Caffe Latte & Murder_An Oceanside Cozy Mystery Book 30

by Susan Gillard

  “Even if it wasn’t an engagement ring, it doesn’t mean that he didn’t care about you,” said Heather.

  “That makes it sound like you know it isn’t a ring for me,” said Tammy sadly.

  “It was a pearl ring that was a family heirloom,” said Heather. “I believe he had it in the safe for a long time. But that doesn’t mean that he didn’t care.”

  “I guess you’re right,” said Tammy. “I hope you catch whoever did this.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Heather. “We will.”

  The Picture Becomes Clearer

  “That doesn’t sound like good news,” said Amy.

  “It’s not bad news,” said Heather. “It just doesn’t weed out any of our suspects.”

  “Neutral news,” said Amy.

  The two women were hiding at a corner table of Donut Delights. They had just been given copies of the pictures that the maid, Millie, had taken of the house before Devon Davidson arrived home. They planned on fanning them out and looking for clues. Eva and Leila had decided that the crowds had thinned out enough that they could take Lilly and Nicolas to the movie theater, so Heather had the afternoon to try and make sense of the case.

  She updated Amy on the news she had just received from her phone call. “Ryan and Peters were able to trace the murder weapon to the store it was sold at.”

  “That sounds like it should be good news,” said Amy. “Why is it not good news?”

  “Because the store doesn’t have a record of who it sold it to. Cash was used, and the cashier doesn’t remember the transaction.”

  “Where was it sold?”

  “It was at a shop in town. And they do know the day that the knife was sold. Just not who bought it. It was sold the day that Devon Davidson arrived in town.”

  Amy frowned. “I see what you mean about this not eliminating anyone. The locals could have bought it as soon as they saw him return, or someone traveling with him could have gone shopping as soon as they arrived.”

  Heather nodded. “And there are still many suspects. I think I believe Tammy’s story, but there’s still a chance she could have done it. As for the locals, either of the neighbors could have bought the knife. Alice and Andrew also could have too, though I don’t know what motive Andrew could have had.”

  “Also, the maid,” said Amy. “She also doesn’t have a motive. But she could have bought the knife.”

  The door to Donut Delights opened, and Heather looked up. Nick entered the shop. Nina saw him and walked over to join him.

  “Hopefully, that is good news,” Amy muttered.

  “I’m surprised to see you,” Nina said.

  “My uncle wanted to see how much he could do around the shop now that the tourist season is slowing a bit. He told me to take a break.”

  “Has he told you anything else?” Nina asked, biting her lip.

  Nick shook his head. “He still hasn’t said when he wants to be back officially, or if he’ll want me to stay.”

  “I see,” Nina said, sadly.

  “But it doesn’t matter,” said Nick.

  “It doesn’t?”

  “No,” said Nick. “Regardless of whether I work there or not, I want to keep seeing you. I’m not planning on leaving Key West anytime soon. I hope that’s all right.”

  “That’s more than all right,” said Nina.

  Nick laughed. “I might even have more time to see you if I’m not working for my hard-nosed uncle.”

  Nina laughed as well and gave him a Caffè Latte Donut to enjoy on his break. Heather stopped watching and turned back to Amy. She was glad that the situation had played out in the way she had hoped it would.

  “I’m really happy for those two,” said Heather. “I know that they’re young and that the relationship is new, but I’m glad that Nina is happy.”

  “Yeah,” said Amy. “Though I can’t deny I still like Nick working across the street a lot more than Mr. Rankle.”

  “Speaking of work,” Heather said. “Let’s look at these pictures and see if we can find anything useful.”

  She spread them out on the table, and they began to look through the pictures of the different rooms, comparing them to what they saw at the crime scene.

  “Well, this proves one thing,” said Amy.

  “What?”

  “The house actually can look nice when it’s clean.”

  Heather chuckled and kept looking through the pictures. Something caught her eye, and she showed it to Amy.

  “This must be the vase that Tammy was talking about in Devon’s house,” said Heather. “The one that didn’t fit in the safe.”

  “Yeah. It’s a shame,” said Amy. “Because it was just broken pieces when we arrived. Somebody must have broken it after all.”

  “Does it look familiar in any other way?” asked Heather.

  Recognition dawned on Amy’s face. “That looks like the pink vase we saw at Katherine’s house.”

  Heather nodded. “She had two clear ones and one pink one. I think the pink one was Devon Davidson’s.”

  “But what about the broken pieces at the crime scene?” asked Amy.

  Heather thought about it and then nodded. “Yes. It all makes sense. That’s how she did it.”

  “And she killed Devon Davidson too?”

  “Robbery is a strong motive,” said Heather. “And she did live next door. We need to tell Ryan about this.”

  “Right,” said Amy. “We need police backup when we arrest our killer.”

  The Thief

  “Officers, you’re back,” Katherine said. “I haven’t thought of anything else I can add to what I saw that night. If I could tell you that I saw Mr. Brewster there, I would.”

  Ryan explained that they weren’t there for more information, but were there to arrest her. He read her her rights, telling her the charges were robbery and murder.

  Heather and Amy were outside the house. They watched as the detectives led her away from her doorway and to the police car.

