Apple Pie and Arsenic

by C A Phipps

  Maddie waved away the compliments. “I don’t know who fed you all that, and I’ve already agreed we can be friends.”

  Laura laughed hard. “Whatever. I’m not saying these things to flatter you, believe it or not, and I don’t think it’ll make you big-headed, either way.”

  The bell over the door rang, thankfully for Maddie, and Angel breezed back in.

  “Well, look at the two of you. It makes my little heart jump for joy.”

  “Glad we can oblige. Doughnut?” asked Maddie.

  Angel grinned. “I hate being predictable. Yes, please.”

  “These have Gran’s homemade strawberry jam in them.”

  “I’m already drooling. Maybe I should take two. I have the Blue Brigade descending this morning.”

  Laura was horrified. “I don’t know how you cope with them. They scare the heck out of me.”

  “They’re not all bad. Some of them are actually very sweet. It’s just that when they get together they can get a little mean.” She sighed, then grinned. “You know I’m in here so often, maybe I should be asking for a job here too.”

  Maddie packed up her recipes and headed behind the counter while Laura packaged the doughnuts. “Anytime,” Maddie laughed.

  “Maybe not. You wouldn’t pay me what I make make in the salon. Correct?”

  Maddie nodded. “Unfortunately, it is, and I need someone who can actually cook.”

  “But you hired me,” Laura reminded her.

  “Because you’re one butt-kicking barista, and you’re going to be a great baker. Angel can’t boil water.”

  Angel nodded. “Sad but true. The awesome thing about our combined professions is that we get to make people feel good inside and out.”

  “I hadn’t thought about it like that, but it’s so true,” Maddie chuckled.

  “Tell Angel about your idea,” Laura said excitedly.

  “Big mouth.” Maddie was only half-joking. Now, she really would have to make it happen. Why she pulled herself in so many directions, she had no idea, but suddenly it seemed right. “As we discussed some time back, and with Laura’s encouragement, I’m going to run a class not just for you, but for all the Girlz to learn the basics of cooking. If you’re still interested.”

  “What part of ‘heck, yes’ do you need to hear twice? I’ll be there with bells on.”

  “As I told Laura, it can’t happen until we’ve solved the murder. You know, the one you’ve discussed with her?”

  Angel looked sheepish. “I asked her about that day, like I asked everyone in town.”

  “Yeah, about that. It seems like everyone knows what you’ve been up to,” Laura added.

  “Well, I have no idea how they would. I was incredibly careful about my questions and who I spoke to.”

  Laura and Maddie gave her sidelong looks, and Angel presented them with a picture of blamelessness.

  “How’s Ethan?” she asked cheerfully.

  “Here’re your doughnuts,” Maddie replied.

  It was a stalemate.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Later that week as Maddie was replacing the special tea sets in the cabinet at the end of the day, the bell rang and she turned to find Mickey Findlay with an odd look on his face, as if he were disappointed to see her. This was quickly replaced by a wide smile that did not quite reach his eyes.

  “Good afternoon, Madeline. I thought I’d pop in personally and invite you to my talk at the community center.”

  “Good afternoon. Sorry, your talk?”

  “Perhaps you’ve heard about me standing for election.”

  Just then Laura came through with more crockery and when she saw Mickey she paled. Frightened she was about to drop something, Maddie took them from her.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, but her eyes stayed on the man who was regarding her with a rather hostile look.

  “Laura. Good to see you. I heard you turned down your parents offer to run again for Mayor?”

  “I’m sure you are a better candidate,” she said coolly.

  Maddie wasn’t sure what she was witnessing, but she felt more would be said if she wasn’t in the room.

  “Excuse me, I’ll leave you to talk.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about,” Laura insisted.

  “Except ensuring you and your friends will be voting for me.” He gave them a shark-toothed smile

  “I’m sure you’ll do fine whether we do or not.”

  The look he gave them was not in the least friendly. “Let’s hope so. Good day.”

