Hope Hadley Eight Book Cozy Mystery Set

by Meredith Potts

  “You’re really reaching.”

  Usually, it was the suspect who snapped. This time, it was Joe. He’d grown tired of dissecting Steven’s possible motive. To him, it was time to cut to the meat of the matter.

  “There’s one way to know for sure. Where were you last night between nine and nine thirty?” Joe asked.

  “I was here,” Steven replied.

  That answer rang false to me, especially in light of what I’d seen when we first entered the restaurant. “But, your sign on the door says you close at eight during the offseason.”

  “To the public. A lot goes on behind the scenes. There are closing duties, final paperwork to add up, bank deposits to get ready. A restaurateur’s job is never done,” Steven said.

  “Were any of your employees still around between nine and nine thirty to verify that you were still here?” I said.

  He shook his head. “They had all gone home.”

  “So much for your alibi,” Joe said.

  I piggybacked on my brother’s point. “I also didn’t notice any security cameras around here, which means it’s just your word against ours.”

  “I’ve told you the truth. If you’re not willing to accept it, that’s your problem,” Steven said.

  As Joe was about to press him further, there was a knock on the door.

  “Yes,” Steven said.

  The door opened, revealing a clean-shaven employee wearing a waterproof apron. “I’m sorry, boss. It’s just that the dishwasher seems to be broken, and the plates are really stacking up.”

  “I’ll call the repairman,” Steven said.

  The clean-shaven employee nodded, then left the office.

  Steven turned back to us. “I’m afraid I have a little fire to put out. So, unless you can produce any evidence of wrongdoing, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  With so many suspects so eager to show us the door, it was nice to be genuinely welcomed somewhere. Joe and I always got a warm greeting when we entered Home Sweet Home Cooking. The biggest smile came from the owner of the place who also happened to be my boyfriend. Daniel gave me a kiss as he seated us at our favorite booth.

  “How are things going?” Daniel asked.

  My boyfriend didn’t know the half of it. Until I had food in my stomach, I didn’t want to get into the details. It was funny, my brother and I had spent a large part of the day traveling to various eateries, but hadn’t grabbed a bite at any of them. Then again, it seemed a little foolish to let a murder suspect serve us food.

  Stopping at my boyfriend’s restaurant served three goals—getting to see Daniel’s smile, satiating our hunger, and allowing us to rest and regroup before heading out to investigate again.

  Joe and I both sighed at the same time, almost as if we’d choreographed it ahead of time.

  “That good, huh?” Daniel joked.

  “Don’t ask,” Joe replied.

  “You look like you two could both use a grilled cheese sandwich with a basket of fries,” Daniel said.

  My boyfriend knew me so well. It was such a simple meal, but the best things in life were rarely complicated.

  “That would hit the spot,” I replied.

  “Coming right up,” Daniel said.

  Daniel left the booth to put our orders into the computer while my cravings for melted cheese intensified.

  ***

  Daniel’s grilled cheese did not disappoint. When he returned with our meals fifteen minutes later, my taste buds immediately thanked him. As I took my first bite of the sandwich, I was in comfort food heaven.

  So, naturally, just when my brother and I were beginning to enjoy our meals, Joe got a call over his police radio.

  “Detective Hadley,” the dispatcher said.

  Joe picked up the radio and answered. “Hadley here.”

  “There’s a development with that patrol car you put on Carl Dempster.”

  “What is it?” Joe asked.

  “According to Deputy Tolliver, it seems that Carl Dempster is trying to make a break for it.”

  “Where is he right now?”

  “Deputy Tolliver tried to pull him over before he got onto Interstate 595. Instead, Dempster sped up and dashed away. Tolliver is in pursuit now,” the dispatcher explained.

  There was no doubt in Joe’s mind what needed to happen now.

  “We’re on our way,” Joe said.

  Chapter Fourteen

  So much for a relaxing meal. When my brother got the call over his police radio about Carl Dempster heading out of town, I had no idea we’d be driving at eighty miles per hour to catch up with him. Yet, twenty minutes later, there I was, sitting in the passenger seat of Joe’s car, in the thick of a high-speed pursuit, with my heart beating out of my chest.

  We’d finally managed to catch up with Carl’s sedan and were tailing him on the highway when he had made a sudden turn off of the highway. If there was one bright spot in all this, it was that we had avoided Carl smashing into any other cars on the highway. As an added benefit, now that we were off the main road, the particular exit Carl had taken was in a sparsely populated area.

  There were more trees out here than people. Carl had clearly viewed taking this exit as a good escape route. Joe meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief. On the backroads, the chance of innocent bystanders becoming casualties was nil. Joe could also afford to get more aggressive in his pursuit. That’s just what he did. He put the pedal to the metal and started gaining ground on Carl.

  I had a bad feeling about what my brother was going to do next. My creeping suspicion was that Joe would attempt to ram the back of Carl’s car to force him off the road. While Joe’s police car was designed for such measures, that knowledge did little to alleviate my fears.

  Unfortunately, Joe didn’t ask for my opinion.

  My brother looked over and gave me a warning. “Brace yourself.”

