by Jinty James
“Hi, girls.” Bob hurried over to them. “Are you okay after … last night?”
“We’re fine,” Maddie said, casting a quick look at Suzanne. “We thought we’d visit you and see how you’re doing.”
“Yep.” Suzanne nodded.
“Mrrow.”
“Hi there, Trixie.” Bob smiled down at the Persian. “Would you like a bowl of water?”
“Mrrow.” Trixie made it sound like a good idea.
They followed Bob to the counter, where he filled a stainless-steel pet bowl and placed it on the floor for Trixie.
“There you go.”
They all watched as Trixie lapped at the water.
“What can I do for you two?” Bob asked. He tapped the espresso machine. “Coffee?”
“I told Mads I wouldn’t have any more caffeine today – but water would be good.”
“I’d love a mocha,” Maddie said. She enjoyed drinking decent coffee that was made by someone else – and Bob’s coffee was pretty good. “If it’s not too much trouble.”
“No trouble at all.” He smiled at them as he set to work at the machine, a loud brrrrr filling the air.
“I didn’t get a chance last night to apologize to you, Maddie. Jill and I planned to relieve you so you had plenty of breaks in between making espressos, but somehow we lost track of the time and—” he shrugged his shoulders in an ‘I don’t know what happened gesture’ “—it didn’t happen.”
“No worries.” Maddie accepted her mocha, looking at the cocoa colored foam with appreciation, the chocolatey scent tantalizing her senses. “Suzanne spelled me for a few minutes and I checked on Trixie and Boyd. They were asleep in his kennel.”
“Yeah, I saw that for myself.” He chuckled as he handed Suzanne a bottle of water.
“You did?” Suzanne asked.
“Yep. I went out to the garden for a few minutes. Vanessa had gone outside, and I thought I should check on Boyd and Trixie. Jill loves that dog – and she likes Trixie as well. So do I.”
Maddie smiled.
“I hadn’t realized Jill had just done the same thing,” Bob continued. “I think she was in the kitchen when she went outside to check on them, while I was in the main space, talking to Vanessa and Kevin. Then Vanessa wanted to smoke, and I knew Jill would be furious if she smoked inside the café – and anyway, it’s not allowed – so Vanessa went outside.”
“And that’s when you went outside too?” Suzanne probed.
“Yeah.” He flushed. “But I didn’t see Vanessa – I swear. I went around to the left to check on Boyd and Trixie, and Vanessa must have turned right to have a cigarette, because that’s where she was … found.”
Suzanne nodded slowly, her face paling. Maddie gently touched her friend’s arm to offer support, wondering if she was thinking of the moment when they’d found Vanessa’s body.
Suzanne gave Maddie a reassuring smile and took a sip of water, which seemed to fortify her.
“Should we sit down while we talk about this?” Maddie suggested. It might help Suzanne.
“Sure.” Bob gestured to the vacant tables. “Take your pick. As you can see, I’m not busy.”
“Do you think people are staying away because of … last night?” Maddie asked.
“I guess so. It’s usually a lot busier here on Friday mornings.” His mouth twisted. “Redbud Glen is fifteen minutes away from Aunt Winifred, so I wouldn’t have thought my regulars would have heard about it already.”
“Maybe it was mentioned on the radio,” Suzanne commented.
“Jeez.” Bob looked even more downcast.
Maddie and Trixie walked over to a secluded table. Suzanne and Bob followed.
“Did you know Vanessa had the hots for you?” Suzanne asked as she set her water bottle down on the table.
“What? No,” he protested.
Maddie wished she could cast the Tell the Truth spell – that way she’d know for sure if Bob was lying or not. But she hadn’t brought the spell with her, since it could only be used once per full moon. She’d already used it during this lunar cycle, when she and Suzanne had investigated the death of a judge at the Seattle barista competition.
“Really?” Suzanne raised her eyebrow.
“No.” He flushed. “When Jill said yesterday Vanessa was after me, I thought she was exaggerating. I thought Vanessa was just being nice. She usually pops – popped – in every day to grab a coffee and have a chat. I had no idea Vanessa had other ideas in mind.”
