Daisy McDare And The Deadly Secret Affair (Daisy McDare Cozy Creek Mystery Book 7) (4 page)
Read Daisy McDare And The Deadly Secret Affair (Daisy McDare Cozy Creek Mystery Book 7) Online
Authors: K.M. Morgan
In truth, there was no saving the night, no matter what anyone did. Not that Hank Hammond didn’t try. Hank was a master at pretending things were going just fine. He acted like the evening had gone just as planned.
Chloe meanwhile looked anxious to race through the end of her own launch party so she could get out of there. Mercifully, the party ended without any further incident. What else could really go wrong though? Then again, it was probably better if that question wasn’t answered.
When Daisy and Chloe left the party, Daisy tried to do some damage control.
“How about a night cap?” Daisy asked.
“Are you kidding? With my luck, someone would spill beer on me the moment I walked in the bar,” Chloe replied.
“Fine. Why don’t we do something silly like go to a karaoke joint? That could be fun.”
Chloe shook her head. “Not tonight.”
Daisy wasn’t about to give up. “How about getting a big tub of ice cream and watching some chick flicks?”
“I know what you’re trying to do,” Chloe said.
“Then let’s do it.”
“The problem with trying to cheer me up right now is, I can’t think of anything that would make me feel cheery.”
Daisy became deflated. “Oh.”
“You’re a great friend, and it means a lot to me knowing you want to make me feel better, but it’s just not going to happen tonight.”
“What do you want to do then?”
“Honestly, I just want to go home and sleep tonight off,” Chloe replied.
Daisy could tell Chloe wasn’t going to budge.
“I understand. I just wish things had gone better,” Daisy said.
“So do I,” Chloe replied.
“I just want you to know that none of what happened tonight has any bearing on your books’ performance. You wrote a fantastic book, and I have a feeling it’s going to sell off the shelves.”
“Thanks for saying that.”
The general lack of conviction in Chloe’s voice made Daisy leery.
“You don’t believe me?” Daisy asked.
“You’re my friend. What are you going to tell me, that a book I wrote about you is an assault on good taste?”
That remark seemed to come out of left field. Chloe’s confidence had taken an even bigger hit than Daisy thought. Unfortunately, it looked like the events of the evening were going to have some serious long-lasting repercussions.
“I’m not speaking as your friend here. I’m talking as a reader. Your book is a page-turner,” Daisy said.
“Thanks. See, this is why I want to go to bed. Tonight completely rattled me. I can’t think straight.”
“Think of it this way. Tonight has given you some serious fodder for your next book,” Daisy joked.
Chloe chuckled. “You always know how to make me laugh.”
“They say it’s the best medicine.”
“Chocolate is better,” Chloe insisted.
“I can’t disagree with that.”
“Anyway, I should probably get some sleep. But why don’t we meet tomorrow for breakfast?”
“Sounds good.”
Chloe then furrowed her brow. “Come to think of it, make that lunch.”
Daisy smiled. “That’s probably a better idea. Good night.”
“Night.”
On the way over to Addison’s apartment, Daisy couldn’t help but think about how different the night had turned out for herself and Chloe both. Chloe’s evening was a complete disaster. Daisy’s night meanwhile was far from perfect either.
It was crazy. Daisy rarely got to leave Cozy Creek for the weekend. Maybe this was why. Every time she did, trouble seemed to find Daisy. After the night she had, she wished for smooth sailing the rest of the weekend.
Finally Daisy reached Addison’s apartment. When Addison took her time to answer the door however, Daisy worried the drama wasn’t over for the night.
Then Addison opened the front door with a baffled look on her face.
“Daisy, wow. You’re back earlier than I thought,” Addison said.
“Tell me about it,” Daisy replied.
“Uh oh. What happened?”
“I’ll explain it all later.”
“That bad, huh?”
“It could have been worse,” Daisy said.
“How?” Addison asked.
“You don’t have to put me on the spot like that, especially when I don’t have an answer for you.”
“Well, I’m sorry your night was a bust. I have chocolate ice cream in the freezer if you want some,” Addison said.
“McDare’s are always prepared for the worst, aren’t we?” Daisy joked.
