Mousse, Moscato & Murder

by Jamie Lee Scott

  She walked straight up to my booth and sat across from me. “I thought I’d find you here. I didn’t see you when I was running.”

  I smiled. “I didn’t go running today. But I can see you didn’t even bother to change clothes after running.”

  “Pfffft, who cares?” She looked around and waved to get a server’s attention.

  Her gesture could have been obnoxious, but she did it in such a way that she looked like a sweet old lady.

  “I saw what you were doing at the newspaper office,” I said.

  The server arrived at the table, so Hattie ignored my comment.

  “Sweetie, I’ll have what she’s having, and put it all on one bill.” She laced her fingers and rested her hands on the table. To me, she said, “We need to talk.”

  Hattie wasn’t acting like herself. First, she never left the property in her running clothes, unless she was running. This was the second day in a row, though I understood her wanting to be in comfortable clothes for the search. Second, she’d never order something without knowing what it was.

  “You don’t even know what I ordered,” I said. “And what do you need to talk to me about?”

  She looked from side to side. “I want to find Becca’s killer.”

  It was a good thing the coffee and cupcakes hadn’t arrived at the table yet. If I’d had food or coffee in my mouth, I would have spit it all over her. “Hattie, are you out of your mind? You didn’t even know the girl.”

  “But you did. And you liked her. Peter said you went by her house. He told me she worked for him. That’s why we brought the food and water yesterday. We take care of our own.”

  I didn’t know what to say. They’d admonished me for getting involved in the last two murders in our town, and here she was, saying she wanted to investigate on her own.

  “Have you talked to John about this?” It was an innocent question.

  She snapped out her words. “I don’t need John’s permission to do an independent investigation.”

  “You don’t want to be arrested for obstruction of justice by prying in their investigation,” I warned her.

  “Pot calling the kettle black?” she said.

  “What do you mean by that?” I could feel the room heat up by the second as Hattie got under my skin.

  “I mean you can do it, but when I want to, you’re against it.” She had more to say, but stopped talking as the server approached.

  The server placed our cupcakes and coffee in front of us. We thanked her and she left us to eat, seeming glad to not have to answer any questions or talk to us.

  “I was just wondering if Becca was home, and that was before we knew she was dead. Apparently, she’d moved to an apartment close by.” I pulled the wrapper off my cupcake and realized the server hadn’t left us any silverware. “Just a second.”

  I walked up to the counter and grabbed two rolls of silverware without asking. The place felt sad and empty, even though maybe a little over half of the tables had people sitting at them. I thought about what Hattie had said, and decided I shouldn’t fight her.

  When I got back to the table, Hattie said, “I wasn’t talking about this poor Becca girl. I’m talking about the other deaths you stuck your nose in.”

  Oh, those. I couldn’t argue with that. I scooted back into my seat. “I’d like to know who killed her too, but with this whole thing with Chief Hicks, I don’t think we should interfere. Like I said, she’s likely to charge us with obstruction.”

  Hattie moved her coffee cup to the side and leaned across the table. “That’s precisely why I want to be the one to find the killer. I want to make her look like a fool.”

  “That is the wrong way to think for so many reasons, not the least of which is John.”

  She blew out a raspberry. “Oh please, what does John have to do with this? The woman wasn’t even thankful for all of the people who came out to help.”

  “Yeah, I was there. And if I wasn’t, I’d have read about it on Facebook this morning.” I raised my brows.

  “Oh, that. Wasn’t it great?” Hattie reached across the table and pulled her coffee cup back as she leaned back in her seat. “She’s picking a scab that’s going to scar. She won’t be so pretty then, will she?”

  “John isn’t going to be happy to see you involved.” I had finally cut my cupcake into pieces.

  “Well, let me get our investigation started by telling you that Becca doesn’t have an apartment. She still lives at the address you visited with Peter.”

  I stopped mid-chew. “How do you know that?”

  A slow grin spread across Hattie’s lovely face. Her eyes almost sparkled. She was enjoying this.

  “Tell me, or I’m not getting involved with you.” Not that a threat would faze her.

  “As far as I’m concerned, it’s your baby, and I’m the Robin to your Batman.”

  Now I knew Hattie was either on drugs or had been abducted by aliens. She’d never be the sidekick to anyone.

  “You’ve obviously been giving this some thought. What’s your plan?”

  Hattie’s grin faded to a sinister, thin lipped smirk. “I thought we could figure out a game plan together. I’ve never done this before. You have.”

  I looked down at my coffee cup and squeezed my eyes shut. I waited a few seconds, then opened them again. Yep, Hattie was still there. This wasn’t a nightmare. This was for real.

  “I haven’t investigated formally. You know Tommy and I were just asking questions. Besides, I’d like to hear how you’d proceed.” I would try to appease her for now, until her anger wore off.

  I hoped this was a short-lived idea she had. The cops could do their job fine without us. Probably better. Especially if we didn’t get in the way. Now I was wondering if I’d been abducted by aliens. Lately, I had been jumping at the chance to investigate alongside the police. Why was I so dead set against it now?

