Coconut Frosted & Murder

by Susan Gillard

  “We were lucky about something?” Amy asked. “We caught a break?”

  Imelda found the order in a binder and handed it over.

  “That was very quick. Thank you,” said Heather.

  “I remembered him because he had that other order that he picked up on Saturday.”

  “What was that?” asked Heather.

  “Jim Malkin came in here Saturday afternoon to pick up his new special order, and that reminded me of the original order that I made him. First, he was a shark. This time he was a flamingo. It's a beautiful costume. Pink tulle and a long beak. You'll have to look at it. Oh, I hope he didn't get into any trouble with it."

  “No. I don’t think he did,” Heather said. “What time did he come into the store?”

  “Around one o’clock,” Imelda said. “I hope you get a chance to see the costume.”

  Heather thanked the costumer, and she and Amy left the store.

  “Jim Malkin didn’t tell us his alibi because he was picking up his costume to protest the exhibit that night,” Heather said.

  “He was dressing up like a flamingo because of the lawn flamingos in the paintings,” Amy agreed.

  “And he didn’t want to tell us because he had been arrested before for causing trouble in the shark costume at that restaurant,” said Heather. “But this means that we just proved that Jim Malkin couldn’t be the killer. He was here at one, and he didn’t know that exhibit wasn’t going to open after all.”

  “So, we didn’t actually have good luck and catch a break,” Amy said. “We just made things more difficult.”

  LOCKS

  The next day, Heather and Amy went to the police station. Heather had already told Ryan the night before about what she found out, but she updated Detective Peters on their findings.

  “So, Jim Malkin has an alibi for the time of the fire,” Detective Peters said. “And L’artiste Andrews couldn’t have done it either, even if he was out for the insurance money, which it sounds like he wasn’t.”

  “That about sums it up,” said Heather. “How are things on your end?”

  “Well,” Peters said with a little smile on his face. “It’s funny how we came up with this idea. But yesterday, Fire Frank and I both found ourselves at Donut Delights.”

  “Bothering Heather’s assistant. We know,” said Amy.

  “And we both felt like we were missing something in the case, but couldn’t put our finger on it. We decided that we should go over what was found at the crime scene again. But this time we would work on it together instead of like we were in competition.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Heather said.

  “I’d love it if it would help us solve this case,” agreed Ryan.

  "And I'd love it if it means those two will calm down when they're in the donut shop," said Amy.

  Fire Frank arrived at the police station, and he and Detective Peters cordially shook hands. Then everyone went into a side room where they could spread out all the rubble that had been found inside the gallery.

  "The walls stayed pretty sturdy, but most of what was inside didn't survive," said Fire Frank. "Even some of the doors were destroyed."

  “And you said before that the fire was most intense inside the storage room?” asked Ryan. “Where we found Ernest Norwauld?”

  “That’s right,” Fire Frank said. “And that’s where there were traces of the accelerant.”

  “This must be what is left of L’artiste Andrews’s work,” Amy said, looking at the remains of a frame. “Poor guy. I mean Ernest Norwauld is a poorer guy since he was killed. But I feel bad for L’artiste Andrews after meeting him, too.”

  Heather put on a pair of gloves and picked up a doorknob. Fire Frank must have been right about doors being burned up if only the knob remained. She twisted it in her hands.

  “This is funny,” Heather said.

  "Is it a knock, knock joke?" Amy asked. "You know, because you're holding part of a door?"

  “This handle and lock seem stuck,” said Heather. “It’s not able to turn.”

  “Is that because of the fire?” asked Ryan.

  “Maybe,” said Heather. “It just struck me as odd because Tina Bauer said that the back door handle was loose, and that could have been how the arsonist got inside.”

  “Wait a minute,” Detective Peters said. “That’s not the knob from the back door. That’s what was on the storage room door.”

  “And it won’t turn?” Fire Frank asked.

