by Jessica Beck
Honestly, I realized that it wasn’t my job to worry about it. I was tired, and it was time to go home. I bagged up the last two donuts, grabbed my purse, and then left the shop, turning my back to lock the door.
As I did, I heard a disguised voice behind me say, “Give me the bag, and no one will get hurt.”
SIMPLY MY BEST APPLE PIE
These pies are great year round, but the best time to make them is when the apples are in season in the autumn. It’s a quick and easy dessert that is always a hit. The crumb crust topping is wonderful. Enjoy a slice of pie with the coldest milk you can find!
INGREDIENTS
• 8 or 9 inch pie crust, premade
Filling
• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
• Dash of salt
• 5–6 cups thinly sliced firm, tart apples (Granny Smiths work well, so do Staymen)
Topping
• 1 cup flour
• 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
• 1⁄2 cup butter, room temperature
DIRECTIONS
Peel and core the apples, then cut into thin slices. In a bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt, then stir this mixture into the apples until they are thoroughly coated. Add to shell, then in another bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar, then cut in the butter. The mix should be crumbly, and the butter still in small chunks. Add these to the top, then bake uncovered in a 425°F oven for 30–45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and a butter knife slips into the top easily.
CHAPTER 4
I started to hand my purse backward when I heard a laugh. “Not that bag. Who cares about money? I want the donuts.”
I turned around and saw Grace grinning at me. “Those are for me, aren’t they? I can’t believe you bought it.”
“You were very convincing,” I said as I handed the bag of donuts over to her. “You’re welcome to them. But surely you’ve had breakfast already.”
She smiled and shrugged at the same time.
“Grace, are you telling me you just got up?”
“Of course not,” she said as she peeked inside the bag. “I was just teasing. I’ve been up for hours. Your mother insisted I eat a full breakfast, and then she wouldn’t let me leave until the snowplow came and dug you all out. I just now made a break for it.”
“Sorry, I know how she can be sometimes.”
“Are you kidding me? I love the way she pampers me.”
I looked around Springs Drive and saw that I wasn’t the only business open, though I had to believe mine was doing better than the rest of them. I was glad to see that Two Cows and a Moose—our local newsstand—was doing brisk business. I’d been in the other day getting a magazine, and saw that the proprietress—pretty and young Emily Hargraves—had adorned her beloved stuffed animals in Santa suits, from their shiny black boots to their red and white caps perched precariously on their heads, though Moose had presented a particular challenge for her because of his antlers. I thought she’d been crazy naming her business after her favorite three stuffed animals, but I had to admit, they were a crowd pleaser, perched on a shelf in a place of honor above the cash register. I couldn’t wait to see the outfits Emily had planned for St. Patrick’s Day.
“Let’s get something to eat,” I said. “It looks like The Boxcar is open.”
“Sure, that sounds good.”
“I know what my mother considers a balanced breakfast. The sausage pile has to match the stack of bacon on your plate, and the eggs outweigh them both. You’ve got to be stuffed, and I just gave you donuts.”
She smiled. “Okay, so I’m not hungry. That doesn’t mean I can’t join you. I’ll have coffee and keep you company while you eat. Come on, let’s go.”
We walked down the abandoned tracks, now covered with a layer of snow, toward The Boxcar grill.
Trish smiled at us as we ascended the stairs, then pointed at the Donut Hearts bag in Grace’s hands. “You’re not really going to bring food into a diner, are you?”
“No, ma’am,” Grace said. “This is inventory that Suzanne had to liquidate, so I agreed to take it off her hands. Believe me, I’d never break your rules.”
Trish’s faked grimace broke into a smile. “Fine, but you’d better make sure that inventory stays in the bag while you’re here.”
“I can check it with you, if you’d like,” Grace said. “I’m really too full to eat them anyway.”
Trish laughed. “Then you came to the right place. I can see why a diner might appeal to you,” she said.
“I’m here to keep Suzanne company,” Grace said. As she handed Trish the donuts, she said, “Honestly, you’re welcome to them.”
She peeked inside the bag, then looked at me. “Do you mind, Suzanne?”
“Help yourself,” I said. “But I thought no one could bring food to your diner?”
“I make the rules, I can break them,” she said as she tucked the bag behind the counter.
As she led us to a free booth in back, Trish asked us in a lowered voice, “Have you heard the news?”
“About Max and Muriel being missing?” I said.
Grace grabbed my arm. “What? What happened now?”
Trish said, “Don’t look at me. That’s all I know. Suzanne, have you heard anything new?”
I shook my head as I slid onto the bench seat of the booth. “Just rumor and idle speculation.”
Trish’s eyes lit up. “That’s what I like the best. What have you got?”
“Feed me first, and then I’ll tell you,” I said.
Trish shook her head in mock disgust. “I can’t believe you’re withholding information on me.”
“Believe it,” I said. “I’ll have a turkey club with no tomato, fries, and a Diet Coke.”
“Diet?” Trish asked.
“I’m trying to cut back,” I said.
“Diet it is.” She turned to Grace. “Do you want anything?”
