Birthday Cake and a Murder

by Kathleen Suzette

  “Thanks so much, but it’s Rainey,” I said, smiling. Gail was my mother’s neighbor, and she had already wished me happy birthday three times. I could never figure how some people instantly knew which one of us was which while some never got it right.

  She blushed. “Oh, there I go again. Well, something tells me someone wants you to have an especially happy birthday since I can’t seem to stop telling you that.”

  “Well, I do appreciate it,” I said. “Stormy’s over there.” I pointed her out. Stormy was wearing a lavender colored dress while I had gone with red. I would have thought she would have at least noticed that much.

  “Hi Rainey,” a voice said, and I turned around to see Sue standing there. She had worn a navy blue and white striped knit dress that was stretched at the neck. “Happy birthday! I’ve been trying to get over to talk to you all evening.”

  “Thanks Sue, I’m glad you made it,” I said, and glanced at Cade. I hoped he had a chance to see Sue and Karen huddled together in the corner before they split up.

  “Can we talk in private?” she whispered.

  “Um, sure we can do that,” I said. I wondered what she needed to talk to me about. I was bummed that I hadn’t gotten to Cade in time.

  She led the way out the door and I followed her down the hall to the bathroom. Once inside, she looked beneath the stall doors.

  “We’re alone,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry I had to cancel your using the boardinghouse. I hated to do it, but my refrigerator went out on me and there wouldn’t be any place to keep the ice cream and punch.”

  “That’s no problem. It’s completely understandable,” I said, wondering why she needed to bring me in here to tell me that.

  “I wanted to tell you that I think you need to come back to the boardinghouse tomorrow and take a look at something I found.”

  “Oh?” I asked. “What is it?”

  She put one hand on her throat and looked around the empty bathroom. “Harry killed Silas. I don’t want to alarm anyone, but it’s important that you come by tomorrow.”

  She had already told me she suspected Harry, and then she said she thought Karen was the killer. Why had she gone back to her first suspicion? And why did she think it was important for me to stop by? Cade had said he had already looked the place over and didn’t find much.

  “Why? What did you find?” I asked.

  “A stain on the floor of the men’s bathroom. It looks like dried blood.”

  “How come you’re just now noticing it?” I asked. It had been several weeks since Silas had been killed and it seemed like the floor should have been mopped several times by now.

  “Oh, I usually let the men take care of cleaning up in there. You know how men can be. Anyway, I had a feeling it wasn’t being done, so I went in there. There’s a throw rug in there and when I moved it, I saw a stain. It looked like dried blood.”

  “Maybe we should talk to Cade, then. He’ll want to see it and take a sample from it,” I said.

  She shook her head. “Can you just stop by tomorrow and take a look at it? I’d hate to have made a mistake and have it be nothing but dried rust. I‘d feel foolish.”

  “But if Harry really did kill Silas, doesn’t it worry you to be under the same roof with him?”

  “No, I installed new locks on all the doors and I’ve instructed all of my boarders to keep their doors locked. Everyone has been worried since Silas was killed. You know how older folk can be. I know they’re keeping the doors locked. Besides, it’s not like Harry has a reason to hurt anyone else. It was Silas he had a problem with. Since he’s been gone, Harry has been happy as a clam.”

  “Really? Happy?” I said. He hadn’t been especially happy when I talked to him two days earlier.

  She nodded. “He’s been singing in the mornings. He’s sure happy about something.”

  I nodded. “I’ll stop by first thing in the morning.”

  “Let’s keep this to ourselves, shall we?”

  “Sure,” I said. I was lying. I was going to let Cade know and maybe he’d come along. I’d make something up to tell her tomorrow when he showed up with me. I didn’t like that she had huddled in the corner with Karen after accusing her of killing Silas and I wasn’t taking any chances.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Cade was unable to stop by the boardinghouse with me the following day. He had some meetings with his boss and a visiting dignitary that he couldn’t get out of, but he had promised he would stop by after lunch. I had to work the lunch shift at the diner so that meant I wouldn’t be able to go with him. The idea of a great discovery at the boardinghouse, no matter how slight a chance it was, was just too much for me. I wasn’t going to wait, nor would I let Cade go there without me when I had been invited to see what was there.

