Cinnamon Rolls & Cyanide

by Beth Byers

  “You two come to dinner,” Zee said. “I put some soup in the crockpot, and we’ll need something to warm us after today. I’ll invite Az and Carver, and it’ll be a family dinner.”

  I nodded against Simon’s chest.

  “It was bad?” Simon asked.

  Zee’s answer was a mean snort and, I guess, a fervent nod. Simon clutched me closer as he nodded.

  “Ok,” he said. “Ok. Well…you two going there and talking to Mrs. Lavender got her out of that trouble. You did a good thing today.”

  I pressed my nose against his warm chest and felt Zee’s hand on my arm. Now that Brian wasn’t watching, now that I didn’t have something I had to do like buy the scooter or pick up Zee, it hit me all at once.

  Tears started and I couldn’t hold them in. Simon pressed another kiss to my forehead and said, “We’ll go home and change into something more comfortable and catch up and then swing by.”

  “Soup’s not going anywhere,” Zee said. “Maybe use those cop powers of yours and make sure Mrs. Lavender is ok for us.”

  “That,” Simon said, “I can do.”

  “Rose’s is closed today,” one of our old regulars said as he came through the door.

  I wasn’t really quite sure what to say to that so I went for a non-committal hum.

  “Well isn’t that too bad?” Zee snarled meanly.

  “You’d think you had a bit more care,” the customer said, “Someone died.”

  “That someone was a lying thief who stole our recipes and left his mother living in filth. What happened to him was karma in action.”

  I poured the customer coffee and handed him a menu, shooting Zee a look. She didn’t even blink in the face of my irritation. I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked by that, but I kind of was. Stupidly so.

  We were busy through midmorning when I decided to take the slow time to make cakes for the next day. We were closed on Monday and Tuesday, but Sunday was one of our busiest days with our local churchgoers coming in for post church brunch and our out of town weekenders catching breakfast before heading back to their jobs in Portland, Bend, or Seattle.

  “What is this?” someone bellowed at the same time the door to The 2nd Chance Diner slammed open so hard the glass shattered.

  I yelped before I was even able to focus on the face of the person who was shoving a piece of paper in my face.

  “A second lawsuit,” Zee said. She had pulled out her phone and was messaging someone. I was guessing it was going to be either Simon or Carver or both.

  The paper was shoved in my face so hard, I had to stumble back or be shoved down. Before I could even react, Az was grabbing the person and hauling them off of me.

  “Did you message…”

  “Yes,” Zee answered before I could even ask my question.

  “Who do you think you are?” The man snarled. I recognized him as George Lavender’s son, and I tried for calmness.

  “I’m sure the letter is pretty self-explanatory?”

  “A cease and desist? For waffles? Are you an idiot?”

  “You’re thieves,” Zee answered before I could. “And if you don’t like it talk to her lawyer.”

  “I’ll take you down,” George’s son said. “I’ll destroy you and your business.”

  “He’s asking for it, isn’t he?”

  I took another deep breath and said, “By all means. Have your lawyer contact mine.”

  “Don’t think I won’t.”

  “Don’t think you have a leg to stand on. The best thing you have going for yourself is that Rose is kind,” Az told him. “Now back away from her or I’ll make you.”

  “I’ll press charges,” George’s son said.

  Carver had walked through the broken door of the diner and I looked to him before I said, “I believe we’ll be the ones doing that.”

  Carver took in the scene and pulled handcuffs off his belt.

  “What is this?” George’s son bellowed. “You think I won’t sue you too? Everyone knows you’re sleeping with that whore!”

  Carver’s face flushed with fury, but the gasps from the diner should have been more of a clue that a huge overstep had been made. Zee was mean and snarky. But she also babysat half of the town, did quiet acts of service for the rest, and engineered many of their best memories. People loved and hated Zee, but the love was always at the forefront.

  “Looks to me like you’ve done property damage. Az is about as even-tempered as they come, and he’s holding you back from the ladies who work here. There’s a roomful of witnesses, and I will be gathering statements. Mess with us,” Carver suggested, leaning in close to show his fury. “Try us.”

