Banana Chocolate & Murder Read online

  “Oh,” said Amy. “For more delightful interviews.”

  Who to Hire?

  This time Heather and Amy were able to intercept Mr. Rankle and stop him from scaring away their applicants. They baked some Banana Chocolate Donuts just to be certain that they wouldn't be frightened off easily. The shop smelled delicious, and the applicants were happy to come in.

  However, Heather and Amy were becoming more disheartened after their interviews.

  “No one is terrible,” Heather said.

  “Some of them are terrible,” Amy disagreed.

  “But they’re not jumping out and making me feel like I have to hire anyone.”

  “I liked the juggler,” Amy said.

  “I liked Nina,” Heather said.

  “Imagine the juggler throwing the donuts up in the air and catching them. It could be pretty entertaining.”

  “And pretty unsanitary.”

  “Maybe he could do it in gloves,” Amy suggested.

  Heather sighed. “Why is this so hard?”

  “I think it’s because of your last staff,” said Amy. “They were all so good it’s hard not to compare the new guys to them. But somebody will prove their worth.”

  “Do I smell donuts?” Digby asked, poking his head inside the shop.

  “You better get used to it if you’re going to be working here,” Heather laughed.

  “Oh, I think I could get used to this,” Digby said as he grabbed a donut.

  “Were you just waiting on the street to see if we were making samples?” Amy asked.

  “Maybe,” Digby admitted.

  “This is the level of enthusiasm I like,” Heather said. “Though there will be much more work after we open.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Digby said.

  Heather smiled.

  “How have your interviews been going?” he asked. “Do we have more of the team yet?”

  Heather sighed. “Unfortunately, no.”

  “We have had some interesting candidates though,” said Amy.

  “Yes, the professional chef who thinks making donuts is a waste of his time,” said Heather.

  “Has he tried these donuts?” Digby asked, aghast.

  “We had a sculptor who wanted to use the donuts to make displays,” said Heather. “It seemed promising at first, but she wouldn’t want customers to ever eat any of them.”

  "And we had an ex-used car salesman that had started baking, but for some reason, we didn't trust him," Amy said.

  “Sounds rough,” said Digby.

  “I was telling her that because we liked the first staff so much it’s hard to replace them,” said Amy.

  “And a lot of our staff joined us as we were working on other things, but they proved to us that they could become good bakers,” said Heather.

  “Well,” Digby said. “If you’d like to interview some more candidates…”

  “Are you offering someone new?” asked Heather.

  “Don’t hold back,” said Amy.

  "My friend's mom is looking to get back into the workforce," he said. "I don't know how she is with donuts, but she made amazing birthday cakes. She's not enjoying having an empty nest and is looking for a job. I know that she was reliable with any projects she took on, and would always be on time when she picked us up when she was little."

  “We’d love to meet her,” Heather said.

  “Great,” said Digby. “I’ll get in touch with her.”

  “Thanks,” Heather said, as he left. “Maybe something is working out?”

  “She has a different background from anyone on your last staff,” said Amy. “But maybe that’s a good thing.”

  “Could be. And I’ll be happy if we’re almost finished with these interviews. We still have more interviews to conduct for our investigation.”

  “Right,” said Amy. “Let’s get going.”

  The Ex

  Heather and Amy discovered that Shelly’s ex-boyfriend Tommy Mercer was not at his house or his job, so they had to expand their search for him. They found him on the beach by Shelly’s boathouse. It must have been the spot that both the assistants and Dylan had seen him watching Shelly.

  Instead of watching anyone this day, he was laying the sand morosely. It was clear that he was truly sad, but it was difficult to take his sorrow too seriously because of the way he was dressed. He was wearing short shorts, a large brimmed hat and had thick white sunscreen on his nose. He was dressed like someone on vacation but was teary-eyed.

  “Tommy Mercer?” Heather asked.

  “I was Tommy Mercer,” he said. “But my soul is dead now. It left when my true love left this world.”

  “Can we still ask your body questions?” Amy asked.

  “Who are you?”

  "I'm Heather Shepherd, and this is Amy Givens. We're private investigators approved by some detectives with the Key West Police to investigate the murder of Shelly Little."

  “Good,” Tommy said. “I’m glad they’re treating this seriously. The whole force should be out looking for her killer. They should be locked away forever.”

  “We certainly hope to catch the killer,” Heather said. “Maybe you can help us.”

  “I’d love to, but how?”

  “We heard that you were often on this beach,” Heather said.

  She and Amy sat down in the sand to make him feel more comfortable. Amy took out the tablet to take notes, careful not to let it get sand-covered.

  “Yes,” Tommy said with a sigh. “It’s a good beach.”

  “Did you notice anything unusual around here recently? Before her death?”

  Tommy thought about it. “That other scuba guy had started heckling Shelly’s Scuba School. He’d drive his boat by and try to recruit her customers.”

  “Don’t remind me,” said Amy.

