Sweet Saboteur

by C A Phipps

  Nate tapped his notebook. “Let me be the judge. When was this, exactly? When your mom got sick?”

  “No, it began after our father died. Ten years ago.” Scarlett’s words came out in a rush, and Ruby’s hand slipped into hers.

  Lines dug into Nate’s forehead. He’d only been in town for a year or so longer than Sam, so although he would have heard about it, as far as she knew, none of them had discussed anything about their parents with the sheriff.

  “I don’t know if I’ve ever said this.” Slightly pink around his neck, he didn’t look away. “But I’m truly sorry for your losses.”

  “Thank you,” the three sisters answered in unison.

  They’d gotten used to commiserations and still replied automatically. Somehow it made it easier to deal with their sadness around losing both parents who they’d loved very much, rather than letting feelings wash over them that were hard to contain once that pandora’s box was opened.

  Sam sat with his arms folded tightly, while Nate put a finger in his collar as if it had grown too tight.

  “How did your father die?” he asked softly.

  Scarlett squeezed Ruby’s hand and felt the pressure returned. Not looking at her sisters, Scarlett explained, “He was killed in a logging accident, about twenty miles east of here.”

  Nate coughed. “Sorry again for your loss.”

  Clearly, he wasn’t enjoying his line of questioning, and she merely nodded her acceptance while thinking he could have gotten these details elsewhere. It had been in the local paper, and the locals would have been only too happy to impart the knowledge.

  “So, your mom was running the business by then?”

  “No. Mom baked from home, which supplemented Dad’s income. We helped with deliveries in the afternoons after school and weekends.” Scarlett gave a small smile as she remembered pestering her mom to help with the baking instead. Violet and Ruby were much more outgoing, and when her mom finally agreed, she’d immediately fallen in love with it. Her passion, at times, rivaling their mom’s.

  “Go on.”

  “When the insurance paid out, Mom worked out that it wasn’t going to be enough to live on indefinitely, so she looked into buying the shop.”

  “And Arthur wasn’t happy about that?”

  She stiffened. “Back then, Arthur wanted this whole side of the street to build a supermarket. Apparently, he was in the process of finding a backer. Before he could, old Mr. Grace sold mom the store.”

  “There was also the fact that he was smitten with mom.” Violet threw this into the mix with a sound of disgust.

  Nate’s pen poised in midair. “Sorry?”

  Violet shuddered. “He wanted to marry her.”

  To his credit, Nate looked equally horrified, and he’d never even met their mom.

  “Do you mean old Mr. Grace?” he managed. “The man related to the founder of Cozy Hollow? Wasn’t he old enough to be her grandfather?”

  Ruby snorted, quickly covering her mouth.

  Violet shrugged. “To be fair, most men were a little in love with mom, but no, I meant our delightful mayor.”

  Nate turned very pink, something that was at odds with his professional manner. “Arthur asked your mom to marry him—right after your father died?”

  Scarlett pursed her lips. “First he began stopping by every day. Then it was only a few months later that he popped the question. Mom went ballistic and told him in no uncertain terms that she was married for life, and he best look elsewhere.”

  Nate tilted his head. “She told you this?”

  Violet made a rude noise. “We were in the same room. Mom didn’t like to be alone with Arthur. Ever.”

  “Surely he wouldn’t have spoken like that in front of you?”

  Scarlett stiffened as if Nate had called them liars. The sisters had spoken of it occasionally since that horrible time in their lives, and their stories always matched.

  “We might have only been teenagers, but Arthur hung around Mom so much we were kind of her willing shields. The day Arthur proposed he’d obviously had enough of us being in the way. Or, maybe he hoped to change her mind about the shop, and use our futures as a way to coerce Mom. Either way, I guess he hadn’t counted on being turned down. Being witnesses to his failed proposal is perhaps the main reason he never liked us and why he’s always putting us down.”

  Having been silent until then, Sam growled, “But you were children!”

