Sugared Suspect

by Stephanie Damore

  “It’s me, Nick London. You know, Adele’s grandson?”

  “Adele,” Granny replied as she seemed to think about it. “She died, didn’t she?”

  “Yes, this past fall,” Nick replied.

  “I’m sorry to hear it. She was a nice lady.”

  That comment got a chuckle out of me. Adele was not a nice lady. In fact, that was the first time I’d ever heard anyone describe her as one.

  “What’s wrong with your face? You seem blue,” Granny asked. Nick was also a bit transparent, like Granny herself. Granny’s image flickered, and I knew our time was almost up. Ghosts, especially young ones, had a hard time sustaining human form. It was much easier to hang out as an orb.

  Nick cleared his throat. “Well, Adele isn’t the only one who’s recently passed. You see, you have her, me, and you.”

  “Yes, I can see you,” Granny said mis-reading Nick’s lips.

  “He’s not getting anywhere,” I said to the group.

  Nick tried again.

  “You can see me. That’s what you said,” Nick replied.

  “Plain as day. Although you look funny,” Granny replied.

  “Well, I’m dead and if you can see me,” Nick said pointing to his chest, “and I can see you,” Nick said pointing to her, “then that means we’re both dead,” Nick pointed to himself and then her once again.

  “Oh, I can’t be dead. I still have things to do,” Mrs. Smith replied and with that, her form popped out of existence, leaving a floating pink orb behind.

  “That didn’t work,” I replied.

  I looked out the window and saw that my sister, Deputy Autumn Sinclair was pulling in front of the bakery right at that moment. Another squad car parked behind her and Deputy Preston Stevens joined her on the sidewalk.

  “This won’t go well,” Ellen surmised. With the way Granny’s orb was now buzzing over her dead body, I had a feeling she was right.

  I met the deputies at the door, unlocked it, and ushered them inside. Across the street Janice didn’t attempt to hide her amusement. She tossed her head back and laughed right to my face while I re-locked the door. I tried to keep my expression neutral, but I couldn’t help the look of disdain I shot back. Janice had a tendency to bring about a visceral reaction.

  As expected, as soon as the medical examiner showed up and started fussing with Granny’s body, she got all up in a tizzy. Her energy flickered and popped like a blown transformer. One second she was in full form, the next a pink orb, and back again.

  “What are they doing? They need to leave that poor old lady alone,” she insisted. Like an angry bee she buzzed around Carl, the county medical examiner. “Get away from her!” she demanded. Carl absentmindedly swatted her away.

  “Why don’t you make them stop?” She turned and asked me directly.

  I couldn’t address Granny’s concerns in front of Carl and my sister. Preston on the other hand could hear her loud and clear, being gifted with the same talent as I was. He looked over to me and I gave a knowing nod.

  Nick did his best to calm Granny down.

  “Why don’t you join me over here?” he asked. “Tell me about this to-do list of yours.”

  Granny reluctantly accompanied Nick to the front counter. Ellen, Margaret and Father Thompson were congregated in the back kitchen. I wished I was with them. The business of death always made me a little jumpy.

  “What happened?” My sister pulled me aside and asked me.

  “I’m not sure. The bakery was pretty busy. I can tell you she was outside shoveling the sidewalk a couple of hours ago.”

  “With socks on?” Autumn asked. Ever observant, that was my sister.

  “Close. With slippers on. I invited her inside the bakery and gave her my wool socks and my winter gear to warm up with.”

  “I thought I recognized the coat and scarf. What happened after that?”

  “She took a cup of coffee with cream and a cinnamon roll. It wasn’t until we had a lull I looked over and realized she wasn’t moving. I thought she had just zoned out. It didn’t immediately occur to me that she had passed. You don’t think foul play is involved, do you?” I straight-up asked my sister.

  Autumn didn’t even hesitate. “No, I don’t at all. I think it was just Granny’s time. It just so happened to take place at your bakery.”

  Having Granny die in my bakery wasn’t good, but at least it was a natural death.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll keep this quiet,” Autumn said.

