Miss May chuckled. “I can’t believe you made yourself sick from eating sprinkles. I thought your tolerance for sugar was higher than that.”
“So did I,” said Teeny. “Sugar is a good thing. Some might say it’s a holy thing. But even the sweetest sprinkles can turn sour. And that Emily is one sweet sprinkle.”
I shrugged. “I get it. I guess anything is possible. I mean, we’ve said it before. Anyone can be a killer. Except See-Saw. She’s pure as freshly fallen snow.”
“Thank you, Chelsea, for establishing that our tiny horse couldn’t be a killer.” Miss May turned to Teeny. “The real question we need to be asking ourselves isn’t whether or not Emily might have been capable of this, but rather where can we find her? Sure, she could be at the spa. But the kid owns a brand-new ice cream shop. She’s not made of money. She can’t stay there forever.”
Teeny bit her bottom lip. “You’re right. That spa is expensive. Way too expensive, by the way. That volcanic body scrub cost a dashing dime.”
“I think you mean pretty penny,” I said.
Teeny shook her head. “A dashing dime is more expensive than a pretty penny. It’s the most expensive on the attractive money scale.”
“What about a debonair dollar?” Miss May said.
“Or a fetching five?” I said.
Teeny rolled her eyes. “Will you two stop? Fine. I messed up the scale. All I’m saying is, you’re probably right. OK? Emily’s probably home because it costs way too much money to stay at the spa for days on end.”
“We’ll just stop by her house before we do anything else,” said Miss May. “I think that’s smart.”
About an hour later, Teeny pulled up in front of Emily’s cute little house. The lights were off. There was no car in the driveway. It looked like Miss May and I had been wrong.
Teeny climbed out of the convertible and looked up at the house with her hands on her hips. “I knew it. That ice cream shop is making dough hand over fist. Emily’s rich! She’s still at the spa and she’s not worried about the cost.”
“Or she’s too worried about being caught at home to leave her hideout.” Miss May looked over at Teeny. “How fast do you think the Teeny-mobile can make it up to the spa?”
Teeny cocked her head and smiled. “Oh we can make it in good time. Real good time.”
Within minutes, we were back on the highway and Teeny was flooring it so hard I thought we might break the sound barrier. Miss May and I called for Teeny to slow down but she waved our concerns away. “There’s lives on the line. You said it yourself. We have to get to Emily fast. Before she knows we might be onto her.”
“I feel like…our lives are on the line riding in this car,” I said.
“Yeah. You’re going to hurt us if you keep driving like this.” Miss May grasped the door handle. “You’re going to break the speedometer!”
“We’re going to be fine,” said Teeny. “Just close your eyes and I’ll tell you when we’re there.”
I made the mistake of looking out the window instead of closing my eyes. We passed highway mile markers so fast they were a blur. Then I saw an exit sign for the spa and breathed a sigh of relief. But Teeny didn’t slow down. “Teeny! Take the exit. We’re here!”
Teeny’s eyes widened. “Oh shoot.” She turned the wheel and took the exit at the last second. As the spa came into view she slowed the car. “That was close. I’m not a great driver at slow speeds. But high speeds are even worse.”
“You said it, not us.” Miss May sat up and unbuckled her seatbelt as Teeny parked the car.
“Hey. Don’t call me a bad driver. You said it was an emergency.”
“Let’s just be grateful we all survived,” I said. “We made it here. With…alarming speed. Let’s get in there and find Emily. This could be a breakthrough.”
We breezed into the hotel lobby with our chins held high, like we had a room booked for a month straight. It worked. None of the snobby employees looked twice as we brushed past the check-in counter and headed deeper into the inn.
Miss May led us over to a bank of elevators, out of the view of any staff. “OK. We’re in. Now how do we find Emily?”
“Emily’s alone up here,” I said. “She’s stressed out, anxious and scared. Before we do anything else, we should check the hotel bar.”
Teeny pointed at me. “I love that plan. Do you think they have white wine from a box?”
