Murder and Matrimony

  Murder and Matrimony

  A Margot Durand Cozy Mystery

  Danielle Collins

  Fairfield Publishing

  Copyright © 2018 Fairfield Publishing

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Except for review quotes, this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the author.

  This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  Thank You!

  1

  The sound of tinkling glasses and forks against shiny white plates mingled with the dim light of the exclusive, Washington, D. C. restaurant that Detective Adam Eastwood had insisted on taking Margot Durand to. They were two short weeks away from their wedding and the planning had finally started to take its toll on Margot.

  It was surprising how small details really started to add up. Margot had spent every hour while not at the bakery working on finalizing everything for their wedding. There was one last item she had yet to finalize and she was berating herself for not having taken care of it earlier.

  “Earth to Margot,” Adam said, reaching a hand across the smooth, burgundy tablecloth to rest on top of hers.

  “I’m sorry,” Margot said, pulling herself from her thoughts.

  “You were thinking about it, weren’t you?”

  She bit her lip, likely looking like the child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

  “I was.”

  “And what did we say about that? No wedding plans tonight. None.”

  While she knew Adam wasn’t mad at her, she did know that she’d gone against their agreement. Tonight was supposed to be about relaxing and enjoying one another’s company. Adam had been away on a case for the last week and this was their first time catching up, since he’d been consumed with work up until that point.

  “I’m sorry. It just…pops into my head.”

  “You’re obsessed,” he said with a grin.

  “I’m organized,” she amended. “And I want to make sure our big day is organized so well that we don’t have to worry about a thing when the day comes.”

  “And you know what?” he said, pulling her hand into both of his. “You’ve already done an incredible job of that. I honestly don’t know a detail you haven’t thought of.”

  “There might be one,” she said with a grimace.

  “Really?” He looked shocked and released her hand to get back to his chocolate mousse dessert. When she didn’t answer, he looked up at her. “What is it, Margot?”

  “I thought you didn’t want to talk about the wedding tonight. Off limits, remember?”

  He rested his fork on the edge of his plate and sent a piercing stare in her direction. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  She grimaced again, knowing she’d have to own up to it. “We still don’t have a cake.”

  “Oh?” His eyebrows slowly rose. “As in…I’m marrying a baker and there will be no wedding cake at our wedding?”

  She rolled her eyes at his dramatic response. “When you put it like that…”

  “How else should I put it?” He was smiling now.

  “No, we don’t have a cake. Yet.”

  “Care to fill me in on this minor detail?”

  She looked down at the cheesecake with dripping chocolate ganache and bright red berries on top. It had a balanced flavor to it, the dark chocolate enhancing the sweetness of the berries all brought together by the creamy nature of the cheesecake itself. Even the traditional graham cracker crust had a hint of cinnamon in it that made the dessert feel more exotic.

  “Stop analyzing the cheesecake and fill me in, Margie,” Adam said.

  She laughed. Adam knew her too well.

  “We didn’t have the cake taken care of, so I was waiting on a friend of mine—”

  “A baker in New York, right?”

  “Yes, Rochelle, but she finally got back to me saying that she couldn’t do it. I’d thought for sure she’d make time for me, but she’ll be in California during our wedding and there’s just no way to make it work out that she could come.”

  “So…what’s the plan? You know I’m fond of cake.”

  “I know,” she said, taking another bite and savoring the flavors of the dessert. “I will admit I’ve put off finding someone. Not having Rochelle was a bit of a crushing blow, but I’ve got a plan that may work.”

  “Which is?”

  “I’d like to ask Dexter and Julia to make the cake for us.”

  Adam looked sufficiently surprised. “Do you think they’d agree to it?”

  Margot shrugged. “I’m not sure, but they are quickly becoming our last hope unless I end up being the one to make our wedding cake.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “And why is that?” she asked in a coy tone.

  “Because marrying me should be sufficiently distracting enough for one day.”

  Margot laughed. “I wouldn’t call it distracting, but I do think it will be busy enough for me that I don’t want to add on making my own wedding cake to my list of to-dos.”

  “Smart woman.”

  “I’ll ask them tomorrow. I can help them plan it out, but I think it could be a good experience for them both.”

  “You matchmaker.”

  She merely smiled and turned her attention back to her cheesecake. A few moments later, she looked up at Adam to find him looking at her.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Nothing. Just looking at you.”

  “Any particular reason?”

  He seemed to ponder her question for a moment before shaking his head. “Just looking forward to being your husband.”

  “You seem…melancholy,” she observed.

  “This last case was—”

  “Excuse me,” a deep voice said. “Adam Eastwood?”

