by Lee, Carol
“Let me know if anything else unusual happens this morning. Otherwise, I’ll be in touch when I have the results of the fingerprints.” Detective Massey began walking back toward the front of the bakery.
“Thank you, Detective.”
“Austin,” he corrected her.
“Thank you, Austin.”
Sydney let him out the front door and realized it was now time to keep it unlocked and get ready for business.
Her first customer was Jonah. “Morning Maple. Sydney. I missed my coffee yesterday. You OK?” he asked.
“Doing great. Just had to. . .take a personal day.” She hadn’t left a sign about the closure and certainly didn’t want everyone knowing her ingredients had been tested for poison.
“Everyone needs those once in a while,” he agreed.
“What’ll it be today?”
Jonah scanned the baked goods that were already set out front—apple cinnamon scones, blueberry muffins, pumpkin cheesecake. Sydney had toyed with the idea of offering more savory breakfasts, but hadn’t had the opportunity to expand just yet. That would likely be her next move before expanding her lunch.
“A coffee and two blueberry muffins.”
“Two? Feeling hungry today!”
“One’s for Allison.”
“She’s still around? I heard she was moved to Westhedge.” She was surprised Jonah didn’t know, as he was planning the landscaping for the Twin Peaks Library.
“She’s asked me to come out there to help plan that too!”
“That’s great! Send her my greetings,” Sydney said as she handed the muffins and coffee across the counter. “Have a great day.”
“Thanks, you too.”
Jonah was the only customer early in the morning, so Sydney took time to help Grace in the kitchen.
“Wow, the muffins are already in the oven! You’ll be finished with this order in no time!” Sydney was always impressed with Grace’s efficiency.
“I was thinking I could do more research online into the Pages and Jeffreys if you can handle the front this morning.”
“That’d be perfect. I don’t think we’ll be able to track everyone down this afternoon and should focus on Madelyn. Her relationship to Aaron is still a question.”
“I’ll dig into her more, too. There’s got to be a missing link somewhere.” Grace took out the first batch of muffins, and they were done perfectly.
Sydney heard the front bells tinkle and Maple look up to greet the next customer. She walked out front and found Ben and Ella approaching the counter.
The rest of the morning had a steady stream of customers. Sydney was thankful for that. She had to reassure everyone that she was fine and had just needed a day just for herself.
She heard her phone alert her about a text message midway through the morning, but didn’t have a chance to check it right away and had forgotten about it until they could close for the afternoon. She looked and saw that Austin had sent her a text, Prints on the knife. Couldn’t ID them. Any ideas on who it might be?
Sydney wasn’t sure she should incriminate someone she didn’t know, and who she didn’t know all of the details about. But it was her own safety at stake. Madelyn Kountz, she wrote back.
Will look into her.
“Grace, were you able to find anything? Detective Massey is checking for Madelyn’s fingerprints on the knife,” Sydney updated her when the front door was locked and she walked back into her office.
“Check this out. Just published today in the Westhedge Ledger.”
Funky Funds, the title of the article read. Sydney took Grace’s seat at the computer and began reading.
The Westhedge Library Commission was forced to release their accounting records late last night. There had been suspicions that funds were missing from the library’s trust fund, created by Mr. Arthur Jeffreys’ late father. Lewis Page, the Commission’s accountant, turned the documents over to the police, accompanied by the following statement, ‘We’ve been tracking the missing finances for three months and have taken action to get to the bottom of it and move forward.’ The general consensus now is that the late Aaron Gibbs was stealing from the fund and fired at the end of October, just before his untimely death.
Death, Sydney noticed, not murder.
The article went on to implicate Aaron in the theft, but with no substantial evidence. She actually felt bad for him—he wasn’t here to defend himself and his name was being smeared through the dirt posthumously.
“Did you find anything else about Madelyn?” Sydney asked, turning around to look at Grace.
“Nothing that links her to his murder, but I did find something interesting out about Aaron. He had filed for a new business six months ago. It was a modeling agency. Which would explain all of the photos we found. But doesn’t explain why they were hidden in the bottom of his oven.”
“So even if Madelyn was his girlfriend, she would have known about the business and known that those weren’t his girlfriends.”
“But she used to be a model. Maybe she’s connected to this in a different way.”
“We have to talk to Madelyn.”
***
Sydney drove Maple back home before she and Grace headed back to Westhedge for a second day in a row.
“What are you thinking?” Grace asked as Sydney drove like a bat out of hell.
“I think she was his girlfriend. And that she was taking the money without him knowing.”
“But how is all of this connected to his murder? And what about those photos?” Grace asked.
