He looked sternly into my eyes and asked, “What’s your angle here? Why do you care?”
“The identity of that woman could provide answers in the Margaret Pettyjohn case,” Star replied as she became impatient. “Forget this.”
Star reached into her pocket. She pulled a twenty dollar bill out and slammed it on the table. His eyebrows rose as she slid the bill in his direction.
“If you put it that way, maybe I can help,” he said as he put the bill into his pocket. “Wait here for a minute. I’ll be back.”
Mr. Pines walked into the room behind the desk and shut the door behind him. Star and I took a seat in the lobby and waited. After twenty minutes, Mr. Pines had yet to return. We both looked, wondering what was taking so long.
We both jumped as the ringing of the front door bell startled us. Sam Martin and Detective Beaux entered the lobby, and neither one noticed us at first.
“Hello,” Sam shouted out as he and Beaux walked up to the desk.
Beaux noticed us first. He turned around and faced our direction. “Miss Summers and Miss Daniels?”
“What are you two doing here?” Sam turned around to ask. “We received a call from the owner saying he was being harassed.”
Sonny Pines opened the door and emerged from the back room. “Good evening, officers.”
Sam looked at him and then looked at us. “Wait a minute, are these two ladies the ones you reported to the station as harassing you?”
“That’s them,” he said as he gazed in our direction. “They keep hounding and demanding me for information on my guests.”
“Hounding you?” I said, interrupting him. “I asked you nicely.”
“She raised her voice at me and started slamming her fist on the desk,” he replied.
Sam looked confused. “That doesn’t sound like the Kara I know.”
“Maybe you don’t really know her,” he replied. He pointed to Star and said, “That one tried to bribe me.”
Star stood up. “Then why’d you take the money, perv?”
“Enough,” Sam said sternly. He took a deep breath. Detective Beaux walked outside, not wanting anything to do with the situation.
“I’m sure these ladies meant no harm, Sonny. There’s no need to press charges. They’re leaving,” he said as he turned to us. “Right, ladies?”
“Right,” I replied as I tried to resist saying what crossed my mind.
Star walked up to Sonny and put out her hand. “I want my twenty back.”
Sonny smirked. “What twenty?”
“Let’s go,” Sam said as he opened the door.
Sam walked out first as Star followed him. Before I exited, I turned and stared at Mr. Pines.
“I hope you sleep well knowing you could have prevented an innocent man from going to jail.”
“You think I give a rat’s behind about that?” he said as his expression turned dark. “Let me give you a quick lesson about business, dear. The type of clients my business attracts are the ones that value their privacy more than anything else. I know what kinds of things go on behind these doors, but I don’t care. As long as my register is filled, I sleep like a baby.”
When I walked outside, Sam was standing in front of his police car, staring in my direction. I walked over to him, slowly. I knew he wasn’t in a good mood. I felt like a little kid in trouble.
“Enough is enough, Kara. I’m going to have to ask you to stop meddling in this case,” he said as both Star and Beaux stepped back. “I have too much on my plate. I don’t have time to answer calls like these. I can’t babysit you two while trying to run a police department.”
“I’m only trying to help,” I replied, trying not to tear up. “We discovered another suspect and wanted to identify her. Perry Butler was seeing another woman on the side. Mr. Pines told us he saw the two of them here. I only need the identity of the woman.”
“Back off, now. This is the last time I’m telling you,” he said as his voice grew louder. “Do you want me to call your mom?”
How old did he think I was, twelve? That being said, he made his point. He shouted it loud and clear.
“I understand,” I said as I walked back to the car.
“Kara, wait. I’m sorry I yelled, but I’m under a tremendous amount of pressure. Two murder cases in less than a month, along having to deal with the Mayor.”
“The Mayor?”
“He’s been on my case all summer. He practically belittled me in front of my officers. Telling them I needed a baker to solve the case, since I couldn’t do it myself.”
“I’m sorry, Sam,” I said as I gave him a hug. “I’ll try to back off.”
He smiled. “I wish I could believe you, but I know you too well. Just like your daddy.”
Later that evening, I moped around the house. I felt defeated. As far as I was concerned the case was a dead end at this point.
“How could things get worse,” I said to myself as I flopped down on my couch.
The summer began with a bang…literally. Too bad it appeared to be going out with a whimper. Not only had I temporarily lost my business, but I was ordered to stop investigating the case. I lost the two things I enjoyed the most.
As I sat feeling defeated, I felt a warm touch brush against my leg. I looked down and saw a big surprise. Mr. Whiskers was rubbing his body against my leg, while purring. I couldn’t believe it.
“Maybe you’re not so bad after all,” I said as I petted the top of his head. He leaped up on the couch and settled down in my lap.
At that moment, my sadness faded away. I realized my life meant more than searching for clues and baking pies. I had great friends like Star, Ty, and Bonnie May. As corny as it sounded, I felt satisfied to have love and friendship.
