Dead and Berried (The Early Bird Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 3)

by Ginny Gold

  Nora held up a hand for Kori to wait until she’d finished sharing everything. “He’d had to work earlier in the week, closing things out for the summer, and he noticed rat droppings. So he got rat poison from AJ and went back that night to leave it in his lab.”

  “Why couldn’t he tell anyone that?” Kori asked, thinking things still weren’t adding up.

  “Because he was technically trespassing, breaking and entering. He has all the keys and everything, but his contract ended for the year so he wasn’t supposed to be there.”

  Kori nodded. After the long day she’d had, she decided this would have to be enough information for the night. She added it all to her notes and said goodnight. She was nearly asleep on her feet and knew tomorrow would be no less busy.

  ***

  Tuesday morning came and Kori felt well rested, kind of a surprise after her long afternoon sleuthing with Nora. She let herself stay in bed longer than she meant, thinking about where they were in their investigation.

  Stanley had an alibi. She had to admit that. She hadn’t necessarily wanted him to be guilty—especially after learning about his past with Nora—but he had looked the most suspicious of their few suspects.

  Zach had told Kori that AJ had an alibi. But the rat poison was still a concern for her. Although, if the poison had been used to throw the investigators off the murderer’s trail, then AJ wasn’t the likely candidate. Since Dan hadn’t been poisoned, the rat poison only made AJ look guilty. And he wouldn’t have planted it if he was guilty.

  The final two suspects—Holly Barton and Arnold Greene—hadn’t offered many clues. Holly’s shovel showing up in Nora’s barn was a glaring red flag that needed explaining, but how were Holly and Dan connected? And wouldn’t she have been busy getting ready for the festival on Friday night? She hadn’t seemed overly tired on Saturday morning when Kori saw her. But that shovel . . .

  Kori knew Arnold Greene from childhood. Not well, but then she didn’t know many people from childhood well anymore except Nora. There were others in town who she knew—Vera Joy who had sent Ibis her way and Teddi West who owned the Hermit Cove Market and was her mother’s age—but they weren’t close to her like Nora.

  But what she did know about Arnold Greene didn’t make her think he could kill anyone. Especially over losing a case. He followed the rules, knew how to play the game and often won. He was an environmentalist and human rights activist. He’d be the least likely of any of their suspects—AJ and Stanley included—to kill someone. She thought.

  Considering all of her possibilities, Kori suddenly remembered that she actually had a meeting scheduled for early this morning with Teddi West. It was so uncommon for her to have something planned out of the ordinary that she’d completely forgotten.

  When he’d found out a month ago that she was buying her goods directly from suppliers, he’d gone out of his way to help her get better deals and go through his market. She couldn’t blame him for trying but she was happy with her current setup. Thinking about the meeting now jolted her wide awake and she rushed through her morning routine—teeth brushing, face washing, throwing on jeans and a t-shirt and walking Ibis.

  Teddi was waiting outside The Early Bird Café by the time she and Ibis returned.

  “Morning Kori,” he said, a smile on his face and not a hint of annoyance in his voice at having had to wait.

  “Hi Teddi. Sorry to keep you waiting.” Kori unlocked the door and led the way back to the kitchen. She didn’t have today’s menu planned but she’d figure that out. There were always smoothies, pancakes, granola and omelets if the meeting ran later than she expected.

  “I wasn’t waiting. I’d just gotten there when I saw you coming down the sidewalk.”

  Kori wasn’t sure if he was just saying that to make her feel better but she accepted it anyway. She turned the coffee on as she passed by and grabbed two mugs that they’d be able to fill up in a few minutes. She placed them on a table near the window and Teddi sat at one side of the booth. Kori slid in across from him.

  “I’m going to get straight to the point because I know you’re even busier than I am,” Teddi started and Kori was thankful. “I’ve crunched some numbers, and given the quantities you buy, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to offer you a discount. Buying together will increase the size of our orders so we’ll get a bigger bulk discount. And we’ll be able to split the cost of shipping. I’ve looked over your vendor list and I’m familiar with most of them.” Teddi placed several sheets of paper on the table between them and Kori spun them around to look more closely.

