Red, White, and Blue Murder Read online

  “Good morning, Mr. Winters,” I said standing at his table.

  He looked up at me and smiled. “Well, Allie McSwain. How are you this morning?”

  I nodded. “I’m doing all right. May I sit?” I indicated the chair in front of me.

  He nodded and folded over his newspaper. “Sure. You go right ahead. I hear your boyfriend is on another case. What do you make of it?”

  “My fiancé is indeed working another case.” I pulled the chair out and sat down.

  “Fiancé? Well it’s about time. When are you going to get married?”

  I smiled. “To be honest, we haven’t set a date yet.”

  His bushy white eyebrows furrowed. “Why not? Are you having second thoughts?”

  I was taken aback by the question. “Mr. Winters, I’m not having second thoughts. I would never do that, not with Alec. He is a wonderful man.”

  He nodded. “Then what about the date?”

  I shrugged. “Sorry, we just haven’t set one yet.”

  He nodded again. “Well I’ll expect an invitation then. I can make balloon animals for your reception.”

  It was all I could do to keep from laughing. “Balloon animals for the reception? I hadn’t thought of that.”

  He nodded. “I’m the best balloon animal maker you’ll ever meet. It’s all those years in the circus.”

  “I’m sure you are.” Mr. Winters had lived a different kind of life when he was young. “Mr. Winters, anything new?” I decide to skip the conversation about the balloon animals. When Alec and I did finally get married, I couldn’t imagine having balloon animals at my reception. I’d have to figure out a way to let Mr. Winters down easily.

  He nodded. “You keep your eye on that Julie Sommers. I believe she’s your killer.”

  I was stunned. I took a drink of my coffee before replying. “Are you sure? Little Julie Summers?” I put my hand out indicating how short she was.

  He nodded. “Oh, I know. She seems innocent, but believe you me, she’s got something up her sleeve. She’s cagey.” He took a sip of his black coffee.

  “Why would you say that? Were you there on the beach on the Fourth of July?”

  He shook his head. “No, but as soon as I heard who it was, I just knew that she did it. She’s a sneaky one, that little Julie. She’s always running all over town gossiping about everyone. You have to keep your eye on people like that.”

  I stared at him. I couldn’t imagine Mr. Winters running all over town gossiping, but when I needed answers about things going on in town, I knew exactly where to go. Right here to the Cup and Bean coffee shop. He was a gossip. Not that you could accuse him of that. Who would believe it?

  “But is there a specific reason why you think she did it?” I asked.

  “The Sommers’ have always had trouble. Those cousins fought like cats and dogs. They couldn’t stand one another.”

  My brow furrowed. “Are you sure? Because when I talked to Julie she seemed genuinely grieved that her cousin had been murdered.”

  He chuckled. “I saw them not two weeks ago at the grocery store arguing over apples. Believe me, she did her in.”

  I shook my head slowly. “Why on earth would they argue over apples?”

  He shrugged. “Julie wanted Gala apples and Anita wanted Red Delicious. I can see where Julie would be angry about Anita insisting on Red Delicious. They don’t have any flavor these days. When I was a kid, the Red Delicious were, well, delicious. But these days? They don’t taste like anything. Gala apples are where the flavor is at.”

  I agreed with him. But I couldn’t imagine that arguing over apples was enough to make Julie kill her cousin. “Mr. Winters, I’m not so sure about this.”

  “I am. Have you tried Red Delicious apples lately? They are anything but delicious.” He made a face.

  I shook my head. “No, not about the apples. I’m talking about Julie killing her cousin. I don’t believe it.”

  He shrugged. “I could be wrong, but I don’t think so. If memory serves me right, and I know it does, she was arrested years ago for something or other. Can’t remember what it was, though.”

  Now this just seemed unbelievable. I couldn’t see Julie being arrested. For anything.

  “Are you certain about that?”

  He nodded. “Have your boyfriend check into it. She’s got a police record.”

