Daisy McDare And The Deadly Secret Affair (Daisy McDare Cozy Creek Mystery Book 7) (9 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

After the incident with Trevor at the restaurant, Daisy knew she had to proceed with caution.  She didn’t want to get hurt.  Unfortunately, putting herself in harm’s way was often necessary when trying to crack a case.  The good news was that Daisy could tell she was getting closer to finding the killer.  She could feel it.  The more the suspects became unhinged, the better the chance there was of one of them cracking. 

Daisy’s search to find the truth took her to Blissful Tranquility Day Spa.  Chloe had dug up online that Lindsay Donohue was getting a deep tissue massage.  Daisy just had to wait outside now for Lindsay to come out of the building. 

Thirty-five minutes later, Lindsay came out of the spa looking completely relaxed.  The smile on her face wouldn’t last long however.  Things were about to get very tense. 

“Lindsay Donohue, just the woman I’ve been looking for,” Daisy said. 

Lindsay turned around, expecting to see someone she knew.  Instead, she saw Daisy standing there. 

“Uh, ok.  That’s weird,” Lindsay replied. 

“Do you know who I am?” Daisy asked. 

Lindsay looked closely at Daisy.  A vague look of recognition crossed her face. 

“Weren’t you at the launch party last night?”

“I was, and I saw some pretty interesting things,” Daisy said. 

Lindsay didn’t like where this conversation was going.  She cut right to the chase. 

“What do you want?” Lindsay asked. 

“The truth, which surprisingly is in short supply today.”

Lindsay looked to make a quick exit from the conversation.  “I uh, have somewhere else I really need to be.”

“Don’t worry.  This will only take a moment.”

“I told you I don’t have time.”

Daisy knew something that would stop her dead in her tracks.  “Trevor Webster told me if I want to find Hank Hammond’s killer, you’d be the person to ask.  Do you know why he’d say that?”

Lindsay became enraged.  “He actually said that?”

Daisy nodded. 

Lindsay groaned.  “That sleaze ball.”

“Do you know why he’d say that?”

“Isn’t it obvious?  He’s trying to throw the blame off himself.”

“You could be right--”

“I am right.  You don’t know Trevor like I do.  He gets obsessive about things in the worst kind of way,” Lindsay said. 

“Is there a good way to obsess about things?” Daisy wondered. 

“What I mean is, he expects to get his way.  So when he doesn’t, let’s just say he doesn’t take rejection well.”

“Who does take it well?  Rejection is brutal.  Do you take it well?”

“This isn’t about me.  Look, Trevor hated Hank to begin with.  So when he found out I had a thing for Hank instead of him, it threw Trevor over the edge,” Lindsay explained. 

“It’s that simple, huh?  That cut and dried?”

Lindsay nodded.  “Not to mention Trevor has a lousy alibi.”

Everyone seemed to be eager to point fingers.  Daisy thought it was time to point a finger at Lindsay. 

“So did you.  And you had more than just a thing for Hank.  You were sleeping with him.  In fact, you were so into him that when you found out Hank was sleeping with Olivia Connors too, you went out of your mind.  I saw it last night, and I’m seeing it right now,” Daisy said. 

Lindsay’s relaxed look of happiness was long gone.  She was now livid.  That temper wasn’t doing her any favors.  It certainly didn’t make her look innocent. 

“How dare you accuse me of murder,” Lindsay said. 

“Really?  You have a killer motive and a lousy alibi.”

“So do a bunch of suspects.”

“You keep deflecting,” Daisy said. 

“Because I didn’t do it.”

“That’s questionable.  You know, I’ve been wondering what’s worse, not being able to sleep your way to the top, or finding out the man who was cheating with you was also cheating on you.”

Lindsay went into another rage.  Daisy expected to have to pull the pepper spray out of her purse.  Instead, Lindsay took a deep breath and calmed herself down. 

“I know what you’re trying to do, but it’s not going to work,” Lindsay said. 

Lindsay started backing away. 

“What are you talking about?” Daisy replied. 

“We’re done here,” Lindsay said. 

Lindsay then ran off to her car in the parking lot.  Daisy could chase her, but it wouldn’t do much good.  Lindsay had gotten wise to Daisy’s tactics, and Daisy didn’t have the information she needed to get a confession. 

Daisy would have to take some time and regroup.  It had been a busy day.  There was so much to process. 

