Death of a Coupon Clipper (19 page)

After she left the police station, Hayley grabbed her cell phone and started making
calls. Cassidy had said she was Candace’s only living relative, so that meant she
couldn’t be staying with an aunt or cousin while she was in town. She had exited town
the minute she was old enough, so it was also unlikely she kept in touch with any
friends she could crash with while she was handling funeral arrangements. And after
nearly mowing down Hayley and crashing her car, she stumbled back to wherever she
was staying on foot. That meant she had to be checked in at one of the three hotels
open for the winter and within walking distance of Main Street, where her drunken
confrontation with Hayley had taken place.

Hayley knocked off the first two in less than a minute by calling and asking for Cassidy
Culpepper’s room and being quickly told there was no guest by that name registered.

That left the only bed-and-breakfast on the list.

The Captain’s Arms.

 

 

When she called the number, Clarence answered the phone.

“Hi, Clarence, it’s me, Hayley Powell.”

“Hey, there. It’s kind of slow around here. Want to bring a movie over that we can
watch together?” the bartender asked, chuckling.

“I’m going to forget you said that. I was wondering if you could tell me if a woman
is staying there. A brassy blonde with big—”

“Oh yeah, Ms. Culpepper. Who could miss those . . . ? I mean, yes, she’s a guest here.”

“Is she there now?”

“I think so. She called the front desk to complain a few minutes ago that she didn’t
have enough fresh towels in her room. As you can see, I’m kind of a jack-of-all-trades
around here. Bartender. Phone receptionist. Housekeeper. They got me doing everything
because they’re so short-staffed during the winter.”

“Thanks, Clarence. I’m on my way over.”

It was just a five-minute walk and Hayley picked up her pace. She didn’t want to miss
Cassidy running out to her lawyer’s office.

When she arrived at the bed-and-breakfast, Clarence was behind the reception desk;
there was a warm fire crackling in the fireplace.

Hayley approached Clarence, who was reading a copy of
Car and Driver
magazine. He looked up and smiled.

“Hey, Hayley, take a look at this 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo I’m saving to buy next
summer. That’s why I’m working so many shifts here, trying to come up with the down
payment. I’ve calculated in my mind that by April I’ll have—”

Hayley quickly glanced at the magazine photo Clarence was holding up in front of her
and cut him off, “She’s a beauty, Clarence. Cassidy didn’t leave, did she?”

“Nope. But I haven’t seen her since dropping off the towels, so I assume she’s still
in her room. Let me call her and tell her you’re here.”

He reached for the phone, but Hayley shot a hand out and stopped him from picking
up the receiver. “No, don’t tell her I’m here. I want to surprise her. Just tell me
what room she’s in.”

Clarence eyed her suspiciously. “I’m not supposed to give out a guest’s room number.
House rules.”

“Oh, come on, Clarence. It’s me.”

“Sorry, Hayley. I can’t.”

“Gee, Clarence, that’s too bad. But I understand. Good luck saving for that car,”
Hayley said. “I just hope the bosses don’t find out what kind of movies you play in
the bar when they’re not here.”

“That was
your
DVD, Hayley! I didn’t bring it in here!”

“I know that. But you were the one who put it in the machine and had it playing in
all its HD glory when Reverend and Mrs. Staples came in,” Hayley said, feeling bad
for having to resort to blackmail.

“You wouldn’t,” Clarence wailed.

“Of course not. But you know me. Sometimes after a few cocktails at my brother’s bar,
I’m such a jabberjaw, yammering on about this and that, and sometimes slipping and
saying something I shouldn’t. . . .”

“Room 4, down the hall to the left. And you didn’t hear it from me.”

“Thank you, Clarence. I can’t wait for you to take me joyriding in that fancy new
car of yours this summer!”

Hayley dashed off down the hall, leaving a very nervous-looking Clarence watching
after her.

She reached the door to room 4 and tapped on it lightly.

No answer.

She pressed her ear to the door to see if she could hear any movement inside.

Hayley tried the handle. It was unlocked. She opened it slowly.

She poked her head inside and looked around.

