She rode into the central part of the village. The Salty Seaman caught her attention down the street. She had another hour or so before they opened for lunch.
The bridal shop opened much earlier in the day, as did Griffin Brews. Motts decided to swing by Marnie’s to see what she thought about her conversation with Danny. And then she’d visit Vina and Nish.
“Hello, Mottley crew.” Marnie waved her inside. “You’ve impeccable timing. I’ve got an order for you.”
Motts had decided not to stress over the random nicknames Marnie tossed her way on occasion. “I had a chat with Danny.”
“You didn’t.”
“I did.”
“You didn’t.” Marnie covered her face with her hands, shaking her head with a laugh. “My Perry will lose his mind if he finds out. Why on earth would you talk to that reprobate?”
“I can’t ignore him. We live in the same village. A small village. And their gardening business is right at the end of my street.” Motts left out the part where she hadn’t actually stopped investigating. “Am I supposed to run across the street screaming if I see him?”
“And you wanted to know about him and Rhona?” Marnie said knowingly. “Here. Sit with me behind the counter. I’m finishing up this lace veil, and you can tell me about your gossipy chat with Danny.”
“Are you psychic?”
Marnie threw her head back and laughed loudly. “I know people. You’ll be surprised how much you can learn helping brides. All the families coming in with them. The worst and the best in people happen while they're trying on their dresses.”
What did that even mean? Motts tried not to worry about it and carried on. She told Marnie all about her chat with Danny.
“Fifty-one percent?” Marnie interrupted her mid-retelling. “He said that specific number? Rose always said the siblings had equal control.”
“Apparently not.” Motts played with the zipper on the light jacket she’d worn. “And Danny swears he had nothing to do with her murder. He claims they were going to elope.”
“Innis would’ve hunted them both down.”
“Why?”
“The family was pretty old-fashioned. Innis took after his father. Rhona, for all her sweetness, was a bit of a rebel.” Marnie set the veil aside. She bent down to find an album on one of the cabinets along the wall. “I always snap a photo of the bridal parties. Here’s one from Innis and Rose’s wedding.”
Motts glanced at the photo. “Rhona definitely doesn’t seem part of the group.”
In the photo of women, Rhona was slouched off to the side, a physical separation between her and the rest of the bridal party. Her eyes were focused away from the camera.
“Sulked the entire day.” Marnie leaned down to see the photo better. “Rose had included her for Innis’s sake. As sweet as Rose can be, I don’t think the two women got along overly well. Rhona went through a difficult phase after their parents passed away. She wanted so hard to move away from our little village. She felt trapped by the weight of family history.”
“Danny claimed she’d wanted to sell the Salty Seaman.” She handed the album back to Marnie. “I’m guessing Innis wouldn’t have agreed.”
“If she had controlling interest, he wouldn’t have been able to stop her.” Marnie clucked her tongue and shook her head. “He’d have been furious with his sister. He lives and breathes the restaurant.”
“The plot thickens.”
Was the potential sale of a family business impetus for murder? Motts had heard over and over on true crime shows how money tended to be one of the strongest motivators. She wondered if Teo would want to know what she’d discovered.
Granted, he probably already knew. Motts thought he was an incredibly thorough investigator. He wouldn’t leave any stone unturned to solve the case.
It wouldn’t hurt to message him.
“You know,” Marnie interrupted her thoughts, “I didn’t bring my packed lunch.”
“Oh?”
“I’m craving something salty and greasy.” She winked at Motts. “What about you? Fancy fish and chips? Maybe a dash of vinegar. There’s a brilliant place just down the road. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”
Teasing.
She’s joking.
Motts took a moment to realise Marnie was having a laugh with her. She forced herself to grin, though, as always, a little delayed. “Are they open?”
Marnie glanced at the delicate watch on her wrist. “Should be. First chips are always the best chips.”
“Why?”
Flipping the sign on her shop, Marnie held the door open for Motts. She didn’t seem to have an answer for Motts. They debated the best time to get chips all the way down the street.
