Coffee Treacle Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 24 Read online

  Heather lifted another notice, this one from the bank, and frowned. “Look at this,” she said and handed it to her husband.

  He scanned the page and pursed his lips. “Wait a second. This is for Bolde Private Investigation.”

  “That’s the account name,” Heather said.

  “But the account owner is Brooke Bolde.” Ryan met Heather’s gaze. “It’s in his wife’s name. Why?”

  “Debt reasons? If he’d put everything in her name, nobody could do anything to him, could they?”

  “But that would still affect the business,” Ryan said.

  “But not Billy, directly.” Heather gritted her teeth. Another pet peeve to add to her list: selfish behavior.

  “Nice guy,” Ryan said and walked to a filing cabinet in one corner. “Let’s see if we can find out more about his clients. There might be something there.”

  Puzzle pieces clicked together in Heather’s mind. “Oh, I bet I know who’s taking a course from Billy.”

  Ryan slid open the drawers and rifled through them. “Geoff?”

  Heather neatened up the papers on the desk, then pressed her lips together and nodded to herself. “Oh yeah. This scenario has Geoff written all over it. Sloppy, back alley, the works. Very Lawless.”

  “Excuse the pun,” Ryan replied, and whipped out a few brown dossiers. “Looks like you’re right.”

  He walked back to Billy’s desk – or was it Brooke’s – then dumped the files onto it. “Geoff Lawless,” he said, and fingered the name on the front of one of the dossiers.

  Heather shifted it aside and gasped. “Oh wow,” she said.

  “What is it?”

  “I know this guy,” she said and tapped the black, permanent marker on the file which had been beneath Geoff’s. “Jamie Purdue. I saw him in the park yesterday. He had one of Geoff’s rock hard fudge balls.”

  “Interesting,” Ryan said. He collected both files and placed them on the corner of the desk. “Let’s carry on looking.”

  Heather rifled through more of the documents, but it was more of the same. Letters from the bank addressed to Brooke. Angry letters from creditors. And even a threatening letter from a client.

  “Look at this,” Heather said and lifted it. “Looks like Billy’s special certification didn’t stand for much. He didn’t practice proper investigation practices.”

  “Oh yeah?” Ryan took the letter from her. “This is interesting. I wonder if he ever tried to hit up our department for work. I’ll ask around and find out.”

  “Tell me at dinner tonight?” Heather asked.

  “You bet. Dos Chicos, right? I know we do it every week,” he said, “but I’m addicted.”

  Heather laughed and hurried around to Ryan’s side of the desk. She pecked him on the cheek. “Whatever makes you happy, honey.”

  Questions swirled through Heather’s mind. Hopefully, the analysis of the evidence at the crime scene would bring back more answers.

  There were plenty of suspects, they just had to link the right one, the real attacker, to the scene and Billy Bolde.

  Chapter 7

  “Don’t sulk, my love. It’s not an attractive color on you,” Heather said and patted Ryan on the back of the hand.

  Their date night had arrived, once again, and Lilly had chosen to spend the evening at Amy’s with Dave, supervising another marathon carpet-dying session.

  The carpet would be white and end up yellow by the end of the evening.

  Art courtesy of Dave the doggy dearest.

  Ryan huffed out a breath and folded his arms. He pouted, but the twinkle in his eyes said he wasn’t the least bit unhappy with Heather’s restaurant choice.

  Mama’s Kitchen had rave reviews on TripAdvisor. Authentic Italian cuisine served in a homey environment.

  “I know how much you love your lasagna,” Heather said and winked.

  Ryan broke into a bout of chuckles and leaned in. “Maybe I’ll go crazy tonight and order the cannelloni.”

  “Whoa, slow down there. Let’s not lose our heads.” Heather lifted her soda glass and took a long drink from the end of the straw.

  Ryan sat forward and flipped open his menu. He traced his finger down the laminated page, then tapped on the bottom of the menu. “Beef lasagna, double portion, served with hot veg or a side salad. Yeah, that sounds just right.”

