Daisy McDare And The Deadly Rock Star Affair (Cozy Mystery) (Daisy McDare Cozy Creek Mystery Book 5)

by K. M. Morgan

  Daisy went for the jugular. “I’m sorry. Did that hit a little too close to home? Steele doesn’t know you’ve been cheating on him, does he?”

  Lillian got short with Daisy. “That’s none of your business.”

  “Normally I’d say it wasn’t. The fact is, Blaze was murdered last night, and from what I hear, the killer is still on the loose--”

  “You’re pretty nosy for a flower delivery woman, you know that?”

  “That’s beside the point. If your husband did know about your affair, that would give him a serious motive for wanting Blaze dead,” Daisy said.

  Lillian had heard enough. “This conversation is over.”

  As Lillian went to close the door, Daisy got in the last word.

  “You know, I could always go tell your husband about these flowers Blaze sent you. I wonder how that would go over,” Daisy said.

  Lillian swung the door back open and chewed Daisy out. “Is that a threat?”

  “No. It’s just a fact.”

  Lillian huffed. “What do you want from me? Are you looking for hush money or something?”

  “No. I just want to know who really killed Blaze. Now your husband has a serious motive. At the same time, you’re not exactly off the hook either.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “It’s bad enough that you were having an affair with your husband’s rival. Just say Blaze wanted to go public with your relationship. Maybe he was tired of sneaking around on the down low. Only, what if you weren’t ready to let the cat out of the bag? In fact, maybe you never wanted it to come out, and you were prepared to do anything,” Daisy speculated.

  Lillian scowled. “Are you accusing me of murder now?”

  “That depends. Did you do it?”

  Lillian then slammed the door shut in Daisy’s face.

  Daisy wasn’t going to give up that easily. She started knocking on the door.

  She then heard Lillian yell from inside the house. “This conversation is over.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “If you don’t leave right now, I’m calling the police,” Lillian insisted.

  “If you call the police, I’ll tell them about your affair,” Daisy said.

  “I didn’t kill Blaze. I already told the police that, and I’ll tell them again if I have to. Now leave. I’m giving you until the count of ten,” Lillian replied.

  It was clear Daisy had squeezed all she could out of this conversation. On top of that, Daisy didn’t want Detective Stickler breathing down the back of her neck. He would probably not take kindly to finding out Daisy had taken it upon herself to solve this case. Even more, Daisy had gotten no confession nor any physical evidence from Lillian. Given that, Daisy decided it was best to move on to the next suspect.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Without realizing it, Lillian Stringer had given Daisy a lead on where to track her husband down. Apparently Steele Stringer was doing an interview at the local radio station. To Daisy, that seemed a bold move.

  With Steele’s rival murdered just the night before, surely he would get asked about it during the interview. At first, Daisy wasn’t sure why Steele would want to subject himself to that question. The logical move was to postpone and/or cancel the interview entirely. Unless Steele thought that by ducking out of the interview, it would make him look like he had something to hide.

  By going to the radio station, Steele could keep up appearances. He could pretend that all was well, even if the opposite was the case. There was an old saying that innocent people had nothing to hide from the truth. By not hiding from the spotlight, Steele could paint himself as innocent.

  There was another thing at play as well. Like so many rock stars, Steele had a massive ego. By nature, he always wanted to be in the spotlight. Especially when he seemed to be on the brink of a comeback.

  Daisy drove up and parked on the street in front of the radio station, then tuned in to the interview. It became immediately clear that there would be no hard-hitting questions. Like most small towns, Murphy’s Meadow had just a rinky dink radio station. On top of that, the morning DJ--aptly nicknamed Wacky Wally, was hardly a hard-nosed journalist. Wacky Wally was the kind of DJ that made prank phone calls on the air for a living.

  No wonder Steele didn’t call off this interview. Daisy listened to the radio from her car as Wacky Wally threw out a single softball question about Blaze.

  “A lot of us Blazing Inferno fans have been secretly hoping for a reunion all these years. With Blaze Billick’s murder last night however, that’s obviously never going to happen now. Do you have any comments about what happened to your former bandmate?” Wally asked.

  Daisy couldn’t believe what came out of Steele Stringer’s mouth.

  “Yeah. It’s really terrible. Blaze was a good guy. He didn’t deserve this. I can’t believe someone would do this to him,” Steele replied.

  Daisy didn’t even have to see Steele’s face to know he was lying through his teeth. There was a slight crack in Steele’s voice as he told that whopper. It was bad form to speak ill of the deceased. During her investigations, Daisy had heard people white-wash their true feelings to extreme degrees when talking about someone that had recently died. Still, given that, this was ridiculous. Steele and Blaze hated each other’s guts. The only hatchet they were going to bury was in each other’s backs.

  Amazingly enough, Wacky Wally ate Steele’s answer right up. Daisy didn’t expect hard-nosed journalism from a wacky morning DJ, but she also didn’t think Wacky Wally would be that much of a lap dog.

  She was wrong.

  Wacky Wally let the conversation about Blaze end there, and moved on to talk about Steele’s new song. It was clear the hardball questions about the murder were going to have to come from Daisy in the radio station parking lot after the interview was over.

