After dropping out of law school, I turned my career focus to the restaurant industry. While I enjoyed working out of the food truck, I looked at it as step one in a long-term plan. The food truck’s purpose was to earn enough money to eventually open my own bakery downtown.
If business didn’t pick up, my dreams were destined to go up in flames.
“Look on the bright side, Kara,” Star replied.
“And what’s that?”
“At least you can focus on the case the police want you to solve now,” she said as she pointed through the window at the pier. “Focus your energy on that.”
I couldn’t argue. Star made a good point. Even if I had my doubts about Bonnie May’s case, I needed to focus my attention away for the time being. The person who stole money from the donation box needed to be caught.
Star agreed to watch the truck, while I stepped out for a bit. The only suspect at the time worked a few hundred yards from us. So I decided to walk over to Grove Park Pier and investigate.
Willie Wylan normally set up shop near the end of the pier. The setup he used for his caricatures and paintings was small. A couple of chairs, easel, paper, paint, and paint brushes was all he required.
As I walked by, everything appeared normal. A few retired gentlemen fished off the pier, while a few kids were attempting to catch blue crabs. Mrs. Jansen waved as I walked by, still selling her seashell necklaces like when I was a kid.
When I arrived at Willie’s usual spot, I saw a sight I didn’t expect. It was empty. No easel, no paint, and most importantly, no Willie. For the entire summer I owned the Burger She Wrote food truck, Willie worked without missing a day. This was highly unusual.
I strolled back over to Mrs. Jansen and asked, “Hello, Mrs. Jansen. Have you seen Willie today?”
“As a matter-of-fact, I haven’t,” she replied. “I don’t recall seeing him yesterday, either.”
“Do you think he’s ok?” I asked, still confused as to his absence. “Did he look sick the last day you saw him?”
“Not at all. He seemed like himself. Happy and chipper as usual.”
“If you see him, tell him to come by my truck and see me,” I said before I walked away.
“Sure will,” Mrs. Jansen replied.
Back at the food truck, I walked in while Star was grilling chicken.
“What did you find out?” Star asked.
“A whole lotta nothing. Mrs. Jansen told me he’s been absent the last few days. Maybe he’s sick,” I replied. “I hope nothing’s wrong with him.”
“Or he’s headed for the hills,” Star said as she flipped the chicken over. “Maybe he discovered the gig was up and skipped town.”
“I wish I knew where he lived, so we could check on him.”
“That might prove difficult,” Star replied. “Especially since he’s homeless.”
“Star, we don’t know that. I’m sure that’s not the case.”
In all honesty, I wasn’t sure. A lot of people assumed Willie was homeless because of the way he dressed.
I almost gave up hope until something on the wall caught my attention. The City of Sunny Shores business license hung on the wall beside the menu. Directly below the line where it listed the business owner’s name, it also listed the address.
Suddenly the answer slapped me square in the face. I knew exactly where to look next.
“Bingo!”
“Bingo?” Star asked, looking confused. “What are you talking about?”
“For Willie to legally operate his business at Grove Park, he has to have a business license filed with the city.”
“How does that help?”
“Look at the license,” I said as I pointed to mine hanging on the wall. “The business license lists the address of the applicant on the bottom. We should be able to pull a copy of his license from the records department at City Hall.”
“Are you sure the guy even has a home?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” I said as I grabbed my phone. “Do you mind watching the truck, while I walk over to City Hall?”
“I got this,” she replied. “Are you going to talk to Sam as well?”
“Yes,” I said as I sighed. I wasn’t looking forward to the eventual scolding that awaited me.
Chapter 11
The City Hall building sat atop a hill east of downtown Sunny Shores. Because it was so rich with history, the town took pride in the building. A large number of tourists visited each year, as the building boasted one of Florida’s oldest lighthouses.
In 1990, the city purchased the lighthouse and surrounding acreage with a grant from Congress. The city hall was built in a style complementary to the original structure, with the restored lighthouse as the main showpiece. The building was beautiful but had taken on an ominous reputation as well.
As I entered the building, a part of me hoped to avoid seeing Sam or Beaux. As I entered the atrium in the front, the coast seemed clear. There was no sign of either one of them. So I tried to dart quickly to the County Records office. Once there, I’d be in the clear.
As with most of my bright ideas, I failed again.
“Kara,” a familiar voice called out from behind me. Although I knew the voice, I acted surprised as I turned around.
Sam was standing with Detective Beaux and two other police officers.
“We were just talking about you,” Sam said as he put his arm on my shoulders. “I was telling Officers Jones and Young how proud we were of you.”
“It’s nothing, really,” I said as I began to blush.
“Nonsense,” Detective Beaux replied. “Miss Summers, how’s the investigation going?”
I hesitated for a brief second. Sam and Beaux demanded I stop meddling in their case. Of course, I didn’t listen. However, to satisfy my curiosity and obsessive snooping, they assigned me a case of my own.
“I’m telling you, Kara, the dude’s homeless,” Star said while we coasted down Sea Comber Way. “If he’s living in a cardboard box or in a dumpy trailer park, I’m staying in the car. You’re on your own.”