  As luck would have it, I couldn’t make it early in the morning like I had planned due to a pipe beneath my kitchen sink bursting in the early morning hours. By the time the plumber had stopped by and given his assessment, it was nearly time for my shift at the diner. No matter. I would stop at the boardinghouse before work. By the time I had dealt with the water pipe, I had convinced myself the stain was nothing, anyway.

  “Hi, Sue,” I said when I walked into the boardinghouse. She had a blue feather duster and was working on removing the coat of dust on the spindles on the staircase. So much for Harry’s opinion that she didn’t clean. She may not have been good at it, but clearly, she tried.

  “Hi, Rainey, how are you?” she asked, beaming. “I was beginning to worry about you. I thought you’d be by earlier.”

  “I’m sorry, I had a busted pipe beneath my kitchen sink that I had to take care of. I’ve got to be at the diner in half an hour, but I thought I’d stop by before I went.”

  She nodded. “I’m so glad you did. Follow me,” she said.

  I followed her down the hall and we stopped at the door marked ‘men’. She looked both ways and then knocked softly. When no one answered, she knocked again, this time a little louder. There was still no answer, so she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

  We walked into the bathroom, and I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one saw us. Sue closed the door behind us and locked it. The yellow linoleum on the floor had cracks and splits in it and someone had tried to repair the seam where two pieces met with duct tape that was now curling up. There was a rust ring around the drain on the sink but the lid to the toilet was thankfully closed.

  She pushed aside a throw rug in the middle of the floor with her foot and beneath it was a dark stain that looked more like rust than anything else. I squatted and looked at it. I wasn’t going to touch it, but I wanted a better look. It seemed that it had probably been there for some time, dark in the center and lighter on the edges. But the more I looked at it, the more I thought it couldn’t be rust. The lighter edges would have been more orange. It may not have been rust, but I really didn’t think it was dried blood.

  “What do you think?” she asked, squatting easily across from me.

  I was surprised by her agility. I would have thought she would have moved stiffly and that her knees would have creaked.

  “I don’t think it looks like blood.”

  “You don’t?” she said, sounding disappointed. “Well, what is it?”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  “Well, shouldn’t the police take a sample and send it to the lab? That’s what they do, don’t they?” she asked.

  “They do. Did Cade come in here when he stopped by after the murder?”

  She nodded “Yes, but the rug was covering it. I wouldn’t have seen it myself, but I was going to take up the rug to wash it. He probably missed it.”

  “It’s possible,” I said. I hated to tell her I thought it was a waste of time for Cade to stop by, but it most likely would be. Cade would have done a thorough job inspecting the place the first time unless he really hadn’t suspected that Silas had been murdered here. “I think Cade would have already seen it.” He had
n’t mentioned it when I told him about it the night before, but this really didn’t look like anything important, anyway.

  “Perhaps. So do you think I shouldn’t waste his time?” she asked.

  “I think he should be made aware of anything that looks suspicious. It won’t hurt to let him know. I’ll call him on my way to the diner and tell him about it. He may be able to stop by this afternoon.” I didn’t want to let her know that Cade was in fact already planning on stopping by since she hadn’t wanted me to tell him in the first place.

  She nodded and stood up easily. “That sounds good.”

  I straightened up and pulled my cell phone from my pocket and sent him a quick text so Sue would know I had sent it. “There. I sent him a text instead of calling. I think he’ll stop by,” I said.

  She nodded. “Rainey, would you like to have a quick bite of the cinnamon crumb cake I baked? I know you’re an excellent baker and cook and I feel like something’s missing. I know you said you were on your way to work, but would you mind? It’ll only take a minute.”

