Blackberry Cream & Murder Read online

  “So, when do you think you’ll be home, dear?” Eva asked.

  “Well…” Heather began.

  “Did you get involved in another case?” asked Eva.

  “I’m afraid so,” said Heather. “They do keep falling into my lap.”

  "Don't worry about us," Eva assured her. "We're having a lovely time. You and your friends catch that murderer. And just let us know if you plan to be home by dinnertime."

  “I’m hoping we can solve this case quickly,” Heather said. “All the suspects are in the same building, but figuring out who did it could be tricky.”

  “I’m sure you, Amy, and Ryan can figure it out,” said Eva. “And you have Dave there to help.”

  After Eva had wished them luck, and they had listened to Lilly’s account of a fun evening, Heather and Ryan were ready to focus on the case again.

  “I was just telling Jamie about how Detective Smith said he would accept our help on this case,” Amy said. “I think he’s coming around and realizing what a valuable resource we are.”

  “He’s conducting the official interrogations,” said Heather. “But he invited us to question the guests a little more subtly too. I think we might be able to uncover some secrets the guests are hiding.”

  “I just hope this is for real,” said Amy. “And he’s not just telling us we can do this to keep us out of his hair.”

  “I think Detective Smith is a man of his word,” said Heather.

  “In every way except in regards to his retirement,” Ryan chuckled.

  Dave ran to the door before the knock occurred.

  “Good boy,” said Heather.

  She opened the door and saw Detective Peters.

  “Do you mind if I come in?” he asked.

  “As long as you have information about the case,” said Amy. “And you and Detective Smith aren’t hiding things from us.”

  “I’m sharing information,” he said. “I came to tell you about the jelly.”

  Amy gracefully waved him inside.

  “Was it the murder weapon?” Heather asked.

  “Yes,” Detective Peters nodded. “Based on your suggestion, we told the lab to test the elderberry jelly first. Both the jelly on the pancakes and in the jar contained poison.”

  “What a terrible breakfast,” said Amy.

  “Anything else?” asked Ryan.

  “We also looked at the fingerprints on the jar. As we’ve been questioning the guests, we’ve been asking for prints for comparison. And we’ve found our matches already,” Peters said.

  “Matches?” said Heather. “How many?”

  "Three," said Peters. "The prints match Gideon Ridgefield, Bea, and the secretary Marigold."

  “That matches what we saw at the table,” said Ryan. “Bea brought out the jelly. And the Marigold and Mr. Ridgefield were the ones to use it on his pancakes.”

  “That means that the killer must have planted the poison last night and wiped their prints off of it,” said Heather. “There are no longer any prints from the person who delivered the jar to Bea, so it was wiped clean before she picked it up this morning.”

  Peters made a note of this in his notebook. Then he said, “I better get back to work. Good luck on your end.”

  He left, and the group considered who they wanted to question first.

  “You know who I’d like to talk to?” Heather said. “Both as a suspect and to make sure she’s okay.”

  “The other person who ate the poison?” Amy asked.

  Heather nodded. “Marigold Fanning.”

  The Other Victim

  “How are you feeling?” Heather asked as they entered Marigold’s room at the bed and breakfast.

  “Very sad,” Marigold said. “Gideon Ridgefield was a great man.”

  “I meant about the poison you ingested,” Heather said.

  “Oh,” said Marigold. “I’m all right. Just tired physically. They said I had too small an amount to do any real damage. They treated me and thankfully said I didn’t have to stay at the hospital overnight. But the police say we’re not allowed to travel home. So, I’m stuck here, in the same building he was killed.”

  She looked frail under her blankets. She looked pale, and even her green eyes looked dull.

  “This must be so hard for you,” Heather said.

  “He must have been a great boss,” said Amy.

  “Yes,” said Marigold. “A boss.”

  Amy, Ryan, and Heather with Dave on a leash moved further into the room.

  “You said you were a cop at the table when Mr. Ridgefield fell,” said Marigold to Ryan. “But you’re not the detective on the case?”

  “No,” said Ryan. “Not officially. But we said we would help in any way we can. And we wanted to make sure that you were doing all right.”

  Marigold still looked uncertain about opening up to them.

  “Dave isn’t a therapy dog, but he has made people feel better before,” said Heather. “Would you like him to come closer?”

  Marigold considered and then nodded. “My mother always used to say that wagging tails and wet noses were the surest sign there was good in the world.”

  Dave jumped up on the bed and allowed Marigold to pet his ears.

  “Dogs are so much better than people,” she said. “People are terrible. One of them could murder Gideon.”

  “You two were close?” Heather asked.

  “I worked for him for six years,” said Marigold.

  “Were you in love with him?” Heather asked.

  Marigold stopped petting Dave to look Heather in the eyes. “He was in love with me too.”

  “So, you were having an affair?” Ryan asked.

  “I knew he wasn’t going to leave Cara, but that didn’t mean what we had wasn’t real. We might not have been able to start a family together, but we were in love. We’d been officially together for two years.”

  “Officially but secretly?” Amy said.

  “No one knew,” Marigold agreed.

