Pumpkin Spice & a Body on Ice

by Willow Monroe

  It would be my ace in the hole.

  Not now. Now everything had changed.

  Police Chief Roby Whitt would probably eliminate those cupcakes without even tasting them.

  Retire undefeated?

  It was an option.

  Poppy’s secret double knock at the door pulled me out of my thoughts. “Come on in,” I shouted. “I’m in the bedroom.”

  “Watching the show?” Poppy asked, joining me by the window.

  I nodded. “With half the ladies in town.”

  “Yeah, there are a few who come in every day for lunch and insist on tables near the window. They order a salad and water with lemon. And watch.” Poppy laughed and made herself at home lying across my big bed. “We should have a cover charge,” she added.

  “I thought you went home,” I said.

  “I was too restless to stay there and I wanted to check on you,” she explained.

  “I’m fine,” I said, turning away from the window.

  The show was over.

  “Poppy, I’ve been thinking about something,” I said.

  My best friend propped herself up on one elbow and grinned. “Yeah, watching Chief Whitt do most anything will do that to a girl.”

  “Not that,” I said.

  Oh, then what?”

  “About the cupcake competition this year,” I said slowly.

  “Oh, yeah?” Now I had her full attention. It seemed both of us were eager to talk about anything except Nadine.

  “I’m thinking about not entering.”

  Poppy sat straight up in my bed a look of pure disbelief on her face. “What!”

  “You know, retiring undefeated,” I said quickly. “Mohamed Ali did it. Why can’t I?”

  “I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” Poppy said, crawling to the foot of the bed to look me straight in the eye. “Winning that competition is something you work toward all year. And it’s great advertisement for the Dixie Cupp.”

  “I know but...”

  “Do you know how many people from all over the county order the cupcakes that won the blue ribbon at the Sugar Hill Dessert Festival? They call, they email and then when they come to pick up their order, they usually have a meal.” Poppy was pacing now, preaching to the choir.

  “I know but...”

  “And our food is so good, our service so fantastic that they tell their friends and they tell their friends and...”

  “There’s no way I’ll win this year,” I said quietly, finally voicing what had really been on my mind all morning Poppy stopped with hands on her slender hips. “So your entry will just be different this year. You’ll make healthy cupcakes instead.”

  “I can’t compete with Tiffany or the Lord sisters when it comes to baking a healthy cupcake,” I argued.

  Poppy stomped over to my small desk where my laptop sat. She picked it up, carried it back over to me and thrust it into my hands. “Research.”

  “I don’t know,” I said, avoiding Poppy’s steady gaze.

  “You know, Starla, I never dreamed you, of all people, would turn into such a coward,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Her normally soft brown eyes flashed amber fire.

  I did look at her then.

  “Yeah, throw a little competition at you and you just collapse. I thought you were stronger than that.”

  My mouth flew open at the harsh sound of her voice. No words came out.

  “The reason I decided to become your business partner as well as your best friend is because you are a strong, beautiful woman who knows how to run things, who lives life on purpose.” Poppy threw my own words back at me. “Now the going gets tough and you fold like a...like a...wet cupcake liner.”

  I was still speechless.

  “And while we’re on the subject of Police Chief Roby Whitt, I want to ask you a question.”

  I wasn’t aware that we’d been on that subject but I let that go.

  “Why do you think he comes in here every morning if he’s such a health nut?”

  “To get herbal tea and egg white omelets,” I answered with a shrug.

  “Really? Do you really think that’s why he comes in here every morning?”

  I nodded.

  “He couldn’t make an omelet at home?”

  “I guess he could but...”

  “He comes in here to see you, Starla. Sheesh!” Poppy threw up her hands and began pacing again. “You don’t see the way he looks at you? I can see it a mile away and so could anyone else who is paying attention.”

  Had his quiet teasing about my lifestyle been more than that? It hadn’t occurred to me, but that still had no bearing on the upcoming competition.

  And right then that was what was most important.

  “Now, I’m going downstairs to our diner to help Barbara Ellen wrap things up and then I’m going home. I will see you in the morning.”

  I sat there for a while, the sound of my slamming door and Poppy’s quick, light footsteps on the stairs filling my head. I’d never heard Poppy talk like that before, but I still had my doubts.

  Chapter Six

  The dinner rush was usually as much fun as the morning but with a different vibe. Everyone was kind of laid back, tired from a long day at work and happy to have a home cooked meal. Of course, this evening, Nadine’s death was the hot topic of conversation and I dodged questions as best I could.

  I also tried to ignore the rumors and gossip that had been spreading like wildfire all day.

  “Imagine killing yourself over a man!”

  “Is that what it was? I heard she had health issues and just ended it all.”

  “I heard the train cut her right in half on the railroad tracks.”

  The one person I couldn’t seem to dodge was Billy Watkins, president of the local paranormal society, SPISH (Supernatural and Paranormal Investigators of Sugar Hill).

  “So, Starla, what if we had a séance right here in the diner?” he suggested.

  “Uh, Billy, I don’t think so...” Would this evening ever end?

  “I could go into a trance. Try to channel Nadine’s spirit,” he continued as if I hadn’t said a word.

