A Seed of Doubt (A Nuts About Nuts Cozy Mystery Book 2) Page 5

  “Nothing. Let’s just drop the whole topic.”

  “Good idea.” He nodded and headed into the house. Instead of going inside after him she walked around the side of the house to the backyard. A moment later George let Cashew out through the back door. The dog bounded up to her and placed her tiny paws on Kerri’s knee.

  “Hi there, sweetheart.” Kerri scratched behind her ears and cooed at her. The conversation in the car with her grandfather had been quite a heavy one, and she wasn’t sure how to respond to it. She knew that being a spy was dangerous work, but a part of her preferred not to think about what it might entail. Still, she wanted to know everything about her grandfather, and in turn her father. Perhaps the timing was just difficult, with Damian’s murder on her mind. She and Cashew wandered towards the edge of the woods. Moments later, her squirrel friend appeared. He clutched something in his little hands.

  “What do you have there? Have you been getting nuts from other people?” She laughed. The squirrel swished his bushy tail. Then he edged further along the branch towards her. He still held his treasure tight in his hands.

  “Hmm, is that for me? Did you bring me a present?” She grinned and her curiosity increased as a flash of light reflected off the shiny surface of the object that he grasped. “Let me see?” She held out her hand for the item. The squirrel backed up along the branch and chattered as if he was offended. “Oh I see, this is a trade, hmm?” She smiled and grabbed a few nuts from the bag she kept outside for him. “Here you go.” She held out the nuts in her palm. He crept forward, sniffed at them, then turned up his nose and chattered again. “Oh, you are driving a hard bargain. What, do you want some fancy nuts? Is that it?” She laughed and dug to the bottom of the bag where she’d stashed some of his favorite nuts. She pulled out two and held them out. The squirrel bolted forward. He dropped the shiny object into her palm in order to retrieve the nuts. Once he had them, he took off across the branch and further through the trees, deep into the woods.

  Kerri smiled as she watched him go, then looked down into her palm. She assumed it would be a broken piece of something, or maybe even someone’s lost button, but instead it was a silver ring with an amber colored stone. Stunned, she turned the ring over in her hand. It seemed to have some symbols on the sides, like a class ring might, but it was impossible for her to read what they were. She peered inside the band of the ring and again saw something that might be an inscription, but it was too worn to make out what it said. Her attention was drawn to Cashew who had her nose buried in something on the ground.

  “Cashew, get out of there.” She slipped the ring into her pocket and tugged at the dog’s collar. “Silly pup, that’s not for you.” She guided the dog inside.

  When she sat down to text Natalie back about the meeting with Chloe, her grandfather stepped out of his room and sat down beside her. After she hit send, she looked up at him. He frowned.

  “I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have even broached the topic.”

  “It’s all right, Grandpa. I know there’s still a lot I have to learn about you, and I just want you to know, that there’s nothing you could tell me that would change my very high opinion of you.”

  “That’s sweet of you to say.” He smiled.

  “It’s not a sweet thing to say, it’s the truth.” She patted the back of his hand. “I’m just glad you’re here. Don’t ever forget that.”

  “Thanks, I won’t. So what do you think of Chloe being the killer?”

  “Plenty of motive, but getting to know her might give me a clearer perspective.”

  “I think Bill’s out. He’s a little rough around the edges, but I can’t see him killing and burying a body just to dig it up.”

  “Not even for the attention?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “No, I don’t think so. He seemed a little too reserved for that. Although, I did get the sense that he was hiding something. Did you?”

  “Sort of. He was friendly, but in a limited way. That could just be because we’re outsiders though. It seems like if you didn’t grow up here, you’re never truly going to be part of the town like the locals are.”

  “That’s true. Maybe that was all I was sensing. If you think this is bad, you should have seen a town I visited once. It was for work, but just an easy job, and I stopped in a diner on the way out to have something to eat. Not only did everyone in the place stare at me, none of the waitresses would serve me, and a local officer actually asked me why I was there. When I told him it was to eat a meal, he told me to get one in the next town. It was wild. I’d heard stories about places like that before, but I’d never actually experienced it for myself.”

