Banana Chocolate & Murder Page 7
“Why would I do all this?” he demanded.
“To get rid of your rival and make more money,” Heather said.
“It also helped that you didn’t like Shelly or her assistants much,” Amy added. “That probably made it easier to carry out your plan.”
“How would I be sure that Shelly was the one who used the tank?”
“You knew the story about her lucky air tank as well as anyone. You pretended not to know too much about her, but you did. The two of you insulted each other with knowledge of one another’s businesses and personal lives,” said Heather.
"He probably didn't care if he accidentally killed anyone else anyway," said Amy. "A murder at the scuba school would still have shut her down. That was all he wanted anyway. More money."
“These are terrible things to say,” said Hank Club. He smiled. “And there’s no way you can prove any of it.”
“You might have disposed of the air tank evidence,” Heather agreed. “But that’s not the only evidence from the crime.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” Detective Smith said. “While we were in here talking, a forensic team has been taking samples of the exhaust from the boat.”
“Don’t worry. We have a warrant,” Peters said.
“I bet you didn’t know that every engine is slightly different. We’ll be able to compare the samples from your boat with what was found in Shelly’s air tank. I think they’ll be a match,” said Detective Smith.
Hank Club considered running but gave up on the idea. He allowed himself to be read his rights by the detectives. Before he left, he asked Heather, "How did you know?"
“You were the one with the right equipment for the murder,” she said. “You had a way to carry and change the air.”
The detectives led him away.
“It was lucky you were right about the boat being how he collected the carbon monoxide for the murder,” Amy said.
“It was the only thing that made sense,” said Heather. “It was an engine he could run without arousing suspicion.”
“Look, there is it,” Lilly said, pointing.
Everyone smiled. The Saturday outing idea was proving to be a big hit. Eva and Leila started snapping pictures of the Southernmost Point as soon as Lilly pointed it out. Jamie was regaling Amy with facts about it.
"This marks the southernmost spot in the continental United States," Jamie said. "There used to be just a small sign to mark the location, but now they have this giant concrete buoy that was erected in 1983. It's suffered some storm damage from hurricanes, but it still remains standing strong."
“I like the way it looks,” Lilly said. “It’s taller than us, and it has those distinct striped on it.”
“We’ll have to take a picture of all of us there,” Eva said.
“I’m photo ready,” Leila joked, making faces.
They milled around the other happy tourists, eager to also step foot at the most southern point in the USA. When it was their turn to take a photo, they all smiled wide.
After it was taken, Heather couldn’t stop smiling. She was surrounded by the people she loved most, enjoying the sights of their new home. She also felt proud that because of her, another dangerous killer was now behind bars.
She was also happy that they had made some decisions about her new staff. She had officially now hired Digby, Nina, and Luz Lopez. She thought this would be a strong team to start with, and she was sure it would grow as they expanded their donut making.
Then Amy said something that was threatening to take the smile away. “So,” said Amy. “When are we going scuba diving?”
“What?” asked Heather.
“We were supposed to go after we hired one employee and now we have three. When are we going to scuba?”
“You still really want to go after everything that happened?” Heather asked.
“If we let a murder case stop us from everything we wanted to do, we’d never do anything,” said Amy. “We’d probably have to stop eating donuts too.”
Heather sighed. “Fine. We can still go. But we need to find a better way of picking the place we go to.”
“No problem,” Amy said. “We can do as much research as you want beforehand and make sure that no killers are lurking nearby. Because, next time, nothing is stopping me from making a splash.”
Heather groaned, but her smile had returned.
The End
To each and every one of my Amazing readers,
I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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Stay Curious,
Susan Gillard
Also by Susan Gillard
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About the Author
Susan Gillard is a lover of all things mysterious. She grew up in Kansas City, Missouri where her love of murder mystery novels grew.
Now she travels the country in search of the best baked goods and engaging with the locals who often become the inspiration for her wacky characters
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susan@susangillard.com
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