  “Wow. You’ll be saving me over a thousand dollars a month.” Kori was surprised and ecstatic. She really only bought spices, flours, and other baking goods that couldn’t be made locally at her two favorite farms from vendors outside Hermit Cove. So she was even more surprised that even with so few goods she could save that much money.

  “I thought you might like those numbers.” Teddi was beaming.

  They spent the next twenty minutes going through the first two pages of numbers and vendors with a fine toothed comb. They compared the few suppliers they used that were different and came up with workable solutions, sometimes using Kori’s choice and sometimes going with Teddi’s. Kori was pleased with the outcome and excited to sit down with him again in a few days to work out the details.

  Thoughts were running through her mind about where that extra revenue could go. She knew that she had to finally invest in branded uniforms. Even if it was just t-shirts with a logo, or just a few aprons, it would help create brand loyalty. And she also wanted to expand—if possible eventually—and hire an employee. She’d been toying with the idea of extending her hours an hour or two into the afternoon, and having an employee would make that easier.

  By five fifteen Kori had to get to work. “Thanks so much for coming by, but I’m going to have to cut this meeting short. I’ve gotta get the menus up on the walls. Can we finish this tomorrow or Thursday afternoon?”

  “Of course!” Teddi’s smile hadn’t shrunk at all throughout their conversation and it was clear he was thrilled to be partnering not only with Kori but with The Early Bird Café. Both the market and the café were landmarks in the area and teaming up would only help both of them.

  As soon as Teddi was gone and Ibis was curled up on her dog bed in the office, Kori got to work on the menus. Green smoothies were a must, followed quickly by granola and yogurt, plain or banana pancakes, strawberry rhubarb muffins—some leftovers from yesterday at a discount and fresh ones that she’d have to make throughout the morning—and choice of eggs and hash browns. Simple yet delicious.

  She had barely gotten everything put in place when she went out front to turn the sign around to open and her first customers walked in—Jenna and Kyle Rhodes.

  “Hi Kori,” Jenna said, a huge smile on her face.

  “Good morning,” Kori replied. “You look happy this morning.”

  Jenna glanced at Kyle and then back to Kori. “Because we’re two months pregnant and we’re finally telling people!”

  “Wow! That’s great! Congratulations!” Kori hugged both Jenna, who was beaming, and Kyle, who looked a little overwhelmed. “I think this calls for breakfast on the house.”

  “Oh no, we couldn’t let you do that,” Jenna refused. She glanced at Kyle again who was still expressionless. “But I did want to ask if the café would host my baby shower. It’s not for a couple months still. And I’m not really supposed to know about it. But I know we won’t be able to fit everyone in my house and my parents will be coming from out of town so they won’t be able to plan it well and they asked me to help pick a place,” Jenna rambled on.

  Kori interrupted her. “Of course you can have it here! It would be so fun to cater it. You don’t have to pick a date yet, just give me at least a month heads up.”

  Jenna looked relieved. “Great.”

  With that out of the way, Jenna and Kyle seated themselves at a booth and checked out the menu. Jenna ordere
d herbal tea—a change from her regular black coffee—and they both ordered eggs.

  Kori didn’t have a chance to talk to them anymore because as soon as she set the plates of eggs in front of them, Holly walked in with Mel Styles, owner of The Treasure Chest.

  “She was great this weekend,” Kori heard Holly say. “She’ll be a great employee when she’s old enough.”

  “I know. I’m worried about that day. Then I won’t have her to help at The Treasure Chest,” Mel replied, then turned to Kori. “Hi Kori. I heard Jackie also helped you out at the festival this weekend.”

  “Yeah. She was definitely proactive about being helpful. I don’t know how long it would have taken for some of the other volunteers to even notice I needed help unloading the car. Where is she working this summer?”

