by Jinty James
“Suzanne,” Maddie interrupted. “Are you sure he asked about me?”
“I’m getting to it.” Suzanne waved her hand as if she thought Maddie was being a tad impatient. “It’s important to set the scene. So, he was telling me how swamped he’s been at work, but he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you – like, forever! And then he asked me if I thought it would be weird if he asked you out on a date, and what I thought your answer would be. Because he knows we’ve been best friends since middle school and he didn’t want to ruin that, but he said seeing you at the coffee festival and then again last week, just made him realize how much he likes you and—”
“He likes me?”
“Yep.” Suzanne’s tone was smug. “I should be a matchmaker for real. Anyway, I gave him the green light to go ahead and ask you out. And I said to him, “You better ask her out after you’ve been talking about her for a whole hour—”
“He talked about me for that long?” Maddie held her breath, waiting for her friend’s answer.
“Yep.” Suzanne grinned. “Actually, it got kind of boring after a while, because he was telling me things about you that I already know. And I kept thinking, but you don’t know that Maddie’s a witch!” She giggled.
When Maddie and Trixie stared at her, she shook her head, her ponytail swishing vigorously.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t breathe a word! You know I wouldn’t – ever – to anyone.”
“I know,” Maddie replied.
“Mrrow,” Trixie agreed.
“It was just fun to think about it when he was going on and on about what an amazing barista you are and he was glad he helped us restore the truck when we were first starting out, and if I knew if you were seeing anyone—”
“What did you say?”
“No, of course.” Suzanne grinned. “I told him he should help you practice for the Seattle competition.”
Maddie shivered with excitement at Suzanne’s revelations. But she cautioned herself not to get carried away. Suzanne’s brother Luke had had plenty of time to ask her out – years, in fact – so why was he only doing so now?
“Hey,” Suzanne said, her voice softer. “I know that pensive look. I asked Luke why he hadn’t asked you out before and he finally told me it was because he thought you were special, and he didn’t want to mess it up. Or make it weird between us – me and him and you and me.” She tsked. “Guys can be strange at times.” Her eyes widened as a thought occurred to her. “Ooh, I wonder if he saw Ramon at our truck at the festival? That might have finally compelled him to act!”
Maddie crinkled her brow.
“He might have thought Ramon was interested in you,” Suzanne explained.
“But he’s not,” Maddie pointed out, knowing of her friend’s interest in the sexy masseuse.
“I know that – I think. I mean, it’s hard to tell with Ramon, he’s just so, so—”
“I know.” Maddie nodded in agreement.
“Mrrow,” Trixie put in.
“But Luke doesn’t know that. And,” Suzanne added, “I might have told my brother that you were thinking of getting a massage with Ramon.”
“Suzanne!” Maddie gasped.
“Well, you are, aren’t you?” Suzanne looked satisfied with herself.
“Y-e-s,” Maddie admitted, wondering if she’d ever be brave enough.
“So it wasn’t a lie. Sometimes my brother needs something to be spelled out to him, even if it’s right under his nose. And he’d promised he’d call you and ask you out.”
“Really?” Maddie sank back in the kitchen chair, the hard wooden back digging into her shoulder blades.
Trixie looked from Maddie to Suzanne and back again, an inquisitive look on her face.
“Really,” Suzanne confirmed. “And all you have to do is say yes.” She paused. “You are going to say yes, aren’t you?”
“Mrrow!”
“Yes.” Maddie and Trixie spoke at the same time.
“Good.” Suzanne grinned. “You like my brother, don’t you, Trix?”
“Mrrow.” Trixie looked as if she were saying yes.
“Just call me Suzanne the Matchmaker.” The two of them laughed, Trixie joining in with a happy, “Mrrow.”
“Now that’s out of the way,” Suzanne became serious, “we better go through our list of suspects and see who we’ve got left.”
“Okay.” Maddie rose and grabbed the list from her purse.
