Ginny Gold - Early Bird Café 02 - Deadly Surprise (6 page)

“Cooke. Kori Cooke.”

“This is Kori Cooke and Jay,” Meri paused, letting Jay share his last name.

“Cooke,” he said
.

“Kori, Jay. Call me Brett,”
Brett said, not quite unfriendly but also not very inviting. He walked past them inside and Kori followed him before Meri could stop her.

Brett turned left when he reached the front desk and then let himself into a small meeting room.
The police had mostly congregated at the other end of the hall and had finally taped off everything to the right of the front desk.

Brett
, Kori and Jay all took seats around a small table and Ibis lay quietly at Kori’s feet. She was glad Meri didn’t come looking for them, and that Ibis didn’t make a sound to bring attention to her presence.

“I understand you had some questions about the yoga retreat I led this weekend,” Brett said, getting straight to the point. Kori was thankful for that.
There really was no point in small talk.

“Yes. Our mother was a participant and she’s having some back and neck pain now. We wondered if there was anything in particular that could have caused that and what she can do now to get rid of
it,” Kori said, feeling funny that she was lying so confidently.

“Did she come with you so I could talk to her about it directly?” he asked, unsmiling.

Kori and Jay both shook their heads.

“Well, there’s really little information that I can give you then. I’d recommend seeing a chiropractor if it doesn’t get better in a few days. But I was only there in the
afternoons. So any of the morning sessions I wasn’t a part of and am unfamiliar with.”

Kori was surprised her mother hadn’t told her that detail. Gale had said Brett was there all day ever
y day, hadn’t she? The timing of Heidi’s murder lined up with Brett’s absences from classes. What was Gale hiding by pinning the murder on him but omitting that scheduling detail?

“Well, thank you for your time then.” Kori wasn’t quite sure how to ask him about Heidi’s death without giving away too much information.
She figured this one piece of information was worth it and let any other interrogation go. She stood and offered her hand, which he shook. Jay did the same.

“Sorry to be so unhelpful. I hope that your mother is feeling better soon.”

With that, Brett made a speedy exit and Kori tailed him back to the parking lot. She noticed Meri give her a dirty look as she led Ibis back outside but she ignored her.

“That wasn’t really that helpful,” Jay said, walking quickly to keep up again.

“Shh. Just get in the car,” Kori whispered back, never taking her eye off Brett.

As soon as he started his car, Kori did the same and then followed him out of the parking lot. He turned away from the main road—the opposite way than they’d come in—and Kori did the same.

“Where are we going now?” Jay asked.

“I’m going to follow him. Find out where he lives so I can come back if I need to and find him at home.”

“This is ridiculous. You’re going to get yourself in trouble. Don’t we have enough trouble right now for the Cooke family?”

Kori ignored her brother’s concerns and stayed a
block behind Brett’s car. She was thankful that she drove a nondescript silver Subaru sedan that he’d be unlikely to notice.

It was only minutes before he pulled into a short driveway, parked and got out of the car. A woman, well endowed in the looks department with measurements as close to Barbie as one could get and still be able to walk, came outside to greet him. Kori kept her eyes focused on the public display of affection as she drove past and then turned to look at Jay.

“Who do you think that was?” he asked.

“If I had to guess, Brett’s motive for killing Heidi.”

“What do you mean?” Jay asked.

“You really don’t watch detective shows, do you?” she teased. He shook his head. “If he never got back with Heidi, or they never remarried anyway, then he had to pay plenty of child support. Maybe Heidi wanted him back. Or was blackmailing him. Or was somehow preventing him from being with that blond bimbo. Or who knows what. Then he might have needed her out of the picture.”

“Wouldn’t he still have to pay child support in the form of raising his own kid?”

“You have a point. But maybe Heidi was getti
ng it super inflated. Who knows? But I think it’s suspicious that his ex-wife is dead—and who knows when they finally ended things—and he’s already making out with someone else in his front yard.”

