“Q’Bita, I gotta take this call; it’s about the background check on Hadleigh. I’ll send Mike out to look for Antonio and see if we can bring him in for a chat. I’ll give you a call later and fill you in.”
Andy hung up and Q’Bita went inside to check on Hadleigh. Jamie was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher.
“Where’s Hadleigh?”
“She said to thank you for lunch, and she’s sorry for making a scene, but she felt it was best if she left. I asked her to stay but she seemed anxious to get home. How’d it go with Andy?”
“I don’t think he was happy with me but he’s going to try to track down Antonio and question him.”
“I can’t believe he’d turn on Liddy Lou like this. Do you think he really killed Macie over all this?”
“I’m not sure what to think. It’s possible, I guess. Andy promised to call later, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
“Are you going to tell Liddy Lou?”
“No. For now I say we keep this between us. Oh, crap. Where’s Rene? I don’t want him blabbing this until we know exactly what’s going on.”
“I think he went back to the cottage. He said this was all just too much for his delicate psyche to handle and he needed to nap.”
Q’Bita’s cell phone rang. She was surprised to see it was Andy.
“Hey, Andy. That was quick.”
“Hello again. By any chance, is Hadleigh still there?”
“No, she left while we were still on the phone. Why? Is something wrong?”
“I can’t talk right now but I’ll stop by in a while if you’re going to be around.”
“I’ll be here, and I’ll make sure there’s pie.”
“You’re a good woman. Talk to you soon.”
Q’Bita hung up and noticed Jamie was staring at her.
“What was that about?”
“I’m not sure but I don’t think it was good.”
Chapter 32
Andy hung up the phone and tried to quell the angry feeling rising inside him. He’d already snapped his pencil in half and cut his knuckle. He took a deep breath and reminded himself to not choke Chance before he got to the bottom of things.
He walked to the door and opened it like a normal, not furious, person. Chance was sitting at his desk, feet propped up on the corner like it was his Pappy’s porch rail, talking on his cell phone.
Chance looked up at Andy then went right back to talking on his phone.
“Chance, if it isn’t too much trouble, I’d like a word with you. In my office. Now.”
Andy was sure his words had come out with enough vitriol Chance got the point he wasn’t pleased. Chance had always been a pain in Andy’s ass but this time he’d gone too far, and Andy wasn’t about to let this one slide.
Chance stopped in the doorway and leaned on the frame looking unfazed.
“What’s got your panties all bunched up, big guy?”
“Chance, I’m not really in a joking mood right now. Close the door and sit your ass down.”
For once, Chance didn’t give him any lip and did what Andy asked.
“I just got off the phone with Helen Kim at the State Records’ office. Anything you’d like to share with me before I continue?”
Chance shifted a little in his chair but said nothing.
“Okay, then. Maybe you can tell me why she seems to think I’ve already requested a full background search on Hadleigh Banks, because I sure as hell don’t remember requesting it.”
“I’m guessing you already have that figured out or we wouldn’t be having this delightful conversation.”
“Chance, I’m done playing games with you. I want everything you got from the State, or anywhere else for that matter, and I want to know everything you’ve shared, or discussed, with Red Dixon about this case. If I even suspect you’re holding anything back, I’ll charge your ass with obstruction.”
Chance got up, went to his desk, then came back and slapped a thick folder down on Andy’s desk.
“There you go, boss. It’s everything I’ve got.”
Chance turned and started to walk away.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going? We’re not done here.”
“You may not be done, but I am. If you can’t look at that file and figure it out for yourself then maybe you should step aside and let someone more competent be sheriff.”
“Chance I’ve seriously reached the end of my patience with you. I get you don’t care for me, and frankly I don’t give a rat’s ass. What I do care about is finding out what really happened to Macie Dixon and making sure whoever did it goes to jail. I’m gonna give you two choices, and you’d better choose wisely. You can either sit down and explain this mess to me or you can leave your gun and badge on your way out. It’s up to you.”
Chance took off his badge, unholstered his gun, and laid them both on Andy’s desk. Andy picked up Chance’s badge.
“You’d better be sure about this, because you won’t be getting this back.”
“I won’t need it. The election is only a few months away, and I’ll be wearing your badge after that. I’d tell you to keep it, you might need it for yourself, but I think we both know that won’t work out. Maybe your girlfriend can find a job for you at the Red Herring Inn.”
It took every ounce of self-control Andy had not to come across the desk and punch Chance in the face.
Chance’s cell phone rang in his pocket. He looked at the screen and then looked directly at Andy as he answered.
“Hey, Red. Great timing. Sure, I can stop by. My schedule just became wide open.”
Chance waved over his shoulder as he left Andy’s office, and Andy had a split-second urge to shoot him in the back with his own gun.
Andy kicked his trash can across the room. It ricocheted off the wall and rolled out into the bull pen. He let loose a string of profanities and suddenly felt much better.
His Aunt Maggie appeared in the doorway and glanced at the gun and badge lying on his desk.
“What’s that all about?”
