Dead and Berried (The Early Bird Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) Read online

  All of Kori’s questions, and plenty more, returned in full force but she started with just one. “Your strawberries?”

  Nora shrugged. “I don’t know. But Detective Silver seems to think so.”

  “Who was he?”

  “Remember on yesterday’s walk, there was that guy who was pissed that the dogs weren’t on their leashes?” Nora placed two plates overflowing with food in front of them and took the seat next to Kori.

  “Yeah . . .”

  “It was him.”

  Kori was shocked. She’d never even seen him before and now he had turned up dead behind Nora’s barn.

  “How’d he die?”

  “Looks like poisoning. There were no external wounds that would have been lethal, just a minor cut on his head. There could have been a fight or he hit it when he fell. They don’t know yet. Or that’s what Zach told me. I’m so glad you guys are dating so we get the inside scoop.” Nora’s voice had suddenly changed from holding a hint of despair to excitement. They’d solved a murder together months ago when Kori had been the main suspect, now it looked like they would have to take on the challenge of clearing Nora’s name.

  “Geez. What now?” Kori took a bite and her stomach responded with more growls.

  “Well, I was hoping you could find out if it was poisoning and what was used. Then we could start a list of suspects.”

  Kori turned to look Nora in the eyes and saw that she was dead serious. “We don’t even know who he is,” Kori started in protest. “I’m happy to help solve this, but we’ll need a little more than what kind of poison was used. And what makes you think it was even poison?”

  Nora’s eyes brightened. “No external wounds—how else would he die? Poisoning is the first thing to check. And as for who he is, his name is Dan Roche. You know Stanley? It’s his brother.”

  Stanley had lived in Hermit Cove for about ten years. Kori didn’t know him well because he’d moved to town while she was living in New York City. But she occasionally saw him come into the café. And Nora knew everyone in town because she’d only left briefly to travel and learn farming techniques. Then she’d come straight back home and opened Red Clover Farm. Though she preferred to keep to herself, she knew everyone and everyone knew her.

  Kori reached across the counter and pulled a pad of paper and pen over to her that were just waiting to become their suspect list. “Well, let’s start with Stanley then. What can you tell me about him?”

  “He’s a teacher. A teacher can’t be a murderer. And his own brother?” Nora was clearly defending him.

  Kori wrote teacher next to Stanley’s name. “Well, do you have anyone else we could look into?”

  “I don’t know enough yet.”

  A knock on the door interrupted them and Nora went to see who it was. Kori took that time to eat more of her sandwich, knowing it would probably be the last chance she got until dinner.

  Nora came back into the kitchen followed by Zach and Lani. Zach’s face lit up when he saw Kori at the island and she had to admit that made her happy.

  “Perfect timing,” Kori said, a smile stretching her mouth as wide as it could go.

  “Why’s that?” Lani asked. She’d quickly grown into her role in Hermit Cove and was much more confident than a month ago when she’d just moved in and had to help nearby Scoter Circle with a murder case. In which Jay had been a suspect.

  “We were just wondering what had killed Dan,” Kori plowed on. She was sure Zach would tell her anything she needed to know since she’d been the one to solve the last two cases he’d worked on. Using unconventional methods, and maybe endangering herself. But she’d still cracked the cases.

  “We won’t know for sure until the medical examiner completes his report. But we did a preliminary test on the strawberries and they were covered with rat poison.”

  Kori added that to the paper. Any information would get written down and she’d sift through it later when she had more time. Right now she had to finish stuffing her mouth, steal a kiss from her boyfriend if she could manage in front of Nora and Lani, and then get back to the festival.

  “You came all the way out here to tell me that?” Nora asked. She sounded skeptical.

  Zach shook his head. Lani seemed to be deferring to him again suddenly. Maybe he had told her that he would handle this case since he was so close to Nora. “I’m also here to tell you that Dan filed a complaint yesterday that just got processed about your dogs.” He turned to Kori. “Ibis too. Did you guys know Dan?”

