A Cup of Murder
Page 14
"I don’t know if it is visiting hours or not, but I’d like to see Jacob," I said.
David laughed. "I don’t think visiting hours have applied to you, Laila. They all seem to let you in whatever the hour."
He told the receptionist to contact the guard and let me in to see my boss. When Jacob approached me, the shuffle was gone. The guard paid little attention to us. He sat at the opposite end and read a newspaper while we talked. I told Jacob everything I knew.
"It’s a matter of time, Jacob, before you will be back at Roasted Love."
"I feel bad for Janie. What will happen to her kids if they find out she is guilty of something that will put her in jail for a long time?" he asked me.
"She made a phone call according to the cop I’ve gotten to know. I’m sure she called her brother. I think she was caught in something she didn’t know how to get out of. I just don’t know the details."
We both sat in silence. Roasted Love would never be the same again even when Jacob returned. I knew he would vouch for Janie as I planned to. Once everything came out in the open I didn’t think she would spend any time behind bars. That thought still caused a feeling of lead in my stomach. Janie didn’t deserve to be in the clutches of James Simms, much less behind bars.
Questions still had to be answered. The main one that came to mind was the motive James had to end Michael’s life before the disease took him. A faint doubt of their guilt took a back seat in my mind. I wanted it to be them. At this point the guilty person could be anyone.
I wanted things back to normal at Roasted Love.
Chapter Twenty Six
Everything came together rapidly the next day. I had no idea what had gone on but the shop buzzed with gossip as never before heard in Roasted Love. At noon Janie walked in the back door. She was a changed person and full of life again.
"Laila, you were right. Telling everything I knew was the right thing. I have a protection order against James Simms. Someone made bail for me and I’m out until everything is straightened out."
She was breathless. I gave her a tight hug. My relief was huge and tears spilled down my face.
"It’s all right, Laila, it really is," she said.
"I’m just so relieved, Janie. Do you know who made bail?"
She didn’t have time to answer. My cell phone rang. It was Officer David Singer. "Come on down and get your boss. He needs a ride home. He wants to make a stop at the bank for someone’s bail money first."
I hung up and announced "I’m going to pick up Jacob from jail and get him back here where he belongs." I raced out the back door and then came back to get my purse and car keys. Just as I got in the car, my cell rang again.
"I’ll meet you at the precinct," said Daniel. "Someone will have to hold you up. It may as well be me, Sherlock." I laughed with him as tears ran down my cheeks again.
When we burst into the lobby, the receptionist smiled widely. "He’s more than ready for you," she said.
I saw a man with a spring in his step coming toward the locked gate. David quickly opened it for him and I ran into Jacob’s arms. He hugged me tight.
"Thank you, Laila, for not giving up on me. Now let’s go," he said. "I’ve had more than enough weak and day-old coffee around here."
He was clean-shaven and dressed in pressed clothes. He looked like he was ready to get back to work as usual.
"Let’s celebrate at Roasted Love," I said. "I hear they brew a mean cup of espresso, no frills."
Jacob walked proudly through the front door of his coffee house to loud cheers from staff and patrons. He and Janie hugged and then he reached for Lily. I introduced him to Claire. He shook her hand firmly. Then he said, "What the heck," and gave her a bear hug, too.
At closing time, customers left reluctantly. Many shook Jacob’s hand and told him how glad they were that he was back. Once things quieted down, everyone pitched in and cleaned up for the day. The three servers clocked out. Jacob pulled me aside. He repeated more than once his thanks to me.
"If it hadn’t been for you, Laila, I wouldn’t be free. Let’s go sit down and enjoy the peace of Roasted Love," said Jacob. "Then I’m going home for a decent night’s sleep in a real bed."
Daniel and I pulled chairs up and sat across from Jacob. Steaming cups of coffee were set in front of each of us. Our eyes were drawn across the street to Sunrise, now dark. The neon sign was gone. The caricatures had disappeared and in place of them were shiny glass windows. The streetlight reflected a new look to the place.
"What exactly did James and Sarah Simms have to do with Michael’s murder?" asked Daniel. "I hear they will be arrested."
Jacob shrugged his shoulders. "I just know they are accumulating evidence against James and he will be arrested, I’m sure. If it hadn’t been for Janie telling how she planted the evidence against me, I would still be in jail. She was scared to death of the Senator. He had quite an angry side to him."
"I do know that the trash I found had James’ DNA on it. The syringe had his fingerprints on it and the empty bottle did too," I said. "If Janie hadn’t missed the trash bin Thor would never have found the bagel. Thor was the real detective."
"I guess that is why you took that monster of a dog, Laila," said Jacob. "Otherwise, no one would have noticed that trash bag as anything of importance."
"Now it all makes sense when James Simms caught Janie in here. He was so angry. He knew she had messed up his plans. I’m sure Janie’s nervousness at what she had done made her careless. I feel sorry for her." I took a sip of my espresso. "He used her by bribing her with a big payoff. She said he paid her a thousand dollars. Best of all, she was too scared to do anything with the check. She still had it. That adds to evidence against the Senator."
"That must have been hard for her not to run to the bank with that much money," said Daniel.
"I’m surprised he gave her a check. Why not cash?" said Jacob.
"He probably has so many checks in and out of his accounts that he figured a way to explain his way out of it, if it came to that," I said. I remembered his sinister ways toward me. Nothing surprised me about Senator James Simms.
We heard a tap on the window and looked up to see David Singer. I let him in and offered him a cup of coffee which he accepted. I knew he had some news.
