by Woods, Lori
Molly could see that this comment bothered Jeffrey, a former foster kid, tremendously. “What’s that supposed to mean, Kris?”
“It’s nothing personal, Jeffrey,” Kris assured him. “Just stating a fact. They are seventeen and eighteen years old—the girl should technically still be in foster care, but somehow her brother managed to convince a judge he was responsible enough to watch after a sibling only a year younger than him. They both dropped out of school. And, what are they, professional dancers or something?”
“Whip and Dazzle are not troubled kids,” Molly insisted.
“See, that’s exactly what I mean. Whip and Dazzle? Who goes by something like that?” Kris asked. “I’m just wondering if maybe this was some sort of childish prank.”
“Kris, I don’t like what you’re getting at,” Jeffrey said. “I know those kids well. They wouldn’t find something like this funny.”
“Not to mention the fact that Whip ate some of the fudge and wound up sick in a bathroom for half of the event,” Molly said. “You really think he would poison himself?”
“Maybe the girl did it,” Kris said. “A little bit of a sibling prank? I mean, she probably wears a bunch of makeup during her performances, am I right?”
“So?” Molly questioned. “If you’re looking at anyone who wears makeup as a potential suspect, you’re going to be looking at the majority of women in town.”
“No, just looking at the ones who actually work for you. What about the other girl? Bonnie?” he asked.
Molly shrugged. “I don’t think I’ve really ever seen her wear makeup. Maybe a little bit of lip gloss from time to time.”
“So, we’re back on… what is it she calls herself? Dazzle?” Kris asked.
“Dazzle did not put makeup in the fudge!” Molly practically snapped. “She wouldn’t do that. And, you know what? I think this interview is over.” Molly stood.
“Hey, you can’t just get up and leave,” Kris argued.
“Are you arresting me?” Molly asked.
“Well, no.”
“Then I believe I can,” she said and pushed her way out of the room.
Jeffrey followed her. “Molly, I’m so sorry about that,” he said as he followed her out of the station. “You know I don’t think Dazzle would do something like that, right?”
“I know,” she said, crossing her arms. “Can you believe Kris? He doesn’t even know them. All he knows is that they dropped out of school. Does he know they dropped out because Dazzle was being severely bullied? That it was because Whip needed to work to pay rent? That they are actually doing really well for themselves? That between the dancing and working at my shop they work nonstop. That they got their GED’s?”
“I’m sure he doesn’t. He obviously doesn’t know them at all or he never would have accused them of anything,” Jeffrey said. “Don’t worry about Whip and Dazzle. Instead, let’s you and me try to think. We know Bonnie, Braxton, Whip, and Dazzle would never have tampered with your fudge. So, who could have done it?”
“I have no idea!” Molly cried. “It doesn’t make any sense at all. If the makeup was put in when the fudge was still cooling… it would have been back in the kitchen. And, truthfully, myself and the kids are the only ones who would have been back in the kitchen.”
“Okay, pause and think for a second,” Jeffrey said. “Go back to the day you were making all the fudge for the show. How busy was it in the shop?”
Molly thought for a moment. “We were in and out of the kitchen a lot that day,” she said. “It was a Friday. Bonnie got there early because she leaves school early on Fridays because of her dual enrollment, so Whip, Dazzle, and Bonnie were all at the shop running around. Bonnie… she was set up in a corner, taking a test for her online class until her shift started. I don’t think Bonnie was back in the kitchen at all while the fudge was cooling…”
“Okay, and Whip and Dazzle?” Jeffrey asked.
“In and out of the kitchen helping me with the fudge, but I was in the kitchen most of the time. I don’t think they were ever back there alone,” she said.
“Okay, what about customers? Who was there that day? Anyone familiar?” Jeffrey asked.
Molly’s eyes suddenly widened. “Actually, there was someone. Jennifer Dottle stopped by that day to drop off a check for the fudge. She paid for half the order up front.” Molly could picture her now—coming into the shop with her dog, sampling some of the fudge that had already cooled. “Oh my gosh!” Molly exclaimed. “I remember getting all distracted by her dog. We were all petting it… no one was watching the kitchen… she went to use the restroom… she could have slipped back into the kitchen while we were all playing around with her dog!”
