Sweets, Suspects, and Women Sleuths Cozy Mystery Set

by Meredith Potts

  While I could have easily polished off a few pastries all by myself, I knew that it was always more fun to indulge with friends. Thankfully, shortly after I called up Shannon Marlowe and Kelly Hogan, they both agreed to join me.

  A few minutes later, we were all sitting at a table with buttery pastries in front of us.

  Kelly took a bite of her chocolate croissant and remarked, “What a nice treat.”

  “I’ll say. And a rare one too,” I said.

  Kelly put her hand up. “You know, this doesn’t have to be such a rare occurrence.”

  “I’m sure my diet would have a lot to say about that,” I replied.

  “So would mine. But I actually wasn’t talking about specifically about pastries,” Kelly said.

  “You weren’t?” I asked.

  Kelly shook her head. “I was talking about the three of us getting together. We used to see each other every day. But we’ve all been so busy lately that we’re seeing less of each other than ever.”

  “I know. Which is why I’m glad we’re all together now,” I said.

  Shannon took a bite of her croissant. “That’s so sweet.”

  I squinted. “Are you talking about my statement or the croissant?”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I love the sentiment. But I also can’t get enough of this croissant,” Shannon said. “We should start meeting up here more often.”

  Kelly cleared her throat. “Did you not hear me talking about my diet earlier?”

  “I did,” Shannon said.

  Kelly threw out her arms. “And what? You just chose to ignore it?”

  “Hey, don’t blame me,” Shannon said.

  Kelly bit the corner of her lip. “Who should I blame?”

  “This croissant. It’s so delicious that it practically begs you to set your diet on fire,” Shannon said.

  “Which is why I’m going to treat this as a one-time splurge,” Kelly said.

  “You’re really committed to your diet, aren’t you?” Shannon asked.

  “I’m trying my best,” Kelly said.

  “You’re putting my efforts to shame,” Shannon replied.

  “Don’t get me wrong. I’d love to throw caution to the wind more often, but I’m not sure my waistline could take that,” Kelly said.

  “Yeah. Diet-wise, it’s definitely safer for us to meet at Daley Buzz from here on out,” I said.

  Shannon chuckled.

  My nose crinkled. “What’s so funny?”

  “The fact that staring down murderers doesn’t make you flinch, but being around pastries does,” Shannon said.

  “I don’t think it’s really fair to compare those things,” I said.

  “Exactly. In my mind, one is clearly much scarier than the other,” Shannon said.

  I held my hand up. “I never said I was afraid of pastries—”

  “Good. Then indulge,” Shannon replied.

  “If anything, I’m afraid of the hours that I’m going to have to spend on the treadmill to burn off these calories,” I said.

  “Come on, Sabrina. Live a little,” Shannon said.

  “I have been living,” I said. “Why do you think I needed to go on a diet?”

  “My point is, with all the murderous twists and turns that have occurred in this town over the years, we both know that things can change in an instant,” Shannon said.

  “Trust me. You don’t have to remind me about that. Especially since things are just starting to settle down around here,” I said.

  “I realize that. And I want peace to last for a long time. On the flip side, I think it’s important to savor this moment as much as possible.” Shannon looked over at our wavy-haired friend for support. “Don’t you agree, Kelly?”

  Instead of backing Shannon up, Kelly was staring off into the distance, completely lost in thought.”

  Shannon’s nose scrunched. “Kelly? Are you getting some sort of strange vibe or something?”

  I was on pins and needles as I waited for Kelly to answer. With good reason. Kelly often had visions that were eerily prophetic. When that occurred, I wisely heeded her warnings.

  Thankfully, she made no mention of a vision. Instead, she just shook her head.

  While I breathed a sigh of relief, Shannon had a different reaction to Kelly’s response.

  “Why was your head in the clouds then?” Shannon asked.

  “Because I was daydreaming about other pastries,” Kelly said.

  “Here’s a better idea. Why don’t you just order a second croissant?” Shannon asked.

  Kelly bit the corner of her lip before replying, “You’re a bad influence, you know that?”

  “It’s one extra pastry. You can always go back to dieting tomorrow. Right now, just enjoy this moment,” Shannon said.

  “All right. You’ve convinced me,” Kelly said. “Another croissant, coming up.”

  Shannon smiled and then looked at me. “How about you?”

  “Sure,” I said. “Why not?”

  Chapter Three

  As expected, the second croissant was a flaky, buttery, and tasty treat. In all honesty, it was almost too good. For example, when I had finished my last bite, I could have easily ordered a third pastry. Instead of giving in to my sweet tooth, I mustered all the willpower I had. After all, it was one thing to cheat on my diet. It was another to completely blow it up.

  When I left Mitchell’s Bakery, I was feeling good. I also wasn’t ready to head home quite yet. I decided to head over to the beach. Since it was a weekday during the offseason, I practically had the place all to myself.

