Decaffeinated Scandal: A Cozy Mystery (A Killer Coffee Mystery Series)

by Tonya Kappes

  No amount of cold weather was going to ruin the good mood I was in. I even rolled down the windows with the radio blaring and the heat on full blast as I drove the car into the deep countryside of Honey Springs on my way to Hill’s Orchard.

  The driveway to the orchard entrance was beautiful. Jean had hay bales scattered along the sides with gourds, pumpkins, and decorative scarecrows to welcome all guests to her pumpkin patch. It was one of her busiest times of the year and she loved it. You could tell how well her orchard was cared for. Nothing was out of place and everything was perfectly planted. My favorite time of year at the orchard was during the early summer when her garden popped with the vibrant colors of fresh vegetables and herbs. Her beautiful garden was a big part of my home cooked meals.

  Jean stood near the barn entrance where she’d hooked up two horses to the wagon in anticipation of all the rides they’d make to the pumpkin patch today.

  “Hey, there.” She waved me over with a long carrot in her hand. The green leaves of the carrot shook.

  “You’ve got everything looking so good.” I grabbed one of the carrots from the tin bucket and fed it to one of the horses.

  “I have my staff to thank.” Jean was very grateful for what she had. Her husband had recently died and she’d done a fabulous job of picking up where he left off. “They’ve really stepped up and showed me the ropes.”

  “You didn’t need much help.” I wasn’t going to let her get away without taking most of the credit. “You make the best jam I’ve ever tasted.”

  “Which reminds me, I’ve got to go into the office for those donations.” She ran a hand down one of the horses. “Come on and I’ll get that.”

  We chitchatted about the festival and how well we thought it was going. She mentioned how hard it was to keep up with the demands for pumpkin patch visits, but every night she thanked the Lord above for blessing her with so many visitors now since it was so quiet during the off season. She truly was a remarkable part of this community and one of the many reasons why I had to save the Bee Farm. All of Honey Springs’ small businesses were important and as a whole, we made this small town the best place to visit and live.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone was here.” Jean and I walked into the shop where her office was located. It was where she sold seasonal vegetables, the small gourds, and many different jams and other goods she’d canned.

  “Jimmer had such a good time yesterday with your pumpkin carving, he wanted to go for a ride to the pumpkin patch.” Mike had a big smile on his face, with his hand on his son’s shoulder and Sharon by his side.

  “That’s wonderful.” Jean moseyed over to the jams and picked one up. “You here to get another Apple Pie Jam?” She held it up to Mike. “It was good like I said, wasn’t it?”

  “I’m sorry?” He asked.

  “The Apple Pie Jam you bought a few days ago at the farmer’s market.” She refreshed his memory.

  “Farmer’s market?” Mike was full of all sorts of questions. “Did we go to a farmer’s market?” he asked Sharon.

  She shook her head.

  “I’m sorry. I think you have me confused with someone else.” He laughed. “But we’ll try it. After all, we might feature it in the resort’s restaurant once it’s built. You do that - right, Roxy? Use local items in your coffeehouse?”

  “Yeah,” I said blankly.

  “Let me get that donation for the Bee Farm,” Jean emphasized Bee Farm. She nodded her head for me to follow her into the office. “I know I’m old, but I swear he bought jam from me the other day. My memory isn’t that bad.”

  “But he just got into town yesterday morning. I was with Sharon when he showed up.” I brushed it off. Jean wasn’t the youngest chicken in the coop, but she had always had a sharp mind. But we all age.

  “I don’t like them. I don’t like their resort.” She handed me an envelope. “I wrote one big check for the donations. It totaled four thousand dollars.”

  “Jean, that’s amazing.” My eyes stung with tears. The love in this community was overwhelming. I just couldn’t believe it.

  “Now, I’m not sure how much more you need, but I’ll keep collecting.” She leaned over and whispered, “I’ll take all their money and give to the fund.”

  “You are evil, Jean.” I cackled.

  “I guess we better get on that hayride,” Jean called out when we walked back into the shop. There were several more customers in there now and they’d all lined up at the register to pay. “Roxy, grab what jams you need and we’ll settle up later.”

