Peanut Butter and Jelly Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 54

by Susan Gillard

  Heather frowned. She was sure Lyle Clarke could produce something to validate whatever lie he was telling her.

  “Unfortunately,” Heather said, regaining composure. “You already told us that you were at a dinner that night, so you couldn’t have been with Mr. Galloway.”

  “The dinner was my fancier part of the evening,” Clarke said with ease. “But after the dinner, I returned to the office to see how things were progressing on a project. Charles Galloway was there. A few other employees were there as well. If you’re looking for an alibi, I’m sure all of them will provide.”

  Heather was sure that he would have employees who could provide and alibi, but it would just be more lies. Her plan had not worked. Lyle Clarke was too slippery to be caught easily.

  “Now, if there’s nothing else,” Lyle said. “I have some business to attend to.”

  Heather was hiding how upset she was and started to the door, but Amy found something interesting. Heather had never paid much attention to the décor of the room before. She knew that the certificates of “Humanitarian of the Year” were false accolades. There was also a bookcase with a few books on it. Amy pointed one out.

  “Isn’t that the Allen Wolfsmore book that was signed in Aunt Amelia’s Antiques?”

  “You’re right,” Heather said.

  “I’d love to discuss literature with you,” Lyle Clarke said. “But it will have to be another time. I’m very busy.”

  After he had escorted them out, he closed the door in their face.

  Chapter 14

  Heather handed a donut over to a customer. Their happy smile made her smile too. Her case was proving to be difficult. Whenever she felt stuck at a problem, it felt good to be able to do something that she was good at. Making people smile with specialty donuts was something she was good at.

  Eva and Leila joined her at the counter.

  “Can we have some donuts?” Eva asked.

  “We’re sorry we didn’t give them their due last time,” Leila said with a smile.

  “I’ll bring them to your usual table,” Heather said. The two ladies took their usual spot at Donut Delights while Heather prepared their plates with the store’s namesake. She was sure they would be delighted with the Peanut Butter and Jelly Donuts.

  “Jung,” Heather called. “Can you and Maricela watch the counter while I tend to our regulars?”

  “I’m happy to,” Jung said, appearing to take care of the other customers.

  Heather paused. “Did Maricela not come in yet?”

  Just as she asked, Maricela whisked into the store. Out of breath, she took her place behind the counter.

  “Sorry again, boss,” she said.

  “Maricela, is everything okay?” Heather asked.

  Jung looked at her. “Just tell her,” he said.

  Maricela grimaced, but Heather had to know. Two of them being in on a secret was too much for her.

  “What’s going on?” Heather asked.

  “It might sound a little stupid,” Maricela said. “But I’ve been taking some business courses.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Heather said.

  “It was going all right until I had to do a group project. It’s very disorganized, and they keep making me late,” Maricela said. “I am sorry about that.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” said Heather.

  “I don’t know if it will amount to anything,” she said. “And I didn’t want you to think that I was trying to leave you here.”

  “You never have to worry about that,” Heather said. “We support you with anything you want to do to help your career. And we know that you love us.”

  Maricela looked relieved and then set to work. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some customers to take care of.”

  “Me too,” Heather said with a smile. She brought the donuts over to her friends and sat down to join them. She was feeling proud of her assistant but wanted to see how her friends were holding up.

  “How does it feel to be back in your house?” she asked.

  “I have to admit that we miss everyone,” Eva said. “Especially Lilly.”

  “I can understand that,” Heather said. “But we’ll make sure to get everyone together soon.”

  “Otherwise, it’s fine,” Eva said.

  “Fine,” Leila agreed.

  Then they were both quiet. Heather knew that something was bothering him.

  “What’s wrong?” Heather asked.

  “It’s so silly,” Eva said. “I just have this slight feeling that we’re not meant to go back to our house. As soon as got back into it, someone was killed.”

  “Eva, that had nothing to do with you,” Heather said.

  “Well, I certainly hoped that you didn’t consider us suspects,” Leila said, trying to joke.

  “I know,” Eva said. “And I know that it’s silly. But it’s just a feeling I have.”

  “I think solving this case will help you both feel more at home. You’ll see that it has nothing to do with your house,” said Heather.

  “What did I miss?” Amy asked as she joined them at the table.

  Heather didn’t want to say that she had missed their friends feeling sad about their new home, so she simply said, “We were talking about the case.”

  “Did you solve it without me?” Amy asked, taking a donut.

  “No,” Heather said with a sigh. “I think that Charles Galloway and Lyle Clarke are behind this. But I’m not sure how to prove it.”