  Talk about a magical experience. I loved sticking my toes in the sand while watching the waves crash against the shore. It was such a hypnotic experience that I almost lost track of time. As I stared out into the distance, I felt like nature was putting on a show just for my benefit.

  The longer I sat on the beach, the more relaxed I became. Naturally, just as I was feeling more peaceful than ever, my phone rang. Part of me wanted to ignore the call. But I knew better than that. Sure, it might be one of my friends just calling to check in. Then again, it might also be an emergency.

  I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone. When I saw my husband’s name on the caller identification screen, I figured that he just wanted to check up on me. Perhaps he wanted to meet me for a snack. It was then that an idea came to me. If he grabbed a couple of to-go sandwiches, he could meet me here at the beach.

  I answered the call feeling about as chipper as could be. “Hi, honey.”

  Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for me to realize that a snack on the beach was just not in the cards for us.

  David didn’t waste time with pleasantries. Instead, he immediately fired a question at me. “Are you sitting down?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Why?”

  David exhaled. “Good. You’re definitely going to want to be seated when you hear this news.”

  The somber tone in his voice gave me serious pause. Especially since David usually had an uncanny knack for keeping a lid on his emotions. So for him to sound so sorrowful meant that something awful must have happened. The question became, just how terrible was the news?

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  He took a deep breath before replying, “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you need to hear it.”

  It wasn’t like David to beat around the bush like that. He was really struggling to get his thoughts off of his chest.

  Meanwhile, I was having a difficult time mustering patience. I needed to know what had taken place.

  “David, don’t leave me in suspense here,” I said. “What happened?”

  “It’s Denise Carlisle,” he said. “She’s dead.”

  My jaw dropped. “What?”

  “I know. It’s pretty shocking.”

  I shook my head. “No. This can’t be.”

  “I’m afraid it is.”

  “She’s really dead?”

  “I didn’t want to believe it myself un
til I saw her corpse on the floor of her living room.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out. It took me a number of seconds to untie my tongue. When I finally did, I replied, “Wait a minute. Back up a second. What happened?”

  “Unfortunately, that’s where things get really messy.”

  I had a bad feeling about what David was going to say next. I almost didn’t want to verbalize my thoughts. But there was no use keeping them inside. “Please don’t tell me—”

  David didn’t let me finish. “I’m afraid she was murdered.”

  “No. Please no. Not her.”

  “I’m so sorry to be the one to break the news to you.”

  “This is terrible. Just absolutely devastating news.”

  “I know. Part of me just wants to break into tears. But I have an investigation to conduct and a killer to track down.”

  “You sure do. Whoever is responsible for this needs to be brought to justice.”

  “You know I’m going to do everything in my power to apprehend the killer.”

  My face filled with resolve. “So am I.”

  “Sabrina, maybe you should sit this one out—”

  I didn’t let him complete his thought. “David, I’m on my way over.”

  Chapter Four

  A few minutes later, I arrived at Orchid Drive. As I drove down the street, I saw a number of police cars parked in front of Denise Carlisle’s blue split-level house. In addition, the medical examiner’s van was in the driveway.

  Since the area was such a zoo of police activity, I had no choice but to park my car on the street. When I got out of my sedan, I rushed up the driveway toward David, who was standing in the front yard.

  My husband then led me inside to the living room where Denise’s body was. I took a brief look at the crime scene before becoming overwhelmed with emotions.

  When my stomach began to turn, I rushed out to the front lawn. I took a few deep breaths to try and get my bearings back. David then came outside and gave me a big hug.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said.

  “I can’t believe this,” I said.

  “Neither can I.”

  “I mean, she went through so much. And just when it seemed like the worst was over, this happens.”

  He took a deep breath. “It’s crazy.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. “Who would do something like this?”

  “I’m going to find out,” David said.

  “I know that. I was just asking, what kind of a person would commit a murder like that?”

  “A monster,” he said. “That’s who.”

  “You know, after all the cases we’ve investigated over the years, I figured I wouldn’t be so shocked every time a new body turned up. But it doesn’t get any easier. Each time, it’s like a punch to the gut.”

  “I know what you mean. I feel the same way.”

  I held David tight and didn’t want to let go.

  ***

  As much as I wanted to spend the entire mourning grieving Denise’s death, that wasn’t a possibility. There was work to be done. And while David was the one with the police badge, I knew that my previous investigative experience could come in extremely handy when it came to catching the killer.

  I did my best to muster as much resolve as I could. David and I then turned our focus to the case.

  “Do you know what I kept thinking on the way over here?” I asked.

  “How could another murder have taken place?” David said.

  “Don’t get me wrong. That thought crossed my mind a few times,” I said. “But I also kept asking myself, what if this murder was in response to Denise’s not-guilty verdict?”

  “You mean, the killer couldn’t believe that Denise got acquitted and decided to take matters into their own hands?”

  I nodded. “Exactly.”

  David’s forehead wrinkled. “That’s possible.”

  “I’d say it’s more than just a possibility.”

