Chocolate Peppermint & Murder

by Susan Gillard

  “You were with her all night?” Heather asked.

  “Yes,” Pauline said. “We opened up a bottle of Pinot Grigio, exchanged sob stories and ended up having a sleepover. It was a fun night.”

  “And why did you decide to stay over that night?” Heather asked.

  “I had been drinking and didn’t want to drive home,” Pauline said. “But the reason why I went over was because Tiff was feeling sad. I don’t want to speak out of turn, but she just discovered that her man was two-timing her.”

  “That man was Stone Hendricks?” Heather prompted.

  “Then you already know,” Pauline said. “That’s right.”

  “Tiff told us that she saw Stone Hendricks kissing another woman in the class before it started,” Heather said. “Did she tell others?”

  “She didn’t come right out and say it, but it was pretty clear what she meant,” Pauline said. “I picked up on it right away. I couldn’t believe it.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I didn’t think Stone was the type of man to fool others like that. Even as just a yoga student, he made me feel special. I imagine he would have made any woman he was seeing feel like she was the only one. And if it’s not true, that’s extremely dishonest.”

  “You never dated him?” Heather asked.

  "No," Pauline said. "I can admit having a bit of schoolgirl crush, but nothing ever became of it. And, of course, I’m glad about that now.”

  “How did everyone take the news after Tiff told everyone about his romantic wanderings?” Heather asked.

  “Dawn acted as if she didn’t understand what Tiff was saying. It’s possible she was in denial about it, or maybe she wanted us to think she was. You could tell Kimber was mad, but she didn’t say anything. That was surprising too.”

  “She normally talks a lot?” Amy asked.

  “No,” Pauline said. “What was surprising was that Kimber was one of his lovers. She’s married.”

  Heather and Amy exchanged a look. This might have just opened up a whole new set of motives and a potential new suspect: Kimber’s husband.

  “Thank you for all your help,” Heather said. “I only have one more question. Have you ever been to Stone’s house before?”

  “No,” Pauline said.

  Heather thanked her again, and she and Amy hurried back to their car.

  “This gives Kimber a stronger motive,” Amy said. “If she was risking her marriage to be with Stone and then found out that he wasn’t serious about her, that might make her mad enough to kill.”

  "And if her husband found out about it, he might want to hurt Stone too," Heather said.

  She was about to pull away when her phone rang. She stopped the car and answered it to see what Ryan would say. She loved hearing his voice, especially when he was delivering good news on new evidence.

  She updated him on what she and Amy had uncovered, and then he told her what he had discovered. He worked with Peters to do some more digging on Stone’s background. The confusion had been because Stone did legally change his first name.

  “I knew it!” Amy said when she was told.

  However, he chose the name “Stone” because it had been his great-grandfather’s.

  “Okay, I didn’t know that,” Amy said.

  He changed his name because he had been in a car accident where he had been a drunk driver. It fit into the timeline of what they knew of his life. This appeared to be the reason why he changed his life and changed his name. It was right when Harmony told them that he gave up drinking.

  Ryan also told them that luckily no one had been seriously injured in the crash.

  "So, if someone tracked him down because of the accident, it was because of damage to the car and not because someone was injured or killed," Heather said. "It's possible, but I don't think it's likely. I bet insurance would have paid for most of the damages."

  “Maybe you’ll have more luck with motives when you interview Kimber,” Ryan said. “I’m going to meet with the medical examiner now.”

  “Good luck,” Heather said. “I hope when we touch base again I’ll have new clues to tell you.”

  The Final Student

  Heather and Amy entered the yoga studio as a class finished. There were some stragglers collecting their things, including Kimber.

  “Are you going to follow participants in the classes around all the time now?” she asked when she saw them.

  “This time we’d like to ask you some questions,” Heather said.

  "I have to go," Kimber said, as she finished tying her shoelaces. "My husband is about to pick me up."

  “It’s because of your husband that you might want to talk to us here,” Amy said.

  Kimber waited as the last other yoga student left and then challenged, “What do you mean?”

  “We mean that we know that you were kissing the victim on the day he was last seen alive,” Heather said. “Would you like to tell us about it?”

  Kimber sighed. “Yeah. I was kissing him. In fact, I thought I was dating him.”

  “What do you mean you thought you were?” Heather asked, hoping to keep her talking.

  “I mean that I wasn’t the only one who thought that,” Kimber said. “Meaning that it wasn’t a meaningful relationship on his end. I thought we had to sneak around because of my husband, but it was really because of all of Stone’s other women.”

  Amy had to bite her tongue

  “When did you find out?” Heather asked.

  "On Friday," Kimber said. "That's when you were first asking about his disappearance. I didn't think anything bad had happened to him. I thought he was just rightfully hiding in shame. After Tiff caught us together, she blabbed to the whole class, and I learned how he was seeing others there."

  “Who else?”

  “Tiff and Dawn in that class,” Kimber said. “Can you believe him?”

  “But not Pauline?” Heather checked.