  “Wait,” Katherine said. “Wait. I’ll waive my right to remain silent. I want to talk. I want to tell you that I didn’t kill Devon.”

  Heather and Amy moved closer to them.

  “You have to believe me,” she said.

  “You did rob his house,” said Heather.

  Katherine didn’t answer at first. She looked away. Then she said, “I didn’t kill him. And what am I supposed to have stolen?”

  “His vase,” said Heather. “The pink vase you have in your living room. Devon Davidson had it in his house. It was actually pretty valuable.”

  “It’s a classic Vermont Adelaide Lang,” said Katherine.

  “That’s why Devon Davidson was trying to fit it in his safe,” said Heather.

  “But I haven’t admitted I stole it,” Katherine said.

  “I thought she said she was going to talk,” said Amy. “This doesn’t sound like talking.”

  “It’s all right,” said Heather. “I know how she accomplished the theft. Her visit to bring her neighbor beer wasn’t to show goodwill. It was so that she could take the vase with her. She brought a mini cooler with her to deliver the beer, but that wasn’t necessary. She lives next door to him. The beer wouldn’t have gotten warm traveling from one house to the other. She brought the cooler because it contained something else.”

  “A fake vase?” suggested Amy.

  “That’s right,” said Heather. “She was able to hide it inside the cooler. Then she replaced the real vase with the fake one. She stayed at the party and mingled until she had the opportunity to make the switch. She was able to leave with the real vase in the cooler.”

  “After she killed Devon Davidson,” said Amy. “I’m guessing he didn’t like seeing his neighbor rob him and confronted her. She decided to get rid of her annoying neighbor in the process.”

  “No!” said Katherine. “I didn’t kill him. All right, I admit it. I did steal the vase. Devon didn’t care about it. This was a priceless antique, and he was going to
let a hundred drunk people meander around it. It was sure to get broken. He might not have cared, but I did. He might have thought that everything was replaceable, but I didn’t. The vase clearly didn’t mean that much to him. I wasn’t hurting anybody.”

  “Except when you killed him,” said Amy.

  “I didn’t kill him,” Katherine protested.

  “Come on,” Ryan said. “We should get moving.”

  “But I really didn’t kill him,” continued Katherine. “He wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but I didn’t wish him real harm. I just wanted his Adelaide Lang vase. He was always throwing things out or replacing things. He went through a ton of lawn furniture with his parties. He changed glasses after every drink. Sometimes he even threw them on my lawn. I knew the vase would be destroyed.”

  “She might have been on to something,” said Amy. “Because the fake vase she left did get broken.”

  “I knew it,” said Katherine. “See?”

  “That doesn’t justify murder though,” said Amy.

  “Let’s go,” said Ryan.

  He and Detective Peters led her away. She was still proclaiming her innocence.

  The two women stayed by the house. Amy was smiling, thinking that they had done a good job. Heather bit her lip.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Amy.

  “Maybe we did jump the gun on this one,” said Heather.

  “A lot of guilty people say that they are innocent,” said Amy. “That doesn’t mean that they are.”

  “But maybe Katherine Teller is only guilty of the robbery,” said Heather. “And not the murder.”

  “But she had the opportunity to do it,” said Amy. “She lived right next door. And she could have bought the knife.”

  “Something doesn’t feel right about this,” said Heather. “Remember when we first questioned her at her house?”

  “Sure,” said Amy. “She was trying to pass the suspicion onto Mr. Brewster.”

  “He did that to himself,” said Heather. “He was so angry at the victim about the parties that it made him the logical suspect. But that’s not what I was referring to. It was about the vase.”

  “Right,” said Amy. “And we saw it right there on the shelf in her living room.”

  “Exactly,” said Heather, frowning. “She left it out in plain view. She wasn’t expecting anyone to be looking for it.”

  “We weren’t looking for it. We were looking for a killer.”

  “Katherine Teller didn’t expect that. She didn’t know that Devon Davidson was killed that night. All she knew about was her theft, but she replaced the vase with a replica. She didn’t expect anyone to notice the change. She didn’t expect an investigation. That’s why she left it out in the open. If she had killed someone, she would have hidden the evidence.”

  “I guess you’re right,” said Amy.

  “And she would have either had to stay later at the party than the witnesses said or returned to make the kill,” said Heather. “I think the murderer is somebody else.”

  “But who?”

  Heather thought about it. Suddenly, something clicked into place.

  “Do you believe what Katherine Teller said about Devon Davidson?”

  “Sure,” said Amy. “I can see him breaking things and not caring about a vase.”

  “About his glasses too.”

  “Yeah,” Amy said. “I don’t see any reason for her to lie about that.”

  “Then, I think I know who the killer is,” said Heather. “For real.”

  Catching the Killer

  “I hope this works,” said Amy.

  “Me too,” Heather agreed.

  Ryan and Detective Peters agreed with Heather’s assessment of Katherine Teller’s guilt. She was guilty of the robbery, but not the murder. They planned on talking to Devon Davidson’s heirs. Most likely, they would not want to press charges if the vase was returned. The vase was also going to be in much safer non-party hands when it was passed on to his young cousins. However, the investigators wanted to make sure that they caught the real killer first.

