Mimosa Cream & Murder: An Oceanside Cozy Mystery - Book 16

by Susan Gillard

  “It seems like they’re doing well,” Amy said. “Emily Potts’s pictures of her puppy were adorable.”

  “And speaking in pictures, Ken was taking great shots of the wedding on his camera. I bet they’ll rival the wedding photographer’s,” Heather said. “I always knew how great he was at taking pictures for the Donut Delights website, but I forget how talented he can be in other settings.”

  “Angelica is happy about the book club she started,” Amy said. “But it sounds a bit like an excuse to serve donuts to friends. Not that I begrudge her that. She also seems really proud of her cousin.”

  "I am too," Heather said. "Maricela is the perfect manager. She's keeping the shop running, and she makes it look easy as pie."

  “Easy as donut?” Amy suggested.

  "And it looks as if she and Jung are very happy together," Heather concluded. She was happy that her Hillside staff was doing so well. They had always felt more like family than employees. They still liked to tease her and continued to call her “boss” even though she had always asked them to call her by her first name.

  “I think Maricela and Jung are going to have wedding bells in their future,” Amy added.

  “Are they the only wedding bells we’re going to hear?” Heather asked.

  “Hey,” Amy said. “Let’s focus on the case or catching up with your employees and not veiled hints about my matrimony. Jamie and I will do what we want, when we want to, when we feel like it’s the right thing to do.”

  “All right,” Heather relented. “The best part about talking to the employees is discovering that none of them had a reason to hurt Talia Pinster. And they were working to bring the donuts in before they were seated for the ceremony. None of them had enough time to separate from the group and kill her.”

  “I wonder if they knew we were asking about a murder weapon when we mentioned the cylindrical objects,” Amy said.

  “I think we were subtle,” Heather assured her. “And they gave us some other useful information too. When they first arrived and delivered the donuts, they heard Talia talking to the caterer Glenn.”

  “Not a fight like Mona heard last night?”

  “Right,” Heather said. “Maybe they made up. Or maybe he was asking her to meet him in the wine cellar.”

  “We should talk to him after we find Ryan and Jamie.”

  Heather nodded. Ryan and Jamie had volunteered to check the grounds and make sure that there were no places where the killer could have climbed over the fence and avoided seeing Hoskins.

  Heather and Amy were headed out to check on their progress when they saw something they didn’t like. A man and woman were ignoring the velvet rope and heading towards the wine cellar. Heather knew that it wasn’t crime scene tape, but it was still supposed to discourage people from crossing it. Then again, Heather had to admit that she had ignored it before too.

  “Wait,” Heather called. “What are you doing?”

  The couple turned around and faced them, looking sheepish.

  “Roadkill Rodney?” Amy asked. “With your hair all slicked back and wearing a suit I didn’t recognize you.”

  “Yeah,” Roadkill Rodney said. “I thought I should dress up for the event. It being a wedding and all. And I didn’t even scrape up any roadkill on my way over, even though I did see some things that should have been scraped.”

  “We can pick them up on the way home,” his girlfriend assured him.

  “You remember Cicada Katie?” Roadkill Rodney said. “And you remember the donut crime ladies?”

  The ladies all said their greetings.

  “Of course. We remember when you met,” Heather said. “It’s good to see you two are still so happy together.”

  “We’re happier than a possum in a full trash can,” Roadkill Rodney said.

  “And as snug as a carpet beetle in a rug,” Cicada Katie agreed.

  “How do you two know Col and Mona?” asked Heather.

  “Well, we actually met because of your donut business,” Roadkill Rodney said. “With my uncle being your investor and Col and Mona being joint-venture partners here in Hillside. And then we’ve seen each other around town and been friendly. And now Cicada Katie is big fan of their tea.”

  “I see Mona all the time when I go to get a cup,” Cicada Katie agreed. “And we’ve gotten to be friends. We talk about girl stuff sometimes. You know, talk besides about bugs.”

