Pink Hot Chocolate & Murder Read online

  “No,” Heather said. “I’d just like to know how the chocolate infused with gold was smuggled out of the building. I thought looking at the crime scene again might help.”

  Heather and Amy wandered around the scene with the detectives.

  "I feel like we found everything in this room," said Peters. "There are a bunch of fingerprints that probably belong to the bakers that we're sorting through."

  “I guess you’re right,” Heather said. “Maybe there’s something in the rest of the building that could give us a clue as to how the killer removed the chocolate.”

  “It’s possible that the killer took the golden chocolate right after the kill,” said Ryan. “He removed it from the building before we began checking bags.”

  “True,” said Heather. “But while we’re here, why don’t we recreate the crime? The body was found over there.”

  “Right,” Ryan agreed. “Closer to the kitchen than those tables.”

  A thought occurred to Heather. “There are no chairs in the room.”

  “Were they stolen too?” asked Peters.

  “No,” said Heather. “There’s never been any chairs. And the only seating is that bench that’s attached to the table.”

  “I’m sorry,” Peters said. “I’m not following.”

  "The victim's body was found closer to the kitchen area than by these prep room tables," Heather explained. "And there are no chairs. The tables are the only thing that an attacker could stand on to make themselves taller, and they're too far away from where the body was to have that make sense. The body wasn't moved, was it?"

  “Based on the blood splatter, I’d say it wasn’t,” Ryan agreed.

  “So, the killer needed to come up behind Jacques O'Lot and bash him on the head. And he couldn’t have stood on anything to do it,” said Heather.

  “I thought we realized this yesterday,” said Peters. “What’s the new information?”

  "You didn't see Jacques O'Lot alive," Heather said. "Amy, how tall would you say he was?"

  “I don’t know. But he was pretty tall and thin. And can you really trust a thin chocolate maker?”

  “Ryan?”

  “The medical examiner lists him as six foot two,” said Ryan.

  “That’s pretty tall,” said Heather. “We’ll have to make sure that all our suspects are tall enough to have dealt that fatal blow.”

  “You’re right,” Peters said. “If a suspect isn’t tall enough to hit him on the head, then they can’t be the killer.”

  “Good catch,” Ryan said, complimenting his wife.

  "Thanks," she said. "But I wish I were catching the killer instead."

  They looked around the crime scene some more and eventually gave up on finding any more clues. They were about to leave when a man approached them.

  “You the police?”

  "I'm Detective Shepherd, and this is Detective Peters."

  “I’m Magee, the facilities manager around here,” the lanky man replied. “And I have something to report to you.”

  “If it’s a murder, you’re a tad late for that,” said Amy.

  “No. It’s not a murder,” Magee said. “I know that happened in the prep room and that I’m not supposed to go in there or start cleaning it up until you’re all finished with it. I can only imagine what a mess it is… But, no, I’m not talking about sabotage in the ladies’ room. I’d like to report it as a crime.”

  “This sounds like something I don’t want to investigate,” Amy said.

  “How are you sure it’s sabotage?” Ryan asked.

  “It’s sabotage or a prank of some sort,” Magee said. “It’s not something that was done by accident. Somebody crammed something into the heating system there.”

  “Do we have to check it out?” asked Amy.

  “It’s our duty to investigate crimes,” Ryan said. “And we are already here.”

  Heather shrugged. “Maybe it’s somehow related.”

  After they looked into the heating system, Heather was glad they did. The panel was only about a foot off the ground. They removed the opening and looked inside. Amy was holding her breath the entire time.

  “Oh, my goodness,” Heather said.

  “Is it really gross?” asked Amy.

  "It's chocolate," Heather said. "The gold-infused chocolate from Jacques O'Lot."

  “What’s it doing here?” asked Peters.

  “Maybe robbery wasn’t the motive,” said Heather slowly.

