Ryan and Peters were trying to track down Denny Fallon’s car while Heather and Amy decided to knock on his front door. If he had just robbed a jewelry store, it was unlikely that they would find him at home, but they decided to try.
Heather rang the doorbell. There was no human response, but a cat began to yowl at the sound of their presence.
“I don’t think that sounds angry,” Heather said. “I think it’s calling for help.”
“Probable cause?” Amy asked.
The cat made a desperate cry again.
“I think so,” Heather said. “And I’m not going to leave if an animal needs assistance.”
The front door was locked, but the back door wasn’t. Heather and Amy entered tentatively.
“Mr. Fallon?” Heather called. “We’re private investigators working with the police, and we have a few questions for you. We’re coming in to check on your cat.”
“Every part of this case sounds weird,” Amy muttered.
As soon as they were inside, a tabby cat ran up to them. He began brushing against Heather’s leg and then hugged it with his paws.
“Someone is glad to see you,” Amy said.
Heather looked around the kitchen. There were a few things that were concerning her. The first was that the cat’s bowl was empty.
“I think I know why he’s happy,” Heather said.
She immediately started searching for the cat’s food. She found it in a cabinet and filled the bowl to the top. The cat purred and began eating.
The water bowl was connected to an automatic refilling container, so he was set on water.
“Poor kitty,” Amy said. “It looks like he hasn’t eaten in days.”
“I think you might be right,” Heather said.
She pointed to a calendar on the wall. Most of the days that had passed during the month had been checked off with an “X.” However, they stopped on Sunday. Monday through Wednesday had not been marked as passing. Another potential clue was a marking of a star on Saturday.
“Saturday night was when the robbery took place, right?” said Amy.
Heather nodded. “Saturday night or Sunday morning, depending on how you look at it.”
While the contented cat continued to eat at his food bowl, Heather and Amy continued to explore the house. There was minimal décor, but there were pictures of the cat in silly costumes on the walls.
Heather checked the trash can by the desk and called out “Eureka!”
“What is it?” asked Amy.
“I think it’s enough to prove that Denny Fallon was involved in the robbery.”
Heather showed her the papers that were crumpled in the wastebasket. They only made sense because of what they knew about the robbery, but the rectangles on the page perfectly matched the layout of the jewelry store’s display cases.
“So, Denny Fallon robbed the jewelry store and then left town?” Amy asked. “After maybe killing Burt Braun?”
“There’s something that doesn’t make sense with that scenario,” Heather said.
“What?”
Heather pointed to all the pictures of the cat on the wall. “Denny Fallon must love his cat. He wouldn’t have skipped town without him. Or at least he would have made plans for someone to come in and feed the cat.”
“He was planning on coming back home,” Amy said. “But then something happened? He was hit with a shovel?”
“Maybe,” Heather said. “The only thing I’m sure of is that I’m not leaving this cat alone.”
“I don’t know if we can bring him home. Dave and Miss Marshmallow are okay with cats, but not all cats know that.”
“Maybe we can have Jamie pick him up and keep him in the grooming van while we figure out a safe place to keep him.”
Amy agreed and called Jamie who said he would come right over. Amy was smiling from ear to ear when she hung up.
“So, I’ve admitted that seeing him makes me happy and I can’t wait for the proposal,” Amy said shrugging. “So what?”
Jamie was true to his word and arrived quickly in his Mobile Groom Room van. He joined them and greeted the finally full cat.
“Thanks for coming,” Amy said.
“I’m always happy when I can help with your investigations,” Jamie said. “What happened to this little guy’s owner?”
“We’re not sure,” Heather said. “But he’s been left alone for a few days, and I want to make sure he’s taken care of.”
“I’ll be sure to keep an eye on him. I’ll make sure he’s fed and hydrated,” Jamie assured them. “And speaking of food and hydration. Amy, can I take you out to dinner tonight?”
“I’d love that,” Amy said, excitedly. “The perfect setting.”
“For what?”
“Oh,” Amy said. “Just to eat.”
Jamie gave her a kiss. “I’ll see you tonight. And if need be, I’m sure we can find a home for this kitty. He seems like a friendly guy.”
“Just not with us,” Amy teased.
“Right,” Jamie said, with a slight frown on his face. “Well, goodnight.”
He left, and Amy turned to her friend. “Did I say something wrong?”
“I don’t think so,” Heather said. “But I’ve been thinking about the case. And I think we might need to solve this robbery in order to solve the murder.”
Denny
The next morning, Heather spent some time tidying up her house. With a twelve-year-old, a dog, a cat, and a steady stream of visitors, her house needed a little attention. She and Ryan often took turns cleaning, depending on who was home and who needed a task to keep their hands busy while their minds pondered other questions.
Today, Heather tackled scrubbing the bathtub while thinking about the robbery and the body that they found. Was there a second body that they should be looking for?
Cupcake was hiding, afraid that Heather’s task was a trick to get the kitten into the bath. Dave was keeping her company and wagging his tail as she muttered to herself about the case.
