Mint Creme Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 47

by Gillard, Susan

  “Is there someone at Eva’s house?”

  “There’s definitely a car there,” Amy seconded.

  They pulled up to the house and worriedly got out of the car. Was someone up to more mischief at the house?

  “Actually, there’s something familiar about that car,” Amy said.

  Heather removed the Taser from her purse, and together the two friends entered the fire damaged house.

  “Is anybody there?” Heather called out. She put more authority in her voice and said, “You’re trespassing on the Schneider property. We’re not the police, but we work with them regularly. Come on out.”

  “Wow. If someone were up to no good, you would have really scared them,” Taryn said, walking up to them. She held her hands up for good measure.

  Heather slowly put the Taser down, and eventually returned it to her purse.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m going to give you that estimate for your friend. Clearly, she’ll want the walls repaired, and I’d check for structural damage. Are there any other renovations she’ll definitely want?”

  “I told you we didn’t want your estimate,” Heather said gruffly.

  “I thought you were just being bound by cop-ly duty. Obviously, you want the house fixed. And I’m the one to turn it around.”

  Amy gave her a dirty look and Taryn remembered how she was tired of the slogan.

  “Sorry. It’s a force of habit,” Taryn apologized. “Did you watch the episode?”

  “We did.”

  “And?”

  “And it doesn’t prove things either way,” Heather answered. “The anger between both of you came after it was recorded.”

  “I did enjoy the part about texturing your ceiling though,” Amy said. “I might do that in my next house. Well, it might be an apartment. Well, we’re probably renting so I’m not sure what we’ll be allowed to do. I’m getting ahead of myself. Ignore me.”

  “But you saw how dramatic Tiffany could be. It was just part of who she was. It wasn’t anything new. I wouldn’t kill her for it.”

  “But we haven’t ruled out money as a motive.”

  “I told you that I didn’t know that she had that much money.”

  “And I told you we didn’t want you to work on our friend’s house, and yet here you are.”

  “How did you find it anyway?” Amy asked. “We didn’t tell you whose house or where it was.”

  Heather smiled. Her bestie really was growing as a private investigator. She had picked up on an inconsistency and knew exactly what to ask.

  “It wasn’t hard,” Taryn said. “The way you said it needed to be repaired made me think that some disaster had befallen it. Then I cross-referenced houses with a lot of damage to things related to you.”

  Heather wasn’t quite sure if she should be impressed, insulted or angry. She settled somewhere in between. “Why are you so anxious to renovate this house? It comes off as awfully suspicious to us.”

  “No. That’s the last thing I want. Tiffany was overcharging people, so I wanted to show that I work differently. I wanted to show that I am really fair and honest. What better way to do that than to give an estimate on the same property? You’ll be able to objectively see the difference between us.”

  Heather and Amy shared a look. Taryn Turner’s explanation made sense, but it was also possible that it was fake and made to cover her tracks. Was she just trying to get under their skin? Was she trying to become their friend to hide her guilt? Was this just a blatant bribe that she was getting more desperate to make?

  “Miss Turner,” Heather said. “After our investigation is concluded, we might be able to discuss renovation, but before that, we don't want to hear any more about it.”

  “Just one more thing. Look,” Taryn said, taking some notes out of her pocket. “I made some simple estimates already. Just to repair the walls and make things look nicer and homier. We could add more too it if they want more changes. But please show them.”

  Heather didn’t want to look at the paper, but it was being waved under her nose. She read the estimate and showed it to her bestie. It was thousands of dollars less than Tiffany’s “basic remodel” estimate.

  “Miss Turner, we can’t be bribed. We’re going to unmask the murderer no matter who it is.”

  “A bribe? I didn’t mean that at all,” Taryn said. But then she smiled. “But if you thought it was one that means that it is a lot less than Tiffany’s was.”

  “This is private property, and we really don’t want to have to report you for trespassing,” Heather said.

  “I kinda want to,” Amy said.

  “All right. I’ll leave,” Taryn said. “But in between your hunting down clues and finding the killer, could you please just show that little bit of paper to your friend.”

  “With the press of one button I can get my detective husband on the line,” Heather said, pulling out her cell phone.

  Taryn eyed the phone and slunk away from the house.

  “And we don’t want to see you back here again!” Amy yelled after her.

  The two friends searched the house to match sure that nothing had been moved or removed. Everything seemed to be in the same place it was the last time they were there.

  “It does seem like she was only looking around,” Heather said.

  “What a strange suspect,” Amy said. “Is she helping us? Bribing us? Purposely misleading us?”

