Serving Up Suspects

by Emmie Lyn

  Chapter Sixteen

  Pip and I left the library to head to Alice Cross’s house before Sue Ellen got a whiff of our plan. And, hopefully, before all the lemon raspberry squares disappeared. Kicking my shoes off and relaxing at Sea Breeze with a cold refreshing drink would have to wait. Unfortunately.

  I slipped in behind Rose’s Cadillac in Alice’s driveway, thankful for the trees that mostly hid our cars from Sue Ellen’s house across the street.

  After a couple of knocks on the door, I turned to scan the neighborhood while we waited. Pip trembled with excitement at this new adventure. “Don’t get your hopes up too high, Pipster. Alice Cross might be one of those crotchety old ladies who only likes cats.”

  Pip’s tail wagged enthusiastically at the sound of my voice. Okay, maybe she couldn’t understand everything I said to her or, maybe she heard the word cats. The door opened and Pip darted inside as soon as enough space allowed her trim body to squeeze through. I crossed my fingers that felines weren’t lurking inside waiting to devour her.

  “Hello, Pip. Did you bring Dani, too?” Rose asked as she pulled the door wider for me.

  “Very funny,” I said. “You think I’m planning to hand the keys to your MG over to a terrier?”

  “You’re right, Pip would certainly get a speeding ticket.” Rose laughed at her own joke and took my arm as she led me inside.

  I lowered my voice. “Is it okay that she’s here with me?”

  “Come see for yourself.”

  She led me into a comfortable living room. Right off the bat I spotted the centerpiece—Alice’s chair, angled just so—gave her the best view out of her big picture window. That’s where she watched the comings and goings on her street. In easy reach she had a cane and a walker, which explained her interest in the visitors on the street. Apparently, Alice didn’t get out much. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of someone unscrewing the lid of a jar. Pip heard it too and she positioned herself very politely right in front of Alice.

  “Here’s a treat for you. Can you give me a paw?” Alice leaned forward in her purple velour track suit and tightly permed blue-gray hair and held a dog bone in front of Pip. “Come on, girl,” she said again, waiting for Pip to perform. “Good girl!” she exclaimed when Pip lifted her paw. “You’re so smart!” Alice cooed as Pip greedily accepted the treat.

  Rose had such a satisfied grin you’d think Pip was her baby. “Alice, this is my granddaughter, Dani and her dog, Pip.” Then she turned back to me. “Just in time to have tea with the lemon raspberry squares. Have a seat.”

  “Hello, dear,” Alice said without getting up. “Can Pip have another treat? It’s such a pleasure to have a dog to spoil. I miss my little Princess to pieces, but my daughter doesn’t think I should have a pet.” She scowled her disappointment. “She’s afraid I might trip over an animal and fall. I told her I’m old and a little wobbly but I’m not blind.”

  I walked over to Alice and said, “Pip would love another treat, thank you for asking.” I was of the mind that everyone should have a four-legged companion, especially someone like Alice, who spent most of her time alone.

  While Alice and Pip had their conversation, Rose acted as hostess and offered me a cup of tea. I sent her a look that I hoped she’d understand to mean what the heck is going on here? Sue Ellen had led me to believe that her neighbor was a nosy busybody, best avoided. I never expected such a warm greeting.

  “Alice and I were just discussing the terrible event that happened right across the street from her,” Rose said, offering the plate of raspberry squares to me.

  “Yes,” Alice said as she stroked Pip who had curled up in her lap. “It’s been like a sideshow with all the activity across the street.” She waved her hand dismissively toward Sue Ellen’s house. “Especially yesterday. I couldn’t believe someone had murdered poor Judith Manning. She was such a sweet woman. She’d pop in to check on me every once in a while, unlike the woman she moved in with, I might add.” Alice made a face as she contemplated Sue Ellen.

  “And Rose told me that you found her body? How absolutely dreadful.” I could see Alice shiver under her colorful zip up top. “Now, I’m wondering if I might have seen the murderer.”

  Alice took a sip of her tea and made a face. “Oh, too hot,” she said and put her cup on her end table. “Tell me all about it while I wait for this to cool down.”