Maddie studied him. He seemed to be sincere.
“What else do you know about Vanessa?” she asked.
“She was single. She used to say it was hard to find a good guy these days.” He hesitated. “I thought she was just talking in general, but now after what happened, maybe she was hinting she was interested in me?”
“Maybe,” Suzanne said dryly.
“She lives in Redbud Glen, but I’m not sure where.”
“What does – did she do?” Maddie asked.
“She said she was divorced.” Bob shrugged. “She didn’t say where she worked or that she even had a job so I assumed she didn’t need to work – that she’d received a generous divorce settlement.”
“How did you invite her to the party?” Suzanne asked.
“I had a bunch of flyers under the counter.” Bob gestured behind them. “I handed them out to my regular customers, and my favorite ones. Jill did the same.”
“Hmm.” Suzanne looked deep in thought.
“Since I met Jill – well, I haven’t been interested in anyone else,” he said in a low voice.
“That’s good.” Suzanne sipped her water.
“Last night after I got home, I thought about everything that had happened, and saw it from Jill’s point of view,” he said slowly. “And I have to be honest, Vanessa was monopolizing my attention at the party. I wasn’t very attentive to my grandmother, or my other guests. Or to you and Maddie. Thanks for doing a great job with the catering, by the way.”
“Genevieve pitched in too,” Suzanne said in a mischievous tone.
“Oh, Genevieve.” Bob rolled his eyes.
“You don’t like her?” Maddie asked. “We were going to visit her today.”
“It’s not that I don’t like her. I don’t think she likes me.”
Maddie looked down at Trixie, who sat on the floor. She didn’t know what Bob’s few customers would think if the cat sat on a chair. Trixie’s ears were pricked, as if she was listening to the conversation.
“Why is that?” Suzanne asked.
“Beats me.” Bob tapped his finger on the wooden table. “She and Jill go way back – I think she might be worried I’m going to steal Jill and she won’t have anyone to hang out with. The two of them go out to dinner every Wednesday night. When Jill called her to arrange another night as she and I got caught up in redecorating her Aunt Winifred café, you would have thought Jill was asking something totally impossible.” He shook his head.
Trixie rubbed her head against Maddie’s leg. Maddie looked down at the feline who gave a soft, “Mrrow.” Did Trixie think it was time to leave?
“Maybe we should visit Genevieve now,” Maddie said, taking one last sip of her mocha. “That was a great mocha, Bob, with the dark roast.”
“Thanks, Maddie. And thanks for stopping by, girls.” Bob rose. “We know you didn’t do it, Suzanne. Jill and I didn’t—” he looked around the quiet café but lowered his voice anyway “—kill Vanessa either.”
“We didn’t think you did.” Suzanne nodded.
“I hope business picks up,” Maddie said, gathering Trixie’s harness lead.
“Me too,” Bob said.
They waved goodbye to him as they left the café.
“I’m sure he didn’t do it, Mads,” Suzanne said as they got back into the truck. “I totally believed him.”
“So did I.” Maddie started the ignition.
“Mrrow,” Trixie agreed.
“And Trixie must know, mustn’t she?�
� Suzanne twisted around to smile at the Persian. “Because she has magical familiar powers, don’t you, Trix?”
“Mrrow!” Trixie seemed to nod her head in agreement.
“Since you didn’t kill Vanessa, and Bob didn’t, and I don’t think Jill did,” Maddie said she pulled away from the curb, “who did? Genevieve?”
“Let’s go and find out,” Suzanne declared.
“Mrrow!”
CHAPTER 6
Maddie looked at her watch. They’d driven from Redbud Glen to the outskirts of Aunt Winifred, hoping to catch Genevieve at home. By the time they talked to her and got back to Estherville, they’d be lucky if there were any lunch customers still around.
She sneaked a sideways glance at Suzanne. Her expression was lively and she sat up straight, as if looking forward to talking to Genevieve. When Suzanne was in investigating mode, not much could stop her.
“I wonder where Vanessa lived,” Maddie mused.
“We should try and find out,” Suzanne said. “When we get back to Estherville, I’ll see if I can discover any traces of her online.”