  Margot jolted at the rude interruption and turned to look up, and then up some more, into the face of a scowling man wearing a rumpled suitcoat and a day’s growth of hair on his thin chin.

  “Yes? Can I help you?” Adam asked, sending a glance at Margot then back to the man.

  “I’m Detective Karlsson with the D.C. Police. I’m going to need to take you in for questioning.”

  “Questioning— What? What is this?”

  Margot’s heart began to thud in her chest. What was this detective talking about?

  “Questioning for what?” Margot asked, worry lacing her words.

  “You’re a person of interest in the murder of Sid Lawrence.”

  Margot felt numb. Had Adam really just been taken in for questioning in a murder investigation? She strolled slowly down the lamp-lit sidewalk, swatting away gnats as they swarmed under the lamp’s glow. Couples and small tourist groups clogged the pathway despite the late hour. If Margot hadn’t been so distracted by her thoughts, she would have understood why.

  The National Mall in Washington, D. C. at night was a stunning sight. From the WWII Memorial aglow with lights and its gushing fountains of water to the striking Lincoln Memorial at the opposite end of the reflecting pool. Not to mention the cooler—if only slightly—temperatures of night and you had a winning combination for the visitors to the nation’s capitol.

  She reached the base of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and stopped to sit down. She faced east, the glow of the Capitol Build
ing’s newly refinished dome shining in the distance, and began to ponder what she would do.

  There was no telling how long the D.C. metropolitan detectives would hold Adam. It was already late, and she had to be up early and at the shop to start her pastries, but it didn’t feel right to leave.

  The sound of her phone ringing jolted her out of her thoughts and she quickly pressed the talk button without even looking.

  “Hello?”

  “Margot?”

  “Yes, this is she.”

  “Hi, Margot, this is Anthony. Adam’s…brother.”

  “Oh, yes, right. Hello. Thanks for calling me back.” Margot cringed knowing that, while Adam worked cases with Anthony and seemed to be fine with him, he was estranged from his family back in Oregon.

  But almost the next minute after Adam had been taken away, she’d put in a call to Anthony. She knew enough about him to trust him, though she wasn’t sure if the rest of Adam’s family would agree. With something like this, though, she knew he was the one to contact.

  “Why don’t you tell me what happened.”

  She jumped into the story, knowing that Adam’s brother was also a detective in D. C. and not knowing where else to turn.

  When she finished, he took a few moments of silence before responding. “Okay, I’m going to make a few calls. Are you still in town?”

  “I am. I didn’t want to leave until I knew if he would be released.”

  “Do you have anywhere to go?”

  “Not really.”

  He only hesitated a moment. “Why don’t you come down to my station. We can wait here while I make some calls. Do you need a ride?”

  Margot considered this for a moment. “I’ll take a taxi to the station and leave Adam’s car in the garage. Seems like the best solution.”

  “I agree. See you soon.”

  The line went dead and she slid her phone into her purse. After hailing a taxi on the busy thoroughfare of Constitution Avenue, she directed the driver to the police station Anthony worked at, then sat back to wait as the man navigated through the light traffic. Despite the late hour, it was still busy but nothing like peak traffic hours, and she was at the station within twenty minutes.

  He met her at the front and brought her back to an area where he shared a space with his partner, who was understandably gone for the night.

  “Have you heard anything?” Margot asked, wondering what could be taking them so long to question her fiancé.

  “I’m still waiting on a call back,” he said, indicating a chair for her to sit in. The station was quiet, though there were still officers working, their lights glowing against the rest of the dimmed building. “What was the name of the officer again?”

  “Detective Karlsson.”

  “Ron.” Anthony nodded. “I know the guy. Good detective. Not sure what is going on, though. And what was the other name you’d mentioned?”

  “He said that Adam was a person of interest in the death of a Sid Lawrence.”

  “Right.” Anthony looked back at his computer screen. “I’m not getting much here, but that doesn’t mean anything. It could still need to be uploaded to the system. Margot…” He turned to face her, his expression so much like Adam’s and yet so different. He was a few years older than Adam but wore his hair cut short and had the same hazel eyes as his brother. “I know my brother, as I’m sure you do. He’s going to be just fine. He likely just has to clear up a few things for them.”

  Margot noted a hint of something underneath his words. What was it?

  “Clear up? Clear up what?”

  Anthony shrugged. “Police business.”

  Now she knew she wasn’t getting the whole picture. She couldn’t exactly put her finger on it, but Anthony certainly wasn’t telling her everything. “What do you know about all of this, Anthony?”

  He looked uncomfortable but didn’t say anything. She was about to demand more information when her phone went off again, shattering the silence between them.

  She looked down to see a number she didn’t recognize, but the 202-prefix told her it was coming from Washington, D. C.

