Chocolate Chip Custard Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 46 Read online

  “Any leads?” She chortled thinking about how the investigative term also related to house hunting. However, she was more than excited to hear details about Ames and Jamie’s move in plans.

  “Not yet. We only got to do a little searching. Jamie ended up having to leave early to get some sleep. There was an early morning poodle grooming for some dog event that he had to be there for. Canines. Always ruining things.”

  Dave raised his ears, seeming to know his kind might have been jokingly insulted. Amy gave him a pat on the head to comfort him.

  “You should have come over if you were alone after he left.”

  “It was fine though. I might have watched Beaches by myself and then tearfully and joyfully got a good night’s rest too.”

  Heather’s cell phone started ringing, and she adjusted the leash she was holding to answer her husband’s call. “Shepherd.”

  “I’m at the hospital,” Ryan said. “I think you should get over here.”

  Worry seeped through her. “The hospital? Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” He assured her. “It’s about a potential case.”

  “Of course. My sleuthing skills should have kicked in. It wouldn’t be you calling if something terrible had happened to you. I guess I’ve just been on edge lately. What’s the case?”

  “A car accident that may or may not have been an accident. Apparently, it was another investigator that it happened to, according to what was in his wallet. An Inspector Kelly Lemon.”

  The bad feeling came back to Heather. “We’ll be right there.”

  ***

  Heather and Amy sat in the hospital waiting room, waiting for answers and trying to figure out their conflicted feelings about Inspector Lemon. They had rushed over as quickly as they could, making only quick pit stops to return the pets home and to grab some donuts. They had brought some Chocolate Chip Custard Donuts as a gift for Inspector Lemon, hoping they could be both a get-well gift and a peace offering. However the longer they sat there, the worse the temptation became to take a bite of the comforting snack.

  They were saved the moral dilemma of whether having just one donut was wrong by the appearance of Ryan.

  “What’s going on?” Heather asked, after giving her husband a hug.

  “I’m afraid we don’t know too much yet. Our first concern was getting Mr. Lemon to the hospital and attempt to save his life.”

  The color drained from Amy’s face. “What if the last thing I said to him…”

  “Don’t worry about that now,” Heather advised. She looked to Ryan. “What do the doctors think?”

  “It’s not looking good. But there is a chance. We’re also hoping that he’ll wake up and be able to give us some details about what happened. We’ll have an officer by the room around the clock in case that happens. I’ll have the first shift.”

  “In case Lemon can tell you about the accident?”

  “They’re just begun looking at the car. After we were sure that Mr. Lemon was safely under a physician’s care. But there are already signs that the car was tampered with.”

  “And that’s why you called us.”

  “That’s right. I believe this was attempted murder.”

  Chapter 4

  “I know it’s called Hillside, but I never realized there were so many hills here,” Amy commented as they drove toward the crime scene.

  Heather nodded without taking her eyes off the road. There was no reason for a second accident that day. She didn’t usually let her cases make her superstitious or unnecessarily overcautious. She certainly didn’t stop eating donuts, just because one had been the murder weapon in a case she solved before. However there was a chance that some roadway condition had contributed to the crash, and she thought it prudent to keep her hands in the driver-manual-approved position on her steering wheel.

  Once she had safely parked out of the way on the side of the road, Heather allowed her thoughts to wander as she and Amy moved towards the crime scene. She didn’t drive past this part of town very often. It was close to Uncle George’s Pre-Owned Cars, a used car lot that she visited for a previous case and had no real desire to visit again. She had gotten her fill of being called “milady” that day enough to last her whole lifetime.

  There were some hills and curves on the road in this area, but that wasn’t what interested her the most.

  “There’s no skid marks.” She pointed out to Amy.

  Ames thought about this and then said, “So that means he didn’t use his brakes?”

  “Or he couldn’t.”

  Amy shuddered, but still walked closer to the crime scene with her. Ryan had told them that the car would be removed so that it could be better analyzed by forensics. The large tree that the car had barreled into was still standing tall but was blocked off by police caution tape.

  “Without the car here, I’m not sure what else we can uncover about the accident or the not-really-an-accident-but-murder,” Amy said.

  Heather hated to agree with her, but besides the lack of skid marks, there wasn’t much there to tell them whether the crash had happened deliberately or not. There was some evidence that a car had hit the tree, but leaves and bits of headlight on the ground would have been there whether it was an accident or not. However, Heather wasn’t disheartened because seeing the crash site wasn’t there only reason for being there.

  “Luckily a witness is going to meet us here. Maybe he can shed some light on what happened.”

  “Any reason why he wanted to meet us here? Instead of us visiting him?”

  Heather thought about it. The idea hadn’t seemed odd until her bestie voiced it out loud.

