Turkey, Pies and Alibis (Sweetfern Harbor Mystery Book 5)

by Wendy Meadows

  “Nick Bernard, stop right where you are.” Nick jerked to a stop on the sidewalk, frozen at the cop’s voice. He was so close to the car. Another several paces and he would have been safe.

  He heard the click of the safety on the gun. “Hands on your head,” the cop said in a warning voice as he moved toward Nick cautiously.

  Nick slowly let his hands drift upward. He glanced at the distance to the driver’s side of the car. There was no way he would make it in time to get away. Then he relaxed. He had never been charged before. Whatever this small-town cop thought he had, the charges wouldn’t stick this time, either. His luck would hold.

  “You are under arrest for the murder of Meredith Waters and for grand theft.” The cop read him his rights. Flashing lights from at least six patrol cars swung through the street in a circular motion. He bent his head and climbed into the backseat of the patrol car. He looked at the officer ready to close the door.

  “I don’t know anyone by the name of Meredith Waters. You have the wrong man,” he pleaded.

  The cop didn’t respond except to slam the door shut.

  When they brought Nick in, he grimaced when he saw the detective wearing the distinctive New York City badge. Brenda stood by Chief Bob Ingram as Nick was processed and walked to one of the interrogation rooms. By now, he surely knew he had no chances left.

  Detective Bryce Jones went into the room to question Nick Bernard as Brenda watched through the one-way glass. Bryce asked Nick if he was ready to make a statement about his crimes, but he didn’t seem convinced. He still seemed to think this would all pass him by, like water off a duck’s back.

  Just then, Mac Rivers came in from the police yard where his men had searched Nick’s car with a fine-toothed comb. His mouth set in a grim line, he walked into the interrogation room and wordlessly handed a folder to Bryce. Nick shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Bryce and Mac made him wait to hear what it was.

  “Well, Nick. It seems that your car had many secrets. We found enough money and jewelry stashed in those clever hidden panels to pay more than the yearly salaries of every detective here.”

  With that revelation, Mac masterfully laid out the facts. The New York City detective’s warrant had him dead to rights on felony grand theft, and with this new evidence he wasn’t getting out of jail time any time soon. “Mr. Bernard, you can fight this with a lawyer all you want, but let’s be real. Felony grand theft is not the problem here. Nothing short of a full confession about the murder of Meredith Waters, a.k.a. Rachel Bernard, will sway any judge to believe you are anything but a cold-blooded murderer.”

  Mac’s words hung in the air. As Brenda watched, Nick scratched his chin tiredly as he contemplated his situation. The energy seemed to drain out of him into the floor, and the boyish smirk finally vanished. When asked if he wished to have an attorney present, Nick waived his rights. Mac asked him if he was ready to confess, and this time Nick was ready.

  “I didn’t kill Rachel on purpose. We had an argument. She wanted to get a close look at the floats down at that workshop for some stupid reason. She was holding out on me. I knew she had stashed some money somewhere and I figured she was getting ready to go out on her own,” he said. He leaned back as if reminiscing over drinks.

  “No one was out in the workshop at the time. She was acting real sneaky, she thought she could slip away, just like that. I confronted her about the money she stashed. We fought and…it got physical. I slapped her, and she slapped back. I hit her again, harder, I pushed her hard, and she fell against the float.” His eyes glazed over as if remembering that moment. Mac and Bryce watched him silently and Brenda, behind the glass, held her breath. “I realized then that I’d gone too far. She was lifeless. I panicked and the only place to put her body was in that float. There wasn’t much time to think. I had seen one of the workers put the bin under the trap door of the one we stood by. I realized it would be big enough to hold a body. I saw the large sacks of candy waiting to go into the containers.”

  “So you are telling me you were alone in that workshop during this altercation?” Mac drilled him.

