Toasted Almond & Murder: An Oceanside Cozy Mystery - Book 17 Read online

  “I don’t know if I can eat this donut if I’m equating it with a Shakespearean skull,” Amy began. “Oh, who am I kidding? I love these donuts.”

  Heather smiled. "Me too. And I needed a snack. I'm glad that we figured out who the victim was, but I still feel like we have a ton of questions that need answering."

  "All the names that our John Doe gave out, and he ended up being John after all," Amy said. "I did like Fitzwilliam, and I never met anyone names Rye before. It also might have been funny to see if Juan or Don was right about Joe or Mo. The other might never live the mistake down."

  "Or he really did tell them two different names," Heather suggested. "He told everyone else different names so he might have done the same with the two of them. But the question is why did he do that?"

  “Maybe he wanted people to like him?” Amy suggested. “I think he chose names that he thought the different people would like.”

  “There could be something to that. There was a theme to the names. Bernadette was told Fitzwilliam, which matched the love interest in Pride and Prejudice. Harmony at the yoga studio was told a new age name. Juan and Don were told a name that was easily rhymable.”

  “And Brogan at the hammock hut?” Amy asked. “He was told Terry for terry cloth?”

  Heather chuckled. “Maybe.”

  They ate their donuts as they considered the case.

  “It’s not necessary to use a fake name for a regular delivery job,” Heather said, thinking aloud. “And yet he did it when delivering sunglasses and bookmarks. He also used a fake last name when he got the delivery job. Maybe he just didn’t want anyone to know who he was when he was out and about.”

  “And it somehow relates to the money?” asked Amy.

  "Right," said Heather. "Maybe because he sometimes had large amounts of money, he didn't want anyone to know his real identity, even if it seemed harmless at the time. He didn't want the deliveries traced back to him."

  "Do you think he was delivering the money too?" Amy suggested.

  “That would make sense,” Heather said. “Maybe he would deliver the money in the envelopes to people whose initials match what was written on them.”

  “What’s the money for?”

  “I’m guessing something illegal or why use a false name?” asked Heather.

  “It could be blackmail or drugs or gambling,” Amy said. “There could be a lot of illegal reasons to have that much cash.”

  "But working as a delivery boy for a warehouse is the perfect cover for it,” Heather mused. “He already is traveling around town making deliveries. There could be some other stops added in for this other job.”

  “And Bill Weir said that John Smith, who is really Johnny Javits, only worked on weekends. But the girlfriend Jessie said that he worked during the week too. That could be these money deliveries,” Amy said.

  “I think we’re on to something,” Heather said. “Unfortunately, until we know what the money is for, we don’t have any strong suspects.”

  “We have some,” Amy said. “We just need to figure out who CC and ND and CH are.”

  “More things we don’t know,” Heather said. “Let’s focus on what we do know.”

  “The murder weapon,” Amy suggested.

  “That’s right,” Heather said. “We know the knife came from Mr. Rankle’s store at some point, but that any customer could have gotten one.”

  “Even Johnny Javits could have gotten one,” Amy agreed.

  “I wonder who knew that Johnny would be by Sun and Fun Novelties at that time,” Heather said. “Or if the killer was following Johnny all morning when he made his deliveries.”

  "He did have a distinctive blue cap and hairstyle," said Amy.

  Digby came to check on them and bring them seconds on their donut order. This time he presented them with a performance of Romeo and Donut-et.

  “Toasted Almond. Oh, Toasted Almond! Wherefore art thou, Toasted Almond. Refuse thy flavor? Deny – I can’t. And I’ll no longer be a hungry man.”

  They have him some polite applause, and he left them.

  “Since when did Donut Delights because a place that served dinner theater?” asked Amy.

  “He’s having a good time,” Heather said. “And some of his poems are funny.”

  “If he gets cast, you’re going to have to deal with this for weeks,” Amy pointed out.