“I guess you’re right. How are we going to find out more about that?” Jay asked.

“Pull out your phone. See if you can find Heidi’s obituary. It’ll say who she outlived. And it might even tell us about a memorial service and funeral.”

Kori continued driving, heading back home. It was already late afternoon
and she had work to do and wanted to stop by Nora’s so Ibis could meet Milo and Otis. She knew Ibis would need some dog friends for play dates after spending her mornings cooped up in the café. She waited for Jay to find what they were looking for.

“Here it is,” he finally said. “Outlived by her
son—doesn’t give the name—and her parents. No mention of a husband.”

“What about a service?” Kori asked.

“Tomorrow night, Tuesday. Just a memorial. No funeral until the investigation is closed.”

“Perfect. Make sure you take tomorrow afternoon off. I think we have another trip to Scoter Circle we’ll have to make.”

“We’re
going
to the memorial?” Jay asked. Kori could feel him shooting daggers at her from his eyes.

“Of course we’re going. We’ll see if we can get more information about her and her relationships from her friends. Find out more about her history with Brett. If he had a history of violence, maybe she was the target in the past.”

“You really are crazy. What about Wesley, Oscar, Larry and Tyler? Can’t we just focus on them instead?”

“We’ll look into them, but Tyler doesn’t have any connection to Heidi. And we’re starting from zero with
Wesley, Larry and Oscar. I think talking to her family and friends—and coworkers—will be our best shot at information.”

Jay was silent for a moment while he digested Kori’s plan. “Fine.”

“Great. Look up Wesley while I drive home. I bet there’s information about him on a company website or something. You said he works on Wall Street. He’s not going to be anonymous online. I could call looking for investment advice. Or we could go to Heidi’s bank and you could ask about her friends. You’d just have to play up being her boyfriend. We could even do that before the memorial tomorrow.”

Kori snuck a glance at Jay and saw that he didn’t particularly like the idea of that plan.

“Let’s just get home for now. I have to go talk to Spencer about missing work this afternoon.”

“Yeah sure. Think about it, though. I’ll do some more research tonight.”

Kori drove the rest of the way home brainstorming how she was going to get close to Oscar, Larry and Wesley to learn more. Just in case Brett didn’t turn up guilty.

Back in Hermit Cove close to
five o’clock, she dropped Jay off at the Auto Body and then went home. She headed straight to the café’s kitchen to get things ready for tomorrow. Thankfully she still had plenty of eggs and greens from her visit to Nora the day before.

The smoothies continued to be a hit so she would offer them for a third day in a row. She decided to make overnight oatmeal with apples, cinnamon and a splash of syrup or brown sugar when it was served, so she g
ot that all setup in the crock pot and turned it on.

For eggs, she’d mak
e popovers again in the morning and offer veggie omelets. She had plenty of spinach, onions and mushrooms and she could even offer avocado on the first few lucky customers until they were gone. She didn’t have many.

For her sweet
-tooth customers, she assembled baked French toast that she’d stick in the oven tomorrow morning and she’d whip up pancake batter and slice bananas for either plain or banana pancakes again.

Satisfied with her menu, she brought Ibis outside
and got back in the car to go to Nora’s. As soon as she pulled up, Milo and Otis came storming out of the nearest greenhouse, likely smelling a new dog. Kori knew they would get along with any dog, but this was her first time introducing Ibis to a dog. Given her past, she was hopeful they would all get along.

Ibis immediately stood on the back seat, tail wagging,
excitement in her eyes. Kori got out and greeted Milo and Otis, letting them smell her hands that were covered in Ibis’ scent.

With all of the commotion, Nora came out of the same greenhouse the dogs had exited. “You got the dog?” she called with excitement.

“Yeah. I brought her over to meet Milo and Otis. And you of course!” Kori opened the back door and Ibis jumped out.

Nora walked over to Kori where the three dogs were sniffing each other before beginning a dog game of tag.

