Hope Hadley Eight Book Cozy Mystery Set

by Meredith Potts

  He opened his mouth, but no words came out. At least, not at first. Finally, he was able to piece together a sentence. I thought he’d rage against the verdict, but he instead hit on a point that hadn’t yet occurred to me.

  “I don’t know what to say, except that I feel so sorry for the Cambridge family.”

  Right then, my focus shifted. I’d been so outraged about the fact that the jury had gotten things so blatantly wrong that the Cambridge family’s suffering had faded into the background until right then. As I gave their plight my full attention, I couldn’t help but tear up a little. I was a complete wreck, and Sadie had just been my friend—it must have been infinitely more devastating for them.

  After all, with Sadie’s murder, Mark and Julie Cambridge had lost their only daughter, while their son David Cambridge had lost his dear sister. For the Cambridges, their only solace was seeing Sadie’s murderer behind bars. With him being acquitted, all bets were off.

  Not only was Sadie gone, but her killer would be roaming free. Things were no better for Adam Leary. He had gotten engaged to Sadie shortly before her murder. He’d planned on spending the rest of his life with her. Suddenly, the phrase “until death do us part” took on all new meaning.

  “I can’t even imagine what they are going through,” I said.

  While my boyfriend had been in too much shock to respond to much of my ranting, he finally found the right words to encapsulate his emotions. “This is a sad day—for the Cambridges, for justice, and for our city. I mean, we’re going to have a murderer walking amongst us. I don’t know how things will ever be the same.”

  I didn’t know that they would either. How could they? This verdict was like a tidal wave. The question became, how destructive would it be?

  Chapter Two

  The next morning started with an abrupt change of plans. After staying up late, I wanted nothing more than to sleep in. That was always a bold plan with a Labrador retriever in the house. Yet, surprisingly, it wasn’t my dog, Buster, that woke me from a dead sleep.

  Instead, my peaceful slumber was interrupted by an unexpected phone call. I couldn’t believe it. Shuteye had been so hard to come by. I’d stayed awake well into the night, thinking about the grave injustice of Walter’s acquittal, how crazy the world was, and how different things would be in town with him walking free.

  Finally, an hour after I’d put my head down on my pillow, I drifted off. The next thing I knew, it was morning and I was being woken up by a phone call.

  When I looked at the time on the caller ID screen, I was amazed. Was it really almost eight in the morning? Maybe the call wasn’t so awful after all. I was supposed to meet Joe and Daniel for breakfast at Home Sweet Home Cooking, my boyfriend’s restaurant, in fifteen minutes.

  There was a fat chance of that happening unless they didn’t mind seeing me in my pajamas. Even if they did, I had more dignity than to go out in public looking like I treated the world as one big slumber party.

  After seeing Joe’s name pop up on caller ID, I got ready to tell him that I had to push our breakfast until eight-thirty. When I picked up the phone, I quickly realized that I wasn’t the only one looking to make a change of plans. But while I just wanted to reschedule for a few minutes later, Joe was calling to cancel meeting for breakfast altogether.

  I knew something big must have come up for Joe to pass up getting a stack of the restaurant’s famous fluffy pancakes. It turned out I was right.

  “Wait a minute. Why are you canceling?” I asked.

  There was a somber tone in Joe’s voice as he replied. “There’s been a murder.”

  A chill raced down my spine. Very few things could distract my mind from buttery pancakes drenched in delicious maple syrup, but that was one of them. My body tensed up at the mere mention of the word “murder.”

  When I was living in Los Angeles, murders were a common occurrence. Part of the reason I’d moved back to my hometown of Hollywood, Florida, was to avoid such grisly crimes. Yet my hometown had fallen prey to another murder.

  It was never a good sign when the number of homicides exceeded the number of hurricanes in the last year. Both represented dubious statistics. Now, if we were in Miami or even Tampa, maybe I’d understand. But Hollywood, Florida? Things like this weren’t supposed to happen here.

  When I cast aside my frustrations about the beating that my hometown’s reputation was taking, my thoughts turned to the specifics of the crime. Even without knowing any specifics, my first instinct was to suspect that Walter Clayton had killed someone.

  With him acquitted and freely roaming the streets, there was no doubt in my mind that trouble wasn’t far behind. It almost seemed inevitable to me. The man had already gotten away with murder once. When someone was able to beat the system like that, they sometimes believed the law no longer applied to them.

  Feelings of invincibility aside, Walter also held a number of grudges. He didn’t feel that he should have been a murder suspect in the first place. Perhaps, upon his release, he’d set out to settle an old score.

  Still, I held out hope, however small, that this killing was unrelated to Walter Clayton.

  “Who is the victim?” I asked.

  After all I’d seen and investigated in the past, I didn’t think I could be surprised anymore. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Joe’s answer completely floored me.

  “Walter Clayton.”

  I almost did a double take. Wait a minute. Did I hear that right? I had to get a clarification.

  “Hold on. Did you just say Walter was the victim and not the perpetrator?”

  “I did.”

  I was hoping I’d heard that wrong, but there was no mistaking what he’d said. This news changed everything. I was completely stunned, so much so that I had trouble even formulating a response.

