Sunflowers and Sabotage

by London Lovett

  Briggs picked up his beer, then thought better of it, muttering something about keeping his head clear. His phone rang as he put the bottle down. He pulled it out. "It's Burke." He got up to answer it and walked away from the table.

  I nibbled on a piece of chicken while I waited patiently for him to finish the phone call. I hoped there would be more about the case. I was feeling pretty solid about my ideas, but I was going on a lot of assumptions.

  "Yeah, we'll be right there," Briggs said as he hung up. "Well, my little button-nosed Sherlock. You might just be onto something. That was Burke. He said Melody Langley just showed up in tears at the station claiming she had something important to confess. I told them we'll be right there. I want to talk to her myself. I'm hoping my unofficial partner will join me since she seems to know more about this case than anyone"

  I hopped up and saluted him. "Button-nosed Sherlock, at your service."

  Chapter 35

  On the drive to the station, I worked to replay and organize all the interactions I'd had with Melody since I first met her at the dog show. I hoped that some of them would come in handy. But then, if she was already confessing the whole thing to the police, I wasn't going to be needed at all. That was sort of disappointing, but at least I could feel satisfaction in having solved the case before the confession. It just wasn't as exciting.

  Briggs and I arrived at the Chesterton Precinct. It was quite a bit bigger than our quaint little Port Danby station.

  "Detective Briggs," a man at the front desk said as we walked inside. "How is the arm? I heard you had a little run in with a bad guy and a knife."

  "How are you doing, Officer Nettles?" Briggs lifted his arm. "Just glad it was a small knife and a clumsy bad guy. Is Burke around?"

  "Yeah, he's in back." Officer Nettles, a middle aged man with a paunch and a kind grin, nodded politely at me.

  "Nettles, I don't know if you've ever met Lacey." Briggs motioned toward me.

  Nettles stood up and put out his hand. "We haven't met but I've heard all about that terrific nose of hers. Welcome to the Chesterton Precinct."

  "Thank you and my nose thanks you for the nice compliment."

  Nettles chuckled. "Why don't you two head back. I'll buzz you through."

  We walked through the security gate and through the metal door leading to the various sections of the precinct. The first few rooms had windows, so we could see directly inside. In one room, Officer Burke and a woman officer were sitting across a table from Melody. Melody had a tissue bunched in her fingers. They had provided her with a bottle of water. She looked distraught and pale with worry.

  "Darn," I whispered, even though I was sure the glass window and walls were too thick to hear through. "She's already confessed."

  Briggs rubbed the short beard on his unshaven chin. "I don't think so. If she was confessing, they'd have her in an interrogation room with a one way mirror and security cameras. They use these rooms to talk to witnesses."

  I looked at him. "I don't understand."

  "Me neither." Rather than disrupt the room by entering, with my help, Briggs sent Burke a text that we were out in the hallway.

  Burke stepped out just a minute later.

  "What's going on?" Briggs asked. "I thought she came in to confess."

  "That's what she said. Apparently, she didn't realize what the word confess means inside a police station. She came in to confess that she hadn't given us all the facts. She knew something about Avery Hinkle that she hadn't told us before. She said she was trying to protect a friend."

  I snorted lightly. Both men looked at me. "I'm sorry but they are not friends. Avery is dating Melody's ex-fiancé, and she has not gotten over the breakup."

  Briggs looked at Burke. "Were you aware of that?"

  Burke sputtered and fidgeted with his belt for a second. "None of that ever came up in interviews with the two women."

  Briggs shot me a quick wink.

  "The details Miss Langley provided are pretty damning," Burke said. "She claims that she saw Miss Hinkle steal a purple collar off of a vendor's table just after the dog show. She also said that she wasn't telling the complete truth about her account of the interactions with Miss Hinkle behind the victim's trailer. After handing Miss Hinkle her dog, Miss Langley walked away, but when she looked back, she saw Miss Hinkle walking up the steps of the victim's trailer. She said at the time, she worried Miss Hinkle was going inside to confront Ellen Joyner about the sabotage. Miss Langley also said it looked as if Miss Hinkle might have been concealing something under her shirt."

