Hope Hadley Eight Book Cozy Mystery Set

by Meredith Potts

  “That’s right,” Elliot said.

  “Only, the Cougar match was over at eleven. Your mother was killed between eleven-thirty and midnight,” Oliver replied.

  Elliot remained defiant. “So?”

  Oliver was losing his patience. “What do you mean, so? That half hour is unaccounted for in your story. With the game over, you could have easily driven over to your mother’s and killed her.”

  Elliot went into full denial mode. “No. I watched the football postgame show after the match.”

  Oliver snickered. “It’s funny how quickly you just changed your story.”

  “The point is, I was on my couch,” Elliot said.

  Oliver stared him down. “You know what they say about the devil being in the details.”

  “That’s not relevant here,” Elliot replied.

  Oliver wasn’t so convinced. “That’s what you say.”

  I decided to take a different approach. “It must have really gotten under your skin when your own mum passed you up in favor of Alastair Pickering.”

  Alastair was the employee Lara began grooming to take the reins after she’d decided her son was unfit to take over the company. I knew Elliot still felt burned by his mother’s decision, but how much had it gotten to him? Elliot’s reaction would be crucial.

  He tried not to look flustered, but I could tell the untroubled look on his face wasn’t genuine. “That’s not true.”

  I wasn’t about to let him get away with such a bald-faced lie. “Are you really going to pretend that you were fine with your own mother snubbing you?”

  Elliot’s grasp on his temper was slipping as he replied. “Fine. It bothered me at first, but I got over it.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Your mouth said one thing, but your eyes said another.”

  “This is ludicrous. Why would I kill my mother over something as simple as not getting picked for a promotion?” Elliot snapped.

  “People have killed for less,” Oliver said.

  Elliot refuted the inspector’s point. “Maybe so, but I didn’t do this.”

  I wanted to go back to one of Elliot’s previous statements. “You asked why you’d kill over not getting picked for a promotion. I’ll tell you why. With your mother gone, the company would get handed over to you and your siblings. You could easily buy your brother and sister out with your portion of the inheritance and take total control of the bookshops.”

  Elliott responded with a full head of steam. “There’s a whole lot of speculation there with no evidence to back it up.”

  I didn’t back down. “You have ample motive and a weak alibi. Are you sure there’s nothing more you want to say in your defense?”

  I fully expected him to bite my head off.

  Instead, he completely shut down. “I’m not saying another word.”

  Chapter Seven

  With all three of the suspect interviews over, I expected to have a clearer picture of who the guilty party was. Instead, a thick cloud of confusion hung in the air. The fog apparently bled over to Oliver as well. He looked equally enshrouded in it.

  Another spot of tea was in order. I always thought better after a fresh cup. A little Earl Grey would do wonders for Oliver as well. Although, a caffeinated beverage appeared to be the last thing on his mind. With his brain so jumbled, I invited a few of his thoughts to take center stage if they wished. For better or worse, I was curious to hear his reaction to this predicament.

  “So, what do you think?” I asked.

  He turned the question back on me. “I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

  Apparently, the floor was all mine. “I think they all look guilty.”

  Oliver nodded. “Yeah. It’s hard to narrow the suspects down to just one.”

  “Is there a chance they all had a hand in this?”

  He grimaced. “I strongly doubt that. The only thing they seem to hate more than their mother is each other.”

  On second thought, my theory didn’t seem to hold any water. “Yeah. I do get the feeling that if they tried working together, they’d probably end up killing each other. They seem to hate each other too much to hold a secret that big.”

  He agreed. “With a family this rancorous, there’s certainly no love lost between them. Looking at them, it’s hard to believe they are even family.”

  “Exactly. They’re at each other’s throats like sworn enemies.”

  Oliver looked haunted as he muttered to himself. He was in such a trance that he didn’t seem to realize he was vocalizing his inner monologue.

  “No one knows how to tear each other apart quite like family,” he uttered.

  My mind began racing as I heard that statement. It wasn’t alone. My gut followed suit. I couldn’t quite figure out why I had such a visceral reaction to Oliver’s comment, but I wasn’t about to ignore it.

  I made him repeat himself. “What was that?”

  “My father used to say that every time our family had a fight. That saying was handed down from his dad.”

  I felt a tinge of sadness as he recalled the dysfunction of his family tree.

  Oliver continued. “I come from a long line of familial infighting.”

  My heart went out to him. “It sounds like it. I’m very sorry.”

  “Let’s just say there’s a reason we stopped going to family reunions.”

  While hearing about the low points of his childhood was heartbreaking, I felt strangely compelled to repeat his saying. “No one knows how to tear each other apart quite like family, huh?”

  Oliver nodded.

  Those words kept bouncing around my head, refusing to be ignored or to go away. I was beginning to get annoyed at how persistent they were about hanging around; then it dawned on me why my mind was so fixated on Oliver’s old saying.

  I’d been operating in a fog throughout the majority of this case. Suddenly, as my eyes opened wide and everything started to click in my head, I was greeted with some much-needed clarity.

