Mulled Cider & Murder: An Oceanside Cozy Mystery - Book 8 Read online

  “I think we might be stuck on this one too,” said Amy.

  “Don’t give up yet,” said Heather.

  She read the lines again. One said: Nothing chills me so like the thoughts of lost time without you. Can nothing be done to win the heart of one so blue?

  The other read: Eternity is not enough time to express all your virtues so great. Now I have years enough to know when I have encountered fate. That is why I only hope my chance with you is not too late.

  "Why did the writer leave these poems at Bernadette's Beachy Books?" Heather asked. "Does he hope to win the woman's affection when she finds them? Or did he just chose it because it's a bookstore?"

  “Maybe he knew we were next door and he wanted to have investigators find him and listen to him talk about his crush?” Amy suggested.

  Heather frowned, realizing that her theory wasn’t as crazy as any of the others she had been considering.

  The door to the shop opened, and Heather saw Detective Peters enter.

  “Wonderful,” said Amy. “Maybe he has some new information for us.”

  “Wait a minute,” Heather said with a grin. “He might not be here to talk to us.”

  “Who would be talking to instead?” asked Amy.

  Detective Peters walked up to the counter and greeted Janae. Heather had a feeling that he was infatuated with Janae before she started working at the donut shop. Besides baking, Janae also enjoyed biking and would give bike tours on the island. Peters had recommended her as a bike guide a little too enthusiastically for Heather to think it was just friendly advice.

  “Hello, officer,” Janae said. “Are you here for some donuts?”

  “I’m here making sure that there is peace on this side of the island and that everyone is feeling secure,” Peters said, puffing up his chest. When talking to Janae, he seemed to take on a “super cop” persona. “That’s my job. Protecting and serving. And so, I decided to make sure everything is protected and served over here.”

  “Would you like me to serve you some donuts?” Janae said with a smile.

  “Since I’m here, I might as well order some. I could bring them back to the station as well. Nourishment is very important for the force.”

  “And they’re delicious,” said Janae. “Nothing like something tasty to boost morale. What flavor would you like?”

  “What would you recommend?” Detective Peters asked. “You’re the expert here. I’d trust your opinion on donuts as much as I’d trust it for the best bike paths. I never appreciated the natural beauty of the island on bike until I rode with you. I’d protect it and serve it, but I didn’t appreciate it.”

  "Thanks for saying that," Janae said. "All of the donuts here are delightful. I like the Strawberries and Cream one. But I also love all the flavors of the week. This week it is Mulled Cider."

  "I tried it, and it was very good," Peters said. "Why don't you give me a dozen of each?"

  “Sure thing,” said Janae.

  She began boxing up the donuts as Peters looked very smiley. Heather and Amy advanced towards him.

  “Nice seeing you, detective,” Heather said.

  “Oh, hello,” he said.

  “Are you here on official business or just on a donut run?” asked Heather.

  “Just picking up some snacks,” said Peters. “We’re still looking for the mysterious secret lover who gave her the ruby.”

  “Any progress?” asked Heather.

  Peters shrugged. "We've spoken to the assistants again. Freida's alibi was confirmed. She takes a car to work, and we just heard it. It's very loud. It would have woken her roommate up if she sneaked out to kill her employer. It's funny though. Because her coworker who is out with the broken arm got injured because of a car. A car helps one person by giving them an alibi, and hurts another by breaking his arm."

  “Any chance it was the same car and one coworker ran down another?” asked Amy.

  "No," said Peters. "The other accident is on record. The driver was backing out of a driveway and didn't see Jay Jeffries. He makes his deliveries on his bike."

  “Here are your donuts,” Janae said, handing him the boxes as he handed her his money. “Enjoy.”

  “Thank you. You have a nice day, ma’am,” said Detective Peters.

  He started to walk away when a thought occurred to Heather.

  “Wait a minute,” she said. “Which arm did Jay Jeffries break?”