  “Still at The Treasure Chest. I was just telling Holly that I’m not sure what I’d do without her. I don’t know how you don’t have help yet. Even Betsy at Scoop’s Scoops has two high schoolers helping out.”

  “I’ve given it a lot of thought. But I think I’ll want to hire someone year round.” And now with Teddi’s help, I might just be able to, she thought. “And since we’re open mornings, students don’t quite have the schedule for it.”

  Holly and Mel nodded conspiratorially and sat in the empty booth by the window behind Jenna and Kyle.

  “Can I start you with some coffee?” Kori asked, hoping she’d be able to ask Holly about Dan Roche without seeming too obvious to Mel.

  “Kona if you have it today,” Mel requested and Holly nodded in agreement. Kori headed to the kitchen to grind the beans, fill the French press and consider her next move.

  As she approached the table, she didn’t have to worry about how she was going to broach the subject as Mel already had. “Did you hear that Stanley has no alibi for his brother’s murder?” Kori heard Mel ask Holly.

  “No,” Holly exclaimed, surprise dripping from her voice. Almost too much surprise, Kori thought as she placed the coffee and two mugs on the table.

  “That’s what I heard. Detective Lani Silver was in the shop yesterday and I heard it come over her radio. I know I shouldn’t have been listening but it was right there. And another murder right in our small town. How could I not listen?”

  Kori thought about the shovel that had been found at Nora’s and Holly saying she’d left it outside Friday night for easy packing Saturday morning. Could Holly be guilty?

  “Well, whoever it was, he had it coming to him,” Holly said.

  “What do you mean?” Kori asked and both women looked up at her.

  Holly paused. “Well, he’s a lawyer for one thing. And not just any lawyer, but a corporate lawyer. Did you know that a big box store wanted to sue me because I was selling compost that didn’t meet their standards? And guess who was leading the charge. Yup. Dan Roche. He just has no compassion for people doing the right thing; for the little guy, so to speak.”

  “He was the one representing the manufacturer’s chemical spill too,” Kori added.

  “And not just any manufacturer. But he sits on the board for that company,” Holly said, disgust lacing her every word. “He was always just looking out for his own bottom line. He had no sense of working together for the greater good.”

  Kori didn’t need to hear anything else to know that Holly had a motive. She clearly hated this man, had been involved in a case against him and wanted him gone.

  “Did you hear that he wasn’t poisoned after all?” Kori asked.

  “What do you mean?” Holly asked, repeating Kori’s question from moments ago. Her face had drained of some color but she managed to keep her voice steady.

  “It sounds like the poisoned strawberries were placed next to his body as a distraction to throw off the investigation. But nothing showed up in his blood. And he was allergic to strawberries so he wouldn’t have had the strawberries. Someone had to put them there.”

  “Huh,” Holly said, regaining her composure. “I guess not many people would know that about him.”

  Kori wanted to call Zach right now but she didn’t have a confession. And she knew she wouldn’t get one in such a public place. To put everyone back at ease she asked, “Do you know what you’d like for breakfast?”

  Holly was once again thrown off but quickly recovered and ordered the granola. Mel got a green smoothie.

  Back in the kitchen, Kori couldn’t help texting Nora to tell her about the conversation with Holly. In response, Nora told her, Police traced Dan’s cell phone GPS to Edwards and Greene Friday night before he was killed.

  Maybe Kori was barking up the wrong tree.

  CHAPTER 11

  Kori couldn’t be done with work soon enough but the day seemed to just drag on, giving her even more inspiration to start looking for some help. Around nine thirty, Jay and Lani came in. Jay was absolutely glowing, something she’d never seen from him before.

  “Hey Kori,” he said, much more cheerful than usual. Lani smiled and gave a slight wave of her hand. She didn’t seem as into Jay as he was into her.

  “Hi Jay. No work this morning?” she asked him as they took a seat at the counter in front of where she was working at the stove.

  “Kyle’s covering for me. He had the early breakfast. I get brunch.”

