Murder to Go (The Heights Bed and Breakfast Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) (7 page)

Carolyn
stared at her. “You..... what?”

“I
got one of Karl’s lunchboxes,” Kat repeated. “I picked it up at the service
window before I went down to the lake. I’ll tell you what. That was the best
turkey sandwich I ever ate.”

Carolyn
shook her head, but it didn’t help to clear her thoughts. “Are you really sure
it was a turkey sandwich?”

Kat
snorted. “I think I know what I had for lunch. Every detail of that day is
permanently etched into my memory. I ate that lunch right before I found Porky
and Monica’s bodies.”

Carolyn
held up her hand. Her voice shook. “Don’t play games, Kat. Just tell me
straight. Are you absolutely certain it was a turkey sandwich?”

“Sure,
I’m sure,” Kat replied. “How could I not be sure? What’s the big deal?”

Carolyn
leapt out of her chair and threw her arms around Kat’s neck. “You’re the best,
Kat. Thank you so much. You’ve saved my life.”

Kat
stared back in surprise. “Hey! What did I do?”

Carolyn
raced out of the bar without answering and dashed back to her room. She almost
tore her laptop case getting the computer out. She plugged it in and drummed
her fingernails on the desk while she waited for it to boot up. She finally got
her Internet browser open and found Phillip Sawyer’s blog post about The
Heights having a murderer in the kitchen.

She
scanned down to the middle of the page, to where she left off reading. There it
was. ‘
Don’t go to The Heights unless you want your ham sandwich
topped with poisonous mayo for lunch
’.
Carolyn could barely control
her fingers. She saved the page to her bookmarks and slammed her laptop closed.
Then she grabbed her phone and hit speed dial. Her daughter answered and
Carolyn shouted, “He made turkey sandwiches!”

Carolyn
heard her daughter stiffen through the phone line. “What do you mean?”

“I
can prove your father is innocent,” Carolyn exclaimed. “I found out who killed
Porky and Monica.”

Sarah
breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s great! How did you do it?”

Carolyn
laughed out loud. “It’s right there in the middle of Phillip’s blog post. I can’t
believe someone would be so careless. It is right there in public for anybody
to see.”

“I
don’t understand, Mom,” Sarah replied. “What did Phillip write that makes you
think he killed the couple? How can you prove he did it?”

Carolyn
face froze with shock.

“You are
right. I need proof. I don’t have time to explain everything right now,”
Carolyn shouted over the phone. “I have to run. She’s probably about to leave
the stage.”

“Mom,
who is about to leave the stage? What is this all about?”

“I
will call you later to explain. Hopefully, the next time I see you, I’ll be
bringing your father home.” Carolyn froze with the phone pressed to her ear.
“If you’ll have us back, that is.”

“You
know you and Dad are always welcome back here. Go catch up with her. Explain it
to me later. Good luck, Mom.” Sarah laughed as she ended the call.

Carolyn
tossed her computer on her bed. She watched it slide off and fall to the ground
as she closed the motel door but her own excitement over what she discovered
wouldn’t let her slow down. She clutched her phone in her hand and raced back
to the bar.

Kat stood
on the stage serenading the crowd with a beautiful melody. Carolyn rushed up to
her.

 
“I did it, Kat!” she cried interrupting Kat in
the middle of her song. “I found out who killed Porky.”

A
rumble of discontent arose from behind Carolyn as the crowd became upset at the
interruption.

Kat’s
eyes widened. She covered the microphone with her hand and bent over to whisper
to Carolyn. “That’s great, Carolyn. Congratulations.”

“Yeah!”
Carolyn panted. “Now I can get Karl out of jail. But I need you to testify that
you ate a turkey sandwich from him the morning of the murders. Will you do that
for me, Kat? I’ll be in your debt forever if you do. I need you to come down to
the police station and tell the detective in charge of the case what you know.”

Kat
glanced around. “I’ll be happy to come down to the station with you, Carolyn.
But do you mind if I finish my set first?”

