“About that….” Dina spoke.
“I came here to deliver some travel brochures to you, but if let me talk for a second, I think I can clear my name, and help you solve your.. whatever this is,” she said, vaguely gesturing toward Dina’s creation.
“Okay. I’m listening,” Joss said
“This is pretty embarrassing, but since you seem to know more than enough about me already, I might as well just say it. Lilly and I are friends. We like to shoplift together. We sometimes steal just because it’s fun. I realize how that sounds, especially since you were going to entrust me with your money for traveling purposes, but I swear, I’d never do that at work. Anyway, Lilly needed some cash, and she knew that her dad had some hidden at his house. She couldn’t bring herself to do it, so I went and I got caught. He told me that if I did him a favor, he wouldn’t call the police. Of course, I agreed.”
“What was the favor?” Joss asked.
“He wanted me to get him the information about where Sabrina was traveling. I said I could get it, but he insisted on going there himself. I did it, just because he kept threatening the police on me.”
“So, he wanted to see where his wife was going?” Dina commented, looking sad.
“I guess. I don’t know why it mattered, though. Sabrina is dating Peter and Arnold knew that. From what I thought, it was all pretty civil, and since Arnold was also seeing someone else…” Carla pointed to the murder board. “I don’t see why it mattered to any of them.”
“Do you think Peter is capable of murder?” Dina asked matter-of-factly.
“Wow. Umm, no. I don’t think so. What would be the reason, anyway? I assume you’re referring to this Isa person, right? Why would he kill his girlfriend’s husband’s mistress?”
“That’s a mouthful.” Dina chuckled, stopping when Joss shot her a look.
“Peter and Arnold hated each other, but I don’t see Peter killing this woman,” Carla admitted.
“By hated one another, what do you mean exactly?” Joss asked.
“I mean, it was a domestic disaster of the finest degree. Some of the stories that Lilly shared with me are movie-worthy,” Lilly said, frowning. “I feel bad for her.”
“You said you let Arnold into the travel agency?” Joss asked.
“Yeah,” Carla shuffled her feet, looking like she felt guilty.
“Did you leave him alone at all?”
“I guess I might have,” Carla answered.
“Was it possible that he took photos of the pictures Peter has hanging on the walls?”
“Maybe?” Carla said, skeptical.
Dina watched the two go back and forth, her head bobbing. “You think the photos are in that online profile?”
“What profile?” Carla asked. “If it’s anything social media related, it didn’t come from Peter. He’s clueless. That’s why we don’t do things online. He can’t figure it out and is embarrassed to admit it.”
“They are in the profile, but I don’t think Peter had anything to do with it. I think that’s why Arnold wanted to get into the travel agency. So he could take the photos and use them on a fake profile to post about Isa’s death being murder.”
“But why?” Dina asked.
“Because Arnold killed Isa himself,” Joss said, finally putting everything together.
“That makes no sense. Why would you kill your own mistress?” Carla furrowed her brows.
“Lilly told me she stole the letters to show to her mom because her parents had mentioned getting back together. Even though the letters are technically irrelevant, we still know that they were considering reuniting.”
“Arnold loved Sabrina.” Carla nodded. “No matter what, he did love her. He probably wanted someone to know he did it just because he couldn’t help himself. Love makes people do crazy things.”
“Exactly. He killed Isa to get rid of any reason at all for Sabrina to deny him,” Joss explained. “He knew where she lived, where she ran, hiked… everything. And, if she saw him on the trail, she wouldn’t have thought anything of it.”
“It makes sense,” Carla said.
“It really does! My murder board saved the day!” Dina exclaimed.
Joss rolled her eyes. “So, I’m calling the police. They can hear what I have to say and check out all your proof,” Joss said, looking at the board. “And, Carla, your lunch is on me.”
Joss pulled out her phone, dialing the police station, and breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully, she was wrong still, and the death was accidental, but if not, at least justice would be served.
Chapter Seventeen
“This is just about the loveliest thing anyone has ever done for me,” Mrs. Krispin said, tying an apron around her waist.
“We’re so happy to have you!” Joss said, excited that Luke had agreed to let Mrs. Krispin come to the diner three days a week to do some baking. Not only would it add some extra items to the menu, it would give Mrs. Krispin something to do. It was clear to Joss that Mrs. Krispin enjoyed being around people, so in addition to the baking, she would be there for a few of the busier shifts to help hostess.
“I want to make cheesecake swirl brownies next! Does anyone have preference on what flavor cheesecake?” Mrs. Krispin asked, looking around the kitchen.
“Raspberry.” Dina nodded, sure of her choice.
“Almond!” Luke exclaimed.
“Almond cheesecake? Umm, I’ll pass,” Joss said, laughing.
“Let’s leave Luke to the cooking, and I’ll step in to do the baking,” Mrs. Krispin whispered, loudly enough for Luke to hear.
