Hot Cider and a Murder

by Kathleen Suzette

  He nodded. “It’s not hard to find it,” he said. “Are you interested in having some pictures done with film?”

  I thought about this. It would be fun to take up photography, and I could see the appeal of developing your own film, especially making the sepia-tone photos.

  “You know what I’m really interested in?” I asked him.

  He looked at me, sensing something in my tone. “No, Rainey, what’s that?”

  “What I’m wondering is why you tried to sell photos of Daphne to George Cooper at the newspaper.”

  His mouth formed a hard line, and his hands curled up into balls. “Who told you that?”

  “I have a part-time job down at the newspaper. Let’s just say it came up in conversation,” I said. Too late I realized that he was blocking the door. I needed to work on when I sprang bad news on people. Especially when those people were a lot bigger than I was.

  “I may have done something like that, but I deeply regret my actions. Daphne didn’t deserve for me to do something like that to her. I guess jealousy got the better of me and I was angry. She cheated on me and then broke up with me, blaming everything that was bad in our relationship on me. I hate when people don’t take responsibility for their actions,” he said, relaxing a little.

  I nodded. “I guess I can see where that would make a person angry, but I can’t see where that would make a person try to sell compromising pictures of their ex-girlfriend to the newspaper.”

  He considered me for a moment. “Wait a minute. Didn’t you tell me that you were dating the detective looking into Daphne’s murder?”

  “I might have,” I said, trying to remember back if I had told him that or not.

  “Are you asking me this because you think I murdered Daphne?” He looked at me, tilting his head to the side.

  “I don’t know, Jack, did you murder Daphne?” I asked, folding my arms in front of my chest. Cade hated when I asked people if they had committed murder, but since we were on the subject, I thought I might as well.

  He shook his head, his eyes going wide. “No! I did not kill Daphne. I would never ever kill her or anyone else. Does that detective think that I killed her?” I could see the panic in his eyes, and it surprised me. He had gone from seeming almost sinister to looking like a kid got that had just been called up to the principal’s office.

  “Cade doesn’t let me in on everything he knows about a case,” I said calmly. “It wouldn’t be right, now would it? But when I hear from somebody that you were trying to sell compromising pictures of Daphne, it does cause me some concern. Just as a friend of the victim’s family, you understand.”

  He shook his head again. “I promise you, I would never harm Daphne. Like I said, I was angry. I made a stupid decision, but I would never hurt her in any way. And besides, if you want to look at somebody who may have hurt Daphne, why don’t you look at her brother Mark?”

  “Why would I do that?” I asked him.

  “Because when Daphne told him I had tried to sell the pictures to George, he came to me and said he wanted in on the action.”

  It was my turn to be surprised. “Why on earth would he want to do that? I thought he wanted to run for mayor of Sparrow and that’s why you wanted to sell the pictures.”

  “He told me running for mayor was just a whim and that he had no intention of doing it. But he thought that Daphne would be embarrassed enough knowing that there were pictures of her out there floating around that she would pay to keep them from coming to light.”

  I shook my head slowly. “I don’t believe a word you’re saying. It doesn’t make sense that he would try to get money out of his sister. That family is reasonably well off, and as far as I can tell, Mark has never had a reason to want for money.”

  He shrugged. “For some people, enough money is never enough. All I know is he wanted to threaten his sister with the possibility of those pictures being put out on the internet. He didn’t care about the local newspaper, and I have to admit that was a stupid move anyway. But he wanted her to know that if she didn’t give him the money, then the whole world was going to see those pictures.”

  “He didn’t want to see the pictures, did he?” I had to ask.

  He chuckled. “No. He had no interest in seeing them. He didn’t even care if they actually existed as long as his sister thought they did. And as a side note, there wasn’t anything more provocative than the ones I showed George. I just told him that there were.”

  “Why did she think they existed?” I asked.

  “She drank a lot. She couldn’t remember.”

  I sighed. The games people played. “And how much was Mark asking for?”

  “A cool ten grand.”

  My stomach churned. Why did that figure keep coming up? I was having a hard time believing that her brother would want to humiliate her that way. “I think you’re full of it.”

  “You’re entitled to believe what you want. I destroyed the pictures. I decided I didn’t really want anyone to see them.”

  “Why would I believe that?”

  “I guess you don’t have to believe that. But I felt terrible about the way things were going, and I decided I needed to change the way I was living. I gave up drinking, and I destroyed those pictures. After a while, I decided I was glad Daphne was out of my life. She was too much drama, and she was leading me down a really destructive path.”

  “Next thing you’ll be saying is that you started going to church,” I said snidely.

  He grinned. “I’ve gone a couple of times. I told you, I didn’t like the way I was living. When I was with Daphne, I was drinking all the time and it was destroying my life. I’ve got more to live for than booze,” he said and then became somber. “I wish Daphne had wanted the same thing for herself.”

  I didn’t know if Jack was telling me the truth or not. Part of it seemed far-fetched, and yet there was a ring of truth to all of it. But mostly I wished, just like he did, that Daphne had decided she wanted something better for her life, too.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Are you disappointed?”