“I don’t know yet, but I have a feeling she does.”
They drove in silence the rest of the way, both hoping to figure it out before they found Madelyn.
Suddenly, Sydney pulled over.
“What are you doing?” Grace asked.
“I don’t think Madelyn is in Westhedge. I think she was the driver last night, following me when I was walking Maple. I bet she’s following us. We just have to convince her to stop here.”
They had pulled over on the side of the road, barely in a pull-off. Sydney didn’t want to be in a parking lot, where her car might be missed. She turned the radio on as they waited.
Scanning the channels, she heard a report on the local NPR station talking about Aaron’s death.
“I just want those guilty brought to justice,” a woman said through tears.
“A very touching plea by Aaron’s mother. Next, we’re going to hear from longtime friend, Madelyn Kountz.”
“Grace, this is her!” Sydney nearly shouted, though Grace had already caught the name and was turning the radio up louder.
“Madelyn, thank you for joining our show today,” the host said. “This must be a very difficult time for you.”
“You have no idea. Aaron and I had been together for nearly four years. I was sure that he was going to propose this holiday season,” she started.
Sydney shot Grace a look. They’d been right, they had been a couple.
“And what do you have to say to the person responsible for ending his life, if that person was here now?”
“I have nothing to say to her.”
“Her?” the host asked.
“Yes. We all know how it is. There’s only one person around here who would kill her ex-boyfriend with whipped cream.”
“Whipped cream?” Sydney asked, turning to Grace. “I thought it was pumpkin pie.”
“Check with your new friend, Austin,” Grace suggested.
Sydney couldn’t resist. If she was going to confront Madelyn, she needed the facts. She shot him a text, Was Aaron killed by poisoned pie or whipped cream?
They waited, but before they got their answer, the same car Sydney had seen the night before pulled up behind them.
***
“Grace, turn your voice recorder on. And hold my phone. If needed, send a message to Austin.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to get her to confess it all. I’d been told it was pumpkin pie, so if she k
nows something different, she’s got to know all the details. I think she’s the killer. You need to get it on tape.”
Sydney hoped this would work. If it didn’t, she would be making a terrible mistake, and possibly getting herself into trouble she couldn’t get out of.
Madelyn got out of her car and stormed toward Sydney, already standing outside her own vehicle.
“You think you can just go around, making crazy accusations?” the blond woman shouted.
Sydney remained confident, even though she was quaking inside.
“Do you know who I just got off the phone with?” Sydney knew it was a rhetorical question. “Detective Massey. And he seems to think that I have something to do with harassing you and Aaron’s murder!” she fumed. There was no stopping her, and Sydney didn’t intend to. “I loved that man! How could I kill someone I loved? And from what I’ve been told, your fingerprints are all over his hotel room!”
Sydney had forgotten about her fingerprints. She made a mental note to get that information out of Madelyn as well.
“What do you have to say? Don’t just stand there looking smug.”
Madelyn towered over Sydney, who just stood with her arms crossed, looking up and trying to keep her composure.
“I know it wasn’t me, and you know too,” Sydney said, as calmly as she could. “In fact, anyone who’s ever bought one of my pumpkin pies and just heard you talking on NPR would also know it wasn’t me.”
“Oh yeah? And why is that? Your pie was there, and so was your whipped cream. Your poisoned whipped cream.”
Sydney didn’t need her response from Austin anymore.
“Because I don’t send whipped cream with my pies. We just send a note suggesting you add it.”
Madelyn’s face fell. Sydney knew she’d just gained the upper hand. Now was her chance to figure out the motive.
“But I’m still not sure why you would frame me. Maybe because you knew we’d had a messy breakup and it would be believable. But no, that would be too easy. You could have picked any ex-girlfriend of his. And believe me, there are plenty. Maybe because he was still in love with me.” Sydney paused for her words to take effect. She was thankful Mia had finally told her he had come just months earlier hoping to get her back. And if what Madelyn had said on the radio was even remotely true, Madelyn was madly in love with Aaron. “But I think there was more to it than that.”
Madelyn tried to regain her composure, but she knew she’d lost.