“I just removed a 180-pound hemorrhoid from my back side. Doesn’t hurt as much as you’d think it would.”
Maggie laughed then asked, “You’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m all good.”
“Great, then get back to work. I need you to find out who killed Macie Dixon before I get stuck being Evie Newsome’s new bridge partner. She plays for blood, and I’m just there for the snacks.”
Andy locked Chance’s gun and badge in his safe and put the file Chance had given him in the box with everything else they had on the case so far. If Red was going to break the rules, then he sure as hell couldn’t say anything if Andy bent a few of them, too. It was about time both sides had all the evidence.
He’d called Q’Bita on the way and let her know he was coming. She’d promised to make sure they had enough pie to hold them over while they combed through the evidence.
When Andy arrived at the Red Herring Inn, Q’Bita greeted him with a hug and two kinds of pie. Some of his earlier tension started to drain away and he wondered for a minute if this was what it would be like to come home to Q’Bita every day. He liked the way this felt.
Q’Bita was sitting across the counter from him watching him eat a second slice of pie. She reached her hand across the counter and rubbed his forearm.
“When you’ve finished with this slice, maybe it would be better if we went up to my suite. I think we’ll have more privacy than we would here.”
As if on cue, Tom and Kari entered the kitchen. When Kari spotted Andy, she stopped so quickly Tom ran into the back of her.
“Hello, Andy. What a nice surprise. I hope this is a social call and not police business.”
“Mom, please,” Q’Bita said.
“I’m not trying to be impolite, Q’Bita. It’s just hard to tell lately whether he’s here as Andy or as Sheriff Hansen.”
Kari’s expression was a mixture of hurt and anger, and Andy coul
dn’t tell if she was going to slap him or start crying. Fortunately, Tom knew exactly how to defuse the situation.
“I think what your mother means to say is that both versions of Andy end up cleaning us out of pie so it’s hard to tell them apart.”
Tears started to stream down Kari’s face as she took a step closer to Andy.
“I’m sorry. Tom’s right, I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“It’s alright. You don’t need to apologize, Kari. I know how hard this has been on all of you and I don’t blame you for wanting to wring my neck. If it’s any consolation, I swear to you, I am not going to rest until I clear Liddy Lou. I know she agreed to the plea deal because she thinks she’s protecting you guys, but I’m more convinced than ever she’s being set up, and I’m not going to let her take the fall for something she didn’t do.”
Kari sniffled and nodded her head but was too choked up to speak.
Andy glanced at Q’Bita and was relieved to see she’d relaxed a little.
“We’re gonna grab some wine and snacks and head over to Beecher and Rene’s to watch a movie if you’d care to join us,” said Tom.
“Thanks, Daddy, but I think Andy and I are gonna pass for tonight. Maybe next time.”
When they were finally alone in Q’Bita’s suite, Andy told her about his falling out with Chance and how Chance had been feeding information about the case to Red.
“But I still don’t understand why Chance ordered the background search on Hadleigh when he and Red both seem convinced my nana killed Macie.”
“That’s the interesting part. It wasn’t just a criminal background check. He ran a DNA profile, too. I’m guessing we’ll find the answers somewhere in the file he gave me.”
“So this is all evidence from the case?”
“Yep. I’m not supposed to share this outside the department, but Chance has already shared it with Red and his lawyers, which gives them an unfair advantage and proves I can’t trust my own people. It also means I don’t feel the least bit bad about letting you see what we have so far.”
The first part of the file contained background and criminal records information and didn’t reveal anything different from what Jamie had already uncovered. Andy laid the DNA results out on the coffee table so they could look at them together.
“You’re the one with the fancy science degree so you’ll probably understand these more than I will,” Andy said.
“My Masters is in Food Science. I’m afraid that’s not all that useful for solving murders.”
As they read through the report it became clear the DNA was used to test familial relationship. As they reached the end, they were both shocked to see the summary section of the report.
“Oh, you have to be shitting me,” Andy said.
“Oh my God, Andy, does this say what I think it does?”
“Well, if you think it says that there is a 99 percent certainty that Red Dixon is Hadleigh Banks’ father, then yes.”
“Do you think Hadleigh knows this?”
“I’m sure she does. This is based on blood samples that were submitted recently, and she would have needed to consent to the testing.”
“I knew she was holding back something. I assumed it was about Tony; that’s why I invited her over again. Then she saw Antonio and it was obvious they recognized each other so I just assumed that was it. I guess I was way off base. Speaking of Antonio, any luck tracking him down?”
“Nope. It’s like he disappeared off the grid. He didn’t return to his place, and his cell phone is turned off. We’ll find him sooner or later.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes as they both reread the DNA results.
“So does this have any impact on my nana’s case?”
“It could. Learning she’s Red Dixon’s daughter gives Hadleigh a few millions dollars’ worth of motive to kill Macie.”
“So, what now?”
“Now we go back through this box and see if we can tie Antonio or Hadleigh to any other evidence.”
They spent the next hour looking through stacks of paper and interview transcripts and found nothing that implicated Antonio, and only the smallest mention in Patti Becker’s statement about Hadleigh and Macie’s argument.
