Daisy McDare And The Deadly Secret Affair (Daisy McDare Cozy Creek Mystery Book 7) (5 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Detective Stern addressed the lineup of suspects, each of whom was looking tenser than the last.  If the detective thought Chloe looked far from innocent, the other suspects looked stone cold guilty.  As a matter of fact, they were so drenched in motive that it was hard to tell who looked the guiltiest. 

Detective Stern was eager to find out.  “It was no secret that Hank Hammond had a number of enemies.  As I look around, all I see is people that hated his guts.  You all wanted him dead, but someone in this parking lot took their hatred one step further and actually killed him.  That’s right, I know the killer is right here among us right now.”

Hanks’s widow, Amelia, spoke up from the lineup.  “How do you know that?”

Detective Stern held up an evidence bag with a ripped yellow, paper wristband inside it. 

“The killer left something behind last night.  Does this look familiar to any of you?” Detective Stern asked. 

The suspects looked as stiff as boards now. 

Detective Stern continued.  “It should.  It’s one of the wristbands you were issued to get into the launch party last night.  We found it right next to the body.  And, seeing as Hank’s wristband is still on, this one must belong to the killer.  Now, given how empty the launch party was last night, finding this wristband at the scene of the crime made it easy to narrow down suspects.”

The moment the detective said that, Daisy saw Chloe dig into her purse, rooting around for something. 

Detective Stern meanwhile continued addressing the suspects.  “The walls are already starting to close in on the killer.  It’s only a matter of time before I catch them.  That being said, do any of you wish to confess their guilt and get it over with now?”

The detective received nothing but silence from the lineup. 

Stern sighed.  “All right.  Do any of you happen to have your wristband last night on you?”

Once again, the detective got nothing but silence from the lineup. 

“Ok.  I guess I’ll have to do this the hard way.”  Detective Stern walked up to Hank’s widow, Amelia.  “Mrs. Hammond, where were you between eleven o’clock and midnight last evening?”

For someone whose husband was murdered the night before, Amelia Hammond was surprisingly without remorse.  Then again, Hank had been wildly unfaithful to her.  At the same time, given the fact that she was now a suspect in his murder, it seemed like she could at least pretend to be sad that he was gone, regardless of how fake the remorse would look. 

Amelia answered with a cold tone in her voice.  “I was at home.”

“Was anyone else with you?” Detective Stern asked. 

“No.”

“Not your husband?”

“I said I was alone.”

“Your husband didn’t come home at all after the party?” Detective Stern asked. 

Amelia shook her head. 

“How odd.  Or maybe not.  After all, you and your husband got into a huge fight at the party about his infidelity.  You told him he was going to pay for what he did to you--”

Amelia interrupted the detective.  “I meant in divorce court.”

“Why bother taking half in divorce court when you could bump him off and get his entire fortune?”

“That’s a lot of speculation, considering I was at home.”

“So you say.  The problem is, you have no one to verify your story.”

“I didn’t do it,” Amelia insisted. 

“At least that’s your story,” Detective Stern said.   

Detective Stern moved to Jonah Ball next, the former editor of Hank’s publishing company. 

“What’s your story Mr. Ball?  Where were you between eleven and midnight?” the detective wondered. 

“I was at a bar,” Jonah answered. 

“Which one?”

“Paulie’s on Granville Street.”

“Uh huh.  So if I call up Paulie’s right now, they’ll be able to verify you were there during that time?”

Suddenly, Jonah revised his story.  “Ok, so I was on my way home from Paulie’s.”

“And while you were on your way home, were you alone?” Detective Stern asked. 

“Well yeah, technically.  But I really was driving home.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because it’s the truth.”

“Only, you already lied to me once,” Detective Stern said. 

“I’m not lying to you this time.”

“Uh huh,” Detective Stern replied. 

The detective then moved on to Hank’s mistress and administrative assistant, Lindsay Donohue. 

“What about you Ms. Donohue?” Detective Stern asked. 

The gears started spinning in Lindsay’s head as she tried to think of an answer.  “Uh…I was at home—I assume.”

Detective Stern was highly critical of that response.  “You assume?  What, don’t you know?”

“I didn’t exactly have the best night.  So after leaving the party, I had a few cocktails back to back.  I don’t really remember anything after that.”

“You’re saying you blanked out most of the night?”

Lindsay nodded.  “I’m drawing a complete blank.  All I know is I woke up safely in bed this morning.”

“It’s an interesting story.  The problem is, there’s no way to verify any of it,” Detective Stern said. 

“Look, I wish I had more to tell you, but I don’t.”

Detective Stern scribbled some notes down on a pad, then moved on to Hank’s other mistress, Olivia Connors. 

“Ms. Connors, don’t tell me you were too drunk to remember where you were at the time of the murder last night.”

“I know exactly where I was,” Olivia replied. 

“Where?” Detective Stern asked. 

“I was taking a walk.”

Detective Stern had a hard time buying that.  “You expect me to believe you were out taking a walk at that hour?  Please.”

Olivia nodded. 

“Doesn’t that seem a little dangerous?”

“Not when you own a German Shepard.  Gunther gets a little stir crazy being cooped up in my apartment all day while I’m at work.  He won’t let me go to sleep without taking him out for his evening walk.”

“So, was it just you and Gunther then?” Detective Stern wondered. 

“Yes.”

“So you’re telling me I have no way to verify your story then?”

