Coffee Treacle Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 24 Page 4

  Heather drew in a breath. “Ugh, but I thought he was in a stable condition.”

  “He was,” Ryan said. “Until someone injected approximately four syringes of air directly into his bloodstream.”

  “Oh my goodness,” Heather whispered. “I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

  “You’d better be quick about it. Hoskins is threatening to meet me here,” Ryan replied, then hung up.

  Heather shot off a quick message to Amy to watch the store and then rushed to her car. Detective Hoskins wasn’t more than an irritation, but she’d still prefer to go over the scene in peace.

  Heather slipped into her car, then started the engine. Her mood had dropped to the floor. Billy Bolde hadn’t seemed like a great guy, at least not financially, but nobody deserved death at the hands of another individual.

  Twenty minutes later, Heather entered Billy Bolde’s private room in Hillside Regional.

  Ryan stood beside the empty bed and wrote notes on his pad. Another officer raised a camera and snapped pictures of the scene.

  Broken glass littered the floor and gusts of cold air fluttered the pale, curtains which hung beside the empty frames.

  “Someone broke in to get to him?” Heather asked, and studied the pattern of glass on the floor.

  “No bars on the windows and it’s the ground floor, so it looks that way,” Ryan said and made another note on his pad.

  “Wow,” Heather whispered. “Whoever hit him, really wanted to finish the job.” She worked her jaw and swallowed to get rid of the bitter taste in her mouth.

  The same flavor that lingered every time something unsavory happened.

  “Four syringes of air,” Ryan said. “It was enough to cause an air embolism. More than enough.”

  “And then cardiac arrest?” Heather positioned herself beside her husband and eyed the empty sheets.

  “Correct,” Ryan said. “The nurses and doctors couldn’t save him, unfortunately.”

  Heather scanned the corners of the room. “No cameras.”

  “Nope. We’re in the dark on this one. We haven’t got any eye witnesses or any footage. All we know is that Billy Bolde had an enemy with a grudge. We’ve also got some blood on the broken glass. We suspect it's from the murderer, but we’ll have to see if the lab can process any of it and get valid DNA results back.”

  Heather dragged her teeth across her bottom lip. In the beginning, she’d assumed a crime of passion, but this wasn’t it. This was pre-meditation.

  “Wait a second,” Heather said. “There wouldn’t just have been syringes lying around in here.” She walked to the closet, but it was locked, as it should’ve been.

  “Good point,” Ryan replied.

  “Whoever did this had access to medical supplies.” Heather didn’t bring out a notepad. She’d forgotten that back in her office at Donut Delights. “I’d better go ahead and head out to interview Purdue after this.”

  “No,” Ryan said. “Give it a rest, for now, hon. Let’s process the evidence here, and then you head back to the store. Take Lilly to her dog training lesson with Dave.”

  The other officer glanced up from his viewfinder and frowned at them.

  Ryan rolled his eyes. “Just take it easy,” he said and lowered his tone. “You won’t do yourself any favors if you burn out.”

  “All right,” she replied, but she didn’t want to take it easy.

  She wanted to know if Jamie Purdue had access to medical supplies. And if so, why?

  Chapter 10

  Heather shifted on her bench and waved at Lilly across the field.

  The girl waved back, then bent and patted Dave on the head. The instructor stood just in front of them and gesticulated about some disciplinary move or the other.

  Heather didn’t try to listen. She couldn’t get Billy’s death off her mind. His murder.

  “Premeditated,” she muttered. But that just didn’t make sense.

  The initial attack had seemed exactly the opposite. An angry argument turned violent, perhaps. This, ugh, this made her skin crawl, and the more she pondered about it, the more her sleuth senses itched.

  She had to figure this out as soon as possible.

  The instructor clapped her hands and Lilly mimicked her. Dave sat down, and the rest of the dogs in the row did the same.

  Heather resisted the urge to applaud. She’d only distract them.

  “Yeah, I’ve already ordered the food,” a woman said, nearby.

  Heather frowned and glanced over her shoulder. Nothing greeted her, except the soft rustle of leaves on the grass in the park.

