by Grace York
"They said he was poisoned," said Adam, opening the passenger door of Addison's Rav 4. "He's hardly likely to have poisoned himself, is he?"
"It could have been an accident," said Addison, climbing into the driver's seat.
"How does a guy 'accidentally' poison himself at a dinner?"
It was a good question, for which Addison had no answer. Instead she pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket and handed it to Adam. "Find Josie's number in there and give her a call," she said. "See if she wants to come over for lunch. Juliet, too. Maybe they can help fill in a few blanks for us."
With the rest of the dog show cancelled, Josie and Juliet were only too happy to come to the beach house for lunch. As Addison prepared a lime and chilli chicken salad, she sent Adam over to get Mrs Jones. It was almost spring and a beautiful day, so she asked Lenny and Brooke to set the table in the back garden. Then she called Layla to check if she'd be home in time for lunch.
"I should be there in about fifteen minutes," said Layla.
"Could you stop by the bakery and pick up some fresh bread?" Addison asked.
"Sure. Anything else?"
"No, that should do. It's the five of us, plus Josie, Juliet, and Mrs Jones, so either get a couple of bread sticks or some rolls."
"Done," said Layla. "We having a murder meeting?" Addison could picture the smirk on her cousin's face. Ever since Addison had started taking in writers, Layla had enjoyed making jokes about amateur sleuthing. Addison let her do it – in a strange way it seemed to help Layla cope with the grief of losing her sister.
"Something like that. See you when you get here."
By the time Addison finished making the large bowl of salad, the guests and the rest of the household were enjoying the sun in the backyard. Layla bustled in with a bag of dinner rolls, plus a loaf of Addison's favourite sourdough from the Getaway Bay Bakery. Addison might not be a fan of Ed Mathieson's local politics, but she sure did love his bread.
They carried everything outside to the table, and Addison instructed everyone to help themselves.
"This looks delicious," said Josie, filling her plate.
"Yes," Juliet agreed. "Thanks for having us, Addison."
"My pleasure. I figured you might be at a loose end, with the rest of the show being cancelled."
Mrs Jones helped herself to a plate of salad and some bread. She plucked a piece of chicken from her meal and passed it under the table to Bella.
"Good girl," she said to the little dog.
Charlie dropped down and rested his head on his paws next to Addison, one eye on her expectantly. Addison rewarded him with his own piece of chicken.
"I reckon Bella would have been in with a good chance today, Mrs Jones," said Josie. "What do you think, Jules?"
"You know I'm supposed to remain impartial," said Juliet. She tore off a piece of bread and popped it into her mouth. All eyes stayed with her, and Addison felt sorry for her.
"I thought the overall winner wasn't up to you," she said.
"That's right," said Juliet once she'd finished chewing. "Ted and I helped judge the groups yesterday. But Perry Abbott was in charge of awarding Best in Show. Or at least, he would have been."
"So what do you think happened?" asked Adam. "You spent the day with him. What was he like? Who do you think killed him?"
"Adam!" Addison shook her head at him.
"What? It's what we're all thinking. Am I right?" He looked around the group, and heads nodded. "See?"
Addison sighed. There was no point denying it. They were all obviously bursting to talk about the murder.
She raised her eyebrows at Juliet. "Any ideas then?"
"I reckon if I was Lucy McGregor, I'd probably have had it in for him by the end of the day yesterday," said Juliet. "He gave her hell."
"Who's Lucy McGregor?" asked Brooke.
"One of the volunteers," said Josie. "She was Ebony's right-hand man, so to speak. In charge of making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be, and keeping the judges happy."
"Yeah, but she spent most of her time pandering to Perry," added Juliet. "The rest of us didn't seem to matter."
"He was always like that," said Mrs Jones. "He's been the head judge of that show for many years, and a different volunteer is assigned to look after him every year. It seems no-one wants to do it for a second time."
Addison rested her knife and fork on the side of her plate. "Have you entered Bella before?" she asked Mrs Jones.
