“I went out with some friends for dinner, but then I was home alone the rest of the night. I played on my computer for a while and then went to bed.”
“A better alibi than Brogan’s,” Amy muttered. “But not as good as Larry’s.”
“It’s the truth,” said Rusty.
“Thank you for your help,” Heather said. “And for the shovel.”
“You were right,” Heather said once they were in the car. “We do have a car full of shovels.”
“Do you think one of them could be the murder weapon?” asked Amy.
“It’s hard to tell. They handed them over pretty easily. I don’t think most people would willingly give what they used to murder someone with to the police.”
“I guess at this point the killer might have disposed of the shovel. There’s plenty of ocean to throw it into.”
“Someone else about this case is bothering me,” said Heather. “And it’s the pictures.”
“That no one has a boat-themed castle?”
“Exactly. Where was the picture taken?”
“It is the only one we didn’t match.”
“Wait a second,” Heather said, thoughtfully. “We haven’t seen all the castles.”
“Ariel’s we saw through the window,” Amy agreed.
“And we never saw Larry Spooner’s sandcastle. He just told us it looked like a star.”
“Maybe we better go see it for ourselves,” Amy said with a smile.
Heather nodded and led the car toward Larry’s house. They knocked on his door. He wasn’t happy to see them.
“What now?”
“I know last time when we showed up you said that there was no way you were going to show us your castle,” said Heather. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to insist.”
“Why?”
“Because the pictures don’t match,” Amy said.
“Look, I handed you all the pictures I had from the drone.”
“And you told us that you were making the star-shaped castle,” said Heather. “But we’d like to see it for ourselves.”
Larry sighed and relented. He took them into his backyard and showed them his castle. It looked exactly like the star-shaped sandcastle in the picture.
“Are you happy?” he asked.
“Not really,” said Amy.
Heather agreed with the sentiment. Things weren’t adding up in this case. She needed to figure out why if she was ever going to catch the killer.
The Milburn
“A toast!” Josh said.
Heather raised her glass. As she looked around at the table, she saw many reasons to toast. She was surrounded by good friends, and everyone was smiling.
Everyone was dressed up to attend the fancy restaurant. Amy looked especially stunning in a gold dress that complimented her hair, and Josie looked radiant with joy. Eva and Leila had enjoyed dressing as if they were going to a ball, and Vincent had chosen a bowtie with hearts on it to celebrate the engagement.
Leila and Rudolph Rodney had been joking and chuckling amongst themselves all night. While Heather wasn’t sure that romance was blooming, it was clear that they were having a good time. Leila also wasn’t feeling like an old woman on this date.
Heather had enjoyed the wonderful food, feeling fancy in her dress, and talking with the people she loved. The only thing that she didn’t feel like toasting was that she didn’t have an answer to the murder case. However, she decided she could push off worrying about that for a few hours and focus on celebrating her friends’ engagement.
“I just want to say a few words,” Josh continued. “I’m pretty sure I’m the luckiest guy in the world. This amazing woman has agreed to be my wife, and I can’t wait to begin our life together. We’re surrounded by good friends at the table. One of whom I’ve known since school and has gotten me out of many scrapes, and I wouldn’t want anyone else standing by my side as my best man on my wedding day. Some other friends are new, but they did clear me of murder charges.”
Heather turned red but joined in the laughter.
“I’m proud to have each and every one of you here to celebrate with us,” Josh said. “So, I’d like to drink to everyone here. I hope that you are all part of our lives for a very long time.”
“Cheers!” Everyone called out and began clinking glasses together.
Heather took a sip of champagne and smiled.
“Also,” Josh added as an afterthought. “I’m grateful that I was able to find a restaurant that served food up to my standards.”
They all laughed again.
“My turn,” Josie said. She stood up and raised her glass to give another toast. “Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone here for being so supportive of our relationship and for welcoming me into their homes. And then, I’d like to thank the universe for sending Josh my way. Whenever I am with him, I feel like I’ve found a home. And so that’s what I’d like to toast to: home.”
There was another round of cheers and clinking.
“Should I say a speech?” Jamie asked.
Amy shook her head. “Save you material for the wedding day. That’s when you’re going to need to make a big one.”
“You’re right,” Jamie said, suddenly looking nervous. “I’ll have to make it good. I can’t mess it up.”
Amy put a hand on him reassuringly. “You’ll be fine.”
“I’m glad not everyone went around the table making toasts,” Ryan joked. “That amount of champagne would go to my head.”
“We wouldn’t want that,” Heather teased.
Rudolph Rodney turned to the couple. He thanked them for allowing him to join the party and then began chatting with them and asking questions.
“So, where are you living now?”
“We’re a few hours north of here,” Josh said. “On the mainland.”
“I know we can’t be that far away from the beach,” Josie said. “But we’re not surrounded by it in the same way you are. It’s so lovely here.”
“We’re still deciding on our living arrangements,” Josh said. “Does she want to move in with me? Should I go to her place? Should we look for a new house? Should we stay near where we met or move somewhere else? I’m wondering how long the kitchen I work at will want to keep me. I disagree with some of the recipes.”
