“Detective Stanton is here from Santa Monica, Detective,” the clerk said. Mac told her to invite him in. He stood to introduce himself, Brenda and the Chief of Police.
“I know you’re in the middle of a big case, but if you knew how long we’ve been searching for Mattie and Drake Cabot, you would understand my impatience to see them,” said Joe Stanton after he introduced himself and apologized for the late-night interruption.
They briefly discussed the notorious case under investigation in the peaceful ocean town of Sweetfern Harbor. Mac asked Detective Stanton for details about the Cabots.
“They are life-long criminals, as far as I’m concerned. Their record might not be completely proven in court yet, but that’s just because they’re so slippery. They choose wealthy victims, but not before meticulous planning. They don’t just spot them and then run in to rob them. They follow their target’s every movement and learn all they can behind the scenes. Once they are sure of the right moment, they find their way into mansions or businesses and help themselves. Then they peddle their items on the black market. It’s how they have lived comfortably for years and managed to stay beyond the reach of the law. You should also know, this isn’t something they just picked up out of thin air…Mattie’s parents were jewel thieves and taught their daughter from an early age. Her juvenile record is sealed but I have a hunch she was an accomplice or a decoy for them when she was quite young. The parents are in prison for a long while, have been since she was about eighteen years old.” The detective leaned back. “If Mason Eads hadn’t been so well-known in California, I probably wouldn’t have heard of his murder so fast.”
Mac asked how the Cabots became a part of Mason’s life and Joe Stanton outlined the details of the business dealings they already knew from questioning. Brenda commented that was one thing Mattie and Drake said that was true, at least.
“It took us a while to realize they were the ones we were looking for in the robberies. They traveled across America and it took a long time for law enforcement to make the links.”
Detective Stanton told how one plan went wrong and that was the warrant he had arrived to press the Cabots about: It had not been proven in court, but they were believed to have killed a wealthy couple because the couple had been home during a planned robbery.
“If you want to talk to them now, I’ll have an officer bring them to a room, one by one.”
The detective eagerly agreed, ready to confront the fugitives. After things were set up, Mac looked at the chief and Brenda. “Let’s get moving on our own case for now. Brenda, it looks like you pinned it correctly. I don’t see anything that indicates Mattie and Drake had anything to do with the murder directly. I’m not saying they didn’t know about the plans, but I feel they were not immediately involved in the actual deed. The Santa Monica Police are a bigger problem for them.”
“I’m glad our young fiddler is exonerated. Are you going to set him free?”
“I have nothing to hold him on for the moment. With his fiddling schedule, we will know where he is if he should have to return.”
Jake called his lawyer and then his belongings gathered from Sheffield Bed and Breakfast were returned to him. He held no ill will toward them for keeping him in the holding cell during the questioning and personally thanked Brenda and Mac for their hospitality and invited them to his next performance.
“I can get front row tickets for you.”
They thanked him after accepting his kind gesture. His lawyer met him in the reception area and they left together.
“That narrows it all down,” Chief Ingram said. “Did you decide Thomas Kelly acted alone?”
“Not by a long shot,” Mac said. He pointed a finger to the DNA results found on one jumpsuit and the knife. One trash bag was found to contain DNA left by a third person.
“I can’t believe Sara and Alan Haas were involved,” Brenda said. She was still in shock at the match. “Are you sure it’s their DNA? What did they have to do with Mason Eads?”
“We’ll find that out,” Mac said. He left the room to put out an APB. “Send this out to the entire East Coast,” he ordered.
“Does all of this exonerate the Cabots, too?” Brenda asked.
“I think we can safely turn them over to the Santa Monica Police Department,” Mac said. “We’ll know where to find them if necessary. They came here mainly to case wealthy residents and visitors.”
Brenda and Mac decided that for now everything was a waiting game. “I want to get back to the serenity of my bed and breakfast,” Brenda said. “I’ll see you two later.”
She dreaded giving the news to Allie, who had enjoyed an instant connection with Sara Haas. Brenda also thought over possibilities of how the Haas couple could be connected to Mason Eads. Their names hadn’t come up anywhere in her searches like the others had. By the time she reached the bed and breakfast, she still had no answers.