“You know it.”
Daisy then switched gears. “What about you, how was your night?”
Daisy couldn’t help but hold her breath as she waited for her cousin’s answer. She was in no mood to tackle more bad news.
“It’s actually been really great,” Addison replied.
What an amazing relief.
“I’m glad someone had a good night,” Daisy said.
“Jeff and I have written a killer song.”
Daisy smiled. “That’s great.”
Addison was as excited as a little kid. “Do you want to hear it?”
“Of course,” Daisy answered.
***
Addison was right. It was an amazingly catchy song. The kind that stayed in a person’s head. After hearing it, Daisy knew her cousin would be a star one day. Daisy just hoped there weren’t as many shenanigans at her first album release party as there had been at Chloe’s book launch.
Before calling it a night, Daisy gave her boyfriend Gavin a call. After a quick rundown of the day, they both exchanged a quick ‘I love you’. After that, Daisy’s head hit the pillow. Hopefully when she woke up, a better day would be waiting for her.
Unfortunately, the morning brought an awful surprise. Daisy should have known trouble was on the horizon. It was one of those mornings when the sun refused to shine. Overcast days were no stranger to Vancouver. On the good days, the sun would burn off the hazy marine layer and chase away the clouds. On the bad days, the residents of Vancouver were in for an extended period of oppressive gloominess.
As Daisy laid on the lumpy mattress of her cousin’s pull-out couch with one of the metal springs doing its best to dig into her back, she could tell gloom and doom were going to win the day. The sky was more than just solid gray. Storm clouds were threatening to make it a soggy morning.
Daisy’s head was in a fog. It was one thing to feel groggy, it was another to feel like she hadn’t slept all night. It was only after an evening of tossing and turning all night that Daisy realized how important a full night of sleep really was.
The pull-out couch was the culprit. It felt like it was engineered to be as uncomfortable as possible. Daisy didn’t want to sound ungrateful. Her cousin had been very kind to let Daisy stay with her. That being said, if Daisy knew that sleep would come at such a premium at Addison’s place, Daisy would have stayed at Chloe’s instead.
Suddenly coffee became the most welcome sight in the world to Daisy. She didn’t know what she’d do without caffeine. Before Daisy had a chance to brew a pot however, Addison’s doorbell rang.
Addison McDare came out of her bedroom looking perplexed that someone was at her door.
“Expecting someone?” Daisy asked.
“Not in the least,” Addison answered.
Addison went to the door and looked through the peephole. She then freaked out.
“What’s the matter? Who is it?” Daisy asked.
Addison slowly backed away from the door with a wide-eyed look on her face as the doorbell rang again.
Daisy turned to her cousin. “Will you tell me what’s going on?”
Addison’s voice cracked as she answered. “It’s the police.”
Daisy furrowed her brow. “Really?”
“Do you think I’d lie about something like that?” Addison replied.
“But why would they come here?”
Addison was more panicked than ever. “Why would you ask me that?
“Addison, you need to calm down. You’re completely freaking out here.”
“Sorry. It’s just that the last time the police were at my doorway, they were accusing me of murder.”
“Which you didn’t commit,” Daisy said.
“True, but ever since then, I’ve been skittish around police officers.” Addison admitted.
The doorbell rang again.
“Why don’t you get the door? I’m sure you have nothing to worry about,” Daisy added.
Addison reluctantly approached her door and opened it. A square-jawed police deputy stood with his partner.
“Daisy McDare?” Deputy Adams asked.
“Daisy, what do you need her for?” Addison replied.
“Are you Daisy or not?” Deputy Adams continued.
Daisy stepped forward. “I’m Daisy. What’s this about?”
“The detective needs to ask you a few questions,” Deputy Adams explained.
“I’m sorry, what’s this regarding?” Daisy wondered.
“The murder of Hank Hammond,” Deputy Adams revealed.
Daisy’s thoughts began swirling like crazy. Yet again, her instincts had been dead on. She knew it was going to be a rough day. She just didn’t realize her weekend trip would be turned upside down.