“I think you’re being a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
“Call it what you want, but I’m not getting hazard pay.”
To be honest, I wondered about Willie myself. Even though he treated me with respect and kindness, he shrouded himself in mystery. No one really knew much about him and he kept his personal life private. You couldn’t blame anyone for having their doubts.
In 200 feet, the destination will be on your right.
Star slowed down as we looked for the address.
“That’s one heck of a cardboard box,” I said as we turned where the GPS instructed.
“This can’t be the right place, can it?” Star asked as she tapped on the GPS. “I knew this darn contraption was buggy.”
We pulled in to a large paved driveway, aligned with tall palms in perfectly distanced rows. Further down the driveway stood a large gate with two swinging doors. Each door displayed a large ‘W’ in what appeared to be gold.
Near the gate, a speaker box sat on the driver’s side of the driveway. I motioned for Star to roll down her window.
“Please state your business,” a deep British accented voice called out from the speaker.
“Hello. We’re trying to get in touch with Willie Wylan,” I said as I reached over Star to speak.
“Name?” the voice responded back.
“Kara Summers and Star Daniels.”
“Hold please.”
The speaker went quiet while Star and I both waited. Suddenly, a loud beep sounded out. The gate doors slowly opened, allowing Star to continue driving through.
We approached a large plantation style home. The two-story home was painted white with columns and a large porch wrapped around the entire front of the house. I marveled at the fountain sitting in the front.
“Do you think he moonlights here for a second job?” Star asked.
“If that’s the case, he’s not doing a
lot of working,” I said as I pointed to the front porch.
Willie sat in a rocking chair on the front porch. He rocked back and forth as he sipped on a glass of ice tea. I hardly recognized him, as he was dressed in nice clothes. Once he noticed us, he waved us over to join him.
“Everyone in town thinks you’re homeless,” Star let slip out.
“Star?” I said, appalled she’d mention that out loud.
“So dat’s what dey say ‘bout me?” Instead of getting upset, Willie laughed. “Good.”
“Good?” I asked.
“When people know ya got money, everyone comes knockin’. Dat’s why I moved off da island.”
Willie told the story of how he worked as a farm hand growing up in Jamaica. Willie saved most of his money from childhood and didn’t spend money on anything he didn’t need.
In 1954, Hurricane Charley hit Jamaica and devastated the farming industry on the island. Coconut, banana, and citrus crops were the worst hit. At the time of the hurricane, he worked for a gentleman who owned a small coconut farm.
The farm owner grew tired of dealing with the farm and wanted to retire. The hurricane only made things worse. He offered Willie a deal on the farm, since he was his best worker. Willie was able to use his savings as collateral to purchase the land.
While other farms gave up, Willie kept on. By the time he was forty years old, his company became the largest exporter of coconuts on the island. Willie matched the definition of a self-made millionaire.
“I donate all da money I be makin’, since I don’t need it. I dump my tips in dat wooden box every day. Dose kids need it more dan ol’ Willie. Dat’s for sure.”
The eyewitnesses provided in the case file seemed to be mistaken in their testimony. Instead of taking the money out of the box, the witnesses observed Willie trying to stuff his money into it. They were wrong. In fact, we were all wrong about Willie.
“I’m sorry to hear about what happen’ to your friend, Ms. Bonnie May. How’s she doin?” Willie asked.
“She’s in stable condition now, but in a medically induced coma. The doctors seem hopeful, but I can’t help but worry.”
Willie smiled. “If anyone’s strong enough in dis town to beat dis, it’s Ms. Bonnie May. Dat’s for sure. I know she don’t tink de best of Ol’ Willie, but I like her spirit.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Like I told ya before Miss Kara, two tings in dis world motivate people more dan any other,” Willie replied as his tone shifted. “Love and money.”
We finished up our tea and chatted a few more minutes with Willie. As the conversation went on, I noticed Star’s demeanor change. She appeared less reserved with Willie. Anyone who looked past his appearance and took the time to get to know Willie grew to admire him.
We thanked him for his hospitality and understanding, then we left.
As we drove down the road, I turned to Star and asked, “He’s not so bad, is he?”
“You know, he’s actually a pretty cool guy,” she admitted. “I guess that whole don’t judge a book by its cover thing of yours has some merit after all.”
“What was that?” I said as I smiled. “Are you saying that I was right?”
“Let’s not get carried away.”
Chapter 12
Star and I returned to the park and relieved Ty of his duties. Ty’s firm recently promoted him to partner, so he spent less time helping around the truck. While I felt happy for his promotion, I missed him being around.
The sky turned dark as night, as another round of afternoon thunderstorms rolled into the park. Once the lightning began to strike, the tourists and locals swarmed out of the park, along with any chance to make a profit that day.
“As much as I hate to, let’s close shop for the day,” I told Star as we both watched the rain pour down through the front window. “It’s too late in the afternoon, most people aren’t coming back.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Star replied as she began to untie her apron.
“I’ll start putting the food away if you’ll start cleaning.”
“Sounds good.”
Closing the truck down for the day was a tedious process. However, we both worked well together, so we normally completed the process in under an hour.