  “His wife didn’t know?” Ryan asked.

  “We kept things looking professional on the surface,” Marigold said. “She couldn’t have known.”

  “So, you’d still take orders from him in public and run errands for him and prepare his breakfast,” Amy said.

  “Yes,” Marigold said sadly, petting the dog again.

  “Don’t take this the wrong way,” Amy said. “He seemed like a difficult man to work for and to be in a relationship with.”

  “He could be particular,” Marigold said. “And he could be grumpy at times. But I found it charming. When it was just the two of us, I would tease him about it.”

  “Romantic,” Amy muttered.

  “Don’t you see what it means?” Marigold said. “He picked me. He was so particular. And so picky. But he picked me. I was good enough. And he loved me.”

  “Miss Fanning, you must realize that the police will consider you a suspect because of your relationship with him,” Heather said.

  “But why would I kill him?” Marigold asked. “I’ve lost the love of my life and my job because of this. I was also almost poisoned myself.”

  “Maybe you got tired of sharing him with his wife?” Heather suggested.

  “If that were the case, I would have killed Cara and not Gideon,” she snapped. “But I didn’t. And I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t kill anyone.”

  “Where were you last night after nine p.m. until breakfast time?” asked Heather.

  “Gideon and I weren’t able to meet last night. He had to stay in his room with Cara. So I was in my room by myself. I read for a while and then went to bed around eleven. I was up for about an hour and a half before breakfast, getting ready for the day. Then I checked on the Ridgefields, and they told me to see if the meal was ready."

  “And you never left your room last night?” Heather asked.

  “No. There was no reason to.”

  “Did you know Mike Crown before today?” asked Heather.

  “I still don’t k
now who he is.”

  “He’s part of the couple that arrived last night,” said Ryan. “He was in a T-shirt at breakfast and is with the blonde woman.”

  "I never met him before today, and it wasn't a very good meeting what with everything that happened," said Marigold. "I'm getting pretty tired."

  “We’ll let you rest,” Heather said.

  Marigold gave Dave a kiss on his head, and then the others left her to rest up.

  “What do you think?” Amy asked.

  “I think she’s still a viable suspect,” said Heather. “She knew about Gideon Ridgefield’s particular breakfast tastes, and she has a potential motive.”

  Ryan nodded. “She could have been upset that Mr. Ridgefield wasn’t going to leave his wife for her.”

  “And no one could account for her movements during the night,” said Heather. “But she did allow herself to eat the poison.”

  “That’s dedication to the crime,” said Amy. “It might be the perfect cover.”

  “It is tough to gauge,” Heather said. “On one hand, she didn’t even flinch when Gideon told her to eat the poisoned jelly. On the other, if she did poison it, she would know that a small amount wouldn’t kill her. And it might help clear her of suspicion.”

  “But not for us,” Amy joked. “We’re suspicious of everyone.”

  “Then again, there was someone who flatly refused to try the jelly,” Heather said.

  “And someone who might not mind if both her cheating husband and his mistress ate the poison,” said Ryan.

  “I think it’s time we talk to the wife,” said Heather.

  Wife Turned Widow

  Mrs. Ridgefield was already dressed in black when they arrived at her room to talk to her. She seemed devoid of any emotion rather than sad.

  “Yes?” she said. “What do you want?”

  “First, we’d like to offer our deepest sympathies on your loss,” said Heather.

  “And secondly, you’d like to ask some questions?” asked Cara Ridgefield. “That young detective said that you might. I get the sense he says more than he should at times.”

  "Normally that's helpful in a murder case," said Amy. "If only all the killers would just blurt out their mistakes, then we'd have an easy time of it."

  “You’re here to ask if I killed my husband,” said Cara. “I didn’t.”

  Dave started scratching his ear, and Cara jumped back.

  “I don’t want white fur on my black dress,” she said.

  “Did you pack that black dress for your vacation?” asked Heather.

  “Yes,” said Cara. “But I don’t like what you’re implying. I didn’t bring it because I knew that I’d become a widow. I brought an evening dress for when I went out to dinner with my husband. I find black to be slimming.”

  “Why did you refuse to taste the elderberry jelly?” Heather asked.

  “It’s not that I had any suspicion about poison,” Cara said. “I don’t like elderberries. I know I might have seemed heated about it at the table. But it wasn’t because I was avoiding it and the danger. I was annoyed because he’s been confusing my tastes with someone else. Another woman.”

  “He was having an affair?” Ryan asked.

  "Don't play dumb," Cara said. "I'm sure everyone could tell. He was sleeping with his secretary. It was obvious. And I didn't like when he confused me with her. Bringing me chocolate covered strawberries when he knew for years that I don't like anything with seeds that could get caught in my teeth. It was her who liked them."

  "How long has this affair been going on?" Ryan asked.

  “Probably years,” said Cara. “But he’d become more careless recently. Maybe he realized that I wasn’t going to leave him. That I don’t believe in divorce.”

  “There are other ways to get rid of a husband,” Amy said.