  I took another sip of my coffee. “All right, Mr. Winters. I’ll certainly have him check into it. But I really don’t see Julie as the killer.” Julie was sweet and innocent. Sure, she loved to run around town and stick her nose into everybody’s business, but I wasn’t going to hold that against her. For obvious reasons.

  “In the meantime, I hear you’ve got cherry pies down at Henry’s. Is that so?”

  I nodded. “I sure do. Also blueberry pies, and a blueberry and cherry cobbler. You should stop by and get yourself a piece. Take your wife with you, I’m sure she’ll enjoy it.”

  He nodded. “I believe I will do that. I don’t know about mixing cherry and blueberry, but I’ll certainly have a slice of cherry pie. Maybe spring for a scoop of vanilla ice cream, too.” He folded his newspaper over again and stood to his feet. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have yard work to do.”

  “All right Mr. Winters, it was good talking to you. Have a good afternoon.”

  He nodded and walked out of the coffee shop. I pulled my phone from my purse and texted Alec, asking him to check and see if Julie Sommers had a police record. I thought Mr. Winters had to be confusing her with somebody else. Sure, Julie could be annoying at times, but a killer? No way. I couldn’t imagine her getting arrested, either.

  I stuck my phone back into my purse, took another drink of my coffee, and suddenly the boy from behind the front counter was standing at my table. I looked up at him. “Hello.”

  He nodded. “If you ask me, I think that kid did it.”

  This was interesting. “Why do you say that?”

  “I was there that night. That guy was saying awful things about his mother. Said he couldn’t stand her and couldn’t wait to get back home. Said one of these days she’d pay for what she did.”

  I was shocked by this. “Did he say what she did?”

  He shook his head. “No, I saw a friend down the beach aways and I left to catch up with her. But I just think someone says something like that, and then his mom ends up dead like she did? He did it.”

  I nodded. “Did you talk with the detective and tell him this?”

  He shook his head. “No, I didn’t know anything about a detective. After she was found dead, me and my friends left.”

  I nodded. “Well, thank you for this information. The detective will want to check into it, I’m sure.”

  He nodded and went back behind the counter. I glanced at him again. What teenage boy would take off when something exciting like a murder had happened not far from where he must have been sitting? I would have thought he would have hung around to find out what was going on.

  Chapter Eight

  Dave Jones had been my mailman for years. At Christmas time I would leave him a tin of cookies or candy in the mailbox, and during the summer I would occasionally leave out a frozen bottle of water, some moist towelettes to help with the heat, and maybe a treat to help keep his energy up while he walked his route. The humidity in Maine could get high during the summer and he always told me how much he appreciated the water and towelettes. Today I had baked some blueberry and white chocolate chip cookies, placed them in a small decorated paper bag, and grabbed a frozen bottle of water from the freezer.

  I stood at the window and waited. Dave usually delivered my mail before noon and it was after eleven o’clock now. I wouldn’t have suspected Dave of having an affair. He’d been married for over twenty years. And it’s not that I knew for sure that he did have an affair with Anita, but things certainly sounded suspicious. And now he’d argued with the murder victim the day she died. Or at least, I was pretty sure he’d argued with the murder victim.
Maybe I didn’t know much for sure at this point, but my hunches were usually correct.

  I stood at the window and watched and waited for nearly twenty minutes when I heard the neighbor’s dog barking. Molly was always good about letting us know when there was a stranger in the neighborhood. And even though Dave was our mailman and came by five days a week, she still treated him like a stranger.

  I heard him close the neighbor’s mailbox, and I opened my front door and stepped out onto my porch. Dave was wearing a blue hat and shorts, his usual summer uniform.

  “Hello, Dave,” I said coming down the porch steps. “Isn’t it a wonderful day?”

  He grinned and nodded, pulling his mirrored sunglasses off. “Good morning Allie, you’re right. It’s a beautiful day. Some days I think I have the best job in the whole world.”

  I smiled. “Really? You love your job, then?”

  He nodded. “I get to walk through some of the prettiest neighborhoods in the whole country, I get my exercise in, and I get paid for it.” He shrugged. “What more could I ask for?”