“Make it two diet Cokes,” she said.
“You two are a couple of wild gals out on the town, aren’t you? Hang on, I’ll be right back.”
As soon as she left, Grace whispered, “Before she gets back, tell me everything you know, and don’t you dare leave anything out.”
“There’s really nothing to tell. Chief Martin came by the donut shop early this morning wanting to know if I’d seen Max, and when I told him no, he informed me that Muriel Stevens was missing as well. Emma said she thought they were off somewhere together.”
Grace shook her head. “She had to be joking. Honestly, I don’t see them as a couple, do you?”
“It’s hard to see Max with anyone but me,” I admitted, “unless we’re talking about Darlene Higgins. I saw that plainly enough.”
“Have they made any progress in that investigation?” Grace asked as Trish slid the diet Cokes in front of us and nudged Grace to scoot over.
Once she was sitting with us, Trish said, “I told you two to wait for me. Now what did I miss?”
“I just said Emma thought that Max and Muriel were holing up somewhere together,” I explained.
Trish appeared to think about that for a few seconds, then shook her head. “No, I can’t see it.”
“Me, either. Is that the investigation you were talking about?”
“No,” Grace said. “I was wondering if the police have found out anything about Darlene’s murder yet.”
Trish looked at me. “And what did you say?”
“I didn’t have a chance to say anything. But no, if the chief knows anything, he’s not sharing the information with me.”
“Curious, isn’t it?” Trish said. “What was Darlene doing in Muriel’s coat, why was she wearing a wig, and why would someone stab her with a candy cane?” She shivered a little as she added, “It’s a pretty odd way to die.”
I nodded. “Isn’t it strange that someone grabbed a candy cane, of all things
, for a murder weapon?”
“They have some pretty deadly points on the spike that goes into the ground,” Grace said.
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“Before I came by the donut shop today, I walked over to City Hall and pulled one out of the ground to check for myself.”
“Did anyone see you do it?” I asked.
“Not that I know of, but I wasn’t exactly furtive about it. Why?”
I shook my head. “You shouldn’t have done that. What if someone saw you, and another person gets stabbed with one?”
Grace looked at me critically. “Seriously? Do you really think that’s a concern? What can I say? I was curious.”
Trish said, “I would have looked too, if I’d thought about it.”
Grace asked, “Why did they leave them out on display, anyway? I find that kind of disturbing in its own right.”
“Who knows?” Trish said.
“Traditions around here are pretty tough to break,” I said, “and decorations at the courthouse are near the top of the list.”
Trish glanced over her shoulder and said, “It looks like your club is ready. I’ll be right back.”
After she delivered my food, Trish was so busy with other customers that she didn’t invite herself to sit back down with us.
I offered Grace a French fry.
“I couldn’t. I’m stuffed,” she said.
I grinned at her. “Why do you think I offered you one?”
She stared at my plate, then after hesitating, reached over and grabbed a fry after all.
“What?” she asked as she saw me smiling at her. “Can’t a girl change her mind?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “Have some more.”
She nodded, took another fry, then asked, “Did you invite somebody else to lunch with you?”
“No, why do you ask?”
She pointed over my shoulder and said, “There’s a cop coming this way, and he’s looking right at you.”
I felt my heart jump, hoping it was Jake, but instead, it was Officer Steven Grant, a policeman in April Springs who was also a good customer at my donut shop.
“Would you like to join us?” I asked as he neared us.
“Sure,” he said as he slid onto the bench seat beside me. “I’ve already had lunch, though.”
Trish came over. “Need anything, Steven?”
“Pie and coffee,” he said as I looked at him with one raised eyebrow. He added, “I didn’t say I had dessert, did I?”
Trish asked, “What kind of pie would you like?”
“You know me, Trish. Surprise me.”
She shook her head as she walked away, and Grace said, “Excuse me, I need to powder my nose.”
“You don’t have to leave on my account,” Officer Grant said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be back,” she said.
After Grace was gone, I said, “Did you come in here to have some pie, or was there something you wanted.”
He lowered his voice, then said, “I thought there was something you should know before it gets out on the grapevine. It’s only fair, you know?”
“Since I don’t know what you’re talking about, I really can’t say.”
He frowned, then said, “Here goes. I could get fired if you repeat this, but the chief seems to think you might have had something to do with Darlene Higgins’s murder.”
I felt a cold, sweeping dread come over me. “What did he say?”
“Yesterday before the snowstorm hit, he had me check your alibi during the time of the murder.”
“He never asked me for one,” I said, trying to keep the outrage out of my voice.
“Don’t worry, I found three folks who agreed you were in your booth selling donuts the entire time, including Gabby Williams next door. You’re fine.”
“That’s good, because I didn’t do it.” I looked hard at him, then asked, “But why tell me? You don’t owe me anything.”
He shook his head. “Maybe not, but you’ve gotten a bad shake in the past from the department, and I thought you should know about this. I just reported to the chief, and he seemed to accept it, so you’re off the hook.”