“You were hoping to get back into modeling, but had lost your mojo.” Sydney took pride in her use of the word. “When Aaron opened his own agency last spring, you saw that as your in. But he wouldn’t even take you in as a model. So you starting stealing money from his library’s trust fund, hoping to be able to blackmail him into hiring you. And when that didn’t work, well, anger got the best of you and you killed him.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Madelyn finally shot at Sydney. “I loved him. And he just couldn’t let you go! Do you know what that’s like? To live with someone who isn’t really there? Who doesn’t believe in you as a person or in your career? But you’ll never be able to prove anything. There is no paper trail for the money. And it’s already spent. I’ll be out of here tomorrow with a new identity. You’ll be blamed for his murder and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Sydney saw cars approaching from Twin Peaks. She could see already that their headlights were flashing, but they had no red or blue flashers. They didn’t want to spook Madelyn, not when Sydney had her in her fingertips.
“What about the photos?” Sydney asked. Even if she already had the confession, she was still curious.
“Hah. You think you found gold when you got those last night, don’t you? Those are nothing. I’d originally thought he was having an affair, before I knew about the modeling agency. Can you believe that? He kept that secret from me—I would have made the perfect business partner! But no, you missed what you were really looking for yesterday. There was another envelope in the oven that you never saw. That was the cash. Right there for the taking. Spent now. Too bad.”
“But how did you get access to the fund?”
“You think Arthur Page is happy with that wife of his? She just dotes on him like a little puppy dog. I learned long ago that I can get whatever I want if I just perform the right. . .favors.” Madelyn gave a sleazy grin with the final word. “It had nothing to do with Aaron at first. I knew I wouldn’t get access to the fund through him. But I knew where I could, and I took what I wanted.”
The cars were getting within ear shot now and Sydney hoped they were close enough to keep Madelyn from escaping. She heard the cars and turned around. As she realized she’d been trapped, she ran back to her car, but she was too late. One car pulled up just beside hers, with another one in front and a third in back. She was stuck.
Austin got out of the front car and went straight for Sydney.
“What were you thinking?”
“How did you know to come?” Sydney asked without answering his question first.
“You have the best friend anyone could ask for. Grace sent me a message from your phone. It must have been as soon as Madelyn got here. Your question made me suspicious, so I was already on my way, and then I knew to call for backup.”
“Grace!” Sydney remembered. “She has the whole confession on tape. Madelyn killed Aaron with poisoned whipped cream. I knew it couldn’t have been me when I heard Madelyn say it was whipped cream on the radio because we don’t send the pies with whipped cream. And she’d been stealing money from the Westhedge Library fund by getting close to Arthur. And she was going to blackmail Aaron with it, but killed him instead when he wouldn’t hire her as a model in his new business, or ask her to be his business partner. And she framed me because he was still in love with me but I wanted nothing to do with him.”
A second officer was reading Madelyn her rights, cuffing her and stuffing her into the back seat of his car.
“Sydney, I’d hoped all along that you weren’t responsible. And now that we’ve proven you’re not, would you be interested in going to dinner with me?”
“Detective—”
“Austin,” he corrected her, again.
“Austin.” Sydney paused there. She was melting. She could finally take the time to admire his good looks, know that he was on her side. “That would be great.”
Sydney had one final question she needed answered.
“Officer!” she called as the Detective Luck got into the driver’s seat. “I have one more question to Madelyn before you go. How did you get my fingerprints into the hotel room? And how did you get into Sinful Sweets?” she asked through the back window.
“Fingerprints were easy. I just went to your bakery a few weeks early and took silverware and dishes after you served me. Those were the only fingerprints in the hotel room. And you need to be more careful about leaving your keys around. I didn’t have a plan in mind when I made a copy after I saw it unattended next to the register. But it was too easy to take it and bring it back a half hour later. You never even knew it was missing.”
Sydney should thank Mia for talking her out of leaving a spare under the mat outside the back door.
***
Sydney brought Grace home and gave her the rest of the week off. She’d put all orders on hold until after the weekend. They’d fulfilled the funeral, which Sydney could now go to, and they both needed a break. Sydney could run the bakery alone for the mornings and would give herself the afternoons off to enjoy with Maple, and maybe her nieces and nephew.
Sydney then went home to walk Maple before she had to get ready for her date. She still couldn’t believe she was going on one. It had been less than a week since Austin had questioned her—twice—about murder. And now she was being taken out to dinner by him?
She took her time getting ready. She’d forego her comfortable jeans for a slinky green dress. She couldn’t help being excited. She put makeup on for the first time
in months—maybe since she’d still been trying to impress her previous boyfriend, Aaron. She curled her normally straight hair, added a matching green necklace and long, dangling earrings.
When she heard his car stop outside, she kissed Maple on the head and just about ran down the steps in her two-inch black heels. She felt on top of the world, and dressed for the occasion.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie
My special favorite recipe!
Makes 2 full size pies (can easily be cut in half or spooned into individual servings)
INGREDIENTS:
