A Murderous Misconception

by Lorraine Bartlett

  Chapter 3

  After a night of fitful sleep, Katie awoke when Nick knocked on her room’s door. “Katie, are you awake?”

  “I am now,” she answered, blinking.

  “I’ve got my passkey and a lovely breakfast tray. May I come in?”

  Katie frowned. “Sure.” Heaving herself into a sitting position, Katie snuggled against the headboard and drew the bedclothes up and across her chest. The key rattled in the lock and the door opened. “I’m sure glad I’m not naked,” Katie said wryly.

  “You and me both. I’m also glad you’re alone.” Nick placed the tray between them and sat on the edge of the bed.

  “And why wouldn’t I be alone?” Katie asked with chagrin.

  Nick shrugged. “Who’s to say you and Lover Boy didn’t kiss and make up? Maybe he called Erikka on her bluff.”

  Katie reached for the coffee cup. “You really don’t think she’s pregnant? Nick, I saw the sonogram.”

  “Sweetheart, we live in a world of digitally-altered photographs. Don’t believe everything you see.” He plucked a strawberry from the tray and popped it into his mouth. “But giving her the benefit of doubt and agreeing that the woman is pregnant, I find it hard to believe the baby belongs to Andy.”

  “Are you kidding? Andy admitted he slept with her,” Katie blurted and then took a savage gulp of her coffee. Intrepid Mason strolled across the bed to check out the breakfast tray while Della remained poised to hop off the bed at the slightest disturbance.

  “Oh, I’m sure the louse slept with her,” Nick said. “But I seriously doubt he’s the only one. Since Andy is the man Erikka is so obviously in love with, she wants the baby to be his. And she’s convinced herself that it is.”

  “You think it’s obvious that Erikka is in love with Andy?” Of course, Katie already believed it, but she didn’t realize everyone else on Victoria Square acknowledged it as well.

  Nick swiped another strawberry. “Duh. Why else would she have turned down an excellent job with benefits a few months ago in order to work as an assistant manager in a dumpy little pizzeria?”

  He was right. Erikka had left her job with the local school system—a position with advancement opportunities, and an enviable benefits package with a retirement plan—to work with Andy.

  “And why—if not for love—would a man bring a woman a bouquet on the day of her breakup with her boyfriend?” Nick asked, with a pointed look at the flowers on Katie’s nightstand.

  “It wasn’t like that.”

  “Oh, it was absolutely like that.” Nick smirked at her. “Are you blind to things right in front of your face?”

  “It was a misunderstanding,” Katie insisted. “And Andy and I aren’t even officially broken up.” She bit her lip. “I mean, we probably are, but...” She groaned. “Oh, I don’t know.”

  “Your brain is as scrambled as those eggs, which are getting colder by the second,” Nick said, nodding toward the tray. “So eat, get into your running clothes, and I’ll be back to get you in fifteen minutes. Some fresh air and exercise will help clear your head.”

  “Good thinking. But let’s make it twenty minutes,” she said as Nick rose from the bed and left the room.

  Katie reached for the fork on the tray. No more coffee for her until after their run. She didn’t want to slosh.

  Katie had dawdled, so she didn’t come downstairs to meet Nick for almost half an hour. She found him in the kitchen.

  “Ready?” he asked, grinning

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she groused as they headed out the back door. “I don’t want to take my usual route around Victoria Square,” Katie told Nick as they stretched in preparation for their run.

  “Because you’re avoiding all your boyfriends?”

  Nick was clearly curious about what had happened between Katie and Ray yesterday. But Katie wasn’t ready to discuss that encounter with anyone. She hadn’t yet come to terms with it herself. Had she fallen into Ray’s embrace and returned his kiss because she felt vulnerable and needed some sort of validation? Or was there more to it than that?

  “I’m avoiding everyone,” she declared.

  Nick grinned. “That’s all right. I prefer to avoid everybody when I run. Otherwise, people think it’s time for a street chat.”

  “I prefer to avoid running at all.” Katie typically power-walked around the Square in the mornings. But today the sun was shining, the air was cool, and Katie thought a run would be invigorating. “I’m making an exception just for you.”