  “Bye, Sharon and Jimmer,” I said and looked around to say goodbye to Mike. I didn’t see him. “Tell Mike bye.”

  “I’m sure you’ll see us later.” Sharon didn’t seem so sad today. “He just got called away on business. I’ll Uber back to the inn.”

  “Business? He left town?” I asked.

  “Oh, no,” Sharon shook her head. “He’s daddy’s Vice President. Hopefully, President soon. He’s gone to sign the papers at the Bee Farm. You just might be seeing a lot more of us around here.”

  She left me standing there.

  Her words shook me to my core, making me dizzy. Somehow I made it back to my car and sat in the seat as the snippets of conversations over the last few days came at me like darts to a bull’s-eye.

  “Has Mike been here the whole time and I didn’t know it?” I asked myself on my way back to the car. “The man at the bank and the man at the costume shop have to be the same person.”

  I quickly pulled up Google on my phone and googled Sharon Harvey’s marriage. Images of a much younger Sharon and Mike popped up.

  I took a quick screenshot and texted Evan Rich asking if this was the guy with Ron Harvey at the bank that day.

  When his reply confirmed that it was, I knew I had the killer.

  Nineteen

  There was no time to sit there and make calls. I had to do them while driving. My insides shook. I needed confirmation from the costume store that Mike was in fact the man who had purchased the wig.

  At this moment, I was thrilled with hands free technology since I had to get my phone to find and call the costume store.

  “Hi, this is Roxy Bloom and yesterday I returned by friends’ Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum costumes.” I didn’t have to say much more.

  “Yes. What can I do for you?” She asked.

  “I’m a lawyer working on a murder case in Honey Springs,” I wasn’t lying, “And I would like to text or email you a photo to see if it’s the man you told me about that purchased a wig.”

  “Oh, no. Is this about the murder of that businessman I’ve seen in the newspaper?” she asked.

  “Yes. And we are trying to identify the person who bought the wig.” I crossed my fingers.

  “Sure.” She rattled off her phone number. “I’ll look at is as soon as you text it.”

  “Great.” The conversation lasted just long enough for me to pull into the parking lot of the boardwalk on the marina side.

  I quickly sent her a text and my phone chirped with a new text a second later.

  “That was fast.” I hit the message icon to find it was from Kirk. “The prints off the money have been cross-referenced with some fingerprints sent in by Spencer Shepard of Honey Springs. One matched a Mike Hogan. His prints are on money from you and whatever it was Spencer Shepard was looking at.”

  My heart raced, my palms began to sweat, and my fingers started to shake.

  “Copy. Paste.” Hearing my voice calmed me down as I copied Kirk’s message into a text to Spencer. “I’m going to the Bee Farm right now because Mike Hogan is signing the paperwork to purchase it and I’m going to stop him. It’s been confirmed that he was the guy who purchased the wig from the costume shop and was seen at the bank with Evan Rich.”

  I threw my phone down in the passenger seat of my car and jumped out.

  “Big! Big Bib!” I screamed practically running over all the tourists who were enjoying candy apples and popcorn. “Big
!” I screamed running along the dock of the marina.

  “What’s all this ruckus?” Big Bib threw open the door to the shop.

  “I need you to take me to the Bee Farm,” I said as I huffed and puffed. I’d bent over to catch my breath. “Killer. There.” I couldn’t make a complete sentence.

  “The ferry went over there about ten minutes ago and isn’t back.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.

  I jumped up to standing, grabbed a fistful of the front of his bibbed overalls, and jerked him closer.

  “That man over there, he is the killer and he can’t sign the paperwork to buy the Bee Farm.” My eyes met Bib’s. No one ever touched or treated him that way. It was probably a dumb thing to grab him.

  “If you’ve gone to the extreme of putting your own life in danger by grabbing me, then you must be serious.” He pointed to a speedboat tied to the dock. “Jump in my boat. I’ll grab the keys.”