  It turned out listening to the interview wasn’t completely worthless though. With all the sleuthing she was doing, Daisy had forgotten that Steele had a new song he wanted to promote. Not to mention a sagging career he was looking to revive. That gave Daisy plenty of material to work with when she confronted him.

  ***

  Half an hour later, Steele exited the radio station and headed to his car in the parking lot where Daisy was waiting for him. Knowing how big Steele’s ego was, she decided to pose as a super fan. Just the right amount of flattery could be enough to get his guard down.

  “Wow, it’s really you. Can I have your autograph?” Daisy asked.

  Steele saw the big smile Daisy flashed his way and couldn’t resist lapping up the adulation.

  “Sure. I love my fans,” Steele replied.

  Daisy pulled out a pen and a piece of paper from her purse for him to sign.

  Daisy went into full groupie mode. “You’ll never meet a bigger fan than me.”

  Steele was loving the attention. “Thanks. But I don’t know about that honey. I’ve met a lot of big fans over the years.”

  “I have to say, I love that new song of yours.”

  “Well thank you.”

  Daisy had buttered Steele up really good. Now it was time to throw in a twist. Instead of complimenting Steele’s new song ‘The Grass Is Greener,’ she instead lauded the song Blaze had performed, ‘Incomparable Love.’

  “I have to admit, I’ve been singing the chorus to ‘Incomparable Love’ over and over since I heard it last night,” Daisy said.

  Steele stopped her right there. The complexion of his face changed as he fell into her trap. Steele couldn’t help but feel burned realizing Daisy had been really complimenting the song Blaze performed instead of his.

  “That’s not my song,” Steele replied.

  “Sure it is. It was so much better than that ‘Grass Is Greener’ song.”

  Daisy’s plan was working. Steele was getting all worked up inside. She could see his blood starting to boil.

  Daisy had Steele just where she wanted him. It was time to stop playing with his emotions and get
straight to the questioning.

  “It must really burn you knowing Blaze had a one-upped you again,” Daisy said.

  Steele narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Blaze has never one-upped me.”

  Daisy shook her head. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to walk around with that kind of ego. Not to mention living in denial. You spent all those years in fierce competition with Blaze. You built up this bitter rivalry. Yet both in music and in love, Blaze found a way to get the better of you.”

  Steele lost his cool. He let his emotions do the talking for him. “Don’t you know who I am? You can’t talk to me that way.”

  “I know who you are alright. You’re the man whose wife was cheating on him with Blaze Billick.”

  Daisy wanted to see Steele lose his temper. Maybe then he’d get sloppy with his words. At the same time, she had to be careful. If Steele became too unhinged, he might take his aggression out on her.

  “You have a lot of nerve,” Steele yelled.

  Daisy reached into her purse and felt around for her bottle of pepper spray. She hoped she didn’t need it, but Steele’s temper was boiling over in a hurry.

  “And you have a lot of anger. That’s the same rage I saw in your eyes last night…a few hours before Blaze was murdered.”

  Steele finally caught on to Daisy’s plan. Instead of taking a step forward, he took one back.

  He pointed his finger at her. “I don’t know who you really are, but I see what you’re trying to do.”

  Daisy had come this far. She wasn’t about to back down. “I’m just trying to find out what you really did last night. People are capable of doing some crazy things when they’re angry. And let’s face it, there’s nothing like twenty years of simmering resentment waiting for just the right time to boil over.”

  Steele took another step back, refusing to play into her hand. “Oh no you don’t. You’re not pinning this on me.”

  Daisy kept pressing. “You had more reason to want Blaze dead than anyone. Not to mention you have no one to verify your alibi.”

  Despite Daisy’s best efforts, she couldn’t get him to bite.

  “That’s very sneaky of you. I really bought into your act there for a moment. But the jig is up. You’re not getting anything more from me.”

  Daisy’s plan was quickly falling apart. She tried to get him to slip up.

  “Everyone knows you wanted him dead,” Daisy replied.

  Steele didn’t take the bait this time. Instead, he gritted his teeth and entered his car. “This conversation is over.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Unfortunately, as was so often the case during her sleuthing, Daisy’s investigation had led to more questions than answers so far. As yet, she hadn’t been able to rule out any of the suspects. Instead, they looked even guiltier than before. Daisy was hoping that would change as she went to approach the next suspect.

  After getting the address of Gwen Stringer’s townhome from Addison, Daisy drove to her place. Surprisingly, Daisy seemed to be arriving just in time to catch the tail end of a blow up between Gwen and her fiancé Mason Billick.

  Gwen and Mason were sharing some heated words in the driveway. Daisy decided it would be best to park on the street a few townhomes away and stay out of their view. She could observe the scene from afar that way.

  At first, Daisy wondered why the couple was having an argument in the open instead of inside. Then Daisy noticed the work uniform Gwen was wearing. It was a chef outfit. Daisy’s cousin Addison had told her Gwen had started a new bakery named Stringer’s Sweets in town. No doubt she was on her way to work. After all, there was no rest for a weary business owner.

