Killer Dress: A Small Town Cozy Mystery (Shot & Framed Book 1)
Page 20
“Nolan would have a motive too,” Oliver said. “He could be in love with you, which would make him want to kill Steve.”
Bluebell shook her head. “Nolan’s not in love with me. That’s just silly. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was a way that Nolan could have done it. Nolan could have killed Steve.”
“How?”
“Nolan and Steve were both supposed to fly drones in a tournament,” Bluebell said. “Do you know what those are?”
“Tiny little quadcopters, right?” Oliver asked.
“Right,” Bluebell said. “They are about the size of my fist.” She held up a fist. “Big enough to easily fit into an air vent.”
“But terrible murder weapons,” Oliver said.
“Oh yes, terrible murder weapons, but excellent ways to drop a key back into a room,” Bluebell said. “I kept thinking about it. That’s how it could be done - the murderer enters the room with Steve, hits him in the back of the head, and then locks the door as he exits. Only before he exits the building, he uses the drone to fly through the air vent with the keys, and drops the keys back next to Steve. Ta-da. No magic needed to leave a body in a locked room.”
Oliver gasped. “Brilliant!”
“Of course, there were a few reasons that it couldn’t be Nolan,” Bluebell said. “For one, he had no motive, despite what you said. For another, he didn’t have the keys to the office building. He might be able to enter with Steve, kill him and drop the office keys back, but then, how could he possibly lock the building doors on his way out? Remember, Camilla Smith, the cleaning lady, told me she’d unlocked the doors when she came in that morning.”
“Right.” Oliver frowned.
“So it wasn’t Nolan either,” Bluebell said. She parked her car. “That’s when it hit me. There was one man who had the opportunity, the motive, and the means.”
Oliver got out. They were at the Dowell Industries building. Three police cars were parked outside, their red lights flashing.
“Not Blake?”
“No. Not Blake. Curtis Stern, Blake’s chief of security,” Bluebell said. “He had opportunity - as chief of security, he had access to the building’s keys because there’s a Dowell office inside it. He had the means too - he’s an avid drone racer. Nolan said he drives a yellow and black drone. As for motive - he would lose his job if Steve were to use the information that he’d stolen. After all, it was his job to make sure that Dowell Industries was safe. He’d told us too, as long as he had a wife and three children to feed, he didn’t care about Steve, he only cared about keeping his job.”
Oliver nodded, mute. The doors to the building opened, and Sheriff Catherine and Deputy Salverson walked out, a crowd behind them, and a humiliated Curtis Stern with his hands behind his back walking between them.
“So that’s what I figured,” Bluebell said. “Curtis persuaded Steve to meet him at his office to talk. Maybe he offered him money, and Steve refused. Angry, and afraid of losing his job, Curtis killed Steve. He locked the door to Steve’s office and dropped the keys inside, using his drone, but he made a mistake.
In his nervousness, he scraped the drone against a wall, leaving a long scratch on it. He also left behind a tiny sample of black and yellow paint, from the drone’s body. Enough so that forensics could confirm it was his. Enough so that my theory could be proved. I expect Catherine will get a confession out of him soon.”
“Fantastic,” Oliver said. “So it wasn’t magic at all, as we feared.”
“Oh no. That was a red herring.” Bluebell smiled. “I guess normal criminals can be ingenious too. They don’t need magic.”
“Well, I’m convinced,” Oliver said.
“Does that mean you’ll let Mathilda go free?” Bluebell asked.
“I guess we’ll have to,” Oliver said. “She’ll want to see you again soon, that is, if she hasn’t lost her will to teach.”
“I hope she hasn’t,” Bluebell said. “I thought about it, and you were right - magic is just a skill. It’s how you use it that counts. Whether you use it for good or bad, that’s what makes the difference.”
“So you’re ready to join us.” Oliver smiled. “Good. Once your skills improve, come see me again. Maybe we can talk about a job. I’ve got need of brains like yours in my department.”
Flattered, Bluebell smiled. “Thanks. But for now, the only job I’m interested in is working at my mom’s Salon.”
“You wait,” Oliver said. “It’ll bore you, sooner or later, and then I’ll make sure you become one of our finest magical detectives!”
The End
Thank you for reading Bluebell’s first adventure! I really hope you liked it! If so, the rest of the books are available on Amazon, either INDIVIDUALLY OR in a BOX SET!
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