  “Is it possible that one of the other suspects did it?” Amy asked.

  “It certainly is possible,” Heather said. “They were all physically able to do so and have motives. But I think it Clarke orchestrated. That book was so suspicious.”

  “What book?” asked Eva.

  “Lyle Clarke had a copy of an Allen Wolfsmore book. Only a few people seem to know about him,” Heather said.

  “But what does that mean?” Eva asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Heather said. “I need to keep reminding myself that this wasn’t a robbery. We were very thorough. Nothing was missing from the store.”

  “We’re just happy that our renovator seems not to be at the top of the suspect list,” Eva said.

  “That would make us feel even worse,” Leila agreed.

  “Well, she’s not at the top,” Heather said. “It’s Charles Galloway sitting right at the top. If he works for Clarke, it makes sense that he’d know how to clean up a crime scene. And he did question us about whether we were sure it was a murder or not.”

  “If he had orchestrated it to look like a suicide, he would be disappointed that we realized it was a murder,” Amy agreed.

  “He obviously doesn’t have a real alibi since Clarke is hiring one for him,” Heather said.

  “And he had holes in his story about being in the store. How could he forget what he was fighting about buying?” Amy said. “That is so suspicious.”

  “It is. But this is all conjecture and circumstantial evidence,” Heather said. “What can we prove?”

  They thought about it and ate some donuts. Then Ryan called Heather’s phone.

  “Tell me you have some good news,” Heather said after their greetings. “Did you find any forensic evidence to link Charles Galloway to the scene?”

  “No. Not Charles Galloway,” said Ryan.

  Chapter 15

  Taryn Turner sat in the interrogation room again. She was in worse spirits than last time.

  “I know you love accusing me of murder,” Taryn said. “But this is getting ridiculous.”

  “We’re not accusing you for no reason,” Ryan said. “We’re going where the evidence leads.”

  “I didn’t kill Amelia, so I don’t see what evidence you could be talking about,” she said.

  Heather and Amy exchanged a look. They didn’t want to believe that they had been wrong on two counts. They thought that Charles Galloway was guilty, and they didn’t want to believe that Taryn Turner was capable of murder. However, Taryn�
��s fingerprints had been found at the scene.

  Ryan informed her as such. “Your fingerprints were found at the crime scene.”

  “Well, I’ve been to Aunt Amelia’s Antiques before,” Taryn said. “That’s where the crime was committed, right? I used to go there all the time. It makes sense that my prints would be there.”

  “It makes sense that they would be on an item that was broken during the struggle that killed Amelia Seward?” Ryan asked.

  “I don’t know,” Taryn said. “I don’t know what was broken. Or about the struggle. I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “How can you explain your fingerprints?” Heather asked.

  “Well, whatever was broken must have been something I touched before,” Taryn suggested.

  “It was wiped of fingerprints except for one partial print that remained. The partial matched your prints,” Ryan explained.

  “Tell me what it was,” Taryn said. “I touched a lot of farm equipment in the shop. They were the most recent items I looked at in the store. They were what I was looking at buying before I had my little spat with Amelia.”

  “What was included in this farm equipment?” asked Heather.

  Taryn tried to think back. A look of concentration crossed her face. “I remember a pitchfork that I thought would make for an interesting look above a fireplace. There were some horseshoes. There was a butter churn that had a lot of character. And I remember some farm animal figures.”

  “There was a butter churn?” Heather asked for clarification.

  “That’s right,’ Taryn said. “That was really expensive.”

  “You can say that again,” said Amy.

  “I brought the butter churn up to the register to discuss the price, but she wouldn’t budge. She said she wouldn’t give me a deal.”

  “It might be possible that the prints were left from the visit she’s talking about,” Heather said.

  “They have to be,” Taryn said.

  “Maybe the killer wiped off his prints and took the other ones off it as well. He just happened to miss Taryn’s,” Heather thought aloud.

  “Yes,” Taryn said. “That has to be it. Because I wasn’t there the night she was killed.”

  “But you can’t tell us where you were?” Heather asked.

  “Well, as I said, I do a lot of work on different projects. I’m always bouncing around.”

  “No alibi,” Ryan said, writing it down in his notes.

  “Don’t say it like that,” Taryn said. “Isn’t it possible that I just forgot what I was doing?”

  “Possibly, but unlikely,” said Ryan. “It was only the other day.”

  “Yes, but so much as happened in that time,” Taryn said. “I’ve been Taryn Down Lots of Walls.”

  “You had a fight with the victim, and there was a witness, your prints were found at the scene, and you have no alibi,” Ryan said, listing the case against her.

