Caramel Fudge & Murder

by Susan Gillard

  “She saw it through the window?” asked Heather.

  “The neighbor came inside,” said Ryan. “She had a key but didn’t use it. The door was unlocked.”

  “That’s interesting,” Heather said. “That suggests to me that she knew her killer.”

  “I think there’s a good chance she did,” Ryan agreed.

  Peters tried to cover another yawn by nodding in agreement. Heather wasn’t annoyed by him. She knew that he couldn’t help it. It was also adding some levity to an otherwise sorrowful circumstance.

  Amy was annoyed by his yawning though. She rolled her eyes and walked away, looking through the house. When she reached the living room, she called out to Heather.

  “Hey, Heather, you were talking about the Crocs today, weren’t you?”

  “It’s the local high school’s mascot,” Heather said.

  She followed her friend into the living room and saw what she was referring to. Angela had a sweatshirt for the local high school lying on a chair. She took note of the year and the senior class it was advertising.

  “That’s the same year Digby and Leon graduated,” Heather said. “I bet they knew her.”

  “That might be a good place to start questioning people,” Amy said. “We can see what they knew about her and go from there.”

  “Sounds like a good plan,” Ryan said. “Why don’t you talk to Digby and Leon while we talk to Angela Fiat’s boss?”

  Heather nodded, agreeing with him. Peters yawned again.

  “Why don’t you get some coffee on your way?” Heather suggested.

  High School Friends

  “This feels weird,” Leon said. “To be questioned by you. You’re a friend of my mom’s and her boss. You also work with the police.”

  “This is nothing,” Digby said. “Last week I was questioned at the police interrogation room.”

  “What?” Leon asked, alarmed.

  “It’s a long story,” Digby said with a smile.

  “We’re not questioning you as suspect,” Heather said. “But we think you could help us with a case. We believe the victim graduated high school with you both and any information you could give us could help us kick-start our investigation.”

  “Plus, there are donuts in it for you,” Amy said.

  “Fine,” Leon said, relenting. “We’ll help if we can.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Heather said.

  She was happy that she was able to convince them both to come into Donut Delights to talk to her. They were hiding at a corner table so the other customers wouldn’t hear talk of murder. She slid a plate of Caramel Fudge Donuts towards the young men. They both looked tired from the previous night’s party but weren’t yawning as badly as Detective Peters was.

  Digby grabbed a donut and took a bite. “All right. I’ve had a bite of comfort food. Who was it that died?”

  “Her name was Angela Fiat,” Heather began.

  “Angela?” Digby asked, dropping his donut back on the plate.

  “She’s dead?” Leon asked.

  Heather bit her lip. She had hoped that these two could tell her about the victim, but she didn’t expect them to know her well. She had heard Digby mention some of his friends from high school and he never mentioned an Angela. She didn’t mean to upset them unnecessarily.

  “You knew her?” Heather asked, gently.

  “She can’t be dead,” Leon said. “It’s impossible. You must have the wrong person.”

  “Her identity was confirmed,” Heather said. “I’m afraid she was murdered yesterday.”

  “Yesterday?” Leon asked. “But I saw her yesterday, and she was alive.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Heather said.

  “What can I give you to help?” Amy asked. “There are donuts if you need chocolate. There are napkins if you feel like you might cry. Do you want a hug?”

  “I want to know how this could have happened,” Leon said.

  “So do we,” Heather assured him. “But we need to start at the beginning. We need to discover everything we can about her. How did you know her?”

  “Well, we went to school with her,” Digby said. He looked at his friend as if waiting for some kind of sign and then picked up his donut to resume eating.

  “I used to date her,” Leon said. “That’s why Digby is looking so goofy, wondering if I’ll tell you or not.”

  “I don’t look goofy,” Digby said, but this was undermined by having a face full of chocolate.

  “That’s why we never heard Digby mention her before,” Heather said. “She was an ex-girlfriend.”

  “Was it serious?” Amy asked.

