Mint Chocolate Chip Mysteries, Books 1-3

by Emmie Lyn

  I smiled and Hitch jostled me with his elbow.

  “What’s the smile for, Sunshine?”

  “This.” I waved my arm to take in what we’d built. “It really makes me happy.”

  Tilly rumbled in behind us and swerved into a parking spot. “Quick!” she said after she’d jumped out of her car and jogged toward us. “I think Officer Walker is on his way here. You two go inside, and I’ll try to distract him.”

  By distract, she meant get rid of. Fine by me.

  My happiness evaporated like a popped soap bubble as I hurried toward the door where Jasper waited, not so patiently. She knew the routine and was anxious to check on her kitties.

  “I’ll get started with the fruit prep for smoothies if you want to help Jasper count kittens,” Hitch said. I think he really just wanted me as far away from Mick as possible, so I didn’t fall back into my gloomy mood. Again, fine with me and with a tiny bit of luck, I wouldn’t even see him.

  After I checked Mama Cat and her kittens, I picked up the newest addition, the adorable orange kitty, Clawdia, and gave her a snuggle. “How are you doing today?”

  She batted my cheek and mewed.

  “Is that right?” I said to Clawdia before I set her down so Jasper could get busy with her own style of inspection.

  “Fresh water and food and you’ll be all set, right?”

  Mama Cat wound around my legs, practically tripping me as I filled all the bowls. One of her kittens jumped off a shelf onto my back when I was bent over. As the kitten walked across my shoulders, the four little feet felt like a gentle massage. A ticklish massage.

  I laughed.

  “Sunny? Do you need some help?”

  I felt the weight of the kitten disappear off my back, and I straightened up.

  “Dani?” Emotion overwhelmed me as I hugged my friend from Misty Harbor. Dani Mackenzie had been there for me when a few months earlier, Jasper towed me out of the ice-cold water of Blueberry Bay. Dani kept me safe when a killer wanted to silence me.

  “Hey,” Dani held me at arm’s length and looked at me. Her mass of auburn curls spilled from her hair clips as tears spilled from my eyes.

  “What’s wrong, Sunny?”

  I wiped my eyes with my palms and said, “Sorry. There’s been so much going on, I guess I finally lost control.”

  “Well, I’m glad I decided to make the cupcake run over here today. I get to see you and your new place.”

  She looked around the greenhouse while I pulled myself together. Seeing my friend helped bring the sunshine back to my spirit.

  “This jungle of plants and kittens is incredible, Sunny. Who was that little fur ball I took off your back?”

  “Razzleberry.” I lifted the kitten up to our eye level. “Cute, right? But a bit of a troublemaker.”

  “They all are in my experience, right Pip?”

  Dani’s Jack Russel terrier yipped her agreement. At least that was my interpretation.

  “Hey there, Pip.” After I’d crouched down to give the little dog my undivided attention, I returned my focus to Dani. “Everything’s all set in here. Jasper keeps an eye on the kitties. Do you have time for me to whip up a smoothie for you while Pip helps Jasper here?”

  “I’d love that. Today’s my day off. My employees at the Little Dog Diner have everything under control. My whole day is open. Do you need help here?”

  “Not at the moment,” I said knowing that things could change quickly. I led the way into the shop. I could tell that Dani was worried about me, and I appreciated the offer to help. I peeked through the front window as I ushered Dani to the counter. Officer Walker was still outside in the parking lot with Tilly. That was a relief. “What would you like, Dani?”

  She glanced at the blackboard above us. “How about that mango, blueberry fruit smoothie?”

  “Coming right up,” I said, tying my apron on and getting the ingredients from the fridge. Hitch had stacked and labeled everything clearly, so I had no problem whipping up my friend’s drink. Where was Hitch? I wondered.

  As if reading my mind, Hitch and Conrad walked in from the side door, chatting and laughing.

  “Hey, Sunshine,” Hitch said after greeting Dani. “Conrad offered to make tables for outside along the front of the shop. What do you think about that idea?”

  “I think,” I said and grinned at Conrad, “that Mr. Tough Guy will do anything so he can stop by to visit the kittens. Am I right?”

