Strawberry Donuts and Scandal

by Cindy Bell

  “I agree.”

  “His car could have been the one I saw when Alexa’s body was dumped. But I thought it was darker.”

  “Did you see that scratch on his neck?” Joyce raised an eyebrow. “I wonder if that came from the fight at the protest.”

  “It could have. But maybe Alexa scratched her killer?” Brenda watched as her friend tried to hide a yawn. “Before we do anything else, you need to get home and get some rest. All right?”

  “Yes, I think I could use a nap.” Joyce shivered a bit as she recalled the way that Mark looked into their eyes. “We have to protest tomorrow, after all.”

  “Joyce, you can’t be serious. You saw how the protest erupted at the town square. It won’t be safe for us to be there. You’re very brave I know that, but I’m afraid I have to draw the line here. We have no idea just how dangerous Mark could be.”

  “I see.” Joyce smiled as she met her eyes. “Well, I suppose, if you’ve drawn the line, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  “Joyce, I’m serious.” Brenda searched her expression for some sign that she understood.

  “I know you are. I’m just going to go home and take a nap. What kind of trouble could I get into?” Joyce gave Brenda a quick hug. “Make sure you actually eat something, all right?”

  “Sure. It’s not as if I couldn’t stand to lose a few pounds.” Brenda glanced down at her stomach.

  “Stop that.” Joyce gave her a light swat on the shoulder. “You’re a beautiful woman, and you are perfect just as you are, and I’m sure that Charlie would agree. He’d also agree that you need to eat something, so get to it, or I’ll let him know that you’ve been skipping meals.”

  “You two would team up on me.” Brenda winced, then smiled at her friend. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that I eat something. You make sure that you actually sleep.”

  “Will do.” Joyce waved as she headed for her car.

  Brenda climbed into her own car. Even though she wasn’t hungry she decided to head home and see if Charlie and Sophie wanted to grab something to eat. As she turned on the engine, she got a text from Charlie explaining that he was with Sophie at the farmers market. She loved spending time with them, so she decided to join them. As she drove out of the parking lot, she caught sight of Joyce pulling out behind her. To her relief, she turned in the direction of her house. Maybe, she really would get some sleep.

  Joyce drove towards her house with every intention of taking a nap. However, when she stopped at a red light, she looked over at the diner and she suddenly felt very hungry. She had just decided to turn in when a horn blared behind her.

  Joyce waved a hand through the window at the person behind her, and drove through the intersection. As she pulled into the parking lot of the diner, she noticed Detective Crackle’s beat-up car. She pulled into a parking spot, and put the car into park.

  As she looked at Detective Crackle’s car, she realized that she was excited by the prospect of seeing him. That wasn’t like her at all.

  Joyce flipped down the mirror on her visor to check the state of her hair and the light make-up she wore. Everything appeared to be in place. She flipped the mirror closed again and did her best to pretend that she hadn’t checked at all.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Joyce, he won’t even notice you.” She headed towards the door of the diner. She was relieved to see that there weren’t too many people inside. If she managed to talk with Detective Crackle, she certainly didn’t want their encounter to become the talk of the town. It didn’t take long to spot him, he had chosen a table in the center of the diner. She found herself relieved to find that no one was sitting in the only other chair at the table. Was he waiting for someone? It was none of her business. She took a breath, reminded herself to do her best to be polite, then walked over to him.

  “Detective.” She paused beside the table.

  “Joyce.” Detective Crackle seemed shocked to see her. He stood up and smiled as he greeted her. “I am having a late breakfast. Why don’t you join me?” He cleared his throat. “Unless you are meeting someone.”

  Joyce didn’t know what to do. She wanted him to ask her and now she wasn’t sure of the best thing to do.

  “I don’t want to intrude.”

  “Not at all.” Detective Crackle gestured to the chair and smiled. “Take a seat.”

  “Thank you!” Joyce sat down across from him and smiled in return. She did her best to ignore the subtle skip of her heartbeat. It was nothing more than a meal, she reminded herself.

  “I’ll just be a second.” Detective Crackle stood up, walked over to the waitress and talked to her softly. His back was to Joyce, so she couldn’t see what he was saying. He turned around, walked back to her and sat down.

