Strawberries & Chocolate & Murder Read online

  “Do you have a window of time when the murder could have taken place?” asked Heather.

  "The neighbor found the body at two," said Ryan. "But the medical examiner said she could have died between ten a.m. and one p.m."

  “I have been really good about keeping up my New Year’s Resolution of not screaming when I see a dead body,” said Amy, still focusing on how the victim was found. “But seeing someone you know dead through the window, might have made me abandon the resolution. Was this a messy murder? Lots of blood?”

  “No,” Ryan said. “This one looks like a poisoning.”

  “Poisoning?” asked Heather.

  “That’s right,” said Ryan. “Initial examination looks like it was cyanide.”

  “That’s a relatively fast-acting poison, isn’t it?” said Heather. “Death could occur within fifteen minutes of ingesting it.”

  Ryan nodded.

  “That should make finding the murder weapon easy,” said Heather.

  "Right," Amy agreed. "If she was in her own house alone and died within fifteen minutes of eating something, then we should see some evidence of what it was."

  “There did appear to be some chocolate stains on her fingers,” Ryan said.

  “So, it is easy,” Amy said, happily.

  “Yes and no,” said Ryan. “We think that chocolate candies were used as the murder weapon in this case, but unfortunately, that doesn’t cut down on the potential murder weapons or suspects in this case.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Heather.

  “I’ll show you,” Ryan said.

  He led them into the kitchen. Detective Peters was taking notes on the scene but also seemed to be trying to compose a poem under his breath. They heard him trying to rhyme “Janae” with “ballet” and “valet” and “hooray.” They pretended not to notice.

  What Heather did notice, was that Ryan was right about this case. On the kitchen counter were five half-eaten heart-shaped boxes that all contained chocolate candy.

  “It looks like we do have our work cut out for us,” Heather said.

  "What kind of terrible person would murder someone with Valentine's candy?" asked Amy.

  “That’s what we’ll have to find out,” said Heather. “And which Valentine sent the killer candy.”

  Candy and Crime

  “You said these are called Strawberry and Chocolate?” Chief Chet asked, after tasting one of Heather’s donuts.

  “That’s right,” Heather said with a smile.

  "You should change the name to Strawberries and Chocolate and Pure Joy," he said. "Because that's what I feel when I eat them."

  Heather thanked him for the compliment. She had brought a box of donuts to the police station where the investigators were going to discuss everything they had learned about the crime so far and what the next steps to solve the case should be.

  “You’d think hearing that poisoned chocolate was what killed the victim would curb his appetite,” Amy said as Chief Chet reached for another.

  “You’ve had three donuts since we discovered it,” Heather said to her friend.

  “True. But I’m a donut connoisseur.”

  Chief Chet finished his donut quickly and licked the chocolate off his fingers. Heather couldn’t help thinking that Stephanie Jordan never got the opportunity to do so as well.

  The chief was a laid-back person who liked to listen to soothing ocean sounds inside his office when he wasn’t outside on the beach. However, he did like to be reassured that criminals would be caught quickly.

  “Give me an update,” he said. “What’s going on so far?”

  "Valentine's Day is a cruel and terrible holiday," Detective Peters said, piping up. "It puts undue pressure on people to step up and express their feelings before they're ready, while also giving potential romantic rivals an excuse to express their own affections. It's a horrible holiday that should be stopped.”

  “I was referring to the murder case,” Chief Chet said.

  “And if the holiday weren’t bad enough, someone decided to kill a poor young lady with chocolate candy,” Peters finished.

  “So, you’re pretty sure that the Valentine’s chocolates were poisoned?” Chief Chet asked.

  “It certainly looks that way,” Ryan said. “The medical examiner confirmed that cyanide was what killed her and her stomach only contained chocolate.”

  “The chocolate could have hidden the taste until it was too late,” Heather said.

  “This is great progress,” Chief Chet said.

  Then, Ryan had to inform him of the same problem that he had told Heather and Amy about.

  “We’re fairly certain that the killer poisoned a candy that he was sure that Stephanie Jordan would eat. However, there were five boxes of candy that we found in her kitchen that had candy missing. Any of those boxes could have held the poisoned candy.”

  “Did any of the remaining candies have cyanide in them?” asked Chief Chet.

  “They don’t appear to,” said Ryan. “The lab is still running tests on every single remaining candy piece, but none of them have the distinctive smell.”

  “So, you don’t know which box they came from?” Chief Chet asked.

  “We’re afraid not,” said Heather.

  “And unfortunately, not all the boxes of candy came from the same person who happened to leave his address and contact information with the present,” said Amy.

  “What do you know?” asked the Chief.

  “That this killer is representative of Valentine’s Day as a whole. Outwardly pretending to be loving while being fundamentally bad,” said Peters without thinking. Then, realizing that everyone was looking at him, he consulted his notebook and said, “We did find some cards to accompany the gifts.”

  “There were five cards,” Ryan continued. “Five gifts from five different people.”

  “We’re not sure if she was hand delivered these gifts or if they came in the mail,” said Heather. “But we didn’t find any packaging, so there were no addresses listed.”

  “But you have some names?” asked Chief Chet.

  Ryan nodded. "At least some partials. The cards were signed by Russ Mindhord, Charlie P., Perry, Derek, and CDB."

  “Do we know anything about these people?” Chief Chet asked.

  “Right now, all we know is that they sent Stephanie Jordan candy," said Ryan.

  “Well, I trust you all to sort this out,” Chief Chet said. “I know you’ll get to the bottom of this, but it would be nice if it could be before Valentine’s Day.”

  “A mean holiday designed to put people in a state of emotional turmoil,” Detective Peters muttered. “And it actually did kill someone with a gift deadly chocolates.”

  “Oh, that reminds me,” Chief Chet said. “I need to get my wife something special for Valentine’s Day. Do you think she’d like these Strawberries and Chocolate Donuts?”

  “I know I’d love to get a box of them,” Amy said.

  Detective Peters looked disappointed that no one was backing him up on the evils of the romantic holiday, but Chief Chet looked thrilled.

  “I’ll make sure to box up a dozen of them for you,” Heather assured him.

  “Whenever you get a chance to do it,” Chief Chet. “I think she’ll love that gift, but solving this murder is the most important thing to do.”

  With that, he returned to his office. The investigators looked at one another.

  “Well, we have five suspects off the bat,” Heather said. “We just need to discover who they are.”

  “Because we have the full name, finding Russ Mindhorn should be simple,” Ryan said.

  "I'll begin a search on where to find him in a minute," Peters said.

  “And we’ll have to ask the people in her life if they knew who the other suitors could be,” Ryan said. “I’ll question the people at her office.”

  “I’d like to talk to her neighbor,” Heather said. “If they were friendly, then she might know details of her personal li
fe. She might also know something about how the candy boxes were delivered.”

  “If only she knew who the killer was too,” Amy said. “That would be great.”

  "That's the tricky part about poison as a murder weapon," Heather said. "The killer doesn't necessarily have to be there when the kill is made. When someone is shot, the killer needs to be within shooting range of the victim. But when poison is used, then the killer just needs to lay their trap and wait."

  “And in this case, it worked,” Amy said. “Stephanie Jordan took the bait.”

  “We might have to lay our trap to catch the killer,” Heather said. “But I’m sure we’ll find him. Eventually.”

  “I hope it’s like the chief said and we catch him before Valentine’s Day,” Peters said. “I don’t need anything else to make me miserable that day.”

  "Maybe you'll catch him and can impress Janae with your crime-fighting skills," Heather suggested.

  “Do you really think so?” Peters asked.

  “Sure,” said Heather.

  Peters ran off to begin his investigation. The others exchanged a look.

  “He should just talk to her,” Ryan said.

  “He’s tried,” said Heather.

  “Sometimes I really don’t think he has a clue,” Amy said.

  “Come on,” said Heather. “Let’s get to work and find our own clues in this case.”

  Neighbor Drama

  Heather and Amy decided to stop by Donut Delights and pick up some Strawberries and Chocolate Donuts before they met with their first witness. If the neighbor was still upset about finding the dead body, then the chocolate might help soothe her.

  “Since we’re on the street, let’s check on Bernadette first,” Heather suggested.

  “Sure,” Amy agreed. “Make sure she’s not covering the shop with garlic for fear of vampires.”

  Heather chuckled as they entered Bernadette’s Beachy Books. Their bookseller friend wasn’t in a state of fear from all the horror books she’s been reading, but she was facing something that she dreaded.

  “Do you think that this book would be a good gift for my Valentine?”

  Heather admired how Bernadette put on a smile to explain how books could be wonderful gifts as long as they related personally to the recipient.

  “I think this would relate to her,” the man said. "She gives bike tours on the island, and this book points out some of the most beautiful spots in Key West. If she's never been there before, it will give some good ideas for new places to bike to. Maybe she'd even want to go there with me."

  “Uh oh,” Amy said. “Detective Peters better move fast if he wants to ask Janae to be his Valentine.”

  Heather nodded. As they moved closer, they recognized that the customer was Fire Frank. He was a jovial firefighter on the island with flaming red hair and who also had feelings for Janae.

  “Then, it sounds like the perfect gift,” Bernadette said. “Would you like me to put it in a gift bag?”

  Fire Frank thanked her and suggested using a red bag. “It'll match my hair, and she'll know it's from me," he joked.

  As Bernadette rang up his purchase, Fire Frank noticed the other women.

  “Oh, hi Heather, Amy. How’s it going? Hopefully, no more arson cases?”

  “No, but we do have another case that we need to solve,” Heather said.

  “You two sure do keep busy,” he said. “Let me know if I can ever be of help.”

  “We will. Thank you,” said Heather.

  “But I think you’re going to be busy yourself,” Amy said. “Is that a Valentine you’re buying?”

  “Maybe,” he said with a smile.

  Bernadette finished with his sale, and Fire Frank wished them all a "good day." Before he could leave, Amy said, "And by the way, Janae is working right now."

  “I know,” said Fire Frank with an even bigger smile.

  He left, and Amy asked Heather, "Who do you want to be the lucky Valentine?"