I tilted my head. “This place is a little fancy for that.”
Teeny scoffed. “They make fancy wines that come in boxes, Chelsea.”
The bartender turned down the side of his mouth and looked at Teeny like she was crazy. “I’m sorry. You want boxed wine?” The guy had a British accent and his voice made his condescension even more grating. “This isn’t a budget supermarket. This is a fine dining establishment. We have bartenders here who have studied under the greatest in the world. They didn’t undergo those studies to cut a hole in the box and pour it into your mouth.”
“Well that’s a shame.” Teeny crossed her arms. “I want boxed wine and I’d pay a fetching five for it! I had a rough drive up here. You’d probably make a great margin on that sale.”
I leaned on the bar. “Can we just get three glasses of your house red?”
“Two ice cubes in one of those glasses,” said Teeny.
“I’m not putting ice in red wine,” said the man.
“Fine. Then I would also like a glass of ice, please.” Teeny glared at the man and he trudged off toward the other end of the bar.
As the man began pouring our drinks, Teeny, Miss May, and I took a seat on plush barstools. I took the opportunity to look around.
It was a little later in the night than it had been when the three of us had tried to eat at dinner in the restaurant a few days prior. The place had a sexier and more relaxed atmosphere. A gorgeous woman flirted with a handsome man at the other end of the bar. A pianist played classical jazz standards on a grand piano. A young woman ate from a plate of charcuterie and sipped on a martini over by the window.
I squinted and looked closer at the young woman. “I think that’s Emily.”
Teeny and Miss May looked over. Teeny covered her hand with her mouth. “You’re right. She’s eating fancy meat. And she looks like a super villain with that martini.”
The snobby bartender set our wine on the counter in front of us. He plopped a huge ice cube into Teeny’s class with an arrogant smirk. We each took our glasses and sipped from them without looking away from Emily.
“Let’s go talk to her,” I said. “Before she heads back to her room.”
“Follow my lead.” Miss May hopped off her stool and headed toward Emily. Teeny and I followed. When Miss May got close to Emily, Miss May spread her arms and smiled. “Emily. What a strange coincidence running in to you here. How are you?”
Emily lowered her martini with a slow and careful motion. She didn’t break from Miss May’s eye contact. “I told you I was coming to the spa.”
“Oh that’s right you did mention that.” Miss May pulled up a few chairs. “Mind if we join you?”
“Actually—”
Miss May sat down. Teeny and I sat on either side of her.
“This is a beautiful spot,” said Miss May.
“It is.” Emily looked away and sighed. “How did you find me here?”
Teeny leaned forward. “You mentioned the volcanic body scrubs. I might drink boxed wine with ice in it but I have an appreciation for many of the finer things in life. A nice volcano scrub down is one of them.”
Emily looked down. “It was amazing.”
The four of us sat in silence for a few seconds. Emily closed her eyes and rubbed them like she was deep in thought. I noticed all the little spots of tension in her face. Then she sat up and placed her palms flat down on the table with a determined look in her big, brown eyes. “So you three think I killed Todd.”
Miss May put her palms down on the table, mirroring Emily’s posture. “We know you were
suing Todd. He scared you and he hurt you. Whatever you did, we’re sure it’s because you felt you had no choice.”
“That guy made my life miserable,” said Emily. “Every day for weeks he would come into my shop and intimidate me and scare my customers. His presence was killing my business. He was just so disgusting too, you know? I hated his face. I hated everything about him.”
“So maybe…what you did…was in self-defense?” Miss May gently suggested.
“I thought you three were my friends.”
Teeny winced. “We are. I love your ice cream more than anyone, you know that. But…you gotta see our side of this. We know you hated Todd. We know you were suing him. And we know you hated Damien, too. You had every reason to kill your neighbor and frame your landlord.”
“You know, not once have I ever charged for extra sprinkles,” Emily said, her voice quavering. “How could you think that I would do something like this? I’m a small business owner in a small town. I’m determined and competitive, sure. But I would never hurt someone like that. Even though I hated Todd.”