  I shrugged. “No,” I said quietly as I ran a finger along the fork on the table in front of me.

  “I’m sorry,” Cade said. “I really do want to take you out someplace nice. You know work has been getting in the way lately.”

  I nodded and looked up at him. “I don’t mind really. As long as I get to spend the evening with you, I’m not going to complain.” We were sitting at the local pizza place waiting for our order to be brought to our table. Cade had promised me a nice evening out, but he had been detained at work. It was nearly 8 p.m. by the time he got free. He offered to take me out to a nicer restaurant anyway because there were restaurants in Boise that would be open late, but I knew he was tired. He needed a break, so I suggested pizza.

  He reached a hand across the table and put it on mine, giving my hand a squeeze. “I sure am glad that you’re as understanding as you are.”

  I grinned at him. “Of course I’m understanding because I know you’re going to make it all up to me sometime soon.”

  He chuckled. “You know I will.”

  “So, should I even bother asking? Anything new?”

  He shook his head. “Nope. Poor Daphne is still as dead as can be, your hot cider punch facilitated that murder, and we still have a few suspicious people, but no one willing to cop to the act.”

  “I wish you would quit pointing out that my cider helped kill Daphne,” I muttered, narrowing my eyes at him.

  He shrugged. “I cannot tell a lie, ma’am. You make a killer hot cider.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him again and snorted. If he weren’t as cute as he was, I’d give him a piece of my mind. “I had some interesting conversations today.”

  “Do tell,” he said, raising one eyebrow and taking a sip of his iced tea.

  “George Cooper is a reporter for the newspaper, and we had a conversation about Daphne’s death. He said Jack tried to sell him compromising photos
of Daphne. He wanted to blackmail Daphne with them.”

  He looked at me, both eyebrows raised now. “Really? That’s not a very nice way for a boyfriend to behave, ex or not.”

  “Right?” I said, leaning back in my seat. “I asked him about it, and he claimed he did it out of anger and regretted his actions. He said he never would have actually done it and that he had lied to George about how compromising the pictures were. But even more interesting, he said that Daphne’s brother Mark wanted in on the action.”

  Cade looked at me open-mouthed. “Wait, you confronted Jack about him blackmailing Daphne? And then her brother wanted in on the action?”

  I nodded. “I couldn’t help myself. I had to go and speak to Jack about it. It infuriated me that he would do such a thing to her, and then he told me about Mark.”

  “Well I can appreciate that you went all girl power and everything and wanted to defend Daphne’s honor, but you’re not supposed to be accusing people of anything. You’re supposed to be letting me know if you find something interesting.”

  “Well, Cade, I did find something interesting. He tried to blackmail her.” I gave him a smirk and took a sip of my iced tea.

  “You know I don’t like when you do things like that,” he said and picked up his own glass of tea and took another sip. “And explain Mark wanting in on the action. What is the so-called action?”

  “The blackmail money.” I don’t know why he didn’t understand that was what I was talking about.

  He nodded slowly. “That is a bizarre development.”

  “That’s exactly what I thought.”

  “What about the possibility that Jack is lying about it? Did you think about that?”

  I gasped. “Of course I thought about that. I mean look, there is no reason for Jack or anybody else to be telling us the truth, is there? Especially if they murdered Daphne.”

  “Please tell me you didn’t confront Mark about it,” he said.

  I shook my head. “I have been behaving myself on that one. I would hate to accuse anyone that just lost a family member to murder. And besides that, Mark said he and his siblings were very close to one another.”

  “Between you and me, I’m going to interview Alex Stedman again. That whole mess with a sexual harassment lawsuit and blackmail he was reportedly involved in doesn’t sit right with me. I have my suspicions about him. And I’ll add one more round with Jack Farrell and Mark Richards.”

  “I think you’re exactly right about that,” I said. “But I also have my eye on Gina. She’s so bitter about everything. I think she makes Alex look like a happy, well-adjusted individual if you want to know the truth.”

  He chuckled. “I guess I have to agree with you on that. She’s another person I need to speak with again.”

  I nodded. “So tell me, Cade, when are you not going to work so many hours?”

  “When people quit murdering other people,” he said. The waitress brought our pizza and set it down on the table in front of us. Half Hawaiian for me and a meat extravaganza for him. “This smells good.”

  “Seriously though, we should take a trip somewhere. Just the two of us,” I said hopefully. I had never dated someone that made me so comfortable, and all I wanted was to spend more time with him.

  “We could take a trip out to the river,” he teased. He used the pizza server to put a piece of the meat extravaganza on his plate while I use the one on my side to get a piece of Hawaiian pizza onto my plate.

  “Ha ha,” I said. “The river is beautiful, and don’t get me wrong, I do love it there. But it’s getting too cold, and I’m not that big on camping anyway. I like indoor plumbing and electricity. Maybe we could go way someplace romantic.”

  “We can do that,” he said. “You say the word, and if somebody hasn’t been murdered anytime close to the time that you can get off work, we will go.”

  I chuckled. “You’re making things difficult, are you?”

  “It’s not me that’s out running around murdering people,” he pointed out.

