CranBuried Coffee Cake (Black Cat Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 7)

by Lyndsey Cole

  Jason let her move to his side but continued to hold her close. He spoke barely above a whisper. “I was doing what you asked me to do. Remember? Follow Marty? What about you? This doesn’t look like the health clinic.”

  “His dad,” Annie jerked her head in Marty’s direction. “Edwin was at the clinic and gave me a ride over here. He said he’d show me where the camera was hidden.”

  “Did he?”

  “No. He fell asleep in his chair but I saw the key and let myself in.”

  “Did you find anything? Was it worth risking your life? These two aren’t acting like they plan to let us just waltz out of here.”

  Marty’s voice rose in an angry shout. “I don’t know what happened to those stupid cat figurines. Why’s everyone so interested in them anyway? First it was Phyllis, and now you.”

  “Alice owed me for unpaid rent. I can sell them and recoup some of my money but only if I have the whole set. Phyllis tried to steal some already but at least she got caught. Now these two are up to some kind of shenanigans. She,” Sheila pointed to Annie, “keeps snooping around your dad’s house.”

  Annie pulled away from Jason’s arm and shouted at Sheila. “That sounds like a motive to kill Alice. You were frustrated and desperate to get the money Alice owed you and get her out of your building so she wouldn’t get farther and farther behind. Right, Sheila?”

  Jason tried to shush Annie but she would have none of that. She was on a roll. “So, what did you do? Double back after you left Alice’s house the day of the funeral and wait for Phyllis to leave? Argue with Alice when she was finally alone? Then smash her over the head with the closest weapon you could find—one of her own cat figurines?”

  Sheila laughed. “Oh, Annie. You’re so desperate to clear your mother’s name. Listen to what you just said. If I want the whole collection, why would I use one of the figurines to kill Alice? That sort of defeats the purpose by bringing the value down, wouldn’t you say? You need to take your blinders off. Everyone knows Alice was having an affair with your father. Now, that’s a motive hanging over your mother’s head.”

  Annie turned her rage toward Marty. “You have a camera set up in here somewhere.” Annie swept her arm around the room. “Were you monitoring Alice so you knew when she would be alone? Creep in and creep out using the key Alice gave your father?”

  Marty laughed out loud. “I don’t know what your game is, but your imagination has no boundaries. A camera for spying? I’ve heard everything now. Did you ever consider the fact that Alice had a security camera?”

  Jason wrapped his fingers around Annie’s hand. “Let’s go before you say something you’ll regret.”

  Marty unlocked the door and opened it for Jason and Annie. “Don’t let me find you here again. This is my house now. Alice left everything to me.”

  Jason forced Annie out without giving her time to respond to Marty’s words.

  “Did you hear what Marty just said? Alice left everything to him. That’s a motive for sure.”

  Jason opened the car door for Annie and hurried around the car to the driver’s side and changed the subject. “What did the doctor say about your fainting spell?”

  “Nothing. I left before she saw me.”

  Jason was silent for several minutes but Annie knew he had something to say.

  “Go ahead, spit it out. Tell me I’m being impulsive and irrational. I’m sure that’s what you’re thinking. And probably everyone else thinks that, too.” She slumped down in the seat and stared out the window. She felt her eyes fill with tears but she was determined not to let Jason see how upset she was.

  He reached across the seat and held her hand. “What I think is that you’re overtired and hungry with a lot of worry and stress thrown in. We have to analyze the information carefully and not accuse everyone of murdering Alice.”

  In a small voice, Annie asked Jason what she feared the most. “Do you think my mother killed Alice?”

  “No. Definitely not. But what either of us thinks at the moment doesn’t matter much. We have to solve this puzzle before it drives you crazy. I can’t have that.” Jason smiled at Annie and winked when she finally looked at him. She even rewarded him with a small grin. “We have to get back on our wedding track, too.”

  “What’s your plan, Mr. Hunter?”

  “First—food. I think Leona planned to drop off food from the cancelled shower. We can pig out on that and then get to part two.”

  “Which is?”

  “Not telling until we’re done with part one.”