  I stopped a second snort. "I'm sorry but there would be no question about her concealing that thick plastic bag." I looked at Briggs for confirmation. "Miss Hinkle was wearing a very tight t-shirt, a few sizes too small, in fact." With her rude attack this afternoon, I found it quite easy to be catty about her too tight clothes.

  Briggs nodded. "I do remember she was wearing a snug shirt. It wouldn't have been easy for her to conceal the bag."

  The door to the witness room opened and the female officer stepped out. "Officer Burke," she said, and for the first time she realized the bearded man standing next to Burke was Detective Briggs. She flashed a pleasant smile. "Detective Briggs, I didn't recognize you with all the facial hair. It suits you," she added unnecessarily, along with another shiny white smile. She pulled her fascinated gaze from the bearded man and turned her attention back to Burke. "Miss Langley would like to go home. She is frightened about being here when they bring in Miss Hinkle. Should I let her go?"

  "Not yet," Briggs answered first. "And don't send anyone out to pick up Miss Hinkle yet. There may be a problem with your witness. If she lost her fiancé to Miss Hinkle, then she might be compromised."

  While he spoke, something else dawned on me. "Where was Pebbles?" the question spurted out loud before I could stop it.

  All three officers looked at me.

  "Pebbles," I repeated. "Melody, Miss Langley, was walking Ellen Joyner's poodle, Pebbles, around the dog show. She came up to the dog boutique vendor's table, that was the table with the dog collars. She asked if we had seen Ellen. Melody claimed Ellen had handed off Pebbles to her after the show because Ellen was suffering from a headache, a result of all the drama. She said Ellen didn't want to leave the dog unattended in a pen because Avery was so mad. She thought there might be some kind of retribution."

  "I'd say that makes our case even stronger against Avery Hinkle," Burke said. "If the victim feared some kind of revenge—"

  "Yes but if Melody's account was true, then she would still have had Pebbles when she said she handed off Belvedere to Avery. But neither Avery nor Melody mentioned that Pebbles was also with them behind the trailer. It was all a lie. Melody used Pebbles as a prop, pretending that she was looking for Ellen to hand her dog back. Ellen had never given her to Melody in the first place. She must have taken her from the pen and walked her around pretending to be looking for Ellen. But all along, Melody knew Ellen was dead because she had killed her."

  An awkward silence followed. I couldn't tell if I had lost them with my convoluted theory or if they were just shocked that I knew so much about that day.

  "But what motive would Melody have to kill Ellen? I understand she's not even a competitor. She's a professional dog groomer." Burke wasn't convinced, and he didn't seem altogether happy that I was swooping in to undermine his case. I supposed that was to be expected. I was almost hesitant about telling him the motive. I was certain he had no idea about the shampoo debacle.

  Briggs was looking at me, waiting for a response, so I forged ahead.

  "Melody had motive. Ellen Joyner was selling a very popular shampoo on her site. It's called Lavender Pooch." I looked at Briggs. "Remember she gave us a business card that night on the beach."

  Briggs twisted his mouth a bit in embarrassment and both officers flashed teasing grins. "Yes, I remember," Briggs said quickly. "What does that have to do with Melody?"

  "Melody and Ellen had been close
friends at one point. Melody is the person who came up with the formula for Lavender Pooch. Ellen stole the idea and marketed it as her own. She was making a small fortune with the shampoo, but she never gave Melody credit or compensation."

  Briggs looked at Officer Burke. "I'd like a few minutes with the witness."

  "Absolutely," Burke said.

  Briggs reached the door and motioned for me to follow. "You come too. You're the case expert." I scurried with excitement to follow him into the room.

  Melody's eyes nearly bulged from her face when she saw me walk into the room. She forced a weak smile but didn't say a word.