  “Before you get too ahead of yourself, there could be another motive behind this crime. Denise could have done something else to get on the killer’s bad side.”

  “You’re right. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

  “The sooner, the better. I am not in the mood for a drawn-out investigation.”

  “To be fair, are you ever in the mood for a particularly difficult case?”

  “You got me there,” David said.

  “Speaking of the case, what do we have to work with?” I asked.

  He took a deep breath before replying, “According to the medical examiner, not much.”

  I grimaced. “How little are we talking?”

  “We have the time of death,” he said.

  “Which is?”

  “Between ten and eleven o’clock last night.”

  “Anything else?” I asked.

  “The cause of death.”

  “Isn’t that one pretty obvious, given the stab wound in her chest?”

  “Unfortunately, forensics wasn’t able to pull any prints off of the murder weapon.”

  “Really? They didn’t find a single fingerprint on that knife?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “The killer must have been wearing gloves.”

  “Or they wiped the knife clean before leaving the crime scene.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “Which means that we’ll need to find another way to identify the killer.”

  “Speaking of potential murderers, I can think of three people who had a reason to want Denise dead.”

  David reached into his pocket and pulled out a little notepad. “I wonder if they are the same three suspects that are on my list.”

  “Let’s find out,” I said.

  He read the names on his list. “Abigail Talbot, Mark Carlisle, and Vikki Springer.”

  “That’s exactly who I was thinking about.”

  “In that case, I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

  “Now we just need to hear what the suspects have to say for themselves,” I replied.

  Chapter Five

  Our first stop was Locust Street. That was where Abigail Talbot lived. The forty-eight-year-old resided in a beige, ranch-style home that was in desperate need of a new paint job. The property could have also benefitted from hiring a landscaping company. Weeds were making their presence known in the worst possible way all across Abigail’s front yard.

  Strangely enough, even though Abigail didn’t seem to care about the details of home maintenance, she had put a lot of effort into accumulating more wind chimes than anyone else on her street. Over a dozen different chimes hung on her porch. There were so many that the slight hint of a breeze would be enough to get a symphonic show going.

  However, with no sign of wind anywhere, I wouldn’t get to hear the chimes in action. That was probably for the best, as David and I had some serious business to get down to. So, as my husband knocked on Abigail’s chocolate-brown front door, I shifted my focus back to the case.

  When Abigail took her sweet time coming to the door, I began to wonder if she was even home at all. Sure, a green sedan was parked in the driveway, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t gone somewhere on foot. Or had a friend pick her up.

  David grew impatient and knocked on the door again. Thankfully, Abigail didn’t keep us waiting much longer. The square-faced forty-six-year-old opened up the door and furrowed her brow at David.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “I hope so,” David said. He then pulled out his police badge.

  As Abigail looked at the badge, her eyebrows rose. “You’re with the police?”

  My husband nodded. “My name is Detective David Carlson, and this is—”

  Abigail didn’t let David finish. “Why are you here?”

  “We need to ask you a few questions,” David said.

  She shrugged. “Regarding?”

  David took a step forward. “Can we talk inside?”

  Abigail held her hand up. “I think it
would be better if you stayed out here.”

  David couldn’t believe his ears. It was rare for a suspect to refuse such a simple request. When that did happen, there was usually a dubious reason behind the suspect’s behavior. Whether that was true this time as well was yet to be determined. But I was definitely going to find out.

  I stared deep into Abigail’s eyes. “You don’t have anything to hide, do you?”

  She shook her head. “No. I just prefer my privacy. Now, why are you here?”

  “We need to ask you some questions about Denise Carlisle,” David said.

  Abigail’s eyebrows knitted. “Why her?”

  “You haven’t heard the news then?” David asked.

  She threw out her arms. “What news?”

  “Denise is dead,” David said.

  I paid close attention to Abigail’s body language as David finished speaking. Her reaction could be very telling.

  Ultimately, she seemed genuinely surprised to hear that Denise was deceased. But just because Abigail’s jaw dropped didn’t mean that she wasn’t putting on an act to look innocent. I continued watching her very carefully as she spoke up.

  “Wait a minute. Did I hear that right? Did you really just say that Denise is dead?” Abigail replied.

  David nodded.

  “Wow,” Abigail said.

  “Yeah. It’s a real shocker,” I said.

  Her eyes bulged. “It sure is.”

  “How did it happen?” she asked.

  “That’s where things get really nuts. She was murdered,” I said.

  “No way,” she said.

  “Unfortunately, it’s the truth. And what crazy timing too. Right after her acquittal,” I said.

  “That is strange,” Abigail said.

  “It’s more than that. This whole situation is incredibly disturbing,” I said.

  “I know what you mean. Although, I’m not really sure why you’re telling me this. I wasn’t friends with her,” Abigail said.

  “Of course you weren’t. After all, you were sleeping with her husband,” I said.

  Abigail narrowed her eyes. “What does that have to do with anything?”