didn’t kill Benjamin.”

  “Prove it,” Joe said. “Where were you last night between nine and ten o’clock?”

  “At home,” Michelle replied.

  “Nice try, but your husband told us he was at home alone last night,” Joe said.

  “I meant, at my new home. You see, we own a second property that we’ve been renting out to vacationers, but since Hank, you know, kicked me out, I moved my stuff in there,” Michelle explained.

  “Was there anyone with you at this second property of yours last night?” Joe asked.

  Michelle had a defeated tone in her voice. “No. It was just me and a bottle of chardonnay.”

  “So there’s no way to actually prove that you truly were at the second property at the time of the murder, then?” Joe said.

  “I’m telling you the truth. That’s where I was,” Michelle insisted.

  “You’ll forgive us if we don’t believe you. I mean, there you were, completely alone, having lost your marriage over an affair with a man who was sleeping with two other women. If that’s not a motive for murder, I don’t know what is,” I said.

  “No. I loved Benjamin. I would never kill him,” Michelle reasoned.

  “Actually, your love for Benjamin may have been what made you want to kill him. According to your husband, you were under the belief that Benjamin was going to leave Andrea Fogerty to be with you. But that was before you found out he was sleeping with Teresa Loomis, too. You know what they say about a woman scorned,” I replied.

  “I can’t believe my husband threw me under the bus. I mean, if anything, you should be talking to him. He lost his mind when he found out about Benjamin and me. I have never seen him that angry in my life. The man was crazed. If you’re looking for a motive, look no further than Hank,” Michelle said.

  After listening to Michelle’s statement, I couldn’t help but laugh.

  Michelle was confused. “What’s so funny?”

  “I’ve never seen a husband and wife so eager to point the finger of blame at each other,” I said.

  “If he’s going to do it to me, I’m going to do it right back to him,” Michelle replied.

  “Did you feel the same way about Benjamin? He broke your heart, so you made him pay?” Joe asked.

  “No. It’s not like that at all. Like I said, I loved Benjamin,” Michelle said.

  “You used to love your husband, too, and look how sour things have gotten between you two,” Joe replied.

  Michelle hated where this was going and tried to put an end to it. “Look, I already told you the truth. It’s not my fault if you don’t believe it. Now, I have some work to get back to. So, you two can go ahead and see yourselves out.”

  Joe hated being given orders. What he really wanted to do was keep pressing Michelle for information, but she was done talking to us. Like with the other suspects, we didn’t have enough evidence to charge her with murder, so Joe and I reluctantly walked away.

  But first, my brother made sure to get the last word in. “All right, but don’t even think of trying to leave town.”

  Chapter Ten

  With no sign of Andrea Fogerty yet, it meant that Joe and I had run out of suspects. We were also lacking in energy. It had been a rough afternoon, one in which we had ignored our stomachs for too long. Our appetites refused to remain on the back burner any longer. Not that we were complaining. By that point in the case, we needed to take a breather.

  When we were in search of a good meal in Hollywood, one place always came to our minds—Home Sweet Home Cooking. Not only did the restaurant serve good comfort food at an affordable price, but my boyfriend happened to own the place.

  My beau, Daniel Jacobsen, greeted us with a smile as he led us to our favorite booth in the back of the restaurant. Every time I saw him, I was reminded of how handsome he was. The sight of his muscular body was always a delight, but today, I cared more about his uncanny ability to always make me feel better.

  “The rumor going around is that it’s one of those days when you wished you had stayed in bed,” Daniel said.

  “I could have done without being woken up by an alligator,” I replied.

  With all that had gone on that afternoon, it was crazy to think the alligator incident had just been this morning. It seemed so long ago. Sigh. The stressful days always seemed to tick by the longest.

  “Very few good days start with alligator sightings,” Daniel replied.

  “Or dead bodies,” my brother added.

  “I know what you mean. It’s been a tough day at the restaurant, too. Real life-and-death stuff, like one of the servers complaining that they couldn’t wake up in time for their eight o’clock shift. Oh, and the customer who made a stink because his steak wasn’t cooked rare enough,” Daniel said.

  When my boyfriend was joking, he had a tendency to slather his statements with a thick layer of sarcasm. Only that time, it was noticeably absent. I couldn’t tell if Daniel was kidding or not.

  Daniel had not expected such widespread silence to greet his statement. He cleared up the confusion. “I was just joking. I guess I shouldn’t quit my day job to take up stand-up comedy, huh?”

  Joe and I chuckled.

  Daniel continued. “So, you guys want to talk about the case?”

