Oh, Fudge!

by Nancy CoCo

  “Do you think Tori figured out who all Barbara was blackmailing?” I asked.

  “Maybe,” Blake said. “But it could be anyone on the island. Barbara’s reach was far.”

  “Who all was she blackmailing?” Jenn asked.

  “There were so many over the years that it could be anyone who attended the funeral,” Irene said and sipped her drink. “I think we were all there to ensure the old witch was really dead and buried.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “Why would so many people have done something that Barbara could blackmail them for?”

  “Because she manipulated things,” Wanda said. “She made it seem as if things were all aboveboard and you would do her a favor or listen to her advice and then bam! She would show you the errors of your ways and hold it over you. She was a master manipulator.”

  “Why are you all telling me this now and not before?”

  “It didn’t matter before,” Irene said. “But now that Victoria is missing, it matters a great deal.”

  “One final thing,” I said and turned to Blake. “Does Rex have any leads as to who was smuggling diamonds through the Butterfly House?”

  “Not that we know of,” Blake said. “With Dan’s murder that lead has grown cold.”

  “Do you think somehow the two murders are related?” Wanda asked.

  “Most likely,” I said and stood. “Thank you, ladies, for your time.”

  “Oh, Allie,” Blake said. “Do be careful. I understand Sean Grady is out on bail.”

  “I’ll keep an eye open,” I said.

  Jenn and I walked away from the house in silence.

  “Do you think Sean Grady kidnapped Victoria?” Jenn asked.

  “My guess would be that Rex would have checked out Sean first.” I stuck my hands in the pockets of my light jacket. “If Barbara had dirt on almost everyone on the island, that means our suspect pool is huge.”

  “Not really,” Jenn said thoughtfully. “Only the truly desperate would risk murdering Dan and taking Tori.”

  “You think the two are connected?”

  “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Whoever killed Barbara killed Dan, and Tori was close to figuring that out, so they took her as well.”

  My heart sunk. “That means that Tori could be dead.”

  “I didn’t want to think so, but yes,” Jenn said. “It most likely does.”

  We walked the rest of the way to the McMurphy in silence. What should have been a joyous day had just turned into a scary, somber one.

  Chapter 21

  “We need a murder board,” Jenn suggested the next morning.

  I had just finished the morning fudges and was getting ready to take Mal out for her walk. “I don’t know. The last time we did that it made things worse.”

  “Our mistake was keeping it in the lobby,” Jenn said. “This time we’ll keep it in the apartment.”

  “Fine,” I said with a sigh. “I gave Frances the morning off. She wasn’t feeling well. I think she’s taking Tori’s disappearance and her wedding postponement hard.”

  “Mr. Devaney’s taking it hard as well. He’s usually grumpy but I’ve never seen him this grumpy.”

  “Do you blame them?” I asked. Mal had her leash on and was tugging me toward the back door. “We’ll talk when I get back.”

  “I’ll handle the front desk.”

  “Thanks,” I said and let Mal pull me down the hall and out the back door. “See you in a bit.”

  We stepped out into the early sunlight. Mr. Beecher was walking toward us. He was a regular in the alleyway behind the McMurphy. Mal rushed to her small patch of green grass on the opposite side of the alley to do her business.

  “Hello, Mr. Beecher. How are you today?”

  “I’m doing well,” he said and smiled. Mr. Beecher was retired but always dressed well in a sport coat, dress shirt, and slacks. Sometimes he even wore a vest and he always wore a bow tie. He was old and swore the morning walks were the only things that kept him going. “I heard about your cousin. I’m terribly sorry.”

  “I’m not counting her out yet,” I said. “She’s a lot like me. We are strong.”

  He nodded. “I agree.”

  “You didn’t happen to have seen her recently, did you?” I asked as Mal finished her business and came over to sit in front of Mr. Beecher and raise a paw in greeting.

