Blackberry Frosted & Murder

by Susan Gillard

“Did you have a reason to want Kasey dead?” Amy asked.

  “No,” said Miranda.

  “Then, we probably don’t think you did it,” said Amy.

  “But can you think of anyone who would have wanted to hurt her?” asked Heather.

  “Everybody seemed to get along so well,” Miranda said. “Even during traveling, I was surprised how nobody seemed grumpy. Everyone seemed set to have a good time. I can’t believe anyone wanted to kill her.”

  “What about if they’d been drinking a lot?” Amy suggested.

  “Well,” Miranda said slowly.

  “Well what?” asked Amy.

  “I still don’t think this means that they killed her,” said Miranda. “But both Tom and Calvin were giving her special attention. I think they both liked her.”

  “And what did she think of this?” asked Heather.

  “I think she was flattered, but I don’t think she was taking it too seriously,” Miranda said. “She was sober while everyone else was drinking, so she wasn’t sure about their flirting. But Tom did push Calvin at one point during the night. I think it was related to this crush.”

  Heather was happy that Miranda had decided to wander into the hallway. It seemed like they have two suspects now because of her visit.

  “And did you hear or see anything suspicious that night?” Heather asked.

  “No,” Miranda said, shaking her head. “Once I went downstairs I fell asleep pretty quickly, despite the sleeping arrangements, and Kasey was alive when I went down.”

  “Thank you for talking to us,” Heather said. “I’m afraid that you will have to return to your room now. But hopefully, this won’t be for much longer.”

  “I hope so,” Miranda said. “I’d like to be able to talk to Maria and make sure she’s all right.”

  “The police are with her now, so they should be able to tell us more soon,” said Heather.

  “Relatively soon,” Amy countered, considering how longwinded Colton Connors was.

  “If I’m not going to have any fun over this break, I might as well do some studying,” Miranda said. “But the rest of my books are home.”

  “We’ll let you know when you’re free to leave,” Heather said.

  Miranda grumbled and headed back to her room. Heather was about to ask Amy what she thought of what they just learned when someone else interrupted them.

  Colton Connors had emerged from his questioning and saw the end of the interaction with Miranda.

  “And just what do you two think you’re doing?” he demanded.

  Compromise

  Heather and Amy had been surprised by his arrival, but they didn’t back down from their actions.

  “Miranda Duncan was upset about being cooped up in her room, and we had to calm her down,” Heather explained. “But it’s a good thing we talked to her. She told us how two of the boys in the group liked Kasey. One pushed the other that night. Perhaps it escalated even further when the others were asleep.”

  Colton Connors mused on this. “I suppose we’ll have to ask them about this. And I can see that you are itching to help more on this case. Perhaps we can reach a compromise.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Amy.

  “Perhaps we can do some questioning that you can be a part of,” he said. “These rooms are not conducive to it as I predicted. They are small in size and have limited seating. However, perhaps the detectives have a larger area that is appropriate for questioning.”

  “They do have an interrogation room at the police station,” Amy said, wryly.

  “I will ask Detective Peters if he can find someone else to watch the hallway. When we finish our current questioning, we can move to another location. And perhaps we should next question those two young men you heard about.”

  They all agreed. Colton Connors returned to his room. Heather and Amy were soon relieved of hallway watch duty.

  However, the interview with Maria Wexler did go very long. In the time it took the detectives and Colton Connors to complete their interview, Heather and Amy had already checked in with Donut Delights to make sure that they were still stocked full of baked goods and had squeezed in a few games of hide-and-seek at home with Lilly and Nicholas.

  When they were finally told to meet the other investigators at the station, they hurried over with some fresh donuts. Ryan and Peters took them gladly. They looked very tired.

  “How did you interview with Maria Wexler go?” Heather asked.

  “It was very thorough,” Peters said.

  “I’ll update you on it later,” Ryan said, quickly. “I wouldn’t want to take any time away from our next interrogation.”

  “Very well,” Colton Connors said. “I could update you on our meeting with her as well if you would like. But now we should press on to our next meeting. We have brought Calvin Green into the interrogation room, and so we can begin questioning him.”

  Heather was feeling more optimistic about this interrogation until it became clear that she wasn’t invited inside the room. Heather and Amy glowered on the opposite side of the two-way mirror as the other investigators entered the interrogation room and sat down across from Calvin Green. He was a tall man with a clean-cut face.

  “How is this a compromise?” Amy asked.

  “It’s not really,” said Heather. “Especially after we found out that Tom and Calvin were both suitors for Kasey and might have fought over her. But I suppose watching the interrogation is more exciting than watching an empty hallway.”

  “We really are moving up in the world,” Amy joked.

  They watched as Colton Connors made Calvin Green answer a similar question three times.

  “As I said before, I was asleep with the others and didn’t notice anything unusual that night. I had offered to take over the helm because I also have a boating license, but Kasey said she was happy to steer. I offered to help that night too, but when she said she was happy at the helm, I had a drink myself with the others. I must have been passed out when she was killed.”

  “When did you find out Kasey Schwartz was dead?” Ryan asked.

