Sage Advice to Cover Up a Murder! (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 2) by Phoebe T. Eggli

the time he arrived home the police had already called. Sophie Hawkins was in a complete meltdown. He found her in the living room scooping ashes from the fireplace into the urn that contained William Hawkins’ cremains. Completely aghast, he ran over to stop her. “Mother, what are you doing?” he asked in shock. She stared blankly back at him. After a few moments, she appeared to gather her wits about her again. Smiling, she confessed what she was doing looked a bit odd, but it was all for the best. Not able to comprehend her logic and sick of dealing with her nonsense, Joey’s anger burst forth. How dare she fill his father’s urn with soot and ash!
     
    Sophie Hawkins had never in her life been on the wrong side of her son’s temper. So upset at the tone of his voice, she started trembling. He again asked what she was doing. His face red with anger. In a shaken voice, she admitted that the cops had called earlier. They wanted her for questioning. “They want to question ME!” she said almost hysterically. “Me! I’m the blasted widow, not a suspect! How dare they tell me that I have to come to the police station! I’ve done nothing wrong!”
     
    Still not understanding her actions, Joey tried again. The look that crossed Sophie’s face made a shiver run down his spine. He could almost see her mind working to come up with a suitable answer as a smile crept across her features. “Don’t you see, honey? The cops…they performed autopsies on dead seagulls just so they would have an excuse to defile your father’s remains. That’s why I had him cremated. You see, I knew even then that the cops would insist your poor father didn’t die of natural causes. They just have to have someone to blame for everything. Look what they did to that poor baker woman last summer.” She leaned in close to whisper, “The cops want me to bring in your father’s cremains for testing. Can you believe that? Have you ever heard of such a thing? Well, I wouldn’t let them defile your father’s body by performing an autopsy. I’m surely not going to allow them to defile his cremains.”
     
    The poor man was so shaken and appalled by her words that he fell to his knees. Sophie knelt beside her son while tenderly petting the top of his head as if he were still a small child. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I already moved William’s ashes to a different container. The cops won’t know what to make of the ashes and will have to drop the whole thing,” she soothed.
     
    Gathering his strength back, Joey grabbed his mother’s wrist. “Show me where Dad’s cremains are now!” he ordered. He couldn’t understand if his mom had lost complete touch with reality or was just so concerned about losing her newfound wealth that she would actively withhold evidence that could prove Johnson poisoned his father. Did she really only care about the money? Why did his mother not desire justice for her husband? After recovering the cremains from a plastic container in the laundry room, Joey drove his mother and the cremains to the police station.
     
    They entered the precinct to the sound of loud voices emanating from the chief’s office. Mr. Johnson’s lawyer, Peter Andrews, was in full lambasting mode as he insisted his client be released immediately. Everyone else in the department stood frozen in place as they listened to the heated exchange. Detective Bronson hurried over to the Hawkins family. He thanked Mrs. Hawkins for coming in and for bringing in her husband’s cremains. She reluctantly handed over the plastic container. Although confused why the cremains were now housed in plastic instead of the expensive bronze memorial urn from the funeral home, Cory handed the container off to a uniformed officer for cataloging. The detective then led the widow and her son to an empty conference room down the hall. As Sophie Hawkins passed the chief’s office window, Peter Andrews turned around just in time to lock eyes with her. Joey