The BBQ Burger Murder Read online

  I was sorry. But what would I do about future cases? Would I always hold back? What would happen to Liam and Arthur’s jobs here in Sleepy Creek? The odds seemed insurmountable.

  “Come on,” Aggy said. “Let’s go to the Burger Bar. I bet Grizzy misses you, and she’ll be able to talk some sense into you.”

  I nodded slowly. I hadn’t seen my friend in what felt like forever, and if anyone would be a support to me during this Liam and selfish saga, it was her.

  “All right,” I said. “I’m getting out of bed.”

  Aggy let out a bout of squeals and applause, like I’d announced I was secretly a princess of a small European country. The Princess Diaries was her favorite movie.

  “We’re going to solve the case!” Aggy jumped off my bed and skedaddled out of my room.

  I wished I could have her enthusiasm.

  13

  The interior of the Burger Bar was as retro and homey as always, with Jarvis in the kitchen, occasionally appearing in the window to serve up burgers in baskets, folks seated at their tables enjoying their meals, and Grizzy behind the milkshake bar.

  Man, I loved this place. Being in here sent me right back to the start of my time in Sleepy Creek, to working as a server and trying to figure out what had happened with my mother’s cold case.

  My nerves fluttered at the thought of seeing Liam, but he wasn’t in the Burger Bar, probably because he wanted to avoid me.

  I approached the bar, grinning at my bestie. “Hey, Griz.”

  “Christie,” she said, her tone cold. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “Yeah, we’ve been busy. Sorry, Griz. I’ve been meaning to stop by.” I hadn’t wanted to when it would bring questions about the case and what Liam had found and—

  “Have you?” Grizzy asked, her blonde hair curly and out of control today. She swept some of it back from her forehead and eyed me.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. “No offense, Griz, but you’re acting kind of strange.”

  “Oh, I’m acting strange? Sure. OK. I’m acting strange.”

  “Grizzy?”

  “Look, Christie, how about you keep your silly opinions to yourself.” Grizzy’s eyes filled with tears.

  “Griz? What’s—?”

  She pushed herself away from the bar and marched into the office, shutting the door behind her.

  “What the—?” What had that been about? I was tempted to go knock on the office door.

  A sharp whistle sounded, and I turned to find Missi and Vee seated in their usual booth. Vee was on her iPad, tapping away, while Missi watched me, her gaze haughty over the rim of her milkshake glass.

  “Uh oh,” I muttered.

  “They look angry,” Aggy said.

  “Understatement. Missi’s going to bite my head off.” I squared my shoulders and walked over to the table. “Hi, Missi. Vee. How are you today?”

  “Look what the cat dragged in,” Missi said. “You disappear from the Burger Bar for a couple of days and walk back in, expecting the red carpet.”

  “Why didn’t you call us, dear?” Vee asked, without looking up from her iPad. “Before you made such a stupid decision.”

  “I… wait, what?” I did a double-take. In the time I’d known Virginia, I’d never seen her outright hostile. She was the calm one between the twins. The levelheaded one.

  “She didn’t stutter,” Missi said. “Or have you lost cognition completely?”

  “Why would you accept a case from Mona Jonah of all people?” Vee asked.

  Aggy gave a dramatic gasp and grasped her hat—a Stetson today.

  “Oh relax,” Missi snapped. “This isn’t a soap opera.”

  “How did you…?” I trailed off, shaking my head. It didn’t matter how they knew. The cat was out of the bag, and if I lost my friends on top of losing Liam, I didn’t know how I was going to function in Sleepy Creek. It wouldn’t be home anymore without Grizzy and the twins.

  “I have my sources,” Virginia said, evenly. “Everyone’s talking about it, Watson. Everyone in town knows that you’re on Mona’s side.”

  “I’m not on Mona’s side,” I replied, hotly. “I’m on the side of justice and the law.”

  “You’re a sellout.” Missi shoved her empty milkshake glass aside and glared at me. “You took a paycheck from Mona, for heaven’s sake. You would rather have money than have any sense of loyalty to your friends. To this town!”