  Two minutes later, they finished stretching and started off across the Square at an easy pace.

  Nick laughed when they jogged past The Flower Child. “Moonbeam Carruthers. I have got to meet her. Anyone with a name like that has got to be a hoot!”

  “Doesn’t she though?”

  “Haven’t you met her?” Nick asked.

  Katie nodded. “Just the one time. Gilda Ringwold-Stratten and I interviewed her. Seth,” Katie’s lawyer and pseudo big brother, “checked her references and handled the lease agreement. All other interactions between Ms. Carruthers and the partners have gone through him.”

  “We need to set up a proper meet-and-greet.” It was then Nick nodded toward the vacant concrete warehouse that stood behind the south side of Victoria Square. “Should that door be open? It looks like someone is in there.”

  He and Katie jogged over to investigate. Katie’s breath caught in her throat as she recognized the woman on the floor just inside the open door. It was Erikka Wiley, her body lying on the concrete. Katie knelt on the hard, chilly floor and placed her index finger against the cold flesh of Erikka’s neck in the vicinity of her carotid artery, but there was no thrumming pulse. A navy and yellow scarf cut into her skin, leaving a visible bruise…the same scarf she’d been wearing the day before.

  Chapter 4

  Katie and Nick stood outside the warehouse and swatted the flies that were swarming while they waited for Detective Schuler and a newcomer, Captain Robert Spence, to emerge. Spence was a muscular man in his early forties who had clear blue eyes and a buzz cut. He was the physical opposite of tall, skinny Schuler, whose habit of staring down his hawkish nose with his beady brown eyes was annoying rather than the unnerving gesture Katie was sure he intended.

  At last, Schuler approached them with his hands on his hips. “Interesting fingernails you’ve got there, Ms. Bonner. I didn’t think you went in for long nails.”

  Katie looked down at her nails. She’d almost forgotten about them. “I had them done just yesterday.”

  “Well, I hope you’re not too attached to them because they’re about to be taken off by my forensic team.”

  Katie gaped at the man. Was he serious? “What?”

  “You can’t do that,” Nick said. “I’m calling our attorney right now.” He removed his phone from his armband and took a few steps away from them.

  “He’s right.”

  Katie saw Captain Spence approaching. Schuler’s jaw tightened at the man’s rebuke.

  “That’s a violation of Ms. Bonner’s civil rights,” Spence continued. “We can have the techs swab beneath her fingernails, but we can’t cut them off. We have no evidence that she’s involved in this crime.”

  “Her boyfriend was involved with the victim,” Schuler spat out through gritted teeth.

  Spence shook his head. “Circumstantial, sir. With all due respect, I believe your familiarity with the victim might be clouding your judgment….”

  Schuler gave his superior a hard stare before addressing Katie. “Stay put until one of my technicians can swab your nails.”

  “Excuse me,” Katie blurted, “but there are no scratches that I can see on the body. She was obviously strangled.”

  “That’s for the medical examiner to decide,” Schuler grated and stepped away.

  Katie glowered after him.

  Nick returned to Katie’s side. “Seth is on his way. I know he’s not a criminal lawyer, but he’s all we’ve got right now.
”

  Katie merely nodded.

  A few minutes later, a female technician in a hazmat suit came and swabbed beneath each of Katie’s fingernails. The woman was gentle but thorough, and she put the swabs in plastic bags.

  Sweat trickled down Katie’s spine, and it wasn’t just from the heat and her previous exertion. A year or so before, she’d seen a documentary about a man falsely accused of murder because his DNA was found on a murder victim. The man had an airtight alibi—he was in the hospital at the time of the murder—and yet his DNA placed him at the crime scene. Investigators ultimately determined that the paramedics who took the man to the hospital earlier in the evening were the same ones who’d retrieved the corpse, and it was believed that the accused’s DNA was inadvertently transferred to the victim by one of those paramedics.

