Cozy Creek

by K M Morgan

  While Daisy was mildly distracted by the toupee that Mitchell was wearing, Crumple began the interview.

  The detective started by introducing himself. He then told Mitchell about Charlotte’s death. Crumple paid close attention to Mitchell’s body language. Sometimes suspects said one thing, but their reactions told a different story.

  Mitchell looked genuinely shocked to hear that Charlotte had been murdered. He also expressed a great deal of remorse.

  “You seem really broken up by the news,” Crumple said.

  “Of course, I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” Mitchell asked.

  “Based on everything I’ve heard, you two didn’t get along very well.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Your boss.”

  “Were Charlotte and I good friends? No. That said, it’s still incredibly sad that she is gone.”

  “When you say that you weren’t good friends, don’t you mean that you weren’t friends at all? In fact, you were work rivals.”

  “I think rivals is too strong of a word.”

  “Are you going to pretend that you weren’t both competing for the same job? According to your boss, you desperately wanted to get promoted.”

  Mitchell’s nose scrunched. “I don’t understand why you’re bringing that up.”

  “Because Charlotte ended up beating you out for the assistant manager position,” Crumple said.

  Mitchell threw out his arms. “So what? I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

  “That detail might be incredibly important. Then again, it could be nothing. That’s what we’re here to find out.”

  Mitchell opened his mouth to respond, but Daisy stepped in before he could get a word out.

  “With Charlotte’s death, is it safe to assume that you will be taking over her assistant manager position?”

  “That’s not up to me,” Mitchell said.

  “Your boss told us that you would be the natural choice,” Daisy said.

  “Well, I’m certainly not going to turn down a promotion.”

  “Of course not.”

  “In a way, Charlotte’s death might be the best thing to ever happen to your career.”

  Mitchell shot Daisy a glare. “Those are your words, not mine.”

  “Perhaps I could have phrased that better. As harsh as it is, though, it’s also the truth.”

  “I don’t like where this conversation is headed.”

  “Why? Am I making you uncomfortable?” Daisy asked.

  Mitchell shook his head. “No. You’re just really annoying me.”

  “Sometimes that’s just a cost of doing business when you’re searching for the truth.”

  “The truth about what?”

  “Charlotte’s killer is on the loose. And we’re determined to find them. By any means necessary.”

  Mitchell narrowed his eyes. “I knew there was more to this conversation than there appeared to be. Are you about to accuse me of something?”

  “Mr. Gregory, calm down,” Crumple said. “We’re not accusing you of anything. We just have some suspicions about you.”

  “You shouldn’t.”

  “You’d be amazed about how often I hear that.”

  “Wait a minute. You don’t really think that I might have had something to do with Charlotte’s death, do you?”

  “That’s what we’re here to find out.”

  “Let me save you some time. I’m innocent.”

  “I wish it was as simple as that.”

  “Why isn’t it?”

  “Mr. Gregory, listen clearly. This is how it’s going to work. I have some questions for you. Depending on your answers, this conversation could go a number of different ways.”

  Mitchell folded his arms. “What more could you possibly want to know?”

  “To start, where were you yesterday morning?”

  “That depends.”

  “On what?”

  “What time are you talking about?”

  “Between five and eight o’clock.”

  “I was at home.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Getting ready for work.”

  “Do you live alone?”

  “You mean, is there anyone who can confirm my statement?” Mitchell asked.

  “If you want to phrase it like that, yes. Now, what’s your answer?” Crumple replied.

  “I live alone.”

  “That’s unfortunate.”

  “It is. But it’s also the truth.”

  “According to you.”

  “Look. You wanted answers. You got them,” Mitchell said. “Can I get back to work now?”

  Crumple held up his hand. “Not so fast. You don’t get to decide when this discussion is over.”

  “Whatever you say,” Mitchell replied. “If you want to keep me here longer, fine. But it’s not going to change the fact that I’m innocent.”

  Chapter Nine

  Daisy and Crumple threw a few more questions at Mitchell, but they got nowhere. It suddenly became clear that they had reached the point of diminishing returns with Mr. Gregory. Rather than pushing their luck any further, they opted to let him go back to work.

  As the investigators headed back to the parking lot, they were staring down an unenviable situation. At the current time, they were fresh out of suspects. They also didn’t have any leads to speak of. That could all change in an instant if Robert Stinson was spotted, but there was absolutely zero chatter on Crumple’s police radio.

  Given that there was no sign of Robert anywhere, Daisy had an interesting choice ahead of her. She could have just gone back to the police station with Crumple and waited around for a development, but there was no guarantee that any movement on the case would take place that afternoon. Her other option was to head home. If leads did surface, Crumple could call her.

  Daisy decided to be dropped off at home. She wasn’t much of a fan of sitting around. Besides, the police station wasn’t a very comfortable place.

