Ice Cream with a Side of Danger Read online

  “That’s a safe assumption. I doubt that we’ll ever find that phone.”

  “You’re probably right. But the mere fact that the killer felt the need to grab the phone on the way out is an important detail of its own. For example, it makes me believe that Walter knew his killer personally. And that perhaps the two spoke on the phone a few times. Or texted each other.”

  “I was thinking the same thing.”

  “Which makes me wonder, how many people in Walter’s personal life had a reason to want him dead?”

  “I don’t have an answer for you right now. But I intend to find out,” David said.

  “In the meantime, do you have any other leads?” I asked.

  He nodded. “A few.”

  “Are any of them especially promising?”

  David pointed at the front door. “Why don’t I tell you about them in the car?”

  Chapter Four

  Even though David was eager to head out, there was something I needed to do before I could dive into the case. Surprisingly, it didn’t involve having a good cry. Now, don’t get me wrong. I was an absolute emotional mess right then. But for some reason, I didn’t break into tears. My eyes actually stayed completely dry. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t crying my eyes out. Rather than trying to solve that mystery, I shifted my focus to a different matter.

  In about five hours, my daughter, Jessica, would be getting out of school. The odds were that David and I would still be knee-deep in this case when it was time for Jessica to be picked up. Instead of dropping everything to drive Jessica home, I wanted to arrange some alternative transportation for her.

  I knew just who to turn to for help.

  I grabbed my phone and called my parents’ house, expecting to hear my mother’s voice on the other end of the line. In reality, it was my stepfather, Luke, who ended up answering the phone.

  “Good morning,” Luke said.

  My forehead wrinkled as I replied, “What are you doing home?”

  “I don’t have any inspections scheduled for today, so it looks like I’m getting the day off.”

  “No home inspections, huh? What a rarity.”

  “I know. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, I take full advantage of my relaxation time,” Luke said. “Anyway, how are things going with you?”

  “Not great,” I said.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Luke said.

  “Is mom home?” I asked.

  “Yes, but she can’t talk at the moment.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because she’s in the shower. Do you want me to take a message for her?”

  “No. I was actually going to ask for a favor. But it’s time sensitive.”

  “In that case, maybe I can help you. Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “I hate to ask you this on your day off—”

  He interrupted me. “You know I’m always here for you. Now, what do you need?”

  “I was wondering if you could pick up Jessica from school today and then watch her for a few hours.”

  “Of course.”

  “Thank you so much. You’re a lifesaver.”

  “It’s no problem.”

  “I owe you one.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Especially since you seem to be concerned enough already,” Luke said.

  My stepfather’s comment caught me by surprise. I hadn’t mentioned a word about Walter’s death to him. Which led me to wonder, how did he know that I was wrestling with big problems?

  Before I could ask him that very question, my stepfather spoke up again.

  “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Luke asked.

  “And here I thought I was the one with great instincts in this family.”

  “I guess you’re rubbing off on the rest of us. Both in terms of instincts and perseverance. Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on? Or are you going to make me ask you again?”

  I told him the devastating news about Walter.

  After taking a moment of silence to process the news, Luke responded with a heavy heart.

  “I am so sorry for your loss,” Luke said. “That is absolutely terrible.”

  “It truly is,” I replied.

  “I can’t even imagine what you’re going through right now. This must be so tough for you.”

  “It sure is. Which is why I can use all the help I can get.”

  “Well, just say the word. If there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know.”

  “Trust me. Picking Jessica up from school and keeping her safe is a huge help.”

  “The way I see it, that’s the least I can do,” Luke said.

  “That’s what makes you such a great stepfather. You’re always there for me.”

  “And I always will be.”

  “I know. That’s why you’re so special,” I said. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Luke said. “Now, be careful out there.”

  Chapter Five

  It was such a relief knowing that my daughter was in good hands. That meant I didn’t need to spend time worrying about her. Instead, I could focus all of my attention on this investigation.

  With that in mind, David and I headed over to the morgue. Even though my husband thought it would be better for my mental health if I didn’t look at Walter’s body, I wanted to see the corpse anyway.

  Would it be a heart wrenching experience? Absolutely. At the same time, I also felt it was necessary. Not just from an investigative standpoint. Also, from a personal one. I just wanted to see my father one last time. There were some things that I needed to get off of my chest.

  As I stared at Walter’s corpse, a flurry of emotions took hold of me. I felt like I was going to break into tears right then and there. So, when my eyes remained dry, I became thoroughly confused. It just didn’t make sense. Then again, very little about this situation added up.

  Rather than focusing on why I didn’t shed a single tear, I decided to dedicate a moment of silence to Walter. After that, I tried to sort out my feelings.

  Of course, there was the undercurrent of shock. That probably wouldn’t go away anytime soon. This was a crazy turn of events, even for a town as wacky as Treasure Cove.

