Pumpkin Pie Brulee & Murder

by Susan Gillard

  * * *

  “I slept at my own house last night. I was making my way over here and was aiming to be here by the time that the turkey would be done,” Sparky said.

  * * *

  “Because your father told everyone when he was planning on testing out the frying technique?” Heather asked.

  * * *

  "Yeah. He did this sort of thing every year. Sometimes it was a new big thing like deep frying a turkey or using liquid nitrogen to freeze something. And sometimes it was something simple like he was trying out a new cookie recipe," Sparky said. "He just wanted to keep it fun and different. It was something that he and my mom used to do, and he wanted to carry on the tradition for his children."

  * * *

  “He sounds like a nice guy,” said Heather.

  * * *

  “He was,” Sparky affirmed.

  * * *

  “Do you know anyone who would want to hurt him?” asked Heather.

  * * *

  “No,” said Sparky. “I thought everything was going well with his business. And we all loved him.”

  * * *

  Heather nodded and then got back to his alibi. “So, you said you were traveling here at the time of his death?”

  * * *

  “That’s right,” said Sparky. “I was in my car when I got the call about what happened to dad and Chris. I changed direction and went straight to the hospital.”

  * * *

  “And were you alone at your house before you got on the road?” Heather asked.

  * * *

  “Actually, right before I got on the road to come here, I was running some errands. I was buying some Christmas lights to decorate dad’s house. He likes to decorate right after Thanksgiving, so I was picking up some new things for him. I thought it would be easier to hang them with the whole family around to help. I’m not sure it would do much good now though. How festive can a house look with those burns on the front of it to remind you that someone you loved died there?”

  * * *

  "Would anyone remember you at the store? Or do you maybe have a receipt with the time on it?" Heather asked.

  * * *

  "I have the lights in my car," he said. "I never took them out. And the receipt is in the bag. I didn't really look at it, but it probably has the time on it. And it definitely says the store address on it. It's closer to my house, so it's about fifty minutes away."

  * * *

  “We’d love to see that,” Heather said.

  * * *

  “Okay,” Sparky said, shrugging. He headed out of the room right away, and Heather and Amy were forced to run after him. He reached his car and pulled a bag of Christmas lights out of the backseat. He dug in the bag and found the receipt. Then, he proudly handed it to Heather. It was timestamped for about an hour before Craig Caulfield’s death.

  * * *

  “Is there anything else I can answer?” Sparky asked.

  * * *

  “How did you get the name Sparky?” Amy asked.

  * * *

  “Because you think I might have special spark-like skills that could have caused this explosion?” Sparky asked.

  * * *

  “That might have crossed our mind,” Heather admitted.

  * * *

  "I was the youngest, and they used to tease me that they would rather have had a dog than another brother," he said. "A dog's name was a joke, but then I really liked it. And it just seemed to stick."

  * * *

  “Were you mad at your siblings because of that teasing?” Amy asked. “I’m not sure I’d want to be named after an imaginary dog.”

  * * *

  “No. I think it was in good fun. And I really do like the name Sparky,” he said. “Though, I guess my siblings can have a bit of a cruel streak.”

  * * *

  “How cruel?” asked Heather.

  * * *

  “Well,” Sparky said. “Are you sure that one of them killed my dad?”

  * * *

  “We’re pretty sure it was someone in the family,” Heather said. “They had the opportunity, and the inheritance is a pretty strong motive.”

  * * *

  Sparky frowned. “I wouldn’t have thought any of them was a killer. But if you insist that one of them did it, well, I can’t say it’s not possible. It doesn’t actually seem that surprising. We do all become filthy rich now.”

  * * *

  “Do you have any suspicions about which one of them could have done it?” Heather asked.

  * * *

  “No,” Sparky said. “You’re going to have to figure that one out.”

  Kiki in the Kitchen

  Heather and Amy were about to leave the Caulfield house when Sparky noticed something else helpful.

  “Hey,” he said. “Have you ladies ever talked with Kiki? I think she’s inside.”

  “That’s the teenager?” Amy said to Heather. “Riley and Rachel’s daughter?”

  Heather nodded. “We haven’t talked to her yet.”

  They walked inside and saw Kiki wandering around the kitchen.

  “Hey Kiki, these women want to talk to you. They’re private investigators working with the police and not anything creepy,” Sparky said before wandering away.

  Kiki stopped searching through the fridge and faced them. She looked like a mix of her parents, except she smiled when she met the new people.

  “Are you going to figure out what happened to grandpa?” she asked. “Please tell me you are. This is the worst thing that could have happened to us.”

  “That’s what we want to do,” Heather said.

  Kiki started looking through the fridge again.

  “Is that where the turkey was kept?” Heather asked.

  “I guess so,” said Kiki. "They had to defrost it, so it would have been in the fridge."

  “And everyone had access to this fridge,” Heather said.

