That said, despite all the recent difficulties in her life, at that particular moment, the trim-bodied, angular-faced, fifty-four-year-old was smiling.
Jim, meanwhile, became eerily quiet.
While Jim refrained from speaking, Kaitlin approached me and gave me a warm greeting. “Sabrina, it’s good to see you. How have you been?”
“You know how it is. Some days are better than others,” I said.
“You don’t have to tell me that. Honestly, some days I wonder why I even got out of bed in the morning,” Kaitlin said.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said.
“Luckily, this isn’t one of those days,” Kaitlin said.
“I’m glad I caught you on a good day,” I said.
“How about you? How are things going?” Kaitlin asked.
“They are all right,” I said.
“Why are they just all right? You’re not working on a new case, are you?” Kaitlin asked.
I shook my head. “Thankfully, no.”
Kaitlin breathed a sigh of relief. “So, what’s going on in your life then?”
I looked at Kaitlin, then at Jim. “Actually, from what I can tell, you’re the one with the breaking news to share.”
Kaitlin’s eyes widened. “Wait. Didn’t you know that Jim and I were a couple?”
“Nope,” I said.
She scrunched her nose. “I’m not sure why. We’ve been together for months.”
“It turns out I’ve been a little busy lately,” I said.
She chuckled. “That’s putting it lightly.”
Kaitlin then looked into Jim’s eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“What made you ask that?” Jim replied.
“You’re just being really quiet,” Kaitlin said.
“I’m fine,” Jim said.
I stared at Jim. “Are you sure about that?”
Jim nodded. “Yes.”
“So, you’re not going to yell at me then?” I asked.
“No,” Jim said.
Kaitlin shrugged. “Why would Jim yell at you?”
“I was just worried that he might have hard feelings after David and I interviewed him during the Wally Tuttle case,” I said.
“That was a long time ago,” Jim said.
“I know. But some people have a way of holding grudges,” I said.
“Not me,” Jim said. “You were just doing your job.”
“I’m glad you understand that,” I said.
“I do,” Jim said. He then suggested, “Why don’t we move on to a more pleasant topic?”
“That’s fine by me. So how did you two get together?” I asked.
“Strangely enough, it happened right here,” Kaitlin said.
My brow furrowed. “In this sandwich shop?”
Kaitlin nodded. “A number of months back, I came here for lunch. It was one of those days when the line was almost out the door. That particular day, I ended up standing in line behind Jim.”
“While we waited for our turn to order, we got to talking,” Jim said.
“And we really hit it off,” Kaitlin said.
“So much so that we ended up eating lunch together.”
“Then, when we finished eating our sandwiches, I asked her out to dinner,” Jim said. “Thankfully, she said yes.”
“And the rest is history,” Kaitlin said.
“What a great little story,” I said.
Kaitlin smiled. “I think so.”
“Does Shannon know that you two got together here?” I asked.
Kaitlin shrugged. “I have no clue.”
“I’ll tell her,” I said. “Who knows? She might decide to name a sandwich after you.”
“Are you serious?” Jim asked.
“Why not? It’s a great story. Besides, I can see it now. The Lovebird’s Deluxe Sub,” I said.
“Now you’re just joking,” Kaitlin said.
“In all seriousness, it’s nice to see you both happy,” I said.
Kaitlin took Jim’s hand.
“We really are,” she said.
“I hope that continues,” I said.
“So do I,” Kaitlin said.
A beeping sound was then heard.
Jim reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He looked at his screen and then turned to Kaitlin.
“I hate to run like this, but I’m needed at work,” Jim said.
Kaitlin leaned in and gave Jim a kiss.
“Love you,” she said.
“Love you too,” Jim said. He then turned to me. “It’s good to see you again, Sabrina.”
“Have a good rest of your day,” I said.
“I’ll try,” Jim said.
Chapter Four
Two days later
As the end of the week neared, I felt like I was finally settling back into my normal rhythm. In the morning, I took our corgi, Sebastian, out for a walk around the neighborhood. Once he had sniffed every tree, pole, and fire hydrant on the street, he was ready to come back inside. I then gave him a generous amount of food.
From there, I woke up my daughter for school. While Jessica got dressed, I went into the kitchen, packed her a brown-bag lunch, and also prepared a light breakfast for the family. A few minutes later, David, Jessica, and I ate some scrambled eggs and peanut butter toast before heading our separate ways. For David, that meant driving over to the police station. Meanwhile, I dropped Jessica off at school before making my way over to Daley Buzz.
After putting in some hours at my family’s coffee shop, I picked Jessica up from school. Once we arrived back home, Jessica went to her room to do some work while I got things prepared for dinner.
David pulled into the driveway just as I was getting ready to serve the meal. Once we were done eating, we all curled up on the couch and watched some television before heading off to bed.
When I woke up the following day, I expected things to go pretty much the same as they had the day before.
