Кэти Дэйли - The Case Of The Cupid Caper

“I believe Conover referred to the men and women he saw as patients.”

“Makes sense, I guess. It’s good you were able to identify this Tolley person and eliminate her from the list. Let me know if there is anything I can do.”

“I will. What are you up to today?”

“I have a couple of events to cover for the newspaper, and I need to make some decisions about my next Ms. Cupid column. I’m also supposed to give Paisley a piano lesson, although Gracie told me yesterday that she planned to start outfitting the sewing room now that Tom has finished painting in there, so Paisley may end up helping her. If you need a break and want to grab lunch, I’ll be in town. Just text me. I have to cover the grand opening of the new bakery at ten and then the art and craft show at the community center after that. I should be done by noon.”

“Okay. I may take you up on that. I guess I’ll see how my morning goes.”

After I hung up, I headed downstairs for some coffee. Gracie wasn’t down yet, so I decided to go ahead and start breakfast. She’d shown me the recipe for an easy egg and sausage pie with mushrooms and pepper jack cheese, so I decided to assemble the one-dish meal and then stick it in the oven before heading back upstairs to shower and dress. By the time I came back down, Gracie and Tom were sitting at the table with mugs of coffee, discussing their plans for the day.

“I see you started breakfast,” Gracie said. “I appreciate that.”

I refilled my coffee. “I was up early, and the recipe you showed me was an easy one. I figured I’d chip in since I usually never cook. It should be done in about five minutes.”

“It smells delicious.” She smiled. “So, what are you up to today?”

“I have a couple of local events to cover for the newspaper, and then I might have lunch with Cass if he has time. Paisley is coming over this afternoon.”

“Oh, good. I know she wanted to be here when we started decorating the new sewing room. Does she need a ride?”

“I think she planned to walk over, although it’s a blustery day, so maybe I’ll try to pick her up after lunch.”

“If that doesn’t work out, call me, and I’ll run over and get her. I know how you tend to get distracted when you spend time with Cass.”

I wasn’t sure if her comment had to do with the fact that I tended to get distracted by the cases he worked on, and I found fascinating, or if she was insinuating that the man easily distracted me. I supposed both were true.

“Have you spoken to Cass since yesterday?” Gracie asked.

“Actually, I had a brief phone conversation with him this morning. Apparently, except for a nap at his desk, he worked all night.”

“A body needs sleep,” Gracie voiced.

“I know. I’m sure he knows that as well. I think he just got wrapped up in trying to piece together the scraps of paper that survived the fire at Dale Conover’s home. He feels that the files that were burned are the most likely ones to have relevant information on recent cases.”

“Even with the similarities to Mayor White’s death, is he still pursuing a therapy patient as a probable suspect in Dale Conover’s death?” Tom asked.

“Cass told me he’s looking at all angles at this point. It does seem as if, in the end, he’ll need to find a suspect that had reason to want both men dead. I think we all agree that given the similarities, it seems unlikely there isn’t a single killer.”

“Unless Mayor White was killed by someone who intentionally mimicked the death of Dale Conover to divert suspicion away from him or herself,” Tom pointed out.

I narrowed my gaze. “Do you think that could be what’s going on? A copycat who took advantage of Dale Conover’s death to get rid of White?”

He shrugged. “I wouldn’t eliminate the possibility. I mean, if you stop to think about it, linking a murder you’ve committed to another where you would never be a suspect is an ingenious plan if you’re clever enough to think of doing such a thing.”

“Or if you watch detective shows like Tom here does,” Gracie chuckled.

“It is an interesting approach,” I said aloud. “Say I have reason to want Mayor White dead, but I realize that if he is murdered, I’d likely be a prime suspect. Then Dale Conover happens to turn up dead, and I realize this is my chance. I theorize that if I kill Mayor White in a manner similar to the way Conover died, everyone will look for the common link between the two men. Assuming I, whoever I am, realizes that a link between myself and the first victim doesn’t exist, the chances are my name won’t come up in the conversation.”

“That’s a bit of a convoluted way of putting it, but none the less accurate,” Tom agreed.

I wrapped my hands around my mug and leaned forward slightly. “Cass did say that he planned to look at the murders both as linked and as separate events. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to bring your idea into the conversation. I’ll discuss the idea with him if we meet for lunch today.” I got up to check on the breakfast pie. “I don’t suppose either of you has any idea who might have wanted Frank White out of the way. I mean, really out of the way, and not just removed from office.”

“One person came to my mind the minute I heard about Frank’s death,” Tom said. “Gavin Hildebrandt. Of course, he would have no reason I know of to have wanted Dale dead, but if we’re going to look at the two deaths as separate events, then I think Gavin has to be on Frank’s list.”

“What did Frank do to Gavin?” I asked.

“Do you remember us discussing the fact that Frank messed with Walter Bowman’s business deal to try to force Walter to sell his store to him?”

“Yes, I remember. I guess that makes Walter a suspect, but there is no way I believe that sweet old man killed anyone.”

“He’s younger than me, so not that old,” Gracie pointed out. “But I agree that Walter wouldn’t kill anyone. Gavin, on the other hand...”

I glanced at Tom, who had been the one to bring Gavin’s name up in the first place. “Who is this Gavin guy, and why would he want to kill Frank?”

“Gavin is the current owner of the local plow company. His family has had the contract to plow the roads in Foxtail Lake for decades. I think the town has contracted with the Hildebrandts since Gavin’s great grandfather moved to the area. There has never been any question in anyone’s mind that the contract between the town and Gavin’s company would be renewed year after year. Until this year. This year, Mayor White took it upon himself to hire a new contractor from out of the area, citing better equipment, which would lead to faster response time.”

“I understand that there are those who might feel loyal to Gavin, but a faster response time would be nice,” I pointed out.

“I don’t disagree, but the reason that Gavin doesn’t have new and upgraded equipment himself is because he’s been providing snow removal to the town for a mere fraction of what the new company is being paid. Gavin had approached the town about a raise so that he could buy new equipment on numerous occasions but was turned down every time due to a lack of funding. He’s been patching his old plows together for years. Then this year, Mayor White decides to tax all the businesses operating within the town limits. He earmarked this new revenue source for snow removal. To this point, I don’t disagree with his plan, but instead of using the money to help Gavin get the equipment he needs to provide better service to the town, he used the increase in revenue to hire an outside competitor, effectively putting Gavin out of business.”

“And you think Gavin would kill Mayor White over such a thing?”

Tom shrugged. “Gavin is a grizzly sort. He’s a hard worker who seems to care about the community, but in the past, he has gotten himself into hot water due to his impulse control issues. Two winters ago, he had a problem with one of the local contractors parking his truck in the street on snow removal days, which you know is illegal and can result in towing, but the third or fourth time this same contractor parked his truck in the street blocking the plow, Gavin decided not to wait for the tow truck. He simply used his plow to push the truck into a ditch.”