Raspberry Revenge

by Jessica Beck

  “So you wanted to start by helping him take my job away from me, is that it?” George asked her.

  It was a little stronger than I would have gone, but I couldn’t do anything about that.

  Amber said, “No offense, but Harley was meant for bigger and better things. He wasn’t going to stop at your office. I had big plans for him before he was murdered.”

  “How did he feel about your aspirations?” I asked her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your plans for his career,” George explained.

  She looked at him as though he were an idiot. “I know what the word means, Mr. Mayor,” she said with a tone of derision in her voice.

  “Then answer the question,” George said, nonplussed by her rebuff. “Did he share your goals, or did the two of you fight about it?”

  “We never argued,” Amber said.

  “Really? Never? That’s not what I heard,” I said.

  “Sure, we had some heated discussions, but it never amounted to anything. Before he died, Harley was as excited about his prospects as I was.”

  “So, according to you, you had a perfect relationship,” I said, making sure that I expressed plenty of doubt in the statement.

  Amber just laughed. “Perfect? Hardly. He wasn’t the easiest man in the world to get along with, but then again, I don’t think any of them are picnics, you included, Mr. Mayor.”

  “George is fine,” the mayor said, no doubt getting tired of hearing the sarcasm in her voice every time she used the title. “Let’s talk about this alibi of yours,” he said.

  “That’s right. I’ve been meaning to tell you about that, Suzanne,” she said, crowing a little as she spoke. “It turns out that I’ve got one after all.”

  “How’s that?” I asked.

  “I forgot all about something that happened that morning that clears me of suspicion.”

  “I can’t wait to hear this,” I said.

  “You can be as skeptical as you’d like, but you can call her and see that I’m telling the truth. That should get you off my back once and for all.”

  “Who exactly are we supposed to call?” George asked.

  “Effie Robbins,” she said.

  “What about Effie?” She’d been a customer at my shop on occasion, a pretty girl who’d just graduated from high school with not many prospects. Effie was a literal kind of gal, not the brightest bulb in the chandelier by any stretch of the imagination and a difficult one to hold a conversation with.

  “She was at my house all morning,” Amber said. “She was upstairs the entire time, and I forgot all about her even being there until after you left my place.”

  “How could you have forgotten her?” I asked.

  “I let her in, along with some other women, and then I started watching my shows. You know how I get. A bomb could go off under my chair and I wouldn’t notice.”

  The woman was obsessed with her television, that much I could testify to myself.

  “Why was she in your house in the first place?” George asked.

  “She was trying out for a job with my cleaning company,” Amber said.

  “All morning?” I asked.

  “Well, the fact is that I found her upstairs asleep in my bed. She had cleaned about half of it, and then she’d crawled in for a four-hour nap. It turned out that she went dancing the night before her interview until all hours. Three girls came and cleaned, and I just assumed that Effie left with them. I don’t know, I was watching something. I went up to take a nap myself after you left and I found her passed out in my bed.”

  “Did she get the job?” I asked with a grin.

  “What do you think? Anyway, I’m covered,” she said smugly.

  “As soon as we confirm it,” George said.

  “She’ll tell you the truth,” Amber said as she glanced back at her television.

  “Even if you’re telling the truth, why couldn’t you have just slipped out, killed Harley, and then come back home without Effie even knowing that you were gone?”

  “The door to my bedroom squeaks like a banshee, and if I went in there to get my car keys, I would have woken her up when I went in, not to mention spotting her snoozing in my bed. Now, was there anything else, or can I get back to my life?”

  “Did Megan really come by last night to apologize?” I asked her as she ushered us out of her home.

  “Who knows? She tried to say something, but honestly, I don’t trust that girl as far as I can throw her.”

  “Megan? She wouldn’t hurt a fly, would she?” George asked. Leave it to the mayor to expect the best out of people. Then again, I hadn’t told him that she was one of our suspects.

  “When I told her she was being ridiculous, she got all cold on me, you know?” Amber asked as she shivered a little. “I might have been a little crazy making fun of her.”

  “Why, because you’re feeling remorse?” I asked.

  “No, because now I have to watch my back. If she killed Harley for laughing at her, what’s to keep her from coming after me next?”

  “What? Do you honestly think she could have done it?” George asked incredulously.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” I told him.

  “Talk about it anywhere you’d like to, but just not here,” Amber said.

  Once we were out on the porch, George said, “Maybe you should bring me up to speed on all of your suspects.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked him.

  “Suzanne, you said it yourself. Until this case gets solved, my prospects for reelection are somewhere between slim and none, not to mention my freedom for the rest of my life. What choice do I have?”

  I knew that he was right, but all of a sudden, I had a team of coworkers trying to help me solve Harley’s murder. It would be a wonder if we didn’t all end up tripping over each other, but who could I say no to, my best friend, my mother, or the man who was being impacted most by what had happened? Like it or not, I had more help than I needed, or even wanted, for that matter.