I continued to pet Mr. Whiskers’ soft fur. “You better be careful, Mr. Whiskers, or you’ll make Star jealous. Trust me. We don’t want to be on her bad side. It’s like they say, a woman scorned…”
And just like that, it hit me. I’d been looking at it wrong. The murder of Margaret Pettyjohn didn’t revolve around money and alimony payments. Love and jealousy were the reasons…a woman scorned.
Maybe Willie was right all along.
Chapter 21
A couple days passed, and I kept quiet. I focused on my pies and tried to block the case out of my mind. I failed miserably as it was all I could think about.
I finished up in the kitchen and decided to relax in the living room. Before I sat down, Star arrived, unannounced.
“I’ve got big news,” she said as she pushed through the door. “It’s about the Pettyjohn case.”
“I’m not really sure if I want to know at this point,” I said. I felt frustrated. “The police made it very clear that they wanted me to back down.”
“You’re not fooling anyone, especially me.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“Mark called me last night and asked me out for dinner.”
“You went out on a date with Deputy Johnson?” I asked. “Star, I don’t know what to say.”
“Hold your horses, cowgirl, it was just dinner,” she replied as she turned defensive. “I did it for you. I thought he might provide insight into the Margaret Pettyjohn case.”
“Oh really?” I asked. “I thought you gave him a fake number?”
“I did,” she said. “Shows how great of an investigator he really is. Anyway, according to him, the results from Margaret Pettyjohn’s toxicology reports came in last night.”
“And?”
“We know she died old testament style with an arrow through the heart, but there’s more to the story. According to the report, Margaret was drugged as well. The report showed trace amounts of…” Star paused to look at her phone. “Something called Flunitrazepam.”
“Roofies,” I said, as I’d heard the term. “I remembered researching a case pertaining to those in law school. That might explain why there were no signs of a struggle.”
Someone would need access to a drug like that
. The question was who?
Before we could answer that, Star’s phone rang. She stepped outside the room to answer it. When she returned, she had a look of concern on her face.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“It was Joe,” she replied. “He says he has something for us.”
Star and I left immediately and headed to the Bumbling Buoy. Neither of us had any idea what he wanted to share with us, but it sounded urgent. Even though Sam had asked me to back off the case, I couldn’t let it go.
Joe greeted us at the door when we arrived. It was a Wednesday, so the bar was slow.
“There’s something I wanted to show you,” he said. “Follow me.”
We followed him through a door that led to the kitchen. In the very back of the kitchen was his office, with a monitor on top of a filing cabinet.
“My recollection of that night was hazy, at best. So, I decided to check the security camera footage,” he said as he pulled a couple of chairs out for us to sit. “It slipped my mind at first since I recently purchased them. I installed a camera facing the bar a few weeks ago.”
“How come?”
“Theft,” he replied. “There were a few shady customers who’d reach behind the bar to grab a free drink if I turned my back for too long. I’d catch them out of the corner of my eyes at times but couldn’t prove it. Now I’ll review the tape and ban anyone I catch from entering my bar in the future.”
“I see. That makes sense.”
He opened the desk drawer and took out a small tape. He placed it into the box below the monitor and pressed play. He fast-forwarded until he found the correct time stamp.
“There it is,” he said as he pointed to the screen. “Caught on tape.”
“There’s what?” I asked as I sat confused.
He re-wound the tape. “I missed it the first few times myself, but watch this spot closely,” he said as he directed me to the left-hand corner of the bar.
He rewound the video to the point before Margaret showed up. Her boyfriend sat at the bar alone but ordered a drink for Margaret. The bartender sat the drink down.
Once the bartender turned around, he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled something out. He looked around for a second before putting something into her drink.
“He’s the one who drugged her,” I said as I watched the footage.
“I’m one hundred percent sure he spiked her drink,” Joe replied, confidently. “When you work behind the bar as long as I have, you notice creeps pulling this move from time to time. I kicked dozens of men, and a few women, out of my bar for attempting this. It’s sad, really. If only I saw it first-hand. I could have prevented all of this.”
I could tell he felt bad. He looked heartbroken as he replayed the footage, again and again. He took his job seriously and felt guilty knowing a crime was committed in his establishment.
“Whoever is responsible for this went to great lengths to pull this off. If you caught this that night, the person would have tried it again at another time. I’m sure of it.”
“She’s right,” Star said.
He smiled. “Thanks. I really appreciate that. Star’s right about you. You’re a really good person.”
“Have you shown anyone else this footage? Do the police know?”
“Not yet. You’re the first person I called. I literally called you the second I noticed him spike the drink.”
“Why not give this to the police?” Star asked.
“I honestly hate dealing with police. In my youth, I ran into some trouble with the law. Nothing too serious, but I don’t trust cops,” he said as he handed me the tape. “I’d rather you guys deal with them, not me.”
I hesitated for a second before accepting it because I knew the consequences. I knew Sam would be angry, but I took the tape from Joe and put it in my purse.
After we left the bar, Star took me home. As I sat on my couch, I stared at my phone. I didn’t know why, but I felt nervous about calling the police. I wasn’t in the mood to get yelled at again. I thought that waiting until the morning would be best.