  “I woke up in the morning when Maria screamed,” Calvin said. “I hurried onto the deck with the others. We saw all the blood, and we knew she was dead.”

  “And you’re sure that she was dead?” Colton Connors asked.

  Calvin nodded.

  “What did you do next?” asked Peters.

  “Well, Miranda went to help Maria feel better. We knew our cell phones weren’t working that far out. I suggested we use the radio, but when we got there, we saw that it had been broken.”

  “Who does we include?” asked Colton Connors.

  “Tom, and Chucky and I,” Calvin said.

  “And you touched the radios?” Colton Connors asked.

  “That’s right,” Calvin said, nodding. “We were trying to get them to work, but they didn’t.”

  “Were they like that earlier in the trip?” asked Connors.

  “I don’t think so. We didn’t have to use them before, but the steering area didn’t look chaotic earlier. I suspect whoever killed Kasey destroyed the radio so we couldn’t call for help.”

  “And who do you think killed her?” Ryan asked.

  “I don’t know,” Calvin said, looking down.

  “We didn’t expect you to know for certain,” Ryan said. “We’d hope that you would have told us if you did. But we would like to know if you have some thoughts or suspicions about who could have done it.”

  “Well,” Calvin said, still looking down and rubbing his hand together nervously. “I know a lot of my friends think that someone must have boarded the ship and killed Kasey…”

  “But you don’t think so?” Peters asked.

  Heather and Amy exchanged a look. He was the only one on the ship to doubt this so far.

  “I don’t want to think that someone I go to school with is a killer, but I just don’t see how someone could have gotten on board. I was asleep, but I still think I would have heard
a boat coming up against up. And if Kasey wasn’t expecting someone, then we should have heard her scream or call for help. But I didn’t hear anything.”

  “Nothing at all?” Colton Connors asked.

  “No,” Calvin said. “And that’s why I think it had to be somebody who was already on board. Somebody who Kasey wouldn’t have suspected as a danger.”

  “And is there anyone in particular you think might have done it?” asked Ryan.

  Calvin shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Heather bit her lip. “They should ask him about who pushed who in that little fight with Tom.”

  Instead, Calvin asked a question. “Do you think when this is all figured out we’ll be able to go back on the boat to get our things?”

  “Your personal possessions will be returned to you when they are no longer considered evidence,” Colton Connors said.

  “But we won’t be able to get on the boat again?” asked Calvin.

  “Why would you like to return there?” Ryan asked, trying to appear casual.

  “I’m not trying to appear insensitive,” Calvin said, holding up his hands. “It’s just that my credit card is the card on file at the rental office. I don’t want to be charged anything extra. Do you think I’ll be charged for the radio?”

  “I think you have bigger worries,” Peters said. “If someone on the boat killed her, then that could include you as a suspect.”

  “But why would I kill her?” Calvin asked. “I had classes with her. She was a nice girl.”

  Outside the room, Heather repeated, “Ask him about the fight with Tom.”

  “He might not need to ask him,” Amy said.

  “Why?” Heather asked, turning from looking through the mirror to face her friend.

  “Because Tom just arrived,” Amy said, pointing down the hall. “And he looks ready to fight again.”

  Heather turned. The young man was storming down the hall, and he certainly did look angry.

  An Angry Tom

  “Did they bring Calvin here?” Tom asked, angrily walking up to Heather and Amy. “Do they think he killed Kasey?”

  “Answer our questions first,” said Heather. “How did you get here? You’re supposed to be supervised at the hotel.”

  “I escaped,” Tom said simply. He ran a hand through his blonde hair. “I convinced the chaperone that there was a problem with my bathroom and that I needed to talk to the front desk.”

  “And why did you come here?” asked Heather.

  “Because I wanted to see who killed Kasey. The longer you kept us here, the more I knew that you suspected us of being the killer. You didn’t think that someone new boarded. You think it was one of us. And you’re trying to keep us here because you think that we’re flight risks.”

  “Especially now if you’re sneaking away from where you’re supposed to be,” Amy said.

  “We weren’t arrested,” Tom said. “We could leave anytime we wanted. We were just playing nice. But I’m tired of playing nice. You brought Calvin in. You’ve had him a long time. You think he did it, don’t you?”

  “The police are going to question everyone,” Heather said, calmly.

  “Yeah. And I’m pretty sure they’re going to want to talk to you soon rather than later,” said Amy.

  Tom joined them and saw Calvin through the two-way mirror.

  “You do think it’s him. Why did you do it, Calvin?”

  Tom started banging on the glass passionately. Inside the room, everyone turned to the source of the sound. Ryan was on his feet instantly. Peters and Colton Connors were soon following him out of the room.

  “What’s going on?” Ryan asked.

  “We have a visitor,” Amy said.

  They all stared at Tom. He crossed his arms.

  “You think Calvin did it, don’t you? What are you going to do about it?”

  “We were questioning him,” Ryan said. “Something that you interrupted.”

  “Looks like it’s your turn to answer some questions now,” Peters said.

  They led a protesting Tom to a desk in the main area. All five investigators faced him.