  Maybe it would make my job easier.

  I doubted it, but it was nice to think that it might be so.

  Chapter 21

  “Well, it’s true,” I said after I called Effie and got her side of the story. “She was there all morning.”

  “So Amber’s in the clear,” George said.

  “Her alibi might not be airtight, but it’s going to have to do for now. We can keep her in the back of our minds, but for the moment, let’s draw a line through her name.”

  “What other names do you have on your list?” George asked me.

  In for a dime, in for a dollar, I thought. “We have three suspects left: Curtis Daniels, Wendy Crouch, and Megan Gray.”

  “Motives?” George asked, going into full cop mode. Did they ever lose that, even after they’d been off the job for over a dozen years?

  “Curtis out of greed, Wendy to protect herself, and Megan from the anger of being rejected.”

  “Explain more,” he commanded. After I went into a little more detail about each suspect, he asked, “Do you have alibis for any of them?”

  “Actually, we have one for each of them, no matter how shaky they might be,” I said.

  “You’ve been busy,” he said with some admiration.

  “What can I say? It’s been a process.”

  After I told George the sketchy alibis we had, he frowned. “There’s not much to go on there, is there?”

  “Hey, things are a great deal better than they were earlier today.”

  “That’s right, you’ve taken Amber North off of your list.”

  “And Nathaniel Bloom, as well,” I told him, and then I shared Nathaniel’s alibi with him.

  “Makes sense. So we have three suspects and four detectives working the case.”

&
nbsp; “Not including Jake,” I said.

  “That’s what I meant. Should we work in one big group, or should we break up into teams?” he asked me.

  I was still trying to find an answer for that when Grace called me. “Suzanne, where are you? I’m with your mother, so you’d better not be investigating without us.”

  “Actually, George is with me,” I said. “I have news. Where should we meet?”

  “I’m starving. Let’s go to the Boxcar,” Grace said.

  I turned to George. “Are you hungry?”

  “I could eat,” he said with a shrug.

  “The Boxcar it is,” I said.

  When George and I got there, Trish was standing at the door grinning at me. “The other members of your party have already arrived.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Aren’t you going to invite me over, too?” she asked impishly.

  “Before this is over, you’ll probably get a handwritten invitation yourself,” I said with a sigh.

  “Oh, goody. You know how much I love a party. I’ll be right there with the menus, unless you two want the special, too. Today we’re serving turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and cranberry sauce.”

  “It’s not Thanksgiving again already, is it?” George asked with a smile.

  “What can I say? I was in the mood for a little holiday meal. Where is it written that we can only have it on a special day?”

  “The special sounds good to me,” I said, and George nodded in assent.

  “Excellent. I’ll have them out for you soon, along with a pair of sweet teas.”

  After everyone said their hellos, I brought the group up to speed as to what I’d been up to. Everyone had a ton of questions, and I was still talking by the time the food arrived. At least the diner wasn’t very crowded, so we didn’t have to worry about too many eavesdroppers listening in.

  “Go on,” George said after Trish had delivered our food. Everything looked wonderful, and she’d even added a bit of stuffing to the side of my plate, though she hadn’t mentioned it earlier. I’d managed to hide my disappointment at its exclusion, so I was happy to see it now.

  “May I eat first?” I asked as my mouth began to water.

  “We can fill in for you from here,” Grace said, “but I have an idea. Let’s table the crime discussion and give this meal the attention it deserves. Any seconds of my motion?”

  Were we so large now that we were using parliamentary procedure to get through a meal? I was about to object when my own mother said, “Seconded.”

  Grace said, “All in favor, say aye.”

  There was a consensus, but she asked for opposing votes just to make it official, and we dove into our meals without a single reference to what had brought us all there together.

  Maybe the idea hadn’t been so bad after all. At least I got to eat without being interrupted, so that was something.

  After we finished, I said, “I know we need to talk, but this isn’t the best place to do it. Should we adjourn to Donut Hearts?”

  “Aren’t you afraid people will think that you’re open?” Grace asked.

  “I’m willing to risk it this once,” I said as I noticed that the diner was beginning to fill up.

  “Then let’s go,” Momma said.

  “Shouldn’t we put it to a vote first?” Grace asked with a smile.

  “No thanks,” I said. “This is a benevolent dictatorship, not a democracy. Are there any objections to that? Somebody needs to lead this team of maniacs, and unless one of you has a better idea, it’s going to be me.”

  When no one spoke, I smiled softly. “Good. The motion is carried. Now let’s go.”

  Momma picked up the entire check, leaving a generous tip as well, much to our protests. It was all in vain though, as my arguments with my mother normally were, and soon enough we were seated in the front of my donut shop, with everyone looking expectantly at me.

  I’d asserted my authority earlier, and now I had to back it up.

  I just wished that I knew what our next best step was.