  I handed Dani her smoothie and she leaned against the counter, settling in to observe our interaction.

  Conrad looked away like he was embarrassed. “You got me there, Sunny. Your little fur balls are irresistible. I decided to stop by so they don’t forget who I am. Do you need me to hang around with them today? You know, to help Jasper?” He sounded like he wouldn’t mind one bit if I asked him to stay, but I suspected he had places to be and jobs to do.

  “Actually, my neighbor, Violet Burnham—”

  “She’s your neighbor?” Conrad asked like I lived next to a serial killer.

  “You know her?”

  “Unfortunately.” He looked around as if expecting someone to eavesdrop. “She hired me to build a patio for her and never paid. Not one cent. And, on top of that, she bad-mouthed me to everyone she knew. Claimed I did shoddy work, and she had to hire someone else to finish what I started. It was all lies.”

  I couldn’t believe it. I’d never been particularly fond of Violet, but I’d chalked it up to her dislike of Jasper. Maybe I’d been lucky to have avoided her until this morning.

  “I’d dodge her like the plague if I were you,” he added.

  “It’s too late for that. She volunteered to clean the kitty litter boxes and help Jasper watch the kittens today. I hope I didn’t make a huge mistake by letting her help out.”

  I had a picture of her arriving at my kitchen door this morning during the pouring rain. She seemed genuinely upset.

  Was it possible that she had an ulterior motive when she’d stopped in?

  16

  Conrad offered his hand to Dani. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Conrad Coleman, from Misty Harbor.”

  Dani shook it and said, “Small world, Mr. Coleman. I’m Dani Mackenzie, owner of the Little Dog Diner. I think you know my husband, Luke.”

  Conrad smacked the side of his head. “Of course. I thought you looked familiar. What brings you to Pineville?” He nodded at the drink in Dani’s hand. “Besides the smoothies, of course. And, the kittens.” He grinned like this was our ongoing joke.

  “A cupcake delivery,” Dani said. “Plus, I wanted to see how Sunny and Hitch had transformed the old Nine Pine Nursery into this Shakes and Cakes business.” She nodded at me approvingly. “I missed the grand opening yesterday, but I’m sure you were swamped and wouldn’t have had time to visit with me anyway.”

  “It was busy,” I said. “And, it didn’t help that we were the last people to see the woman who was murdered.”

  “Another murder?” Dani’s blue eyes grew into saucer-shaped spheres. “Not here I hope.”

  “Not here,” Hitch said. “But the victim stopped in before she disappeared into thin air.”

  “And her body was found in Hitch’s apartment kitchen,” I added. I nodded toward the parking lot and grimaced. “Officer Walker, out there, has been giving us a lot of grief, but Tilly seems to have him under control for now.” By under control, I meant out of our shop.

  As we watched, Officer Walker spun Tilly around and cuffed her.

  “Oh no!” I yelped and rushed outside.

  “What are you doing?” I hollered

  Officer Walker pointed his finger at me. “You’ll be next if you don’t watch your step.”

  I had no idea what that was supposed to mean but I did know I wouldn’t abandon Tilly.

  Before Mick had Tilly in the back of the police car, she yelled, “Hitch’s sexy neighbor said that she saw me go into his apartment and never come out again. Sunny, do something!”

&n
bsp; An adrenaline surge had me shaking from head to toe. Hitch put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, anchoring me before I ran after the police car with my fist raised.

  This had just escalated from horrible to catastrophic. Tilly was in a heap of trouble.

  Dani came up to me. “I know a good lawyer. Want me to call?”

  I looked at Dani, then Hitch. “What should we do?”

  “Not yet,” Hitch said. “Someone needs to go talk to my neighbor.”

  “Exactly what I was thinking.” I said, already preparing a story to get in the door. “I’ll go talk to her. I’ll pretend to be the victim’s friend or something like that. You need to stay here, Hitch.”

  Jasper came up and wagged her tail as if to bolster my spirits.

  “Pip and I will go with you, Sunny,” Dani said. “We’ll get that neighbor talking and she won’t know what hit her.”

  Hitch paced back and forth a few steps. It wasn’t like my laid-back partner to show anxiety. “What about Shakes and Cakes? We have to open in about a half hour,” he said, “I’m not sure I can juggle all this on my own. At least not efficiently.”

