Sweet Suspects (The Donut Mysteries)

by Beck, Jessica

  “Good. That’s what they’re for,” I said.

  “Tell you what,” Trish said. “If I let you pay, will you skip the donuts? I’m starting a new diet tomorrow, and I can’t afford the temptation.”

  “It’s a deal,” I said, “but if you change your mind later, the offer is always open.”

  “You’ve got it, but I have high hopes this time,” Trish said.

  “You can do it,” I said. “We have faith in you.”

  “Thanks,” she said as we all approached the register.

  I paid for our lunches as Grace asked, “Who said this was going to be your treat, Suzanne?”

  “You’re not going to fight me, too, are you?” I asked her.

  “No; if you’re willing to buy, I’ll take it, as long as I get the next one.”

  “Sold,” I said.

  After we finished with our transaction, Trish said, “Now don’t be strangers, you two.”

  “We wouldn’t know how,” I said.

  After we were outside, Grace said, “Lunch was great, but I’m not sure what we should do now.”

  “I’ve got an idea,” I said.

  “Let’s hear it,” Grace replied.

  “Did you notice Gary Thorpe at the reunion last night?” I asked her. Gary ran our local camera store, and I didn’t know how he managed to hang on in the new digital age of cameras and photos. We’d already lost our small bookstore and our video rental place, too, and I had a hunch that Gary would be the next business in town to fall to new technology. At least no one had figured out how to make a digital copy of a donut yet, but if they ever did, I knew that I’d be sunk as well.

  “Sure, I saw him a few times wandering around in the crowd,” Grace acknowledged.

  “And what exactly was he doing?”

  Grace smiled. “He was interviewing people for the reunion with his handheld camera, and when he wasn’t doing that, he was getting lots of candid shots of the crowds.”

  “I’m thinking that he might have something that’s useful to our investigation,” I said.

  “That’s brilliant, Suzanne. Do you think Chief Martin has thought of that yet? Should we tell him, or talk to Gary ourselves first?”

  “Let’s see if Gary has anything useful. If he does, we can always get a copy for the chief.”

  “And get one for us, too,” Grace said. “I like the way that you think.”

  “Thanks,” I said as we headed into the park toward my house. “Let’s pick my Jeep up, and we can head straight over there.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Grace said.

  “You don’t mind that I drive us most places these days, do you?” I asked her as we walked through the park toward home.

  “No, to be honest with you, I’ve been glad. We’ve got a new accounting system in place where we have to log every mile we drive for business.”

  “Don’t you get to use your car at all for yourself?” I asked. Grace loved her luxury company car, and she often claimed that it was one of the nicest perks of her job.

  “We do, but the mileage for personal use is limited.”

  “I suppose you had to know that it was coming. After all, companies everywhere are starting to keep a tighter rein on expenses.”

  “That’s the thing. This isn’t coming from Corporate,” Grace said. “My boss’s boss is trying to make a name for herself within the organization, and this is just one of her crazy new rules. I don’t think it’s going to last, though.”

  “Why not?”

  “My boss has a plan to end her reign of terror soon,” she said with a smile.

  “Do I want to even know more about it?” I asked.

  “No, but you’re lucky to be out of the corporate world. It feels as though the less there is at stake, the harder people fight about it.”

  “It doesn’t sound like fun, but believe me, I have my own set of problems.”

  “I’m sure that you do,” Grace said, “but at least you are your own boss.”

  “I am that,” I said as we approached my Jeep and we got in. As I started the engine, I said, “Next stop, Gary’s Camera World.”

  “I just hope that he’s got something helpful for us,” Grace said.

  “You and me both,” I said.

  “Hey, Gary,” I said as Grace and I walked into the small shop just down Springs Drive from Donut Hearts. “Do you have a second?”

  “Look around,” Gary said with a frown. “Do you see any customers?”

  The store was empty, and it was hard to remember a time that it had ever been full. Gary, a paunchy man with thinning hair, looked as though he’d welcome someone coming in for change, let alone a paying customer looking for a camera, or even any accessories.

  “Sorry about that,” I said.

  “Maybe I should close the camera shop and start making donuts,” Gary said with a grin, trying to lighten his earlier tone.

  “Be my guest,” I said with a laugh. “You might be surprised by my razor thin profit margins on donuts, though. Surely you can come up with something better than making donuts for a living. Trust me, the hours alone will put you in an early grave.”

  “Okay then, maybe something else,” Gary agreed. “Honestly, when I shut this place down, and it’s not a question of if, it’s a matter of when, I won’t be starting another new business. It’s too hard this day and age. No, I’m going to find a place where I can do my work, get my check at the end of the week, and have a life outside of business.”

