The Diva Goes Overboard

My little boy would like a doughnut board instead of a cake for his birthday party! I’m happy to do that for him, but how?

Proud Mommy in Round Bay, Maryland

Dear Proud Mommy,

Buy or bake a variety of doughnuts with different toppings. Be sure some have sprinkles! Place them on a large board and add small cookies and the birthday boy’s favorite candies in between them.

I stopped on my way to the store to pick up bagels and lox, and lattes. Wolf waited at the door when I arrived. He carried lattes and Krispy Kreme doughnuts, my favorite.

The two of us laughed as I unlocked the door. I turned off the alarm and promptly locked the door behind us. And then I turned the alarm on again.

I opened the bookshelves that led to Orson’s secret room.

“We’re eating back here?” Wolf asked.

I nodded. He wore shorts and a golf shirt. “Is it your day off?”

“I’m planning to play golf today unless you have earthshaking information.”

“I’m sorry. You deserve time off. Want me to tell you tomorrow instead?”

“Aww, you’re kidding!”

I shook my head, sipped a mocha latte, and unpinned the picture of Riley Hooper, which left the photo of Bonnie Shergold.

“Really?” he asked. “This should be interesting.”

“You may recall that Orson told Myra he found his wife dead and took off with Stella because he knew who killed her and that he would be back to kill Orson and Stella. Myra tells me Orson specifically said the guy had brothers.”

Wolf smeared cream cheese on his bagel and layered lox on it while he listened.

“Terry Warren—do you know who I’m talking about?”

“Alas, yes. Colin’s uncle.”

“Terry Warren has brothers. Apparently, they were a wild bunch. And they had a sister named Sharon, who had cancer as a child and was very sick. The story was that she couldn’t have children because of all the treatments. She showed up one day with a baby girl, whom you know as Bonnie Sherwood.”

“She’s very nice. That’s where I buy flowers for my wife.”

“Bonnie thinks her father was a French rock and roller, who is now deceased. Two women who knew the family said they can’t remember Sharon being pregnant, and there was a story about the baby being premature and kept at the hospital for months. I think Bonnie is Callie Chatsworth, the daughter Orson was looking for.”

“Rumor and gossip is hardly enough to go on. Fortunately, there is an easy test to find out for sure. Wow! That’s going to come as a big blow to Bonnie.”

“That’s not all.”

Wolf had started on the second half of his bagel.

“Jordan St. James had a big loan to pay off. Stella was concerned about it because she couldn’t see a bank giving Jordan a loan, which meant he must have gotten a private loan from someone.”

“Jordan also had a very flashy Rolex with a vibrant navy blue face and bezel. Hard to miss. But the last time I saw him, he wasn’t wearing it. He has a spot on his arm that isn’t suntanned where he used to wear it.”

“Possibly. Last night at the grand opening of the Warrens’ new event space, the whole family was present, including Terry. His right hand was black and blue, like he’d been punching someone.”

“That’s who I suspect. And he wore a Rolex on his wrist with a vibrant navy blue face and bezel.”

“So Terry gave Jordan a loan. When Jordan didn’t have the money to pay him back, he gave Terry his Rolex.”

“But it wasn’t enough to cover the loan, so when Orson died, Jordan broke into the store and stole the mock antiquity that went missing from the store and I found in the alley after the ambulance left with Jordan.

“Which was why Terry beat up Jordan. And if Terry really was the man who shot Orson’s wife, he might also have murdered Orson.”

“And it was probably Terry who was following Orson around.”

“Why wouldn’t Orson have mentioned him in the letter he left for you?”

“I think he didn’t get around to it. We all put things off. That’s why he didn’t mention the photos of the girls. He thought he would be the one figuring out if one of them was his missing daughter. Terry hasn’t been here long, so maybe Orson didn’t even realize that Terry was in town. It’s been decades. They might not even have recognized one another right away. The Warrens have a strong family resemblance, but age changes us.”

I finished my latte and nibbled on a bagel with salmon.

“That’s quite a recitation. Congratulations. You have ruined my golf plans.”

“Can you take tomorrow off instead?”

“I always plan to, but it never works out that way. I hope we can get Terry to talk.”

“If I’m right about this, then Karl will be very happy.”

Wolf eyed me. “Poisoning doesn’t sound like it’s something Terry would do. He’d more likely shoot someone or mess with the brakes in a person’s car.”

“Or beat them up,” I said. “But he had a very big motive. And none of my other suspects have had as great a motive.”

“The size of the motive is within the killer. Some people kill for relatively minor matters, but they feel like they’re huge.”