1 Death by Chocolate

by Carol Lee

  “You think its okay?”

  I stretched my leg out and moved my foot. “I hope so.” All the waiting had made me feel a little calmer, but I wanted to get out of there.

  We crept out of our hiding spaces and carefully began to look around. The lights on our phones cast a much dimmer light than the spot. I went to the front window and peered out. Nothing moved and there were no cars on the road. We split up. I took the front part of the shop since I’d already gone to peek out the window and as I stood just a few steps from where I’d been yesterday morning when I saw Barbara on the stretcher and then I moved the phone-light a step ahead of me and the tape outline of the body shone bright white. I traced the outline and saw a few chocolate cake crumbs on the floor near where I presumed her hand had been. My stomach began to hurt. Anger and fear tied my intestine in knots. Focus, I told myself. I had to find something to help. I glanced at the door and saw the small note taped on it. Yellow crime scene tape crisscrossed the window. I went over to take a closer look. The narrow lined paper looked like it came from a tablet and it stuck to the door with a single piece of tape. I wondered if there were any fingerprints on it.

  “Hey, MB.”

  I walked over to the counter where Lizzie stood.

  She pointed to the calendar and it had two entries for the night before. “Ron @ moms and $ for Willie.”

  “Okay, so that means she knew Ron wouldn’t be opening and the argument with Willie was about money for something. Keep looking in these papers,” I passed my light over a pile of papers on the side of the counter. “Maybe there’s something about what she needed to pay him for.”

  I went back toward the front and looked at the floor around the body and at the door again. For some reason the signs on the door kept bothering me. I looked at the other signs. There were two that were handwritten on the door besides the note saying that the shop would open late. I tried to get a better look at them. One had been written in marker and so the letters were a bit more distinct and the second one had been written in pen as the tablet page. The script on two had a rounded look to it and used uppercase and lowercase lettering, but the script on the note paper from the morning of the murder looked more angular and had been written in all caps.

  A car turned the corner and it headed toward the shop. I hurried away from the door and slid behind a chair from one of the café tables to warn Lizzie. My light cast a slight glow on the floor and something sparkled. I snagged the small screw and put it into my pocket.

  “Lizzie,” I called in a raspy voice barely a whisper. “Someone’s coming again.” I heard a thud as I hurried to get to the back of the shop again. I fully expected to be caught in the spotlight as I bent low and tried to run. I made it to the back near the basement door. Lizzie leaned against the boxes that I had crouched behind before. We listened for the car and any doors opening or closing, but it seemed quiet.

  “Do we dare look?” Lizzie asked barely in an audible noise.

  A jiggling of keys in the lock of the front door answered that question. I pointed to the basement door and we moved as fast as we dared toward it. Once in the stairwell, we closed the door and slowly descended the stairs. The door opened and the bell tinkled. We froze. Another tinkle meant that the door closed again. Neither of us moved. Get a grip, I told myself and tried to breathe. I felt Lizzie’s arm next to mine and it shook, but she stood as still as a statue other than that. I looked over at her, but we were in total darkness so I saw nothing. We heard a creak on the floor, but no footsteps or talking. Then there was a beep from a phone and Lizzie grabbed my arm. I jumped, but stayed quiet. I took a breath and tried to think.

  Neither of us moved and thankfully we both had our phone sounds turned off, but whoever stood above us, didn’t. I pressed my phone so the screen lit up and I held it near my stomach so it wouldn’t shine far. I motioned to Lizzie to go down the rest of the stairs. We had to get out of there. Who had keys to the bakery? Ron? The police? Someone no one knew about?

  Lizzie still held my arm, so I took the first step and she moved when she felt me go. Why come back tonight? I wondered. Same as we were; looking for something. After the second step down, the stair creaked under my weight and I leaned back and held onto Lizzie. We wobbled slightly, but stayed upright. We froze again and waited. I could hear Lizzie’s breathing. The footsteps startled me, but they seemed to be across the front door and not coming toward the back at all. The beeping sound came again. This time we heard a muffled noise that sounded like a male voice. The front door bell tinkled again and we quickly went down the last few steps not worrying about any creaks right then.

  At the bottom I put on my phone again and we made our way over to the window that I’d slipped through earlier. It seemed high to reach from inside so we looked around for something to stand on. The front door bell sounded again. Maybe I should have one of those bells, I thought a bit randomly. Lizzie found an old chair and brought it over to the window. I climbed out first and tried not to make any noise. While Lizzie shimmied out I went to the corner and tried to see the car that had brought our mysterious visitor with keys to the bakery. I couldn’t get a good enough look. All I could see was the very end of the bumper and it was a dark color, not shiny. Not enough for it to look familiar. It could have even been my car, which I wished that I had right now.