  I thought she seemed a bit too excited about the murder, but maybe she was just excited to have company. And a sweet treat.

  The down cushions on my chair settled into a hollow around me. Sort of like a soft mound of snow minus the chill. I shifted forward so I didn’t completely disappear. “There isn’t much to tell about the murder,” I said as I squirmed to find a comfortable spot. “Detective Crenshaw is keeping details to himself, but Sue Ellen did notice that a valuable coin is missing. The problem is that she doesn’t know when it disappeared.”

  “Did you know Judith well?” Rose put a lemon raspberry square on a small china plate and handed it to Alice. Pip rose up, but Rose pulled the plate away and said, “This isn’t for you, Pip.” My Pipster settled her head back on her paws, apparently understanding the rules, and Alice relieved Rose of the delicacy.

  Alice nibbled the corner of her pastry as she answered my question. “Not well, but yes, I knew her, and I knew that Barry, her no good husband, took her to the cleaners financially. I don’t know why she moved in with Sue Ellen, though. Maybe she needed space to figure her life out.” Alice’s square disappeared and she held her plate out for another one. “You know, when something upsets me, the first thing I do is eat and this senseless murder has me mighty upset.”

  Her words brought up the awful memory of unrolling that exquisite Persian rug, reaching in expecting to discover a cell phone, but finding a shoe attached to a foot instead.

  While Alice ate, she seemed to drift off into a memory of her own. I used that time to enjoy my lemon raspberry square before I broke the silence. “Did Judith mention anything about the quilt she designed to benefit the library at the auction tomorrow night? I’ve seen it, and I have to say, it’s absolutely stunning. The colors, pure and vibrant, capture Misty Harbor and Blueberry Bay spectacularly. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was a painting.”

  Alice nodded her head full of curls. “She did, but I never got a chance to see it. Judith showed me her sketches, and I was very excited to get a private viewing of the finished project. She was going to bring me over Friday afternoon, and I kept my eyes on the lookout for her, but she never came. Now I know why.” Alice sniffled a little. “Can you do me a favor, Dani?”

  “Of course,” I agreed without having a clue what this favor would be, but happy to do anything to help her through this difficult time.

  “Buy that quilt for me. I don’t care how much it costs. I’ll hang it on the wall right behind where you’re sitting so I can imagine myself as a young woman again enjoying all the shops on Main Street or out checking the lobster pots on Blueberry Bay with my dad. I don’t mind so much that I can’t get around anymore, because I have such wonderful memories.”

  I choked on my tea. With all of Misty Harbor and more people from the Blueberry Bay area expected at the auction, who knew how high the bidding would go? “Are you sure you don’t have a limit on how much you’re willing to pay?”

  Alice smiled. “No limit. With the detail you describe in that quilt, I’ll be able to put myself right smack in the middle of town again. That’s priceless. And I’ll think of Judith every time the quilt takes me back to a pleasant memory.” She picked up a book on quilting from the small table next to her chair. “Judith left this book for me when I showed interest in her project but some of the terms don’t make any sense. For instance,” she looked at me, “What’s a jelly roll? Doesn’t it sound like something you’d eat?”

  As soon as Alice mentioned that term, an icy chill ran up my spine. Not that Judith was rolled inside fabric strips, but she was rolled inside a sticky mess. “I
guess it does, but in quilting language, it means precut fabric strips rolled together and tied with a bow. I don’t think Judith used jelly rolls in her quilt.”

  Alice nodded but I also noticed her eyes drooping.

  Pip jumped off Alice’s lap and stretched all four paws. Somehow, she sensed exactly when Alice’s head rested against the back of her chair and her eyes closed, either for a catnap or just to get lost in memories. In any case, it was time for us to make a quiet exit.

  The drive home didn’t take long but it gave me a chance to make a promise—what happened to Judith was wrong on so many levels, someone had to be held accountable. Her beautiful quilt would serve as a reminder to everyone of Judith’s dedication and love of quilting and for Misty Harbor. Alice’s desire to own the quilt was my next challenge, after my search for the killer and justice for Judith Manning.