“What about Amber?” Teeny asked.
“What happened to Amber?” said Emily.
Teeny and Miss May exchanged a morbid look.
Emily’s jaw dropped. “Amber’s dead?!” Her eyes welled with tears. “I didn’t do it. I didn’t kill Todd, I didn’t kill Amber…I didn’t do anything wrong. You know who did a lot of stuff wrong? Todd! Todd made enemies everywhere he went.”
Teeny sighed. “I wanna believe you. I don’t want Cherry on Top to go under. I want it to stay on top. But… ‘I didn’t do it?’ That’s what they all say. Except for the extra crazy ones. They admit it right away.”
Miss May held up her hand. “Wait. Teeny. Chelsea. I just realized something. Todd did make enemies…everywhere he went. I think…Emily’s telling the truth.”
“I am?” Emily said. “I mean, I am. Yes. Of course I am.”
“If Emily didn’t kill Todd or Amber who did?” I asked.
Miss May stood and tossed cash on the table to pay for Emily’s drink. “Come on. I’ll show you.”
We all stood and started to walk away. But after a few steps Teeny paused and darted back to Emily’s table. “We’re still good on the free sprinkles, right?”
43
Hide and Seek
The guilty party was always hard to find. Almost like, they didn’t want to be found.
That was especially true in our investigation into Todd and Amber’s murders. The closer we got to the truth, the more the truth camouflaged itself or shape-shifted to avoid us.
Miss May had a great idea for who the killer might be. Her light bulb moment happened when Emily pointed out that Todd was a bad guy. We’d seen that firsthand…but we’d also heard about it secondhand.
Todd had been scamming Ethel out of tons of money…and that was the key to the whole case, in Miss May’s eyes.
So we went on a hunt for the truth. But that night, the truth refused to be found.
We searched. We staked out. We stayed up way past our bedtimes looking for Miss May’s suspect. But we came up empty handed.
It was too late. Too dark. Maybe it was too dangerous. Perhaps something, somewhere was protecting us.
Do you know what Miss May’s theory was?
It took me a minute to figure it out, but once she started explaining, everything made sense.
Teeny drove Miss May and me home around 2 AM that night. And the three of us agreed to meet at Grandma’s first thing in the morning to resume our search.
Except…so much for first thing in the morning.
We didn’t get to Grandma’s until after 11 AM. By that point, the place was packed. A mother spoon fed oatmeal to a blond toddler. Petey, my favorite waiter-turned-restauranteur-returned-to-waiter, muscled by with a tray of scrambled eggs. A trio of old biker men laughed at a far table.
The scene was the picture of small town charm. But Miss May, Teeny, and I were hot on the heels of a killer. So the happy people at Grandma’s had an ominous undertone that morning. Part of me wondered how everyone could be so happy with so much chaos in the world.
The answer, of course, was that the people of Pine Grove felt safe, thanks to me, Teeny, and Miss May. Sure, the little town had suffered more than its fair share of murders. But it also had three more amateur sleuths than most towns. And we were good at our jobs.
If only we could find Miss May’s suspected killer.
Three hungry girl breakfasts were spread out at our booth. The pancakes were cold but I didn’t care. I picked one up with my hand and took a big bite, then I grabbed my seat at the table, across from Teeny. She had a glint in her bright blue eyes. “Are you two ready to catch this killer?”
“You bet we are,” I said. “Sorry we’re so late. We slept in.”
“So did I,” said Teeny. “My alarm was broken. Well, not broken. But I silenced it every eight minutes for four hours straight.”
“Chelsea,” said Miss May. “Maybe you should call Wayne. Tell him what we know.”
“But—”
Miss May held up her hand to stop me. “I know. The cops don’t share information with us. But this killer is dangerous. Maybe Wayne can come for backup. We might need some muscle. Not that you’re not muscle. But Wayne is…actual muscle.”
I groaned and dialed Wayne’s number. He answered sounding a little rushed.