  Lizzie got her leg out as I moved away from the corner and we stood in the shadows before moving. We went to the side of the building, but in order to get away we had to get past the display windows and whoever looked around inside could possibly see us as we did.

  We crept closer to the windows and leaned against the wall. I peered just at the edge of the window to see if I could get a glimpse of the person in the bakery. I couldn’t see anything except the decorated birthday cake that sat in the display case. If the view inside was blocked by the cakes, then the view outside must also be blocked by them. We had to risk it.

  I inched ahead trying to stay as low as possible. Lizzie followed. It seemed like it took forever to move just a few feet, but we finally got to the edge of the building. I peeked around the corner to get a better look at the car before we left and the bell from the door tinkled again. We heard the keys jingling and then the car door opening and closing. The car started. I tried to sneak a quick look before it drove away, but Lizzie pulled my sleeve to hold me back.

  “If you get seen who knows what will happen!” She whispered urgently.

  With the street quiet again, we retraced our path back to my house with no trouble. Inside we made some tea, but it took a few minutes before either of us actually spoke.

  “So, we know a few things—Fish Creek Falls finest check on crime scenes at night, someone left something at the bakery and we also know that you and I not only make decent cat burglars, but we look good in our outfits.”

  I smiled. Good old Lizzie, I thought. She could always make me feel better.

  “We also know that the visitor to the bakery was a man.”

  “With a cell phone that beeps.” Then she added, “Do you think it was Mark?”

  “I don’t know. I wish I could’ve seen the car better.”

  “So what should we do now?”

  “I’m not sure.” I saw her try and stifle a yawn, “but, you should probably get some sleep.”

  “Me? What about you?”

  “I’m not sure I’ll sleep at all. You staying?”

  “Yeah,” she yawned again.

  I got up and went to grab a pillow. When I got back Lizzie had already taken the blanket and settled on the couch.

  “I’ll wake you when I’m leaving to open and then you’ll have plenty of time to go and change to get to work.”

  She nodded with her eyes closed. Lizzie always could fall asleep fast. I yawned in spite of myself and went to bed, too. As I lay there in the dark I kept mulling over the whole night and tried to think about anything that would make sense. I did drift off to sleep and my dreams swirled with chocolate cake, images of Mark a
nd Willie, car bumpers and beeping. When the beeping didn’t stop I realized as I shook off the dream that the alarm clock beeped. I hit snooze and stared at the ceiling as I ran over everything once again. I had to figure this out. It beeped again and I got up to find some clothes.

  I went into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. My eyes looked puffy and dark circles were forming under them. I splashed cold water on my face and rebraided my hair since it had come out a bit through our burglary and then the restless “nap” that I had overnight.

  A few minutes later I had popped my oatmeal into the microwave and waited for the cinnamon smell to waft through the kitchen. I didn’t feel hungry in the least, but I knew that I needed to keep something in my stomach. Getting sick wasn’t going to help the situation any.

  The microwave beeped and I wondered if it had woken Lizzie up. I stirred my oatmeal and went into the living room to see Lizzie.

  “Hey, sleepy head,” I said as I squished onto the couch near her feet.

  She groaned slightly and pulled the blanket over her head. I reached for the light. She sat up and looked around still half asleep.

  “Why are you so cheery in the morning?” She yawned and took my oatmeal.

  “I didn’t think I was. Do you want some?”

  “No, this is fine.”

  I rolled my eyes and said, “I have to get going. Will you come by after work?”

  “Of course. Let me know if something happens, though. I don’t want your lawyer to have to tell me the next time you’re arrested.”

  “Let’s hope there isn’t a next time, but I’ll do my best.”

  I grabbed my coat and phone and keys to the bakery and headed out into another early crisp fall morning. Again, the town had nothing happening. Everything seemed normal, but it never would be again. I wondered what today would bring and if there truly could be a way to get out of this mess. Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to make a go of my bakery in such a small town. Then I thought about David. I wouldn’t have met him if I hadn’t come to Fish Creek Falls. I wanted to call him just to hear his voice, but I felt certain that he’d come into the shop sometime today. I just hoped that the visit wouldn’t be official.

  I unlocked the bakery and switched on the lights. In the back I hung up my coat, put on my apron and switched on the oven. I went to put the coffee on and realized that the urns still had coffee in them. I realized that I had to get things back in order before I could get the regular routine going. I started by getting the coffee urns cleaned and set up to make new coffee. I wondered if anyone would come into the shop this morning. After a while, I had cleaned up and then started the normal routine. When I looked in the refrigerator, I realized that the fresh fruit supply had dwindled and I hadn’t placed an order with everything. I decided to make cinnamon muffins.