  “Maybe he wanted to point something out to us here?” She suggested, shrugging. “I hope he’s not too eccentric.”

  “We have been meeting some unusual suspects lately.” Amy laughed at her own semi-Casablanca quote.

  Heather thought of another reason and said, “Maybe he wants to meet here because he thinks it will help him recount what happened. It could jog his memory.”

  “Looks like he’s jogging up to meet us now,” Amy said pointing as a man began to appear over the top of the hill. They soon realized he wasn’t jogging and had to contain their giggles.

  The man was riding a two-wheel upright Segway and was wheeling his way towards them, slowly but steadily.

  Amy took the tablet out of Heather’s bag and turned on the Evernote app to take notes, volunteering herself to record the eyewitness account of what happened. Heather was sure that this was so that she would be able to hide her face behind the screen if she couldn’t control her laughter at any point.

  “Mr. Seels?” Heather asked as the man wheeled to a stop in front of them.

  “Please, call me Steve. Or Segway Steve. That’s the nickname people gave me. I think it partially comes from my wheels, and partially from my expert ability to pivot from one conversation topic to another. And speaking of switching conversation topics, you must want to hear about that accident now, don’t you? That is if you’re the private investigators I think you are.”

  “Yes. I’m Heather Shepherd, and this is Amy Givens. We’re working with the Hillside Police to look into this matter.”

  “I don’t blame them for looking into it. Seeing that crash was one of the scariest things I ever saw. But I never did trust those four wheel conveyances.”

  “You mean cars?” Amy asked before hiding behind the tablet screen.

  Segway Steve grimaced at the word. “Cars. Nothing but a deathtrap on four wheels. I always knew it. But now I’ve seen it firsthand.”

  “There hasn’t been a death yet.” Heather clarified.

  “Now that’s surprising. The car went so fast into that tree! I was surprised it didn’t burst into flames like in the movies. And speaking of movies, I just saw the most wonderful film. There was singing and dancing.”

  “I’m sure it was wonderful, but right now we need to find out what happened to Mr. Lemon.”

  “Of
course,” Segway Steve said as he rotated on his wheels to face the road. “I was on the street up there, just the way I came down now when I saw him.”

  “This was somewhat early in the morning,” Heather said, wanting to clarify a detail. “It was before seven when you were on the road?”

  “About a quarter of, yes. I wanted to be at store right when they opened, and it does take me a little longer to reach places than the people who race around in those four-wheeled danger boxes.”

  “Was Mr. Lemon racing along the road?”

  “Actually,” Segway Steve said as he considered it. “It didn’t seem like he was going too fast at first. It seemed like he was sharing the road quite nicely when he passed me. But as he went over the hill, he went much faster and kept going until he hit that tree. I called for help on my phone right away, but I didn’t move much closer than this. I was afraid of the… the car. And worse than usual. I thought it might explode.”

  “It’s all right,” Heather assured him. “Your quick action in calling for help might have saved his life.”

  She noticed that Amy had crossed her fingers for good luck at that comment before resuming her note-typing.

  “And we appreciate your cooperation with speaking to us today. Those details could be very important.” She gave Amy a look. Inspector Lemon’s dangerous acceleration after he came over the hill definitely made it sound like the car was tampered with.

  Segway Steve wasn’t finished telling them about the dangers of four-wheeled terrors, but Heather was happy she stayed to listen. “They always have the potential to hurt you. Even new and shiny, they can be metal killers. I’d take my reliable two-wheels any day over—“

  “Wait. New and shiny?”

  “The car that crashed looked shiny and squeaky clean. Some people like that, but I think it’s just trying to cover up how dangerous being inside it can be. I don’t really know makes or models, so I don’t know for sure it was new. But I don’t think it had proper license plates. It had those paper ones. That normally means it’s new, doesn’t it.”

  “Mr. Seels, you’ve been more helpful than you could have known.”

  “If there’s anything else I can do, just let me know.” He said before slowly wheeling off down the street.

  Amy and Heather headed back towards the car, reflecting on what they had just heard.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” Heather said.

  “I know. How can he ride a Segway all the time? What does he do if it rains? I guess his Segway is a way of life.”

  “I was thinking about Inspector Lemon in a new car.”

  “Well,” Amy said reflecting on it. “He did mention his car getting towed. And by mention, I mean screamed about it in a crowded room. Maybe he needed a new car.”

  “Did Inspector Lemon strike you as someone who could afford a new car right now?”

  “Not if he was investigating lost lunches.”

  “Something’s not adding up. We’ll have to ask the police to trace that car. Maybe it wasn’t even Inspector Lemon’s.”

