Caffe Latte & Murder_An Oceanside Cozy Mystery Book 30

by Susan Gillard

  “Well, it’s because of your business that we’re here,” said Heather.

  “Please don’t tell me that you’re going to stop bringing your donuts to the breakfast buffet,” Toni said. “Those colorful circles are the few things that are helping me hold on.”

  “Don’t worry. You’ll still get your donut deliveries,” Heather said, making a mental note to herself to add some extra colorful donuts to the order. “It’s about your business and a case.”

  “No more cases,” Toni said. “Please. The last one almost ruined me. People were canceling reservations after that woman’s fall. And yes, business has picked up some with a competitor out of the way, but it’s still not great. And emotionally, I don’t know how I can deal with any more bad news.”

  She leaned on the desk dramatically.

  Amy looked at Heather. “Is there anyone else we can talk to?”

  “We just want to know about one of your guests,” said Heather, barreling forward. “We’re checking out an alibi.”

  “I don’t know,” Toni said. “Getting involved with an investigation only seems to bring sorrow.”

  “The sorrow was already brought upon you before we got here,” said Amy. “All we did was point out the guilty culprit.”

  “But now you can help us,” said Heather. “You can help make sure that justice is served. You can help make the island a safer and happier place.”

  “I’d like to make it happier,” said Toni.

  “We just need to determine if a guest was really here last night like he told us he was,” said Heather.

  “All right. I’ll help,” Toni said. She brought out her guestbook. “What’s his name?”

  “The last name is Brewster,” said Heather.

  “His first name is Cranky,” joked Amy. “The funny thing is that it seems like a popular name. That’s also Mr. Rankle’s first name.”

  “There’s a Bruce Brewster here,” said Toni.

  “That’s him,” said Heather. “Do you remember him here? We’re trying to match times to an alibi.”

  “I do remember him,” Toni said, nodding. “He wanted to check in late. He said it was too loud at his house and wanted to see if I still had a deal on rooms. I assured him that I did. I didn’t tell him that the reason I still had some rooms available was because of the mass exodus of customers after the murder.”

  “And he was here all night?” asked Heather.

  “He came in about ten o’clock. I was hanging out at the desk because I haven’t felt like I have anywhere else to go. I don’t trust my friendships now. I don’t have a mentor.”

  “So, he checked in and went to his room?” asked Heather, ignoring the sob story.

  “He went to the hotel bar. I think he was there for an hour or so. Then he took the elevator up. According to my notes, he checked out this morning at nine a.m.”

  “Do you know if he left at all during the night?” Heather asked.

  Toni made a phone call to her employee on duty during the night and then responded to the investigators. “He wasn’t seen leaving. It might have been possible for him to sneak out though. Unfortunately, we already learned that lesson. I’m in the process of installing more cameras, but right now I’ve only added them to the balcony.”

  “So, this puts us back at square one with his alibi,” said Amy. “He might have been in his hotel room all night after he left the bar, but there’s no solid evidence to back it up.”

  “Did I help with the case?” Toni asked.

  “You were very helpful,” Heather assured her. “Thank you for all your help. We really appreciate it.”

  Toni smiled. “It feels good to be helpful. Maybe that’s what I need to get out of my mourning period. To help.”

  Heather thanked her again and started to leave.

  “Hey,” Toni said, removing her veil. “Do you need any more help with your case? Maybe there’s something else I can do?”

  Heather paused. “I guess you can check if a Jack Waverly and guest checked in here.”

  Toni checked her reservation list and shook her head. “When would he have checked in?”

  “Last night after midnight,” said Heather.

  “No,” said Toni. “Bruce Brewster was the last person to check in last night. But maybe I could talk to some other hotel owners on the island and see if they’d be willing to share the information with me.”

  “That would be really helpful,” said Heather. “Thank you.”

  She was smiling as they left the hotel, until Amy added, “Be careful. You don’t want to become Toni’s new mentor. It requires a lot of energy.”

  “You’re right,” Heather said, losing her grin. “And we need to dedicate all our energy to catching this killer.”

  Her cell phone began ringing, and she could see that Ryan was calling.

  “Maybe this is a lead to help us do just that.”

  The Girlfriend

  “This is the worst vacation ever. Even before Devon died, it was becoming pretty lousy, but now it’s just awful.”

  “We’re very sorry for your loss,” Heather said.

  She was sitting across from Devon Davidson’s girlfriend, Tammy, in the interrogation room of the police station. Amy, Ryan, and Detective Peters were next to her.

  Ryan’s phone call had been to inform her that Tammy had come to the police station to talk to them. Apparently, she had just discovered that Devon was dead.

  “Can you take us through your movements during the night again?” Ryan asked.

  Tammy sighed. “It went from bad to worse. I came to Key West with Devon and his friend, Jack. I thought this was going to be a lot of fun. And because Jack was talking about meeting girls here, I thought Devon and I would have some romantic time. I actually thought he was getting more serious about me. But the day of the party, I felt completely ignored. Devon was mingling with everyone except me, and it hurt my feelings.”

  “And I bet you made these feelings known,” said Amy.