  I had just put the muffins into the oven when the door opened and the first customer entered.

  “Morning, Green Eyes. How are you doing this morning?”

  “Better now that you came in. Coffee?”

  “Absolutely. It’s been a long night.”

  “What happened?”

  “Kids broke into the gym at school last night and made a mess of it. The janitor had been waxing floors and heard them. He caught one of them, so the rest of the night I ran around waking families up and hauling the rest of the kids to the station.”

  “Here you go.”

  He took a long sip. “Ah, that’s what the doctor ordered. To make matters worse, I had to do most of it myself because Pete didn’t hear his phone.”

  “How many kids were involved?”

  “Six.”

  “Well, Green Eyes, much as I’d like to stay,” he said with another gulp, “I have to get home to clean up and get back at it. I’ll let you know if anything comes of a chat with Mark.”

  “Thanks,” I said and picked up the bleach water bucket.

  As he got to the door, his phone beeped. I nearly dumped the water. He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked it, waved and left.

  “Wait, David,” I called after him and plopped the pail on the floor.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  The door had barely closed as I got to it just as it swung back open. Rachel walked in and nearly bumped right into me.

  “Oh Dahling, you startled me.”

  “Sorry, Rachel. I was trying to catch, David, I mean the Detective.”

  “Now, that’s different. Most people do not try to catch Police, it’s the other way around. Do I smell some cinnamon scones in the air?”

  I sniffed, remembered the muffins and dashed back to the oven to get them out.

  “No, just cinnamon muffins this morning, Rachel. Fresh from the oven, though. Can I get you one?”

  “Hmm, well, my heart was set on a scone, but you bake such divine treats, I’ll have one with a cup of Earl, please.”

  I looked at the tea kettle and realized that I’d forgotten about putting on the water this morning. I put down the muffin tin, filled a cup with water and put it in the microwave. I then went and dumped out the old water from the kettle and put on a fresh pot.

  “So, my dear,” she started as I brought her order over, “any news about,” she whispered, “the murder?”

  “Not really.”

  “Such bad business and bad for business,” she added and looked around.

  I smiled as she went on about how small business needs to be supported and how the Internet put small business, especially hers with fashion trends as they are, in jeopardy.

  “Well, luckily, most people want to have fresh baked goods and not mail order ones,” I said to try and end the litany.

  “Yes, I see your point. Well, I’ll be off. I’m redoing the front window display. You’ll just have to come and see it later.”

  “I’ll try. Have a nice day.”

  As she left I went and grabbed my phone. I started to get David, but stopped. If the Police phones had the same beep settings, then the beep that Lizzie and I heard last night came from a Police phone. How do I ask him that without telling him why I asked? I had to think and get it all put together before I brought David into any of it.

  The door opened again and the Redmonds came inside.

  “Good morning,” I called to them as I moved to the counter to get their order.

  “Good morning, Myra,” Abe said and Millie smiled.

  “What can I get for you folks this morning?”

  “I’ll have a decaf coffee with just cream, please.”

  “Another cup of that French Vanilla,” Abe said.

  I nodded and made their coffees. No one spoke and I tried to hurry.

  “It has been quite a few days, hasn’t it?” Abe asked.

  “Yes, it has,” I answered and waited for him to order something to eat or to say more.

  “Myra, I do not think that you are guilty, but it is our job to follow the evidence.” He placed a five on the counter and slid it closer to me.

  I smiled, but wasn’t sure what to say. He seemed to be trying to be nice, but still he made it sound like he thought that I’d be convicted.

  “Well, good luck to you, Myra. We’ll be seeing you,” he said and took his wife by the elbow and they left without another word.

  I rang up the sale and went to finish mixing the new bleach water to wipe down the counters.

  Next thing I knew the door opened again. I dropped the cloth into the bleach water and stepped to the sink to wash my hands.

  “Good morning,” I called.

  No one said anything in response to my greeting. I dried my hands as I turned toward the counter. I saw Peter Lynch standing there.

  “What can I get for you, Detective?” I said trying to not be nervous. No one came with him, so I didn’t know what to expect from the visit.

  “Coffee. Black,” he said staring at me intently.

  “Right.”

  I put the coffee down on the counter and said, “Anything else with that?”

  “No,�
� he pulled out a couple of ones and placed them on the counter, though I’d held my hand out for the money.