Pink Lemonade and Penalties

by Allyssa Mirry

  “Leo?” she called as she walked onto the boardwalk.

  She found him trying to hide against a wall out of the way of the shop’s window’s view.

  “What’s going on?”

  “When did Aunt Edie get here?” he asked.

  “She arrived last night.”

  “I wish she didn’t like such dramatic arrivals,” Leo muttered.

  “Are you avoiding her now because you didn’t tell her you got back together with Suzanne? She said she wanted to come and cheer you up.”

  Leo groaned. “I only told her about our breakup because she kept mentioning Suzanne in her postcards and it was bumming me out. And then I got so busy with cases and wanting to spend time with Suzanne once we got back together that I never updated Aunt Edie.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear that you’re a couple again.”

  “Yeah. But how will she take the news that I’m engaged and didn’t tell her? She sounded annoyed when I told her about my first proposal’s rejection after the fact. This means I proposed twice without telling her. How can I tell her this now?”

  “What’s your other alternative? Pretend to be broken up?” asked Lydia. “I don’t think that would be good for your current engagement.”

  “But I don’t want to hurt Aunt Edie’s feelings. She’s our only real family.”

  “What did you plan on doing?”

  “I thought we’d get some notice about her arrival and I’d tell her that I had good news I wanted to surprise her with. But I wanted to tell her that Suzanne was my girlfriend again before I told her that she was my fiancé.”

  “I think you might be making a mountain out of a molehill,” Lydia said.

  “Like you were doing looking for a way to prove that Bill Vector’s death was murder?” Leo countered.

  Before Lydia could reply, Aunt Edie came out of the shop and walked toward them.

  “I thought that was you,” she cried.

  “I’m caught,” Leo muttered. “Hook, line, and sinker.”

  However, he put a false smile on his face as Aunt Edie hugged him.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I dropped in on Lydia first last night,” Aunt Edie said. “I was just so curious to see her new place. And then Trina was over, so we had a bit of a girl’s party. But how is everything with you, dear? I hope you’re still not too heartbroken over that tease, Suzanne.”

  “I thought you liked Suzanne,” Leo said.

  “I did before she humiliated you by rejecting your proposal at a crowded restaurant. She could have at least asked to talk to you away from the crowd,” Aunt Edie said.

  “Well, she was going through a lot at the time. She was feeling overwhelmed.”

  “Such a nice boy,” Aunt Edie said, cupping his face. “He won’t even speak ill of his exes. A true gentleman.”

  “Right,” Leo said. He looked uncomfortable but didn’t seem to be making any moves to explain the new situation.

  “But what are you two doing out here?”

  “Well…” Leo stuttered. “It’s not that I’m avoiding you… It’s that…”

  “I had a breakthrough idea in the case,” Lydia said. “I thought of a way besides his drink that Bill Vector might have been poisoned.”

  “Gum?” Aunt Edie asked. “I have to say I don’t like that. It’s too close to poisoned taffy, and that thought still terrifies me.”

  “We didn’t find any gum on the boat. Or any gum wrappers,” said Leo.

  “But I bet you did find fishing equipment,” said Lydia. “He was going on a fishing trip.”

  “Are you suggesting he ate the bait?” Leo asked incredulously.

  “No. It wouldn’t be something that was actually eaten. But I need to see if the victim really did what I think he did.”

  “How very cryptic,” Aunt Edie said.

  “Come on,” Lydia said. “Let’s see if getting some ice cream can answer this question.”

  She started toward Cones and Cola. Aunt Edie was much more excited to follow her than Leo was.

  7

  Ice Cream Meeting

  “What’s going on?” Amber asked as Lydia, Leo, and Aunt Edie approached her shop.

  Brie must have been successful in getting Amber to change her mascara because her makeup was no longer running, despite how upset Amber still looked. She placed her hands on her hips but gestured to an empty table with her head.

  Lydia sat down, and Aunt Edie joined her. Leo reluctantly sat with them as well. Amber eyed them.

  “Did you find out anything?”

  “We’re just here for ice cream,” Leo said noncommittally.

  “Leo, I need to ask Amber a few questions, and then I need for you to have an open mind,” Lydia said.

  Leo looked like he was about to complain, but then he noticed how Lydia had sidled up next to Aunt Edie. He must have feared that she would tell their aunt about his engagement, so he kept quiet. He started playing with the menu that listed the types of toppings and ice cream floats that one could order.

  “Amber, did you ever go fishing with Bill before?” Lydia asked.

  “Yeah. We went out right after he got his boat. We didn’t catch anything, but he showed me his equipment. We tried to fish. I thought it was boring.”

  “When he tied his hooks to his fishing line, did he ever wet the line with his mouth?” asked Lydia.