  “We dated for two years in high school,” Leon explained. “Then, her parents died, and she pushed me away. I wanted to be there for her, but she didn’t want me there. I gave her the space she wanted but tried to be a friend. I didn’t talk to her much after I went to school.”

  “But you did see her yesterday?” Heather asked.

  Digby picked up another donut and began chomping on it. Leon gave his friend a withering look.

  “I’m going to tell them,” Leon said. “Even if it’s embarrassing.”

  “How embarrassing?” Amy asked.

  Leon looked at his hands and then started talking. “I wanted to hang out with Eric yesterday. I thought we were still friends. He invited me to lunch but said his girlfriend was going to be there. I didn’t think anything of it until I arrived and Angela was there.”

  “Can you believe that?” Digby asked, licking caramel off his fingers.

  “Eric had started dating Angela and wanted to throw it in my face. He wanted to catch me off guard and make me feel uncomfortable. He felt this was a competition he had won. I mean, I was in love with Angela in high school. I still have feelings for her, but thought she was still grieving. I didn’t realize that she was out with one of my best friends.”

  “That must have made you mad,” Heather said slowly.

  “Of course it did,” Digby said. “How would you feel if Amy started dating Ryan?”

  “Confused,” Heather said. “But I do get your point.”

  “I was angry at Eric though. Not Angela,” Leon said. “It was clear that Angela just needed someone to support her, but Eric was supposed to be my friend. Dating someone your friend loved is a betrayal.”

  “I would never do that to you,” Digby said.

  “Thanks,” said Leon. “But Eric did. Our friendship is really over. He looked so smug, sitting there with Angela and Darcy.”

  “Who’s Darcy?” asked Heather.

  “She was Angela’s best friend,” Leon said.

  “Darcy Simmons,” Digby added.

  “She might be a good person to question next,” Amy said. “If she was best friends with the victim, she would know all about her life now. She might know if Angela had any enemies.”

  “Good idea,” Heather said. She turned towards the two young men. “You finish up these donuts and stay strong. If you think of anything else useful, let us know.”

  They both nodded. Heather got up from the table but then paused, thinking of one more question she had to ask. “Leon, you said that you saw Angela yesterday afternoon. You didn’t see her again that night, did you?”

  “No,” Leon said, though he didn’t meet her eyes.

  The Best Friend

  Heather and Amy tracked down Darcy Simmons’s address and knocked on her front door. A young woman in a sweatshirt answered the door.

  “Are you Darcy Simmons?” Heather asked.

  “Yes,” she said, playing with her hair. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Heather Shepherd, and this is Amy Givens. We’re private investigators working with the Key West Police.”

  “I haven’t done anything,” Darcy said. “I haven’t vandalized anything, and I’m not a part of those crazy spring break parties. Why do you want to talk to me?”

  “We’re here about your friend, Angela Fiat,” Heather said.

  “I’m sure she didn
’t do anything either,” Darcy protested. “She’s a very sweet person.”

  “I’m afraid we have some bad news,” Heather said.

  Darcy took a step outside and let the door close after her, muttering how she didn’t want her parents to overhear until she knew what was going on. She gestured towards some chairs on the porch, and they all took a seat.

  “What is it?” Darcy asked.

  “We’re afraid that Angela Fiat is dead,” Heather said.

  “What?” asked Darcy. “How?”

  “She was murdered yesterday evening,” Heather said, gently. “We’d like to find out some more information about her so we can catch the person who did this.”

  “This is so terrible,” Darcy said holding her head in her hands. “But I can see why you wanted to talk to me. I was her best friend.”

  “Did Angela have any enemies?” Heather asked. “Or do you know anyone who would have wanted to her hurt?”

  “No,” Darcy said, shaking her head. “That’s why this feels so unreal. Everyone loved Angela. Everyone.”

  “There wasn’t anyone who wished her harm?” Heather pressed.

