Coconut Frosted & Murder

by Susan Gillard

  “When you say my assistants, do you both mean Janae?” Heather asked.

  “Well, I guess she does work for you there,” Fire Frank said.

  “And she might like to know about all the work we've been doing. I did just identify the victim, and soon I'll catch his killer."

  “And I’ve been instrumental in assisting with the arson side of this case,” Fire Frank said.

  “Sure, I’ll tell her,” Heather said, waving them away. “But why don’t you both go off and find more clues? Maybe you’ll impress her even more?”

  Detective Peters and Fire Frank exchanged a look and then ran off to work on the case.

  “I’ll have to remember that trick,” Ryan joked.

  "And I hope they do find something," Heather said. "Because this fire was set on purpose, so that means that even if the arsonist didn't mean to kill anyone – it is a murder case. And we need to figure out who the killer is."

  SWEATS AND THREATS

  I must look so gross right now,” Tina Bauer said.

  “It’s all right,” Heather assured her. “You’re having a rough day.”

  Truth be told, Tina Bauer was looking a little gross. But she did just come from an exercise class and then was told that her boss had been killed. She was sweaty and was crying.

  Heather and Amy had joined Ryan and Detective Peters when they met Ernest Norwauld’s assistant.

  “I just can’t believe this happened,” Tina sobbed. "The gallery is ruined, and Mr. Norwauld is dead? I was going to come home and get pretty for the opening of the exhibit tonight after my exercise class, but now it’s not going to happen.”

  “Did many people see you at this exercise class?” Ryan asked.

  “They must have. It was a full class. It’s this place this woman named Harmony owns. It’s near Sun and Fun Novelties.”

  Heather nodded. It was also by Donut Delights, and it would be easy to check Tina's alibi by asking her neighbor.

  “What were you doing earlier in the day?” asked Ryan.

  “I stopped by the gallery this morning to make sure that things would be set for tonight, but Mr. Norwauld said everything was already set up with L’artiste Andrews's work. He was just waiting for another artist to deliver a sculpture that would be on the west wall. He sent me home around eleven. He said that he could take care of the delivery because even if he were at home, he could come over to meet her quickly. He lived nearby."

  “And what did you do after you left work?” asked Heather.

  "I did some errands, and then I went for a run. And then I went to the yoga class," said Tina.

  “Where were you at twelve-thirty?” asked Ryan.

  “I was probably on my run,” said Tina.

  “Did Ernest Norwauld have a strict schedule?” Ryan asked.

  "Not exactly," Tina said. "On days where we had big showings, he would stop by in the morning to make sure everything was set. He might visit the gallery after lunch if he didn't have anything else to do.”

  "So his being there when the fire started probably wasn't the arsonist's intention," said Peters.

  “How would you describe your boss?” Ryan asked.

  “He was a great guy,” Tina said. “He was like an uncle or a big brother to me. And he loved showing all types of art, and letting viewers decide how they felt about them.”

  “What was the security like at the gallery?” Heather asked.

  “We had an alarm, but that was only set at night. We didn’t think anyone would be brazen enough to try and steal the pieces during the day. And I never, ever thought someone would set a fire there.”

  “Were the doors kept locked?” asked Ryan.

  “Yes,” said Tina. “Mr. Norwauld and I both had keys. I don’t think anyone else did. But now that I think about it, the handle on the back-entrance door was becoming loose. We were going to call a handyman on Monday. It might have been easy to break in that way.”

  “But you and Mr. Norwauld were the only ones with keys?” asked Peters, making a note of it.

  “Yes. I don’t understand all these questions. Do you think I had anything to do with the fire? Why? I loved the gallery. And I loved my job.”

  “Do you know of anyone who didn’t love the gallery?” Heather asked.

  “Until recently, everyone seemed to like it,” said Tina. “But then, not everyone understood what L’artiste Andrews was doing.”

  “And what exactly was he doing?” asked Peters.