“This would have been much easier if Mr. Rankle had seen everything that happened that day. Who would have thought that having an eyewitness to a murder just makes it more confusing?”
“You’re talking about confusing?” Amy called, entering the house.
“You’re a great guard dog. You know that?” Heather teased her canine friend. He barked in response. He knew that he didn’t need to guard against Amy. Because Amy lived in the home above Heather’s, she was a constant visitor, even though she still might have been if they lived further apart.
“Yup,” Heather said, taking off her cleaning gloves. “Confusion all around. Did Mr. Rankle really see a murder? Who killed Burt Braun? And where is Denny Fallon now?”
“Also, is Jamie going to propose?”
“What do you mean?” Heather asked.
“I mean that he took me out to Bella’s – that fancy Italian restaurant on the beach. It was wonderful and lovely. And I knew that he wanted to ask me something, but then he chickened out. I felt it.”
“That might mean that he’s waiting for the perfect moment,” Heather said. “Or he’s afraid that you might not say yes. You have been hesitant about making big steps before.”
“Or he doesn’t want to marry me,” Amy said.
“Impossible,” Heather said. “You’re both head over heels in love with each other, and he knows that you’d be perfect together for the long run. He must be waiting for the right time. He’d be crazy not to want to marry you.”
“Thanks,” Amy said. “I needed to hear that.”
Heather hugged her friend. Amy added humor to the moment by commenting on how their meaningful conversation was being held in the bathroom.
They were about to head to the living room and discuss what to do with the tabby cat they found, when Ryan called Heather.
“You have that look on your face that says we’re about to run off somewhere,” Amy said when Heather had hung up.
“Ryan found Denny Fal
lon’s car,” Heather said.
Heather and Amy arrived at the parking lot where Denny Fallon’s car was found, but Ryan intercepted them before they got too close.
“You might want to stay back for this one.”
“Why?” Heather asked.
“Because after I called you to tell you that we found the car, I realized that we also found Denny Fallon.”
“Where?” asked Amy.
“In the trunk,” Ryan said.
“Gross.”
“Was he killed with a blow to the head from a shovel?” Heather asked.
“That’s right,” Ryan said. “Or at least that’s what appeared to have happened. The medical examiner needs to finish the official autopsy.”
A tropical breeze blew past them, but it didn’t feel peaceful knowing that a dead body had been stuffed in a trunk nearby.
“What does Denny Fallon look like?” Heather asked.
“Besides dead?” said Amy.
“Well,” Ryan said. “He’s short and skinny with dark hair. He has a red bandanna too.”
“Just like Mr. Rankle said,” Heather pointed out.
“So I guess that means that Mr. Rankle was right about everything he saw,” said Amy.
“I think so,” Heather said, nodding. “ Burt Braun killed Denny Fallon with the shovel just like Mr. Rankle saw. But then somebody had to kill Burt Braun and put his body in the ocean.”
“It almost seems like the bodies are switched,” Ryan said. “Why was Burt Braun found where we expected the man Mr. Rankle saw murdered to be?”
“And why was Denny Fallon left here?” asked Heather.
“Somebody had to drive his car here,” Amy pointed out. “The dead guy didn’t do it himself.”
“There aren’t any cameras around here, are there?” Heather asked.
Ryan shook his head. “And this parking lot isn’t very busy during the off-season on the island.”
Detective Peters ducked under the crime scene tape and joined them.
“Any fingerprints?” Ryan asked.
“No such luck,” Peters said. “It looks like the killer wiped inside the car down. But I did find something stuck in the seats that I thought was interesting.”
“I hope it’s more exciting than loose change,” Amy said.
Peters revealed a business card.
“I’m not sure that’s much exciting,” Amy said.
“ Whose card is it?” asked Heather.
“It’s the store card for the jewelry shop that was robbed,” Peters said. “It has the office line and not a specific person, but look at what is written on the back. 3 min at 2. That’s about the flaw in the security system, isn’t it?”
“It looks like it,” said Ryan.
“And it looks like Denny Fallon had some help with this robbery,” Heather said. “I think it might be inside help.”
The Owner
You’ll have to excuse me. It’s not that I don’t find your questions interesting. It’s that I have a sleep disorder and it sometimes causes me to be drowsy,” Mr. Franklin explained.
The owner of the jewelry store had invited the investigators into his home. His eyes had drooped as they described how the jewelry store’s robbery now seemed linked to a double homicide.
“This is terrible,” Mr. Franklin said. “And I’ve always had trouble sleeping, but now thinking about my poor store, my sleep has gotten even worse. I imagine I won’t be able to sleep a wink tonight when I think about murders occurring.”
“Well, thank you for taking the time to talk with us again,” Ryan said.
Mr. Franklin nodded and then seemed to nod off for a moment.
“Mr. Franklin?” Heather asked.
“Sorry,” he said, shaking his head to shake off his sleepiness. “There’s something wrong with my sleep cycle. You can see why I’m an interesting case to study.”