  Briggs nodded at her. "Miss Langley, I'm Detective Briggs. I believe we spoke at the park on the day of the murder. You know Miss Pinkerton."

  "Yes." Her voice was thin and hoarse. She cleared her throat. "Yes, she helped me when I discovered poor Ellen on the floor of the trailer." Her voice trembled, but I wasn't convinced it was genuine. "I thought there was still something we could do to help her. That's why I ripped open the bag so she could breathe." She pressed her knuckles to her lips to stifle a sob. I reconsidered my theory for all of a second. The woman was a great actor.

  Briggs seemed to come to the same conclusion. "Miss Langley, it is my duty to inform you that you may have an attorney present at any time."

  Melody sat back as if the wind had been knocked out of her. "For what? I'm just a witness." Her voice waver was real this time, only it had nothing to do with grief. "I knew I should have left well enough alone. I was only trying to help."

  "Miss Langley," Briggs said with that cool deep tone that I loved. "Would you like to call an attorney?"

  She crossed her arms defiantly. "I have no reason for an attorney. My only crime was trying to help the police solve Ellen's murder."

  "Then you waive your right," Briggs said and pulled out chairs for both of us. "I'll get right to it, Miss Langley. Is it true that Ellen Joyner was making a profit on a dog shampoo that you created?"

  She was thrown way off by the first question. Her eyes flicked my direction and then back to Briggs. "Yes but I hardly see what that has to do with anything. It was a few years ago. I hardly think about it." She shrugged to punctuate her indifference.

  "Let's move on then to the day of the murder. You discovered Ellen Joyner on the floor of her trailer at approximately four in the afternoon. What were you doing prior to that?"

  She wriggled nervously on her chair. Her eyes flicked my direction again. She knew I had been there the entire afternoon and that I had seen her with Pebbles. "I was taking care of Ellen's dog, Pebbles. Ellen wasn't feeling well after Avery made the scene at the dog show. She asked me to look after Pebbles because she was afraid Avery might harm the dog." She pointed at me. "She was there. She was at the vendor tables when I was looking for Ellen." She looked to me for confirmation.

  I nodded. "Yes, I saw you with Pebbles and heard you telling Vivian that you were looking for Ellen."

  A tiny smile appeared. She looked confidently at Briggs. "There you have it. That's what I was doing. But then I needed to clean up my own trailer, so I decided to just put Pebbles back into her pen. That's when I decided to check Ellen's trailer again. That's when I found her. Then I rushed out for some help." She nodded at me. "You were there."

  "Yes, yes I was."

  "Yes, that all checks out, Miss Langley. Only one part of the story doesn't add up," Briggs said.

  Her cheeks drained of color. "I don't understand."

  "That day and during follow up interviews with both you and Miss Hinkle, you were walking her dog, Belvedere. You were behind Ellen's trailer walking the dog in a grassy area. That is where Miss Hinkle found you and took her dog back."

  "That's right," she said with a chin thrust. "And I left right after, but as I told Officer Burke, when I glanced back Avery was climbing the steps of Ellen's trailer."

  "Where was Pebbles?" he asked. It was a simple enough question, but her face contorted in every direction.

  "I don't understand," she finally sputtered. I had never been in an interview like this before, but my guess was that our suspect was starting to crack.

  "You said you were taking care of Pebbles for Ellen. She had a headache and asked you to watch the dog while she rested. Where was Pebbles while you were walking Belvedere?"

  "Why, why she was right there too. It is possible to walk two dogs at once."

  Briggs pulled out his notebook and glanced through his notes from that day. "Interesting, there was no mention of Pebbles in your interview. Miss Hinkle didn't mention it either." He pulled out his phone and dialed. "Yes, Officer Burke, could you call Avery Hinkle and ask her if Ellen's dog, Pebbles, was standing with Miss Langley when she picked up Belvedere behind the trailer."

  Melody was wriggling so much on her chair, I thought she might slip off.

  Briggs put the phone away.