  The Cookie Server

  Ryan and Peters stayed with the chocolate to see if it could lend any clues to their investigation, while Heather and Amy decided to start talking to the other chocolate servers. Because they also had a table at the event, they thought that the bakers might be more willing to talk to them.

  “Why do you think the chocolate was stuffed in the bathroom?” Amy asked. “I hope whoever put it there wasn’t planning on eating it?”

  "I'm not sure," said Heather. "Maybe the thief killed Jacques O'Lot and hid the chocolate, planning to come back for it later. Or maybe the killer killed Jacques for another reason and hid the chocolate to throw us off the track."

  “How much do you think the gold from the chocolate is worth?” asked Amy.

  “That’s what Peters wants to look into,” said Heather. “And Ryan wants to see if the killer/thief left any fingerprints or other evidence behind.”

  “Well, I’m excited to start questioning suspects,” Amy said, clapping her hands together. “Who do you think we should start with first?”

  “Since the chocolate was found in the ladies’ room, we should pick one of the female suspects,” Heather said. “But I think that only eliminates one person.”

  “What are you in the mood for?” Amy said. “If the person isn’t a killer, we could get a snack when we visit them. So, what are you thinking? Cupcakes? Fudge?”

  “Cookies,” said Heather. “Remember how Teresa Hart mentioned that Kayla’s cookies had made someone sick before? She was just invited back to the Sweet-Hart dance.”

  “She probably missed going to that A.V.D.W.S.H.C.T.D.,” Amy said. “Even if she didn’t miss the long name.”

  "It's just that Jacques O'Lot had been at this event for several years and was never attacked before. Teresa said the other bakers had been there for years," said Heather. "But now that Kayla is suddenly back, he's been killed. This timing is something I'd like to look into."

  “You were the donut ladies, right?” Kayla asked as she opened her front door.

  “That’s right,” Heather said. “We’re here to talk about what happened at the chocolate tasting.”

  “I’m not sure I want to talk about it,” Kayla said.

  “Are you sure?” Amy asked. “It’s not every day that someone dies at a dance here. You really don’t want to talk about this craziness at all?”

  "I feel bad gossiping about the dead," Kayla said. "Especially when I had mixed feelings about him, but I guess if you two need to talk, I could too. Come on in. I'll bring out some cookies."

  Kayla invited them into her kitchen and gave them each a cookie.

  “Not a chocolate one?” Amy asked.

  “I’m tired of chocolate,” Kayla said. “Besides, these days, I like to focus on other flavors.”

  “Why is that?” asked Heather.

  “I had a bad experience with some of my chocolate cookies a few years ago,” Kayla said, gritting her teeth at the memory.

  “Did that have something to do with someone getting sick at the Sweet-Hart dance a while ago?” asked Heather.

  “You heard about that?” asked Kayla.

  “Maybe,” said Amy. “We heard about a Frederick or Franklin Jarvis.”

  “Franklin,” Kayla said. “But it wasn’t my fault that he got sick. It really wasn’t.”

  “What went wrong?” Heather asked.

  "I made a Quadruple Chocolate Cookie for the dance, and they were really disappearing. I ran out. I decided I could whip up some more in the kitc
hen at the dance and then more people could enjoy my desserts. It would also be a really good way to get new business. However, I only had enough of three types of chocolate left at the time."

  “Sounds like you were missing a major ingredient then,” Amy said. “Based on the name.”

  "Jacques O'Lot apparently had a lot of samples left and offered me some so that I could bake my cookies, but the candies he gave me must have been rotten or something. I didn't realize it until after Franklin Jarvis had already taken a cookie. He got really sick. It turns out he got food poisoning. But it wasn't my fault. It was the ingredients that Jacques O'Lot gave me."

  “Why would he do that?” Heather wondered.

  “I don’t know,” Kayla said. “I don’t know if he was just a mean-spirited man, or if he was trying to take out some of the competition for chocolatey desserts on the island. All I know is that my business suffered because of this. I’ve been baking out of my home kitchen for a few years. Only now, have I repaired my reputation.”

