Double Chocolate Pistachio Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 27

by Susan Gillard

  “That’s so weird,” Amy said.

  “There they are,” Heather whispered and nodded toward the booth at the far end of the room.

  Heather sidled between the tables and didn’t make eye contact with anyone. She stopped two booths down from George and Lottie, then shifted to the one right beside theirs.

  She sat down on the red velvet and placed her hands on the table top. A thin wooden divider blocked the top of each booth. The noise from the bakery, the clinks of plates and mugs, similar noises as those in Donut Delights, were muted.

  “Is there any reason you asked me to meet you at a cupcake place?” George’s voice grumbled through the divider.

  Amy picked up her menu and pretended to study it. Or maybe she did actually want a cupcake.

  “I had my reasons, Mr. Rockwell,” Lottie replied. “So, let’s talk.”

  George cleared his throat and mumbled something. Heather craned her neck toward the divider.

  “I know you think I don’t have the experience for the position,” she said. “But I assure you, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this my entire life. I studied drama, Mr. Rockwell.”

  “I’ve had enough drama, thanks. Tina brought the house down when it came to that.”

  “Sir, I can make your network great again. I’ll be the star highlight of every newscast. I mean, I can perform. Not just read the news or research topics for it. You know?”

  Lottie wanted Tina’s old job? That’s what this was about?

  Amy pressed her finger to the menu and licked her lips.

  “I’ll consider a probationary period,” George said. “You can work for me on the upcoming Bake-Off competition, and if I like what I see, we’ll move forward from there.”

  “Thank you so much, Mr. Rockwell. You won’t regret this. I swear it!” Lottie’s excitement bubbled through her words. “I – do you want to order something?”

  “No. I don’t like sweet things.”

  Amy grimaced at that revelation.

  So, that was it. Lottie Jameson wanted Tina’s job. It couldn’t be a simple coincidence, could it? She’d argued with Tina. She’d ripped the cord from the wall and now this.

  “Let’s go,” Heather whispered.

  Amy dropped the menu and brushed off her palms. “Nothing good, anyway.”

  They rose from their seats and hurried to the door. Kate Laverne appeared behind the counter and glared at them. She opened her mouth to say something, but Heather burst out into the Hillside morning before she could get it out.

  Lottie Jameson.

  She had to speak to Ryan about this.

  Chapter 10

  Heather rifled through the dossier on the case and squeaked back and forth on her office chair in Donut Delights.

  She needed to oil the darn thing, but she’d been super distracted by the case this week. And the week before, and oh for heaven’s sake, every week. It was tough staying on top of things without any help.

  “Huh,” she whispered. “Help? Maybe I need to –”

  A knock rattled her office door, and the knob turned immediately after. Her gorgeous husband stepped into the room, in full uniform, with another brown folder tucked under his arm.

  He shut the door behind himself, then turned to his wife. “Good morning, love. I’m glad you called.”

  “Do you have something for me?” Heather asked, and scooched forward to the edge of her seat.

  Ryan sat down in front of her desk and placed the folder on it. He grabbed one of the donuts on Heather’s plate, then took a bite and gestured with it. “I do,” he said. “But why did you call?”

  “I went down to Kate Laverne’s bakery this morning.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah, Ames insisted I check out the competition. Anyway, while I was there, I overheard George Rockwell and Lottie Jameson talking. She wants Tina’s job. She’s got Tina’s job now. It just seems like too much of a coincidence.”

  “Interesting,” Ryan said and licked chocolate off his finger. “Very interesting.”

  “Yeah, I just needed a good old fashioned brainstorming session with you.”

  Ryan put down his half-eaten donut, then grabbed a napkin and dabbed his lips. “I think you should take a look at what I brought you.”

  Heather grasped the brown folder and dragged it toward herself. The cardboard brushed her fingertips, and she shivered. What could this be?

  “It’s just become even more relevant after what you saw this morning,” Ryan said.

  Heather flipped open the dossier and grasped a single sheet of paper inside. She scanned the page. “An email transcript.”

