Dying for the Truth (A Rockcrest Cove Cozy Mystery Book 4) (9 page)

“Did anyone interrupt you?”

“Yes. Ms. McDougal had come by and was knocking outside the door.”

“What was she there for?”

“She was looking to speak to Evan.”

“Did she get in?”

“No. Evan and I were having an argument, so he didn’t let her in.”

“What happened then?”

“She left.”

“Was anyone else in the store?”

“It was early. No one else was there. It was only me and Evan.”

“What happened after Ms. McDougal left?

“Well, we went to the back room and continued our discussion.”

“You mean argument.”

“Yes. Our argument.” He paused for a brief moment to gather his thoughts. His voice was shaky as he continued on. “I was in an agitated state. He had defaulted on a loan and I needed to collect, and we were facing numerous lawsuits that he didn’t seem to care about. Apparently his business had not been going well and he had sought me out to help him finance it in order to stay afloat.”

“Why was his business failing?”

“Apparently he had made some pretty bad decisions. Once news had gotten out that many of his most popular business ideas had been stolen, it was difficult to get customers to come back to him. There was also the issue of a few cases where customers had gotten sick from some of his foods.”

“Which foods?”

“An imitation he used of Ms. McDougal’s Pink Passion cupcake made with a little Amaretto oil.”

“Were these popular in his shop?”

“No, but he wanted them to be. He had tried repeatedly to make something similar but was unsuccessful. That’s why he had been testing a new batch of cupcakes, which substituted her choice of Amaretto with a little B17, which has a similar flavor.”

“And that’s what made the customers sick.”

“Yes.”

The counsel then introduced the coroner’s report, which explained that B17 was actually a chemical called amygdalin, which turned into cyanide after it had been ingested. While its flavor was very similar to Amaretto, if someone consumed too much it could lead to extreme illness, coma, and in Evan’s case even death.

“How did you get the B17?”

“I had been to Evan’s shop on many occasions to talk to him about the how to turn his business around, but he wouldn’t listen. By the last time, he had been having major financial struggles and he was unable to buy even the most basic of ingredients, let alone something like Amaretto. He had decided to make his own by grinding up apricot kernels, which contained the chemical, and adding that to the cupcakes.”

“On the morning of his death, I came to the shop very early while he was making them up. Our conversation started out very cordially, but he seemed to be quite out of sorts on that morning. He was mixing everything up carelessly, and I had warned him about this before. I decided to teach him a lesson, and when his back was turned I dropped a large amount of the ground kernels into his batter and let him mix them up. I wanted to teach him a lesson about safe practices, as he was already facing several lawsuits from his carelessness. I thought he would just get really sick. I didn’t expect him to die from it.”

The courtroom burst into a loud cacophony of chatter at Michael’s confession, and the judge had to call for a recess in order to maintain order.

No one had expected Michael’s confession, which brought the trial to a speedy end. The jury deliberated for less than an hour, and before long Maddie was watching as Michael was being escorted back to jail to wait for his sentencing hearing in two weeks.

Everyone crowded around Maddie’s team and congratulations were offered all around. For the first time in months, Maddie was able to completely relax, and she took a moment to stand back and admire the friends she had accumulated. A news reporter shoved a microphone in her face.

“Ms. McDougal,” she started. “After solving several murder cases, reclaiming your innocence, and expanding your business in so many directions, is there anything in the future you’re looking forward to?”

Maddie turned and smiled into the camera. “I’ve learned there is nothing you expect for your future that you’ll be entirely prepared for, so I’ve decided merely to prepare myself only to take on the next adventure, no matter what it is.”

~~~

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