by Rose Pressey
She didn’t look over at me as she kept on walking. “Cookie, save yourself. Don’t even talk to me.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, trying to keep up.
Her legs were much longer than mine.
“Looks like she doesn’t want to talk with you,” Charlotte said.
“Yes, take a hint, Cookie,” Peggy added.
“Can you slow the pace there? I feel like I’m in a marathon,” I said through my heavy breathing.
“I’m leaving Sugar Creek, Cookie. I’ll try to be in touch, but I can’t guarantee anything.” Heather stared straight ahead.
“What? Have you lost your mind?” I asked.
“Cookie, I thought we established this a long time ago?” Charlotte smirked.
I glared at Charlotte. This was no time for jokes. I jumped in front of Heather, forcing her to stop or run into me. Thank goodness because I was getting a serious cardio session from trying to keep up.
“I’m going to miss you so much. If I look at you I’ll start crying. I probably won’t be able to go through with it. That’s why I was trying to get out of here before you came back.” She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.
“It’s like she’s going into the witness protection program,” Charlotte said.
“This is not a good idea,” I said. “It won’t work. You can’t run. They’ll definitely think you’re guilty.”
“It can’t get any worse,” Heather said. “At least I won’t be in prison.”
“They will think you’re guilty,” I repeated.
I touched her arms and she finally looked at me. Her green eyes shimmered from the watery tears. I hated to see her like this.
Heather blew the bangs out of her eyes. “I guess you’re right.”
“Just at least give me a little more time before you take off,” I said.
“I don’t have much time,” Heather said.
“I don’t need much.”
Charlotte chuckled. “At the rate you’re going I’m not sure I would get her hopes up.”
I glared at Charlotte again.
“I’m just trying to push you to work harder. It will do you good,” Charlotte said.
I reached out and hugged Heather. She embraced me back, but her body was so tense it was like hugging a concrete slab.
Heather wiped away another tear. “Okay, I’ll wait.”
“I’d keep an eye on her. I’m not sure you can trust her not to leave. The last thing we need right now is for the police to be hunting a fugitive.” Charlotte eyed Heather up and down.
Peggy pointed. “And tell her no more tears. When other people cry, I cry, and I don’t want to do that.”
“Yes, for heaven’s sake, no more waterworks,” Charlotte said.
“Come back to the shop with me and hang out for a bit. It’ll do you good to talk.” I took Heather by the arm and guided her toward my place.
I made it halfway back to the shop when my cell phone rang. It was the number for Glorious Grits. The fact that I knew the number meant I had placed too many to-go orders.
“Why is Dixie calling me?” I touched my phone’s screen.
Dixie didn’t even let me finish saying hello until she said, “Where are you? You’re supposed to be at the bake sale. I’ve just come from the church to retrieve more baked goods from the diner. Half the people who said they were coming haven’t shown up and that includes you.”
“Oh no, I forgot. I’ll be there in two shakes of a lamb’s tail,” I said.
“You better or else I won’t give you any more of that cherry pie that you love.”
Chapter 23
Charlotte’s Tips for a Fabulous Afterlife
Learn when not to spy on the living.
There are some things you just don’t want to see.
Once you’ve seen them you can’t un-see them.
“I don’t like the look on your face. What’s wrong?” Charlotte asked.
“I completely forgot about the bake sale. I told Dixie I would bring something.” I adjusted the strap on my vintage Chanel flap purse.
Charlotte laughed. I knew why she was laughing. She thought I was a terrible baker. She was wrong though. I wasn’t half bad.
“Well, no need to panic. It’s not a big deal,” Charlotte said. “Just go whip up something that you call baking. What time do you have to be there? And don’t say five minutes.”
“No, I have an hour.” I looked at the time on my phone.
Heather was still standing next to me in a bit of a daze. Suddenly, she snapped out of it and looked at me. “You have to be there in an hour? What are you waiting on? Let’s go bake something.”
We rushed into the Buick and hurried toward my house.
“I have a good chocolate chip cookie recipe,” I said.
Charlotte groaned. “Chocolate chip cookies? How boring.”
“Well, it’s all that I can come up with on such short notice,” I said.
“Short notice? Didn’t she tell you about the bake sale weeks ago?” Charlotte asked.
“You know what I mean,” I said.
Charlotte sighed. “I suppose it’ll have to do.”
I steered the Buick onto my driveway, practically on two wheels. This was a baking emergency. We jumped out of the car and ran into the house. I had to hurry and get to the sale so that I could get back to the shop. I had a murder mystery to solve.
The four of us burst into my kitchen, making a mad dash for the cabinets. Heather and I grabbed the ingredients from the shelves and refrigerator. I pulled out a large mixing bowl. Heather and I dumped in the ingredients.
“Oh, this truly is a sight to behold,” Charlotte said.
Peggy chuckled.
“Too bad I don’t have any extra special items to add to make this recipe something special.” I added the eggs.
“Perhaps you could give it a special name,” Heather said. “That might make people think it’s fancy.”
“How about Cookie’s Fancy Chocolate Chip Cookies?” I asked.