  “So, did you leave?”

  “No. I walked into the kitchen, placed my order with the cook, and hung out with him while he prepared it. He told me that the town didn’t welcome strangers, they wanted to protect their town. I ate my food, placed the payment on the table, and left.” He shrugged. “I have a right to eat anywhere I please, and I wasn’t about to let a little intimidation scare me off.”

  “It’s a shame that they live in isolation like that.” She frowned.

  “It is, very limiting.”

  “I have to go, I’m going to pick up Natalie. I’ll let you know what I find out about Chloe.”

  As Kerri left the house she considered her grandfather’s words and something occurred to her. Was it possible that Damian was killed by a complete stranger? Someone who was just passing through? If that were the case, she might never find the killer.

  Chapter 7

  Kerri parked in front of Natalie’s house and waved to her friend as she stepped outside. Natalie hurried over to the car. She looked cheerful as usual, in a baby blue dress with a matching bow in her curly red hair.

  “This day has been so strange.” Natalie buckled her seatbelt as Kerri started the engine.

  “How so?” Kerri glanced over at her.

  “I paid a visit to Damian’s parents, just to offer my condolences, but when I arrived there was a police car in their driveway, so I decided not to stop. When I went to leave, Jamie Durcan, one of the police officers, stopped me. He asked me all kinds of questions about why I was there. I said, Jamie, I used to babysit you, why are you interrogating me? He got nervous and said that they are digging deep for suspects as they have very little evidence to go on, and he was told to question anyone who arrived at the house.”

  “Wow, they must be really desperate for information.”

  “I don’t know what they think they’re going to find. Most of us around here thought Damian moved away.” She shook her head. “I feel so bad for his parents. They weren’t very close, as far as I could tell, but no one should lose a child.”

  “No, they shouldn’t.” Kerri followed Natalie’s directions to Chloe’s house.

  “Chloe bought this place about a year ago. Damian was supposed to move in when they got married. Chloe’s family is super traditional, I think that’s why they didn’t move in together earlier.”

  “Damian gave up a lot when he didn’t show up at the wedding. I wonder if there was more than just a lack of love that motivated him.”

  “What are you suggesting?” Natalie started to open the door of the car, but paused to hear Kerri’s answer.

  “Maybe Damian was in love with someone else?” Kerri stepped out of the car and met Natalie’s eyes over the top of it. “It’s possible, isn’t it?”

  “It’s possible, but if it was true, I haven’t heard anything about it. It’s hard to keep secrets like that in a town like this. There’s Chloe.” Natalie smiled and waved as the woman opened the door. She was slender with long blonde hair. She might have been a year or two younger than Kerri, or perhaps she just looked youthful.

  “Chloe, this is my friend Kerri.”

  “Hi Chloe.” Kerri held out her hand to the woman before her.

  “Hi.” Chloe sniffed, and took her hand in a mild shake. “I’m sorry we’re meeting under these circumstances. Natalie ha
s told me a lot about you.”

  “Me too. I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Thanks.” She sniffed again, then stepped back from the door. “Come inside, the neighbors are staring. They don’t ever seem to stop staring.”

  Kerri followed Natalie through the door and Chloe led them into the kitchen.

  “I know this has to be a very hard time for you,” Kerri said.

  “The funny thing is, I feel like a widow, when I was never even married.” She sat down at the table and gazed at the woodgrain. “Everyone around here just keeps telling me how sorry they are for me. But the truth is, Damian and I were done, and even though I am upset about him dying, it’s his parents that should be getting all of this sympathy.”

  “It’s sweet for you to worry about that.” Natalie ran her palm along the curve of Chloe’s shoulder.

  “Thanks, Nat.” Chloe frowned.

