Caramel Cream & Murder

by Susan Gillard

  “Josh is an adult,” Heather reminded her.

  “Sometimes that’s hard to remember,” said Amy.

  She looked in Josh’s direction where he was dancing by the counter. Jamie was smiling too.

  “That looks like a good sign,” said Heather.

  She led her friend over to meet the men by their counter. Josh pointed at a ring.

  “It’s perfect, isn’t it?”

  “It is really beautiful,” Amy admitted.

  “And it seems right for Josie,” Jamie agreed.

  “She likes classic pieces,” Josh explained. “She loves old Hollywood, and I wanted to find something that looked like a movie star would wear it. She doesn’t like even numbers when it comes to stones, so I like that it has three on it. And, of course, I wanted to get her a big diamond, because who doesn’t like diamonds?”

  “That certainly does fulfill the criteria,” said Amy.

  “And it sounds like you know her pretty well,” said Heather, nudging her friend as the words came out.

  “Of course I do,” Josh said. “You weren’t worried about that, were you? I wouldn’t be asking her to marry me if I didn’t know her. I know her likes and her dislikes, her dreams, her plans. And how she makes me feel. And how I make her feel. I know everything I need to know.”

  Heather smiled, and even Amy seemed appeased by this speech. Then the jeweler came over to discuss the ring that Josh wanted to buy, and he found that there was one important thing about her that he didn’t know.

  “And what size should the ring be?” the jeweler asked.

  “What?” asked Josh.

  “What size ring does the lucky lady wear?”

  Josh looked helplessly at his friend. “I don’t know. Rings come in different sizes?”

  Amy hit her forehead.

  “It’s all right,” the jeweler said. “The ring could be resized if it doesn’t fit her correctly.”

  “No,” Josh said. “I want everything to be perfect. That means I need to find out her ring size. How can I do that?”

  “Can we ask her?” suggested Jamie.

  “No,” Josh snapped. “I don’t want her to suspect I’m going to propose.”

  “Calm down,” Heather said. “We can figure this out. We can either find out her ring size when she arrives and then you can order the ring. Or we can ask her for her ring size, but in a way that doesn’t sound suspicious.”

  “Like what?” asked Josh.

  “Like tell her that Amy is cleaning out her jewelry case and wants to know if she wants anything before she donates it to charity. She wanted to know if they wear the same size ring. You could also hide it and say she’s getting rid of other things. Like shoes.”

  “That’s all well and good until she says yes and wants to take all my footwear,” said Amy.

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Josh said. “I’m so glad I decided to ask for your help.”

  “Yeah. We are too,” Amy said, managing to keep some of the sarcasm out of her voice.

  Heather’s cell phone rang, and she excused herself to go and talk to Ryan.

  “Any developments?” she asked.

  “Peters went to the bistro with Mr. Oldsway. There wasn’t any sign of things that Chris Henderson might have left behind.”

  “So, then we have no idea why he was outside of the bistro that night,” Heather recapped.

  “There was something funny about the bistro though,” said Ryan. “When Peters looked around, he saw that a lot of Mr. Oldsway’s nonperishable ingredients were missing.”

  “How so?”

  “According to the inventory, there were many jars of cherries missing. When asked about it, Mr. Oldsway said that some other supplies ended up lost too.”

  “Could that be related to the murder?”

  “It’s as much of a lead as anything else we have right now,” said Ryan.

  “Thanks for the update.”

  “How are things on your end?”

  “We’re surviving,” said Heather. “Though this is tough on Amy. More so than I would have thought.”

  They spoke for a few more minutes and decided that they would meet soon to begin questioning the employees. After saying goodbye, Heather returned to her friends.

  “Great news,” Amy said without any enthusiasm. “We found out Josie’s ring size.”

  “She’s a six,” Josh said, happily.

  “Your idea worked,” said Jamie. “We told her that Amy was clearing out her jewelry and asked what size she wore, and she told us.”

  “Yup,” Amy said. “And now she’s taking my ring.”

  The Fridge

  “This is such a weird day,” Tanya said as she admitted the three investigators into her house. “I want to be excited about having an extra day off, but then I remember that it’s because someone died. Someone I knew. I can’t believe Chris is dead.”

  She led Heather, Amy, and Ryan to her small living room and they all had a seat on her eclectic furniture.

  “I know my furniture is a mess right now,” Tanya said. “Maybe I’ll update it when I get my tips.”

  “How long have you worked at the Beachcomber Bistro?” Ryan asked.

  “Since high school,” said Tanya. “About three years now.”

  “What can you tell us about working with Chris?” asked Heather.

  Tanya shrugged. “I don’t know. He was nice enough. But we weren’t close.”

  “Do you know anyone who would want to hurt him?” Heather asked.

  “No. All the customers at the bistro liked him. He was very personable. I guess it had to be something in his personal life that made someone want to murder him, but I don’t know what that is. I think he had a girlfriend.”

  “Do you know her name?” asked Ryan.

  She shook her head. “Maybe Kelly? I don’t know for sure. I just remember Chris mentioning her before when some customers were flirting with him. Maybe he was lying because he didn’t want to go out with them.”

