by Lyndsey Cole
“Murder? That’s awfully drastic. And final. I don’t know the people from his past that live here in town. I know he was planning to go to a Halloween party. Did he make it there?” Her voice shrank to a whisper.
Annie nodded. “That’s where it happened.”
“Could it be someone from the party?”
“It could be. When did you say you arrived in town at your friend’s house?”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think I did say.” She finished her tea. “Thanks for . . . the information. I won’t take up any more of your time.” She picked up her jacket and shoes and walked out the door. In her socks.
“Huh.” Annie flopped against the back of the couch. Her hand rested on Snowball who had jumped up next to her. “What do you make of that?” she asked, just to get the words out even though she didn’t expect an answer out of thin air, or from the cats, or the dog for that matter.
Snowball twitched her tail.
“Rachel certainly made an abrupt exit,” Annie added, stating the obvious.
Jason walked out of his office off the living room and looked around. “Who are you talking to?”
“You’ll never guess who I bumped into on my walk with Roxy.”
“Someone wearing a Halloween costume covered with orange frosting?” Jason grimaced.
“Not quite. Brian’s, girlfriend Rachel, who said she came to town to patch up her relationship with him.”
Jason lowered his head, raised his eyebrows, and his mouth turned into an oval. “The mystery girlfriend?”
“Apparently. She had me convinced she couldn’t possibly be the murderer—friendly, open with her answers, totally shocked when I told her—”
“But?”
“Exactly.” Annie sat up straight on the couch. She threw her hands up in a question. “But when I asked her when she arrived in town, she made a hasty exit. It was like I threw a bucket of ice water over her head. No, make that a bucket of ice, no water.”
“Maybe she remembered an important appointment she had to get to. Like, I don’t know, change the water in her fish tank or something like that.”
Annie raised one eyebrow. “As important as that would be, she’s staying with friends so I think I hit a nerve when I asked when she arrived in town. Maybe she was even at the party dressed in some mysterious costume. With all the people at Kitty’s house, it would have been easy for a random person to show up.”
“In that case, Detective Crank should have her name on her list.”
“Unless she killed Brian and skedaddled before all the poop hit the fan.” Annie gulped the last of her cold coffee. “At any rate, I’m heading to the café. That’s always a good spot to hear what people in town have to say about events.”
“Even if what they say is completely wrong.”
Annie chuckled. “Even that.” She zipped her warm dark green fleece and slung her tote over her shoulder. “See you later,” she called before she shut the door and walked to her car.
Rachel and her mysterious sudden exit added a new dimension surrounding Brian’s murder. Without knowing her last name, it would be hard to dig into her background. Both Cody and Christy could know more about her. Annie also wondered if Brian confided any details to Kitty Brown.
Annie parked next to Leona’s yellow Mustang. The big question this morning was what kind of mood would she be in? With the disaster surrounding Greta’s birthday cake, Annie could only see more problems in the immediate future if Leona continued to refuse to admit she needed reading glasses. Her business was bound to take a hit the longer this predicament continued.
The sound of oldies escaped from the Black Cat Café before Annie opened the door—a positive sign. Leona always listened to her favorite radio station unless her mood was sour. Delicious baking aromas also seeped into the hallway of the Cove’s Corner building. Annie crossed her fingers and sent a silent wish to whoever might be listening that no ingredients were mixed up this Sunday morning.
She opened the door.
“Good morning, Annie.” Leona’s cheerful voice almost made Annie close the door and come back in just to be sure Leona wasn’t under some kind of spell.
“Hi, Leona.” Leona’s fiancé, Danny, turned around and smiled at Annie. “And Danny.” Ah, that would be the reason for Leona’s stellar mood. “I haven’t seen you for a while.”
“Business has been booming and I haven’t had time for my normal morning routine of coffee and a blueberry muffin.” Danny winked at Leona. The two were so perfect for each other. “But, that’s changing.” He held his mug up as a salute to Leona.
Annie poured herself a cup of coffee and slid onto the stool next to Danny. “With business booming, how are you able to fit the café back into your routine?”
“I’ve got a foreman now and he’s finally taking on more responsibility.”
“Oh? I thought you were happy being a one-man-show.”
“Well, yeah, I was until I wasn’t.” He laughed. “I realized I missed my coffee and muffin too much so I had to get out of my comfort zone and try something different.”
“A different muffin?” Annie raised her eyebrows, thinking Danny really had turned over a new leaf.
“Right. That didn’t work out for me at all so I changed my work routine and hired Cody Springer. He had to prove himself before I offered him this higher level of responsibility. Now I can stop in here to start my day off right.” He bit into the streusel topped blueberry muffin and sighed a long, contented sigh.
This was turning into a better morning. At least Leona got that muffin batch right.
“You want one, too, Annie? Still warm from the oven.” Leona tempted Annie’s senses by waving a muffin under her nose.
“Sure.” After Leona put the muffin on a plate in front of Annie, she turned back to take something from the oven. Annie noticed the light reflect off of something near Leona’s recipes. She smiled to herself when she realized that something was a pair of glasses mostly hidden behind Leona’s mixing bowl. The question was, would Leona use those glasses all the time?
