A Pinch of Sea Salt and a Dash of Murder (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 1) (8 page)

Chapter 14

Melissa received a call from Britney late in the evening informing her that the young woman had been brought in for questioning by the police. This on top of everything else contributed to a fitful night’s sleep. Not rested at all, Melissa woke up even earlier than usual. She could hear Logan’s gentle snores coming from his room. What she really wanted to do was go for a long walk to clear her head, but with the high probability of being harassed by reporters, she settled for a large cup of coffee and some leftover marzipan to be enjoyed on her deck. It was still pitch black dark and a bit chilly so she wrapped up in her fuzzy robe.

She replayed all the events of the last couple days over and over again in her mind, trying to make sense of everything. What she knew was:

• Linda was found dead in her bakery.
  
• Someone had broken into her bakery through the back door. Was it Linda or someone else?
  
• The cash from the safe was missing as well as two particular recipe cards - Rosemary Sea Salt bread and Orange-Cranberry bread.
  
• Linda had intended to enter the Outer Banks Regional Bake-Off artisan bread contest.
  
• It seemed Linda’s primary goal had been simply to defeat Melissa in the contest out of leftover spite from high school.
  
• Linda had a picture on her home office desk from high school with Melissa’s face crossed through. Disturbing.
  
• Lloyd Stevenson was telling anyone and everyone that Melissa was guilty, although she was unaware of any evidence against her.
  
• It was rumored that Lloyd and Linda were having marital issues.
  

Nothing added up. There had to be something she was missing.

Just as the sun started to rise, Melissa’s phone rang. First it was her brother checking on Logan. He was running late to the airport for a business trip to Chicago so it was a brief chat. She really thought he would be more concerned about his son being in the midst of all this chaos.

Shortly after another call came in from her newly hired attorney, Janice. Apparently, she had been burning the midnight oil as she had more information about the case. She confirmed that Lloyd and Linda Stevenson were having problems with their marriage. The now deceased wife had hired a private detective several months ago to keep track of her husband’s whereabouts. The detective had handed over his files to the police already but kept copies for himself. Just a couple weeks ago he had presented Linda with the evidence against her husband which showed he frequented a strip club, and suspected brothel, in Nags Head. There were pictures of him coming out of the club with a bleach blonde, leggy woman.

Janice went on to add that Linda had requested the detective check into Lloyd’s finances. He had uncovered that her husband had taken out a substantial life insurance policy on Linda about one year ago. $1.5 million to be exact. She had not known about the policy until that time. When she found that out, the detective said Linda had raged that she wouldn’t allow him to get away with this. He assumed she meant that she would file for divorce but he never heard back from her.

All this was highly interesting information. Perhaps Lloyd killed his wife or had someone do it for him but he had to place blame elsewhere. The known dislike Linda and Melissa felt for each other was enough to make the accusation look legitimate while keeping the focus off of himself. Janice was confident that if the private investigator’s files were already in police custody, they could put two and two together. Sadly, Melissa was not so certain.

She was right to doubt. A couple hours after the call with her lawyer ended, there was a knock at the front door. Melissa opened the door to find Detectives Payne and Reynolds, along with an entire team of uniformed cops. Detective Reynolds shoved a piece of paper in her face as Jason apologized for the intrusion but there had been a tip called into the precinct the night before. The paper was a search warrant for her home and for her bakery.

Chapter 15

By the time the police finished with searching her home, Melissa felt violated. Nothing had gone untouched. Her computer was taken into custody for something Jason called “forensic review”. Her clothes were dumped onto her bed as they rummaged through her dresser and closet. Same with Logan’s things. The kitchen was a disaster zone with utensils and cooking equipment strewn along the countertops and table. When she thought there couldn’t possibly be anywhere else for them to look, a couple officers headed outside to the garbage bins behind the house. Melissa watched with dismay as they turned over the bins allowing the contents to fall onto the small lawn. She certainly hoped they planned to clean all this up, but she wasn’t very optimistic.