  “Pasta Puttanesca for me,” Heather said, and shut her menu. She ripped off a fresh piece of garlic bread and placed it on her side plate.

  Ryan followed her example but deposited his into his mouth instead.

  “Have you heard anything about the surveillance tapes? Any feedback?”

  “Funny you should mention that, actually,” Ryan replied. “I heard back from the analyst today. Apparently, someone wiped the end of the recording, right at the time of the alleged murder.”

  Heather bit her lip. “That was what I was afraid of.”

  “But,” Ryan said and raised a garlicky finger. “It’s not a total loss. I’ve been informed that there’s something of interest on the recording. A Geoff incident, specifically. I forwarded a clip to you.”

  “It was small enough to email?”

  “Yeah, it’s a very brief section of the recording, without sound.” Ryan spread his hands. “I compressed it.”

  “You compressed it,” Heather said and narrowed her eyes.

  “Fine, fine, the analyst compressed it for me.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Heather replied, then chuckled and grabbed her slice of garlic bread. She bit into it and buttery, garlic goodness spread on her tongue. “Oh wow.”

  “Good, right?”

  “Delicious,” she replied. “Maybe this can become another one of our date night staples.”

  Ryan nodded, then waved to the waiter. The guy hurried over and whipped out a notepad from his red, white and green apron. “What can I get you, folks?”

  “Pasta Puttanesca for the lovely lady and I’ll take the Beef Lasagna with a, oh shoot, let’s live a little, give me the hot veg on the side, please.” Ryan packed his menu to one side, and Heather did the same. They’d probably order dessert after their mains, anyway.

  “Got it,” the waiter said and clicked his fingers. “Would you like more garlic bread?”

  Heather laughed and slipped another piece into her mouth. “Are donuts a delicious treat?”

  The waiter laughed. “Comin’ right up!”

  Ryan sat back and patted his stomach. “You know, at the rate we eat, I’m going to be the size of the house.”

  “Don’t worry, hon, all the stress from the cases will keep you fit as a fiddle,” Heather replied.

  “Speaking of which,” Ryan said, “the feedback from the analyst wasn’t the only information I received.”

  “Oh yeah?” Heather asked.

  “Yeah. We got results back on the fingerprints.”

  Heather’s spine stiffened. Now, that did interest her. Fingerprints and DNA were the kinds of hard evidence which could make or break an investigation.

  “What did you find?” Heather asked.

  “We got several partials,” Ryan replied.

  “That would make sense since it is a bakery.” Heather slurped more of her soda, then reached for her napkin and dabbed it to her lips.

  “Not really. We have it on good information that Geoff’s store has been closed for quite some time now. He’s not bankrupt, and he’s got an abundance of dry ingredients in his store, but he hasn’t been serving up any donuts,” Ryan said.

  Heather frowned. “That’s not like him at all.” The man had been obsessed with baking since she’d first met him. To the point that he’d spied on a box of them in the front of the car the first week they’d met.

  “Well, he’s been distracted, apparently. Chasing after that private investigator license,” Ryan said, and his tone indicated that there was more to tell.

  “What is it? You're so mysterious.”

  Ryan tapped the side of his nose and dotted a bit of
garlic butter on it, by accident. He held up three fingers. “Three identifiable fingerprints. Geoff Lawless. Jamie Purdue. Billy Bolde.”

  “Oh wow.” Heather shook her head. “But there were partials.”

  “Yeah, and what we could make out didn’t match any three of those men.” Ryan offered Heather the last piece of garlic bread.

  She shook her head, and he snatched it up and gobbled it down.

  “So, that means that we might be missing a suspect,” Heather whispered. “Curious.”

  “You’re starting to sound like that character from that book. What’s it called?”

  “Alice in Wonderland,” Heather replied. “And she said curiouser, not curious. Anyway, that is interesting. Three definite fingerprints. That’s two leads. No, make that one, since we have no idea what’s happened to Geoff.”

  Maybe it was time she checked out Geoff’s home. There could be a clue to his whereabouts there.

  “Right,” Ryan said. “I say we watch the tape together when we get home. I’d like to give it a few more plays, just to see if I missed anything.”