  “No,” said Darcy. “Angela was a great person, and everyone knew that. After her parents died, everyone tried to make her feel better. Everyone. So nobody would want to hurt her. It was the reverse. Everyone wanted to help her and make her happy. I did too. She was my best friend, and I loved her.”

  “Did she have any trouble with men?” Heather asked.

  “What do you mean?” Darcy asked. “Angela didn’t fool around.”

  “We have reason to believe that her killer was a man,” Heather explained. “We wanted to know if there were any potential suspects in her life.”

  “Oh, I see,” Darcy said. “Could it be possible that it was a stranger who wanted to kill her? She was very pretty.”

  “We think that she knew the killer,” said Heather. “That’s why these questions are so important.”

  “Why do you think she knew the killer?” asked Darcy.

  “Because the door was unlocked,” said Amy. “It seems like she let the killer inside.”

  Darcy swung her feet. Finally, she said, “I suppose it’s possible that it could have been Eric.”

  “Was that her boyfriend?” asked Amy.

  “Right,” said Darcy. “I remember how possessive he could be.”

  “What do you mean that you remember?” asked Heather.

  “I meant that I remembered examples,” Darcy said quickly. “He didn’t like it if she ignored his texts. He liked to assert that they were together when they were in a crowd. That sort of thing.”

  “Was he possessive yesterday?” asked Heather.

  “At lunch?” Darcy asked. “Yes. Angela’s ex-boyfriend Leon showed up, and Eric made sure to keep his arm around Angela all afternoon. He wanted Leon to know that they were a couple.”

  “That seems rude,” said Amy. “If Eric and Leon were supposed to be friends.”

  Darcy shrugged. “They weren’t acting like friends yesterday. Especially with the little tiff, they got into.”

  “What tiff?” asked Heather. Leon and Digby hadn’t mentioned any sort of tiff when they recapped the lunch meeting.

  “Just a little shoving,” Darcy said. “Guys trying to be tough.”

  “I don’t know,” Amy said quietly to Heather. “The guys were fighting over Angela, and she ends up dead. That does sound like this Eric should be a suspect.”

  Darcy nodded. “He could have a temper. He used to have one when we were dating.”

  “You dated Eric too?” Heather asked, making sure she heard that right.

  “Oh. Not for a while,” Darcy explained. “We’re all friends now. Much better than Eric and Leon were.”

  “Wasn’t that awkward to hang out with your ex?” Amy asked.

  “No,” Darcy said. “We were just friends. And it was good to see Angela so happy. She’s been through so much.”

  Heather placed a hand on her arm for support, but still had another question. “Do you know if Angela Fiat had any ties in her home?”

  “A tie? Like the ones you wear?” Darcy asked. “No. That wasn’t Angela’s style.”

  “But did she maybe keep one from an ex-boyfriend as a remembrance?” asked Heather.

  “Not that I know of,” said Darcy. “And I’d probably know. We told each other everything.”

  Heather nodded. She hoped Ryan and Peters could run some tests on the tie to see who it belonged to. If Angela didn’t have any ties in the house, then the killer brought the murder weapon in with them. If they could figure out whose it was, then they might find the killer.

  Heather stood up and thanked Darcy for answering their questions. They still had many more questions that needed to be answered, but it looked like they had a prime suspect to question.

  “I wish I could have done more to help,” Darcy said. “Or that I could have done something to prevent this. Maybe I should have warned her about Eric. But I thought he made her happy, and she needed some happiness after losing her parents.”

  “We’re not sure it was him,” Heather said. “But, we certainly will talk to him.”

  “I bet he did it,” Darcy said, before starting to tear up.

  Dinner Talk

  After a hectic day of investigation, Heather was happy to have a family meal at home. Her dog, Dave, and kitten, Cupcake, were in rare form begging for scraps of the chicken stir-fry.

  “Stop this begging, or there won’t be any donut desserts after dinner,” Heather said, reprimanding the pets.