“That actually might work.” Heather scooped the dough onto the sheet.
“It’ll have to do,” I said, shoving the cookie sheet into the oven.
In total we had forty-seven cookies after I ate one of them. After all, my name wasn’t Cookie for nothing. Heather had flour on her cheek.
“I’m just glad that Dylan and Ken can’t see this,” Charlotte said.
I placed my hands on my hips. “What is that supposed to mean?”
She held her hands up. “Nothing, nothing at all.”
I grabbed the plastic storage container for the cookies. Slipping on my Elvis Presley oven mitt, I pulled out the cookies. Heather and I stared at the cookies, willing them to cool off. Once we couldn’t wait any longer, I slid the cookies off the sheet and into the container. With the container of cookies in my hands, we ran back out to the car.
“We have five minutes to get there,” Heather said, looking at her watch.
Heather and I slid onto the front seat of the car. Peggy and Charlotte were already waiting in the backseat.
“I hate sitting back here,” Charlotte said in her loudest voice possible.
“Deal with it.” I cranked the engine.
“You’ll never get there in time,” Charlotte said.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said.
She just said that because I’d been snippy with her. She’d started it.
As I pulled out onto the road, the tires squealed just a bit. If Dylan heard that he would definitely pull me over and probably give me a ticket. I tried not to speed . . . well, maybe five miles over the limit.
“I can’t believe you forgot this in the first place,” Charlotte said.
“Well, I have been a little bit busy,” I said, steering the car around a curve.
“Yeah, you’ve been busy with me,” Heather said.
Heather’s sad face made my stomach twist into a knot.
“Look what you did now,”
Charlotte said. “You made Heather feel bad.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean anything by that, Heather.”
She nodded but didn’t answer. Now I felt terrible.
“Look what you’ve done now,” Charlotte said.
“Yeah, it was all her fault,” Peggy said.
I stared at them through the rearview mirror. They shrugged in unison. Partners in crime.
After the quick drive back into town, I pulled into the church parking lot and found a spot. I turned off the car and grabbed the plastic container. We rushed to the church and burst through the door, as if we’d been chased. Everyone in the space stopped and stared at us. I knew my face must have turned red at the attention.
Dixie ran over to us. “Oh, thank goodness you’re here.” She grabbed the plastic container and peered down. “I was embarrassed and worried that I wouldn’t have enough stuff to sell.”
“Well, I made my fancy chocolate chip cookies,” I said.
She lifted an eyebrow. “Fancy cookies?”
“Yes, of course,” I said with a sheepish smile.
“What makes them fancy?” she asked.
“The way I put the ingredients into the bowl,” I said.
Dixie shook her head. “Well, it’s just important that you got them here.”
She headed over to the table and put down my cookies for purchase. I thought it seemed to be a good turnout. The table was full of baked goods, cakes, cupcakes, and all kinds of desserts.
“Now can we get out of here? We have other things we need to do,” Charlotte said.
Yes, we had other things, like getting back to the shop, but I couldn’t leave without making a purchase.
“I just need to pick up a dessert and we can leave,” I said to Heather.
She followed me as we made our way over to the table to find something with the least amount of calories. Yeah right, that would be impossible. I should just pick out the best looking thing and forget about the calories. After all, this was for charity. I picked up pretty decorated cupcakes with pink frosting and white sprinkles on the top. There were only six of them, so it would keep me from eating a ton. I’d give the rest to Dylan. After picking up the container of cupcakes, I paid for the purchase and surreptitiously motioned for the ghosts to follow me. Charlotte and Peggy had been talking while I looked at the desserts. That was just as well. I hadn’t needed Charlotte’s wisecracks about the calorie content. Heather had been waiting by the door. She wasn’t in the mood for eating sweets. I bought something out of obligation for Dixie and the charity.
On my way toward the door Mrs. Bachman stopped me. “Cookie Chanel, oh, it’s lovely to see you. You bought my cupcakes. I hope you love them.”
“I’m sure I will,” I said with a smile.
“You must take a bite right now,” she said.
Heather and I exchanged a look. “Right now?”
Mrs. Bachman stared at me from behind her thick eyeglasses.
“Okay, I guess.”
Anything so I could hurry up and get out of there. I pulled the top of the container back and took out a cupcake. Sprinkles tumbled from the top and frosting was on my fingers. I peeled back a bit of the paper liner and moved the cupcake toward my mouth to take a big bite. In one swift movement Charlotte swatted at the cupcake. Her energy had been powerful enough that it actually knocked the baked good out of my hand. The cupcake landed on the floor with a splat. I couldn’t believe that Charlotte had knocked it out of my hand.
“What in the world did you do that for?” I asked. “Have you lost your mind?”
When I realized that I had spoken to Charlotte out loud, I looked at Mrs. Bachman. Her small mouth hung open as she stared at me. She looked at me as if I had lost my mind.
“I didn’t knock that out of your hand,” Mrs. Bachman said. “You must have dropped it. Though I admit the whole thing was really strange. It looked as if someone knocked it out of your hand.”
Charlotte had really gotten me into trouble this time. I was completely flustered and didn’t know what to say.