The image of Stacy Perkins sitting in the café flashed into my head. She must’ve been close to Perry as well, since he was her best friend’s boyfriend. I started to worry about her safety. What if Perry murdered Margaret? What was stopping him from killing again?
I figured if anyone in town knew everyone’s number, it’d be Bonnie May. Sure enough, she did. So, I called Stacy to warn her.
“Who’s this?” she said when she answered the phone. “This better not be a telemarketer. I put my name on the do not call list, this is illegal, you know?”
“It’s Kara Summers, ma’am.”
“Oh, okay. What do you want?”
“I have video of Margaret’s boyfriend, Perry, putting something into her drink at the bar on the night she was murdered.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Did you call the police?”
“Not yet,” I replied. “I’m going to deliver the tape in the morning. I wanted to warn you. In case you two were close as well.”
“I appreciate it, but I’ll be ok. Thank you for letting me know,” she said before hanging the phone up.
After racking my brain for another hour, I realized Stacy might know the identity of Perry’s other woman. I tried to call her back, but each time the phone went to voice mail.
Bonnie May gave me her home phone number as well, so I tried it. Instead of Stacy, her roommate, Jill, picked up instead.
“You just missed her. She went to watch the fireworks. Her friend, Perry, picked her up ten minutes ago.”
My heart stopped, and I was quiet. My mind was in shock, hearing that Stacy was alone with Perry.
“You there?” the voice on the other end replied. “Hello?”
I snapped back to reality. “Sorry. Do you know where they went?”
“I’m not sure, I think to watch the fireworks. Why do you ask? Who is this?”
“Okay, bye,” I said as I hung up the phone.
“Where could they be going?” I asked myself. “I have to find her. Her life’s at risk.”
Suddenly, my phone beeped. I looked and noticed a notification. When I read it, it all became clear.
“Gotcha.”
Chapter 22
“Why doesn’t anyone pick up their phones,” I said out loud.
I called both Star and Ty, hoping to get a ride. Neither answered. So I did what any other sane person would do.
I hopped on my bicycle.
I rode my bike to the location and found the two of them standing on the beach. I ran to where they were, waving my hands. Before they heard me, the two leaned towards each other and kissed.
“Stacy,” I said as I approached them, out of breath. “Are you okay?”
“Why are you snooping on us? How did you know we were here?” Stacy said.
“Perry posted the photo on his Instagram feed and tagged the location in the comments.”
She turned to Perry. “Seriously?”
“Why are you here with him anyway?” I asked, confused. “I called you earlier so you’d avoid him. Especially after the video footage surfaced. You know he’s dangerous, so why are you making out with him…”
At that point it hit me. These two were in cahoots. Judging by how smart he appeared, the brains of the operation was definitely Stacy.
“A woman scorned…” I said under my breath. “That’s it.”
“Excuse me?” Stacy replied.
“It was you,” I said, as it became clear Stacy did it. “You stole the arrows the day you and Margaret trespassed at Trudy’s. You’re the one who cheated with Margaret’s boyfriend. And your hand.”
Stacy interrupted me. “I’d choose my next words wisely. This is none of your concern.”
“You didn’t go to the urgent care center because of your carpal tunnel, did you?” I asked as I pointed to her hand, still wrapped in bandages. “You cut your hand open! You sliced it gripping the sharp shaft of the a
rrow, as you stabbed your friend in the heart…literally?”
Now that I thought about it, she committed a crime in a poetic sense. Stacy stabbed her friend in the back by dating her boyfriend. She also literally stabbed her friend in her heart as she murdered her.
“And you,” I said as I pointed to Perry. “There’s blood on your hands as well. You helped her pull this off.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he responded, trying to play dumb.
“We have you on tape spiking Margaret’s drink at the bar that night,” I explained.
“She told me to do it. It was her idea,” he said as he panicked. “She failed to mention the fact she was going to kill her. I swear. I had no clue.”
I felt I was on a roll, so I continued. “You tried framing Billy Sims, but something sticks out to me. Now that I think about it, it stuck out of a tree to be more precise.”
“What are you getting at?” Stacy replied.
“You tried to shoot her at first but missed. That’s why you reverted to stabbing Margaret instead. Billy and his sister both are excellent shots. I doubt they’d miss.”
“Again,” Perry said. “I had nothing to do with that.”
“Enough,” Stacy shouted angrily. “This ends tonight.”
Stacy reached into her purse and pulled out a hand gun. She dropped her purse on the ground, then pointed the gun in my direction.
“Woah now,” Perry said with shock written across his face. “Where the hell did you get a gun?”
“I love you, I truly do,” she explained. “But I panicked and needed a way out.”
“What do you mean by that?” he asked. “A way out of what?”
“Shut up,” she said as she pointed the gun back in his direction. “You had one easy job, and you screwed it up too. No wonder Margaret never married you, she knew how much of a loser you were. Too bad it took me this long to see it for myself.”
“Stacy, you’re the one who killed her best friend,” I replied. “You’re the real loser, here.”
I probably should have kept that thought to myself. My outburst added fuel to the fire as her anger intensified. She tightened the grip on her gun.
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