“But first—” Suzanne’s gaze cut to the coffee machine on Maddie’s kitchen counter. “I’d love a coffee.”
Smiling, Maddie made them both a latte from her fancy espresso machine. It was smaller than the machine she used in the truck, but just the right size for home use. And since she made most of her caffeinated drinks at Brewed from the Bean, she didn’t need the most expensive appliance to make a decent cup of coffee at home.
Trixie continued to sit at the table, watching as Maddie brought the cups over.
“Let’s see.” Maddie scanned the list as she sipped her latte. “We’ve already crossed off the middle-aged couple that Detective Edgewater cleared.”
“That’s right.” Suzanne put down her cup on the table with a small thunk. “And it looks like the judge didn’t do it. He doesn’t take the right heart medication.”
“I know you thought he might have been involved or that the killer thought he knew something after he had the car accident,” Maddie replied. “But then Detective Edgewater told us that the judge’s brakes failed because of natural wear and tear, nothing to do with someone tampering with them – or even the judge tampering with them because he was the killer and wanted to divert suspicion from himself.”
“Right.” Suzanne nodded. “So we should cross him off, too.”
Maddie slashed a line through the judge’s name.
“And there’s no way Jill or Bob could have done it.” Suzanne insisted.
Maddie hesitated. “Just because someone is nice doesn’t mean they’re not a killer.”
“I know, but I can’t see Jill killing Dave. And you said Bob didn’t do it.” Suzanne sipped her latte, closing her eyes in appreciation. “So good. Just make one of these for my brother every day and he’ll be yours forever.”
“Suzanne!” Maddie blushed, aware that Trixie was looking at her with interest. Was the Persian taking Suzanne’s words literally? “She’s just teasing, Trix,” Maddie murmured to the cat.
“Teasing, foretelling the future, who knows?” Suzanne winked at Trixie.
“If we could get back to the list of suspects.” Maddie cleared her throat. “I’ll put a question mark next to Jill.”
“Okay.” Suzanne looked disappointed, then peered across the table at the suspect list. You didn’t put Ramon on the list, did you?”
“No.” Maddie shook her head.
“Good. Now, what about Claudine? I wish she was the guilty one, but she’s not.” Suzanne winkled her nose.
“Yeah.” Now it was Maddie’s turn to look glum.
“So that leaves Walt.”
“Uh-huh.” Maddie’s pen hovered over the newspaper reporter’s name. Something still nagged her about their conversation with him yesterday, but she couldn’t put her finger on it – yet.
“He certainly had motive,” Suzanne said.
“Yes.”
“What was Trixie doing digging in his wastepaper basket while we were talking to him?” Suzanne asked curiously.
“I have no idea.” Maddie turned to the cat. “Trix?”
But all Trixie said, was “Mrrow,” with an inscrutable look on her face.
Suzanne sighed. “I think we should leave him on the list for now.”
“Just what I was going to suggest.” Maddie put down the pen.
“So that leaves the two radio execs to interview tomorrow,” Suzanne said. “We could go after the lunch rush, maybe.”
“Okay,” Maddie replied slowly. “But do you really think it’s going to be one of them?”
“What i
f Dave wanted a huge salary increase and the station couldn’t afford it?” Suzanne suggested. “And he threatened to reveal the executive’s secret, which is why one or both of them killed him.”
“Maybe,” Maddie said, adding, two radio executives on the suspect list.
Suzanne blew out a breath. “But if it’s not them, then who could it be? And we need to find out somehow if they’re on heart medication or have access to it.”
Maddie’s pen clattered to the table. Something her friend had just said jogged her memory. What was it? She furrowed her brow but it remained tantalizingly out of reach.
Then she sighed. It was gone.
CHAPTER 20
Suzanne stayed a while longer, then went home, telling Maddie she’d see her at Brewed from the Bean in the morning.
Maddie kept mentally going over the suspect list, wondering what had teased the edges of her mind. Had it been something Suzanne had said? Something one of the suspects had told them? She tried to puzzle it out, but couldn’t come up with anything.