  Heather was caught between wanting her assistant to be happy and not wanting to be dramatized to for an extended period of time. She stared out the window to avoid this moral dilemma. However, she saw something that caught her attention.

  “Amy, I think I see somebody hiding by Sun and Fun Novelties.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s someone hiding the shadows of the palm trees across the street. He doesn’t look like he’s shopping or like he’s stopped to check his phone.”

  “What does he look like he’s doing?” Amy asked.

  “He looks like he’s watching the crime scene,” Heather said slowly.

  “Watching it?”

  “He’s just staring at the place where the murder happened,” Heather said. “It’s like he’s looking for something.”

  “Like what?”

  “Come on,” Heather said, standing up. “He might have information about what happened to Johnny Javits.”

  “He might be the killer,” Amy said.

  “All the more reason to talk to him,” Heather agreed, heading to the door.

  Amy sighed. “I hate when we run directly into danger.”

  The Chase

  Heather hurried over to the mysterious man, trying to figure out what to say. Amy followed behind her, still holding a donut. Heather smiled and offered the donut to the stranger.

  “Hello there,” she said. “I’m the owner of Donut Delights. I saw you standing out here and thought you might be too shy to come inside. I thought I’d offer you a free sample so you’d know what you’d get if you did venture in.”

  “Once you taste a bite of these donuts you’ll be hooked,” Amy said. “It happened to me. It will happen to you too.”

  “This is a Toasted Almond Donut,” Heather said, brightly. “It’s our newest flavor.”

  “I, uh, don’t know.”

  The man looked caught off guard. He was a large man with a sandy bowl-cut hairstyle. Despite the Florida warmth, he was wearing a long jacket. However, his most defining feature was the tattoos he had. On each hand was the letter C.

  “CC,” Amy said, pointing out the letters.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  “Nothing,” Amy said quickly. “Just practicing my Spanish. I’m not very good. But I know how to say yes. Si. And that’s what you’ll have after you have a donut. Si. Yes. I want another.”

  He looked unsure but was less threatening than they imagined when they left the shop.

  “I didn’t, uh, come here for a donut.”

  “That’s all right,” Heather said. “You can still have a sample.”

  He cautiously accepted the donut and smiled as he enjoyed the taste.

  Then Heather asked, “So, what are you doing here?”

  “What?” he sputtered with a full mouth.

  “You said you weren’t here for a donut,” she said, as sweet as her icing. “So, what are you doing here?”

  “Oh. Right,” he said. “I’m bird watching.”

  “Bird watching?” Amy asked incredulously.

  Heather nudged her friend with her elbow. She didn’t want to scare the man away until they knew what he was up to. He was already so fidgety that she was afraid he would bolt. She had a feeling they would get more information from him when he thought they were bakers instead of private investigators.

  “We did some bird watching the other day,” Heather said. “At Dry Tortugas National Park. There’s a lot of beautiful birds in the area, and I guess they can fly anywhere.”

  “Yes. I was just following and noting that one.”

  “The
seagull?” Amy asked.

  "Yes. I believe that is its common name,” he said quickly.

  “And what’s your name?” Heather asked.

  “I go by the Big CC,” he said before striking a pose.

  "He and Digby should get along great," Amy muttered. "What a show."

  "Tell me, Big CC,” Heather began. “Do you do a lot of birdwatching? Were you bird watching here Sunday morning?”

  “Nope. This is my first time,” he smirked. “Maybe that’s why I’m not so good at it. I’ll work on it though. Thanks for the donut. I better get going.”

  “Wait,” Heather said. “Did you know a man named Johnny Javits?”

  “Can’t say that I do. But I can say that I’ve got to go,” Big CC said, giving them a wave.

  “What about John Smith or Fitzwilliam or Rye or Joe or Mo or Terry?” Amy suggested.

  “I know an awful lot of people,” he said with a mischievous smile that Heather instantly distrusted.

  "Any delivery boys?" Heather asked.

  “Or delivery persons?” Amy added.

