Sugared Suspect

by Stephanie Damore

  Just wait until I saw my sister. I was seething. Then again, maybe Preston was lying just to get me off his back. I went with that angle. "I don’t believe it. Autumn just told me yesterday she didn’t think Granny’s death was suspicious.”

  “None of us thought it was. Heck, the woman was over a hundred years old! But then we got the preliminary cause of death back. That changed everything.”

  “And you can’t tell me what that was?” I asked.

  “I already told you I can’t. Your sister would ream me a new one if she found out I told you.” That part was true. I knew she would. She’d probably make sure Preston got written up for it, too. Again, I was sending mental daggers to my sister.

  “Fine, but are you almost done here? I’d like to get back to work.” That was a total lie. I wanted to go track down my sister and give her an earful.

  “I was just about to pack up.”

  “Good,” I replied.

  I tried to ignore the cascade of people that streamed by out front. Janice welcomed all my Sunday morning customers into her bakery and I was angered head to toe. Suddenly I wished Granny would make an appearance. I needed to talk to her. I wasn’t going to even bother opening the bakery for the day. Cookie Heaven was hopping, and I didn’t have it in me to deal with the hundred and one questions that everyone would be asking. I knew I had to put on a better front than that, but it would not be happening today. Instead, I planned to box up the baked goods I had already made and donate them to the local soup kitchen. Then I’d track down Autumn.

  Ellen volunteered to pack up the goods and I didn’t object. Truthfully, I think she just wanted to escape my foul mood. I didn’t blame her.

  Nick popped back in after the deputies left and I swatted his hand off my shoulder before I could even stop myself.

  “Sorry,” I apologized. My voice sounded on edge. I cleared my throat and tried it again. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to take my frustrations out on you.”

  “That’s okay, love. I know you’re upset.”

  “And then some. Preston said Autumn’s to blame for the warrants. Just wait until I see her.” She had taken her job too far.

  “Want me to go scare her straight?” Nick offered.

  I smiled. “Maybe.” The offer was tempting. Instead, I changed the subject. “How’s Amelia?”

  “Once she knew you were okay, she was fine. The deputies focused primarily on the kitchen.”

  “That’s where they hung out here too. I’m assuming someone poisoned Granny. That’s the only thing that makes sense,” I said.

  “Your sister’s an idiot if she thinks you’re to blame.”

  “Thanks, babe. I’m not sure the rest of my customers will agree with you. Not with Cookie Heaven right across the street.” My bakery might be sunk once and for all.

  Nick rubbed my back. His icy touch caused me to give an involuntary shiver. That was the worst part of having your husband be a ghost. Any affection was like snuggling up with popsicle.

  “Do you want to run errands with me? I’m going to donate today’s baked goods to the soup kitchen and then—”

  “Pummel your sister?” Nick asked.

  “Perhaps. I also want to stop by Granny’s.” I was praying she was at her apartment and she could help us solve her death. For all we knew, the woman accidentally poisoned herself because it sure didn’t happen at my bakery.

  Chapter 3

  I told Ellen I’d catch up with her later and Nick and I set off with the boxed baked goods in tow. On the way to the soup kitchen I tried to reach Autumn on her phone, but she didn’t answer. “Chicken,” I replied when her voicemail clicked on.

  After we dropped off the baked goods, we backtracked to downtown. Even though Granny’s apartment was across the street and down from the bakery, I didn’t want to park right in front of it or in front of my place, either. I wanted to keep a low profile, especially with the cloud of speculation hanging over me. In fact, I parked one street up and walked to Granny’s apartment from the opposite way. It was a fine line. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, but I didn’t want to act overly suspicious, either.

  I knew the deputies had already left Granny’s. I saw that for myself when Nick and I had set off the first time. In fact, they had spent more time searching my bakery than they had at her apartment. Go figure.

