A Fatal Visit (A Harbor Cove Cozy Mystery Book 1) (2 page)

Chapter Three

Harbor Cove’s police station had a beige reception and only two small, square windows allowing muted sunlight into the foyer. Momma Avery burst through the doors with purpose.

She strode to the front desk. “I
believe
you have some money that belongs to me. I would like it back, please.”

“You must be Mary Beth Avery.” He looked up at them through his thick black hair. “Hello, Skyler.”

She offered him a small wave. “Hello, Malcolm.”

Speaking to Momma Avery, he said, “If I could see some identification and get some signatures, we’ll be all good to go.”

She thrust her driver’s license at him and pulled the clipboard out of his hand to sign his forms.

“Ridiculous bureaucracy,” she muttered with a scowl.

“Just keeping your money safe, ma’am.” She pushed the clipboard back at him. “I’ll have your money in a few moments.”

“We’ll be seeing Bryson too.” It was a statement.

He nodded. “I’ll arrange it.”

Turning, he went into the office behind the counter, and they could hear the murmur of conversation as he spoke to one of his fellow officers. Momma Avery was silently seething, and Skyler was tapping her fingers on the desk. An officer walked past them and waved to Skyler, and she smiled and returned the gesture. Momma Avery sent a questioning look in her direction, and she shrugged and grinned in response.

Malcolm returned to them, a different clipboard in his hand. “You can see Bryson in five minutes or so. He’s talking to one of our investigators right now.”

“Malcolm, do you…” Skyler hesitated for a moment. “Do you or the officers on the case think that Bryson was trying to steal money from the restaurant?”

“That
is
what it seems like.” He tried to arrange his boyish face into a sympathetic expression. It faltered under the glare from Skyler’s mother.

“Because Bryson would be desperate enough to want to rob the restaurant?” Momma Avery’s tone was accusing.

Malcolm held his hands up. “That’s not everything we’re basing his arrest on!”

Skyler quirked an eyebrow. “You know something, Malcolm?”

He glanced around him. The station’s entrance was nearly empty: a coffee machine dripped, there was a muted conversation somewhere behind Malcolm and his computer whirred.

He lowered his voice and spoke. “Security cameras saw him enter the room minutes before Chase did. We have a witness claiming they saw Bryson leaving the bathroom before the discovery of the body, looking nervous and red in the face.”

“You’ve made a mistake!” Momma Avery insisted, somewhat too loudly.

Skyler frowned and pulled out her phone. She then thrust it into Malcolm’s face. “That’s inconclusive. There’s another door to the bathroom. Someone
else
could have entered.”

“The staff we questioned insisted that that door is always locked. And that the camera by it doesn’t work.” He paused, scratched his head. “When we found him, he was walking down the street saying that he’d done a crazy thing!” he retorted.

Skyler countered. “That doesn’t mean that he
killed
someone.”

He sighed again. “Don’t push too hard, Skyler.” He looked at his watch. “Should be ready for you. Follow me.”

He led them to a small room. Three plastic chairs were arranged in it, and a black panic strip ran along the grey walls. The lighting was dim, and the room smelled damp. Bryson was brought into the room by an officer. His blond hair was tied back and he wore blue board shorts and a dirty grey tank top, which had probably been white at one point. Eyes downcast, he didn’t speak. He shuffled to a seat and sat down. Skyler wavered for a moment and sat down opposite. Momma Avery put a hand on his shoulder.

“Bryson, my dear, are you okay?” She spoke softly.

He shrugged, not taking his eyes off the floor.

“I know you didn’t do it, dear,” she assured him. “And Skyler does too. We’re going to prove it.”

“They have to let me out later today.” His voice was a dry rasp. “They don’t have the evidence to keep me in here, apparently.” He looked up at them, blue eyes bloodshot and rimmed in red. “I didn’t see Chase in the bathroom. Or any money. I didn’t see anything.”

All were silent for a moment. Then Skyler spoke slowly. “I was told…by one of the officers out front, he said that you were recorded coming out of the bathroom, and that you looked pretty shaken.” He didn’t respond. “Could you tell me why, Bryson?”