  Scarlett shrugged. “Not long after that, he had a terrible car accident and was on crutches for several weeks, and his temper worsened.”

  “I can’t speak on that, because I’ve never seen him medically, but it looks like he’s made a full recovery,” Sam added.

  “Depends on which way you look at it,” Violet ventured.

  Nate raised an eyebrow. “I wish someone had told me this earlier.”

  He sounded very put out, and Scarlett wanted to move on. “It didn’t occur to me that Arthur could be involved. He’s mean, but he was Mable’s friend.”

  “Yet, you can’t think of anyone else in town that might take that step?”

  “No. To be honest, if I ever imagined anyone in Cozy Hollow was that way inclined, and if forced to choose, I’d have said Mable’s name would jump out first.”

  He raised that eyebrow again. “Since she’s dead, we’ll have to look elsewhere.”

  Violet snorted again, and Scarlett sent her a warning glance. Sometimes it was darn hard to rein her in, and Nate was probably just thinking aloud the way Scarlett often did. Then, something Violet mentioned earlier came back to Scarlett. “How many cupcakes were in Mable’s fridge?”

  Nate checked his notebook. “I counted five.”

  “And she definitely ate one?” Ruby joined in.

  “The wrapper in Mable’s hand and a piece of it in her mouth points to it,” he agreed.

  “So all six cakes are accounted for?” Violet pressed.

  “If that’s how many you left at the meeting?” Nate queried.

  “It was.” Scarlett liked the way her sisters were thinking this through and pointing out things they’d already decided were the most relevant facts. Still, just out of reach, something floated in her mind that felt important. She did have another question. “I wondered why they weren’t all eaten at the meeting?”

  Nate chewed his inner cheek as if he was about to impart some further information. Scarlett leaned forward, willing him to say something that could help them. Violet and Ruby did the same.

  “I guess it won’t be a secret for long,” he said resignedly. “The meeting was abandoned due to an argument.”

  Scarlett feigned surprise. “Between who?”

  “Olivia and Arthur,” he admitted.

  “So, if everyone left and Mable took the cakes, that left no opportunity for anyone to contaminate them,” Scarlett reminded him.

  Nate tapped his pen on the paper and stood. “I appreciate your thoughts, ladies, and thanks for being so open about the past. I’ll be talking with my boss about getting the café back open as soon as we can.”

  “We’d be grateful.” Scarlett fervently hoped Nate’s boss was a good man.

  He tilted his hat and nodded to Violet. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Hmmph!” Violet shut the door firmly.

  “Even a day will hurt us.” Scarlett muttered while wishing Violet would behave.

  Sam put a hand on her shoulder. “Try not to dwell on it. You can’t change anything today. I better head off too, but if it’s okay, I’ll come by tomorrow.”

  He was right, but not worrying every day was as alien to Scarlett as not baking. Only now she had more to worry about, and with no baking to be done to take her mind off things, the days would be incredibly long.

  George rubbed himself against Scarlett’s legs while Violet saw Sam out. With no encouragement, the cat jumped on her lap and nudged her chin with his head. It felt like sympathy but allowed her time to get her emotions in check. She ran a hand down Geo
rge’s broad back and swallowed hard.

  “Well, things could be worse. We’re not in jail, and we can all have a lie-in tomorrow.” Ruby stood and stretched.

  Her sister was right. Life went on except for Mable Norris.

  Chapter Nine

  After supper, they carried out their chores, obviously lost in their thoughts. When they had finished, they went outside. Taking food scraps, they headed to the end of the property where the chicken coop was situated, speaking to their favorites as they fed them. Ruby changed the water and added grains to their feeding trough.

  “If it weren’t for their eggs, I’d be inclined to sell them,” Scarlett stated.

  “No, you can’t!” Ruby protested. “Dusty, Cackle, and Fluffy, are part of the family.”

  Scarlett managed a weak smile. “I know, but buying their feed is going to be tough if the café doesn’t open in the next day or two.”

  “Let’s think positively.” Ruby hand fed fluffy, keeping an eye on George, who was casually walking along the fence line. “A couple of days can change a lot.”