  I held on as tight as I could, knowing that impact would be coming sooner rather than later. Joe accelerated to full speed and rammed the back of Carl’s sedan. I had never been happier about the invention of seat belts in my entire life. Thankfully, the ramming didn’t hurt me at all, although, it did manage to fray my nerves. I was hoping that would be enough to get Carl to pull over, but he kept driving.

  Joe groaned. “I can’t believe it. What’s it going to take to stop this guy?”

  Any answer other than ramming him again would have suited me just fine. Instead, Joe sped up again, ready to plow into Carl’s bumper once more. Only, this time, Carl saw it coming and devised a plan.

  There was a sharp turn coming up that Carl looked determined to take. It seemed far too dangerous of a maneuver to pull off. Then again, if Carl was able to successfully make the turn, he might be able to shake us. Despite the risks associated with, Carl decided to gamble and take the turn anyway. He waited until the last possible moment and spun the wheel. Unfortunately for him, he’d taken the turn just a little too late and ended up sideswiping a nearby tree.

  Thankfully, Joe decided not to try and make that turn. Instead, he stayed on the main road and put on the brakes. Our car skidded along the road, finally coming to a halt thirty feet later. Once we had safely stopped, Joe put the car in reverse. As we pulled back to the hairpin turn, we saw Carl’s car stopped on the side road. His sedan had some body damage on the driver’s side of the car where he’d briefly brushed against the tree. That wasn’t what had stopped him, though.

  In the process of hitting the tree, his front tire had popped. Now that his tire was completely flat, he had no choice but to put the car in park. That didn’t mean this confrontation was over. If Carl had a weapon onboard his car, things could escalate in a hurry.

  My brother turned to me. “Stay here.”

  Surprisingly, there was no movement coming from Carl’s vehicle. Was he badly injured? Had he just given up? Was he even conscious?

  Joe got out of the car with his gun drawn and called to Carl. “Come out with you
r hands up.”

  It was a tense moment waiting for a response. When none came, Joe repeated his statement.

  “I’m only going to say this one more time. Come out with your hands up.”

  By that point, I was nearly biting my nails. I just wanted this to end peacefully. It would only complicate the case if my brother had to shoot Carl.

  Thankfully, a moment later, the door to Carl’s driver’s side door swung open slowly.

  Carl then exited his car with his hands up.

  “Now, get on the ground,” Joe demanded.

  Carl complied.

  Joe then rushed over and used his free hand to grab his handcuffs, all the while keeping his gun pointed at Carl. As Joe reached Carl’s location, he cuffed him.

  While Joe read Carl his rights, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Finally, Carl was handcuffed and loaded into the back of a patrol car. What a high-drama resolution. I was so glad it was over. Phew. I wasn’t built for that kind of crazy action. My sleuthing skills shined when I was solving puzzles, not riding in the passenger seat of a car going eighty miles per hour.

  Just as I got close to catching my breath, I realized I’d spoken too soon. When Joe finished searching Carl’s car, what he found inside made me realize this case may not be solved after all.

  Joe found no murder weapon inside the car. Or, any evidence of any kind pointing to the murder. What he did find was a large stash of cocaine tucked under the passenger seat. That would be enough to put Carl behind bars for years. When his drug possession charges were combined with running from the police and reckless endangerment, Carl’s new home would be a jail cell for at least a decade, if not two. Unfortunately, none of that was helpful in terms of solving the murder case.

  Although, on a side note, I had to say that Joe finding those drugs was a complete surprise to me. Sure I’d noticed that something was off about Carl before, but I just thought he was being shifty because he was a murder suspect. For him to be snorting cocaine, and in that volume, was mind blowing.

  I had to get over my shock. There were bigger fish to fry.

  Once Joe finished searching the suspect’s car, my brother joined back up with me and we questioned Carl.

  “What were you thinking?” Joe asked.

  Carl lowered his head in an attempt to avoid answering. He still underestimated who he was dealing with. We just drove straight across town and tailed him on a high-speed chase. Did he actually believe we were leaving the scene without getting answers? If so, Carl was dumber than he looked.

  Joe fired another question at him. “Did you really think you’d outrun us?”

  Carl kept his head down, but not so low that I couldn’t see his eyes. He had a look of embarrassment on his face. There was more. He was also clearly high.

  A moment passed with no audible answer from him. He just shrugged his shoulders.

  That only made Joe angrier. “Don’t think you’re going to avoid talking to us. You have a lot to answer for, and we’re not going to stop until we get what we came here for. Now, I’d ask you why you were running, but I already have the answer to that.” He held up an evidence bag that had been filled up with the stash of drugs.

  “That’s a lot of drugs,” I added. “And a lot of jail time to go with it.”

  Carl tensed up even more.

  Carl was wearing on Joe’s last nerve. Adrenaline was still running high after the car chase. Emotions were less put together than usual.

  “Well, don’t you have anything to say for yourself?” he snapped.

  Joe’s booming voice made it impossible for the suspect to ignore him now.

