She said “musician” as if it were a dirty word.
“That must be pretty loud,” Amy said.
“It was infuriating. He would practice all the time, and to my ears he never got better. Apparently, he got gigs and people paid him to play. I never would. I’d pay for him to stop. Luckily, he had a gig for the holiday and was out of town all week. The quietest week in my house.”
“I hadn’t really considered the neighbors,” Amy thought aloud. “I’m looking for a new house. I was considering neighborhoods, but I hadn’t thought about the neighbors specifically. What if the person I move next to is loud or annoying or mean?”
“You have to be careful about your neighbors. But apparently, you have to be careful about everyone. Poor Lacy.”
Heather surreptitiously took the tablet away from Amy. Amy seemed to be building a rapport with this witness, even if it was about complaining about neighbors. Heather was ready to pipe up if she missed something, but she would let her partner take the lead in questioning Marcy Mabel.
“Did Lacy have people that she had to be careful of in particular?” Amy asked.
“She and her ex-husband used to argue like the dickens. I was glad when they separated. It was a good thing for Lacy. And then she got that adorable little dog.”
“We heard he that he could be loud,” Amy said.
“Not especially,” Marcy said. “He would bark sometimes, but he was a dog.”
“Did he bark yesterday?” Heather asked. She couldn’t help herself from asking. It seemed like such an important point. Did the murder have to take place during the fireworks display? Or could the killer have come earlier to complete his deed?
“He was barking yesterday. Fireworks were going off. You know how that upsets animals.”
Amy saw the train of thought that Heather started and continued it. “Was he only barking during the fireworks? Or earlier too?”
“You know, he was barking earlier too. Some kids had set off a firework. After I had realized that it happened, I thought that his earlier barking was because he saw the boys sneaking around to set up their stupid idea.”
Amy nodded. “Did you hear anything else suspicious yesterday?”
“I’m afraid I didn’t. Just the one bang that turned out to be the boy’s firework. Then I didn’t hear anything until the fireworks display that night. I went out on my back porch to watch that. It was quite beautiful. I feel a bit guilty knowing that I was watching that display when I should have been helping Lacy. But how could I have known?”
“It wasn’t your fault, Ms. Mabel,” Amy said. “Did you notice anyone suspicious outside that day?”
“No. I was inside most of the day, just enjoying the relative quiet. When I went out to enjoy the fireworks, I didn’t notice anybody. I think I would have noticed someone leaving, but it was dark at that point.”
“And you said she had a bad relationship with her ex-husband?” Amy asked.
“A terrible one. But I haven’t seen him around lately.”
“Is there anyone else who might have wanted to hurt Lacy?”
“I know that she wasn’t speaking to her brother. It’s possible there might be some sort of reason there that he would want to hurt her. I don’t know the details though.”
“We’ll look into that. Thank you,” Amy said.
“You know who might know some more details?” Marcy asked. “She had a friend that used to visit her a lot. I think her name was Casey. She might know more about the situation.”
Heather made sure that she made a note to track down the friend Casey. If Casey could provide them with some motives on why someone would want to kill Lacy Gwynn, she could be an invaluable witness.
“Do you know her last name?” Amy asked.
“No. But they were close. I’m sure you could find her by looking in Lacy’s phone or address book.”
“Thank you, Ms. Mabel. You’ve been very helpful,” Amy said.
Mabel saw them to the door. She probably didn’t mean for them to hear her mumble, “Why couldn’t the killer have taken out that darn musician instead of that nice girl?”
Heather and Amy walked away from the neighborhood and got into their car.
“You did really well leading the questioning,” Heather said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep myself quiet the whole time.”
“Nothing to apologize for. We work as a team,” Amy said.
“Is something else distracting you?”
“Besides moving into a new house, now a fear of what the new neighbors will be like, and the murder we have to solve?” Amy asked. “Nah, nothing.”
Heather laughed. “Sorry I asked.”
“I feel like we’re gathering more suspects but not much more evidence,” Amy said.
“Ryan should know more about the gun used today, and that will help us. We can see if the ex-husband or the brother had access to a gun.”
“And I guess we can see if Jamie uncovered any evidence in Curtis’s fur.”
“Why don’t we take all the animals for a walk?” Heather suggested. “We could talk about the case and meet up with Jamie and the star witness.”
Amy agreed and then said, “Just as long as you’re not trying to turn this into a regular thing. Curtis is not moving in with us. One step—“
“At a time. I know,” Heather said.
Chapter 10
Because they were a large group, they decided to take their walk by the park. Lilly was walking Cupcake ahead of the adults because the kitten was still wary about this new dog in the pack.
Jamie had excitedly joined Amy and Heather and Ryan. Curtis was happy to see the humans but was more reserved about Dave. Dave looked up Heather and wrinkled his nose as much as was possible for a dog. It was as if he was saying, “No donuts today? And now this?”
Heather hardly had time to deal with the animals meeting again because Jamie was too enthusiastic in his reveal. He had bagged all the dog’s fur that had come loose during grooming. He had also separated them into “evidence bags” of fur and dirt.