  Strange.

  “Oh yeah, it’s going to be the party of the year. I know, Brooke. We’re being discrete about this.”

  Prickles danced down Heather’s spine. Brooke Bolde?

  She rose from the bench and crept toward the voice.

  The woman chuckled, and Heather changed direction. The noise had come from the trees; she was sure of it.

  She stopped just short of the stand of tall oaks and leaned to one side.

  Movement caught her eye. A woman walked beneath the canopy, a phone pressed to her ear. Her blonde hair hung over her shoulder in a long braid.

  Laura. This was Brooke Bolde’s sister.

  Heather turned her back on the trees and stared out at Lilly and Dave.

  “You don’t have to worry about anything, sissy. I’ve got it covered. We’ve got the food, I’ll get the drinks, and after that, it’s just the invite list.” Laura’s tone dipped between focus and glee. “You have to throw a big send off. You have the money now.”

  Send off? Where did Brooke Bolde plan on disappearing to?

  Heather folded her arms across her chest and plastered up a smile in case Lilly looked over at her.

  “Yeah, at least he was good for something, am I, right?” Laura laughed again, then cleared her throat. “All right, sissy, I’ve got to get back to work. Yeah, I’ll see you later. Okay, bye.”

  Footsteps stomped toward Heather instead of away from her. She didn’t turn around but waved at Lilly and Dave again.

  The heavy footfalls stopped.

  “I know you,” Laura said, behind her.

  Heather pretended to jerk with fright. She spun on the spot, then pressed her palm to her chest. “Oh, hello,” she said. “You’re, um, Laura, right?”

  “That’s right,” the woman said, and looked back at the trees. “I – what are you doing out here?” She grasped the end of her braid and twisted it between her fingertips.

  Heather gestured to the dog trainer and the girls, boys, men, women and animals lined up beneath the afternoon sun. “My daughter’s training our family dog. What are you doing here?”

  Laura did a double-take. “Just, you know, taking a walk. Speaking to my sister on the phone. I like to walk here on my breaks,” she replied.

  This was a strange conversation. Compensating for her fear of being overheard?

  “How is Brooke doing?” Heather asked, and tilted her head to one side. “I’m sure this must be a difficult time for you both.”

  “It is for her. I couldn’t care less,” Laura said and shrugged. “I never liked Billy. Not since the first day, I met him. Maybe it’s, like, an overprotective older sister thing. I dunno.”

  “I can understand that.” Heather forced a smile. “I don’t have any sisters, but I do have a friend who’s basically my sibling.” In fact, Amy should’ve appeared ages ago.

  They’d scheduled a meetup and after that… Heather’s stomach twisted into knots. They had someone to interview.

  Ryan could tell her to relax, but it was a futile instruction.

  “Yeah, so I gotta go,” Laura said and pointed backward with both thumbs. “I’ll see you around.”

  The woman backed off, then turned and hurried toward the trees.

  Heather waved goodbye, then whispered, “You can count on it.”

  “What was that about?” Lilly asked, at her elbow. “She looked kind of jumpy.”

/>   Heather jolted for real this time and met Lilly’s gaze. “None of your business, young lady.”

  “Fine, fine,” Lilly said, and flapped her free hand. The other clutched Dave’s leash. He sat beside her feet and snuffled at the ground. “We’re done for the day. Dave was amazing as usual.”

  The puppy dog wagged his tail from side to side and looked up at Lilly. He whined but turned it into a happy bark.

  “Come on,” Heather said and patted Lilly on the back. “Let’s get you home. Ryan will be there when we get back.”

  “Oh, he’s working a late shift tonight?”

  “That’s right,” Heather replied. “And I’ll be back before he leaves. So, when I do get back, you’d better have finished all your homework.”

  “Oh yay,” Lilly said, and stifled a yawn, “I can’t wait to do math and science.”

  “Hey, you’re totally going to use that stuff in the real world,” Heather replied.

  The eleven-year-old arched an eyebrow at her.

  Heather didn’t break. That was her story, and she’d stick to it, for heaven’s sake.