  “You won’t get away with this,” he said. “You won’t destroy my father’s business. You won’t stop me.”

  “It’s already done,” I told him. “It was done when your father stole our recipes. It was done when he decided to base his business on us instead of doing his own thing. All he had to do create his own restaurant, not try to duplicate mine.”

  George’s son lunged at me, but Carver hauled him away.

  “What a fool,” Zee said.

  “What a temper,” I countered. I glanced at the broken glass and considered my options. It was Sunday, I needed someone who I could call in. I was certainly going to send the bill to the man who’d broken it, so I wasn’t as worried about the door. Roxy started sweeping up the mess as I glanced at Zee.

  “Do you know anyone?” I gestured to the broken door.

  She nodded and said, “I’ll take care of it.”

  Simon didn’t come straight to the diner. He messaged me that he was helping Carver process George’s son and asked me to tell him when I was leaving the diner. As far as I knew, both sons were in the police station. I wasn’t sure there was anything more capable of making you look guilty than attacking someone.

  “Doesn’t look good for them,” Simon said. He sounded tired. Murder did that to both of us. The problem was that it was also energizing. Murders were a perfect puzzle. Why did someone kill? What motives made the terrible act somehow worth the risk? Who was lying? Or hiding?

  “Want to go for a drive? Maybe go up to Tillamook get an ice cream cone and avoid all of this?”

  I nodded and made sure that Zee was willing to watch the diner. The morning rush was over by the time we left, and she was happy to stay.

  “Carver’s busy anyway,” she said. “I’m going to go home after we close, brush my cats, and think about making some muffins. Or maybe a pie. I have had a bit of a craving for a strawberry rhubarb pie. Or perhaps a blueberry cream pie.”

  ELEVEN

  “What have you been doing today,” I asked Zee.

  It was Sunday evening and she’d swung by the house where Simon and I were applying paint swatches to the bedroom wall to see which color I liked best. I’d canceled on Maddie and Jane to switch girl’s night for the next weekend. The murder was fouling my mood. Besides, with Simon, I’d gotten the Tillamook Wild Mountain Blackberry ice cream on a waffle cone. Then we’d grabbed some jerky and interesting cheese flavors from the Tillamook Cheese Factory, before we’d stopped in a random small town to check out their beach. It was lovely, but we decided we preferred the beach at Silver Falls.

  “I like the soft blue-gray,” Zee said. I didn’t care for that one much at all. But I did like the idea of a dark navy wall to accent the purple gray. I might have to go back to the store and paint that on the wall near the bed. Or maybe the wall where I could put an off-white, shabby chic armoire. The contract between the navy and the off-white would be lovely.

  Simon said I could decorate however I wanted. Even though I was leaning towards a cool-toned lavender gray. He wanted me to be comfortable.

  “Come with me,” Zee said the moment that Simon went out of the bedroom.

  “To where?” I asked as I painted a wider swatch of the pretty soft blue.

  “To see Roberta,” Zee said.

  Now that I didn’t want to do. I didn’t like Rober
ta on the best of days. This day was hardly that.

  I also didn’t have any firm theory about the murder and neither did Zee, Simon, or Carver. If we went to see Roberta, she’d just throw our lack of a conclusion in our faces.

  We all knew the sons were the likeliest killers since they would inherit whatever money was left. I couldn’t imagine that Mrs. Lavender had a long life expectancy. With killing George and grandma being on her deathbed, the sons could possibly be inheriting some pretty large amounts of money. I wish I could explain that money didn’t bring happiness. I wasn’t happy because I could buy boots if I wanted or because I bought over-priced makeup for when I felt like playing around. I was happy because I had good friends and an inexplicable love. I had the dogs and time on the beach. Money did, however, make all of that easier.

  “Did you know that Mrs. Lavender owns five beachfront properties?” Zee asked. “Nice ones too. Really nice ones. And some other pieces of property off the beach but all along the Oregon Coast.”