  Mr. Beecher smiled and shook her paw then slipped her a small treat. Since I got Mal earlier this season, he had begun to carry little dog treats in the pocket of his suit coat. “The last I saw of her she was talking to Sean Grady. It was on the other side of the police station out of view of most, but I like to cut through there on my way. There are a lot less tourists in the back ways.”

  “She was talking to Sean? Was this before or after he was arrested?”

  “After,” Mr. Beecher said. “I believe it was right after Sean got out of jail on bail.”

  “What kind of conversation were they having?” I asked. “Did they look like they were fighting?”

  “No,” he said. “If anything, it looked as if Sean was asking Victoria for help. He had his hat in hand, so to speak.”

  “What could Victoria do to help?” I asked out loud.

  “That’s a good question,” Mr. Beecher said. “I’m sorry, I don’t know the answer.”

  “Well, thanks for the information,” I said. “Come on, Mal, we have more walking to do. Have a great day, Mr. Beecher.”

  “Thanks, dear,” he said. “Try to stay safe.”

  “I will.” But I had made the decision to go see Sean Grady. He may have been the last person to see Victoria. If so, I needed to know what they were talking about.

  I sent a text to Jenn a moment before I knocked on Sean Grady’s apartment door. The man lived above the carriage house next to his grandmother’s home. The stairs up to the door creaked and moaned as Mal and I climbed them. I knocked on the door.

  Sean opened it a crack. “What do you want?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about my cousin, Victoria,” I said. Mal wiggled her nose between the space of the open door and sniffed. “She’s missing and Mr. Beecher told me you might have been the last person to see her.”

  “I don’t know anything,” he said. “Go away.”

  He tried to shut the door, but I got my foot under Mal and kept it open. “Look, I’m not here to accuse you of doing anything to Victoria. I just need to know what you talked about.”

  He scowled at me. “Why should I tell you? You’re the one who got me arrested in the first place.”

  “I didn’t make you steal anything.”

  “Go away!”

  “Sean, this is important. Tori is missing. I don’t want to have to go to Rex and tell him that you were the last one to see her. He will haul you back in and this time you won’t get bailed out.”

  “Darn it,” he grumbled and opened the door.

  Mal sat and I refused to go in. “I know she was investigating Barbara’s murder. What did she ask you?”

  “She figured out I stole the keys to the Butterfly House for someone else.”

  “And you decided to lift Mrs. Gilmore’s house keys while you were at it?”

  He shrugged. “It was too easy. Doc says I got a compulsion.”

  “Who hired you to steal the keys to the Butterfly House?”

  “That Dan did,” he said. “The one that went and got himself killed.”

  “Aren’t you afraid that whoever killed Dan would kill you?”

  “Naw,” Sean said. “I don’t know who Dan was working with. Besides, the cops got eyes on me.” He nodded to the right and I turned to see Rex come storming up the sidewalk. “You best go.”

  “Yeah, thanks for the info.”

  Sean closed his door and Mal and I stepped off the porch just as Rex got to us. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “I’m walking Mal,” I said.

  “That’s not what I mean and we both know it.” He looked like he wa
nted to shake me and kiss me at the same time.

  “I’m fine,” I said. “He didn’t threaten me. He also didn’t take Victoria.”

  “Of course he didn’t,” Rex said. “He was in my custody when Tori was taken.”

  “But he was seen talking to her.”

  “Who saw them?”

  “Mr. Beecher,” I said and raised my chin. “So I came by to see what they talked about.”

  “Tori was investigating Barbara’s murder,” we both said at the same time.

  Rex made a face and walked me down the sidewalk. Mal jumped up on him, but when he didn’t pet her, she decided to lead the way. “Tori is missing,” Rex said. “She could be dead like Dan.”

  “She’s not dead,” I said. “She can’t be dead.”

  “She could be dead because she was investigating. I need you to promise me that you will stop investigating right now.”

  “I can’t.”

  He stopped and put his hands on my forearms and squeezed to emphasize his words. “I can’t have you dying on me.”