  “Hello?”

  “Margot?”

  “Adam!” She felt tears prick her eyes at his voice and felt foolish. “What’s going on? Where are you? Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, but—” He paused as if he wasn’t sure how much he wanted to share with her. “It looks like I’m going to need to stay here for…a bit.”

  “What?” Had she heard him right? “What are you saying, Adam?” Anthony looked at her, concern etched on his features.

  “I can’t talk right now, but go back home, okay? You can come up to see me in a few days, but don’t worry about me tonight.”

  “I can’t just leave you—”

  “You can, all right?” He sounded more serious than he had in a long time, a fact that drove fear directly into her heart.

  “I’m here with your brother right now.”

  “Tell Anthony to come and see me in the morning. It won’t do any good for you both to miss sleep tonight.”

  “But—”

  “Tomorrow, Margot. Promise me.”

  Despite everything inside of her rebelling at his request, she finally nodded—more for her own benefit since Adam couldn’t see her. “Okay. I love you.”

  “I love you too. Good night.”

  The line went dead, and she stared at the phone in her hands for a long time until Anthony broke the silence.

  “What did he say?”

  “He told me to go home.” She shrugged and looked up to meet his gaze. “And he told me to tell you to come see him—but in the morning. I just don’t understand…” She trailed off, unsure where her thoughts were even going.

  “He’s going to be all right, Margot,” Anthony assured her. “I’ll see him in the morning and we’ll get all this straightened out. Now, I’ve got your number and I’ll call you after I see him tomorrow. All right?”

  She wanted to be the one visiting him. She wanted to hear for herself how her fiancé was doing. She wanted to see him. And yet she also respected Adam and wanted to do what he asked because she trusted him. After all of the cases they had worked together, whether intentional or they’d been accidentally thrown together, she knew that she could trust Adam’s judgement.

  “All right. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  He nodded and rose to call her a cab. Sitting in the backseat on the way back to where they had parked at the beginning of their night, it was all Margot could do not to burst into tears. Adam had sounded calm, but she knew him well enough to know that something was wrong—very wrong—and all she could do was wait until the morning.

  2

  “And you don’t know anything about what’s going to happen?” Julia looked at Margot with shock and concern. She had walked in to Margot wiping away tears she’d hoped no one would see.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, sniffing and wiping her eyes again. “I’m usually more in control of my emotions.”

  “But you have so much going on…” Julia placed her hand on Margot’s shoulder. “You’re entitled to be upset.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” she consented. “And no, I don’t know. I’m waiting for Anthony or Adam to call me.”

  She looked at the clock on the far wall and let out a sigh. It was only eight in the morning, but it felt like midday since she’d only gotten a few hours of sleep and then come in to work when she’d woken at two and hadn’t been able to go back to sleep.

  “I’m sure it’s just some mix-up. Or, maybe he has information for the case. You never know.”

  Just then, they heard a knock on the front door. Curious to see who it was, Margot popped her head around the corner and gave a small smile when she saw her dear friend Bentley Anderson standing at the glass front door waving her over to let him in.

  “You’re here early,” she said, hoping her tear-stained eyes weren’t to visible.

  “But just in time, I see,”
he said, raising a finger upward. He was indicating her eyes, and she let out a sigh.

  “Did Julia call you?”

  “Dexter, actually.”

  “What?” Margot turned around just as Julia stepped into the front area of the bakery.

  “I’m sorry, Margot, but I was really worried. I texted Dexter and he thought maybe Bentley could give you some legal advice—if you need it, of course.”

  Margot let out a sigh. “I’m sure it’s either a misunderstanding or a routine police investigation. Nothing to worry about.”

  “Then why were you crying?” he asked.

  “Oh you,” she said, patting him gently on the arm. “Want the usual?”

  “Yes, please. Then we’re going to sit down and you’re going to talk to me.”

  She obliged while Julia continued the baking for the morning. Margot sat down to her third cup of coffee while Bentley enjoyed his caramel pecan cinnamon roll. As he nursed his cup of coffee, the caramel all but licked from his plate, he leveled his gaze at her.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

  Margot had known Bentley for many years now and she had come to see him as a type of surrogate father in her life. In the past, he’d been a trial lawyer and he’d helped her on more than one case in the past.

  She knew she should tell Bentley about what had happened—she even wanted to—but, somehow, it made it feel too real. She pressed her lips together and turned her attention to the street in front of her shop. It was still relatively quiet after the bulk of the morning traffic had made its way through the narrow streets.

  Everything seemed so normal and for her, a bride-to-be only days away from her wedding, she was afraid in the retelling things would solidify. The reality that Adam was still in D. C. with some police detective continued to sink in deeper.