by K. M. Morgan
With all those suspects to juggle, it made Daisy’s head spin. She needed to get some food in her belly. If there was one thing she’d learned in life, it was that intelligent thoughts were hard to come by on an empty stomach.
***
Before feeding her taste buds, Daisy made her way to the ground floor bathroom located just next to the kitchen. Daisy ended up getting more than she bargained for. She heard voices talking just outside the bathroom window.
It was the gardener Matthew Madsen and Luke’s daughter Bridget. Daisy ducked below the windowsill to stay out of their sight, yet she remained just close enough to listen in on the conversation. What Daisy heard was amazing.
Outside the window…
Matthew stood in front of the garden and sounded all too happy that Bridget stuck her neck out for him in front of the detective.
“Thanks for saving my hide back there,” Matthew said.
“Of course. I’d do anything for you,” Bridget admitted.
Daisy couldn’t see Bridget’s face, but it didn’t take much to imagine what her expression was. Bridget clearly had the hots for Matthew.
Matthew had flirted his way around the block and back, so getting attention from women young or old was nothing new to him. He was the most dangerous kind of hunk—one who knew the sway his rippling biceps held over women.
“Anything?” Matthew asked.
“Anything and everything,” Bridget boasted.
Bridget seemed to be taking lines straight out of a romance novel. She sounded like she had a serious case of goo goo eyes. She was practically falling all over Matthew.
“That’s good to know,” Matthew replied.
Matthew could not have seemed less interested in Bridget.
It wasn’t terribly surprising to Daisy. Matthew didn’t seem like the type of guy who would be interested in a mousy, bratty, odd shaped woman like Bridget. On top of that, she had the kind of abrasive personality that drove gold digging men away, even despite all the money her father had.
Bridget was not deterred by Matthew’s lack of interest. She’d set her sights on him, and was ready to make her move. Bridget then leaned in and kissed him.
Daisy heard their lips smacking.
Ugh.
Daisy was trying to investigate a murder case. She had no interest in catching a live action soap opera-style smoochfest.
Something unexpected then happened. Matthew pulled back from the kiss.
Bridget’s lips were all too disappointed. “What are you doing?”
“I just wasn’t expecting that,” Matthew replied.
He clearly wasn’t into her. Daisy could hear it plain as day. Apparently Bridget was the only one who didn’t realize it. Or maybe she just didn’t want to admit the truth.
“Some of the best things in life are unexpected,” Bridget insisted.
She then threw herself at him again and planted a big kiss on his lips.
Matthew wasn’t having it though. He pulled back and tried to let her down easy.
“Look. I’m sorry. It’s just not going to happen between us,” Matthew explained.
“Oh really? Do you realize what I just did for you back there? The police were going to arrest you,” Bridget argued.
“I know that, and I’ve said thank you,” Matthew replied.
Bridget scoffed. “Thank you is not good enough. There’s one thing I want, and I’m going to get it. You owe me this.”
Bridget then forced herself on Matthew again. She leaned in and gave him a long, deep kiss.
“Face it, you’re mine now. I’m going to do whatever I want with you,” Bridget said.
“Or what?” Matthew asked.
“Or I’ll change my story with the police.”
Matthew grew angry. “You wouldn’t.”
“Try me. I could call up that detective right now. Or, you could kiss me like you mean it,” Bridget said.
“Are you blackmailing me?” Matthew asked.
“Blackmail is such a dirty word. I prefer to think of it as getting what I want. Now, what do you say you kiss me long and hard?” Bridget replied.
Matthew mulled over his options, then planted a deep kiss on Bridget’s lips.
“That’s more like it. Now why don’t we take this to the bedroom?” Bridget suggested.
Daisy then heard Matthew and Bridget walk away.
Wow.
Daisy’s mind was racing even more now than before. Matthew seemed to definitely be hiding something. The man clearly didn’t want Bridget to go to the police.
Of course, that didn’t make him a killer. It was far from making him seem innocent either.
Then again, Bridget wasn’t coming out smelling like roses either. She had no problem blackmailing Matthew, but what else was she capable of? Murder hardly seemed out of the question.
Bridget certainly had a killer instinct. She seemed to have a zero sum approach to life. Someone who viewed everything as a transaction.
They both had motive, but did either actually commit murder? It was too early to tell. One thing it wasn’t too early for was breakfast. Although after what she’d just heard, Daisy was lucky not to have lost her appetite.
Chapter Fifteen
Daisy thought breakfast would give her a chance to recharge her brain and quietly reflect on the case. Instead, drama was waiting for her. When she arrived at the table, Kara was already sitting down, as was Luke’s son Eric. Bridget was absent—although Daisy already knew the heavy-breathing reason why.
No one else seemed to mind or care that Bridget was a no show. Kara and Eric’s attention was elsewhere—namely on Eric’s surprising guest.
Eric’s girlfriend Sasha Sanderson sat next to him at the table, much to Kara’s dismay. When Luke was alive, Eric was wary of bringing his romantic squeeze by the house because he knew it set his father into a fit of rage. Eric would go out and meet Sasha at the door or somewhere in town.
