Sweet Saboteur

by C A Phipps

  She frowned, wondering if there was any chance to slip the letter back while he was otherwise occupied. “This has never happened to me before.”

  “Good to know.”

  Sam wasn’t looking at her, but she thought she detected a hint of amusement. Arriving in Cozy Hollow several months ago, he always seemed light-hearted, but this was no laughing matter. Plus, it wasn’t strictly true, since she’d been with her mom when she died, but it was absolutely different. Her mom was peaceful—Mabel’s shocked expression was anything but.

  “What can I do?” Anything would be better than nothing.

  “Not a thing. We shouldn’t touch anything either. You haven’t, have you?”

  Scarlett backed away from the desk. “What? Me? I wouldn’t think of it,” she said, while heat ran up her neck and across her cheeks.

  He looked up, his eyebrows jumping together. “It’s okay. I wasn’t accusing you.”

  Feeling as guilty as she was, Scarlett couldn’t think of anything else to say that wouldn’t be a lie. When Sam began to look less convinced of her innocence, she had an urgent desire to get away from the cute, but perceptive paramedic who was making her twitchy.

  She sucked in air, which seemed to be scarce right now. “Can I go?”

  He stood, studying her carefully. “It’s best if you stay. The sheriff will have questions.”

  “But I don’t know anything,” she argued.

  “Since you were the one to find her, he’ll need to decide that.”

  The firm tone made her appreciate that she had no choice. Even if she could outrun whoever turned up, where would Scarlett go that she wouldn’t be found, because she wasn’t about to leave the café? Besides, doing that would only prove she was a thief. Her legs shook, knowing her mom would not have approved of this outrageous behavior or her internal dramatics.

  “Of course. I don’t know where my brain is. I better call Violet and tell her where I am, so she doesn’t worry.”

  “As long as you don’t touch anything,” he re-emphasized, pulling out a sheet from a tiny bag which he draped over Mable.

  Oddly, that small act made the librarian’s death more real. Scarlett shook her head. She wasn’t prone to silliness or fanciful ideas, and yet here she was acting like a troubled teenager. Since she barely remembered those studying years because she was already working for her mom, she dismissed the notion. This was an aberration—nothing more.

  “What’s this?” he asked.

  She peered over his shoulder as he pointed to a crumpled piece of pink paper poking out of Mable’s fingers. “It looks like a cupcake wrapper.”

  He merely nodded and left the hand uncovered, while Scarlett’s mind raced. There couldn’t be a connection with the wrapper and Cozy Café’s cupcakes. Could there? Sam was watching her, and she felt the urge to get away from his scrutiny.

  “Perhaps I should stand at the front door, so the police know where to come?”

  “Good idea. While you’re there, please keep everyone else out. There are bound to be a few rubberneckers already,” Sam warned.

  As if he’d summoned them, a voice called from inside the library—the hollow sound being one of the libraries quirks.

  “Hello? Is everything okay? I saw a paramedic van. Can I help in any way?”

  It sounded like her Aunt, which gave her a sense of relief. Olivia would know what to do.

  “I’ll leave her to you, but if you don’t have any joy making everyone wait outside, call me. And please keep the details of how you found her to yourself. Nate will appreciate that when he gets here.”

  Scarlett was a little bothered by his trust in her abilities. Violet was far more capable of issuing orders, but she wasn’t here. Taking a determined breath as she exited the room, she released it only when she confirmed that it was indeed Olivia.

  “I wasn’t expecting to see you here. Are you ill, dear? Sam arrived too quickly for it to be a social visit.”

  “I’m fine. It’s Mable who needed help. Right now, we all have to wait outside for the police.” With a hand on Olivia’s elbow, Scarlett turned her around and walked her to the door just in time. While several people crowded by the paramedic’s vehicle, some had climbed the steps and were set to come inside.

  “Sorry everyone, could you please step back from the doorway?” Scarlett directed them in her best no-nonsense voice.

