Funfetti Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 52

by Susan Gillard

  “You don’t think he did it?” Amy asked

  “I’m just not sure,” replied Heather.

  “Is it possible he was right, and he is being framed?” asked Amy.

  “It’s possible,” Heather said. “But it’s a messy frame job.”

  “Why messy?”

  “Well,” Heather said. “We’re lucky we have such a good forensics team that was able to analyze the tiny amounts of insulin in the wine.”

  “So if the killer was trying to frame Dan Lindau, he couldn’t count on the insulin being found in the murder weapon?” Amy asked.

  “I don’t think so,” said Heather. “And if someone really wanted to frame him, they could have squirted just as much insulin as arsenic into the wine. Why not?”

  “That’s true,” Amy said.

  “I’m not saying he definitely didn’t do it. There are lots of things that point to him being guilty,” Heather said. “It’s just that there are some pieces to this puzzle that don’t fit. And I hate it when the pieces don’t fit.”

  Chapter 15

  Feeling almost back to square one with suspects, Heather was happy to attend another PTA meeting. This one was more impromptu and had a much smaller audience. The aim of this meeting was to select an acting president until an official one could be put in place. Apparently, this drew a smaller crowd than the mystery surrounding Marcia Lindau’s death.

  Heather and Amy easily found seats this time and were joined by Lisa Luft.

  “Are you going to run for president?” Lisa asked as she sat down.

  “No,” Heather said. “I have too much going on to give it my all.”

  “You seem like you might be good at it,” she said.

  “I’m not sure it’s really my thing,” Heather said. “I know what my real callings are, and I’m pretty happy with them, even though they do take up a lot of my time.”

  “What about you?” Lisa asked Amy.

  “Oh, no,” Amy said. “I barely belong in this room, let alone be the one to lead it. I’m neither a P nor a T. I’m just her friend, and we go everywhere together.”

  Lisa nodded along. “I wonder who they’ll pick.”

  “What about you?” Heather asked the question back to her.

  “Me?”

  “I think you’d be a great president,” Heather said. “You put people at ease rather than making them feel like they’re in a competition that they are destined to lose.”

  “I never even considered it,” Lisa said. “Do you really think I could do it?”

  “Sure,” Heather said. “And even at the bake sale, you were putting the consideration of the customers and children ahead of your own ego. I think this would be a welcome change.”

  “What if I can’t raise as much money as Marcia could?”

  “You’ll never know unless you try,” Heather said.

  “You’re right,” Lisa said. “Sure. I’ll try it.”

  With that she decisively went up to put her name in for consideration. Heather was very pleased when after a brief back and forth, Lisa was officially named as Acting President. Lisa didn’t know that she would have to make a speech and literally had not prepared anything because she didn’t decide to ask for the position until a few moments before the meeting.

  However, Lisa said some nice things about how they could all work together to achieve some positive goals for the kids. She thanked Heather for encouraging her and looked excited to begin her new work.

  Heather was happy that she was able to do some good work at the meeting before she even got to her questioning. She wasn’t sure that she was going to uncover anything useful, but because she didn’t have a “prime” suspect she thought she might as well talk to everyone again.

  She and Amy walked up to Marcia’s friends who were gathering together again.

  “It’s the investigators,” Sally said.

  “What do you think about that Lisa Luft as the new president?” Alexandra asked.

  “I think she’ll be fantastic,” Heather assured her. “I think she really has a way with people and she’s excited to do some new projects.”

  Alexandra smiled. “That’s reassuring. We should go and welcome her to the position.”

  The other ladies agreed, but Heather held up a hand. “Before you go welcome her, we need to ask you some more questions.”

  “More questions?” Claire said. “You’re going to make us think that you suspect us of the crime.”

  “No,” Carmen said. “I heard they arrested Dan Lindau for the murder. Is that true?”

  “He hasn’t been arrested,” Heather clarified. “He’s just being questioned about what happened in a more official setting.”

  “So they don’t think he did it?” Carmen asked.

  “They’re not sure right now,” Heather said. “Do you think he could have done it?”

  The ladies looked at one another.

  “I wouldn’t have thought so,” Alexandra said. “But now that she has been murdered I’m not so sure.”

  “Somebody had to do it,” Sally said.

  “But do you really think Dan did it?” Carmen asked. “I feel like he doesn’t have a fighting bone in his body.”

  “But maybe that’s why he used poison,” Claire said. “It has less direct contact, so maybe he felt brave enough to face that type of kill.”

