Oh, Fudge!

by Nancy CoCo

  “I know,” I agreed. “I was wondering if you have any idea who might have taken Blake’s keys?”

  “You are the third person asking me that,” she said.

  “Really? Other people are asking?”

  “Oh yes. Officer Manning asked me the same thing and your cousin Victoria. I’m afraid I wasn’t much help to either of them.”

  Rex asking, I understood, but why was Tori inquiring? I had a vague memory about someone saying she was also investigating. I’d have to have a talk with her. We should put our heads together on this. That is if she let me.

  “I see. Well, what about the other ladies in your group?”

  “Oh, they are all holding on as best we can. Poor Wanda. She was Barbara’s best friend her entire life. I’m afraid she is devastated.”

  “Oh that’s right,” I said. “I would be devastated if I lost my best friend. The funeral is tomorrow. Perhaps I’ll make her a casserole and bring it to her.”

  “That might be a good idea. Everyone is thinking about Barbara’s family, but Wanda was as much a part of their family as anyone.”

  “How about Paula?”

  “Oh, she’s fine,” Irene said. “I just talked to her last night. We are skipping mahjong this week and meeting at Wanda’s for wine and ladies’ night after the funeral. Sort of a small wake. You can come if you want and bring your friends. It might be nice to show Wanda that the community supports her.”

  “That would make it more than a small wake,” I said.

  “It’s okay. I already invited the entire female portion of the senior center. I just worry that Wanda feels abandoned.”

  “I’ll take her that casserole.”

  “You are a good person, Allie,” Irene said. “I don’t know why your cousin doesn’t like you.”

  I cringed. “Neither do I.”

  I called Paula Abbot and got pretty much the same story. Paula also invited me, Jenn, and Frances to the wake. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to show up. Maybe I could get Tori to come with us.

  After the final fudge demonstration of the day—today’s special was peanut butter cup fudge—I went upstairs to make Grammy Alice’s funeral casserole. I found the recipe in her recipe box in the cupboard. I smiled at the fact that she actually titled it “Funeral Casserole.” It must be what she took to anyone who was facing the loss of a family member.

  The recipe was pretty simple. An easy take on lasagna, it consisted of ground beef, ricotta and egg filling, pasta and mozzarella cheese. The pasta was elbow macaroni and it was mixed with the sauce and meat. Then alternated with the ricotta mixture and cheese. Grammy made a note that it tastes best when it sits a day, so when it was done I covered it and put it in the fridge. I would bring it over to Wanda after the funeral tomorrow.

  “Hey.” Jenn came bounding into the apartment. “What smells so good?”

  “Grammy Alice’s funeral casserole. I made some to take over to Wanda Sikes. She was Barbara’s best friend. I thought she might need a meal after the funeral.”

  “Gosh, I hadn’t thought about what it might be like to lose your best friend.” Jenn came over and gave me a hug. “I would be devastated if I lost you.”

  “I feel the same about you,” I said and hugged her back. “Irene told me they were friends her entire life. So it must be like losing a sister.”

  “Who’s Irene?”

  “Irene Hammerstein. She’s one of Mrs. Gilmore’s mahjong group. I called them today to see if they knew anything helpful about who might have stolen Blake’s rings. Also, her silver, and the money out of her underwear drawer.”

  “Yikes, creepy to think of someone going through your underwear drawer. It had to be someone who knew where the rings and cash were kept.”

  “That’s what I was thinking,” I said. “I’m not sure Sean Grady would know where to find the items.”

  “You know my grandma kept cash in her underwear drawer. If you search enough houses you must get good at finding cash fast.”

  “Now that’s a creepy thought,” I said with a shudder.

  “Let’s talk about happy news,” Jenn said and poured us both some wine then went and plopped on the couch. “Frances picked out her wedding dress today.”

  “Oh that is wonderful news. Can I see it?”

  “I took pictures on my phone.” Jenn pulled out her cell and quickly thumbed her way through the pictures. She held the phone up for me to see.