  Amy held Detective Peters's donut box as he took out his notebook. Though she was tempted, she didn't remove any from the box. Heather looked over his shoulder, and he consulted his notes.

  “His right arm,” Peters said. “Does that help with anything?”

  Heather shook her head. She thanked him, and Peters left with his two dozen donuts.

  “What does the broken arm have to do with anything?” Amy asked.

  “It probably does play some part in the murder,” said Heather. “And if we were investigating it, then talking to Jay Jeffries would be the next thing that I did.”

  “But since we’re not?” asked Amy.

  "Then I was thinking about how Detective Peters seems to have feelings for Janae. I wondered if he wrote the poems, hoping she might wander next door and read them."

  “That’s a good idea,” said Amy.

  "But the wrong one," admitted Heather. "I checked his handwriting, and it doesn't match."

  “So, we don’t know who the killer is. And we don’t know who the poet is either,” said Amy. “A lot of progress we’ve made.”

  Heather bit her lip, thinking about something. "I wish we could talk to Jay Jeffries. But I don't want to interfere with Ryan's investigation, and I don't want him to get in trouble with his chief."

  “Well,” Amy said. “Is there any chance that Jay Jeffries could help us with our other case?”

  “Like he might know who the poet is?” asked Heather.

  “The only way to find out it is to ask him,” said Amy with a triumphant smile.

  A Broken Bone to Pick

  "Who are you?" Jay Jeffries asked as he opened the door. His arm was in a cast, and he looked bruised.

  “I’m Heather Shepherd, and this is Amy Givens. We’re private investigators.”

  “What are you investigating?” he asked.

  Heather and Amy exchanged a look, and then said what they decided to say.

  “We’re not currently on an active investigation,” said Heather.

  “But we heard about your accident and injury from some detective friends,” said Amy. “We thought you might need some donuts. I know breaking a bone is awful.”

  Jay invited them inside and showed them into the living room.

  “I’m sorry it’s a little messy. I haven’t done much cleaning since I broke my arm,” he said.

  “That’s all right,” said Heather, thinking that it had probably been much longer since the young man cleaned.

  They all sat down, and Jay enjoyed a donut.

  "This is incredible," he said. "I've been in pain and haven't had much to do. I've been eating microwaveable meals. And Megan was bringing me some Get Well cupcakes, but of course, she won't be doing that anymore."

  “We know that your employer was murdered,” said Heather. “What a terrible thing to happen.”

  "I'm starting to feel like Cupcake Cove is cursed," Jay said. "With me getting hurt and Megan getting killed."

  "Is there any way the two incidents could be connected?" Amy asked.

  “I don’t see how,” said Jay. “I was hit by some dumb tourist backing out without looking. I don’t know why he would want to hurt her. Or how he’d know she was there. Or why he’d switch from hitting someone with a car to stabbing them.”

  “Good points,” said Amy.

  “Did the tourist have any connection to Cupcake Cove that you know of?” asked Heather.

  “No. I think he was just here on vacation. He’s gone now. But he is paying for my medical expenses, and I guess he feels bad about what happened, so
maybe he’s not the worst person in the world. And yeah, whoever did that to Megan is much worse.”

  “You call your boss by her first name?” Heather asked. She didn’t think that Jay would be the other man in Megan’s life because of the age difference. However, she needed to check every lead.

  “She insisted,” said Jay. “She told everyone to call her by her name, though sometimes we call her boss as a joke.”

  Heather nodded. The parallels between Megan Baker’s shop and her own were increasing. Her own employees did the same thing to her. She asked them to call her by her name because she didn’t want the work environment to be formal and stifling. She wanted it to be sweet and fun.

  “What was your job at Cupcake Cove?” asked Heather.

  Jay picked up another donut in his good hand and said, “I was a delivery boy. I’d bring boxes of cupcakes to people around the island.”

  “Were there a lot of deliveries to be made?” asked Heather.