  “Not a bad deal.” Kori considered asking if he knew Jenna was pregnant but decided it wasn’t her news to tell so she kept her mouth shut. “Thanks again for your help on Sunday. It really made the day so much easier.” She hadn’t seen him yesterday to thank him again.

  “Of course.”

  Their conversation was suddenly cut short with the door opening. All eyes turned toward it to see who was there and Kori was surprised to see Mayor Devlin. Kori placed two cups of coffee in front of Lani and Jay and walked to the front door to greet him.

  “Good morning Mayor,” she said as he continued to look around, confused.

  “You must be Kori Cooke. I heard all about this place on Saturday night,” he boomed and Kori’s face reddened. She knew he’d been at the fireworks with her mom but didn’t really want every patron to know that.

  “There’s an empty seat at the counter, are you eating alone?” Kori asked, hoping to steer him toward a safer topic of conversation.

  “No, no.” A young woman, at most half his age, entered and stood at his arm, beaming. “This is Misty. She’ll be joining me.”

  Kori scanned the café but there were no empty tables or booths. “It’ll be a little while before a table is available. Can I get you something to drink while you wait? There are benches outside.”

  “Two coffees. Thanks.”

  Kori was relieved that they then turned and headed onto the sidewalk where there were two empty benches. She was also relieved that her mother hadn’t pursued any relationship with him. She was right when she’d told Kori that he had too many girlfriends.

  Kori quickly got the coffees and brought them outside on a tray, cream and sugar in small containers in case they wanted some. Then she managed to return to the kitchen and continue cooking.

  She didn’t have a chance to talk to Jay more, but she could tell that he was happy. Online dating had to be the least rewarding relationship he’d been in and being with Lani was the complete opposite.

  Once Mayor Devlin and Misty were seated at a table, they stayed there until Kori closed at one. They caused longer wait times than usual but she didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask them to leave.

  Finally, when they were the last customers, they paid their bill, left a measly tip for the amount of time they’d spent there, and were on their way. Kori barely cleaned up the kitchen, but did take the time to make sure the oven was off, before she called Ibis and they headed to Nora’s farm. They had to talk about Holly Barton and Arnold Greene.

  ***

  “How did you even find out about Dan’s phone’s GPS?” Kori asked once they were both settled on the patio with a cup of tea and Kori’s paper with notes.

  Nora smiled a devilish grin.
“When my best friend is dating Lieutenant Zach Gulch, it’s easy to butter him up and get the information I need.”

  “So you were flirting with my boyfriend?” Kori asked, mock betrayal in her voice.

  “Hah. You wish. No. I just planted the idea of a vacation together where I would take Ibis and help cover the café so you two could get away together.”

  “What? We’re not ready for a vacation! And how do you plan on covering the café when you have a farm to run?”

  “I have my ways.” They both laughed.

  “Okay. Whatever that means. So what else did you learn from Zach when you weren’t flirting with him?” Kori asked, turning the conversation back to where it needed to be.

  “He told me about Dan’s personal effects that were recovered—”

  “Even those weird glasses?” Kori asked, remembering their encounter near the lake Friday afternoon.

  Nora paused, a contemplative look on her face. “No. He didn’t say anything about those glasses.” She looked serious and Kori waited for her to continue her train of thought. “I remember those glasses though. They were too big for his face. And they had a weird attachment on one side. But I don’t remember them on him when I found him on Saturday morning.” Nora looked up. “Do you think they fell off somewhere between Edwards and Greene and my farm?”

  Kori was confident they had. “Let’s go check behind the barn and see if there’s anything there. Maybe he left them intentionally as a clue to his killer. Or there could be fingerprints on them that the police could identify.”

  The dogs had been dashing around the yard between the house and barn, but as soon as they saw Kori and Nora get up, they bounded over and jumped on them with their muddy paws. Then they sprinted ahead to the barn and behind it where the police tape used to block off part of Nora’s property.

  “Did you notice footprints when you found him?” Kori asked. She wanted to have a general direction in which to head.

  “I didn’t pay attention to that. I was too shocked to notice any details. Good thing I’m a farmer and not a detective.”