He flicked his eyes to Momma Avery, who nodded as if to reassure him. He took a breath and spoke. “Before I dropped the uniforms off, I took a detour, hit the surf. I had a nasty spill, swallowed some sea water. By the time I’d reached the bathroom I was feeling pretty sick. So I headed to the bathroom, threw up, and left.”

Skyler frowned. “You didn’t notice anything strange?”

He shook his head. “Well, the chef had been in there and he said he was making a cake with pepper, but I don’t think that rates right now.”

“A cake with pepper?” Momma Avery looked offended at the notion.

“Chocolate chili. I—”

A stern-looking officer entered the room and informed them that Bryson’s time was up.

“Thanks, guys. I appreciate you trying to help.” His mouth twitched at the corners, but his expression still sagged downward. He left the room, shoes dragging across the floor.

Momma Avery watched Skyler hop down the steps from the square, grey building that was the police station. Ugly place, she decided. The flat roof gave the impression of it simply being a large box.

“I’ve been eating at that restaurant for ten years, and
never
have I heard of something as ridiculous as a chocolate chili cake!” she exclaimed.

Skyler looked confused. “It does seem a little odd. I guess.”

“A little? That chef is up to something!”

“Because of the cake?” Skyler asked.

“Because of the cake!” Momma Avery’s mouth was set in a hard line, and her fists were clenched. “I say we go to the restaurant, order this
cake
and find out what’s been going on!”

“Surely that would take time away from the investigat—” Skyler stopped mid-sentence at the force of her mother’s glare. “Well. To the restaurant it is, I suppose.”

With that, Momma Avery strode off down the street, and Skyler lagged behind her.

Chapter Four

“No bathroom access. Though I suppose that was to be expected.” Nichole sat down as she spoke.

Momma Avery had just finished and placed her knife and fork on the plate. Skyler was tapping her fingers on the table. The restaurant was quiet. Three other tables had diners, and the serving staff were waiting restlessly. Outside, the sky was grey, flecks of rain dotting the windows.

Momma Avery wiped her mouth with a napkin, a frown evident on her face. “It would
appear
that there is no chocolate chili cake on the menu. When the waiter comes over we shall tell him that we want three pieces of it, and when we are told it isn’t on the menu? I shall be going
straight
to the chef to complain.” She paused and placed the dirty napkin on her plate. “I will make him squeal.”

Nichole gave her a quizzical look. “How…how is the spicy cake relevant to the cake? I mean…case.” Her face flushed. “I really want some cake.”

Skyler could only offer a shrug as she looked at her phone. “I’m trusting Mom’s intuition on this one.” Her mother’s mouth turned up into a half smile. “Just try not to mention the murder. If the murderer is on staff we don’t want to raise their suspicions.”

“Have no fear, ladies! We discussed a scene
just like this
in my book club. I know exactly how this is going to go.”

The two younger women shared an eye roll, and Nichole watched the coming waiter with sympathy.

“Young man”—Momma Avery’s voice was saccharine-sweet—“our meal was delightful.”

He smiled. “I’m glad. Can I get you any desserts?”

“Yes, dear. Three slices of the chocolate chili cake.”

He looked confused. “Sorry, ma’am. We don’t serve that here.”

Her smile turned to acid. Skyler winced. Her mother’s response was a terse “Excuse me?”

“We…we don’t serve that item here.” His eyes searched between Nichole and Skyler.

“What do you mean you don’t serve that item here?” The anger rose in her voice. “It was on the menu yesterday.” She stood.

He held up his hands in a placatory gesture. “I can speak to the chef. Perhaps—”

“
Perhaps
”—her voice was a shade higher than talking level—“I shall speak to him myself!”

Stepping past him, she strode toward the kitchen. He followed close behind, trying to calm her with offers of free desert, then a free meal, perhaps she would like a reserved table for the next month? The offers bounced from her ears and fell to the floor. Nichole quickly slipped their payment onto the table and then she and Skyler followed behind, ducking away to the bathroom while Momma Avery riled up the majority of the restaurant’s staff.

