“A letter,” Heather said, and scanned the text which ran across it. “It’s from the Hillside Children’s Shelter. More specifically, it’s from Hilda Groats. It’s a threat.”
“A threat?”
“Yeah, warning Freddy from interfering in the management of the shelter,” Heather said.
Hilda Groats had inked her name into Heather’s suspect book for sure, now.
Chapter 6
Heather dragged Dave into her lap and stroked the fluffy spot between his ears. He whined and settled on the fluffy blanket which covered her, his snout on his paws.
“You think it’s her?” Amy asked, and chomped on a handful of popcorn and eyed Cupcake, who sat beside the entrance to the living room.
Lilly hummed in the kitchen and clattered mugs out of the cupboard. She’d been allocated to hot chocolate duty for this evening’s movie viewing.
“Hilda?” Heather asked. “It’s too early to say.”
“Ugh, now you sound like Detective Shepherd,” Amy replied. “I just mean, what does your gut tell you?”
“My gut tells me that I need a hot chocolate and that you’ve been hogging the popcorn, as usual. And also, that Hilda Groats has something to hide,” Heather said. “I can’t say whether it’s anything to do with Freddy Mars, but she’s definitely up to something.”
“Just as I thought,” Amy said, and raised an invisible magnifying glass to her eye. “My suspicions are always correct.”
Cupcake meowed from her spot, and Amy tucked her legs beneath herself. No doubt, she’d picked up on the cat’s desire to climb her like a tree again.
“One sugar or two?” Lilly called down the passage.
“Two please,” Amy yelled.
“One for me, love,” Heather said.
Silence fell again, and they focused on the title screen for that evening’s movie.
Jaws.
Lilly had developed an intrigue in the deep blue over the past few weeks, though she hadn’t moved on from her Jurassic Park fad, entirely.
“Ames,” Heather said, after a second. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”
“I swear I didn’t eat the last Passion Fruit Punch donut,” Amy said and put her hand over her heart.
Dave perked up at the mention of donuts.
“No, it’s not about that,” Heather said. “I just wondered how things are going with Jamie.”
“Oh,” Amy said, then dropped her gaze to the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table. “Oh, uh – they’re going really well.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it’s still early, and I feel really bad I kept it from you, but yes, he’s very sweet and kind. He loves animals,” Amy said. “He’s a lot of fun to hang out with, but that’s all it is, right now. We’re good friends, getting to know each other even better.”
“Does he give you the butterfly feeling you’ve been looking for?” Heather asked. She couldn’t resist. The information on Ames’ love life had been sparse at best.
“Yes,” Amy said and blushed red as a raspberry.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Heather replied.
“But enough about me and Jamie,” Amy said. “Let’s discuss the case some more. I know Freddy’s not dead, but have they got any other information about what might’ve happened to him?”
“Not really,” Heather said. “It was blunt force trauma, and it was definitely from someone else. What gets me, is he didn’t report any attack or fight to the police.”
“Yeah, that is weird. I mean, if someone hit me that hard, I’d be crying about it to everyone in sight,” Amy said.
Heather didn’t doubt it. Amy had never been the ‘suffer in silence’ type.
“Which leads me to the conclusion that Freddy might’ve had something to hide too. But what could it be?”
Amy chewed her bottom lip and stared at the popcorn bowl. “He seems like a good guy, though. Donating to a charity and helping out.”
“But why the shouting and arguments?” Heather couldn’t reconcile what she’d heard about Freddy Mars.
He’d seemed like a regular guy the day he’d come into the Owen Tea Shop.
“Maybe he’s just a noisy neighbor,” Amy said.
“Who’s a noisy neighbor?” Lilly asked, and walked into the living room carrying a tray of three mugs.
“None of your business, Miss Nosy,” Amy replied.
Lilly put down the tray of hot chocolates and clicked her fingers at Cupcake. “Attack!”
“You’re kidding,” Amy said, and actually shrank back against the sofa.