  “In his art, he was exploring the theme of artificiality and humanity. Manufactured versus genuine.”

  “Oh,” Peters said, not quite sure what to write in his notes.

  “He was a genius,” Tina said.

  “He had a series of paintings of naked people posing with lawn flamingoes,” Amy summed up.

  “This was the work that was inspiring the controversy?” Ryan asked.

  “Yes,” Tina said. “Mostly it was snide remarks and then difficulty getting other artists to join this particular gallery exhibit. But there were some direct threats.”

  "Threats?" asked Detective Peters. "Against the gallery or Mr. Norwauld?”

  “Mostly against the L’artiste Andrews exhibit. We got two especially nasty letters.”

  “Don’t tell me they were burned in the fire?” Heather said.

  “No,” Tina said. “I have them here. Mr. Norwauld told me to get rid of them, but they scared me. I thought someone might cause trouble through the course of the art showing, so I thought I would keep them. However, I never thought they would try and burn the place down or hurt Mr. Norwauld. I thought there just might be pickets or something.”

  “Can we see those letters?” Ryan asked.

  Tina went to the other room and returned with two letters. The investigators exchanged serious looks. One letter said: “You are showcasing filth. Stop it or else!”

  The other just said, “Burn!”

  COMPETING FOR CLUES

  The next morning, Heather served donuts to her customers, but her mind was on the fire. She was happy that she didn't burn any of her baked goods while she thought about the flames. However, years of practice and some qualified assistants in the kitchen made sure that this didn't happen.

  Amy entered, and Heather asked Janae to watch the counter.

  "I talked to Kendall, and she said I could add my sculpture to her Sculpture Garden if I want, so that's nice. Unfortunately, we do need to move it again. But I say we put that off until after we solve this case. We already have some heavy lifting to do there, trying to figure out what happened."

  “I hope that one of the people who wrote those threats left their fingerprints on it,” Heather said. “Ryan is checking to see if there is a match.”

  “Of course, Tina’s prints are going to be on them,” said Amy.

  “And probably Ernest Norwauld’s, too,” said Heather.

  “Do you think Tina could be a suspect?” Amy asked.

  It was at that moment that Nina walked by their table to bring them coffee. “Do you think I’m a suspect for something?”

  “No, no,” Heather assured her. “We were talking about a Tina who was the assistant of the man who died in the fire.”

  Nina nodded but kept a careful eye on them as she poured the coffee and walked away.

  “Maybe Nina did do it,” Amy joked. “Your nervous assistant would be the last person I ever suspected, and that’s normally who the killer is.”

  “It’s sometimes who the killer is,” Heather said. “Not normally.”

  “Okay. Well, do you think Tina is a suspect?” Amy asked, making sure to annunciate the “T.”

  "I don't know," Heather said. "She seemed genuinely upset about the fire and her boss's death. I also talked to Harmony, and she said that Tina was in the class and wasn't acting oddly. However, because we can't pin down her exact location at the time that the fire-starter was set, we can't rule her out as a suspect. But we'd have to find a reason for her to want the gallery burned down."<
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  “You think it was more likely one of the people who sent the threats?”

  “The one that said burn did seem pretty incriminating,” said Heather. “And you pointed out the controversy of the art. Two people were mad enough to send threats in the mail about it, and someone was mad enough to set a fire.”

  “Yeah,” Amy agreed, picking up a donut.

  “We should ask Fire Frank how difficult it is to make one of those timers,” said Heather. “Is it something that anyone could have made?”

  “These donuts are something that only you could have created,” said Amy. “Inventive and delicious.”

  The shop door to Donut Delights swung open, and Fire Frank walked in. He was hoping to go up to the counter and talk to Janae, but Heather forced him to acknowledge them first.

  “Hi, Heather and Amy,” he said. “How’s the case going on your end?”

  “We found some threatening letters that are being analyzed,” Heather said. “But we had a question about the timer that set the fire. Was it something that the average person could have built?”