Olivia became confrontational.  “Why would I lie about that?”

“You were one of Hank’s mistresses.  His dead body is ten feet away, and you’re one of the prime suspects.  That sounds like a great reason to lie.”

“Only, I’m telling the truth.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Detective Stern then moved on to the last suspect, Hank’s slush pile assistant, Trevor Webster.

“Finally, Mr. Webster.  Where were you at the time of the murder?” Detective Stern asked. 

“Taking the train back to my apartment,” Trevor replied. 

“I don’t suppose you have anyone to corroborate that story, do you?”

“There were a bunch of people on the train.”

“You didn’t happen to know any of them, did you?”

Trevor shook his head. 

“Then it doesn’t matter how many people were on the train.”

Detective Stern scribbled more notes on his pad, then groaned. 

“Great, so six suspects and not one verifiable alibi between you.  Well, I know one of you did it, and it’s only a matter of time until I find out who.  In the meantime, don’t any of you leave town,” Detective Stern insisted. 

Chapter Sixteen

“That was awful,” Chloe said. 

“As bad as it was for you, imagine what it was like for Hank Hammond,” Daisy replied. 

Chloe grimaced.  “What a way to go too.  An extreme end to an extreme life.”

“Believe it or not, I’ve seen worse,” Daisy said. 

“Really?”

Daisy nodded.  “Much worse.”

“Wow.  That’s depressing.”

Daisy started flashing back to the various cases she’d solved over the last year and a half.  There were some doozies.  Yikes.  What an interesting eighteen months it had been in her life. 

While Daisy had far more experience with this sort of thing than she wanted to, Chloe was in a different boat.  This was her first time on a murder scene.  She was handling it exactly how one would expect—poorly.  Chloe was a complete basket case.  She had zero control over her emotions. 

Daisy’s heart went out to her.  Daisy had felt exactly the same way when she saw her first murder victim.  So even though Daisy’s natural instinct was to try and start piecing together the puzzle of who killed Hank Hammond, she knew her friend needed comfort. 

Daisy leaned forward and gave Chloe a hug. 

“It’s going to be ok,” Daisy said. 

“That’s easy for you to say.  You’re not a suspect,” Chloe replied. 

Amazingly enough, with all the cases Daisy had solved, with all her sleuthing experience, there was one thing that was not part of her resume.  No one had ever considered her a suspect.  She hoped she never experienced that dubious honor. 

In the meantime, she had to find a way to calm Chloe down. 

Chloe’s voice cracked as she continued.  “It’s one thing to write about something like this.  It’s another to actually go through it in real life.”

“Trust me, being at a murder scene never gets easier.”

“I’ll take your word for that.  I don’t ever want to experience this again.  I don’t even want to be going through this now.”

“Look, I’ve never been a suspect before, but I do have plenty of experience solving cases.  Don’t worry, I’m going to make sure you’re not a suspect for long,” Daisy insisted. 

“How are you going to do that?”

“By finding the real killer.”

“Good luck.  There are so many people to choose from.”

Daisy nodded.  “All with no alibis.  I’d say that’s surprising to me, but open and shut, one suspect, clear cut murder cases are hard to come by.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  That would be too easy.”

“Well, this case is a little too hard for my liking,” Chloe replied. 

“Maybe there’s one way you can make it easier.”

“How?”

“You don’t still have your wristband from last night, do you?”

“I was actually wondering that myself.  I thought I’d put it in my purse after taking it off yesterday, but I just checked and it’s not there,” Chloe said. 

“Is there a chance it’s back at your apartment?” Daisy asked. 

Chloe thought about it.  “I actually might have thrown it out.”

“Let’s just go back to your apartment and check the garbage then.”

Chloe grimaced.  “Just one problem.  I threw my trash in the dumpster this morning.  It was getting really stinky.”

“Is there a chance the garbage truck hasn’t come by to pick up the trash at your apartment complex yet?”

Chloe shrugged her shoulders.  “I don’t know.”

“Let’s go find out,” Daisy suggested. 

***

Before they had a chance to leave the scene, Trevor Webster approached Chloe. 

“Rough morning, huh?” Trevor said. 

“Yeah.  Tell me about it,” Chloe replied. 

Trevor smiled at Chloe. 

“It’s good to see you again.  It’s just a shame that it’s under these circumstances,” Trevor added.  He gazed in her eyes and kept smiling.  He actually seemed to be flirting with Chloe. 

“Yeah.  This is pretty much a worst case scenario.  Although last night wasn’t much better.”

“Things got a little out of hand, didn’t they?”

Daisy stepped in.  “Speaking of, I couldn’t help but notice you running out of the hotel after getting into a big fight with Hank Hammond in the lobby last night.  What were you two fighting about?”

That put Trevor back on his heels.  “It was just a work disagreement.”

Daisy pressed on.  “What kind of a work disagreement?”

Trevor then turned back to Chloe. 

“Can I talk to you alone for a second?” Trevor wondered. 

Daisy wasn’t about to let that happen.  “Actually Chloe, we should be going.  We have that thing to do back at your apartment complex.”

Chloe was distracted looking into Trevor’s eyes. 

“Uh, yeah,” Chloe mumbled, still gazing at Trevor. 

“Chloe, we really have to go,” Daisy insisted. 

Daisy then dragged Chloe away. 

Trevor made sure to get in the last word.  “All right.  We’ll talk later then.”