  Both women shook their heads. “We ran into him yesterday afternoon when we were taking the dogs on a walk around Thrush Lake. When we got away from the beaches we let them off the leash because we didn’t see anyone for a while. The dogs wanted to play with him and he wanted nothing to do with them. Nothing happened. They didn’t do anything to him. And we apologized and leashed them again,” Kori explained. She’d worried that there would be a complaint like he’d threatened yesterday.

  Zach nodded, seeming to understand their side of the story. “That’s not what the complaint said.”

  Kori looked to Nora and she thought they had the same fear—he’d lied in his complaint and now there was no way to get him to tell the truth.

  “Are you sure there were no bites?” Zach asked.

  Kori and Nora nodded. “He didn’t say anything about a bite and the dogs were so happy to see him. I can’t imagine them biting him, even if they’d been provoked. You know these dogs, they wouldn’t hurt anyone,” Nora said.

  “I know. But we’re looking into a murder and we can’t leave any page unturned. Thanks for your help. I know if we have more questions we can count on you to answer them . . .”

  Zach seemed to be waiting for a response so they both nodded their consent.

  “Kori, are you heading back to the festival?” he asked.

  She glanced at the clock and realized she had to leave now if she was going to take only an hour off for lunch. “Yeah. You want a ride or are you going back to the office?”

  “I’d love a ride. Detective Silver, you can handle everything for a little while?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Lani was the first to turn and go. Kori scarfed down the rest of her lunch and put her dishes in the sink. “What are you going to do about your booth at the festival?” Kori asked Nora through a mouthful of food, licking her fingers between words.

  “I’ll be there later this afternoon. I can’t believe I’ve already missed half a day. This is always such a great weekend to get off the farm and into the community instead of people always coming to me.”

  “Great, I’ll see you there then. My phone’s always on if you need anything.”

  Kori and Zach walked out the front door and Kori called Ibis. She came running from behind the barn where the police tape could still be seen around the corner and leapt into the car’s back seat, mud and all.

  In the car, Kori was itching to ask Zach more questions about Dan Roche and the crime scene. She tried her best to hold her tongue but couldn’t sit through a silent car ride. “Do you really think Nora could have killed Dan over a complaint about our dogs?” she finally asked.

  Zach’s look almost made Kori regret asking. “You know I don’t think Nora’s guilty. But he was behind her barn.”

  “Do you think he was killed there? Wouldn’t Nora have heard something?”

  “We don’t know yet. But my gut tells me that his body was moved and carefully positioned on her property with the strawberries.”

  “So you don’t even think he was poisoned?” Kori asked, surprised.

  “No, I think he was. But why leave them there then?”

  CHAPTER 4

  Kori nearly walked straight into Holly Barton as she rushed back to her booth.

  “Hey Kori. Everything okay? You’re moving like there’s a fire,” Holly said, forcing Kori to pause and acknowledge her mistake.

  She and Zach had parted ways at her car so he could survey the area and make sure th
e security was tight.

  “Sorry about that Holly. How are the pony rides going?” Holly owned Meadowlark Dairy, where Kori bought all of her milk, yogurt and most of her cheeses for the café. Holly had eventually expanded to reach a broader audience and had horses, ponies, cows, goats and sheep. Holly worked all summer long at events where pony rides or petting zoos were requested and her husband took care of the milking. All of the ponies, goats and sheep were here this weekend.

  “They’ve been a huge hit, as expected. And Jackie’s been a huge help. She told me she helped you unpack your car this morning.”

  Kori nodded, disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to get Jackie to help in her own booth this afternoon and tomorrow. “She’s a hard worker. You’re lucky to have her.”

  “Well,” Holly chucked, “I’m not sure she’s there for the love of the ponies. My nephew is also helping out. She hasn’t been able to take her eyes off him all day.”