  "If Kiki going through it is any indication," Amy said. "Then yeah."

  “Grandpa and Aunt Jocelyn normally have a lot of good food to eat when they know that people will be visiting,” Kiki said.

  “It doesn’t freak you out that the ingredients to the last thing he tried to cook were in there?” Amy asked.

  Kiki shrugged. “I’m hungry. And my parents told me to stay here with Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Sparky while they visit Uncle Chris in the hospital. They like dropping me off here.”

  “Were you here the day of his death?” Heather asked. “Did you join them for breakfast?”

  “I was here that day, but breakfast was just digging through the fridge like this?” Kiki said.

  “Was the turkey still in there?” asked Heather. “Was there anything unusual about it?”

  "I don't know much about cooking, and it was all wrapped up. But I think Uncle Chris and Grandpa weighed it and smelled it and stuff before they got started," Kiki said. "Was something with the turkey what caused the fire?"

  “Possibly,” Heather said. “But there was some other tampering as well. Did you notice anyone near the fridge that morning?”

  "I didn't notice anyone, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't," Kiki said. "Everyone had to get breakfast at some time or another. And most everyone except my parents was staying here the night before. Except for Uncle Sparky too."

  Heather exchanged a look with her partner and then said, “Wasn’t there a breakfast here that morning?”

  “No,” Kiki said.

  “Some family members didn’t get together and catch up?” Heather pressed.

  “No,” said Kiki. “My parents dropped me off here that morning and then left. I don’t know what they were doing.”

  "And Kevin and Kaitlin Caulfield-Brown weren't here either?" asked Heather.

  “No,” said Kiki. “Who said they were?”

  “They all said they were here,” Amy said.

  Kiki shook her head. "No. They must be mistaken. Aunt Kaitlin and Uncle Kevin were gone when I got here. The only ones he
re were Grandpa, Uncle Chris was coming and going to get Aunt Jocelyn, and Aunt Bonnie was here and then left."

  "Well," Amy said to her partner. "Either four people are lying to us, or she is."

  "If you want me to prove I was here alone, I could," Kiki said. "I was really bored, so I was making videos on my phone to send to my friends."

  She showed Heather the clips on her phone that were dated as being taken that morning. She was dancing in the dining room to a pop song, playing with her hair, and making jokes about how much food she was going to eat at that table on Thanksgiving.

  “Thank you for showing us this,” Heather said. “It was the right thing to do.”

  “Who would have thought that a girl recording silly clips on her phone would be an important clue?” asked Amy.

  “And something that just undermined four alibis,” said Heather.

  “My parents couldn’t really have had anything to do with killing Grandpa though, could they?” Kiki asked.

  “Were they having any trouble with money?” Heather asked gently.

  “Maybe,” Kiki said. “They have been acting weird lately.”

  “How so?” asked Heather.

  “Mom has been away from home a lot. And Dad alternates between spending a lot and then not spending anything,” Kiki said.

  “I think we need to have another talk with those two couples,” Heather said.

  “I hope I didn’t get them into trouble,” Kiki said.

  “You told the truth,” Heather said. “That’s what you should always do. And telling the truth now will help us will help us achieve justice for your grandfather.”

  Kiki closed the refrigerator door. “I don’t think I’m hungry anymore.”

  “Thank you for all your help,” Heather said.

  “I guess I can help with one more thing,” Kiki said. “We’re staying at the big fancy hotel further down the main road.”

  “We know,” Amy started to say, but Heather shushed her.

  “Is there a reason why you thought we might think you were staying somewhere else?” asked Heather.

  “I thought we were going to be staying at the Porpoise Inn because we were getting mail from there,” said Kiki. “But Mom said it was a mistake.”

  “Thank you again,” Heather said. “You were very helpful.”

  Her mind was racing, and her feet started to catch up. She left the house with Amy at her heels.

  “Where are we going?” Amy asked.

  “To the Porpoise Inn,” Heather said. “I think we might find some answers there.”

  “What are they going to tell us?” Amy asked.

  "You're right," Heather said, musing. "We should probably get Ryan to meet us there. They might be more likely to talk to the police."

  “That wasn’t what I meant,” Amy muttered.

  The Porpoise Inn

  A young man sat behind the front desk of the hotel, reading a magazine. He looked up when the four people approached him. He jumped to his feet when Ryan introduced them all.

  “We’d like some information about a guest staying here,” Ryan said.

  “What do you want to know?” the young man asked, moving some papers around.

  Heather and Amy exchanged a look. Getting the information they wanted might be easier than they thought.

  “Do you have anyone with the last name Brown staying here?” Ryan asked.

  The young man started looking through the book on the desk and in his computer. "That's a pretty common name, but I don't see anyone named Brown checked in right now. When were they supposed to be here?"

  “They were supposed to have checked in today,” Heather said. “After a room opened up due to a cancellation.”