  That got a full-out laugh from me. “Are you kidding? Look out the window.” Villagers were already milling out front gossiping. Janice was also at the ready, inviting them into her bakery for a cookie and a chat. Heaven only knew what lies she’d spread. My mind was already racing trying to come up with a promotion to help with damage control. Maybe I could offer a free cookie with coffee purchase, or some other buy one, get one deal. It was something to think about.

  Before he left, Preston came over to me. “Do you want help later?” he asked quietly. I knew he meant trying to get Granny to crossover.

  “Sure. Stop by the house? Maybe we can figure something out.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll drop by in a few hours.”

  “I think she just needs time,” Nick said while I made a cup of coffee back at the manor that evening. Deputy Preston hadn’t stopped by and hadn’t called either. I assumed he was busy with work. That was fine by me, I was hoping Nick was right and that it wouldn’t take more than a little time to get Granny to crossover.

  Granny was presently sitting in the family room watching Wheel of Fortune and talking to herself. She loved solving the puzzles, that was for sure. Amelia’s son, Jacob, had wanted to watch Mickey Mouse, but every time he changed the channel, Granny changed it back to her program. It only took a second for me to watch the exchange and Jacob’s confused expression to know what was going on. Amelia caught on right away, too.

  “Jacob, baby, why don’t you watch your show on the tablet? The cable isn’t working right now,” Amelia ushered her son out of the room and lead him upstairs.

  “Thanks Amelia. Hopefully, our guest will check out tomorrow,” I said after her.

  “Oh, it’s totally cool by me. No worries,” Amelia said. I couldn’t have asked for a more paranormally-chill roommate if I tried. Amelia was an expert at rolling with the weird that was for sure.

  Milo, my adorable brown tabby cat, strutted in the kitchen and jumped up on the center island. Nick turned into an orb and the two enjoyed their favorite pastime of swat the ghost. I watched the two go back and forth for a few minutes—Milo showing his amazing acrobatic skills while Nick zipped dangerously close to his paws—before taking my coffee and heading upstairs to my room. The day had been long and odd. I was still thinking about how to drum up business and squash any rumors Janice had started when I turned off the lights and tucked in for the night. Tomorrow was a new day, I reminded myself, and a new opportunity to remind Bleu Clair Bay why The Sweet Tooth was the best bakery in town.

  Chapter 2

  The next morning I went about my normal routine, waking up shortly after four o’clock in the morning and getting ready to head off to work. Granny had taken off sometime in the middle of the night and I was crossing my fingers she had crossed over on her own. Milo meowed at the back door that lead out to the garage, asking to come along. It rather surprised me. My kitty loved living back at the manor and he rarely asked to tag along anymore. I readily scooped him up.

  “You remember the rules, right?” I asked him.

  Milo looked at me with uncertainty.

  “Well, there’s really only one. You’re not allowed in the kitchen.”

  Milo stared back at me unblinking. “I’m serious. You know Aunt Autumn would tell on us if there was a cat in the kitchen.” And she would also have a fit if she knew I referred to her as Aunt Autumn.

  Milo gave a little chirp. “I know she’s no fun. Just make sure to stick to the steps and you’ll be fine.” Milo regularly
slept on his favorite back step that led up to my old apartment. Occasionally, he would even head on up and take a snooze on the couch. Truth be told, now that business at the bakery was slowing down again, I should take some time to focus on renovating the apartment and getting a tenant in there. That thought was bittersweet as I didn’t really need the space anymore, but it had been our home when Nick and I were newlyweds. It was where he had last lived and I wasn’t sure I was quite ready to let it go. Of course, I now lived in his family’s estate, but he had never lived here with me so it was still a bit different.