  Annie rested her hand around the back of Jason’s neck and tickled his cheek.

  “Hey. Don’t distract me while I’m driving.”

  She continued the tickling. Jason moved his head away from her fingers but those fingers followed him. Jason pulled to the side of the road and wrapped his arms around Annie. “Is this what you were angling for?”

  “Hmmm. I’ll take it. I’m glad you’re not mad at me.”

  “It will take a little more convincing.”

  After a few minutes of cuddling, Jason managed to get his car back to his house. The driveway was full of cars.

  Annie’s chest filled with dread. “I’m afraid my vision of peace and quiet with you might be wishful thinking.”

  “How about we drive to the Heron Inn and see if Mrs. Delaney can find an empty room for us?” Jason put his car in reverse.

  “Unfortunately, whoever is here would track us down so we may as well go inside. The sooner we go in, the sooner we can send everyone home.”

  “On the plus side, there might be lots of goodies for us.”

  Annie was exhausted, and the thought of collapsing on the couch in front of the fireplace pulled her like a magnet. Snuggling with Jason in front of a crackling fire was exactly what she looked forward to. The smell of food when Jason opened the door made her mouth water. Regrettably, they weren’t alone. By a long shot.

  Leona had Christmas songs blasting on Jason’s radio and she sang along, completely out of tune, while she worked in the kitchen. At the sound of the door opening, she looked up. “It’s about time you got home. We’ve been waiting for hours.”

  Mia smiled at Annie sheepishly. “How are you feeling? We brought the shower to you.”

  Annie looked at all the expectant faces staring at her and forced her mouth into a smile. “I’m a bit tired.”

  Mia hovered and led Annie to the comfy recliner. “Sit here, honey. Put your feet up. I’ll get you something to drink.”

  Before Mia could pour a glass of wine for Annie, Jason already handed her a full glass. He leaned close. “Chin up, sweetheart. This will help. Relax and enjoy.”

  Fortunately, Annie could do just that—relax and enjoy being made to feel like a princess as she opened her gifts. Martha presented Annie with a stunning queen size quilt sewn with various shades of blues, greens, and a touch of burgundy. Camilla designed a copper wind chime with a loon as the wind catcher. All the gifts were thoughtful and special. With all the oohs and aahs, her troubles of the past two days vanished from Annie’s thoughts.

  Leona and Mia stayed after everyone else departed. They wouldn’t let Jason or Annie raise a finger. Instead, they got their chance to sit together in front of the fire with one last glass of wine while the food was put away and the kitchen was scrubbed until it sparkled.

  Annie let out a sigh of contentment. “This is exactly what I needed.” She tucked her feet under a blanket and nestled closer to Jason, letting her eyes droop.

  What a perfect moment, she thought.

  A loud knock on the door made Annie sit up straight with wide eyes. Of course it couldn’t last, she thought.

  Leona pulled the door open.

  Phyllis stood shivering in the cold. “Is Annie here?”

  The two women stared. Phyllis blinked first. “Can I come in?”

  Leona looked at Annie. Annie nodded and Leona stepped aside, making room for Phyllis to enter. No one spoke. Phyllis cleared her throat. “I’
ve come to apologize.”

  Annie’s eyebrows shot up under her strawberry blond curls. “Why now?”

  “I need your help. And,” she paused, “I have information that might help your mother.” She nodded toward Mia. “Information about Marty.”

  That comment shot through Annie like a cannonball, blasting away all the weariness that had seeped in with the warmth from the fireplace.

  “I’m all ears.”

  Chapter 21

  Everyone crowded around Jason’s dining room table. Mia and Leona, already dressed to head home, dropped their coats in a heap and settled down on either side of Annie.

  “Here’s the thing,” Phyllis started. “I was helping Marty point the finger at you, Mia, for the murder, and Annie for poisoning Edwin.” She hung her head. “I’m not proud of what I did but Marty threatened me.”

  “Why should we believe anything you say?” Annie asked with anger lacing her voice.

  “It’s your choice to believe me or not, but I think what I tell you will fill in some of the holes around the information you already figured out.”

