by Jessica Beck
The First Time Ever Published!
The Fourteenth Donut Mystery
From New York Times Bestselling Author
Jessica Beck
CUSTARD CRIME
Other Books by Jessica Beck
The Donut Mysteries
Glazed Murder
Fatally Frosted
Sinister Sprinkles
Evil Éclairs
Tragic Toppings
Killer Crullers
Drop Dead Chocolate
Powdered Peril
Illegally Iced
Deadly Donuts
Assault and Batter
Sweet Suspects
Deep Fried Homicide
Custard Crime
The Classic Diner Mysteries
A Chili Death
A Deadly Beef
A Killer Cake
A Baked Ham
A Bad Egg
A Real Pickle
A Burned Out Baker
The Ghost Cat Cozy Mysteries
Ghost Cat: Midnight Paws
Ghost Cat 2: Bid for Midnight
Jessica Beck is the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Donut Mysteries, the Classic Diner Mysteries, and the Ghost Cat Cozy Mysteries.
To you, my dear and treasured reader,
thanks for everything!
Custard Crime by Jessica Beck; Copyright © 2014
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Recipes included in this book are to be recreated at the reader’s own risk. The author is not responsible for any damage, medical or otherwise, created as a result of reproducing these recipes. It is the responsibility of the reader to ensure that none of the ingredients are detrimental to their health, and the author will not be held liable in any way for any problems that might arise from following the included recipes.
Chapter 1
Don’t get me wrong; it’s not as though it had never happened before. After all, murder had visited my family and friends often enough in our small town of April Springs, North Carolina, in the past. But when I got the news of just who had just died, I understood instantly that it would impact just about everyone in my life I knew and loved. Even given that, I still didn’t realize just how bad things would ultimately get in the end.
It was a lot for a simple donutmaker to deal with, but then again, my life hadn’t been all that easy since I’d first opened Donut Hearts, so why should this situation have been any different?
Chapter 2
“I can’t believe this is our last walk together in the park,” I said as I put my arm through Jake Bishop’s and snuggled closer.
“Don’t be so melodramatic, Suzanne,” Jake, who also happened to be a state police inspector, said as he grinned down at me. “My month of physical rehab is up. We knew this day was coming from the very start.” He flexed his right arm, the one where he’d been shot, and he didn’t wince one little bit. “See? I’m as good as new.”
“I still think you might be rushing things,” I said. The truth was, I’d loved having Jake recover in my cottage, and I wasn’t at all excited to see him go. It had nothing to do with the fact that I’d be living on my own. At least that was what I kept telling myself. Momma had finally gotten married and moved out of the cottage. She’d had almost a month to get used to her wedded bliss, and I had to say, it agreed with her. Our chief of police was one lucky man, and to his credit, he knew it better than anybody else did.
“Don’t worry about me.” Jake looked deep into my eyes, and it was clear that he could see something else was troubling me. That was one of the downsides to being with a state police inspector. He could read nuances like most folks read the newspaper, and I’d found it nearly impossible to deceive him. In a gentle voice, he said, “Hey, I know that it’s going to be a big change for you once I’m gone, but your mother is close by, and Grace is just down the road. You won’t be lacking for company, I can just about guarantee you that.”
“I know you’re right, but it still won’t be the same without you here,” I said. “It’s been so nice having you downstairs.”
He smiled warmly at me. “I’ve enjoyed it, too, but it’s time for both of us to get back to work. You can’t tell me that you don’t miss it, too. After all, you’ve been away from the donut shop for as long as I’ve been here. A month is a long time not to do anything.”
“Hey, I’ve been doing something very important,” I said. “I’ve been taking care of you, not that you’ve needed it much lately.”
“What can I say? I’m a quick healer,” Jake said with a grin. “Anyway, I won’t be gone all that long, and you know that I’ll come back to April Springs every chance that I get. To be honest with you, I’m kind of surprised that you haven’t gotten tired of me already.”
I matched his smile with one of my own. “Right back at you, big guy,” I said. “Do you really have to go today?”
“Sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about it, Suzanne. I’m due in Raleigh at four,” Jake said as he glanced at his watch. “That gives me three hours with you here in April Springs before I hit the road. What should we do in the meantime?”
I never had a chance to answer him, though, because that’s when we heard the first siren that shattered the tranquility of our last day together for the foreseeable future.
Chapter 3
“What do you think is going on?” I asked Jake as we both stared as the fire truck came into view. “Do you smell smoke?”
He took a deep breath. “No, how about you?”
I did the same, and then I answered, “Nothing.”
We started walking quickly through the park toward where the fire truck was parked, its siren now silenced but its lights still flashing brightly. It was the old building near Donut Hearts that had belonged to my mother until very recently, but I didn’t know the woman who’d bought it from her very well.