Allie Williams smiled at Brenda when she entered the foyer. She instantly realized something serious was on her mind. Brenda asked her if everything was in order for the next influx of guests to arrive the next day. Allie assured her Phyllis was upstairs putting the finishing touches on the rooms.
“Have you found out who killed Mason?” Allie said apprehensively.
Brenda nodded her head. “I have some news I felt I should give you personally, Allie.” She told her reservationist that Sara and Alan Haas had been accomplices to it all. “We think Alan helped Thomas stab him to death. Then they bagged the evidence and Alan and Sara disposed of the two bags. We don’t have all the details yet, but DNA shows what we believe happened.” Allie gaped at her and sat behind the front desk in shock. Brenda put an arm around Allie’s shoulders to comfort her. “I’m as shocked as you are, Allie. Did they say where they were going next when they checked out of here?”
“They told me they had a great time here and may travel further up the eastern seaboard. They didn’t specify where. She was so friendly.”
By the time Brenda reached her cottage, Mac called. “They were apprehended at the Canadian border. Luckily, Border Control was on alert, so they didn’t even get through. They’re being brought back now.”
She received another call a few hours later when Mac assured her they were in custody. This was one time she definitely wanted to be there for the interrogations. When Brenda entered the room with Mac, Sara kept her eyes downward. Alan waited in the next room under the guard of two officers.
Unlike the previous times, when Sara had seemed polite and accommodating, her features were hardened now, bitterly angry as she spit out defensive words. “He deserved to die,” Sara said. “He ruined Alan’s life and caused his parents to die!” Her breaths heaved with emotion. When questioned, Sara explained Alan’s parents had committed suicide in Belgium. “They had an honest and lucrative export business in art by Californian artists. Mason met them at a conference there and sucked them into his world. He was greedy and selfish. His only motive was to take, and he did that. He spread rumors in that world how crooked Alan’s parents were in their business dealings. He had significant people in his corner in no time. He had a personality that fooled others easily.”
Sara’s eyes filled with determination. “By the time Alan’s parents realized what had happened, their markets had dried up. They owed their clients and couldn’t pay the bills or their ongoing debts.”
“How did you know Mason was going to be in Sweetfern Harbor and specifically at Sheffield Bed and Breakfast?” Brenda asked.
“Alan has followed his every movement since that day a year and a half ago when we found out his parents killed themselves in Belgium out of desperation and shame. We didn’t know Thomas Kelly, but I overheard him complaining about how Mason cheated him and some of the others. We knew we weren’t alone. Thomas was just as bitter as we were. We decided to talk with Thomas and tell him our story.”
“You took chances disposing of those bags behind the bed and breakfast,” Mac said. “Surely you knew that was
not a smart move?”
“We planned to take the bags to a deserted area of the beach and sink them in the ocean. We didn’t have time for that since everyone started coming back to the bed and breakfast so quickly. We thought we’d go back later and do it.”
“The story you told of how you and Alan came upon Mason’s body was a lie from start to finish,” Brenda said.
Sara nodded her head. “We play-acted our scene to tell our parts to the police.”
“You’ve been read your rights. Why haven’t you asked for a lawyer?”
“We know DNA will prove we were involved. We have a lawyer on the way. He advised us to remain silent, but I can’t help but tell our story. Mason drove us to do this, you have to understand. He was an evil man. He not only ruined people financially, he caused the death of good people, Alan’s parents did not deserve that.” Her eyes pleaded with Brenda. “We’re sorry it happened on your property, Brenda. Sheffield Bed and Breakfast is such a lovely place.”
Brenda and Mac exchanged quick glances. Sara Haas didn’t appear to realize life as she had known it was over. Worse than that, she didn’t seem to care.
Detective Bryce Jones emerged from the room where he had interviewed Alan Haas. He told Brenda and Mac a parallel story to his wife’s.
“I want a face-to-face with him,” Brenda said.
Alan sat erect in the chair and looked pale yet calm. He smiled faintly at Brenda and then directed his gaze at her when she sat down.
“Couldn’t you think of a better way to take out your revenge against Mason? Why didn’t you just call him out for who he was? You could have taken all of this to the police in Brussels and had it dealt with in a legal way.” She paused, watching him think this over. “You had a great business of your own and people around here took to your products well. You had a future ahead of you. Why would you ruin all that? Why didn’t you just turn him into the police?”