  “I’ll help you here,” Conrad said, giving Hitch one of those man slaps on his back. “Give me one of those hot pink aprons, and I can serve the donuts and cupcakes like a champ.”

  Violet, who’d dropped completely off my radar, pulled into the parking lot. I was actually happy to see her. As good as Jasper was as the Chief Kitty Nanny, she couldn’t answer questions or take down the information about potential adopters.

  I pulled Hitch, Conrad, and Violet inside. I reminded Hitch where to find the various recipes, and he was good to go. All Conrad had to do was serve whatever pastry the customer wanted. Easy peasy. Violet, on the other hand, needed a little more guidance. In the greenhouse, she listened carefully and got right to cleaning the litter boxes without any complaining.

  “Ready?” Dani asked when I returned to the shop.

  “Let’s do this,” I said, with more bravado than real confidence.

  Dani clipped on Pip’s leash. “My girl Pip is a great ice breaker and not quite as intimidating as Jasper. I mean… I don’t mean that Jasper is intimidating to me, but she is big. And you know, that can scare some people.”

  Dani’s fumbling around to make sure she didn’t insult Jasper almost had me laughing. If the situation wasn’t so serious, I would have given her a hard time. Under the circumstances, though, I held my hand up. “I know what you mean. Pip is a great asset to have along. Besides, Jasper’s work is cut out for her here. She has to keep Violet in line.”

  Conrad rolled his eyes. “I’ll be sure to help Jasper with that job when I can. Now, get going. Times a wasting. And, let’s hope that Tilly doesn’t turn into a caged tiger at the police station.”

  “Knowing Tilly,” I said as I grabbed my bag, “the police will be thankful when they finally get rid of her.”

  Hitch let out a snort. “I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Tilly locked everyone in a cell and convinced them it was for their own safety.”

  I wasn’t going to dawdle waiting for that to happen, but the image did make me chuckle.

  I headed to Dani’s dark green MG. “You drive, Dani. I came with Hitch this morning.”

  “I hope you don’t mind riding with Pip on your lap. As far as she’s concerned, the passenger seat belongs to her, but she’ll share.”

  We settled in her car and Dani pulled out of the parking lot. With the top down, it would be a windy ride this morning. “Back toward town?”

  “Yup.”

  Pip had her front paws on the dash as she watched everything zip by.

  “Tell me about Hitch’s neighbor,” Dani said.

  “I’ve never met her, but Hitch pointed her out to me once. Ashley Mulford is attractive, mid-twenties, and according to Hitch, she managed to bump into him several times a day after he returned to Pineville. He said she’d giggle and touch his arm, all flirty like.”

  Dani gave me a quick glance and raised her eyebrows. “So, she likes Hitch? Why would she embellish her story to get Tilly in trouble?”

  Why? I wasn’t sure, but I could make a fairly good guess. “Tilly goes to Hitch’s apartment quite often to take him muffins or some other tasty treat in the mornings. Knowing Tilly, I suspect she told Ashley to mind her own business and leave Hitch alone. And, not tactfully. Tilly’s not known to mince words.”

  “Turn here,” I said pointing to Hitch’s street. “Here’s my plan. We’ll say we were Ginger’s friends, and we just want to find out what happened to her. You know, we’ll be all weepy and distraught. Can you do that?”

  “No problem, but what if Ashley recognizes you?”

  “I’ll just have to take that risk. The only time I went to Hitch’s apartment was yesterday, and I’m hoping she didn’t see me with him. Park here. That’s his apartment.”

  And, it was my lucky day. Ashley was walking up the path to the front door.

  “Excuse me!” I called from the open window.

  Ashley stopped and smiled at us, showing bright white teeth against a dark tan and bleached blonde hair. “Can I help you?” She walked toward the MG.

  “I hope so.” I opened the door, letting Pip jump out first.

  “We’re Ginger’s friends. I heard this is where the police,” I paused and wiped my eye. In a whisper I said, “Where they found her. Do you live here?” I asked, hoping my face held an appropriate amount of concern and sadness.