  “Between Lottie and Tina,” Ryan said. “Read on.”

  “Please, you’ve got to help me out. You promised you’d hook me up with a job when you came back to town. You’ve been back for a week, and we still haven’t met up. I need your help, Tina.” That one was from Lottie. Obsequious, desperate.

  “And the reply?” Ryan asked and grabbed the donut again.

  “Sorry, kiddo, I can’t help you. I’ve got adult stuff to contend with. News to read. Stories to chase up. You’re old news. I can’t help you and I wouldn’t even if I wanted to.” Oh boy, Tina sure hadn’t held back on that one.

  Ryan gulped down the last of his donut, then shrugged. “That’s what we found on Tina’s laptop. Nothing else of interest apart from a few blooper reels and video of her shouting at her cameraman.”

  Heather placed the page back in the dossier, then rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms. “It doesn’t make sense. Why would Lottie have needed Tina’s help? And why would Tina say she’d help, but then refuse at the last minute?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Ryan replied.

  Heather blinked at her husband. “What, why? It always matters. It’s all evidence.”

  “We’ve got enough to arrest Lottie on suspicion of murder,” Ryan said. “Good investigative work, Mrs. Shepherd, you’ve helped us solve the case, yet again.”

  Heather clutched the edges of her desk, and her fingertips turned white. “I don’t know, Ryan. This doesn’t feel right.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, we have all this evidence which points to her, but, ugh, I just get the feeling that it’s not right,” Heather said.

  She dug through her thoughts for a better explanation. One that would make more sense to Ryan than ‘just a feeling’ but she came up empty-handed.

  “Heather, you’ve outdone yourself again. You don’t need to sleuth it up. We’ve got this one in the bag.” Ryan smiled at her. A genuine, loving smile and she managed to return it.

  He rose from his seat. “I’d better head over there and do the deed.”

  “Wait, you’re going to arrest her right now?”

  “I can’t exactly wait. She might decide to make a run for it,” Ryan replied. He dragged his fingers through his hair. “And boy, I can’t wait to close this case. I’m exhausted this week. I think it’s all the turkey from last week.”

  Heather didn’t laugh. This wasn’t right.

  They didn’t have enough on Lottie to arrest her, and every nerve-ending in her body screamed at her to do the right thing.

  “Don’t do it,” Heather said and stood up behind her desk. “Honey, don’t do it. She’s not the killer. At least, I think she’s not the killer.”

  Ryan sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. “Love, I have to. The evidence is stacked against her, and the Captain is all over me on this one. Breathing down my neck to get it done and get it done quick.”

  “Why?”

  “Because there’s so much press surrounding the competition and consequently the murder. They want an arrest as soon as possible. The longer we take, the worse the department looks,” Ryan said. “It’s all political.”

  Heather let go of her desk and folded her arms instead. “But if you arrest the wrong person, it’ll look even worse.”

  “Hey, I’m just the messenger,” Ryan replied.

>   “No, hon, you’re the detective, and that’s your job description. You’re not some departmental lackey –”

  “Whoa, slow down,” he said. “Slow down. Look, if you still have doubts, just come with me to see Lottie. Speak to her yourself. Explain that she’s on thin ice. Squeeze her for answers and see if you can get another lead out of her.”

  Heather exhaled a long, this stream of anger. “All right,” she replied. “I will.”

  Ryan walked to the office door, then opened it and held it for her. “After you,” he said.

  Heather swept out into the store, her shoulder straight and her jaw set. She’d get to the bottom of this, no matter what.

  Chapter 11

  Ryan rang the doorbell once, then stepped back and tucked his fingers into his belt loops. This kind of thing was an everyday occurrence for him. He whistled a tune under his breath, then checked his gun in its holster.

  Heather reached up and massaged the back of her neck. That sense of wrongness hadn’t dissipated since they’d left Donut Delights.

  Ryan rang the bell again. “Nobody home?” He leaned back and gazed at the closed garage door.