  "Not as much as dinner delivery," said Jay. "You had to order a dozen to get the cupcakes delivered, so it wasn't for people who wanted to pop into the shop for a single snack. However, I delivered for birthdays and events. There were some regulars who got a dozen donuts weekly too. Mostly, it was a good job. However, I didn’t like that we’d been switching to more evening deliveries instead of during the day. Apparently, that’s when people wanted them though.”

  “That sounds like it could be dangerous,” said Heather.

  "I had light reflectors on and stuff," said Jay. "But I didn't get hit by a car when I made my deliveries in the afternoon."

  “Why was there a change?” asked Heather.

  Jay tried to shrug, but it bothered his broken arm. “I don’t know,” he said, weakly.

  “Did it make you angry with Megan for changing the time?” asked Heather. “Did you feel that she was the reason why you got hit by a car?”

  “I was annoyed. And maybe I blamed her a bit. But I feel bad thinking that now because she’s dead,” Jay admitted.

  “Where were you the morning that she was killed?” Heather asked.

  “I thought you weren’t investigating anything,” said Jay. “Now it sounds like you think I might be a murderer.”

  “We’re not investigating the murder,” Heather said quickly. “It’s just a professional curiosity. We can’t help ourselves from thinking about crime.”

  “Please, have another donut,” Amy said, offering him the box.

  He accepted the snack, and his suspicions were allayed as he bit into another Mulled Cider Donut. He started talking again.

  “I was home the morning she was killed. I’ve been home a lot since the accident. I just feel sore and don’t feel like doing much. I haven’t been sleeping well either because I can’t get comfortable. I probably was sleeping off and on that morning. I was alone at that time of day,” he said.

  “Thank you for telling us,” said Heather.

  “Thank you for the donuts,” said Jay.

  “Did you notice anything funny at Cupcake Cove before you had to stop working?” asked Heather.

  “Only the change in delivery times,” said Jay. “That was a little funny. Because a lot of the time what needed to be delivered was something that she baked early in the morning before anyone else came in, but they still had to be delivered in the evening. I guess that’s when the customers wanted them. I don’t know why she made them then. Maybe they were a difficult recipe that she wanted to handle on her own?”

  “Do you know who is making deliveries while you’re out?” asked Heather.

  "I think Megan was. She just piled all the orders up in her car when she was leaving. She didn't need to deliver them one box at a time, so they weren't squished in a bike basket," he explained.

  “Thank you for all your help,” said Heather. “Enjoy those donuts.”

  Heather and Amy left him and started talking about the case as soon as they were outside.

  “Maybe I should break my arm. Then I could just lounge around and eat donuts all day,” said Amy.

  "Pretty sure that it hurts," said Heather. "And you get to eat plenty of donuts every day."

  “Don’t get to do a much of lounging though,” said Amy. “We’re busy ladies.”

  “I wish we could see those invoices,” said Heather. “Those recent orders were probably after Jay stopped delivering because of his injury.”

  “So, you don’t think he’s the killer?” asked Amy.

  “It would be hard to stab somebody with a broken arm,” Heather said.

  “So, what do we do now?” asked Amy.

  Heather sighed. “I guess it’s back to the recipe book.”

  Movies and Motives

  “I know all the poems by heart now,” said Amy. “And a fat lot of good it’s doing us. Violets bloom where they had died long before. I’d give you the key to my heart if you but open the door.”

  “That’s beautiful,” said Eva.

  “I’d love to hear a gentleman caller saying that to me,” said Leila. “Or possibly singing it. I’d love to be serenaded.”

  “You’re going to have to settle for me reciting it. And with a bit of an attitude too,” said Amy. “Because I don’t think we’re ever going find the poet. And it’s frustrating because it should be an easier case.”

  "We'll figure it out," said Heather. "But you have to admit we have less to go on with it. The only clues are pieces of paper for us to look at. We don't have a crime lab to examine them for us, so we need to look at the words for a solution."

