Jingle Buried Cookies (Black Cat Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 9)

by Lyndsey Cole

  The frigid air was crisp and refreshing. Roxy set the pace on the Lake Trail, encouraging Annie to walk briskly to keep up. She glanced at Paul Ames’s house on the way by and was surprised to see that Charlene’s car was still parked behind his house. What were the two of them discussing for all this time? Maybe Paul was buttering Charlene up to keep him in the loop in case she decided to sell her land.

  And he certainly knew how to butter someone up with his gourmet cooking and elegant decorating.

  Or maybe they were plotting a way to frame Leona to keep the focus off Charlene.

  Chapter 9

  The cold weather kept most people inside so Annie enjoyed a quiet and peaceful walk. When they got to her favorite point on the trail, she stopped with Roxy to look over the frozen lake and the mountains beyond, a view she never tired of, no matter the season.

  “Ready to head back? We can make a quick stop to see Thelma and give her some of Leona’s cookies. She always enjoys a sweet treat,” Annie asked Roxy, gently tugging on the leash to turn her dog around.

  The tip of Roxy’s tail wagged.

  Annie was glad to see Thelma waving from her window when they got closer to the old woman’s house. Annie turned up the path that led to Thelma’s kitchen door, which was already open and she invited Annie and Roxy inside.

  “I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon after I talked to that handsome husband of yours. I hope he isn’t missing you already.” Thelma closed the door, keeping the winter air outside. “The water is hot. Help yourself to some tea, you know the routine.” With the help of her walker, Thelma slowly made her way to her chair in the living room. Roxy followed close at her heels, knowing exactly what was on the small table next to Thelma’s chair.

  Annie poured hot water over a bag of peppermint tea as she listened to Thelma chat with Roxy.

  “What an adorable jacket you have on, Roxy. And you’re so polite, while you sit and wait for your dog treat.”

  Annie heard a rustle as Thelma opened the bag of dog bones. She joined Thelma and Roxy after she shed her coat and other layers, leaving them on a chair near the door.

  “I brought you some Christmas cookies that Leona made.”

  “Oh, thank you, dear. You do know how much I enjoy my sweets.” Thelma wasted no time choosing a cookie from the bag. “Oh my, these are almost too pretty to eat. How does she do these intricate designs? She must have gone to art school.” Thelma inspected the treat, looking afraid to take a bite.

  “Leona’s very patient, that’s for sure.” At least when it came to baking, but not so much with the rest of her life, Annie reminded herself.

  Thelma finished a snowflake cookie and chose one with a Santa design next. “Tell me about your vacation so I can imagine myself in that warm Hawaiian weather instead of this freezing snow and cold. When I was younger, I loved winter but it’s just too hard on me now with worrying about slipping on a patch of ice if I dare to even venture outside for a breath of fresh air. Oh, to be young and in love again.” Thelma closed her eyes and Annie suspected she was enjoying a long-ago memory since the edges of her lips turned up in a smile.

  Roxy sat with her head on Thelma’s lap and Annie relaxed while she sipped her tea. Visiting with Thelma could be filled with talking or just a comfortable silence. Either was fine with Annie. Today, Annie relived the relaxation of her recent trip with Jason, and Thelma clearly lived vicariously through her stories.

  Thelma’s hand stroked Roxy’s head rhythmically as Annie talked, offering exclamations of joy here and there, sharing in the same joy that Annie experienced while in Hawaii. When Annie paused long enough to take a sip of tea, Thelma said, “I’m glad you stopped in when you did.” She picked up her newspaper and her pencil. “I’m stuck on today’s crossword puzzle and you always come up with the right words.” Obviously, her interest in Annie’s vacation had strayed to her daily crossword puzzle habit.

  Annie settled comfortably in her chair and waited for Thelma to give her a clue.

  “This is a seasonal crossword, all about Christmas decorations. This one should be easy but I just can’t think of the word. It’s six letters and the third letter is an L. The clue is: a type of Christmas tree. All I can come up with is pine, fir, and spruce but none of them fit.” Thelma looked up and waited for Annie to provide an answer.