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Unfortunately, as Daisy walked back to her car, she realized she was about to have her own hurdles to overcome.  Surprisingly, Detective Stern was waiting at Daisy’s car. 

“Detective Stern, what a surprise to see you here,” Daisy said. 

“You’ve had a busy day,” Detective Stern replied. 

“That’s one way of putting it.”

“Here’s another way of putting it.  You’re interfering with my investigation.”

“How’s your investigation going, by the way?” Daisy asked.

“That’s none of your business,” Detective Stern replied. 

“Hey, we both want the same thing.”

“No.  What I want is for you to stay away from this case.”

“I’d be happy to let this case go.”

“Good.”

“As soon as I figure out who the killer is,” Daisy said. 

“Are you not listening to me?” Detective Stern replied. 

“You’re clearly not listening to me.  We could really help each other here.”

“You do realize I could arrest you for interfering with an investigation?”

“I know.  But why would you waste time with that when you have a murderer to catch?”

“Don’t push me,” Detective Stern said. 

Daisy looked into his eyes.  The detective meant business. 

Daisy sighed.  “All right.  I’ll do it your way for now.  But I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other again very soon.”

***

After confronting the last suspect, Daisy needed a breather.  She decided to check in with her cousin Addison.  By the looks of it, Addison had a doozy of a shift at the restaurant.  This called for some serious relaxation. 

“How was your day?” Addison wondered. 

Daisy sighed.  “Don’t ask.”

“That good, huh?”

“Why don’t you tell me about your day instead?”

“Uh oh.  Sounds like someone needs some chocolate ice cream.”

“If you’re going to break it out anyway, I won’t turn down a bowl,” Daisy said. 

“Are you kidding?  After the day I had at work, I could eat the whole carton myself,” Addison replied. 

“What happened?”

“I cannot get a record contract fast enough.”

“I meant, what happened at the restaurant?”

“There was this huge blow up at work,” Addison said. 

“Did one of the customers make a big stink?” Daisy asked. 

Addison shook her head.  “It was actually the employees going at it.”

“About what?”

“Remember Benji Gifford, the tattooed slacker that showed up late yesterday?” Addison said. 

Daisy nodded.  “Yeah.  His parents own the place, right?”

“They do.  Well, Benji’s older brother Willard is the front end manager.  Benji and Willard are always at each other’s throats.  Willard thinks his younger brother is nothing but a no good slacker, while Benji thinks his older brother is a stuck up stiff.”

“Sibling rivalry is hardly anything new.”

“No, but usually sibling rivalry doesn’t clear out a crowded restaurant.  Their dislike of each other is always simmering just under the surface, but today it boiled over,” Addison said.

“How?” Daisy asked. 

“Benji showed up late again, so Willard told him he was suspending him.  After that, all bets were off.  Benji went off on him.  The twenty plus years of resentment he’d been holding onto as a younger brother came out all at once.  Benji said that Willard didn’t know what it was like growing up in the shadow of a brother that got all the credit and never any blame.  Benji complained that he felt invisible.  Willard countered by saying Benji never did anything that deserved any credit.  That with Benji’s behavior, he was lucky to have a job,” Addison revealed. 

Daisy’s mind started swirling as she listened to Addison’s story.

Addison continued.  “Then tempers flared over, and Benji threw a punch at his brother in the middle of the restaurant.  They started wrestling with each other, knocking into tables.  It was crazy.  The whole restaurant cleared out.”

Addison expected a reaction from Daisy, but didn’t get any.  Instead, Daisy seemed to be completely lost in thought. 

After a few moments, Addison tried to get her cousin’s attention. 

“Daisy, are you even listening to me?” Addison asked. 

Suddenly, Daisy pulled her head from the clouds.  Her face lit up.  Everything came together all at once.  It was like a light bulb had gone off in her head, all triggered by Addison’s story. 

Like that, Daisy sprang up from her seat. 

“That’s it,” Daisy said. 

Addison meanwhile was thoroughly confused.

“What is?” Addison asked. 

Daisy smiled.  “I know who killed Hank Hammond.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Now that Daisy knew who the killer was, she had to track that person down and get a confession.  She called up Chloe and had her friend do a little social media reconnaissance.  That led Daisy to Paulie’s Tavern on Granville Street. 

Daisy waited for Jonah Ball to exit the bar.  When he did, Daisy confronted him. 

Jonah never saw Daisy coming.   

