Sabrina Carlson Cozy Mystery Anthology

by Meredith Potts

When David did phone Lampert’s Cove Hardware, however, he received some bad news. Apparently, Greg had called in sick that morning.

  Since Greg wasn’t at home, the question then became, was he at a doctor’s office? How about the hospital? Or was he somewhere else entirely?

  “Things just got a lot messier,” David said.

  “I can think of another way to describe this situation,” I said.

  “I’ll bet.”

  I let out a groan. “And here I got excited for a minute about the tip from Kristie’s neighbor. I actually thought that maybe we’d be able to speak with Greg without any kind of trouble. How foolish of me.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “I know, but it’s still disappointing.”

  He nodded. “It sure is.”

  “That said, there isn’t time to feel bad for ourselves. Greg is out there somewhere. And we need to find him, sooner rather than later.”

  “I agree with you. The problem is, he could be anywhere.”

  “At least anywhere that is within a ninety-minute drive of here. Luckily, he doesn’t have that much of a jump on us,” I said.

  David’s eyes lit up. “And I know a way that we might be able to close the gap.” He grabbed his police radio.

  “What are you going to do?” I asked.

  “This calls for an all-points-bulletin. In a few minutes, everybody in the county will know to be on the lookout for him.”

  “That’s a good call,” I said. “While you’re radioing dispatch, I’m going to pray that this bulletin produces results.”

  ***

  The Lord must have heard my prayer because it didn’t take long to get a hit on the bulletin. Less than fifteen minutes after the notice went out, a gas station clerk on Route 32 spotted Greg filling up his tank. The clerk immediately got on the phone and called 9-1-1.

  Much to our good fortune, a police deputy happened to be patrolling in the general vicinity and was able to make quick tracks over to the gas station. Once he arrived on the scene, Deputy Richmond was able to detain Greg. David and I then made our way over to the station to question the suspect.

  When we pulled into the gas station, we saw Greg being held in the back of the deputy’s squad car. As we approached the suspect, we received a confused and unhappy response from Greg. He legitimately didn’t seem to know why he was being detained.

  “You need to let me go,” Greg said.

  “Are you in a hurry to leave town?” David asked.

  “As a matter of fact, I am.”

  “I have news for you,” David said. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  “You don’t understand. I’m needed in Carterville.”

  “Sure you are.”

  “I’m serious. This is an emergency.”

  “And here I thought you were sick,” David said. “At least that’s what you told your boss when you called him earlier.”

  Greg squinted. “How do you know about that?”

  “We know a number of things about you. Like how you drove away from Kristie Wakefield’s house this morning,” David said.

  “Have you been spying on me?” Greg asked.

  David shook his head. “No. A neighbor spotted you and alerted us.”

  Greg’s forehead wrinkled. “I don’t get it. Why would the police be interested in me driving away from Kristie’s house?”

  David stared deep into Greg’s eyes. “You really don’t know?”

  Greg shrugged. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

  “Kristie is dead.”

  Greg’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

  David nodded. “I sure am. And that’s not all. You see, it turns out Kristie was murdered.”

  Greg’s face filled with confusion. “Wait…no…that doesn’t make sense.”

  “No. What doesn’t make sense is your reaction. Especially since Kristie’s time of death was right around when her neighbor saw you rushing away from her home.”

  Greg shook his head in disbelief. “You can’t honestly think I had something to do with her death.”

  “Are you kidding? At this moment, all evidence is pointing to you being her killer,” David said.

  “No. This is crazy.”

  “Murderers usually are.”

  “Stop right there. I’m not a killer.”

  David threw out his arms. “Why should we believe you?”

  “To start, I didn’t even know she was dead.”

  “Do you honestly expect us to buy that?” David asked. “It wasn’t exactly a secret that you never got over the way Kristie dumped you for Larry a few years ago. And ever since Kristie separated from Larry, you haven’t hidden the fact that you wanted to get back together with your ex.”

  “While that’s true, there’s more to the story than there appears to be—”

  David cut Greg off. “There sure is. When you combine those points with the fact that you were spotted rushing away from her house earlier, it’s not a stretch to believe that you made a play to win her back, only to be shot down. Then, in retaliation, you got revenge—”

  Greg shook his head. “That isn’t what happened.”

  “What did happen then?”

  “I went over to Kristie’s house to talk to her.”

  “About getting back together?” David asked.

  Greg nodded.

  “That’s what I thought,” David said.

  “But I didn’t kill her.”

  “Greg, I don’t like being lied to.”

  “I’m telling you the truth. I didn’t kill her. Honestly, I didn’t even get a chance to speak with her this morning.”

  David’s eyebrows knitted. “Is that really the story you’re going with?”

  “It’s more than just a story. It’s what happened,” Greg said. “I went over there to talk to her, but I never even left my car.”

  “You’re not making any sense.”