  “The parts were easy enough to come by,” said Fire Frank. “It’s not a design that I’ve seen before, so I think this was an original design. But that could either mean that the arsonist didn’t know exactly what he was doing and experimented until something went right, Or he was very sophisticated and knew exactly what he was doing.”

  “So, it could have been anyone?” Heather said, frowning. “That doesn’t scale anything down.”

  “Sorry,” Fire Frank said. “But I’ll keep going through what was found at the scene and see if I can determine anything that is useful about how the fire spread. But, right after I order some donuts.”

  The door opened again, and this time Detective Peters entered. Fire Frank looked displeased, but then tried to hide it.

  “I guess we had the same idea,” Fire Frank said.

  “I guess so,” Detective Peters said, evenly.

  “Excuse me,” Heather said.

  She hurried behind the counter, under the guise of getting some more donuts.

  "Hey, Janae, if either of them asks, tell them that I told you how impressive they both were in working on this case."

  “Huh?” asked Janae. However, she soon had an inkling of what Heather was talking about as her two suitors approached the counter. They both began talking at the same time.

  “Looking lovely today—”

  “Always radiant—”

  “Gentlemen,” Heather said, silencing them. “What did we talk about at the police station?”

  “At the police station?” Janae asked, giving Heather a wink. “Heather was telling me how impressive you both were working on this case. Would you like to tell me about what you’ve been doing? But, you know, one at a time?”

  Very politely, the two men began to explain all the hard work they were putting into catching this arsonist and killer.

  "I feel better about it, knowing that you are both on the job," Janae said with a genuine smile.

  Heather rejoined Amy. “Come on.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To bake some more donuts,” Heather said. “And to get away from this love triangle.”

  "If there are donuts, I'm game," said Amy.

  “And later we can go to the station and see how Ryan is progressing with matching the fingerprints,” Heather continued. “Because I really want to catch the person who did this.”

  “Me, too,” said Amy. “Killing poor Mr. Norwauld and ruining my show. He deserves to be behind bars.”

  SURPRISE GUEST AT THE STATION

  I always love when you visit the station,” Chief Chet said. “You always bring answers or donuts. And I love them both.”

  Heather smiled. Chief Chet was very laid-back, but he was able to be because he had such a reliable team working with him to stop crime on the island. He picked up a second donut to enjoy.

  "How is the case coming along?" he asked the assembled investigators of Heather, Amy, and Ryan.

  “If you listen to the way Fire Frank and Detective Peters tell it, it should be solved in five seconds, be one of the most harrowing cases they were ever involved in, and they should win a Nobel Prize for it,” said Amy.

  “A Nobel Prize?” Chief Chet asked, confused.

  “We’re making some progress with the case,” Ryan said quickly. “I’m running the fingerprints found on the threats that the victim received now and we should have an answer as to who sent them soon.”

  "We know that the fire was set intentionally," Heather continued. "A timer was set around twelve-thirty to go off at one-thirty."

  “And it looks like poor Mr. Norwauld was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Amy. "His assistant said that he didn't keep a set schedule. I just hope that he wasn't waiting at the gallery for us to arrive and that's what put him there at the wrong time."

  “It sounds like the investigation is progressing nicely. Good,” Chief Chet said. “Even if the gallery was going to show some bad art, no one should stoop to criminal behavior.”

  “What do you mean bad art?” Amy asked indignantly.

  “He means the L’artiste Andrews exhibit,” Heather said. “Not your sculpture.”

  “Oh,” Amy said. “Even so, it’s art. It’s subjective. You don’t have to burn it down.”

  "I demand to see who is in charge," a woman said striding into the room. She had short dark hair and high heels that clicked as she marched closer to them.

  “I suppose that would be me,” Chief Chet said without any enthusiasm. “How can I help you? Would you like a donut?”

  “No. I would like to see justice served.”