  "Avery will just lie," she blurted somewhat hysterically. "She's a lying, backstabber. The kind of friend who will steal your boyfriend and then flaunt it for all the world to see. She's a horrid person. They all are. The entire dog show circuit." Tears were flowing now. She tapped her own chest. "I'm the one who makes the dogs show worthy. I make them beautiful and perfect, and what do I get? Stabbed in the back."

  Briggs sat forward and cleared his throat. "Miss Langley, I'll ask you again, would you like to have an attorney present?"

  She crumpled back against the chair. "Yes," she said weakly. "Yes, I would."

  Chapter 36

  I hummed an old Rolling Stones' tune as I finished potting some basil plants.

  "Someone is in a good mood," Ryder said as he finished arranging a dozen roses. "Guess that's the happy hum of someone who solved a murder."

  "It sure is." I rinsed my hands. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. The police were about to haul Avery Hinkle in for murder, based on false evidence presented by the real killer. (Not that I would have minded if Avery Hinkle had suffered a false arrest for a few hours after her last visit to my shop.) Once Melody's shell cracked and her story started falling apart, she poured her heart out, trying to frame herself as the victim. Avery had stolen her fiancé and Ellen stole her shampoo formula. It was easy to see why she would be angry, but most people in those types of situations didn't resort to murder. She knew both women well enough to plot her murder and frame up in advance of the show. Melody knew Avery would throw a fit if she thought Ellen stole the trophy from her. And Avery reacted just the way Melody predicted. She then killed Ellen, knowing everyone saw Avery's tantrum. It made her the logical suspect. She'd even planned out what to tell the police the first time to make it look as if she was protecting Avery. Then came Melody's dramatic show at the police station where she added in more incriminating but fake details because the guilt of not telling the truth had gotten to her. It was a fairly impressive murder plan, but she forgot about Pebbles.

  I walked over to where Ryder was finishing up his bouquet. "I guess Lola is probably humming happily too," I said, "now that her mom is back in Europe."

  Ryder didn't answer at first. He put down the ribbon he was holding and pulled out his phone. "You can't tell Lola I have this or that I showed it to you, but, well—there was such a scene at the airport, people were filming it. So I decided to join them."

  He showed me the screen on his phone and hit play. Lola and her mom were hugging and crying and creating a goodbye scene worthy of an Oscar winning movie.

  "Oh my gosh, that is a lot of crying and hugging," I said. "Are you sure that red hair and Beatles t-shirt belong to Lola?"

  Ryder laughed and put the phone away. "Oh, it was our Lo-lo all right. The phony. She complained about her mom the whole time but when it was time to say goodbye those two acted as if they were parting forever."

  I smiled. "I'm sort of glad it went like that. Aren't you?"

  He nodded. "Yeah, it was kind of cool. Only I don't dare bring it up because that sends Lola into a tizzy. So lips sealed."

&nbs
p; I pulled the zipper across. "You can count on me." The door opened. I was pleasantly surprised to see a handsome detective with an even heavier and darker beard.

  I rubbed my chin between my finger and thumb. "I'm trying to decide if you should keep the beard. It makes you look a little more mysterious."

  Briggs reached up and scratched under his chin. "It also makes me feel itchy so don't spend too much time deciding. It goes as soon as the bandage comes off my right arm. Hey, Ryder, how's it going?"

  "Great. I heard my boss solved a murder case," Ryder boasted.

  Briggs' brown eyes were smiling at me. "That she did. And I've come to take her to lunch as a reward."

  "And because you are bored out of your mind," I added.

  "That too." He took my hand. "Let's go button-nosed Sherlock. You can fill me in on just how you solved a case long before the police. Maybe I'll learn something."

  Port Danby Cozy Mystery #11

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  About the Author

  If you enjoyed Sunflowers and Sabotage please consider leaving a quick review. Each and every review, no matter how long is incredibly helpful and greatly appreciated.

  London Lovett is author of the Port Danby, Starfire and Firefly Junction Cozy Mystery series. She loves getting caught up in a good mystery and baking delicious, new treats!

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