“Good idea.” Dina patted Mrs. Krispin on the back. “Joss, your friends are here.”
Joss looked out of the kitchen doorway, noticing Rachel, Ryan and Christopher had entered the diner. She hadn’t spoken to Rachel since everything unfolded. Thankfully, she’d had nothing to do with the murder of Isa Ross, but she’d still been rude and had hurt Joss’ feelings. Seeing Christopher with them was a surprise, but she figured she couldn’t very well ignore them.
“So, I heard you thought I left you a note,” Christopher said, breaking the ice in the most uncomfortable way.
Joss hesitated, shooting a look toward Ryan, figuring he was the one to tell Christopher. “I’m sorry about that. I jumped to conclusions and I was wrong.”
“How do you know it wasn’t me after all?” he asked, Rachel elbowing him.
“Stop, don’t give her a hard time,” Rachel scolded.
“Actually, I don’t mind answering,” Joss said, realizing this was all a big joke to them. “I matched the handwriting on the note to the personal check you paid with the first night you were here. Which, by the way, we didn’t deposit, so you still owe me that cash…”
“What? Oh. I, um…” Christopher stuttered.
“Kidding. I told you it was on the house, anyway,” Joss said, cracking up. She was glad that he was in good spirits after everything that had happened.
“You matched his handwriting?” Rachel said, eyes wide.
“I sure did. Miss busybody is pretty smart, after all,” Joss replied, sliding into the booth next to Ryan.
“Who left it, then?” Rachel asked.
“Arnold,” Christopher answered. “He was at the house looking for Sabrina and saw your car there. I was following along with everything Rachel told me that you were doing and was able to figure out that he was the man my mom had been seeing. I knew my mom was seeing someone, I just didn’t know what it entailed, and I certainly didn’t know it meant murder. Thanks to you, I was able to figure out that Arnold was the culprit in every last thing that happened. Not only did he cheat on his wife for years, but he killed my mother, the woman he was cheating with, just because he wanted to get back with Sabrina. He said it was a tough choice, since he knew my mom had come into some money over the years, but remembered she had a son who could use the cash more than he could.”
“Is that true? What a terrible thing,” Joss shook her head.
“Unf
ortunately. I’m just glad he didn’t get his hands on any of my mother’s money,” Christopher said.
“He was awful. He lied to everyone and played the victim so well. I remember going to his house to talk to him about Lilly and he asked if I was Carla, the woman Lilly had been getting in trouble with. Come to find out, he lied right to me, because he’d blackmailed Carla and had known her the whole time.”
“Didn’t you lie to him when you were there, too?” Ryan teased.
“That’s not the point,” Rachel defended Joss. “She worked hard to figure all of this out and I just brushed her off like she didn’t matter. I’m sorry for that, Joss.”
“I just didn’t understand why you were so distant. You made me feel like you were trying to make me believe that I imagined the letters or something.” Joss looked at Rachel.
Turning red and shuffling in the booth, Rachel looked at Ryan. “Our parents weren’t the greatest role models as far as love goes. I’ve had several failed relationships, and have been hurt more times than I care to admit. Anything to do with the love department just stresses me out. I’ve seen my brother get hurt by someone he truly cared for, and I just haven’t ever believed in love.” She kept her eyes on Ryan while speaking, suddenly looking between Joss and Christopher.
“I had no idea,” Joss said, feeling bad.
“I care about my brother, and I didn’t want to see him get hurt,” Rachel explained.
“By a busybody romantic?” Ryan snickered.
“I know you mean well, Joss. I’m sorry,” Rachel said, frowning. “Thanks for looking out for me, and for my brother.”
“I’m sorry, too. I was rude to you and you didn’t deserve that. I just didn’t want someone looking into my mom’s death. It just kept bringing up bad memories that I wanted to try to forget. I’m thankful you did, though. You solved this. The police had everything they needed to nab Arnold.”
“I appreciate that, both of you.” Joss nodded to Rachel and Christopher.
“Well, I have nothing to be sorry for, this time…” Ryan grinned.
“You’ll have your turn,” Rachel teased.
“I’d imagine. That’s part of being in love.”
Also by Gretchen Allen
Sundae Afternoon Series
Book 1: Triple Dipped Murder
Book 2: Melt Down Murder
Book 3: A Twist of Murder
Book 4: Caked in Murder
Book 5: Shivers of Murder
Book 6: A Flurry of Murder
Book 7: Two Scoops of Murder
The Day and Night Diner
Book 1: Pancakes and Pleas
Book 2: Burgers and Bodies
Book 3: Book 3: Steaks and Suspects
The Cozy Tales of a Professional Mermaid
Book 1: Criminals and Coral
Holly and Evergreen
Book 1: The Final Sleigh
Author’s Note
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Steaks and Suspects Page 7