  “How do you know?”

  She shrugged and then grinned and said, “Carver found out from the police in Lincoln City. They were furious when they realized how much money she was worth and how crappy her care was. Her family could have hired her a private nurse without flinching, but they left her in that mess.”

  “I imagine there’s some big money in those properties?” I’d looked into buying some property in Silver Falls myself. I had moved in with Simon instead, but I’d seen the homes and the price tags. They weren’t cheap that was for sure.

  “Millions,” Zee replied calmly.

  “So why are we going to see Roberta? Seeing as how we don’t know anything yet?” I’d already accepted I was going and had grabbed a nicer pair of jeans and my pretty new lace-up boots. I’d add a lacy, long-sleeved top and one of my prettiest cardigans. I wouldn’t look as nice as Roberta would, but I would feel better about what I was wearing all the same.

  “We’re going because Roberta knew George well enough to be sleeping with him. She might have known about the money. She might have known about his mother. We need to know who the heir is. It isn’t clear right now.”

  I thought about that and then said, “If he didn’t have a will, his kids will inherit whatever he had. If his mother has living children, they’ll get the money before grandchildren.”

  “She’s pretty old, you know. It’s an older person hobby to do genealogy. If she did…we might be able to find her family online.”

  Zee started searching Mrs. Lavender and George on family search sites, and it didn’t take her very long to discover that Mrs. Lavender only had one child—George. With meant that the two boys were the heirs.

  “If those properties are worth millions that’s a whole lot of money to inherit,” I said.

  Zee nodded, and we decided to go visit Roberta. Simon wasn’t even surprised when we left. He was also not very concerned. As much as he didn’t love Roberta, he wasn’t worried about her hurting us. Of course, since George’s sons were in jail, there wasn’t a lot of reason for Simon to worry about our safety.

  “It was probably the local son who killed George,” I said. “Unless the poisoning was somehow put in something they could guarantee George would be using. It must have been given near daily.”

  Zee drove which was something of a near-death experience. When we reached Roberta’s beachside house, I stared for a moment and then said, “This is an expensive house.”

  “Yeah,” Zee said, nodding as she pushed the car door open. “Roberta is a trust fund type baby. She can afford to do whatever she wants.”

  The house was one of those wood-shingled places that were so popular on the beach, but these shingles were gray wood that blended into the gray of the Oregon coast. It should have been drab, but with the white shutters and accents, a red door, and a wrap around deck, it was just luxurious. This place was one of those knock your socks off, many leveled houses with oodles of square footage. It had probably been designed as a rental with 6 bedrooms and a plethora of bathrooms, but as far as I knew, Roberta lived alone.

  We walked up the three flights of steps that led to an upper-level deck and the front doors. When Zee knocked on the door, I turned to face the neighborhood. A lot of the weekend visitors checked out by this time of Sunday, so it was fairly deserted around Roberta’s house. I didn’t think she had permanent neighbors. At least not more than one or two, but you could see a slew of houses from her deck. Tall slender ones that were squeezed in between oversized, near mansions. There were adorable little cottages and clapboard houses, nearly all empty.

  In her driveway, Roberta’s black car stood alone. It was a Mercedes sedan, but two houses down, in the grassy area between a couple of rentals, a small rusted yellow hatchback was parked.

  I nudged Zee and pointed, “Is that…Jake’s car?”

  Before Zee could answer, the door opened. But she’d seen the car and nodded once. Geez, I thought. I wondered if Jake would hide from us or come out and defend Roberta as was so common with him. How unprofessional was it to sleep with your subordinate? Let alone someone who was significantly younger than you? Roberta had me shaking my head again. Even if Jake was an adult, everything about the two of them felt wrong.

  “What are you doing here?” Roberta sighed, looking at both of us with a scowl.

  “You did hire us to investigate,” I reminded her. I tried peeking past her and couldn’t see much. A flash of a bright abstract painting, soft pretty blue walls. I was definitely not going with that shade.