  “Let’s order. Oh, and before you try to squabble with me, I’ll be covering the check.” He lofted an eyebrow as he met her eyes.

  “Squabble?” Joyce laughed. “I would never. However, I am perfectly capable of paying for my own breakfast.”

  “Enough.” He shook his head. “This is not up for debate. If a lady joins me for a meal, I pay the check. I’ve already spoken to the waitress, it’s settled.”

  “Hmm, you went to a lot of trouble.” Joyce smiled as she picked up the menu to look through, really she wanted to use it to hide behind. She never knew what to expect with him.

  “I have to with you, that much I’ve learned.” He eyed her over the top of the menu. “Without a little planning, I doubt that I could ever win an argument with you.”

  “Oh, you haven’t won, but I’ll let you think you have.” Joyce set her menu down and looked across the table at him. “Aren’t we both a little too old for games?”

  “I wouldn’t know.” He folded his hands. “I haven’t felt old a day in my life. Have you?”

  The question caught Joyce off guard. When she passed sixty, she’d settled into the idea that people would see her as ‘older’. She could still avoid elderly, but she’d accepted that her new label was ‘older’. However, the label never felt right to her. There wasn’t a moment in her life that she’d felt as if she’d somehow passed into a new stage. She didn’t feel much different as she sat across from Detective Crackle, than she did when she sat across from her husband on their first date. Age only seemed to happen physically. But she still felt the same mentally.

  “No, I suppose I haven’t.” She smiled some, and was about to say more, but another voice cut into the conversation before she could.

  “Hi there, Joyce.” Jackie leaned against the table and smiled. “I see you have company today. Well, company other than Brenda.”

  “Yes, for once.” Joyce spared the waitress a smile. Jackie was sweet, but she could also be very nosy. As she placed her order, she noticed the way that Jackie looked between her and Detective Crackle.

  “And what are you going to have, Arthur?” Jackie leaned closer to him.

  Arthur? Joyce glanced towards the window to hide her surprise. Not only did Jackie know the detective, but apparently she was on a first name basis with him. Detective Crackle had told Joyce to use his first name, but she still thought of him as Detective Crackle, not Arthur, so rarely used it. Once he’d given his order, he turned his attention back to Joyce.

  “Actually, now that I’ve got you here, I wanted to ask you a few questions.” Detective Crackle folded his hands on the table.

  “You do?” She smiled a bit. “Fire away.”

  “What do you know about Vanessa?”

  “Vanessa?” Joyce frowned. “Nothing really, she just runs Vanessa’s Vegies. She is a lovely person.”

  “So, you don’t think she would hurt Alexa.”

  “Never, why?” Joyce looked into his eyes. “Oh no, you still think she might have done this.”

  “She is our main suspect.” He held up his hands as if he expected an attack.

  “That’s ridiculous.” Joyce rolled her eyes. “She’s harmless. You’ve got this whole thing twisted.”

  “Now w
ait a minute, you didn’t even give me a chance to tell you why she’s our main suspect. You know that pesky thing we like to call evidence?” His eyes narrowed. “Or are you so convinced that you know everything, not even evidence will change your perspective?”

  “What evidence could you possibly have against her? Something more than that video, I hope. That was likely some publicity stunt, she just never got to finish it, unfortunately.” Joyce frowned as Jackie returned to the table with their food. “Thank you, Jackie.”

  “Do you have everything you need, Arthur?” Jackie winked at him.

  “Yes, thanks.” Detective Crackle barely looked away from Joyce to nod at her. As soon as Jackie walked away, he leaned closer to her. “The video wasn’t a publicity stunt. Alexa really did plan to expose something about Vanessa. Vanessa had recently agreed to a deal with the grocery chain Country Grocery Place. Part of this agreement included her agreeing to use their suppliers, which would ultimately mean that she would need to get most of her produce from Marbary Produce Farm.” He paused as he held her gaze, waiting for her to make the connection.

  “The farm that’s been using the pesticides everyone is protesting against?” Joyce gasped, which drew the attention of a few people around her. Once they’d lost interest, she lowered her voice. “Vanessa claims that her food is vegan, and one hundred percent organic. That kind of information getting out would have been a huge scandal. It would have ruined her.”