  “I pulled into her driveway and put my car into park. I then sat in the driver’s seat for a few seconds while I thought about everything I wanted to say to her. Then, just as I was about to get out of the car and walk up to her front door, I got an emergency phone call.”

  “What sort of emergency are you talking about?”

  “My father had a heart attack,” Greg said. “That’s why I’m rushing to Carterville right now.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Unfortunately. But according to my sister, he’s going to be okay. EMTs were able to get to him just in time. Now he’s in the hospital recovering.”

  “That’s an incredible story.”

  “It sure is. Honestly, it’s so crazy that I’m still in shock myself,” Greg said.

  David opened his mouth to respond, but Greg cut him off before he could get a word out.

  “I know what you’re probably thinking. It sounds like I made it up,” Greg said. “Well, if you don’t believe me, you can call my sister. She’ll confirm everything I just told you.”

  “Trust me. Your sister will definitely be hearing from me.”

  “Go ahead and call her right now. Her number is 555-8724.”

  David put his hand up. “Hold on a minute. Even if your sister is able to confirm every word about your father’s heart attack, it doesn’t mean you’re in the clear when it comes to Kristie’s murder.”

  Greg’s eyes bulged. “Why not?”

  “Even though you told us you never left your car, you could have just as easily killed Kristie and then received the phone call from your sister as you were leaving the scene.”

  Greg groaned. “I already told you. I never left the car.”

  “I know what you told us. The question is, can you prove it?”

  Greg nodded. “Actually, yes.”

  David folded his arms. “How?”

  “There’s a dash camera in my car,” Greg said.

  David’s eyebrows rose. “Is that so?”

  “Oh yeah. I installed it a little over a year ago after some crazy gu
y hit my sedan and pretended like the accident was my fault. After all the time and energy it took to prove he was at fault, I vowed to never let something like that happen again. So I immediately went out and bought a dash cam,” Greg said. “It looks like it was a good investment on my part.”

  “If you’re telling the truth, that dash cam might keep you out of jail.”

  “Go check the tape,” Greg said. “I have nothing to hide.”

  Chapter Four

  David and I walked over to Greg’s car to review the dash cam video. As we began going over the recording, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Just as Greg described, earlier that day, his car pulled into Kristie’s driveway and remained parked there for a very short amount of time. I kept watching the recording, waiting to see Greg get out of the car and walk up to Kristie’s front door.

  That didn’t happen. Instead, about sixty seconds after the vehicle pulled into the driveway, Greg shifted the sedan into reverse and backed up until he reached the street. From there, he shifted his car into drive and sped away down the block.

  David and I were both wide eyed as we turned to each other.

  “Can you believe that?” I asked.

  “I don’t really have any choice. Dash cam footage like that doesn’t lie,” David said.

  “I know,” I said. “Go figure. He was actually telling the truth.”

  “It sure looks like it.”

  “That said, I would still call Greg’s relative if I were you.”

  “Of course,” David replied. “I want to cover all my bases.”

  I nodded. “Let’s see what this relative have to say.”

  ***

  What little suspicion that remained after watching that video recording completely faded away once David got off the phone with Greg’s relative. According to Greg’s sister, a family emergency had indeed taken place.

  With both aspects of Greg’s story confirmed, David had little choice but eliminate him from his suspect list. My husband opened up the back of the squad car and let Greg out. Greg then headed over to the driver’s side of his sedan and drove away.

  While Greg made his way to Carterville, David and I took a few moments to process everything that had just taken place.

  “It’s safe to say that went much differently than I thought it would,” I remarked.

  David burst into nervous laughter.

  I shrugged. “What’s so funny?”

  “That might be the biggest understatement I’ve ever heard.”

  “In my mind, that’s pretty fitting, considering how Greg’s alibi was one of the strangest stories that we’ve ever been able to confirm.”

  “That’s so true.”

  “You know, for a moment, I thought we had this case all wrapped up.”

  “Same here. I figured that we had caught a lucky break.”

  “After all, we’re due for an open and shut case.”

  “We certainly are. They can’t all be relentless slogs, can they?”

  “Apparently, they can.”

  He took a deep breath. “There’s a depressing realization for you.”

  “Hey, just because this case is only beginning doesn’t mean that the next case we investigate won’t be a breeze.”

  “How about this?” he said. “Maybe there won’t be a next case.”

  My nose scrunched. “Are you thinking about retiring?”

  He shook his head. “No. I was just trying to be optimistic. Like, perhaps once we’ve caught this killer, things will calm down in Treasure Cove for good.”

  “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said that exact thing over the years. And yet here we are, knee-deep in another murder investigation.”

  “I know.” He took a deep breath. “Speaking of which, if we’re going to find Kristie’s killer, it looks like we’ll have to go back to the drawing board.”

  “It sure does,” I said. “Now let’s talk suspects.”