  “Yes. We all would. Of course,” Chief Chet said. “Now, who are you?”

  “I’m Mrs. Norwauld. My husband was killed yesterday.”

  “And again, we’re very sorry for your loss,” Ryan said. He had been the one to inform Nadine Norwauld about her husband’s death. She had been distraught at the time, and not knowing anything about the circumstances of the fire’s origin, he had left her to grieve.

  “Thank you,” Nadine said. “But I need to know that things are going to be handled properly.”

  “We were just discussing the case and how it is in very able hands,” said Chief Chet.

  “Able hands with frosting-covered fingers?” Nadine asked, unimpressed.

  “Well,” Chief Chet said, looking for an exit. “Detective Shepherd here is my lead investigator on the case. I’m sure he can assist you with any questions you may have.”

  Chief Chet grabbed another donut and then bolted to his office. Ryan tried to put on a helpful smile.

  “We are investigating the arson and murder that occurred. We’ve put all our resources on it,” Ryan assured her.

  "I should hope so," Nadine said. "Ernest was a dear man, and it was terrible that this happened to him. Tell me, do you think that it had something to do with the art that he was showing there that was the reason for this?"

  “That is one lead that we are looking into,” Ryan said. “We know that the fire was intentionally set.”

  “If it wasn’t one of those crazy people who hated his exhibit, then who could it be?” Nadine demanded.

  “Mrs. Norwauld, I know how upsetting this can be,” said Heather. “However, we can’t jump to any conclusions. We need to let the evidence lead us to answers.”

  “Who is this?”

  “These are two talented private investigators who assist on difficult cases,” Ryan explained. “I told you that we were taking this case seriously.”

  “Well, I’m glad you are.”

  “The first thing we should do is eliminate you as a suspect,” Heather said. “Where were you around twelve-thirty on Saturday?”

  “I don’t like being considered a suspect when this was clearly someone who had an issue with the art at my husband’s gallery,” Nadine said. “He could choose some outrageous pieces. Controversial things. Ugly art.”
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  “But not all of it,” Amy piped up.

  "However, I don't mind telling you where I was. I was at home meeting with our lawyer, Jason Goya. I was discussing a potential business plan I had. It was a long meeting. It must have been from noon to two o'clock."

  “Thank you for telling us, Mrs. Norwauld,” Ryan said.

  “Do you have any other ridiculous questions for me?”

  “Did Ernest Norwauld keep a set schedule?” Heather asked, double-checking what his assistant Tina had told them.

  “No,” Nadine said after a pause. “He enjoyed owning the gallery because he could choose his own schedule.”

  Heather could understand that perk of the job.

  “And do you know what his movements were that Saturday morning?” Ryan asked.

  “He went to work early. Before I woke up,” said Nadine. "He came home for lunch around eleven-thirty, but he was bored with my talking to the lawyer when Jason Goya arrived. I guess he went back to the gallery to prepare for the exhibit. Sadly, he would never be able to show it."

  “It is a tragedy,” Amy agreed.

  “I’m afraid this conversation has upset me greatly,” Nadine said. “I want to go home. I just wanted to ensure that everything was being taken seriously here.”

  “It is,” Ryan said.

  “We’ll catch whoever did this,” Heather agreed.

  “The insurance company isn’t going to give its payout on the gallery until this matter is all settled. And I need that money,” said Nadine. “For Ernest’s final expenses. To give him a proper burial.”

  “We’ll try to resolve this as quickly as we can,” Ryan said.

  However, after Nadine Norwauld had left, they all agreed that they should double-check her alibi.

  THE LETTER WRITER

  Ryan called Jason Goya's office and spoke to the lawyer. He confirmed the widow's alibi but said that he couldn't discuss what they spoke about during their meeting because it would violate confidentiality.

  "I guess no matter what they were discussing at the time, she still couldn't have killed him if she was with the lawyer at the time the mechanism was set,” Heather mused.