Meredith Potts Fourteen Book Cozy Mystery Set

by Meredith Potts

  “There are some lingering questions surrounding his death,” I said.

  He looked at me critically. “Is there? I heard you have Sophie Paulson in custody. Shouldn’t she be able to answer all your questions?”

  Henry had far more knowledge about this case than the other suspects had. He was really going to make me work hard to get any useful information.

  “I’m afraid that’s not the case,” I said.

  He questioned me again. “How so?”

  “I’ll get to that. But first, how did you and Paul get along?”

  I already knew the answer to that question, but wanted to hear it from him. I was glad I did.

  “Just fine. Why do you ask?”

  Talk about a bald-faced lie. Sophie had told me that things had really soured between Paul and Henry after he had gotten passed up for a promotion recently. Henry was trying to distort the truth. The question was, why?

  I called him out. “That’s not what I heard. I have it on good authority that you and Paul were not on the best of terms and that you believed Sophie’s promotion was because of favoritism, not merit.”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “So, you’re telling me I heard that wrong.”

  He deflected. “What does this have to do with anything?”

  I couldn’t believe he was going to make me spell it out. “You were angry at Paul for not promoting you. Even more, you felt that Sophie hadn’t earned the promotion that she’d gotten. Perhaps your resentment turned deadly.”

  Henry glared at me. “Are you accusing me of murder?”

  “I’m just saying, this case may not be as cut and dry as it first appeared.”

  “But Sophie was at the scene of the crime. What do you think happened, that I killed Paul, then called the police to frame Sophie?”

  A slew of questions entered my head. I went through them one by one.

  “Wait a minute. How did you know that Sophie was at the scene?”

  “They mentioned it on the news.”

  I hadn’t watched the news at all so I couldn’t confirm that. One thing that was undeniable was how strong of a suspicion I had when I looked at Henry. His confrontational attitude rubbed me the wrong way.

  The time for speculation was over. I wanted to get down to the most important question of all.

  “Where were you last night between nine and nine-thirty?” I asked.

  “The same place I always am,” Henry said.

  “Which is?”

  “The Backlot Bar.”

  The Backlot Bar was a local haunt for all the entertainment employees in the area. It was located two buildings over from where I was currently standing. That made it a perfect nightcap location for the entertainment employees of this building who wanted to take an edge off after work.

  “Is there anyone who can verify your story?” I asked.

  “Of course. The bar was packed last night.”

  “I meant, anyone who can personally verify your story?”

  “Talk to Chase, the bartender. He was the one who served me.”

  “I will.”

  I stared Henry down, wondering if he’d waver on his story. He didn’t. The man was completely calm. I couldn’t tell if it was because he was telling the truth, or because he just was a good liar.

  There was one way to know for sure. I headed over to the bar and talked to Chase. Just as Henry had told me, Chase verified that Henry was at the bar last night. I couldn’t believe it. For a man who acted as suspicious as Henry did, he had a rock solid alibi.

  If I wasn’t frustrated enough already, that really set me off. There were so few suspects to begin with, and now, I had to cross Henry off of my list. Even more, having questioned all the other suspects, I had now run out of fresh leads.

  Chapter Eleven

  After a full day of investigating, stretching the suspect list to the limit, I not only felt completely exhausted, but I had nothing to show for it. It was so frustrating. On top of that, two of the suspects seemed to have solid alibis. The one who didn’t hadn’t exactly given me much to work with. With this case, at every turn, I had come up short.

  To me, that was the most deflating part of this all. I had no problem running around town if it produced results. But to return to my hotel empty-handed was just soul crushing. I had started the investigation staring down a big question mark. That’s just where I found myself again. Even worse, I was running out of ideas.

  The problem was, I didn’t know what else I could do. My body seemed to have an answer. Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion came over me. I had run myself ragged and was in serious need of some rest. Perhaps, that would be good for my mind as well. Sometimes answers came to me after I had gotten some sleep. I was hoping that would be the case this time as well.

  The next day, morning came quicker than I wanted it to. The previous day had left me more emotionally drained than I had initially thought. So, when I woke up, I hoped to grab a few extra hours of sleep. With the sound of a police siren coming from the street outside my window, that was an impossibility.

  That was the one thing about being back in Los Angeles. There always seemed to be a siren going off somewhere in town. Now that I was awake, it proved too difficult to fall back to sleep. Reluctantly, I pulled myself out of bed and went to the window of the hotel room. As I opened the blinds, an unexpected sight greeted me.

  It was an overcast day. Storm clouds loomed in the air. The threat of rain was strong. For a place like L.A., where it was sunny more days than not, that made for an odd sight. It was almost as if Mother Nature had taken cues from my mood.

  At the same time, the weather conditions outside just acted a backdrop. I cared more about the conditions inside my head. Unfortunately, my thoughts were as murky as ever.

  I had been wrong. The rest had left my thoughts just as jumbled as ever. What a time for my mind to fail me. I ordered some room service, in hopes that maybe having a full stomach would spark inspiration.