  “Could you open it when you went inside and were fighting the fire?” asked Ryan.

  “By the time I got there, the door was mostly eaten up by the flames.”

  Fire Frank took the doorknob and examined it. He held it out so Detective Peters could see it, too. The two men exchanged a look and nodded.

  “I think this lock was tampered with,” Detective Peters said.

  “I don’t think it was the result of the fire,” Fire Frank agreed. “It was like this beforehand.”

  “Meaning?” asked Amy.

  “That someone sabotaged the door,” Ryan said.

  “They wanted Ernest Norwauld to get stuck inside and die in the fire,” said Heather.

  “That’s terrible!” said Amy. “It was already bad before, but this is just awful now.”

  “And we’ve been thinking about this case all wrong,” Heather said. “ We’ve been looking at who wanted to hurt the gallery, assuming that Ernest Norwauld was killed accidentally. Now we need to look at who wanted to hurt Ernest Norwauld.”

  “It still could be someone with a grudge against the gallery and the controversial art display,” said Ryan. “However, the killer wanted to make sure that Mr. Norwauld would die, too.”

  Heather nodded. She looked at Peters and Fire Frank. “You two should work together more often.”

  PROUD TO INVESTIGATE

  Y ou see, Miss Marshmallow is a very special dog, and we need to make sure that she finds a very special home," said Amy.

  “We want to find the perfect home for her,” Jamie agreed.

  Heather sat in on another puppy adoption interview, not sure why she was there. If she had to give her opinion, Miss Marshmallow had already found the perfect home with Amy and Jamie. They loved her and cared for her, and Miss Marshmallow was forced to become more social with other animals by interacting with Dave and Cupcake.

  Heather made sure to ask a question to justify her presence there. “Why are you looking at getting a dog now?”

  “The time is right for me,” the young woman said. “And I believe a dog will be a perfect companion for me, and if anyone in the community visits me, they will be greeted by a friendly animal.”

  She was starting to sound like Mary Sanchez and her view of the perfect community. She wondered if this woman ever sent an anonymous threat before.

  Amy and Jamie began asking questions related to Miss Marshmallow’s grooming and feeding schedule.

  After a while. Heather realized it was time for her to ask another question and said the first thing that came into her mind. “Do you have a job that will allow you to spend enough time with the dog?”

  The young woman smiled at her. "Yes. I work from home. And I have a business plan that promises to be very successful. I've just discussed it with my lawyer."

  “Business plan,” Heather muttered to herself, an idea forming in her head.

  The others began to talk more about the dog, but Heather was thinking about the case. There had been inconsistencies. She should have realized it before, but she had been distracted by L’artiste Andrews.

  The young woman had just finished telling them how she didn’t mind cleaning up dog fur when Heather couldn’t contain herself anymore.

  “I think I figured out a break in the case.”

  “A case?” asked the young woman.

  “Heather is a private investigator,” Jamie explained. “And Amy is, too. They’re helping the police with a case right now.”

  Rather than looking i
mpressed, the young woman looked disgusted. "Helping the police? What are they – investigating a crime?"

  “That’s right,” said Amy.

  “I can’t believe you’d have such a sophisticated-looking dog, and yet involve yourselves in such icky endeavors.”

  “We’re helping to catch an arsonist and killer,” Heather said.

  “Gross,” the woman said. “I don’t want to hear about it.”

  “I don’t think this is going to work out,” Jamie said.

  “Why not?” asked the woman. “I can still take the dog. I’ll get her away from all this terrible crime talk.”

  “It’s not going to work because Miss Marshmallow came into our lives because of a murder investigation as well,” said Amy. “And we’re proud of what we do.”

  Jamie showed the woman to the door. Miss Marshmallow ran into Amy's arms.

  “I’m sorry,” Heather said.

  “Don’t be,” Amy said. “She wasn’t right for Miss Marshmallow, and it's good that we learned it now. We’ll find the right owner for her.”