She wasn’t sure if it would help at all, but she was touched by how much time and effort he had taken in preparing this potential evidence. Curtis was also looking in a better mood after being cared for the night before.
“Thank you,” Heather said. “We can send this to the lab and see if there’s anything helpful here.”
Ryan took the bags and said, “I don’t get to go on these walks very often, but I should try to. Evidence comes straight to me.”
“We like that you’re here too,” Heather said. “Maybe you can tell us more about the gun.”
“All right,” Ryan began. His serious conversation about the murder weapon was punctuated by the dogs having a competition over who could mark the most territory. “It was a 9-mm handgun that killed her.”
“It looked like she was shot in the back,” Heather said. “Is that right?”
Ryan nodded. “In the back, hitting her heart.”
“That sounds brutal,” Amy said. “And possibly fitting for the work of an ex-lover.”
“If it was from behind, we still don’t know if Lacy Gwynn knew the killer and let him inside, or if the killer broke in and snuck up on her,” Heather said.
“I do have some more interesting facts about 9-mms,” Ryan said.
“Like what?” Amy asked. She was a fan of guns, though not of course as it related to Lacy Gwynn.
“Lacy and Jay Gwynn both had 9-mm handguns registered to them. One gun was found in the house, but it was the ex-husband’s and not Lacy’s.”
“No chance of that being the murder weapon?” Heather asked. She knew that would be too easy.
“No,” Ryan said. “It hadn’t been fired recently.”
“It is interesting though,” Heather said. “Why would her husband’s gun be in the house?”
“And what happened to Lacy’s gun?” Amy asked.
They were interrupted from their discussion, by the dogs barking. They had bo
th decided that they wanted to claim a tree as their own and were growling at one another. It looked as if they were both out of practice at acting mean and scary. Heather almost wanted to laugh at their display of bravado but knew she had to be firm.
“Hey,” she said. “None of that now. We need to be friends as long as we’re together. Understand? If you can’t act nice, then there will be no donuts for anybody.”
She wasn’t sure that the dogs understood her threat, but Dave did back away from the tree and moved closer to Ryan. He must have understood the word “donuts” used as a threat for behavior.
Curtis also moved away from the tree but headed over to his friend Jamie. Jamie scratched his ears, but said: “You have to play nice.”
The loudness of the dogs made an idea of an opposite sort pop into Heather’s head.
“The killer couldn’t have used a silencer on the gun, could he?” she asked.
“There’s no evidence of a silencer barrel on the markings of the bullet,” Ryan said.
“Well, then based on sound, it seems that the killer had to make his move when the fireworks were going off.”
Amy nodded. “The neighbors said they didn’t hear anything loud that day except for the fireworks. And the houses were so close they could hear everything that happened next door. Remember to look out for that sort of thing when we look at houses,” She added to Jamie.
“So the murder happened between 8:30 when the fireworks started and 9 p.m. when the coroner said was the latest possible time of death,” Heather said.
“That’s not a huge window of time,” Ryan said. “If we could figure out who could get to the house and commit the murder during this small timeframe, we’ll have a good guess about who the murderer is.”
“I know who I’d like to interview first,” Heather said.
Ryan smiled. “If it’s the ex-husband we just found an address for him. He had been moving around a lot after he left, but I know where we can find him now.”
“Great,” Heather said. “Can we go right now? Or right after this walk?”
“That was my plan,” Ryan said.
Heather turned to Amy, expecting her to find this news exciting but instead Amy was eyeing Jamie suspiciously.
“Did you let the dog sleep on your bed? That’s a terrible habit to get into.”
“No. Er. I mean,” Jamie started. “Well, I’m not a suspect. Go interrogate the person you think might be the killer.”
Chapter 11
“Mr. Jay Gwynn?” Ryan asked as the door opened.
“It is indeed,” the man said, shaking Ryan’s hand. “Have you come to check up on me, Officer? That really is going above and beyond the call of duty.”
Recognition dawned on Heather and Ryan. Jay Gwynn was the drunken man who had hurt himself at the bonfire. He was the man that Ryan helped into the ambulance that night.
“How is your leg doing?” Ryan asked.
“Much better than my pride,” Jay Gwynn said. “I’m really embarrassed by what happened. I can’t believe I crashed into a lawn chair and cut myself so badly. I had really had too much to drink that night. Thanks for making sure I recovered. It needed some stitches, but I’m all right.”
“I am glad to hear that,” Ryan said. “But I’m not actually here to check up on your leg. We’re here to talk about the murder of your ex-wife.”
“Oh, of course,” he said. “You’re all police officers?”
“I am Detective Shepherd with the Hillside Police. These two are private investigators who consult with us on murder cases: Heather Shepherd and Amy Givens. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?”
“Not at all,” Jay Gwynn said. He opened the door and led them inside. It was a small bachelor pad but looked like he had some money to spend on it.
“What can I tell you about Lacy? I haven’t seen her in several months.”
“We heard from the neighbors that you and your ex-wife had a very volatile relationship,” Ryan said.
“Yes. That’s why she became my ex-wife. Of course, it didn’t help with the close quarters of our neighbors. Always listening in on our business. The houses were really too close together.”