It turned out that I was dead wrong.
The early-morning routine all went as scheduled. It was only after I arrived at Daley Buzz that everything started to go haywire.
I had only taken one sip of my latte when I got a call from David.
Assuming it was just a normal phone call, I opened up the conversation with a little small talk. But David interrupted my pleasantries with a statement that rocked me to the core.
“Jim Hartley is dead,” David said.
***
So much for peace and quiet. David and I suddenly had a new case on our hands. Although, we wouldn’t have very many details to work with until we arrived at Jim Hartley’s Mattress Emporium. David had only gotten a call from police headquarters a few minutes earlier. But the 9-1-1 dispatcher was able to tell him one very important thing. Namely, that Jim’s death did not appear to be from natural causes.
Once I picked my jaw up from the floor, I spent the next few minutes trying to keep my thoughts from swirling out of control. That was easier said than done. But thankfully, David arrived at Daley Buzz a short time later, forcing me to focus.
I hopped into the passenger seat of David’s car and we sped off to the mattress emporium. Jim’s business was located on the south side of town, so it took less than five minutes to get there. When we pulled onto Cypress Road, there were only two people in front of the building. One was a police deputy. The other was a man wearing a suit and tie.
It didn’t look like there were any customers around, which wasn’t surprising, given the fact that it was early in the morning. It was also for the best that a crowd hadn’t formed. Investigating a case was already plenty difficult. When outside factors created even more pressure, discovering the truth turned into an absolute beast.
David had a brief discussion with the deputy before heading inside the building. I followed closely behind him. We didn’t have to walk far to find Jim’s body. His corpse was on the ground just outside the back office.
I saw a stab wound in his chest that had dried blood a
round it. Instead of looking closer at the wound, I turned away. The sight of a dead body always made me squeamish.
The same could not be said of David. He was able to hold himself together much better than I was. So if he spotted any clues, he would tell me about them.
In the meantime, I clutched my stomach and took a few deep breaths.
“Are you going to be okay?” David asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Just give me a minute.”
“Take as long as you need.”
“What I really need is a stronger stomach,” I said. “This isn’t the first dead body I’ve ever seen.”
“Maybe you should step outside and take a few deep breaths.”
I shook my head. “No. There’s work to be done.”
“There certainly is, but we can’t get down to business until you’re feeling better.”
“I’m sorry about this.”
He scrunched his nose. “What are you apologizing for?”
“A killer is out there and the clock is ticking to find them. You know just as well as I do that every second counts.”
“Normally, I’d agree. But in this instance, taking a minute to compose yourself isn’t going to make or break this case.”
“You’re right. It’s just that after all these years of investigating, I figured that I’d eventually stop getting queasy around dead bodies.”
“At this point, I think that’s doubtful.”
“You might be right. A sight like this just hits me hard.”
“That’s completely understandable. This is a very disturbing scene.”
“It sure is,” I said. “What a terrible way to die.”
David grimaced. “I feel like we’ve been saying that a lot lately.”
“Because we have. It’s rare that things quiet down in Treasure Cove for more than a few months at a time.”
“Or in some cases, more than a few days at a time.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Right. Instead, I’ll just get back to work,” David said. “Are you going to step outside and get some air?”
“No. My stomach is starting to feel better.”
“It’s good to hear that.”
While I no longer felt nauseous, I wasn’t at my best either. To keep my stomach from acting up on me again, I decided to leave my back turned to the body. That made David’s insight even more important.
“Do you see any potential clues?” I asked.
David took a deep breath. “No.”
“Really? You don’t even see one piece of evidence?”
“Nope. The killer didn’t even leave the murder weapon behind.”
I winced. “That’s frustrating.”
“But that doesn’t mean they got away completely clean. Once the forensics team dusts for prints, perhaps we’ll get some answers.”
“I’m not going to hold my breath. If the killer was smart enough to take the murder weapon with them, there were probably savvy enough not to leave any fingerprints behind.”
“We’ll find out soon enough. In the meantime, the only thing that I can say with any degree of certainty is that Jim was stabbed.”
“I hope we end up with a little more to work with than that.”
“Yeah. I can’t wait for the forensics team to get here. We can use all the help we can get.”
I scanned the mattress emporium, paying particular interest to the walls. “I’ll tell you where we aren’t going to get any help from—security cameras. Because this place doesn’t have any.”
David groaned. “Of course not. That would make solving this case too easy.”
“True. Although, say this place did have a security system installed. The killer could have avoided being videotaped by waiting for Jim to make his way into the parking lot before stabbing him.”
“Good point. But since the killer did their dirty work in here, let’s keep our focus on this area.”
“Fair enough.”
David scanned the area again. “That said, nothing else about this scene sticks out.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“I’m not going to get discouraged, though. The forensics team hasn’t even arrived yet. Once they have done a sweep of the area, perhaps they will be able to provide us with some answers.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed,” I said.
