✔Cupcakes to Kill For

4. Killer on the Loose🧁

Casey wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible so he could return home with his son and sister. Has anyone told Lani yet? Casey considered calling her, but decided against it, not wanting her to hear about their mother's death over the phone. She deserved to be told in person.

The ride to the police station had Casey on edge, despite how kind Detective Bailey had been. He expected to be led into an intimidating interrogation room, but Detective Bailey opted for another room that had a lot of kid toys spread out on the table and comfy plush chairs. Casey took a seat, placing his hands in his lap. His restless leg bounced a few times as he gazed around the pine scented room, wondering if that's where they interviewed children who witnessed crimes or, god-forbid, were part of a crime.

"Just make yourself comfortable," Detective Bailey said. "Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Soda?"

"No thanks," Casey politely declined.

"Okay, then let's get right into this." Detective Bailey pulled out a recorder, placing it on the table. He documented the date. "For the record, can you please state your name and home address?"

Casey told him all the mundane questions he needed to know, leading up to the discovery of finding his mother. Something else came to mind while he retraced his steps yesterday, and it brought a horrible theory to his mind. Was it possible that the August guy killed his mom? He'd been nice enough and even paid for the cupcake he desired, but had it all been a ruse? Perhaps the real reason he visited the bakery was to scout the place out to kill her.

"There was a weird man who came into the bakery the other night," Casey said. "He'd been injured. Shot, I think. He asked me to bandage him up with our first aid kit. We offered to call him an ambulance, or the police, since he'd been attacked, but he wanted none of that. We told our mom about it right away."

"What did this man look like?" Detective Bailey asked. "Did he give a name?"

"He was tall, white, and had dark hair," Casey replied. "He said his name was August. Didn't give a last name."

Detective Bailey nodded. "I see. Do you think one of the gangs could be responsible for your mom's death?"

"I... I don't know. I mean, it's possible," Casey replied.

"Have you ever had any run-ins with the Black Vipers or Voiceless Rebels before?" Detective Bailey asked.

Casey bit the inside of his lower lip, looking down at the floor. "Yeah, I have."

"Can you tell me about it? Was it another incident like with that August guy at your father's bakery?"

"No. Wyatt's mom, Veronica, worked with the Black Vipers," Casey replied. "Just this year, I got full custody of him."

"Do you think Veronica might've had something to do with this?" Detective Bailey asked.

"I doubt it. But if so, she had help on the outside. She's been in New Syracuse county jail for over a month now."

Could August be responsible for his mother's death? Was it possible he had some kind of connection with his ex-girlfriend through the Black Vipers? He had seemed nice enough, just wanting to stay out of jail and get himself patched up after a fight. But maybe his mother confronted him and things backfired on her.

"Um, I'm not sure if you guys have checked yet, but we've got cameras outside that alleyway. It doesn't face the dumpster, unfortunately, but maybe it caught the culprit," Casey explained. "I could even identify August if I needed to."

"We haven't seen that yet. Wasn't aware of it actually," Detective Bailey replied. "You wouldn't mind sharing that footage with us, yeah?"

"Well, um, I don't have control over it. It's done on my dad's computer, but I'm sure when you find him, he'll share it with you," Casey said.