  Annie pursed her mouth and thought out loud. “Hmmm. Scotch Pine, Colorado Blue Spruce, Fraser Fir, Balsam Fir—”

  “Balsam, that fits.” Thelma wrote the letters in the boxes. “Okay, how about a poisonous Christmas plant.” Thelma tapped her lip with her pencil.

  Annie sat up straighter. “Poinsettia, holly berry, mistletoe?”

  “Hmmm. Five letters so maybe just holly. That’s why I like to use a pencil in case I get more letters and have to change something.”

  Annie’s stomach was beginning to feel like she had just eaten something poisonous. Were the clues in this crossword puzzle trying to tell her something?

  “Let’s try one more since you’re so good at this. A Christmas treat. This should be easy. Six letters and it begins with a C.” Before Annie could even reply, Thelma had the answer. “Of course, this has to be cookie. Who doesn’t love Christmas cookies?”

  She filled in the boxes and folded her paper. “Would you like a cookie before you head back out into the cold?” Thelma helped herself to her third cookie.

  Annie made a mental note to be sure to bring more over. “No thanks. I brought them for you. I’ve got plenty more since Leona has been making mountains of them.” Annie shivered at the thought of the mountain of dying Santa cookies that were still in her kitchen. No one else should ever see those.

  “These cookies remind me of my neighbor,” Thelma said randomly.

  “Your neighbor?”

  “Yes, Paul Ames. He’s the perfect Santa. I didn’t make it to the Christmas party this year but doesn’t Paul usually dress up as Santa?”

  “I guess he usually does but he was sick and Nelson Abbott filled in.” Annie didn’t say any more about Nelson, not sure what Thelma had already heard.

  “Oh, dear. When my son called this morning, he told me the news about Nelson but I didn’t know he was at the party. How dreadful.”

  “Did you know Nelson very well?”

  “Only because of the land on the other side of Paul’s house. Nelson has been thinking about selling, and from what my son told me, there are a lot of people interested in that piece of land. I wonder what will happen to it now.”

  “Yes. That’s an interesting question.” Annie stood. “Come on Roxy. You still have your jacket on but I have to bundle up. Thanks for the tea, Thelma. I’ll bring more cookies over soon.”

  Thelma didn’t reply. Her eyes were closed and her head rested on the back of her chair. Annie didn’t know how she could fall asleep after eating three cookies when a moment of panic hit her. Was Thelma asleep or did Leona’s cookies kill her?

  Thelma sighed and smiled. Her hand twitched a bit.

  Annie wiped her forehead and sucked in a deep, calming breath. She had to figure out what caused Nelson’s death before she imagined everyone dying after eating one of Leona’s cookies. She knew it was ridiculous but timing was everything, and with Nelson dying after eating her cookies, it definitely gave Annie pause. It was possible that Nelson ate something before he came to the party that made him sick. And what about all the liquor he slugged down? Maybe he died of alcohol poisoning and not something in Leona’s cookies.

  She needed to get home and do some internet searching; work through the possibilities in a methodical way so Leona wasn’t blind-sided by Detective Crank’s questions.

  The blast of fresh air blew away the drowsiness she felt after sitting in Thelma’s overheated house and the brisk walk to Cobblestone Cottage energized her determination to find out more about Nelson Abbott.

  Jason had the fire in the fireplace roaring when she returned. “Nice walk?” he asked.

  “How did you know?”

/>   “Well, my investigative skills are extraordinary, so when I saw your car in the driveway, Roxy gone, the hook where you hang your winter coat empty, and one less bag of cookies on the counter, I deduced you went to visit Thelma Dodd. Am I right?” His eyes twinkled with delight.

  Annie smiled. “Yes, you’re right. Now, how about you use those amazing skills to figure out what happened to Nelson Abbott last night so I can stop worrying that everyone who eats one of Leona’s cookies is going to drop dead?”

  “She didn’t poison those cookies. You know that.”

  “Of course I do, but what if whoever poisoned them managed to poison more that are out there on someone’s kitchen table.” Annie pulled her boots off and stood in front of the fire, rubbing her hands together briskly.

