Caffe Latte & Murder_An Oceanside Cozy Mystery Book 30 Read online

  Caffe Latte & Murder: Book 30

  An Oceanside Cozy Mystery

  Susan Gillard

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  Copyright 2018 by Guardian Publishing Group, LLC

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication or the information in it may be quoted from or reproduced in any form by means such as printing, scanning, photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Printed in the United States of America

  Contents

  1. Tourist Treats

  2. Relaxation

  3. A Mess of a Crime Scene

  4. The Maid

  5. The Friend

  6. Donut Neighborhood

  7. The Nice Neighbor

  8. Brewster’s Blues

  9. Hotel Reservations

  10. The Girlfriend

  11. Good Call

  12. Detecting

  13. Seasonal Friends

  14. The Ex

  15. The Safe Explanation

  16. The Picture Becomes Clearer

  17. The Thief

  18. Catching the Killer

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  About the Author

  Also by Susan Gillard

  Tourist Treats

  Heather wiped the sweat from her brow. Then she washed her hands and got right back to baking donuts. It had been a busy day at Donut Delights, and she was feeling the heat, but she was staying in the kitchen.

  “If busy was like this every day, I think I could retire next year,” Heather joked.

  “If we had to keep up at this pace every day, you’d need to,” her best friend responded.

  Heather smiled and continued whipping up a creamy center to add to her latest batch of donuts. Amy leaned on the counter for a moment, taking a break. While she always looked stylish, today she was sweaty, and her blonde hair was starting to escape from her ponytail. Amy had quipped all morning that it was so busy that she hadn’t had a chance to eat any of the donuts they were making – and that she liked eating them a lot more than decorating them.

  “I feel like spring break is lasting forever,” Amy groaned.

  “Not every school has it at the same time, so it is lasting a few weeks. I think it’s going to settle down soon though.”

  “I hope so,” Amy said. “Because I don’t like how often we need to spring into action with all these tourists in town.”

  Heather’s assistant, Digby, ran into the room and picked up a batch of donuts that had just finished cooling.

  “Don’t worry,” Digby said. “Just an hour to go until we close. I think we can make it.”

  “It’s because people keep picking up such large orders when they come into the shop that it’s been so crazy,” said Heather. “It makes quite a difference when someone buys six dozen chocolate donuts instead of one.”

  “I guess a lot of people are having parties,” Digby said. “You’d think they’d remember that they have to buy food for it before everyone arrives.”

  Heather shrugged. “I guess they’re on vacation and aren’t planning ahead.”

  “I’m going to need a vacation after all these tourists’ vacations,” Amy whined.

  Digby chuckled and headed back into the front of the shop with a baked goods batch. Amy sighed.

  “Come over here and help me with the designs on these donuts,” Heather said, waving her friend over. “You are the artist.”

  “Does it really matter what we put on top of them?” Amy asked. “They’re going to be eaten in about two seconds anyway.”

  “Help me make them look pretty, and you can take a break to eat one,” Heather bartered.

  “Deal,” Amy agreed.

  They set to work decorating with the frothy frosting. Amy’s mood improved with the thought of a soon-to-be-tasted donut. She also really did love designing. Heather did too. She admitted that most of her art skills were limited to icings and sprinkles, but she didn’t mind because her results were always tasty and beautiful.

  Another of the Donut Delights assistants entered the kitchen. Nina was frowning fretfully. She was prone to nervousness.

  “Is everything all right?” Heather asked.

  Nina nodded. “It’s just very busy. But we almost made it to the end of the day. I’m going to meet Nick after work too. We were going to go to the movies, but I’m afraid it might be too crowded.”

  “Maybe you could have a movie night at one of your houses,” Heather suggested. “We can offer some donuts that you could have for snacks if you can’t get popcorn.”

  “That might be a good idea,” Nina said. “There are crowds everywhere on the island.”

  “Is it as busy at Sun and Fun Novelties as it is here?” asked Heather.

  “I think so,” Nina said, as she began mixing batter for another batch of donuts.

  Nick and Nina had just started dating, but Heather approved of the match. Nick was a sweet and responsible young man. He was running the novelty shop across the street while his uncle, who owned the shop, was recovering from a leg injury. The owner, Mr. Rankle, was not their favorite person in the world. He was generally unpleasant and had tried to put the donut shop out of business more than once because he considered anyone not born on the island to be a tourist – and he hated tourists.

  Heather had to admit that having so many tourists on the island did make many things more difficult. However, they were so appreciative of her donuts that she couldn’t hate them. She might wish that spring break would end early, but she didn’t begrudge the tourists for wanting to visit the beautiful place that she now called home.

  “Tada!” Amy said as she put the finishing touches on her donuts.