  He rambled on while I tried to remember if SPISH had ever really conjured up a spirit, caught anything on video or captured voices on their MPV devices. I kind of thought the only voices Billy heard were in his own head, but I wasn’t about to bring that up.

  Poppy arrived earlier than usual the next morning, letting herself into the diner long before the sun came up. We didn’t talk much. She went into our office and worked on the books, saying something about taxes. I put away dairy products that had been delivered before sun up and then worked on getting together a dry goods order. Even Gladys was quiet while she made biscuits, shredded potatoes for hash browns and readied the kitchen for the morning rush.

  Finally, the first customers of the day came in and soon after that, we were too busy for either of us to even think about cupcakes or competitions. Or the, um, discussion we’d had about Chief Whitt the day before.

  Tom Brown arrived, looking a little under the weather. He simply waved at Poppy and settled into his usual booth with the morning paper.

  Police Chief Whitt came in with the Mayor, both of them deep in conversation. The men barely looked up at me when I placed their usual orders in front of them on the counter and refilled the mayor’s coffee cup. I shot a triumphant glance at Poppy, who was too busy watching Tom to notice anything else.

  Shrugging off my worries of the night before, I noticed that talk of Nadine’s death had died down to a whisper when Chief Whitt and the Mayor arrived.

  I was seating Mrs. Blake when I looked up to see Anna and Eva Lord come into the diner. They made a beeline straight for Chief Whitt and the mayor.

  “I do hate to interrupt,” Eva began. Again with the hand on the police chief’s beefy arm. “But we’re starting up special evening yoga classes for people who work during the day.”

  “The first one is tomorrow night and we want
ed to give you a special invitation,” Anna finished.

  “Why thank you,” Chief Whitt replied. “It’s been a while since I’ve done yoga but I’ll do my best to show up.”

  Even though he was as polite as usual, it seemed he had other things on his mind.

  “We feel like you have such an influence on the community,” Eva added.

  “You too, Mayor Gillespie,” Anna said, giving his shoulder a squeeze as they began moving away toward their usual table.

  “Well, I do appreciate the invitation,” Mayor Gillespie said.

  Back behind the counter, I refilled his cup and brought Chief Whitt more hot water.

  “Oh, Starla,” Anna said returning to the counter to stand beside Chief Whitt. “We would have asked you to provide refreshments but we’re only serving healthy snacks.”

  “That’s perfectly alright,” I said, pasting a smile on my face even though I wanted to reach out and wring her skinny little neck. “I’m really too busy here to put together something on such short notice anyway.”

  Finally they moved off to their table and I was happy to let someone else take their order.

  I was still seething when I noticed that Tiffany Samples was standing between the mayor and Chief Whitt. Moving closer I overheard her say, “Roby, that whole wheat organic bread I ordered especially for you came in this morning. You can pick it up any time and I’ll give you a discount since it’s your first order.”

  “Why, thank you, Tiffany,” Chief Whitt said.

  I shot an ‘I told you so’ glance at Poppy, who was finally paying attention to the rest of the world. There was no way I could compete with these petite, proper southern belles in the low fat, whole wheat kitchen or any other room in the house. Poppy had been so wrong about Chief Whitt coming in here to see me. He had barely spoken to me that morning.

  I offered to go to the bank again, not really sure why except that it kept me from thinking about the cupcake competition. I wanted to time it earlier in the day so I wouldn’t have to face my running friends or Susan who, without trying, made me feel woefully inadequate.

  Those plans were foiled when Chief Whitt came back into the diner just as the ten o’clock freight train rattled the windows.

  “Can I help you?” I asked when he walked up to the counter, a look on his face I’d never seen before.

  “Is there someplace we can talk?” he asked.

  “Sure,” I said, directing him toward a booth at the back of the diner.

  “Is there some place more private?” he asked.

  “We can use my office,” I told him, my heart skipping a beat. This must be something serious.

  “Poppy, too, if she’s available.”

  “She’s here,” I said.

  “What’s going on?” Poppy asked when Chief Whitt and I entered the little office. Her brown eyes were as big as saucers. “Nadine?”

  There were only two chairs in the small space and Poppy was using one of them. Chief Whitt motioned for me to take the other. He remained standing, but leaned against the door, real casual like. But there was that muscle in his jaw twitching while he looked from one of us to the other.

  “Is this about Nadine?” I blurted out, unable to stand the suspense another second.

  He nodded. Slowly.

  “The coroner called my office this while ago. It looks like Nadine didn’t commit suicide.

  That brought me up short.

  “Someone pushed her off the bridge?” Poppy asked.

  He nodded again. “After they strangled her.”

  Poppy and I gasped at the same time.

  “In broad daylight?” I finally asked.

  “You have to admit that bridge is kind of off the beaten path,” he said, crossing his arms in front of him.

  “I guess you’re right,” Poppy said.

  “Her hyoid bone was broken, a sure sign of strangulation. If she wasn’t dead when she was tossed off that bridge, she would have been incapacitated until the train came through and took her out,” he explained

  “That’s why she was on her back,” I said, suddenly remembering that he had asked me about that. “If she had jumped, she would have landed face first.”