  “Maybe I do have an alibi,” Taryn said. “I just didn’t want to tell anyone.”

  “Where were you?” Heather asked.

  “I was with a man,” Taryn said finally.

  “And he can account for your whereabouts all night?” Ryan asked.

  Taryn nodded.

  “We’re going to need his name,” Heather said.

  “I know,” Taryn said. “I wish you didn’t. His name is Teddy Tanner. He’s a construction worker.”

  “What’s wrong with that?” Amy said. “Why were you so embarrassed?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Taryn asked.

  It was not obvious to any of them, and they shook their heads.

  “It’s part of how I’m able to come in under budget on projects. I’m dating someone who builds walls. He gives me a discount because he’s my boyfriend.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” Heather said.

  “You don’t think it undercuts my reputation as someone who can negotiate deals to get a fair price. Teddy helps me with my projects for basically cost value because we like to go out dancing together,” Taryn said.

  “Well, admitting to dating someone is a lot better than being accused of murder,” Amy said.

  “I guess you’re right,” Taryn said, though she didn’t sound convincing.

  “We’ll be looking into your alibi,” Ryan said. “But thank you for your time today.”

  “You won’t tell anyone about this?” Taryn asked.

  “We won’t share your love life if you don’t want us to,” Heather said. “It seems to have no bearing on the case.”

  “I’ll only promise if you promise to work on your motto,” Amy said.

  “Fine,” Taryn agreed. “I won’t use such obvious puns anymore.”

  Heather smiled as she left.

  “I wouldn’t mind a pun if she didn’t repeat it every five seconds,” Amy said.

  Heather thought about it. She was glad that Taryn Turner seemed to be innocent. They would, of course, follow up on her alibi but it looked like she was going to be cleared of wrongdoing. She knew that Eva and Leila would have been upset if the woman who rebuilt their house into a home had brutally murdered another woman that they liked. Heather was glad that she would be able to give them some peace of mind in regards to Taryn Turner.

  However, the rest of her feelings were ones of frustration. They had just released the one suspect who had forensic evidence linking them to the crime scene. She was going to have to discover some new clues soon.

  Chapter 16

  “What could we be missing?” Heather asked.

  “I don’t know,” Amy said. “We went through everything here with a fine-tooth comb. Everything on her inventory lists is accounted for. Even my lovely desk.”

  Heather and Amy had returned to Aunt Amelia’s Antiques. Heather felt like there was still something there that could help them solve the case.

  They had found so many pertinent clues when they first started the case and proved it was murder rather than suicide. Now she felt like they were stalled in uncovering clues. Yet something still felt off. She needed to discover what was giving her this feeling that they were missing something.

  “I know,” Heather said. “It was hard work going through the inventory, and I trust everyone on Ryan’s team. I believe everything on the lists is here.”

  “So, what’s wrong?” Amy asked. “Do you think the forensics team missed something when they were collecting their samples?”

  “I think they gathered a lot of evidence,” Heather said. “I’m not sure what I think is missing.”

  “Except for the perfect clue that will lead us right to where the killer is,” Amy said.

  “Right,” Heather said. “Should we just spin some wild theories and see if they lead to any good ones?

  “Sure,” Amy said. “I love this exercise. The crazier, the better. So to start it out – what if a family member hired someone to kill Amelia for the insurance money?”

  “Good example,” Heather said. “But she split her money between her family and charity. And if it was for life insurance, the hired killer shouldn’t have staged it like a suicide. A lot of insurance policies refuse to pay in the event of suicide.”

  “Your turn,” Amy said.

  “What if the killer just wanted to destroy the rope here. He killed Amelia to lower the value of the object.”

  “That would be a cold-blooded killer,” Amy said.

  “I wish I brought some donuts to eat while we figured this out,” Heather said.

  “Well, you did. But we ate them in the car,” Amy reminded her. “And I do still want to try those donuts with a glass of milk.”

  “One more theory?” Heather said.

  “Okay,” Amy said, trying to come up with a real doozy of a tale. “What if a professional thief broke into the shop to steal that red vase? Then he replaced it with an exact replica? Except he got interrupted by Aunt Amelia and had to kill her to cover up his crime.”

  “That actually sounds very convincing
,” Heather said. She moved over to the red vase and picked it up. “I think it feels the same though. What do you think?”

  Amy examined the vase as well and also thought that it seemed the same as the night before. “I think we need a new theory.”

  Heather sighed. “Remember how happy we were when we first came here? We were excited for Eva and Leila to finish decorating their finished home.”