She still wasn’t completely sold on the idea of early chips being the greatest. How did the time of day matter? It was one of those questions that would roll around in her mind for days. She had a habit of getting hyperfocused on things she didn’t understand.
“What are you doing?” Marnie asked when Motts stopped and pulled out her phone.
“Texting myself to buy chips when a shop opens, in the middle of the day, and right before it closes. A scientific experiment to determine if early is actually best.” Motts finished the message, hit send, and slipped her phone back into her pocket. She shifted uncomfortably as Marnie blinked in surprise at her. “I like being thorough.”
Also, I’m autistic and unable to allow questions like these to sit without seeing if I can answer them.
Being diagnosed later in life, Motts sometimes felt like saying “I’m autistic” might be construed as an excuse. Nish had told her in the past that not everyone needed or deserved to know. It was her story—not anyone else’s.
He’d also explained to her about how imposter syndrome might make her feel as though some of her experience wasn’t real. “That’s bullshit, Motts,” he’d said. “Sometimes, you have to ignore the jerk in your head. Just because everyone doesn’t experience it, doesn’t mean you’re not going through something.”
Nish, above almost everyone else around her, had helped Motts learn to breathe again, shedding the skin of her life before understanding why her brain behaved the way it did. It had been a moment of freedom but also terror.
She had spent months and even years learning how to be her true self—not the version developed over years of trying to be non-autistic. Nish had come to see her and helped her. He’d shared his own experiences of finding the courage to be himself. His joy and relief of settling into his skin when society had wanted to force him into a label.
“Shall we?” Marnie drew her out of her memories. She nodded toward the door of the fish and chip shop. “Chin up. Let’s see if we can’t weasel out some information.”
“Isn’t your husband going to be upset?”
“What Inspector Perry Ash doesn’t know can’t hurt me.” She grinned. “Besides, we’re picking up lunch. Nothing suspicious at all.”
“How many times were you suspended from school?” Motts couldn’t help the question.
“Me? I was a perfect angel.” Marnie grabbed the door and eased it open. “Only once; I locked the school bully in a supply closet, then refused to apologise.”
“I like your style.” Motts followed her into the chip shop. She remembered to breathe calmly when a glowering Innis stared at them from over the counter. “Hello.”
“Quit your frowning.” Marnie stepped up next to her. “We’re here for lunch. Are you serving or about to berate us for daring to bother you?”
“Innis.” Rose slipped by her husband. She had a basket of chips for the fryer. “Don’t mind grumpy guts. He wakes up on the wrong side of the world every morning.”
After placing their order, they hung out by the counter, chatting with Rose. Motts was greatly impressed by Marnie’s ability to ease everyone into small talk. She had the couple nattering away about business within minutes.
When Innis disappeared into the back, Marnie bent forward to Rose. She cou
ched the question about Rhona’s wanting to sell gently. But Motts still didn’t expect an answer.
To her surprise, Rose blurted out the full truth. Rhona had wanted to sell. The siblings had fallen out over the matter.
Despite the controlling interest, their father’s will had stipulated both Rhona and Innis had to agree before the business could be sold. Rose had apparently hoped to convince the two to reconcile. She’d convinced her husband to buy out Rhona’s side, an obvious compromise.
Rhona had declined.
Why?
If she wanted to sell, why decline?
It didn’t make sense. Motts would think if Rhona wanted to sell to get rid of the shop, she wouldn’t have argued with the perfect solution.
There’s definitely more to this story.
Innis returned, shutting down the conversation, and practically strong-arming them out of the shop. “Quit asking questions about my family. It’s none of your damn business.”
Chapter Fourteen
By the end of the day, Motts discovered Marnie hadn’t managed to keep the secret. She was stirring up hot chocolate on the stove when someone knocked on the door. The app on her phone told her Detective Inspector Herceg stood waiting for her.
“You poked the bear.”
