Lemon Curd & Murder

by Susan Gillard

  “I keep that in another room,” Greg said, quickly. “Now, what’s this about a murder?”

  “You’re familiar with The Cat’s Claw Museum?” Heather asked.

  “Of course,” said Greg.

  "You were the diver that found The Cat’s Claw treasure that the museum was founded on?” continued Heather. “You found the gold coins and the golden cat statue?”

  "That's right," Greg said.

  “A man of few words,” Amy commented.

  “Where did you find the wreckage?” asked Heather.

  “I found it on a dive,” Greg said.

  “All right, this is getting frustrating,” said Amy.

  “Where exactly?” asked Heather.

  “I don’t have to reveal that to you,” he said.

  “Or is it that you can’t reveal it?” asked Heather. “You can’t reveal where you found the treasure because you didn’t find the treasure?”

  "What do you mean? Of course, I found the treasure,” he said. “It was all right there in the museum.”

  "Can you explain to us why a local antique expert told us that a gold coin from the display is a fake?"

  “Didn’t you talk to Dr. P. Jefferson? He’s the one you should really talk to,” Greg said. “He authenticated the treasure. He said it was the real deal.”

  “That’s a funny thing,” Heather said. “Detectives Shepherd and Peters have been trying to track down Dr. P. Jefferson all morning after we told them about the coin, and with no success. It’s almost as if he didn’t exist.”

  “Of course, he exists,” Greg said. “He signed the forms of authenticity. He’s a real big shot archeology doctor.”

  “Then why has no one else heard of him?” Heather pressed.

  “Look, I’m just a diver. I’m not an expert on finding experts. I’m not the person you should be asking these questions to.”

  “You didn’t suggest Dr. P. Jefferson as the person to authenticate your findings?” Heather asked.

  “Maybe I did,” Greg said. “Why does this matter?”

  “Because we’re trying to catch a murderer,” Heather said. "A professor died in the museum, and we're trying to figure out why."

  "He should never have come here," Greg said. "I told Donna there was no reason to bring another expert in. Why did this one-year celebration need another expert? What were we even celebrating anyway? I’m running out of money. I don’t think she made a lot at the museum. She was just keeping it open out of love.”

  “Why did she want to bring in an expert?” asked Heather.

  “She thought it would be good for the event to have an expert there to talk about the treasure. And she loved people with credentials, so she went and got a professor from a fancy school to come down. She wanted to bring Dr. P. Jefferson in, but she couldn’t get ahold of him.”

  “And why couldn’t she get ahold of him?” Heather asked.

  “Do you already know?” asked Greg. He sighed as the women stared at him. “She couldn’t get in touch with him because he wasn’t real. I made him up to validate the treasure that I found.”

  “But the treasure was fake?”

  “I wanted fame and fortune,” Greg said. “I had a friend who could make sculptures and convinced him to make a cat statue like in the stories. And we made some pirate coins. I dived down one day and pretended that I found it all.”

  “And you got away with it?” asked Amy.

  "Some people were skeptical," said Greg. "But that's why we made up the doctor to authenticate everything, and then Donna Sanders became an advocate for me. My friend took his share of the money and left town, but I wanted to stay here where people thought I was special. I was a celebrity for a while, but then it became annoying. This guy Big CC kept pestering me about where I found the treasure because he wanted to get the rest of it."

  "And so, Professor Wattleson arriving in town would ruin your whole con?” Heather said.

  “I tried to convince Donna we didn’t need an expert. I thought I succeeded until she told me he was arriving in town that day. She thought I would be happy about the surprise,” Greg scoffed.

  “You know the layout of The Cat’s Claw Museum pretty well, don’t you?” Heather asked.

  “It was practically dedicated to me,” Greg said. “Of course, I know the layout. The first month or two it was open, I went there every single day so people could congratulate me.”

  “On finding a fake treasure?” Amy said.

  "What did you think of Professor Wattleson when you met him?" asked Heather.

  "I didn't meet him," Greg Rowell said. "Wait a minute. Do you think I did it? Do you think I killed him?"

  “Quieting the professor about to announce your fraud to the world?” Heather asked. “You don’t think that would qualify as a motive?”

  “I think I should use the last of my money and get a lawyer,” Greg said.

  “Don’t you want to tell us about your alibi the night of the murder?” Heather asked.

  “No,” Greg Rowell said. “I want my lawyer.”

  Walking

  Heather was lost in thought, even though she was not lost in location. She was walking Dave on a nearby beach, and he was happy to feel his paws in the sand. Lilly was walking Cupcake on a leash ahead of her, and the kitten was practicing her pouncing. Ryan was at her side. Amy and Jamie were walking the dog that they still maintained were only fostering and not adopting, and Miss Marshmallow was stepping daintily on the sand.

  If it weren’t for the murder case weighing on her mind, it would be a perfect evening.

  “A penny for your thoughts?” Ryan asked.

  "They're not even worth a penny," Heather said. "They're so jumbled together. I'm just trying to make sense of this case."

  “It sounds like a tricky one,” Jamie said. “Amy told me there was a murder that looked like an accident and robbery that really wasn’t?”