  “They’re beautiful,” Heather said. “Pick one to eat and then we need to bring the others out front.”

  “This one has my name on it,” Amy said, picking one up. “Literally. I put my name on it so I could eat it.”

  Heather smiled. She picked up the tray of donuts and headed to the front of the shop. She began placing them in the display case. Amy was soon behind her, having finished her donut quickly.

  The shop was beginning to slow down in regard to the number of customers in the shop. However, when the next person to come to the register ordered four dozen assorted donuts, Heather knew it was wise that they kept baking. The large orders were sure to continue until closing.

  “Should we order dozens of donuts too?” a female voice asked.

  “That does seem to be the trend,” her companion replied.

  Heather looked up from the display case and grinned when she saw her two favorite customers in the shop. Eva and Leila were two senior ladies who were now her next-door neighbors and good friends. They were huge fans of her donuts, but she hadn’t expected them to brave the crowds to visit her. Because they lived next door, it was easy to pop in and ask for a donut instead of a cup of sugar.

  Heather told them how she was surprised to see them, but was, of course, still pleased.

  “We didn’t want to miss the new week’s flavor,” Eva said.

  “It’s a tradition to come to the shop and try the newest creation,” Leila agreed. “Even if we did have to work our way through more crowds of partying you
ngsters than usual.”

  Heather placed a donut on a plate for each of her friends and handed them over.

  “I hope you enjoy the Caffè Latte Donut,” she said.

  “She chose a flavor with caffeine because we need it after dealing with all these customers,” Amy joked.

  “Maybe coffee had been on my mind lately,” Heather agreed.

  “Look at those designs on top,” Eva said. “Why they look almost too pretty to eat.”

  “Almost,” Leila said with a grin.

  Heather showed her friend over to their usual table, while she explained what made the donut special.

  “The Caffè Latte Donut has a coffee flavored cake base. It has a creamy center to taste like the milk in a latte. Then, the icing on top is made to resemble the foam. We even made some designs like fancy lattes have. Some are just interesting shapes, but I think Amy made some other designs too.”

  Amy pointed to both of the donuts in turn. “That’s a beach scene with a palm tree. And, Eva, yours looks like Heather’s dog, Dave.”

  “I hope you won’t begrudge me biting your dog,” Eva joked.

  “Not when he’s in donut form,” Heather replied.

  The women tried the donuts and then burst into praise.

  “This is wonderful, dear,” Eva said.

  “I think I’ll have one of these instead of a morning coffee,” Leila said.

  “I’m glad you like them,” Heather said. “But I think I need to run back to the kitchen. I think we need to whip up a few more batches for the time before we close.”

  “Of course. We understand,” Leila said.

  “But do take care of yourself,” Eva said. “Between how busy your shop is and solving murders that pop up, you run yourself ragged.”

  “Don’t worry,” Heather said. “Amy and I have taken the morning off tomorrow. I’m going to spend time with the kids and relax.”

  As she headed back to begin baking, she hoped that nothing would interfere with her relaxation. However, she wondered if wishing this was going to jinx her.

  Relaxation

  “Don’t worry, Mom,” Lilly said. “This is going to be a lot of fun too. The important thing is that we get to spend time together.”

  Heather nodded, reminded yet again what a wonderful daughter she had.

  Nicolas chimed in too. “And Dave and Cupcake can play with us now too.”

  Heather smiled. Nicolas was Lilly’s best friend from Hillside, Texas where they used to live. He often visited them for holidays and vacations. He was still in foster care, and the Shepherds thought that the friendship between the two children was important to maintain.

  This trip had been different because of the crowds on the island. While there had been tourists visiting during the winter months, the mass of crowds had been dispersed. Now it was concentrated with partyers all around the island.

  Heather had thought that if they left earlier enough in the morning and went to a smaller beach, they could still enjoy some time in the sand without the crowds. However, she was proved incorrect. There were still lots of people on the beach.

  Heather and the kids had played in the water for a little bit, but then they decided that they should continue their time together at home. Heather set up a small inflatable pool in the yard that they could dip their toes into and cool down.

  Her dog, Dave, and kitten, Cupcake, were happy to join in the fun. They splashed around with the kids.

  After cooling her feet in the water, Heather sat down in a lawn chair and watched the youngsters play. She couldn’t help smiling. After such a busy time at the shop, it felt nice to relax for a little while. She also loved spending time with the kids.

  Nicolas would be heading back to Texas soon, and she knew that Lilly would miss him. Though he would return again for part of the summer, and the friends would often communicate through a video chat on their tablets, it was still always more fun to see each other in person.