  Carl looked up with his eyes open wide. The first thing I noticed was just how high he was. He was actually more strung out than I’d first realized. When I thought back on the car chase, it was a wonder he was able to control his vehicle for as long as he did and that no one ended up seriously injured.

  Just as striking was the realization that I was looking at someone who just over two years ago was a renowned chef and restaurant owner. Such was the toll that heavy drug use took on life. Carl looked like nothing more than a common junkie now. He was a shell of his former glory. A man who’d hit rock bottom and seemed to be trying to discover a new low point to hit.

  Being an addict was one thing, being a murderer was another. Was he both? I was eager to get to that. Right now, we were working on just getting a basic answer out of the guy.

  Finally, Carl spoke up. “What’s there to say? I knew if you guys caught up with me, you’d find the drugs.”

  “It turns out we found the drugs anyway,” Joe replied.

  “I figured it was worth a shot.”

  Joe groaned then shook his head and muttered under his breath. “You’re even dumber than I thought.”

  My brother was usually a little less of a loose cannon. Clearly, Joe was off his game. Then again, I didn’t blame him. I couldn’t have chased the suspect’s car as he had. At the same time, I didn’t think we were going to get the answers we were looking for this way.

  I figured it would be best if I took the lead. “You already have three charges against you. Evading arrest, drug possession, and reckless endangerment. Should we add murder to the list?”

  Carl replied vehemently. “No.”

  Not that I expected him to come right out and admit that he was guilty because that would be too easy, but the strength of his denial was surprising. His emotions had been so even across the board with every other question but this one. For him to be so bent out of shape at the insinuation that he was a murderer only made me suspect him more.

  I called him out. “Really, you’re going to sit there and lie to me?”

  Carl didn’t back off. Instead, his outrage ratcheted up even further. “I’m telling you the truth. I’m not a killer.”

  I wasn’t buying it. “Why should we believe you? You told us you fled so we wouldn’t find the drugs hidden in your car. While I don’t disagree with that, what if you also took off on us because you were trying to skip town to evade a murder charge?”

  Carl shook his head. “No. That’s not true. It was just about the drugs.”

  I played devil’s advocate for a moment. “You can tell us it was about the cocaine all you want to. It doesn’t change the fact that your alibi for the time of the murder is shaky at best.”

  He disagreed with me again. “You’re wrong. I actually have a rock-solid alibi.”

  Now he was just talking crazy. Joe and I had both heard his supposed alibi. There was no way to verify it.

  I called him on his nonsense. “Since when?”

  Joe jumped into the fray again. “Yeah. This is all news to us.”

  Carl lowered both his head and his voice volume as he answered. “That’s because I lied to you before about where I really was at the time of the murder.”

  It was funny that he brought up lying to us because I sensed that he was about to peddle another fabricated story our way. I wanted to stop him before he did. “Or, maybe you just hadn’t made up a cover story that you could get your friends to corroborate yet?”

  Carl corrected me again. “No. That’s not it at all.”

  “You just admitted that you lied to us before. Why should we even listen to you now?” I asked.

  “Just hear me out. I lied to you before because telling the truth would have incriminated myself on drug charges. Now that I’ve already been caught with drugs, I figure there’s no harm in coming clean,” Carl said.

  Joe was fed up with the conversation going around in circles. He pressed for the truth. “Fine. Let’s hear this new verifiable alibi of yours.”

  “The truth is, at the time of the murder, I was in the parking lot of the Hollywood Palms Convenience Store buying drugs.”

  Some stories were just strange enough to be true. While I’d been eager to poke holes in whatever alibi he threw our way, that was a tough one to tear to shreds. It wasn’t like he was now pr
etending he was shooting pool or throwing back a beer at a bar with friends. He was admitting to purchasing cocaine, which, in itself, was a crime that carried a jail sentence.

  No wonder he hadn’t told us before. When we’d questioned him the first time, he was doing everything he could to stay out of jail. In admitting the truth, he was incriminating himself. That was if he was telling the truth now. The cynic in me wondered, knowing that he was already headed to jail for drugs, if he’d made that story up right now to keep himself from getting a murder charge tacked on to his sentence.

  Joe and I tried to press him for more information, but Carl wasn’t volunteering any. He became tight-lipped, except to tell us that he wasn’t going to answer any more of our questions without a lawyer present.

  Chapter Sixteen

  With Carl going silent on us, Joe hauled him back to the police station and booked him on the drug possession and evading the police charges. While those were completely warranted, as I sat across from Joe’s desk in the precinct, what interested me more was this supposed new alibi. After Carl had been put behind bars, Joe went to call the convenience store to check on his alibi while I took a few minutes to decompress.

  That was much easier said than done. My body was still on high alert. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down, but it was to no avail. It seemed that despite my best efforts, my heart was determined to keep beating out of my chest. I blamed the adrenaline. It was coursing strongly through my veins, wreaking havoc on not only my heart, but my mind as well.

  My body was stationary in the chair, but my mind raced around and around, like a long distance runner determined to break a world record for the fastest distance race ever. Finally, when I’d managed to work myself into a bit of a frenzy, Joe returned to his desk, sporting an unsavory expression on his face.