  We looked up as Mark and Gina Richards walked into the restaurant. Cade and I watched as they headed to a corner table and sat down. We looked at each other and then turned back to look at them.

  “Well, that’s interesting,” I whispered as we continued watching them. The waitress handed them menus, and when she left, they leaned forward and began whispering.

  “Interesting isn’t the word for it,” Cade agreed. “I wonder where her husband is?”

  “I wonder where his brother is?” I added.

  We sat back and watched them while. They seemed oblivious to anyone around them. I wondered if Tim knew they were here together. If he didn’t, they didn’t seem to mind that people saw them together.

  “Maybe they’re just discussing the new business that Gina is opening,” he said.

  “They could be,” I said, keeping an eye on them. “And I suppose if they were doing anything nefarious, they would be worried about people spotting them out together. Makes me wonder about the rumors of Gina’s supposed affairs.”

  Cade turned back to me. “You would think so, wouldn’t you?”

  I nodded and took a bite of my pizza, considering this. Gina seemed to cause nothing but trouble in that family, but the two of them appeared to be enjoying one another’s company now.

  “How does your mother feel about that new flower shop she’s opening?” Cade asked me.

  I shrugged. “She hasn’t come out and said it, but I think it really bothers her. And I think it probably bothers her more that no one mentioned it to her. Not that they had an obligation to do so, of course.”

  He nodded. “I don’t think your mother has anything to worry about. People like your mom. They’re kind of drawn to her, you know?” he said.

  I knew he was telling the truth about that. Mom had lived here all her life, and she knew just about everyone in town. Still, I had to wonder about Gina and Mark having dinner together like they were. It made me suspicious.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I had a lot to think about over the next few days. While Cade was going to try to get more information from Mark, I wanted to see if I could find out anything else.

  “Rainey, these lamb chops are the best I’ve ever eaten,” Agatha said from her booth in the corner of the diner.

  I smiled and slid into the seat across from her. It was after 1:30 in the afternoon, and the lunch crowd had thinned considerably. “Thanks, Agatha,” I said. “I used quite a lot of garlic and some rosemary to bring out the flavor of the meat.” I loved lamb chops but rarely made them. Lamb was more of a spring dish, but it could be bought year-round at the local grocery store.

  “You’ve certainly outdone yourself this time,” she said, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin. “It makes me wish I served savory dishes at the coffee shop.” She giggled and laid her napkin down.

  “Well that’s something to think about,” I agreed with a chuckle. “You could always put some on the menu for lunch and see how that goes.”

  She chuckled. “Now wouldn’t that be something? Sam would be so mad at you if he knew you were trying to talk me into serving lunch at the coffee shop. But I suppose I could steal away his star employee, couldn’t I?”

  “You might be able to do that,” I teased. “But Sam would never forgive me.”

  “I wouldn’t blame him one bit. So how is Daphne’s murder case going? Any news on the killer?” She whispered the last part, looking around to see if anyone was listening in.

  I tried to be careful about disclosing exactly what I knew about the cases that Cade was working on. I didn’t want to let anything slip that he might need to be kept quiet. “Oh you know how it is, Cade has been working night and day to get this thing solved. I bet he’ll come up with something any day now. We can’t have a killer running around the streets of Sparrow.”

  She nodded. “No, we need the killer caught right away.”

  The diner was nearly empty, so I took a seat across from her, keepin
g an eye out for new customers coming through the door. “I’m so glad the weather has turned cooler. I love the fall, with all the turning leaves.”

  “I do too,” she said and took a sip of her hot tea. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to the snow; my arthritis aches something awful when it gets really cold.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “Maybe this winter won’t be a severe one.”

  “You know, Rainey,” Agatha said, glancing over her shoulder. None of the other customers were seated near her booth, and she turned back to me. “I have a funny feeling about Jack Farrell. I always felt like Daphne shouldn’t be with him.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I don’t know, it’s just a feeling I got. It seemed like he was very possessive of her. And he was always taking pictures of her. Even when they came into the coffee shop, it seemed like she couldn’t sit still for a minute without him pulling out a camera or his phone and taking pictures of her.”

  “Even when they were just stopping in to get coffee?”

  She nodded somberly. “It was odd. I mean in this day and age you get used to seeing people taking selfies or pictures of one another, but there is a limit to that, you know?”

  I nodded. “It does get ridiculous with some people.”

  “Maybe I’m just being old-fashioned. It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that people didn’t behave that way,” she said with a chuckle.

  “It’s interesting that he’s really into using film. I’ve always had a bit of an interest in photography, but I’ve never followed through on learning to take pictures well.”

  She nodded. “Her brother Mark has an interest in it as well.”

  “Oh? I didn’t know that.”

  She nodded. “He worked for Jack for a couple of months last year,” she said. “I don’t know why he stopped working there. I never asked him about it.”

  Now I was interested. “I had no idea he worked for Jack.”

  She nodded. “He came into the coffee shop one day with his hand bandaged. It didn’t look like a bandage a doctor or hospital would put on, so I thought he must’ve hurt himself at the lodge somehow. I asked him what happened, and he said he got a burn from some chemicals used to develop photos.”