  Amber nodded. “He said it helped his line go into the small part of the hook before he tied it. Why?”

  “I think that’s how Bill Vector was poisoned,” Lydia said. “I think that the victim placed something poisoned in his mouth. When he started not to feel well, he went into his room and locked the door. He took a drink of something, hoping it would help, but it didn’t. However, some of the poison from his mouth was transferred to the empty glass. This could all have happened quickly.”

  “Oh my goodness,” Aunt Edie said, turning to Leo. “Do you think that’s what could have happened?”

  “You tested the food and drink onboard, as well as the glasses,” said Lydia. “But you never tested the fishing line, did you? And that’s what the killer was banking on. That you wouldn’t test the unusual places.”

  “No. We didn’t test the fishing line,” Leo said. His expression was a mixture of annoyance and interest. “There was a fishing rod on the deck. The victim might have been using it prior to his death.”

  Amber looked from one to the other. “Is that right? Is this how Bill was killed? You proved that it wasn’t suicide.”

  “Not yet,” said Leo. “We need to run some tests on the fishing line. Until there is evidence of foul play, this is still just a theory.”

  “But it’s a great theory,” Amber said, saying the kindest thing she ever had about something Lydia had mentioned. “And it makes more sense than Bill killing himself after buying clothes to go on vacation and choosing poison when he was always so careful about what he put into his body to avoid his food allergies.”

  “I guess I’ll go and have the line tested,” Leo said. “It seems we want the results sooner than later.”

  He stood up and started to leave, but paused to look at Lydia and Aunt Edie.

  “Don’t worry,” Lydia said. “I won’t talk about your dating life. I appreciate you checking out this potential new lead for us.”

  “I’m doing it for the victim. Not for you,” said Leo.

  As Leo walked away, Aunt Edie picked up the menu. “Well, this seems like a promising development. And I say we celebrate it with ice cream.”

  “Sure,” Amber said, happily. “I’ll give you a ten percent discount.”

  Lydia hated to admit that while she still wasn’t a huge fan of the owner, the ice cream from Cones and Cola was tasty. She also thought that all the work she had done for the case so far might have merited some free sprinkles, but she didn’t complain out loud.

  A few hours later, Lydia headed to the police station with Amber and Aunt Edie. This time Amber seemed a little more grateful
and generous when she offered Aunt Edie a complimentary small soda.

  When they approached the detectives, there were serious expressions on both of their faces. Lydia thought that this was a combination of the test results and the people who had entered the station. Leo was probably still nervous about Aunt Edie discovering his engagement before he wanted, and Detective Grey had probably not faced Brie’s best friend since discovering her ulterior motives.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Detective Grey said to Amber to begin the conversation.

  “What did the test results say?” Amber asked, sticking to business.

  “The fishing line was laced with poison,” Leo said grimly. “This was murder.”

  “I knew it,” Amber cried. “You almost let someone get away with this. I had to go and beg my boardwalk enemy for help to prove that you were wrong. You should have just listened to me.”

  “Amber, they were following the evidence,” Lydia said. “Poisoned fishing line isn’t exactly a common murder weapon.”

  “Since this has been deemed a murder now,” Leo said calmly. “We’re going to have to look at who might have wanted the victim dead. Since you were dating the victim, we’d like to ask you some questions.”

  “Oh, now you want to listen to me?” Amber demanded. “I don’t know who would want to kill him. He was a divorce lawyer. Maybe someone didn’t like a settlement. But we didn’t talk about that sort of thing.”

  “Anyone else?” asked Lydia.

  “His brother was annoying, but I don’t think he killed him. And he got along with his friends. That’s all I know.”

  “Did he mention any enemies?” Detective Grey asked.

  “If he had mentioned any enemies, don’t you think I would have told you before when you were claiming that he killed himself?” Amber demanded.

  “Amber has had a very emotional few days,” Aunt Edie said, piping up. “Perhaps she should go home and rest after receiving this validation about her friend’s death. She can come back and talk to you later, but I think she needs a little time. It can be very difficult to lose the man you love.”

  Lydia took her aunt’s hand and held it. She knew that her aunt must miss Uncle Edgar all the time. However, then Amber opened up her mouth.

  “I don’t think I loved him. We had fun, but it wasn’t love. However, I knew that the guy didn’t kill himself. I couldn’t keep quiet about that,” said Amber. “And it’s a good thing I didn’t, or someone might have gotten away with murder.”

  With that, Amber stormed out of the station. Leo and Detective Grey watched her.

  “You can’t take what she says to heart,” Aunt Edie said. “You would have gotten to the bottom of this eventually. I know it.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Leo said. “This killer tricked us. I don’t like that.”