Now that Luke was dead however, Eric apparently had no problem flaunting his girlfriend. He didn’t give a thought to what his step mother thought.
As for Sasha herself, she seemed to hate being caught in the middle. She was a pretty woman in her mid-twenties with an athletic build, long curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and plenty of freckles to spare. She tried not to make much of a fuss. She let her boyfriend do that instead.
As Daisy took a seat at the table, she hoped food could take center stage. After all, the breakfast Anna prepared looked delicious. There were fluffy, buttery pancakes, crispy hash browns, cheesy eggs, and more than a few muffins calling her name.
Unfortunately, Daisy’s taste buds were overshadowed by the looming standoff between Kara and Eric.
“How dare you bring her here?” Kara said.
Uh oh. Daisy could tell things were about to get ugly.
Eric was just as vehement with his response. “Her? Sasha is my girlfriend.”
Daisy saw that Sasha looked just as uncomfortable at the table she did. They were both nothing more than spectators of the duel going on in front of them.
“You know your father didn’t approve of you dating her, no less bringing her to our dining room table,” Kara argued.
“Yeah. Well, dad’s dead,” Eric replied.
Daisy got queasy when she heard that response. Eric’s father had been murdered just hours before and the killer was still on the loose, yet Eric was so flip about it. How disgusting. Daisy didn’t even see the slightest bit of remorse on his face. She couldn’t believe it.
Kara was outraged. “I can’t believe you. Your father was just murdered. Show his memory some respect.”
Eric was defiant. “I don’t have to listen to you.”
“Oh yeah you do. I may just be your step mother, but this is my house now.”
“We’ll see about that. Last time I checked my father’s will, his property and assets were to be divided three ways, not one.”
Oh dear. These seemed to be more than just the ranting’s of a spoiled rich ki
d. The more Daisy heard Eric talk, the more it seemed like he had a screw loose.
Kara was completely flabbergasted. “You keep tabs on your father’s will?”
“It’s important to keep your eyes on the important things in life,” Eric replied.
Eric seemed to have ice water running through his veins.
Even though Kara had lived in the same house as Eric for years, she was floored by this cutthroat side to him.
“I still can’t believe you’re talking about money at a time like this.”
“Are you kidding? I’ve been looking forward to getting my inheritance all my life. Now it’s finally on the way,” Eric declared.
By this point, even Eric’s girlfriend seemed put off by his shameless money grubbing. She was squirming uncomfortably in her seat.
“How could you be so cold and heartless? Have some decency,” Kara said.
Eric made no apologies. “Spare me the lecture about mourning over my self-proclaimed ‘genius’ father. Just because he loved himself, doesn’t mean I loved him.”
Daisy thought things couldn’t get any worse. Eric had found a way to pour gasoline on the fire, then dance around with pyrotechnic glee.
Kara became livid. She freely admitted there was no love lost between her and her cheating husband, but she also wasn’t about to let some fully grown spoiled brat assassinate the man’s character either. “How dare you talk about your father that way? He gave you everything.”
“Everything?” Eric laughed. “Hardly. All he gave me was money. That’s a poor substitute for love, or for the broken childhood he left me with. The man cared more about brush strokes on a canvas than me—or my mother for that matter.”
“I’m not just going to sit here and let you badmouth him like this,” Kara replied.
“Let’s not all pretend like we didn’t have a reason to want him dead,” Eric said.
Daisy didn’t think things could get worse. Eric seemed to be digging for all new lows however.
Surprisingly, just as things were getting dangerously out of hand, it was Eric’s girlfriend Sasha who spoke up. She tugged on Eric’s shirt and spoke softly to him.
“Maybe you should cool down,” Sasha suggested.
That only got Eric worked up even more. “Are you on my side, or hers?”
“Of course I’m on your side. I just think maybe this isn’t the right time nor place for this conversation,” Sasha explained.
Kara had her own thoughts on the topic. “When is the right time to accuse family members of wanting someone dead?”
“Don’t pretend like you didn’t hate my father’s guts. I know you couldn’t stand the man,” Eric said.
Kara wasn’t about to put up with accusations being flung her way. “Speaking of, you had plenty of reasons to want your father dead yourself. After all, he was about to take your inheritance away from you.”
Eric got really defensive. “I don’t have to listen to this.”
“What’s the matter? Did I hit a little too close to the bone?” Kara asked.
Things got a little too hot under the collar for Eric. Suddenly, he wanted to be anywhere but at that table. He got up and turned to his girlfriend.
“Come on Sasha. We’re out of here,” Eric insisted.
Eric then stormed out of the room with his girlfriend.
That left just Daisy and Kara at the table.
“That was like watching a dumpster fire,” Kara said.
Daisy tried to comfort her friend. “Try not to let him get to you too much. Eric is clearly a very disturbed man.”
Kara was too caught in her own thoughts to listen. She only had one thing on her mind. “I need some air.”
“I’ll come with you,” Daisy said.
“No. I want to be alone,” Kara insisted. She then rushed off.