  Nicolas had also liked Lilly’s new friend in town, Chelsea. The three of them had been seeing each other often and had always had a good time. They were planning on visiting Chelsea that evening. This playdate was also going to be at her house to avoid the crowds.

  Heather thought it was nice that Chelsea’s parents were being supportive and invited both children over to play. It also helped that Chelsea’s father was Chief Chet, the chief of police on the island. He understood when Heather needed to help her husband, Detective Ryan Shepherd, on an investigation. He was pleased to have the extra help from a P.I. to make sure cases were solved quickly, especially when this private investigator brought gourmet donuts to the station.

  She and Amy had helped to solve many murder cases since they moved to their new home. In fact, they had even solved some during this very crazy spring break.

  As she leaned back in her chair, she was glad that there weren’t any open investigations at the moment. She needed a break from it all. She picked up a glass of iced tea, determined to relax.

  She was enjoying the soundtrack of the children and pets playing when her cell phone rang. She saw that it was Chelsea’s mom calling and answered it.

  “Hello,” Mrs. Copeland said. “Do you want me to pick the children up now?”

  “I thought they weren’t planning on meeting Chelsea until this evening,” Heather said. “They were going to watch that dinosaur movie on TV.”

  “Well, yes,” Mrs. Copeland said. “But that was before I heard about a new case. I thought you might want me to watch them while you assist with the investigation.”

  “I appreciate the offer,” Heather said, trying to keep herself from sighing. “I just didn’t realize that there was a new case to be solved.”

  “Oh. I just heard Chet mention it.”

  “Thank you,” Heather said. “I’ll wait to hear from Ryan, but I probably will have to take you up on that offer. I’ll call you back in a little bit.”

  Heather hung up. She was debating what to do next when her phone rang again. This time it was her husband, Ryan.

  “Let me guess,” she said. “You have a new case.”

  “That’s right,” he said. “How did you know?”

  A Mess of a Crime Scene

  After dropping Lilly and Nicolas off at the Copeland house for an afternoon of fun, Heather set off to work. She and Amy headed to a large beach house on the island where Ryan had told them that a man had been murdered.

  “Wow,” Amy said as they approached the house. “I wish we were here for a reason besides murder. This house is great.”

  Heather nodded, but only half-agreed. The house was large, and the architecture was lovely. It also had a great view of the beach. However, the house was clearly in disarray. There was garbage in the yard, and the seating that was outside had been turned on its side.

  She looked at the houses next door on either side of the crime scene house, and Amy did the same.

  “Or maybe we should visit one of those houses,” Amy said. “They look cleaner.”

  “I wonder if this mess has anything to do with the murder,” said Heather. “Did the killer trash the victim’s house? Or did he have a party last night?”

  “Probably had a party,” said Amy. “Everyone was partying last night. Except Jamie and me. We stayed in and ordered a pizza.”

  “If this ended in murder, then I’m glad we didn’t go to the party,” said Heather.

  “Yeah. I’m glad we didn’t get the invite.”

  They headed to the door where they were greeted by Ryan.

  “I’m sorry to ruin your morning off,” he said.

  “It’s all right,” Heather said. “If crime doesn’t take a day off, then we don’t either. Why don’t you tell us what you know so far?”

  “Do we have to be scared that one of the many tourists in town is a killer?” Amy asked.

  “Not sure yet,” Ryan said. “We do know that the victim was named Devon Davidson. This was his vacation home.”

  “Some vacation,” Amy m
uttered.

  “He was found down the hall,” Ryan said, pointing.

  Heather took a step forward.

  “Be careful,” Ryan said. “There’s broken glass and porcelain on the ground. It looks like a vase was broken.”

  Heather saw the broken pink shards in her path and nodded.

  “I’d be careful anyway,” Amy said. “There’s so much mess.”

  “How was the victim killed?” Heather asked, focusing on the case.

  Ryan started leading them down the hall, as he explained the cause of death. Heather took note of the house as they walked.

  It was as messy inside as it was outside. There were lots of empty cups and beer bottles on the ground. Furniture was moved haphazardly around. A lampshade was askew.

  It looked as if one room had begun to be cleaned. There were cleaning supplies in the living room, and some of the trash had been gathered into a garbage bag.

  “The medical examiner just finished with the body,” Ryan said “He’s bringing it back to his lab to conduct the autopsy. However, it appears the victim was stabbed to death. The weapon was a small knife of some sort. The medical examiner should be able to give us a better description when he’s finished his report.”

  Ryan showed them into an office area.

  “He was found behind the desk,” Ryan said, indicating.

  “That’s a big desk,” Heather said, examining it. “He might have been hidden behind there for a while.”

  Even though the body had been removed, she could see bloodstains on the carpet. There was also a spilled drink on the floor. The polka dotted drinking glass lay on its side.