Chloe Cook Cozy Mystery Bundle Page 5

Stewart Diamond didn’t like the detective pouring salt into his mother’s wound. He came to her defense.

  “How dare you bring that up? My mother has been through so much already,” Stewart said.

  Detective Thicke immediately turned his attention to Stewart.

  “There’s a lot of passion in your voice, a lot of anger. Especially with the mention of your father cheating on your mother. Given that, I can’t help but ask you where you were between ten and eleven last night?”

  Suddenly, Stewart was at a loss for words. He tried to untie his tongue, with poor results. “Uh, Lucy and I were um…”

  Stewart couldn’t seem to finish that sentence.

  His girlfriend could. “At the movies,” Lucy Lemke replied.

  For a split second, Stewart looked utterly confused. By the time he turned to the detective, he’d wiped the confusion off his face.

  “Exactly. That’s where we were,” Stewart said.

  “Was it really that difficult for you to remember you were at the movies last night?” Detective Thicke asked.

  “It’s been an emotional time for me. There’s been a lot going on. Not to mention I had a little too much to drink last night,” Stewart said.

  Detective Thicke gave Stewart a critical look. “Uh huh. What movie did you see?”

  Stewart and Lucy both answered at the same time.

  “’Love Like No Other,” Lucy said.

  “Tarantula Apocalypse Part Four,” Stewart answered.

  Detective Thicke folded his arms and stared them both down. “Do you know how serious an offense it is to lie to a police officer?”

  Lucy and Stewart both lowered their heads.

  Detective Thicke focused on Stewart again. “Where were you really last night?”

  “I was out taking a drive,” Stewart replied.

  “Just randomly driving around town?” the detective asked.

  “It helps me clear my thoughts,” Stewart said.

  “Did you happen to swing by here on your drive?” the detective wondered.

  Stewart shook his head.

  “Why should I believe you? You’ve already lied to me once,” Detective Thicke said.

  “This time I’m telling the truth,” Stewart insisted.

  Detective glared at Stewart, then moved on to Lucy.

  “How about you? Where were you really last night?” he wondered.

  “At the movies,” Lucy replied.

  “I warned you about lying to a police officer,” the detective said.

  Lucy reached into her purse and pulled out a ticket stub. She handed it to the detective.

  “A ticket to ‘Love Like No Other,’ just like I said,” Lucy insisted.

  Detective Thicke zeroed in on one part of the ticket. “This ticket is for a seven-thirty show.”

  “So?” Lucy asked.

  “So a movie like that would be long over by ten o’clock. This ticket doesn’t prove anything,” the detective said.

  “Normally, except I snuck into a second movie after the first one ended.”

  “Oh yeah, which one?”

  “The nine-thirty showing of Love Until It Hurts,” she replied.

  “Do you really expect me to believe that?” Detective Thicke asked.

  “Yes. It’s the truth.”

  Detective Thicke stared deep into Lucy’s eyes, then moved on to Jennifer Carter.

  “Ms. Carter, where were you last night?”

  “I was sleeping,” Jennifer answered.

  Detective Thicke was critical. “Sleeping?”

  “It was a really long and emotional day for me. I just wanted it to end,” Jennifer replied.

  “Were you sleeping with anyone?”

  Jennifer got short with the detective. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

  “I’m just trying to see if you have anyone to corroborate your story.”

  “No. I was at home alone,” Jennifer said.

  “Uh huh.”

  Detective Thicke stared deep into Jennifer’s eyes, then moved on to Walter Gold.

  “Mr. Gold, what’s your story?” the detective asked.

  “I was at home,” Walter replied.

  “That should be easy to verify.” The detective turned to Deputy Stanton. “Stanton, get Mrs. Gold on the phone. Ask her if she can verify his story.”

  Walter quickly revised his story. “I meant, I was at my rental property.”

  “How could you mistake your rental property for home?”

  “Well, because it’s kind of my new home for now,” Walter stammered.

  “You mean your wife found out you had an illegitimate daughter and kicked you out?” Detective Thicke asked.

  Walter lowered his head. “Uh, yeah.”

  “Alright. Say I do believe you were at your rental property. Do you have anyone to verify your story?”

  “No, not technically. But I was there.”

  “At least that’s your story,” the detective said.

  Detective Thicke then moved on to the mystery man. “Jason Diamond, you just got out of jail recently, didn’t you?”

  Jason nodded. “And I don’t ever want to go back.”

  “Where were you last night at the time of the murder?”

  “At the gym in my apartment complex.”

  “Do you have anyone to confirm that?” Detective Thicke asked.

  “No, but that’s where I was.”

  Detective Thick stared him down, then moved on to Chloe.

  “Ms. Cook, how about you?” Detective Thicke asked.

  “I was at my mother’s birthday party. Three different people can vouch for me,” Chloe answered.

  “I’m going to need names and numbers to check your story out.”

  “Gladly. Do you want them right now?”

  “I’ll have my deputy grab them from you when we’re done here,” Detective Thicke said.

  “Alright.”

  Detective Thicke next turned his attention to Kristina.