  Katie and Nick retreated to the shaded concrete steps on the west side of the building. Nick rested his arm around Katie’s shoulder, and she was grateful for the gesture. They waited in silence until a black Mercedes pulled up and Seth Landers got out. He approached and without hesitation, gathered Katie into his arms for several long moments before pulling her away from the crime scene. “Everything’s going to be all right.”

  “I’m scared,” she whispered into his shoulder.

  “Why is that?”

  “I spoke with Erikka yesterday. She called to Nick and me when we were heading for Envy Day Spa.” Her eyes probed his. “They swabbed beneath my fingernails. What if Erikka’s DNA got under them somehow?”

  “Did you touch Erikka when you saw her?” Seth asked.

  “No.”

  “Did she touch you?”

  Katie nodded. “Yesterday, she grabbed me by the arm.”

  “You should be fine.” Seth gave her another one-armed hug.

  “Innocent people go to jail, Seth,” Katie asserted.

  “You aren’t going anywhere…except maybe back to work. I’ll do some research and, if necessary, find you an excellent defense attorney.” At Katie’s quick intake of breath, Seth held up his hand. “I’m not saying you’re going to need one, but it’s always wise to be prepared.”

  It took an eternity—almost twenty minutes—before Seth was able to get Nick and Katie cleared to leave the area and despite the short distance, he gave them a ride back to Sassy Sally’s. As soon as they arrived at the B&B, Katie left Nick to explain the situation to Don while she went upstairs and took a shower. For some reason, she felt incredibly dirty.

  Katie closed her eyes and let the water from the rain shower head beat down on her head as she tried to comprehend the events of the past two days. Everything had gone from happy and fine to tragic and disastrous in a matter of hours.

  Who could possibly want Erikka dead? And why was Detective Schuler so determined it was Katie? Only a few short months ago, Schuler had been convinced that Ray Davenport was responsible for the death of a local man, and he’d gone after Ray with an obsessive fervor only to be proven wrong. Was he planning to do the same thing to Katie?

  It was ridiculous. Erikka’s death had to have been a random mugging…or something. Almost everyone liked the woman. Some people liked her too much.

  Like Andy.

  Katie ran her hands down her face. No. He wouldn’t…he’d never…. Would he?

  She stepped out of the shower, toweled off, and dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. She padded out of the steamy bathroom barefoot and with her hair combed but still wet to find Andy sitting on the armchair in her room with Mason was on his lap.

  A flash of anger coursed through her. How had he gotten in? Had she forgotten to lock the door? Surely, Nick or Don wouldn’t have let him in. She took a deep, stabilizing breath before she settled on the edge of the bed facing Andy. Della came and pressed her head against Katie’s hand, and she picked up the cat and snuggled her cheek against its fur. Neither Katie nor Andy spoke for a long moment.

  “I’m sorry,” Andy whispered at last.

  Every muscle in Katie’s body tensed. “Andy, please tell me you didn’t—”

  “No! You know me better than that. Don’t you?”

  “I thought I did,” she said quietly.

  “I’d never hurt anybody…especially not my—I mean a child.”

  “You almost said your child. So, you do believe the baby was yours.”

  He raked his hands through his hair. “He could’ve been. Now I’ll never know, will I?”

  Mason hopped off Andy’s lap and stalked across the room.

  “I imagine the coroner will run a DNA test on the baby.” Katie left out the fact that she guessed they’d do so to further narrow the suspect pool…that is if Schuler didn’t have her convicted by then.

  “I’m sorry it was you who found her,” Andy said. “I’m sorry she was murdered. I’m sorry I slept with her.” He lowered his head and covered his face with his hands. His words were muffled when he said, “I wish none of this had ever happened.”

  Katie sighed and resisted the urge to go over to him.

  Andy looked up, tears brimming in his soft brown eyes. “I love you so much, Sunshine.”

  Katie said nothing, merely looked at him. She felt numb. She, too, was sorry any of this had happened, but it had. And now what? What was going to happen next?

  “Please tell me everything’s going to be okay,” Andy said.

  Katie’s heart hardened. “I can’t do that. We’re both suspects in a murder investigation,” she told him. “We’re about as far from okay as we can get.”