  “For a few minutes it was just the two of us. It was all an accident. I had no intention of killing her. I’m not a cold-blooded murderer, I just…we had a fight that got out of hand, you know? When it happened, I had to think fast. I dumped her in the container under the trap door of the float. I know it was dumb,” Nick said, looking down at his hands. “I’m not proud of it, but I opened a bag of the candy and poured a bunch in on top of her. I guess the workers came back in later and finished filling the candy bins not knowing she was in there.”

  As Brenda watched through the one-way mirror, Mac and Bryce painstakingly walked Nick Bernard through his story and confirmed each and every detail. By the end of the interrogation, they felt they knew the full truth and easily read between the lines of the long, doubtful retelling of events by Nick Bernard. He might not be a cold-blooded killer, but he was a man of despicable morals who had stooped to vile behavior and low instincts when threatened.

  It was over an hour later when the two detectives stepped out of the interrogation room. Brenda watched as Nick Bernard wrote out and signed the confession statement, his eyes darting around the room as if he still hoped to get away with one last thing. Brenda shuddered in disgust and turned to go.

  Mac hurried to catch up with Brenda. “Wait, Brenda, we need to talk.” Brenda’s heart lurched. His voice was filled with remorse and he pleaded with his eyes. “I’m sorry I kept your father as a prime suspect on my list. Can we mend things and get back to where we were?”

  “Mac, I know you were just doing your job. I was positive my father had nothing to do with any of it, but I knew you were doing what you had to do. I’m so relieved it is all over now. I want things back to normal, too.”

  He rushed to her and hugged her tight. “Then let’s say it is,” he said. “We’ll celebrate at the big Thanksgiving dinner at William’s tomorrow night and you and Phyllis can talk and plan all you want about the weddings coming up. William and I will not be allowed to make a comment about it unless invited to.”

  Brenda laughed. “First thing tomorrow morning I’m going to Wally Doyle’s workshop to start dismantling the float.”

  Mac looked at the sky. “I see morning light is already here. You’d better go home and get some sleep. I’ll help out later with that project. How about just after noon? That will give you time to get caught up on your sleep, Detective Sheffield.”

  She laughed at his words. “I’m the owner of Sheffield Bed and Breakfast and not a detective, not by a long shot.”

  “That’s not what Chief Ingram has in mind, but whatever you say. I do love you, Brenda.” He bent to kiss her and she felt his touch warming her all the way home.

  When Brenda walked in the door, Phyllis looked up with surprise. “I thought you were in bed. Where have you been?”

  Brenda gave her an abbreviated summary of her all-night adventures. “I’m headed for bed now. Mac is going to meet me this afternoon to take the float apart. Then I’m coming back to bake that pumpkin pie for William like I promised.”

  Phyllis encouraged her to leave things to her and the staff. “Get rested up. We have a big party.” Brenda thanked her and yawned, saying she would do just that.

  Phyllis called up to Brenda as she ascended the staircase. “By the way, congratulations on winning the float contest.”

  Brenda paused and turned around. “I won?”

  Phyllis grabbed the shiny golden trophy and the large envelope of money from behind the front desk. She waved it up at her. “I’ll lock it up for safekeeping. Now go to bed. You can bask later.” A weary smile spread across Brenda’s face as she took in the sight of her prizes.

  Brenda wondered if Mac had gotten the good news. She decided he must not know yet, but right now she needed sleep. She didn’t spend longer basking. That would come later. As soon as Brenda replaced her clothes with warm fleece sweats, she flopped onto her bed
and snuggled under her coverlet. Through the curtains of her room, the light of the moon was slowly overtaken by the dim blue glow of dawn. It didn’t take long for sleep to overcome her.

  She awoke when she heard guests’ voices out in the hall, comparing finds from specialty shops in town. Brenda stretched luxuriously and gazed at the autumn sunlight streaming in her windows through the lace curtains. The bedside clock read eleven-thirty. She threw off the coverlet and headed for her shower.

  “You look much better,” Phyllis said when she found Brenda sifting through the mail at the front desk with Allie. “Looks like you got some sleep. I’m having lunch in my apartment. Do you want me to grab a plate from the kitchen for you and you can join me?”

