Peanut Butter Chocolate & Murder Read online

  Delilah Discusses

  “Sorry to keep you waiting,” Delilah said, entering the conference room with a few books and papers in her arms.

  “It’s all right,” Amy said. “It’s nice to sit down for a few minutes after running around so much on this case.”

  “A little boy needed help picking out a good book about a dog, and then I got the list you requested from Pauline.”

  Bernadette spoke before Heather could. “I hope you suggested he read the McNally McDonald series about the dog learning how to yo-yo.”

  “I did,” Delilah said with a smile. “I love the pictures where the dog is trying the yo-yo tricks.”

  “Especially walking the dog,” Bernadette said.

  “You know your children’s books,” said Delilah.

  “Well, it’s my business. A lot like yours. But I own a bookshop by the beach,” said Bernadette. “But what we don’t know is what happened to Henry - I mean Donald Hen. My friends here are investigators like Sherlock Holmes or Maud Silver.”

  “I’ll help as best I can,” Delilah said, pushing up her glasses. “I’m just not sure how helpful that is. I only a little about him besides that he liked to read and could be charming.”

  “I understand,” Bernadette said with a sigh.

  “We’re trying to figure out why he was here that night,” Heather said. “Do you have any idea?”

  Delilah shook her head. “Everything closes up on this street over the weekend. The only thing that made sense to me was when you suggested that he was trying to return a book.”

  “But he never returned anything that night?” asked Amy.

  “I doublechecked,” said Delilah. “His items weren’t placed in the return drop over the weekend. But I do have that list that you wanted. So you can compare it to what he has at home. Maybe he was trying to return something and was stopped.”

  She handed Heather the handwritten list. Amy and Bernadette looked over her shoulders.

  “There’s one book on there that shouldn’t be,” Delilah said. “That’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray. But I have it right here, so it was returned.”

  Delilah showed them the book with a thick gray cover and yellow ribbon sticking out from the pages.

  “Could that be something he returned over the weekend?” asked Heather.

  “No,” said Delilah. “It’s been sitting on my desk for about two weeks. I need to fix the binding but kept getting distracted and haven’t done it yet. It’s possible it wasn’t checked-in correctly because it needed to be repaired.”

  “But Donald Hen was the last person to check it out?” asked Heather.

  “He would have to be for it to be on this list,” Delilah said. “I’m sorry that this doesn’t seem to help why he was there.”

  Heather finished looking over the list.

  “I’m not completely sure, but I think that everything on this list was still at his house,” said Heather.

  “He sure borrowed a lot of books,” Amy said.

  “Many of these were ones that he spoke to me about,” Bernadette said. “I wonder if he ever read them before we started talking. Did I impress upon him the power of the written word? Or was he trying to make me think that he was someone he wasn’t?”

  “Were you a friend of Don’s?” Delilah asked.

  “I guess you could say that,” Bernadette said, starting to blush. “We were planning on going on a date. We had been talking to one another online.”

  Delilah nodded. “Online dating. I know it’s not as anonymous, but it still makes me think of the plot of The Shop Around the Corner which was really based on the play—”

  “Parfumerie,” Bernadette said.

  “You know it?”

  “I know of it,” Bernadette said with a laugh. “I haven’t actually read it because my Hungarian is a little rusty.”

  Delilah joined in the laughter, but Heather thought it was appropriate to cut it short.

  “I’m sorry, but we have some questions that need to be answered,” said Heather. “Firstly, we should get this out of the way. Where were you Saturday evening?”

  “Saturdays I meet with my writers’ group after work,” Delilah said. “It’s not an event through the library. It’s only a few friends of mine that meet, and we read sections of our work. We’ve been trying to find a more permanent location to meet, but we usually go someplace where we can have dessert. We went to a cupcake shop this Saturday, but it was a bit cramped. I got some good feedback on my work though.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Bernadette said. “I really admire writers.”

  “Did Donald mention the book that he was writing at all?” asked Heather.

  Delilah shook her head. “I didn’t realize he was writing one. He should have told me. I told him about the plans for my novel.”

  “Is what he was writing important?” asked Bernadette.

  “I’m not sure,” Heather admitted. “But it’s more information that we don’t know about him.”

  “He might have told Pauline more about it,” said Delilah. “She usually helped him find the books that he needed. He liked talking to her because she was so knowledgeable and he was one of the few people she didn’t mind letting talk inside the library.”

  “It seemed as if he could talk about books for hours,” Bernadette said, wistfully.

  “Did Donald ever mention a stalker?” asked Heather.

  “Goodness no,” said Delilah. “That’s a very serious matter though. I once had a stalker, and it was very scary. I tried to make sure that I was alone or with people I knew while in the elevator. I didn’t want to be with strangers in case it was the man who followed me.”

  “Why do you mention the elevator specifically?” asked Heather.

  “My scariest moment when I believed I was being followed was in a stairwell. I remember trying to time my walk down the stairs so I could tell if there were footsteps behind me or if it was an echo.”

  Heather and Amy exchanged a look.