So much for coffee. The cops wanted to talk to her at the crime scene right away. Caffeine would have to wait. At first, Daisy wasn’t sure why the police were so keen on talking to her. They couldn’t possibly consider her to be a suspect. She’d just met Hank Hammond last night, and had only exchanged a few words with him in passing. On top of that, she had no reason to want Hank dead.
When Daisy found out that the police wanted to talk to her old roommate Chloe Wilson as well, the plot began to thicken. Daisy, Chloe, and the deputies arrived at the scene of the crime.
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” Chloe said when they met up.
“What are you talking about? You have nothing to be sorry about. You just invited me to the launch of your book.”
“Who knew it would end up turning into a killer party after all?” Chloe bemoaned.
“Do you know how it happened?” Daisy asked.
“Not a clue.” Chloe leaned in. “But those guys apparently think I do.” She nudged at the deputies. “I was hoping you could clear my name.”
Daisy whispered back. “There’s no reason for your name to be dirty in the first place.”
“Tell them that.”
It wasn’t long before things got more explosive than ever.
As they arrived at the publishing company, it looked like there were close to a dozen deputies on the scene, not to mention a forensic team. And of course, some familiar faces from the party last night. That included Hank’s wife Amelia, his mistress Olivia Connors, his other mistress Lindsay Donohue, his former slush pile assistant Trevor Webster, and his former editor Jonah Ball.
Daisy looked across the parking lot and saw Hank Hammond’s body on the pavement. There was a swollen red band of skin across his neck, making it pretty clear that he’d been strangled. What a way to go out, strangled in the parking lot of your own company.
Suddenly, Daisy and Chloe became less concerned with the body, and more focused on the police detective approaching them.
“Detective Stern, this is Chloe Wilson and Daisy McDare. They were both at the party last night,” Deputy Adams said.
Detective Stern lived up to his name. He looked like he hadn’t laughed in years. Then again, given what he saw on the job day in and out, there probably wasn’t much to chuckle about. Stern was probably in his early fifties, but his wrinkles and receding hairline made him look like he was in his late sixties. He was unusually tall for a detective. He would look more at home on a basketball court.
Daisy did not envy the life of a big city detective. Unlike the small town detectives Daisy usually came across, Stern no doubt had solved plenty of murders. He seemed unfazed by this crime scene. Rarely had Daisy seen someone so unaffected by the sight of a dead body. Detective Stern looked at Hank Hammond’s crime scene as if it was as common of a sight as a car going through a red light.
Daisy hoped she’d never become so desensitized at the sight of a dead body. It was just as unsettling for her as it ever was. It didn’t matter that Hank Hammond had more enemies than friends. Just because he was a scumbag didn’t mean he deserved to die. Apparently someone disagreed. Once again, there was no shortage of people with a reason to want him dead. Daisy was not one of them. That should make her conversation with the detective rather short.
“Why are we here?” Daisy asked.
“Excuse me. I’ll ask the questions here. Where were you last night between the hours of eleven and midnight?” Detective Stern said.
“I was at my cousin’s apartment. Call her up right now, she’ll confirm it,” Daisy insisted.
Detective Stern turned to Chloe.
“And you?” Stern asked.
Daisy jumped in. “She didn’t do anything.”
Detective Stern stared Daisy down. “I didn’t ask you.”
Daisy didn’t back down. “If you’re serious about finding the real killer, you’re wasting your time lobbing questions at Chloe.”
Detective Stern looked surprised that Daisy wasn’t immediately backing down. He obviously didn’t get many people standing their ground around him.
After all the cases she’d cracked, Daisy had gotten over her initial fear of being questioned by police officers. Part of it was because she was all too familiar with the tactic the detective was using. Daisy in fact used it herself to get information.
Unwavering confidence paired with intimidation were powerful things. It was surprising how effective it was when combined with the rapid-fire peppering of pointed questions. Badgering suspects may get a bad rap, but it delivered results.
The second lesson that Daisy learned over the last year was that innocent people had nothing to fear. The fact was, there were no secrets to bring to light. Daisy knew her best friend well enough to say with a hundred percent certainty that Chloe could never kill someone.
Daisy just had to convince the detective of that.
Detective Stern meanwhile tried to assert his authority. “Oh really? And how would you know that?”
