Page 31 of Honey Mead Murder

“You all right, Buzz?” Murphy paused at the door. “They can wait.”

“Fine.” George had meant to sound firm, but his voice came out shaky. “Honestly. I’m okay. I wasn’t hurt.”

Murphy squeezed his arm around George’s shoulders, further drawing him into his side. “Nothing wrong with admitting that you went through something terrifying.”

“I froze at first. You always hear people talking about fight or flight. But it was like I hit pause on my brain.” George reached out to open the door since Murphy’s hands were both occupied. “We don’t want the police to think we’re being held hostage.”

SEVENTEEN

MURPHY

Despite having opened the door, George made no move to step through it. Murphy had a feeling he was completely overwhelmed by everything. It wasn’t about to get any easier; it was likely to get noisier.

“Where’re your fancy headphones?” Murphy knew he kept noise-cancelling earbuds on him. “Why not pop those in? They might help dull the roar that will be the police.”

“I…” George shook his head.

It was like watching a turtle pull back into his shell. George was clearly retreating into himself. Murphy decided the best thing to do was find him a quiet space to himself.

“Right. Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to lead you into my office. It’s nice, warm, and quiet in there. I’ve even got a blanket over the back of my chair. We’ll find your earbuds and put those in.” Murphy kept his voice low and steady. He kept his arm gently around George’s shoulders, using the hold to guide him across the brewery. “There. Comfiest chair in the whole building. Let’s see if we can find your headphones.”

The earbuds wound up being in his pocket. Murphy helped him get those in his ears and wrapped the blanket around him. He left the lights dimmed, trying to minimise any sensory issues for him.

With that settled, Murphy went outside to deal with the police. He hoped with a video of what happened. Then they’d be able to wait on questioning George.

“There you are. What the hell is going on?” Sarah was pacing outside of the brewery. “We got a call about a gun.”

“Here. I’ve got a video.” Murphy set the laptop on the bonnet of her car. He pressed Play, letting all of them watch. “This is from before she broke into the pub.”

While they watched, someone turned a light on and then off again in the pub. A figure slowly walked inside and began peering up at the ceiling. She eventually stood directly in front of one of the cameras, tilting her face straight into the lens.

“Ella Donelson,” Sarah muttered.

The angle also gave them a clear view of the rifle in her arms. Ella was almost manic in how she paced around the pub, peering behind the bar counter. It was apparent she was hunting for something.

Then after almost ten minutes, Ella froze in place. She slowly stood up. Her attention shifted across the room to the door that led into the brewery.

Pulling up a second video frame, they were able to watch from two different perspectives. They watched the confrontation. Murphy grew angrier with each passing second of the rifle aimed at George.

Murphy wanted to reach through the laptop screen and yank the weapon out of Ella’s hands. “I’ll sodding—”

“You are surrounded by the police. Do not finish that sentence.” Sarah placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “Your beekeeper is fine. Probably shaken but alive and uninjured. So do not say the words you were just thinking.”

His cousin made an excellent point, so he snapped his mouth shut. He glowered at the laptop screen instead. It was no wonder George had been completely overwrought by the situation.

“I’m going to have to ask him some questions.” Sarah finally commented after they’d viewed the video multiple times. She’d sent several constables and Elwin out to try to locate Ella Donelson. “I need his witness statement on the record.”

“Can you wait? He…” Murphy trailed off. He didn’t want to go into too many personal details. George could share what he wanted to about it. “He was overwhelmed and needed some time to calm down.”

“Okay.” Sarah flipped her notebook shut. She leaned against the side of her vehicle. “She’s dangerous. I can’t say for certain she killed her husband without speaking to George and to her, but she didn’t break into the pub while armed for no reason at all. So I’m going to ask you both to be careful. Maybe come stay at my place or something? I don’t want you to be alone.”

“I’ll figure something out. Not leaving George to fend for himself, since she’s seen him. And everyone and their mother knows where our Buzz lives.” Murphy closed his laptop after sending Sarah the footage from the video. He scratched absently at his beard. “I can’t understand what she’d expected to do here? She had to think we’d already given you the video the day of the murder.”

“If she did kill her husband, I doubt she’s thinking very clearly at this point. In my experience, the closer to getting caught someone is, the more irrationally they behave.” Sarah held a hand up when her phone rang. She wandered off to have a brief conversation. Murphy couldn’t make out any of it, so he waited for her to return after a few minutes. “They found her Mercedes at the Donelson estate. No sign of her anywhere. The family has several other vehicles. At least two are unaccounted for, and she’s likely switched to one of them.”

“She could’ve made a run for it.”

“Possibly. I’d still like you and Murphy to be cautious until she’s been caught. We don’t know the whole story yet. We have no idea who all might be involved.” She stowed her notebook away and her phone. “Listen, I’m leaving one of the constables here for the next few hours in case she comes back. Where are you going?”

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