  “Just a second,” Lottie called out, inside the house. “Just one minute.” Hurried footsteps jogged down the hall toward the front door.

  Heather pressed her palms to her stomach and stilled her nerves. Ridiculous. She’d never worried about this kind of thing before. Why now?

  The lock scraped back, and Lottie’s face appeared a second later. Her expression fell. “What do you want?” Her gaze traveled from Heather to Ryan, and she gasped. “Officer?”

  “Detective Shepherd,” he said, “May we come in, Miss Jameson? We have a few questions for you.”

  Recognition dawned, and Lottie grasped the edge of the door. “I told you, I’m not going anywhere without a warrant. That Hoskins person came down here to question me and –”

  “We’re just here to talk,” Heather said.

  Ryan opened his mouth – probably to mention the arrest warrant in his pocket – and Heather stepped on the toe of his shoe. He kept his peace, for now, at least.

  Lottie worked her jaw and glanced past them into the street. “Fine,” she said. “Fine, but you’d better make this quick. I just got a new job, and I need to practice for it.” She jerked her door inward, then turned and hurried off down the hall.

  Heather and Ryan followed her path and exchanged a glance along the way. She wasn’t alarmed by the arrival of a police officer on her doorstep.

  Did that mean she was innocent? Or that she had no remorse for killing a woman in cold blood.

  “I’m in here,” Lottie called out.

  They filed into the living room, and Heather took a seat on one of Lottie’s striped sofas. She crossed her ankles and rested her palms in her lap.

  Lottie stood beside the window and wore a somber expression. A veil to hide the truth? She’d obviously switched into melodrama mode.

  Ryan cleared his throat. “Miss Jameson,” he said.

  “I can’t believe you think I did this,” Lottie said.

  Heather blinked at the other woman. What a weird way to start a conversation. “We know that you pulled the laptop plug out of the wall, Lottie. Your fingerprints were all over the murder weapon. Can you explain why?”

  Lottie Jameson licked her lips, she fingered the window pane and focused on her tiny back garden. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to know that you’re skilled, that you’re talented, and that you deserve a shot, only to have it denied over and over again. To have that opportunity snatched from you by someone else?” Lottie asked and grabbed the air in front of her.

  Heather had worked for everything she’d had. She’d built the capital for her business from scratch. No help from her ex-husband or anybody else. She’d written the business plan and taken it to the bank for a loan, and she’d paid off that loan in increments for years.

  In short, she had no idea what that was like because no one had handed an opportunity to her on a silver platter.

  “Are you talking about Tina?” Heather asked.

  “Tina promised me she’d help me out.” Lottie chewed the corner of her lip. “We were friends in high school. I mean, not best friends, but we knew each other. Sometimes I made fun of her, she was kinda weird at school, and other times we hung out. I thought we were fine.”

  “So, you asked her for help,” Heather said.

  Lottie glared at her. Her gaze sharpened. “Yeah. I asked her for help. I asked her to hook me up with a gig. I mean, I am talented. I can act. I can dance. I can sing.” Lottie pressed her palm to her chest. “Do you want to hear me sing?”

  “No, that’s quite all right,” Heather replied, quickly.

  Ugh, she wouldn’t be able to sit through that.

  “Tina agreed to help me. She even seemed excited about it. Like we’d be colleagues or something. But then, she came back to Hillside, and nothing happened. I emailed her, and still, nothing happened.” Lottie dabbed at non-existent tears beneath her eyes. “So, I decided we should have a chat.”

  Heather uncrossed her ankles and brushed off the tops of her jeans. “You went over there.”

  “Yeah. And I confronted her. Except she wouldn’t stop fiddling on her darn camera. She didn’t want to speak to me. She kept speaking into the camera, then stopping to write something on her laptop. I don’t know what it was, but it was really rude.”

  “Wait, she taped herself?” Heather glanced back at Ryan.

  If they could get a copy of that tape, it’d be evidence.

  “Yeah. With some big camera. I think it was the digital kind, but I’m not sure.”