  Frances had picked a dress with a lace bodice and three-quarter-length sleeves in an ice blue. Underneath was an off-white strapless gown that was tight to the waist and then flared out into a ball gown skirt. “Oh, it’s lovely. She will look so pretty.”

  “I know, right? The minute I saw it I knew it was the one. It’s going to blow Mr. Devaney’s socks off. Once he sees this he’ll understand why it took a few days to plan a ceremony.”

  “How’s that going?”

  “Great,” she said and sipped her wine.

  I picked up my wineglass and settled into a side chair. “I’m sure you have it well in hand. What are the flowers?”

  “We picked pale blue peonies and white hydrangeas. I’ve got a trellis and permission to have the wedding in Turtle Park. I’ve rented fifty folding chairs in white and we will have ribbon bouquets in her colors at the aisle ends. A white carpet for her to walk down and Pastor Neuveau will officiate. Maggs is matron of honor. You and I are bridesmaids. Mr. Devaney has his friend Ted for his best man and Rex and Shane as his groomsmen.”

  “And if it rains?”

  “I have a white awning tent rented and ready to be set up in case of rain. It has four plastic sides so that the wind can’t drive any rain in.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  “I know. I’m pretty good at this,” Jenn said with a laugh, her eyes flashing.

  I threw a blue pillow at her. She ducked and it barely missed her wineglass as we laughed.

  There was a knock at the door. We both froze. I looked at Jenn. “Are you expecting anyone?”

  “No. You?”

  “No.” I got up when the knock came again.

  I opened the door to find Tori standing there with her suitcase in hand. “The power is out at the cottage. You said I could stay with you.”

  “Yes, of course. Come on in.” I opened the door wide.

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Tori said.

  “No interruption.” Jenn welcomed her in with a come-in wave. “We were just having wine and talking about what an awesome wedding planner I am.”

  Tori dragged her suitcase over to the sofa and I poured her a glass of wine. “Wedding? Who’s getting married?”

  “Frances, and Douglas Devaney,” Jenn and I said at the same time. “Jinx.”

  We both laughed and I handed my sober cousin a glass of wine. “Take your shoes off and stay a while.”

  “Okay,” she said and slipped off her shoes. She wore a pair of linen shorts and a scooped-neck T-shirt. Her blond Barbie hair was in a ponytail and she wore little makeup. She didn’t need it to be stunningly gorgeous. She crossed her legs underneath her as she sat and sipped the wine. “When is this awesome wedding?”

  “Sunday,” Jenn said. “You’re invited.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean to beg an invitation.”

  “No, no, you are really invited. The invitations went out in today’s mail. I suppose they didn’t get to you yet. You should see it in the morning. Except I sent it to the cottage.”

  “I’ll pick up the mail at the post office,” Tori said. “Thanks. Smells good in here.”

  “Thanks. It’s Grammy’s recipe for funeral casserole. I’m taking it over to Wanda Sikes after the funeral tomorrow. Irene Hammerstein told me Wanda was taking Barbara’s death pretty hard.”

  “No big dinner tonight?”

  “No, it’s just us girls tonight. Want to get a pizza?”

  We did just that. The night flew by with pizza and wine and girl talk. The McMurphy was full so Tori was sleeping in my apartm
ent. Jenn tried to give up her bed but Tori was having none of it and ended up on the couch.

  I got to bed late, but it was worth it as I felt like Victoria was finally warming up to me again. I had been so busy with the fudge shop and the investigation, I hadn’t had time to contact the lawyer yet. I decided to make it a priority tomorrow.

  At two AM I woke up with a start. The intruder alarm I had installed after I found a guy living in my attic was going off. I jumped out of bed and grabbed a baseball bat I kept in the corner. Mal jumped up with me and barked.

  “Hush!”

  Slipping on a robe, I checked my cell phone. When the motion sensors were installed, the alarm was set to send a signal to my cell phone. I touched on the application and up popped a window with a grainy camera. It was a picture of the lobby. At first it appeared empty. My heart was racing and I stumbled out of the bedroom. Mal was barking at me and wagging her tail as if we were playing a game. Then I saw the figure of a man stealthily going through the mailbox slots behind the receptionist’s desk.