“What are you smiling about?” Leona asked before Annie had a chance to divert her eyes and change her expression.
“Oh, this delicious muffin. It never gets old to bite into a plump, juicy blueberry.” Annie turned toward Danny and moved her attention away from Leona’s glasses. “How is Cody taking the murder of his brother?”
“I can’t really get a read on it. He sent me a text and asked if he could take a couple of days off. What could I say but of course? And then he texted and said he’d rather work and keep busy.”
Leona leaned on the counter across from Annie and Danny. “And guess what else?”
Annie waited.
“When you went into Greta’s house to go to the bathroom, she told me she saw a black Jeep screech away when she went out of her house. Just before she saw Brian’s body.”
“She told me that, too,” Annie said.
“And guess who drives a black Jeep.”
“Cody?” Annie’s voice held total disbelief.
“That’s right. Do you think Christy will have him on her suspect list? Or will she give her boyfriend a pass?” Leona asked.
Annie was stunned. What possible motive would Cody have to murder his own brother? “Maybe there’s another explanation for his quick exit.”
8
The Black Cat Café filled quickly when the doors opened at ten and stayed busy right through until early afternoon. Leona cooked, Annie manned the pastry display, and Mia, Camilla, and Martha kept breakfast sandwiches, muffins, and coffee flowing to the tables of hungry customers.
And those customers were salivating for more than Leona’s delicious goodies. Gossip and rumors flowed faster than the food disappeared. Probably because with all the talking, the patrons couldn’t chew and swallow at the same time.
Finally, as the customers left with full bellies and new theories about who killed Brian Springer, the women plopped into a booth for a
well-earned rest.
“Who knew Brian Springer would create so much drama by coming back for a Halloween party?” Mia asked as she looked at her daughter.
“Why are you directing that question to me, Mom?” Annie asked. “I barely knew the guy, and what I remember is that he was kind of a jerk.”
Camilla, the newest and youngest friend in the group to live in Catfish Cove, leaned across the table. “Do tell. I love gossip, especially when it involves a man that probably left a trail of broken hearts behind him.”
“Why are you jumping to that conclusion?” Annie asked.
Camilla flicked her wrist. “You know me…terrible with men. I’ve proven over and over in my twenty-seven years that I’m the worst judge of men so I sympathize with the broken-hearted among us. I heard he was to die for handsome.” She covered her mouth. “That might be a poor choice of words, but those handsome ones always break some hearts along the way.”
Heads bobbed in agreement around the table.
Annie whispered even though the café was deserted. “I bumped into his girlfriend, Rachel, this morning on the Lake Trail.” The others leaned in, eyes wide with curiosity. “Apparently, she followed him to town to try to patch up a disagreement.”
The friends began talking at once. Annie sat back and waited for a break in the noise level.
“When were you planning to share that juicy tidbit, hon?” Martha asked in her blunt style. If anyone was connected to the grape vine, it was Martha, especially with her senior friends. “I’m having my hair tinted purple tomorrow and I can’t wait to find out what that crowd knows.” What she actually meant was that she couldn’t wait to share this latest morsel of gossip.
The café door opened and closed.
Annie, Leona, Mia, Camilla, and Martha all turned as one to see who’d just walked in.
“Well, looky here. Isn’t this just the cutest group of gossips I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing.” Detective Christy Crank helped herself to the last drops of coffee from the carafe on the drink cart. All the motorcycle gang make-up she had on for the Halloween party was cleaned off, the leather clothes were replaced with her khakis, and her hair was pulled back into a tight intimidating work bun to complete her detective look. She slid in next to Annie in the booth, forcing her to slide closer to Leona.
“I was hoping to find Annie here for a little chat, but I hit the jackpot with all of you sitting around for a cozy coffee-klatch.”
Christy sipped her coffee.
No one said a word.
“Don’t be shy. I suspect you all couldn’t control your tongues up until the minute the door closed behind me.” She leaned back and crossed her arms. “Annie!”
Annie sat at attention.
“You were the first on the scene last night. Well, besides Greta Grayley, of course. How would you say her demeanor was?” Christy looked at Annie with her head tilted.
“Greta was in tears . . . and shock, I suppose.”
“Right. And covered with that awful orange frosting.”
Leona’s mouth dropped open but Annie squeezed her thigh, hoping to remind her to keep quiet about the insult. Amazingly, Leona shut her mouth without letting one word slip out.
“And what about that glittery red walking stick? Wasn’t that part of your costume, Annie?”
“It was, but I put it down at Kitty’s house and Brian picked it up at some point. He must have had it when he walked to Greta’s house, when the murderer confronted him and stabbed him with it.” She left out the part about Leona carrying it out of the kitchen. The less focus on Leona, the better since it was her cake and her frosting smashed all over the victim. No need to connect her to the murder weapon, too.
“Hmm. It could have happened that way.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? You think someone else had the walking stick already when Brian was murdered?”
“That’s possible, too. See, that’s my dilemma. Until I get all the facts, I can’t just jump to a conclusion all willy-nilly.” Christy stood. “And that’s my message to you, Annie. I know how you love to poke your nose into all this drama, asking questions, coming up with theories based on a feeling.” Christy rolled her eyes. “Don’t get in the way of my investigation. Understand?”