  He nodded, taking in everything and giving away nothing.

  “But who...?”

  “That’s what I have to find out. And since you found the body,” he looked directly at me for a long moment and then his gaze strayed to Poppy. “And you were the next person on the scene,” he added.

  “You thought you’d start your investigation here,” Poppy finished.

  Again, that slow nod.

  A train whistle sounded and within seconds it was rumbling down the tracks, past the diner, rattling the one window in the office. Normally the familiar sounds of the trains comforted me. Not today.

  “I really don’t know anything other than what I’ve already told you,” I said.

  “Are you sure you weren’t a bit worried that she’d upstage you at the dessert festival?” he asked.

  “Kill Nadine over a cupcake contest?” I gasped. The thought of that almost made me laugh.

  Almost.

  Until I realized that he was not smiling. “People have killed for less.”

  “Well, I didn’t kill Nadine,” I said, remembering to keep my voice down so that no one else would hear. If word got out that Nadine had been murdered and Poppy and I were being questioned, it would not be pretty.

  Chief Whitt was quiet for a few moments and then he looked at Poppy. “I know there was some animosity between the two of you over Tom Brown.”

  Poppy looked out the window, looked back. “Nothing I would kill her over,” she finally said. “Tom and I have been seeing each other for a long time. We have an understanding.”

  “Besides, Nadine was pretty fit. It would take someone stronger than me or Poppy to strangle her.”

  “Okay, is there anything else you can tell me?” he asked, looking from one of us to the other.

  “Maybe someone down at the gym had it out for her,” I suggested, the first thing that came to mind.

  “We’ll question them but I doubt it. She was a hard charger in the gym but that’s what people paid her for,” he said.

  “Didn’t she have a business partner or something?”

  Chief Whitt shrugged broad shoulders. “I’ll check that out as well.”

  He simply sat there quietly almost as if he was giving us time to think.

  Finally, he stood up straight. “Well, if you think of anything else, let me know.”

  “She was talking to Tom,” Poppy said quietly.

  Chief Whitt froze.

  “I went for a walk right after the morning rush. I’ve been doing it regularly so I’ll fit into my...” Poppy stopped and swallowed hard. “I saw her and Tom together on the bridge.”

  “Were they arguing?” he asked, his voice soft as if he didn’t want to spook her.

  Poppy shook her head. “Just talking...real friendly like.”

  “But she didn’t go up there,” I put in quickly.

  “And you didn’t tell me about this yesterday,” he added.

  “No. No I didn’t.”

  “And you knew as well,” he said, looking at me.

  “Yes, I knew.”

  “That could be misconstrued as withholding evidence or even protecting a murderer,” he told us.

  Poppy and I remained silent.

  “I’m sure I’ll have some more questions for you later,” he said finally and opened the door to the small space.

  I didn’t have the strength to even get up and follow him so I just sat there.

  Finally Poppy let out a sobbing breath. “You don’t think he...Tom...?”

  “No, sweetie, I don’t think it was Tom. And I know it wasn’t you or I,” I assured her. “Maybe we should try a little undercover investigation of our own.”

  Poppy looked at me, wide-eyed.

  “You know, just keep our eyes and ears open for any clues that might hel
p figure this out,” I told her.

  “Ask a few questions maybe?”

  “Yeah, stuff like that.”

  “Good idea,” Poppy said.

  “I mean we know everyone in town, right? Surely, someone knows something. I mean a woman was strangled in broad daylight and thrown off a bridge right here in town,” I reasoned. “Who could keep that a secret?”

  “I think first we have to figure out why she was killed,” Poppy said.

  “Agreed. We just need to ask the right questions of the right people,” I said. “Simple.”

  “But on the down low so they won’t suspect,” Poppy said.

  “Just one thing,” I said, keeping my voice down. “Promise me you won’t spend time alone with Tom Brown until this gets solved.”

  “Oh, Starla, please. You don’t for one minute believe...”

  “Promise.”

  Poppy took a deep breath, hands on her hips and blew out her breath. “Promise.”

  Chapter Seven

  Chief Whitt’s visit helped me avoid my running friends and Susan at the bank, but I ran into someone even worse. Make that some ones.

  The Lord sisters were waiting in line at the bank. Only one teller window was open, as usual, and I had no choice but to get in line behind them.

  They turned in unison and smiled down at me. Their normally placid, much too calm demeanor seemed a bit ruffled.

  “Did you hear the news?” Eva asked.

  “Yes,” I said, wishing I’d just let Poppy or someone else take the money to the bank. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about Nadine’s murder.

  “Really?” Anna said, glancing at her sister.

  “Yes, Chief Whitt questioned us about it this morning,” I answered.

  “He questioned you about Yoga?” Eva asked.

  “No.” Now I was totally confused. “It was about Nadine.”

  “What about Nadine?”

  “She was murdered,” Mrs. Snyder said, taking the deposit from Anna.

  News travels fast in a small town.

  Eva made a little ticking sound and shook her head.

  “Why do you say that?” I asked, unable to stop myself.