  “Good,” Amy said. “I wouldn’t want to talk about creepy crawlies while I’m getting something to eat or drink.”

  Roadkill Rodney and Cicada Katie looked confused by this sentiment.

  “Well,” Roadkill Rodney said. “I guess we better get back to the party.”

  “Wait,” said Heather. “Why were you going to the wine cellar?”

  “To get another drink,” Roadkill Rodney said.

  However, at the same time, Cicada Katie said, "I'm looking for my purse."

  The couple sighed and looked at the ground.

  “You caught us,” Roadkill Rodney said.

  “Did we?” Amy asked surprised.

  "We were looking for a place to smooch," Roadkill Rodney said as his date blushed. "Nothing too scandalous, mind you. But it is very romantic here, and we wanted a few minutes alone. We figured nobody else would be down there."

  “Wrong on that account,” Amy muttered.

  “I hope we weren’t embarrassing Mona with that idea,” Cicada Katie said. “We didn’t think anyone would catch us.”

  “We won’t tell,” Heather said. “If you tell us one other thing.”

  “What is it?” Roadkill Rodney asked. “It sounds like you’re investigating one of your mysteries again or something like that.”

  “No,” Heather and Amy said at the same time.

  "No," Heather repeated, trying to sound calmer. "We were just wondering if you know the curator around here? We're trying to get a read on her. Talia Pinster."

  “Oh, I know her all right,” Roadkill Rodney said. “She’s one of the most stuck up people in town. Looking down on me when I cleaned up the roads, but then had the nerve to ask me to come clean up a dead bird yesterday.”

  “Of course, he did do it,” Cicada Katie said. “We wanted this wedding to be a real nice affair for Col and Mona.”

  “So, you really didn’t like Talia Pinster?” Heather asked.

  “No, I didn’t,” Roadkill Rodney said. “I think maybe I felt a little better after she knew she needed me with the bird. But hearing what she did in town too made me think unfriendly things towards her too.”

  “What things did she do in town?” asked Heather.

  “It was mostly directed towards that Mr. Conner Kent,” Cicada Katie said.

  “That name sounds familiar,” Heather said.

  “He’s one of Col’s friends,” Amy said. “I think he’s the brother of a groomsman.”

  “Right,” Heather said. “Christopher and Conner Kent.”

  “He’s also the fella that drives the food truck around here,” Roadkill Rodney said. “Or he was.”

  "He has a great little sandwich van," Cicada Katie said. "But Talia didn't like him driving by her classy building. She petitioned the mayor and made the poor guy change his whole driving route to avoid this place."

  “I was surprised to see him come here after that,” Roadkill Rodney said. “I’d have thought he’d hate this Hovel.”

  “But it is a wedding,” Cicada Katie said. “You don’t want to miss those.”

  “He’s here?” Heather asked.

  “Looks like he’s about to go on the dance floor,” she responded, peering towards the other room and pointing.

  “It was great catching up,” Heather said. “We should probably run.”

  “Us too,” Roadkill Rodney said. “And not to the wine cellar, don’t you worry.”

  Heather and Amy rushed away.

  “Where are we going?” Amy asked. “Conner Kent is in the opposite direction.”

  “First, we’re
going to get one of the officers to guard that door more effectively,” Heather said. “We can’t have people trying to smooch at a crime scene. Then, we’re grabbing Ryan and Jamie. It’s about time we did some dancing.”

  The Dance Floor

  “That certainly sounds like a motive,” Ryan said as Heather and Amy updated him on what they learned about Conner Kent.

  “Especially since we’ve validated that the killer is someone here,” Jamie agreed. “We didn’t see any place where someone could have gotten by Hoskins.”

  “So how do we want to handle talking to Conner Kent?” Amy asked. “We don’t want anyone else to know we’re investigating a murder. We can’t haul him off to an interrogation room. And it doesn’t look like he’s getting off the dance floor anytime soon.”