  "No. I don't think so," Kimber said. "But that probably disappointed her. She was in love with him too. She was always cooing at him and baking him stuff. She made him muffins for that class. I knew all the others liked him, but I didn’t think he did anything about it. I thought what we had was special. I wouldn’t have risked my marriage if I didn’t think so.”

  “I bet it really upset you when you found out you weren’t the only one,” Heather said.

  "I was furious," Kimber said. "But I didn't kill him. I was the first person to leave the class that night, and I never saw Stone again."

  “What did you do after you left?”

  "My husband picked me up from that class too. We live on the other side of the island, and he drops me off and picks me up, so I don't have to walk while we only have one car. We were together all night. He didn’t know why I was mad, but he was supportive. He’ll tell you I was home all night.”

  “And you’re sure that he was home all night too?” Heather asked.

  “Yes, he was home,” Kimber said. “You can’t think that Barney has anything to do with Stone’s death. He had no idea about the affair.”

  “We’ll have to check on that,” Heather said.

  "Please don't tell him," Kimber said. "He is a good guy. Look, he's picking me up from my class, so I don't have to walk."

  “We won’t tell him unless necessary,” Heather said.

  Kimber left them and got in her husband’s car. As they drove off, Amy said, “Maybe she should have realized he was a good guy before she started smooching her yoga teacher.”

  “We’ll see if Ryan and Peters can check out the husband for both of their alibis,” Heather said.

  Harmony and Linda entered from the office.

  "Hi," Linda said. "Are you here as part of your investigation?"

  “We were trying to figure out who would cover what classes while we’re down an instructor, but we could help you if you need it,” Harmony said.

  “There is something we would like to ask you,” Heather said.

  “What
?” asked Harmony, ready to assist.

  “Where were you Saturday morning?” Heather asked. “Dawn said she wasn’t able to contact you about the class not having an instructor. She needed to call Linda instead.”

  “I am sorry about that,” Harmony told her other instructor. “I never expected Stone not to show up. I was at the movies.”

  “That early in the morning?” Amy asked.

  "They have a Saturday morning classic film series," Harmony explained. "It actually starts at eleven, but I was at the theater early, and I had silenced my phone in anticipation of it."

  “Do you have your ticket stub for it?” asked Heather.

  Harmony nodded. “But does this relate to the murder case?”

  “Where were you Friday night?” Heather asked.

  “I was home,” Harmony said.

  “Alone?”

  "My cousin is living with me, but she had a date on Friday. She wasn't home until late at night," Harmony said. "Why? Do you suspect I had anything to do with his death? I was the one who asked you to look into what happened."

  “You did,” Heather said. “But that was after we had already arrived at your studio. You thought that we had come because of the disappearance.”

  “But why would I kill him?” Harmony asked. “We were already short on staff with the Bitterman sisters out of town for the holidays. And I told you how I felt about him.”

  “That might be the problem,” Amy said.

  “What do you mean?” Harmony asked.

  “We believe he was seeing other women,” Heather said gently. “Some of the students in the class.”

  “Oh,” Harmony said. She looked at Linda. “Is this true?”

  Linda nodded. “I didn’t know you were falling for him too. I would have said something.”

  “So, he manipulated everyone’s emotions?” Harmony asked.

  “Did you know about the other women?” Heather asked.

  “No,” Harmony said. “If I knew, I not only would have been saddened as someone who liked him. But I would have been disappointed with him as his boss. What he was doing reflects poorly on the studio.”

  “That sounds like a double motive,” Amy said.

  "But I didn't kill him," Harmony said. "You have to believe me. We're neighbors, Heather. We know each other."

  Heather wanted to believe her, but she knew that she had to follow the evidence to its conclusion. Right now, there was still a chance that Harmony was the killer.

  “Do you have any other information that might help us with the case?” Heather asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Harmony said.

  “But maybe they can take on another case when they’re finished that one?” Linda suggested.

  “I don’t know,” Harmony said. “It’s small potatoes compared to what they usually investigate.”

  “What is it?” Heather asked.

  “One of our students is stealing from us,” Linda said.

  “Remember how I mentioned before that some items were missing?” Harmony said. “We’ve counted everything we have to see what it was.”

  “What’s missing?” asked Heather.

  “There are four yoga mats missing, ten Pilates bands and a medicine ball,” Harmony said.

  “Missing exercise equipment and found shoes,” Amy said.

  "But I know that the other case is far more important,” Harmony said.

  Heather agreed. “Before we find your thief, we need to find the killer.”

  Sand

  Heather watched as Lilly and Nicolas built sandmen instead of snowmen on the beach. Cupcake was helping them build, or was at least playing with a plastic shovel.

  Heather was happy that they had come to an animal-friendly beach. Amy had been a little leery of the sand because the last time she went digging through it, she found a dead body. However, she was having fun by the water with Jamie. They were sticking their toes in the cool water, while Dave played tag with the ocean. The happy dog would run as close to the water as he thought was safe and then run away as the waves chased him.

  Miss Marshmallow had opted to lounge on a beach towel.