  “Then, we’ll just have to be on our toes as we move forward,” Lydia said. “We’re not going to let this killer get away with what he did.”

  8

  A Brotherly Visit

  The rest of the day passed quickly with Lydia working at the taffy shop and wondering who could have wanted to kill the victim and who came up with such an unusual way to accomplish that goal. She had dinner with her aunt who insisted on cooking and then even made sure to have enough chicken to serve some to a grateful Sunny.

  The next morning Aunt Edie wanted to check in on some friends. Lydia briefly responded to a text message from Daniel asking if they could get together by telling him that she had work to do on a murder case that she couldn’t avoid. In order to make it seem like she wasn’t lying, she hurried over to the police station to see if there were any updates. However, this time, she made sure to bring some pink lemonade saltwater taffy with her.

  “Is Leo here?” Lydia asked Detective Grey when she saw her brother’s desk was empty.

  “He was reaching out to a potential witness,” Detective Grey responded. “I expect he’ll be back soon.”

  “While we wait, we can enjoy some of this taffy,” Lydia said, offering him a piece.

  He thanked her and accepted the candy. They quietly chewed for a while, and then Lydia decided to try and make conversation.

  “I’m sorry if this case is difficult for you. It can’t be easy to investigate a murder if you knew the victim. And it must remind you of your time with your ex.”

  “Thank you for your concern,” Detective Grey said, taking another candy. “I’ve analyzed the relationship and believe that while I was under Brie’s charms, what I miss most is the thought of a future with someone. It had been a long time since someone expressed an interest in me. Next time I will endeavor to be more discerning and accept attention from someone I believe to be right for me. Not merely right in front of me.”

  “Tell me this,” Lydia began. “Do you believe that opposites attract?”

  “Perhaps. Though sometimes they also attract trouble. And I hope you’re not suggesting that I would pursue a criminal as a date.”

  “No,” Lydia said, smiling at his answer. “That’s not what I was thinking.”

  Leo walked over and began talking before he noticed Lydia was next to his partner. “The victim’s brother is on his way over to talk to us. Maybe he can shed some light on who might have done this.”

  “You can also check if he’s the one to benefit from this death,” Lydia suggested. “Bill wasn’t married if he was dating Amber. Maybe what he had reverts to his brother.”

  Leo glared at her. “What are you doing here?”

  “She brought us some pink lemonade taffy,” Detective Grey said, covering for her. “And she tried to console me.”

  Leo took a piece of the pink taffy but wasn’t smiling. “I think that part of her visit is nice, but I suspect that it’s not the only reason why she’s here.”

  “I did help you figure out how the murderer accomplished the crime,” Lydia pointed out. “Can’t you at least keep me updated on how it’s developing?”

  “I don’t know. Every time I give you the smallest bit of information, you end up using it to put yourself in a dangerous situation,” Leo said in between pieces of taffy. “I never want that to happen, and I can’t let it happen again while Aunt Edie is in town. By the way, has she told you how long she’s planning on staying?”

  “Why? Are you going hide Suzanne from her all that time?”

  “No,” Leo said, though he didn’t meet her gaze. “I wanted to know if we should go house hunting for her if she’s planning to stay and not keep traveling for a while.”

  “Oh. My house hunting was so difficult, I’d hate to jump right into it again,” Lydia admitted.

  They turned as they heard someone approaching. The man looked uneasy and upset. He crossed his arms as he approached.

  “Is this what happens at the police station after a death is changed to be ruled a murder? They stand around eating candy and talking about houses instead of looking for killers?”

  Lydia jumped in without thinking. “The taffy is left over from when we were trying to determine possible ways that the killer could have administered the poison. I considered gum as a possibility for a while.”

  “And who are you? You don’t look like a police officer. Are you undercover?”

  “I’m just a friend of a friend who was convinced that the death wasn’t suicide. I was helping to come up with some out-of-the-box ideas on how the murder could have been accomplished.”

  “I see. I’m Bill’s brother, Charlie.”

  Leo finished chewing as fast as he could. “And we do really appreciate you coming in so quickly.”

  “When you said that you suspected Bill’s death was murder now, I had to come in. The suicide idea never sat right with me. And I have to say that I am pretty upset that it was almost missed.”

  “But it wasn’t in the end,” said Detective Grey. “And we are now giving this case our full attention.”

  “Perhaps you’d like to come with us to the other room?” Leo suggested while casting a gla
nce at Lydia. “We’d like to ask you some questions about who might have done this.”

  “Is she coming?” Charlie asked, pointing at Lydia.

  “No. She is not an undercover policewoman,” said Leo. “She’s not going to be a part of this.”

  “But I want her to be,” Charlie said. “If she was the one who figured out Charlie was murdered, then I want her to be a part of this.”