  “That couldn’t have happened,” the young man said. “We haven’t had any cancellations. We’re completely full. And we haven’t had any check-ins today. It’s been slow at the desk.”

  “I thought that might be the case,” Heather said. “Do you have anyone under the name Caulfield here?”

  The young man consulted the pages again and said, “Yup. I have a Rachel Caulfield here. One room. She checked in a few days ago.”

  “What room number?” Heather asked.

  “Room Five,” the man said.

  “Thanks,” said Heather.

  She led the way to the room and knocked on the door.

  “Who’s there?” came a voice from within.

  “The police,” Peters said simply.

  The door opened. Kevin and Kaitlin were there.

  “You’re back?” Kaitlin asked. “Do you have any news?”

  “Well,” Ryan started.

  “We have a new lead,” Heather said. “Mr. Brown, do you mind if we talk to you privately for a moment?”

  "Sure," Kevin said, looking at his wife.

  “I’ll go and get us some ice,” Kaitlin suggested. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

  She left, and Kevin allowed the investigators to enter the room.

  “So, what is this about?” he asked.

  “It’s about this room,” Heather said. “And why it was registered to Rachel Caulfield?”

  “Oh. Well, you see,” Kevin said. “It was so hard for us to find a room that the whole family was helping us look for what was available. And my sister-in-law Rachel was the first one to find a hotel for us.”

  “Does he forget that we were there when he said he found the reservation?” Amy asked. “When you told your wife that you got the room when someone canceled.”

  “Right,” Kevin said. “Well, I was just paraphrasing because I was in a hurry. But Rachel did get the room for us, which was very nice. You saw that I was on my phone at the time? She texted me to let me know about the reservation.”

  “Was that the same time that she told you what to say for your alibi?” Heather asked.

  “When you all decided to put the lie in alibi,” said Amy.

  "What do you mean?" Kevin asked after a pause. "We were all together that morning."

  “We have a teenager’s cell phone videos that say differently,” Amy said.

  “Do you want to tell us where you really were?” Ryan asked.

  Kevin faltered. He looked at the ground.

  “We’re not trying to break up your marriage,” Heather said.

  “Though you might want to analyze it some,” Amy said.

  “We’re trying to solve a murder,” Heather continued.

  “I know,” Kevin said. “But I didn’t want Kaitlin to know that I was having an affair.”

  “With your sister-in-law Rachel Caulfield?” Detective Peters asked.

  “Yes,” Kevin said. “For a while. When we’d gather for family events.”

  “Yeah. Happy Thanksgiving,” Amy said, rolling her eyes.

  “She reserved this room in advance so that you two could meet here. And then when you and your wife couldn’t find a hotel to stay at after her father’s death, you pretended that you got this room for the two of you,” said Heather. “You kept a key to the room.”

  “And you hurried over here so that you could clean the room before your wife got here?” Amy finished.

  “Does she have to know about this?” Kevin asked.

  “We’re only interested in alibis at the moment,” Ryan said.

  “Rachel and I were together all the morning and afternoon,” Kevin said. “It was only after we got the call about Craig that we left.”

  "Why did you decide to say that you were all together at breakfast?" Detective Peters asked. "Why not come up with a more innocent reason for being with Mrs. Caulfield? Like getting cranberry sauce or something?"

  “By the time you asked me where we were, Rachel had already texted me to tell me what we should say. She said that she and Riley had already told you that we were at breakfast together,” Kevin said.

  “So, you don’t actually know where Kaitlin or Riley were at that time?” Heather asked.

  “No,” said Kevin. “But I don’t think either of them wo
uld have killed their dad. That’s partly why I went along with it.”

  “We’re glad to hear your reasons were so noble,” Amy said.

  Kaitlin knocked on the door, and Detective Peters let her in.

  “Are you all finished?” Kaitlin asked.

  “We have a question for you too,” Heather said.

  "What?" asked Kaitlin, putting down the ice that she had gotten to pass the time outside of the room.

  “Where were you before your father’s death?” Ryan asked. “We know that you weren’t all together at breakfast.”

  “You’re right,” Kaitlin admitted. “I said that because I didn’t want to undermine what my husband said.”

  “Where were you?” Ryan asked again.

  "I stopped by my father's house with Kiki and then I went for a walk," Kaitlin said. "I headed over to a friend's that I hadn't seen in a long time. We were catching up for about an hour. Then I heard the firetrucks. I didn't realize it was at his house until later. And then when I heard what happened to my dad, I just wanted to make sure that Kiki and Chris were all right."

  “We’ll need the name and address of that friend,” said Ryan.

  Kaitlin nodded and wrote it down.

  “We’ll leave you to sort things out,” Amy said, and the investigators headed out.

  Yams

  “They look better than last time,” Amy said, trying to be kind.

  “That’s not saying much though,” said Heather. “Why am I having so much trouble with these side dishes?”