  “I’m sure we will. Eventually,” Jamie agreed.

  Heather didn’t say anything more about the dog because she needed to tell them about the case. “I remembered something about the case. When that woman was talking about a business plan.”

  “What about it?” asked Amy.

  “That’s what Nadine Norwauld said she and her lawyer were talking about at the time of the fire.”

  “What’s wrong with that?” asked Jamie.

  “When we talked to the lawyer Jason Goya about it, he said that Nadine Norwauld wanted to update her will.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Jamie.

  “It means one of them is lying,” said Amy.

  “Right,” said Heather. “And that means that there is a flaw in this perfect alibi. Maybe it was just a cover story so one of them could commit the murder.”

  “Which one?” asked Jamie.

  “Nadine Norwauld would be the one to inherit the insurance money,” Heather said. “And maybe Jason Goya was covering for her to protect attorney-client privilege?”

  “Should we go confront her?” asked Amy, rising.

  “Let me call Ryan,” Heather suggested.

  She tried calling, but it went straight to voicemail. She left a message about what they had discovered.

  “What should we do now?” asked Amy. “We might have discovered who killed poor Ernest Norwauld. Are we going to let her collect the insurance money?”

  “No,” Heather said. “And I hate sitting around, too, knowing that an arsonist and killer is on the loose. But we shouldn’t run right into a dangerous situation. Let’s try and undermine the alibi first.”

  UNDERMINING THE ALIBI

  A re you sure this is a good idea?” Amy asked.

  “I’d feel better if I knew one hundred percent that Ryan was on his way,” Heather said. “But Donut Delights is our home turf, and it’s during business hours. Jason Goya won’t try anything. If he doesn’t like what we’re saying, he’ll just leave.”

  “But, of course, we hope that he’ll say that he lied about his meeting with Nadine Norwauld.”

  “Or that she could have slipped out for about fifteen minutes under the guise of something else,” Heather said. “Remember how close Ernest Norwauld said he lived to the gallery? That’s why he was willing to meet you at any time with your statue. And that’s how Nadine Norwauld could have committed the crime so quickly.”

  Janae poked her head into the kitchen. “There’s someone here to see you.”

  Heather thanked her and went to meet Jason Goya. She led him into her office. Amy joined her behind the desk, and they all sat down.

  “Now, you said you wanted to see me about something important?” the lawyer asked. “Is it in relation to your business? This is such a charming place.”

  “No,” Heather replied. “It’s in relation to murder.”

  “Murder?” Jason Goya asked, putting his briefcase down. “What are you talking about?”

  “Ernest Norwauld wasn’t accidentally killed in an arson attack,” said Heather. “He was locked inside the building so that he would die. He was murdered.”

  “What does this have to do with me?”

  “We think that Nadine Norwauld has a good motive for murdering her husband,” Heather said.

  “Besides the fact that you always suspect spouses,” said Amy.

  “She’s looking forward to the insurance money that she’s going to get for the ruined gallery,” said Heather.

  “But I already told you,” said Jason Goya. “She was with me at the time that you think it was set.”

  “Discussing wills, right?” asked Heather.

  “Right.”

  “Nadine Norwauld told us that she wanted to discuss a business plan with you.”

  “Oh. That’s right. I must have been confusing my meetings. She was right.”

  “Anything else you were confused about?” asked Amy. “Like whether Nadine could have slipped out and headed to the gallery at any point?”

  “Is that what you’re thinking?” Jason asked.

  “She didn’t need to be gone very long,” said Heather. “She does live very close to the gallery.”

  “Let me assure you that this wasn’t the case,” Jason Goya said. “She wasn’t gone for any length of time that would allow her to have started the timer. And now, if you don’t have any more questions, I think I’ll go.”

  Heather frowned. Could she have been so wrong about them? Were they telling the truth about their alibi? Maybe Nadine Norwauld didn’t kill her husband.