  Chapter Five

  After doing a little bit of digging, we were able to come up with four potential suspects. David then drove us over to the northwest side of town to speak with the first one.

  Kristie’s estranged husband, Larry Wakefield, was renting a green Victorian-style house on Martin Drive that had a wrap-around porch and a large sycamore tree in the front yard. The property was pretty, but could have benefitted from a little care and attention. As a renter, Larry probably didn’t notice or care about that detail. Most likely, he was just happy to have found a property to call home after his wife kicked him out of the house a few months back.

  While there were a number of details that I could have focused on, one that jumped out at me right then was the fact that two cars were parked in the driveway. One was a silver sedan. The other was a red sports utility vehicle. I knew the sedan belonged to Larry. Meanwhile, I wasn’t so sure about the sports utility vehicle. I had a hunch, though.

  When Larry’s front door opened, my instincts proved to be spot on. Larry’s mistress, Fiona McMillan, walked out onto the porch. The tall, blond, fifty-one-year-old wasn’t alone, however.

  Larry came out onto his porch as well. The brown-haired, lean fifty-two-year-old began walking toward the driveway with his mistress.

  Talk about great timing. With both of the suspects out in the open, it meant that they couldn’t hide from us. They would have no choice but to answer our questions. In addition, since they were together, it also spared us the stress of having to go over to Fiona’s house.

  It was rare that we got a break like this, so we were determined to take advantage of it. David parked his car directly behind the sports utility vehicle, ensuring that no one would be able to drive away until David and I were done speaking with them.

  As my husband and I got out of our car, Larry and Fiona stopped dead in their tracks. Neither of them said a word, but their facial expressions were quite telling. If they could have gotten away with it, they probably would have turned around and gone straight back into the house. That would have come across as incredibly suspicious. So they remained exactly where they were.

  David was the first one to speak up. “Where are you two going?”

  Instead of answering my husband’s question, Larry had a few things of his own to say. “Who are you?” he asked. “And what are you doing here?”

  David pulled out his police badge. “I’m Detective David Carlson. And this is Sabrina—”

  “Wait a minute. You’re with the police?” Larry asked.

  David nodded.

  “What does a detective want with me?”

  “I’ll tell you that in a moment. But first I want to know where you two were headed.”

  “We were going to take a hike,” Larry said.

  “You weren’t looking to leave town then?” David asked.

  Larry shook his head. “Of course not. I don’t even know why you would ask that.”

  Fiona wasn’t about to stay silent any longer. “Will you please tell us what’s going on?”

  David’s nose crinkled. “You two seriously haven’t heard the news?”

  Larry gave David a blank stare. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

  “Mr. Wakefield, your estranged wife is dead,” David said.

  Larry’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

  David nodded.

  Larry’s jaw hung open. “I can’t believe it.”

  Fiona squinted. “What happened?”

  “This is where things get really hairy,” David said. “Kristie was murdered.”

  Larry and Fiona both looked genuinely shocked when David revealed that last detail. But I knew better than to take their reactions at face value. There was always a chance that they were just putting on an act to avoid suspicion. It had certainly happened before. Whether it was occurring again was unknown. But David and I were determined to find out.

  ***

  In my experience, it was always best to question suspects separately. If we spoke with two suspects at the same time, they could
team up to falsify their alibis. Or distort the truth in other ways.

  That was why David and I decided to speak with Larry first. Then, once we were done with him, we would have a conversation with Fiona.

  Much to my chagrin, Larry didn’t seem interested in making things easy for me and David.

  Larry’s nose scrunched as he said, “I don’t know why you separated us.”

  “It’s just standard procedure,” David said.

  Larry’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”

  David nodded.

  “To me, it seems like a pretty suspicious way to go about things,” Larry replied.

  “It’s funny that you of all people would use the word suspicious,” David said.

  “I don’t think anything about this is humorous,” Larry said. “And I honestly don’t understand why you’re talking to me.”

  “You and Kristie were in the middle of a contentious divorce. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t speak with you.”

  “Fair enough. But there’s not much to say. After all, I had no idea that Kristie was dead until you just told me.”

  “If that’s true, then why don’t you answer one simple question for me?”

  “Okay,” Larry said. “What do you want to know?”

  “Where were you this morning?” David asked.

  “That’s easy. I was here…with Fiona,” Larry said.

  “All morning?”

  Larry nodded.

  “So if we ask her that same question, she’ll give us the exact answer that you just did?” David replied.

  “Absolutely,” Larry said.

  “All right,” David replied. “We’ll see about that.”

  Chapter Six

  David and I walked over to Fiona in hopes of getting her side of the story. But before David was able to get a question out, Fiona gave him a mouthful.

  “I didn’t kill Kristie. And neither did Larry,” Fiona said.

  “Ms. McMillan, I never said you did,” David replied.

  “That’s why you’re talking to me, though, isn’t it?”

  “We’re here because we need to ask you some questions.”