  “Well, she’s certainly keeping us on our toes.”

  “Should we tell Eva about this?” Amy asked, biting her lip.

  “I don’t think she needs to know that someone else broke into her house. She already has nightmares about it.”

  “What about the new estimate?”

  “I’m torn about that. Part of me wants to reassure her that fixing the house could cost less than we were told,” Heather said.

  “And the other part of you?”

  “Doesn’t trust Taryn.”

  Chapter 13

  Their time spent stopping Taryn from wandering around Eva’s house had put them behind schedule. They were afraid they might only have time to interview one of the final two clients that day and had decided that they would talk to Ted Waterson first.

  “I think we made the right choice,” Amy said as they pulled up to his property. “I don’t think he’s too happy with his new home.”

  She pointed at the large “For Sale” sign in the yard. The words “Price Reduction” was added to the sign too.

  “I think you’re right about that,” Heather agreed. “Why do you think he’s selling? Tiffany overcharged him, and he can’t afford the house anymore? Or there’s some strange design element inside.”

  “Even odds,” Amy said as she pondered it. “I’d have to go with the overcharging though. That’s what we keep hearing from her former clients.”

  They approached the door and knocked. As they waited for it to open, Heather asked: “Do you hear something?”

  Before Amy could answer the question, middle-aged and bespectacled Ted Waterson answered the door. “Are you here to look at the house?” He asked hopefully.

  “In a way. We’re private investigators working in conjunction with the Hillside Police. I’m Heather Shepherd, and this is Amy Givens. Could you answer a few questions that might be relevant to the case?”

  “If this is going to be a formal talk, maybe we better go somewhere else,” Ted suggested.

  Heather raised an eyebrow. Was a suspect suggesting that they go to the police station for a talk? What was he hiding inside the house?

  “If you don’t mind, we’d rather just talk here,” Heather said.

  “Saves travel time,” Amy said.

  “And we’re investigating the murder of a designer, so your house might be relevant to the case as well.”

  “Tiffany Turner was murdered?” Ted asked. “Now I understand why you’re here. I’d be happy to talk to you.”

  He came out on the porch, closing the door a
fter him. Heather and Amy shared a look. He was definitely hiding something inside the house.

  “Do you think we could have this conversation inside?” Heather asked. “My partner gets overheated when she’s outside for a while.”

  Amy nodded and started fanning herself to play the part.

  “Oh, fine!” Ted said. “You might as well see it.”

  He led them inside the plush house. Heather wasn’t sure what she was expecting after such a buildup. She half expected to find evidence of criminal activity or cult worship that Ted had wanted to hide from them, or that a room would be crumbling apart to give him the motive to hurt Tiffany Turner. Instead, they found the source of the sound that she heard on the porch.

  One whole wall in the living area had been turned into a babbling brook and waterfall. The water caressed a stone and pebble wall as it made its way down to the small pool below. It was an impressive fixture and looked beautiful in the room.

  Ted Waterson looked miserable.

  “There,” he said.

  “This is what you didn’t want to show us?”

  “It’s why I don’t invite people inside,” He said. “I’ve lived in this house my entire life. When my parents moved to Florida, and I inherited it, I thought I would update it a bit and make it my own. Now thanks to Tiffany Turner, I have to move.”

  “But it’s beautiful. It’s a striking design element.” Amy said. “I don’t get it.”

  “You will,” he said.

  They sat down near the waterfall, and Amy set up to take notes. Heather found the sounds of the water cascading soothing. She had questions about why he would hate something so peaceful, but decided she would stick to questions about the case.

  “Mr. Waterson, where were you on Monday evening?”

  “Most nights when I don’t want to be at home, I get in my car and drive around. I think I did that Monday too.”

  The water kept trickling down, gently and then rushing.

  “And how would you describe Tiffany Turner’s work on your house?”

  “It looks nice enough. I was excited about it at first. But then I learned. Now I have to move.”

  “You blamed her for this?”

  “Of course. But I didn’t kill her. I haven’t seen her since she worked on my house.”

  The water flowed down and pooled at the bottom. Heather crossed her legs as she continued her questions.

  “What did you think of her prices?”

  “They seemed high, but I figured that was the norm nowadays.”

  Amy had also crossed her legs. Heather realized the flaw with the rushing waterfall inside the home.

  “All the running water. It makes you feel like you have to use the restroom.”

  “Imagine living with that feeling all day!” Ted bemoaned.

  “I can certainly see why you would be angry with Tiffany Turner,” Heather said. “Did she redesign your kitchen too?”

  “She did. She said it was her favorite room to design.”