  It was a beautiful day outside, and she was surrounded by people she cared about, but she was distracted by the case. Heather looked at the beach chair next to her and saw that Ryan also looked lost in thought.

  “Are you thinking about the case too?” Heather asked.

  “Guilty,” Ryan said.

  “I feel like I don’t have a strong handle on this one,” Heather said. “And it’s starting to bug me.”

  “Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you about the case and then I’ll tell you what’s bothering me?” Ryan suggested.

  “Sounds fair.” Heather thought about it. “It’s the suspect list that has me confused. After your search on Stone Hendrick's background, I think it's safe to say that it had to be something recent that was the reason for his murder. I think it has to be one of the women that he was involved with who killed him. But which one?"

  “Do any of them jump out at you?”

  “Kimber was the only one who was married who was seeing him,” Heather said. “She might have felt she used. Or she might have wanted to silence Stone from telling her husband.”

  “Peters and I did check up on him,” Ryan said. “I don’t think he knew exactly why we were asking, but he confirmed that he and his wife were home together all night.”

  “It is possible that a husband would lie to protect his wife,” Heather suggested. “Or himself.”

  “True,” Ryan said. “But I don’t think he is the killer. He explained how he has been having a problem with his wrist. I think that would make hitting Stone Hendricks over the head difficult.”

  "Pauline was the one woman who wasn't seeing the victim," Heather continued. "But she's providing an alibi for Tiff. They said they were together all night. And then there's Dawn. She was told about the other women but is choosing to ignore it. Could that be because she is trying to hide her motive?"

  “It’s possible,” Ryan said. “Is that all the suspects?”

  “I should also include Harmony,” Heather said. “She was also interested in the victim and has a shaky alibi.”

  “That’s a long list of women who might be the killer,” Ryan said.

  “I know,” Heather said. “I wish we knew where he was killed and with what. I know you checked his house and the surrounding areas by where his body was found.”

  “That’s what is bothering me too,” said Ryan. “I wish I knew what the murder weapon was. The medical examiner wasn’t certain. He said that it had to be something heavy that hit him, but the shape was confusing. He thought it was something round.”

  “Round?” Heather said. She thought about it. “Maybe it wasn’t a theft. Maybe it was the murder weapon.”

  “What’s that?”

  "Sorry," Heather said. "Harmony and Linda told us that some exercise equipment was missing from the studio. One of the items was a medicine ball. They're weighted balls used for doing different workouts."

  “That sounds like it could fit,” Ryan agreed.

  “Once we’re done here, I’ll check with Harmony and see what size medicine ball is missing. And then you can compare it with the medical examiner’s findings.”

  "So, the killer took the medicine ball from class and then followed Stone to a place where she could kill him?" Ryan asked, testing out the theory.

  "His car was found at his house," Heather said. "That does suggest that he made it home that night, doesn't it? Did he go out on a date? Or was trying to make it up to one of the ladies that he offended?"

  Heather and Ryan mulled over those questions the rest of the time on the beach. However, they also made time to make sure that Lilly and Nicolas were having fun and helped them with their sandmen. They ended up making sandpeople and created ones to look like Eva and Leila.

  “If she had blue hair, she would be perfect,” Amy complimented.

  “Everyone g
ather around and say cheese,” Jamie said, offering to take the picture so that they could show it to the seniors later.

  It was a fun afternoon with her family. Heather was thinking about how lucky she was when she was confronted with a wet dog.

  “Dave, you were supposed to dry off before you got in the car,” she sighed.

  Dave seemed to shrug and then jumped inside.

  “Sorry, everybody,” Heather said as the others started to bundle into the car. “I guess the car is going to smell like wet dog for a while.”

  Amy shrugged. “Not everything can smell like donuts or lavender.”

  Heather’s eyes widened. “Amy, I think you just figured out the how. Now we just need to figure out who.”

  “What?” asked Amy.

  Figuring it Out

  Heather, Amy, Ryan, and Jamie were seated at her kitchen table. Amy and Ryan were anxious to hear about the break she made in the case. Jamie was also interested in it but was really there for the donuts.

  Heather set out some Chocolate Peppermint Donuts and told her friends to dig in.

  “I think we deserve these,” she said.

  “I think you deserve one for what you figured out,” Amy said. “And you can have another one if you tell us what it is.”

  “All right,” Heather said. “It was Dave’s wet dog smell that got me on the right track.”

  Dave wagged his tail and danced around the room. He was hoping that his inadvertent help on the case would result in a donut reward.

  “I think that Stone Hendricks was killed at the yoga studio,” Heather began. “It might not have been premeditated. The women just found out about how he was seeing all of them, or most of them, and were angry. One of them hit him on the head with the medicine ball and killed him.”

  "We've been in the studio so many times," Amy said. "How could we not have figured that out?”

  “Two things were throwing us off,” Heather said. “First, the studio is kept clean. They clean the yoga mats and put lavender oil on them after every class. That means there are cleaning supplies that are easy to access. The killer made sure to clean up all traces of her kill. But the thing that really confused us was his car.”