Apple Turnovers 'n Murder
Page 8
“Ray, this is my friend Carrie and my friend Andrew.”
As soon as I introduced them I looked at him giving the okay to tell us what he knew, but he just sat there smiling at us. He didn’t offer anything further and then I realized he was waiting for a bit of an incentive to keep talking. I pulled out $20.00 hoping that would be enough for him to tell me what he knew. Thankfully it was, because as soon as he had that money in his hand, he sang like a canary.
“Katarina and Courtney opened the bakery about five years ago and they lost it about a year and a half ago. Katarina confided in me, you know. She was a very nice lady; always gave me a free donut and cup of coffee every single day. Anyway, she told me that she found out her horrible partner, Courtney, was skimming money off the top and caused her to lose the bakery. She couldn’t understand where all the money was going and then she discovered Courtney had stashed a bunch of money in a bank account in Switzerland. Before she knew it, Katerina had lost everything. She lost her house, and her husband couldn’t handle the pressure from the money troubles so one day he just disappeared. Last I talked with her, she still has not heard from him. I think she told me it has been over two years since she has seen him. Poor thing has been a wreck, I feel bad for her.”
I didn’t know what everyone else was thinking, but in my mind, that story had motive for murder written all over it.
“Ray, do you know where we can find Katarina?” Andrew asked.
“Yes, she spends most days over at Tony’s Café trying to figure out how to turn her life around. It’s just three blocks straight down this street.”
We all looked at each other and then smiled at Ray.
“Thank you so much for all of your help Ray, you have been very helpful.”
“I’m glad I could help. If you see Katerina, tell her I say hi,” he smiled as he waved goodbye.
As we made our way down to Tony’s café, we decided to come up with a plan of Carrie and I posing as investors and Andrew would hang back waiting for a signal that we needed help. He was not extremely comfortable with that plan, but I was able to convince him that it was probably our best way of getting the information from Katarina that we needed regarding her involvement in Courtney’s murder.
Since I was the only one who knew what she looked like, we decided that I would go in the first, and if I saw her Carrie and I would go up to her. She had only seen me briefly at the grocery store, and with as focused as she was on her triumph of finding Courtney, I highly doubted that she remembered what I looked like, but I decided it was probably best to keep my sunglasses on during the conversation even though we were inside. If she asked why I was wearing them, I would just tell her that I had an eye procedure and with as many procedures that occurred in California, I was sure she wouldn’t even second-guess me.
When I walked into the café, Andrew went to the counter, ordered a coffee, and sat near a window facing the café so he could see us from any angle. I casually looked around and to my amazement, Caterina was sitting in a corner of the café looking at a newspaper.
“There she is,” I whispered to Carrie.
“Okay, I’m on it,” she said.
We walked over to her and carried lightly tap her on the shoulder.
“Katarina Slavic?”
She looked panicked so I quickly jumped in because the last thing we needed was to have her runoff before we had a chance to question her.
“You used on the bakery, Pastries Galore, right?”
“Yes.” She was hesitant.
“We our investors and we wanted to talk with you about opening another bakery.”
“Investors? Why me?” She was very skeptical.
“We remember how delicious your pastries were and we think is unfortunate that you had to close your doors. We know that we can help you grow a successful business again.”
“Please, have a seat.” She seemed very eager to chat. She looked at us and then took a sip of her coffee, the coffee cup making a slight clinking noise and she set it on the table.
“We really are sorry that you last your previous business.”
“It wasn’t my fault, you know. It was hers.” She was looking down at the table and I noticed that she was beginning to absentmindedly pick at one area of the skin on her hand. “I lost everything because of her. Everything. I did nothing wrong and because of that stupid, selfish which, my life was ruined. She thought she was going to get away with it,” she let out a soft maniacal laugh, “but she was wrong. Nobody does that to me and gets away with it. Everything is gone, everything is gone, everything is gone.”
Carrie and I looked at each other and we were both feeling a bit uncomfortable because Katerina was clearly mentally unstable.
“We are really sorry to hear that, Katarina,” I said.
She looked at me and for a second I thought she may have recognized me but then she gazed off into the distance.
“Going around town, telling everyone I was a horrible baker, a horrible wife, and a thief. Can you believe that? She told everyone that I was a thief when she was thief. She stole all of my money and she’s telling everyone I am the thief? It was ridiculous!” Another maniacal laugh, but this time a little bit louder and rage was beginning to fill her voice. I noticed a few people in the café looking over at us.
“Of course you’re not a thief,” Carry chimed in.
Katerina barely heard her.