During the search, she and Logan had been instructed to wait outside. They retreated to the back deck area so they could still see what was happening inside the house through the French doors. Detective Payne played things strictly by the book. However, he gave her a few apologetic looks, especially when he noticed an officer mishandling her things or in general making a huge mess. A couple times a uniformed officer placed something in a plastic bag and handed it off to another for safe keeping. Melissa assumed these items were being taken as evidence, but had no idea why. The recipe box was one of these items. Other baking items were also included – serrated bread and cake knives, a stainless steel curved kiss knife, a dough cutter/scraper, cheese knife, and a pear corer. It appeared the search was for sharp baking instruments. Then an officer came out of her laundry room with all the dirty clothes from the last few days. Wryly, Melissa hoped they intended to take the clothes to be washed, dried, and folded. The one household task she liked the absolute least was laundry. Every time someone bagged an item, Detective Reynolds would write something down on his notepad and cast a suspicious look her way. Melissa’s patience with that man was about to reach its breaking point.

Initially, Logan very loudly objected to what the cops were doing to his aunt’s house. She managed to calm him down. Melissa wasn’t happy about the situation either, but was smart enough to realize that arguing would only make matters worse at this point. As her house was being destroyed and her things taken as evidence, she could only look on in horror at the mess her life had become in such a short time.

Jason informed them that a similar search was being conducted at the bakery. Melissa didn’t understand why they had to search there again. Hadn’t they already discovered whatever there was to discover there when Linda was first found? He shook his head “no”. He quietly explained that a tip had been called in giving very specific information about items that may or may not be in Melissa’s home and at the bakery. Part of his job was to follow up on every lead. Considering she knew she wasn’t guilty of anything, Melissa suspected that the “tip” had been called in by Linda’s husband. He seemed to enjoy causing trouble for her. When she asked Jason, he gave the expected response, “We can’t discuss any details of the case at this time.”

“Now that’s total bull and you know it! You’re invading my home and treating me and my nephew like criminals. I have a right to know what is going on!” she angrily retorted. Melissa was normally a very mild-tempered person. It took a lot to push her buttons. This really had gone too far. Feeling her blood boil, she didn’t want to make a scene in front of Logan. The boy had really gone through too much for such a young man. It wouldn’t be fair to him if she lost her cool now. She tried to calm herself so he wouldn’t hear the tremble in her voice. Realizing she wasn’t going to get any information from Jason, she continued to sit on her deck and watch as the police turned her house upside down looking for something that couldn’t possibly be found – evidence – because she wasn’t guilty!

As the police wrapped up their search of her home, Jason’s phone rang. She only heard one side of the conversation, but it didn’t bode well as far as she could tell. The normally calm cop became quite agitated. He brusquely barked orders to whoever was on the other end of the line to “bag everything” and to leave a patrol at the front and back of the bakery.

With the call ended, he motioned for Detective Reynolds to join him in the kitchen. The only highlight of this entire ordeal occurred as the stouter, shorter officer tripped over some baking pans littering the tiled kitchen floor. Both Melissa and Logan giggled loudly. Even a few of the uniformed cops that remained inside the house found it difficult to suppress a chuckle or smile. As the older gentleman flashed angry glances around the room, his eyes landed on Melissa. The look on his face was easy to read. He was ticked off. For whatever reason he had it in for her. All he had to do was wait for the right piece of evidence so he could lock her up. His malicious stare assured her that he already believed her guilty and would stop at nothing to prove it. She just hoped he wasn’t in such a rush to convict her that he overlooked evidence that would exonerate her.

That hope was dashed as the two detectives ended their confab in the kitchen. With a sad look on Jason’s face and a gleam of satisfaction from the other detective, they walked out to the deck. “Mrs. Melissa Maples, you are under arrest for the murder of Linda Stevenson. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have him/her present while you are being questioned. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed to represent you before any questioning if you wish. You can decide at any time to exercise these rights and not answer any questions or make any statements,” Detective Reynolds said with a smile. He continued, “Mrs. Maples, do you understand each of these rights as I have explained them to you?” Stunned speechless, Melissa responded the only way she could by a slight nod of her head.