“Luckily, I work from home so I can be flexible,” Josie said. “Isn’t that exciting? Our possibilities are endless.”
“But, first, we need to plan the perfect wedding.”
“As long as I’m marrying you, it will be perfect,” Josie insisted.
“Their sweetness is sickening,” Amy joked. “I’m glad we already ate.”
“I hope everyone saved room for dessert,” Josh said, taking his eyes off his love and addressing the group. “They’re not donuts, but I promise it will be good.”
Josh was true to his word. The dessert was delicious. It was a chocolate and raspberry mousse cake. Everyone wanted seconds but grudgingly admitted that they were all full.
“We’ll just have to come back sometime,” Amy said.
Heather nodded in agreement.
When they left The Milburn, Heather was in high spirits. It had been a lovely evening. She watched as Rudolph Rodney kissed Leila’s hand as they parted ways. She thought about using mousse in a new donut recipe.
She leaned against Ryan affectionately and enjoyed the cool night air as they headed to their car. Then, Ryan’s phone rang.
“Is that work?” asked Heather.
“I am off duty, but I told Peters to keep me updated if there were any breaks in the case.”
Heather nodded and waited anxiously as Ryan took the call. When he hung up, he had a serious expression on his face.
“A break?” asked Heather.
“We’ve had a tip from an anonymous caller. He said that he knew where the weapon that killed Mac Dugan is. It’s in someone’s shed.”
“Whose?”
“Your shop neighbor. Brogan.”
The Shed
“I hate investigating in high heels,” Amy said. “Especially in the sand.”
“I have an extra pair of flipflops in my car,” Heather said. She had already changed into the new shoes herself.
“No,” Amy said, sighing. “They would clash with this dress.”
“We’re going with Ryan and Peters to question a suspect and search for evidence. It doesn’t matter if it clashes.”
“It matters to me.”
Heather shook her head. She thought that Amy was just trying to lighten the mood in the car. Rushing off from a party to see if their neighbor killed a man was not what they had planned. Heather didn’t want to believe that Brogan was a murderer. He had always seemed so laid-back and kind. Could he really have killed someone over a sand castle?
“Do you think he’s the killer?” Amy asked.
“Let’s wait and see if this tip pans out before we make up our minds,” Heather said.
Ryan was in agreement on that. They drove to Brogan’s house and saw Detective Peters arriving at the same time they did. It was strange to see Peters in his detective clothes and Ryan in formal wear as they approached the door. Heather and Amy trailed behind them.
Brogan opened up after they knocked. “Whoa. Everybody looks fancy. Is there a party going on? Am I supposed to be somewhere? I guess I’m underdressed. I’ve just got on shorts and flipflops.”
“I told you that flipflops didn’t go with our outfits,” Amy whispered to Heather.
“We’re not here to take you to a party,” said Ryan.
“Bummer.”
“We’d like to ask you some questions.”
“Sure,” Brogan said. “Is this more about Mac Dugan’s death? Do I know something secret that I didn’t know I knew? Am I going to solve this case?”
“Would you mind showing us what’s in your shed?” asked Detective Peters.
“I guess not,” Brogan said. “There’s a good hammock there. There’s probably a lot of stuff that other people also use when making sandcastles too. Is that why you want to look? You want to see if something is missing from Mac’s? And since we’re, like, neighbors, I’m the person to ask.”
“You’re the person to ask,” Heather said, feeling a little guilty.
He turned on a light to shine in the yard and led them back like he had the first time. His castle was starting to look more finished.
“I was thinking that if I didn’t put a full roof on the castle that I could sit on the hammock in there and stare up at the stars,” he said.
“That’s what you were doing the night of Mac Dugan’s murder?” asked Heather.
“Yeah. That’s right. Though that was further down on the beach and not in my castle.”
“And you were alone?” Heather continued.
“Yup. Me and the sky.”
“Do we have permission to open your shed?” asked Ryan.
“Go ahead. It’s unlocked.”
The two detectives opened the door. Peters shined a flashlight inside, and Ryan searched the room. He exited the small shed with a remote control for a drone and a shovel with specks of red still on it.
“What are those?” Brogan asked.
“Looks like the murder weapon and what was stolen from the victim’s house,” said Peters.
“We’re going to have to place you under arrest,” Ryan said.
“Wait a minute,” Heather said. “Something seems wrong about this.”
“I’m sorry,” Ryan said. “But right now, there’s evidence that Brogan committed the murder. I can’t ignore it. I’m going to have to take him to the station.”
Ryan and Peters escorted a bewildered Brogan to Peters’s police cruiser. Heather and Amy headed to the car they arrived in.
“I don’t like this,” Heather said.
“Brogan doesn’t strike me as a killer either,” said Amy.
“We saw that he kept his shed unlocked,” Heather said, thinking aloud. “It’s possible that this evidence was planted.”
“To frame him.”