  “Why now?” Jason asked.

  “I’m afraid I’ll be next. Marty wants Alice’s bookstore but Sheila would rather have me in that space. She’s scared of Marty, too. He’s very clever.” Phyllis rubbed her cheek.

  Leona went to the kitchen and turned the tea kettle on. She fixed a tray with mugs, teas, honey, and slices of her cranberry coffee cake. Annie watched carefully to see if Phyllis would help herself to the coffee cake. She did. Without hesitating.

  “Not afraid the coffee cake is poisoned?” Annie asked sarcastically.

  Phyllis looked at the half slice still in her hand. “Your coffee cake didn’t poison Edwin. Marty asked me to drop some off for his dad after you had been there but I had no idea he was planning to poison his own father.”

  “It wasn’t the coffee cake anyway,” Annie told Phyllis. “Edwin hates cranberries. He would have picked them out. The sample the police took still had the cranberries in the coffee cake. Edwin must have eaten something else from his germ infested kitchen. My guess is that he accidentally poisoned himself.” Annie took a big bite of coffee cake. “Marty screwed up that part of his plan.”

  Phyllis turned her attention to Mia. “Did Alice talk to you about her cat figurine collection when you visited her the day before the funeral?”

  Mia nodded.

  “Did she have the whole collection?”

  Mia sighed. “Honestly, I didn’t pay attention to the details after she showed me the figurine that Roy gave her. She was blabbering on and on about white cats and black cats and some were more valuable than others. The one from Roy was not valuable and she wanted me to take it. Why would I do that? Take a gift he gave to another woman?”

  Annie interrupted. “What about the cat you stole? Was that one of the valuable ones?”

  “Yes.” Phyllis said. “But I didn’t steal it. Marty set me up to try to get more control over me. He told me to go ahead inside and take it. He must have called the police, and, of course, they didn’t believe a word I told them. Marty knew exactly when I went inside. He has a camera in Alice’s house that he monitors from his laptop. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that before I went into Alice’s house.”

  Annie looked sideways at Jason before answering Phyllis. “I knew it! I went to Alice’s house to look for a camera but didn’t have any luck before I got spooked and left. It certainly felt like someone was watching me, and Marty showed up as soon as I was outside.”

  Phyllis shivered. “Good thing he didn’t catch you in the house. Who knows what he would have done.”

  “So the bottom line is, you think Marty killed Alice?” Annie asked.

  Phyllis nodded.

  “Why?”

  “She borrowed a lot of money from him and he wanted it back. Needed it for getting his new business off the ground. An antique business.”

  “And he wants the cat collection, too?”

  “Just to sell it. The complete collection is worth quite a bit to the right person.”

  “You.” Annie leaned toward Phyllis.

  Phyllis squirmed. “Yes. I would love to have it, but not enough to kill Alice if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “It crossed my mind. So what do you want from me?” Annie asked.

  “To stop Marty.”

  Jason had held is tongue for long enough. “You want Annie to be the bait so you can get what you want? I don’t think so.” His hand slapped the table for emphasis.

  Phyllis smiled at Jason. Not a friendly smile but more like an I’ve-got-you-in-a-corner smile. “She’ll do it. My plan has the possibility of clearing Mia’s name as a suspect.”

  Jason paced around the table but remained quiet while Phyllis laid out her agenda.

  “I have a meeting tomorrow morning with Marty and Sheila to discuss Alice’s cat collection. Marty doesn’t care about the cats except for how much money he can sell them for.”

  “Where are you meeting him?” Annie asked.

  “Important question. We’re meeting for coffee at the Catfish Cove Pub at nine. He’ll be out of his house so that’s when you can go visit Edwin.”

  “Edwin? Why visit that old fool?”

  “To get in the house and steal Marty’s computer.”

  Phyllis’s plan was starting to make sense to Annie. Finally, someone was on the same page and confirming her suspicions. “What’s on the computer?”

  “If I’m right, everything that went on in Alice’s house before she was murdered will be on that computer.” Phyllis looked around the table. “Including the murder.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Jason said. “Why would Marty keep the information if he’s the murderer?”