“Good idea,” Maddie replied. “Maybe she had a social media profile.”
“Uh-huh.” Suzanne nodded. “And if we had her last name, we could try the phone book.”
“Bob didn’t seem to know much about her, did he?” Maddie said thoughtfully.
“Except that she seemed to like his coffee,” Suzanne commented. “But to be fair, we don’t know many of our customers’ surnames, do we?”
“Only the older people who we only know by their surnames. Like Mrs. Cantrell.”
“Mrrow,” Trixie agreed. Maddie suspected elderly Mrs. Cantrell, who always made a fuss of the Persian, was one of Trixie’s favorite customers.
“I think this is Genevieve’s place,” Maddie said, pulling up outside a large property on the outskirts of Aunt Winifred. A rambling farmhouse built of yellow clapboard stood next to a big garden, dotted with different varieties of flowers and shrubs.
“Yes, this is it.” Maddie checked the address Jill had given her.
“Her garden is huge!”
“Mrrow!” Trixie pressed her nose against the small window in the back of the truck.
“Maybe Genevieve will let you wander in her garden, Trix,” Maddie said as she turned off the ignition.
A raspy purr filled the truck.
“What are we going to ask Genevieve?” Maddie exited the truck before letting Trixie out.
“We could ask her about her relationship with Jill, and see if that tallies with what Jill – and Bob – told us,” Suzanne suggested.
“Good idea.”
“Mrrow.” Trixie pulled at the harness, something she rarely did, urging Maddie in the direction of the large garden.
“And ask if Trixie can explore her garden,” Maddie said with a smile.
“I think Trixie wants that to be the first question.” Suzanne laughed.
They walked up the path to the house, Suzanne pressing the doorbell. They heard a faint ding dong inside, but nobody came to the door.
“Maybe she’s outside?” Maddie turned away from the door.
“Can I help you?” A woman came around from the side of the house. She wore a straw hat and overalls dusted with soil.
“Hi,” Suzanne started. “We’re—”
“Maddie and Suzanne, right?” The woman interrupted.
“Genevieve?” Maddie guessed. The older woman looked different in her gardening gear, and her face was shaded by the brim of her hat. But her voice sounded as Maddie remembered – a tad bossy.
“Yep.” Genevieve chuckled. “What can I do for you two?”
“Jill said you were a landscape gardener,” Suzanne said.
“Sure am.” Genevieve jerked her head. “You can see my garden if you like.”
“That would be great.” Maddie smiled.
“Mrrow.” Trixie pulled at her harness again.
“Your cat is beautiful.” Genevieve bent down to say hello. “What’s her name?”
“Trixie,” Maddie replied. “And I think she’s eager to look at your garden.”
“Come on then, Trixie.” Genevieve led the way around the side of the house. “You can have a stroll while Maddie and Suzanne tell me why they’re here.”
Maddie and Suzanne exchanged a look. Genevieve certainly wasn’t a pushover.
But she couldn’t be all bad, Maddie reasoned. After all, she was indulging Trixie.
They entered the garden via a small white wooden gate, pink rose bushes on each side.
“Mrrow.” Trixie led the way, padding on the lawn and sniffing the occasional blade of grass.
“This is beautiful,” Maddie said, taking in the pastel pink gerberas, yellow and orange poppies, and purple pansies.
“Thanks.” Genevieve looked pleased at the praise.
“How well do you know Jill?” Suzanne asked.
“Since college,” Genevieve replied. “Why?”
“Just wondering,” Suzanne smiled. “I’m sure she appreciated you helping her out like that last night.”
Genevieve sighed. “I might have been a bit bossy with you two – I’m sorry. I just wanted Jill’s night to go well. Going into business with Bob is a big thing for her, and I wanted last night to be a success.” She shook her head. “Although, I don’t really understand why she wants to be business partners with Bob. Her café was doing okay when she was on her own. And women don’t really need men these days, do they?”
“Umm …” Maddie thought Genevieve had a point in some ways, but on the other hand what if you wanted to get married and have—
“You do if you want kids,” Suzanne interrupted Maddie’s train of thought with exactly the same notion.