  “I did some searching about poisonous berries and such. This should put your mind at ease—even if there were holly berries on the cookie, a small dose like that would barely even make an adult sick.”

  “So, was it some other type of poison?”

  Jason shrugged. “Must be, but the police haven’t revealed that yet. It may take some time before they figure it out.”

  “Huh.” Annie sat on the couch. “Something else? Like what?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine but it could be something else he ate or drank. That’s sort of good news for Leona.”

  “Unless it was something he ate or drank at the café,” Annie said, finishing Jason’s thought. “I guess it comes down to who wanted Nelson dead.”

  “Or, don’t forget the possibility of a mistaken identity and Nelson wasn’t the real target. We can’t rule out Paul Ames’s potential enemies.”

  Annie put both hands on the side of her head and shook it back and forth. “I can’t keep all this straight. I hope Detective Crank has some good leads to follow and they don’t make a trail right to Leona.”

  “What about Tyler Johnson, the Chief of Police?” Jason asked.

  “Really? I know who Tyler Johnson is. You think I should talk to him? My old boyfriend?” Annie’s forehead was scrunched into so many wrinkles, she looked like a pug.

  “Well, not if you don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “I doubt Tyler would even take the time to talk to me. He’s been avoiding me ever since we got married. Saturday night at the party, when the police showed up, Tyler stayed outside and Christy handled the inside stuff. I think Tyler didn’t want to have to see me.”

  “Oh come on. He has to do his job. He can’t avoid you if you’re a witness.”

  “I suppose I could bring him some cookies. I know he loves Leona’s baking.”

  Jason chucked. “Make sure you don’t bring the dying Santas by mistake. What was Leona thinking when she decorated those?” He shook his head.

  “She was feeling sorry for herself, but I’m pretty sure she’s over it now that she has to work with Cookie Snow on the desserts for Mrs. Delaney’s Christmas Eve gala.”

  “She what?”

  “I know. It’s a disaster. I’m afraid Leona will try to sabotage Cookie somehow to get her fired, but with Leona’s luck, she’s the one who will get into trouble.”

  “How can I help?” Jason was genuinely concerned.

  “Keep an eye on her. I’ll go to the police station and try to get some information out of Tyler. You find out what Leona is up to and we’ll meet back here in an hour or so.”

  “Perfect. I’ll pick up something for lunch,” Jason offered. He handed Annie a bag of Leona’s cookies. “Good luck.”

  Annie bundled up. She’d need more than luck to juggle all these problems and keep them from crashing down on Leona.

  Chapter 10

  Annie turned into the parking lot at the Catfish Cove Police Station. It was definitely busier than a run-of-the-mill Sunday which could only mean one thing—Nelson Abbott’s murder had the department working overtime.

  As she slid from behind the wheel of her car, a voice called her name. “Annie, what are you doing here?”

  “Camilla? I could ask you the same thing.”

  Camilla pushed her now-blond hair behind her ears and rolled her eyes. “Well, last night Detective Crank wanted my Mrs. Claus outfit but I asked her if she expected me to go home in my undies. Geesh, that woman has no common sense. And that hairdo? If she let her hair out of that tight bun, she wouldn’t look so scary.”

  “I think that’s her goal—to be scary and intimidating.”

  Camilla shivered. “It sure worked. I’m only glad she wasn’t here when I dropped off the outfit or she probably would have had me begging for her to lock me up for murdering that lecherous Santa just to put everyone at the party out of their misery. What are you here for?”

  Annie couldn’t help but chuckle at Camilla’s dramatic explanation. “I’m hoping to have a chat with Police Chief Tyler Johnson.”

  Camilla’s perfectly shaped brows rose into a meaningful arch as she glanced at the bag in Annie’s hand. “With some of Leona’s cookies? Now, that’s a good idea. The way right to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Or, so I’ve been told. Maybe that’s my problem. I can’t cook to save my own life.” She tossed her blond bob and Annie knew that it made no difference in Camilla’s life whether she could cook or not. Her looks were a magnet for men.

  “Uh-huh. I’m hoping he’ll tell me something about what’s happening. But I’m not too optimistic.” She shrugged. “He hasn’t been particularly friendly ever since my wedding.”