  The cashier at the shop who sold the knife couldn’t be sure about the person he sold it to, even when shown a picture. All the other evidence against the killer was circumstantial. A similar case could be made against Katherine Teller or the other suspects.

  Heather remembered the slip that the killer had made, but it would take more than that to get a conviction, so Heather had come up with a plan to get a confession.

  It was the time that Donut Delights usually closed, but she kept it open and invited the killer to come by and gain more information. Her assistants sat at the tables, making it look as if guests were still in the shop. Ryan and Detective Peters also sat at a table. Because they were undercover, Peters said they needed a plate of donuts at the table. He sampled the sweets happily.

  Tammy was also sitting at a table.

  The door to the shop opened, and Alice walked in. She strutted straight up to Heather.

  “What’s this all about?” Alice asked. “You said you have information about Andrew and Devon?”

  “That’s right,” said Heather. “But you’re just going to have to excuse us for a moment. We have something else that we need to tell another person involved in this case first. But then we’ll be right with you.”

  “Fine,” Alice said, though she clearly wasn’t happy. She looked even less happy when she saw that the other person she had to wait for was Tammy.

  “Thank you so much for coming to see us,” Heather said, turning her back to Alice and addressing Tammy.

  “We know how hard this has been for you,” said Amy. “Losing someone you loved and who loved you back.”

  “We have some news for you that might make the sting even worse at first,” said Heather. “But it might draw some comfort for you down the line.”

  “What is it?” asked Tammy.

  “We were able to get into Devon’s safe,” Heather explained. “And we found what you were looking for when you tried to peek inside it.”

  “You did?” Tammy asked. “Was there an engagement ring inside?”

  Alice scoffed at the idea.

  “Yes, there was,” said Heather.

  “What?” asked Alice.

  “Really?” asked Tammy.

  “Yes,” said Heather. “Your initials were engraved in it. It was clearly meant for you.”

  “And it was the largest diamond I’ve ever seen,” said Amy.

  “Oh, Devon. I knew our love was real,” said Tammy. “Of course I would have said yes.”

  “No!” Alice cried. “No.”

  “What’s wrong, Alice?” Heather asked.

  “He can’t have been planning to propose,” said Alice, clenching her fists in anger. “He just met this tramp. He can’t have wanted to marry her. He and I were seeing each other for years. Even if it wasn’t all year-round, we had something special. And then he had to go and ruin it!”

  “He chose Tammy,” said Heather.

  “Why? What does she have that I don’t?” asked Alice.

  “I don’t know,” Heather said.

  “He couldn’t tell me either,” said Alice. “He didn’t think he was doing anything wrong. We weren’t exclusive, he said. Maybe not. Maybe when he wasn’t on the island. But when he was here, he was mine. How dare he bring someone else here! Someone he wanted to propose to? Here! I’m glad I killed him. He deserved it. He couldn’t toss me aside like trash.”

  Ryan and Detective Peters jumped up from their table and hurried over to arrest her.

  “Fine! Arrest me,” she said. “I’d do it again. He deserved to die. Nobody treats me like that.”

  Ryan and Peters began leading her to the door, but then she turned back to Heather and Amy. “Wait,” she said. “What was it that you wanted to tell me when I came?”

  “Just that we cleared Andrew as a suspect in Devon’s murder,” said Heather casually. “We thought you’d want to know as his friend.”

  Th
en the detectives left with the killer.

  “I think we got it right this time,” said Amy. “And it really wasn’t the maid.”

  Heather smiled and then returned to the table with Tammy.

  “Thank you for agreeing to do this,” she said. “It was the only way I could think of to get Alice to confess.”

  “I’m glad I could help,” said Tammy. “And I think it gave me some closure. But how did you know it was her?”

  “She knew about the glass he had when he died,” said Heather. “After we learned from his neighbor that he only used a glass once, I realized the significance. She knew he was using a polka dotted glass. Therefore, she needed to have seen him soon before he died. Because there was a spill from the drink on the ground, I knew it needed to be very soon before his death.”

  Heather’s assistants rose from their tables to come closer. Nick had been sitting with Nina and came over too. He shook his head.

  “I hope I get to keep working next door if exciting things like this are going to happen all the time,” he said. “It would also make me feel better to keep an eye out for danger.”

  Nina smiled and held his hand.

  Heather addressed the group. “Everyone, grab a Caffè Latte Donut to enjoy, and then everyone, go home. It’s been a very busy day. Actually, it’s been a very busy spring break. I think we could all use some rest.”

  There was general agreement from the group. They happily selected their donuts and gathered their things. Tammy took a donut, thanked the P.I.s for their work again, and left.

  Amy turned to her bestie. “Do you think you’re actually going to get some rest tonight?”

  “I think I’m going to spend all the available time I can with Lilly and Nicolas before he has to return home for school.”

  The friends smiled at each other and prepared to leave.

  “With the kids and your pets, it doesn’t sound like relaxation,” Amy teased.

  “No,” Heather agreed. “But with them, it still makes every day feel like a vacation.”