  Joe scoffed. “That’s the last thing I want to talk about.”

  Daniel turned his attention to me. “How about a little gator gossip?”

  I changed the subject. “How about you tell us what your specials are?”

  “I can do that. It just so happens that we have a couple of dishes that will take your minds co
mpletely off your troubles,” Daniel said.

  “In that case, I’ll take a double order,” Joe replied.

  My boyfriend was true to his word. Daniel had the kitchen whip up a lemon chicken with garlic mashed potatoes that was just delectable. An hour later, my stomach was happy, and my mind was rested enough to focus on the case once again.

  Before I went back into full investigative mode, Daniel pulled me aside and gave me a deep goodbye kiss. It was the best dessert I could ever ask for.

  Chapter Eleven

  Joe and I had given our brains the rest they needed, but once we left the restaurant, we were left staring down the same problem—we had hit a roadblock in this case. Joe decided to check in with the forensics lab, hoping that they might have turned up any further useful information. Unfortunately, that was a dead end as well.

  Just as the frustration began building inside me again, Joe received a fateful call on his police radio. The dispatcher had news about Andrea Fogerty.

  “Detective Hadley, Deputy McLellan has informed me that Andrea Fogerty has returned home. McLellan is currently holding her for questioning,” the dispatcher said.

  Joe picked up the police radio and responded. “We’re on our way.”

  Questions swirled through my head as we drove over to Andrea’s place, but as we arrived, it was Andrea who ended up firing the first question at us.

  “What’s the big idea holding me like this?” Andrea snapped the moment we approached her.

  Well, that was abrupt. As investigators, we never expected a warm welcome, but rarely did things get off to such an inauspicious start. We always seemed to find a way to get on a suspect’s bad side eventually, but typically, we slowly worked our way up to it. This time, Andrea looked like she was out for blood from the get-go.

  Andrea was a voluptuous woman in her late thirties with a form-fitting black dress, blue eyes, fiery red hair, and a temper to match her scarlet locks. Joe dismissed Deputy McLellan, who had been holding Andrea for us, and let the officer go on his way.

  One thing my brother didn’t do was get thrown off his game. Andrea wasn’t the first suspect to mouth off at him. Getting snapped at by suspects was just one of the occupational hazards of being a detective. My brother remained focused on the task at hand.

  “The big idea, Ms. Fogerty, is that we have to ask you some questions.”

  “About Benjamin?” she replied.

  “Exactly.”

  Andrea sighed. “Well, let’s get this over with.”

  Andrea looked more annoyed than anything. That was highly unusual. Typically, when a suspect realized why we had come to talk to them, they tensed up. Andrea didn’t seem to be thrown off at all. I sensed no uneasiness in her body language.

  “You don’t look very surprised to be getting a visit from us. Were you expecting us to swing by eventually?” Joe said.

  “Is that why you were out for so long?” I asked.

  Andrea shook her head. “I was out because I had a bunch of errands to run.”

  Joe went back to his original point. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  Andrea scrunched her nose. “About what?”

  Joe hated repeating himself. That’s what made questioning suspects so frustrating for him. Still, he was determined to get answers, so he pressed on. “About if you were expecting us to swing by eventually.”

  “Benjamin was my boyfriend, so it wasn’t so much that I was expecting you but that I realized it was inevitable that our paths would cross sooner or later,” Andrea replied.

  “Yet you don’t look the least bit nervous,” Joe said.

  “What do I have to be nervous about?” Andrea asked.

  “That’s what we’re here to find out,” Joe said.

  “There’s nothing much to find out,” Andrea replied.

  “We’ll be the judge of that. If anything, I figured you’d be nervous because you had a killer motive for wanting your boyfriend dead,” Joe said.

  “That’s what you say,” Andrea replied.

  I stepped in. “Andrea, we know Benjamin was cheating on you.”

  “I take it you’ve talked to Landon, then?” Andrea replied.

  “Why are you bringing him up?” Joe asked.

  “Because of the call he placed—to me, Michelle, Hank, and Teresa,” Andrea revealed.

  “What call?” Joe wondered.

  “Landon called all of us a few hours before the murder to tell us how much sleeping around Benjamin was doing,” Andrea said.

  Wait a minute. Landon had called all four of them? Why had none of the other suspects mentioned this? Unless they had hidden that fact from us because they knew it would make them look guiltier.

  While my focus had shifted to the other suspects, my brother kept going after Andrea.

  “Why would Landon do that?” Joe replied.

  “Probably to get revenge on Benjamin for firing him,” Andrea said.