Babs stared
at her computer screen as Carolyn and Kat hovered over her desk. Babs turned to
them and frowned up at Carolyn. “Just exactly what are you saying? I would love
to help you, I’m just very busy.”

“Don’t
you see?” Carolyn asked. “Kat got a lunchbox from Karl the same morning Porky
and Monica died.”

“Yes,
I understand that,” Babs replied. “Is that supposed to tell me something?”

Carolyn
took a deep breath. “Kat is willing to testify that she got a turkey sandwich
in her lunchbox. Karl wouldn’t have made more than one kind of sandwich. That
would have taken too long and been too much work. All the lunchboxes that left
The Heights would have contained the same type of sandwich.”

Babs
nodded. “But what does this have to do with the case? Karl might have only
spread the poisonous mayonnaise on the victim’s sandwiches.”

“Because
the sandwiches that killed Porky and Monica were ham sandwiches,” Carolyn blurted.
“Your lab report should have told you that.”

Babs’
gaze drifted from the two and her lips parted. She looked down and went through
the folders on her desk. Opening the folder she was looking for, she ran her
finger down the page. “Yes, you are right, it was a ham sandwich. How did you
know about that? We never released that information to the media. We only
reported on the poisonous mushroom mayonnaise found in the lunchboxes.”

“That’s
exactly what I’m trying to tell you.” Carolyn replied, opening up her laptop
and placing it on Babs’ desk. “Take a look at this blog post.”

Babs
peered at the screen. “What am I looking for?”

“Right
here,” Carolyn pointed. “This is Phillip Sawyer’s blog. He owns Sawyer B &
B. He wrote this blog post the morning after you arrested Karl. He even offered
a ‘Karl’ discount to all The Heights’ guests to come over to his B & B
instead. Look right there. He wrote, ‘
Don’t go to The Heights unless you
want your ham sandwich
topped with
poisonous mayo for lunch
’.
There is even a link to the news report but
he probably missed the fact it didn’t include any mention of the sandwich.”

Babs
read the page with a furrowed brow. “Hmm. All right. I understand now. I better
go talk to Karl.”

“I’m
coming with you,” Carolyn blurted.

Babs
held up one hand. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. You know Karl isn’t
very happy with you right now.”

“I’m
coming,” Carolyn insisted. “I just cleared my husband of a double murder. I
want to see him when you confirm it.”

“You
haven’t cleared him yet. Karl has to corroborate your findings first.” Babs
sighed as she looked up at the excited women in front of her. “All right. You
can come, but you’re going to sit there and not say a word. Do you hear me? Not
one single word. I’m doing all the talking. Do you understand that?”

Carolyn
could scarcely contain her excitement. “I understand.”

Babs
turned to Kat. “You can go now, Kat, but I’ll need to take another complete
statement from you before the day is over.”

Kat
nodded and headed for the door. “You can find me at The Heights when you’re
ready.”

Babs
stopped. “The Heights? I thought you were staying at Stan’s?”

“I
was,” Kat replied. “I’m moving back to The Heights just as soon as I get my bag
packed.”

“You’re
booked to perform at Stan’s for the rest of the week,” Carolyn pointed out.
“You can’t back out of your commitment.”

“I
talked with Stan,” Kat replied. “He thought it was a good idea for me to go
back to The Heights. He said he would pick me up for my last two performances. After
that, I think I’ll do a week-long ‘Welcome Back’ performance at The
Heights—free of charge—just to make up for all this confusion.”

Carolyn
squeezed Kat’s hands. “Thank you. I’m sure Sarah and David will really
appreciate that.”

Kat
hugged Carolyn and walked out the door. Carolyn turned back to Babs. “I’m ready
when you are.”

Babs
regarded her. “Is there anyone in this town you aren’t friends with?”

“Yeah,”
Carolyn replied. “Phillip Sawyer.” She stared at Babs. “I feel like a fool that
I didn’t know more about you, too.”