  “I didn’t come in to be questioned,” Tom said. “I just wanted to see justice served.”

  “That passion led you to sneak away from the hotel,” Heather said. “It sounds like this passion could lead you into trouble.”

  “Maybe,” Tom said shrugging.

  “Why do you think Calvin Green killed Kasey?” Ryan asked.

  “Because you do,” Tom said. “But now that I know it’s him, I can see it. He tried too hard to be helpful during the trip. He let us put it on his credit card. He kept offering to be the designated driver, even after Kasey said she didn’t want to drink. He was trying to impress her.”

  “Impress her how?” Colton Connors asked. “There are many ways to impress someone.”

  “I guess he wanted her to like him. He was trying to be nice and helpful.”

  “I can see why you think he’s the killer,” Amy muttered.

  “But it was an act,” Tom protested. “He never acted like he had feelings for her before. I was the one who liked her all semester. That’s why I was so excited to go on this trip. I thought I could finally make my move. She was single again. I thought I could get her to like me. But then Calvin tried to interfere.”

  “And this is why you were pushing each other that night?” Heather asked.

  “Yeah,” Tom said, seeming to shrink down in his chair. “That was my fault. I was getting drunk and was mad at him for trying to look good in front of her. I gave him a little push to let him know that I was serious about Kasey.”

  “And how did she feel about all this?” Heather asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Tom admitted. “I think she was back at the helm when this happened. And I went to bed soon after. I was starting to feel a little sick and wanted to sleep it off.”

  “Did you get up at all during the night?” Ryan asked.

  “No,” Tom said. “It wasn’t until I heard Maria screaming that I got up. And then I saw Kasey dead. I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to call for a doctor, but the radio was down. And I guess you know now how I went crazy.”

  “You went crazy?” Heather prompted. Could this craziness have been what caused the murder as well?

  “It was because I wanted to save her,” Tom said. “I guess deep down I knew she was dead, but I didn’t want to admit it. I kept thinking that if we called for help, she could be saved. So, after the radio didn’t work, I tried to figure something else out. When I saw the other boat, that fishing boat, I tried to head towards it to ask for help. But I don’t really know how to steer, and I didn’t want them to miss us, so I sort of crashed into them. I guess it did get us help because the Coastguard came in. But it was too late. Kasey couldn’t be saved.”

  Heather pondered what he had just said. Now it made sense why the fishing boat thought that the other ship had come right for them. They had! The college students calls for help had also been sincere. They wanted to find out what happened to their friend.

  However, this frenzied passion that Tom described in his rush to save her was the same sort of irrational emotion that had caused him to storm into the police station. Was it possible that it had led him to kill out of jealousy as well?

  She was about to ask him more about his feelings towards Kasey, but Colton Connors had commandeered the questioning. Heather felt her enthusiasm for the lead falter as she listened to Connors’s long queries.

  She felt her mind wandering, but it kept returning to thoughts of the killer. Could Tom Redmond be the murderer? Could Colton Connors bore him into confessing?

  Best Friends

  “It’s going to be fine, sweetie,” Heather told Lilly.

  She was happy that after a long day of interrogating and watching interrogations, she could spend the evening at home with the kids. Chelsea was coming over for the much-anticipated movie night and meeting.

  Lilly was helping her mom make sure
that the donut spread was ready. Dave and Cupcake were nearby, always eager to help with donuts too. Nicholas was in the other room, getting ready.

  “You think that maybe I’m putting too much pressure on this and that once it plays out everything will really be fine?” Lilly asked.

  “Exactly,” said Heather.

  “Maybe you’re right,” said Lilly, absentmindedly rearranging the donuts. “Or maybe Nicholas is taking so long getting ready because he doesn’t really want to come out and meet her. Maybe he’s going to stay in the guest room all night.”

  “Maybe he’s nervous about making a good first impression because he knows this is important to you,” Heather suggested.

  “But, of course, he’ll make a good first impression,” Lilly said. “Nicholas is awesome. That’s why he’s my best friend. And Chelsea will too. They’re both so much fun.”

  “Then, there’s nothing to be worried about.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Lilly said with a smile.

  The doorbell rang, and Lilly ran over to answer it. Dave and Cupcake added their own vocalizations to the greetings.

  Heather said hello to Mrs. Copeland as Chelsea entered.

  “I’m really excited to meet Nicholas,” Chelsea said. “You’ve told me so much about him that I feel like I already know him. But I still want to really know him because he sounds great.”

  “He is,” Lilly said.

  “I just hope that you won’t forget about me when your real best friend is in town.”

  Lilly opened her mouth to protest, but Nicholas beat her to a response. He walked over to them and said, “I was feeling the same a little bit too. I was afraid that Lilly would like you better than me.”

  “I guess we both like Lilly,” Chelsea said.

  “I guess so.”

  They held out hands and shook them. Then, they all started laughing.

  “I’m not going to forget either of you!” Lilly said. “How can I? You’re my best friends.”

  “How about we make this first meeting perfect by having some of those donuts that Mrs. Shepherd made?” Nicholas suggested.