  “He probably did know about the affair,” Alexandra said. “Partners can usually tell.”

  “I just don’t buy it,” Carmen said. “He just doesn’t seem like a murderer.”

  “Who does?” Claire asked.

  “Is there anyone who could have wanted to frame Dan Lindau for the murder?” Heather asked.

  “Frame him?” Sally asked. “Then you do think there is a lot of evidence against him.”

  “I can’t believe a husband would kill his own wife,” Carmen said.

  “Why are you considering that he was framed?” Claire asked.

  Heather and Amy exchanged a look. They didn’t want to give too much information away about the case. They thought they should keep the insulin clue quiet for a while. Either the killer had thought that he committed a perfect crime and telling him about the insulin residue would alert him that he had made a mistake, or the killer actually had tried to frame Dan Lindau, and they didn’t want him to know how seriously they were taking the clue.

  “We’re just considering all possibilities,” Heather said. “Do you know anyone who had a grudge against Mr. Lindau?”

  The ladies all shrugged and shook their heads.

  “We didn’t know him too well,” Alexandra said.

  “He was the significant other of a friend. Not our friend,” Claire said.

  “But he seemed well liked and got along with people,” said Carmen.

  “And Marcia didn’t give us any gossip about his being involved in a feud,” Sally added.

  “I think she would have told us if he had any enemies,” Alexandra agreed.

  “She loved to gossip,” Claire said.

  “And to cause some drama,” said Carmen.

  “And talk about people being enemies,” Sally said.

  “Rest her soul,” Alexandra said. The friends all repeated after her.

  “One last question,” Heather said. “Are any of you ladies diabetic?”

  The shook their heads again.

  “What a funny thing to ask?” Claire said.

  “It must be about future bake sales, right?” Asked Alexandra.

  Heather nodded along as they giggled and talked about how she balanced work and the PTA. Then they returned to their original idea of congratulating Lisa on becoming the acting president.

  “If they swarm her every meeting, I’ll start to think that my inspiring words to Lisa were actually a curse,” Heather said.

  “I think she’ll survive,” Amy said.

  “I’m not sure we learned anything new from that conversation,” Heather grumbled.

  “Just that they don’t know any reason
why someone would want to frame Dan Lindau for his wife’s murder.”

  “I really don’t think he was framed,” Heather said. “I just thought I should follow up on the idea for due diligence.”

  “Dan Lindau himself didn’t offer up any ideas on who was framing him.”

  “I think that the insulin in the wine was a mistake,” Heather said. “The thing that makes the most sense to me is that the killer carried the poison in a diabetic needle that they thought was empty. The trace amounts found in the wine bottle transferred accidentally.”

  “Dan Lindau could have still used the needle,” Amy said.

  “That’s true,” Heather said. “It needs to be someone with access to an insulin needle. I’m pretty sure you need a doctor’s prescription for it, so that could limit who could have one easily.”

  “Right,” Amy said. “And if the killer were just using the needle for transport, why would they lie, cheat and steal to get this type of needle? Especially if they thought it was empty. It must have been easy for them to get ahold of one.”

  “So the question is,” Heather said. “Which of our suspects had access to the wine, the poison, and the needle?”

  Chapter 16

  “No, I’m not diabetic,” Susan Port said. “And I’m not a murderer.”

  “I am sorry to bother you again, but we need to follow whatever leads we come across,” Heather said.

  “I guess I understand,” Susan said. “You need to solve every murder, regardless of who the victim is.”

  “You know that when you say these things, it makes you sound guilty, right?” Amy asked.

  “I will admit that I’m not sorry that she’s gone, but I can’t admit to anything else. I was never inside her house,” Susan said. “I didn’t poison her. Though I don’t mind that somebody else took it upon themselves to do so.”

  “See?” Amy said. “You’re doing it again. This makes you sound like you killed her.”

  “And you admitted to being outside her house before, following her.”

  “Yes. But I didn’t go inside and murder her. Even though—“

  “I’m going to stop you there,” Amy said. “Three murder threats, even after the fact, is my limit.”

  ***

  That afternoon as Heather and Amy walked the pets with Lilly, they couldn’t help but think about the case. Lilly had run a little bit ahead with Dave who wanted to investigate a particular tree and claim it as his own, so the two friends had a moment to talk about murder.

  “Susan was certainly acting peculiar,” Heather said.

  “I’ll say,” agreed Amy. “Did she want us to think she was the killer?”

