by K M Morgan
The crowd was silent.
“Of course not. That would be too easy. It looks like I’ll have to do this the hard way.”
The detective approached Tony Ryan first.
“Where were you last night between two and three a.m. this morning?” Detective Thicke asked.
“I was at home working on new material,” Tony answered.
“Alone?” Thicke replied.
“Yeah. Why does that matter?”
“Because if you were alone, that means you have no one to verify your alibi.”
“I don’t need an alibi. I didn’t do this.”
“At least that’s your story, but you have no way of proving that,” the detective said.
“You have no way of proving I did it, either,” Tony countered.
“Not yet. But that doesn’t mean I won’t,” Detective Thicke said.
The detective scribbled a note down on his pad then moved on to Victoria’s ex-boyfriend, Ben Harrington.
“How about you, Mr. Harrington—where were you between two and three a.m.?” the detective wondered.
“I was asleep,” Ben replied.
“Were you alone?
Ben sighed. “Unfortunately.”
“So you have no one to corroborate your alibi either,” the detective said.
“Technically, no.”
Detective Thicke gave Ben a long stare then turned his attention to Victoria’s ex-best friend, Leah Manning.
“Ms. Manning, what’s your story?” Detective Thicke asked.
“Are you kidding? I was in bed at midnight and didn’t wake up until seven this morning,” Leah said.
“Do you have anyone to confirm that?”
“No, but I was sleeping. Trust me.”
“Ms. Manning, this is a murder investigation. The last thing I’m going to do is trust any of you.”
Detective Thicke wrote another note down on his pad then approached Victoria’s business partner, Andrew Brown.
“Mr. Brown, where were you at the time of the murder?” the detective wondered.
“I was in my office, running numbers,” Andrew said.
“At that hour?”
“The club doesn’t close until two. I always stay late to add up the sales receipts for the evening.”
“Do you have anyone to verify your story?”
“I’m sure someone must have seen me,” Andrew said.
Detective Thicke turned to the rest of the lineup. “Can anyone here verify Mr. Brown’s story?”
The detective received nothing but silence from the lineup. “That’s what I thought.”
Detective Thicke then moved on to Isaac Hunter next.
“Mr. Hunter, how about you?” Detective Thicke asked.
“I was at Sully’s Sports Bar,” Isaac said.
“That should be easy enough to verify. I’ll just have Sully pull his security tapes, and see if I spot you,” the detective replied.
Isaac was quick to revise his story. “I meant, I was on my way home from the bar.”
“Do you have anyone who can verify your story?” the detective wondered.
“I guess not.”
Detective Thicke stared at Isaac then approached Noah Bryant.
“Mr. Bryant, where were you between two and three this morning?” Detective Thicke wondered.
“I was at home drinking,” Noah replied.
“Alone?”
“I have no one to verify my alibi, if that’s what you mean.”
“You know that’s exactly what I mean. And don’t get fresh with me,” Thicke warned.
The detective stared Noah down then moved on to Chloe.
“Ms. Cook, what’s your story?” the detective asked.
“I was with my friend Shannon McGraw. We went out for a few drinks after her pie shop closed. Call her up at 555-8972. She’ll verify it,” Chloe said.
Detective Thicke turned around and addressed one of his deputies.
“Deputy Stanton, call that number and check out Ms. Cook’s story,” Detective Thicke said.
“Will do, sir,” Deputy Stanton replied.
Detective Thicke then approached Hope Callahan.
“Ms. Callahan, where were you at the time of the murder?” the detective asked.
“I was on my way home. It was a long night,” Hope said.
“I’ll bet. But I don’t believe you were driving home,” Detective Thicke revealed.
“That’s what I was doing. I’m telling you the truth.”
“Then why was your employee name tag found next to the body?”
Hope’s jaw dropped. “I don’t know.”
“Would you care to revise your story, Ms. Callahan?”
“No. I didn’t do this. Look, I left my name tag at work last night. Anyone could have come by and grabbed it.”
“You say you were driving home at the time of the murder, but do you have anyone to verify that?” Detective Thicke asked.
“Well, no. Detective, you have to believe me. I don’t know how my name tag got there. I would never do something like this,” Hope argued.
“We’ll see what my forensics team has to say about that. They’re going to be running lab tests, and if your prints turn up, I’m going to be arresting you for murder.”
“They won’t show up because I didn’t do this.”
“I don’t care about your story. The only thing that matters to me is the result of these lab tests, and they won’t take long to get back. In the meantime, don’t any of you leave town,” Detective Thicke said.
Chapter Twelve
That was way too close for comfort. Not so much for Chloe, as she knew she had an alibi and no motive for wanting Victoria Ryan dead. The same could not be said for Hope Callahan. At first, Chloe was surprised to see Hope at the scene. Now, she feared for her old friend. Things did not look good. Luckily, Detective Thicke preferred to wait until he’d built a nearly ironclad case against a suspect before arresting them. A more liberal detective would have probably handcuffed Hope already.
