A Cup of Murder (Roasted Love Cozy 1)

Coming from him, I paid more attention to his words than I had when Jacob warned me. When we arrived at my bungalow, I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Whoa, what was that for?"

"Mainly, it’s for showing me the autopsy report, and for a delicious meal."

We grinned at each other. "If I had known that was all it would take to get a kiss from you I would have come up with that sooner," he said. "What else can I do for you?"

"For right now, the report and the dinner will do it," I said.

I slid to the car door and opened it. He waited until I got inside and I waved goodbye.

Thor bounded forward when I came in. I looked out the window as Daniel pulled away. Clearing my mind of him, I had more important things to think about at the moment.

For starters, I had to think about another visit with Marianne Andrews and how to accomplish that. Daniel’s words of caution briefly went in and out of my mind. I sat at the computer and brought up the obituary on John Andrews. I read it twice. According to the notice, the campaign manager was found in the parking lot of his apartment complex. He was on the ground next to his car parked in his assigned space in the carport space outside his apartment door.

It was determined he died of an extreme asthma attack. Nothing about who was there or who found him was in the obituary. This was in stark contrast to the autopsy report that I was sure said he died at the campaign office.

I quickly dialed Daniel on his cell phone.

"I just read the obituary on John Andrews online. It states he died in the parking lot outside his apartment. I thought it was a known fact he was found in the campaign office of James Simms. We both read that in the autopsy report, too."

"I should have told you. The obit was written that way but I have it from reliable sources he was found in the campaign office. That is why I have always felt there was more to his death than what the family wanted the public to know."

"Well, what do you know? This is a mystery, for sure. This tells me that his death was not a natural one."

The familiar chuckle came through the cell. "I agree with you on this one. And it all may or may not have something to do with Michael’s death. But I have to say, there is no way John’s death was anything but suspicious. I concluded that when I first read the notice of his death."

"It would have been nice if you had said all of that when I saw you."

The chuckle floated over again. I wondered what else he kept from me. It was hard to sleep that night. I set my phone alarm for plenty of time to get caffeine in my system before heading in early to Roasted Love.

Chapter Eighteen

My cell rang the next day in the early afternoon. It was Marianne. She wanted to see me. My dilemma solved, I told her I would be over that evening around seven. It was a problem concentrating on work. Ideas flooded my mind and I continually turned over events of the last week. I took Thor home after work and we went through usual routines but I think Thor felt neglected. My attention was miles away from him. His accusing face told me he knew I shortened his running time.

"You get more attention from me than Michael gave you, Thor. You know you do."

I left him and headed over to Marrianne Andrews' house. Once again, the petite woman ushered me into her living room. We sat in the exact same spots as before and I waited for her to speak. Tapered fingers reached for one of the albums still on the coffee table. I told her I had some questions for her first if she didn’t mind that.

She agreed with a smile. "Of course, ask away," she said.

"This is a really strange question...but I feel like it could lead to solving something about John and Michael's deaths. Do you know exactly where John was when he passed away?"

"He was on the floor of James Simms’ office as I said before."

"The obituary states he was on the ground next to his car at his apartment."

She shuffled a few books on the table next to her. "I know that and I have no idea why that was in the obituary. I didn’t write it. I left it to Michael to write it up. Thomas, my other son, was too young to put it together and I was in no state to do so. My husband passed away when both the boys were very young."

"Did you ask Michael why he wrote the wrong location?"

"Yes, I did. He said because of publicity, they felt it would be better to make it look like it happened where he lived. He explained it would shield his brother who was in the middle of a camp

aign. I didn’t like the idea, but John was gone and never coming back. Michael was very sympathetic about the situation. I knew the truth and that was what mattered at the time."

None of this made sense to me. The Simms family sure had clout to cover something up. What were the brothers trying to hide? So what if John collapsed in the campaign office? That’s where he worked and if the cause was from an asthma attack, that would be understandable.

On the other hand, maybe Marianne Andrews and Michael Simms both had reasons of their own to state the untruth. I placed my face directly in front of hers.