  I also found myself wrestling with a terrible sense of irony. The day before, I had avoided speaking with Walter. Little did I realize that I would never see him alive again. Even more, now that he was dead, I suddenly had all sorts of things that I wanted to get off of my chest.

  Rather than keeping my feelings bottled up any longer, I opened my mouth and let my thoughts spill out.

  “I can’t help but think about how things ended between us. It’s so unfortunate how things turned out. Deep down, I know that I’m always going to be heartbroken when I think about what you did to me,” I said.

  I then switched gears.

  “At the same time, regardless of how you behaved, you didn’t deserve to die. Your life should not have been cut so tragically short. It’s an absolute travesty what happened to you.”

  As my pulse quickened, I had to take a deep breath to calm myself down.

  “I don’t know who was behind this, but I promise you, I’m not going to stop until I discover the truth. Your killer will be apprehended, if it’s the last thing I do.”

  Chapter Six

  Once we left the morgue, David drove me over to the crime scene. The forensics team had already done a complete sweep of Walter’s apartment, but I wanted to see the place for myself. Not because I thought the forensics team had missed anything. It was more because I wanted to be able to visualize exactly what had taken place there.

  As I scanned Walter’s cramped apartment, I didn’t say a word. My mind was incredibly active, however. I went over each detail that David had shared with me about the case.

  According to the medical examiner, Walter died sometime between nine and ten o’clock last night. The current theory was that the killer entered the unit through Walter�
�s bedroom window and then snuck up behind him.

  Once the murderer made their way into the living room, they stabbed Walter in the back. At that point, the killer grabbed Walter’s phone before heading back into the bedroom. From there, the murderer crawled out the bedroom window before dashing away.

  While I went through Walter’s apartment, I didn’t see any pieces of evidence to dispute that theory. Instead, I was struck by how well the killer had covered their tracks. The forensics team wasn’t able to find any fingerprints on the murder weapon. Nor were there any prints on Walter’s windowsill. That made me believe that the murderer was wearing gloves.

  In addition, no one in this apartment complex reported hearing any screams coming from this unit, which led me to believe that the murderer did not say a word to Walter before killing him.

  All told, evidence was in short supply at the scene. Especially since Walter’s phone was missing.

  That said, David was able to uncover a couple of leads. The first was a work uniform that was hanging in Walter’s closet. Next was a matchbook that was discovered in the pocket of Walter’s work uniform. The matchbook had a logo on it that read “McLarsen’s Bar.” Those certainly weren’t the biggest of leads, but they were better than nothing.

  After I finished scanning the apartment, I stared off into the distance for a few moments.

  When an extra ten seconds had passed without me saying a word, David decided to pull my head out of the clouds.

  “What’s the verdict?” he asked. “Do you need more time to look around?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’ve seen enough.”

  “In that case, we have some interviews to conduct.”

  “All right,” I said. “Let’s get down to business.”

  Chapter Seven

  David and I left Walter’s apartment and headed over to an office that belonged to Kenneth Gilroy. Kenneth was a chubby gray-haired sixty-two-year-old. He looked like he had once been a roadie for a rock band who had finally decided to settle down and get a more stable gig.

  As my husband and I entered Mr. Gilroy’s office, Kenneth was chewing on a toothpick. “I still can’t believe what a nightmare this is.”

  “It certainly is,” David said.

  “I hope you find whoever is responsible for this. And fast,” Kenneth replied.

  “That’s the plan,” David said. “It’s also why I’m here talking to you.”

  Kenneth’s nose scrunched. “I’m not following you. I already gave you a statement.”

  “I know. I just have a few follow up questions for you.”

  Kenneth grimaced. “You aren’t going to make me go over everything again, are you? It was bad enough discovering Walter’s body without having to describe the awful details to you a second time.”

  “Mr. Gilroy, this isn’t regarding your discovery of the corpse. I’m here to ask you about something else entirely.”

  Kenneth shrugged. “Like what?”

  “To start, was Walter having trouble with any of his neighbors?”

  Kenneth shook his head. “Not that I know of.”

  “So, while he was living here, no one filed any complaints against him?” David asked.

  “Nope.”

  “How about visitors?” David said. “Did you see anyone memorable coming and going from his apartment in the last few days?”

  “Honestly, as far as I know, he never had a single visitor.”

  David’s eyes widened. “Really?”

  “Then again, it wasn’t like I was keeping track of his every move,” Kenneth said.

  “No. Of course not.”

  “If he did have any visitors, they definitely didn’t stand out.”

  “That’s good to know,” David said. “Moving on, I would like to talk about his lease application for a moment. Especially the emergency contact section. Would you mind telling me what name he listed?”

  Kenneth’s eyebrows rose. “It’s interesting that you mention that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he left that section blank.”

  David’s forehead wrinkled. “That’s strange.”