“What’s up, Chelsea?”
“Wayne, hey. I just had a quick question for you.”
“OK. But uh, I only have a second. I shouldn’t be talking on the phone. The movie’s supposed to start any minute now.”
The movie. I forgot the movie! “I’m so sorry,” I said. “I totally forgot.”
“It’s fine. Really. You think you’re going to make it?”
“Actually—”
An angry voice yelled at Wayne to get off the phone. Wayne apologized, then returned to the line. “I’m sorry. I have to get off the phone. Come by if you can. Auditorium seven.”
“Wait!” I said. But it was too late. Wayne had already hung up. And I had already forgotten our date. Ugh.
“Wayne isn’t going to be any help,” I said.
Miss May sighed.” Maybe it was silly to try to involve the cops anyway. Is one of their lead detectives really at the movie theater with an ongoing murder investigation in town?”
“It’s my fault,” I said. “I told him I would go with him. He took special time off. I’m…kinda the bad guy here.”
“Sounds like you’re gonna owe him one,” said Teeny.
“At least one,” I said. “Honestly, there’s only one way to make this right.”
“How’s that?” said Miss May.
I took another bite of pancake. “We need to go get this killer.”
44
Hunting the Hunter
As I said, we had searched all over Pine Grove the prior night and we had come up empty-handed. But we revisited those same spots after leaving Grandma’s, hoping that daylight might reveal the killer, or lure them from their hideout.
Our first stop that morning was the security booth at Washington Villages. But the guard wouldn’t let us through. So we went on to our next location…
Kim Johnson’s house.
That’s right.
The head of security at Washington Villages was our new prime suspect. Why? Simple. As Miss May had explained it, Kim Johnson saw herself as the protector of the residents at Washington Villages. Miss May assumed Kim must have found out Todd was stealing from Ethel and killed Todd out of sheer rage.
At first I was skeptical. Although Kim’s motive in the murder was clear to see, I didn’t understand why Kim would have gone out of her way to frame Damien for the killing.
Then Miss May had pulled out her notes on buildings owned by Damien. She told me she couldn’t believe she had missed it at first, but Damien Hamilton owned Washington Villages. He was the man that had ‘jacked up the rent,’ as Kim had so eloquently put i
t, and he was therefore more of a threat to the residents of the villages than anyone else.
So Kim killed Todd and framed Damien to murder two proverbial birds with one stone.
At least that was the theory. And that brings us up to speed, parked outside Kim Johnson’s house. The place was blacked out and there were no cars in the driveway. We were debating the merits of breaking and entering when I had a realization…
“I don’t think we have time to break in and look for clues inside Kim’s house,” I said.
“Why not?” said Teeny. “We break and enter faster than any gun in the west. And we don’t have any place better to be.”
“That’s where I think you’re wrong.” I turned to Miss May. “Do you have that list of properties Damien owns?”
Miss May pulled the list out of her purse. “Got it right here.”
“Are any of those private homes rather than commercial real estate or warehouses?”
“There’s one place. 11 Pine Hill Road.”
“Nice houses up there,” said Teeny. “Big, bodacious, beautiful. But why does it matter?”
“Of course!” Miss May smiled. “We have Damien’s home address.”
There were two cars parked outside 11 Pine Hill Rd. A nice, shiny German sports car. And Kim Johnson’s dilapidated sedan. I took the spot behind the sedan, pointing out a bumper sticker as I put my pickup in park. “Look at that bumper sticker. It says ‘Protect the Elderly.’”
Teeny shuddered. “Seems like she may have taken that sticker a little too seriously.”
Miss May took a deep breath. “You girls ready for this?”
I nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Miss May knocked on the door three times. There was no answer and all the lights were off inside. My aunt walked around the side of the house and Teeny and I followed. The guy next door was mowing his lawn. He gave us a happy smile and a wave. I tried to wave back but I couldn’t muster a smile.
No Cone Unturned (Apple Orchard Cozy Mystery Book 12) Page 20