“Cookie, I saw someone messing around with those cupcakes. I just can’t let you eat them.”
Yet she could let me buy them? What was she thinking? Oh, now I got it. If I bought them no one else would eat them. Had someone really messed with the cupcakes? I would have to wait until I got outside to ask questions. Right now I couldn’t talk in front of Mrs. Bachman. I picked up the cupcake and put it back in the container, closing the lid.
“I’m sorry. I just can’t eat them right now. We’re in a hurry, you understand, right, Mrs. Bachman?”
She continued to stare without an answer.
When I hurried out the door, I said, “What is going on, Charlotte?”
“I saw a woman do something to the cupcakes.”
“Why didn’t you say something right away?”
“There she is right now.” Charlotte pointed. “I saw that woman do something. It looks like Marie, doesn’t it?”
“How would you know with the big ugly black hat she’s wearing and the dark sunglasses?” I asked.
“Apparently people have things for hats around here,” Peggy said.
“Are we even sure it’s a woman. Remember?”
“I’m not sure of anything anymore,” Charlotte said.
Regardless if this was a man or woman we had to follow this person.
I rushed over toward my car. “What makes you think that she was doing something to the cupcakes?”
“She sprinkled something on top of them. I think it was meant to look as if it was part of the sprinkles, but really it’s probably poison.”
“That’s a huge assumption,” I said.
Charlotte and Peggy got into the backseat. Heather and I jumped into the front seat. I cranked the engine of the Buick and headed in the direction where we’d seen the car pull out. Now that I was on the street, though, I couldn’t spot the little blue car anywhere.
“I think she got away,” I said.
“Now what will you do?” Heather asked.
“I don’t know. I suppose I’ll just have to go back to the shop.”
“You definitely will want to give Dylan those cupcakes so that he can have them tested for poison.”
“If there’s nothing wrong with the cupcakes he will really think I’m out of my mind,” I said.
“I think that’s a small price to pay for answers,” Charlotte said.
I turned right and headed toward the shop. I was more confused now than ever.
“How do we know she didn’t put something on the other items? What if she tried to kill everyone there?”
“Oh, it was just you she wanted to get rid of,” Charlotte said.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“I was watching this woman and spotted her when she walked in. She waited until she saw which item you were buying, then made her move. She entered the building right after you did, so I think she’d been following you. Right after she did the deed, she left,” Charlotte said with a click of her tongue.
“You’re supposed to tell me this stuff right away, Charlotte,” I said.
How did she expect me to solve a crime when she didn’t keep me informed? I supposed I would tell Dylan about the cupcakes, but it wasn’t going to be easy explaining the whole bake sale debacle. Things just kept getting crazier and crazier. After a few seconds, we pulled up in front of my shop again.
“What type of poison could she possibly have put on these cupcakes?” I asked.
“Well, since I’m not an expert on poison,” Charlotte said with a bit of snarkiness in her voice, “I really don’t know.”
Heather stared straight ahead as if she were in another world. Was she even aware that I was speaking?
Peggy leaned forward from the backseat. “Oh, I know. What if it was rat poison or something like that.”
“Oh, that’s a good one,” Charlotte said. “I bet that’s what it was.”
The thought of ingesting rat poison did
n’t sound pleasant. What a horrible way to die, and to think this woman was trying to do that to me. I was dealing with an extremely demented person.
“This is an extremely dangerous and serious situation,” Charlotte said.
She didn’t have to tell me. I was well aware of how dangerous this was. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what else to do about it. How could I make this stop? Not investigating the murder wasn’t an option.
Chapter 24
Cookie’s Savvy Tips for Vintage Clothing Shopping
If the price is right don’t be afraid to buy a garment
with a small stain. You might be able to get it out,
but be aware it could have been there for years,
making it impossible to remove.
Once inside my shop, Heather plopped down on the settee. She released a big sigh and leaned her head back. Brianna had just left.
“Hey, that’s my seat,” Charlotte said.
I waved my hands to stop Charlotte. Charlotte scowled and took a seat on one of the armed chairs by the dressing room. She folded her arms across her chest. Charlotte looked like a pouting three-year-old.
“These chairs aren’t nearly as comfortable,” Charlotte said, shifting from side to side.
As if it really mattered. She was a ghost. It wasn’t like her bottom would fall asleep. Besides, I thought those chairs were plenty comfortable. Sure, I’d picked them out because they were cute, but comfort had crossed my mind too.
I placed the potentially poisoned cupcakes under the counter until Dylan could pick them up or until I had a chance to take them to him. I didn’t want anyone possibly eating them. Wind Song jumped down from her window seat and strolled over to Heather. She jumped onto the settee and placed her paw on Heather’s arm.
“That is so sweet,” Peggy said.
“Grandma Pearl obviously wants you to feel better,” I said.
Grandma Pearl meowed and we laughed. Heather rubbed the cat’s head. Next Grandma Pearl hopped down from the settee, scrolled over to the counter, and leapt up.
“Oh, she has a message for us.” Charlotte hurried over.
I pulled out the Ouija board. “What do you want to say, Grandma Pearl?”
