Sunflowers and Sabotage Page 6

  "There is plenty of lavender on her hands, and I'm picking up traces of sun block." I took a deeper whiff. "I can smell grilled onions around her fingertips." I peered up at him. He looked properly impressed, although they were three distinguishable scents that hardly needed hyperactive olfactory cells. I sat back. "I know one of the vendors was selling hamburgers. She might have eaten one for lunch." That erased the notion that she might have had peanut butter and jelly for lunch. Which meant the peanut butter on her shirt came from some other, possibly more nefarious cause. But why couldn't I smell peanut butter on her hand?

  I moved cautiously to the other side to run my nose past the hand that had fallen awkwardly behind Ellen when she dropped to the floor. I took a deep breath and smelled the three aforementioned scents, but still no sign of peanut butter.

  I sat back. Burke's eyes glittered with intrigue. "Wait till I tell the precinct that I watched Lacey Pinkerton sniff her way around a murder victim."

  "Oh, stop," I said coyly but didn't mean it. I was leaning over a murder victim, a terrible tragedy, but I was giddy with pride. "Anyhow, I'm not sure if those scents will lead to anything significant, but there is some peanut butter on her t-shirt and—"

  The trailer door opened, and Briggs appeared in the slim doorway. Officer Burke hopped to his feet so fast the trailer shook. "Detective Briggs, I hope it's all right. I let Miss Pinkerton use her nose to sniff out evidence."

  Briggs shot me an amused look, then turned his attention back to the officer. "Yes, that's fine, Burke. The coroner van just pulled into the park, so they'll get started in a few minutes." Briggs walked closer. He lowered his hand for me to take and popped me to my feet.

  "Miss Pinkerton sure is something," Burke gushed. "I've just been telling her I can't wait to tell everyone at the precinct that I got to work with her."

  Briggs shot me a sly smile. "Yes, she is definitely something else."

  Chapter 12

  "Burke, why don't you go out and talk to some of the people standing around the scene. They've seen the coroner's van so they know the victim is dead. Find out if anyone saw"—Briggs glanced at his notebook—"Ellen Joyner recently and if anyone saw someone entering this trailer other than Ellen and"—he glanced again at his notebook—"Melody, the woman who discovered the body." It was unusual for him to have to recheck his notes so often. His mind was still preoccupied with the drug case. "I'm going to stick around here to find out what the coroner says about the mark on her head and the time of death."

  Officer Burke left to carry out his orders.

  Briggs took a brief second to kiss me. "How strange to find Lacey Pinkerton at the scene of a murder."

  I bit my lip deciding whether or not to brag. Was it really bragging though? I convinced myself it wasn't. "Apparently, my reputation precedes me, and I'm the toast of the town at the Chesterton Precinct." (Yes, toast of the town might have been taking it a bit too far, but I liked the way it sounded.)

  Briggs chuckled, a wonderfully baritone sound. "I'll admit, your name and your nose do come up occasionally. Although, I have yet to see anyone raise a glass in toast along with it. But, you're definitely the toast of my town. That reminds me"—he shook his head—"I can't keep my thoughts straight these days. Elsie is waiting patiently to hear whether or not she should go back to Port Danby without you. She needs to get back to the bakery."

  "That's right. Poor Elsie, I left her standing there forever. I'll go talk to her, then I'll be back."

  "You will?" he asked.

  I gave him a wide eyed blink. "You can't expect a decent murder investigation to proceed without the famous Lacey Pinkerton and her nose, Samantha. Plus, I've got some insider knowledge I think you'll be interested in hearing."

  "I should have guessed. I'll find you after I talk to the coroner. Since you've already done your nasal inspection, we can talk outside. There is hardly enough room in here for Nate to work. Then the evidence team needs space."

  "Sounds good." I stepped out of the trailer for the first time since I'd been pulled inside by a highly distraught Melody. Some of the crowd had thinned, mostly to go back to their various places to finish packing. There had been plenty of high drama during the dog show, but the ending had been nothing short of explosive.