“Your mother is amazing, Skyler,” Nichole remarked as they stepped into the bathroom. “This smell however, is not.” She held her nose. There was a distinctly moldy smell. “It’s worse than the ladies! I thought this was a nice restaurant.”

“Perhaps I’ll write a review and make a comment about bathroom cleanliness.” She paused. “I suppose ‘scene of a murder’ is bad enough for business.” Skyler flicked searching eyes around the room. The paint was peeling in places, and some of the metal pipes were rusted. “I hadn’t noticed just how rundown this bathroom is yesterday. At least they scrubbed the stains off…” She trailed off, her gaze fixed on the bin.

“Something up? Or do you just really like that bin you’re staring at?”

Skyler walked over to the bin. “All these tissues stuffed in here…if the bathrooms are out of use…”

Her hand hovered over the bin. One at time she pulled tissues out until she noticed something blinking underneath them. Thrusting her hand in and scattering tissues, she found it clasped around something plastic. Her mother’s voice reverberated through the wall. Grimacing as she shook a sticky tissue off her hand, Skyler pulled a phone from the bin.

“Well, is this really the kind of service I can expect?” Her mother’s voice screeched.

Nichole inched the door open. “Might want to hurry up, Skyler. I think your mother is going to get thrown out of here pretty—oh crap.” She quickly pushed the door closed. “I think someone saw me.”

“Just a sec…” The phone flickered to life. The background was a picture of three people. A woman, with close-cropped blond hair, a little girl and Chase Myers.

“Come on, Skyler!”

“Coming!”

They exited the bathroom to hear someone shout, “Hey! You’re not supposed to be in there!”

The women ran past her as Momma Avery exited the kitchen. Skyler grabbed her hand.

“Think it’s time to go, Mom!”

After running a ways down the path, they stopped. Nichole and Momma Avery were bent over, breathing heavily. Skyler was grinning and began to chuckle.

“I fail…to see…what part of that…was funny.” Nichole stood as she spoke. “Seriously, let’s not do that again.”

“You didn’t enjoy it a little bit?” Skyler teased.

Nichole glared at her. “Running is evil.”

Momma Avery stood to address the other two women while Nichole and Skyler sat at the kitchen table.

“Clues?” Clue poked her head up from under the table and Skyler chuckled. “Well, ladies?”

Skyler scratched the dog’s head and offered, “The weapon: a solid gold quill.”

“The inheritance debacle; who the money was going to might create motive,” Nichole added. “And once we get this phone unlocked, we have an extra clue right there.”

Momma Avery nodded and sat down at the table. “There’s that chef, too. Something odd is going on there.”

Nichole rolled her eyes. “Back to the phone. The fact that it had been discarded is something to take into account when we examine it. Someone may have been trying to hide something.” She paused, taking a bite from a cookie that was on a plate in front of her. “Well, I mean, we found it in a bin. So, that’s almost a definite.”

Skyler chuckled and stood. “Someone needs fed.” Clue stood and wagged her tail.

“Indeed. I’m quite late for dinner myself. I’m cooking for the neighbors this evening,” Momma Avery announced, standing once more. She gave both girls a kiss on the cheek and flounced out the door.

“She knows
I’m
not her daughter, right?” Nichole said, grimacing.

Skyler mockingly pouted at her as she opened a can of dogfood. “Aww, big bad Nichole isn’t enjoying the affection?”

Nichole sighed. “Well, I’m going to head to my room. I think we need to plan for every possibility, and there’s some chance that Bryson could get hauled down to the station again. I don’t wanna be left unprepared.”

After jabbing a soft elbow in Skyler’s direction, she left the room. Skyler set Clue’s bowl down on the floor. She wolfed down the food in what seemed like three bites and then sat by the back door, looking back at her owner.

“What?” Skyler asked her. Her tailed twitched. “You want out?” The tail flickered. “Come on, then.”