  “What’s wrong?” Delilah asked.

  “I’m just not sure exactly what it means,” Heather said. “But Donald Hen said the exact same thing happened to him.”

  Information

  “You think that Donald was lying about the stalker?” asked Bernadette.

  “It does seem likely that he was passing Delilah’s story off as his own,” Heather said.

  The three women had left the library and were seated at Donut Delights, trying to enjoy a sweet bite to improve their morale.

  “But why would he do that?” asked Bernadette.

  “I guess he just didn’t have any good stories,” Amy said.

  “His ex-wife did suggest that he did this often,” said Heather.

  Bernadette shook her head and then took another bite of her donut. “That’s another thing. He told me he was a widower. Not that he was divorced. It seems like he really was lying about everything.”

  “I’m sorry,” Heather said to her friend.

  “I don’t like that I was deceived,” Bernadette admitted. “But I still don’t like that this man was murdered. Maybe Henry Don never existed, but Donald Hen was still killed.”

  “We’re going to figure this out,” Heather said. “We just need to collect all the pieces to this puzzle and then figure out how they fit together.”

  “The piece that I don’t understand is why he lies,” Bernadette said. “Was it just to impress women?”

  “What I don’t understand is why he was there,” said Heather. “Was he meeting someone?”

  “Should Ryan and Peters get Big CC to talk to them again and see if this has anything to do with drugs?” asked Amy.

  “Henry said that he never did drugs,” Bernadette said, before groaning. “But he might have been lying. Because his name wasn’t even Henry.”

  “I think Peters did talk to Big CC already and he denies knowing anything about Donald Hen’s involvement in anything illegal,” said Heather. “I know that sometimes Big CC can be
tight-lipped, but I don’t think he was lying about this.”

  “So, if it wasn’t drug-related, what was he doing there?” asked Amy. “If he was meeting somebody else, he was cutting it pretty close with his date that night. Bernadette was waiting to meet him at Bella’s. That’s on the other side of the island.”

  “Maybe he was planning on standing me up all along,” Bernadette said.

  “I don’t think so,” said Heather. “He was dressed nicely. It could have been what he was going to wear that night.”

  “Could this have been just a straight up robbery?” asked Amy.

  “I think that’s what we were supposed to think,” said Heather. “That’s why his wallet was taken. But it doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone have been waiting to rob someone in that area after everything was closed? Or conversely, why would someone be following Donald Hen in order to rob him? It doesn’t seem like he had very much money.”

  “Maybe it was the stalker who killed him,” said Amy. “And the reason was that the stalker is crazy.”

  “But the stalker story is most likely made up,” said Bernadette. “Or stolen from the librarian.”

  “Things aren’t adding up,” Heather said with a sigh.

  Bernadette finished her donut and said, “I better get back to my shop and check on my assistant. I don’t think I’m really helping. And this is all making me sad. How could I have been so misled?”

  “It’s not your fault,” Heather said.

  “I suppose not,” Bernadette agreed reluctantly. “But I seem to have no luck when it comes to affairs of the heart. And I hate that this time someone ended up dead.”

  “Look at it this way,” Amy said, trying to cheer her up using some dark humor. “You’ll have a story that Donald would have loved to steal for his own.”

  “Good luck with the case,” Bernadette said.

  She left, and Heather decided that she should check in with her own assistants too. They all seemed in good spirits. Digby was telling them about a new play that he was thinking of auditioning for, and Janae told them how successful the bike tours she had led over spring break were. Nina had nothing but good news to say about her new relationship, and Luz was making plans to visit her middle son on the mainland. They were all also having good fun creating the Peanut Butter Chocolate Donuts together.

  She and Amy helped them whip up another batch of the donuts that they had just enjoyed eating. She hoped focusing on the task and her employees could get her mind off of the questions that she didn’t know how to answer.

  She was able to forget about the inconsistencies in the case for a little while, but then a call from Ryan brought her right back into mystery mode.

  “I have good news,” Ryan said.

  “Don’t tell me you cracked the case without me,” Heather teased.

  “No,” said Ryan. “But we did crack the dating website. We got the warrant and are able to see who Donald Hen aka Henry Don was walking to.”

  “Meaning you found some more suspects?”

  “That’s right,” said Ryan. “And it looks as if two of the women he was messaging also live on the island.”

  “How many ladies was he talking to?” asked Heather.

  “It looks as if he was talking to about a dozen. And he was telling them different things about himself. Often, he was an architect. But he was also an author and a bartender, according to his messages.”

  “So, he wasn’t just lying to Bernadette,” said Heather.

  “No,” said Ryan. “But I think the locals are the only ones that he could have met up with.”

  “Well, I think it’s time that we met up with them,” said Heather.

  Messages

  “I’m very confused why the police are at my door and why there are so many of you,” the young woman answering her door said.

  “I’m confused why you’re not a blonde like on your dating profile,” Amy said under her breath.

  “What was that?” asked the woman. “This is about my dating profile?”

  “You are Charlotte Taylor. Correct?” asked Detective Peters.

  “That’s right.”