  The look Roberta shot me said she regretted her decision to ask Zee and I to help with the case. She should. I would use her letter for evidence if I had to. I was still debating pressing charges against her. Plus, I just didn’t like her very much. I wasn’t quite sure how anyone didn’t see how cold she was at her center.

  “A bad choice," Roberta snapped, “and a waste of money.”

  Zee laughed.

  “I was panicked because I had been with him the day that he died,” Roberta said. “I hired you two fools before my common sense kicked in. Let alone my faith in the police department.”

  I stepped into the house even though I could see that Roberta wanted us to leave. I had to twist to get past her, but I glanced around with avid eyes. Roberta didn’t have the beach decor that was so common in Silver Falls. Her floors were wood with lots of throw rugs, her couches were leather and over-sized, her walls were white but with lots of art. It was a great place even though I had to force myself to admit it. A great place, and I liked it quite a bit.

  “But now,” I said, looking back at Roberta, “that George’s sons are in jail, you’ve assumed one or both of them killed George, and you’re safe again.”

  Her expression silently asked me if she was wrong. I didn’t answer. I had no idea. Our gazes met for longer than I liked and then I shrugged. There was what looked to be a bedroom off of the great room that made up the mass of this floor. I could see stairs heading down, and I assumed there were at least two more levels of bedrooms and living space.

  “Shouldn’t I feel safe?” Roberta demanded. She smoothed her hair back even though it was perfectly in place.

  I wondered where Jake was, but didn’t want to obviously search for him.

  “I wouldn’t feel safe yet,” I told Roberta. “Not yet. Things don’t add up fully. There’s no evidence. Those Lavender men didn’t get arrested for murder which means the police aren’t sure either. They’re still looking for something.”

  Zee shot me a look, jerking her gaze towards the stairs. I just caught the glimpse of a man going down the stairs and saw that the room I’d assumed was a bedroom was now standing open. I could see a messy king size bed though Roberta was put together. Maybe she just didn’t make her bed daily? Moments late, I heard a door close.

  “So Jake left,” Zee said. “Seedy lover to have.”

  Roberta’s face flushed and then she said, “You…I…”

  “Leave it alone,” I told Zee. “Rob
erta knows what she’s doing and our comments aren’t going to change anything. As gross as I think it is, Jake is an adult. We can’t police that.”

  Roberta scowled and then asked, “Why are you here? Do you really think that George’s sons didn’t kill him?”

  “What do you know about George’s sons?” I asked. Roberta shrugged, so I said, “You are paying us for looking into this. If you want us to stop trying to figure things out, we can.”

  “We don’t do refunds,” Zee inserted.

  I ignored her to add, “Of course, if those boys end up having alibis…you are the number one suspect again. Given how he was blackmailing you. Especially since you were sleeping with him.”

  Roberta tapped her fingers against her palm as she avoided both my gaze and Zee’s. “I didn’t kill George.”

  “I don’t think you did,” I told her honestly. I didn’t add that I thought she was too smart and too selfish. She was too smart to murder someone when there were so many other ways to get someone out of your life. And she was too selfish to murder someone when there was such a terrible consequence.

  “Really?”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Zee said. “You always were spoiled.”

  “Spoiled doesn’t equal being a murderer.”

  Zee shrugged at that. I suspected that Zee didn’t think Roberta had killed George either. Zee just wanted to mess with Roberta because they didn’t like her.

  “Have you ever met George’s mother?”

  Roberta’s face was near-shocked as she said, “I didn’t think she was alive.”

  “Only barely,” Zee muttered.

  “What does that mean?”

  I watched Roberta carefully as I said, “We went to visit her when we discovered that the money for the new diner was coming from her accounts. George didn’t have money in his own right to set up a new restaurant like he was doing. Mrs. Lavender was very neglected. George was stealing her money and leaving his mother in literal filth.”

  Roberta finally waved us beyond the foyer to her kitchen area. It was a great room, so the kitchen led into a big dining room with an oversized table and then the living room off of that. There was an island with bar seating between the dining room and kitchen which is where Roberta gestured for us to sit.