  I nodded. Walking a mail route had to be a lot of work, but if you enjoyed it, maybe that helped get you through it every day. “I guess when you put it that way, I see what you mean. And you’re in luck today. I made some blueberry white chocolate chip cookies, and I brought you a bottle of water.” I held up the decorated paper bag and bottle.

  He smiled bigger. “Well, look at that. It’s almost as if you knew exactly what I was thinking. I was ready for a snack, and I’m thirsty.”

  “The water bottle is frozen, but it’s starting to defrost already. There’s some liquid in it.” I walked up to where he stood by my mailbox and handed them to him.

  He grinned and took them from me with a nod. “Thank you, Allie, you don’t know how much I appreciate this. I burn a lot of calories on my walks every day and the cookies will help me keep my energy up. It’s going to be another hot afternoon, too, so the water is much appreciated.”

  “I’m a runner myself,” I said. “It helps burn all the calories I take in with all the baking I do.”

  “I didn’t even think about that. You’ve got to test everything out, right?” He grinned. His face was pink from the heat.

  “I sure do.”

  He handed me a handful of envelopes. “I hope none of those are bills after you just gave me cookies. It wouldn’t be right.”

  I chuckled. “It would be a miracle if they weren’t. So how are you doing, Dave?”

  He smiled again, tucking the cookies and water bottle into his bag. “I’m doing all right. How are you, Allie?”

  I nodded. “Good. Did you have a nice holiday? The family and I went to the beach for the fireworks show.”

  He nodded. “I went there, too. It was an awfully hot day. But the city sure does put on a nice fireworks show. I’m always impressed. I just wish it lasted a little longer.”

  I crossed my arms in front of me, still holding onto the mail. “But we had such a terrible tragedy there this year. Did you hear? A woman was murdered.”

  His eyes got larger. “That’s right, how could I forget that?” He was quiet a moment, almost seeming like he was trying to figure out what to say next.

  “Didn’t you see the police and ambulance after the fireworks show?” If he was still there, how could he not?

  He nodded and licked his lips. “Yeah, I did see the police in the parking lot near the beach. I figured someone had been drinking and got out of hand and they had come to take care of the situation. My wife and I left, trying to get ahead of the crowds. It wasn’t until the next morning that I heard from a co-worker that there was a murder.”

  I took a deep breath. Seemed convenient, if you asked me. “Yeah, people hung around for a while after the police got there.”

  He looked at me. “She wasn’t a local, was she?”

  I studied him a moment before answering. He knew good and well she wasn’t a local. “No, it was Julie Sommers’ cousin. Did you know her? Anita Towers?”

  He gazed at me for a moment, and then he nodded. “Yes, I did know her. Julie’s husband is my cousin.”

  I nodded. “Well I guess you know all about the murder then.”

  He shook his head. “Yeah, sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I guess I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately. I feel really bad for Julie. She was close to her cousin.”

  Close? Mr. Winters had said they argued a lot. “It’s so sad that she and her family came out for a nice little vacation, and now she’s dead. I guess her husband will have to have her body transported back to Omaha. And then, of course, there’s the funeral they’ll have to plan. What an awful thing to have happened when it should have been a fun day at the beach.”

  He made a clucking sound with his tongue and shook his head again. “It is sad, isn’t it? You’re right, the whole family was here for a vacation and it turned into tragedy. I wonder if the police have found the killer yet?” He looked at me.

  “Alec is on the case, but so far he hasn’t found the killer. I just can’t imagine how it happened. My family and I weren’t far from where she was killed and we didn’t hear a thing. Somebody must have slipped right up on her and stabbed her. She must have died instantly and didn’t have a chance to cry out. Nope. We didn’t hear a thing.” I shook my head and gazed off into the distance for a moment.

  “I just can’t imagine that happening,” he said and gripped the stack of envelopes in his hand. “You would have thought somebody would have heard something. Or noticed something. But apparently, nobody did.” He waited, eyeing me.