  “You’re right. Which is why she has the strongest motive to commit the murder.” Detective Crackle picked up his fork. “Now, what do you think, is it still ridiculous?”

  “Maybe not.” Joyce dug into her plate of food. “But I’m not convinced. Just because she has motive, doesn’t mean that she did it. Besides, Alexa never followed through with publishing the video.”

  “Because she never had the chance. Vanessa had the motive, she had the opportunity as well, as according to her she’d arrived early at the town square to meet Alexa. She claims that Alexa never arrived. But one theory is that perhaps Vanessa abducted Alexa, then had someone else drive the car and dump the body. It’s the perfect way to give herself an alibi, and make a statement.” Detective Crackle pursed his lips as he tilted his head from side to side. “It’s certainly not a slam dunk, but it’s a place to start.”

  “Maybe.” Joyce winced as she considered the possibility. “I hate to think it, but I honestly don’t know her that well.”

  “I intend to get to know her very well.” Detective Crackle met her eyes. “I can assure you, Joyce, it isn’t my intention to put an innocent woman behind bars. The evidence will prove who did this.”

  “Let’s hope so.” Joyce settled back in her chair. Knowing that Detective Crackle was so determined to get to the truth, did reassure her.

  Chapter 9

  After spending a couple of hours at the farmers market, Brenda left Charlie and Sophie there. They had decided that Brenda would pick up lunch for the whole family and they would meet at home. She knew she needed to eat, even though she didn’t feel hungry. There was one thing she couldn’t turn down, no matter how little appetite she had. Brenda headed straight for the shopping district downtown. She knew Kevin would have his truck parked there. Maybe, she could get a little information to go along with his delicious burgers.

  As Brenda approached Kevin’s truck, the smell of his famous burgers was tantalizing. For the first time since Alexa’s death, her stomach rumbled with the desire to eat. She joined the short line of customers, and watched as each one walked away from the window with a big smile.

  “Hey Brenda.” Kevin smiled at her when she reached the window. “What are you doing out here? I thought it was your day off?”

  “It is.” She smiled in return. “But I’m starving, and only one of your burgers will do.”

  “You’re in luck, I have plenty. Want some fries, too?” He turned around to flip the burgers, then turned back to face her.

  “Sure, fries sound good. I’ll need three burgers, please.” She took a deep breath of the scented air, then sighed in anticipation. “How are you doing, Kevin?”

  “So far so good. You know, still a little rattled. It’s hard not to be after what we saw.” He turned around to drop the fries in the fryer, then shook his head. “I haven’t been able to get it off my mind, to tell you the truth.”

  “Me either.” Brenda studied each motion he made. Despite Kevin’s large size he had a certain grace about him that surprised her. Perhaps it was from so many years of running the truck. “Did you know her, Kevin?”

  “Alexa?” Kevin turned back to Brenda. “Can’t say that I did. I mean, I saw her that day. She tried to shove her phone in my face. I told her I wasn’t interested.” He chuckled. “You should have seen how offended she was that I turned her down.”

  “Why did you? She’s pretty popular, an interview with her could have been good for your business.” Brenda reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet.

  “Oh, no charge.” Kevin smiled. “Us truckers have to stick together you know.”

  “Thanks, Kevin.” She dropped a few dollars in the tip jar.

  “The thing with these techie types, they love to put all their videos everywhere, but sometimes it attracts the wrong kind of people. I don’t want a bunch of picky customers asking me about hormones and pesticides. I mean, sure I buy quality meat, but I can’t tell you what the cow ate. Some of these people are a little too crazy for me. Besides, I don’t need a vlogger to get customers, word of mouth does just fine. As long as I make good food, I get good customers.” He clapped his hands together. “It’s as simple as that.”

  “That makes sense. I guess I can see your point. She was involved in protests about pesticides used on Marbary Produce Farm.” The aroma of the burger cooking reminded her of the delicious flavoring that only Kevin seemed able to master. “I’m sure many of her followers are interested in those topics.”

  “My point exactly. I don’t need that kind of trouble. I don’t want a group of kids parading around my truck with signs demanding I go organic or something.” He chuckled. “That’s never going to happen.”