  “Did you ever see Hank Club on land or near the boathouse?” Heather asked.

  Tommy shook his head. “Of course, I’m not out here every day.”

  “Why do you come out here?” Heather asked.

  “It was to see her,” Tommy said. “I missed her.”

  “She didn’t want to see you?”

  “No. And it was breaking my heart. So I came here to watch and make sure she was okay.”

  "You know that you being out here was causing her trouble?" Heather asked.

  "So you were causing her not to be okay," Amy explained.

  “How?” he asked.

  “You were upsetting her new boyfriend and causing friction in the relationship,” said Heather.

  “Good,” said Tommy. “Dylan was no good for her. He didn’t deserve her.”

  “Why did you break up?” Amy asked.

  "She told me I was too jealous and too passive aggressive," said Tommy. "I told her that I could be more active-aggressive if that were what she wanted. She didn't like that response either."

  “Was Dylan jealous too?” Heather asked.

  “I never directly met him, but he seemed like a bad guy. He was always trying to catch Shelly in a lie or trick her into doing something wrong. That’s not a good relationship.”

  “So, you’d watch the two of them together?” Heather asked.

  “Occasionally I might catch sight of the two of them together. And I saw that they were not a happy couple. I hoped that Shelly would come to her senses and realize how much she missed me. But I didn’t set out to watch them. I wasn’t following them.”

  “You just followed her to her job,” Amy muttered.

  “I know what her assistants say about me,” Tommy said. “I’m not a stalker. I just liked seeing Shelly sometimes.”

  “Mr. Mercer, where were you the night before she died? Were you on the beach?”

  “That night I went to a bar for a drink and then went home.”

  “Alone?” Heather asked.

  “Of course,” Tommy said. “I was waiting for Shelly.”

  “What time did you arrive home?”

  “About ten o’clock. It was an
early night.”

  Heather nodded. Even if he did go to a bar, he could have made it to the boathouse by midnight.

  “Did you have a key to the boathouse?” Heather asked.

  “No,” Tommy said. “And they didn’t want me there. This distance at the beach was as close as I got.”

  “One last locking question,” said Heather. “Did you know what the combination Shelly used on her storage closet was?”

  "It used to be our anniversary," Tommy said. "But that was a long time ago."

  “You don’t know the new combination?”

  “No,” said Tommy. “But she always used important dates for them. I bet that’s what she did again.”

  “Do you know anyone else that would have wanted to hurt her?” Heather asked.

  “I don’t have to know anyone else,” Tommy said. “It’s obvious who killed her.”

  “So obvious,” said Amy. “Who do you think it was?”

  “It was Dylan, of course. He was a bad boyfriend to the end.”

  “You don’t think he treated her well enough, and that’s why you think he’s the murderer.”

  “That,” Tommy said. “And he used to work in some sort of science lab. That’s where you can get poison to put in an air tank, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Heather said.

  “It sure is,” said Amy.

  Sharing Donuts and Information

  “I feel like this could be a break in the case,” Heather said. “If we can verify it.”

  * * *

  Heather and Amy had brought their new information straight to the detectives at police headquarters, or almost straight to them. They had made a quick stop to pick up some Banana Chocolate Donuts on their way. They felt they needed a sugar boost and that they deserved a snack after all their hard work. Detective Peters, especially, enjoyed the treats.

  * * *

  "It is new information for us, and we thank you for bringing it to our attention," Detective Smith said. "But you're right. Verification is key. Right now, we only have the word of a rival lover. He didn't mention which lab Dylan worked for, did he?"

  * * *

  “Unfortunately, no,” Heather said. “But if we talk to Dylan again, I’m sure we can get him to tell us.”

  * * *

  “Then we can find out why he doesn’t work there anymore,” Amy said. “Maybe he was fired for stealing some carbon monoxide.”

  * * *

  “I think Detective Peters and I should talk to him,” Detective Smith said. “We can bring him into the interrogation room.”

  * * *

  “Yes, sir,” Peters said, standing up. Detective Smith indicated that he should wait a minute, and his partner hovered for a moment before deciding to sit again.

  * * *

  “Good idea,” Heather said. “He might be more willing to talk in a formal setting. We’ll come up with some more questions to ask him. Working at the lab is an important new lead that could establish creating the murder weapon, and his alibi is quite weak.”

  "You don't have to come up with any questions," Detective Smith said. "We appreciate your help so far, but we can take it from here. We can interrogate Dylan Newhart on our own."

  * * *

  “Are you kidding?” Amy asked. “You wouldn’t be talking to him again if it weren’t for us?”

  * * *

  “I said we appreciate your work, but I think continuing this lead should be a police matter,” said Detective Smith.

  * * *

  “But,” Amy began.

  * * *

  “We agreed that you could investigate as long as you didn’t interfere with any of our leads or aspects of the case we’re working on, didn’t we?” asked Detective Smith.