  I wasn’t. I really wanted to go after the devil who killed Becca. I just couldn’t understand why anyone would kill such a nice girl. Or maybe she wasn’t really so nice. I couldn’t go down that path. I liked her. Even if she was a horrible person, she didn’t deserve to be killed. And it broke my heart that I’d never see or talk to her again. I could admit that I was glad our crew hadn’t been the one to find her, but I was glad she was found before nature’s creatures did. I wanted to remember her the way she was in life. If I’d have seen her dead, that’s how I’d see her for the rest of my days. The silly, sweet girl would be gone to me.

  “I have a few ideas myself, and a few people I’d like to talk to. But I don’t know how to find them, and I can’t ask the people who can help me.”

  Hattie raised her hand like she was giving a pledge. “That’s where I come in. Rarely does anyone ever tell me no. And if they’re considering it, I’m very persuasive.”

  Under my breath I said, “Ain’t that the truth.”

  Hattie reached across the table and smacked my hand. “I heard that.”

  I smiled. “Then I guess we’re the new Batman and Robin.”

  Hattie rolled her eyes. “Please don’t ever say anything like that again. Because I’ll never be Robin.”

  See? I told you.

  “Where do you think we should start? I mean, we don’t even know how she was killed.” That was one detail I would like to know. I hoped she didn’t suffer.

  “She was strangled,” Hattie said. No empathy, just matter-of-fact.

  “Raped?” I didn’t even want to know, but I had to ask.

  “No. At least they don’t know for sure yet. Tests are still being run.” Hattie stuck a finger full of frosting in her mouth.

  “I hope that stays in the negative. But again, where to start?”

  Hattie looked past me and smiled. “Hi, John.”

  John walked up and slipped in next to me in the seat. I scooted over a bit.

  “I’ve been calling you,” he said to Hattie.

  “I’ve been ignoring the calls.” She stared at him. “Must be
important if you tracked me down.”

  John sighed and leaned back. “I wasn’t tracking you down. I was driving by and I saw both your car and Willa’s, so I thought I’d come in and chat.”

  The server came by the table. “Can I get you something, Sheriff?”

  “No, I’m good. Thanks.”

  “Now that you’re here, what’s going on with Becca’s investigation?” I didn’t see any reason not to ask.

  “I told Hattie a little about the investigation last night. The poor girl was strangled.” He didn’t offer anymore.

  “Strangled with what?” I asked.

  He gave me that exasperated look that I’d come to know so well. “As far as we can tell, it was the fabric belt off the shirt she was wearing.”

  I frowned. “Fabric belt?”

  “Yes. She was wearing one of those cotton blouses that has the loops on the side and ties with a matching fabric belt with a bow in the back.” He didn’t sound like he was comfortable with the explanation.

  “Oh, I see. Did you find the belt? Fingerprints?” I was going to keep asking questions until he stopped answering.

  “No, it was missing, but there were fabric fibers embedded in her neck. No fingerprints so far. We started processing the car right away and there were a lot of prints.” He sounded tired.

  “Bet you miss the drug dealers and thieves right about now,” Hattie said.

  He rolled his eyes at her, but didn’t respond.

  So much for them getting back together. They didn’t seem happy to see each other.

  Then I realized I might know something. “Has anyone told you about Bob?”

  John looked at me. “Bob?”

  “Okay, his name isn’t really Bob, but it’s what I call him because I don’t know his name. I’m not sure anyone else does, either. I’ve been coming here pretty regularly for weeks, and he’s been here, too. He sat over in that booth.” I pointed to the empty booth where Bob usually sat. “Always in Becca’s section. And the last day she was at work, she stormed out, and he followed after her. I haven’t seen him here since.”

  I felt something smack my leg under the table. Hattie had kicked me.

  I glared at her. But I didn’t go so far as to ask what her problem was.

  “I’ve talked with Vicki and several of the employees. We’re trying to figure out who saw her last. But no one has mentioned this guy. Strange.” He pulled out his notepad and jotted down a few things. “What does he look like?”

  I told him what Bob looked like, and even about how he’d acted nonchalant when Becca was watching, but stared at her when her back was turned.

  “He was in every day?” John asked.

  “Yes, either reading a book or working on his laptop. He was already here when I arrived each day, and until the other day, he was always here when I left. I wish I’d followed him and Becca out to the parking lot the other day. At least I’d know what he drove.”

  Hattie looked sullen, since she realized I wasn’t going to hold information back from the cops. “What about parking lot surveillance?”

  “I talked with Vicki. They don’t have any cameras, just a silent alarm,” John said.

  “Wow, I thought everyone had cameras these days.” Even I had video surveillance at the back of my house. I lived on a property with a lot of traffic and a lot of transient workers. I hated to think badly of anyone hired to work at the Vendredi businesses, but I’m pragmatic, not stupid.

  “We have cameras everywhere, but as John pointed out, we also have blind spots,” Hattie perked up a bit when talking about her property.

  “About that, who was the guy you were spying on?” I’d forgotten to ask before.

  “It was nothing. He was waiting for one of Hattie’s dishwashers to get off work. They were ride sharing.” John said it in such a way that it sounded like he was blowing off Hattie’s suspicions.

