Jamie tried not to smile about the compliment as Ryan continued and told them a man had died.
“They’re not sure if it was an accident or a crime,” Ryan said. “But a man was killed. They asked me to come and investigate.”
“We’ll come too,” Heather said, ready to grab her bag and go.
“Why don’t you let me go and check it out first?” Ryan said. “I’ll let you know if there actually has been a murder committed. That way you don’t waste a trip.”
“I don’t mind investigating to see that,” Heather said. Why was Ryan trying to stop her from going? She was all set to protest the topic more when she caught where Ryan’s gaze was drifting.
Eva looked paler than usual but was trying to cover her discomfort. Heather felt like smacking herself in the head. Of course, this might upset her friend. Eva’s house had recently been the victim of arson. Though things were looking up for the rebuilding and repairs, the fact that it had been set on fire was something that weighed heavily on her mind. Combine that with the fact that last Memorial Day Eva had been in a coma – no wonder the color had drained from the woman’s cheeks.
Heather had to admire the strength of her friend. Though Eva and Leila were both concerned with what was currently happening in town and with their own traumatic memories that were being dredged up, they were acting bravely and making sure that Lilly and Nicolas weren’t afraid. They were asking the children to tell them everything that they had learned about Memorial Day in school as a way of a distraction.
“I’ll stay until you know that you need me,” Heather agreed.
Ryan gave her a kiss and then took off his grilling apron before leaving. Jamie agreed to take over at the grill, pleased that he might be able to do something help.
“If Ryan is getting called over, I think we will be called too,” Amy said.
Heather agreed. “But let’s make the most of our barbecue while we’re here.”
Heather put on a happy face, but she knew it wouldn’t be the same with Ryan there with them. Knowing he was out discovering if a murder had been committed was also going to be thoroughly distracting.
She sat down with her friends and started going through the many dishes that Jamie had prepared, taking a little bit of each.
“I’m surprised they didn’t call you in as well,” Eva said. “Does that mean there was no murder?”
“We’re not sure what it means,” Heather admitted. “It sounds like it’s a bit of a confusing crime scene.”
“If you are called away, we’d be happy to watch the children for you,” Eva said.
“Provided we are paid with more of those Stars and Stripes Donuts,” Leila joked.
Heather handed some more of the donuts down the table. “Free of charge,” she said.
The group enjoyed some more food and tried to keep their spirits up. Heather tried all of Jamie’s dishes – even the green one that ended up being zucchini and kale fritters. (Jamie really had tried making everything!) Then her phone rang.
“Shepherd,” she said.
It was almost hard to hear what Ryan was saying over Amy’s questions of “What’s happening?” However, she was able to get the gist of it and tell Ryan that they would be right over.
“It would be a lot easier to hear what’s happening if you let me hear what’s happening,” Heather said. “You were more antsy than Dave when I have a donut.”
Dave perked his ears up at hearing those two words together.
“Sorry,” Amy said. “But this sounds like such a strange one. Was it murder? What did he say?”
“He said we better get over there. He needs some help on this one.”
Chapter 4
“This makes me never want to go near a grill again. Yeah. I might be giving up burgers forever,” Amy said.
Heather understood her concern. They walked across the charred grass towards the crime scene. Luckily the fire had been extinguished before it was able to overtake the house, but the backyard looked like a war zone.
A large dark spot and larger metal remains indicated where the grill had been when it exploded. Odd bits of metal, some Heather recognized as looking like part of a regular grill and some she didn’t, were scattered across the yard. The patio furniture had been knocked over and mostly broken.
The air smelled like a mix of fire and chemicals. Heather made a mental note of that. She wasn’t sure that it was the normal spell of an explosion. Luckily her experience with this particular type of murder was minimal.
She was grateful that the body had been removed before they arrived. She was an experienced investigator now, but this death would have been particularly gruesome. Maybe that was another reason why Ryan wanted to delay their arrival. However, if that were a reason, she would be both thankful and annoyed. She couldn’t be babied on a case. Anything could be the clue that led to their catching the killer.
She was just pondering what might be the clue for this case and was examining some of the strange metal on the lawn when Ryan came up to meet them.
“Sorry to drag you both away from the BBQ,” Ryan said.
“No offense,” Amy countered. “But you being called away to check out an explosion was a bit of a party killer.”
“And even if we do occasionally want a day off, we do love our work,” Heather said. “So what can you tell us?”
“There’s a lot we still have to figure out. That’s why I thought it might be helpful to have another set of eyes here. Or two sets of eyes.”
“Do they think this was murder?”