“What
for?” Babs asked. “I’m just a run-of-the-mill homicide detective. If someone
else arrested Karl that night, I never would have met you. You probably never
would have known I existed.”

“I
have to admit,” Carolyn remarked, “I didn’t think much of you when I first met
you. I thought you unfairly singled out Karl for this murder and didn’t do
enough to investigate the other possible suspects.”

Babs
shrugged. “I’ll make a confession. I didn’t think much of you when I first met
you, either. I thought you were stepping out your area of expertise by looking
into this murder, and I didn’t think you were smart enough to solve it.”

“I’m
glad I proved you wrong,” Carolyn replied.

“I’m
glad, too,” Babs told her. “I never liked arresting Karl, so if he can convince
me he just made turkey sandwiches, I will make sure he is out of jail by the
end of the day.”

Carolyn
touched Babs arm. “Thank you so much, Babs.”

“I’m
the one who should be thanking you for doing all of this work for me,” Babs
returned. “If anybody else in Evergreen Cove turns up dead, I’ll know where to
come for help.”

“I
would love to help in any way I can,” Carolyn replied. “But
I’m not a sleuth.”

Babs
unlocked the door to the holding cells. “You are now.”

She led
Carolyn into an interrogation room adjacent to the holding cells. A guard
brought Karl into the room. He glared at Carolyn. “What’s she doing here?”

“Sit
down, Karl,” Babs told him. “I have some questions to ask you. When I finish,
you just might like to apologize to your wife for being such an insufferable
boor.”

Karl’s
eyes shot up. He frowned at Babs. Then he sank into his chair. “Ask me whatever
you want to ask me and let me go back to my cell.”

“After
these questions,” Babs returned, “you might not be going back to your cell.

Karl
raised his eyebrows.

“Really…
then, by all means… ask away,” He stammered, smiling at this opportunity.

“Let’s
start at the very beginning,” Babs told him. “Tell me exactly what you did on
the morning of the murders. Start from the very moment you woke up.”

“I
woke up before sunrise, like I always do, and went into the kitchen to make coffee,”
Karl replied.

“That
would be the kitchen of the manager’s apartment, I guess,” Babs interrupted.
“What was the exact time you woke up in the morning?”

“Yes,
I was in the manager’s apartment kitchen. I always like to have a pot of coffee
ready for Carolyn and the kids,” Karl informed her. “I woke up at five o’clock,
there is a lot of prep that I need to do before I can make breakfast for the
guests and get the day’s baking started.”

“All
right,” Babs prompted. “Please continue.”

“I
sat at the table and read the paper and drank my coffee until twenty after
five,” Karl went on. “Then I went into the kitchen—the B & B kitchen, that
is. I turned on all the ovens and unlocked the walk-in. I did some paperwork
until about quarter to six. Then I started the baking. At six-thirty, I started
cooking breakfast.

“Okay,
we can skip breakfast,” Babs replied. “After breakfast, what did you do?”

“At
eight-thirty, I cleaned up the kitchen, and I got ready for lunch,” Karl told
her. “That’s when I made the lunchboxes for 9am pick-up at the service window.”

“How
many guests requested sandwiches that day?”

“It
was only three people. Porky, Monica, and Kat,” Karl recounted.

“Did
you see who picked up the lunchboxes?” Babs asked.

“Nope,”
Karl replied. “I made all the sandwiches and sliced up some apples, and I
packed a bag full of potato chips that I had made in the fryer that morning. For
dessert, I bagged a chocolate chip cookie that had cooled on the baking sheet. I
placed the boxes up on the services window and started cleaning up. I noticed
the lunchboxes were all picked up when I finished. I didn’t give it another
thought until I heard Kat run in from the lake.”

“With
only three people, do you make specific lunchboxes for the guests?”

“No,
I make the same lunch for everyone. It saves me a lot of time.”

Babs
nodded. “And can you tell me what kind of sandwiches you put in the
lunchboxes?”

Carolyn
sat on the edge of her seat. This was the moment of truth.