  Camilla held her hand out. “Give the cookies to me. The officer sitting at the main desk looked bored to death and he couldn’t take his eyes off me. I’ll butter him up a bit and find out what he knows.”

  Annie handed the bag of cookies to Camilla. “You’ll probably have better luck than I will but I’ll still go in and see if Tyler will talk to me.”

  They headed toward the entrance together.

  “You know,” Camilla stopped just outside the door and said in a low voice, “I overheard something last night that might have some significance. Charlene accused Nelson of trying to go behind her back about selling some piece of property. She was furious.”

  “When did she say that?” Annie put her hand on Camilla’s to keep her from opening the door.

  Camilla took her hand back and put her finger on her chin. She rolled her eyes to one side in thought. “He had been drinking quite a bit already. Charlene brought over a plate of cookies for him. I think it was after Cookie Snow arrived and Nelson had his hands all over her.”

  “I heard Charlene arguing with Cookie about a piece of land, too. It sounds like Charlene and Nelson weren’t on the same page about what to do with it. And now Charlene will be able to do whatever she wants. Do you think she was angry enough to kill him?”

  “She was angry, that’s for sure, but I think most of her anger was a result of his drinking and his embarrassing behavior. She was as angry as Rudolf would be if his nose stopped glowing.”

  “So, you’re always good at reading women. On a scale from one to ten, what are the odds you’d give that Charlene murdered her husband?” Annie asked.

  “Well, without really knowing much about their marriage, I’d say six or seven, but if you can dig up something else that was going on, that number would shoot up higher.”

  “And what about Cookie Snow being the one to sabotage Leona’s cookies?”

  Camilla flicked her wrist as if that question wasn’t even worth asking. “Of course she did it. Every time I looked at her she was smiling and giving Mrs. Delaney her goo-goo eyes. She was out to destroy Leona and get that job for the Christmas Eve gala.” Camilla’s eyes popped open wide. “Did the cookies poison Nelson?”

  “I don’t know, but something did and that’s what I want to try to find out from Tyler.” Annie pulled the door open and waited for Camilla to walk in ahead of her.

  The officer sitting at the main desk looked up and smiled when he saw Camilla. “You’re back. How can I help you?”

  Annie waited to one side a
s Camilla flirted with the officer, turning the poor guy into a pile of mush. He didn’t know if he was coming or going by the time Camilla leaned over the desk. She handed him the bag of cookies and even opened it since he wasn’t taking his eyes off of her chest.

  “Here, try one of these luscious cookies.” Camilla smiled and tilted her head as she pushed a Santa cookie toward the officer’s mouth. He still hadn’t moved his eyes off Camilla.

  Annie shook her head as she watched Camilla toy with this poor guy.

  “Can I help you?”

  Annie’s head swiveled to her right. “Tyler. Yes. You’re just the person I was hoping to find. Do you have a minute?”

  He nodded but didn’t budge.

  “Somewhere private?”

  His eyes moved to Camilla and the bag of cookies in front of his officer. “Was that your idea, Annie? At least you aren’t trying to bribe me with some of Leona’s cookies.”

  Annie shook her head. She gave a silent thank you to Camilla for taking the cookies and saving her from embarrassing herself by offering them to Tyler. And also for the information Cookie gave her about Charlene that she could share with Tyler. She had to give him something if she hoped to get anything in return.

  Tyler took Annie by her elbow and guided her to his small, cramped office down the hall behind the main desk. She moved a stack of folders off the only extra chair and sat. Tyler had his fingers steepled as he watched her from behind his desk. He wasn’t going to make this easy for her. She shifted on the vinyl covered seat and, before any words were even spoken, she felt uncomfortable under his watchful glare.

  “What brings you here? We are rather busy,” Tyler said.

  “Thanks for giving me some of your valuable time, Tyler. I have some information that you might find helpful. About the, ah, murder.” She wrapped one ankle over the other, laced her fingers together, and tried to get comfortable. It was impossible.

  “Didn’t you tell Detective Crank everything yesterday?” His voice was deep with a trace of annoyance.