Sweet Taffy and the Marshmallow Murder: Sweet Taffy Cozy Mysteries Book #2

by Dana Moss

  “Oh, did you bump it?” Mrs. Hawthorne looked genuinely worried.

  Taffy ignored Maria’s jab and said, “I’m just fine.” She proffered her gift bag of candies and cookies. “There are some brochures in there, too,” Taffy said as Mrs. Hawthorne exclaimed at the unexpected generosity. “Tours of the factory might be a nice attraction for some of your guests.”

  Mrs. Hawthorne nodded in agreement and carried the bag into the kitchen.

  Taffy quietly said sorry to Maria.

  “You should apologize to Ethan. And Melanie, too. And you might want to offer to clean Finn’s car.”

  “Oh my God, did I—?”

  “Not that, but you dragged in a muddy stick, claiming it was the missing canoe oar. You were pretty blotto.” Taffy didn’t remember any of it. At least no shaving cream had been involved.

  Mrs. Hawthorne returned. The swinging door to the kitchen flapped back and forth. Through the partially open door, Taffy saw a girl walk by carrying fresh folded linens and towels. She made eye contact with Taffy. Her nose ring glinted, and then she was gone, down the hall to one of the guest rooms.

  “You hire high school students here?” Taffy said to Mrs. Hawthorne.

  “She’s my cook’s niece. Needed a summer job. It’s our busiest time, and getting busier with the mayor’s new focus on tourism. We’re ‘the Sweetest Town on the Coast,’ as you know, and you’re a big help with that, Taffy.”

  “Shouldn’t she be in school?”

  “She has a spare Thursday mornings. She works a couple of hours during the week in addition to her weekend shifts.”

  “That was Monica Lewis,” Taffy said to Maria, who hadn’t seen the girl walk by from her seated position on the overstuffed sofa.

  “She’s a decent worker,” Mrs. Hawthorne said. “Just a bit sullen at times. Tea?” Mrs. Hawthorne lifted the cozy and began to pour. They heard voices and footsteps at the top of the stairs. Two women came down. One was Tess Goodwill, the police department’s on-call therapist, whom Maria had recommended Taffy see several times a few months ago to work through her grief about her mother’s death. The other woman had to be Tyler’s mom, Shannon Bradford.

  Maria went to the foyer. “Good of you to make yourself available for this case, Tess.” They shook hands. “Hello, Mrs. Bradford.”

  “Call me Shannon.” She had on fresh lipstick and mascara, but her skin was still splotchy from crying. She held out her hand to Maria.

  Tess said, “I’ll see you again tomorrow at nine, Shannon.” She lifted her coat from the hook by the door. Smiling, she said, “Nice to see you, Taffy. All well with you?”

  Taffy smiled through her hangover headache. “Couldn’t be better.”

  Tess left and Maria said to Shannon, “Would you like to talk in the parlor here?”

  “You’re welcome to come up to my room.”

  “Taffy would like to join us. She’s met Noel and Cara. She was the first to find Tyler.”

  Shannon’s sad eyes turned to Taffy. “Thank you. I can’t imagine what it must have been like. I don’t think I could have…” She bit her lip instead of finishing her sentence.

  Shannon started to lead them up to her room so they wouldn’t be interrupted in the parlor, but then Mrs. Hawthorne jumped in and suggested they use the library. She said they could shut the door, and she’d keep other guests out during their meeting.

  Once in the small, shelf-lined sitting room referred to as the library, both Taffy and Maria expressed how sorry they were and what a shame it was to meet under such circumstances. Shannon was grateful for their concern and wanted to get to the bottom of what had happened out there on the lake.

  “My God, he couldn’t even swim. He knew he wasn’t supposed to play around boats or too close to the water.”

  She spoke about him as if he had been seven years old not seventeen.

  They settled onto brocade chairs, and Maria pulled out her notebook.

  “You and Noel have been separated for how long?”

  “Three years.”

  “And he’s been remarried for two?”

  Shannon nodded.

  “Had he been having an affair? Is that why you split up?”

  “That’s a bit personal, isn’t it?”