"No, this was her first year. But I've been to the show many times. Perry Abbott has always been a difficult man. Had, I should say. Rest his soul."
"So it's likely to have been murder then," said Adam. "If no-one liked him."
"I think we need to wait for the evidence before we can conclude that," said Addison.
"Okay," said Adam. "But we can speculate, can't we? I mean, if it was murder, who are the suspects? We might as well discuss it now. Then when it's confirmed with the evidence, we've got a place to start."
"You mean the police have a place to start," said Layla.
"We are the police," said Adam with a grin.
Addison sighed. As much as she admired Adam's enthusiasm, she was beginning to think convincing Isaac to sign him up as a police volunteer had been a very bad idea.
6
"So come on then, who are our suspects?" Adam had raced up to his room to retrieve his laptop, and was now sitting in front of it ready to type up the list of potential murderers he was expecting the rest of them to reel off.
"Well there are at least three of the group winners who are pretty displeased with Best in Show not being awarded this year," said Josie. "I'm not including you in that," she said to Mrs Jones.
"Thank you, dear. Does that mean you think one of the other group winners could have killed Perry?"
"If we're making a list, I'd consider them," said Josie.
"But why?" asked Adam. "Surely whoever killed the head judge would have to have known that the rest of the show would be called off. If the three you're talking about are upset at that, what's their motive for killing him?"
Josie shrugged. "Maybe they thought he had something against them? Maybe they thought another judge would step in. One who'd be more favourable to them?"
"I guess it's worth considering," said Adam. "What are their names?"
"Well there's Vanessa Clayton, first. She won Group Two, the Terriers, with Lola. Then Richard Divola won Group Three, the gundogs, with Diesel. And Keith Patterson's Border Collie, Bailey, won Group Five."
Adam's fingers flew over the keyboard as he entered the names. "What about Group Four?" he asked.
"The hounds," said Juliet. "That was Lionel Moffett and Hubert."
"Is he Eleanor Moffett's husband?" asked Brooke.
"Yes," said Addison. "Have you met Eleanor?"
"We've run into her a few times," said Brooke, exchanging glances with Lenny. "She's nosy, isn't she?"
"She certainly is," said Mrs Jones, shaking her head and pursing her lips. "Don't you go giving her anything she can gossip about. She'll have the whole town in on your business before you know it."
"We figured that," said Lenny. "Not that we've anything to gossip about. Our lives are pretty boring."
"I think your lives are wonderful," said Josie. "Living and writing together, travelling the world. How romantic."
Adam cleared his throat. "Yeah, anyway. Back to the list. Am I putting Lionel Moffett on here too?"
Addison shook her head. "I wouldn't think so. I spoke to him before it happened last night. He didn't seem bothered about the show one way or another. He didn't seem to care much that Hubert had won his group. He said it wasn't even his idea to enter the dog."
"No, that would have been Eleanor," said Mrs Jones. "She heard I was entering Bella."
"Right," said Addison. "Enough said."
Mrs Jones and Eleanor Moffett had always been fierce rivals, although to hear Mrs Jones tell it the competition was all one-sided. Mrs Jo
nes couldn't care less what Eleanor Moffett said or did, but Eleanor always concerned herself greatly in whatever Mrs Jones was involved with.
"So is she a suspect then?" asked Adam.
"They do say poison is a woman's murder weapon," said Juliet with a smile.
That sealed it for Adam. "I'll put her down."
Addison thought the idea was ludicrous, but it wasn't her list.
"Right," said Adam, "Who else have we got? What about the group losers? Wouldn't they have it in for the judge?"
"Perry Abbott didn't judge the groups," said Juliet. "If the group losers had it in for anyone, it would have been for me or the other judge, Ted King."
Silence fell across the table as the group took that in.
Addison felt herself tense at the thought of someone hurting one of her friends. "Well I'm glad that didn't happen," she said.
"Me too," said Josie, leaning in to give her sister a hug.