“I’m too old for all that.” Genevieve gestured to herself.
Maddie pegged her to be in her early forties, as she guessed Jill to be.
“We’re not.” Suzanne instantly looked as if she regretted her words. “I mean—”
“It’s okay. I get it.” Genevieve barked a laugh. “Not all women are like me – totally independent. I’ve never relied on a man for anything, and I’m not about to start now. That’s why I was so surprised when Jill told me she was going into business with Bob. I mean, he’s a nice enough guy, but has she really thought this through? What if they expand too quickly? What if they can’t agree on the location for their next café? And what happens if there’s a downturn in business?”
“Wouldn’t she and Bob have thought all that through before they turned their cafes into a chain?” Maddie asked.
Trixie urged her to keep walking, her nose to the ground as she seemed to sniff her way along the lawn.
“I don’t know.” Genevieve shrugged. “I hope so. I’ve tried to warn Jill not to rush into anything but … I think Bob has some sort of fascination for her.” Genevieve screwed up her face as if the idea was hideously fantastic. “I don’t see if myself. But I think … they’re dating.”
“Jill told you that?” Maddie asked gently.
“Not in so many words,” Genevieve sounded regretful. “Jill’s my best friend – she knows she can tell me anything – or she should know, anyway. I picked up on a couple of comments she made about Bob, and the fact that she cancelled our standing Wednesday night dinner.”
“Bob mentioned that,” Suzanne said.
“He would!” Genevieve snorted. “Apparently he wanted to finish redecorating her café at Aunt Winifred and only Wednesday night would do. He knew we had plans to go out to dinner, but he didn’t care. Wednesday night is Jill’s and my thing, you know? It’s one of the bright spots of my week.”
She waved a hand around the garden. “Not that I don’t love spending time out here, growing new plant varieties and tracking their progress. But we started Wednesday night dinners in college, and we haven’t missed one, until now.”
“Wow,” Suzanne murmured.
“So, even though I don’t think it’s the best thing for Jill to go int
o business with Bob, I sucked it up, you know? I arrived early at the party so I could help, because I wanted it to be a success for her,” Genevieve continued.
“I think it was – until … you know,” Maddie tried to be delicate.
“What a terrible thing to have happened.” Genevieve shuddered. “I didn’t expect something like that.”
“Did you know Vanessa?” Suzanne probed.
“Nope.” Genevieve shook her head. “Never met her until last night. Can’t say I liked her, either.”
“I know what you mean,” murmured Maddie. Had there been a hidden side to Vanessa, a softer side? Or had her true personality shone last night?
“And all the coffee she drank!” Genevieve continued. “‘Get me another espresso. And another.’ It’s amazing how much caffeine she could tolerate.”
“Who gave you her last espresso order?” Maddie asked.
“She did. Vanessa,” Genevieve replied.
“Where was she?” Maddie studied Genevieve. “When she gave you that order?”
“Inside the café – just before she went outside. I believe her actual words were: ‘Get me another espresso while I go outside and have a cigarette.’”
Which meant that Vanessa was outside at the same time Maddie was. But Maddie hadn’t seen her. Was it because Maddie was out in the garden at the rear checking on Trixie and Boyd, while Vanessa was standing outside just off the front entrance while she smoked?
“And Genevieve gave the order to me, since I was at the espresso machine,” Suzanne said.
“And then I came back from outside and you took the coffee to Vanessa,” Maddie added.
“Who was still alive.” Suzanne nodded. “Because they found the espresso – or what was left of it that I gave her.”
Maddie breathed a mental sigh of relief. For a second, she’d wondered if Detective Edgewater would consider her a suspect as well. But Suzanne had just verified that Vanessa had still been alive and well at that point in the evening.
“Someone must have killed her after you handed her that espresso, Suzanne.” Genevieve looked directly at Suzanne. “Good thing I don’t think you did it.”
Maddie and Suzanne laughed uneasily. Did Genevieve suspect they were investigating? Maddie realized they hadn’t told Genevieve that Jill had asked them to sleuth around on her behalf. Should they tell her?