  What was mere seconds seemed like minutes. As soon as the speedboat pulled up to the dock at the Bee Farm, I lept out of the boat, screaming like a madwoman. At least that’s what the tourists who’d gone over there for the honey tasting must have thought, given their expressions.

  “Kayla! Andrew! Don’t sign those papers!” I continued to scream until I got to the building which held their store and offices.

  Through a glass window, I could see the three of them leaning over a table. Mike had a pen in his hand and was signing the contract.

  “No!” I screamed so loud, I nearly went deaf.

  The three of them looked up. Mike’s eyes met mine and he tugged a grin across his lips. He shoved the pen in Andrew’s hand and from what I could see, he must’ve told Andrew to sign.

  “He hasn’t signed yet,” I said with a sigh of relief.

  I ran to the door and flung it opened.

  “Andrew, don’t sign.” I held my hand out and had to bend over again for a breath. My heart was pumping so fast that my body couldn’t keep up.

  “Have you had too much coffee?” Kayla joked.

  “He. . .” I pointed to Mike. “He killed. . .”

  “Don’t listen to her. She’s ridiculous.” Mike dismissed me. “Everything is fine. Sign the papers, Andrew.”

  “You don’t have to. He is going to jail and the fundraiser has raised at least fourteen thousand dollars and that’ll get you started with a few new colonies.” I stood up and heaved in a deep breath, gathering my wits. “We can continue raising money to save the Farm.”

  “Sign. The. Papers.” Mike didn’t sound so certain about his deal now.

  “Andrew, maybe we should. . .” Kayla started to say just as Mike grabbed the letter opener and pulled her against him, holding it up to her neck.

  “Sign the papers, Andrew, or this goes right into her carotid artery.” You could see the pointy end making an indentation in Kayla’s neck where Mike was pushing it further and further in.

  Suddenly the sounds of a gunshot and a whipping rope hurled past me towards Mike and Kayla. Kayla scrambled as Mike Hogan went down, grabbing his leg and calling out in pain.

  I jerked around.

  Big Bib was standing behind me with a spear gun pointed directly at Mike. The sound of water police sirens echoed in the air.

  “I could’ve shot him in the heart and killed him, but I think he doesn’t deserve to get off that easy.” Big Bib smiled under his beard, a rare thing to see. “He needs to go play with the boys in jail for the rest of his life.”

  Moments later, Spencer Shepard and a slew of police officers stormed the island, taking Mike Hogan into custody.

  “You did good, Roxy.” Spencer walked me back to Bib’s speedboat. “We were in the process of trying to get fingerprints from all Harvey Company employees. But you beat us to the punch.”

  “You know, it was high school science and an ex-husband that got us here.” I joked, getting back on the boat, leaving him standing there scratching his head. I looked over at the police speedboat. “I like your deputy there.”

  Norman was sitting in the boat and I swear the dog had a smile on his face.

  “Yeah. I think he’s mine.” Spencer cocked a smile.

  “Come on by and I’ll help you fill out the paperwork.” I sat down in the seat and prepared for Bib to take me back to the boardwalk. “I’ll put on a fresh pot of coffee.”

  Twenty

  “What’s going on over at the Bee Farm?” Aunt Maxi walked into the coffeehouse, the leaves rustling below her feet.

  The temperature had turned downright bitter as it swept along the lake and knocked what was left of the leaves off the trees.

  “Let me get you a coffee while you get out your notepad because I’ve got your article for next week’s Sticky Situation.” I’d been sitting at the bar, watching across the lake while Spencer did the cop thing.

  I’d gotten back from the Bee Farm and knew I needed to go back to the coffeehouse for the rest of the afternoon before Kelly got here for her shift. Pepper and Sassy needed to be walked and fed. On our walk, we stopped at my car to get the jars of Apple Pie Jam, my phone, and my purse.

  Sassy and Pepper sniffed all along the boardwalk on our way back to the coffeehouse. It gave me time to call my husband to let him know that I’d be home, at our cabin, cooking supper when he got off work.