  Whatever Gwen and Mason were talking about, it wasn’t pretty. One thing was clear—Mason sure had a temper on him. He clearly took after his father. Daisy would have to keep that in mind when she questioned him.

  A moment later, the argument came to an abrupt end as Gwen got into her car. From there, Gwen pulled out of the driveway and left Mason in the dust. Mason looked so angry he could punch a hole in a wall. He whirled around, frustrated, then got in his car to leave.

  From there, Daisy had a decision to make. She could only follow one of them. Despite his tempter, she decided to tail Mason. There were two reasons for this. The first was that Daisy knew where Gwen was heading. She could approach her at work later. The second reason was that Daisy hoped she could use Mason’s temper against him.

  While cooler heads prevailed, people pushed to the emotional brink tended to get sloppy with information. They could let information slip in the heat of the moment. Daisy didn’t know whether she’d get an opportunity like this again.

  ***

  After leaving Gwen’s townhome, Mason headed to Main Street where he ducked into Sully’s Tavern. Daisy personally thought it was a little too early to be grabbing a drink. Then again, he was a suspect in his father’s murder who just had a blow up fight with his fiancé. In that case, maybe it was never too early for his first pint of the day.

  As Daisy entered the bar, it was no surprise to see the place was nearly empty. Inside was just a bartender, Mason, and a few of the sudsy local barflies that looked like this place was their second home. It was not the kind of bar Daisy expected an entitled twenty-something man like Mason to frequent.

  Daisy had spotted two sports bars on the drive over there. Those bars had big screen TV’s everywhere—not to mention much better atmosphere, décor, and class. Then again, maybe that was the very reason Mason decided not to go there—because someone might know him. Going to Sully’s for a drink meanwhile would give Mason relative privacy.

  Some people would describe Sully’s Tavern as a place with character. To Daisy, that was just another way of saying it was a hole in the wall. Talk about a place screaming for a renovation. The interior decorator in Daisy winced as she looked at the torn seats, creaky floor boards, and ripped wallpaper. She had to remind herself that there were more important matters to deal with at than this décor disaster.

  Foremost on her mind was the fact that she was hoping there would be a few more patrons in the place. People were less likely to make a scene in a crowded place for fear of embarrassing themselves. With the place nearly empty however, Mason might feel free to tee off.

  Either way, Daisy knew what she had to do. No one ever said sleuthing would be easy. Besides, she had to do what was necessary to keep her cousin out of jail. Family meant everything to Daisy.

  The barflies took notice of Daisy immediately as she entered. It was obvious they were used to seeing a slightly different kind of woman to usually enter the front door. When the barflies began practically drooling over themselves looking at Daisy, she worried that she was drawing too much attention.

  Thankfully, Mason was busy staring down the bottom of his pint glass at the bar. A stark contrast between Mason and Gwen became evident as Daisy watched Mason chug down a whole pint of beer like a fraternity brother at a keg party. Even though Gwen and Mason both came from rich families, it was clear they had been raised differently. Mason had trust fund written all over him, with the sense of entitlement that came with that. Gwen meanwhile had opted to start her own business and try to make a name for herself instead of just being known as the daughter of Steele Stringer. That ambition gap was no more apparent than at the bar, seeing as how Gwen had driven off to work, while Mason was apparently content to day drink.

  Mason was a man that lived to soak off the financial sponge of his father. No wonder he got so upset when father threatened to take it all away last night.

  Mason then held up his empty glass and looked up at the bartender Anthony Tostino. “Another.”

  Anthony seemed amazed at how quickly Mason had chugged down his drink. “Hey man, slow down. Pace yourself.”

  Mason stared Anthony down. “I didn’t ask for your advice.”

  Anthony clearly wasn’t used to people blowing him off like that. Most drinkers loved spilling their guts out to bartende
rs. Anthony was shocked that wasn’t the case this time. “Hey man, look--I’m sorry about what happened to your father--”

  Mason cut him off. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Ok, I’m just saying.”

  “And I’m just saying I came here specifically to not have to talk about it,” Mason replied.

  “Alright. Calm down.”

  Mason groaned. “Just pour.”

  Anthony poured Mason another drink, then muttered to himself as he walked off.

  Daisy then took a seat at the bar beside Mason. With Mason in such a foul mood, this conversation could get interesting in a hurry.

  “Rough day?” Daisy asked.

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Mason said.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

  For the first time since she entered the bar, Mason looked over at Daisy. His eyes opened wide as he saw her. Not because he recognized her, but rather because he didn’t expect to see someone like her sitting next to him.

  “What’s a woman like you doing in a place like this?”

  “I can see why you’d wonder that. I’m more interested in finding out why you’re here--”

  “I asked you first.”

  Daisy then finished her thought. “Considering your father was just murdered.”

  Mason picked his glass up. “That one is easy. There are some things I’d like to drink off.” He then got up to walk to a booth. “In peace and quiet.”

  “I understand why you wouldn’t be in a rush to talk about it—especially given the awful situation your dad put you in.”

  “Wait a minute. How did you know that?” Mason then looked closely at Daisy. “Hey, were you at the gala last night?”

  Daisy nodded. “I saw your father work you over good. He really jabbed at you.”

  “I already said I didn’t want to talk about that.”