  “Now you’re talking fantasy,” I said with a smile. “Are there any jobs like that?”

  “I’ve got one,” Grace piped up. “And believe me, it’s wonderful.”

  We all laughed at that.

  After a few seconds, Gary asked, “What can I do for you ladies? Are you looking for a new and extremely expensive camera, by any chance?”

  “No, I’m sorry, but this isn’t about cameras,” I said. “We noticed you at the reunion last night taking a lot of video footage of the events.”

  Gary nodded. “I’m going to offer them online after I edit them. Hey, maybe I’ll do that for a living. I could record all kinds of events and then sell them later.”

  “Why not?” I asked, though I didn’t know the first thing about how he might go about that. “Is your footage from last night available?”

  Gary frowned. “Not really. I took three hours of video, and I want to cut that down to an hour before I put it up for sale.”

  “We’d like to look at the uncut version,” Grace said.

  Gary looked intrigued by the request. “May I ask why?”

  I looked at Grace, who nodded, and then I said, “We’re looking into Zane Dunbar’s murder, and we thought there might be something useful somewhere in your footage. Have the police talked to you about it yet?”

  “No, why, do you think they will?” Gary asked.

  “Once it occurs to them, I’m sure of it,” I said. “So what do you say? Can we have a look?”

  “We’ll be glad to pay you for a copy,” Grace said.

  Gary bit his lower lip, and then he asked, “How much would it be worth to you?”

  “How about ten bucks?” I asked.

  “Come on, I was going to ask for twenty for the finished product,” Gary said. “I’ve got to make something for my work, or I’m going to have to shut this place down.”

  Grace pulled two twenties out of her wallet and laid them on the counter. “Forty, and that’s our final offer. Take it or leave it.”

  “Are you sure you can’t go to fifty?” he asked, though I noticed his gaze was still on the money Grace had put down.

  “Any more than forty, and we’ll just borrow the copy the police are going to get from you for free,” she said. We both knew that there were limits to what the police chief would share with us, and that video would be way over the line.

  Gary thought about it for a few seconds, and then he nodded as he grabbed the twenties before we could change our minds. “I’ll be right back.”


  “Where are you going?” I asked him.

  “I’ve got to save it to a zip drive,” he said. “It won’t take a minute.”

  “We want all of it, Gary. Do you understand?” Grace asked before he could duck into the backroom.

  “Trust me, that’s what you’ll get,” he said.

  After he was gone, I looked at Grace. “You didn’t have to pay that much for it,” I said.

  “It’s cheap at twice the price if there’s anything on there that might help us prove who the murderer is, and that I’m innocent,” she said.

  “Could we get that lucky?” I asked her.

  “All we can do is try,” she said.

  Gary was as good as his word. He came back in less than a minute carrying a small zip drive. “It’s all there,” he said. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” Grace said.

  “Gary, you might want to go ahead and make a copy for the police,” I said. “I have a hunch they’re going to want to see this, too.”

  “Why don’t you give them yours when you’re done with it?” he asked with a smile.

  “Because we paid for ours,” I said. “See you around.”

  “Bye. Thanks for stopping in, and thank you for the business.”

  He’d overcharged us for the footage, and what’s more, we all knew it, but I hadn’t said anything to chide him. I couldn’t let that one go, though. “Feel free to come by and get a donut anytime. We’re running a special for merchants who work along Springs Drive.”

  “What do I get?” he asked.

  “You pay five dollars for every donut,” I said.

  “That sounds a little high to me,” Gary said with a frown.

  “Given the cost of video footage, I figured that would be well within your budget.”

  Gary’s smile was a little sad. “Okay, if you believe that I overcharged you by that much, name your price and I’ll take whatever you’re willing to pay me,” he said as he put the twenties back on the counter.

  Grace shoved them back at him. “Forget everything that she just said, Gary. This had nothing to do with Suzanne. You named your price, and I paid it. If I’d meant to haggle with you, I would have done it before I paid. As far as I’m concerned, we made our deal. That money is yours. Keep it.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “I’m positive,” Grace said. “Come on, Suzanne.”

  After we left the camera shop, Grace asked me, “Did you have to get that last zinger in?”

  “I didn’t have to, but I wanted to, so I did,” I replied. “By the way, he did overcharge us, whether you think so or not.”

  “Of course he overcharged us,” Grace said as we got back into my Jeep. “What he didn’t know was that he could have held me up for even more. I would have paid a hundred for that footage if he’d demanded it.”

  “I just hope that it’s worth it,” I said as I pulled out.

  “Let’s go to my place and see, shall we?” she asked.