“Here’s what we know,” Ryan said. He consulted his notepad to make sure that he wouldn’t miss any of the details. “Ed Templeton was the victim. He was a scientist and made a decent amount of money with his product that helps with bunions.”
“Right. I’ve heard of him.” Amy said before defensively adding, “Not that I have bunions.”
“He also liked to grill.” Ryan continued. “He did so frequently, and he was the one who took over during parties.”
“So someone could have known his routine,” Heather said. “They could have tampered with the grill and caused it to explode when he used it.”
“However, this was no ordinary grill.”
They looked at the strange metal pieces of the ground, but their mental puzzle pieces didn’t quite fit together.
“What do you mean exactly?”
“I mean that Ed Templeton made his own alterations to the grill. He ‘souped it up’ to turn it into something super powerful.”
“So it might have just backfired?” Heather asked. “Been an accident?”
“That’s what we have to determine. A team is bagging all the pieces. They’re going to see what they can reassemble. We’ll also do some lab tests to see if we can determine what he used for grilling and what caused the explosion.”
“If he altered his grill, could that be what caused this chemical smell?” Heather asked.
“I believe so. But again, we don’t know if the grill failed. Or if someone caused it to fail.”
Heather knew she wasn’t an expert when it came to conducting lab tests, but she was becoming an expert on talking to witnesses.
“Who was here when the explosion happened?”
“Just the family,” Ryan said. “The neighborhood guests weren’t set to arrive until later.”
“Was anyone injured?”
“Just some cuts and scratches. Ed Templeton was the only one close enough to the grill for it to be fatal. Everyone else was farther away.”
“That’s either extremely lucky and miracle-like that no one else was hurt. Or,” Amy said, looking at her friend.
“Or someone took care to make sure only Ed Templeton was the victim,” Heather finished.
Heather considered everything they had learned so far. She could see why the police were unsure of what had happened. It looked as if the grill was going to be a vital piece of evidence. If they could figure out what part of the mechanism had caused th
e explosion, they could determine whether it had been a mechanical issue or deliberate sabotage.
She needed to learn more about the family. Were they innocent bystanders? Or was somebody the cause of the death and destruction?
“I’d like to speak with the family,” Heather said.
Ryan nodded and led them towards the house.
Chapter 5
Ryan showed them into the house where the Templeton family was sitting dazed in the living room. They had already been bandaged up by the EMTs who had arrived on the scene earlier. Now they only had to deal with the emotional wounds of what had happened.
Ryan introduced Heather and Amy as private investigators that assisted with certain cases and told the family they had a few follow-up questions they needed to ask. The family nodded, and Ryan left them to their questions. Amy took out their table to take notes and then had to write at super speed to keep up with them all.
The adult son Eddie was still in his clothes with bits of ash on them. He looked pale and saddened by what had happened, but was channeling all his upset energy into helping the family dog who was lying on the floor looking sickly himself. The large spotted mutt barely lifted his head to look at the strangers in the room, something that would have driven Dave crazy.
“He must know what happened to Dad,” Eddie said. “He’s been depressed like this all afternoon. It’s okay, Bingo.”
He ran his hand across the dog’s fur, trying to comfort the animal.
The daughter Janine (or step-daughter as she corrected them) rolled her heavily eye-liner-ed eyes at Eddie. “Bingo probably feels sick because our yard exploded. Dogs hear better than us. He’s smaller than us. He might have shellshock.”
“If he survived those gross dog snacks that you gave him, he can physically survive anything. He’s sad.”
“Those snacks weren’t gross. They were vegetarian.”
“When we were younger, you used to sell me out when I gave the dog my broccoli from the table. Now you’re giving him vegetarian snacks.”
“Stop fighting,” Nancy said suddenly. Mrs. Templeton had been sitting in a state of shock for a while but snapped to attention to snap at her children. “It’s been a bad enough day already. Stop fighting in front of guests.”
“They’re not guests,” Janine said. “They’re fake detectives.”
Nancy was too tired to argue.
“We’re private investigators working with the police,” Heather said gently. She knew grief could affect people in different ways, so she should try and not take the rudeness personally. “Can you please take us through the events of this afternoon? Where was everyone when this happened?”
“It seemed like a normal barbecue day,” Janine said. “I was wandering around all morning. I was going to get some watermelon when it happened. I’m a vegetarian, so I always thought burgers were gross. I was inside heading to the fridge, so I didn’t really see what happened.”
“You were inside the house during the explosion?” Heather asked.
“Yeah. I just said that ” Janine said, folding her arms. “Ended up being lucky. Maybe being a vegetarian saved my life.”
Eddie groaned.
“He was always playing around with that grill,” Nancy Templeton said. “I thought it was dangerous and I used to tell him so. But he was so smart that I didn’t fight him on it. Perhaps I should have. Then he might be alive.”