  “Why don’t I go grab us some lunch?” Natalie looked between Kerri and Chloe. “Does that sound good?”

  “Great.” Chloe nodded.

  “Perfect.” Kerri smiled at her friend. “But I can get it so you can stay here with Chloe?”

  “No, that’s okay, I won’t be long and I know the owner of the deli so I’ll get a discount.” Natalie smiled.

  “Okay, do you want to take my car?” Kerri asked.

  “No, I’ll walk, thanks.”

  After Natalie left, there were a few moments of silence between Chloe and Kerri. The awkwardness increased when Chloe looked up at Kerri, then glanced away again.

  “I just have to say, I’m sorry about your wedding, too.” Kerri cleared her throat. “If that’s too personal I apologize, but I just felt like I needed to say it.”

  “Thanks. I’ve heard a lot of that, too.”

  “It must have been so difficult for you to endure that moment. I’m sure trying to explain everything to everyone was incredibly hard. You must have been very upset with Damian.”

  “I was, of course. I mean, he could have told me before the wedding. Then our friends and family wouldn’t have put out so much money. He was always just a little too dramatic. Liked to make a big deal out of things.” She sighed and covered her face with her palms. “I always asked him, just tone it down. Not everything has to be so public, so put on display. But no, he had to do everything big. Do you know how he proposed to me?” She lowered her hands and rolled her eyes. “A skywriter. At the town fair. Maybe he thought I would say no, so he decided to do it in a place where he knew I wouldn’t dare reject him. Maybe.” She shrugged. “All of my friends were so jealous, they said he was so romantic, and they wished that their boyfriends would be so sweet. But they just didn’t get it. I don’t think anyone does.”

  “Maybe you could try to explain it to me,” Kerri said. “I’m listening.”

  “We started dating when we were twelve. I mean of course, we didn’t call it dating, but we spent all of our time together. We had our first kisses with each other, we went to all of the school dances together. He played all of the sports, so I became a cheerleader. I followed his lead, because it was expected of me. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t a bad guy, but it was like I never even asked myself, is this what I really want? It was like, there were no other options. Damian was it for me. When we graduated, we went to the same college together, then he proposed, and the ball kept rolling. The thing that none of my friends realized when he proposed, was that we hadn’t had a real conversation in over a year. He didn’t ask me about my day, about my hopes, or dreams. I didn’t ask him about his. We just went through the motions, like we were supposed to. About a week before the wedding it hit me, I was going to spend the rest of my life with a man who didn’t even talk to me. I was going to talk to him about it, but by then it felt like it was too late. Around other people he acted so happy, said all of the right things, kissed me, but when we were in private, he didn’t even look at me. If we spoke in the morning it was about the tasks of the day. We did what we thought we were supposed to do as a couple, not because we wanted to, but because that was what we had always done.”

  “I understand.” Kerri searched Chloe’s red-rimmed eyes and saw the mixture of emotions there. “It must have felt a bit like an arranged marriage.”

  “Yes, exactly that! It was so built up, we had so many people involved in our lives as a couple, that to end it meant breaking the hearts of most of the community.”

  “All of that pressure, and then he doesn’t even bother to show up? It must have been infuriating.”

  “No, oh no. It was a relief. I cried, so hard. I think my friends thought I needed to see a doctor. They all thought it was because Damian broke my heart, but it was because I was so happy. It was inconvenient, yes, but at least he was brave enough to stop it from happening. If he had shown up, I’d be married right now. I just didn’t have the strength to admit the truth. So no, I didn’t hate him for it. I was grateful to him. I will always be grateful to him.”

  “So, it never occurred to you to be angry with him?”

  “Why do you keep asking me these questions?” She laughed as she met Kerri’s eyes. “Do you think I was angry at him and decided to get rid of him?”

  “No, of course not I just…”

  “Oh my, you do.” She laughed again and then stood up from the table. “I weigh maybe one hundred and twenty pounds. I am barely five foot three inches. How can you even begin to think that I would be able to hurt Damian? He was a boxer. More than once I thought he was going to deck me he’d get so amped up over his training. He never did though.”