  “Well, I am his girlfriend, and he did bring me here. He could have shown me a little attention. I might have told a few people.”

  “Was there anyone at the party who struck you as odd?” asked Ryan.

  Tammy thought about it. She played with a long strand of her hair. “I did think it was weird that his neighbor came by the house. Devon said that his neighbors didn’t like his parties, but I guess she was nicer than the old guy next door. He yelled at me when I was walking by one day – just because I spilled some beer on his lawn.”

  “The nerve,” Amy said.

  “Anyway, the lady neighbor there looked out of place. She seemed a bit nervous too. But she did listen to my problems, so she wasn’t all bad. She didn’t stay too late. There were a lot of people there that I didn’t know, and I guess Devon didn’t know them all either. But then there were some of his friends that lived in town. There was this guy Andrew there. Devon definitely spent more time with Andrew that night than he did with me. It was rude.”

  “And he got along with Andrew?” asked Peters.

  “Yeah. I mean, I think so. They were being secretive about something. At first, I thought it was cute, but then it got annoying.”

  “Do you have any idea what they were talking about?” asked Heather.

  “No. I was afraid it might have to do with an ex-girlfriend because I heard a rumor that there was one at the party, but Devon said I was overreacting when I brought it up.”

  “Do you know who this ex-girlfriend is?” asked Ryan.

  Tammy shook her head. “Devon said I was imagining things, but I bet she was there. I don’t know her name or anything. But I was pretty sure Andrew said that his ex was there. And that really upset me because I thought we were becoming more serious.”

  “How late were you at the party?” Heather asked. “You weren’t there this morning when the maid came by.”

  “I was supposed to stay at the house with Devon. That’s what the plan was. But I didn’t like how he was tre
ating me. I felt like he was ignoring me, so I wanted to teach him a lesson.”

  “What sort of lesson?” asked Amy, dramatically suggesting that the lesson was murder.

  “I decided to leave the party so he’d feel bad when he noticed I was missing. I even took my suitcase so it would seem more dramatic. I waited on the beach. I kept expecting him to call me. When he didn’t, I eventually found a hotel. But I was up so late that I slept really late today. When I saw that he still hadn’t called, I was angry. At least, until I learned that he was killed. Maybe that’s why he didn’t look for me. It wasn’t because he didn’t care. It was because he was dead.”

  “That’s certainly a possibility,” said Heather.

  “Because I think he did love me,” Tammy said. “I really think so.”

  “Do you know anyone who didn’t love Devon?” asked Ryan.

  “Only his neighbors,” said Tammy. “Apparently the feud between him and Brewster has been ongoing for a few years.”

  A thought suddenly occurred to Heather. “Which beach were you staying at while you were waiting for him to call?”

  “Just further down on the sand,” said Tammy. “I walked there.”

  “Could you see the house from where you were waiting?”

  Tammy nodded. “But I don’t know if I saw anything that could help with the case. There were people dancing there most of the night. Until about one or two in the morning. I guess I did see one thing that was strange though.”

  “What was that?” asked Peters. His pen was poised to take the note down in his notebook.

  “I saw someone skipping stones in the middle of the night,” said Tammy. “I thought that was a weird thing to do so late.”

  “Skipping stones?” asked Amy.

  “Well, that’s what it looked like. Someone threw something far into the water. It looked like they were skipping a stone.”

  “I don’t think it was a stone,” Heather said.

  She knew that it didn’t make sense to try and skip a stone where the waves were splashing. It was most likely the murder weapon that the killer was trying to dispose of in the water.

  Good Call

  Heather tapped her fingers on a table at Donut Delights. Customers were steadily filing in, but it was manageable. The staff felt like they had more room to breathe.

  She was glad that everyone didn’t feel like they had to be constantly running around, especially since the business was still doing well. However, she was still feeling stifled. She didn’t like not knowing who the killer was. As the suspects they were able to name were dismissed, it seemed more likely that one of the unknown guests was the murderer. That was going to make tracking him down harder.

  As Heather stared out the window, she saw that there were fewer people on the street than there had been the past few days. Two contradictory thoughts entered her head. One provided a feeling of relief as she realized that spring break vacations must be winding down. The other was of concern. What if Devon Davidson’s killer was leaving the island too? She didn’t want him to escape from justice.

  “A donut for your thoughts?” Amy asked, joining her at the table and bringing some Caffè Latte Donuts.

  Heather accepted the offer. “I was just thinking about the case. I wish we could find the murder weapon, but I don’t know if we can in the water.”

  “Maybe the waves washed it ashore?” suggested Amy.

  Heather shook her head. “Peters checked and didn’t see it.”

  “Maybe we should focus on the suspects then,” Amy said, taking a bite of her donut.

  “That’s tricky too. Right now, we know that the neighbors had a motive because they didn’t like the parties,” Heather said, trying to organize her thoughts. “They both have weak alibis. Katherine Teller was seen at the party for a little while early in the night, and no one we spoke to remembers seeing her later. Mr. Brewster definitely harbored more anger toward Devon Davidson. He did check into a hotel, but they can’t be certain that he didn’t sneak out during the night.”