  I hesitated, remembering what Harry had said about her not keeping a clean house. Surely she would make sure the food she made was handled hygienically. “Sure,” I said, deciding to take a chance.

  “Thanks so much,” she said, and I followed her out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.

  The kitchen smelled faintly of cinnamon and she removed the lid from an aluminum pan, revealing the cake. The crumbled topping was slightly burned, and I steeled myself, wishing I hadn’t agreed to try it.

  “It smells good,” I said. And it did at least smell good beneath the slightly burned scent of the topping.

  There was a knock on the kitchen doorframe and we both turned to look. Karen stood, one hand raised from knocking. We both stared at each other. From what I had been told by Charlie, she and Sue hated each other, and yet they had huddled together in a corner last night, whispering. And now here she was. She smiled.

  “Hi, Rainey. Sue,” she said and nodded.

  “Hi, Karen. Fancy meeting you here,” I said.

  “I was going to say the same about you,” she said with a chuckle. “I just stopped by to pick up some of Silas’s things.” Her eyes went to Sue, and she smiled at her.

  “Oh,” I said, and I glanced at Sue.

  “I’ll get those for you,” Sue said. “I was just going to have Rainey take a bite of my cinnamon crumb cake. Something doesn’t seem quite right and I just know she’ll know what to do about it.”

  “Well if anyone would know, it would be Rainey,” Karen agreed. “It does smell delicious.”

  “But perhaps a bit overdone,” Sue said, eyeing the cake in the pan. “Why don’t you come in and sit at the kitchen table and have a bite? Maybe you can weigh in with your opinion.”

  “That does sound lovely,” Karen said, walking all the way into the kitchen. Her eyes went to me and if I wasn’t mistaken, she seemed a little nervous.

  Sue went to the cupboard and took down some plates. Then she got out a cake cutter from a drawer and brought them to the table. I picked up the cake pan and brought that to the table for her.

  We sat around the small wooden kitchen table and Sue handed plates around. “I don’t know about the two of you, but I love fall and cinnamon is the iconic scent of fall.”

  “Me too,” I said, keeping an eye on Karen. “It’s my favorite time of year.”

  “You can say that again,” Karen said, nodding. Her eyes went to Sue and then back to me.

  Sue put the tip of the cake server into the center of the cake, and the cake began to crumble beneath it, making an uneven cut. “Oh dear. I think I should get a knife. I may have left the cake in the oven for far too long.” She laughed and got up, heading to the kitchen counter. “I’m sorry if it is overdone.”

  “I think it will be fine,” I said, peering at the cake again. I had a feeling it would be extremely dry, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

  Sue opened another drawer and pulled out a knife and returned to the table. “There now, this should do it.”

  My eyes went to the knife, and it was all I could do to keep from gasping. The blade of the knife had a pink and blue floral pattern.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  I looked at Karen, but she didn’t seem to notice the knife. Harry was right. The two of them killed Silas. I swallowed as Sue looked at me.

  “Are you all right Rainey? Are you feeling sickly?” she asked, frowning. “You look a bit pale.”

  “What?” I said, trying to keep my wits about me. “No, not at all. I’m fine. I just can’t wait to have a taste of that cake.” I forced myself to smile.

  She smiled and began cutting the cake with the knife. I glanced at Karen. She was watching me. That was when I realized Sue and Karen had lured me here to kill me. I had been asking too many questions. Even Harry had noticed. Karen and Sue had gathered together in the corner the night before, plotting how they could get me over here. That spot in the bathroom looked nothing like blood and Sue knew it.

  The kitchen was large, and the doorway was all the way on the other side of the room. I could make a run for it, but Sue was in my path to the door and I wanted to make sure I had a good shot at getting out of here before I made a try for it.

  “That does look good,” Karen said as Sue handed her a piece of cake. Sue had swirled cinnamon throughout the cake and it probably would be tasty if it hadn’t been over-cooked. As it was, it crumbled dryly.

  “Here you are, Rainey,” Sue said, handing me a plate with a piece of cake on it.