  Dave and Cupcake seemed to understand and didn’t want to miss out on their favorite treats. They both sat down and watched the meal silently, waiting for dessert. Heather smiled at how smart her pets were.

  “If they had kept begging, it wouldn’t have meant that no one else got donuts tonight, right?” Lilly asked.

  Heather reassured her daughter that her dessert was safe. “After bringing home such good grades for this marking period, you can have an extra one tonight.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “We should do something else special to celebrate her report card,” Ryan said. “Not that your donuts aren’t special. Of course, they are. I didn’t mean that they weren’t.”

  “I know you didn’t mean for it to sound like they weren’t,” Heather said after teasing him with a pseudo-angry glare.

  “How about we let Lilly pick the next place or activity we do for our Saturday outings?” Ryan suggested, referring to how the whole gang of the Shepherd family and friends would get together to explore Key West on the weekends. Making this a weekly occurrence guaranteed that, no matter how busy they were, they would still have an opportunity to spend time together.

  “That’s a great idea,” Heather said. “Do you have any ideas, Lilly?”

  “Can I do whatever I want?” she asked.

  “Within reason,” Ryan said. “It would have to be something that Eva and Leila can do as well.”

  Lilly rubbed her chin. “I have a potential idea, but I’ll have to run it by them first.”

  They continued eating, and Heather wondered what Lilly’s idea for an outing could be. They had already seen so many wonderful sights on the island and had many fun adventures.

  “Aside from your great grades, how is school?” Heather asked.

  “It’s been good,” Lilly said. “Though I am looking forward to spring break.”

  “I’m sure everyone is,” Heather said.

  “I’m excited for Nicolas to visit over break,” Lilly said. “Chelsea wants to meet him too. Then, my two best friends can meet. My new friend from here and my best friend from Hillside.”

  “It will be a wonderful vacation for everybody,” Heather said.

  She saw that they had all finished their meals and began clearing the table. Her family helped. Dave and Cupcake offered to lick the plates clean, but she declined.

  Instead, she brought out the donuts. She placed Cara
mel Fudge Donuts in the center of the table and then gave some smaller pieces of a vanilla donut to the pets who happily ate them up.

  After dessert, Lilly went to her room to work on a story that she wanted to write on her pink typewriter. Heather and Ryan settled in the living room. However, instead of turning on the TV, they found themselves discussing the case.

  “The medical examiner confirmed that strangulation was the cause of death,” Ryan told her. “And he was able to make an estimate for the time of death. Angela Fiat was killed sometime between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on that Sunday.”

  Heather frowned. “That’s a little earlier than I expected somehow.”

  “Her neighbor that was Angela’s emergency contact was out at dinner at that time so she wasn’t around to witness who might have come by the house. It gives her an alibi too, even though the neighbor doesn’t have a motive for the murder.”

  “And the victim was killed with the tie that was found on her?” Heather asked. “It wasn’t placed there to mislead us?”

  “No,” Ryan agreed. “The tie was the murder weapon. According to the medical examiner, it matches the marks exactly.”

  “I wish we had some idea who it belonged to,” Heather said. “When I spoke to Angela’s friend Darcy Simmons, she didn’t have any idea whose tie it was.”

  “There is something working in our favor,” Ryan said.

  “DNA on the tie?” Heather asked, hopefully.

  “No. But it has a distinctive label and design on it. Peters and I are going to track down where it came from. Maybe it can lead us to who bought it.”

  Heather nodded. “If it’s distinctive enough, then it might work. Especially if it was sold from a small boutique.”

  She leaned back into the couch, trying to find a comfortable position as she thought grisly thoughts. Had this murder been premeditated? Or had it been a crime of passion? It might all depend on whether this tie was brought to the scene as a part of someone’s wardrobe or as a weapon.

  “There were fingerprints found at her house,” Ryan said. “We’ll have to eliminate Angela’s prints from what we found, and then see if the other prints provide any clues. It would make sense to find prints from the people she would naturally invite over to her house there.”