  “Where’s your backbone?” Virginia added in, gathering steam right alongside her sister. “Where’s your dignity?”

  The customers in the Burger Bar had quit eating and stared at me.

  My cheeks were hot, my insides boiling with embarrassment. “It’s not as simple as that. I accepted Mona’s money because I didn’t have another choice.”

  “That’s a lame excuse,” Missi replied.

  “Look, I didn’t have any money. Food. I had nothing, OK? That’s the truth. And the business is failing, and I didn’t want to ask you or anyone else for help because it was embarrassing,” I said, letting it out at last. Aggy nodded along behind me, rubbing her belly as if to indicate that we had been starving.

  Missi’s expression didn’t change.

  “So, let me get this straight,” Virginia said, tapping her neatly clipped fingernails on the tabletop. “Instead of asking your friends for help when you were in a tough spot, you decided to accept money from Mona Jonah?”

  “In what world does that make sense?” Missi asked. “That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever said, Watson.”

  “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  “Ashamed!”

  “Stop it,” Aggy shouted.

  People gasped from the tables and booths surrounding us.

  “You don’t get it. You don’t understand the half of what Christie’s been going through or how difficult it was for her to even accept Mona’s case. Or how afraid she was of being a burden on you or Grizzy or even her boyfriend. So unless you’ve got something nice and constructive to say, keep your horrible words to yourself!” Aggy’s voice warbled halfway through the lecture, her eyes darting from side-to-side, but she had said it.

  I was stunned. Agatha had stuck up for me. Agatha who snoozed whenever she got the chance and hardly ever said thank you. The same cousin of mine who whined about dairy-free milk and organic bread.

  The twins were just as shocked. Missi blinked rapidly. Vee actually bowed her head a little.

  I looped my arm through my cousin’s and guided her away from the twins and out into the street. Out on the sidewalk, Aggy slumped against my side, sucking in breaths.

  “You all right?” I asked.

  She was pale and sweaty. “Not so good with confrontations.”

  “You did great,” I said. “And thank you for defending me, even though I was the one who was wrong to start with.”

  Aggy was quiet, and I allowed her a few minutes to regain her breath. The color slowly returned to her cheeks. “You know, Christie, it’s not as bad as people are making out. Mona’s not a murderer. I know she’s not.”

  “Yeah, but I still did the wrong thing.” We set off down the sidewalk, heading for my office.

  “Sure. But it’s not like you murdered somebody. It’s not like you did anything illegal.”

  “Apart from impersonating a law enforcement official.”

  “Sure. But…”

  “You don’t need to make excuses for me, Aggy,” I said. “I’ll own up to my mistakes. And even though I did what I did through desperation, it’s still no excuse. If Liam decides to report me for what I did, then I’ll accept that. I don’t have a choice. That’s what you have to do when you make a mistake in life. You own up to it and you take your punishment.”

  Have I learned nothing since I lost my job in Boston? I squashed the thought down. I was tired of trying to make sense of this in my mind.

  Aggy was right. We needed to figure out who had committed the murder, especially if Liam and Arthur weren’t happy about M
ona’s arrest. And, I wasn’t going to mentally sugarcoat it, because I wanted to find out who had killed Emma Carte too.

  I was invested, both financially and emotionally. If I was already in trouble for this, my friends were angry with me, and Liam… wanted a break, then I had literally nothing to lose.

  “We need to get hold of Mona,” I said. “Hopefully, they’ll allow us to visit her because we need that camera footage if we’re going to prove anything.”

  “Do you think the police have access to the footage?”

  “They must have. But I feel like this investigation has been hasty. An arrest within a couple of days? It’s not unheard of, but that usually comes with a confession from the suspect, and I highly doubt Mona would confess. She won’t even confess to the real things she does wrong, let alone ones she hasn’t.”

  Aggy fiddled with the brim of her hat while we walked. A car sped by, and the elderly woman behind the wheel hooted and shook her fist at me.