  Before Daisy and Crumple parted ways, the detective made sure that he had taken as many precautionary steps as possible. The all-points-bulletin was already making the rounds. There was also a deputy stationed in front of Mr. Stinson’s house. But there was more that could be done. For example, Crumple decided to assign a deputy to keep tabs on the other two suspects as well. If any of them did anything noteworthy, word would get back to Crumple.

  With those surveillance measures in place, Daisy went home to regroup.

  ***

  As Daisy opened up her fridge and grabbed herself some food, she knew that frustration wasn’t far behind her. That was always the case when she was unable to make headway during an investigation. Patience was far from her specialty. As a matter of fact, she was about as impatient as could be.

  To pass the time until her husband came home, Daisy did some poking around on the internet. Social media was always a good way to burn some time. It also provided plenty of distractions.

  Before she knew it, a number of hours had flown by. Her husband then entered the door. Normally, Gavin greeted Daisy with a smile. That evening, Gavin had a look of concern on his face.

  “How was your day?” Daisy asked.

  Gavin squinted. “What an odd question.”

  Daisy shrugged. “Really? It seems pretty normal to me.”

  “Under any other circumstances, I would agree. But you spent your day investigating a murder. That is not what I’d call ordinary.”

  “It sure isn’t.”

  “So, if anything, I should be asking how your day went.”

  Daisy grimaced. “I’d rather if you didn’t.”

  “It went that poorly, huh?” Gavin asked.

  Daisy took a deep breath before responding, “Despite my best efforts, the killer is still at-large.”

  “I know you’re unhappy about that, but it’s only the first day of your investigation. When was the last time that a case wrapped up in less than twenty-four hours?”

  “It has been a
long time.”

  “Exactly.”

  “The way I see it, we’re long overdue.”

  “Maybe so, but it looks like we’re going to remain overdue.”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Those are just the cards that life has dealt us. And what lousy cards they are. If I wasn’t so stubborn, I’d probably fold this hand.”

  “That sure is a lot of card references.”

  “I know. That’s really unlike me. What can I say? I don’t really feel like myself right now.”

  “Poor Daisy.”

  “Yeah. I’m in pretty rough shape. That’s why I wanted to ask about you.”

  “Were you hoping that I had a funny story or something?”

  Daisy’s eyes lit up. “Do you?”

  Gavin shook his head. “Unfortunately, I can’t help you there.”

  Daisy became deflated. “What a shame.”

  “I can give you a nice shoulder rub, though. Plus, we can put a romantic comedy on the TV.”

  “I’ll definitely take the shoulder rub. As for the chick flick, I need to take a raincheck on that.”

  “Why? I thought romantic comedies were your favorite.”

  “They are,” Daisy said. “But I have to call Annie. She’s expecting an update.”

  Gavin grimaced. “That’s going to be a difficult phone call.”

  Daisy nodded. “Especially because I don’t have better news to share with her. I mean, we know that investigations take time. But tell that to someone who is grieving over the loss of a loved one. She is desperate for results.”

  “Well, there’s a shoulder rub waiting for you the minute you get off the phone.”

  “Thanks. You’re so good to me.”

  “Anything to make you feel better.”

  Chapter Ten

  That evening proved that even a shoulder rub had its limits. Gavin did his best to cheer his wife up, but Daisy still felt pretty low when she went off to bed.

  If there was a single bright spot, it was that all of her worrying had made her so exhausted that she didn’t waste any time tossing and turning in bed. Instead, she completely crashed out.

  Before she knew it, morning had arrived. Typically, Daisy liked to ease her way into the day. She would start things off by taking her dogs for a walk around the neighborhood. From there, she’d cook a little breakfast. After that, she’d get ready for work.

  That morning, none of those things took place. Her phone ended up ringing while she was still in bed. Given how early it was in the morning, she knew that she had to check who was calling. After all, what if it was an emergency?

  When she looked at the caller identification screen on her phone, she saw Detective Crumple’s name pop up. Something must have occurred overnight. Daisy was sure of it.

  She didn’t hesitate to take the call.

  “Detective, is everything all right?” Daisy asked.

  “Daisy, you need to come to Robert Stinson’s house immediately,” Crumple said.

  “Why? Did something happen?” she asked

  “I’ll tell you when you get here.”

  Crumple didn’t give her any additional details on the phone. He just urged her to make her way over to Daffodil Drive as soon as possible.

  When Daisy got off of the phone, she threw on some clothes, ran a brush through her hair, kissed Gavin good-bye, and headed out the door. She then booked it over to Stinson’s house.

  ***

  Six minutes later, Daisy turned left onto Stinson’s street. As she pulled up to the suspect’s house, she saw a heavy police presence there. It wasn’t just Crumple’s car. A number of other deputies were on the scene as well. One thing that Daisy didn’t see was Mr. Stinson himself. In fact, Robert was nowhere in sight. Was he being held inside? Daisy would get an answer to that question later.

  Daisy parked her car on the street and walked up the driveway. Crumple walked toward her and brought her up to speed.