“I haven’t poked any bears. I have all of my fingers.” Motts wriggled said digits at him. She welcomed him into the house. “Want some hot chocolate? My dad’s recipe. It’s a magical potion worthy of Harry Potter.”
“How can I say no?” He followed her down the hall into the kitchen, sitting in one of the chairs by the table and making it creak. “Why don’t you tell me about your adventures yesterday? The ones not involving poking any bears—even Innis Walters-shaped ones.”
Motts poured hot chocolate into two mugs and set one in front of Teo. She sat across from him, stirring the spoon around nervously. “You might be bored.”
“I doubt it.”
She smiled down at her mug. “I ran into Danny.”
“On purpose?”
“I didn’t run him over.” Motts went on to explain her brief conversation with Danny. Teo seemed particularly interested in his mentioning of Rhona and Innis’s contentious relationship. “And I don’t believe he killed her.”
“Oh?” He bent forward with his elbows on the table. “Aside from his alibi?”
Motts found it easier to stare at her mug than to meet Teo’s intense gaze. “Even without the alibi, Danny might be an impulsive, window-peeping prat. He wouldn’t have killed her. His devastation at her death seemed too tangibly real. Tangible tangent trembling.”
“Not the best alliteration I’ve heard from you.” Teo grabbed the notebook from his jacket pocket. “Did Danny have anything else to say?”
“Other than that?” She hesitated. “I went by a charity shop and spoke to Noel Watson. He had an intense overreaction to my mentioning Rhona’s name.”
“Did he?”
“And he owned a bracelet similar to the one found in the chest in my garden.” Motts glanced up when his pen stopped moving. “I didn’t intend to investigate. It’s just—unanswered questions bother me so much. I had to know if the bracelet was his.”
“He shouted at you.” Teo fixated on one part of her story. “Because you asked if he knew Rhona? Someone who’d lived local, gone to school with him, and he’d obviously have known even if just by name.”
“Yes.”
“And he shouted at you?”
“I said yes.” Motts didn’t know why he kept repeating it. She decided to brush it off as a weird non-autistic thing. “Did they figure out how she died?”
He closed his notebook and rested his pen on top. “I can’t give you any details. I will say they found no evidence of physical trauma.”
No evidence of physical trauma.
What did he mean?
Had Rhona died from suffocation or poison or something that hadn’t damaged her bones?
“Did they test the flowers in the chest?”
“Foxglove.”
Motts sat up quickly, and her arm almost knocked over the hot chocolate. “Foxglove? Isn’t it poisonous?”
“Motts.” Teo had resumed his serious detective inspector frowning persona. He finished up his hot chocolate and got to his feet. “I’ll see myself out. Please don’t go pressing for more answers. We don’t know who tried to run you over. I don’t want them focusing their attention on you again. Okay?”
Motts nodded absently. She grabbed both mugs and set them in the sink, filling them with water. “Did you stop by for any reason?”
“Oh, yes. Inspector Ash told me you’d paid a visit to the Salty Seaman. I wanted to make sure you were alright.” He rested a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently before heading towards the front door. “Lock up behind me.”
And she did.
Meow.
Motts finished pushing the deadlock across, then picked up Cactus. “Why don’t we have a little snack? Would you like chicken or some cheese?”
Meow.
“Cheese it is. I’ll have crackers.” Motts grabbed a packet of Jacob’s, buttered a handful, and sliced up some aged cheddar. “Why don’t we see what’s on YouTube?”
Catching up on her many subscriptions, Motts fed Cactus a few slivers of cheese. They munched on their snacks. She couldn’t stop thinking about Innis and Noel.
To her, they were the strongest suspects with Danny proving himself innocent. She put Innis above Noel. The latter didn’t seem to have any motive whatsoever.
Did he give her a strange vibe? Yes. Was it enough to accuse him of murder? No.
“What a strange place I’ve moved us to.” Motts cuddled Cactus into her arms, shoving the plate across the table. “Do you think Auntie Daisy had any idea? Probably not.”