“Jennifer hired you for the show, right?” Jeffrey asked, and Molly nodded. Jeffrey seemed to be thinking for a moment. “She would have probably been the only person at the dog show who would have known who would be providing the dessert’s, right?”
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Molly said. “Why would the event coordinator sabotage her own event?”
“I don’t know,” Jeffrey said. “But there had to be a reason, right? Tired of her job. Bitter with the event producers. Maybe was just trying to get after a specific pet owner? Maybe she was even trying to make you look bad for some reason; not that that makes much sense since you two had only recently met. But, whatever it is, I think we need to go talk to Jennifer.”
“I think I need to put cameras up in my kitchen,” Molly grumbled. “I don’t know about this. I really don’t see why Jennifer would want to make a bunch of dogs sick.”
“Same here,” Jeffrey admitted. “But I think we might have a potential lead with this.”
Chapter 9
Molly loaded up into Jeffrey’s patrol car. Jennifer Dottle was doing damage control at the hotel after the craziness of the event, so the two of them were headed in that direction. “I’m still trying to come up with a motive,” Molly said. “I mean, if we’re going to accuse Jennifer of poisoning the dogs in her own dog show, then we’ve got to have a reason other than the fact that she was at the shop. Because it would make sense for her to be at the shop—she had to pay me. So it’s not like her being there was suspicious or anything.”
“True, but honestly, who else could it have been? The lipstick was melted into the fudge, so it had to have been put in when the fudge was still cooling. You and I both know there is no way Bonnie or Braxton or Whip or Dazzle would have done it. You obviously didn’t do it. So, who else?” Jeffrey asked.
“No one I could think of,” she said. “But if we’re going to get a confession out of Jennifer, we’re going to have to come up with something more than ‘we think she did it’.”
Jeffrey thought for a moment as he drove his patrol car into the parking lot of the hotel. “I think I got an idea,” he said. “Remember how you installed cameras?”
“I haven’t installed cameras,” Molly said.
“Yeah, but Jennifer doesn’t know that,” Jeffrey said with a smirk.
“Ooh, you want to try to get her to think we already know beyond the shadow of a doubt that she is guilty of poisoning the dogs?” Molly asked.
“Yes,” Jeffrey said. “And I know another little detective trick for you. I’m going to hint that I think she killed Oscar.”
“Do you?”
“No, there’s no motive there, and there is no way she could take on Oscar,” Jeffrey said. “But I’m going to make her think I believe she did.”
“Why?” Molly asked.
“It’s a sort of mental trickery,” he said. “If you think someone is guilty of something, you accuse them of something worse, and a lot of times they will confess to doing the lesser crime they are guilty of.”
“Whoa,” Molly said. “Nice.”
“It’s a great way to weed out the liars,” Jeffrey said. “Of course, I can’t outright accuse her of murder. That’ll get me in trouble, especially since I don’t think she did it.”
�
�You can’t. Why don’t I, and then you just nod along with me?” Molly suggested.
“Great idea,” Jeffrey said. “So, we make her think we got her on film and then you make the connection between that and killing Oscar.”
“Is it weird I’m kind of excited?” she asked as they climbed out of the patrol car.
“A little bit, yes.”
She laughed. “I’m just glad I’m going to be able to clear my name! Last thing I need is for people in town to start believing I made a batch of fudge that gave everyone the runs.”
“Okay, gross,” Jeffrey said as they headed inside.
They had to ask the hotel staff where they could find Jennifer, and eventually they pointed them in the right direction. She was in the large indoor-outdoor amphitheater where the dog show had taken place. The large room was still setup similarly to the day of the show, and Jennifer was speaking with what looked to be the hotel manager. “Yes, and I really am sorry,” Jennifer was saying to the man. “But how were we supposed to know the dogs were given a bad batch of fudge? If you’re wanting someone to pay for the carpets, really, it should be the shop owner who fed the dogs those treats—not our organization.”