  Katie’s first stop after sending Andy on his way was Tealicious. She wanted to see its manager, the celebrated chef she’d hired to manage the place, and she also needed to check the progress being made to her apartment on the building’s upper story.

  When she stepped into the pale rose-colored room with the white wrought-iron tables and heard the soft classical music playing, Katie felt as though everything else happening in her life had to be a nightmare. How could her real life be such a mess in this beautiful, cheerful place? Tealicious’s soothing dining room looked like something out of a fairy tale.

  And out of the kitchen came its handsome prince.

  Chef Brad Andrews was tall, blond, and broad-shouldered. While his looks initially drew in the female customers, it was his food that kept them coming back. Okay, the food and his looks.

  He rushed forward and took both Katie’s hands in his. “How are you?”

  “I’m—” It occurred to her that she didn’t know. “I think I’m numb.”

  Brad nodded. “That makes sense. I’ve spoken with Nick. I’m going to make us all a special dinner this evening at Sassy Sally’s. It’ll just be the four of us.”

  “That sounds lovely. Thank you.” She glanced at the floor, her heart heavy. “Every time I close my eyes, I see Erikka lying there on that dirty warehouse floor.”

  “I know. But tonight, we won’t be talking about tragedies. We’ll put this horrible business out of our minds for a couple of hours and enjoy some delicious food and lively conversation. All right?” His expression was so hopeful.

  Katie sighed, unsure she could muster a positive reply.

  Brad squeezed her hands before letting them go. “I understand as well as anyone how hard it can be to step back from one’s emotions even for a second.”

  She nodded, remembering that he’d had to go to rehab for alcohol addiction. “I know.”

  “I just want you to remember that you have friends to lean on. We’re here for you. Let us help.”

  Katie thanked him, giving him a heartfelt hug before pulling away. “Thanks.”

  A noise from above broke the quiet. “Your contractor is upstairs. He told me he needs your input,” Brad said.

  “Thanks. I’ll go up there now.”

  Brad gave her an encouraging smile and Katie walked up the stairs to talk with John Healy, whom she’d hired to renovate the top floor of Tealicious into her new apartment.

  “Just the person I hoped to see,” Healy sai
d when Katie walked into what was quickly becoming her living room.

  Healy was in his early fifties with thinning salt-and-pepper hair, gray-green eyes, and a leathery complexion due to years working in the sun.

  “Time to make a decision: Murphy bed or pull-out couch,” Healy said. He took a tablet from his tool belt to show Katie the space ramifications.

  Katie studied the space comparison. “I like the idea of the Murphy bed, so I can hide it during the day and then I can keep my love seat. Are you sure it won’t fling me out of bed like a catapult and break an arm or something?”

  He smiled. “I can put up a hammock to catch you.”

  “Sounds great.” She smiled as she looked around, marveling at the work already finished. “It’s really coming together.”

  “It really is,” Healy agreed.

  “Do you still think the place will be ready in a week?” she asked.

  “Absolutely…barring any unforeseen problems.”

  “Thanks, John.”

  Despite the progress being made on her new home, Katie’s feet felt heavy as she left Tealicious and walked across the vast expanse of asphalt toward Artisans Alley. At the moment, the new apartment was the one bright spot in her life …the one thing she had that she could happily anticipate. She simply had to get past this mess with Erikka…and Andy…and the cloud of suspicion that hung over her—them.

  From a distance, she could see the closed sign on the door of Angelo’s Pizzeria. There was a note taped in the window as well. Katie could guess what it said—something to the effect that “Angelo’s is closed as the staff grieves the loss of”…of what? Of one of their own? Of a beloved friend? Of the mother of Andy’s unborn child?

  Katie berated herself for the churlish thought. A woman and her baby were dead…murdered. Erikka’s circumstances and the role they played in devastating Katie’s life were irrelevant at this point.

  But they’re not. They drove me to a point in my life where I doubt I’ll ever be able to trust the man I love…loved?...again. And those circumstances also landed her in the center of a murder investigation.