  Chapter 11

  “I had to call to make an appointment with this guy,” Heather said and brushed back her sleeve from her watch. “And now he’s late.”

  Amy popped a pistachio into her mouth then crunched it between her teeth. “Oh yeah? He must be important. What does he do for a living?”

  “Doctor’s receptionist.”

  “You’re kidding,” Amy said. “Doesn’t that tie in with the whole access to medical syringes thing?” She chewed through two more nuts.

  Ames offered the bag to Heather, but she shook her head once and stared around the interior of the small diner close to the doctor’s office.

  Women and men chatted at the white melamine tables and squished against the crinkly, thick plastic which coated bright red booth chairs. Kids swung their legs or drank juice and milkshake from tall, styled glasses.

  “Heather?” Amy nudged her arm.

  “Yeah, what? Sorry. I was lost somewhere else,” she said and touched the cold glass face of her watch.

  “The syringes? This guy works as a doctor’s receptionist.”

  “I know,” Heather said. “But I’m going to need more to go on than that. A lot more.”

  “At least there’s more evidence, this time.” Amy shuddered and the packet of nuts rattled. “Last time, it was a trip into the forest after a teenager. I still can’t get that weirdness out of my head.”

  “There’s evidence, yeah,” Heather replied, “but none of it has tied any of the suspects to the crime scene yet. Apart from the fingerprints, of course, but then there’s that gap in time.”

  Amy nudged her for the second time, then nodded toward the glass front door.

  Jamie Purdue marched toward them, and a deep frown crinkled his forehead. He stopped beside their table and balanced his fingers on the surface. “Mrs. Shepherd,” he said, then met Amy’s gaze. “I don’t think we were introduced.”

  He had an air of control and importance.

  Amy rose and stuck out her pistachio-free hand. “Amy Givens. Nice to see you without the fudge ball.”

  Jamie blinked. “And you two without the growling dog.”

  “Dave’s a saint,” Amy said. “And he was just looking out of our best interests.” She dropped his hand and resumed her seat.

  Jamie sucked in a breath, then slid into the seat opposite Amy and Heather. “Sorry, I’m late. I had to lock up the office today,” he said, then patted his top pocket.

  Keys jangled beneath the baby blue fabric. A name tag sat flush against his chest.

  “You work at the doctor’s office,” Heather said.

  “That’s correct,” Jamie replied, and a smile cracked his lips. “I know, it seems like a strange profession for a man my age, but it’s what I enjoy.”

  “Answering phones?” Amy asked.

  Jamie narrowed his eyes at her. “Helping people.”

  Amy had the grace to lower her gaze to her bag of pistachios. She extracted another one, popped off the shell, then placed it between her teeth.

  “Mr. Purdue, thank you for meeting with me today,” Heather said. Her gentle segue into the interview.

  “It’s all right,” he replied, then licked his lips and sat back. “What do you want to know?”

  “What was your relationship with Mr. Billy Bolde?”

  Jamie’s eye twitched. He brushed his fingers along the edge of the table. “What makes you think I had a relationship with him?”

  “I’ll ask the questions, Mr. Purdue,” Heather replied. “All you have to do is answer them. Can you do that?”

  “I have the ability, yeah,” he said, through gritted teeth. He glanced at the waitress a table over and sniffed. “Wouldn’t mind a cup of coffee first, but yeah, fine. I knew Billy Bolde. I knew him pretty darn well if I’m honest.”

  “How?” Heather asked.

  Amy crunched her way through two more nuts. The constant chew, chew, chew set Heather’s nerves on edge – hopefully, they had the same effect on Jamie.

  “I wanted to get certified as a private investigator, and I saw an ad for it in the paper.” Jamie snorted. “I should’ve known better. Bolde Private Investigation, go figure.”

  “So you met with him,” Heather said.

  “Yeah, several times. At first, he was awesome. He acted like your typical nice guy and took my money. Then he sent me the course materials. Except they were packed with errors and I could tell that the stuff in them was Billy’s own advice.”

  “Bad advice?”