“You know what I think?” Jeffrey said as he approached Jennifer and the angry looking hotel manager. “I think the woman who dumped all that lipstick into the fudge should be the one to pay for the damages.” Jeffrey shot Jennifer a knowing look.
Jennifer stood upright. “Officer Jeffrey, Molly. What are you two doing here?”
The hotel manager turned around, crossing his arms. “So, someone did poison those dogs?” the man asked.
“Yes,” Jeffrey said. “With lipstick.” He kept looking at Jennifer, and Molly could tell it was making her uneasy. “You see, Molly had just put up some security cameras in the back of her shop. So, we got the culprit red-handed.”
“Excellent,” the hotel manager said.
Jennifer crossed her arms. “Oh, do you, now?” she asked.
“Yes, Jennifer; we caught you,” Jeffrey said.
“Excuse me!” Jennifer exclaimed. “I most certainly did not put anything into the fudge!”
“Oh, sure you did,” Molly said. “Like Jeffrey said, you’re busted. Now, you get to spend time thinking about all those poor, sick dogs, and about what you did to Oscar.”
Jennifer stiffened. “Oscar?” she asked.
“Well, yeah,” Molly said. “Obviously the poisoning of the dogs and the murder are connected. Wouldn’t you agree, Officer Jeffrey?”
Jeffrey simply smiled.
Jennifer pointed a finger in her direction. “They most certainly are not!” she exclaimed.
“How would you know? Unless, of course, you had something to do with one or the other,” Jeffrey said.
Jennifer looked quite rattled. “I did not kill Oscar!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah, well, you are probably going to have to explain that to a jury,” Molly said.
“No!” Jennifer snapped. “I didn’t kill Oscar. Look, I only put the lipstick in the fudge to try to make the dogs a little antsy. I didn’t mean to outright poison them. I put more than I should have, okay? I was only trying to give them a little stomach ache, so they wouldn’t behave. Not… well… you saw what happened…”
“So, you confess to poisoning the dogs?” Jeffrey asked.
“Yes, but I didn’t kill Oscar!” Jennifer shouted.
“Oh, we know that,” Molly said with a smirk, and Jennifer became pale.
“However, you are going to be arrested for animal cruelty,” Jeffrey said. “And sabotage.”
“Why did you even do it?” Molly asked. “You were the coordinator for this event.”
“I told you, I wasn’t trying to ruin the event,” Jennifer said. “Just make some of the dogs act up. Make them feel a little sick.”
“But why?” Molly asked.
“To make sure Reggie won, that’s why!” Jennifer snapped. “Do you have any idea how much attention that dog gets? He’s a Westminster champion! The attention we would have gotten…”
“You weren’t trying to sabotage the event at all,” Jeffrey said, placing Jennifer in cuffs. “You were trying to just make sure the champ remained the champ, is that right?”
Jennifer huffed. “I think I need a lawyer.”
“Yeah, I think you do too,” Jeffrey said and proceeded to read off her Miranda Rights.
“How did you know George wasn’t going to give Reggie some of the treats?” Molly asked.
“I told him not to, that’s how!” Jennifer said. “I told him what I did.”
“So George knew!” Jeffrey exclaimed.
“Yeah, he knew! He always gives his dog treats before the show,” Jennifer said. “But I told him to stay away from the treat table. I needed Reggie to win!”
Jeffrey seemed to think he had heard enough, so they marched Jennifer out of the building and placed her in the back of his patrol car, leaving the hotel manager inside to decide what he was going to do with this bit of information. Molly and Jeffrey stood outside the patrol car, arms crossed, deep in thought. “So, she knew Reggie would bring a lot of attention to the Savannah Dog Show,” Molly said, “and she wanted to make sure all the other dogs were not exactly on their best behavior by giving them stomachaches.”
“Yeah, but she messed up by making them all sick, and now she’s gotten the dog show a bad rap,” Jeffrey said. “Looks like we need to go visit George now since he knew about the poisoned dog treats and didn’t say anything. I can arrest him, but I don’t think any charges will hold.”
“Maybe hold off on that,” Molly said. “I’m still trying to make sense of something.”