  Elsie found me before I spotted her in the stragglers and curious onlookers. "Well, Inspector Nose, can we head back to Port Danby? I need to see if Britney managed to get all the work done with her headache."

  "I should have just let you go earlier, Elsie. I'm going to stick around here."

  She smiled. "I should have know that when I spotted the dreamboat detective walking onto the scene. I'm taking off then. Thanks for your help today."

  After talking to Elsie, I was quickly reminded that I, too, owned a shop, and I'd been neglecting it all day. I pulled out my phone to text Ryder.

  "How are things going? I was going to stick around at the park for awhile. There's been a murder and I'm assisting." I was tempted to add a smiley face emoji but decided to take the more professional route.

  "My boss and the murder scene. They go together like ketchup and fries," he texted back. The man could text with the best of them. A second text came through before I could even think of my response.

  "I finished my to-do list and customers are scarce, so Kingston and I are about to sit down to a game of cards."

  A laugh shot from my mouth, an inappropriate sound considering that I was standing outside a murder scene. A few of the onlookers arched disapproving brows my direction.

  My fingers flew over the keyboard. "Watch that bird. He cheats. P.S. Don't tell him I told you that." It wasn't even all that ludicrous to think about Kingston sitting down to a game of cards. The bird was already under the impression that he was more human than crow.

  "I have no problem holding down the fort while you do your thing at the murder scene," Ryder wrote back. "And I'll watch that King doesn't slip any aces under his wing."

  "Thanks," I texted back.

  I wandered away from the crowd to get a better view of the park. Like Elsie, most of the vendors had left for the day. However, many of the competitors had stuck around, some standing in small circles talking, while others continued cleaning up their spaces. There was a sort of thick cloud of shock, sadness and bewilderment over the park.

  Several women had taken Pebbles from her pen. They were walking the dog around the grass. My chest tightened at the sight of the big dog prancing around, seemingly confused that Ellen wasn't on the other end of the leash. And there was Trigger too. He must have been at home, waiting for his mom to come home and feed him. I decided to ask around to find out who might take care of the dogs now.

  My answer came before I could even ask. Briggs came out of the trailer with that waxy, expressionless look he wore when some official duty had him feeling grim. "I've just made a call to Ellen's sister. She lives about fifty miles away and is on her way. It seems she's the only family Ellen had left. Their parents are both dead." He took a deep breath. "Worst part of the job."

  I pressed my hand against his arm. It wasn't a big show of support, but a long, much needed hug would have been awkward at a crime scene.

  We walked away from the clusters of people to a quieter place beneath a tree. "Did the sister have any idea about who might have killed Ellen?"

  He shook his head. "Too early to ask that. I didn't want to add to her grief on the phone. We'll interview her once she has gotten over the shock."

  "Well then, let me fill you in on some fairly contentious events that took place at the dog show today."

  He discretely reached for my hand. "Why was a perfectly perfect florist at a dog show today?"

  "I was helping Elsie, of course."

  "Then that would lead me to my next question. Why was the town baker at the dog show?"

  "Because Britney stayed out too late and she had a headache and Elsie wanted to sell her dog treats. Now, do you want to hear what happened, or are you going to keep on this line of
questioning?"

  He laughed. "Sorry, yes, tell me what happened."

  I motioned toward Pebbles. Some of the other dog owners had gathered around the big dog, hugging and petting her. The dog appeared to enjoy the friendly attention even if she had no idea why she had become the center of their affection.

  "Remember that big gray poodle, Pebbles? We saw her with Ellen, the victim, at the beach," I added.

  "Yes, I remember."

  "She won the show today, only she was not the favorite. The favorite was a cocker spaniel named Belvedere. But there was a little sabotage going on behind the scenes. Belvedere entered the show ring with his snout working hard to finish a sticky bite of peanut butter."

  Briggs rubbed his chin. "That's an odd form of sabotage. So someone gave the dog peanut butter to distract him in the show ring?"

  "Exactly. You know how dogs get when you give them peanut butter. They love it but it—well, it's not the easiest thing to eat, especially if you're a dog."

  Briggs smiled faintly. "Yes, I've been guilty of giving Bear a spoonful or two. It's pretty amusing to watch him eat it."