  Sea Breeze was a welcome sight after this long, difficult day. When I stepped inside with Rose and Pip, a delicious aroma assaulted my senses. “Who’s here?” I asked Rose.

  “With the smells coming from my kitchen, I don’t care, and I might just lock them up and keep them forever.” Pip dashed ahead, obviously expecting something tasty, too.

  I spotted my partner stirring a pot at the stove. “Lily? You aren’t hanging out with your guest?” I asked after I dropped my bag on the floor.

  “Maggie?” Lily waved a wooden spoon through the air. “Fortunately, she went off with Sue Ellen to the library, so I came over here to find out what’s new. I only promised her a place to sleep; I didn’t say I’d be her constant companion.”

  It sounded like there might be more to that statement than I wanted to hear at the moment. Instead of digging in, I opened a bottle of wine and poured myself a glass. Anyone else?” Two loud, “yeses,” answered immediately.

  “Where have you three been?” Lily glanced at Pip who sat in front of her expectantly. “What are you looking at?”

  I got Pip some rice and chicken from the refrigerator. “Here you go. Now, you don’t have to bother Lily while she’s cooking.” I put the bowl on the window seat and Pip jumped onto the pillow that she’d claimed on her first day in the house. “You can keep Rose company here at the nook while Lily finishes whatever deliciousness she’s creating.

  “Hungry?” Lily asked.

  “I could eat a horse,” I replied. And I meant it. After the day I’d had, smelling Lily’s cooking reminded me that my stomach had been growling for quite a while.

  “I doubt that. I’ve seen what you eat when you say you’re starving, and it would barely keep a moth alive. But I made plenty because you never know who might show up. Sometimes this place has nonstop visitors.”

  I lifted the lid off the big frying pan on the stove and inhaled. “Chicken in your secret wine sauce?”

  Lily shot me a mischievous grin. “You know me too well. You can make a salad while you tell me anything that’s new.”

  “We visited my friend, Alice Cross,” Rose said, preparing to set the places for the three of us at her kitchen nook. “I brought her some lemon raspberry squares.”

  Lily almost dropped her pan when she doubled over laughing. “I see where Dani gets her bribery skills from. Did she tell you anything new? Like, maybe she saw who killed Judith?”

  “Nothing like that,” I said. “But she forced a promise from me.”

  “Do you even know her?” Lily divided her creation onto three plates.

  “I do now, thanks to Rose, and I have to tell you that she’s a whole lot nicer than I expected from Sue Ellen’s description.”

  “That’s only because she adored the pipsqueak,” Rose said.

  “Everyone loves Pip.” Lily carried plates overflowing with her fabulous chicken dish to the kitchen nook. “What’s the promise you made?”

  “Alice wants me to bid on Judith’s quilt for her.” I added the salad bowl in the center of the table.

  “What’s her limit?” Lily sat and reached for the salad.

  “No limit.”

  Lily’s hand stopped midway between the salad bowl and her plate. “No limit? Don’t let anyone know that or the sky will be the limit.”

  “She doesn’t care,” I said, digging into my chicken. “I suppose, at her age, why not spend the money on what she wants. It will make her happy many times over since the money goes to a good cause. Plus, she said it will make her happy to look at Misty Harbor represented in the quilt while she sits in her lovely room and relives memories.”

  “She sounds like an amazing woman,” Lily said, enthusiastically enjoying her own cooking.

  “She is. And she made me realize something.”

  Rose and Lily looked at me.

  “We have to make sure Judith’s death doesn’t go unsolved.”

  “We?” Lily had her eyebrow raised. “What about Detective Crenshaw or Maggie? Aren’t they working on it?”

  “Of course, they are.” I looked out the window at the twinkling lights reflecting on Blueberry Bay. “But after talking to Alice Cross, I have a feeling she might know more than she realizes. Her big bay window looks right out on Sue Ellen’s driveway entrance and she has her chair angled for the best view. If someone was there, she would have seen it.”

  I planned to get her to work on her memories.

  Chapter Seventeen

  With a big rush of customers, Sunday morning flew by at the Little Dog Diner. I barely had time to breathe while I kept the brunch buffet filled with bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, French toast, and all the other assorted items that disappeared almost as soon as I filled the containers. I sighed with relief and sank onto one of the counter stools when the door closed behind the last customer.