  Then, Heather noticed the dark hair on Jason Goya’s suit jacket. It looked like it was the perfect length to be Nadine’s.

  Thoughts raced through Heather’s head. It was possible that this was perfectly innocent. Maybe Jason Goya had seen his client today and gotten a hair on his jacket, and neither of them had anything to do with the murder.

  However, it was also possible that Jason Goya and Nadine Norwauld were closer than they had thought. He had seen her in person today; most likely, because of how well-kept his clothes were, they’d met after he had spoken to Heather. It was possible that the two of them planned the murder together.

  Heather wasn’t sure of everything at the moment, but she was sure that it was a good idea to get Jason Goya out of Donut Delights.

  “Yes. Thank you for your help,” Heather said. “I guess we were headed down the wrong train of thought.”

  “But, Heather,” said Amy. “How did he know about the timer?”

  Heather elbowed her friend and said goodbye to Jason Goya again. He stood in the doorway, wavering about whether to leave or not.

  However, when something outside the door caught his eye, his decision was forced.

  “Nadine, what are you doing?”

  He came back into the office. Nadine followed. She was leading Janae inside, too, holding a gun towards her.

  “I grabbed the wrong redheaded baker,” Nadine grimaced.

  “Why are you grabbing anyone?” Jason asked.

  “They figured it all out,” Nadine said. “They know what we did. We’re going to have to get rid of them.”

  “Are you crazy?” Jason asked. “We planned the gallery for months. We can’t just wing it now. How can we make this look like an accident?”

  "It's a bakery. I'm sure there are fires here, too," said Nadine.

  Janae looked like she was going to cry.

  "You said you planned the gallery for months?" asked Heather. "You thought it was a perfect crime?"

  “It was perfect,” Nadine said. “Until you started poking around. You were supposed to think it was one of the people who threatened Ernest about the exhibit. All I wanted was the insurance money. Why did they have to delay it? I shouldn’t have told the Chief to investigate it so thoroughly. He looks like someone who could let things slip through the cracks.”

  “Hey,” Amy said. “Chief Chet
is a good guy.”

  Heather agreed with the sentiment, but not the timing. They needed to calm Nadine down as long as she was holding the gun.

  “You did a great job,” Heather said. “You must have waited until Ernest Norwauld booked a controversial exhibit and then you planned the fire.”

  "I suggested L'artiste Andrews to my husband after the stories Jason told me about his client. I was sure you'd think that someone was targeting the gallery and not Ernest directly," said Nadine. "And I thought I had a great alibi. Everyone knew Jason was my lawyer, but no one knew he was my lover."

  “Nadine, you need to stop talking,” Jason said. “They’re going to hold what we say against us.”

  “We’re not going to let them leave the building. The same way we didn’t let Ernest leave,” she said calmly.

  “Did you rig the doors here, too?” asked Heather.

  “No,” Nadine said. “But we can enact the same basic principal. Or we could tie them up.”

  “How would that look like an accident?” asked Jason, coldly.

  “Are you going to point out flaws in the plan or are you going to help?” Nadine asked.

  “This is killing three more people,” Jason protested. “I didn’t sign on for this.”

  “I hate to tell you this,” Amy muttered. “But your girlfriend is crazy.”

  “How did you get Ernest to go to the gallery at the right time?” asked Heather.

  "That was easy," Nadine said. "Jason is his lawyer, too. He called him and asked him to meet him there. And I knew once Ernest was at the building, he wouldn't be able to resist checking on his art pieces. He always did that. I just made sure that once he was in the storage room, he wouldn't be able to come out."

  Heather slowly started edging around her desk.

  “You had a nearly perfect plan then, and you can have one now. But take me as a hostage. Leave Janae alone.”

  “Stop right there,” Nadine said, as Heather reached the other side of her desk. “You’re all hostages. I’m not letting any of you get away from here. And then, no one else will know what happened.”