“So you don’t deny fighting with her?” Heather asked.
“Fighting with her? No. Killing her? I do deny that.”
“We’re not accusing you of anything,” Ryan said. “But you have to understand that we need to question an ex-spouse in a murder case.”
“Of course,” Jay Gwynn said.
“Where were you the night of the murder?” Heather asked.
“At the bonfire and fireworks,” Jay said. “Apparently with you all. What are the odds of that?”
“You weren’t at the bonfire the whole night,” Heather pointed out.
“That’s true,” Jay said. “After drinking too much and injuring myself, I did have to be escorted out in an ambulance. What time was that? It was right after the fireworks started. Around 8:30.”
Ryan looked at Heather. He nodded. He knew that this much was true because he had been one of the people to load the man into the ambulance.
“What did you do before the bonfire?” Heather asked.
“I ran some errands that afternoon and picked up some beer for the night. My friends came over about six thirty. We drank a little and then rode on over to the bonfire. Except for my friend Holt. He was the designated driver and didn’t drink that night. Wasn’t that a good idea, Officer? You might remember him from that night. He was the only one who was actually being helpful.”
Ryan nodded at the memory.
Heather continued her questioning. “So you were alone before six thirty that day?”
“I suppose I was,” Jay said. “Why? Does that matter?”
“The coroner said the death could have occurred as early as 6 p.m.,” Heather said. “So I just wanted to make sure that all your time was accounted for.”
“I see,” Jay said. “I was alone then. I was here at my house, beginning to drink. I guess I just thought that Lacy was shot during the firework show. That was what made sense to me. I suppose either way I was still drinking while she was dying. I feel bad about that.”
“It’s interesting that you brought up that she was shot,” Ryan said.
“It’s not a secret,” Jay Gwynn said. “I think it was even in the newspaper.”
“She was shot with a 9-mm gun,” Ryan said. “I believe you have one registered in your name.”
“Lacy and I both had 9-mms,” Jay began.
“The thing is that we found your gun in her house,” Ryan said.
“I can see why you were suspicious of me, but there is a perfectly innocent answer here,” Jay said. “Lacy’s gun was stolen about a year ago.”
“That sounds innocent?” Amy asked as she looked up from the notes she was taking.
“I made a report about it,” Jay said to Ryan. “You could check the station or however it works. Because it was as firearm Lacy and I made sure to report it missing.”
“I will check that,” Ryan said.
“So because Lacy’s gun was missing I gave mine to her. Even though we weren’t getting along, I wanted her to be safe. She had been my wife and was living alone with me gone. I wanted her to be able to protect herself. I guess it didn’t work though.”
“So you have no idea where Lacy’s gun is now?” Heather asked.
“No idea,” he said. “It disappeared a year ago. It could be anywhere by now.”
“And after giving your gun away to her, you didn’t feel like replacing one for yourself?” she asked.
“No. It didn’t seem important. I barely used mine,” Jay said.
Amy had a question to ask. “Do you know anything about her pet dog?”
“She got it after I left. I knew she doted on him. What do you want to know?”
“Just whether he barked at strangers.”
“He barked at me before,” Jay said. “I don’t know if that counts.”
“Are you int
erested in adopting him?” asked Amy.
“Not really,” he said. “Though I do hope he finds a good home. Lacy loved him so much. And even though it didn’t work out, I did really love her. I still think about her every day. I was hoping we might be able to reconcile some day. It looks like that will never happen.”
“You felt that strongly about her?” Heather asked. “You thought you might get back together?”
“Yes,” Jay said.
“That’s interesting,” said Heather. “You don’t have any pictures of her out.”
“Are we almost done?” Jay asked. “I’m feeling a bit worn out with my injury.”
“We’re done,” Ryan said. “For now. Thank you for your time.”
They left the house.
“I don’t like this,” Heather said.
“What?” Amy said. “I wasn’t going to give him the dog if he turns out to be the killer.”
“My gut and my head are in disagreement,” Heather said. “I don’t like that at all.”
“What’s your gut saying?” Ryan asked.
“That the ex-husband did it,” said Heather. “But my head is saying how? She had to be killed after the fireworks started and he clearly had an alibi for that. We saw him at the bonfire, and you helped him into the ambulance.”
“Well,” Ryan said. “Maybe we better check our more of his alibi.”
Chapter 12
“You’re sure it was this man here?” Heather asked, holding up a picture of Jay Gwynn.
“Yes, I’m sure,” the doctor said. “And I’ll be sure the next three times you ask me. That was the man I stitched up.”
“I’m sorry,” Heather said. “It’s just that something doesn’t add up. It would have made more sense if he escaped from here somehow.”
“The hospital isn’t that bad a place,” the doctor said.
Amy refrained from making a joke about the food.
“We’re just trying to be thorough,” Ryan said, “He needed stitches because of the injury on his leg.”
“Yes,” the doctor said. “He said that he tripped over a broken and rusty lawn chair. It was clear that the man had been drinking so that might have been the reason for his fall.”
Blueberry Stars & Stripes Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 51 Page 4