  "I wanted to save my marriage," Cara said. "Not kill it off. That's why I started insisting that I accompany him on his business trips. I thought I could keep him away from temptation. And who knows? We might enjoy one another's company."

  “Do you inherit everything after his death?” Heather asked.

  “Wives normally do,” said Cara.

  “It’s a good deal of money?”

  “Yes and no,” said Cara. “Gideon was wealthy. But the money was tied up in his business. I don’t know how I’m going to access it. It’s going to be a very confusing process.”

  Dave took another step towards her and Cara backed up towards the wall.

  “I mean it. I don’t want white fur on me.”

  “Do you know anyone else who is staying at this bed and breakfast?” asked Heather.

  “I only knew Gideon and Marigold,” said Cara. “That’s it.”

  “But that’s two people who were hurting you,” said Amy. “I bet you’re disappointed that Marigold didn’t have more of the jelly.”

  “What a terrible thing to say,” said Cara. “I was a loyal wife. I never did anything to hurt him. Or to hurt anybody. But now, maybe I deserve some happiness. I think I’ll enjoy widowhood. And maybe I’ll find another man who agrees with what loyalty and monogamy should be.”

  “This killer sure did her a favor,” Amy muttered.

  "One more question," Heather said. "And I need you to be honest, or I'm going to let Dave shed near your dress."

  Dave gave a full body shake at the moment to drive the threat home. Cara gave them a hard look.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Did you leave your room at all last night?”

  "No," Cara said "I was in my room with Gideon all night. Unfortunately, he's not here to back me up on that. But it's true. I wanted to keep him from crawling away down the hall to see that cheap secretary of his."

  She nearly cowered as Dave moved closer, but Heather thanked her for her time, and they left the room.

  “She certainly has a motive,” said Ryan.

  “And no bitterness about the death,” said Amy. “Plus, she refused to eat the jelly.”

  “She did have a good reason for it,” said Heather. “But if she had been planning this, it would have given her time to come up with a reason.”

  "The money being tied up makes the inheritance less of a motive," said Ryan. "But even if it takes a long time to receive her money, it might be worth the inconvenience if it gets a cheating husband out of the way."

  Heather frowned.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Ryan.

  “We haven’t eliminated any of the guests as suspects yet,” said Heather. “And I still don’t know if that argument in the middle of the night had anything to do with the death.”

  They were just thinking that they should talk to Mike next when they heard a woman’s voice from the other room saying, “I can’t go through with this. How could I have let this happen?”

  They hurried around the corner, but the woman was faster than them. She was gone by the time they reached the sitting room.

  And the Trail Leads To…

  Heather was once again pleased that they had brought Dave with them. She told him to follow the trail of the woman who had been in the room, and he had led them off down the hall. She supposed it was entirely possible that he was just using this as an excuse to lead his human friends around on an inside walk, but it certainly looked convincing. It looked like he was tracking the scent.

  He stopped at a bedroom door, and they knocked.

  “There better not just be donuts inside,” Amy teased.

  However, the door opened, and two people were revealed. Travis greeted them with a friendly wave while Trish asked, "What do you want?"

  “Were you just in the sitting room?” Heather asked.

  “Why?” she responded.

  “That’s still allowed, isn’t it?” asked Travis. “We’re not allowed to go out and enjoy our vacation with the plans we made because of this tragedy, but surely we can move around the building. She needed to clear her head for a moment. This was a very upsetting incident. We’ve nev
er seen anyone die before. And then to learn it was murder.”

  “Yes,” Trish said. “The murder is very upsetting. It’s been weighing on my mind.”

  “Did you know Mr. Ridgefield?” Heather asked.

  “No,” said Trish. “But you could still be upset about someone dropping dead in front of you. And to know that if we ate the wrong thing we could have been killed too.”

  “That did scare me too,” said Amy. “Because I like to eat most everything.”

  “Did you know anyone else here?” Heather asked. “The wife or secretary? Or any of these other guests?”

  “I don’t like these questions,” Trish said. “Why are you asking them? Everyone is asking us things. We don’t know anything about this murder. Why don’t you just leave us alone?”

  “Trish, they’re just trying to figure out what happened to the man,” Travis said. “They don’t mean anything by it. And they’ll soon find out we didn’t have anything to do with it. That we were just here to have a romantic weekend. We don’t have any secrets.”

  “I need some air,” Trish said.

  She left them. Travis wanted to follow but remained in place.

  “I guess I should give her a little time.”

  “Is this normal behavior for her?” Ryan asked.

  “What’s normal when a murder has just occurred?” asked Travis, but then he frowned. “Though, actually, she has been acting a little strange recently. She had been so excited for this trip. Then yesterday she started suggesting that we leave early.”

  “When was this?”

  "Well," Travis said, unsure if he wanted to share the information. "It was right after we saw the Ridgefields in person for the first time. We had an early breakfast on Saturday, so we left before we saw them. We had a fun day out and about. Then we arrived back at the B&B By The Sea. She went in ahead of me because I needed to get some more sand out of my shoe. When I came in, Bea was dealing with the Ridgefields in the lobby as the man complained about the breakfast. And Trish looked upset. But she said she was just tired."