“Chloe is one of my best friends. Trust me, she’s not capable of committing murder.”
Detective Stern scoffed. “Trust you? Why would I do that? I just met you. Besides, if anything, the fact that you’re friends with Ms. Wilson completely invalidates your opinion.”
Daisy put her hands on her hips. “And why is that?”
“People have a natural bias when it comes to their friends. They don’t want to believe their friends are capable of horrible things.”
“Because she isn’t,” Daisy insisted.
“Let me tell you something. Given the right circumstances, everyone is capable of murder.”
That was a horrible way to look at the world. Not to mention completely untrue. Daisy knew a number of people that wouldn’t even hurt a fly, no less take someone’s life. Chloe was on that list. No jaded city detective was going to convince her otherwise.
“Let me tell you a little something about my friend here. She has such a great moral compass that she wouldn’t take a single grape from a grocery store without paying for it,” Daisy reasoned.
Detective Stern’s patience was wearing thin. “With all due respect Ms. McDare, grapes and murder are far different things.”
Chloe had stayed quiet until that point. After all, Daisy was doing a good job defending her. Not to mention Chloe was quite aware of Daisy’s penchant for proving the innocence of her friends when they were falsely accused of crimes.
Even so, Chloe reached a point where she wanted her own voice to be heard. She didn’t like the idea of her name being mentioned in the same breath as a murder victim. Chloe wanted there to be no doubt of her innocence, and she wanted the detective to hear it straight from her mouth.
Chloe stepped forward and opened her mouth. “Why don’t you let me speak for myself?”
Detective Stern and Daisy stopped their back and forth and gave Chloe the floor.
“Fine. What do you have to say for yourself?” Detective Stern asked.
“I didn’t do it,” Chloe declared.
Both Detective Stern and Daisy kept waiting for more words to come out of Chloe’s mouth, but none did. For a writer, Chloe was sure frugal with words that morning. Then again, when it came to her book, Chloe had plenty of time to ponder and perfect the right word choices. That wasn’t true of this situation. The detective had thrown her right into the fire. Now she was trying to get out without being burnt. It wouldn’t be easy.
The detective went on the offensive again. “Is that all?”
“That’s all you need to know,” Chloe said.
“I’m afraid that’s not nearly going to cut it. The fact is, you had a killer motive.”
Chloe was confused. “What do you mean?”
“You spent all those years trying to get your work published, racking up huge amounts of rejections, before finally getting your book picked up. Then, at your book launch, the exact moment you should have been the happiest, Hank Hammond single-handedly ruins everything,” Detective Stern explained.
“Why don’t you leave the hyperbole to the fiction author? Hank didn’t ruin everything,” Chloe insisted.
Detective Stern stared hard into Chloe’s eyes. “I’d like to believe you, but your eyes are telling one story while your mouth is telling another. You wouldn’t be trying to rewrite history, would you?”
Chloe revised her story. “Ok. So last night could have gone far better, but just because Hank Hammond went around stirring up trouble, doesn’t mean I killed him.”
“So you say. The question is, where were you at the time of the murder?” Detective Stern asked.
“I was at home,” Chloe replied.
Detective Stern followed up. “Alone?”
Chloe reluctantly answered. “Yeah.”
“Which means you have no one to corroborate your story?” Detective Stern said.
Chloe began fumbling for words. She knew the truth. Unfortunately, she just didn’t have verifiable facts to back it up with.
She stammered as she answered. “I was at home. You have to believe me.”
“The only thing I believe is that you have a motive and a shaky alibi,” Detective Stern replied.
Daisy was tired of standing on the sidelines. She spoke up again.
“There were plenty of other people at that party that wanted Hank dead.”
“I know, and I’m going to get to them. Right now, I’m focused on Chloe.” Detective Stern turned back to Chloe. “Based on everything you’ve told me, I have no reason to rule you out as a suspect.”
Daisy and Chloe both opened their mouths to disagree.
Just then, Deputy Adams approached and addressed Stern. “Detective, all the other suspects have arrived.”
“Good.” He then turned back to Daisy and Chloe. “Don’t you go anywhere. Either of you.”