  “Hello?” I called into the empty apartment after Nick walked through the wall and unlocked the door for me. The small space was dark expect for the daylight streaming in through the living room window. She had decorated everything in mid-century modern or perhaps she just hadn’t redecorated since the fifties. The couch was golden. The coffee table was teardrop-shaped with three skinny round legs. And the oversized clock on the wall had silver circles for numbers.

  I called out again and this time a chorus of meows greeted me. The eager reply caused me to take a step back. Three, then four, then eight cats came out of hiding and ran toward me in the kitchen. They continued to meow at me expectantly as if demanding food. Either the sheriff deputies hadn’t fed them, or they had and the cats had already plowed through that food and were looking for more. I bent down and gave each one of the cats some love. The cats took turns smelling my hands and rubbing their heads against me along with my pant leg. One or two gave a loving nip, but I knew not to take it personally. It was just the way cats were.

  “Maybe this is why Granny hasn’t crossed over?” I said to Nick. “She has all of these cats here to take care of. Unless she made provisions for them in her will.” That was what Nick’s grandmother had done, but from what I understood it wasn’t common. I did a quick walk through after feeding the cats to see if anything unusual popped out at me. Nick had turned into his favorite blue floating orb and the cats were having a blast dashing about the living room and swatting at him. Granny’s bedroom was neat as a pin except for the clumps of cat hair on her baby blue floral chenille bedspread. The only thing on her nightstand was a crossword book and an ink pen. Granny left the book open and her puzzle was just about complete. The last clue was state of bliss and I had no idea what the answer was. I left her book as is and kept on searching. Even Granny’s bathroom was tidy. Nothing much except her toothbrush and some general pain reliever in the medicine cabinet. The kitchen didn’t offer up much in terms of clues either. Granny ate clean—fresh fruits and vegetables dominated her fridge. I had a feeling that was her secret to living as long as she did.

  With no sign of Granny or any suspicious substance sitting around, I was just about ready to leave when a woman walked in the front door. I froze in my tracks and darn it if I didn’t look as guilty as could be.

  “Who are you?” The middle-aged, professional-looking woman asked.

  “I’m Claire. I—”

  “You’re the one that poisoned my grandmother!” the woman exclaimed. “And now you’ve come to her house to destroy the evidence.” The woman took out her cell phone from her handbag.

  “What? No. I stopped over here to feed the cats. I had nothing to do with your grandmother’s death. I’m terribly sorry for your loss,” I quickly added although the sympathy was missing from my voice because my heart was beating way too fast. Unfortunately, my explanation didn’t cut it.

  “Don’t move. I’m calling the cops,” she snapped at me. A canister of mace hung from her key chain and I had a feeling she’d use it on me if I so much as shifted my weight.

  “Claire, you have to stay out of this. It doesn’t look good,” Preston said out front on the sidewalk in-between sneezes.

  “I was only trying to see if Granny was hanging out at home,” I said telling him the truth. “I know that I didn’t poison her, and I wanted to ask her if she recalled eating anything funny.”

  “How do you know about the poison?” The deputy asked me.

  “Oh, come on! Why else were you searching my bakery and the kitchen back at the manor? It’s not hard to put two and two together,” I replied.

  “Fine, what did Granny say?”
He sneezed again.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Cats. I’m allergic. One or two cats? I’m fine, but an entire apartment full? I had to use my inhaler.”

  “Oh.” Guess that explained why he didn’t stay there long searching the place. Not to mention the apartment was five hundred square feet if even that.

  “So what did Granny say?” Preston asked again.

  “Nothing. I haven’t seen her since last night. At this point I’m assuming she’s crossed over.”

  “Think again,” Preston said nodding with his head to the light pink orb that seemed to float aimlessly down Cherry Street. We watched as it went from one storefront to the other, then backtracking and doing a couple of loop to loops. If an orb could look confused, it was Granny’s. My heart went out to the poor soul, and I knew we had to get her to crossover. Making sure the woman was at peace was now my number one priority. Finding out how she was poisoned was a close second.

  We were still outside talking when an animal control van pulled up behind Preston’s squad car. I took less than a second to realize what the game plan was.