Heather and Lils burst out laughing.
“Of course I’m kidding,” Lilly said. She picked up a hot chocolate then handed it over to Heather.
“Thanks, hon,” Heather said and accepted it. Three mini-marshmallows bobbed on top of the thick, brown liquid. Her mouth watered, immediately. It’d been a long time since she’d had a good cup of hot chocolate.
“It’s a pity we don’t have donuts,” Amy said and curled up with her mug. “I’d totally dip a Hot Chocolate Glazed into my mug of hot chocolate.”
Lilly grinned and nodded her agreement.
“You’ll end up in hospital at this rate,” Heather replied. She drank deeply from her mug, and the chocolate swirled down her throat and dropped into her stomach. It warmed her from the inside out.
Lilly sat down beside Heather and lifted the remote. “Ready?”
“Oh no, my dear, are you ready?” Amy asked. “For the terror that is Jaws!”
Lilly rolled her eyes in pre-teen fashion and pressed play.
Heather sipped and watched the images on the screen, but her mind traveled to another place. Poor Freddy Mars lay in the hospital, unconscious, and she had no idea how he’d gotten there.
She’d have to find out, one way or another.
Lilly scooched closer and rested her head on Heather’s shoulder.
Yeah, she’d have to find out who’d done it, but for tonight, she’d enjoy the movie with her daughter and her best friend.
Chapter 7
Hillside Regional’s reception area didn’t exactly buzz with activity, but it had a similar atmosphere to every other hospital Heather had ever been in.
The clinical scent of surgical spirits, the squeak of shoes on the linoleum, and the wan smile from the receptionist, who’d already had a long day by the time 11 am rolled around.
“May I help you?” The receptionist asked, and patted the name tag on her chest.
“Ugh, I hate hospitals.” Amy shuddered and rubbed her arms.
“May I help you?” The receptionist, Jessica, repeated.
“We’re here to see Mr. Mars,” Heather said. “He was admitted a few days ago.”
The receptionist typed on the keyboard and brought up the information. She studied it through narrowed eyes, then met Heather’s gaze. “Are you a relative?”
“I’m afraid not,” Heather said. “I’m investigating the attack on Mr. Mars in conjunction with the Hillside Police Department.” That usually worked in these kinds of situation.
“Do you have identification?” Jessica, the receptionist asked. She batted eyelashes laden with mascara.
“Uh, she’s not an officer,” Amy said. “She’s just –”
“Then I can’t give you that kind of information. It’s classified.” The phone rang on her desk, and she snatched it up. “Hillside Regional, how may I help you?”
“She’s nice,” Amy said, a little too loudly.
Jessica glared at her and pursed her lips.
“And that’s all she wrote,” Amy said.
“I guess we won’t be seeing Freddy anytime soon,” Heather replied. “I’ll give Ryan a call and ask him to speak with the hospital.”
They turned toward the exit and strolled together, arm in arm. Nurses sauntered by, clipboards clasped in their hands. An elderly couple entered the lobby, followed by a man they recognized.
A man with greasy shoulder-length hair and
his arm in a sling.
“Hey, isn’t that –”
“Heather Shepherd?” A doctor halted beside them. “Sorry, did you just say your name was Heather Shepherd?”
Heather focused on him instead of Freddy’s cranky neighbor. Julian Dunkle had probably come for a checkup because of his broken arm, after all.
“Yeah, that’s me. And you are?”
The doctor, a handsome young guy with wavy, brown hair, aimed a somber gaze at her. A pen poked out of the top pocket of his stark, white coat. “I’m Doctor Reynolds. You’re Detective Shepherd’s wife, correct?”
“That’s correct,” Heather said. “This is my friend Amy Givens.”
He nodded at Ames, but switched back to Heather, immediately. “I spoke at length with Detective Shepherd about the injury which Freddy Mars sustained. He was a patient of mine.”
“Wait, was a patient?” Amy asked.
“Was he discharged?” Heather’s stomach dropped into her toes. She’d have heard about his discharge if that was the case. This had to mean –
“I’m afraid Mr. Mars passed during the night. A Subdural Hematoma is a very serious condition, and Mr. Mars’ didn’t fade with treatment. I’m sorry,” Doctor Reynolds said, and tucked his hands behind his back.
“I – thank you for telling me,” Heather said. “I didn’t know him well, but he seemed like a good man.”
Reynolds didn’t reply.
“Have you spoken to the police about this?” Heather asked.
“This morning,” he replied.
Heather frowned and scrambled her phone out of her front pocket. Of course, she’d left it on silent that morning because they’d had a staff meeting about the joint venture.
“Five missed calls,” Heather said, under her breath. She looked up at the doctor again. “Thanks for letting me know, Doctor Reynolds.”
“I’m surprised Jessica didn’t let you in on the fact. Or at least offer to call me for you,” Doctor Reynolds said. He frowned at the receptionist, just as she looked up from her computer screen.
Jessica winced and averted her eyes.
“It’s all right. No harm, no foul,” Heather said.
Amy snorted her disagreement, but for once didn’t take it any further than that.
Doctor Reynolds removed the pen from his top pocket and clicked it, once. “If you’ll excuse me, ladies, I see one of my patients has just wandered in.”
He swept past them and toward the waiting area nearby, where a cluster of plastic coated chairs sat beside a matching table, littered with dog-eared magazines.
“Look,” Amy said, and nudged Heather. “Look he’s with.”
Doctor Reynolds halted in front of Julian Dunkle and patted him on the shoulder – a light touch of friendship. Dunkle actually smiled at the man.
“What’s that about?” Amy asked.
“Probably nothing, Ames. It’s a doctor treating his patient. Dunkle broke his arm and the doc over there fixed it up,” Heather replied.
“Shouldn’t we talk to them there, together?” Amy asked.
“No,” Heather replied. “No, that would be rude, and I’m pretty sure it’d breach that whole doctor-patient confidentiality thing.”
Sadness welled in Heather’s chest. She hadn’t expected to discover that Freddy had died, and that elevated the status of the case from attempted homicide, to homicide, itself.
Heather had to follow the clues. If only she had a few more of them.
“Col Owen,” she said, quietly.
“What’s that?” Amy asked, who hadn’t torn her gaze from the doctor and his patient.
“Dunkle wasn’t Freddy’s only neighbor. Col might have heard something in the days leading up to Freddy’s death,” Heather said and checked her filigree watch.
She’d planned on meeting up with him to discuss the joint venture at lunch, anyway. He’d have some time to spare.
“To the Owen Tea Shop?” Amy asked.
“Oh yeah,” Heather replied. “To the Owen Tea Shop.”
Hopefully, Col had some useful information to add. Or an alibi. Since the tea hadn’t poisoned Freddy Mars, but that didn’t mean Col hadn’t hit him on the back of the head.
And suspicions about her joint venture partner were the last thing Heather needed this month.
She linked her arm through Amy’s and led her bestie out the front door and into the Hillside sunlight.
Chapter 8
Col Owen sat at the table in the ‘restaurant’ portion of the Owen Tea Shop and shifted the cup of hot Chai Tea in front of him. He leaned in, inhaled the fumes and shut his eyes. “Perfection.”
Heather lifted her own cup of green tea to her lips and took a sip. She’d asked for a dollop of honey and nothing more. The tea tasted great.
Amy sat beside her and slurped down bottled iced tea.
Mona Petrov sat beside Col, her hand on his thigh, and the table in front of her empty.
“Now, that we’re all relaxed, we can get down to business,” Col said. “Heather, I can assure you that everything is going according to plan here. We’ve had loads of your customers coming in with coupons.”
“Great, and the same goes for us,” Heather said. “It’s going awesome so far. I can’t wait to see the numbers at the end of this month.”