  It did not. Two hours had passed, and I was no wiser. I was in a serious rut, completely blocked as to where to go from here and what to do next. Yesterday, when I needed emotional support, I had called my boyfriend.

  Since this mental block pertained to investigating the case, I decided to give my brother a try. I gave Joe a call. Unfortunately, he did not give me his typical warm greeting. I wondered if he was working on a case back home.

  “Hi Joe,” I said.

  “Hi,” he replied seemingly looking to conserve his words.

  There was a beat down tone to his voice.

  I had a feeling I’d caught him at an inopportune moment. “Bad time?”

  I was right.

  “I wouldn’t say it’s the best time,” he replied.

  That was exactly what I didn’t want to hear. Just when I needed the comfort of his words the most, I wouldn’t be able to get them. But, I understood the cycles of life just as he did. I would have to find a way to tough it out.

  “Do you want to call me back later when things are better?” I asked.

  Apparently, there had been a bit of confusion. Joe tried to clear it up. “I meant, it’s not an issue of bad timing. It’s more that I’ve had a tough morning.”

  We seemed to be experiencing the same thing. “I know the feeling.”

  The concern in my voice got to him. He addressed it. “I’d ask how things are going for you, but it seems pretty obvious.”

  Unlike me, Joe seemed determined not to talk about his problems. While I wanted to get to my difficulties, I wasn’t just going to gloss over his.

  “It’s not the best of times for me either,” I said. “But enough about me. What about you? Tell me. What’s the matter?”

  Joe played down his troubles. “You already have enough on your mind. You don’t need to hear my problems on top of that.”

  We were doing a dance that was bordering on the ridiculous. Instead of just deferring to each other, one of us had to step up. I wanted to hear about his
dilemma first.

  “Joe, you’re my brother. You can talk to me. Now, let’s hear it.”

  Joe exhaled loudly. “All right. Suit yourself.”

  “So, what’s the deal?” I asked.

  “It looks like I’m going to have to stage an intervention.”

  “With Hank?”

  Hank was one of Joe’s oldest friends. They had known each other since childhood. Through good times and bad, they were there for each other. This was a particularly bad time for Hank. His wife had recently filed for divorce. Apparently, she’d fallen for another guy.

  Hank was heartbroken. Through adulthood, Hank hadn’t been a stranger to alcohol, but ever since Doris left him, he had really been hitting the bottle hard. His behavior had not gone unnoticed by my brother.

  Joe replied with disappointment in his voice. “Yeah. I’ve been putting up with his excuses for too long. He keeps pretending his drinking problem isn’t as big as it is. But, he was fall over drunk at the bar again last night. So much that he ended up throwing up all over himself. The man just seems like he lives to drink these days. Like the idea of spending a moment sober is too much for him.”

  “That’s awful.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty horrible. But, in another way, last night was kind of a good thing.”

  I was confused.

  “How do you figure?” I asked.

  “The smaller the warning signs were, the easier they were to ignore. After a guy throws up all over himself, there’s no way for him to ignore how out of control things have gotten. He became the drunk eight hundred pound gorilla in the bar. Even Hank won’t be able to deny that he needs help now.”

  “I’m so sorry it’s come to this, but if he can sober up and clean up his act, this intervention will be worth it,” I said.

  “That is a big if,” Joe replied.

  “Good luck. You know I’ll help you in any way I can.”

  “It sounds like you already have your hands full.”

  “I do. But hopefully this will be resolved soon,” I said.

  “Same here. I just hope it’s not too late,” Joe replied.

  “Don’t give up hope. It’s the only thing we have sometimes.”

  “Intellectually, I know that, but part of me is kicking myself for not getting involved sooner.”

  I tried to keep my brother from getting too down on himself. “You didn’t know.”

  “It’s a nice thing to say. Unfortunately, it’s not the truth. The fact is, the signs have all been right in front of me all along. The truth has been staring me in the face. I just didn’t want to admit it,” Joe said.

  That last point really resonated with me. My brother had been talking about his friend’s drinking problem, but the sentiment related to my situation as well. The more I thought about it, the more I began to question myself. Had I fallen into the same trap as Joe had? Had I been deluding myself all this time? Had the truth been staring me in the face all along?

  I fell silent. In fact, I went quiet so long that Joe wondered if our phone connection had been lost.

  “Are you still there?” Joe asked.

  “Yeah, I’m here. Repeat that last thing you said to me again,” I replied.

  “Are you still there?” Joe said.

  “No. The one before that.”

  “Oh. Just that sometimes the truth is right in front of you, but you don’t want to admit it.”

  Once again, I was left breathless. My brother’s statement sent shockwaves through my mind. All of a sudden, the answer I had been looking for finally came to me. Finally, the jumble in my mind disappeared and was replaced by a sense of clarity.

  “You’re a genius,” I said.

  This time, it was Joe who was confused.

  “Really? That was just a story about what a knucklehead I’ve been,” Joe replied.

  I corrected him. “You need to give yourself more credit.”

  “Care to explain?” he asked.

  I hated to leave him in the dark, but for the sake of time, I elected to do so. I would fill in the blanks soon enough.