  “That sounds great. I’ll fill you in some more about last night’s happenings.” Both knew that was Phyllis’s primary reason for the private lunch invitation. When Brenda arrived in Phyllis’s apartment in the rear of the house, she sighed happily. “I can’t believe Sheffield Bed and Breakfast won the contest.” It finally hit Brenda and happiness spread through her like warm sunshine.

  Once they settled in her comfortable small dining room, Phyllis told her to spill it all.

  “First of all, the Bernards are actually thieves. Not only that, but Nick Bernard murdered Rachel Bernard, a.k.a. Meredith Waters, who was not even his wife.” Phyllis gaped. Brenda continued with details about their various crimes and cons across the country that had finally led to Nick’s capture. At the end, Phyllis said, “What a story, Brenda! I wonder if they took your three hundred dollars, too.”

  “It’s very possible. I know the police are still finding valuables they stole. I was told there was quite a bit of cash hidden in various areas of Nick’s car.” She glanced at her watch and swallowed the last sip of her raspberry iced tea. “I have to run now and meet Mac at Wally’s.”

  “That’s okay,” Phyllis said. “I have plenty to digest other than my lunch.”

  Brenda waved over her shoulder. The first thing she had to tell Mac was that their hard work on the float paid off. There was a lot to celebrate later at William Pendleton’s dinner.

  Chapter Ten

  Continuing Saga

  When Brenda got to the workshop, Mac pulled in at the same time. He was happy to see her rested and told her so. “That sleep did me good,” she said. “I’m ready to tackle this float now.” Her eyes gleamed. “You don’t even know yet…our float won!” His look of surprise answered her statement.

  “Of course we won,” he said as he placed his arm around her slender shoulders.

  “You didn’t know for sure until I told you,” Brenda teased him back. She quietly leaned into him as they walked in together, savoring the moment. “Italy will be a lot of fun.”

  Wally Doyle greeted them, and he and Mac lifted the Sheffield House replica off the back of the float. All three carted down the empty candy bins sitting on either side of the float. They climbed up on Mac’s side of the float and dismantled the Thanksgiving table and chair where Phyllis and William had dined.

  “What about the wooden food on here?” Wally asked, holding up a whittled turkey drumstick with a grin.

  “I guess we could use it again next year,” Brenda said. She looked the items over. “If we don’t use them I want to keep them anyway. Mac is the artist here. What do you think, Mac?”

  “If you want to keep it, sure. If not, I can make more next year for you.”

  “I’ll keep it all. It will remind me of our first float built together. Besides, I want to keep everything you make.”

  The remaining item was the hidden bin that once held the dead body of Meredith Waters. Brenda moved first. “We may as well face it. I say we send this bin to headquarters in case you need it, Mac.”

  “No, we are finished here. All forensics have been done and we have enough photos to convict Nick Bernard.”

  “Then we pitch it.” Brenda’s lips pursed. “It’s probably a biohazard anyway.” She opened the lid and the sunlight filtering through the high windows shone down into the once dark bin. “Wait,” she said, stooping to look closer. “I think I see something down there.”

  Mac stood over the trap door and looked in. He pulled gloves from his back pocket and put them on. Leaning over, he grasped a velvet bag. He tried to force it from its snug fit in the dark corner of the box.

  “I wonder if Meredith had this on her the night of the murder and Nick didn’t see it. I doubt he would have left behind a bag of money and jewelry.” He lifted the bag and then reached behind it when he felt something else. “Looks like the dead woman’s purse at last.” He pulled it out carefully and laid it out on a nearby plastic tarp. They decided not to open it. “It probably has her ID in it, though who knows which name is on it. Probably some fake cards with it as well.”

  “Nick did think Meredith was stashing some money somewhere,” Brenda said. “Maybe she hid it here and planned to come back for it when no one was around.” Brenda asked Mac to open the velvet pouch. “How much money is that?” She pointed to a tight rubber-banded roll of bills. He took it out and flipped through, counting it.