  “And you?” he asked.

  “I was driving home,” Kristina replied.

  “From where?”

  Kristina lowered her head.

  “From where?” Detective Thicke asked again.

  Kristina looked around, trying to stall.

  “Let me help you remember. We received an anonymous tip last night saying they saw you drive away from the parking lot at roughly the time of the murder,” the detective said.

  “I was here, but I didn’t kill him,” Kristina insisted.

  Everyone in the lineup gasped.

  Detective Thicke continued. “Why were you here, Ms. Miller?”

  “I came to ask for my job back.”

  “What did Marty Diamond say to that?”

  “No,” Kristina revealed.

  “Then what happened?” Detective Thicke wondered.

  “I left.”

  “Do you expect me to believe that?” Detective Thicke asked.

  Kristina nodded. “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because unlike most of the other people in this lineup, I didn’t lie to cover up where I really was. I’m honest and upfront about the fact that I was here,” Kristina explained.

  Detective Thicke remained critical. “You’re seriously going to stand here and tell me you were here, but you didn’t kill Marty Diamond?”

  “Yes.”

  Detective Thicke stared her down. “My team is running the murder weapon for prints. It’s only a matter of time until we have the evidence we need to prosecute someone.” He then looked around at the rest of the lineup. “In the meantime, don’t anyone even think about leaving town.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Detective Thicke may have been done questioning the group, but Chloe was far from finished with him. While the rest of the lineup couldn’t wait to get away from the scene of the crime, Chloe ran after the detective.

  “Detective Thicke, I have to talk to you,” Chloe insisted.

  Detective Thicke turned aro
und and stared at her.

  “You can give the phone numbers of the people from the birthday party to my deputy. He’ll call them up to verify your alibi,” Detective Thicke said.

  “No, that’s not what I meant. I have to talk to you about my friend.”

  The detective looked impatient. “What about her?”

  “You can’t really think Kristina Miller is a serious suspect, can you?” Chloe asked.

  The detective challenged her. “Why not, because she’s your friend?”

  “No, because she didn’t do it,” Chloe replied.

  “How do you know for sure?”

  “Because I know her. She’s one of the sweetest human beings I’ve ever met.”

  “Don’t you think you’re a little biased? No one wants to believe one of their friends is the murdering type. What you fail to realize is that the sheer fact that you both are friends makes you unable to see the truth about her.”

  “And what’s the truth?” Chloe asked.

  “Kristina Miller is not only a suspect; but she's also at the top of my list,” Detective Thicke revealed.

  Chloe became outraged. “On what basis?”

  “Try motive, means, and opportunity. She was fired yesterday. That makes for a nice motive. The murder weapon was a knife. She definitely had the means to grab a knife and stab Marty Diamond in the back. Finally, opportunity. She probably had the best opportunity of any of the suspects to kill him. We received a tip from someone who spotted her driving away from the parking lot right around the time of death.”

  “An anonymous tip. If this tipster is so reliable, why did they choose to remain anonymous?” Chloe asked.

  “Maybe they were afraid of becoming Kristina’s next victim.”

  Chloe shook her head. “That’s ridiculous. It’s more likely that the tipster remained anonymous because they are the murderer.”

  Detective Thicke laughed. “Who is being ridiculous now?”

  “The fact is, you don’t have proof that Kristina did anything. The murderer could have watched Kristina’s conversation with Marty, waited for her to drive away, killed Marty, then called in an anonymous tip to frame Kristina for the crime.”

  “Only, you forgot one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “If Kristina wasn’t there to kill Marty, why was she there?” Detective Thicke asked.

  “She told you, to plead for her job back. She figured maybe she could talk sense into him,” Chloe said.

  Detective Thicke finished her sentence. “And when he said no, she killed him.”

  Chloe shook her head. “You have it all wrong.”

  “I’m sorry. Who is the detective here? Now, let me get back to my job.”

  Chloe didn’t back down. “I’m telling you; Kristina is the wrong suspect.”

  Detective Thicke glared at her. “Just who do you think you are?”

  “A good friend.”

  The detective warned her. “Leave the detective work to the professionals.”

  “I’d love to.”

  Detective Thicke seemed pleasantly surprised. “Good.”

  Chloe wasn’t done with her thought. “But not if you think Kristina is a murderer.”

  The detective had heard enough. “Stay away from this case, or do I have to tell you the consequences of interfering with an official police investigation?”

  “We both want the same thing.”

  “Oh really? Because what I want is to have you out of my sight.”

  “The truth is going to come out,” Chloe said.

  Detective Thicke nodded. “You’ve got that right. The forensic team is going to be testing the murder weapon for prints. My guess is, your friend Kristina’s fingerprints will be found on the knife. If they are, she’ll be going to jail for a long time.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chloe’s conversation with the detective brought a new sense of urgency to the case. This was no longer just about Marty Diamond being murdered. It was much more personal now. Kristina’s freedom was at stake.

  The clock was ticking. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before Kristina was arrested. Unfortunately, Chloe found that it was impossible to talk sense into the detective. Todd Thicke appeared determined to send the wrong person to jail for the murder.

  Chloe couldn’t let that happen. At the same time, she had another fire to put out. Kristina was a total basket case. Chloe went over to comfort her. She pulled her friend aside and tried to stop her from shaking.

  “What am I going to do now?” Kristina asked.

  “You can start by calming down,” Chloe said.

  “How can I possibly do that? Did you hear the detective? He thinks I did this.”

  Chloe sighed. “He sure does.”

  “I didn’t kill Marty,” Kristina insisted.

  “I know you didn’t.”

  Kristina looked deep into Chloe’s eyes. “Seriously, I need you to know I didn’t do this. I could never murder anyone.”

  “I know. But here’s the thing, you don’t have to convince me. You need to convince the detective,” Chloe said.

  Kristina put her head in her hands. “How am I supposed to do that?”

  Chloe bit the corner of her lip. “I’m not quite sure right now. What I know is you didn’t do yourself any favors by coming here last night. What were you thinking, coming here?”

  “Look, I didn’t know Marty was going to be murdered after I left.”

  “I know, but why would you come here in the middle of the night?”

  “I wanted to give myself some time to cool off after the barbecue. More importantly, I wanted to give him some time too. Besides, at night was the only time I could catch him alone. During the day, he’s always so frantic.”

  “So, what happened when you talked to him?” Chloe asked.

  “I asked for my job back. I pleaded with him.”

  “And what did he say?”

  “No.”

  “Then what did you do?” Chloe wondered.

  “I left,” Kristina said.

  “That’s it?” Chloe asked.

  Kristina nodded.

  Chloe groaned. “This is a mess.”

  “Tell me about it. Before this morning, I’d never talked to a police detective in my entire life. Now one thinks that I committed murder.”

  “I’ll get you through this,” Chloe insisted.

  “How?”

  That was much harder to answer. At that moment, Kristina didn’t need more harsh realities. She was due for a glimmer of hope, however dim.

  “I’ll find a way,” Chloe said.

  Kristina could see that Chloe was keeping something from her. She had to know what it was.

  “Chloe, what are you thinking?” Kristina asked.

  “We can’t rely on the police to solve this case,” Chloe revealed.

  “If not the police, then who is going to find the real killer?”

  Chloe got a fire in her eyes. “We’ll have to take things into our own hands.”

  “Wait a minute. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  Chloe stared deep into her friend’s eyes with a new sense of resolve. “I’m going to find the real killer.”

  “You?”

  Chloe nodded. “I’m not going to let you go to jail for a crime you didn’t commit. The only way to prove your innocence is to find out who really murdered Marty Diamond.”

  “Ok, but how are you going to do that?”

  “I’m still working on that part.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Go home. Dig up everything you can on the suspects. Blogs, social media, internet searches--spare no expense. Find anything and everything that might help solve this case,” Chloe explained.

  “What are you going to do in the meantime?” Kristina wondered.

  “Put my thoughts in order,” Chloe said.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chloe grabbed a nice, filling lunch to get enough energy to carry
her through the day. She needed all the help she could get. A bowl of clam chowder with a few warm, buttery biscuits hit the spot. After that, she head to Pie Paradise for a quick desert and to settle her thoughts.

  Shannon McGraw, Chloe’s friend and the owner of Pie Paradise, had plenty of thoughts on the events of the morning.

  “I can’t believe there was a murder in town,” Shannon said, from behind the counter.

  “You obviously never got to see Marty Diamond’s uncanny ability to send people into a murderous rage,” Chloe replied.

  “No, the only Marty Diamond I know is the smooth-talking huckster from TV with the embarrassingly low budget commercials.”

  “I wish the only Marty I knew was that walking punchline. Unfortunately, this situation is no laughing matter.”

  “It’s still crazy to me that a murder has taken place in the Cape. We’re a peaceful beach town. We’ve worked hard building that quaint little reputation. Something like this could scare the tourists away faster than a shark attack,” Shannon said.

  “What’s worse is that the killer is still on the loose,” Chloe replied.

  “And of all people, you’ve made it your mission to find them.”

  “I know it’s not every day that you hear about a cosmetics saleswomen cracking murder cases.”

  Shannon interrupted. “Every day? Try every lifetime. You’re in completely uncharted territory here, like a makeup-selling Magellan.”

  “I have to try. Every time I think about Kristina possibly being put behind bars, my stomach turns.”

  “I get queasy as well, but how exactly are you planning on solving this case?”

  “I’ve read a lot of mystery books in my life, so I know the general layout of an investigation,” Chloe explained.

  “Really? I read a lot of medical dramas, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to try performing brain surgery anytime soon,” Shannon joked.

  Chloe pretended she didn’t hear that last remark and got right into the case.

  “We both know if the killer was smart, they would have worn gloves, or wiped the prints off the knife before they tossed it into the dumpster.”

  Shannon smiled. “You really have read a lot of mystery novels, haven’t you?”

  Chloe pressed on with her train of thought. “That means there’s only one other surefire way to guarantee a conviction. By getting a confession out of the killer.”