  “Meaning we’ll never solve it,” whined Amy.

  “We will,” said Heather. “But let’s not worry about it tonight. We promised Lilly and our friends a movie night, and I intend to deliver.”

  “Speaking of Lilly,” said Eva. “Where did she get off to?”

  “She told me she was creating something for us tonight,” said Heather. “And I have a feeling it’s not one of her stories. I think it’s something a little more hands on.”

  “I’m sure it will cause our hands to clap for joy,” said Leila.

  She was right. Lilly soon joined them with her special creations. They were chocolate donuts from Donut Delights that had been covered with popcorn as a topping.

  “What a wonderful idea, dear,” said Eva.

  Dave and Cupcake certainly agreed. They were dancing around, hoping to get a piece of the movie snacks too. The humans tried them and agreed that they were perfect to snack on during the movie.

  “Soft and crunchy,” said Amy. “Sweet and salty. Heather, she’s following in your footsteps.”

  “I came up with the idea by accident,” Lilly admitted. “I dropped some popcorn on a donut, but then thought it tasted good when I tried it.”

  “Some of the best ideas come as a result of an accident,” said Eva.

  “This is inspiring me,” Heather said. “A whole line of popcorn donut combos. We could try caramel popcorn too.”

  They had a fun night talking about Lilly’s creation from the kitchen and watching a dinosaur movie together. They laughed and joked.

  Heather thought that the only thing missing was Ryan. He came home just in time to help put Lilly to bed. Then he sat with Heather on the couch and tried one of Lilly’s popcorn donut creations.

  “I’ll have to tell her how good this is in the morning,” said Ryan.

  “She’ll like that,” said Heather. “You’re home pretty late. Are you having trouble with the case?”

  “We’re not having any luck finding the mystery man,” said Ryan. “No one seems to know of her seeing anyone besides Scott.”

  “Maybe she wasn’t seeing anyone else?” Heather suggested.

  “Then where did the ruby come from?” asked Ryan. “It seems like something you would either get as a romantic gift or buy for yourself as part of a collection. I have been looking into her finances. She didn’t make any purchases at jewelry stores.”

  “Was there anything unusual in her finances?” aske
d Heather.

  “Her business has been picking up lately. She’s been making some larger orders,” said Ryan. “But that doesn’t seem particularly strange. Yours has been picking up too.”

  Heather smiled. “That’s because I solved a murder, proving that my negative review was the result of poison and not bad baking. I don’t think she did the same thing.”

  “Could her surge in business have something to do with her murder?” Ryan mused.

  “I don’t know,” said Heather. “But I’d sure love to look at those invoices she was found with.”

  “I thought you might say that,” Ryan said. He got up and retrieved a file from the bag he brought home.

  “I thought you didn’t want my help this time,” she said with a smile.

  “I always want your help,” he said. “I just don’t want my boss to think I’m ineffective. But I’ve hit a snag with finding the secret lover, and your instincts are rarely wrong. Let’s look at the invoices.”

  He showed her the five invoices for cupcakes, and they looked through them together.

  “Do you see anything I’m missing?” he asked.

  “I don’t magically see an answer,” Heather admitted. “But I think that she was telling us something by trying to grab these forms. Maybe one of these customers is her killer.”

  Ryan looked at them again and nodded. “We’ll have to question all of them and see if they have a motive for killing Megan Baker.”

  “Did you say we?” Heather asked.

  Ryan nodded. "I suppose I'd rather have to explain my decision to accept help to the chief than to explain to myself how I let a killer stay uncaught for any longer than necessary."

  “I’ll make sure that I do everything can to help you catch this killer,” Heather promised.

  "Great," said Ryan. "First thing tomorrow, we split up and question these customers."

  The First Customer

  “Ryan just decided that we could help again?” asked Amy.

  "He thought it was more important that the case is solved than that his boss is impressed," Heather said, proudly.