  “Why not?” I whispered.

  There was a thick tension in the air. I searched his face. He opened his mouth to tell me something, and then I saw the moment he changed his mind. “I’ve seen enough murder on the island. I don’t want to see any more.”

  I swallowed as he let go of me. Mal jumped up on him again. He reached down and gave her an absent pat on the head as if he was collecting himself.

  “Tori isn’t dead,” I said. “I know she isn’t. We need to find her.”

  “Let me and my guys do that,” he said through gritted teeth. “We’re trained for it. Promise me, Allie.”

  “I promise.”

  “There’s a lot going on. I’ll walk you back to the McMurphy.”

  “Thanks,” I said. We walked in silence for a moment. The streets were full of tourists. “Frances and Douglas were supposed to be married now.”

  “I know.” He ran a hand over his shaved head. “Trust me, the last thing I wanted was to keep those two apart.”

  “They are a match made in heaven, aren’t they?”

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “Sean said he told Tori it was Dan who hired him to steal the keys to the Butterfly House. How come Dan didn’t make a copy of his own?”

  “That’s a good question. I figured Dan and his accomplice have been smuggling diamonds in for a while now. Dan wasn’t the brightest.”

  “He didn’t expect to be fired.”

  “So he didn’t think to make a copy.”

  “Exactly, and I think he got killed over it.”

  “You think they killed Dan first?”

  “The coroner concluded that he was killed at least a day before Barbara was murdered.”

  “So whoever killed Dan then tossed the Butterfly House looking for the diamonds. Most likely Barbara interrupted them and they murdered her as well.”

  “And now you found the diamonds,” Rex said. “Whoever killed Dan and Barbara has to be sweating out the loss of over a million dollars in diamonds. People don’t export them just to hang on to them. Most likely they were to make a payment for a debt.”

  “Some debt,” I said as we turned down the alley toward the McMurphy. “Sounds like something out of a movie.”

  “Whoever needed those diamonds is not happy right now,” Rex said. “They know you found them. Like I said, I don’t want you to go out alone for a while.”

  We walked up to find Trent leaning against the banister of my staircase.

  “Hello, Manning,” Trent said and didn’t look too happy. Mal was happy to see Trent and jumped up.

  “Jessop,” Rex said with a nod. “I’ll leave you here,” he said to me. “I meant what I said about not going out alone.”

  “I understand.”

  “Good-bye.” He put on his hat and walked off.

  “What did he mean by that?” Trent asked.

  “Tori is missing.”

  “I heard. I came as fast as I could but you weren’t here.”

  “I took Mal for her walk,” I said and climbed my stairs. Trent followed behind us.

  “How did you end up with Rex?”

  I turned and looked over my shoulder. “Are you jealous?”

  “Should I be?”

  “No.” I unlocked my door and let Mal in, unhooking her leash so she could run inside and get water. “It’s not like you and Tori.”

  “I told you she was thanking me.”

  “Well, changing the locks didn’t help keep her safe.” I chewed on the inside of my cheek, suddenly aware of how upset I was. I held the door with my hands and didn’t ask Trent inside.

  “Allie—”

  “I’m not ready, Trent. I need to see that Tori is safe. I think you should go.”

  “I’m not going far,” he said. “I heard Rex tell you not to go out alone.”

  “Good-bye, Trent.”

  “Good-bye, Allie.”

  I closed the door and leaned against it. Jenn stood on the other side of the bar. “What was that all about?”

  I sighed and put on a kettle for tea. “I went to see Sean Grady.”

  “That’s what your text said. Are you nuts?”

  “No,” I said. “Mal and I ran into Mr. Beecher in the alley. He told me he saw Tori talking to Sean. So I wanted to know if Sean could tell me anything that would help with her disappearance.”

  “That was brave.”