  “It wasn’t nothing. John looked up the license plate and ran the guy’s name. He’s a convicted felon. And he was hanging out on my property.”

  “He did his time. He’s out on parole,” John said.

  “What about the guy he was waiting for?” I knew there was more to this than either of them was letting on.

  “I ran a criminal history on him before I hired him. He has convictions for drug possession. But he’s been clean and has had no arrests for five years. Someone has to give these guys a break. Once a felon, always a felon doesn’t fly with me.”

  Um, wasn’t she being a hypocrite? She’d just flipped out over the stranger being a felon. Hattie made my head hurt sometimes. Why was I getting involved with her?

  John shook his head. “I don’t know, Hattie, birds of a feather flock together, and the guy in the car just came off of a suspended license. He’s still sketchy.”

  “I have to agree. I mean, people need a second chance, but they have to really want it. And hanging with the same old crowd doesn’t speak of wanting to change,” I said.

  “We’re getting off the subject, which is Becca.” Hattie didn’t like the turn of the conversation.

  “True,” I said. “Do you have any solid leads?”

  John tapped his fingers on the table. “Nothing solid. I’ll have to figure out how to find this guy you call Bob.”

  And then I remembered the book. I turned to open my purse and pulled the book out. “He left this. It’s the book he was reading the day he followed Becca out of the bakery. Maybe you can match the prints on the book to prints on her car.”

  “Or maybe we can find out what Bob’s real name is, if nothing else,” Hattie added.

  John took the book. “Thank you. This could very well be a lead.”

  The server returned to the table. “Anything else?”

  Hattie and I both said no, and she placed the bill on the table.

  John grabbed it and got up to go pay.

  “Hey, no, you can’t take that,” Hattie said as she jumped up.

  Before she could do anything more, John handed the girl the ticket and some money.

  Hattie walked back to the table and sat down, and John left the restaurant without looking back.

  “I can see things are going well with you two,” I said.

  “There’s stuff you don’t know,” she said.

  We got up to leave soon after that. Hattie’s excited mood at investigating Becca’s disappearance had turned sullen and moody almost as soon as John sat down.

  As we walked out, I said, “Seriously, what’s up with you? I thought you were working things out with him?”

  “I don’t know. I guess it makes me mad that he has to play nice with that chief. I don’t like her, and I want him to not like her. But he says she’s very good at her job and the stress of having a murder within weeks of taking the job has her stressed. He thinks I have the wrong attitude about her.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe you do, but you’re entitled to feel however you want.” I didn’t want her to lose her ambition to investigate.

  She fiddled with the miniscule backpack she kept with her when she ran. “Do you have urgent plans?”

  I had a lot to do since I’d taken the previous day off, but I said, “Nothing urgent, why?”

  “Let’s stop by Becca’s old house,” she said with a mischievous grin.

  “Peter and I already stopped by there, before we knew she was dead,” I said.

  “All the more reason to stop by again.”

  Chapter Seven

  I was no dummy. I made Hattie drive me to Becca’s house. No way did I want someone to see my car parked out front again. Something deep inside told me that this was a big mistake. We were already on good terms with the sheriff’s department, but I’d had very little interaction with Pear police.

  Upon first meeting, I didn’t like Chief Hicks either, but I didn’t think she was the type of person whose feathers you’d want to ruffle. And here Hattie was doing more than ruffling feathers. She was looking to give the chief a full plucking.

  I gave her di
rections to get to the house, and on the way, I realized something. Hattie didn’t just dislike Chief Hicks for what happened at the park. She had been the woman John had been seen with over the last couple of weeks. Now the whole thing with her attitude made sense. Hattie was jealous.

  I never imagined Hattie could be insecure enough to be jealous. It surprised me, but also made me realize just how much she really liked John. Maybe after this investigation was closed, I’d talk to John and he could set things straight with Hattie.

  “You know that woman you said John’s been seen with? Did people say they were acting chummy?” I asked.

  Hattie slammed her foot on the brake at the stop sign. “Why do you ask?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe they are just friends.”

  “Not from what I’ve seen,” she said and stomped on the gas pedal.

  “You’ve seen them together?” This was news. She’d made it sound like secondhand news before when she mentioned it.

  “All cozy, sitting next to each other at a table in Rosie’s Café.”

  * * *

  Hattie abruptly changed the subject as she parked a few houses down from Becca’s. “It’s for sale?”

  I looked out the passenger window and strained to see behind me. “That sign wasn’t there a couple of days ago. I wonder if the owner decided to put it up for sale because of what happened with Becca.”

  “That’s just stupid. Her murder has nothing to do with this house. And besides, didn’t you tell me she wasn’t living here anymore?” Hattie said.

  “I’ll be honest with you; I have no idea what’s going on. All I know is that when Peter and I dropped by the house the other day, the guy who answered the door said Becca had moved. And you just told me she didn’t really have an apartment. You know more than I do at this point.”

  Hattie practically shivered in the driver seat. I could see the excitement down to her fingertips. “You know what this means?”

  “No, I have no idea what this means.”