  “Who do you think you are?” Arthur Tully demanded as he strode, full of purpose, between the group at the bottom of the stairs and up to the top step.

  “Don’t you harass the poor girl, Arthur,” Olivia said on her way passed, stopping a step below.

  Scarlett blocked the door, hoping he wouldn’t simply throw her out of the way. Although, with this many witnesses and Olivia right there, his bullying tactics would surely be less physical in nature. Her fingers crossed behind her back.

  “Mr. Tully, I’ve been asked by the paramedic to keep everyone outside.”

  “I’m the Mayor.” He puffed out his chest.

  “I was told this applied to everyone,” Scarlett explained with way more force than she felt capable of dispensing.

  “How dare you . . .” his voice trailed off as the sheriff’s car pulled into the parking lot.

  Nathaniel Adams, unfolded himself from the driver’s seat while dropping his hat on his head at the same time. He made quick work of the space between his car and where she stood. “You okay, Scarlett?”

  She shot Arthur a quick look before answering. “I’m keeping everyone out of the library like Sam asked me to. I was the one who found her.”

  “Good job. We’ll talk as soon as I’ve checked on the situation.” Nate walked by her, giving Arthur a measured look but no details if he had any.

  “Trying to make yourself look important won’t save your shop,” Arthur hissed, before moving away from the steps.

  Scarlett’s mouth dropped open as the chilly remark bit through the warmth of the sun. Why did he hate the Finch women so much? As far as she knew, they’d never done anything to warrant his treatment of them. It rankled further because, at one time, he’d been sweet on their mom. When she passed away, things went from bad to worse in short order. A meanness she always associated with Arthur may be sprinkled over other members of Cozy Hollow, but the Cozy Café and its owners got more than their fair share.

  Not that there was anything fair about Arthur. He wielded his power like a supervillain, and anyone who opposed him found themselves at his mercy for anything they might need his approval on.

  Thank goodness for the likes of Daisy and Olivia, who tried to keep him somewhat under control.

  Chapter Four

  It was some time before Nate came back outside the library, and the growing crowd grew restless. His footsteps echoing along the wooden floors alerted them, and several people inched up the stairs. Arthur pushed between them like a knife through butter.

  “I demand to know what’s going on here, Sheriff.”

  Imposing at the best of times, and with the mayor still one step below, Nate leaned over him. Scarlett was positive that Arthur cringed before trying to make himself taller. It didn’t work.

  “All you need to know right now is that Ms. Norris is deceased. There will be no details forthcoming until we do an autopsy.”

  “Which implies that it wasn’t natural causes,” Arthur blustered.

  “The only thing it implies is that we don’t know what she died of. Until we do, there is nothing to say about it. Although I will be talking to anyone who saw her today. Any ideas, mayor?”

  Arthur flushed. “Me? No, I haven’t seen her all day.”

  “Except for the committee meeting this morning.” Scarlett couldn’t help mentioning this, which won her another glare from the pompous man in front of her.

  “Is that right, Mayor?” Nate asked evenly.

  “Yes, yes,” Arthur blustered. “I meant not since then.”

  “Thank you for the clarification. Now, I’d like everyone to go a
bout their business. The library is closed for the foreseeable future.”

  Scarlett began to descend the stairs when a large hand caught her shoulder.

  “Not you, Scarlett. Please step inside so we can talk?”

  His tone suggested that there was no other option possible, and her heart missed a beat. Catching a glimpse of Arthur’s furious gaze, she followed him meekly. Better to be interrogated by the sheriff, than by Arthur Tully!

  “So, you knew the deceased?”

  Nate’s deep voice startled her as her eyes adjusted once more to the gloomier light.

  “Doesn’t everybody know everyone in Cozy Hollow?”

  His pen poised over a notebook with a don’t mess with me look in his eyes. “I meant how well did you know Ms. Norris?”

