Daley Buzz Cozy Mystery Boxed Set

by Meredith Potts

  “Benjamin dumped Linda,” Vincent said.

  “Do you know why?” David asked.

  “Benjamin believed she was emotionally unstable. Linda was having these wild mood swings. And drinking a lot. Not to mention, she was really jealous of his female friends. It was just a bad relationship on many fronts,” Vincent said.

  David scribbled a note down on his pad of paper. “Interesting.”

  “I have a different word for it,” Vincent said.

  “I’ll bet,” David said. “But right now, there’s something else I’d like to ask you.”

  “What?” Vincent said.

  “Earlier, you mentioned there were a number of people who might have wanted your brother dead. Can you please tell me the names of these other people?” David asked.

  “Right. Well, Max Tolliver. Natalie Kimmel. And Norman Burke,” Vincent said.

  “What sort of problems were they having with Benjamin?” David asked.

  “To start, my brother fired Norman the other day,” Vincent said.

  “Do you know why?” David asked.

  “According to my brother, he caught Norman stealing from the register at the pet store,” Vincent said.

  “How about Natalie Kimmel?” David asked. “Why would she hate your brother?”

  “For the same reason that Max Tolliver did. They were all vying for the same promotion. Which Benjamin ended up getting,” Vincent said.

  “And let me guess. Max and Natalie did not react well to Benjamin becoming their new boss?” I asked.

  “They sure didn’t,” Vincent said.

  David scribbled down a few more notes on his pad of paper. When he was done, he looked up at Vincent. “Does anyone else come to mind?”

  Vincent shook his head. “No.”

  “All right. Thank you for your help,” David said.

  “Of course. Anything to help you catch my brother’s killer,” Vincent said.

  “By the way, when was the last time you spoke with Benjamin?” David asked.

  “Yesterday afternoon,” Vincent said.

  “What did you talk about?” David asked.

  “The problems he was having,” Vincent said. “I told him that he had just hit a rough patch. And that he’d find a way to get through this.” He grimaced. “I guess I was wrong.” He exhaled and stared at the ground.

  David looked at Vincent with sympathetic eyes. “I know that it’s a very emotional time, but I just need to ask you a few more things.”

  “Do we really have to do this now?” Vincent asked.

  “I’ll make it quick,” David said.

  “All right. What do you want to know?” Vincent asked.

  “Where were you last night?”

  “I was at home watching some TV.”

  “Was anyone with you?”

  Vincent shook his head. “No. It was just me and a few beers. Why do you ask?”

  “It’s just standard procedure,” David said.

  “Oh. Okay.” Vincent grimaced again. “Anyway, are we done? I’m having a really tough time here.”

  “I understand. You’re free to go,” David said.

  Chapter Eight

  While Vincent left the scene and drove away, my focus shifted back to Benjamin’s house. Suddenly, I felt like I was being torn in two different directions. Part of me couldn’t help but question who was responsible for this. Meanwhile, another part of me was just overwhelmed by a sense of grief. It was difficult wrestling with just one of those things. So, to be juggling them both at once was absolutely devastating.

  Even though my mind was racing, I didn’t say a word. Instead, I just kept my feelings to myself. That wouldn’t continue for long.

  David was anxious to have a word with me. “Sabrina,” he said.

  I pulled my head out of the clouds. “Yes?”

  “There’s something else I need to talk to you about.”

  “What is it?”

  “Before I dive into the topic, I just want to say that it’s really important that you hear me out.”

  When he gave me that kind of warning, it usually meant that he was about to tell me something I didn’t want to hear. That made me approach the conversation gingerly.

  “All right,” I said.

  “It’s also essential that you don’t argue with me.”

  I threw my arms out. “Why are you worried about that?”

  He looked at me with pleading eyes. “Can you please just promise me that you won’t argue?”

  “David. Why don’t you just tell me what’s on your mind?”

  “Fine. Here’s the thing. I know you’ve grown accustomed to investigating cases with me. But things are going to work differently this time. I’m going to drive you home, where I want you to stay for the rest of the day. I am then going to conduct this investigation without you.”

  David’s face tensed up as he finished his statement. I could tell that he expected some backlash from me.

  He didn’t get any.

  I replied calmly, “Is that it?”

  “I know it’s hard for you to sit on the sidelines. And that you probably want to argue with me. But don’t try to change my mind—”

  “I won’t.”

  His eyebrows rose. “Wait. Are you serious?”

  I nodded.

  “You’re really not going to put up a fight?”

  “No,” I said.

  David breathed a huge sigh of relief.

  “Are you really that surprised?” I asked.

  “Absolutely. You are usually so stubborn about joining me during an investigation. I was worried this was going to turn into a huge thing.”

  “I assure you, it won’t.”

  “Talk about some weight being lifted off of my shoulders. I’m really glad to hear that.”

  “I know. You looked really worked up.”