  “You’re taking the cats to the pound?” I asked.

  Preston looked over his shoulder. “What other choice do we have? Vanessa doesn’t want them,” Preston nodded toward the woman who had called the police on me, “and I certainly can’t take them in. Can you?”

  I didn’t really have the time to care of a whole herd of cats. I felt like I was neglecting Milo enough lately, but that didn’t mean I wanted the cats to go to the pound. Then I thought of an idea. “What if I had an adoption drive for them tomorrow at the bakery? The villagers already know that Granny has died. I’m sure that the fact they were her cats would be enough to bring plenty of people in.” One thing was for sure, people liked to gossip in small towns. “Maybe finding the cats new homes would also give Granny the peace she needs to cross over.”

  “That’s not a bad plan. Let me talk to Vanessa and see if she approves of it.”

  Vanessa was standing in the entryway to the apartment looking as if she smelled dog poo.

  “You better tell her it was your idea,” I added.

  Preston looked back at the woman and visibly swallowed. It was almost enough to make me feel sorry for him. Almost.

  I left it to Preston to work out the details, and I was about to walk over and try to get Granny’s attention when Autumn pulled in front of her counterpart. Just seeing her sent my blood pressure skyrocketing.

  “Whose side are you on?” I asked my sister as I came around to the front of her vehicle.

  “The law’s,” Autumn replied matter-of-factly.

  “What about family loyalty? If you think I’m guilty of something, then come to the bakery and say it. Don’t hide behind a piece of paper and your badge,” I hissed. I was well aware of the crowd we were drawing, but I couldn’t help myself.

  “Claire, I didn’t say you were guilty.”

  “No, just that I poisoned Granny. How do you think that makes me look? My own sister doesn’t even trust me.”

  “Listen, the fact is she ate at your bakery and then died. You want me to overlook that?”

  “No, but you could’ve handled it differently.”

  “And comprise the investigation? I don’t think so.”

  I shook my head disgusted with my sister. “Don’t bother coming to the bakery. We don’t serve traitors.” I gave her one last disapproving look and walked across the street. I was in the middle of the street when I stopped and did a double take.

  Had I really seen what I thought I did? Autumn put her hands on her hips assuming I was coming back to let into her again, but in reality, I was looking past her and into the window of Cookie Heaven. Sitting across from one another at a table meant for two, holding hands and lost in each other’s gaze was Ellen and Father Thompson. The scene ground my gears more than I cared to admit. Here my bakery was under investigation, my sister was a traitor, and one of my best friends was out on a coffee date. It was just the icing on the cake.

  Ellen looked over and caught my eye. The color drained from her face. I couldn’t get inside my bakery fast enough.

  “Claire, wait up!” Ellen hollered after me as I power walked the rest of the way across the street. I planned on ignoring her, but she caught up with me before I could lock myself inside my sugar sanctuary.

  “Claire, dear, let me explain,” she said as she reached me.

  “Sorry to interrupt your little date.” The words were out of my mouth before I could help it. I was never snarky like that even if someone had hurt my feelings.

  Ellen looked as like as if I had slapped her.

  “How can you say such a thing? I’m not on a date. I’m on a recon mission. And you should be happy to know that the deputies searched your bakery because Granny was poisoned.”

  “Why would that make me happy?” I asked.

  “I’m just saying you should be happy to know the reasoning. Now we can figure out a way to prove that you didn’t poison her.”

  I huffed. “I already knew someone poisoned her. Preston confirmed it. How did you find out?”

  Ellen motioned to Cookie Heaven. “Betty Jones is over there. She got the inside scoop working dispatch this morning.”

  Awesome. That meant that if Betty knew, then so did every other customer inside Janice’s shop.

  “What do you want to do?” Ellen was ready to act. Her response made me feel even more rotten for snapping at her.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I think I need some downtime to get my emotions in check. I’m sorry for snapping at you. Why don’t you go back and enjoy your afternoon with Father Thompson? I’ll call you soon.”

  “Are you sure?” Ellen looked skeptical.