  “Darn right, it does.” Violet retorted. “Before that stupid meeting, we were doing just fine.”

  Violet rarely praised the café, so Scarlett was pleasantly surprised by her defense of it.

  “I thought so. Now it feels as though there are just unanswered questions piling up with the bills.”

  Ruby led the way back to the house. “We should work on our list. That’s what we usually do when there’s a problem—then we solve it together.”

  Scarlett felt some of her energy return. “Let’s get onto it right now.”

  Violet stopped mid-stride. “Tonight?”

  “Not if you have plans?” Scarlett assured her, holding the gate open.

  “Me? Of course not.”

  Violet’s blustering had Scarlett thinking that her sister was hiding something, but she was already chatting to Ruby as if nothing were amiss. With all that was happening, had she imagined it?

  “If we’re not baking tomorrow,” Violet explained, “we can get the weeding done around the vegetables and mow the front lawn.”

  “Yay!” Ruby said with no enthusiasm.

  Scarlett felt the same but had to lead the way. “It won’t take long if we do it together.”

  “Even you?” Ruby’s look of disbelief was insulting.

  “I’ve been known to pull weeds.”

  “Hah! Not often, Princess,” Violet scoffed.

  “Hey!” She knew Violet was teasing, but still felt a little defensive. “I’m the one doing all the cooking. Plus, I do most of the housework.”

  “And you love being in charge of it!” Violet pushed her slightly. “Besides, you take things far too seriously.”

  “Maybe,” Scarlett conceded. “But, I’m no princess.”

  “No, you’re more like the queen.” Ruby ran inside with Violet right behind her. Both were laughing fit to burst.

  Scarlett shook her head. Maybe she was the bossy one, aka the ruler, and she probably wasn’t changing anytime soon. She hoped her sisters didn’t either. Perhaps it was due to what they’d been through, but their three distinct personalities made living together easy. Something about the dynamics created an atmosphere of love and respect, bickering aside, that their mom would have been proud of.

  She sniffed. Being emotional was a bad habit to encourage. Positivity, as Ruby said, was what would get them through. That and maybe the help of a list or two. When she got inside, Ruby already had pens and paper on the table, and Violet poured them homemade lemonade.

  “Right. Where were we before Nate arrived?” Scarlett picked up a pen.

  “We’d listed the people at the meeting?” Violet reminded her.

  Ruby frowned. “You really think one of the committee could have poisoned the cupcakes?”

  “Well, we’ve ruled out that anyone else had a chance to doctor them. Once they were made, it wasn’t long before Arthur placed the order, and an hour later, we took them straight there,” Violet recited the order of events.

  “That’s right.” Scarlett ran her pen down the names. “Now, which of them didn’t like Mable?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Violet scoffed. “It would be quicker to say who did like her. I’d say the mayor fell in that camp, although I’m not sure he likes anybody.”

  “You might be right about that, but it’s not helpful.” Scarlett tapped the pen on her chin. “What if Mable took them to the library untainted, then someone came and added the poison.”

  Violet nodded. “Good point. We need to know who went to the library once she got back from the meeting.”

  “They’d also have to be granted access to her inner sanctum. Therefore, it had to be someone she knows and trusts.” She leaned down to scan the list as if that would help.

  “That should narrow it down significantly,” Ruby agreed. “Ms. Norris didn’t allow just anyone back there.”

  “Hmmm. So who might Mable be friendly enough with to do that?” Scarlett racked her brain and came up blank. “You know, I can’t think of one person other than the mayor.”

  “As his chief yes-person, Arthur wouldn’t poison Mable because it would be counter-productive.” Violet left her chair to pace the kitchen.

  Ruby blanched. “That’s not very nice.”

  “Being dead or framed is not nice, either,” Violet pointed out.

  Scarlett nodded. Nobody plans a heart attack. Poison, no matter if it was to scare someone as Nate had said, was risky and would have to be planned.