  “The worst. He didn’t have any input on how to do the actual investigations. He just typed out useless advice, like to wear dark colors and a hat when investigating.”

  Amy’s eyes widened, and she stopped chewing. “Wow.”

  “Yeah,” Jamie replied, and glanced at her. “Obviously, I was angry about it. So, I called Billy and demanded a full refund. He acted like we’d never met before. Like he didn’t shake my hand on that first day.”

  “That must’ve been infuriating,” Heather said, and the empathy in her tone was real.

  Most folks considered money to be a touchy issue.

  “It was. But I let it go,” Jamie said and shrugged. “It’s not healthy to carry anger around.”

  “I agree.”

  “But,” Jamie said, and raised a palm. “Geoff Lawless contacted me after that.”

  Heather placed her palms on the table. “What did he want?” Her heart pounded against the inside of her ribcage. Could this be the clue she’d waited for?

  “He wanted us to meet with Billy together and force him to give us our money back. I agreed, but man, I didn’t feel that comfortable with the whole thing. It felt weird. So, I met with Geoff, then left.” Jamie shrugged. “That was it.”

  Heather forced a smile, and her heart rate slowed. Nothing new. Just a bit of extra information to color in the blank spots on the page.

  “Did you ever meet Bolde’s family?” Amy asked.

  That was a good question.

  “Yeah. Just after the first time we met, Billy invited me over for dinner at his house. I met his wife, Brooke, and some other woman. What was her name?” He drummed his fingers on her forehead. “Mean lady. She had a blonde braid.”

  “Laura,” Heather said.

  “That’s it! Laura Jenkins.” Jamie clicked his fingers. “Everything was fine, but the whole house had a strange atmosphere. It felt like I wasn’t welcome there. I left early anyway.”

  “Any particular reason for that?” Heather asked, and took a sip of water from a cold, tall glass.

  “Yeah, Billy and his wife got into a huge fight. It was pretty ugly. Verbal, of course, but I decided to get out of there before it got any worse.” Jamie rubbed his forearms and glanced back at the waitress, again. “Confrontation makes me uncomfortable.”

  “You and me both,” Amy said.

  “Say, are you two going to have something t
o eat?” Jamie asked, and waved the waitress over.

  “Not for me thanks,” Heather replied. She had a dinner date with her own precious family.

  “I’ll have a fudge nut sundae, if they’ve got it,” Amy replied, then brought out another pistachio.

  Chapter 12

  Heather parked the car outside Brooke Bolde’s dingy house and turned off the engine.

  A day had passed since the Jamie Purdue interview, and she couldn’t stop thinking about his encounters with the Bolde family.

  “It’s pretty active in this street,” Amy said, and her voice trembled. She pointed to a long line of cars parked beside the sidewalk. “And loud.”

  Music blared outside, some folksy song Heather didn’t recognize.

  Clarity hit Heather right between the eyes. “Party!” She yelped it, and Amy started and grabbed the dashboard and then her seat belt.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “That’s what Laura meant on the phone,” Heather whispered, then rolled down her window.

  Sure, enough the windows of the Bolde house flashed with lights. Two people strolled down the sidewalk and up to the front door, then opened it without so much as a knock. Music swallowed them, and the door slammed shut and dimmed the noise.

  “The other day in the park, I overheard Laura talking about a big send off for Brooke. She said she got all the food and that Brooke deserved this,” Heather said, then rolled up her window again.

  Amy sniffed and unlocked her car door. “That doesn’t sound like something a grieving widow should do. Didn’t her husband die two days ago?”

  Heather opened her door, then slipped out into the night. It wasn’t that late yet, but Ryan had the night off, and Lilly had already gone up to bed. She liked her sleep as much as she liked playing with Dave.

  “Let’s check it out,” Heather said. “Looks like an all welcome kinda deal.”

  Amy got out of the car, then slapped the door shut. “All right, but I gotta say, the last party we went to didn’t end that well.”

  “Let’s just avoid the back porch this time,” Heather replied.

  She checked for cars, then hurried across the road and up to the front door. Amy followed hot on her heels.