The room looked as if a bomb had exploded: Clothes strewn everywhere. Empty liquor
bottles on the floor. Makeup dumped out all over the bed. The bathroom door was wide
open. There was a stack of fresh towels on the basin and some used wet ones on the
floor.

No sign of Cassidy.

Hayley glanced around to make sure no one was there and stepped inside the room, quietly
closing the door behind her. She poked around to see what she could find. She crossed
to Cassidy’s open pink suitcase on the floor in the corner and knelt down and began
rummaging through it. Just a lot of twisted candy wrappers, old fashion magazines,
and wrinkled clothing. She was about to move on, when she noticed something protruding
from the lining of the suitcase. She unzipped it and a stack of file folders and paperwork
fell out.

Hayley began poring over everything. Most of it was overdue bills and threats from
department stores to turn Cassidy’s accounts over to a collection agency. It was very
clear Cassidy Culpepper was in deep financial trouble. There was a plane ticket stub
that was dated the day before Candace was murdered. Which meant Cassidy lied. She
told Hayley at the office that she came to Bar Harbor specifically for her sister’s
funeral. But according to the plane ticket, Candace was very much alive when Cassidy
arrived in Maine.

Hayley was on a roll now, sifting through all the papers for more evidence she could
use to nail Cassidy for the murder.

And that’s when she found the smoking gun.

On one of the last files in the stack, Cassidy had scribbled the word “will” on the
tab. When Hayley flipped it open, she found a very simple legal document signed and
notarized by Candace that basically stated she was cutting her estranged sister off
from receiving any of her money in the event of her death.

This had to be it.

Cassidy must have gotten her hands on a copy of this latest will, which was dated
just two weeks prior to Candace’s murder. Candace may have mailed a copy to her, just
to rub it in that she was not going to get a dime of her money. Desperate, Cassidy
probably flew to Maine to try and talk some sense into her sister, with the hope of
changing her mind. When Hayley first spoke to Cassidy at the
Island Times
office, Cassidy was quite confident she was going to inherit her sister’s entire
fortune as her last living relative. That would mean Candace probably had not filed
the new will yet and Cassidy knew it. Cassidy went to Candace’s house to try and convince
her not to file the new will, but Candace refused. They argued on the front lawn.
Things got out of hand. Candace probably tried to walk away, and Cassidy stabbed her
in the back with the left-handed scissors, knowing the original will, which gave her
everything, was still on file in the lawyer’s office. Officer Donnie was botching
the case big-time, so Cassidy probably felt good about getting away with it. That
is, until she heard Randy talking at the bar about Hayley independently investigating
the case. She got nervous that Hayley might uncover something she shouldn’t, like
a copy of the new will, and that’s why Cassidy nearly ran her down with her car and
threatened her if she continued sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. And perhaps
she tailed her and tried to scare her off by chasing her down on a snowmobile in the
park.

It all made perfect sense.

Hayley folded up the copy of the will and the flight stub and stuffed it in her coat
pocket.

She stood up to leave, when she heard a noise.

It sounded like a woman moaning.

As if she was injured.

And then it was muffled.

Suddenly there was a loud banging against the wall.

Hayley jumped.

Was it an earthquake?

More muffled moaning.

Dear God.

It was the headboard of a bed hitting against the wall.

Two people were having sex next door.

There was some girlish giggling.

A man’s voice shushing her.

More banging.

Hayley instantly recognized the woman’s voice.

It was Cassidy Culpepper.

And from her first visit to the Captain’s Arms, Hayley knew exactly who was staying
in the next room: Drew Nickerson, the host of
Wild and Crazy Couponing.
No wonder Cassidy’s room was unlocked. She had just slipped next door for a late-afternoon
slap-and-tickle session with Drew.

Hayley marched out of room 4 and knocked on the door to room 3. At first, they didn’t
hear her, because the banging was too loud, so Hayley pounded on the door with her
fist.

The banging stopped and she heard some faint, frantic whispering.

Finally a man’s voice demanded, “Who is it?”

“Room service,” Hayley said.

“Go away. I didn’t order anything,” Drew barked.

“Maybe Ms. Culpepper did. Why don’t you ask her, Mr. Nickerson?”