  “You said the customers liked him,” said Heather. “What about his coworkers?”

  “Yeah. I think we all liked him. He helped the tip pool get big,” said Tanya. “And he was nice to all of us too.”

  “So, James, Bruno and Mr. Oldsway all had a good relationship with him?” asked Ryan.

  “Mr. Oldsway has a good relationship with everyone. He’s a very sweet old man. And he doesn’t always know what’s going on.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Heather.

  “We could get away with stuff if we really wanted to,” said Tanya. “I haven’t worn things up to dress code in years. I get better tips when I show my figure. Mr. Oldsway said something once, and I told him that I was allergic to certain fabrics. He believed it, and I could wear whatever I wanted.”

  “Did anyone else get away with something?” asked Heather.

  “Bruno smoked. He’d slip out back for a drag whenever he could.”

  “I guess Peters has him to thank for all that work that night,” said Amy.

  “Did he smoke whenever he was out back?” asked Heather.

  Tanya nodded. “If he was there for longer than two minutes, he was smoking. He couldn’t do it out front because of the families coming in, but he would do it out back.”

  Ryan moved to the next question on his list. “What time did everyone leave last night?”

  “We closed pretty quickly after ten. It was much faster than the craziness during spring break. We all left the bistro at the same time. I was home by ten thirty.”

  “Were you alone?” asked Heather.

  “I live alone,” Tanya said. “I did video chat with my one friend for about an hour. We were talking about what she should wear for a job interview. That’s such a hard outfit to plan for. You don’t want to look like you’re trying too hard.”

  “When did this call end?” asked Ryan.

  Tanya shrugged. “Eleven-thirty? A quarter of?”

  “When you were discussing the outfit,�
� Heather said. “Did you discuss hair? Maybe wearing a barrette?”

  “I don’t wear barrettes,” Tanya said, shaking her head. “I look better with my hair down, and I get more tips. And her hair is too thick to hold one.”

  “We found a barrette by the back of the bistro,” Ryan said. He took out a picture and showed it to her. “Do you recognize it?”

  “No. Sorry. Maybe it was a customer’s?” Tanya suggested. “I’m getting hungry. Do you guys want anything? Or is this almost done?”

  “I guess I just have one more main question,” said Heather. “Do you know why Chris Henderson might have been behind the bistro at that time of night?”

  Tanya thought about it. “I don’t really know why he was there. But I think I had seen him by the bistro when we closed before. I didn’t think much of it. But I did ask him if he wanted a ride home once before when I saw him waiting after we were closed and he said no thanks. I thought he was enjoying being outside. But maybe there was another reason.”

  “Like what?” asked Amy.

  “I don’t know,” said Tanya. “But maybe it relates to why he died. Because nothing makes sense about it right now.”

  “I hear that,” agreed Amy.

  “Is that all?” asked Tanya. “I am really hungry.”

  The investigators stood up. They headed closer to the door, while Tanya headed to the kitchen.

  “You know what?” Amy asked, following her. “I do have one more question. Do you think it’s ridiculous to propose to someone when you don’t know their ring size?”

  Tanya paused with her fridge door open. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m not sure I even know my own ring size.”

  Heather and Ryan entered the room. However, Heather’s attention wasn’t on the questions about engagement. She was looking at the fridge. It was full of jars of maraschino cherries.

  “I think we found out where Mr. Oldsway’s missing supplies were going,” said Heather.

  “Oh,” Tanya said, turning as red as the cherries. “Please don’t tell him.”

  Bruno

  As Heather headed back to the car with Amy and Ryan, her thoughts kept wandering. They had decided not to reveal that Tanya had been stealing from the bistro until they discovered whether it had something to do with the murder or not.

  Heather felt bad about this. Mr. Oldsway had seemed like a nice, albeit sweaty, man. She didn’t like to think that his employees were taking advantage of him. Maybe the fear of police intervention would stop Tanya from taking things from the bistro, and they wouldn’t have to reveal to the man that his trust had been misplaced.

  However, this also made Heather wonder what else was going on behind the owner’s back. Tanya had admitted that she lied about having an allergy to avoid having to follow the dress code. When she had been exposed, she also admitted to stealing a few things. Could James, Bruno, or Chris have been up to similar small crimes at the bistro? Could one of them have been up to something more sinister? Could something relate to the murder?

  She tried to push these questions out of her mind so she could focus on the next suspect they were going to talk to soon. There was one employee who they were told smoked, so he was the one they were going to talk to next.

  Bruno was big. It was hard to think of another word to describe him. He towered over Heather, Amy, and even Ryan when he stood next to them. They had arrived at his house, ready to ask him some questions.

  He was standing in the shadows of his garage, smoking a cigarette.

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  “Maybe,” Amy said. “Are you Bruno Ness?”

  He took one more puff on his cigarette and tossed it on the ground. He stepped on it and crossed his arms.

  “And who are you?”

  “I’m Detective Shepherd, and these are some private investigators who assist on certain cases. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”

  “I guess not,” Bruno said. “Is this about Chris Henderson?”