Suddenly Daisy was all by her lonesome in front of a stack of food. She sighed. What a wild turn of events. Not to mention, what a waste of perfectly fluffy pancakes.
Chapter Sixteen
Daisy respected Kara’s wishes and let her have some time to herself. Meanwhile, Daisy’s empty stomach got the best of her. Even though all the badmouthing at the table left a sour grapes taste in Daisy’s mouth, the food itself was delicious.
Once she got done eating, Daisy decided to check up on Kara. As Daisy entered the kitchen however and looked out the window, she didn’t see Kara anywhere outside. How odd.
One person Daisy did see however was the maid. Anna Antonelli stood at the dishwasher.
Daisy had been meaning to talk with the Anna anyway, so she figured why not do that now?
Daisy had some serious questions for Anna. She decided to slowly ease into her sleuthing. She figured if she buttered the maid up, maybe she’d let a detail slip.
“Anna, just the woman I’ve been looking for,” Daisy said.
Anna seemed more interested in loading the dishwasher than talking.
“Really?” Anna replied.
“Yeah. I wanted to give my compliments to the chef,” Daisy revealed.
“Oh. Well thank you very much,” Anna said.
“I especially loved that chicken broccoli casserole from yesterday. It tasted amazing. Do you happen to have the recipe for it?”
“Actually, I do.”
“I’d love to have it. I think that’s the best casserole I’ve ever had. You really are a wizard in the kitchen,” Daisy said.
That should butter her up really good. She probably hadn’t heard a compliment like that in a long time.
Anna threw Daisy for a loop though and refused to take the credit.
“To be honest, it’s my mother-in-laws recipe,” Anna said.
“Well, either way it’s a fantastic recipe,” Daisy said.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Anyway, I wanted to make sure and come by and tell you how much I love your cooking. I figure you don’t get a lot of appreciation around here.”
Once again, Anna remained understated with her response. “It’s a maid’s responsibility to do her job, not go around expecting appreciation.”
“I know one person in this house who appreciated you.”
“Who?”
“Luke Longwell. The man was clearly wild about you,” Daisy said.
Daisy went out of her way to misspeak, hoping for a reaction. Finally she got one.
Anna tensed up at the mention of Luke. Maybe now Daisy could get somewhere.
Anna was awfully defensive with her answer. “Why do you say that?”
“I meant your cooking,” Daisy corrected.
Anna put on a fake smile. “Right. Of course. He really liked my cooking.”
“It’s a shame what happened to him, isn’t it?” Daisy asked.
Anna nodded. She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t find the words.
Daisy pressed on. “I meant for him to be murdered like that. What kind of a sick, twisted person would do such a thing?”
“I don’t know,” Anna replied.
Daisy knew she had to keep pushing. The more emotional people got, the more likely they were to let things slip.
“I just don’t understand why anyone would want to kill him. Do you?” Daisy asked.
“Look around. Everyone in the family seemed to have a reason to want him dead,” Anna said.
“How about you?” Daisy wondered.
“Mr. Longwell was very good to me. I’m very sad about his death,” Anna answered.
Anna then changed the subject.
“Anyway, I really have some work I need to get to,” Anna added. She then scurried off.
“Alright. I’ll talk to you later,” Daisy said.
Daisy hoped to get a few more answers than that. On top of that, with Anna running off, Daisy wasn’t able to get the recipe she was looking for either. What a shame too, because that was a delicious casserole.
Chapter Seventeen
Daisy set off to find Kara. She had no idea where she’d wandered off to. Dais
y figured by now maybe Kara would have had sufficient time to cool off—or be three sheets to the wind.
Poor woman. First her cheating husband had been murdered, then her ungrateful step son had gone off on her.
While Daisy understood why Kara would want some time to herself alone, there was no underestimating the power of having an old friend around either. Daisy looked outside again, but there was still no sign of Kara.
Next Daisy returned to the dining room in an attempt to track down her friend. She had no luck there either. Where had Kara gone?
Daisy started wandering through the house in search of her. Unfortunately, with a house this size, Kara could be anywhere. Still, Daisy had to make sure her friend wasn’t having an emotional meltdown.
As Daisy wandered through the house, she stumbled upon a different scene entirely. While walking in the hallway, she overheard voices arguing in a nearby bedroom. The voice belonged to Eric and his girlfriend Sasha.
The bedroom door was mostly closed, all but for a crack. That small opening was enough to clearly hear what the couple was saying.
Daisy stopped in her tracks and hid out of sight, but listened in on their conversation.
Inside the bedroom…
Eric was still bent out of shape. Sasha tried to keep him from blowing his top any further.
“You need to calm down,” Sasha insisted.
“Can you believe the nerve of that hussy? She practically accused me of murder back there,” Eric ranted.
“You know what? Why don’t I give you a shoulder rub? That should put you in a better frame of mind,” Sasha said.
Eric wouldn’t hear of it. His temper was burning red hot. “And by the way, what were you doing back there?”
Sasha was confused. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re my girlfriend. You should be taking my side on everything.”
“I do. If you didn’t notice, things were getting a little out of hand back there. I didn’t want you to say anything you might regret later.”