  Maria cleared her throat. “Investigating your son’s death doesn’t get much more personal, Mrs. Bradford. It would be helpful if you could answer my question.”

  She nodded. “Sorry. Certainly. I’m pretty sure Noel met Cara after we were separated. After he moved here.”

  “Why did Noel move to Abandon rather than stay in Eugene with you two?”

  “He’s always had a soft spot for this place. He used to summer here as a kid. When the pro shop at the resort came up for sale, it was like two dreams in one for him.”

  “What did he do for work in Eugene?”

  “He owned a sports supply shop, so it wasn’t a huge change of career for him. He sold out to a big chain and made a tidy profit. Gave him his start here.”

  Taffy figured Maria must have gotten this information from Noel already. Was she just checking out the details to make sure he hadn’t embellished or left anything out?

  “And what do you do, Mrs. Bradford?”

  “Call me Shannon. Please. I’m an accountant at an advertising firm.”

  “Remarried?”

  She smiled. “Not yet. It’s been a bit harder for me to move on. And now with this…” She pushed at her eyes as if she could shove the tears back in. “Sorry.”

  Taffy handed her a tissue from the box on the coffee table.

  “Did Tyler seem happier since moving away?”

  She wiped her eyes with the tissue. “I think so. He didn’t want to move back or anything.”

  “Do you have any reason to believe that Tyler was depressed? That he might have been thinking about taking his own life?”

  Shannon stiffened, and her mouth gaped. “Absolutely not! He would never have…” She stopped and looked toward the window, where blue gauze curtains swayed in the breeze. She sighed. “I know what you’re getting at. No parent wants to believe that about their child. And I am aware of the statistics. There can be signs that make sense after the fact, but in Tyler’s case, he was doing so much better.”

  “Compared to what?”

  “At first he took the divorce hard, even though Noel and I did everything to make it a smooth transition. We don’t hate each other. Never did. We just grew apart, and it was time for a change. We wanted different things.”

  “Did you initiate the change?”

  “I suppose I did.”

  “Now Noel’s remarried but you aren’t?”

  Shannon smiled. “I like my independence. But you have to understand this was years ago. Tyler adapted to our separation eventually. He’d already started high school, had good friends. Including Todd Rasmussen, his best friend.” She smiled nostalgically. “We used to have this rhyme about them. Tyler and Todd, two peas in a pod.” She sighed. “Todd’s parents had separated a couple of years before us, and when his father remarried, Todd handled it really well. And so when Noel met Cara, Todd was a big support to Tyler, helped him get through the adjustment. Todd has a good relationship with his stepmom, Rita. He did his best to help Tyler make room in his life, in his heart, for Cara.”

  “From talking to Cara, Tyler didn’t do too well with that.”

  Shannon shook her head. “I never understood it. Cara is unbelievably sweet. She’s good for Noel.”

  “So you like Cara?”

  She turned to them. “Of course!” Then she laughed lightly. “Oh, you were expecting ex-spouse jealousy and animosity? Sorry to disappoint you. Noel and I are good friends. We’ve been co-parenting exceptionally well these past few years. When Tyler said he wanted to move, we worked together to make that possible.”

  “Why do you think Tyler wanted to move so suddenly?”

  “I’m not sure if it was sudden. He seemed to get gradually more unhappy last fall. Twelf
th grade can be stressful. His grades slipped a bit. I think he just wanted a change.”

  “And you understand the need for change?”

  Shannon went to the window, closed it, adjusted the curtains. “It seemed to be good for him. He liked the new school, got his grades up, found a nice girlfriend. I missed him, of course. But he’s nearly grown. I was preparing to face that soon enough. Todd took his departure hard. But Noel and I encouraged the boys to get together on weekends, either when Tyler was visiting me in Eugene or sending Todd down here on his own for visits. I think that made things easier. And Cara was super helpful with all of that, too. She agreed Tyler could move in, and she welcomed Todd when he came to visit.”

  Shannon returned to her seat while Maria jotted down a note.

  “You say you and Noel are good friends, and you get along well with Cara, but she didn’t want you to stay with them at the house this week, is that right?”