“Why?” Alan said quietly. “What could we even prove? He didn’t hold the gun to my parents’ heads, did he? Everything was just rumors and hearsay. Besides, why did he have the right to live when my parents’ lives ended in desperation?” He looked at her with defiance. “They were good people. Besides, court proceedings would have taken months, if not years. Mason’s business dealings spanned the globe. Who else would he have driven off the deep end? I’ll miss seeing how things could have turned out for Sara and me, but I think she’ll agree revenge is satisfying, too.”
“You and Sara not only lied about discovering the body, you also lied about seeing two shadows running away. You didn’t even protest when you realized Jake and the Cabots had been arrested for the murder. What about Jake’s reputation in particular?”
“They were collateral damage. I knew eventually they would be exonerated, though I hear now that the Cabots aren’t so innocent in other matters…”
Brenda didn’t touch on that. It was no business of Alan Haas’ to know if the law was aware of their crime sprees or not.
“I’m surprised Mason didn’t recognize you and Sara.”
“We had never met him,” Alan shrugged. “I’m not sure if he even picked up on our last names, for that matter.”
Brenda felt a deep sadness stemming from the loss of Mason’s life at the hands of this strange couple, who had thrown away their own successful lives for petty revenge. Mason might not have been a good person, but neither Sara and Alan nor Thomas Kelly were in charge of meting out justice and judgment upon him.
Mac told her later that Thomas stole one of Jake’s bolo ties from his room. Thomas believed the young couple deserved freedom to go forward with their lives. He felt worse about their blunder in hiding evidence than he did anything else.
“I suppose we will always be shocked when trying to figure people out,” Brenda said. “It seems everyone has hidden demons lurking inside.”
“Everyone except us,” Mac said. Brenda nodded, pondering the twisted motivations that her guests had been hiding for so long.
By the time they returned to the bed and breakfast much later that night, the moon was high in the sky and stars twinkled down on the little town. Sheffield Bed and Breakfast’s lights gleamed in the darkness as Mac and Brenda walked to their cottage around the rear of the property.
“No matter what, we always have this peace to return to,” Brenda said and yawned sleepily. Mac embraced her and dropped a gentle kiss on the top of her head. In the distance, the ocean waves lapped quietly against the seawall.
“We’re both going to sleep well tonight, I think,” he echoed in a yawn, unlocking the door and letting them in. To his surprise, Brenda hung up her jacket and reached for a folder of clippings on the coffee table.
“Actually, can we chat about my father’s wedding reception? I have so much on my mind. Let me just show you a few plans I’ve been cooking up. Do you think he and Morgan will like a rose theme or…” She stopped shuffling through menus and sketches of wedding décor at the kitchen table. “Hey, where are you going?”
Mac only kicked off his shoes and headed down the hallway toward their bedroom, where he landed face-down in his pillow, fully clothed. Sleep quickly came to overtake him like a wave. He would have to give up ever understanding Brenda’s tireless enthusiasm for wedding and party planning after engaging in difficult detective work.
When Brenda followed him into the bedroom and saw him lying there half-asleep, she felt a smile touch her lips. She snuggled up next to him. “I hear you, Mac. Maybe in the morning.” She kissed his cheek as he dropped off to sleep, and she sighed with happiness to have a partner and husband like Mac at her side.
Dear Reader,
Hi there. Thank you for reading.
I hope you’ll leave a review and/or rating at the retail website where you purchased it, I appreciate you and your feedback.
Thanks again,
Wendy Meadows
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About the Author
Wendy Meadows is a USA Today bestselling author of cozy mysteries. She lives in “The Granite State” with her husband, two sons, two cats and lovable Labradoodle.
When she isn’t working on her stories she likes to tend to her flowers, relax with her pets and play video games with her family.
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Also by Wendy Meadows
Maple Hills Cozy Mystery Series
Nether Edge Mystery Series
Chocolate Cozy Mystery Series
Alaska Cozy Mystery Series
Sweet Peach Bakery Cozy Series
Sweetfern Harbor Mystery Series
Candy Shop Mysteries
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Fe Fi Fiddle Die Page 10