  “What’s going on?” Jenn asked as she came out of her room with her hair piled messily on her head, wearing a short nightgown and bathrobe and tying the belt around her waist.

  She startled me and I gasped and nearly dropped my phone. “Someone’s downstairs,” I whispered.

  “No sense in whispering,” Victoria said and turned on a light. “I’m awake.”

  “Sorry,” I said as Mal raced over and jumped up on the couch, pinning Tori down with puppy kisses. “The motion sensor alarm is going off downstairs.”

  “You have a bat,” Tori said. “Are you going down there alone?”

  “You should call Rex,” Jenn said.

  “What if it’s just a guest who is drunk or sleepwalking?” I asked. “No, I need to check it out first.”

  “And the bat?” Tori asked and pointed to the wooden baseball bat I clung to.

  “It’s just in case.”

  “You’re not going down there alone,” Jenn said. “I’m going with you.”

  “You need to stay here,” I said, “where it’s safe.”

  Tori got up. She wore pajama pants and a button-down pajama top. She grabbed her robe and slipped her arms into it. “I’m going, too.”

  Mal barked and twirled in the air as if she were going, too. But the last thing I needed was a puppy getting involved. “Mal, not you. Kennel,” I ordered.

  She dipped her head and slunk over to her crate. I gave her a dog treat from the dish on top of the bar and closed her in tight. The alarm on my app sounded again. This time, whoever it was, was in the fudge shop attempting to open the cash register.

  “Jenn, call Rex,” I said as I headed to the door. “I don’t think this is a guest.”

  “Right,” Jenn said and her fingers flew over her cell phone. I opened the apartment door and tiptoed out.

  Victoria was behind me with my chef’s knife in hand.

  “You can seriously hurt someone with that,” I whispered.

  “That’s the point,” she said.

  I rolled my eyes. Jenn came up behind us when we got to the top of the stairs. She had a hammer in her hand. We definitely looked like we planned on hurting someone. I would hate for any of our guests to step out of their rooms as we crept down the stairs.

  Luckily we got to the landing before the last stair without incident. I flipped on the light and the male figure froze in place. “Don’t move!” I said. “We have weapons and we will use them.” The guy didn’t respond but he didn’t run. “Put your hands where we can see them.”

  None of us was willing to take those last ten steps down into the lobby to get close to this guy. My heart beat fast and my hands shook as I held the bat. The guy raised his hands slowly. His hands were full of bills. We usually kept four hundred dollars in the cash register every day to handle the crowds.

  I felt anger rise up within me. He was violating my home and ruining my business.

  “Move up against the wall!” I ordered and took those last steps down. He glanced around to see what weapon I had. It was then that I wish I had gotten Papa’s double-barrel shotgun. It seemed a woman in her pajamas holding a bat was not enough to terrify the guy.

  He sprinted toward the front door.

  “Stop him,” I shouted and chased after him. The girls came down the stairs. I swung the bat at his knees and he dropped to the floor just in front of the door. Tori straddled him, grabbed him by the hair, and stuck the point of her knife into his neck.

  “Try to move,” she said.

  “I’ll get some rope,” Jenn said as I picked up my bat and came around to see the man’s face. It was Sean Grady.

  “Sean Grady!” I glanced at the door; it didn’t show any sign of breakage. “You copied my master key.”

  “Of course I did,” he said. “You don’t think I’d be so stupid as to go to the hardware store and make a metal copy, do you? I knew what you were talking about when you said you were working a sting.”

  “But you got inside.”

  “You don’t need to make a metal copy anymore,” he said.

  “So what exactly did you use? Wax?”

  Tori poked his throat with her knife. “Tell us.”

  “Okay, okay, I took a picture of it and then had it 3D printed by a friend of mine.”

  “That’s just plain scary,” I said. Just then the door to the street swung open behind me. Startled, I gasped and turned with my bat raised.

  “Whoa there. It’s me, Rex. Put down the weapon.”