Meow.
“Yes, I am going to have a bath.” Motts placed Cactus on the sofa. She dropped a few veggies in for Moss, making sure all was well in the turtle’s world. “The more I live here, the more I realise what a small world London had become for me.”
Running the water for a bath, Motts grabbed her laptop. She set it up on the sink at an angle to allow her to watch one of her video playlists. And after checking all the windows and doors, she returned to the bathroom and dropped a bath bomb into the water and watched the fizzing.
Motts had one foot in the water when the sound of glass breaking caused her to freeze. “What the—”
She shoved her clothes back on. Cactus sat in the hallway, hissing viciously. She dialled the police while inching her way forward.
“I have a weapon,” Motts lied. She grabbed the broom leaning against the wall and rounded the corner to find nothing but a broken front window and a large rock on the carpet. “Bugger. Why me?”
It didn’t surprise her when Teo and Inspector Ash showed up with Hughie. The three men were more serious than she’d ever seen them. She watched from inside while they inspected the outside.
“I’m going to need you to download your CCTV footage for me. You likely caught the crime on camera.” Inspector Ash wandered over to speak with Hughie.
“Can’t I leave you alone for a second?” Teo loomed over her. He seemed so much taller all of a sudden. “Did you see anyone?”
“No.” Motts was annoyed to find herself blushing at the thought of mentioning she’d been in the bath. What kind of nonsense is this? It’s a bath—everyone bathes, Motts. “I wasn’t in the living room at the time. I was getting in the bath.”
“Were you?” He cleared his throat, turned around, and went over to Perry Ash.
Men (and neurotypicals especially) can be so strange.
“Are you alright?” Hughie came over to sit beside her on the bench in front of the cottage. “I’ve called a bloke I know. He’ll be over in a jiffy to fix your window. Doesn’t even need to measure, since he fit the windows for your auntie a few years ago.”
“Okay.” Motts wrapped her arms around herself. She rocked slightly on the bench, trying to ease
some of the tension in her body. Now was not the time to have a meltdown or a shutdown. “Okay. Okay. Broken bashed battered babbling boomer.”
“You sure you’re alright?” Hughie asked. “Do you need to visit the doctor?”
She shook her head rapidly. “I’m fine.”
“Stone. Over here.” Inspector Ash interrupted their awkward attempt at small talk. “We’ve got the video from the security cameras. Take a look.”
While the two locals viewed the footage from her CCTV camera, Teo came over and sat beside her. He reached into his pocket to retrieve a package. Motts blinked when a chocolate bar appeared in his hand.
“Lemon Meringue White Chocolate.” Her mouth watered thinking about the combination. “Kernow Chocolate. They’re wizards.”
“Probably use cauldrons and potions to keep us addicted. Might need to investigate further.”
“By purchasing and taste testing more flavours?” Motts peeled back the wrapper of the chocolate. She broke off a few bars and offered it to Teo. “I’d recommend thorough research. Might have to try multiple times to get a complete assessment.”
“Agreed.” He popped the chocolate into his mouth. “Is your attack kitten safe? And your turtle-tank?”
“Moss is not a tank. She lives in one.” Motts stared down at the remaining chocolate in her hand. “I put Cactus in my room until I clean the glass up.”
They sat in silence for a while. Teo went over to the other two police officers to check out the video. Motts watched them from the bench. So much for her plans for a relaxing evening.
True to his word, Hughie’s friend showed up and immediately got to work with one of his employees to take out the broken window and replace it. Motts used her gardening gloves to pick up the larger pieces, then swept the rest before vacuuming, just to be sure. She’d never forgive herself if Cactus got a sliver in his paw.
Hughie and Teo carried out the glass. They also checked her garden and made certain the cameras and lights were functioning correctly. It was almost midnight by the time Motts had the house to herself.
They hadn’t told her what they found on the CCTV footage. Motts decided to take a look for herself. She went to grab her laptop, only to change directions when someone knocked on the door.
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