“Look,” Jake said as he pointed down the road. A police cruiser was racing to the scene, and an ambulance wasn’t far behind. “That changes everything. Let’s go see what’s going on.”
I resisted his pull, though. “You’re not back on active duty yet, remember?”
He frowned for a moment before he spoke. “As a matter of fact, I was reinstated this morning over the phone.”
This was news to me. “Where was I when all of this was happening?”
“You were upstairs in the shower,” he said.
“Why didn’t you tell me when I came down?”
He just shrugged. “I didn’t want to spoil the day for either one of us, okay?”
“It’s fine by me,” I said. “If you’re on the clock, though, that means that you probably should check out what’s happening.”
“Aren’t you coming with me?” he asked me, clearly surprised by the possibility that I wouldn’t tag along.
“Just try to stop me,” I said with a grin. “I might not have any official status, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not every bit as curious as you are about what’s going on.”
“Let’s go, then,” Jake said, and we both picked up our paces. It was a testament to his recovery that he was so ready to jump into action. I could still remember how fragile he’d b
een just after being shot, how much he’d slept in the days following the traumatic experience. This was a new man in front of me now, one that was ready and eager to leap back into danger. It was certainly a far cry from the fellow who’d hinted earlier that he might be done with law enforcement as a career. There was certainly no sign of that now, at least not that I could see.
“I’m right behind you,” I said, and soon enough, we were both standing in front of the building.
Chief Martin was already there, conferring with the fire chief when we arrived. When he saw us, he nodded in our direction and held up a hand for us to wait.
“Stay right here,” Jake said. “I’ll be back soon.”
“I’m going over there with you,” I said.
“Suzanne, humor me, okay? The only way that either one of us is going to find anything out is if I act in my official capacity.”
“Go on, then,” I urged him, knowing that he was right. “I’ll be waiting right here for you when you’re finished.”
“I’m counting on it.”
After he was gone, I was tempted to wander the fifty yards across the tracks to the donut shop, but if I did that, I might miss out on what was going on where all the action was occurring, and that was something that I wasn’t willing to risk. I’d be back at the helm the next day anyway, so it might not be a bad idea to enjoy my last day of freedom before I had to return to the daily grind of making donuts, not that I wasn’t looking forward to it. Jake had been right about that, though I hadn’t admitted it. I’d missed my work, and as much as it pained me to see him leave town, I was eager to get back to making donuts. I’d been creating dozens of recipes in my head and on paper since I’d been idle, and I couldn’t wait to start trying some of them out. If one out of ten actually worked, I’d have a wonderful new selection to offer my customers very soon.
After a long conference between the fire chief, the police chief, and Jake, I watched as he broke away and headed back in my direction. “Sorry, but I’m afraid that I’m going to have to hang around and help out here for a while, Suzanne,” he said.
I couldn’t keep the disappointment from my face. “But you’re not due to start work until later today, even if you have been reinstated.”
“That may be true, but this situation is kind of delicate,” he said softly.
“How so?”
“There’s a dead body inside the shop,” he replied, barely above a whisper.
Oh, no! “Who was it?” I asked.
“I can’t say just yet, but I’ll know more in a little bit,” Jake replied, and then he headed inside the building, joined by the fire and police chiefs of April Springs.
I wasn’t left alone, though, not by any means. There was quite a crowd gathering outside, including my assistant, Emma, and her mother, Sharon. They’d been running the donut shop for the last month while I’d tended to Jake, and we’d agreed to split the profits that had accrued under their tenure. I hadn’t wanted to take any of it, but they’d both insisted, and in the end, I hadn’t had much choice, not if I wanted to keep running my little donut shop for the foreseeable future.
Emma approached me as she asked, “What’s going on, Suzanne?”
“I’m still waiting to find that out myself,” I said.
Sharon joined us and said, “We were nearly out of donuts and we didn’t have any customers at the moment, so we decided to lock the doors early and clean up after we find out what’s going on. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Hey, it’s still your shop today, so you can do whatever you please,” I said with a smile.
“Suzanne, we all know that’s not true. Donut Hearts will always be yours. My daughter and I have just been lucky enough to take over for the past month.” She stifled a yawn and then added, “Though I won’t mind sleeping in tomorrow the least little bit. I don’t know how you’ve done it all these years.”
“Always being a whisker away from bankruptcy has had a remarkable impact on my ability to get up every morning and make donuts,” I answered with a smile.
Sharon nodded, and then she noticed someone drive up behind us. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go have a quick chat with my husband.”