  Kori smiled. She’d been right this morning when she suspected Jackie wanted to be here because of a boy and that’s why it had been so hard to convince her mom to not work at The Treasure Chest all weekend. So much for getting her to work weekends at the café if she just followed boys around.

  “Well, I’ve gotta get back to my tent. No one’s serving right now. I had to leave it alone so I could get some lunch.”

  “Bye Kori.” Holly waved and continued heading toward her pickup and horse trailer.

  Kori tied Ibis back to the tent post next to her bowl of water and Ibis quickly lapped it all up, then lay down and closed her eyes. She was always spent after a visit to Milo and Otis.

  Kori found everything just as she’d left it. She started unpacking her supplies, focusing on serving the strawberry rhubarb pies now that everyone would have eaten lunch. She was counting on them being ready for some dessert.

  As she placed the first pie on her table, she saw her mother approaching and braced for some dramatic revelation. Gale always had an epic story to share. At least, epic in her mind. Kori was often either underwhelmed or already knew about it.

  “Kori, you’re back! I can’t believe you took time away from your tent.” Gale always participated in the crazy hat contest and was still donning her pride and joy—she always wore the same thing. Years ago she had fashioned a small birdcage from thin wire. Inside was a bird flying down to a strawberry plant. She had to get a new plant each year, but there were always plenty around to use. She’d won the first year she’d worn it and had opened the flood gates to crazier and crazier hats. But she’d never made anything more outrageous, just stuck with what worked. Once.

  Kori rolled her eyes as discretely as she could manage. “I had to eat,” she told her mother with the little patience she had for her today.

  “Do you need help? I could cover breaks for you.”

  Kori couldn’t say no, but she wished someone else was offering. Gale had a mind of her own and was usually on a mission of her own to match it. “That’d be great. I should be all set for the rest of today but if you could come tomorrow at eleven I’ll get you setup to be here alone from noon to one.”

  “Of course. I’m going to the pie toss now. I volunteered to let pies be thrown at me. Can you believe it?” Gale was nearly in hysterics at the thought of kids throwing pies at her face and Kori wished she could see it.

  As Gale left, Jay approached, like he’d been waiting for their mother to depart before coming to talk to his sister. Kori found his arrival much calmer than their mother’s.

  “Hey Jay, what’s up?” she asked him while piling more pies on the table and starting to cut them.

  “Need some help?” He didn’t wait for a response and headed behind the table, picking up the second knife and laying into a pie.

  “Thanks. Today has been crazy. What have you been doing?”

  “You won’t believe this, but Jenna talked me into helping paint faces.”

  Jay was right, she couldn’t believe it. “How’d she manage that?” she asked through her laughter.

  “I’m still not sure. But when one kid walked away looking like a lion when he’d requested to be a tiger I got fired. By the kids, not by Jenna.” Jay was laughing by now too.

  Just then Holly walked back through the front gates from the parking lot looking panicked.

  “What’s up, Holly? Everything okay?” Kori asked as Holly blindly walked near her tent.

  Holly looked up, a confused look on her face. “I . . . I’m not sure. I can’t find my shovel and the ponies never stop pooping. I swear I brought three but I can only find two now. I feel like I’m losing my mind. Oh well. They’ll just have to shovel faster.”

  Before Kori or Jay could offer to help in whatever way they felt possible, Holly headed away from Kori’s tent, back toward the pony ride area. Kori knew she couldn’t help anyway, but Jay’s mouth was hanging open like he was going to offer to go to her farm to check.

  Without giving her missing shovel a second thought, Kori asked Jay, “How are you and Lani? Still going strong?”

  Jay wouldn’t look up to meet her gaze but nodded while he continued slicing pies. “Yeah. We’re going to the fireworks together tonight.”

  A fireworks show was always put on after the first night of the festival and it was tradition for Jay and Kori to avoid going with their mom.

  “That’s great. I’m glad you have an excuse this year. Last year didn’t you go with Mom?”