  “Benjamin fired him?” Joe asked.

  Andrea nodded.

  My brother followed up. “When?”

  “A few hours before the murder.”

  “Do you know why?”

  “There had been some allegations floating around that Landon had been stealing jewelry and electronics from some of the customers whose pools he cleaned. Benjamin didn’t want to risk losing business, so he cut Landon loose,” Andrea explained.

  Andrea was sure revealing a lot of information to us. While it was nice to see a suspect opening up, we couldn’t confirm any of what Andrea had just said.

  Even more, she had clearly been pointing the finger of blame at Landon to throw any blame off of herself. It was time to put the focus back on Andrea.

  “That’s quite a tale you just told us,” I said.

  “It’s more than a tale. It’s all true,” Andrea replied.

  “We’ll be sure to check up on that. In the meantime, you’re not exactly above suspicion yourself,” I said.

  “I didn’t kill Benjamin,” Andrea replied.

  “It’s easy to say that, but unless you can prove it, we’re not just going to take your word for it,” Joe said.

  Andrea furrowed her brow. “How do you expect me to prove that?”

  “There’s an easy way to do that. Where were you between nine and ten last night?” Joe asked.

  “I was here,” Andrea replied.

  “Alone?”

  “Yes. I was taking a bath and drinking a glass of red wine like I always do after a long day.”

  “So you’re saying you have no one to verify that, then?” Joe asked.

  “I’m telling you the truth,” Andrea said.

  “That wasn’t the question I asked you,” Joe replied.

  Andrea didn’t waver with her story. “Like I told you, I was here, taking a bath.”

  I tried a different angle. “You said you had a long day. Was that because you broke up with Benjamin?”

  “There were a number of different factors,” Andrea replied.

  I forced the issue. “But one of them was because you broke up with Benjamin.”

  Reluctantly, she nodded. “Yes.”

  I kept pressing. “I know what it’s like to be cheated on. You feel betrayed. Your trust has been violated. You’re overcome with this unstoppable anger—”

  Andrea called me out. “I know what you’re trying to do.”

  “I’m not trying to do anything. I’m just speaking the truth. There’s nothing like a jaded ex-girlfriend. It’s an awful feeling being cheated on, but I can only imagine how terrible it must feel to have your boyfriend cheat on you with two different women,” I said.

  “That’s why I had the red wine and a soak in the tub,” Andrea replied.

  “Why should we believe that you stopped there? That you didn’t go over to Benjamin’s house and get revenge on him?” I asked.

  “I already told you, it’s Landon you should be talking to. The man is a liar and a thief,” Andrea replied.

  “You seem awfully eager to
point the finger of blame elsewhere,” I said.

  “Because that’s where it belongs,” Andrea insisted.

  “We’ll see about that,” I said.

  “What do you mean, we’ll see? We’re not going to do anything. I’m done talking to you,” Andrea barked.

  I knew Joe wanted to question her further, but she kept her mouth shut.

  Unfortunately, even though we had plenty of suspicions, we had no hard evidence on her. So, reluctantly, Joe let Andrea head back inside her house.

  Chapter Twelve

  After hearing the new revelations about Landon Thorpe, Joe and I knew that doubling back and paying him a second visit was crucial. He had portrayed himself as a laid-back surfer dude, but that was looking more and more like an act now. Unfortunately, as we arrived at Landon’s house, he was far harder to get ahold of than when we had questioned him in his garage the first time around.

  He did not answer Joe’s first set of knocks on his front door, but it wasn’t because he was out. Joe and I could see his pickup truck parked in the garage. There was no doubt in my mind that Landon was inside his house. The question became, how could we get him to come out?

  Joe tried knocking again. When that didn’t yield any results, my brother’s patience wore thin. He began barking out orders loud enough so that Landon could hear him even if he was at the back of his house.

  “This is the police. We know you’re in there, Landon. You can’t hide from us,” my brother said.

  Joe’s temper was at a boiling point. I could tell that he wanted to kick Landon’s door in and burst inside like gangbusters. He had every right to. Before coming over to Landon’s place, my brother had secured a search warrant for Landon’s house based on the burglary allegations that had been leveled against him.

  At the same time, if Joe were to break down Landon’s door, things could get violent in a hurry. The preferable route was to get Landon to open his door willingly, then my brother could search the place. With any luck, that would happen. I prayed for a peaceful resolution. After all, my brother was trained for confrontation. I was a puzzle solver who preferred to use my intellect to resolve situations rather than resorting to violence.