Christy glared at each woman sitting in the booth, basically letting them all know the warning was not just for Annie but they all better take it to heart or risk Christy’s wrath.
After sitting silently for at least three minutes after the door slammed closed behind Christy, everyone started talking at the same time. Annie held up her hand. “Listen. Christy means it. We have to stay out of her way or she’ll probably arrest us for obstruction of justice or something like that. I can usually get along with her except when it comes to an investigation she’s working on.”
Hysterical talking followed that comment.
“Hold on!” Annie shouted above the noise. “I didn’t say we couldn’t still do some sleuthing, but we have to be smart and clever and, more important than anything, we have to snoop under the radar.” Her lips twitched up slightly at the corners.
Leona slapped her on the back. “Good advice . . . snoop under the radar. I love it.”
“Tell us what you want us to do, hon.” Martha’s eyes twinkled with excitement.
“I need to make friends with that ex-girlfriend,” Camilla said. “Why on earth did she follow Brian here? I’m terrible with men, but I have a gift when it comes to reading women. She won’t be able to hide anything from me.”
Mia sat quietly while the others planned their strategy. “Annie?”
“Yeah, Mom?”
“Do you think Greta is guilty?”
Annie twisted her mouth to one side. “Fair question but no, I don’t. She is guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I’m really worried that Christy, knowing Greta was at the scene of the crime, will let that detail blind her to any other clues.”
“Well, then,” Mia continued, “I’ll make a visit to Greta. I always got along with her as well as anyone and she’ll be needing a friend to get through this. Who wants to come with me?”
Annie slid out of the booth. “Let’s bring her blueberry muffins. I think there are a few left.” Annie glanced quickly at Leona. “Maybe it will soften her anger about her birthday cake.”
Leona snorted. “I doubt it, but see what you can do to mend that fence.”
“Smart thinking. Food always helps to get us in the door and it’s the perfect distraction during a conversation.” Mia moved to the pastry case and picked out six plump blueberry muffins loaded with thick layers of streusel topping. She closed the box and tied it with an orange ribbon.
“Okay, girls,” Camilla said in her no-nonsense voice. “I’m off to track down the elusive Rachel. Even without a last name, I’ll put my feelers out and see what I can come up with. How many Rachels can there be in town who arrived just for this weekend?” She shook her blonde bob, letting the pink highlights— her color du jour—brush her shoulders.
Martha stayed at the café with Leona to handle any last minute afternoon stragglers and get ahead with the baking for the coming week.
Annie and Mia left through the French doors to the parking lot. The blustery wind from the day before had died down and the day was warming up to a seasonal fall temperature. “Shall we walk to Greta’s house?” Annie asked her mother.
“Sure. No sense in wasting gas for only a mile or so.”
The Main Street shops were mostly quiet. Not like in the height of summer when Catfish Cove overflowed with tourists in search of fine ceramics, colorful quilts, used books, and, of course, the local delicacies. The new gourmet chocolate shop, Sweet Bites, was open for business.
“Let’s pop in and see if Alysha Sweet has anything left after the Halloween candy rush.” Annie pushed through the door and a charming little tinkle rang above her head.
Alysha looked up from behind her display case. “Good morning. You didn’t get enough candy
at the Halloween party?”
Apparently, there were no secrets in Catfish Cove about Kitty’s party with word spreading like flowing melted chocolate, Annie realized. “Not exactly. The party came to an unexpected early end.”
“Oh. Right. I did hear about that guy getting killed by one of Leona’s cakes.”
“What? That is definitely not what happened. Who’s spreading that lie?” This was exactly what Annie was afraid of. Someone tells another person and then another and another until the truth is completely turned upside down.
Alysha’s face fell. “Wasn’t the victim covered with orange frosting?”
“Well, yes, that part is true, but it wasn’t the frosting or Leona’s cake that killed Brian Springer. It was the sharp walking stick stabbed through his chest.”
Now, Alysha’s face turned the color of her white chocolate bonbons. She flapped her hand in front of her face and sucked in a deep breath. “How gruesome. If it were me, I’d much rather have the frosting do me in.”
“I see your point except it’s not going to be good for Leona’s business if everyone thinks that she’s whipping up killer frosting—and I don’t mean killer good in this case.”
Mia pointed to the tray of chocolate covered almonds. “I’d like two quarter pound bags of those, please.”
Alysha scooped the chocolates into a bag as she continued talking to Annie. “Yeah, I see what you mean. And now that I’m thinking about it, I didn’t even know the person that told me the rumor. She did buy a big box of chocolates, though. She said it was a gift for the people she was staying with for the weekend.”
Mia paid for the chocolates and dropped one bag in her tote and the other into Annie’s.
Annie wondered if it could possibly be Rachel. “Was she wearing black running tights and an orange jacket?”
“She was. The orange almost blinded me, it was so bright.”
Where did Rachel hear that Brian was killed by Leona’s cake, Annie wondered? She must have stopped at Sweet Bites after Annie gave her the news. Or, did she already know because she smashed the cake in his face?