  Heather nodded and opened her mouth to reply, but the waiter arrived with the second plate of garlic bread, and all thoughts of surveillance tapes drifted clean from her mind on a wave of garlic and butter scent.

  Chapter 8

  Lilly had opted to stay over at Amy’s instead of coming home early from her slumber party, and that suited Ryan and Heather just fine, if only because they had a surveillance tape to peruse.

  “Is it weird that I wish Lilly was here?” Heather asked. “No, of course, it’s not. She’s our child.”

  Ryan nodded and shifted Heather’s laptop on the coffee table. He scooted to the edge of the sofa, then looked back at his wife. “I’ve been thinking about our living situation a lot.”

  “What do you mean?” Heather asked, and folded her arms. “It’s been wonderful having Lilly here, right? You don’t think she’s –”

  “Relax, love, you and I are on the same page and the same team. Always,” he said and squeezed her hand. “We’re in our forties, and that might seem old for some folks, but for our family, I think it’s just right.”

  “It’s not that old,” Heather grumbled. “I mean if Lilly had been ours, we would’ve had her when I was like thirty or so. That’s totally reasonable.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Ryan said and flashed a white-toothed smile. “My point is, our family arrangement totally works. Lilly’s happy as far as I know.”

  “She’s over the moon. She gets to spend loads of time with Dave and Amy and Eva whenever she likes.”

  Ryan rubbed his palms together and bowed his head.

  “What’s on your mind?” Heather asked.

  He met her gaze again. “We should adopt her.”

  Heather gasped and pressed her palm to the spot over her heart. “Are you serious? That’s a huge decision to take, Ryan.”

  “I know,” he said. “And look, I’m aware that it’s only been a few weeks since she moved in, but this feels so right. It feels like it was meant to be. Lilly is part of our family now, and we just work together. Dave included.”

  Excitement bubbled in Heather’s stomach, but she stamped it down. “Okay, wait. Let’s give it a few more weeks and then talk about it again. And then, if we’re still ready to go forward with it, we talk to Lilly and see how she feels.”

  Ryan stroked a hand across his cheek. “You’re right. This isn’t a decision we can make lightly.”

  Heather grabbed both of her husband’s hands and squeezed. “I’m so glad you brought it up, honey. I’ve been thinking about it too.”

  Ryan brushed his thumbs across her knuckles, then let go and turned back to the laptop. “What do you say we get to work?”

  “Let’s go for it,” Heather replied.

  The evening had been perfect. No rude interruptions from Geoff Lawless and a delicious meal shared between them. Now, it was time to knuckle under and figure things out.

  “Here we go,” Ryan said and double tapped on the mouse pad.

  A video opened in Windows Media Player, and Heather squished forward to watch it.

  Geoff Lawless walked around in his donut store and checked something on the glass counter. He lifted his watch, tapped it, then shook his head.

  “Waiting for someone?” Heather asked, then grabbed her notepad off the sofa beside her. She scribbled down a note but didn’t take her eyes off the screen.

  “Maybe,” Ryan replied. “Watch this next part.”

  Billy Bolde stormed into the store and stopped directly in front of Geoff Lawless. He rammed his fists onto his hips, then pointed at something past Geoff’s shoulder, out of the line of sight of the surveillance camera.

  “Someone else there?” Heather made another note.

  Geoff raised both fists and waggled them in Billy’s face. He didn’t strike him, however.

  “Argument,” Heather whispered, and wrote that down too. She narrowed her eyes at Geoff, but the man’s face was a collection of pixels. The surveillance camera wasn’t exactly clear, and Lawless stood just inside the frame.

  Geoff marched past Billy toward the exit and then… the tape cut out.

  “That’s it,” Ryan said and paused the video. “Nothing after that.”

  “This is looking pretty bad for Geoff,” Heather said. “Pretty bad. I mean, he’s having an argument with Billy Bolde, then leaves the frame, and the video stops at that exact moment?”

  “Yeah,” Ryan said.

  “It’s almost too perfect. It’s like someone wants us to think it was Lawless,” Heather replied.