"So none of the group losers are suspects then?" Adam asked, fingers poised above his keyboard.
"Not at this stage," said Addison. "Let's go back to Lucy McGregor." She turned to Juliet. "You said Perry kept her busy all day. If he wasn't there to judge the groups, what was he doing? And why did he monopolise Lucy's time?"
"To be honest, I have no idea. He certainly didn't need to be there. He spent most of the time telling Ted and I what to do. Which was fine in my case, as it was my first time. But Ted wasn't terribly appreciative of Perry's…"
"Interference?" Josie suggested.
"I was going to say advice, but yes, interference is more like it. The man couldn't keep his opinions to himself."
"That makes Ted King a suspect," said Adam, typing the other judge's name into his computer. Addison leaned over his shoulder and saw that he'd created a spreadsheet.
"I suppose so," said Juliet. "I got the impression Ted thought he deserved to be head judge. I have to tell you, I wasn't a fan of all the politics going on at that show. Even if this hadn't happened, I doubt I would have volunteered to be a judge again next year."
Addison wasn't surprised. She'd observed some of the attitudes of the competitors at the dinner, and that had been enough for her.
"It can get a little heated," Josie agreed. "But if you just stick to the dogs and ignore the politics, like Mrs Jones and I do, then it's good fun. And all the dogs are gorgeous."
As Getaway Bay's resident dog groomer, Josie got to see a lot of the dogs entered into the show. As far as Addison knew she had only been helping Mrs Jones get Bella ready this year, but many of the entrants were her regular customers. Addison admired the way Josie focused on the animals, giving the people a wide berth. Sometimes she thought there was a lot of sense in the young groomer's approach.
"I haven't got anything on Lucy McGregor yet," said Adam. "What's her motive again?"
"That Perry Abbott was a demanding wretch of a fellow?" Mrs Jones suggested.
"Yeah, that," said Adam. "What'd he do, specifically?"
"He had her fetching him food and drink all day, for a start," said Juliet. "Ted and I sorted ourselves out, but Perry insisted it was Lucy's job to cater to his every whim. He even sent her to Hazel's to get him another coffee because the first one was too cold. It was cold because he'd left her standing there holding it for five minutes while he lectured Ted on the mouth and jaw requirements of an Australian Terrier."
"How did Lucy take that?" asked Addison.
"She wasn't happy, but what could she do?" said Juliet. "She rolled her eyes at me a few times, and we shared a silent laugh at him. She was clearly frustrated, but she kept her cool. She was a lot more patient than I'd have been with him, put it that way."
Adam looked up at Juliet. "Do I need to put you on my list of suspects?" he asked. Addison thought he was actually serious.
"Don't be ridiculous," said Mrs Jones, stepping in to defend Juliet before Addison got the chance. "Juliet is the best vet Getaway Bay has ever had, and a nice person to boot. She saves lives, Adam. She doesn't take them. Watch your step, young man."
Adam held up both hands, palms out. "Sorry, Mrs J. Just doing my job."
"Your pretend job," said Lenny with a smirk.
Brooke playfully smacked her husband's arm.
"He's a volunteer," she said. "It's not pretend. Volunteers do all sorts of helpful work in the community. And besides, this is fun. I've never investigated a murder before."
"It is kind of fun, isn't it?" said Layla, who'd been quiet up until this point. Addison was glad she'd said that. She was beginning to worry the conversation was hitting too close to home for her cousin.
"Go on, Adam," Layla continued. "Read us the list of suspects so far."
Adam began to read from his computer screen. If he'd been affected by Lenny's remark, he didn't show it.
"We've got Vanessa Clayton, Richard Divola, and Keith Patterson, three of the group winners. And Eleanor Moffett, wife of the fourth group winner. Then there's Ted King, the other judge besides Juliet and the victim. And Lucy McGregor, volunteer."
"We should add Ebony Weir to the list," said Josie. "She was acting really nervous after the murder, and again today when everyone was in the square trying to help clean up."