  I shrugged and got down mugs and pulled out tea. “I don’t think Sean hurt anyone. He was too cautious in his robberies. I don’t think he was the one who tossed the Butterfly House and hurt Barbara. So I didn’t think he’d do more than close the door in my face. Which he tried to do, but Mal helped.”

  “How?” Jenn asked, watching me pour hot water into the mugs and then pushing her favorite tea toward her.

  “She got between his door and the jam enough I could get my foot in there so he couldn’t close the door.”

  “Please tell me you didn’t go inside his home.”

  “I didn’t go inside,” I said.

  Jenn out a long breath. “What did you find out?”

  “That Dan was the one who hired Sean to make a copy of the key.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Rex found me and walked me home after that. He is worried that the killer might be enraged about my finding the diamonds and come after me next. So he wants me not to be alone.”

  “Sounds reasonable to me,” Jenn said. “Especially with Tori missing.”

  “I can’t just sit here and make fudge while my cousin is missing.”

  “I know,” Jenn said. “We can go out together tomorrow morning. I have a plan.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “To go to the senior center,” Jenn said. “If anyone knows anything. It’s the seniors.”

  “True.” I smiled and saluted her with my mug. “Here’s to a good plan.”

  “Here, here,” Jenn said and clinked mugs. We both sipped. “Now,” she said as she put down her mug, “tell me what is going on with you and Trent and Rex . . .”

  I sighed. “It’s complicated.”

  Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pecan Fudge

  Ingredients

  14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

  1 cup of butter

  2 cups of brown sugar

  2 cups of toasted pecans

  1 tsp cinnamon

  Directions

  Pour sweetened condensed milk, butter, and brown sugar in microwave-proof bowl. Microwave on high for 10 minutes, stopping every 2 minutes to stir. Remove and let mixture cool slightly. Mix with electric beaters for 5 minutes. Stir in pecans and cinnamon until well blended. Pour into buttered 8-inch square pan. Let cool 3 hours. Cut into 1 inch squares and enjoy!

  Chapter 22

  “Allie, are you okay?” Victoria’s mother, June, said with a slight California accent. She smothered me in a hug and a cloud of Chanel No. 5.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” I said. “I’m sorry
we have to see each other under these circumstances.”

  “Allie,” Tori’s father, Alex, gave me a quick hug. “What do you know about my little girl?”

  It was the next day and we were at the police station. My uncle and aunt had insisted that they come to the station before they went anywhere. We were in Rex’s office. They left their suitcases outside the door.

  My uncle was a serious and imposing man. He stood six foot two and was well muscled. A former athlete, he was now retired from real estate. Today he wore a dress shirt and slacks that were wrinkled from travel.

  My aunt, on the other hand, was soft, and rounded from age with champagne colored hair that was curled and hair sprayed to last through a hurricane. She came dressed in white capris and a blue silk blouse.

  It seemed weird that she was Papa Liam’s sister—but my aunt was fifteen years younger than my papa and she and Uncle Alex had had Victoria late in life.

  “Rex Manning,” Rex said and offered his hand to my uncle. “We spoke on the phone.”

  “Yes. Rex, didn’t you go to school with Tori?”

  “I did,” Rex said. “Please have a seat.”

  “I’d rather stand,” my uncle said. “We’ve been sitting awhile now.”

  “Have you heard anything from Victoria?” June asked. She wrung her hands and tears welled up in her eyes.

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small packet of tissues and handed it to her. She sent me a watery smile. “Thanks,” she said. “My baby is out there somewhere and there’s nothing I can do.”

  “We’re doing all that we can,” Rex said. “I’ve got my officers scouring the island. No one saw her getting on a ferry.”

  “But they could have taken her by plane,” Alex said.

  “I’ve interviewed the people at the airport. That seems like a dead end as well,” Rex said calmly. He stood. “Can I get you some water or coffee?”

  “Water would be great,” Aunt June said.

  Rex left the office, allowing my aunt and uncle time to collect themselves. Uncle Alex put his arm around Aunt June. She turned to him with a sob and he held her tight.