“What’s that?” Jeffrey asked.
“Something Lilith told me today,” she said. “Lilith told me it’s against the rules to tip the groomers.”
“I wonder if that’s true,” Jeffrey said and opened the back door of the patrol car. “Jennifer, what are the show rules about tipping the groomers?”
Jennifer stared blankly at Jeffrey for a moment. “Well, it’s forbidden,” she said. “It could affect the way a groomer treats each participant, so the owners are not allowed to tip them.”
“Thanks,” Jeffrey said and slammed the door in her face. “So, what are you thinking?” Jeffrey asked.
“Well, I’m thinking someone bribed Isaac two grand to get him to give Reggie a bald head,” Molly said. “He’s a professional. He shouldn’t have messed up something like not making sure the guard was clipped in all the way. I think he did it on purpose because someone paid him two grand to do it.”
“Who would do that?” Jeffrey asked.
“It could have been anyone, I suppose,” Molly said. “But I’m thinking about looking a bit more into Lilith.”
“Lilith? You think George’s fiancée would have paid to have his dog’s head shaved?” Jeffrey questioned.
“Something didn’t sit right with me after I spoke to her,” Molly explained. “Also, I found a confirmation printout for a one-way ticket to Austin, Texas, where Lilith’s parents live. She was reading a book about living in Texas. I don’t know what all that means just yet, but it looks like she’s planning on dipping out.”
“Okay, so even if Lilith did pay for Reggie’s unwanted haircut to get at her fiancé for some reason, that still doesn’t tell me who killed Oscar,” Jeffrey said.
“I know,” Molly said with a sigh. “I feel like we’ve got a long way to go with this case.”
Chapter 10
Molly returned to the shop the following day, feeling simultaneously relieved and anxious regarding the case. An article had come out in the local paper clearing Molly’s Dessert Emporium’s name regarding the poisoned dog treats that ruined the Savannah Dog Show. So no one believed that Molly and her team had given out bad food anymore. That was a good thing, at least, but they still had no idea what had happened with Oscar or where Isaac’s money had come from, and whether those two things were related to each other or to t
he poisoned dog treats. Jennifer Dottle was sticking by her story that she had nothing to do with Oscar and that she had no idea where Isaac had gotten two thousand dollars. She was also swearing up and down that she didn’t mean to make the dogs as sick as they had gotten as her intentions were to promote the dog show by ensuring the victory of the mildly famous Reggie, and the dogs going number two all over the place had not been the way to do it.
So that left nothing but a long list of potential suspects who didn’t seem to have much motive. Could Jennifer have killed Oscar? And if so, why? If it wasn’t Jennifer and she was telling the truth, were the crimes of that evening really not related at all?
Whip and Dazzle tried their best to offer Molly guidance that day, but frankly, the three of them were all a bit lost on this one. The idea that all three incidences—poisoned dog treats, Oscar’s murder, and the cash—were unrelated seemed like a bunch of strange coincidences. But when trying to look at them as a single crime with different aspects, it seemed all the more confusing. “What if just the dog treats was Jennifer, but somehow Isaac’s mystery cash and Oscar’s death were related? I mean, maybe someone paid Isaac to take Oscar out?” Whip suggested.
“Jeffrey and I talked about that some. It’s certainly possible, but two thousand dollars doesn’t really seem like a lot of money to hire a hitman. But, again, it’s possible, and then we get to the question of why someone would have hired Isaac to killed Oscar. Who hired Isaac, and why?” Molly questioned.
“Okay, forget the money for a second,” Dazzle said. “Maybe they aren’t related at all. Maybe Isaac was taking bribes or something under the table and what happened to Oscar had nothing to do with it.”
“My head is spinning,” Molly admitted. Soon, the day shift came to an end, and Bonnie and Braxton were both arriving to dismiss Whip and Dazzle.
The twins seemed a bit excited that day as Whip and Dazzle made their way out; they had plans to do a little street performance on River Street that day for the tourists. “So, I think I’ve finally figured something out for this carrot cake recipe,” Bonnie said perkily, showing Molly what she had come up with. The last batch they made had been awfully dry.