  “It’s hard to keep up with all of the trends, that’s for sure. I bet she didn’t like you not wanting to be filmed. She seemed a little pushy.”

  “Oh, she had quite a mouth.” Kevin narrowed his eyes. “People like that usually do.”

  “People like that?” Brenda leaned against the truck and listened closely to be sure she heard him correctly.

  “You know, the ones that always want some kind of attention. If you don’t say what they want you to, they’ll just put words in your mouth, there’s no winning with them. What do I care about pesticides? Nothing. It’s a food truck, not a health food store.”

  “That’s true, and it’s hard to keep track of what is okay, and not okay.” Brenda sighed as she shook her head. “I’m always thinking about what my daughter is eating and whether it’s completely safe. But it seems impossible to know.”

  “It seems that way, because it is.” Kevin grunted. “People waste too much time on that nonsense. Listen, I know it makes me old, and out of touch, but there’s a time and a place for everything.” He leaned through the window and lowered his voice. “A crowded place, and protests, that’s never a good combination. Just like I expected, things got out of hand. But it wasn’t just because of the chaos, it was one of the protestors, and Alexa, that stirred things up. I saw it for myself.” He shook his head. “It could have gotten really messy, but they didn’t care. They just wanted to draw the attention of all of the news’ crews.”

  “You think Alexa and one of the protestors made things escalate on purpose?” Brenda’s eyes widened at the thought. It was one thing to plan a protest, but quite another thing to intentionally stage a riot.

  “I believe it, yes. Luckily, the police were there to stop it. I can’t imagine what would have happened if things had gotten out of hand. People could have really been hurt. I’ll be honest
with you, Brenda, no one deserves to be murdered, but Alexa wasn’t the saint she made herself out to be, and if someone killed her, I wouldn’t look much further than the people that were standing beside her.” He tipped his head back inside the truck.

  Brenda considered his words as he packaged up the chips and burgers.

  “Good luck with business today.”

  “Thanks.” He turned to take care of another customer.

  As Brenda walked back to her car, she pictured the crowd on the day of the protests. Kevin had a point. If things had gotten out of control a lot more people could have been hurt. Without the increased police presence, that could have easily happened. Kevin’s comment played on her mind. What if it was someone close to Alexa who had killed her? Clearly, there was no love lost between her and Mark, perhaps he was involved in her death. As she drove past all of the familiar places on the way to her house, she realized that despite the murder, the town was getting back to normal. Without proper attention the crime could easily get swept under the rug as the community collectively moved on. No, Alexa wasn’t liked by everyone, but she had many followers who needed answers.

  As Brenda pulled into her driveway, she decided that she would review all of the footage from the protest again. She wanted to see if there was any truth to Kevin’s claim, and she also wanted to pay close attention to who might have been close to Alexa. Was her entourage as loyal as she thought? Mark had turned on her, and if he could have such a poor opinion of her, then what about her other friends? Perhaps the enemy that wanted to end her life was closer than she ever realized.

  When Brenda stepped into the house, she found that Sophie and Charlie weren’t back yet. She sighed and decided to do a little research while she waited for them. With Alexa’s murder on her mind she was having trouble focusing on anything else.

  As Brenda settled on the couch with her computer, she felt the pressure build up within her, a need to get to the truth. As she began to look through the videos, she noticed the familiar crowd around Alexa. However, she didn’t see anything new. She decided to shift gears and check the videos on local news sites. As she sifted through them, one in particular drew her attention. It took place just before the protest became violent, and appeared to be a general pan over the crowd. However, it caught a moment that surprised her. Mark and Alexa stood close to each other, Mark pointed towards someone on the other side of the crowd, as Alexa turned to look, a woman with bright red hair walked up between them. She shoved Mark so hard that he stumbled. Alexa turned back and grabbed the woman by the arm. Then the camera shifted in the direction of a fight that erupted exactly where Mark had pointed. Brenda replayed the video. She remembered talking to the redheaded woman at the donut truck, she had stood out not only because of her hair, but because she refused to eat the donuts because they weren’t organic. She decided to send the link to Joyce. With her lip reading skills, she might just be able to figure out what was said. Just as she hit send Charlie and Sophie came through the door.