  Chapter 8

  “Is there any way to watch this on a screen bigger than your notebook computer?” I asked Grace as we walked into her house. “I don’t usually mind looking over your shoulder, but three hours is a long time to be squinting at a small screen.”

  “We don’t have to worry about that, Suzanne,” she said. “After I load the zip drive onto my computer, we can play it on my big-screen television. It’s going to be a lot bigger than my thirteen-inch monitor.”

  “Cool,” I said. “It sounds like it will be like watching a movie.”

  “Maybe one before it has been edited, without a star, a script, or any discernible plot,” she said. “I’m not expecting much from Gary’s rough cut.”

  “To be fair, though, we’re looking for clues, not a cinematic experience.”

  “Why can’t it be both?” she asked with a smile. “I’d make popcorn, but we already had lunch.”

  “I appreciate the thought, anyway,” I said as Grace got out her computer and stuck the zip drive into it. After a minute, she tapped a few keys and then turned on her television.

  In a matter of moments, I heard Gary’s voice as he surveyed the outside of the school. “Here we are, back again. This is test one, test one, April Springs Multi-Year Class Reunion.”

  The camera showed us the event from Gary’s perspective. His audio additions were scattered throughout the video, but what he lacked in dramatic storytelling skills, he more than made up for with raw footage. No one was safe from Gary’s cameras, even those hiding in dark corners or outside in the shadows. First, we got a sample of his entry into the main event where the Hawaiian luau theme was everywhere. When he panned over the spears holding up the main sign, I felt a shiver go through me. One of those spears had been used to kill Zane Dunbar. I couldn’t tell which one was the murder weapon and which one was blameless, and it really didn’t matter, but for some reason, it really started to bother me.

  “Freeze that shot,” I blurted out.

  The camera stayed on the banner and the spears. “Did I miss something?” Grace asked.

  “Can you tell which spear killed Zane?” I asked her as I studied the frozen image.

  “What? No, of course not. I never even saw the body, let alone the spear. Can you tell?”

  “They look exactly the same to me,” I said as I stood and got closer to the screen. The clarity was remarkable. Whatever style camera Gary used had been a good one.

  “That’s because I’m sure that they are identical,” Grace said.

  “Not quite. Don’t forget, one of them killed Zane Dunbar.”

  “To be precise, one of them was used to kill Zane,” Grace said. “What could it possibly matter which one was used to kill him?”

  “It doesn’t matter at all,” I said. “Go on. Turn it on again.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive,” I said, and the image with the spears quickly jumped off the screen to be replaced by a punchbowl brimming with questionable contents. “That stuff was dreadful, wasn’t it? It could have peeled the paint off a car.”

  “I couldn’t actually bring myself to taste it,” Grace said. “Once I got it close to my nose, I couldn’t stand the thought of actually touching it to my lips.”

  “I wish I’d followed your lead,” I said.

  “You actually drank some?”

  “Just a sip, and then it went right back into my cup. It tasted like a mix of antifreeze and frying oil.”

  “Suzanne, have you ever tasted antifreeze or frying oil, let alone the two of them mixed together?” Grace asked me.

  “No, but I have a pretty vivid imagination,” I countered.

  “I’ll give you that.”

  As the scene began to move again, I marveled at how the people I’d gone to high school with had changed so much over the years. One boy I’d had a huge crush on was now plain and drab, and I wondered what I’d ever seen in him. A girl I’d been friends with who’d been a little on the homely side was now a real beauty. It was as though there was no rhyme or reason to how their appearances had changed over time.

  I was still marveling over that when I spotted Zane for the first time on the footage, but it wasn’t his image that attracted my attention. It was the person he was speaking with.

  Off to the side and out of the camera’s main focus, Zane and one of our witnesses were having a heated discussion.

  Why did it not surprise me all that much that it was Candy Murphy?

  “I wish the sound was better on this recording,” Grace said as we watched Candy and Zane in earnest conversation.

  “I just hope he keeps the camera on them a little longer,” I said. Gary was talking inanely about the way everyone was dancing as he focused on some classmates in the foreground of the shot. My worst fears were realized as he started to pull away, but as the image of the two of them went out of frame, I saw Candy reach out and slap Zane’s face. I wished that Gary had kept on them long enough to show his expression, but the action was clear enough.
What had Zane done to make her react that way? It certainly explained why Candy was so interested in the murder investigation. She was more involved in it than we’d known. The irony was that I might have missed the slap altogether if Candy hadn’t approached me earlier about Zane, since the confrontation all took place in the background of another shot. I wasn’t even certain that Gary had been aware of what had been happening as he’d filmed it.