  “I’ll explain later. In the meantime, there’s something I need to do,” I said.

  I left Joe somewhat mystified, but he’d be okay.

  In the meantime, I finally knew the answer. The time for delay was over. Right then, the only thing on my mind was confronting the killer.

  Chapter Twelve

  Just because I knew who the killer was didn’t make this next conversation any easier. In fact, I found myself staring down the hardest discussion of my entire life. I was not looking forward to it.

  There was an old saying about how much the truth hurt. That was definitely the case here. Perhaps that was why I had been so blind to it for so long. The answer had been in front of me for so long, but I had just refused to admit it. Mostly because it represented the most bitter pill I had ever had to swallow.

  My brother used to say that given the right circumstances, anyone was capable of murder. I had never believed that. I had also refused to admit that this case was as cut and dry as Detective Wright had painted it as. Perhaps, I should have. It would have saved me a lot of time and energy. It was too late to go back now. I could only look forward, even if it meant having to admit the ugly truth.

  That’s how found myself visiting Sophie in jail again. She looked anxious to see me.

  Sophie jumped up from the bed in her cell with her eyes wide. I could tell she had questions that she was eager to pepper me with.

  “Hope, I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” Sophie said.

  “Neither did I, but something has come up.”

  “Well, that’s a good thing, right? Does that mean you found out who did this?”

  The excitement in her voice only made this more difficult for me.

  I had trouble getting out my single word response. “Yes.”

  Sophie looked confused that I took so long to elaborate. She was hanging on my next word.

  Finally, she couldn’t wait. “And?”

  She may have been chomping at the bit, but I was more hesitant than ever. It was crazy. I knew what had to be said. I even had the phrasing all worked out. But, like a singer with stage fright, I completely tensed up with the spotlight on me. I just couldn’t seem to figure out how to get the words off the tip of my tongue.

  Finally, Sophie’s lack of patience forced the issue. “The suspense is killing me.”

  That triggered a visceral reaction in me. Suddenly, the words spilled out of my mouth. “Why did you lie to me?”

  I had meant to approach the subject with more tact, but it was too late now. After my accusatory statement, the conversation naturally devolved from there.

  Sophie’s mood immediately changed. She went from excited to guarded.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  Evasion wasn’t going to get her anywhere. I wasn’t about to let her play dumb.

  “Sophie, don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

  My friend’s mood soured even more.

  I meant to continue, but my tongue became tied again. It turned out that I didn’t even need to verbalize my thought. I could tell that she knew what I was about to say.

  “No. Wait a minute. You don’t actually think…?”

  Sophie couldn’t seem to finish her sentence. At least I wasn’t the only one having trouble expressing myself.

  With all the incomplete sentences floating in the air, I knew it was time for some finality. Whether I was ready for it or not, we had reached the moment of truth.

  Unfortunately, Sophie still seemed to be trying to deflect the blame off of herself.

  I threw the hammer down. “Sophie, I know you did this.”

  Sophie gave me a baffled look. “They got you believing their lies too?”

  Sophie was trying to play my emotions, but I had finally reached my limit. This was hard enough for me to do already. The situation was inherently fraught with emotions, yet she was trying to pile more on.
I couldn’t take it anymore.

  It was time to put an end to this charade. I felt like my heart was being ripped in half as I said the words, but they needed to be said. So, I mustered the last of my courage and continued. “No. I’m just finally willing to admit the truth that’s been right in front of me.”

  Sophie’s facial expression went from bewilderment to profound sadness. She looked like she was about to cry.

  “I can’t believe you’re turning on me,” she said.

  I knew what she was trying to do, and it was low. Sophie knew I was fiercely loyal to my friends. So loyal that I had conducted a wild goose chase on her behalf. But that wasn’t enough. Now she seemed to be resorting to emotional blackmail.

  I held firm. “Don’t make this about me. It’s about you, and what you did.”

  Realizing that her pleading didn’t work, she lost her temper and snapped at me. “For the last time, I didn’t—”

  Disrespect was the one thing I wouldn’t stand for. Suddenly, resolve came to my face. I’d reached the end of my rope.

  I cut her off. “If you lie to me, I’ll get up and walk out of here and never come back. We’ve been friends for years, but that doesn’t mean you can use that to manipulate me. As your friend, I should be entitled to the truth. Instead, you had me running around town accusing other people of murder when you were the one who was guilty. What kind of a friend does that?”

  Suddenly, she got deadly quiet. Sophie lowered her head. Before she did, I saw the embarrassment on her face. I worried that she would retreat into her shell when the proper response would have been to say she was sorry for the way she had treated me.

  No apology came. Instead, she had no answer of any kind. She averted eye contact, but as I looked closer at her, she looked ashamed of herself.

  Each second that passed seemed to tick by in slow motion. It was excruciating waiting for a response. I began to wonder if one would even come. When she didn’t make a move, I realized I’d have to.

  “Come clean,” I pleaded.

  Sophie finally looked up, her face in agony. The anger was gone now, having been replaced with desperation.

  “It’s not what you think,” she said.