She even paged through Wytchcraft for the Chosen, wondering if there was a spell in there – one she hadn’t noticed before, or one that might magically appear just when she needed it, to discover who the killer was – but she couldn’t find anything like that.
She finally ordered herself to stop thinking about it at eight p.m. Her mind felt like mush.
When the phone rang, she jumped, clapping a hand to her chest.
“I’m being silly,” she told Trixie, who had been dozing on the sofa next to the spell book. Trixie blinked awake, staring at the cell phone as a brring brring sounded in the living room. Maybe it was Suzanne.
It was Luke, Suzanne’s brother.
Maddie sank down on the sofa when she heard his attractive male voice. I’m behaving like a teenager, she scolded herself, attempting to sound unruffled as she composed an answer to his question – would you like to go out on Friday night?
“Yes, I’d love to,” she answered, wondering if she’d answered too quickly.
To her surprise, he sounded a little relieved at her answer. They made arrangements for dinner in Estherville, Luke promising to pick her up.
After she ended the call, Maddie realized Trixie had been gazing at her the whole time she’d been talking to Luke.
“He’s asked me out – on a date,” she unnecessarily told the feline. “We’re having dinner.”
“Mrrow.” Trixie nudged her hand in approval, demanding Maddie pet her.
Maddie thought back over the phone call. Wait until she told Suzanne tomorrow! She hugged herself, then Trixie. She had a date with her longtime crush for Friday night!
Maddie and Trixie watched some TV, although Maddie found it hard to keep her mind on the family drama. All she wanted to think about was her upcoming date with Luke!
Finally, Maddie forced herself to go to bed. She had to get up at 6.30 a.m. tomorrow so she and Suzanne could open Brewed from the Bean at 7.30.
She and Trixie curled up in bed, Maddie under the blankets, and Trixie on top, in the crook of her knees. Just as Maddie was about to drift off to sleep, a thought occurred to her, and she jerked upright. Suddenly everything made sense – all the things she’d seen and heard, and her feelings, all combined into one big certainty.
“Mrrow?” Trixie enquired sleepily.
Maddie grabbed her phone and speed dialed Suzanne.
When her friend answered, Maddie blurted out, “I know who the killer is!”
AS SOON AS MADDIE ARRIVED at the coffee truck the next morning, she tried calling Detective Edgewater – again. After she’d called Suzanne last night and telling her who she suspected, she’d called the sheriff’s station.
But the detective wasn’t on duty at that hour, although she’d been welcome to leave a message. Maddie had declined, wondering if she was doing the right thing.
She’d tossed and turned the rest of the night, Trixie finally giving up on a peaceful night and curling up on the sofa in the living room, next to Wytchcraft for the Chosen.
“Is he there?” Suzanne asked as Maddie waited for someone to answer the phone at the sheriff’s station.
“I don’t know yet.”
The next second, Maddie asked for Detective Edgewater, to be told the detective was due at the station soon.
Suzanne made a face. “Maybe we should just go to the station and report your suspicions.”
“Mrrow.” Trixie seemed to agree with Suzanne. She sat on her stool, her ears and expression alert.
“Good idea.” Maddie opened the serving window and peeked outside. “Except we have several customers waiting.”
“Okay, after the early morning rush.”
Maddie and Suzanne set to work, Suzanne taking the orders and the money, and Maddie making the coffee. She felt guilty at not hurrying over to the station right away, but surely another half hour before reporting her suspicions either to Detective Edgewater or the deputy on duty wouldn’t hurt?
Finally, when there was only a couple of customers waiting in line, she nudged Suzanne.
“Maybe you should go over to the sheriff’s station and I’ll handle these regulars,” Maddie suggested as she foamed milk.
“Are you sure?” Suzanne peered out of the serving hatch, pinning a smile on her face for the two regulars who waited for their coffee. “What if the—” she lowered her voice “—killer comes while I’m gone?”