  “We didn’t find a camera in the hotel room,” Ryan said, and narrowed his eyes at Lottie. “But we did find your earring.”

  “I know. It must’ve fallen out.” Lottie said, and sucked in deep breaths. Panicked breaths.

  “You must’ve done something very strenuous to have dropped an earring like that.” Ryan’s tone could’ve iced a donut.

  Heather cleared her throat and drew Lottie’s attention. “What happened next?” she asked.

  “I ripped the plug out of the wall and threw it down. Obviously, the laptop didn’t shut off right away, but she was still super angry at me. She stopped writing and screamed at me. She told me she’d never help me and that I’d better get lost before she called the cops,” Lottie said. She sniffed and dabbed at her dry eyes again.

  “And then you killed her,” Ryan said.

  “What?!” Lottie’s eyes widened. She grabbed the window sill and held herself up right. Her knees knocked together. “What?! I would never. I didn’t.”

  “What happened after she threatened you?” Heather asked.

  “I left. I didn’t want to be a part of what she had going on. I decided that if she couldn’t help me, I’d help myself.”

  “Did you see anything else on your way out?”

  Ryan tapped Heather on the shoulder and she glanced up at him. He shook his head once, and reached back to unhook his handcuffs from his belt.

  “I saw George,” Lottie said. “He was on his way into the hotel, and he looked real angry. He kept muttering under his breath. I –” She cut off and stared at Ryan’s hands. “Wait a second. What are you doing? I told you. I saw George. I didn’t hurt Tina. I’m not that kind of person.”

  “Heather,” Ryan said.

  She rose from her seat and walked around the sofa. She couldn’t witness this, and she certainly couldn’t stop the course of the law.

  Heather strode down the hall and blocked out Lottie’s angry protests, but a lead weight sat in the bottom of her stomach.

  This was wrong. This was all wrong.

  Chapter 12

  Eva Schneider’s face glowed in the early morning sunlight which streamed through the front window of the store. She shifted her coffee mug – already stained by her mauve lipstick – and squinted at the headline of the paper.

  Heather worried her bottom
lip and shifted her gaze to Amy and Angelica, who chatted behind the counter.

  The morning pre-work rush had already begun. The bell above the door rang non-stop, and customers streamed into the store. They formed a long line in front of the counter, but for every addition to the queue, another left at the front with coffee and donuts clutched in their hands.

  Happy noises. Chatter and laughter, and oh, the gossip from Sharon Janis in the corner, of course.

  All of it washed over Heather, but the concern over Lottie’s arrest wouldn’t lift.

  She’d hardly slept the night before. And Ryan had come home super late. Lilly had even asked her what was wrong at dinner.

  “Heather, dear?” Eva touched her on the arm.

  She jolted upright and focused on Eva instead of her morose thoughts. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m a little worried about the case.”

  “I understand, dear. But I thought Ryan had already made an arrest? That’s what it says in the paper,” Eva replied.

  Oh no. They’d already reported on this? Poor Lottie. Ugh, why did she feel this way? Lottie may well have killed Tina. All the evidence seemed to point to that.

  “He made an arrest,” Heather replied. “I don’t agree with it.”

  “Why not, dear?”

  “Because I just have this feeling in my gut that it’s wrong,” she whispered. She ran her fingers through her hair, then laughed at herself. “Man, I must sound crazy. I’ve been moping about this all day.”

  Eva scratched the end of her soft nose and the lines on her wrinkled brow deepened. “No, you don’t. You’re brilliant at making donuts, and you’re brilliant at solving cases. If your gut tells you something is wrong, trust it.”

  “But it’s just a feeling,” Heather said. “It’s not factual.”

  “Liebchen, if I’ve learned one thing in my life, it’s that you should always trust your gut,” Eva said and pointed toward her solar plexus. “It’s saved me trouble on many occasions.”

  “What kinda trouble?” Amy asked and sidled up to them.

  “Oh you,” Eva replied, and chuckled. She swatted Amy on the arm.