  Scarlett thought about that for a moment. Mable didn’t like Scarlett or her sisters for a reason they didn’t fully understand. Around her mom, Mable had always seemed jealous, but she wasn’t about to mention that. “Put it this way, I haven’t been into the library for two years.”

  “You don’t like to read?”

  It wasn’t a secret that because the Finch women were broke, they worked long hours in the café and on their small plot of land growing as much as they could to augment supplies. “I love it when I have time. Lately, I haven’t.”

  Nate nodded as if he knew exactly how she might feel about that sensitive topic. “Maybe when things pick up.”

  Scarlett certainly hoped so. To add to the café sales, Violet dog-walked in the evenings while Ruby baby-sat for regular clients, doing after school care. Scarlett kept the books, did the ordering of supplies, made cakes for every occasion, and most of their meals. They shared the cleaning and meal preparations, which left little time for anything else.

  “I understand Mable wasn’t particularly pleasant,” Nate broke into her reverie.

  “She wasn’t a favorite around town,” Scarlett admitted, hurriedly adding, “Of course, that’s merely an opinion.”

  “Hmmm,” Nate said non-committally.

  Sam came out of the office. “When you’re done, will you give me a hand to carry Ms. Norris to the van, Nate?”

  “Sure. We can continue this while we wait, Scarlett.”

  She was afraid of that, but Sam was oblivious to her need to get out of here, and Nate studied her far too carefully for comfort.

  “Great. Let me grab the gurney.”

  Sam went out of the front door, which gave Nate time to ask a few more leading questions.

  “We found a cupcake wrapper in Mable’s hand,” he said evenly.

  She nodded. “I thought that’s what it was.”

  “You didn’t touch it?”

  “No.”

  “Any idea where it came from?”

  “Well, there were cupcakes at the town meeting this morning.”

  “Supplied by you?”

  The hairs stood up on her arms. “That’s right. Why?”

  Sam reappeared, so Nate didn’t answer. Scarlett wasn’t sure if she was relieved or not.

  The paramedic flicked the wheels down from the steel body, and the sound as they hit the slightly uneven floor made Scarlett shiver anew. Suddenly, it felt as though this were a horror movie and not wishing to be left behind she hurried after the men, sliding to a halt at the doorway of Mable’s office.

  “So, what do you think caused her death?” Nate asked conversationally while they lifted Mable gently and respectfully onto the gurney.

  Sam made a thoughtful noise. “Could be that she had a heart attack.”

  “But you don’t think so?” Scarlett ventured.

  Nate watched him closely for the answer, but Sam was non-committal.

  “I won’t know for sure until the autopsy.”

  Scarlett remembered reading about the signs. They were usually there a month before a heart attack, and Mable had plenty of them now that she thought about it. So what made Sam feel there was another option? “What else could it be?”

  Sam tightened the straps around Mable’s form. “Many things can kill a person. Medical or otherwise.”

  Scarlett pondered the insinuation. There seemed only two logical choices. Heart attack or. . . “You think she may have been murdered?” she blurted.

  “It’s not likely, but there’s always a possibility.” Sam continued to avoid her gaze.

  She turned to the sheriff. “And, that’s why you want to know if she was liked?”

  Nate nodded. “It doesn’t tell us one way or another if it’s important to the case until we find out if it was murder or not, but we have to start somewhere when we open an investigation. It’s like gathering pieces of a puzzle and putting them together without forcing them to find the big picture.”

  Sam was also nodding. “I think that’s the same in my job. Guessing doesn’t cut it, but you need some ideas; otherwise, you’re simply floundering and don’t know what to test for other than standard ones. And FYI, I met Mable Norris many times. She was . . . forceful,” he admitted.

  Scarlett snorted, covering her mouth for a moment over her embarrassment at forgetting who was under the sheet. “She seemed very unhappy with life in general. Apart from working at the library.” She tried to think of something nicer to say about the woman. “Mable took her job very seriously, and I believe that the library was her life. I don’t recall her having any family either.”

  Nate wrote that down. “I’d like to get back to why you were in the library and how you came to find the deceased.”