  “Did she give you a set of her signature knives?”

  “Not give. She made me pay for them, which I didn’t realize until after the fact. Do you want to see them?”

  Heather told him she did and he returned from with kitchen with a set of knives marked with TT on them. The one matching the murder weapon was still with the others. It looked like as much as Ted’s bladder might have wanted revenge, he was not the killer.

  Heather decided to ask one more question. “Was there anything else about Tiffany’s work on the house that seemed unusual to you?”

  “Well,” Ted said. “Now that you mention it. There was one time that I found her going through my personal papers in my bedroom. She said she was looking for something I might want to be framed on the wall. I wasn’t sure about that answer, so I did keep a closer eye on her after that. I’m not sure if that means anything.”

  Heather wasn’t quite sure either. It did seem strange for a designer to be going through someone’s personal papers, but Tiffany did seem to have a strange way of working.

  “Thank you for your time,” Heather said. “We’ll be going.”

  “Actually….” Amy started.

  “It’s down the hall on the left,” Ted said. “If anyone ever does come inside, that’s one of the first things I have to tell them.”

  Amy thanked him and moved quickly down the hall. Heather was left with Ted and said, “I’m sorry that you have to move.”

  “Me too,” Ted said sadly. “It’s a terrible thing, moving away from the house you lived in and loved for years.”

  Heather nodded. She was afraid her friends might be going through the same thought process.

  Chapter 14

  “We have to tell Eva and Leila about the new estimate,” Amy said.

  “I want to too,” Heather agreed. “I don’t want them to have to move like poor Ted.”

  “Poor Ted. Can you imagine what he goes through? He wakes up in the morning. Water is running. He cooks breakfast. Water is running. He washes dishes. Water is… Okay, that one would have been anyway.”

  “We can tell them that there are lower estimates to fix the house. We just won’t involve Taryn in the actual renovation.”

  “That way she won’t be able to bribe or befriend or whatever she is trying to do with us.”

  Heather and her bestie walked into her house and were greeted by a tail-wagging sight. Eva, Leila, and Lilly were preparing the pets to go for a walk.

  “Mom, you’re home,” Lilly said, smiling. “Do you want to walk with us?”

  “If you want some mother-daughter time, we don’t have to come,” Eva said.

  “I’d love for you to come,” Heather said. She pet Dave between his excited ears.

  “Good. I need to get all my steps in,” Leila joked, looking at the circle around her wrist.

  “That’s a bracelet,” Eva said right back.

  “I suppose that’s why I haven’t been walking enough!”

  The two of them laughed, and Heather thought it was a happy moment to broach the topic of home repair. Dave and Cupcake thought it was the right moment to start their walk.

  They all headed out into the comfortable weather and enjoyed a pleasant stroll punctuated by pauses to stop and sniff the flowers (and for Dave and Cupcake - other things on the ground.)

  “And so even if we don’t use Taryn Turner, it could cost less to fix the house,” Heather said, concluding her findings.

  “How much did she say it would be?” Eva said.

  Heather found the estimate she had reluctantly taken from Taryn and handed it over. Eva and Leila looked at it. They looked deep in thought and then Eva frowned a little.

  “It is much less, but I think it might still be too much for us right now. The insurance isn’t quite enough to match this, and I don’t think we should dip too far into our savings.”

  Leila agreed. “I’m planning to live for an awfully long time. We’ll need out savings.”

  “Thank you for all your help,” Eva said. “I think it might be inevitable. I think we might have to move.”

  “This is so unfair,” Amy muttered. Heather agreed with the sentiment but she wasn’t sure what else to say that wouldn’t make the women feel worse. She wished there was something more she could do for her friends. Instead, she felt helpless.

  Eva sensed what she was feeling and brought up a topic she thought would make Heather feel in charge again. “How is your sleuthing going?”

  “We started with a full client’s list of suspects, but have been able to check some of them off. We still have one more interview to conduct. Right now three knives are unaccounted for, so they are the people we’re still looking at.”

  Amy nodded. “Zoe Jones from the cluttered house, John Wallens who paid twice, and the sister.”

  “Taryn Turner who has been acting so strangely during all our questioning. And whose estimate apparently didn’t really help,” Heather added glumly.

  “Don’t despair, dear
.” Eva said, “Things have a way of working out.”

  Heather returned the small smile and tried to focus on the good. Lilly was playing with Cupcake who was pawing at a flower as big as her head.

  “What are you doing, Cupcake?” Lilly asked. Then she remembered something and her eyes widened. “I forgot to tell you something.”