  “Are you okay, Laura?”

  She was staring at the door fearfully, as if he might reappear. “What? Oh yes, I’m fine.”

  “You two don’t like each other?”

  “Not much. How could you tell?”

  “Seriously? You could have cut the air with a knife.”

  Laura grimaced. “I didn’t realize it was that obvious, or maybe I’m past caring. He’s a friend of my parents and they called last week to see if I would run again. I told them no. Mr. Findlay was behind their idea of having me as mayor in the first place. Like them he thinks I’m a fool.”

  “You are no fool, and I think we should all do what makes us happy.”

  “Me too. Being mayor would have made me more than miserable for sure.”

  “Then I’m glad you said no. For your sake and mine.” She winked at her.

  Laura smiled, and went back to cleaning up looking markedly better, so Maddie ventured out to do a few errands including collecting the mail, something she’d made sure she did herself since the first envelope.

  Each time she opened the post office box, her heart began to pound. Today, she had good reason. Glancing about her, she could see no one looking even remotely suspicious. Everyone appeared to be going about their business as usual, but she couldn’t stop the shiver that ran through her body as she pulled the offending envelope out of the box along with the others.

  By the time she got back the bakery was shut, unlike the other businesses along the main street. Thomas nodded at her as he pulled a handful sausages from the front of his window. Angel was putting rollers in Maude Oliver’s blue hair, and Mr. Jenkins from the second-hand shop was cataloguing a new shipment of something.

  The only one doing something she shouldn’t be doing was Maddie. The envelope forced her steps to slow even as she had the urge to run. She unlocked the shop door and went through to the kitchen.

  “Gran? Laura?”

  No answer. They must have both gone back to the cottage. Taking no chances, she ran up the stairs and went to her bedroom after collecting a pair of gloves and a knife. She threw the mail on her bed, slipped on the gloves, then picked up the envelope by the edges and ran a knife along the seal. Steeling herself, she pulled out the single sheet of paper.

  You must be the most stupid person in town. Did you think I wouldn’t see or hear about you and your friends asking their pathetic questions? After all that’s happened, you really do have a death wish. Or would you rather one of your friends died? Or Gran? Or the Sheriff? Maybe a bigger fire this time? It’s time to move on before someone else gets hurt.

  Maddie felt sick. Move on? Whoever was sending these letters knew her and knew she and the Girlz were involved in some detective work. Were they watching her, or all of them? That would imply there was more than one person involved. A gang of killers in Maple Falls sounded absurd, but then so had Denise being murdered.

  Life was becoming crazy, and if Maddie didn’t have Gran, the shop, and her friends, she would have been in La-La Land herself. What should she do now? Should she go on not telling Ethan, or should she come clean? There was no way she could endanger her friends any longer if they were the targets of such hate.

  She would protect them and Gran like a lion if necessary.

  She picked up the letter and sniffed it. There was that familiar smell again, a fragrance someone she knew wore. Someone she saw, not often, but enough to think the pungent odor suited
them perfectly.

  Virginia! She had worn this fragrance every day since she was a teenager. It was odd that Maddie hadn’t seen her around lately. Not that she would come into the shop to buy anything, but she’d initially taken to catching people unawares and chastising them for buying Maddie’s cakes and pies as they left.

  With Laura, who had headed her list of suspects at one time, now cleared of suspicion, Maddie had deliberately not pushed her fellow sleuths into more action. That didn’t stop her from thinking about it or looking closely at the few names left on their list.

  Suzy was busy at school, Laura at the bakery, and Angel was tied to her salon, but they’d passed on the news that Virginia had been seen skulking around town on the evenings before and after the murder. This was the biggest tip they had, but after the last letter, Maddie had felt the need to follow up on it alone.

  Opinionated and rude as Virginia was, Maddie was glad the woman had never been elected mayor. Their poor town could never have coped with such a mean figurehead. A lump in her throat that was caused just by thinking about Denise made her angry at their lack of progress. Things were moving far too slowly, and there had been too many letters threatening not only herself but those she cared about.