  “I wanted to enquire if she had any openings for a part-time librarian.”

  Sam frowned. “How would you manage that?”

  Scarlett raised an eyebrow at the very idea. “I wouldn’t. I was asking for Ruby. Reading is her passion, and she’s incredibly clever with a degree she’s not been able to utilize. A job here would be perfect.”

  “So, you don’t need her help in the café?” Nate queried.

  “I wouldn’t say that, but Violet and I could manage. You see, Ruby’s heart isn’t in baking.”

  Saying it aloud hurt a little, no matter that it was the truth.

  “That must be hard for you,” Nate said.

  She didn’t like the way he was looking at her. “Why do you say that?”

  “I think the whole town knows you did your best to keep it running while taking care of your mom. I dare say it made the three of you really close?”

  “That’s true,” her voice wobbled annoyingly.

  “So, you wouldn’t miss being around each other so much?” Nate persisted.

  “We’d miss it, but it’s time to let the other two find their places in life and for them to chase their passions,” Scarlett managed to force the answer out.

  “So, Violet will leave as well?”

  She nodded, wishing they’d leave the topic alone. “When the time is right.”

  “I’m sure they would stay if you wanted them to,” Sam said gently.

  His sympathy made her eyes damp, and she was sure it was this and not the glare Sam threw his way, which caused Nate to change the subject.

  “Tell me exactly what you found on arrival.”

  She swallowed hard, having been under the impression she already had. “The place seemed empty. I called out several times with no answer. I thought this was odd since the library door wasn’t locked, which Ms. Norris would do if she had to leave for any reason. When I found books on the floor and mess around the counter, I walked on to the back room and found Mable sprawled on the floor behind her desk. I took her pulse, and when there was none, I called the paramedic.”

  Nate studied her carefully while she spoke. “You tried CPR?”

  “No. Mable was cold. I knew there was no point.”

  “Sam said the same thing,” he assured her. “Can you think of anything else you noticed that was strange or out of place?”

  “Nothing, apart from the books I mentioned. Ms. Norris was pedantic about neatness.” She had a sudden jolt, knowing that her friends
and family said the same about her. To make matters worse, Nate and Sam shared a look which she was pretty sure came from knowing this fact.

  “Okay, Scarlett, you can go. Thanks for your co-operation. Just be aware that I may drop by to talk more about this at some stage,” Nate cautioned.

  “Sure. You know where I’ll be.” The relief made her want to run from the building, but she kept calm and walked sedately behind them when they pushed the gurney passed her and lifted it down the stairs.

  She made sure to keep close, using them as a barrier, so she could bypass the spectators hovering outside. Once the path was clear, she made a dash for the café, lest she embarrass herself further with her runaway mouth or random speculation.

  The tortoiseshell cat appeared from behind a shrub and stared up at her as she rushed by. He winked again, and Scarlett shivered. Walking around Cozy Hollow as she did whenever she could take a break, this cat had always had that effect on her—he seemed far too knowing for his own good.

  Perhaps he’d witnessed Ms. Norris’s demise? She shook her head at the notion.

  He was, after all, just a cat.

  Chapter Five

  Arriving back at the bakery, Scarlett found her sisters in the shop arguing with each other. Fortunately, no one else was around.

  “What’s going on?” she asked tersely since they had so recently discussed this very thing.

  “Nothing,” Ruby slunk out the back.

  “Violet?”

  Her sister looked up from the order pad she was filling out, or pretending to, and gave Scarlett a thoughtful glance. “We’re wondering if you thought any more about Ruby getting another job?”

  “Violet!” Ruby yelled, racing back into the shop, hands on her hips, eyes flashing.

  Violet shrugged. “Sorry, kid, but asking a question is the only sure way to find a thing out.”

  Ruby, usually so even-tempered, looked as though she was about to throw a fit at her sister. “But it’s not your question to ask. Isn’t it enough that Scarlett wants to boss us, without you doing the same to me?”