“Meanwhile, as we’re waiting for them to show up, why don’t we go talk to the man who discovered Jim’s body?”
Chapter Five
Larry Reynolds was a salesman at the mattress emporium. He also potentially held the key to solving this case. Or perhaps that was just wishful thinking on my part.
David and I approached him, eager to find out what he could tell us about what had happened here.
Larry was a muscular man who had short brown hair and a clean-shaven round face. The forty-eight-year-old was nearly shaking as he stood in the parking lot.
“Mr. Reynolds, you were the one who found the body, correct?” David asked.
Larry nodded. “Unfortunately.”
“Can you please walk me through the events leading up to you discovering the corpse?”
“Sure,” he said. “I pulled into the parking lot about half an hour ago to start my shift. I was the first one on the schedule this morning, so it was my job to open up the place. So, I went inside the building to clock in. That’s when I saw Jim’s body lying on the floor.”
“What did you do then?” David asked.
“I ran over to check for a pulse, but Jim was already dead.” He got choked up.
“Mr. Reynolds, I realize this is a difficult situation, but there’s more information I need from you.”
Larry took a deep breath. “Right. Of course.”
“What did you do next?”
“I called 9-1-1.”
“And what did you do while you were waiting for the deputy to arrive?”
“I ran out here to the parking lot.”
“So, you didn’t look around the mattress store at all?”
Larry shook his head. “No way. I didn’t want to be anywhere near the store.”
“I certainly understand that sentiment,” David replied. “That said, let’s rewind for a second. When you arrived here earlier, was the backdoor of the building locked?”
Larry shook his head. “Surprisingly, it wasn’t.”
David bit the corner of his lip. “Interesting.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Larry said.
“And when you pulled into the parking lot this morning, did you see anyone else around?”
“No. Other than Jim’s car, the parking lot was completely empty.”
“How about when you went inside the building? Did you happen to hear anything suspicious? Or notice anything out of the ordinary?” David asked.
“Of course I did. My boss was dead on the ground,” Larry said.
“I meant, other than discovering Mr. Hartley’s body.”
“In that case, no.”
David took a deep breath before changing the subject. “Mr. Reynolds, how did you and your boss get along?”
“Fine,” Larry said.
“So, you two didn’t have any problems?”
“Nope.”
“How about Mr. Hartley’s other employees?” David asked. “Did they all get along with him too?”
“Most of them did.”
David’s nose scrunched. “Most? But not all?”
Larry squinted. “What are you getting at?”
“Larry, someone killed your boss. And if Jim was having trouble with one of his employees, there’s a chance that they could be responsible for this. So, can you think of anyone who had a reason to want Jim dead?”
There was no hesitation in Larry’s voice as he responded, “Yes.”
“Who?” David asked.
“This is where it gets complicated.”
David’s eyebrows knitted. “What are you talking about?”
“The guy I’m thinking abo
ut,” Larry said. “He wasn’t an employee. But he did hate Jim’s guts.”
“Larry, I need a name.”
“Trevor Olson,” Larry said.
Larry wasn’t kidding about how complicated that made things. Jim Hartley had been dating Kaitlin Anderson—who was Trevor Olson’s mother. So, if Trevor truly hated Jim’s guts, it meant that this investigation could turn nasty in a hurry.
David probed Larry for more information. “What did Trevor have against Jim?”
“Trevor couldn’t stand the fact that Jim was dating his mother,” Larry said.
“How do you know that?” David asked.
“Because Trevor came in here yesterday all worked up about it,” Larry said.
David’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute. Yesterday?”
Larry nodded. “Oh yeah. Trevor and Jim had a big screaming match right in the middle of the store with all these customers around.”
“What exactly was said?”
“Trevor came in with his chest all puffed out. He immediately went over to Jim and told him to stay away from his mother.”
“And how did Jim respond?”
“Not well,” Larry said. “Jim didn’t back down in the least. He told Trevor he wasn’t going anywhere.”
“What was Trevor’s reply to that?”
“They kept going back and forth, arguing with each other until it looked like they were about to come to blows.”
“Did they take swings at each other?”
“Thankfully, no one threw any punches. But they both came awfully close.”
“How did the argument end?” David asked.
“Trevor ended up storming off in frustration,” Larry said.
“Talk about an eye-opening confrontation.”
“I’ll say. It was crazy.”
David turned to me. “After hearing that, I can’t help but wonder if Trevor came back later to pick up where they left off.”
“That’s a possibility,” I said. “A very disturbing possibility.”
“But not one that we can dismiss,” David said.
“At least not at the moment,” I said.
David scratched his chin and turned to Larry again. “Let’s set Trevor Olson aside for a minute.”
“All right,” Larry said.
Mysteries of Treasure Cove Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 47