  Don’t let it stop you. You have a case to solve.

  Our walk took us through town, past people with familiar faces who either glared or muttered under their breaths as we passed by. They thought I was working for a murderer. I’d prove them wrong.

  We rounded the corner and found Shayna Quill waiting in front of my office, wearing black clothing like she was attending a funeral.

  “Miss Watson,” she breathed, clasping her hands together. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  14

  “Step into my office,” I said, opening the door and standing back so Shayna could enter first. She swept into the room, her heels scraping on the dingy carpet.

  Shayna smoothed a shaking hand over her French braid, glancing to the corners of my office like she expected somebody to appear.

  “Looking for something?” I asked, and walked to my desk. Aggy took her usual spot in the corner.

  “Yes, I—I’m not looking for anything in particular,” she said, in her soft voice. “I wanted to make sure we were alone.”

  I took my place then gestured for Shayna to sit down as well. “What can I help you with today? Is it something to do with Emma’s funeral?”

  “Emma’s funeral?” Shayna glanced down at her clothes. “Oh! Oh, you mean this?” She pointed at herself. “Oh, no, that’s not for Emma. We’re all in mourning at the Gossip Circle club house. Our queen has been unlawfully imprisoned.”

  Wow.

  I’d always called Mona the “Gossip Queen” as a joke, but to find out that the ladies of the Gossip Circle referred to her as that unironically? Surreal.

  “Is that why you’re here?” I asked.

  “Exactly why I’m here.” Again, Shayna glanced over her shoulder and peered at the door. “Is it locked? We won’t be interrupted?”

  “What’s going on, Miss Quill?” I asked. “You’re jumpy.”

  She took in a shaky breath. “I was followed on the way here. Chased, actually. I’m not sure who it was, but I have a feeling I know what they wanted.”

  “And what’s that?” I asked.

  Shayna opened her clutch with delicate fingers. She reached inside and removed a flash drive from within. “This.” She balanced it on her palm. “I received a call from Mona this morning, from the Sleepy Creek Police Station. They’ve charged her with murder, you see, but she managed to get access to the video recordings from the cameras around The Creeker Gazette’s offices. She asked me to retrieve the information from her house and bring it to you here.”

  “Did anyone else know about this?” I asked.

  “No. Not that I know of. I mean, somebody may have been listening in on the conversation, but I don’t see how.” She placed the flash drive on my desk, carefully. “Mona told me that this will help prove her innocence. She seemed so sure of it. Please, please, can you help free her? Our queen doesn’t belong in prison.”

  Aggy made a noise halfway between a squeak and a snort, then averted her eyes when Shayna turned and frowned at her.

  “If Mona’s innocent, I’ll make sure she’s freed.” Because I’d be putting the real killer behind bars.

  You’re really going to do this. After everything. Yeah. I was. Stubborn and maybe foolish, but nobody could accuse me of not sticking to my guns.

  “She’s innocent,” Shayna said. “She’s definitely innocent. Our queen would never hurt a fly. Not in the physical sense, anyway.”

  Aggy did another snort. Taking on Missi and Vee had injected lead into her spine.

  “Thank you for stopping by with this evidence, Shayna. Do you need us to escort you back to your club house or home?” I asked.

  “No. I should be fine.” She rose, dusting off her flawless black dress.

  “Miss Quill,” I said. “Did you get a glimpse of your pursuer?”

  “No. Unfortunately not. I know they were in a black car, but the windows were dark and I… well, I couldn’t see their face in my rearview mirror.”

  “A black car. What type of car?”

  “I’m not sure. It was a sedan, I think. I’m not good with brand names.” And with that Shayna excused herself from the room.

  Aggy pulled a face. “I can’t believe they call her the queen.”

  “Don’t even get me started.” I picked up the flash drive then turned to my ancient computer, praying that it wouldn’t fail me today. I’d picked it up secondhand, and so far, things had gone relatively smoothly. Knowing my luck, the minute I turned it on, it would emit a puff of smoke as a final karmic kick in the butt.

