Chocolate With A Side Of Murder

by Meredith Potts

  I stared deep into my mom’s eyes. “As angry as you were at him, did you ever consider killing him?”

  My mother shook her head. “No.”

  “Exactly,” I said.

  “Then again, I’m not crazy,” my mom replied.

  My stepfather spoke up again. “It may be of little comfort, but if Leah did do this, she’ll end up paying dearly for it. And if she is the guilty party, we can breathe a sigh of relief that this case was quick to solve.”

  My mother’s eyes widened. “Yeah. Could you imagine if a killer was on the loose in Treasure Cove for an extended period of time? It would be tough to sleep at night.”

  I took a deep breath before responding. “I already have a hard enough time sleeping.”

  My mother looked over toward the crowd of people that had gathered on the sidewalk in front of the chocolate shop. “It’s still amazing to me that such a horrible thing happened just outside our back door.”

  My stepfather was floored. “Who could have predicted this?”

  I shook my head. “Certainly not me.”

  My mother’s eyebrows arched. “It makes you realize how little you know about what’s going on right under your nose.”

  My stepfather looked out into the distance. “It also makes you wonder what else has been going on that we don’t know about.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Time kept ticking by on the clock, but the topic of conversation in the coffee shop remained the same. Not just with my parents, but with every customer who entered. Andrew’s murder was all anyone wanted to talk about. I didn’t blame the townsfolk for getting wrapped up in speculation. The same was true of me. I couldn’t speak for big cities, but in a small town like Treasure Cove, murder was a big deal.

  I could only think of two other cases where something this shocking had ever taken place in town. The first was the Watterson double murder-suicide, which had occurred decades ago. The second was my sister’s disappearance, which was over ten years ago. The good news was that horrifying things like this didn’t happen very often around here. The problem was, when they did occur, it made them even more shocking.

  I didn’t come across a single person that afternoon who didn’t have an opinion about Andrew’s murder. The coffee shop was abuzz with equal parts panic and gossip. Everyone was so hopped up on adrenaline that espresso just seemed unnecessary. Or dare I say—overkill?

  The only exception was David, who looked completely exhausted as he entered the shop in the late morning just before the lunch rush began. He was ragged beyond belief. One thought entered my mind as I looked into his weary eyes—that coffee was invented for moments like this.

  My heart went out to him. This was far from his standard caseload. A typical day for him consisted of calls about burglaries, public drunkenness, and maybe the occasional domestic disturbance. Murder was a whole new ballgame.

  “Rough day?” I asked.

  David groaned. “That’s an understatement.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You don’t have to apologize,” he said. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  If I thought it would have helped him, I would have reached across the counter and given him a big hug. He didn’t look like he was in the mood for an embrace. Instead, I offered an alternative.

  “It looks like you could use a double espresso,” I replied.

  “Actually, make that a triple.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  In all the time I had known him, David had never ordered a triple before. This case was clearly giving him more trouble than I previously thought.

  David groaned. “It has just been one of those days.”

  That was something we could both agree on. It had been the kind of morning that I desperately wanted to forget.

  “A dead body will do that.” Added concern came to my face. “Still, did things go triple espresso bad with Leah?”

  His face tensed up. “I can’t imagine them going worse.”

  I reached out to him to take his hand. “Honey, that’s terrible. I just want you to know that I’m here for you.”

  “Thanks.” He looked down at the ground. “I’ll explain everything once I get caffeine in my system.”

  His words only gave me a snippet of his true emotions. When I gazed into his eyes, I could see how troubled he really was.

  “It really is one of those days. Triple espresso, coming up,” I said.

  I fired up the espresso machine and made his triple. I was barely able to pour the espresso into a cup when he grabbed it and gulped it quickly like he was taking a shot of whiskey.

  I grew more worried by the minute. “Now do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

  He shook his head. “No. Actually, I just want to pretend that today never happened. Unfortunately, that’s useless.”

  “What’s the matter? Did Leah not talk to you?”

  His eyebrows arched. “She talked, all right.”

  I scratched my forehead. “Then what’s the problem?”

  “She has a rock-solid alibi for the time of the murder.”

  I hesitated before replying. No wonder he was so out of sorts. Leah was the most logical suspect. David and I had both figured this case was open and shut. This news turned all those assumptions upside down.

  “Does that mean you think she didn’t do it?” I asked.

  He looked mystified. “Between her alibi and the fact that the forensics team didn’t find her fingerprints at the scene of the crime, surprisingly, Leah looks to be in the clear.”

  “But how did that earring get at the scene, then?”

  He shrugged. “Leah told me it wasn’t hers.”

  I knitted my brow. “Really? It sure looked like her kind of earring.”

  “She claims to have never seen that earring before.”

  “Do you believe her?”

  A baffled look remained on his face. “At first, I didn’t. But my deputies searched every inch of her place and didn’t find the second earring.”

  “She could have disposed of the second earring, realizing that it would incriminate her,” I said.

  “True,” he replied. “Although that doesn’t change the fact that she has a rock-solid alibi.”