  “Wait. That’s it,” I declared.

  My boyfriend looked at me, completely baffled. “What is?”

  “I have an idea about how to break this case wide open.”

  Chapter Eight

  It was standard procedure to put suspects in separate cells after questioning. That kept fighting to a minimum. The most that suspects could do if they were isolated was send verbal jabs each other’s way. Only, this case was far from standard. To me, extraordinary circumstances like this called for desperate measures. Instead of isolating them, my plan was to place all three of the Peabody siblings to be inside the same jail cell.

  It would be cramped, uncomfortable, and would put them right in each other’s faces. That was by design. I wanted them so close that they could almost smell each other’s breath. It was not a time for personal space. Like a group of children crammed into the back seat on a long car trip, I was counting on their fuses being short. The quicker they got on each other’s nerves, the better.

  With siblings who hated each other that much, it shouldn’t take long for the fireworks to start flying. In my mind, the more heated, the better. If no one truly knew how to tear each other apart like family, I was hoping for pure mayhem—metaphorically, of course. Anger lent itself to poor judgment. If we were lucky, we’d be able to catch a break.

  I followed Oliver and one of the deputies as they escorted Tilly Peabody to the shared jail cell.

  As the deputy locked the cell behind her, as expected, Jude and Elliot were already on edge. They seethed quietly, but it was clear to me that they were like volcanoes that could erupt at any moment.

  Elliot remained quiet, trying to keep his anger to himself.

  Jude wasn’t able to find the same restraint.

  “Hey, what’s the big idea bringing her in here?” Jude said.

  Oliver smirked. “I thought you’d be happier to see your sister.”

  That shut Jude right up. He thought better than to go on some long diatribe eviscerating his siste
r. At least, not while we were standing right there.

  While their mouths were quiet, their body language was not. Jude, Elliot, and Tilly all exchanged glares.

  Just as Oliver, the deputy, and I began walking off, I stopped, determined to set the stage for as explosive of an encounter as could be.

  I thought of the most incendiary thing possible. “By the way, Tilly. Your interview with us earlier was very eye-opening. I have a feeling we’ll be wrapping this case up shortly.”

  The bait had been set. The question became, would they take it?

  ***

  Oliver and I left Jude, Elliot, and Tilly to duke it out. The inspector and I walked over to the security department and watched the action unfold via security camera footage. Just as I expected, shortly after we were out of the Peabody siblings’ sight, the gloves came off.

  Jude was the one to take the first swipe at his sister. “Tilly, what was that about?”

  Elliot piled on. “Yes, what eye-opening thing did you tell them?”

  Tilly didn’t hesitate to fire back at her brothers. “That woman is daft. I don’t have the slightest clue what she was just talking about.”

  Jude rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically. “I’ll bet you don’t.”

  Tilly cast her brother a glare. “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

  Jude scoffed. “Do you really need me to spell it out for you? Like always, you’re out for yourself and no one else.”

  Tilly fired back with an accusation of her own. “Like you should talk. You threw me under the bus.”

  Jude denied it. “I did no such thing.”

  Tilly didn’t believe him. “Likely story. Don’t sit here and pretend like you’re virtuous. I know you’ll do anything to cover your backside.”

  Jude didn’t argue with his sister there. “Of course, I do.”

  Tilly got a smug look on her face. “See.”

  “I do that only because I have to. If I don’t, someone is liable to put a knife in my back,” Jude said.

  Tilly became enraged as she saw Jude throw an accusatory glare her way.

  Throughout most the conversation, Elliot sat silently. Apparently, he’d finally heard enough. He spoke up. “Hey, keep it down. Both of you.”

  Elliot’s words were immediately met with conflict.

  “Why should we listen to you?” Tilly said.

  While Tilly took the time to dispute her brother’s point, Jude ignored Elliot’s words completely and continued arguing with his sister.

  “For the record, I didn’t tell the inspector everything. Like, I didn’t share how you had a big blow up fight with mum about money just an hour before the murder occurred,” Jude said.

  Tilly narrowed her eyes at her brother. “You’d better not have.” The gears then began spinning in her head. “Wait a minute. How did you even know about that fight?”

  Elliot tried once again to break up the fight between his siblings. “Enough. Behave yourselves.”

  Tilly refused to drop her point. She went after Jude again. “How could you have known about that fight?”

  Elliot was tired of being ignored. He snapped at his siblings. “Will you just listen to me and knock it off? I’m tired of listening to you two argue.”

  Elliot succeeded in getting Jude and Tilly’s attention. He’d also managed to dry their ire.

  Jude set his sights on his brother. “Stop pretending like you’re just some innocent bystander when we both know you’re not.”

  Elliot glared. “What are you getting at?”

  “You like playing the role of the peacemaker, but your own hands aren’t exactly clean,” Jude said.

  Elliot narrowed his eyes.

  Jude continued. “That’s right. I know how much you wanted that promotion. I know much it burned you when you didn’t get it--”

  Elliot interrupted his brother and sent out a warning. “Don’t push me.”

  Jude didn’t back down. “Why not? What are you going to do?”