  “I’m positive. Trust me.”

  “Well, I’m only a phone call away if you need me.”

  “I know. You always are. Thank you.” I gave Ellen a one-armed hug and then I managed to lock myself inside my bakery.

  “You okay?” Nick asked me once I was in the bakery’s back kitchen.

  “I guess,” I replied. A wave of emotions rolled over me. I felt like I was six again and Autumn was bossing me around. For a second, I thought of calling our mom in Florida and tattle tailing on her. Not that calling Caroline would solve any of my problems.

  I let out a breath. “Can you do me a favor and see if you can get Granny to come back here? Last I saw her she was wandering aimlessly down Cherry Street.”

  “I’m on it.” Nick gave me a peck on the cheek and took off after Granny.

  I was still trying to right my emotions when Preston knocked on the bakery’s back door a few minutes later. I didn’t trust myself to speak, for fear I’d bite the deputy’s head off. Instead, I opened the door without a word.

  “I wanted to let you know that the adoption drive is on. Animal control even offered to lend us crates to house the cats tomorrow as long as we return them when we’re done.”

  That was the first good news I’d heard all day. “Sounds good. Thanks for organizing that.”

  “No problem. Did Granny stop in?”

  “No. I sent Nick to track her down.”

  Preston nodded. “If you still want my help crossing her over, the offer still stands.”

  I had a feeling Preston was offering up his help as a peace offering. I took it, not wanting to be mad at more people than necessary. “Sounds good. I’ll be in touch.”

  Preston left after that and I locked up after him. This morning and my ensuing fight with Autumn had left me emotionally drained. I rarely found myself able to take an afternoon nap but decided that today I had earned one.

  I had assumed that after Nick found Granny, he’d bring her back to the bakery and wake me from my nap, but that never happened. It was late afternoon when I woke up. Milo was curled up in his favorite spot behind my bent legs and I was careful to sit up without disturbing him. I thought back to my brave kitty’s clash with the deputies this morning and smiled. A
t least Milo was on my side.

  I stretched and rolled my neck from side to side. I felt stiff from sleeping on the couch and my stomach rumbled reminding me I hadn’t eaten anything that day. I sat there in the silence of the apartment and found it soothing. It was so quaint and peaceful. I loved living at the manor, but it was large and often loud with Amelia’s little boy Jacob running around and Ellen and Amelia close by. The apartment was all mine. A little sanctuary and today I could use a little solitude. I could use a little bit of food, too.

  The kitchen wasn’t stocked, and I didn’t feel like cooking anything even if it had been. There was only one place to go—Carol’s.

  Carol’s Bar was the local watering hole, and it was known for good food, too. Bar burgers, club sandwiches, homemade soups, and giant onion rings were just a few of my favorite menu items. At that moment I wanted to eat it all but decided an olive burger and onion rings would cut it. Within a few minutes I had my winter gear on and was ready to make the short walk to the neighborhood bar.

  The bar scene was quiet except for a few folks grabbing a late lunch. I smiled at a couple of the locals as I walked past them and up to the bar to put in a to-go order. I tried to ignore the whispers behind my back. Phrases such as Did you hear? And She was poisoned still reached me.

  “I didn’t poison anyone,” I said to Cindy when she walked over to take my order.

  “Oh honey, I know you didn’t, and I dare someone to say otherwise.” Cindy said the last part louder than necessary. The murmurs immediately quieted down.

  “Thanks. I really appreciate that,” I replied.

  “Anytime. You want to put in a takeout order?”

  “I would love too.”

  Cindy took my order and brought me a coke while I waited for the food to come up. I was zoning out watching the Keno numbers pop up on the television screen when two orbs came floating in through the front door. I recognized Granny’s rose-colored orb, but I wasn’t familiar with the amber-colored one that accompanied her. However, I wasn’t surprised when the two of them materialized and I saw it was old man Duffy. Duffy was Carol’s resident drunk. He took up his regular bar stool at the far end of the bar and invited Granny to sit down beside him.