  It was more than just odd. In my mind, it was also really sad. According to what Walter had told me, he had lived in Oakhill Junction for around twenty-six years. In all that time, there wasn’t a single person in his life that was close enough to him to be added as an emergency contact?

  That wasn’t the only detail that stuck out to me. During the time that Walter had applied for this lease, he was trying to reconcile with me. So, why hadn’t he penciled my name in as his emergency contact? Three possible explanations popped into my mind. First, maybe he didn’t believe that the reconciliation would go well. Second, perhaps he was never truly serious about reconnecting with me. Finally, there was a chance that he believed he wouldn’t find himself in an emergency situation during his time in Treasure Cove.

  Ultimately, I realized that I would probably never find out why he left that portion of the lease application blank. For the sake of this investigation, I just wished that he had written a single name down. In doing so, it could have provided a great lead. Instead, David and I weren’t given any additional info to work with.

  My husband didn’t give up, however. He had another question to ask Kenneth.

  “How about the referral section of his application? Did he list any names there?” David said.

  Kenneth nodded. “One.”

  “Who?”

  “Charley Hargrove. His boss at Oakhill Junction Hardware.”

  Once again, I was taken by surprise. After all his years of living in Oakhill Junction, Walter was only able to provide one name as a referral? I could think of at least half a dozen names of people to list as a referral for me. Apparently, Walter wasn’t able to do the same. Or for whatever reason, he chose not to provide additional info.

  Regardless of the explanation, one thing became quite clear. Even though David and I had plenty of questions about Walter’s life, Kenneth didn’t have any other details to share with us. So, rather than spending more time talking to Kenneth, my husband and I moved on.

  Chapter Eight

  After leaving Kenneth’s office, David called Oakhill Junction Hardware. Unfortunately, the boss had not arrived yet. My husband gave his phone number to one of the floor workers. Hopefully, the manager would show up at the hardware store soon and call David back.

  In the meantime, my husband and I tried to dig up some more leads. That involved us taking a trip over to Baranski’s Hardware on Cedar Avenue. That local Treasure Cove hardware store was where Walter was employed at the time of his death.

  As soon as we arrived at the store, David and I figured it would be a good idea to speak with the owner of the store, Greg Baranski.

  It turned out that Mr. Baranski was more than just Walter’s employer. The tall and bald seventy-one-year-old was an old friend of Walter’s. In fact, the two had gone to school together at Treasure Cove High a number of decades ago.

  Apparently, when Walter left town over forty years ago, Greg and Walter didn’t stay in the best of touch. It wasn’t because Walter had left on bad terms though. According to Greg, they just drifted apart and didn’t contact each other nearly as much as they wanted.

  When Walter returned to town a few months back, they decided to try and make up for lost time. That began with Greg giving Walter a job at the hardware store.

  The longer David and I spoke with Greg, the more we realized what a chatty guy he was. That made it more important to zero-in on specific subjects.

  One in particular stood out to David. “How much did Walter tell you about his time in Oakhill Junction?”

  “Surprisingly, not a whole lot,” Greg said.

  “Really?” David asked.

  Greg nodded. “He didn’t seem all that interested in talking about his time away from Treasure Cove.”

  “Didn’t that strike you as odd?”

  “A little bit. But I didn’t press it. I figured he’d
get to it in time.”

  “If he didn’t talk about the past, then what did he discuss with you?”

  “Work.”

  “Is that all?”

  Greg shook his head. “No. He also spent a good deal of his time discussing the future. He really wanted to look ahead. Which makes it even sadder that he’s gone now.”

  “This is certainly a tragedy. Which is why we’re doing everything in our power to bring the killer to justice,” I said.

  “It also brings me back to the subject of Walter’s past,” David said. “Mr. Baranski, can you think of anyone who had a reason to want him dead?”

  “No,” Greg said.

  “He didn’t mention any enemies from his years in Oakhill Junction?” David asked.

  Greg shook his head.

  “How about his short time back in Treasure Cove? Was he having problems with anyone, either privately or professionally?”

  “I don’t know that you’d call him an enemy, but Tom Dresden didn’t exactly have the best relationship with Walter,” Greg said.

  “What problems did Walter have with Tom?” David asked.

  “Actually, it was Tom who had a problem with Walter,” Greg said. “You see, ever since Tom started working here a few years ago, he has been eyeing an assistant manager position. So, when Walter came back to town and I gave him the position that Tom wanted, Tom did not take the news well.”

  “How poorly did Mr. Dresden take the news exactly?” David asked.

  “Pretty badly. To the point where I think he still feels burned by my decision,” Greg said.

  David scratched his chin. “Very interesting.”

  “By the way, why did you elect to give Walter the assistant manager position over Tom in the first place?” I asked.

  “That’s simple,” Greg said. “Walter had a number of years of management experience at a previous job.”

  “You mean, his job at Oakhill Junction Hardware?” David asked.

  Greg nodded.

  “Did Walter’s old boss give him a good reference?” David said.