by Cindy Bell
“Aaron, you say that Jerry was alive when you saw him?”
“He was.” He swallowed hard. “His eyes were wide, I thought because he saw me. But, now, I don’t know. Maybe he was scared. I should have done something to stop all of this. I should have confronted the guy in the shadows.”
“You have no idea who he was?”
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t see his face. It was more like I sensed him there, and when I caught a glimpse of him, I took off. I thought he was going to come after me.” His cheeks grew hot again. “I’m sorry. I should have done something.”
“There was nothing you could have done.” She asked a few more questions and made a few notes, then patted his shoulder as she looked back at him. “You’ve helped a lot, Aaron. Just one more thing. Did the eggs crack when you dropped them?”
“Maybe a bit, but I don’t think so. I just dropped the crates on the steps.”
“You didn’t step on them? You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.” He frowned. “Are you going to tell the detective?”
“Not if I don’t have to.” She studied him a moment longer. As she walked away from the truck she couldn’t help but wonder if he was telling the truth. Maybe he’d made up the whole story to try to hide the fact that he’d been the one to kill Jerry. One glance back at his pink cheeks, made her doubt that he would be capable of hurting an insect, much less a human being.
Brenda decided against making another batch of donuts. She already doubted that all of the donuts she’d made so far would be sold. As she watched people pass by the truck she continued to feel down about the possibility that her presence was going to ruin the chances of their business succeeding.
A few minutes later, Detective Crackle’s face appeared in the window of the truck.
“Brenda.” He smiled. “Do you have a minute to chat?”
Her heart thumped against her chest. She didn’t want to face him alone.
“I was just going to start a new batch of donuts.” She turned away from the window.
“It sure looks like you have plenty already made.” He cleared his throat. “I notice you have quite a few of those gingerbread donuts.”
“Yes, they’re pretty popular. Well, they are usually.” She avoided looking directly at him. Then she worried that might make her look more guilty.
“What I find interesting, is the white, red and green glaze.” He gestured to the tray. “May I see one up close?”
Her heart continued to pound. The last thing she wanted was to get any closer to him. However, she also didn’t want him to have a bad impression of her. She grabbed a donut with a paper napkin and set it on a plate.
“Free of charge.” She managed to smile.
“Oh no, thanks, I don’t want to eat it.” He eyed the donut, then snapped a picture of it with his phone. “You see, the medical examiner gave me a list of Jerry’s stomach contents. Not much was digested. But the limited contents matches the recipe Joyce sent me. The substance on his lips was confirmed as glaze and it was an unusual color combination. Much like the glaze on this donut. In fact, I would say, that this particular type of donut is exactly what he ate that morning. But, I’m guessing, this donut isn’t laced with poison, is it?”
“Of course not.” Shocked, she made the mistake of looking into his eyes. “I’m sure it wasn’t one of our donuts that he ate.”
“Are you?” He stared hard into her eyes. “Because your truck is the only one selling this particular donut in the area, and this particular color combination of glaze. Red, white and green. The exact combination that was found on Jerry’s lips. But, it wasn’t your donut?”
“No!” She blinked back tears. “No, it certainly wasn’t. Unless.” She swallowed hard. “Unless, someone bought a donut and poisoned it.”
“Now that’s a stretch, isn’t it? Why would anyone buy one of your donuts just to poison it? I mean, that would be a silly thing to do. They could have poisoned anything. Why your donut?”
“I don’t know.” She clenched her hands into fists at her sides. “But if it was one of our donuts, then that must have been what happened.”
“Sure.” He snapped another picture of the donut. “Thanks for your time.”
As he walked away, she snatched up the donut. Her entire body grew hot as a mixture of anger and panic rushed over her.
When her cell phone rang she was relieved to have a distraction. The sight of Charlie’s name on the screen even brought about a smile.
“Hi there, sweetie.” She leaned back against the rear counter and closed her eyes as she savored the sound of his voice.
“Hey. Why didn’t you come up and see me when you were here yesterday?”
“I knew you were busy.” She frowned. “I didn’t want to bother you.”
“I’m always here for you, no matter what. I would have loved to see you.”
“Please, don’t be upset with me, Charlie. I just didn’t want to bother you.” She sighed. “I’m pretty sure everyone around here thinks I poisoned Jerry.”
“Oh hon, they don’t think that. People just love a juicy rumor. I’m not upset with you. I just wish you had come to see me. I miss you.”
“I miss you, too. Maybe teaming up with Joyce and running this truck was a mistake, Charlie.”
“Do you really think that?” Joyce’s voice drifted to her from the entrance of the truck.
Brenda gulped as she saw the hurt in her friend’s expression. “Charlie, I have to go. I’ll call you later.” She hung up the phone.
“Brenda.” Her face grew pale. “You’re not serious, are you?”
“It’s all my fault, Joyce. It was my donut that he ate, that was poisoned. No one is ever going to believe that I had nothing to do with this. I’m going to end up in jail, and even if I don’t, our reputation will be ruined. I think you’d be better off if you started looking for a new baker.”