“Any big plans tonight?” I asked Star, while I began putting the produce away.
“Unfortunately, no,” she replied. “Oh goodness, I’m turning into you.”
“Funny.”
“Why do you ask?”
“I thought about visiting Bonnie May at the hospital.”
“I’ll take you. I’ve got nothing better to do.”
“Great,” I replied. “We can head that way once we finish up.”
“Closing already?” a voice called out through the rain. Standing under a large black umbrella stood Mayor Roy. “A little rain isn’t going to stop me from getting the best dessert in Sunny Shores.”
“I’m sorry, Mayor, but we’ve put everything up for the day.”
“I can’t get just one piece of pie?” he asked with pitiful eyes. “Please.”
“I really wish I could, but it’s against the health code. You know more than anyone how careful I have to be, given the incident from a few weeks back.”
“Doesn’t hurt to ask, does it?”
Before he left, I remembered the story the bartender told the day before. The story of how Mayor Roy acted a fool at the charity event, especially after he told me he wasn’t attending.
“My mom said you attended the SSHA event the other night. I thought you weren’t going. What made you change your mind?”
“Let’s just say, I had a change of heart,” he said as he squinted his eyes and grinned. “You two sugarplums have a swell evening.”
He wasted no time as he sloshed quickly away through the rain. Star and I both looked at each other curiously. We weren’t accustomed to seeing the Mayor so short on words. The situation seemed odd.
“What’s he hiding?” Star asked.
“I don’t know, but we’ll find out.”
Chapter 13
After closing the truck, Star and I drove to visit Bonnie May in the hospital. Since we closed the truck early, it allowed us to arrive an hour or so before visiting hours expired.
We walked into her room and noticed Bonnie May right away. Bonnie May continued to lie in the hospital bed motionless. Although wires protruded out of her in every direction, she looked at peace.
“She’s not in pain, is she?” I asked the nurse as she walked over to read her vitals.
“Not at all,” the nurse replied. “With all the stuff we pumped through her, I’d say she’s feeling pretty good.”
“How’s it looking?” Star asked. “Is she getting better?”
“Actually, her condition is much better. She’s fortunate that an EMS worker was present when she had the reaction. Otherwise, she’d be in worse shape,” the nurse said as she wrote on Bonnie May’s medical chart. “Her vitals are almost normal. I’m sure the doctor will wake her up soon enough.”
“Are you serious?” I asked as I felt both shocked and relieved by the news. Judging by the way she looked the other day, I wasn’t sure she’d recover.
“She’s strong. I’ll tell you that. There’s no doubt she’ll be back to her old self in no time.”
“The same old Bonnie May?” Star replied as she grinned. “I guess you can’t win ‘em all.”
“Star,” I responded.
“I’m kidding. I’m kidding.”
A few moments later the nurse left the room, leaving Star and me alone with Bonnie May. Although Bonnie May’s condition improved, the person who caused this mess remained at large.
“What Willie said made sense,” I said as I walked up to Bonnie May’s bed. “Maybe one of Bonnie May’s ex-lovers poisoned her. I wish we could ask her. There must be someone from her past who she’d suspect of pulling this off.”
“True. We can’t ask her directly, but I may
know of another way,” Star said as she raised her eyebrows.
“What are you getting at?” I asked, curious as to what she had up her sleeve.
“Do you still have Bonnie May’s belongings from that night in your purse?”
“Yes, but why?”
On my first visit to the hospital, the nurse gave me Bonnie May’s belongings from that night. I put the items in my purse for safe-keeping. This included her keys and cell phone.
“Let me see her cell phone,” Star said as she put her hand out. “I have an idea.”
“Ok…” I muttered as I reached into my purse and pulled out her phone. “The phone is locked. She has a passcode on it, so I don’t know what good it’ll do.”
“Leave it to me,” Star said as she tapped on the screen. “You forget who you’re dealing with sometimes.”
Star excelled in anything computers or electronics. She was the one who set up the security system for my food truck. If anyone could break into Bonnie May’s phone, I’d put all my money on Star.
“I’m in,” Star said as she turned the phone screen to face me.
“How’d you do that?” I asked. “Did you hack it? Install some kind of key-logger to get in?”
“Ha,” she said as she laughed. “I put in her password, silly. This isn’t the movies. There’s no way I could have hacked into her phone. That’s some CIA sort of stuff.”
“So, how’d you guess her password?”
“I didn’t guess. I knew. Who do you think Bonnie May asked to install and set up all her dating apps?” Star replied. “Plus, her password is 12345678. It wasn’t hard to forget.”
“So, what now?” I asked.
“She loved using Tinder, so let’s start there.”
Using the dating app, Tinder, was one of the more popular methods of finding a match. Although Tinder’s demographic skewed a bit on the younger side, Bonnie May preferred it over the others.
The app would show you a potential date. The user either swiped the photo left if they were not interested or right if they were. If both you and the other person swiped right, it was a match. When a couple matched, they could message each other through the app.
Blueberry Pie White Lie - a Cozy Mystery: Sunny Shores Mysteries Book 3 Page 6