  Ashley took a quick glance at Pip sniffing her shoes, but otherwise ignored her. “The dead woman? Really? Like, you knew her? How horrible! Yes, I live here, but I think the police arrested the killer. You know, I saw her go into Mr. Hitchner’s apartment.”

  Ashley’s face flushed. Was it from excitement? My stomach twisted in a knot, rendering me speechless.

  Dani came to my rescue and saved me from my temporary silence. “What happened?” she asked breathlessly.

  “Come in, and I’ll tell you everything,” she said like we were all co-conspirators. “Officer Walker didn’t tell me to keep anything to myself.”

  She was much too excited about what she claimed to know.

  What did that mean?

  17

  Ashley led the way to her apartment right next to Hitch’s and opened the door for us.

  Inside, she dropped her bag and shrugged out of her light jacket. Pip bolted ahead and wasted no time sniffing around the room.

  I glanced around behind Ashley. The layout matched Hitch’s apartment, but the atmosphere felt like a dungeon instead of his bright cheery space. Her curtains were closed, the furniture was crowded together, and the walls were covered with dark posters.

  What had Dani and I walk into?

  “So,” Ashley said, as she plopped onto a black chair, crossed her legs, and looked like someone ready to share some juicy gossip. All she needed was a bowl of popcorn and a cold drink to make the scene complete. “Sit down and tell me about your friend.”

  Since Dani had never met Ginger, I jumped in. “It’s hard to talk about her,” I said, adding a sniffle for effect. “You know, we just planned to have a fun weekend.” I scooched to the edge of my chair. “Did you actually see her?”

  Pip finished exploring and jumped onto Dani’s lap. Ashley recoiled and said, “Is your dog, like, housetrained? I don’t want any piddles on my floor.”

  “No worries,” Dani said. “Pip goes everywhere with me and never has an accident. It’s interesting,” she added, “Pip kind of adopted me after her previous owner was murdered.”

  Ashley’s mouth fell open. “That’s just creepy. Kind of like what I heard when I was in my kitchen. You know, it’s only separated from Hitch’s kitchen by a wall, and you wouldn’t believe what I hear. I don’t think he knows that.” She smirked.

  What else did she hear from Hitch’s kitchen? Talk about creepy. Ashley held the medal for that title in my opinion.

  “So, anyway,” she said flapping her
hands around like little windmills. “It was like I had people right in here with me when that woman in Hitch’s kitchen screamed. ‘what are you doing here?’ Of course, I stopped getting my snack ready and listened. Who wouldn’t?”

  “And that woman was Ginger?” I asked.

  Ashley sat back with a satisfied expression. “It must have been.”

  “Who was she talking to?”

  “Well,” she sat forward again. “This is the interesting part. I saw Tilly Morris, an old busybody in town, let herself into Hitch’s apartment.” She paused to look at Dani, then me. “And I never saw her leave. I think she was, like, hiding inside waiting to kill that woman.”

  “You think?” I said.

  “Well, it makes sense. I saw her go in. A while later I heard the scream. It doesn’t take a detective to put all that together.”

  Well, actually it does take a lot of detective work to put facts together. Concrete evidence, not thoughts and assumptions. But apparently, Ashley wasn’t concerned about those minor details.

  “You told all that to Officer Walker, just like you told us?” I asked.

  “Pretty much. What do you think? You guys were Ginger’s friends.”

  Oh right, I’d forgotten about our little charade. “I wonder what the motive for murder was. I mean, if this Tilly person was still in the house,” I let that thought hang in the air for several long seconds, “how did she even know Ginger was coming? And, why would she kill her?”

  Ashley flicked her hand through the air. “Those are the details for the police to figure out.”

  Oh right, those pesky little details.

  “Where were you when you saw Tilly go into Mr. Hitchner’s apartment?” I asked wondering if anything Ashley said was backed by anything real.

  “Oh, I’d just gotten home from work and was parking when I saw Tilly walking to the door. She was inside before I got out of my car.”

  I pointed to the curtained view. “And once you were inside, you watched through your window the whole time to see if anyone went in or out until you heard the scream?”

  “Well, not the whole time. I went into the kitchen to fix myself a snack. And, it’s a good thing I did, or I wouldn’t have heard the scream.”