  “I think I put it more eloquently,” Amy said.

  "Do you have a lot of suspects?” Jamie asked.

  “Yes and no,” said Heather.

  “That does sound complicated,” said Jamie.

  "Well, there are a few suspects that we can discount," Heather said, thinking about it. "Out of the people that Professor Wattleson insulted when he arrived in town: the teenage girl Leslie would have had a hard time committing the murder, and Hope had an alibi at a Town Hall meeting."

  "I don't think either of them has a killer mentality anyway," Amy said.

  “Big CC also had a good alibi,” said Heather. “He wanted the treasure, but was babysitting the police chief’s kids at the time the crime was committed.”

  “Treasure Tom had a similar motive,” Amy said. “He was also obsessed with The Cat’s Claw treasure. But he was also the one who told us about the gold coin being fake.”

  “The lab confirmed what you found out from Greg Rowell,” Ryan told them.

  “Treasure Tom might not have known about the coins at the time of the robbery,” Heather said. “It’s possible he found out after.”

  “But I thought we established that the killer had to know that Professor Wattleson was there that night. The killer could see him through the windows,” said Amy.

  “True,” said Heather. “But maybe Treasure Tom went there to see the professor that night. Maybe he hoped that Professor Wattleson would allow him to help with the examination. Then, something caused him to snap. Either Professor Wattleson denying his request caused him to kill him, and then he covered it up. Or discovering that the treasure he coveted was fake drove him to do something desperate.”

  “I’d hate to think that someone with the first name Treasure is guilty,” Jamie said.

  "It does make him sound more like a pirate though," said Amy.

  “Greg Rowell also had a strong motive,” said Heather.

  “We’ll book him for fraud, but I want to find out if we’re going to add a murder charge to it too,” said Ryan.

  “Greg Rowell knew that the coins
were fake the whole time,” Heather said. "He might have gone to the museum to stop Professor Wattleson from finding out the truth about the treasure. He killed him to silence him and then took the treasure to hide the evidence of the motive."

  "The treasure being discovered as a fake would also hurt Donna Sanders's business," Ryan pointed out.

  "I don't see her as a cold-blooded killer," Heather said. "But you're right. If she knew the treasure was fake, then she would probably make more money by collecting the original insurance she had put on the items after they were stolen rather than by letting them decrease in value when their fraud was discovered."

  "There's also the surfer,” Amy said.

  Heather nodded. "Jackson Snow almost got into a fistfight with the professor the day he died, and he doesn't have a real alibi for the time it happened."

  “He could have followed Professor Wattleson to the museum and then waited until the coast was clear. Surfer pun intended,” said Amy.

  “Jackson Snow also mentioned having money problems,” Heather said. “He didn’t know the treasure was fake. He could have thought that he was going to have lots of gold that he could sell.”

  “That would make the crime doubly good for him,” said Amy. “Killing a guy he didn’t like and getting some gold.”

  Heather sighed. “You see what I mean? There are too many suspects this time around.”

  “Any other evidence to help point you in the right direction?” asked Jamie.

  "I canvassed the neighborhood," Ryan said. "Nobody noticed anything out of the ordinary. It is a museum, so there have been people that visited if this week, but nobody stood out in anyone's memory. The only person who seemed odd was Professor Wattleson arriving, but he couldn't have killed himself in that way.”

  “Did Peters find any fingerprints on the glass?” asked Heather.

  “He found Donna’s on one piece,” said Ryan. “But she did work at the museum, so that’s not unusual. The killer could have been wearing gloves at the time too.”

  "No other clues?” asked Jamie.

  “There was one coin found at the scene near where the sword was broken out of the display,” said Heather.

  "The only coin left behind," Amy said. "And good thing it was, or we might never have realized all the treasure was fake."

  “I wonder what it was doing next to the sword display case and not near the coin ones,” said Ryan. “I guess the killer must have dropped it when he ran away.”

  “It wasn’t near the others, was it?” Heather said.

  “Right,” said Amy. “Are you getting an idea about the case?”

  "I think so. It was found in a different spot,” Heather said, thinking aloud. “There was something different about this coin than all the others.”

  “And you know what that is?” asked Amy.

  “Yes,” said Heather. “I just figured out who the killer is.”

  A Heartfelt Talk

  “Heather, Amy,” Donna said as she opened the door to greet them. “Is this about the money I owe you for the samples I baked?”

  “Actually, we haven’t received that yet,” Amy said.

  “Not now,” Heather said to her friend.

  "I've just been so muddle-headed about everything," Donna said. "I haven't been able to make any decisions about what I should be doing next. I'm still very heartbroken about the museum."

  “We’re not here about the donut samples,” Heather said.

  “Then, you’re here about the case?” asked Donna. “Do you have any more questions for me?”

  “Just one,” Heather said, gently. “Would you like to confess?”

  “Confess?” Donna asked. “Confess to what? What would I confess to?”

  “To killing Professor Wattleson and robbing your museum,” said Heather.

  “What? Why, that’s crazy talk. I loved that museum more than anything.”