  As if he had understood me perfectly, once at the bakery Milo curled up in his favorite spot on the steps and I got ready to mix up some of my favorite baked-goods. But first, coffee. I set the pot to percolate my morning brew and then I rounded my ingredients up. I decided to focus on bright, fun desserts, like my cinnamon cherry pie tarts, zesty lemon bars, and hand-sized sugar cookies to go with the usual cinnamon rolls, breads, and muffins. I was trying to keep everything cheery. The cutouts were in the shape of oversized flowers and I planned on decorating them in light, spring colors—buttery yellow, soft lilac, mint green, and baby pink.

  There was still no sign of Granny Smith and that was okay by me because I had plenty of work to do. I was rolling out a second batch of sugar cookie dough and just waiting for my butter cream frosting to come together when there was a knock at the bakery’s back kitchen door. I turned around to see that it was the infamous Mike Rogers standing on the stoop. I dusted my hands off on my apron and went over to the unlock it and invited him in.

  “I see you snuck out okay yesterday,” I said by way of greeting. “Coffee?” I knew from experience that Mike started his days almost as early as I did.

  “Yes, please. I could use the biggest cup you’ve got.”

  “Coming right up.” I pulled the tallest to-go cup I had off the counter and poured half a pot of coffee in it.

  Mike took his leather gloves off and accepted the cup from me with a thanks. I waited until he took his first sip before saying anything.

  “Your coffee is always good, you know that?” Mike offered up.

  “I try,” I replied, and that was an understatement. I’d started to become a bit of a coffee nerd. In college, I’d drink whatever brew I could get my hands on, but after opening the bakery I realized how much different roasts complimented the various baked good. The coffee Mike was drinking came from Ethiopia but roasted in the United States. In fact, they blended it not too far down the road in Glenn Arbor.

  “About yesterday,” Mike said.

  “Yes?” I replied, getting back to rolling out my dough. “It seems you’re running away from the ladies these days.”

  That got a laugh out of Mike.

  “I wish. Tammy is Tonya’s sister.”

  “Tonya?” I repeated more or less out of surprise. Tonya was Mike’s estranged wife.

  “The one and only,” Mike said, taking a sip from the coffee cup.

  “So that’s why she seemed familiar.” I wondered if Tammy could turn off the southern charm as quickly as her sister could.

  “Probably. She’s bent on stalking me all over Bleu Clair Bay. I can’t get rid of her.”

  “What does she want?”

  “For me to reconsider the divorce.”

  “Tonya put her up to it?” I asked.

  “Who knows with those two,” Mike replied.

  “Are you? Reconsidering, that is.” Mike looked at me like I was nuts. “Sorry, I know how smitten you were,” I replied.

  “Of course I was. I was a fool in love. Not going to make that mistake twice. I had the divorce papers served to her last month in jail.” Mike’s new wife had turned out to be more nuts than he bargained for.

  “I’m sorry the way that turned out,” I said. I really was.

  “It’s not your fault. I’m only sorry Tonya tried to kill you.”

  It wasn’t personal. Tonya would have killed anyone who discovered her secret.

  “If only Tonya would accept we’re through and call her sister off. I’ve been polite until now, but Tammy’s crossed the line. I’d hate to get a restraining order on her, but I might have to.”

  “It’s that serious?”

  “Every morning she follows me to work then stalks me while I run errands. I even see her driving by my house at night. I’m not sure how she thinks she’s helping her sister out. If anything, I’m convinced more than ever that the whole lot of them are nuts.”

  “Do you want me to say something to Autumn? Maybe she could have a word with her,” I offered.

  “That’s not a bad idea. Maybe I’ll stop in at the sheriff’s department. It seemed ridiculous at first, but now I’m not so sure. Tonya’s like a snapping turtle.”

  “A snapping turtle?” I wasn’t following.

  “You know, when they latch on to you and never let go?”

  I didn’t know that, but it was a perfect analogy. “Ah, well then yes, yes she is.”

  I told Mike that I hoped Tammy would hightail it out of town sooner rather than later and he left shortly after that.

  While the commissioner’s early morning visit didn’t come as a surprise, the first customer through the door did. “Preston,” I said as I unlocked the door and opened it for him to enter. “Did you think of a way to get Granny to crossover?” I said, assuming that was the reason for his early morning visit. This wasn’t a conversation that either one of us would want to have with customers milling around.