Chloe was glad the detective took the more deliberate and cautious approach, not only because her friend was under the gun, but also because Chloe believed there was no way Hope could have done this.
That being said, Hope was a complete mess. What she craved most was comfort, but Chloe had pressing issues of her own to tackle.
“The detective thinks I did this,” Hope said, nearly shaking.
Chloe nodded. “Unfortunately.”
“How could he think that?”
Chloe had to find a way to calm her friend down while also getting some answers. “To be honest, things aren’t looking good for you right now.”
“I should have taken my name tag home with me.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Chloe, I didn’t do this,” Hope stated.
“Hope, why was your name tag at the scene?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. All I can tell you is I didn’t do this. You believe me, don’t you?”
Chloe stared at her friend.
There was plenty of fear in Hope’s eyes, but there was also truth in her words.
When people lied, their eyes tended to dilate. Sometimes it was only ever so slightly, but it was rare that a person could keep a true straight face. Looking deep into Hope’s eyes, Chloe saw no hesitation. There was no doubt in Chloe’s mind that her friend was telling the truth.
“I believe you,” Chloe said.
“Good, because I need you to know that I’d never do something like this. I couldn’t stand Victoria, but I’m no murderer.”
“I understand, and I know you didn’t do this.”
“At least you believe me. Now, how can I convince the detective of that?”
“I need to know everything. The whole truth, and nothing but. Now, what happened after I left last night?”
Hope took a deep breath then bared her soul. “Victoria fired me.”
Chloe’s jaw nearly dropped. “What?”
; “She said it was because my work wasn’t up to her exacting standards, but Joe Jennings still works there, and he’s been slacking on the job for years. The fact is, I knew Victoria was just jealous that Noah Bryant was interested in me instead of her. She couldn’t take the hit to her ego. Noah Bryant was bringing in the club too much money to cut him loose for good, so I got the ax instead.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Which is exactly what I told her. She didn’t listen. Even after I threatened to take her to the labor board for wrongful termination, she just scoffed at me.”
“Then what happened?” Chloe asked.
“I stormed out,” Hope replied.
“And that’s it?”
Hope nodded.
“What about your name tag?”
Hope meekly answered. “When I stormed out the back, I tossed my name tag in the dumpster beside the door.”
“Is there a chance you might have missed the dumpster?”
Hope shrugged. “I don’t know. I was too angry to pay attention either way. I just wanted to get as far away from that club as possible.”
Chloe followed a different line of thought. “How many people saw this fight between you and Victoria?”
“Everybody. Victoria liked firing people in public. She had a theory that people were less likely to act out when other people were watching,” Hope explained.
“So theoretically, any of the other suspects could have seen you toss your name tag aside, then grabbed it from the dumpster later?” Chloe said.
“Well yeah, I guess.” Hope had been antsy throughout the entire conversation, but she was suddenly very uncomfortable in her skin now. “Look, can we get out of here? Being here just gives me the creeps.”
Chloe understood her friend’s desire to leave the scene. At the same time, she had some business to attend to.
“Not yet. There’s something I have to do first,” Chloe insisted.
***
Chloe headed straight for the detective. She caught up with him as he walked back to the scene of the crime.
“Detective, I’d like a word with you,” Chloe said.
The detective turned around with an apprehensive look on his face.
“I figured you would,” Detective Thicke replied.
“This is crazy—”
“Ms. Cook, it’s not my fault you have a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The good news is, your alibi checked out, which means you’re no longer a suspect in this case.”
Chloe couldn’t believe the crazy things that were coming out of the detective’s mouth. “No longer? The mere fact that you even had me on the suspect list in the first place is ridiculous.”
“No. I was just doing my job.”
Detective Thicke was being even thicker than usual.
Yikes.
It was going to be one of those days. Still, Chloe had to find a way to power through. But first, she wanted to talk some sense into the detective.
“No, your job is to find the real killer. You should have been able to eliminate me as a suspect right off the bat. You know me. Obviously, I’d never do something like this.”
Detective Thicke had a different approach. “Ms. Cook, nothing is obvious when it comes to murder cases. This job makes me constantly question the truth and how much I truly know about people.”
Talking to the detective was never fun, but today proved to be even more frustrating than usual. How did the detective expect to solve this case if he acted this dimwitted? Chloe would probably have just as much luck slamming her head into a brick wall repeatedly as she’d have in getting her point understood. Still, there were pressing issues that needed to be dealt with. Because of that, Chloe had to keep trying.
“Unlike you, there are people in the world I know well enough to be a hundred percent certain that they’d never commit murder,” Chloe declared.
Detective Thicke got annoyed. “Ms. Cook, I don’t get what all this hullabaloo is about. I told you, you’re not on my list of suspects anymore.”
“This isn’t about me.”
“Then why are you wasting my time? I have a murder to solve.”