  They looked over to the dance floor where Conner Kent was busting a move. He was an enthusiastic dancer, and his wedding date was keeping in step with him.

  “I have an idea,” Heather said. “Amy, can you and Jamie request a slow song from the band?”

  “Sure,” Amy said. “But how will that help?”

  “We’re going to cut in,” Heather said.

  “Does that really work?” Amy asked.

  “I guess we’ll see,” Heather replied.

  She led Ryan to the dance floor, and they shuffled along for a few moments. She enjoyed seeing Lilly and Nicolas dancing together too. They were practicing their robot moves.

  “I wish we had time to really dance together,” Heather said, wistfully to her husband.

  "Then we better solve this quickly," Ryan winked. "Before the band packs up."

  Heather nodded. She and Jamie worked their way over to Conner and his date.

  “Mind if I cut in?” Heather asked, not giving Conner Kent a chance to respond. She took the lead in the dance and moved him a few paces away from his date who Ryan was now asking to dance.

  Conner tried to be a gentleman and put on good manners for the wedding. He smiled at Heather.

  “You’re a bridesmaid?” he asked.

  “Co-Maid of Honor,” Heather said. “You’re a really good dancer.”

  “Thanks,” Conner said. “Kirstie and I love to dance.”

  “That’s your date?”

  Conner nodded. The music shifted at Amy's request, and a slow song began. It was easier to hear Conner now, and Heather was determined to get answers to her questions. She began with typical wedding small talk questions.

  “So, how do you know Col?” Heather asked. “Or are you here for Mona?”

  “Col and my brother are good friends,” Conner said. “In fact, he’s one of the groomsmen.”

  “Oh, I can see the resemblance now!” Heather said.

  "And Col and I are friendly too,” Conner continued. “He’s been supportive of my business.”

  “And what do you do?”

  “I have a food truck. It specializes in lunches. We make all sorts of wonderful sandwiches.”

  “That sounds tasty,” Heather said. “I’m involved in the food business too, but I specialize in donuts.”

  “Are they your donuts that were circulating with the drinks?” Conner asked. “They were delicious.”

  “Thank you,” Heather said. “They are my recipes. So, how is the food truck business treating you? I can’t imagine not having a permanent spot for my shop.”

  “You get used to it,” Conner said. “Now I can’t imagine now having my business on wheels.”

  “But how do customers know where to find you if they want to have one of your lunches regularly?” Heather asked. “Or is it random and you have new customers all the time?”

  "You start to have a regular route, and then people know where to find you to order from you. You build it up, and then you can plan to hit your busiest locations at the right time," Conner said. "Of course, I recently had to change my established route."

  “Why is that?”

  "The curator here is all high and mighty about the Hovel. She thinks it's the only thing that matters in this town. For some reason, she thought my sandwiches were an insult to it and went to Town Hall, and they made me change my route, so I don't drive by here anymore. It's ridiculous."

  “Sounds like you’re not a big fan of the curator,” Heather said.

  "Would you be if someone made you do that to your shop?”

  “I guess not,” Heather said. “I’d be pretty upset.”

  “Of course, I’m upset,” Conner said. “It’s a real pain trying to get your customers to follow you to new places. Especially when you need to avoid a whole section of town.”

  “Have you seen the curator at all here today?”

  “I expected to,” Conner said. “And I knew it was going to be hard to hold my tongue. But I haven’t seen her at all. She must know that she should avoid me.”

  “And why is that? Why should she avoid you?” Heather asked, hoping he might say something incriminating.

  “Because she knows that she would get an earful from me. I wouldn’t want to cause a scene at a wedding, but she might bring it out of me.”

  “Right,” Heather said. She focused on the dance for a few moments before changing her subject of questioning. “So, where were you before the ceremony?”

  “Why are you asking?”

  "Oh. I was with the bride at the time, and I didn't get to do any exploring of the house. I wondered if any of the guests did."

  “That doesn’t seem like the real reason for your question,” Conner Kent said, suspiciously. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Heather said.