Ray Blake was not just another idle curiosity seeker there to see what was going on; he owned and ran the town’s only newspaper, The April Springs Sentinel. It was mostly ads, but Ray prided himself on his journalistic abilities, so he was always searching for a titillating story for his front page. Even though I knew that we were dealing with a dead body here, I decided to keep that to myself. Let Ray discover that fact on his own. I didn’t have anything against the man, but my first loyalty was to Jake, first, last, and always, and I was certain he wouldn’t want me sharing what he’d just told me with the press.
“This is quite the scene, isn’t it?” Emma asked as she looked around. “Should I go grab some coffee and the rest of our donuts to sell to the crowd?”
“My, aren’t you the little entrepreneur,” I said with a smile.
“Sorry, I’ve just gotten used to watching the bottom line all of the time. It’s exhausting, isn’t it?” she asked with a grin of her own.
I studied Emma closely before I spoke again. “Let me ask you something. Is it going to be demeaning for you to go back to just being my assistant tomorrow?”
“Are you kidding? I’m going to welcome it with open arms,” she said, the relief clear in her voice. “Suzanne, I said it before, and I’ll say it again. What you do every morning is more impressive than most folks can imagine. I’m actually looking forward to burying myself up to my arms in warm, sudsy water and letting my mind just wander. You’re more than welcome to take things back over as far as I’m concerned.”
“Thanks for saying that,” I said.
I was about to add something to it when there was a commotion out front. Evidently something big was about to happen, and I didn’t want to miss a moment of it.
Jake walked out of the building toward me, but that wasn’t what caught my attention. Just behind him, Chief Martin looked as though he’d just been shot in the gut. His face was ashen, and it looked as though he was mere moments away from losing his lunch. I watched in surprise as Officer Grant steadied him, and when I glanced back at Jake, his grim expression triggered a flood of emotions in me.
“Did something happen to Momma?” I cried out, nearly collapsing onto the pavement.
Jake got there and managed to catch me before I could fall. “Take it easy, Suzanne. Your mother is fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. As a matter of fact, I just spoke with her on the phone,” he assured me. “She’s on her way.”
“If Momma’s okay, then what’s wrong with the chief? He looks as though he’s just seen a ghost.”
In a softened voice, Jake said, “He’s pretty shook up, but then he has a right to be. The body they found inside was his ex-wife.”
“Evelyn is dead?” I asked in disbelief. I had never been a big fan of the woman after the trouble she’d once made for my mother, but I certainly hadn’t wished her that much ill. “What happened to her?”
“At first glance, it appears to have been an accident,” Jake said carefully.
“But you don’t believe that, do you?” I asked as I studied him closely. Maybe I’d learned to read him as well since we’d been together.
He shook his head. “Not a chance. It looks staged to me. I hate to do this, but I’m going to have to call my boss. There’s no way that the chief is going to be able to investigate this himself.”
“Are you going to do it?” I asked him. “That would be perfect. After all, you’re already here, and besides, you know just about everyone in town.”
Jake shook his head wearily. “Suzanne, that’s precisely why I’m the worst person to investigate this murder. I have too many opinions and prejudices about this case before it even begins, and more ties to the people involved than any investigator should have.”
“But don’t you see?
That’s what could be your most powerful asset.” Not only did I want Jake to stay and take over because he was the best man for the job, but if he were to take it, that would mean that I wouldn’t have to say good-bye to him quite so soon.
“I don’t have time for this conversation right now,” Jake said as he pulled out his phone. “I just wanted to let you know what was going on.”
I hadn’t even seen Ray Blake standing nearby, which was the newspaperman’s intention, I was sure. He’d been lurking and eavesdropping in on our conversation, and when he’d gotten all that he could out of Jake that way, he decided to try a more direct way to question him. “Inspector, I understand that the victim was Evelyn Martin, Chief Martin’s ex-wife. Would you care to comment?”
Jake gave the reporter an icy glare that shook me a little in its intensity. I was seeing the cold side of him at that moment, the professional lawman that didn’t put up with any interference from outsiders. After staring at Ray for a full ten seconds, he finally just grunted, “No comment.”
“Surely you have something to say,” Ray pressed him.
“Off the record?” Jake asked, surprising me and the newspaperman.
“Sure thing,” Ray replied eagerly.
Jake took a step closer, now looming over him. “If you don’t hold this until tomorrow, you’ll never get another useful thing out of me for as long as I’m around, and I plan on being here for a very long time.”
I had to give Ray credit. He didn’t even flinch. “And if I choose to cooperate, what do I get then?”
“My respect, and a shot at some cooperation later on down the line,” Jake said.
Ray shook his head. “Sorry, but I only deal in things that I can write about. I don’t care how you feel about me. That’s not my job.”