  Shannon smiled. “We agreed Todd should have their guest room. He’s arriving sometime today. I’m fine staying here.” She sat down again and clasped her hands in her lap.

  “What was Noel doing here yesterday afternoon?”

  When she didn’t answer right away, Maria added. “He told Cara he was going to the gym, but he came here instead. Why did he lie?”

  “He did go to the gym. He was on his way there. He stopped by to give me something. Tyler’s baby pictures.” Tears started to gather in her eyes. “I asked for them. They’re upstairs if you want to see them.”

  “No need,” Maria said.

  Shannon brushed at her tears. “You can’t begin to understand how hard this is for us. To lose our son like this…”

  She took another tissue as Taffy offered it.

  “I admit I like Cara more than she likes me. She’s never liked my friendship with Noel. She’s possessive, you know. I think it comes from years of being a competitive athlete. I don’t blame her. She has plenty of other good qualities.” She used a corner of the tissue to smooth away the smudges of mascara created by her tears. “I know it sounds horrible, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a part of her isn’t just a tiny bit pleased that Tyler’s out of the way now. Gawd, that really sounds awful. Sorry.”

  It was an odd thing to say, but the ground had been pulled out from under this woman in the past two days. Her life would never be the same again.

  Something vibrated near Shannon. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Looking at the screen, she said, “Todd just arrived. He’s over at Noel’s. I imagine you’ll want to speak to him too? I’ll give you his number.” She picked up her phone and read out a number. Maria wrote it down.

  “Wouldn’t hurt to ask him a few questions about Tyler’s state of mind. When’s the last time they saw each other?”

  Shannon scrunched her forehead as she calculated. “Maybe two weeks ago? When Tyler last came home to visit, I think.”

  As they left the B and B, thanking Mrs. Hawthorne for the use of the library, Taffy had that little rhyme circling in her head: Tyler and Todd, two peas in a pod.

  ~

  Standing at the foot of the steps outside the B and B with Maria, Taffy said, “Why did you bring up suicide? That seemed a bit harsh.”

  “Can’t rule it out. A kid who can’t swim gets into a canoe on a lake without a paddle?”

  “Someone probably put him there. The position he was in didn’t look voluntary.”

  “I’m not ruling that out either. But with the preliminary autopsy reports showing drugs in his system, possibly a fatal amount, we also have to consider this was self-inflicted.”

  “You think he might have overdosed? And on purpose?”

  “It’s one theory I’m looking into. We’ll have to wait for toxicology to confirm what’s actually there. I’ve asked for a test to compare the compounds found in Tyler’s blood with the contents of the baggie from last night.”

  Last night. Taffy felt bad about the parts she could remember. Had she actually heckled Maria? She was usually so determined to help her.

  “I really am sorry about last night,” she said, sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to make things more difficult.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just keep your head on straight, okay? I’m going to need your help on this one.”

  She meant the case, and that gave Taffy a lift.

  “Maybe you should talk to that friend of Tyler’s from Eugene. He might be able to shed some light on the extent of Tyler’s interest in drugs.”

  Maria nodded. “I will. And I need to talk to some of the other teens again, too. I don’t think they’re telling us everything they know.”

  “I bet Jenny and that girl Monica know more than they’re letting on.” Taffy glanced back at the B and B.

  “When I went over my notes, Jenny had mentioned that Tyler had come by the campground the night he died, but none of the other kids admitted to seeing him. Either he slipped in, saw Jenny, and left, or they’re lying. I’m going over to Jenny’s house to confirm that now.”

  “Do you want me to come?”

  “I’ll be fine on this one.”

  “I should probably go apologize to Ethan anyway. And stop by the factory. Then go back to the mall and pick up my new phone.”

  “About time. Text me when you’re wired back up.”

  Maria unlocked her car, which was parked in front of Taffy’s. Gazing at the spiffy Bentley, Maria said, “You really like driving that thing around town?”

  Taffy slid behind her wheel. “The thing about driving a fancy car? It doesn’t feel like you’re driving it. It feels like it’s driving you.”