  “I was,” he said. “Speaking of, I just have to ask. Why are you being so laidback about this? I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you didn’t argue with me. I’m just curious why you aren’t pushing to investigate this case?”

  “You said it yourself. Things are different this time. We have a baby on the way. It’s important that we put our child’s safety above all else.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” he said. “I want you and the baby to be out of harm’s way.”

  “That’s exactly why I’m going to sit this case out. You’re on your own.”

  Gratitude was all over his face. “It’s so good to know that we are on the same page.” He snickered. “Now, if only some of our previous conversations about investigating murders had gone this smoothly.”

  I put my hand up. “Let me remind you. The circumstances were different back then. Besides, I played a big part in solving a lot of those cases.”

  He nodded. “You sure did.”

  “If I were you, the thing I would be worried about right now is how you’ll be able to crack this case without my help.”

  David replied confidently, “I’ll figure this out.”

  “I sure hope so,” I said. “Good luck.”

  Chapter Nine

  David dropped me off at home. My husband then gave me a kiss good-bye and went on his way. As I took a seat on the sofa in our living room, I couldn’t get over how strange it felt to be home alone while David was trying to chase down a murderer.

  My corgi, Snickerdoodle, must have sensed that I needed comforting, because he immediately jumped up on the sofa and cuddled up next to me. While it felt great having Doodle’s love and attention, my feelings of uneasiness didn’t go away.

  How could they? I was so used to throwing myself into the fray. Sitting on the sidelines was a completely foreign experience to me. That wasn’t the only uncharted territory I was trying to navigate, however. For this murder to have occurred while I was pregnant just made things infinitely more complicated.

  Not that I expected crime to take a break just because I happened to have a bun in my oven. That just wasn’t realistic. Sti
ll, it made for an awful situation. So, even though I knew David could use all the help that he could get, I also realized it was important for me to stay here out of harm’s way.

  The one thing I didn’t anticipate was the level of anxiety that I would be forced to wrestle with. I immediately found myself worrying about David. Never mind the fact that he had investigated plenty of murders before. Or that he was trained for this sort of thing. Instead, I kept having terrible thoughts about all of the things that could go wrong. I asked myself, what would I do if something happened to him? In truth, I didn’t want to know the answer to that. Hopefully, I would never have to find out.

  Before my anxiety got any worse, I got up from the couch. Just sitting there, alone with my thoughts, was only going to lead down a dark path. What I needed was a distraction.

  I looked over at our coffee table and spotted a parenting guide that I had picked up from the bookstore the day before. Perhaps a little reading would quiet my mind. Or at least give me something else to think about.

  Unfortunately, the book wasn’t able to hold my interest. My thoughts began wandering almost immediately. Only this time, David wasn’t the one on my mind.

  I suddenly found myself wallowing in grief over Benjamin’s death. That was not the distraction I was looking for. As a matter of fact, it was the last thing I wanted to do at the moment. Mostly because thinking of Benjamin made me want to burst into tears. And crying wasn’t going to get me anywhere. It certainly wouldn’t bring him back.

  I needed to find something else to do with my time.

  It was then that an idea came to me.

  ***

  I sat back down on the couch, opened up my laptop, and began to scour various social media sites. Unlike most of my friends, who used the internet for leisure purposes, I had a different intent as I looked at post after post.

  I wasn’t interested in watching cute cat videos, or looking at travel photos from my friend’s vacations. Instead, I spent my time examining the various posts that the murder suspects had made recently.

  I knew the odds were long that Benjamin’s killer was dumb enough to have posted anything incriminating, but that didn’t eliminate the possibility that one of the suspects had inadvertently uploaded a clue about their wrongdoing.

  With the first few profiles I checked, I didn’t find anything noteworthy. Then, while going through Linda Kingston’s posts, I stumbled upon what looked like a promising lead.

  I grabbed my phone and called David to inform him what I had discovered.

  Unfortunately, after three rings, he didn’t pick up.

  When the call went to voice mail, I left him a message. “David, I was just looking through Linda Kingston’s social media page and I found a post from last night that could be really telling. It is definitely worth following up on. At seven-forty-eight last night, she wrote, ‘You can’t outrun the past. And when it catches up with you, it takes no prisoners.’”

  When I finished reading that post aloud, I stared at the computer screen with my eyes as wide as saucers. I then continued my voice mail message. “Tell me that isn’t suspicious.”

  I then urged David to call me back immediately.

  When I hung up the phone, I didn’t just return to browsing the internet. I typed out a text message to my husband as well.

  After sending the text, I thought I would hear back from David pretty quickly. The rare times that he got both a phone call and a text from me in short succession, it was always because I had something important to share with him.

  Imagine my surprise then when a number of minutes ticked by with no answer from David. The odds were that he was probably busy questioning one of the suspects. But what if there was another reason that he hadn’t called me back?