  “The Sunday brunch is a big success but it’s exhausting,” I said to Lily. “Good thing we don’t open until ten and we close at two, otherwise we’d never be able to keep up with the demand.”

  Lily sat next to me and slid over a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. “Now all we have to do is deliver the desserts to the library before Sue Ellen shows up in the middle of a panic attack.”

  I guzzled the drink. “Thanks for that. Let’s get our last job done so we can relax for a bit before the auction starts.”

  Once again, we loaded the desserts into my rickety old Honda, and Lily and Pip, who had waited patiently in the office during the brunch rush, shared the passenger seat while I drove across town to the library.

  “Since the library is closed on Sundays, the front door is probably locked. I’ll run up and bang until someone opens it,” Lily said as she unhooked her seatbelt and slipped out. “You and Pip can stay here and guard the desserts.”

  I leaned against my car and watched as people walked along Main Street and Pip sniffed around in the bushes. My heart lurched into my throat when an unexpected tap on my shoulder startled me from my people watching. “Geesh, don’t scare me like that,” I said to Luke who grinned at me when I turned around.

  “Who did you think was sneaking up on you?” he said and settled next to me against the fender of the Honda

  I leaned in close to him as if I had a big secret. “You never know who’s lurking around here.” I didn’t tell him that seeing his handsome face was the best surprise I’d had since pulling the shoe out of Sue Ellen’s rolled up carpet.

  Pip said her hello by dancing around Luke’s legs until he dropped down on one knee and gave her a proper greeting. “Are you coming to the auction tonight, too?” he asked, ruffling the hair under her chin.

  Pip’s tail went crazy.

  “That’s a yes. I should probably put her on her leash though, so she doesn’t get into any trouble. Oh, there’s Lily,” I said when she waved from the top of the steps. Someone had opened the library door for us. Want to help bring the desserts inside?”

  “That’s why I’m here,” Luke announced with his arms outspread. “I helped Sue Ellen and Maggie hang the quilt. Sue Ellen told me about the missing coin, which certainly puts a cloud over Rudy. And about how Johnny W
ilker ran away from Detective Crenshaw. Is there anything else that I don’t know about?”

  I reached into the back seat of the car and drew out a box of brownies. “I think that’s the important stuff,” I said and placed it in his arms.

  “Okay,” he said with a smile, accepting his mission. “Sue Ellen asked me to help you with the desserts which, in my opinion, is an important and tasty job. Load me up. I work cheap—maybe something from one of these boxes?” he asked hopefully.

  “You’ll have to run that by Sue Ellen, but if you follow me to Sea Breeze when we’re done, I’m sure Rose will have a few appetizers and drinks for us before it’s time to leave for the auction. And you can take a walk on the beach with Pip and me.” Luke’s deep blue eyes and his smile that softened his whole face mesmerized me. Who wouldn’t succumb to his charm?

  “Sure. I’d like that. Is anyone else going to be there?”

  I stacked boxes on his arms. “Well, it is Rose’s house, so probably. That place is like grand central station lately. She never turns anyone away.”

  I loaded Lily up next and then took the last stack myself. Pip followed us up the steps into the library, comfortably cooled by the AC.

  “I was so worried,” Sue Ellen said. “I’ve been here since noon moving the flower arrangements and making sure everything is just so. What do you think?” She rubbed her hands together obviously needing praise for her hard work.

  “It looks great,” I assured her. “Don’t worry. Tons of people will show up.” I wasn’t exaggerating. The quilt, the centerpiece of the room, took my breath away even though I’d seen it the day before. Anyone entering the room for the auction would first see the quilt in all its exquisite beauty. And then all the desserts, of course.

  Sue Ellen flitted about checking the boxes, the flowers, appraising the quilt to see if it hung evenly. A real bundle of nerves. “I should have just enough time to put out the desserts, go home and change, and get back here a little before five so I can greet everyone when they start arriving. Oh, Dani, I’m so nervous. What if no one bids on the quilt?”