  "I know," said Heather. "And I think that's why you did it. I don't think you did it for the insurance money. I think you did it out of passion. And I think you've been feeling terrible about what you did since it happened."

  “What makes you think that I did it?” asked Donna, looking at the ground.

  “Once I considered it, the timing made more sense,” said Heather. “You could have used the sword to kill the professor first. Then you broke the display cases and stole the statue and coins. The final thing you did was to throw the cask through the front window and break it. This gave you plenty of time to get away from the scene of the crime before the police could arrive. You might actually have been back in your home when the security company called.”

  “And maybe actually in the shower like you said too,” said Amy. “If you had gotten blood on yourself.”

  "But the real mistake you made was losing your necklace," said Heather.

  “Where did I lose it?”

  “It was by the display case that held the sword. The coin you wore around your neck broke loose as you broke into the display case. That’s why it wasn’t near the other coins. It was never in the display with them.”

  “I thought I grabbed them all,” Donna said quietly.

  "You found out the treasure was fake?" Heather asked.

  Donna began to cry. "Professor Wattleson told me so, and he was so cruel about it. I thought bringing him in would make the celebration more wonderful, but it spoiled everything. The museum was my life, and he told me the treasure was a fraud. He called me fool for believing the diver and for believing in the story."

  “We know he could be mean,” Amy said.

  "The anger came upon me so quickly. I was furious at him both for destroying my dreams and for the way he was doing it. I grabbed the sword, and I stabbed him as he tried to run away. I couldn't believe what I'd done. I was going to call for help, but then, I realized that he was the only person who knew that the treasure wasn't real. There was no reason that anybody else needed to know. I packed the treasure up so I could get rid of it and no one else could analyze it. Then, I staged the museum to look like it was robbed."

  "And it wouldn’t hurt that the insurance company would cover you for everything that was taken from the museum,” Amy said. “The worthless fakes were providing value to you again.”

  “I didn’t want anyone to know how I had been fooled. I can’t believe Greg Rowell tricked me like this. I built a whole museum around his treasure, and it was all a lie. Looking back, I can see the signs. He was the one who directed me to Dr. P. Jefferson to authenticate the find. He was probably paid off by Rowell.”

  “He wasn’t a real person,” Amy said. “Greg Rowell made him up too.”

  “But he was very convincing,” Heather said. “And he had some help.”

  "He was also the one who convinced me not to trust Treasure Tom," said Donna. "I thought it was because he was involved with some shady people in town, but the real reason Greg Rowell didn't want me to show him the treasure close up was because Treasure Tom could have spotted them as fakes."

  “He did,” Heather agreed. “He was the one who led us down the right path.”

  "I can't believe I dropped a coin. They say that the cat statue is cursed. I didn’t believe in it before, but I think I do now. Even as a forgery, it’s brought me nothing but sorrow.”

  "Would you like to come to the police station with us and tell the detectives what you told us?" asked Heather.

  Donna moved to the mantle and looked at a picture of her husband.

  “I wanted the story of The Cat’s Claw to be true because it made me feel closer to Davey. We both loved the story and searched for the treasure. I really did think it was a sign that everything was going to be all right when Greg Rowell found the treasure. I thought it was my Davey looking out for me. I didn’t realize that it was a young man playing an evil trick on me. I was so easily manipulated.”

  “It’s not your fault for believing his lie,” Heather said. “But you’ll have to take responsibility for what you did after learning the truth from the
professor.”

  “Davey, I’m so sorry,” Donna said, touching a frame. Then, she hurried away and opened her closet door.

  Heather panicked for a moment, thinking that she had misjudged the situation and made a mistake trying to talk to Donna. She was afraid Donna was reaching for a weapon, but instead, she showed them the golden cat statue.

  “I threw the coins into the sea where they belonged,” Donna said. “But I just couldn’t throw this away. Despite it all, I wanted it to be real. I so wanted it to be real.”

  Heather comforted the crying woman, knowing that she would willingly come to the station with them.

  The Lighthouse

  “It’s a good thing we’re not scared of heights,” Eva joked.

  Heather smiled. After a busy week, it felt good to spend time with her friends and family. They had started having Saturday outings to see famous sights around Key West so that they were sure to take advantage of everything their tropical home had to offer.

  They were Lighthouse Tower and Keeper's Quarter and were currently climbing up the eighty-eight steps of the lighthouse to see the view from the top.

  “It better be worth the climb,” Leila said. “My knees are not what they used to be.”

  “Are you kidding?” Lilly teased. “I saw you both dancing the lindy hop yesterday.”

  “That was yesterday,” said Leila.

  “I’m just glad that this outing has nothing to do with pirates,” Amy said. “I could use a break from them for a while.”

  “The lighthouses were used to keep all sort of ships from crashing into the shore,” Jamie said. “Even pirates.”

  Amy stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend.

  Ryan was a step behind Heather on the stairs. He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Are you doing okay?”

  “Climbing? It’s not my favorite type of exercise,” Heather said. “But I’m doing okay.”

  “And with everything else?”