  “Come back from whichever dreamland you’re currently visiting, will you?” Violet broke through her musing. “These lists won’t get written by themselves.”

  Her sisters sat, one on either side, waiting for her. She was still pondering the logistics and didn’t mean to blurt it out. “I wonder if the person who supplied the cake found Mable already dead and used it as an opportunity to frame us.”

  “It makes sense,” Violet mused. “So, who do we know that bakes and likes Mable?”

  Ruby appeared to give it some serious thought.

  “No need to be flippant.” Scarlett sighed. “Sure, Mable didn’t have friends that we know about, and Arthur probably never bakes, but that doesn’t make it out of the question.”

  Violet snorted. While Scarlett didn’t blame her, she did need her support.

  “Maybe it’s not the answer, but I feel it’s at least the right direction to head.”

  “If she feels that way, then we do have to take her seriously,” Ruby stated.

  Scarlett smiled gratefully. There was still that question of who, followed closely by why. Who had they upset more or similarly to Mable and Arthur? “Well, this has been the longest day ever. I’m going to bed. We can talk about it more tomorrow.”

  George winked from his bed.

  Chapter Ten

  Awake at her usual time of 4:00 a.m, knowing she didn’t have to start work so early, Scarlett burrowed under her blanket, closing her eyes tight. More sleep would be fantastic.

  Unfortunately, nagging thoughts around the cupcakes and poison wouldn’t let her rest. After another half an hour of turning from side to side, she decided that it just wasn’t happening.

  With a sigh of resignation, she climbed out of bed and into the shower. With her head lathered in shampoo, her hands stopped massaging. It may be officially closed for business, but surely no one would mind her baking for the family. Yes, she could do it at home, but trying to use the old oven was a nightmare when the thermostat was so darn temperamental. Cooking was not the same as baking, where everything had to be perfect to ensure the right result.

  The opportunity to attempt a few new recipes in peace was the added enticement. Relishing the adrenaline hit of trying out her latest ideas in today’s otherwise depressing landscape, she left her sisters to sleep with barely a twinge of envy and walked briskly into town.

  The morning’s freshness pleased her as did the sunrise peeking over the horizon. As she w
alked, daylight slowly changed the sky from a thick line of a bruise to an arc of blues and pink.

  By the time she arrived at the café, all things considered, she felt pretty good. Once inside, she locked the door behind her and pulled out the necessary ingredients and utensils.

  Then she thought about people coming by while she was working and seeing the lights. Scarlett decided to put up a note letting their customers know that the café would not be opening. Thinking what to write took some time. It had to be honest and yet not belabor the reason for the closure. She couldn’t stop what people thought, but she didn’t intend to hand-feed her customers the latest gossip.

  Due to an issue, we have no control over, we’re sorry to inform you that The Cozy Café will be closed until further notice.

  Satisfied, she’d taped the note to the front door, fervently hoping that their loyal customers would return once the cupcakes were cleared of anything to do with Mable’s death.

  Two loaves of bread, a dozen buns, and a peach pie were in various stages of baking when there was a knock at the back door. Scarlett froze. She wasn’t prepared for refusing early morning customers, nor having to explain why that was necessary. Hadn’t they read the note? Perhaps if she kept quiet, the person would go away. She shook her head at the ridiculous notion because obviously they’d see lights on and smell the baking.

  A head peered around the window frame, making her leap back a hand across her mouth, forcing down a squeal. Nate raised an eyebrow.

  “Violet told me I’d probably find you here,” He called out. “Let me in, please.”

  Huffing, she unlocked the door. “I’m not doing anything wrong.”

  “And I’m not here to tell you off,” he said reasonably. “I have some important news.”

  Not in the mood for conversation, Scarlett turned away to check the oven. “If it’s bad, then I don’t think I want to know.”

  “Really? The way you were grilling me last night, I thought you’d jump at the chance to have any insights in the case. Anyway, it’s good news.”

  Scarlett hesitated, then placed the pie beside him. “That would make a nice change.”