“Has he got any other suspects?” I asked. It was bad finding out I was on the list, but the fact that my name had already been crossed off helped a little.
“That I can’t say.”
Trish brought him a slice of lemon meringue pie and a cup of coffee. He smiled when he saw it, then asked, “Can I get that to go?”
“Why not? I enjoy putting things in boxes.”
He laughed. “Then you should love me.”
Officer Grant started to go as Grace came back. “You’re not leaving because of me, are you? I can always come back later.”
“No, ma’am, I need to get back to work.” He smiled at Grace, then turned to me. “What I told you was confidential, okay?”
“I won’t tell a soul,” I said.
“Good.”
The second Officer Grant was out of The Boxcar grill, Grace said, “He’s gone. So tell me, what did he say?”
“Grace, you just heard me promise not to tell anyone.”
She looked shocked by the suggestion that I’d keep my word. “You didn’t mean me, though, did you? Come on, Suzanne, you have to tell me.”
“Sorry,” I said, “I promised.”
Grace chewed that over for a second, then said, “I understand, you gave him your word. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to have another fry.”
“Like I said, help yourself.”
She grabbed a handful, then didn’t know what to do with them. After a moment’s hesitation, Grace grabbed a wad of napkins from the dispenser and plopped them down there.
I laughed. “Wow, you took me at my word, didn’t you?”
“What can I say? You offered, I accepted.”
Trish walked by with a coffee pot topping everyone off when she saw Grace’s pile of my fries.
She looked at me and said, “What’s wrong, Suzanne, don’t you like my French fries anymore?”
“I do, but someone else appears to like them even more than I do.”
Grace just smiled, and Trish shook her head as she walked away.
Two minutes later, she came back with a huge plate mounded with French fries. “There you go. That ought to satisfy you both.”
“It’s too much,” I said. “I’ll never be able to eat all of these.”
“I’ve got a feeling you’ll put a dent in them,” she said. “Do your best.”
I looked at the fries, then at Grace. “This is all your fault. If we don’t finish them, it will hurt Trish’s feelings.”
Grace reached for another handful of fries as she said, “Then we’d better finish them, hadn’t we?”
By the time we’d eaten most of the plate, Trish came by and swept it away. “You two look miserable. I’ve punished you enough,” she said as she took the remnants away. “Is there anything else you’d like?”
I was stuffed beyond belief, but I couldn’t help myself from teasing her. “Any more of that lemon meringue pie left?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m kidding, right,” I said with a smile. “Just the bill, Trish.”
She had it ready for me, and I was surprised to see that the extra plate of fries wasn’t included.
“You forgot something,” I said.
Trish shook her head as she leaned forward. “I’ll swap you donuts for fries, how does that sound?”
“Like you’re getting robbed,” I said.
She shrugged. “Then let’s just call it an early Christmas present, okay?”
“Okay, but now I have to get you something.”
“I’m partial to your pastry pinecones,” she said with a smile. “I’m just saying.”
I paid our bill, and Grace and I walked back outside. Since we’d been inside the diner, the sky had darkened, and fresh snow was falling again.
“It’s really coming down, isn’t i
t?” I said as I pulled my coat closer.
“I’d better go by the grocery store before I go home,” she said.
“You’re welcome to come home with me again,” I said.
“I don’t want to be a bother.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re not a bother, you’re a buffer. Momma and I will drive each other crazy if just the two of us are snowbound in that house.”
Grace bit her lip, then said, “Well, if you’re sure. Normally I like living alone, but I’m not too fond of storms of any kind.”
“At least there’s no lightning,” I said. As I spoke, there was a diffused flash in the sky, and a few seconds later, thunder rumbled in the distance.
I looked at Grace. Without cracking a smile, she said, “I’m just glad you didn’t say there wasn’t a hurricane.”
“We’d better get home before this gets any worse,” I said. “The last time I saw lightning in a snowstorm, we got a foot overnight.”
Grace shivered at the prospect. “Can we swing by my house first? I want to pick up a few things.”
“Sure, but we have to do it on foot. My Jeep’s still at the house.”
“Then we’d better get going,” she said. “It looks like this isn’t going to let up anytime soon.”
* * *
At least Grace’s house was on the way to my place. The sidewalks were all a mess, but there was barely any traffic on the road, so we decided to walk there. It made the going a lot easier, especially since the new snow added a little traction. The daytime temperature hadn’t gotten above freezing, but at least our plows had been followed by salt trucks, so for now, it wasn’t bad.
“Should we get some groceries, too?” Grace asked. “I don’t have enough in my pantry to feed a mouse.”
“If I know my mother—and if not me, who—she’ll have enough for a monthlong siege. That woman believes in being prepared for just about anything.”
Grace nodded. “Not a bad trait at the moment, wouldn’t you say?”
“Hey, I’m a big fan of the lady myself.” I had to admit that sometimes it took Grace’s presence for me to remember some of my mother’s good qualities. Both of Grace’s folks had passed away years ago, and Momma had kind of adopted her.
We climbed the steps up to Grace’s porch, and before I could approach the door, she put her hand out and stopped me.