  “Tammy’s story makes sense,” Amy added. “But she could have just as easily left the beach to murder her boyfriend and then returned to it. Maybe she told the story about skipping stones to throw us off the scent.”

  “That could be,” Heather admitted. “But if she was telling the truth, then she couldn’t add much to a description of who the thrower was. It could have been anyone.”

  “Even Devon’s friends – the mysterious Andrew, or Jack, the guy who can’t remember his date’s name the next morning.”

  “Ryan said he would try and track down Andrew,” Heather said. “But I’m not exactly sure what our next move should be.”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” said Amy. “But let’s enjoy our donuts first.”

  Heather nodded and enjoyed the flavor of her latte in donut form. Amy’s words proved true too. Soon after they were finished eating, Heather received a phone call from Toni.

  “Heather, hi! I was able to get an answer to your inquiry. About Jack Waverly.”

  “That’s great, Toni,” Heather said, encouragingly.

  “He checked into the Seahorse Hotel with a young lady at twelve twenty-eight a.m., and they didn’t leave until they checked out this morning. The Seahorse Hotel has a concierge on duty all night to handle room service orders. She could have seen if anyone left during the night, and it wasn’t those two.”

  “Thanks,” Heather said. She was grateful for the information, but it did mean that Jack Waverly couldn’t be a suspect in the murder anymore. Devon had been murdered between one and three a.m., and Jack was already checked into his hotel by then.

  Heather was about to hang up when Amy said that she had a question.

  “What was Jack’s date’s name?” she asked.

  Toni told her it was Clarissa and Heather relayed the message.

  “That doesn’t sound anything like Coral,” Amy said indignantly.

  Heather tried not to laugh and thanked Toni again.

  “Is there anything else I can do?” Toni asked. “I like being helpful.”

  “Actually, there is one more hotel thing that you could help up with,” said Heather. She asked if Toni could check into when Tammy checked into a hotel and if that could be verified. Toni said she was on it and hung up.

  “I think she enjoys helping us to sleuth,” Heather said.

  “Just as long as she doesn’t become too enthusiastic and try to replace me as your partner, we’re okay,” Amy said.

  Heather looked out the window of the shop and saw Mr. Rankle shuffling outside of Sun and Fun Novelties. He was leaning on his cane and grimacing at anyone he saw.

  Nina wandered up to Heather and Amy’s table and joined them watching their neighbor. She shook her head.

  “What’s wrong?” Heather asked.

  “Oh. Nothing. At least not yet,” said Nina. “I spoke to Nick. He made it sound like Mr. Rankle wasn’t going to need him when he came back to work. But nothing is official yet. Mr. Rankle hasn’t told him what day he expects to come back. But he did say that he needs to strengthen his leg before he returns. He also has other aspects of his life that need to be addressed before he resumes running his business. He wants to make sure his cat is all right during the day, and he wants to check on his membership with the Key West Detectors Club.”

  Heather rose to her feet. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before.”

  “What?”

  “What might be the answer to finding the murder weapon,” said Heather. “Mr. Rankle!”

  Detecting

  “Mr. Rankle,” Heather said, hurrying over to meet him. Amy reluctantly was at her heels.

  “What is it?” he asked, trying to move quickly away. “I hope you’re not here to try and pester me about my plans to return to work.”

  “Nope,” Amy said. “Take as long as you need to come back. One, three, five years. That’s fine with me.”

  “Ha. Ha,” he said without the slightes
t trace of laughter. “Nick has been bothering me about my plans to return.”

  “Well, his future plans do depend on your plan,” Amy said.

  “He’s too impatient,” Mr. Rankle said. “And I hope all this drama isn’t over a young lady.”

  “You’re not intentionally trying to cause trouble for Nick and Nina, are you?” Heather asked.

  “Why would I want to cause trouble for someone from that bakery of yours?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Heather. “The only reason you didn’t like us was because you considered us tourists who weren’t from around here. But that’s not the case with Nina. She grew up in Key West.”

  “Don’t lecture me,” he snapped. “And anyway, I’m not doing anything. I’m just trying to get my leg ready to work again. I might not heal up as fast as I did when I was a young man.”

  “Don’t worry,” Amy said. “You’ve still got a lot of kick.”

  “Did you want something?” Mr. Rankle asked. “Or do you just enjoy annoying me?”

  “Remember how we helped on that case with your Key West Detectors Club?” Heather asked.

  “How can I forget?” he asked. “I used to find metal detecting so soothing. Now I’m going to be constantly reminded of you two when I do my searching.”

  “We need to ask a favor,” said Heather. “We need to use one of your club’s devices. Something that might be able to get a little wet. We think something was thrown into the water, but that it might have washed up closer to shore. And it’s important. It’s the murder weapon in our case.”

  “I should have known it would have something to do with murder with you two,” he grumbled.

  “Ah, the sea breeze. The salt air. The warm sun,” said Amy. “And the crotchety old man.”

  “I don’t trust you with my equipment,” Mr. Rankle said. “I’d probably find my metal detector murdered if I left it in your care.”

  Heather and Amy both rolled their eyes. However, Heather placed a hand on her friend’s arm to keep her from saying anything else.