  “Nothing? Then why ask?”

  “Maybe it is something. But I can’t really talk about it,” Heather said, trying to cover. “It’s for the bride.”

  “Fine,” Conner said. “We didn’t do any exploring. We got here just in time for the ceremony. We were running late because Kirstie took a long time to get ready. We weren’t expecting to go through a security checkpoint either and so that added time. We got here just in time to sit down before the wedding started.”

  The song ended, and Conner stopped holding her hand. He gave her a curt nod and walked away.

  Dinner Discussion

  “This is the only lucky thing that has happened all night,” Amy muttered. “Monica and Meredith aren’t at our table so we can talk.”

  Heather nodded. The wedding party was divided into two tables on either side of the bride and groom. Monica and Meredith were supposed to sit at their table but were currently flirting with the groomsmen at the other one.

  "So, what have we found out so far?” Jamie asked.

  “We know that the killer is one of the guests or staff here,” Ryan said. “And that they haven’t left.”

  “Creepy,” Amy said. “We’re still in the same building as the killer. And Heather might have even danced with him.”

  "Conner certainly has a motive," Heather said. "He admitted it himself. But he said that he and his date were late for the wedding. They arrived just in time for the ceremony. If that’s the case, then he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to kill the victim.”

  “His date backed up that version of the timeline,” Ryan said. “She told me that they were running late as well. They just sat down before the procession started.”

  “Do we believe them?” Amy asked.

  “I’ll check with Hoskins and see if he remembers when they came in,” Ryan said.

  "Do we have other suspects?" Jamie said. "I mean, narrowing it down beside it being anybody in this room?"

  “I hate to say it,” Heather said. “But we might have to consider Roadkill Rodney a suspect.”

  “Why?” asked Jamie.

  "Because he was headed to the scene of the crime," Heather said. "It might have been for the reason he said, or they might have been lying. Maybe they wanted to clean up what they did."

  “Do you really think it was him?” asked Ryan.

  “I wouldn’t like to think so,” Heather said. “He’s beco
me a friend now.”

  "Friend is a bit of a strong word," Amy said. "His name is Roadkill by choice."

  “But he was acting a bit suspiciously,” Heather continued. “And he told us that he didn’t like Talia Pinster.”

  “The same goes for Cicada Katie,” said Amy. “She had just as much a dislike and was also by the wine cellar door.”

  “But,” Heather said. “The thing that does help their case is that I saw them both in the audience watching the wedding. They looked normal to me.”

  “As normal as those two can be,” Amy said.

  “Well, they didn’t look flustered or disheveled,” Heather said. “So, they would have had to move quickly to make the kill, clean up and then get to their seats in time.”

  “Who else?” asked Jamie.

  “The caterer,” Heather said. “Mona heard Talia and Glenn arguing the night of the rehearsal dinner. My Hillside staff also heard those two talking this morning when the donuts were delivered.”

  “We should talk to him next,” Ryan agreed.

  “And it would help if we could figure out what the murder weapon was,” Heather said. “Did you notice anything when you were searching the grounds?”

  “No,” Ryan said. “It wasn’t dumped outside.”

  “There are so many antiques and decorations in this house that it’s possible it could have been anything,” Heather said.

  “Except a wine bottle,” said Amy. “I really thought it would have been a wine bottle.”

  “I haven’t noticed anything that seems out of place so far,” Heather said. “But it’s hard to know what exactly we are looking for.”

  "Right," Ryan agreed. "And was it something that was already in the house and used as a weapon, or was it something that the killer brought in with them specifically for this purpose?"

  "Like a terrible wedding gift?" asked Amy.

  "And why was she in the wine cellar?" Heather said. “Was she getting something there and the killer followed her down? Or was she meeting someone?”

  “I have another question too,” Amy said.

  They all looked at her.

  “Did you choose chicken or steak for your meal? I was very indecisive on this point,” said Amy.