“I should be fine.” Maddie hadn’t thought of that. “Trixie’s here, plus there are people coming and going through the square all the time.”
“True,” Suzanne agreed reluctantly. “Got your cell phone on you?”
“Yes.” Maddie stopped in the middle of foaming the milk and checked her pocket, making sure the phone was switched on. “In here.”
“Good. Use it if you need to. I’ll be as quick as I can. And try Detective Edgewater again once you’ve made the last latte.” She nodded to the two regulars patiently waiting for their coffee. “You might be able to reach him before I do down at the station.”
“Yes, boss,” Maddie teased, not wanting her friend to worry. What could happen to her in the middle of the town square in broad daylight – well, eight a.m. anyway?
Suzanne departed for the sheriff’s office. Maddie locked the truck door and watched her friend hurry across the town square before she returned her attention to the latte she was making.
When she gave the two customers their coffees, she sighed with relief. She might even be able to make one for herself before any more customers stepped up to the window.
Just as she was about to grind some more beans, her attention was caught by a male voice.
“Good morning, Maddie.”
Walt, the newspaper reporter, stood at the counter, smiling at her.
“Hi, Walt.” She attempted to sound normal, but wasn’t sure if she’d succeeded. He was the last person she wanted to see right now.
“Hi Trixie,” he called out to the feline. Trixie stood up straight on the stool, arching her back. Then she settled into a crouch, staring unblinkingly at him.
“She seems a bit grumpy today,” he observed.
“I don’t think she liked getting up early this morning,” Maddie replied, hoping Trixie would understand her little fib. She had to act normal! “What can I get you?”
“How about a cappuccino?”
Maddie stared at him for a second, wondering if that was a macabre joke – it would be, if her suspicions were correct and he was the murderer.
When she didn’t answer, he laughed. “Just kidding, Maddie. A large latte would be good.”
“Sure,” she replied, recovering. She finished grinding the beans, relieved to have something to occupy her trembling hands. Casting a glance over at Trixie, she was glad that the cat remained on the stool, although still in her crouched position.
When would Suzanne be back? Hopefully, with reinforcements?
But how could her friend know that she was now making coffee for a potenti
al killer?
Her fingers brushed the pocket of her jeans that held her cell phone. If she could just get to it in time, she could try calling Detective Edgewater again. The burr and hiss of the espresso machine would help conceal the noise of the telephone call.
“I have to stay awake today,” he said chattily as Maddie fiddled with the machine longer than usual, wondering if now was the time to call the detective.
But she noticed Walt’s gaze on her, as if interested in the way she made his coffee. How could he fail to notice her reaching into her pocket and using her phone?
“Oh?” Maddie tried to sound interested while her heart thudded.
“I’ve got an interview at the radio station.” He grinned. “For Dave’s job. Maybe this time I’ll get it.”
“Good luck,” she said politely, adding the foamed milk to the shots of espresso in the large cardboard cup.
“Thanks. It pays more and I really need the money right now. Mom’s heart pills are more expensive than ever.” He grimaced. “Not everyone can afford to pay sky high prices for medication.”
Maddie froze. She forced herself to slide the latte over to him, hoping he wouldn’t notice that her fingers shook. His comment was further proof that her suspicions were right. She watched as he dug into his wallet for a five-dollar bill.
“Thanks.” She was careful not to let her fingers touch his as she took his money.
She gave him change, placing the coins on the serving hatch for him to pick up.
He looked a little surprised, but picked up the coins and put them in his wallet. Then he took a sip of his latte.
“You make the best coffee around,” Walt complimented her. “No wonder you won the competition at the festival. I’ll be sure to be a regular after this.”
Maddie stared at him, aghast. That was the last thing she wanted.
“Was it something I said?” he joked, putting down the cardboard cup on the counter.
“No, it was nothing.” Maddie busied herself with the machine, even though there weren’t any more customers. The town square was fairly deserted, too.