  This was incredible. At each turn, my suspicions were thwarted.

  On the surface, it didn’t make sense to cross Leah off of the suspect list. At the same time, given all the information that David had shared with me, it was becoming hard to keep her on it.

  I put my hands on my hips. “Do you believe her story?”

  David grimaced. “I never thought I’d say this, but yes. It’s hard to argue with a verifiable alibi, especially when I have no additional evidence pinning her to the crime.”

  It was staggering how quickly this case had gone from being a sure thing to completely up in the air. What a terrible feeling, seeing the case slip away while being powerless to stop it.

  That said, I still had a few lingering questions pertaining to Leah.

  “Let’s say Leah didn’t do this. It doesn’t change the fact that I found an earring that looks like it belonged to her at the scene. Given Leah’s distinct taste in fashion, do you think the killer might have left the earring at the scene in an attempt to frame Leah for the crime?”

  He arched his eyebrows. “Those are some great instincts.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “That’s my working theory.”

  I tapped my fingers on the counter. “In that case, someone went to a lot of work to frame her without realizing she’d have an alibi.”

  “The killer probably figured that planting the earring at the scene would be enough to sufficiently frame her.”

  “They were wrong. Although they almost got away with it.” I took a breath. “So what now?”

  “I have been asking myself who else had a reason to want Andrew dead.”

  My eyes widened. “You don’t have to look far for that. Take Jake Williamson, for example.”

 
; As the real estate developer who had put in an offer to buy the chocolate shop from Andrew, Jake had a lot to gain from Andrew’s death.

  David nodded in agreement. “I have him on my list.”

  “I hate to say it, but there’s also Nathan Stewart,” I said.

  As Andrew’s only son, Nathan would no doubt inherit a large amount of money after his father’s passing.

  David nodded again. “It’s hard to rule out someone who stands to inherit significant amounts of money.”

  “How about Hank Stewart?” I asked.

  Hank was Andrew’s younger, less successful brother. He had spent his entire life living in Andrew’s shadow. Had he taken a killer step to get out of that shadow?

  “He’s on the list, too,” David replied.

  “And of course there’s Andrew’s business partner.”

  While Andrew owned one half of the shop, Patrick Doherty owned the other half. In addition to being Andrew’s business partner, like Andrew’s family, Patrick also wanted Andrew to sell the place.

  “I thought of Patrick, too,” David said.

  I bit the corner of my lip. “Is that all?”

  David nodded. “Leah told me that Andrew had been having an affair with Melissa Wilcox.”

  My eyes widened. “His assistant manager? Wow.”

  David exhaled. “Yeah. That was a real bombshell.”

  I put my hand on my chest. “I’ll say.”

  “That salacious detail aside, there is plenty of suspicion to go around. Why do you think I needed that triple espresso?”

  I worked through all the names in my head again. “That’s a lot to sort through. Have you talked to any of the other suspects yet?”

  He shook his head. “No, but I’m about to.”

  I exhaled. “Well, good luck.”

  David sighed. “I’ll need it.”

  Just as he was about to make his way to the exit, I stared at him long and hard. “David, I really need you to be careful.”

  “I will.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  For the second day in a row, Kelly O’Reilly looked shell shocked as she began her work shift. This time, I was sure that a lack of sleep wasn’t the issue. After all, it was one o’clock in the afternoon. She had plenty of time to catch up on her rest.

  Like the rest of the town, no doubt she was shaken up after hearing news about the murder. As she clocked in for her shift and joined me behind the counter, I got the sense that something else was bothering her. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw a troubled look in her eyes.

  While I was curious about what was on her mind, I decided to ease my way into the conversation. “Crazy day, huh?”

  Kelly watched the zoo of onlookers and police officers that stood outside the chocolate shop.

  “More like terrifying. What’s going on in this town?” Kelly replied.

  I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “I don’t have a guess. All I can tell you is the whole town is going mad.”

  I agreed that at least one person had gone mad—Andrew’s killer. At the same time, one psychopath did not constitute an entire town going nuts.

  I scrunched my nose. “The whole town?”

  Kelly’s muscles tightened up, but I couldn’t figure out why. Did she know something that I didn’t about this case? Had she heard something? Or worse—had she seen something pertinent to the murder investigation?

  I gave her a warm smile. “Kelly, what’s the matter?”

  She hemmed and hawed before responding. “I mean, between the murder, the weird meeting you saw the other night, and…”

  Kelly unexpectedly trailed off. What was the end of that sentence? Why did she have such a hard time getting it out?

  “Kelly, what is it?”

  Whatever was on her mind was really weighing heavily on her. It took her a moment, but she finally replied. “I know it’s going to seem strange to bring this little detail up now after a murder has occurred, but I didn’t sleep well again last night.”

  “Why?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Wait a minute. Did you see the light on at the Watterson estate again?” I asked.

  She slowly nodded. “Unfortunately.”

  “That’s crazy.”

  She looked down at the ground. “That’s why I said the whole town has gone a little nuts. There’s so many weird things going on at once.”