  “Ego,” Phyllis replied. “He’s a narcissistic egocentric bully. It gives him great satisfaction to think he’s smarter than everyone else. It’s all a game to him. He got away with murder once and he’s sure he can again.”

  “What are you talking about?” Leona whispered. “How do you know he got away with murder already?”

  “He was married to my sister and the police could never prove she was murdered even though everything about her death was suspicious.” Phyllis’s eyes narrowed to slits. “I know it in my bones but I could never prove it.”

  “You’re out for revenge,” Annie stated as all the pieces of Phyllis’s story fell into place.

  “And you’re trying to clear your mother’s name. If she really didn’t murder Alice, here’s your chance.” Annie heard those words as a challenge and the hairs on her neck prickled. “Get the computer. Marty isn’t stupid enough to keep the information much longer if he hasn’t wiped it clean already.” Phyllis stood up and zipped her coat. “Remember, nine tomorrow morning. Bring Edwin some cookies or coffee cake or something sweet. He’ll let you in.”

  Phyllis let herself out without a backward glance.

  “Well,” Leona huffed. “Who does she think we are—a bunch of school kids? I don’t believe a word of her ridiculous story. Marty spying on Alice? Give me a break.” She carried the tray with the empty mugs to the sink.

  “It’s true,” Annie said quietly. “I saw the computer when I was in Edwin’s house. It was open and Marty’s face was big and bold on the screen. I wasn’t positive where the camera was but it all makes sense now after what Phyllis said.”

  Jason took out his phone. “It’s time to call Tyler. I don’t want Annie putting herself in any danger, even if Marty won’t be at the house.”

  Annie’s hand shot out to stop Jason. “Tyler won’t do anything. I already told him I suspected there was a camera and he said he couldn’t just waltz into Edwin’s house and have a look at his computer.” She looked around the table. “I have to do this—visit Edwin when Marty is gone. Grab the computer after I distract him with some cookies. Get the evidence that will clear Mom from the suspect list. It will be easy. What can go wrong?”

  Jason shook his head. “Everything.�
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  Chapter 22

  Surprisingly, Annie slept like a rock. With a plan in place, her brain finally shut down and she drifted into a refreshing sleep.

  The aroma of coffee reached Annie’s nose along with the banging clatter of pans which jerked her wide awake. Someone downstairs sounded angry. Or at least, frustrated. That someone had to be Jason. Annie dreaded dealing with his resistance to the plan to get Marty’s computer more than she feared going into Edwin’s house. Once she gave Edwin something sweet to munch on, he wouldn’t pay any attention to what she was doing. At least that’s what she told herself as she pulled on her favorite jeans and a warm, hand knit, wool sweater.

  Jason poured Annie a cup of steaming coffee when she walked into the kitchen. He forced a smile at the same time she saw him clench his jaw.

  Annie wrapped her hands around the warm cup. “How about you come with me? That way you can be sure I’m not in any danger.”

  “I suppose I’ll have to settle for that option since I know you’re determined to find Marty’s computer.” He popped a couple of thick slices of cinnamon raisin bread in the toaster.

  “You’ll have to stay in the car though,” she said as she watched him fix the toast. “And we need to stop at the café to get some treats I can use to bribe my way inside.”

  Jason sat down. “What’s your plan? What if the computer isn’t in plain sight?”

  “I’ll figure that out when I get inside. I have to try everything to find it.”

  Jason nodded. “Okay.” He glanced at the kitchen clock. “Let’s go to the café and see what Leona has fresh from the oven this morning.”

  Annie sat quietly in the car as Jason drove into Catfish Cove. She knew he was worried for her but, really, Edwin Fleming was an old man with terrible eyesight and wobbly legs. As long as Marty was definitely out of the house, Edwin didn’t worry her in the least. If Marty showed up before she was safely out of the house, well, she didn’t even let herself think about that possibility.

  The Black Cat Café was busy for a Monday morning. The smells enveloped Annie like a familiar quilt. This place was her security blanket for food, friends, and family.