“Me too,” Col said. “I wonder if there’s some way we can step this up?”
“We could do a donut and tea exchange,” Heather replied. “A sampling of each of our products in the front of the store.”
“That sounds great,” Mona said, and a beatific smile lit up her expression. “This is going to be a lot of fun.”
They broke from the conversation and took sips of their beverages, apart from Mona, who tapped her fingers on the side of the wooden table. The green light colored made her skin ghoulish.
Heather cleared her throat. Here came the hard part.
“I can see what you want to ask,” Col said before she could say a word. “I can see it on your face, Mrs. Shepherd.”
Mona stiffened beside her boyfriend. She shifted in her seat and Col caught her hand in his. He squeezed and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles.
“You’re really here about Freddy Mars, aren’t you?” Col asked.
“Originally, no. I had no idea I’d be here today, asking you about your neighbor,” Heather said, and that was the honest truth. She’d all but ruled Col out in her mind, biased as that was.
“Then what changed?”
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, Col, but Freddy passed last night,” Heather said, and her tone dipped.
Amy slurped iced tea to break the… ice.
Col hung his head, and Mona covered her mouth with her palm.
“I hadn’t heard,” Col said. “And I’m sad to hear it. Like I said, I didn’t know Freddy that well, but I’m sad he’s gone. He seemed like a real good dude. Real good.”
A moment of silence hung in the air, and this time Ames didn’t slurp. She let it hover.
They all sensed that this was a moment for Freddy. He’d passed on to a better place, but no one had had the right to send him there, unnaturally.
“What do you need to know?” Col asked, at last. Mona’s eyes brimmed with tears.
Amy drained the last of her iced tea and set the empty glass bottle down.
“Did you hear anything from Freddy’s house in the nights leading up to his death?” Heather asked. Ryan had mentioned that the knock could’ve come anytime during that week, but most likely as little as two days prior.
Col scratched his stubbly chin and stared off at the stained glass window at the end of the room. “Yeah,” he said, after a second, and nodded. “Yeah, I did too. Do you remember?” He directed the last questions at Mona.
“Yeah, there was a lot of screaming,” Mona said.
“When?” Heather brought her tablet out of her tote bag and placed it flat on the table. She unlocked the screen, then tapped through to her Evernote App and opened a fresh page.
Mona nodded along with his words.
“Just when I was about to go over there and ask what was going on, there was a loud bang, and then silence. I figured whoever had been arguing with him had left his house.” Col shook his head. “Now, I think that might not have been the case.”
Heather typed the notes, her fingers dancing across the cool screen. “What did the voices sound like?” She asked. “Men?”
“Yeah, they sounded pretty masculine.”
“Nu-uh,” Mona said.
Everyone looked at her.
“I hate to disagree, but one of them sounded pretty high-pitched to me. Like a woman,” she said. “I thought he’d had a fight with his girlfriend, but now, I’m not sure he even had one.”
“No, he didn’t. And he didn’t have a wife either,” Col said. “Not that I’m an expert on the guy’s personal life.”
“All right, so an argument late at night –”
“In the early hours of the morning,” Col corrected.
“In the early hours of the morning,” Heather said and typed it out. “Between potentially a female and Freddy Mars.”
“Yes,” Mona said and lifted her chin. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Is there anything else? Anything at all?” Heather asked, and speared both of them with a gaze.
Mona wriggled her lips, and Col’s tan brow wrinkled into a frown. “No,” they said.
“Then I think that’s all I need for now,” Heather said. She’d have to check in with Ryan and find out if they had an estimate for the exact day of the attack. So far, all she had to go on was two reports of an argument at night.
One from greasy old Dunkle, and now from Col and Mona, who Heather trusted implicitly.
She hardly knew them, yet Col didn’t strike her as a murderer, and Mona carried innocence in her heart.
“Thanks for your time,” Heather said, after a second. “I think we’d better get back to Donut Delights.”
Passion Fruit Punch Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 34 Page 3