  “Yeah. I couldn’t believe how excited she was over every single firework that went off. It was like she was three and seeing them for the first time.” They both laughed. “What about you? Are you going with her?”

  “I doubt it. I’ll be too tired by the time I close my booth at five. I’m not even going to try to come up with an excuse other than I’m too tired.”

  “You use that every year.”

  “And it’s always true!”

  Finally, customers started arriving and buying pie by the slice. As soon as the first person showed interest, it was a domino effect and Kori was relieved that her lunch break hadn’t turned everyone off of her treats.

  Kori also saw Nora walk in and finally set up her booth. Mayor Devlin stopped by Nora’s tent and exchanged some words with her but Kori couldn’t make them out. He didn’t look happy that she came half a day late. Kori couldn’t really blame him, but given the circumstances . . .

  As soon as Nora got her display arranged, she was swarmed by festival goers. There were plenty of Hermit Cove residents who’d been waiting all day for Nora to arrive so they could buy her homemade strawberry jam. It was a particular favorite and Kori would be serving it as often as possible at the café.

  For the last two weeks Kori had helped Nora can the strawberry jam late into the evenings. They’d made everything from low sugar to no pectin and it would sell out by the end of the day tomorrow. Some preferred bigger chunks of strawberries still intact—preserves—others were looking for something more resembling paste—jelly—and finally there were those who wanted something in the middle—jam.

  They’d made it all.

  With Jay’s help, the rest of the afternoon went smoothly and Kori wasn’t quite as tired as she’d expected—though she wasn’t going to tell her mother that. Just before five, Gale came walking toward her tent and Jay took off, promising to help tomorrow as well.

  “You’re going to the fireworks tonight?” Gale asked, just as Kori had expected her to.

  “Sorry, Mom. I’m dead tired after serving all day. These days are longer than my normal days at the café so I’m going to have to skip them this year.”

  “No problem.” Gale glanced around her before continuing in a whisper, “I actually have a date.”

  Kori made a point to not let her jaw hang open at this revelation. Maybe that was why her mother had been so calm right after lunch. Gale’s smile was that of a five year old on Christmas morning.

  “Wh—who’s the lucky man?” Kori stammered, not sure she really wanted to know.

>   “Norm Devlin.”

  “The mayor?” Kori asked, this time unable to keep the surprise from leaking through. She had to pause in her packing up to fully focus on this conversation.

  Gale nodded like a giddy school girl. “I’ll see you tomorrow before noon.” Then she smiled and turned to walk away.

  Kori had to consciously refocus on the task at hand and finish packing up her tent. She decided to leave her cooking tools out rather than putting them back in her car for the night. She’d only have to bring the coolers home to refill the batters, fillings, toppings and pies.

  Just as she was finishing, Nora walked over and picked up a pile of two nearly empty coolers. “Need help?” she asked.

  “Sure. They all have to go back to the café so I can bring everything for tomorrow. Thank God I already have everything made. I don’t know if I’d be able to manage working longer today.”

  “Tell me about it. I don’t think missing the morning even had an effect on my sales.”

  “You still have enough jars of jam for tomorrow?” Kori asked, grabbing two more coolers and following Nora out to her car, Ibis tailing her, leash dragging on the ground.

  “Yup. And strawberry plants too. You have dinner plans?”

  Kori put her coolers down next to her car and popped the trunk. She had no idea how she’d fit all the coolers and supplies in her car earlier and still found a spot for Ibis. She packed the coolers into the trunk before answering. “Just something premade from the freezer. And a bottle of wine. Want to join me?”

  “Love to. Let me just stop by home to feed the dogs and I’ll see you in half an hour.”

  As soon as Kori got home and took Ibis for a quick walk, she set to work making sure she had everything all set for tomorrow morning. She arranged all of the crepe and waffle batters, toppings, fillings and more pies near the front of the walk-in fridge and then headed upstairs.

  Just when the oven was preheated and she was putting in a couple frozen spinach enchiladas, Nora walked through the front door.