  “I’m sorry if you think I was insinuating that.” Kerri bit into her bottom lip. She knew that Natalie was good friends with Chloe, the last thing she wanted to do was cause any trouble between them.

  “It’s all right. You’re not the first. I had Chief Meyers over here this morning and he danced around the same question. I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. No, I wasn’t angry at Damian.”

  “What about your family?”

  “What about them?” She sat back down at the table.

  “Parents tend to invest a lot into weddings. Were your parents, or Damian’s upset about it?”

  “Sure. My parents were furious at first. But Damian agreed to reimburse them for what they spent. Now, I guess I will, I was already his beneficiary in his will.” She traced a fingertip across the tabletop and shook her head. “They still don’t understand why we couldn’t make it work. I don’t think anyone will ever be as good as Damian was in their eyes, before he left me at the altar that is. It doesn’t seem to matter much to them that I wasn’t in love with him.”

  “Sometimes the generation gap is too great.” Kerri frowned. “I’m sure they’ll come around eventually. Is there anyone new in your life?”

  “No, not yet. I’m kind of enjoying just being by myself for the first time in more than ten years. I’ve been with someone my whole adult life. I’m having to learn how to make decisions on my own, and not be in constant contact with someone else though.”

  “In the days after the wedding, did you speak to Damian at all?”

  “Not at first. Everything was just so chaotic. Then he sent me a long text explaining everything. I texted him back, and we ended on good terms. I didn’t hear from him after that.” She cleared her throat.

  “Do you think there is anything else that Damian might have been involved in, that might have put him at risk?”

  “Why are you asking me all of these things?” She narrowed her eyes as she studied her. “Are you up to something here?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “I mean you’re grilling me like you’re a detective. I thought you were just a friend of Natalie’s?”

  “I am. I don’t mean to come across that way. Honestly, I have a friend, Steve, he’s a reporter and…”

  “Yes, I know Steve. He’s a nice guy.”

  “He’s pretty upset about Damian and I’m a little nervous, because all of this took place not far fr
om my home and right across from my shop.” She met Chloe’s eyes. “I’m not trying to cause any problems.”

  “I get that. It’s upsetting to everyone around here. I guess I’m just a little worn out from all of the questions.”

  “Then let’s drop it.”

  “Great.” Chloe sighed with relief. Just at that moment the front door swung open.

  “I’ve got goodies!” Natalie shook the bags of food as she stepped back into the house.

  “Yum, I’m starving,” Chloe said as she and Kerri stood up to help Natalie.

  As they shared the food, Chloe and Natalie exchanged memories of growing up together in Cascade Grove. Kerri tried to chime in, but it was very difficult for her to find common things to discuss. She didn’t explore the woods, or swim in waterfall pools. She was tended to and always had rules to follow. The more they laughed about the trouble they would get into, the more she wondered if she’d missed out on quite a bit. She enjoyed traveling and adventures, but she never had a good friend to enjoy it with. At boarding school she tended to be more cautious than daring. She had never taken a step out of line. By the time the meal was done, she felt much more comfortable around Chloe, and it appeared that Chloe had forgiven her for the interrogation.

  “We should probably get going.” Natalie gave her friend a hug. “Please call me if you need anything. Anything at all.”

  “I promise I will.” Chloe offered her hand to Kerri. “I’m glad I had the chance to meet you. I’m sure when your shop is open I will be checking it out.”

  “Thanks. It was nice to meet you, too, it’s a shame it wasn’t under better circumstances.”

  In the car, Natalie gazed out the window.

  “Are you okay, Nat?”

  “I think so.” She shrugged. “I should be, shouldn’t I?”

  “It’s okay if you’re not.”

  “I just wish things like this didn’t happen.”

  “Me too.” They drove in silence for some time. Then Natalie looked over at her.

  “So, what do you think?”