  My knee began to bounce as I twirled my hair with my finger. From there, my mind wandered. Luckily, it wasn’t able to get very far. Before my worries were able to get the best of me, my phone rang.

  ***

  I answered the phone without checking the caller identification screen. That didn’t prove to be the smartest decision.

  Although, I didn’t realize that until after I said, “David, did you follow up with Linda?”

  Much to my surprise, I heard my mom’s voice replying on the other end of the phone line. “Honey, this is your mother. Not David.”

  I blushed. “Oops. Sorry. My mistake.”

  “It’s quite all right,” my mother said. “Although, judging by the tone in your voice, I can’t help but wonder what has got you so worked up.”

  “I can’t really get into it right now.”

  I desperately wanted to get off the phone. With my luck, David would call while I was in the middle of this conversation with my mother. Granted, I had call waiting and could always put my mom on hold, but I preferred to clear the phone line entirely and just call my mother back later.

  My mom wasn’t going to make that easy for me to do. Grave concern filled her voice as she replied, “Has something awful happened?”

  “Mom, this isn’t a good time. David could call any minute and I don’t want to miss him.”

  Unfortunately, my mother didn’t listen to me. She was too busy worrying. “Has another murder taken place?”

  “I already told you. I don’t have time to discuss this with you right now.”

  My mother just wouldn’t give up. “Wait. You’re not investigating, are you?”

  At that point, my patience was really wearing thin. “I really need to go.”

  “I understand that. But you can’t just leave me hanging here. Please, just answer my questions.”

  I exhaled. “Yes, there has been a murder.”

  “Oh, dear.”

  “But I’m not investigating.”

  I heard my mother let out a sigh. “What a relief.”

  “Now that I’ve answered your questions, can I call you back later?”

  “Sure.”

  Chapter Ten

  With the phone line cleared, I returned to my fidgeting as I waited for David to call me back. It took almost fifteen minutes for my phone to ring. This time, I checked my caller identification screen. When I saw David’s name, my eyes lit up.

  I took the call and got right to the point. “Tell me you have some news for me.”

  “Don’t get too excited,” David said.

  “Why not?” I asked. “Did you talk to Linda?”

  “Not yet. But I will. Thank you for the lead, by the way.”

  “Of course. Anything to help your investigation.”

  “I agree. Especially since I get the feeling that I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

  “Are things going that poorly?”

  “I have only conducted one interview, but it did not go well.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  He groaned. “That’s just the way things unfold sometimes.”

  “I know.”

  “You also must know how much work I still have ahead of me,” he said. “So, I’m going to get back to it.”

  “All right. I love you.”

  “Love you too,” he said.

  ***

  While David resumed investigating, I called my mother. After breaking the terrible news to her about Benjamin’s murder, she was too shocked to speak. It took her a good ten seconds before she was able to utter a single word. Once the initial shock washed over her, she extended her sympathies. From there, her focus turned to my well-being.

  “No wonder you sounded so distressed on the phone earlier,” my mother said.

  I nodded. “It has been a terrible day. And things don’t seem like they are going to get better anytime soon.”

  “If there’s anything I can do to help you, just say the word. I’m here for you.”

  “I know you are.”

  A pause crept into the conversation.

  My mother was the first to break the silence.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s on your mind?” she asked.

&nbs
p; “I just did.”

  “I meant, other than the murder.”

  “Mom, I’m just sitting here, grieving Benjamin’s death.”

  “Honey, I don’t know why you think you can get anything by me. I’m your mother. I can tell when something else is on your mind,” she said. “Why don’t you tell me what else is troubling you?”

  It was amazing how incredible my mother’s instincts were. After all, it wasn’t like we were talking face to face. She was just speaking to me on the phone, yet she could tell simply by the tone in my voice that I was wrestling with more than I was letting on.

  Trying to hide my feelings from her would be a complete waste of time. I was better off just sharing my thoughts with her.

  I took a deep breath before replying, “I have a question for you.”

  “Okay. What is it?” my mother said.

  I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Maybe I feared what my mother’s answer would be. Or perhaps something else was at play. Whatever the reason, my tongue wasn’t cooperating with me. I did my best to compose myself, but by the time I was able to find the right words, my mother had grown concerned.

  “Sabrina, are you still there? Or did the line go dead?” she asked.

  “I’m here,” I said. “I was just trying to think of the right way to phrase this.”

  “Take your time.”

  Instead of keeping my thought bottled up any longer, I just came out with it. “How do you stop the worrying?”

  “What worrying?”

  “The kind that comes from knowing someone you love is staring danger in the face,” I said. “That they are throwing themselves into harm’s way.”

  “You mean, the fear of knowing that they could get hurt? Or even killed?” my mother replied.

  I nodded. “Exactly.”

  My mom exhaled. “I know what that’s like. I can’t tell you how many times I have been worried sick about you over the years.”