“This wasn’t your fault,” Heather assured her. They weren’t sure what had happened yet, so there was no reason to make the widow feel worse about Ed Templeton’s death.
“I can’t believe this happened,” Eddie said. “He was really smart. And really careful. He wouldn’t have used something that he didn’t think was safe. He always tested things before they could become dangerous.”
“He obviously didn’t test it well enough,” Nancy said, wiping tears away from her eyes.
“I thought he tested it that morning before everyone came out.”
Heather gave Amy a look. If that were true, that could be the moment that something went wrong. Ed Templeton could have made a fatal mistake that morning that caused the explosion. Or if it were an intentional explosion, then the grill would have to be tampered with after this point in time. Maybe they could establish who had access to the grill then.
“He liked to add new elements to the grill before special events,” Eddie continued. “He could even make it shoot out colored flames. But little ones. Nothing dangerous like this.”
“He must have made a mistake,” Janine said.
“I guess so,” Eddie said before going back to petting the quiet dog.
“Was Mr. Templeton at the grill all morning?” Heather asked.
“Pretty much,” Nancy answered. “He loved grilling. People say it’s nice when you die doing what you love. Do you think that might be the case for him?”
“Mom, this was a terrible, gross and scary death. There’s no way to make it nice.”
“Geez, way to be sensitive,” Eddie said. He wanted the steer the conversations back to the investigators, and so he tried to answer their question. “I think Dad was at the grill most of the day. But he wasn’t standing guard. I think he got some supplies out of the fridge and he checked on the dog at some point.”
Heather nodded. If Ed Templeton wasn’t at the grill’s side the entire time, then it was possible for someone to tamper with it. However, they would have to make their sabotage quick, and not be caught doing it by any of the other family members.
“I was outside all morning,” Nancy said. “I actually was finding it quite relaxing.”
Heather nodded as Nancy let out a mirthless laugh. She understood how quickly circumstances could change from calm to dangerous.
“I was reading a romance novel and waiting for lunch. I should have paid more attention to what Ed was doing. It wasn’t until I was thrown off my chair and everything was on fire that I realized anything was wrong.”
Heather was glad that Amy was taking notes. There would be a lot to sift through later. If Nancy were outside, it would have made it more difficult for someone to sneak over for their sabotage; unless she was so involved with her novel that she wouldn’t have paid any attention to what her family was up to.
“And where were you?” Heather asked Eddie.
“I had to make several phone calls this morning for work, so I was going in and out. I was walking across the yard when the explosion happened. I was actually headed to my dad to see how the food was coming. I had been rather hungry.”
“You were facing him when it happened? What exactly was he doing? Did he adjust any gears or levers?” Heather asked, realizing that she had no idea what this ‘super grill’ looked like.
“I don’t know. Nothing struck me as weird. He was just grilling burgers like usual. But he must have adjusted the settings at some point.”
“Thank you,” Heather said. It seemed like the family were the only people who could have had access to the grill after Ed Templeton’s safety check. That is if a murder had been committed. She’d have to wait to hear what the lab said about what caused the explosion.
She’d have to figure out how to ask if there were any motives to kill the victim without seeming insensitive if this truly was an accident. She was sure Ryan could uncover who would benefit financially from the death. She would just nose around the question with the family.
“Was there anyone who might want to hurt Mr. Templeton?”
“Hurt him?” Janine asked. “Wasn’t this an accident?”
“We just need to examine every possibility,” Heather said.
The family eventually decided to answer her question but couldn’t think of anyone who would wish Ed Templeton harm. He was doing well at work and was generally liked by everyone. Heather sensed that there was some tension within the family unit. However, most of it seemed to be between the step-siblings who knew how to push each other’s buttons. The family all acted like they were upset by Mr. Templeton’s death, but
Heather wasn’t convinced that they weren’t just acting.
“It was silly to ask us that,” Nancy said after they finished wracking their brains for potential people who wished him harm. “Ed was a wonderful man. This was just a terrible accident.”
Heather nodded and thanked them for their time. It was still possible that this had been an accident, but her gut was telling her that it was murder.
Chapter 6
“It was definitely an accident,” Detective Hoskins said to the group assembled at police headquarters.
Heather suppressed a groan of annoyance. She considered Ryan’s partner to be lazy on the job but dismissing the possibility of murder because it meant less work was going too far. She willed herself to think positively. Maybe she was judging him too harshly. Maybe he had a legitimate reason for thinking it was an accident and wasn’t just hoping that this death would be easy to write off.
Blueberry Spangled Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 48 Page 2