  “It sounds like you might not be exactly upset about Jacques’s murder then,” Heather said.

  “He must have messed with somebody else the same way he did with me,” Kayla said. “I’m not surprised somebody took him out.”

  “You didn’t have anything to do with his death, did you?” asked Heather.

  "What do you mean?" Kayla asked. "I invite you in for cookies, and you accuse me of murder?"

  “These are great cookies,” Amy said, trying to change the subject. “What are they?”

  “They’re cheesecake inspired.”

  “Inspired indeed,” said Amy.

  "Thanks," Kayla said. "And I didn't mean to snap at you. I suppose after the story I told you it was only natural to wonder. No, I didn't kill Jacques. I didn't like him, but I didn't kill him."

  “Did you head towards the prep room at any point near the time of his death?” asked Heather.

  “No,” Kayla said. “I set up all my cookies at the beginning of the night and didn’t need to go back to that room. I didn’t leave my table at all during the tasting, except to briefly go to the bathroom.”

  “Did you notice anything odd there?” asked Amy.

  “Huh?”

  "We heard that the temperature might have been off in there," Heather said, not wanting to reveal everything about the case.

  "I didn't notice that," Kayla said, shrugging. "It seemed fine at the time."

  “Do you have any idea who might have killed him?” Heather asked.

  “Because of what he did to me, I’d assume that he did something like that to someone else,” Kayla said. “But it also could have been Annie, I guess.”

  “The mini cupcake girl?” asked Heather. “Why do you suspect her?”

  "Because she and Jacques O'Lot used to date," Kayla said. "But I heard that they're exes now."

  “I think we know the next person we should interview,” Heather said to her bestie.

  Mini Cupcake Questions

  “This is a cute little store,” Heather said.

  “Little is right,” said Amy.

  They had just arrived at Mini Cupcake Craze, Annie's cupcake shop. It was a tiny store decorated with bright colors. There were big display cases set to hold her cupcakes, and because they were so small, they held a lot.

  “I want to grab handfuls of them,” Amy said.

  “Can I help you?” Annie asked cheerfully.

  “Yes,” Heather said. “But we’re not actually here to order cupcakes.”

  “Maybe that’s partially why we’re here,” Amy amended.

  "We're here to talk about Jacques O'Lot," said Heather.

  “Why do you want to talk about him?” Annie asked, her smile fading.

  “We’d like to find out more about his death,” said Heather.

  “You were there, weren’t you?” Annie asked. “You know as much as I do.”

  Heather decided to bring out the big guns, sort to speak. “We’re not only donut makers. We’re also private investigators. Because we were at the event, we’ve been asked by the Key West police to do some investigating.”

  “I’ll help you if I can,” Annie said. “I didn’t mean to imply that I wouldn’t. It’s only that I don’t know how much information I’ll have to give you.”

  She hurried around to the other side of the counter to talk to them. Standing next to her, they realized that she was even shorter than they thought.

  "You did know Jacques O'Lot outside of these chocolate tastings, didn't you?" Heather asked.

  “What do you mean?” asked Annie.

  “We mean that we know that you two used to date,” said Amy.

  “Why don’t we have a seat?” Annie said.

  They chose a table and sat around it. Annie played with napkin dispenser, and then finally said, "Yes. We did use to date."

  “But you’re not together anymore?” Amy prompted.

  “Obviously,” said Annie. “He’s dead.”

  “When did you break up?” asked Heather.

  Amy took her tablet out of her bag so that she could take notes on the interview.

  “We broke up about a month ago,” Annie said.

  “And why was that?”

  “Jacques was always a little selfish and absorbed in his own projects. However, I didn’t mind it when we were together. He made me feel special, and I liked when we worked in the kitchen together. But he decided it was over one day. I think it was because he didn’t want to buy me a Valentine’s Day gift.”