“It’s funny that it’s all going down here at Paulie’s Tavern, the place you said you were last night just before the murder occurred,” Daisy said. 

Jonah turned around.  The moment he saw Daisy, he groaned. 

“Not you again,” Jonah replied. 

“Only here’s the thing, you weren’t here last night at all,” Daisy continued. 

“What are you talking about?”

“You were at the hotel the whole night, right up until Hank left the party.”

Jonah stared her down.  “You’re crazy.”

Daisy shook her head.  “No, I’m right.  You wanted everyone to believe you’d left the party and the hotel, then came here.  But that’s not actually what happened.”

Jonah was losing his temper.  “You think you know everything, but you can’t prove anything.”

“I don’t have to.  You’ve proved it for me.”

Jonah furrowed his brow.  “Stop trying to mess with my head.”

“I’m not.  Earlier today, you pointed fingers at Trevor Webster, saying he lost his mind when it was revealed that Lindsay Donohue was Hank’s other mistress.  I started thinking about that, then it occurred to me.  You’d left the launch party by that point in the evening.  You’d already had your blow up with Hank in the lobby an hour before, and should have been well on your way to Paulie’s bar by the time Lindsay was outed as Hank’s second mistress,” Daisy explained. 

Jonah began to panic and went into denial mode.  “That still doesn’t prove anything.”

Daisy disagreed.  “It proved everything.  You never came to this bar last night.  Instead, you stayed at the hotel, lurking, watching from afar, and waiting in the shadows for Hank to finally leave the party.  Then you followed Hank back to the office, walked up behind him in the parking lot, and strangled him.”

Jonah blew his top.  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Daisy stayed calm and kept pressing.  “You worked under Hank for twenty years, always loyal, always hoping that one day you’d get your turn in the spotlight.  But it just wasn’t meant to be.  When the publishing company was doing well, you could tolerate being in the shadows, being invisible.  But when the company started failing, you decided it was your time to shine.  You were going to jump ship and finally get your due somewhere else.  So when Hank threatened to ruin your livelihood after you’d given twenty years of your professional life to him, it was too much to take, wasn’t it?”

Jonah Ball looked ready to grab Daisy in the throat and strangle her. 

“I warned you not to mess with me.  I killed Hank, and now I’m going to kill you too,” Jonah barked. 

Just then, before Jonah put his hands around Daisy’s neck, Detective Stern and a slew of police deputies came out of the shadows from a neighboring dark alley with their guns drawn. 

“Freeze,” Detective Stern demanded. 

Jonah stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that there were half a dozen guns pointed at him.  A confession spilled right out of him suddenly. 

“It’s not fair.  I deserved my own shot.  To make a name for myself.  To get my time in the spotlight.  But no, Hank wouldn’t allow that.  When he threatened to ruin me, I knew he was dead serious.  I wasn’t about to let him destroy my career, so I killed him,” Jonah said. 

“Well, you’ve made a name for yourself now, as a murderer,” Daisy replied.   

Detective Stern had heard enough.  “Cuff him, boys.”

***

With Jonah Ball in the back of the squad car, Daisy and Detective Stern had a few words for each other. 

“I told you my friend was innocent,” Daisy said. 

“What can I say?  You proved me wrong,” Detective Stern replied. 

“I’m just happy the real killer is going to be behind bars.”

“You know, that was some pretty good detective work.  Ever considered joining the force?”

“Badges don’t look good on me.  Broaches are more my style,” Daisy joked. 

For the first time, Daisy saw Detective Stern smile. 

“Besides, I like my day job,” Daisy continued.

“And what was that again?” Detective Stern asked. 

“I’m an interior decorator.”

At first, the detective thought she was joking. 

“Are you serious?” he asked. 

“As serious as a bad perm on a wedding day.”

Detective Stern shook his head.  “I can’t believe I just got outsmarted by a decorator.”

“That’s not all.  I’m an even better decorator than detective.”

“I’d have to see that to believe it.” 

“Maybe you should.  If you ever need any decorating done, you know who to call,” Daisy insisted. 

“Look at you trying to drum up business,” Stern said. 

“A woman has to make a living.”

“Sorry.  Redecorating my place is the last thing on my mind right now,” Detective Stern said. 

“What’s the first thing on your mind?” Daisy wondered. 

“Donuts,” Detective Stern replied. 

Daisy laughed.