  “I can’t think of any off the top of my head,” he said, touching his head to illustrate his point. “I do know a police chief.”

  He smiled as if it were an inside joke.

  “You’ve been in trouble with the law before?” asked Heather.

  "Gotta go," Big CC said. "Enjoy selling donuts! I'll be back for more. I promise. I'd been meaning to try them."

  He hurried away from them.

  “Well, that was weird,” Amy said.

  “He’s obviously keeping secrets,” Heather agreed. “But are they related to the murder?”

  “I guess there’s only one way to find out,” Amy sighed.

  The two women started following him, trying to keep a distance so he wouldn’t notice he was being trailed.

  They were able to follow him all afternoon without him realizing it. However, they weren't quite sure what he was up to. They saw him stop at a roadside stand and measure a fish. He met up with a group of men for beer, and they appeared to be playing a children's board game. Then, he spent a long time reading the sports page of a newspaper.

  After watching him sit on a park bench for an hour reading and occasionally sending text messages, Amy whispered, “Are you sure he doesn’t know we’re here? Maybe he’s messing with us.”

  “I think we’ve been careful,” Heather said.

  Big CC stood up and looked around. Heather and Amy made sure to hide in the shadows. He seemed satisfied that no one was paying attention to him and started away again.

  “But maybe I’ll be just a touch more careful and tell Ryan what we’re up to,” Heather said. “He looks like he doesn’t want to be followed now.”

  “Which means he’s up to something,” said Amy.

  They kept following him and saw him waiting on the beach where another man joined him and gave him a gold bracelet.

  “Do you think it’s stolen?” Amy asked.

  “Maybe,” Heather said. “But until we either see him do something that relates to Johnny Javits or something illegal, we can’t get the detectives to bring him to the station.”

  After a full day of following him and becoming both tired and confused by his behavior, they saw him commit an offense that warranted calling Ryan.

  Big CC parked his car in a "No Parking Zone." This might have been forgivable, but he also decided to take a screwdriver out of his car and try to remove the sign telling him not to be there from the wall.

  This gave Ryan the opportunity to bring him in. Heather and Amy were excited to question him about Johnny Javits in the interrogation room. However, once he sat down at the table, he looked calm, cool and collected.

  Heather, Amy, and Ryan stood, watching him through the two-way mirror.

  “Normally people don’t look that relaxed in the interrogation room,” Heather said. “What’s going on?”

  Chief Chet approached them to ask about the case.

  “It’s progressing,” Ryan said. “We discovered the identity of the victim and are now looking for motives for his murder.”

  “Very good, very good,” Chief Chet said. Then, he looked through the mirror with them. “Hey, why is my little brother in there?”

  "Your brother?" Heather sputtered.

  The Brother

  “Are you up to mischief?” Chief Chet said, joining his brother in the interrogation room.

  “Me? Never,” Big CC said.

  Heather, Ryan, and Amy followed him inside.

  “Clarence?”

  “Don’t call me Clarence. I told you. I’m going by Big CC now,” he whined.

  "I can't call you that," the chief said. "You're my little brother, and I'm never going to be able to call you Big Something. And what would Mom say if she knew that you weren't going by Clarence anymore."

  “Clarence Copeland,” Heather whispered to Amy. “CC.”

  “Tread carefully,” Ryan warned them.

  "Now unless you’re just here to visit me, my officer must have had a good reason to ask you to come in,” Chief Chet said, ruffling his brother’s hair.

  “There was a misunderstanding with a No Parking Sign,” he muttered.

  “What sort of misunderstanding?”

  “The type where he used a screwdriver to take it down,” Amy said.

  “Clarence?”

  "Well you see," Big CC rambled. "I didn't think it was a real and lawful No Parking Sign. I thought it was one that had just been put up by someone who didn't like you parking by their driveway. And so, I was planning on taking it down and bringing it to you to check it out. I know some people near this parking area, and they don't like me too much, and so I thought maybe they just put it up to spite me. And I didn't want them to be proclaiming rules and ordinances that weren't true."