The detective was awfully grumpy this morning. Had diet fever swept through Cape Cod, causing widespread grumpiness? Was the detective on a no-donut diet? Was that why he was so irritable? Whatever was going on in the detective’s personal life, it was sure making him grouchy.
Chloe wasn’t about to let a bad attitude get in her way. “If you want to find the real murderer, you’re wasting your time even investigating Hope Callahan.”
“That’s where we disagree.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t really think my friend could have done this.”
“Actually, of all the suspects, she looks the guiltiest right now. Her name tag was found at the scene of the crime.”
“Detective, I’ve known Hope most of my life. We used to build castles in the sandbox in her backyard when we were little girls. Trust me, there’s no way she’s capable of doing something like this.”
“Ms. Cook, you’re wasting your breath. Not only will Hope remain on my suspect list, but she's also staying at the top of it, where she belongs.”
Chloe stared the detective down. “You know, we’ve been down this road before, and it did not end well for you.”
“I’ll admit it, you’ve made me look bad in the past.”
“You mean, two cases in a row.”
The detective narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think the third time will be a charm for you. I advise you to quit while you’re ahead.”
Detective Thicke had been surprisingly combative. Chloe wasn’t expecting this in the least, especially given how she’d upstaged him twice. If anything, by this point, she’d proven what a good sleuth she was and figured Thicke would welcome her opinion. Then again, a man’s ego rarely went down without a fight. The ego wanted to be massaged, not trampled. Maybe this was the last stand for the detective’s professional pride. Either way, whatever was going on in the detective’s head was clouding him from the truth.
“I don’t quit on my friends, especially when they are being wrongfully suspected of murder,” Chloe declared.
“She’s being suspected, all right, but there’s nothing wrong about it. Look at the facts.”
“The only fact you have is that Victoria Ryan was murdered. Everything else you have on Hope is circumstantial.”
“You have to admit, those circumstances look really bad for your friend. In addition to the name tag being found next to the body, your friend was also fired by the victim shortly before the murder occurred. The only reason I haven’t arrested Hope yet is because I want to be a hundred percent certain she’s guilty instead of just ninety-nine. The lab tests will be back later today, and if her prints or DNA show up on that murder weapon, she’s going to spend the rest of her life in jail,” Detective Thicke explained.
“I’m telling you, arresting her would be a big mistake. She didn’t do this,” Chloe insisted.
“I think you’re wrong this time.”
“We’ll see about that. I’ve been right twice before, and the third time will be a charm.”
“You know, luck runs out for everyone eventually.”
“Except this isn’t luck—it’s logic. Ask yourself this—if Hope killed Victoria, why would she leave her own name tag at the scene of the crime?”
“People panic when they’ve committed a crime. In the heat of the moment, it’s easy to panic and forget something simple like a name tag. Maybe she was so desperate to flee the scene that she didn’t even realize she left it behind.”
“Let’s say I go with your logic. She’d never be so panicked to leave the murder weapon behind. Leaving it there would just scream of her guilt.”
“I said it before—things like that often happen in the heat of the moment. If she heard a noise, she could have gotten spooked. Or maybe it was just an issue of not having time to cover her tracks.”
“That’s a whol
e lot of speculation with no evidence to back it up. Hope isn’t a fool. She would have brought the name tag and murder weapon with her. This whole scene reeks of a frame job. I think the killer left the weapon next to the body and planted the name tag here, knowing Hope would be the perfect person to pin the murder on.”
“You claim my theory is nothing but speculation, but so is yours,” Detective Thicke remarked.
“True, but I have logic on my side,” Chloe insisted.
“So you say. The fact is, just because you want it to be true doesn’t mean it is.”
“Oh, it’s true, all right.”
“My team is dusting for prints and will be running a barrage of tests. We’ll find out soon enough.”
Chloe shook her head. “I doubt that will tell you anything. The killer wouldn’t be dumb enough not to wipe their prints off the weapon.”
By that point, the detective had enough of Chloe. He tried to get rid of her as quickly as possible.
“Ms. Cook, thank you for your unsolicited opinions on this case, but I have everything under control. Good-bye,” Detective Thicke said.
Chloe could have kept arguing with Thicke, but she knew it wouldn’t do any good. She could throw all the logic she wanted at him, he was too stubborn to see things her way. Chloe had to come up with indisputable evidence. The only way she could do that would be to find the real killer and get a confession out of them. Chloe had plenty of work to do.
That being said, she wasn’t prepared to leave without getting the last word in.
“Enjoy as many donuts now as you can, because by the end of this case, you’ll be eating crow,” Chloe insisted.
Chapter Thirteen
Chloe went from talking to a stubbornly egotistic detective to an emotionally fragile friend. Hope and Chloe left the crime scene and headed over to Hope’s rental townhome to regroup. The change of scenery didn’t do Hope as much good as Chloe was hoping for. Even in the comfort of her living room, Hope was just as on edge as ever.
“What am I going to do now?” Hope wondered.
Chloe gave her friend a hug. “I’m going to get you through this.”