  “Men,” Amy scoffed.

  “Then, it must have been hard working with him at the Sweet-Hart event,” Heather said.

  "Maybe a little," Annie said. "I just tried to focus on my own table and ignore what he was up to. It was difficult at some points because he kept trying to cause a scene.”

  “We noticed,” Amy agreed.

  “But I decided that the best way for me to deal with the break up was to focus on my business. My cupcake business is what matters the most to me, and if it was more successful than Jacques’s all the better for me.”

  “Did you know that he was planning on bringing gold infused chocolate to the Sweet-Hart tasting?” Heather asked.

  “Why?” Annie asked. “Do you think that was the motive for his murder?”

  “It’s a possibility,” Heather said.

  “I did know he planned on bringing it,” Annie said. “I told him that I thought it was a ridiculous product, but he thought it was the most luxurious and decadent treat imaginable.”

  “It was worth a lot of money?” Amy asked.

  “Yes,” Annie said. “A lot of money. But I didn’t steal it. If I wanted to take the chocolate, I knew where Jacques kept it. I could have taken it from his shop without having to worry about a ton of potential witnesses catching me in the act.”

  “Did you see him enter the prep room last night?” asked Heather.

  “I was trying not to pay any attention to him,” Annie said.

  “And did you go into the prep room at any point?” asked Heather.

  “I did earlier in the night,” said Annie. “But it couldn’t have been near when Jacques was killed. I was serving my mini cupcakes at the time that the police announced something was wrong, and I didn’t notice anything strange before then.”

  “You didn’t notice anyone else heading towards the prep room?”

  “It wouldn’t have struck me as odd if I did see it, so I don’t remember it,” said Annie.

  “And you were at your table most of the night?” Heather reiterated.

  “I might have mingled around the room a bit,” Annie said. “Networking is very important in this business. I wanted as many people as possible to know about my business. I did move around the room a little. But I didn’t go into the prep room and kill anyone.”

  “You were close to the victim,” Heather began.

  “Maybe at one point,” said Annie.

  “Do you know anyone who would have wanted to hurt him?”
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  “If it was to get the gold chocolate, then it could have been anyone,” said Annie.

  “And if it wasn’t a robbery?” asked Heather.

  “It still might have been anybody,” said Annie. “He could be mean. He made some enemies. I bet any one of the others serving chocolate that night would have wanted him dead.”

  “He was that disliked?” asked Heather.

  “Honestly,” said Annie. “I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner.”

  Waggin’ Walk

  “Slow down, Dave,” Heather told her frisky canine. “Some of us were dancing all night and then chasing down leads in an investigation.”

  * * *

  Dave had no sympathy. There was a very important palm tree that he wanted to race to and sniff. He decided it was also the appropriate spot to take care of business, and so Heather was able to stand still for a moment.

  * * *

  Amy and Jamie caught up to them with the long-haired Miss Marshmallow on a leash.

  Jamie was wearing a gadget around his waist that promised to help you lost weight while walking. Amy was refraining from commenting on his latest “high-tech” device.

  * * *

  Eva and Leila arrived at the tree a few minutes later with the kitten Cupcake who was also enjoying a walk in the park.

  * * *

  "I'm glad my schedule was free so that I could join you for a walk in the afternoon," Jamie said, only vibrating slightly in the device. “It’s beautiful weather at this time of day.”

  * * *

  “Yeah. But about ninety-five perfect on the weather in Key West is amazing,” Amy pointed out.

  * * *

  “The only downside to going at this time is that Lilly is still in school,” Heather said.

  * * *

  She didn't say that the other downside of the day was that Eva was still upset. She had been smiling all day, but Heather knew her well enough to know that she was only smiling so heartily so that she wouldn't start crying. Heather was glad that she was able to take a break from questioning suspects to make sure that Eva was surrounded by friends.