  “I think if she were the killer, she wouldn’t have acted so bold.”

  “Maybe she’s a bold blooded killer,” Amy joked.

  Heather laughed. Then she shook her head.

  “I’m having trouble making sense of this case,” she said.

  “Poison is tough to track,” Amy said. “There were so many people who had the opportunity to lace the wine with arsenic.”

  “And a lot of people with a motive to,” Heather agreed.

  “I thought the insulin would have helped to simplify things, but the only suspect who is diabetic is Dan Lindau, right?”

  “Right,” Heather said. “Ryan did some checks to confirm it.”

  “But something about him committing the crime doesn’t sit right with you?”

  “Maybe I’m overthinking it,” Heather said. “But I feel like if he were going to kill the person he lived with in a premeditated manner, he would have come up with a better plan.”

  “Not all killers are smart,” Amy said.

  “I know that. But something about Dan Lindau as the killer bothers me.”

  “He’s the only diabetic suspect with a reason to kill Marcia. He has means, motive, and opportunity.”

  “I know, I know,” Heather said.

  “Is this not the only thing that’s bothering you?” Amy asked.

  Heather looked at her bestie. “You know me too well,” she said.

  “What is it? Cupcake didn’t drag us through any mud on this walk today.”

  “It’s Lilly,” Heather said. “I’m feeling like I’m spending too much time away from her, trying to solve a case and I’m not even doing a stellar job on this one.”

  “We’re doing fine,” Amy said. “We’re not finished yet. We’ll catch the killer. If it wasn’t Dan Lindau, then we just need to determine who else had easy access to the diabetic needles.”

  “Am I ignoring Lilly when I focus on criminals?”

  Amy groaned. “Why don’t you just talk to her? You might save yourself a lot of stress if you just ask her how she feels.”

  Amy took Cupcake’s leash and led her to an interesting flower. Heather went over to her daughter.

  “Dave is being really pushy today,” Lilly teased. “And there’s not even any donuts around.”

  “Dave, are you giving her trouble?” Heather asked. Dave looked sheepish for a moment and then wagged his tail.

  Lilly looked at her mom. “Is everything all right, mom?”

  “I wanted to see if everything was all right with you,” Heather said.

  “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  Heather shrugged. “I don’t know. It was implied that I don’t give you everything you need.”

  “Who said that?” Lilly asked. “Not me. I think you’re the best.”

  “You don’t mind that I’m running a business and being an investigator at the same time as being a mom?”

  “I think it’s amazing that you do all that,” Lilly said. “Actually it makes you a great role model.”

  Heather felt that what her daughter was telling her was genuine and felt an immense weight lift off her shoulders. Where had all these doubts come from? Lilly was happy with her life and with her family.

  “It makes me feel like I can do anything when I grow up,” Lilly said.

  Heather had to blink a few times to keep herself to from tearing up.

  “You can do anything you want when you grow up,” Heather said back to her.

  “Plus,” Lilly said, conspiratorially. “I’m a very lucky kid in other ways too. Besides having wonderful parents, I also get lots of delicious donuts.”

  Heather gave her a hug. “You’re my daughter,” she said aloud.

  “And you’re my mom,” Lilly said simply.

  Dave barked to join in the moment.

  “Actually there is something that is bothering me a little bit,” Lilly said, after thinking about it a bit. “But it’s not you.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s Marlena. She just lost her mom, and I think she needs a friend.”

  Heather was deeply touched. “Do you want me to set up a playdate with her?”

  Lilly nodded. “But it doesn’t have to be a playdate. It could be a talk date. Or just sit-with-someone-who-knows-what-you’re-going-through date.”

  “I’ll set something up as soon as I can,” Heather promised. She knew that it might not be right away because Mr. Lindau was currently being accused of his wife’s murder and might not be feeling too kindly toward the Shepherds.

  Heather was just thinking about how proud she was of her daughter and about future playdates when a thought occurred to her.

  “It’s so simple,” Heather said.

  “What is?” Lilly asked. “Did you solved the case?”

  “I might have,” said Heather.

  Lilly waved Amy over. “Come here,” she called. “My mom just solved the case!”

  Chapter 17

  This time Heather was able to sit at the interrogation table with Ryan. Amy was seated in the corner, taking notes. Across the table was a disgruntled looking Claire Miller.

  “I don’t understand why I’m here,” Claire said. “This investigator has been harassing me at PTA meetings about a murder, and now you’re letting her convince you that I killed my friend.”