“Absolutely not.” Joyce stepped up to her with a look of determination in her eyes. “Let me tell you something, young lady, I have never in my life known a more talented baker, or a better friend. None of this is your fault. How could it possibly be? I’m not going to give up. Are you?”
“No.” Brenda sighed and wiped at her eyes. “I don’t want to. But I just don’t know what to do. Detective Crackle was here, you should have seen the way he looked at me. Joyce, I’m ready to run to Mexico with Charlie and Sophie, that’s how scared I am.”
“Oh hon.” She gave her a tight hug. “You’re not going anywhere. Don’t worry about that detective. He is just doing his job. Just take a few deep breaths, all right? I found out some interesting information from Aaron and I think it’s going to help us.”
“Okay.” She took a few deep breaths, and the panic within her began to settle. Joyce always knew how to help her calm down. “What did you find out?”
Joyce recounted the conversation she’d had with Aaron. “This pretty much proves that we were not at the truck when Jerry died.”
“But that doesn’t matter, does it? Because the donut could have been poisoned at any time.”
“That’s true, and now that we know what kind of donut it was, we might be able to figure out who bought it. But more importantly, we know that someone else was there. Aaron saw a figure by the truck, and he put the eggs down, and ran.”
“But a figure doesn’t solve anything.” Brenda grimaced as she tried to hold back a frustrated groan.
“No, but that figure had feet. Because when we arrived, the eggs were trampled. So that means someone climbed up those steps and peered inside to make sure that Jerry was dead. Why else would anyone stomp all over the eggs and then not call the police when they saw Jerry?”
“Yes, okay.” Brenda’s heart started to calm. “So, we know that someone was there between the time that Aaron delivered the eggs, and we arrived, which was only a small span of time.”
“Correct. And, whoever poisoned the donut, used one of ours. Can you remember anyone buying a donut that stood
out to you?”
“Oh Joyce, those were the most popular donuts we sold. But wait.” Her eyes widened. “Yes, the employees from Jerry’s store. We gave them some, remember?”
“Aha.” Joyce smiled. “See, we’re getting closer and closer to the truth. I think it’s time for me to pay a visit to the bakery.”
Chapter 11
When Joyce arrived at the bakery she found the door locked and a closed sign in the window. But, she could see lights on, and Orville inside. She knocked on the door until he finally came and opened it.
“What is it?”
“Can I come in and speak to you for a few minutes, please?” She offered her most charming smile.
“Sure.” He shrugged. “Careful, the floor is wet. I’m trying to get this place cleaned up.”
He locked the door behind her.
“I’ll only be a minute. I’m surprised to see you here. I thought Jerry fired you?”
“He did. But he also left me the bakery in his will. So here I am. What do you want to talk about?” He looked up at her as he picked up a mop. Joyce listened closely and tried not to react. Orville was fired then inherited the bakery, that certainly gave him motive, didn’t it?
“I know that you were very upset about Jerry firing you.” Joyce watched as he slid the mop across the floor.
“I was.” He glanced up at her. “Why wouldn’t I be? That doesn’t make me a murderer.”
“No, it doesn’t. Please don’t think that’s my belief. I just wonder, was there something else going on between you two that made things so tense?”
“No.” He swept the mop across the floor again. “The thing is, Jerry wasn’t such a terrible guy. Most people will tell you he was. I know he gave you a hard time.” He glanced up at her again. “But when you really got to know him, which took a very long time, he had a pretty decent soul underneath. He donated a portion of his profits to charity, and he always made sure those that couldn’t afford it had a pie during the holidays. He was a jerk, for sure. He didn’t like people on the whole, I’m guessing not even himself. But he wasn’t such a bad guy, deep down. He had a soft spot for those less privileged.”
“That’s kind of you to say considering that he treated you so badly.” She crossed her arms and kept her gaze on him. “It’s so easy to overlook the good in people.”
“I don’t know what happened to Jerry. But I do know, he didn’t deserve it. Nobody does.” He set the mop back in the bucket and looked across the wet floor at her. “So why are you really here, Joyce? Because I doubt it’s to chat about Jerry.”
“Honestly?”
“Yes. I’d like to know.”
“I thought you might know why he was on the donut truck. I can’t seem to get over the fact that he was there. He had no reason to be. I’m certain that he stole a key from my purse, and that was how he got in. But why? What were his intentions?”
“What do you think?” He sneered as he shook his head. “He hated that you guys were there instead of him and that Brenda had those festive gingerbread donuts. He wanted to know how to make them, but he couldn’t find a recipe that matched it. So, he sent Mark and Clarence to buy some from the truck. That’s what Mark told me, anyway.”
“Are you talking about me?” Mark popped his head out through the kitchen doors.
She noticed that he had a mop as well.
“Never mind, Mark, just finish cleaning up back there.”
“I’ve been cleaning for ages. I finally got all the caramel from the cupcakes off the floor.”
“Good.” Orville nodded. “That stuff is so sticky. It was all over my shoes. We need to have this place cleaned up by tomorrow.”
“What’s tomorrow?” Her eyes locked on Orville.
“We have Jerry’s estate lawyers coming in, to look at the place.” Orville met her eyes. “It’s not like we can just open for business.”