  After Maria drove away, Taffy looked back at the B and B. She thought she saw one of the blue curtains shift and fall back into place.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Taffy stopped by the park ranger office but Ethan’s truck was gone. Melanie’s little jeep was parked off to the side, and Taffy was not keen to go in just to see her, but when she tried the office door, it was locked.

  She stepped back from the door and peered through a window. No one was around. It was still working hours. So they must have gone somewhere together. She looked around. The forest was quiet, peaceful. The display board showed the campground would be full this weekend. The police had rolled up their crime scene tape, at least around the campground, and most of the state park seemed to be functioning as usual again.

  Taffy saw the lake in the distance. Through the trees and shrubs, the water sparkled. It looked idyllic. And yet a teenage boy had died out there. Taffy wondered when, exactly. And how. What had he been thinking and feeling? By the accounts of his parents, he’d been happy and functioning well. But there had been something going on under the surface. Taffy could almost feel the jittery presence of it, the out-of-sync pieces of the puzzle that weren’t ready to line up yet. It was like sensing the rumble of an oncoming train. You couldn’t hear or see it, and you couldn’t even really feel it, but something about your feet on the ground and the train’s distant approach connected, in a language of vibration, before any kind of shaking or trembling could be felt in the body. Was death like that too? Did a person feel it coming without really knowing what it was? Had Tyler?

  A crow’s screech broke through Taffy’s reverie. The crow swooped down from the branches overhead and landed on top of one of the metal trash bins. It looked at her as if to say, “Open this for me, please.” Actually, there was no “please” in his regard. He hopped a couple of times, screeched again, and then flew off, up to the branches above Taffy’s head. On his way, he deposited something splooshy and gross right at Taffy’s feet. The guano had barely missed her head. As she surveyed the near miss, she noticed other evidence of unsolicited and potentially dangerous nature edging toward her: a big, fat, hairy spider. Instinctively, she stepped back. But she was less afraid of spiders than she used to be. Living in that draughty old house and hiking and bird watching with Ethan had cured her of some of her dread.

  Her thoughts jumped back to
Ethan and Melanie and where they might be. Together. That sick churning in her gut returned. A part of her knew she was being ridiculous, unreasonable, irrational. But the gut-churning part, the deep limbic throb in her chest and at the base of her skull, convinced her of a looming threat.

  She needed that new phone. Then she could be in touch with him, apprised of his every movement. She blinked. What was she thinking? She trusted Ethan. Didn’t she? But Melanie… She knew nothing about this Mel, who was already so googly-eyed over Ethan, grinning and saluting at every turn.

  Taffy had an idea. It was a bad one, and juvenile. She knew it. But she let it seduce her anyway.

  She walked over to her car and grabbed an empty paper coffee cup from her car console’s cup holder. She pulled out an oil-change postcard from her glove box. Bracing herself, she used these tools to scoop up that fat, hairy spider. She looked around briefly, saw no one, and then stealthily side-stepped toward Melanie’s jeep. She tried the latch. Unlocked. She grinned like a mischievous twelve-year-old boy. Then she threw the spider into the jeep and slammed the door.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Taffy drove to the mall to pick up her new phone. In the parking lot, she noticed a white SUV for sale. Maybe she did need to drive something more suited to this environment. The Bentley was overkill and belonged in New York or LA rather than small-town Oregon. Taffy noted down the telephone number on the For Sale sign. It couldn’t hurt to look into it.

  In the phone shop, she had the sales clerk get her new phone up and running and then sent Maria a silly text to confirm her new number. She found an image of a raccoon straddling a crack in the road and titled it “Raccoon on Crack” in an effort to make a joke about the night before. Maria got the joke and sent back an LOL.

  As Taffy left the phone store, she saw Cara coming out of a clothing shop. Cara also saw Taffy, and she smiled and waved. They walked toward each other and met by the fountain.

  Cara was well dressed, with her hair swept up in a stylized messy bun and her barely there make up applied impeccably. She looked a cut above the locals, and because of it, she stood out among them. She reminded Taffy of her fashionable friends back home. Sometimes she missed them. Their allure and unspoken promises of good times and deluxe living. Cara was chipper and friendly as they exchanged pleasantries.