  The killer had to be caught, and if it was Virginia, nothing would please Maddie more than helping with her capture. With no-one around Maddie took the opportunity to implement her plan. She loaded Honey with a flashlight, gloves, binoculars and a mini Taser she’d purchased online.

  That had been awkward when it arrived a few days ago. Doris from the post office had waited patiently for an explanation of the box, her hand lingering on top of it so Maddie would have had to snatch it if she wanted to leave anytime soon. Instead she changed the subject.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you about your tomato sauce recipe. I’ve heard it’s the best in town,” she’d said as sincerely as she could muster.

  Doris had all but jumped over her counter to explain the recipe and insisted on writing it down. That had taken quite a bit of time, and it wasn’t until another customer came in that Maddie had been able to tuck the package under her arm, thank Doris profusely and make her escape. Maybe she was cut out for the detective business after all.

  She packed a light jacket, water and a few snacks just in case she was stuck in her car for hours. Then she dressed in black leggings and a black sweater, tied her hair into a tighter braid and practiced a few rolls over the bed and commando crawls along the carpet. It paid to be prepared for every eventuality.

  Ethan wouldn’t be happy with the stakeout or the Taser, but he might not have to know. As safe as it made her feel to have a useful weapon for protection, her stomach hoped she wouldn’t need to use it.

  After parking down the road from the real estate shop, Maddie unpacked her bag for something to do. Plus, she wanted to read up on using the Taser once more.

  It was a rather pretty blue, with two small ugly spikes in the end. Shaped like a gun, it fit neatly in her hand. Granddad Flynn had loved to hunt, and when she was knee-high to a grasshopper, he’d taken her out with him many times. Hunting rabbits or deer might not be quite the same as shooting a person up close, but she could at least say she knew how to fire a gun with reasonable accuracy.

  Her initiation had been shooting cans off a fence, just like in the movies, and Granddad had said she was a natural. When you had a self-involved mother, hearing any praise was wonderful; hearing it from either of her grandparents was better than licking cookie batter off a beater.

  The Taser felt odd in her hand. It was light, for one thing, and it wasn’t exactly like a gun. Not that she’d held one of those in years. Not since Granddad had passed away. She bit her lip. No sense in getting maudlin. She had too much to think about. For starters, could Virginia be the murderer? As mean as she was, it didn’t feel right. Then again, would it feel any different if it was anyone else from Maple Falls?

  She unfolded the instructions and looking through them, noting the effective distance and where to aim. Preferably up to 20 feet and just below the chest. The suggestion was to immobilize the assailant, then run for help. Good advice for someone not known for their physical prowess, although it was true that making dough and hefting trays had strengthened her arm muscles, and living in New York City had definitely toughened her up.

  She was having a little flex of those muscles as she focused the binoculars when Virginia’s front door opened. Her nemesis looked up and down the street, and Maddie slithered down her seat. Although she was confident she wouldn’t be noticed, parked as she was between two cars farther down the road, it didn’t hurt to take precautions.

  Virginia’s car was a sleek black Mercedes. It had been the talk of the town when she bought it with the commission from her first sold property, even though it wasn’t brand-new. That had been several years ago, and she must have put all her money since then into opening up her own business and buying her designer clothes.

  It was ridiculously easy to follow her, since the woman drove below the speed limit and indicated a turn well before she needed to. Maddie had never watched her drive before and was astounded. Virginia was a blunt rip-tear-bust kind of person, not this over-careful type. To be truthful, it was a little disappointing that this surveillance malarkey wasn’t more exciting.

  They drove on out of town into the countryside, which meant it was now pitch-black outside apart from the light cast from their headlights. The farther they drove, the more nervous Maddie became. She hadn’t been overly bothered by the darkness while she was living in New York City, where everything was lit up around the clock. Naturally, that had taken some time to get used to, but a place that size with that many lights had given her an illusion of safety she’d appreciated.