  "It's amusing when you're just playing around but not in the show ring where they expect perfect obedience. The judge wasn't able to get a good look at Belvedere's conformation, so the ribbon went to Pebbles. Up until this year, the poodle was always the runner up. Apparently, Ellen had been coveting that first place ribbon for some time. The peanut butter mishap allowed her dream to come true. I was at the show and things got pretty heated. Avery Hinkle, the woman who owns Belvedere, accused Ellen of sabotage right in front of the entire crowd. Ellen was still on stage with Pebbles, enjoying her moment of glory, when Avery started yelling at her, calling her a cheater and a saboteur. Ellen left the stage in tears. That's the last time I saw her alive."

  Briggs had pulled out his notebook and was writing down the details. "Did you say her name was Avery Hinkle?" he asked.

  "Yes, and she might have been right about Ellen. I smelled peanut butter on Ellen's shirt. It wasn't on her hands but then the lavender grooming products were sort of overwhelming in that trailer. Remember, Ellen owned a dog grooming supply business. Her lavender shampoo is very popular."

  "That's right. She gave us her business card. I think it's still in the pocket of my shorts."

  "There's one more thing," I said. "It might be important."

  Briggs nodded. "Go ahead."

  "Yesterday, I came here to the park to deliver the sunflower arrangements. Most of the competitors were just setting up. I happened to notice Avery Hinkle because she was pulling out a banner about Belvedere being last year's champion. The banner was inside a thick plastic bag dotted with paw prints."

  Comprehension crossed Briggs' face. "Like the one pulled over the victim's head?"

  "Exactly."

  He wrote down that detail. "Seems like my unofficial partner has already done a lot of leg work—and nose work—on this one." He winked at me. "Let's find out if the officers on the scene have done as well as you. Although, I'm not counting on it."

  Chapter 13

  Officer Burke caught up to us after he'd interviewed a few of the bystanders. Most of them were competitors, and they were quick to relay exactly what I'd told Briggs about the sabotage incident and the accusations that flew afterward.

  Burke seemed a little flustered about having to report back to Detective Briggs. Apparently, the Chesterton Police weren't used to having a murder in their town. Burke shuffled through his notepad and cleared his throat. "Sir," he addressed Briggs formally, "aside from many witnesses mentioning the incident at the dog show, several people claimed that Miss Hinkle had been lurking around the deceased woman's trailer. I decided to ask Avery Hinkle where she was for the past few hours." He looked up hesitantly. "I couldn't narrow down the time span since we don't have time of death yet from the coroner," he added.

  "That's fine, Burke," Briggs said. "What did you find out?"

  Burke perused his notes. "Miss Hinkle claimed she was busy packing up her belongings so she could leave the park." He cleared his throat again. "I took the liberty of asking her to remain on the grounds for awhile longer. I thought you might want to have a word with her."

  Briggs nodded. "That's good, Burke. Thank you. It's always hard to secure a murder scene when there are droves of people milling about. Did you ask her specifically about why she was near Miss Joyner's trailer? Did she have a reasonable purpose for being there?"

  Burke returned to his notes. "Yes, and I corroborated her story with another person. Miss Hinkle said she was looking for her dog. Apparently, a Miss Melody Langley, is a hired dog walker. Miss Hinkle had paid Miss Langley to walk her dog"—he looked at his notes again—"her dog Belvedere while she packed up her belongings. She went looking for the dog walker and Belvedere. She happened to find them in the grassy area behind Miss Joyner's trailer. Miss Langley said that is exactly what happened. Although, she said she handed off the leash to Miss Hinkle and left them standing in that grassy area while the dog finished his—" another throat clearing, "finished his business."

  Briggs pulled out his own notebook. It was a rather quaint, cute meeting of the pen and notepad set. He wrote a few things down that made Burke beam. He was pleased to have found crucial information for the head detective.

  "So the dog walker, Miss Langley, handed off the leash and left Miss Hinkle and her dog alone in the grassy area behind the victim's trailer. Did you find anyone else who might have see Miss Hinkle after that?"