  “Thanks, Sue. Smells great,” I said taking the plate and setting it down in front of myself. Then I realized the cake might be poisoned. I looked at Karen. She hadn’t taken a bite of her own cake yet. “Doesn’t it smell good, Karen?” I wanted to see if she would taste hers before I tasted mine. If it was poisoned, there was no way she was going to do that.

  She looked at me. “It does smell delicious.” She made no move to take a bite, so I turned to Sue.

  “What do you think, Sue?” I asked, hoping she would take a bite.

  “I think I want to leave the critique to the professional. Please, take a bite.”

  I looked at the cake in front of me.

  “What’s wrong, Rainey?” Sue asked when I just sat and stared at it.

  My eyes went to the knife lying beside the cake pan. It was the same exact pattern as the knife that killed Silas. Harry could have come to the kitchen to get the knife to kill Silas, but I doubted it. It was these two. Sue and Karen killed Silas. It made perfect sense.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off of the knife. “I’m sorry. I suddenly do feel a little unwell. I had a migraine earlier and sometimes the nausea sticks around even after the headache is gone.” I forced myself to look at her and I gave her a weak smile.

  Her eyes went to the knife, and she slowly looked at me, understanding what I knew. She forced herself to smile, and she looked at Karen. “Karen? What do you think?”

  Karen looked at me funny, then took a small bite of the cake. “Mm, it’s good,” she said. “Very cinnamony.”

  “Not too dry?” Sue asked, looking at me again.

  “Well, maybe a bit. But it’s still very tasty,” Karen said. “Rainy, I’m sorry you don’t feel well. Maybe the cake will help settle your stomach. When I get nauseous, I eat crackers or dry toast. It helps a lot.”

  “Thanks,” I said weakly.

  Sue took a bite of her cake. “That is dry. I guess I should have kept a closer eye on it. That’s a shame, but I guess I’ll know for next time.”

  I looked from one to the other and then sat back in my chair, suddenly feeling foolish. What was I thinking? I watched as they both took a bigger bite of their cake. My imagination was running away with me.

  I felt terrible about what I had been thinking about them, so I picked up my fork and took a bite of the cake. It was very dry but otherwise had a good flavor. “It’s not bad, Sue,” I said. “It is a little overdo
ne, but you did a really good job.”

  She brightened. “Why, thank you, Rainey. That means a lot coming from you.”

  I smiled and took another bite.

  “Oh, I better get that box of Silas’s things for you, Karen,” Sue said and got up from the table.

  While Sue was gone Karen, and I made small talk, my eye going to the knife again. If I could get it, Cade could run it through forensics or whatever it was he did with things like that to see if it was an exact match. I was sure it was. But with Karen at the table I couldn’t risk taking it. I wasn’t completely sure she wasn’t involved in Silas’s murder. I would text Cade and let him know as soon as I got out of here.

  “Here we are,” Sue said, bringing a small box to the table.

  “Thank you so much, Sue,” Karen said, getting to her feet. She hadn’t finished her cake, and I looked at it, wondering. “I’ve got to get back to the newspaper now. I appreciate this.”

  “It’s no problem,” Sue said. “I guess these things should go to you. You were with him for so long.”

  Sue looked sad, and I wanted to feel sorry for her, but I didn’t know if I should.

  “I think I better get going, too. I’ve got to get to the diner,” I said, standing up.

  “Oh, Rainey, will you wait a moment? I want to get you the recipe for the cake. Maybe you can make suggestions on how to improve it?”

  I hesitated. I wanted out of this place. “Sure,” I said instead.

  Karen said her goodbyes and left. When she was out of the house, Sue picked up the knife. “I hate to do this to you, Rainey. But I know you know. I have no choice.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, looking at the knife in her hand. “That’s a lovely knife. I was just admiring it. I need a new knife set for my new house.”

  “Stop it. Do you think I’m that stupid? I know that you know.” Sue glared at me, her mouth forming a hard line.