  Finally, Virginia signaled she was turning. Maddie slowed but drove on past the dirt road. When she was a quarter of a mile down the road, she made a U-turn, then turned off her lights. She parked under a large maple tree, hoping it would give her some camouflage. Next, she slipped on her jacket and stuffed its pockets with the mini Taser and flashlight, then crept slowly down the road. Walking for what seemed hours, Maddie could barely make out the driveway and fences on either side, let alone anything else.

  She pulled the flashlight out of her pocket but kept it off as she trained her ears on the sounds around her. All she could hear was the rustling of grass and cows shuffling around in the paddock next door. It was cows making that noise, wasn’t it?

  “Why tonight, of all nights, is there no moon?” she whispered, then bit her bottom lip. Nervousness did tend to make a person talkative, and this was so not the time for that.

  Out of the darkness loomed a building. It looked like a barn and went back a long way. A faint light could be seen at the far end. Maddie ran in a half-crouch toward it, like she’d seen in the movies, and found a partially opened door. Peering around it, she sucked in a breath.

  She could see a variety of tables and machinery as if it were a small factory which hadn’t been used in a while. Virginia was in the middle of the large room sitting on a metal chair, her hands tied behind her back. Her face was pinched in pain, and her mouth made a small ‘O’ when she saw Maddie in the doorway.

  Maddie put a finger to her lips and Virginia nodded, then looked away to where a man dressed in black was standing to one side of her but facing away, so Maddie couldn’t see his face. He had a baseball bat in one hand, and he rapped Virginia none too lightly on the knees.

  She screamed, “What the hell, Ralph?”

  “We had a deal for the land. All this messing around with letters is driving me nuts. From now on, we do things my way, or there’ll be consequences. Understand?”

  “Yes.”

  He tapped her once more, with the same reaction. “You say yes, but I know you. As soon as I leave, you’ll be back to your old tricks. We have one thing to concentrate on. After that’s taken care of, you can do what you want with that nosey baker.”

  Virginia snuck a fear
ful look at Maddie, which confused her. Was she scared for herself or for Maddie, someone she disliked intensely and whose life she’d been hell-bent on making as miserable as she could? After all these years, Virginia had proven she had Maddie in her sights and still wanted to hurt her, but right now, she was at someone else’s mercy.

  The knowledge played havoc with Maddie’s sensibilities. She could leave Virginia in the hands of this murderer, because surely that was who he was, or she could help her.

  Unfortunately for Maddie, her innate sense of right and wrong stepped up to the plate, and she knew she couldn’t abandon Virginia. She also knew that Gran would be bitterly disappointed if she didn’t at least try to help someone in distress.

  Decision made, Maddie crept around the building to see if there was another way in. There was a door conveniently ajar in the corner where the building abutted a smaller one. Maddie’s wrestled with her pockets. That wouldn’t do if she needed the Taser in a hurry. She grasped a weapon in one hand and put the other down her bra, hoping that decision wouldn’t hurt her, then slipped through the doorway.

  A hand grasped hers and wrestled the flashlight away, as she was dragged farther inside. She attempted to scream, but another hand was already wrapped around her mouth with a cloth held against her lips and nose. A horrible smell flooded her nostrils as she twisted and turned. He was too strong, and things began to get fuzzy.

  Had he killed Virginia? Was she next?

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  When Maddie tried to open her eyes, they felt like lead. She increased her effort and she had to blink several times before things came into focus. She was still in the building where Virginia had been tied up, the difference being that the room was now deserted apart from herself, and she was the one tied to the chair. Also, both doors were wide open, making the place lighter.

  Rope bit into her wrists as she searched the length of it with her fingers. It was a good knot, but one end of the rope was dangling slightly. She traced back again until she found where it had been pulled through. Her fingertips screamed at the abuse as she fought to free that trailing end.