“she didn’t think I was watching her, she didn’t think that I would finder, but I saw the noticed about the little contest. It was in my Google alert. I had to see for myself if she was doing the same thing to someone else, so I did. I went to see her.”
Carrie and I glanced at each other and that was the sign I had been waiting for.
“Oh? You’re at the bake off in Prairie Cove?” I asked.
Katerina looked a little bit uncomfortable when she realized that I knew that she had been there. She tried to change her story, but it was too late.
“No, no, I didn’t say that, I just meant that I saw on Google alert that there was some silly little contest that she was in when I said that I went to see her, I just meant that I went to look at her online, on the computer. Yeah, that’s all I meant by that, I didn’t mean anything else by that at all. Not at all.” Katarina stumbled over her words.
“Oh, okay, I guess I misunderstood you. What did you think about the powdered donut recipe that she was using in the bake-off?” I asked.
I knew that that information was not made public so katerina’s answer was going to be critical.
Once again she looked off into the distance and I don’t even think she realized we were sitting there.
“Oh yes,” she said softly, “The powdered doughnut recipe was to die for,” she said with a smirk on her face. “She got what was coming to her and now I never have to worry about saying that horrible person again.”
Carrie and I looked at each other, our mouths wide open. I glanced over at Andrew and he slowly got up and started to walk over to us.
Katerina was snapped out of her haze when she realized what she said. She looked back and forth between the two of us, her eyes wild and petrified.
“Oh, I didn’t mean anything by that. You know what, it is getting late and I need to go. It was nice to talk with you both and look for me again and we can talk about the business opportunity.”
She tried to casually make her way to the door but Carrie and I worked up out of our chairs and on her heels.
“Oh, Katerina, you don’t have to leave, we haven’t even exchanged information.”
Her hand was at the door. “Oh, it really is late but it was nice talking to you both,” she said as she bolted out the door.
Carrie and I were right behind her and I could hear Andrew behind us, all of us are running down the street chasing her. She ducked into an alley and as she turned the corner she tripped on a box and fell to the ground. I wasted no time pouncing on her as she wrestled with me.
“You don’t understand
! I lost everything because of her! Everything! She had it coming! She stole all of my money, my husband left me, and I lost my business all because of her! She had it coming, and I don’t regret anything that I did! She had to die! Now let me go!”
She tried to wrap her arm around my neck but I wouldn’t let her. I flipped her over and made sure that I was on top of her and then I felt Carrie jump on top of me. The weight of the two of us was enough to hold her while we waited for Andrew who was there seconds later.
He slapped handcuffs on her and Carrie and I hopped up off the ground, brushing ourselves off.
“Are you okay?” I said, breathing heavily.
“Yes, are you okay?” She asked, breathing just as heavily as I was.
“Okay, so you’re both okay?” Andrew asked as he held Katarina in handcuffs.
“Yes, did you hear what she said?” I asked him.
“Yes, every word.”
Everything side of relief as I give Carrie a big hug.
“Thanks for coming with me.”
She looked at me and winked. “Anytime.”
Seconds later the police arrived and took Katarina into custody. She was going to be extradited to Prairie Cove to stand trial for Courtney’s murder, but Andrew felt she needed to have a psychological evaluation before she faced a judge. His guess was that she was going to spend some time in a mental institution rather than a jail because, from what he heard, she sounded like she needed mental help.
*~*~*
Later that evening Andrew and I were at dinner alone because Carrie turned in early.
“How is my little amateur sleuth doing?”
“I am exhausted. Andrew, thank you for coming with us, I don’t know what we would’ve done if you had not been here.”
“You’re welcome, just don’t make a habit of doing this, Harper. Although, I think this is the third time I’ve said something like this to you and for some reason my words don’t seem to be sinking in. Are you sure you still want to be a bakery chef? In all three investigations you have been extremely helpful, I can’t even believe I am saying this to you, and you have what it takes to be a great detective.”
“Wow,” I smiled, “that is a huge compliment coming from you, thank you. Yes, I want to be a bakery chef. I don’t think being a full-time detective is in the cards for me, I just like to help where I can.”
“You’re going to drive me crazy doing this, Harper. You know that don’t you? I worry constantly about you getting hurt.”
I smiled at him. “Oh, you worry about me constantly, huh?”
His face turned serious. “Yes, I do.” His eyes searched mine. “I love you, Harper Madison.”
I could feel my cheeks turning bright red and my heart was beating out of my chest as I smiled at him.
“I love you, too, Andrew Sloane.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Thanks for reading Apple Turnovers ‘n Murder! I hope you enjoyed reading the story because I really enjoyed writing it. If you would like to be notified of the next cozy mystery in this series, be sure to sign up for my Newsletter.
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Books by Emily Greene