  Joe had no such difficulty. He continued. “Walter’s body was found this morning in his home.”

  I was still reeling and could only muster one thought. “That’s unbelievable.”

  He had a stern tone in his voice. “That’s one word for it.”

  Clearly, he had different terminology in mind.

  “What would you go with?” I said.

  His answer was quick and direct. “Maddening.”

  I don’t think I’d ever heard that word come out of his mouth. In my mind, it was a curious choice.

  “Maddening?” I asked.

  Sure, a man was dead, but he was hardly some innocent bystander. This was someone most people believed should have been spending the rest of his life in prison or even been put on death row. A man who was suddenly freed and could do whatever he wanted, including kill again if he so chose. While his fate had been executed in the harshest of manners, I had to admit that the strongest emotion inside me right then was relief to have him off the streets.

  Joe disagreed. “Hope, this isn’t the Old West. We can’t just have people taking the law into their own hands.”

  “Oh. Right,” I said.

  While I’d been thinking that the streets would be safer without Walter Clayton on them, Joe was thinking big picture. Having spent his career in law enforcement, Joe knew the potential large-scale ramifications of actions like this.

  If things like this started occurring on a regular basis, it would blur the lines of justice and make it increasingly difficult for him to do his job.

  “There’s a reason the police department exists. It’s our job to protect and serve. It would be chaos if random people with grudges just decided to start exacting their own brand of revenge without recourse,” Joe explained.

  The chances were high that this was an isolated event. Joe didn’t think it was possible to be too cautious, as if frontier justice could soon be widespread in Hollywood. While I thought that was a ridiculous notion to entertain, I didn’t want to provoke my brother, especially when he was already so worked up.

  I remained silent as I processed the news of Walter’s murder. It was such a stunning turn of events that was so d
ifficult to wrap my head around. For his acquittal and subsequent murder to come in such quick succession almost put me on emotional overload.

  I’d woken up still trying to make sense of the not-guilty verdict. Now a new set of emotions had swept in. This was all before I had a single cup of coffee in my system. One thing was certain—at least the grogginess I’d felt was no more.

  Joe interpreted my silence a completely different way. Instead of recognizing that I was trying to juggle too many things at once, he assumed that I was eager to jump into the fray.

  “I’m going to urge you to stay away from this case,” he said.

  I tried to tell him what was really going on in my mind. “I wasn’t even thinking about—”

  He didn’t want to listen. My brother wouldn’t even let me get a complete sentence out.

  “Really? So you’re honestly going to tell me that you weren’t planning on investigating this case?”

  “I wasn’t.”

  I could hear him scoff on the other end of the phone line.

  I’d heard enough. It was time to set him straight. “I was just thinking about how many crazy turns life has taken in the last twenty-four hours. The news has been coming fast and furious.”

  He was in disbelief. “So, you’re not going to investigate this?”

  “No. It’s all yours.”

  I could hear a mix of relief and confusion in his voice as he replied. “Wow.”

  I would have taken offense at how presumptuous my brother had been, but after all the cases I’d stuck my nose in, I’d built up a reputation whether I wanted one or not.

  It had gotten to the point where Joe was befuddled as to why I wasn’t chomping at the bit to play amateur sleuth again.

  “Why are you letting me have this one all to myself?”

  The answer to that question was simple. “Honestly, I don’t want anything to do with this case.”

  Joe became fascinated. “I’m sorry. I don’t get it.”

  I elaborated. “It’s going to sound harsh, but Walter got what he deserved.”

  My brother answered like a politician would. “I can understand how you’d feel that way.”

  “But you don’t?” I asked.

  Joe was more candid with me than he’d been in a long time. “Okay. On a personal level, I think the jury should have put him behind bars for the rest of his life. On a law-and-order level, I can’t have people taking the law into their own hands.”

  “I understand.”

  “On that note, I have to get to work.”

  Chapter Three

  Like that, Joe and I went our separate ways. My brother dug into the case, searching for any leads that could bring Walter’s killer to light. I spent the day trying to stay as far away from the case as possible. It was such an emotionally charged topic that I felt getting some distance was key.

  I wanted to talk about anything else but the murder. It was a safe assumption that visiting my boyfriend could provide some much-needed relief. I didn’t care what we talked about. Even discussing the weather wouldn’t bother me if it meant the murder case didn’t come up. Although, a little snuggling seemed like the best option of all.

  Life had other plans. Just when I thought I’d experienced enough surprises for one day, my boyfriend greeted me with another. The first words out of his mouth were about Walter Clayton’s death. Apparently, news traveled even faster in this town than I even realized.

  Naturally, he, like my brother, assumed that I’d be quick to take up sleuthing. So when I told Daniel I had no plans to investigate this case, he couldn’t believe it.

  “You’re really going to sit this out?” Daniel asked.

  Judging by the look on his face, you’d think I’d told him that I was going to start performing brain surgery in my spare time for kicks. What a strange world I was living in. Those closest to me used to urge me not to investigate murder cases. Both my brother and my boyfriend would beg me to stay away from crime scenes.