  * * *

  “I guess we did,” said Heather. “We also agreed to share information. We clearly shared ours.”

  * * *

  “Yeah,” Amy said. “So, what do you have to update us on?”

  * * *

  Detective Peters checked his notebook and reported. "We confirmed both Micah and Julie's alibis. There was too much foot traffic in the sand to determine footprints. Fingerprints in the boathouse indicate many people had visited it before, including the assistants, Shelly, Dylan Newhart, Tommy Mercer. There were also a variety of unknown prints, which were most likely dive customers. There were no prints on the storage closet lock, except for partials of Shelly's and Julie's."

  * * *

  “Which means the killer wiped the lock after sabotaging the tank the night before. Then Shelly and Julie must have used the lock in the morning,” said Heather.

  “It looks that way,” said Detective Peters.

  * * *

  “Anything else?” asked Amy.

  * * *

  “We had been looking into how the carbon monoxide had been put into the tank,” said Detective Peters. “But if the killer had it already bottled from a lab, that would be the easiest answer.”

  * * *

  “What are some other answers?” asked Heather. “You could collect it from your car?”

  * * *

  Peters nodded. "Carbon monoxide can be produced when you burn fuel in cars or other small engines. It could come from furnaces or fireplaces or a stove."

  * * *

  “Those are things lots of people have access to,” Amy commented.

  * * *

  “Yes,” said Detective Smith. “But as you pointed out, there is only one suspect who might have had access to pure carbon monoxide. And I think we should go talk to him now.”

  * * *

  Heather and Amy allowed themselves to be ushered out so that the detectives could go about their business.

  * * *

  “Why do I feel like we’ve been locked out of the detectives’ club?” Amy asked. “We were the ones who brought them the lead.”

  * * *

  “I know. It feels unfair,” said Heather. “But we did bring it to their information because they have the means to check with many labs and to make them share their records.”

  * * *

  “But now what do we do? They’re going off to catch the killer, and we’re left twiddling our thumbs. I don’t like twiddling.”

  * * *

  “Don’t worry. You won’t have to twiddle,” Heather said. “There’s someone else we’ve been meaning to talk to, and now is as good a time as any to talk to him.”

  * * *

  “Who’s that?”

  * * *

  “The owner of the rival scuba school, Hank Club.”

  * * *

  “Great,” Amy said. “If he’s not the killer, could we try scuba diving with him. I know he was a little obnoxious, but I still really want to dive.”

  * * *

  “Let’s just focus on one thing at a time,” Heather said.

  Welcome to the Club

  "You look very familiar," Hank Club said, as they entered his establishment. It had a similar layout to Shelly's but was trying to look more upscale. His storage area was more spread out and made to look like displays. Seven wetsuits hung up next to six air tanks and fourteen flippers. The masks had colors on them and were arranged to look like a fish.

  “Well,” Heather said. “We were going to go scuba diving with Shelly. You called out to our group on the docks.”

  “Yes. That’s it,” said Hank. “I’m glad my advertising worked.”

  “Advertising. Yelling. Same difference,” Amy shrugged.

  “I believe I offered you a deal. I’m pleased you came over to claim it.”

  “Of course, that’s not the only reason,” Heather said. “It’s impossible to learn how to scuba dive from a dead woman.”

  “So you know about that,” Hank Club said. “And the incident didn’t scare you off from learning how to scuba?”

  Here Amy shined. "Not at all. I've wanted to scuba dive since I came to Key West and nothing will deter me. I want to see all the fish up close. I want to be able to see what's below the wa
ter and feel like I'm flying as I swim through the water. And when I get good enough at diving, I want to explore sunken wreckage and feel like a treasure hunter."

  Hank Club smiled at her enthusiasm. “It is one of the most amazing feelings. And I am happy that I can be a part of it all.”

  “I’m very gung ho about all this,” Amy said. “But my friend is still a little nervous. Maybe you could reassure her a bit?”

  “What is it that worries you?”

  Heather was able to tell the truth, even though they were performing a bit as part of their sleuthing. "I was nervous about it before for some reason. But seeing the instructor die and still be on dry land has frightened me a good deal."

  "I can understand why, but you really have nothing to worry about."

  “I don’t?”

  "No, ma'am," he replied. "What happened to Shelly was a fluke. It could never happen to you. I heard that the police are treating it as a murder. So, it wasn't equipment malfunctioning or something wrong with scuba in general. It was somebody who wanted to kill her."

  “But why would anyone want to kill that sweet woman?” Heather asked.

  “She wasn’t all that sweet,” Hank let slip.

  “What do you mean?” Heather asked.

  “Nothing,” said Hank Club. “I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. And she wasn’t a bad person. But it’s hard to hear how nice and sweet she was when she was my biggest competitor. She’d steal business away from me by acting like she was a kind instructor and only cared about her customers and the sport of scuba. She tried to make me look like I only cared about the money. Which is not true.”