  I was at peace with all of my decisions: helping out with solving Ron Harvey’s murder and getting married before the festival and picking the cabin as our home. A sense of calm swept over me. I took another look across the lake where the Bee Farm was still buzzing with excitement.

  Before Aunt Maxi had come in, I’d made new pots of coffee, knowing the regulars would be in to gossip.

  “Sharon.” I was shocked to see Sharon and Jimmer walk back into the coffeehouse. “I’m. . .I’m . . .” I couldn’t find the words.

  “There’s no need to explain to me. I should’ve seen this coming.” She waved her hand no when I picked up the pot and offered her a coffee. “Jimmer and I are going to go to this cute little town we found the other day tucked in a really remote wooded area.” She bent down to Jimmer. “Why don’t you go pet Sassy and Pepper goodbye.”

  “I’m sorry. I really am.” I felt horrible for her, but I was glad she wasn’t talking cruelly to Jimmer like she had done before.

  “I shouldn’t be surprised. Mike and my father never liked each other. I thought they’d made amends and my dad had decided to give him the job. We were all shocked when my dad had announced he hired Mike back as his Vice President.” She shook her head. “I had no idea Mike had was blackmailing my father about some shady business dealings. I thought Mike wanted the family back together and was doing all he could. It all boiled down to money. My father is dead because he made poor business choices and Mike wanted money to keep them secret.”

  The coffeehouse door opened and Bev walked in. She waved something in her hand and Sharon nodded.

  “I’ve even asked Bev to stay on with the company.” She and Bev hugged, shocking me how fast all of this had transpired, though I shouldn’t’ve been.

  Things in the business world outside of Honey Springs moved very quickly. It was something I was glad to put behind me when I stopped being a lawyer.

  “This is from us.” Sharon handed me the envelope.

  “We heard you got married before Ron’s murder, in the same room.” Bev offered a smile. “I just feel like your wedding memories will be tainted with Ron’s murder.”

  “You know that cute little town I was telling you about? The one we are going to visit today?” Sharon asked. “Well, they’ve got this adorable resort in the woods where you stay in a treehouse. There’s a honeymoon suite. It’s called Full Moon Treesort in Whispering Falls, Kentucky.”

  “Whispering Falls, Kentucky?” I asked, not knowing the place.

  “Yes. They’ve got the cutest shops. I really think you’re going to love A Charming Cure where the owner makes and sells her own homeopathic products.” She opened the brochure she had of the
town. “We’ve paid for a week’s stay for you and Patrick. It’s the least we could do for ruining your wedding.”

  “I can’t take this,” I protested.

  “Yes, she can.” Aunt Maxi grabbed the envelope from me. “We’ll make sure of it.”

  “I better put on another pot of coffee.” I looked around at my new friends and took in a deep sigh of satisfaction.

  There was nothing that went better than friends than gossip and coffee.

  Be sure to keep scrolling for a special announcement and recipes served at the Bean Hive Coffeehouse.

  Afterwords

  A huge thank you to all y’all who keep Roxy and the gang of the Killer Coffee Mystery Series alive. Thank you to my Facebook followers who show up every day and read my posts. Some people say they don’t like social media, but for me as a writer I love it because I get to interact with my readers. If you don’t follow me on Facebook, come on by and click here so we can connect! I’d love to have you as part of my personal team.

  I get many questions about my love of coffee. I’m happy to report that it’s true. I’m probably addicted to it and it’s the first thing I grab in the morning, afternoon and evening…and anything other minute of the day. In fact, I can actually drink decaffeinated and just as happy. I think it’s the warmth outside of the taste that I love. Just like Roxy, there’s nothing more fun to me than sitting around a table gabbing with my family and friends over a hot steaming cup of coffee.

  Can you believe that Roxy and Patrick got married? I mean, really! I never saw that coming. I truly didn’t. I only plot the murder, victim and the suspects along with the motive before I sit down to write. The characters take over while I’m getting to those points and I have to say that Roxy was begging to become Mrs. Patrick Cane without all the drama from Penny and Aunt Maxi. There’s nothing at all like drama at a southern wedding.

  That’s not the only thing you are going to see of their wedded bliss!