  Preston didn’t respond. In fact, he seemed at a loss for words. It wasn’t until two more deputies pulled up at the curb that he found his voice.

  “We have a preliminary cause of death, which has resulted in the county issuing this search warrant.” Preston opened his county-issued brown coat and took out the tri-folded papers from his inside pocket and handed them to me. “You should know one has been issued for the manor as well.”

  I was gob smacked. “A search warrant? I don’t understand, what did Granny die from?”

  “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to tell you.”

  “Oh, so it’s going to be like that?” I said, crossing my arms across my chest. “You can’t even tell me what you’re looking for?” I glared at the deputy no longer seeing him in such a friendly light.

  “You know I can’t, but I can promise you we’ll get out of here as quickly as possible so you can open up.” The deputy motioned for his men to come in. I was left standing speechless in the doorway. Ellen arrived within ten minutes ready to start her shift and was greeted by uniform officers in the kitchen.

  “My goodness, what in the world is going on here?” I heard her voice come from the back. She joined me out front in short order.

  “Search warrant,” I replied and tried not to glare at the deputies who were thoroughly searching every inch of my bakery.

  Nick chose at that moment to stop in for a visit. “Morning, love –” his greeting was cut short as he took in the scene. I gave him the same two-worded explanation I had provided Ellen. Only then I thought of another way he could help. “They’re at the manor too,” I said the comment to Ellen knowing that Nick would hear me and head off for his family home. I only hoped that whatever was happening at the estate wasn’t too upsetting for Amelia and her son Jacob. The last thing an expectant mother needed was her home being turned into a prospective crime scene. Deputy Preston caught my eye and was met with a fierce glare.

  One person who was noticeably absent was my sister. I knew that wasn’t her choice as there’s no way they would have allowed her to search her own sister’s business. Not that having her there would do me any good. She was even more by the book than Preston was. She never broke the rules.

  “Watch out for the cat!” One of the deputies hollered from the kitchen.

  “Ow! That cat has claws, back up fellas!” Another deputy exclaimed.

  I ran back to the kitchen. Milo had two deputies pinned against the wall and was swiping in front of his face, claws ex
tended. One of the deputies moved toward the back kitchen door and Milo hissed followed by a long, deep growl.

  “Milo!” I shouted and walked over and scooped the fluffball up. He didn’t pitch a fuss, but he continued to stare down the deputies.

  “That’s some cat you got there,” the first deputy said. His voice wobbled.

  “Guess he’s not the only one who doesn’t like you messing up my kitchen,” I replied as I walked Milo upstairs. I deposited him on the back of the couch and scratched his ears. “Good kitty,” I whispered. Milo bumped my hand in affection. “You stay up here now. I’ll be up as soon as they leave.” I poured Milo some kibble into a spare bowl from the bag of food I kept under the kitchen sink and went back downstairs.

  When I entered the kitchen two deputies were just finishing bagging up some of my baking ingredients.

  “That’s powdered sugar,” I said to the first deputy, “And that one is cake flour,” I said to the other.

  The deputies mumbled something about lab tests and some other nonsense. I walked right past them and out to the front of the house where Preston was swabbing the table where Granny had sat yesterday.

  “Did you clean this table after we left?” he asked me suspiciously.

  “I sure as sugar hope so,” I replied sarcastically. I looked to Ellen for confirmation.

  “Of course I did. Bleached the entire area, dear. No death cooties here.”

  I looked back to Preston. “She has a point,” I replied.

  “Claire—”

  “No, don’t you Claire me. You know I have nothing to do with Granny’s death, and yet here you are searching my bakery top to bottom.”

  “Take it up with your sister,” Preston shot back.

  “Excuse me?”

  “She’s the one that brought up the search warrant.”

  I was speechless. “Autumn?”

  “I told Sheriff Daniels that you didn’t have anything to do with Granny’s death, but Autumn cast enough doubt to change the sheriff’s mind and request the warrant.”