  "Next time you think there might be something wrong with a sign, call the department or me before you remove it. Okay?"

  “Deal.”

  “He always was a scamp,” Chief Chet said, playfully punching his little brother on the arm. Big CC reciprocated.

  The other investigators looked at one another.

  "I’m sure this was just a misunderstanding. He won’t do it again,” Chief Chet said. “Now, is there anything else this big lug can help you with?”

  “Actually, yes,” Heather said. “We think he might have known the murder victim.”

  “Is this true, Clarence?”

  Big CC shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “Are you getting into trouble again?” Chief Chet asked. “Hanging out with that bad crowd? Gambling? Selling stolen eggs?”

  “Stolen eggs?” asked Amy.

  "Playing poker?" Chief Chet asked more seriously. "That got you into trouble, little bro. And I don't want that to happen again."

  “Me neither,” Big CC said.

  “That must be why he was playing that kid’s board game,” Heather whispered to Amy. “He can gamble on the winner without breaking his promise of no poker to his brother.”

  “You know that I can’t give you any special treatment,” Chief Chet said. However, then he gave his brother a hug. It was clear that he had a blind spot for his little brother whether he could admit it or not.

  Amy rolled her eyes.

  "Now you answer all my investigators' questions," the chief said. "They need to catch a killer, and you can help them. I want to get all the criminals off the street."

  "I will."

  Chief Chet gave them a nod and let them carry on with the questioning. He left and returned to his office.

  "Now, Mr. Copeland," Heather began.

  “You can still call me Big CC.”

  “You might be related to the chief, but we’re investigating a murder,” Heather said. “And there won’t be any special treatment for you here.”

  Then, Detective Peters entered the room with a box of donuts.

  “Who wants one of these delicious Toasted Almond Donuts?” he asked.

 
“I’ll have one,” Big CC said, selecting one and smiling.

  “Peters, we’re trying to conduct an interrogation,” Ryan said.

  "But it's the chief's brother, and he told me to bring some donuts to him," Peters said. "Hi, Big CC."

  "Hi, Miguel. How's your mother?"

  “Doing fine,” Peters said. “She told me she’s taken up quilting.”

  “There’s nothing like a good quilt,” said Big CC.

  "If we can stop with all the chit-chat, I’d like to talk about a murder,” Ryan said.

  Peters avoided eye contact and took out his notepad.

  "I guess this embarrassment could have been avoided if I had brought Peters with me," Ryan sighed. "But I told him he could take you up on the offer to get those donuts before you called me about following him."

  "I suppose I took too long at the shop. But I do like talking to certain people on your staff," Peters said, blushing, and Heather knew he meant Janae. "And then that Digby kept trying to do a scene with me. I didn't understand it. We were waiting for a Godot or something."

  "Mr. Copeland," Heather said, starting again. "How did you know Johnny Javits?"

  “I don’t know that name. I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Big CC said. “You heard me tell Chet that I’d tell you what I know. But I don’t know anything about a murder. And I don’t know why you’d think I’d be mixed up in anything like that.”

  “Maybe it has something to do with the bad crowd, or gambling, or stolen eggs,” Amy suggested.

  “I didn’t have anything to do with a murder. You don’t have anything else on me. And even if you did have some evidence that I did something, it wouldn’t stick. My brother believes in me,” Big CC said, taking another donut. “You can’t touch me.”

  "What were you doing by Sun and Fun Novelties today?" Heather continued.

  “I suppose if it helps I’ll tell you,” Big CC said. “I told Chet I’d help you, so I will. I was there because I was waiting for a friend to meet me. He was going to give me some money because he, uh, owed it to me.”

  “Are you a loan shark?” Amy asked.

  "What? No," Big CC said. "I just like to watch sports games. And sometimes I like to guess who will win. And sometimes my friends like to give me gifts of money if I prove to be psychic."