  I lowered my bat and Rex took his hand away from his gun until he saw Victoria. Then he pulled his weapon out of the holster and pointed it at Tori. “Put down the knife!”

  Tori let the knife fall to the ground.

  “Put your hands in the air and get off of him right now!”

  “Rex, she was just—”

  “Up against the wall,” he ordered. “Spread your legs.” He patted Victoria down.

  “Rex, she didn’t do anything.” I put my foot on Sean’s back and kept the bat where he could see it.

  “What is going on?” Jenn asked as she walked in with a round of clothesline rope in her hands.

  “Rex is arresting the wrong person,” I said.

  “Rex, get the guy. He’s the one who broke into the McMurphy.”

  Rex cuffed Victoria and turned her around. “One at a time,” he said. He hit the squawk box on his shoulder. “Charlene, I need back-up at the McMurphy.”

  “Officer Pulaski is on his way.” Charlene’s voice echoed through the lobby.

  “What do you mean ‘one at a time’?” I demanded and put my hands on my hips. “Victoria was helping us catch Sean. He broke into the McMurphy. We were defending ourselves.”

  “We were,” Jenn agreed as Rex cuffed Sean and pulled him to his feet.

  “I don’t know what these women are talking about,” Sean said with a straight face. “I didn’t break into anything. They left the door open.”

  “Then why is there money all over the floor?” I said. “I bet there is cash in your pockets.”

  “That’s tip money I earned putting in cable. I only stopped by to see if the cable was still working for you.”

  “At two AM?” Jenn said with her hands on her hips, mirroring me.

  “The door was open. You make fudge. I figured someone was up.”

  “He copied our master key,” I said and pointed at him. “He’s been copying keys and coming back later to steal things.”

  “How would I copy it?” he jeered. “I didn’t take it out of the McMurphy.”

  “He told us he took a picture and made a 3D printed key from it,” Jenn said.

  I glanced at Tori who was silent but glaring at me as if her being in handcuffs was all my fault. Which it was, sort of.... “Check him for the key,” I said.

  “I’ll check him when I get them both down to the station,” Rex said. He turned to Tori. “I told you to stay out of trouble.”

  “I was. Ask Allie.
” Victoria spit out my name. Her eyes flashed.

  “I told you that knife was dangerous,” I said.

  “And I told you that giving Sean Grady a master key was dangerous,” she said.

  “You gave him the master key?” Rex asked me.

  “Yes, we wanted to prove that he’d been making copies of the keys and breaking in and stealing things. The fact that he’s here now is proof it was him. He’s the one who broke into Mrs. Gilmore’s home and the Butterfly House.”

  “These girls attacked me,” Sean said when Officer Pulaski came through the door. “That one had a knife to my throat.” He nodded toward Tori. “I want to press assault charges.”

  “Oh, for goodness’ sake,” Jenn said. “He broke into the McMurphy and was stealing from the cash register.”

  “I have video to prove it,” I said and held up my cell phone.

  Guests from the rooms upstairs had started to gather on the landing. “Is everything okay?” an older gentleman with thick glasses and a pointy beard asked.

  “Everything is fine,” I said and went over to the small crowd. “You are safe. The officers have everything under control. You can go back to your rooms.”

  “Officers?” a middle-aged woman asked. She was standing there in a nightgown with matching robe.

  “Everything is okay,” Rex repeated. “Please, go on to bed now. Officer Lasko will be here shortly and she will remain in the lobby to ensure your safety.”

  “All right, Edith,” the older man said and put his hand on the woman’s arm. “Let’s go back to bed.”

  “I want you girls to get dressed and come down to the station to give a statement,” Rex instructed. “We’ll sort this all out then.”

  “Jenn, can you bring me some clothes?” Tori asked.

  “I can do that,” I offered.

  “Jenn, please tell your friend that I’m no longer speaking to her.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh, for Pete’s sake. Rex, let her go. She was defending the McMurphy. I had a baseball bat. We were both armed.”

  “You are not a murder suspect,” Rex said. “And I didn’t walk in to see you sitting on a man with a knife to his throat.”