“Exactly,” said Heather. “We didn’t see the shovel or the drone remote the last time we were here. We didn’t go into the shed like Ryan did, but Brogan did open the door and drag a hammock out to put in his castle.”
“That doesn’t seem like he was hiding evidence there,” agreed Amy. “And why keep the drone remote in the shed? It’s little. It could go anywhere.”
“There’s something funny about the drone,” Heather said, leaning against the car. “I just can’t put my finger on it.”
“Let’s go through the suspects then,” suggested Amy.
“Okay. Well, there are six entrants in the sandcastle competition.”
“One of them was just led away by the police.”
“I know,” said Heather. “But he seems like the least likely candidate to me. I know he didn’t have a good alibi, but he also didn’t care about winning the contest. He only wanted to show off his hammocks. And he seemed to really admire Mac.”
“Then, who did do it?”
“Larry is the one entrant with a good alibi,” said Heather. “He was at the wedding.”
“Gardenia and Hank say that they were together,” Amy said. “After they changed their story.”
Heather nodded. “They might be telling the truth. Or one of them could be covering for the other one.”
“Or they could have killed him together.”
“Rusty doesn’t have a great alibi for later in the night either,” said Heather. “And he has the one castle design that wasn’t photographed.”
“Finally, there’s Ariel who had a real problem with Mac and also seemed to be going insane. I mean, she’s building a sandcastle inside her house!”
“She had a problem with Mac because she thought he was cheating,” Heather said. “And maybe he was.”
“Everyone seemed to think that it was his drone,” Amy agreed. “But it might not be.”
Heather nodded and tested out different scenarios. “Maybe the drone was Larry Spooner’s. Maybe he took a picture of his castle to distract us. And he didn’t take a picture of Rusty’s dinosaur castle because he didn’t think that the young newcomer was a threat.”
“But who made the boat castle?” asked Amy.
“Is it possible that Mac made it?” asked Heather. “His castle is the only one we never got to see.”
“I don’t know,” Amy said, frowning. “The boat was the only one that I didn’t like. And Mac was supposed to be the best. If he did that theme, I bet it would have looked more impressive.”
“I guess you’re right,” said Heather. “But then who made it?”
Amy shrugged. “But whoever made that one, I don’t think they’re impressing the dragon lady.”
“What?”
“You remember. Missy said that the celebrity judge was Mia Milo. She’s on a show with dragons.”
“You’re right!” Heather said. “Ames, I think you solved the case.”
“I did?”
“Yes. It’s all about the dragons.”
The Killer
“You’re back,” Rusty said.
“I wanted to return your shovel,” Heather said.
“You sure were quick with it,” he said.
“Well, honestly, we wanted to check and see if it was the murder weapon,” Heather admitted.
“But, then we got a tip and found the murder weapon in the shed of a suspect,” said Amy. “Sometimes you catch a break.”
“That’s great news,” Rusty said. “If the killer is caught, then there’s justice for Mac. And the contest can move forward.”
“We’ll just put the shovel away for you,” said Heather. “It was by the back fence?”
Rusty nodded and allowed them to go into his backyard. Heather placed the shovel where she had taken it from originally.
“Your castle is really coming along,” Amy said. “Though you do have a lot of similar types of dinosaurs. All the four-legged ones.”
; “They’re a herd,” Rusty said.
“Right,” said Amy. “That makes sense.”
“Well,” Rusty said, clapping his hands together and starting to look antsy. “Thanks for returning that. I should get back to work if that’s all you needed to do.”
“There is one more thing,” Heather said, reaching into her purse. She took out a photo and stared at it, comparing it to the yard.
“What’s that?” asked Rusty, trying to see what she was holding.
“I thought this looked familiar.”
Amy made sure that Rusty couldn’t get too close to Heather.
“What is it?” he asked.
“This is a picture that was taken from Mac’s drone machine,” said Heather. “It was him who was spying on the other projects just like everyone thought. He didn’t want to lose the year that the prize and accolades were so high.”
“That’s cheating,” Rusty said. “You should destroy those pictures.”
“We matched every picture to a sandcastle except one. There was a castle that looked like a boat. It had to be either yours or Mac’s. But you have a dinosaur castle.”
“That’s right. Mine is dino-themed.”
“But it used to look like a boat,” said Heather. “The picture didn’t only get the sandcastle in the picture. It also got some leaves from your tree and its shadow on the ground. This picture was taken in your backyard.”
“So what?” Rusty said, finally. “So what if I did change my design? There’s no law against that.”
“Not if you didn’t kill someone for the design,” Heather said.
“I didn’t kill anyone.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s not true,” said Heather.
“But you said that you caught the guy who did it,” Rusty said.
“No. That was just the person that you framed.”
“And you probably chose him because I made a stupid comment about his alibi,” said Amy. “I won’t be making a mistake like that again.”
“But, why would I frame anyone? Why would I kill anybody?”
“Your motive was simple. It was greed. You wanted to win the contest on TV and get the money,” said Heather. “You were trying to create your own entry, but you didn’t think it was good enough. So, you decided to steal Mac’s design.”
Mint Fudge & Murder Page 6