“Looks like they’re already best friends,” Kori said when Nora had reached her. The dogs were tearing circles around the yard.

“She’ll sleep well tonight.”

“Good. I need a good night’s sleep too. I’m helping Jay find a murderer so he’s not on a suspect list.”

Nora turned to Kori and gave her a serious look. “I thought that was a onetime event when you investigated Tessa’s murder.”

“Yeah, so did I. But I can’t just let Jay suffer through an investigation alone. He doesn’t even seem interested in clearing his name.”

Kori got Nora caught up on the last couple days’ events, including Gale having Jay’s gun in Scoter Circle at the time of Heidi’s murder, Jay’s possibl
e DNA found at the crime scene and their conversation with Brett that afternoon.

“Actually, speaking of Jay’s gun, I don’t think he took it out of the car when I dropped him off,” Kori said, walking back toward her car to check the glove box where he’d left it. She opened it and saw that it was empty. “Well, it’s not here so he must have.” She changed the subject, needing something else to think about for a while. “Are you ready for the potluck on Wednesday?”

“Getting there. The farm stand is setup—did you see it at the bottom of the driveway?”

“I did. It looks great. Did you re-stain it this year?”

Nora nodded. “It was looking pretty worn out. And the RSVPs are coming in. It should be a good turnout. You’re coming right?”

Kori blushed at the thought of Zach accompanying her and nodded.

“You’re bringing Zach, aren’t you?” Nora teased. “I can see it in your eyes. You’re totally in love with him.”

“Whoa
whoa whoa. Don’t go overboard! I think it’d be fun to call him my boyfriend, but let’s not rush into
love
.”

“Okay, whatever. I’ve
gotta get back to work. I still have way too much to do before calling it a day.”

Kori glanced at her watch and saw that it was already past six. “I should get Ibis home so we can both eat. We’ve each had a long day. See you Wednesday!” Kori turned back to the car and opened the back door for Ibis. Without even being called, she came running and flew into the back seat. “She must be hungry. Bye, Nora!”

“See ya. Good dog you got. I’m glad you finally caved.”

“Me too.” Kori waved, got in her car and drove home.

By the time she got home, she was already exhausted so didn’t want to make anything fresh, but pulled out an already made bean burrito she’d wrapped in foil sometime in the past and frozen for just such an occasion.

Kori settled herself on the couch with her computer
and burrito, ready to look into some more of the men Jay had put on his list of suspects. Ibis sat in front of her and looked up questioningly. Kori quickly invited her onto the couch and she knew she’d never be able to kick her off of it in the future. But she was fine with that. Ibis curled up at her feet and Kori got to work.

She pulled
up Google and typed in
Wesley Sanders, Wall Street
. She was rewarded with plenty of hits and she began sifting through them.

She learned that Wesley had grown up in Scoter Circle
with a single mom. There was no mention of his father.  He went on to study at Yale University and fell in love with New York City on his weekends spent there.

He was ten years older than Kori and had lived in New York since he
’d graduated from college. He’d been working in the New York Stock Exchange for sixteen years and had worked his way up the ladder. She easily found his photo and contact information listed on his company website. He looked completely harmless, but so did most criminals until she knew the truth about them.

She couldn’t find anything that would have linked him to Heidi other than being from Scoter Circle.
Did Wesley have an account at the same bank where Heidi worked? Was he a suspect who had already been cleared by now?

Kori decided to sleep on finding the answers to those questions. She had no idea how she was going to find out about a possible
bank account but was confident that she’d have a better idea in the morning. Now, she was drained from her morning at work and afternoon of sleuthing with Jay.

“Come on, Ibis. You can sleep on the bed again.” The second dog bed was maybe a waste of money for now, but she’d find a use for it she was sure.

Kori brushed her teeth, changed into pajamas and crawled between the sheets. Ibis curled up next to her and they were both asleep in minutes.