  His earlier proud grin vanished and Burke's face fell. "Sorry, sir, I didn't establish her whereabouts after that."

  "That's all right, Officer Burke. I'm planning to talk to Miss Hinkle myself. I'll ask her about it. Why don't you find out how far along the coroner is with his examination." He continued on with some other instructions, so I stepped away to read a text that’d beeped through earlier.

  "I'm freaking out, boss," Ryder wrote. "Lola and I are going to dinner with her parents tonight. This will be our first official introduction. What if they hate me?"

  I wrote quickly back, upset that I'd taken so long to check my messages. It was obvious Ryder needed my support. "You are literally impossible to hate so take that notion out of your head. I'll be back in Port Danby soon so you can take off for the day. Maybe you should go to the gym and work out or take a bike ride to get rid of some of the anxiety you're feeling."

  "That's a great suggestion. I'll see you when you get here."

  I returned to Briggs. He had just finished with Burke. "I'm going to walk over and talk to Avery Hinkle. If you're interested, you can tag along."

  I laughed dryly. "When have you known me to not be interested in a suspect interview? Is she a suspect or am I jumping the gun? It seems like she should be."

  "Not a suspect yet but definitely a person of interest. I want to ask her about the bag that was found over the victim's head. Something I would never have known about without my great partner." He reached around my waist and gave me a fleeting squeeze.

  Avery Hinkle seemed ready to leave. Her boyfriend, Barrett, was leaning against the side of the truck looking at his phone, while Avery was walking Belvedere around a nearby patch of grass for a last order of business before climbing into the truck.

  Briggs leaned his head closer as we walked toward the couple. "Is the tall guy next to the truck, Mr. Hinkle?" he asked from the side of his mouth.

  "Boyfriend, I think. He did try and stop her from making a big scene during the show, but she wasn't in the mood to be stopped."

  "Miss Hinkle?" Briggs called.

  Avery looked up from her dog. "Yes?" She looked perplexed and slightly annoyed. "If you're with the police, I've already been interviewed." Her mouth pulled into a tight frown. "Not sure how I've become the center of this investigation. The incident at the dog show left me angry, but I certainly wouldn't murder Ellen over a trophy, for heaven's sake." She was off on a confessional and rant before Briggs even got in one word or showed her
his badge. "There are just too many gossip-prone people in this show circuit," she added. It seemed she had soured on her fan base since the murder. "I'd like to go home now if that's all right with the police."

  Briggs pulled out his badge. "Yes, just a few questions, then you can go." Barrett was watching the scene, but he didn't seem inclined to come over and support his girlfriend, even though she was clearly irritated. That might have even been the reason he decided to stay clear.

  Avery glanced at the badge. "Detective Briggs, yes, of course, I've heard of you." Her questioning gaze flicked my direction.

  "Miss Pinkerton is assisting me on the case," he said curtly, letting her know that was his full explanation whether she liked it or not.

  "I thought she was the baker's assistant. I saw her selling dog treats a few hours ago." There was just enough snip in her tone to make me stiffen. But I kept my cool, mostly because I wanted to stick around for the questions, and I was always giddy with pride when Briggs introduced me as his assistant.

  "She is a woman that wears many hats," Briggs said briskly. "Miss Hinkle, I understand you were seen near the victim's trailer before the body was discovered."

  "Yes, as I explained to the officer, I walked over there to find Belvedere." She motioned down to her dog, who had sat down on his haunches to rest after the long day. "Melody, the dog groomer, was walking him for me while I packed the truck. I happened to find her on the grass behind the trailer."

  "What did you do after Miss Langley handed off the leash?"

  She was visibly flustered. It had been a long and unhappy day for Avery Hinkle. She seemed ready to crumple into a pile of sobs. "Well, if you know anything about dogs, Detective Briggs," she said sharply, but with a slight waver, "you let them finish what they need to do. Just like now, since we're not at home, where Belvedere has the freedom to go out into the yard through his dog door, I walk him around until he is finished relieving himself. I was told I needed to wait in the park, but I'll be honest, I'm really ready to go home and put this disastrous dog show behind me."