  “We’re here to talk to you about a man you were talking with online,” Peters said.

  “Oh my goodness,” Charlotte said leaning against her doorframe. “Is he a serial killer? Is he coming after me? Are you going to save me?”

  “He’s not coming after you,” Heather said. “Quite the reverse.”

  “The man who called himself Henry Don was found murdered,” Ryan explained. “We’re trying to find out who the culprit is.”

  “He was murdered?” Charlotte said. “I guess that’s why he stopped responding to me… This is so crazy. Are you sure?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m afraid we are,” Peters said.

  “Do you mind if we ask you some questions?” Ryan asked.

  “Sure,” Charlotte said. “Why don’t you come inside?”

  She led them into her living room, and they all had a seat.

  “He’s really dead?” Charlotte asked.

  “He was shot to death,” said Peters.

  “Do you own a gun?” Ryan asked.

  “No,” Charlotte said. “And you can’t think that I had anything to do with this? I barely knew him. We had just started talking. We hadn’t actually met in person.”

  “You sent many messages back and forth,” Heather said. “It sounded like you were trying to make plans to meet each other.”

  “Yeah, but I wanted to make sure that he was normal before we met up. Sometimes he seemed too good to be true, and that made me suspicious.”

  “Trust those instincts,” Amy agreed.

  “I was trying to feel him out before we met. I’ve had some whoppers of bad date stories, and I wasn’t looking to add to the list.”

  “What sort of bad dates?” asked Amy. “I had a lot of bad dates and bad boyfriends too actually until I met my current one.”

  “Let’s see,” Charlotte said. “I had the date who disappeared right before it was time to pay for the meal.”

  “That’s rough,” agreed Amy.

  “And he had ordered the lobster too. I had to pay for everything,” said Charlotte. “Then there was the date who tried to bring me freshly picked flowers.”

  “That seems nice,” said Heather.

  “It would have been if he didn’t accidentally include Poison Ivy in the batch.”

  Everyone cringed, but Charlotte wasn’t done. “That’s not even my worst date.”

  “I think you already have me beat,” said Amy. “What’s your worst story?”

  “Well, it begins with us getting a flat tire miles away from where we wanted to go, it raining on us, and a dog chasing us. It ends with us discovering that we’re actually second cousins and him vomiting on me.”

  For a moment, they were all speechless. Then Heather said, “That is a truly terrible date. I’m afraid that we do need to get back on track though. We need to see if you know anything about Henry Don.”

  “All I know is what he said online. He’s an architect. He’s single. And he loves to dance. Especially to salsa.”

  “That explains the learn to dance book he had,” said Amy. “But he probably should have signed up for a class for that lie.”

  “What was he lying about?” asked Charlotte.

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” said Heather.

  “Did you ever see him on the island?” asked Ryan. “You did know what he looked like from his profile picture.”

  “Yeah. He had the same hair color as his profile picture,” Amy muttered.

  “I never saw him,” said Charlotte. “I didn’t know exactly where he lived on the island or what company he worked for. I didn’t want to give out those specifics about myself right away, so I didn’t make him tell me either.”

  “And you’re saying that you had no reason to want to harm this man?” Peters asked.

  “Exactly,” said Charlotte. “He seemed like
a great guy to me, and I wanted to meet him as soon as I was convinced it was a good idea to do it. But I liked him. And we didn’t actually meet.”

  “One last question,” Ryan said. Heather nodded, knowing he was going to ask about her alibi.

  He did, and Charlotte responded, “Saturday? I went to the movies with a friend of mine. She has some bad date stories too, but I think mine are still worse.”

  “You might be right,” agreed Amy.

  “And now I have a new whopper,” said Charlotte. “Just planning a date with this guy made me a suspect in his murder!”

  Another Date

  After speaking to Charlotte, the investigators moved on to interviewing the other woman that Henry Don / Donald Hen had been speaking to that lived on the island. They knocked on the door of Maureen Cortez, but no one came to the door.

  “Do you think she’s hiding?” Amy asked.

  “I don’t hear any movement inside,” said Heather. “Maybe she’s not home.”

  “That’s a shame,” said Amy. “It didn’t seem like Charlotte was the killer. I hoped this might lead us to the killer.”

  “Did you say kill her?” a voice asked behind them.

  They turned and saw a young woman holding up a shopping bag as if she aimed to hit them with it.

  “That was out of context,” Heather said.

  Ryan quickly presented his police badge and spoke calmly. “We’re Detectives Shepherd and Peters with the Key West Police. This is Heather Shepherd and Amy Givens who consult on cases. We’re looking for Maureen Cortez to ask her some questions.”

  After taking a thorough look at the badge, the young woman put down her shopping bag. “I’m Maureen Cortez. But what could you possibly want to talk to me about.”

  “Donald Hen,” said Amy. “Or Henry Don.”

  “I know a Henry Don,” Maureen said. “We went on a few dates. Why are you asking about him?”

  “We’re sorry to have to tell you this,” Heather said. “But he was murdered, and we’re looking to catch his killer.”