  Elliot’s patience had been pushed to its limit. He snapped. “I warned you to be careful. I could easily tell the inspector that I saw you coming out of mum’s house shortly after eleven last night.”

  Jude’s face tensed up. He became as stiff as a corpse. His mouth opened to reply, but he had trouble getting the words out. Finally, he was able to get one question out. “You saw me?”

  Elliot nodded. “I was parked across the street. I saw you get into your car and drive away in a hurry.”

  Jude went dead quiet.

  The same could not be said for Tilly. She went over the details in her mind until a question popped into her head. “Wait a minute. What were you doing at mum’s house at that hour of the night?”

  This time, it was Elliot who was speechless.

  As I watched the security camera footage, I knew what the answer to the question was. That was the moment I’d been waiting for. My plan had been a gamble, but Elliot’s reaction made it all worthwhile.

  I had pegged my hopes on family drama taking over and it had worked even better than I’d expected. Not only had the siblings turned on each other, but they’d gotten on each other’s nerves so much that they’d lost track of their surroundings.

  As their emotions got the better of them, their anger acted as a form of tunnel vision, making them briefly forget that they were arguing in a jail cell that was being monitored by security cameras. Ultimately, their loss was our gain, and it was time for Oliver and me to strike.

  Chapter Nine

  A deputy led Elliot back into the interrogation room where Oliver and I were waiting for him.

  “We meet again,” Oliver said.

  Elliot didn’t waste any time in lashing out. “I told you I have nothing more to say to you.”

  What he failed to realize was that we had the upper hand on him.

  I spelled it out for Elliot. “You certainly had some interesting things to say to your sister and brother a few moments ago. By the way, your sister brought up a very good question. What were you doing at your mum’s place shortly after eleven last night?”

  “Especially when you told us you were at home watching football?” Oliver added.

  Of all the lies we’d heard that day, none of them compared to what Elliot spewed out at that moment. “I misspoke.”

  Oliver burst out into laughter. “Should we run back the tape? You do realize we were recording that conversation in the jail cell, don’t you?”

  Elliot’s face went white as his tongue tied itself into knots.

  “According to your own words, you were parked across the street from your mum’s place right around the time of the murder. I’d ask you what you were doing there, but that’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” I said.

  Elliot tried to make a last-ditch effort to cast the blame elsewhere. “What if I told you that my brother did this?”

  “So, you’re saying after your brother drove off in a hurry, you went into your mother’s house and found her dead on the kitchen floor?” Oliver asked.

  “Yes,” Elliot replied.

  Oliver scrunched his nose. “If that’s true then why didn’t you call the police right then and there to report what you’d just discovered?”

  “Because Jude’s my brother and I didn’t want--”

  “To rat him out?” Oliver scoffed. “Right, because you two love each other so much, as displayed by the way you were at each other’s throats a few minutes ago.” He shook head in disbelief. “I don’t buy your story for a minute. You lied to us about your initial alibi. Then you lied to us again by coming up with a second phony alibi. It’s time to stop lying.”

  I added on to Oliver’s point. “We want the truth, and we’re not leaving here until we get it.”

  Elliot broke eye contact and lowered his head.

  I wasn’t going to stand for the silent treatment. “Having trouble getting the words out? Why don’t I help you? You were furious that you’d been passed up for that promotion. After all the years of
working for your mum, you couldn’t stand to see anyone else being groomed to take the reins of the family company. You felt that it was the ultimate stab in the back. After all, you’d been so loyal to your mother. Even more, you were the only one in your family that had. For her to turn her back on you like that was an injustice you just couldn’t bear. So, you killed her, didn’t you?”

  Elliot remained silent.

  I pounded on the table in front of me and demanded an answer. “Didn’t you?”

  Elliot looked up and spilled his guts out. “Fine. I did it. I killed her. I couldn’t believe she’d betray me like that. I mean, there I was, passed over by my own mother. My whole life, I’d grown up feeling like I was second best, that nothing I could do would ever compare to Jude. So when Jude broke mum’s heart by going out on his own and starting his own business, I figured that by staying at the bookshop, it would finally be my turn in the spotlight. Only, my loyalty didn’t mean anything to my mum. I poured my heart into helping manage her bookshops, and she repaid me by stabbing me in the back. I wasn’t about to let her do that to me. So, I killed her, knowing that with my mother dead, I’d be able to take over the business for myself. Then, to cover my tracks, I staged the scene to make it look like a burglary gone wrong.”

  I shook my head in disgust. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  Chapter Ten

  Of all the cases I’d investigated, that was the one I was the most eager to put behind me. While there was nothing I could do to bring Lara back, I could take a modicum of comfort in knowing justice had now been served and that she could finally rest in peace.

  That being said, my emotions were all over the place. One moment I felt relieved in finally solving this case, the next a profound sense of sadness overcame me that appeared poised to linger for the long term. I just didn’t see how I could shake it. Nothing would change the fact that Lara was gone forever and that her life had been cut deadly short. There was another emotion inside me that wrestled with the others.