  “Well, we’ve got his fingerprints on the scene and Jamie’s,” Ryan said.

  Heather licked her lips. “Speaking of Jamie,” Heather said. “Did he appear anywhere on the tapes? Because if he’s not on the recording then that could mean he was there during the wiped portion and –”

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Ryan said, “but no. Jamie was at the store earlier in the day. We have footage of him talking to Geoff. Though, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t at the store when the video blacked out. Geoff could’ve been walking to the front to let someone in.”

  “But that would mean that Billy locked the door on entering the store.” Heather rested her chin in her palms and pursed her lips. “Complicated. This is way too complicated. We need something more solid than this.”

  “I don’t know,” Ryan said. “It’s starting to look solid to me. Geoff Lawless’ behavior on the tape and the fact that he ran off after?”

  Heather nodded. It did look bad for Geoff, but Heather’s sleuthin’ sense danced around behind her eyes. Something didn’t sit right with her.

  It might’ve been Geoff, or it might’ve been Jamie, or someone else.

  “Too many variables,” Heather said. “I think it’s time I had a chat with Jamie Purdue.”

  “Good idea,” Ryan replied, then stifled a yawn. “But right now, I’d better get up to bed and get some sleep. I’ve got an early shift in the morning.”

  He rose from his seat and walked to the entrance to the living room, then paused and looked back at her. “You coming, hon?”

  “In a second,” Heather replied, and blew him a kiss.

  She focused on the screen and the shot of nothingness. Someone had wiped the end of the recording at Geoff’s store. And that meant the attacker had seen the cameras and known how to access the computer.

  “But who? And why?”

  Chapter 9

  Heather grasped a coffee treacle donut and took a bite. Eva did the same and smacked her lips.

  “Delicious, as usual,” she said. “Goodness and that coffee cream on top is just perfection. I won’t have to drink the rest of this, now.” She tapped the side of her coffee mug, then laughed, softly. “I will, of course. I’m such a glutton for your coffee, Heather dear.”

  “It’s my grandmother’s secret recipe, of course,” Heather said and risked a sneaky smile. “But I tweake
d it a little. A few touches here and there to elevate the flavor.”

  “You’re a genius,” Eva said and took another generous bite.

  “The flattery is going to my head, these days.” Heather gobbled up the rest of her donut and licked the sticky treacle from her fingers.

  She’d spent the morning with Emily Potts, teaching her a few basics and smoothing out the last of her training, but her mind had been elsewhere.

  On Jamie Purdue and an impending interview.

  Heather dabbed her fingertips on the napkin, then wriggled her cell phone out of the front pocket of her jeans. The Donut Delights apron blocked her, but she wormed it around the side then placed it on the table next to her cappuccino.

  “Something on your mind dear?”

  “Oh, it’s just the case,” Heather replied. “I’ve got a lot to consider on this one. This time there’s no shortage of suspects or evidence, but it’s connecting it all that’s the problem.”

  “Oh dear,” Eva said. “Well, I know you’ll get to the bottom of it. You always do.”

  Heather smiled at the elderly woman, then reached across the table and patted her on the arm. “Thanks, Eva. I know I can always count on you for support.”

  Heather’s phone buzzed on the tabletop, and she snatched it up. Ryan’s name flashed on the screen.

  Uh oh. That was never a good thing during work hours.

  “Excuse me. I have to take this,” Heather said and rose from her seat.

  She swiped her thumb across the screen, then pressed the phone to her ear and exited the glass front door of Donut Delights.

  “Hello?” She swallowed and rubbed her arm with her free hand. The temperature had dropped since that morning.

  “Hey,” Ryan said. “I can tell from your tone you know this isn’t a casual call.”

  “What did you find?” Heather asked. Why did part of her want Geoff to be innocent?

  He’d been a pain in her side for the longest time, but in some ways, she enjoyed the competition. After all, he’d only tried to help her in past cases, even if he had messed things up a bit.

  “It’s not what I found,” Ryan replied. “It’s Billy Bolde. He’s just passed away in the hospital.”