  Her cell phone rang, and she smiled as she saw it was Ryan calling. However before she could tell him about the perfect timing, he had news to deliver to them.

  “It looks like Kelly Lemon is about to wake up.”

  “That’s great news.”

  “Maybe. The doctors aren’t optimistic. We might be hearing his last words.”

  Heather hurried to the car with Amy at her heels. She started up the engine and hoped they wouldn’t arrive too late. She still kept her hands in the proper position on the steering wheel but sped off much faster than before.

  Chapter 5

  Heather and Amy hurried to Hillside Regional and soon met Ryan by the door to Kelly Lemon’s hospital room.

  “Are we…” Amy started.

  “No change since I called,” Ryan said quickly. “He opened his eyes and looked like he was going to talk before, but hasn’t done it again yet. Have you found any leads?”

  “There’s something suspicious about the car. Was it really his? Can you trace where it came from?”

  “The car is being examined now, but I’ll make sure that it’s a top priority,” Ryan said before leading them into the room. A hush came over the group as they saw Inspector Lemon hooked up to the medical monitors.

  Heather had thought that investigating an attempted murder might be more cheerful than investigating a murder, but seeing Kelly Lemon so vulnerable and so close to joining the deceased, she had to admit that this was one of her most gut-wrenching cases so far. Whatever his faults, Inspector Lemon had tried to solve cases and to make the world a better place. He didn’t deserve to be fighting for his life like this.

  She could tell similar thoughts were running through Amy’s head. Amy didn’t make any wisecracks about the situation or about hospital food, but instead stood close to the wall and waited to be told what she could do to help.

  Heather found herself staring at the heart monitor and felt her own heart racing. She averted her eyes from Inspector Lemon and the machines and looked for a source of comfort in the room. Instead, she found a source of annoyance.

  The donuts that she and Amy had brought for Inspector Lemon were halfway eaten, and based on the fingerprint smudges left on the box she was fairly sure that Detective Hoskins was the culprit. Ryan’s lazy partner had been the source of frustration for them all for quite a while. However, she did the best she could to quell these thoughts from her mind. Next to someone’s potential deathbed was not the place to fixate on negative thoughts about anyone.

  This resolve was tested when Detective Hoskins joined them in the room and asked: “There’s not even a dead body yet, and they’re here?”

  “You know as well as I do how helpful they can be,” Ryan said. “And a crime was committed.”

  Hoskins kept his grumbling to himself after that. Realizing the new company he was in, though, he did do his best to make sure there were no chocolate frosting stains on his fingers or face.

  There was movement from Inspector Lemon, and everyone jumped. Ryan and Heather moved closer to the bed, ready to hear every word he might say. Hoskins decided he might as well act like a detective too, and stood at the foot of the bed. Amy stayed where she was, still feeling nervous.

  The heart monitor beeped ominously as Inspector Lemon opened his eyes and turned to face Ryan.

  “Inspector Lemon? I’m Detective Shepherd. Can you understand what I’m saying?”

  Inspector Lemon gave the slightest of nods.

  “You were in a vehicular crash. We’re trying to determine if your car was tampered with. Do you have any memory of what happened?”

  Inspector Lemon tried to answer, and they weakly heard the word “give.” The machines he was connected to made more noises.

  “I really want to help,” Ryan said. “Can you tell us anything else?”

  They were all witnesses as they heard Inspector Lemon say his last words before his death. He said “Amy.”

  Chapter 6

  “Is this really necessary?” Heather asked. If she had been talking to anyone besides her husband, she might have started a scene.

  “I’m afraid we’re going to have to go by the book on this one,” Ryan said apologetically, as he led them into the interrogation room.

  Heather joined her bestie on the side of the table opposite her detective husband and his partner. She thought about how strange it was for them to be sitting on the opposite side of the case as well as the furniture. Amy was the one being questioned about committing a crime. Didn’t their work with the police count for anything? They had helped catch countless murderers. (Maybe not countless. Heather thought. About forty-five if I had to put a number on it.) Hadn’t they proved themselves? Shouldn’t that give them the benefit of the doubt if suspicion was thrown their way?

  Heather took a deep breath to calm herself down. She was being emotional when she should be logical. There was no way that Ryan actually thought that Amy had done someth
ing to hurt Kelly Lemon. However a police officer had to follow leads, and what Inspector Lemon had said was a sizeable one. He wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t question Amy. The sooner they had this conversation in an official capacity, the better. Then they could move on and find the real killer.

  Amy was having trouble calming down. She kept shaking her head, trying to make sense of it all.

  “I can’t believe he died right in front of us,” Amy said to her friend. “There’s no way I’m not going to have nightmares. I should keep a dream journal about it and sell my scary stories.”