  “That was fast,” Crumple said.

  “It’s one of the benefits of living in a small town. So, what’s all this about?” Daisy asked.

  “An interesting call came in on the tip line.”

  “What did the caller say?”

  “That they spotted some very strange activity outside this house last night.”

  “How odd are we talking?”

  “According to the caller, someone was skulking around here in the dark.”

  “Someone, as in Robert Stinson? Or did the caller spot someone else?”

  “They believed it was Robert. But they couldn’t be sure because it was so dark out.”

  “Why would Robert skulk at the top of his own driveway in the dark?”

  “Based on what the caller said, Robert’s primary area of interest was this trash can of his.” Crumple brought Daisy to the backyard of the home where a garbage can was situated.

  “So, let me get this straight. Someone in this neighborhood noticed a person they believe to be Robert skulking in the dark last night near that trash can?”

  “Exactly.”

  “What about the deputy that you assigned to stake out in front of Robert’s place? Did he see this peculiar activity taking place?”

  “No. Then again, the deputy’s car was parked on the street in front of the house. Given where he was staked out, he didn’t have a line of sight to the backyard.”

  “That’s a good point.”

  “Robert might have spotted the police car out front and taken all the necessary measures to keep from being spotted. Like remaining in the dark.”

  “So, did you search the trash can?”

  Crumple nodded. “We sure did. And you won’t be able to guess what we found.”

  “Tell me.”

  “A gas can and a lighter.”

  Daisy’s jaw dropped. “No way.”

  “That’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?”

  “It sure is. So, have you detained Robert? Is he inside his house right now?” Daisy asked.

  Crumple grimaced. “That’s where things get complicated. Mr. Stinson is not currently in custody.”

  Daisy threw out her arms. “Why not?”

  “Because we don’t know his location.”

  “Wait. So, Robert was able to come back here, skulk around in the dark, and leave without being detained by the deputy?”

  “Like I said before, all of the action apparently took place in the backyard. The deputy never spotted him. Otherwise, this would be a completely different situation.”

  “It’s pretty crazy to think that we had a stroke of good luck and bad luck all in the same night.”

  “It’s better than two strokes of bad luck.”

  “Don’t get me wrong. It’s great to have some evidence to work with. But if you can’t track Robert down, that gas can won’t be of any use to us.”

  “We’ll find him.”

  “How can you be so sure? He could be anywhere right now.”

  “Not anywhere. If he was here last night, there’s only so far he could have gotten.”

  “Detective, he could be hundreds of miles away right now.”

  “Maybe. Or he could still be in town. The point is that there’s a bulletin out on him. If he shows his face in public, someone will spot him.”

  “What if he doesn’t?”

  “I’m going to try not to think about that,” Crumple said.

  “It’s hard for me not to,” Daisy said.

  “You have to trust the process.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Daisy did her best to remain positive. That was more difficult than it appeared to be. There was no telling how long she would have to wait until there was an update on Robert’s location. It could be a few minutes or a few months.

  If Robert was really slick, he could slip away into the forest, never to be seen or heard from again.

  There were a lot of different scenarios. Most of them ran through Daisy’s head as she impatiently waited for an update. Moments like this were
the toughest parts of a case. It was hard to be so close to a resolution, and yet still so far away.

  The sense of helplessness was what got to Daisy the most. So much was up to chance. Investigators wanted to feel like they were in control. Even if just a little.

  There was no way of doing that in this scenario.

  Ultimately, Daisy just had to wait things out.

  ***

  The universe must have been in a generous mood that morning, because two hours after the discovery of the gas can in Mr. Stinson’s garbage, Detective Crumple got a hit on his all-points-bulletin.

  Apparently, Robert was spotted at a gas station on the outskirts of town. The clerk at the station called 9-1-1 immediately. From there, a deputy was dispatched to the location.

  Thankfully, the deputy made it to the station in time to detain Robert for questioning. Meanwhile, Crumple and Daisy got into the detective’s car and booked it over to Robert’s location.

  On the drive over to the gas station, Daisy couldn’t get over how well everything seemed to be coming together. That was a nice change from the norm. During the previous investigations that she had worked on, things almost never unfolded this way. She was used to spending a lot of time getting nowhere.

  That said, she wasn’t about to question this fortunate turn of events. When luck smiled on Daisy, she appreciated it.

  As Daisy and Crumple arrived at the gas station, Robert was being held in the backseat of Deputy O’Toole’s squad car. Crumple parked his vehicle, got out, and said a few words to the deputy.

  Daisy and Crumple then approached the squad car to speak with Robert.

  The skinny, gray-haired, fifty-five-year-old looked both confused and annoyed. He genuinely didn’t appear to have any idea what was going on. Daisy fully expected him to be belligerent. That was the most common emotion that she saw in instances like that. Something wasn’t quite adding up. Perhaps this conversation would help to fill in the gaps.