  Now the idea that I hadn’t just jumped into the fray and thrown caution to the wind left Daniel in a state of shock. It was crazy how the tables had turned in the last few months.

  That being said, things must have been far crazier for the Cambridges. Yesterday, they had to wrestle with the grim reality that their daughter’s killer was being set free. Now they’d be getting news that the killer had become a victim of murder himself.

  I had to stop my thoughts right there. I’d gone over to Daniel’s place vowing not to let this case creep into my thoughts, yet there it was. If I was going to get any relief, I’d have to switch my mind frame. First, I had to get my boyfriend to drop the subject.

  “I’m leaving this one to Joe. Now, can we talk about something else?” I asked.

  Apparently not.

  Daniel continued right along with his train of thought. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m relieved that you’ll be staying out of harm’s way. I always worry about you when you’re going toe to toe with murder suspects.”

  “Luckily, you have nothing to worry about this time.”

  I was hoping my comment would put an end to the sleuthing talk during our conversation. Instead, Daniel returned to the topic like he was a broken record.

  “At the same time, you’re so good at it. If it wasn’t for you, think about how many unsolved murder cases there would still be in this town,” Daniel said.

  He did have a point. It would have been easy to fall into the trap of doing some navel gazing, but I was determined to resist. Ultimately, my desire to change the subject was stronger than my interest in rehashing past moments of glory. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m leaving this case to Joe.”

  Daniel saw the resolve on my face and relented. “Fair enough.”

  An awkward moment of silence followed, making it abundantly clear that Daniel only had Walter’s murder on his mind.

  I did not indulge his curiosity. At the same time, I didn’t have a whole lot else to add to the discussion. I’d come over here to unwind.

  The silence became a little too uncomfortable for Daniel. He got tired of waiting for me to break the silence and spoke up.

  “So, what do you want to talk about?”

  “I’d be happy to talk about anything else. And I mean, anything. Even if it’s hearing another alligator in the pool story.”

  The alligator-in-the-pool story was a very Floridian experience. It was also fairly common. Rarely did a month go by without a resident somewhere in the state waking up to find a scaly, prehistoric visitor doing laps in their pool.

  Alligator-in-the-pool stories were almost as common in Florida as bad acting audition stories were in Tinseltown. The fun was in hearing how embellished the size and ferocity of the alligator ended up being depending on who was telling the story. A six-foot gator who walked away without hurting a soul could be exaggerated to be a twelve-foot man-eating menace who almost took a man’s arm off depending on how creative the storyteller was with the truth.

  “I’m happy to report that my pool and life have been gator free,” Daniel said.

  Daniel didn’t bite on my bait in the least. Unfortunately, his tongue managed to find its way back to the case once again, even if it was in a slightly tangential fashion.

  “I ran into the Cambridges yesterday after I dropped you off,” he continued.

  Was he not listening when I told him I wanted to talk about something other than the case? Regardless, the topic was on the table again, and I didn’t have the energy to steer it away. I gave up the fight and indulged him.

  “And?” I replied.

  “They were beside themselves. Apoplectic.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “My heart really went out to them. At the same time, I felt so helpless, yet also so outraged. That was just me as someone without any skin in the game. I could only imagine what was going on inside their heads,” he said.

  “You probably don’t even want to know. They were probably ready to storm that courthouse with pitchfo
rks in hand,” I replied.

  “Pitchforks? People storm the gates a little differently these days.”

  “You get my point. I’ll bet there was a medieval kind of anger brewing in their minds.”

  “Then, in the span of a few hours, they went from worrying about their daughter’s killer wandering free on the streets to finding out he’s been murdered. Talk about emotional whiplash.”

  “True. But I’m sure that relief is sweet. I mean, they finally have the closure they’ve been looking for all this time,” I said.

  “You mean unless they become murder suspects,” he replied.

  That statement stopped me cold. Since I’d been determined to stay as far away from this case as possible, it hadn’t even occurred to me that the Cambridges and those closest to them would likely be considered as suspects in this case.

  Now that the point had been brought up, it was hard to dismiss it. At the same time, the Cambridges were good people. They wouldn’t do something as awful as this…would they? It was an extreme act, but these were extreme times.

  Just like that, my thoughts were off to the races. If I wasn’t careful, I could find myself knee deep in this investigation before long, and that’s the last thing I wanted…wasn’t it?

  Oh, dear.

  This was just what I’d worried about. The very thing I wanted to think about the least was suddenly the one thing I couldn’t get off of my mind. Such was the frustrating nature of life sometimes. I tried to rid my brain of the chilling thought that the Cambridges could become embroiled in this conversation, but, like an annoying song I couldn’t get out of my head, it just kept repeating over and over.

  Chapter Four

  It ended up being a tough night for me that resulted in very little sleep. I had tossed and turned in bed while the hamster wheel kept spinning in my head. I tried to console myself with the idea that Walter Clayton surely had other enemies out there. The man wasn’t the most popular man in town to begin with even before he’d gone on trial for murder. Surely, someone other than the Cambridges must have wanted him dead, right?