  “That’s the part I just can’t get over. How on earth does somebody get murdered like that without anyone hearing or seeing anything? Julie and her family were right there, and they didn’t hear or see anything.”

  His brow furrowed. “They didn’t hear anything? Were they sitting right next to her?”

  I shook my head. “They were near her, but I don’t think they were right next to her. But still, they were nearby and didn’t hear or see a thing. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  He nodded in agreement. “That doesn’t make any sense to me, either.” He looked over his shoulder and then turned back and flipped through the mail in his hand. Then he looked at me again. “You know, I probably shouldn’t say it, but I got the impression that Anita was miserable in her marriage. She complained about her husband a lot.”

  I refrained from smiling. Now we were getting somewhere. “Really? I didn’t know that. Her husband was right there, but he didn’t hear anything either.”

  “That’s what I find peculiar,” he said slowly. “The husband that she’s been having problems with was sitting nearby, and yet he didn’t hear a thing? How is that even possible?”

  He had a point. How did her husband, who was sitting close by, not hear or notice anything? Somebody plunged a knife into his wife’s chest. And yet he knew nothing about it? It bothered me. It bothered me a lot. But Dave and his evasive answers bothered me, too.

  “I guess that’s something Alec is going to have to look into. I hate this sort of thing. I cannot for the life of me understand someone that commits murder.” Especially if it was a spouse. Someone that you vowed to love for the rest of your life.

  He nodded slowly. “You can say that again. I understand having trouble in your marriage, but murder? That’s just crazy. Get a divorce before you decide to go and kill someone.” He shook his head and looked down the street again. “I’ll never understand some people.”

  “Right? Get a divorce. Don’t kill your spouse. That should be something that’s taught in marriage counseling, I guess,” I chuckled, trying to make a joke of it.

  He looked at me seriously. “It’s not a bad idea. Well, Allie, I sure do appreciate the cookies and the water. I don’t get to take my lunch until one o’clock, so these cookies are going to tide me over until then. Hope Alec finds the killer soon.”

  I nodded. “You’re certainly welcome, Dave. You have a good day.”

&
nbsp; I turned and headed back into the house.

  Dave had at first tried to pass it off as if he didn’t know the woman that had been murdered at the beach, but then he admitted that he did know her. Seemed fishy to me. And he was at the beach that night.

  Chapter Nine

  What Dave said didn’t sit well with me. He had a point. How do you sit practically right next to a person and they get murdered, and you don’t notice a thing? Anita’s husband had some explaining to do. And then there was Julie. Was she as close to her cousin as she would have me believe? Or was Mr. Winters correct in that they had had their share of trouble?

  I wrapped up one of the blueberry pies and took it to Julie’s house. If she was innocent, there had to be an explanation, didn’t there? Sure, it had been loud on the beach with the fireworks exploding in the air and people who were clapping and shouting, but was it really that loud? If Anita had seen the killer coming, wouldn’t she have made some kind of noise? Screamed? Wouldn’t there have been a struggle? Something? I picked Lucy up on the way over.

  “Oh, hello,” I said with a nod when Anita’s husband opened the door. “My name is Allie McSwain, and this is my friend, Lucy Gray. We brought this blueberry pie over for you and your family. I’m so sorry about your loss. I don’t think we’ve met. You’re Bill, aren’t you?” We hadn’t been formally introduced the night Anita had died, and I wasn’t sure if he remembered me.

  He looked at me, eyes wide, and glanced at the pie. “Yes, how do you know who I am?”

  “I’ve known Julie for years,” I said, nodding. “And I was at the beach on the Fourth of July. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to startle you.” I glanced at Lucy. “I just started talking when you opened the door. Forgive me. We just wanted to stop by and tell you how sorry we are about your wife. Can we bring this pie in and put it in the kitchen?”

  He nodded, still looking a little confused, but stepped back and let us into the house.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss,” Lucy said.

  He nodded again. “Julie isn’t home right now.”