There was a long pause.

The door flew open and Drew was standing there, wearing a pair of blue silk boxer
shorts and nothing else. He frowned. “I should’ve known it was you.”

Hayley pushed the door open wider to reveal Cassidy sitting up in bed; the comforter
was pulled up enough to cover her ample breasts. She gasped at the sight of Hayley.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she screamed.

Hayley pulled the copy of the will out of her coat pocket and unfolded it, holding
it up for Cassidy to see.

“Where did you get that? Did you break into my room?”

“I’m sure even Officer Donnie is smart enough to put two and two together when I give
him this, Cassidy. I’m sorry to say, you may be spending a lot more time in Maine
than you ever intended. In the state prison,” Hayley said.

“No! It’s not what you think!” Cassidy screamed, grabbing a plush white robe draped
over an end table and throwing it on as she leapt out of the bed.

Drew turned and looked at Cassidy. “What the hell is she talking about?”

“She thinks I murdered my own sister,” Cassidy said.

“I have proof you were already in town the day of the murder, despite what you told
me at my office,” Hayley said.

“Yes, I was here. I came to ask Candace for a loan. I’m having some money issues right
now and Candace had so much. She wouldn’t even miss the amount I needed to pay off
my debts. She kept dodging my calls when I tried to get in touch with her, so I flew
up here to beg her in person. I figured she’d have a harder time saying no if I was
standing right in front of her. But I was wrong. She actually took joy in refusing
me, and then she sent over a copy of the new will she had just made up, completely
cutting me out. I was devastated. I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Cassidy said,
eyes brimming with tears and sniffling pathetically.

Drew sighed impatiently, annoyed to be sucked into this family drama that had nothing
to do with him.

Hayley continued. “So you stabbed her, knowing if she hadn’t yet filed the new will,
you’d still be the primary beneficiary. And then you lied about arriving in Bar Harbor
after she was killed.”

“Yes, I lied. I panicked. I knew if the police found out I was in town at the time
of the murder, I’d be the number one suspect and I just couldn’t handle that. Not
now, when I’m in so much other trouble,” Cassidy cried. “But I didn’t kill her, Hayley.
I swear I didn’t.”

“I’m sorry, Cassidy. The evidence suggests otherwise.”

“She didn’t murder her sister,” Drew said.

“How do
you
know?” Hayley asked, keeping her distance from the slimy game show host with the
nice pecs.

“Because she was here with me that night.”

“But you were in the lobby alone, drinking,” Hayley said.

“Yes, I was. Until around eight-thirty. And then I went to my room because Cassidy
and I had previously arranged a little playdate. We had met the day before when she
was checking in.”

“I couldn’t believe I was staying at the same bed-and-breakfast with a famous celebrity,”
Cassidy cooed, before catching herself and crying again.

“So you never saw Candace the night she was murdered?”

Drew and Cassidy exchanged nervous glances.

Hayley stepped forward. “You did see her, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Cassidy said. “She showed up here, looking for Drew. I had no idea he had been
seeing her too. I guess we didn’t hear her knocking, because the next thing we knew,
she was standing in the doorway watching us and seething. I never saw her so mad.
She told me she’d burn every last dollar before she let me get my dirty hands on any
of her money. Can you believe she would say that to her
own
sister?”

Yes. Hayley could. If the sister was Cassidy Culpepper. But she decided not to make
matters worse.

She turned to Drew. “And what did you do?”

Drew shrugged. “I invited her to join us. I’ve always had this sister-threesome fantasy,
so I thought why not take advantage of a perfect opportunity?”

This guy made Hayley want to throw up.

Hayley went over the facts in her mind. Unfortunately, the pieces did fit together.
Candace could have shown up at the bed-and-breakfast around eight-thirty. Clarence
previously stated he was on his break, so he would have missed seeing her arrive or
leave after her confrontation with Cassidy and Drew. Then Candace went to the supermarket
and had her fight with Ron. Ron told Hayley that Candace was upset about something
already when they had their heated exchange. Candace had just seen her own sister
in bed with the same man she was infatuated with and who was also her costar in that
grainy sex tape she made as a keepsake of their fateful encounter.