  “It does make for some strange coincidences, but maybe it’s just one of those weeks. You don’t think they might all be connected, do you?”

  Kelly shrugged. “I could ask Miss Terri.”

  My forehead wrinkled. “Miss Terri?”

  What was it with my friends and psychics all of a sudden? Shannon, I could kind of understand. After all, she had always been drawn to mystical things.

  Not Kelly, though. Yet there Kelly was bringing up Miss Terri’s name. Maybe this town was a little crazier than I thought.

  “Miss Terri predicted that strange things would keep happening as long as we’re living under a suspicious moon.”

  I waited for Kelly to crack a smile or give any indication that she was joking.

  That didn’t happen.

  Since she appeared to be deadly serious, Kelly’s response opened up a whole new set of questions in my mind.

  “Back up for a second. What are you doing going to a psychic?” I asked.

  “After I heard Shannon saying such glowing things about her, I decided to give Miss Terri a try.”

  “And Miss Terri told you we are living under a suspicious moon?”

  Kelly averted her gaze. “I know what it sounds like, but look at all the insane things that are going on around here these days.”

  While I could not dispute that, I also couldn’t help but be critical of the psychic reading that Kelly had received.

  “What is a suspicious moon?” I asked.

  “It’s a playground for surprises. Apparently, all bets are off when a suspicious moon ushers in the tides of change.”

  “Can you repeat that to me in English, please?” I said.

  “According to Miss Terri, for the next few weeks, odd things will continue to occur in great numbers,” Kelly replied.

  “Did Miss Terri happen to have any specifics?”

  “Nothing along the lines of a murder.”

  I scoffed. “You’d think being able to predict a murder would be a big priority if you really did have the power to see the future.”

  “In Miss Terri’s defense, I didn’t go there for that.”

  I gave her a bemused look. “What did you go to her for?”

  “To try to get some answers about my love life,” Kelly said.

  Or lack of a love life, for that matter. Poor Kelly. She had been single for months. It had been a very rough time for her.

  “Did Miss Terri have any answers?” I asked.

  “She told me not to be deceived. That it’s a very tricky time. Thankfully, a bountiful moon is coming. That is when fate will be more likely to smile on me.”

  It was hard not to roll my eyes with all this jargon being thrown around. That being said, I restrained myself. I just listened without adding my own unsolicited commentary.

  “Uh-huh.”

  Even though I had not outright criticized the psychic’s advice, Kelly saw the peculiar look on my face and could not refrain from commenting on it.

  “I know it sounds crazy,” Kelly replied. “I thought she was kooky myself until…”

  Kelly trailed off again.

  I tried to fill in the gap she had left in her statement. “Until you saw the light on again at the Watterson estate?”

  “No,” Kelly said. “Until Miss Terri said that just because an opportunity comes along, doesn’t mean I should take it. What looks like gold may be the fool’s variety. And after what happened last night, those words really hit home.”

  “What happened last night? Did you get a hit on that dating site you signed up with?”
<
br />   “No. After I had left Miss Terri’s place, I ran into Trevor.”

  My eyes widened. “Trevor?”

  Trevor Jensen was her ex-boyfriend. He was an arrogant man. The kind of guy who acted like he was the center of the universe. In addition to being shamelessly self-centered, he had also been unfaithful to Kelly.

  My friend nodded. “He told me that he wanted me back.”

  I folded my arms. “Too little, too late.”

  “Trevor told me that he’s changed,” Kelly said.

  I scoffed. “He has said that before.”

  “Except that it looked like he had. Believe it or not, he was actually very humble yesterday.”

  “That is hard to believe.” While that was a distinct change from the Trevor of old, my opinion of him didn’t change. “Don’t get tempted by whatever act he is putting on.”

  “That’s actually why I took Miss Terri’s advice to heart. Running into Trevor again seemed like the fool’s gold that she was referring to.”

  “You have to admit that fool’s gold could apply to a lot of things. Miss Terri’s advice sounds like a horoscope come to life—just vague enough to apply to almost anyone.”

  “Except that Miss Terri made the remark before I ran into Trevor,” Kelly said.

  “Did Miss Terri tell you when real opportunity would come knocking?” I asked.

  Kelly shook her head. “She couldn’t nail down a specific timeframe.”

  “What good is a psychic who can’t tell you the future?”

  “You can stand here all day and dispute Miss Terri’s words all you want. But can you really argue that things aren’t going crazy in this town?”

  Kelly had me there. As much as I wanted to think of a witty comeback to that, my mind drew a blank.

  Chapter Fourteen

  After a day filled with unexpected and horrifying twists, I couldn’t wait for my shift at the coffee shop to be over. Unfortunately, the night didn’t look any more promising. Granted, I was able to head back to the comfort of my home, but I couldn’t relax until I received an update from David.

  My boyfriend finally called shortly after eight o’clock. Any hope of him having good news to share with me was dashed the moment I heard the dejected tone in his voice. Understandably, he didn’t want to get into specifics of the case over the phone. Hearing the details of his day would have to wait until he met up with me at my house twenty minutes later.