  Heather nodded. “You worked with him?”

  “That’s right,” said Bruno. “He was a waiter at the Beachcomber Bistro, and I am the cook. Mr. Oldsway called this morning and said he was dead. It’s hard to believe.”

  “Do you know anyone who would want to hurt him?”

  “No,” Bruno said. “I didn’t know too much about him outside of work though. He didn’t talk about his life to me.”

  “And he got along with everyone at work?”

  Bruno nodded. “He was well-liked. Mr. Oldsway thought he was a good guy.”

  “But Mr. Oldsway gave you a key to the bistro and not him?” asked Heather.

  “So?” he asked, giving her a hard stare.

  “Why is that?”

  “Because I’m the cook. Sometimes I should get in early to prep the day’s specials. Or I might close up late if I want to test something in the kitchen.”

  “Did you close up late yesterday?” asked Ryan.

  “No,” Bruno said. “I left when everyone else did. It was about ten twenty or so.”

  “And where did you go?” Ryan asked.

  Bruno gestured around him toward the garage and house.

  “We’re not convinced that Chris Henderson did leave when you closed,” said Heather. “He was found dead behind the bistro.”

  “I thought he left,” said Bruno. “Everyone was walking away. I locked the door, headed to my car and went home. Maybe he was hiding nearby. Or maybe he left and came back. I don’t know.”

  “Do you know any reason why he would be there so late?” asked Ryan.

  “No,” Bruno said, and then he paused. “Well, I don’t know why. But I think I have seen him there before.”

  “When?” asked Heather.

  “There were two times that I closed up late, trying out new recipes. I lost track of time.”

  “I can understand that,” Heather admitted quietly.

  “Well, I left work and Chris was outside. He smiled and waved. The first time, he said he forgot his keys. The other time he said he was just going for a walk. He was acting normally. It was just that it was so late that I remember.”

  “And you have no idea why he was there?” asked Heather.

  Bruno shook his head. “None. It’s not like there’s a lot you can do out back.”

  “You could sneak a smoke?” Amy suggested.

  Bruno looked uncomfortable. “I might have done that occasionally.”

  “Ninety-eight times?” offered Amy.

  “There’s nothing illegal about that, is there?” Bruno said, defensively. “Mr. Oldsway may not have liked it, but I didn’t do it in front of customers.

  “You didn’t happen to wait around after work that day and sneak another smoke?” suggested Ryan. “And then see Chris Henderson? Get into a fight about something?”

  “No,” Bruno said. “I went right home after work.”

  “You are a big guy,” Ryan continued. “It would be easy for you to cause the blow that killed him.”

  “You must really have no idea who killed him,” Bruno said. “If you’re going after me.”

  “We’re questioning all the Beachcomber Bistro employees,” said Heather. “And you have to admit that his being killed directly behind the building is suspicious.”

  “Maybe someone was following him and his being killed there is a coincidence,” Bruno said.

  Heather realized that this was a possibility. However, there needed to be a reason that Chris Henderson was there that night.

  “Is there anyone who can back up where you were last night?” Ryan asked.

  “Honey?” a female voice called.

  They all turned and saw a woman approaching the garage.

  “Is everything all right?”

  “This is my wife, Amanda,” Bruno said. Looking at her, he continued, “The police are asking me about Chris.”

  “I’m so sorry about your coworker,” she said. “Let me know if you need anything.”

  “Could you te
ll them where I was last night?”

  “He was home last night. I can back that up. So can our five children and my mother.”

  “Thanks, Amanda.”

  She nodded and started to leave, but then turned back. “You weren’t out here smoking, were you? You quit, right?”

  “Right,” Bruno said, casting a glance at the investigators.

  “I think we’re finished here,” Ryan said. “Thank you for your time.”

  Bruno and his wife walked away.

  “What do you think of him as a suspect?” asked Amy.

  “It sounds like he has an alibi, but family might be willing to lie to help a loved one.” Heather picked up the cigarette that Bruno dropped and held it up. “I think analyzing this might help.”

  James

  Ryan delivered the cigarette butt to the police lab, and Heather and Amy waited for him to return so they could question the third coworker together. The friends were discussing their thoughts on the case.

  “I don’t know what to think about the cigarettes,” Heather admitted. “Bruno could have left them outside before the murder, and they could have nothing to do with the case.”

  “Or he could have been smoking while he was waiting to kill Chris Henderson,” said Amy.

  “We still don’t have a motive as to why anyone would want to kill him,” Heather said, frowning.

  “Is it possible a customer just really hated the service?” Amy quipped.

  “And the customer asked Chris to meet him there at midnight, and he agreed?” asked Heather. “The location of the crime at that time of night doesn’t make sense.”

  “Maybe talking to the last coworker will help,” Amy said.

  “Maybe,” Heather agreed. “We did already discover who was stealing supplies and who was smoking outside. I wonder what James is hiding from Mr. Oldsway.”

  “I think we can find out soon,” Amy said, pointing. “There’s Ryan.”

  They waved at him, and the trio met up together. Then they headed over to James Meeson’s door and knocked.