Andy got up to use the bathroom, and Q’Bita poured them each another glass of wine. She pulled the box closer to see if there was anything else inside and found a folder labeled crime scene photos.
“What are you looking at?” Andy asked.
“The crime scene photos. They were still in the box.”
“Sorry. Some of them are pretty graphic, and I didn’t want to put you through that.”
“I’m tougher than I look. I’ll be fine.”
Andy laid them out on the table. Most weren’t that shocking but the few showing Macie’s body lying face down in the hallway were hard to look at. Q’Bita looked them over several times then picked up two of the pictures and looked at them closer.
“So the cause of death was strychnine poisoning, and these cinnamon buns are supposedly how Macie ingested the poison?” Q’Bita asked.
“Yes, that’s the current working theory.”
“Are the tox results somewhere in this pile?”
Andy shuffled through the pile of paper and handed her the tox results.
“What are you looking for?”
“Something about the color of the cinnamon in these pictures is bothering me, and I’m hoping the tox results will back up my suspicion.”
Q’Bita glanced down the page and finally spotted what she was looking for.
“I knew it. Andy, there’s no way my nana made these cinnamon buns, and the tox results prove it. My nana is deathly allergic to cassia cinnamon. The coumarin levels in these tox results are huge, which tells me whoever made these cinnamon buns used a ton of cassia cinnamon. That’s the common, inexpensive kind you find in grocery stores. The reason our guests love our cinnamon buns so much is because we use a special blend of spices I created for Nana. It only contains trace amounts of Ceylon cinnamon, which has extremely low levels of coumarin. Our spice blend also contains nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, and white pepper, none of which showed up on the tox results.”
“Okay, but couldn’t Liddy Lou have just worn gloves when she made them, so she didn’t come in contact with the cinnamon?”
“No. You don’t understand. When I said she was deathly allergic I meant that literally. She breaks out in hives and goes into anaphylaxis if she touches cinnamon or breathes it in. She keeps an EpiPen in her purse just in case she comes in contact with it while she’s out and about. It takes hours for her to recover if she gets sick.”
Andy looked like a light bulb had finally gone off in his head.
“Which means she couldn’t have made the cinnamon buns, dropped them off at the studio, then given herself an injection, and showed back up on the security camera footage looking just fine all in the span of a few hours.”
“Exactly,” Q’Bita said with a smile.
“Wow, not bad. If you ever decide to give up Culinary Forensics and the Red Herring Inn, let me know. I have an opening for a deputy and you’d make a great fit. Probably look good in the uniform, too.”
“I think it’s best if I stick to making pie and let you carry the gun.”
“Speaking of pie, all this talk of cinnamon is making me hungry, and I haven’t had a slice in at least two hours.”
Q’Bita grabbed Andy a slice of the pie she’d brought up from the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee hoping the caffeine would keep them going for a while.
While Andy devoured his pie, Q’Bita looked through the evidence again for anything they might have missed.
“See anything else?” Andy asked.
“Nothing we haven’t already discussed. So, what’s your plan from here?”
“Well, first thing tomorrow I’m going to talk to Orvis and fill him in on your cinnamon theory. He can make some inquiries and get it added to the official record without anyone on Red’s team kno
wing you were involved. Then I’m going to track down Hadleigh Banks and find out why she didn’t tell me Red Dixon was her father and see if she’s hiding anything else.”
Q’Bita sank back into the couch and stifled a yawn. Andy looked at his watch and frowned.
“Wow, it’s 1:30. I should probably get going so you can get some sleep.”
“Or you could just stay here tonight.”
The words flew out of her mouth before she even realized what she was saying, and the look of surprise on Andy’s face made her blush.
“Now there’s an idea I like even more than I like pie.”
Chapter 33
Morning came too quickly and Q’Bita hated the thought of leaving her warm bed and Andy’s embrace, but she had a business to run, and he had a murder to solve.
She slipped out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. Before returning to the bedroom, she pulled on her robe and ran a comb through her hair. Andy’s presence this early in the morning was going to be entertaining enough for her family. Showing up looking like she’d just been ravished would only make it worse.
She could hear the chatter of her family coming from the kitchen as they crossed the dining room.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” she asked Andy.
“Are you sure there will be coffee and biscuits?”
As soon as her family saw Andy, the chattering stopped and they all just stared.
Andy leaned forward and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Don’t look now but I think we broke them.”
This seemed to snap them all out of their trance.
“Good morning, Sheriff. This is an unusual treat. What brings you by this early in the morning?” Liddy Lou asked with a wicked smile.
Andy didn’t get a chance to answer before Rene chimed in.
“If I had to guess I’d say he never went home last night, but that would be just scandalous. Let’s hope Spenser Penn doesn’t get wind of this.”
“Okay, okay. You’ve all had your fun. Now let’s be adults and enjoy our coffee,” Q’Bita said.
“Oh, right, coffee. I guess he’s not here just for your buns.”
Sinister Cinnamon Buns Page 14