  “The best place to start is to figure out where we are right now,” I said.

  “You just caught me up on everything, Suzanne,” George protested.

  “Now, George, be patient with her,” Momma said.

  “You don’t have to defend me, Momma,” I said.

  “I was only trying to help,” she replied.

  “I know you were, and I appreciate it.”

  “I wouldn’t mind hearing it again,” Grace said. “Maybe it will jar something loose in my mind.”

  I silently thanked her with a smile, which she returned in full. I continued, “We know that Curtis, Wendy, and Megan each had possible reasons to want to see harm come to Harley. The real question is how do we narrow our field to the real killer?”

  “What does Jake think about our new developments?” Momma asked me.

  “I forgot to tell him,” I said, feeling at once very foolish for getting so wrapped up in my growing team that I’d neglected to touch base with my husband.

  “Shouldn’t you do that before we continue?” my mother asked me.

  “Excuse me for one second,” I said as I stepped into my kitchen and made my call. “Do you have a second, Jake?”

  “Just that. What were you doing earlier, leading a parade?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I saw you walking across the street from the diner to your donut shop with your mother, Grace, and the mayor himself in tow.”

  “It appears that we’re a team now,” I said, explaining to him George’s new role in my investigation. “You don’t mind, do you?”

  “No. As a matter of fact, it will probably do him some good getting involved. I don’t know how you’re going to keep them all on the same page, though. That’s a rough group of rugged individualists. I’ll be surprised if you can get them all to agree on anything. Just out of curiosity, why did you recruit George? Didn’t you have enough minions as things stood before?”

  “They aren’t my minions,” I said. “We’re all equal partners.”

  “But some of you are more equal than others; I get it. Is that why you called, to get my approval?”

  “No, I have a few things to share with you. I don’t think Nathaniel or Amber killed Harley.”

  “Why is that?” The banter went out of his voice, and he was now clearly interested in what I had to say.

  “Seth Lancaster basically alibis Nathaniel, and Effie Robbins covers Amber.”

  After I explained how each was possible, Jake whistled softly. “They’re still a little shaky, but I can see how the alibis might hold up. Good work, Suzanne.”

  “Thank you, sir. How’s your investigation coming?” It was a risky question to ask him, but hey, I’d just offered two juicy tidbits to him, so I thought getting an update on his work in turn was fair play. Whether my husband agreed with that conclusion remained to be seen.

  “It’s coming,” he said.

  When there was nothing else, I asked, “Can you at least tell me who you’re looking at right now?”

  “I’d rather not,” he said. “After all, it’s an open investigation. You understand, don’t you?”

  I understood, but that didn’t mean that I had to like it. I thought of another way of trying to see if we were on the same page. “We’re looking at Curtis, Megan, and Wendy. Is there any reason we should drop one of them from our list?”

  He paused far too long before he said, “No. Listen, I’ve got to go.”

  My husband hung up before I could even thank him, and I considered calling him back, but I knew that would probably be a bad idea. He’d gone beyond his level of comfort, and I knew it, so there was no reason to make it worse. I understood that Jake sometimes told me things about his investigations that he never would hav
e told anyone else, and what was worse, I felt lousy every time I pushed him too far. Would I ever learn, though? It was highly doubtful, because I could never quite see the demarcation of the lines in order not to cross them. I went back to the group to find them having an earnest discussion as to what we should do next.

  “What did Jake say?” Grace asked.

  “He was pleased to get the information,” I said guardedly.

  “Did he give you anything in return?” George asked.

  “Our marriage isn’t quid pro quo,” I said firmly.

  “Hey, take it easy. I was just asking,” George said.

  “If you’d like an update, you should ask him yourself,” I said, still feeling a little bite of what I’d done. “After all, you’re his boss, aren’t you?”

  “And get my head bit off? No thank you. I may be his superior on paper, but we both know what would happen if I horned in on his case without his permission.” George frowned for a moment, and then he asked softly, “I do have his permission, don’t I?”

  At that moment, he looked like the little boy he must have once been, and I felt myself smiling despite the severity of the situation. “He’s fine with it.”

  “Good,” George said with obvious relief. “So, what do we do next?”

  “We come up with a plan that helps us trap the real killer without alarming them too much in the process before it’s too late.”

  “How do we go about that?” Grace asked me.

  “That’s what I’m hoping this brain trust will be able to figure out.”

  Chapter 22

  After an hour of debate, we came up with a plan. Was it the best thing we could do to flush out Harley’s killer? I sincerely doubted it, but only time would tell.

  “Are you finished with the notes yet?” I asked Grace as she laboriously printed out the message we’d agreed to for the third time.

  “This is the last one,” she said as she held it up for me to read. “What do you think?”

  In block letters that could never be traced back to her hand, the note said, “I KNOW YOU DID IT AND I HAVE PROOF. TURN YOURSELF IN, OR I WILL!”