“Very interesting,” Amy said, barely refraining from rolling her eyes.
“And you were part of a sleep study the night that your store was robbed?” Heather asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Franklin said, nodding. “As I told these nice detectives, I’m part of a sleep study. I’m doing my part for science. Most of what I do is from home and recording my experiences. However, once a month, I sleep in a lab. I’m hooked up to some sensors and scientists watch me sleep.”
“We contacted the lab, and they confirmed this,” Ryan said.
“I think that might be why the burglars chose that night for the robbery,” Mr. Franklin said. “I believe they might have been researching my shop and me for quite a while. They must have known that once a month I’m unavailable if something were to happen overnight.”
“I bet your employees know all about this too,” Amy said.
“I never kept it a secret from them. But I don’t see how they could have had any part in this scheme. Alec and Linda have been with me for years. They’ve been very reliable. I’ve never had any trouble with them before.”
“But they do know all the inner workings of the shop?” Heather asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Franklin said. “They need to. They know about the security system and how the store works. Sometimes I add new jewels after hours and don’t tell them about it until the morning. That’s only if a shipment could only arrive in the evening. Actually, the evening before we were robbed I added a lovely display of opals. It’s really a shame that no one got to see it besides the robbers.”
“In a way, they might have appreciated the display,” Amy said. “They did take them.”
“They really are good employees, though,” he continued. “They always wish me sweet dreams when we say goodnight because of my sleep issues.”
“Were your jewels insured?” Heather asked.
“Of course they were,” Mr. Franklin said. “But I couldn’t have any part of this either. I’m well known as a jeweler. I always have the proper paperwork. I wouldn’t be able to sell stolen jewels. And this break-in is very bad for me. I was hoping to convince my brother’s son to start working in the shop. Now he’s afraid it’s too dangerous.”
“That does seem like an inconvenience.”
“It is! And if this robbery weren’t bad enough, now you’re telling me it led to murder. I just don’t know what I’m going to do.”
However, right after he said that he began to snore in his seat. The investigators didn’t have any more questions, so they tiptoed out of the room and let him have his rest.
“I think Mr. Franklin was on to something when he said that the thieves chose the day he was at the sleep study to commit the robbery,” Heather said.
She was seated at a table with Amy at Donut Delights.
“Do you think it’s like he said and the robbers researched him to know the best day?” her bestie asked.
“It’s possible that Denny Fallon and Burt Braun spied on him and the shop,” Heather said. “But it’s also possible that one of the other employees told them about their boss’s schedule.”
“An inside job!”
“It’s also possible that Mr. Franklin coordinated with the robbers to come on a day that he had an airtight alibi so that we wouldn’t suspect him.”
“Then it’s backfiring because we are suspecting him now,” Amy pointed out.
“I’m suspecting the other employees too,” Heather said. “I think it had to be someone that knew the schedule of the security camera’s reboot who was involved in the robbery.”
“And you think both Denny Fallon and Burt Braun were involved in the theft.”
Heather nodded. “We know Denny Fallon was involved because of what we found at his apartment and his car. We also know that the crime needed more than one person to carry it off in the three-minute window. I think Burt Braun was an accomplice and they were fighting about the crime when he decided to swing his shovel.”
“Oh,” Amy said. “Speaking of what we found in Denny’s apartment, have you had any more thoughts on what we should do with the cat?”
“No,” Heather sighed. “Eva and Leila like visiting our pets better than having their own, and Bernadette is sick right now. None of my assistants have taken me up on the offer for a cat either. I don’t know who else to ask.”
The door to the shop opened, and Nick entered. He walked up to the counter with a smile on his face. Nina smiled right back.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m surprised to see you so soon. I do like it though.”
“I thought we should figure out what time we should go to the movie tomorrow, and maybe we should exchange numbers.”
“Okay,” Nina said, as he handed his cell phone to her so she could enter her number.
Digby ran out of the kitchen and tried to intercept them.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “I think you’re being a little too forward here. You can’t expect her just to give you her number.”
“Digby, why are you acting so weird?” Nina asked.
“Do you really want to give a Rankle your number?” Digby asked. “Think about it. If he ends up being the man of your dreams, you could end up an in-law to Mr. Rankle. Do you really want to be related to that old grouch?”
“You’re jumping way too far ahead,” Nina said. “It’s just a movie.”
“And my uncle isn’t that bad. He can be a little rough around the edges. But he used to be very sweet to his pet cat, and after I pressed for it, he said I could take a lunch break.”
“Think about what I’ve said,” Digby said, giving them the evil eye as he walked away.
“There is a lot of drama in your donut shop these days,” Amy said.
“You’re right. And I think we need to get away from it awhile and track down the other employees,” Heather said. “Though, those three might have given me an idea.”
The Employees
Alec Bradshaw?”
“That’s right,” a young man replied, opening his door. His house was a bit run-down and ramshackle, but he looked put-together.
Hot Fudge Sundae & Murder Page 5