  I switched on the computer and waited for it to boot up. It made the appropriate whirring sounds that struck fear into my heart before finally turning on.

  “I’m in.” I gestured for Aggy to join me.

  She hesitated, likely because it was the first time I’d actively involved her other than nagging for her to stay awake and take notes, before hurrying over.

  We both stood in front of my desk rather than sitting. It was either going to be a momentous occasion or a dead-end.

  Please give me something. Anything.

  I inserted the flash drive and waited, impatiently.

  Finally, a window popped up on the screen. It held several video files dated from the day of the murder with various time slots. “Uh,” I said. “I think we’re going to have to settle in for this one. Could you run to Dolores’ Bakery and grab us a couple of coffees, please, Aggy?”

  “Sure!” She took my wallet and hurried off while I organized two chairs in front of the desk.

  I started my work on the videos. The footage was from the streets adjacent to Gossip Street, where the cameras had been taken out. Apparently, Mona hadn’t found any evidence of who had vandalized the cameras.

  Or she’s covering her tracks.

  My pen in hand, I trawled the footage for information, going over the movements during the morning, making notes about foot traffic and the cars that went by.

  07:00 a.m.—Receptionist is seen walking down the street toward Gossip Street. Likely on the way to work.

  08:00 a.m.—Black car circles the block. Not a Porsche (so not Parker Dirke). Video footage fuzzy, but definitely a sedan.

  11:00 a.m.—Mona’s silver BMW arriving.

  12:00 p.m.—Black Porsche arrives! Parker Dirke.

  12:10 p.m.—Black Porsche leaves.

  01:00 p.m.—Receptionist, Gail, leaving the area.

  01:30 p.m.—Receptionist returns with takeout from the Burger Bar.

  02:00 p.m.—Black car circles the block again? Who is this? Why are they circling the block?

  04:30 p.m.—Black Porsche arrives and doesn’t leave thereafter.

  05:00 p.m.—Mystery black car (not Porsche) arrives and doesn’t leave thereafter. Must’ve gone out a different way? Same for Parker Dirke? If only I had the footage from the other streets.

  06:30 p.m.—Receptionist leaves on foot.

  06:35 p.m.—Mona’s silver BMW leaves.

  There were other movements, but none that seemed relevant to the case. Either
they were people walking their dogs or just random cars passing by. Ones I couldn’t successfully identify as belonging to any of the suspects.

  And what had happened to the black Porsche and the other black car I couldn’t identify? What was with the circling the block? And why had Parker, the ex-husband, come to see Emma if he’d had absolutely no relationship with her as he’d claimed?

  “Here’s the coffee,” Aggy said, cheerfully, placing my cup on the desk.

  “Thanks.”

  “What do you have?”

  “Take a look and see what you think.” I handed her my notepad then picked up my coffee, leaning back and watching a recording from the morning of the murder again in case I had missed something.

  “Huh.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing. It’s just weird that Mr. Dirke’s car was around the building when he said he didn’t even talk to his ex-wife.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “But what do you think of the other black vehicle?”

  “I don’t know.” Aggy shrugged. “Maybe it’s got nothing to do with the murder.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “There are plenty of other buildings in that street. Sheesh, there’s a hair salon right across the street.”

  “There is?”

  “Sure. I saw it while I was napping on the bench,” Aggy said. “It’s new, I think. I’m always on the lookout for a new place to get my hair done after what happened at the… last place.” She grimaced.

  “Right,” I said. “You’re right.” It was an obvious answer that the random black car wasn’t connected to the case. “Does that mean that the black car that allegedly pursued Shayna today belonged to Parker Dirke?”

  “Probably,” Aggy said. “I think, um, I think it’s the only thing that makes any sense, given the current evidence.”

  Agatha was right. I had to consider the facts not the speculation. And the fact was, Parker Dirke had lied about seeing Emma before her death. He had been in the area on the day of her murder.

  “Seems like we need to pay Mr. Dirke a visit,” I said.