"Well, the Senator is now behind bars. We searched his condo. There were three containers in his wife’s home office of raw belladonna. She had a small test lab there. James’ lawyer was right by his side when we got him. Against his lawyer’s advice, he spilled everything when we got him down to the interrogation room."
"What about Sarah Simms?" I asked.
"She is in custody, too. She is playing it smart and letting her lawyer do the talking. I have to say, she was more than surprised when we searched the apartment. In fact, she didn’t believe her husband could have murdered his own brother. At first we thought it was all an act on her part."
When David said that, no one spoke for a few seconds. "How did she explain the belladonna in her home lab?" I asked.
"She said she often brought small samples home. Belladonna was something she and her researchers were working on. They wanted to get it safer. Belladonna is used for a pain killer. She told us that. To prevent over-dosing in patients they were trying to develop it into a tamer substance. At least that’s the way I understood it."
I started piecing together everything I had discovered. It all made sense except for one vital part of the whole puzzle.
"I still don’t get why James would poison his brother. He must have known Michael was dying of cancer," I said. "It doesn’t make sense."
"There’s more to the story," said David. "John Andrews, Michael’s best friend, died in the Senator’s office. Sarah Simms was having an affair with John. They both thought James was out campaigning on the other side of the state. They were alone in the office when suddenly James came in. He was livid and ordered Sarah to leave. He told her he wanted to talk to John."
"I get it. Let me
finish," I said.
David smiled and said, "Go ahead, Detective. We all want to hear your conclusions."
"Okay. James beat John up. That brought on an asthma attack and John died as a result of that. But how did Sarah find John if she had already left?"
"You have it right. She didn’t go far. She hid until James stormed out of the office and then she went in to check on John. He was still alive but in serious condition," said David. "She called 911. She never told anyone about James coming in and finding her and John there. James had a grip on her that held all these years."
"How did James know what belladonna was all about?" asked Daniel.
"Sarah told him what she was working on. He pumped her and got information from her. She told him how belladonna was a lethal poison in its raw form."
"That still doesn’t explain why James decided to kill his brother," I reminded David.
"After John’s death, James told Michael that he and John had gotten into a scuffle. He didn’t tell Michael it was about the affair his best friend was having with Sarah. He told his brother that the fight had something to do with the campaign that they didn’t agree on. The fight caused John’s asthma to act up. He told Michael he was in a panic and just ran off and left him. He had sworn Michael to secrecy like he had done with Sarah. Once Michael knew what had happened he tried to cover up everything for his brother. That is, he did that until he discovered James was seeing his own wife, Leticia on the side."
I grew impatient watching the cop sip his coffee as if he had all the time in the world. Daniel glanced at me. He knew I wanted David to get on with the story.
"So is that what made Michael so angry all these years?" asked Daniel.
"Yes, it was the turning point for Michael. He became bitter and his resentment with his brother escalated. John had been his best friend. His brother appeared calloused about it all. To make matters worse, Michael found out he had terminal cancer. The family doctor told his father. Forget about all that confidentiality stuff the medical people talk about. His father told James and Sarah."
"I still don’t get why James killed Michael. Siblings fight all the time over things, or so I hear they do," I said.
"I’m saving the best for last," said David. Obviously, he was thoroughly enjoying his storytelling expertise. "Michael threatened to tell the authorities the truth about James causing the death of John Andrews. He let James know that on more than one occasion after he found out about James and his wife Leticia. James was very angry with Michael. Then Michael started bringing his big dog to work for protection. He never went any place without that dog with him."
"Where was Thor the night Michael was killed?" I asked.
"Is that the dog’s name?" asked David. "Well, the dog was outside. Michael had come back to Sunrise to pick up some paperwork. When he went out the back door to go home, James was there. He convinced Michael he wanted to mend the relationship. He told him he just wanted to talk. James closed the door before Michael thought to bring the dog inside with him. At first James was friendly and asked Michael for some coffee while they talked. When Michael got up from the table to add a couple of scones to the meeting, James slipped the belladonna into his coffee."
"And the rest is history," said Jacob. "What is his wife charged with?"
"I doubt anything. She was a victim of James Simms, too. She had no idea he had taken the raw belladonna and used it against his brother. She and her lawyer have been upfront with everything. Sarah Simms has an upright reputation. She is no murderess."
The coffee was cold. The room was silent. I heard Thor scratching at the inside kitchen door.
"I have to take care of my dog, Thor," I said.
I brought Thor in with the group sitting at the table. He didn’t growl. That was a good sign and I knew I could trust his instincts from now on.
"You had better spoil that monster good, Laila," said Jacob. "He solved the mystery that got me out of jail."
"Yes, he did," I said. Thor waited expectantly for me to ruffle the short hairs on his shoulders.
The monster that once belonged to Michael Simms now held high prestige in Roasted Love. Thor and I became friends for life. Almond eyes and clear blue ones locked in understanding of one another. No one missed our looks of pride in what we had accomplished.
The adventure continues...
Cam Larson's Other Books:
Roasted Love Cozy Mystery Series!
Hot Coffee, Iced Santa
Coconut Chronicles – Almost Tropical Mystery
Coconut Chronicles: Burglar
Coming Soon...
Coconut Chronicles: Ransom
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Table of Contents
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the...
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Four
Chapter Twenty Five
Chapter Twenty Six
The adventure continues . . . Book 2 Hot Coffee, Iced Santa