“Right, I understand.” Joyce did her best to ignore the dig. Did he think they had reopened too soon. “What about the donuts?” She looked back at Mark. “What did you do with them?”
“Like Orville said, Jerry had us buy some so he could try one and see if he could figure out the recipe. They were the ones Brenda landed up giving us for free, remember?”
“Yes. Did Jerry try one?” She held her breath.
“I left them on the counter for him, he’d already gone home for the night. I guess he ate one in the morning when he came in?” He shrugged. “There was one missing from the box. I gave the rest to the police.”
“You did?” Her heart skipped a beat. Maybe that was what had the detective so confident. Had they found poison in the other donuts as well?
“Yes, the detective asked for them.”
“Who else was here with you when you left that night?” She held his gaze.
“No one. Everyone else had already gone home.” He glanced towards Orville.
She noticed the way he kept looking at Orville, as if maybe he was checking for approval of his statements. Whether or not he was, he seemed very nervous.
“Did you ever notice Jerry having any conversations with any other people? Any other issues?”
“Only everyone.” Orville chuckled. “But you know that already.”
“I mean anyone specific. Did you ever see anyone hanging around the bakery, maybe while you were closing up?” She looked between the two men.
“Yes, actually.” Mark stepped towards her. “The guy, from the tree stand. He would be standing outside every morning when I opened. I’d ask him if he wanted a muffin or anything, and he’d say no. I thought it was weird, because why stand there if he didn’t want anything?” He shrugged. “But then one morning he wasn’t there anymore. So, I just forgot about it.”
“Gray? I wonder what he was doing.”
“Smoking.” Orville narrowed his eyes. “I’ve seen him smoke a few times near the bakery. There’s an ashtray there. I figured he didn’t want to smoke near the trees, it could be a fire hazard.”
“True.” She smiled. “Thanks for your time.” She looked between the two again. “Good luck with the cleaning.”
“Thanks.” Orville watched her as she walked back out of the bakery. Once outside, she looked in the direction of the tree stand. It was barely visible from where she stood. She was sure there were places that Gray could have smoked closer to his stand. So why did he come all the way over to the bakery just to smoke?
Brenda finished packing away the last of the donuts as Joyce walked up the steps and into the truck.
“How did it go?” Brenda wiped down the counter.
“Interesting.” Joyce shared the information she’d been given, focusing specifically on Gray’s lingering around the bakery.
“Well, I’m about to go speak with him. Maybe he can give me an explanation for that.” She tossed the rag into the sink. “It’s almost closing time, so we can start shutting everything down. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes, of course. Are you sure you want to talk to Gray alone?”
“Yes, I think it might be best if I did. We’ve already talked before, so he might be more relaxed if it’s just me.”
“Good thinking.” Joyce gave her a quick hug. “I’ll finish up here, and we’ll meet up in the parking lot, all right?”
“Sounds good.” Brenda smiled at her before she headed down the steps. As much as she wanted to be positive for Joyce, she was struggling to be positive for herself. But maybe Gray was up to something. And Joyce had mentioned that Mark was looking to Orville for approval of everything he said. Why was that? Maybe they had teamed up together to cause Jerry’s death. After all, he had fired Orville, and without Orville, the bakery was destined to fail.
When Brenda arrived at the tree stand, she noticed that Gray stood over near a bundle of wire and wooden pallets. He picked up a watering can and strolled towards the trees. She ducked back as he walked past. She could see him out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t want him to know that she was watching. If he looked in
her direction, she wasn’t sure how she would react. Luckily his focus remained on the trees that he watered. He filled each pot up as he walked by. She noticed the methodical way he moved. He didn’t just slosh the water out, he knew precisely how much to put in, and jerked the bucket up in exactly the same way each time. Despite taking the time to be so precise, he also moved very quickly. As he disappeared into the jungle of trees she wondered just what he might know about the murder. She’d volunteered to speak to him, but now she was second guessing herself.
Gray didn’t seem like the type to enjoy conversation, especially not a conversation about murder. But without more information she and Joyce would have nothing to go on. It seemed to her that Joyce was much better at talking to people than she was. Still, she put one foot in front of the other and approached him. When she neared the middle of the trees, she recalled overhearing Jerry’s angry voice through the branches, not that long before. A voice that would never be heard again.
“We’re closed!”
The sudden gruff voice made her jump in fear. Somehow Gray had gotten behind her.
“Oh sorry, I just…” She cleared her throat. “You had said you would deliver the tree sometime, and I thought maybe we could make plans to do that.”
“Eh?” He narrowed his eyes as he studied her. “Oh, that’s right, I remember you now. All right, you got your ticket?”
“Yes, I do.” She fumbled in her purse for it.
“Looks good.” He nodded. “Can’t tonight, though. It’s going to have to be tomorrow, I’ll have to arrange a specific time tomorrow. Is that a problem?”
“No, it’s fine.” She swallowed hard as his steely eyes bored into hers.
“What are you so nervous about?” He took a step towards her.
“Sorry, it’s just, this thing with Jerry dying, I’m just a little jumpy.”