  “I just want Janae to be happy,” Heather said. “They’re both nice guys, so if she does like either one of them, I think it could be a good relationship.”

  "I can't tell if she does like one of them," Amy said. "But she might not be able to tell that they like her either. They both act so goofily around her sometimes."

  “They’ll all figure it out,” Heather said. “Let’s see about Bernadette.”

  “Thanks for checking on me,” Bernadette said as they neared. “I’m doing fine. Though I think I might be developing an irrational fear of cats.”

  After talking to their friend for a few minutes and only having her jump at a small noise once, Heather and Amy headed towards Donut Delights.

  “Are we sure we want to hurry back?” Amy asked. “Fire Frank might be right in the middle of an awkward Valentine proposal?”

  “I think we might encounter something that will delay us,” Heather said, pointing.

  Mr. Rankle was peering through the front window of the donut shop and giving everyone dirty looks. He was not a fan of them opening their shop on "his" street because they originally came from Texas, so he did not consider them locals. However, he only really considered people who were born in Key West to be locals. He had given Bernadette a hard time for taking over the bookshop even though she lived there for five years. Now he was turning his attention to the donut shop.

  He never stopped by to order a donut (even though when he grudgingly decided to take a bite, he did enjoy it), so they knew that there was a more problematic reason for his visit.

  He turned to them as he approached, leaning on his cane with one hand and clutching a pink piece of paper in his other.

  “Are you behind this?” he demanded.

  “Behind what?” asked Heather.

  “I feel behind,” said Amy. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

  Mr. Rankle eyed them suspiciously. “I won’t stand for any tomfoolery. Not from anyone. You tell your staff that too. If any of them think they can pull the wool over my eyes, they can’t. I don’t allow any wool on my head.”

  “You really want her to tell her staff that?” asked Amy.

  “Just knock it off,” he said, waving the pink paper around. “I’m not falling for it.”

  He turned around and hurried off back towards his shop.

  “What was that all about?” asked Amy.

  Heather shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  They entered Donut Delights, and Digby ran up to them immediately.

  “You know how some shops have signs that say No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service? Could we put up a sign that says No Awkward Asking-People-Out?”

  Heather sighed. “It’s that bad?”

  They looked over at the counter where Fire Frank was standing with Janae. She had opened the gift and was looking very happy.

  “And I chose a red bag so you’d know it was from me,” he joked, pointing to his hair.

  “It matches me as well,” Janae giggled, gesturing to her own hair.

  Digby rolled his eyes. Amy covered hers.

  “And I thought that the book might hold some new ideas for riding your bike past.”

  “It’s very thoughtful. I love it. Thank you,” said Janae.

  “I hoped you would,” Fire Frank said, grinning.

  “Is there any particular reason why you got this for me now?”

  The usually confident Fire Frank seemed to deflate. He cleared his throat. “No. I just saw it and thought of you. No real reason. Well, I better get going.”

  He waved and quickly walked out the door.

  “That was painful to watch,” Digby said. “Will you be my Valentine? How hard is that to ask?”

  “Speaking of pains,” Amy segued. “Do you know what’s going on with Mr. Rankle?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He thinks we’re up to something,” said Heather. “No one here is playing some sort of prank on him, are they?”

  “No,” said Digby. “Now I sort of wish that I
did come up with one. But we’re not up to anything.”

  “I didn’t think so. But we better keep an eye on him. He might try some retaliation on us anyway,” Heather said.

  Then, she and Amy went up to the counter to claim their donuts.

  “We’re going to bring a dozen Strawberries and Chocolate Donuts to go talk to a witness,” Heather said.

  Janae handed her a box.

  “That’s a good idea,” Janae said. “Donuts make sense. Not like men. They don’t seem to make sense at all.”

  Amy said, “Yeah. Sometimes men can be as confusing as any murder case.”

  Window Witness

  “It was so nice of you to bring these donuts,” Sara Chancely said, digging into her third one. “This has been such a hard day. Part of a hard month.”

  The victim's neighbor had welcomed Heather and Amy into her home and showed them into the living room where they all had a seat.

  They weren’t quite sure what to expect of the neighbor before they arrived. They soon discovered that Sara Chancely was about the same age as Stephanie Jordan, but that she was not receiving any Valentines.

  “February is always hard,” Sara said, reaching for another donut. “There’s such a fuss made about Valentine’s Day, and it reminds me that I’m all alone. I hate being single. This time of year is the worst. I feel like it’s being rubbed in my face.”

  “Have you tried reading horror books?” asked Amy.

  “Horror books?” asked Sara.

  “Never mind,” said Heather. “We’re really here to talk about the murder.”

  Sara shuddered. "I was already having such a bad month, and then this happened. I really like Stephanie. I can't believe this happened to her."

  “You were friends?” Heather prompted.

  Amy took her tablet out to take notes on the questions, while Sara took another bite of her donut.

  “Yes. Well, Stephanie didn’t have a lot of friends. She had a lot of dates and guys who wanted to date her. She didn’t have many people that she was close to all the time. But she was nice to me. We’d have coffee together every so often.”