"Acting nervous isn't a crime," said Lenny.
"No it's not," Josie agreed. "But there was something about the way she was so shocked by it all. She was in charge, but she just went to pieces. She couldn't handle the situation at all."
"It was a shocking situation, Josie," said Juliet. "Different people handle stressful events in different ways. It doesn't make them murder suspects."
Addison remembered that Ebony Weir was a friend of Hazel's. She recalled the conversation she'd had with Hazel days before the dog show.
"Apparently it was Ebony's idea to have the announcement of the group winners at night, with all the dogs present for the dinner," she said.
"That's right," said Juliet. "She felt terrible that it all went so wrong, with the dogs causing so much chaos."
"It was doomed from the start," said Josie. "Surely anyone with any knowledge of dogs could have predicted that having that many dogs in the vicinity of food and intoxicated adults was asking for disaster."
"Maybe she didn't know much about dogs?" Brooke suggested.
"She was the Chief Steward of the dog show," said Josie. "She should have known better."
"Maybe she did," said Lenny. "Maybe she knew exactly what would happen, and did it on purpose to create a diversion."
"So she could slip some poison into the judge's glass," said Brooke, catching onto her husband's line of thinking.
"Exactly," said Lenny, sitting up straighter in his chair.
He's really getting into this, thought Addison. That was all she needed. She was already worried about Adam. One super sleuth was all she could handle.
"I think we might leave it at that for now," she said, standing and starting to stack the lunch plates.
"But—"
"No buts, Adam," said Layla. "That's enough for now."
Addison was grateful for her support, until she saw the twinkle in her cousin's eye.
Layla's face broke into a grin. "We'll reconvene the murder club once Isaac has more evidence."
7
Addison had been baking for almost an hour when Adam entered the kitchen on Monday morning.
"You're up early," she said as she slid the hummingbird cake into the oven.
"I was wide awake," said Adam, setting his laptop down on the bench. "I've been going over the suspects in my head, thought I might as well get up and do it properly."
He opened the pantry and started pulling out cereal boxes. Adam's morning ritual involved mixing at least three different types of cereal in a big bowl, drowning it all in milk, and then devouring the lot. Now that he was going to be published, Addison was considering raising his board.
"What's that lot going to be?" Adam asked through a mouthful of cereal, pointing to the ingredients Addison was laying out.
"Cool," said Adam. "When will they be ready?"
"You just worry about finishing your serving bowl of cereal there. These are for Hazel's café." Addison also planned to keep a few pieces aside for Isaac and his team, but she didn't tell Adam that. He'd want to go with her to the café, so they could go across to the police station and check on the progress of the case. Which was exactly what Addison planned to do, she just thought she'd get further with Isaac if she didn't have Adam in tow.
Adam shrugged and went back to studying his spreadsheet in between mouthfuls of cereal.
"You want me to read out the suspect list so far?" he said.
"Go on then," said Addison. She set about greasing the slice pans and lining them with baking paper as he read from the screen.
"Vanessa Clayton, Richard Divola, Keith Patterson, Eleanor Moffett, Lucy McGregor, Ted King, and Ebony Weir. Am I missing anyone?"
"I've been thinking about who was in the vicinity of Perry's table when he died," said Addison. She remembered paying attention to the photos that had captured the head table. "His wife Helen was next to him, and Ed Mathieson was there as well. We should add both of them to the list."
Adam's fingers flew across the keyboard. "Good thinking. Ed Mathieson usually isn't far from a scandal in this town. And the wife should definitely be a suspect. I can't believe we forgot her yesterday. I wonder how Isaac went interviewing her?"
"We'll find out soon enough," said Addison.
"That'll be interesting," said Adam. "We really need to know more about the victim. Olivia's been studying victimology this semester, hasn't she? Maybe we could ask her what she thinks of all this."
Addison shook her head. "No, I'd prefer to leave Olivia out of it. She's got exams coming up. I don't want you distracting her."