  “It is an even three hundred dollars.” He looked at Brenda in sudden realization. “I’ll bet this is the money that went missing from your register.”

  “I’m sure it is. There’s another big roll down in the bottom.” Mac pulled it out. Beneath that wad of money was a crumpled bank bag. The bag read Morning Sun Coffee. Brenda’s mouth opened in shock. Mac unzipped it with his gloved hands. “I don’t think Molly reported any money missing. There’s a lot in here.”

  “Phyllis didn’t say anything to me about her daughter missing money from her shop, either. Maybe she was like me and decided to search for it before reporting it.”

  Mac counted the bills in front of Brenda and Wally. “I’m sure it was meant for her nightly deposit but how did the thieves manage to steal it? I count almost seven hundred dollars here. It must have been what she took in on the day before the parade. That would have been her busiest day.” He decided to call Molly as soon as possible. The last of the findings consisted of two diamond rings and a matching bracelet to one of the rings. He had no idea who the owners were.

  “This float sure has been interesting to say the least,” Wally said. “I had no idea I had a fortune hiding right here in my shop.”

  “When we finish here, Brenda, we’ll go to the police station and catalog this money and the jewelry as evidence. Then Molly can come down and verify the amount she must be missing. Both of you will have it returned to you after that is done.”

  They finished the cleanup job and Wally offered to deliver the parts Brenda wanted to keep to the bed and breakfast later that afternoon. He would store the frame with the rest of the float frames in the large shed in back of the shop until needed again.

  “Let’s walk to the police station,” Brenda suggested. “We can pick up our cars later. It’s such a beautiful day.”

  Mac agreed after telling Brenda to stash the velvet bag into her large shoulder bag, along with the small clutch purse. When they got to the police station, Bryce pulled Mac aside to tell him something. Brenda went into Mac’s office and deposited the navy-blue velvet bag and purse on Mac’s desk. He returned with the chief and Bryce, Mac looking even more somber than before. Brenda assumed Bryce had given him more disturbing information about Nick Bernard. The officers and their chief catalogued the evidence and made a few phone calls to contact the other theft victims.

  Molly Lindsey was called in. She told them she was embarrassed to think she had been careless with that much money. Mac assured her she wasn’t at fault. She explained how she had put the bag on the shelf below the register. “I planned to take it to the bank as soon as my extra help came in that afternoon.” Molly was more than pleased to get her money back, as was Brenda. Brenda told Molly she would walk back down with her to get her car. “Are you coming, Mac? Or I could have Wally follow me back here with your car.”

  “I’ll walk wit
h you, but first I want to talk with you alone, Brenda.” She was surprised, but readily agreed.

  When she went into one of the interrogation rooms with him, they stopped just inside the room.

  “Did you know your father hasn’t left for Michigan yet?”

  Brenda stared at him. “I assumed he would leave once his name was cleared of suspicion.” Mac confirmed that an officer had called her father to let him know that a suspect had been detained and that he was free to return to Michigan. “Where is he?”

  Mac told her Bryce saw her father’s car at the Oceanside Motel. “I had Bryce follow him to make sure he didn’t skip town. I know you don’t like to hear that,” Mac winced a little, “but at the time I had no way of knowing his name would be cleared. Anyway, the motel proprietor said he checked in for a few days so he’s probably still there.” Brenda didn’t need to hear any more.

  “I’ll get my car and head for the Oceanside Motel right away.” Her heart beat faster. Mac squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Maybe there’s still time to mend fences that need mending,” she said.

  When she arrived at the well-kept motel on the edge of town, she saw her father’s car parked in front of one of the rooms. She took a deep breath and knocked on his door. He opened with a look of surprise on his face.

  “Dad, you should stay with me. It’s where you belong.” As she looked at his familiar, aged face, a thousand memories of holidays past sifted through her mind. “I need to get a pumpkin pie baked for dinner tonight at William’s. He’s expecting both of us so let’s get moving.” All she could do was smile and hold out her hand, like she was a kid again waiting for him to walk her to the top of the sledding hill.