by Cindy Bell
“Ally, this is Steven.” She patted the man’s shoulder. “Steven, this is my beautiful granddaughter, Ally.”
Ally eyed Steven with some skepticism. “Nice to meet you, Steven. I was just learning about the ins and outs of Freely Lakes.”
“Oh dear, I hope you didn’t hear only one side.” Steven chuckled. “We have our issues, just like any other place, but Freely Lakes is a safe and wonderful environment. I’m really looking forward to Charlotte joining us here.”
“Me too.” Charlotte smiled. “Ally, are you about ready to go? I want an early start tomorrow as I have a cake I would like to prepare at the shop. I think that it will be a perfect treat to have at a moving party. Don’t you?”
“Sure.” Ally stood up. She wrapped an arm around her grandmother’s shoulders. There was something about Freely Lakes that made her feel very protective of Charlotte. “We should be going.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Steven flashed another smile at Ally. Ally mustered a smile in return, but there wasn’t much genuine feeling in it. As soon as she was alone with her grandmother in the car Ally turned to face her.
“I don’t know about this place.”
“What? Why?”
“Because, the people don’t seem to get along. I mean, a fist fight almost broke out between two of the women there.”
“Ally, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. There are always going to be people who don’t like each other. It’s not a big deal.”
“What if it’s dangerous there?” Ally started the car and looked up at the building. “You can’t tell what a place is really like just by visiting.”
“Listen, Ally it’s not as if I’m going to be locked away in a prison. If I move in and things don’t work out then I am free to leave at any time. All right?” She reached out and patted Ally’s hand. “I think it’s sweet that you’re so worried, but I really don’t think that there is anything to be worried about. I’ve never heard any bad things about this place. Now, how about that Steven?”
Ally couldn’t help but smile as her grandmother chattered about Steven for the entire car ride. Maybe she was being overprotective and suspicious. Her grandmother was a strong and vibrant woman who could take care of herself.
Chapter Three
The next day Ally arrived at the shop early. She wanted to have another shot at the smudged window. She thought she had her grandmother beat to the shop, but to her surprise she was greeted by the sound of a mixer.
“Mee-Maw?”
“I’m here.” Charlotte stepped out from the back room. “I’m sorry, Ally, I came in early because I want to get this recipe just right, I’ve made some tweaks to it. I want to wow my new neighbors with my amazing decadent chocolate cake. Would you like to help me with it?”
“Sure. I was just going to clean the front window first.”
“All right, that’s fine, I have to start over anyway because I added too much coffee.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “There’s always something.”
“I’ll be right there.” Ally smiled. She knew that when her grandmother tried out new cake recipes or adjusted old ones it meant a lot of delicious mistake-cakes for her to sample. As she was gathering the items she would need for cleaning she heard the bell over the unlocked door. She looked up to see three regulars walk in. The three women were not only frequent customers, but an unending source of gossip. Mrs. White dabbed at her eyes with a tissue as she stepped inside.
“Mrs. White, is something wrong?” Ally frowned. “We’re not actually open yet.”
“Oh please, I need some chocolate to make this better.” Mrs. White wiped her eyes again. Mrs. Cale patted her shoulder.
“There there, dear one.”
Ally thought about her options for a moment. She was the manager and regular customers were in dire need of comfort food.
“I’ll find something I can put out.” Ally took out a tray of chocolates from the refrigerated display cabinet and placed it on the counter.
“Can you believe that she’s gone?” Mrs. Bing shook her head.
“Who’s gone?” Ally paused behind the counter and looked at the three women.
“Myrtle Dents. They found her this morning on the floor of her room at Freely Lakes.”
“What?” Ally gasped. “But we just saw her yesterday. Mee-Maw and I went there for the open house.”
“It happens fast when it happens.” Mrs. White shook her head.
“Ally, what’s going on?” Charlotte stuck her head out from the back room. “I thought you were going to help me with the cake. Oh, I didn’t realize that we had customers.” She smiled at the three women.
“Mee-Maw, I have some bad news.” Ally frowned.
“What is it?” Charlotte stepped all the way out from the back room.
“Myrtle, the woman we saw yesterday, passed away this morning.”
“Oh no!” Just as Charlotte rounded the counter, the door to the shop swung open. Mrs. Cale raised a nut cluster to her mouth and was about to chomp down on it. Luke Elm bolted through the door and ran right up to Mrs. Cale. He slapped the chocolate out of her hand before she could put it into her mouth.
“Luke!” Ally gasped as she watched the chocolate bounce across the floor.
“What are you doing?” Mrs. Cale demanded and grasped her purse as if she might take a swing at him. Ally ducked between them before she could.
“No one eat any chocolates! Or anything else made in this shop!” Luke looked over at Ally and then at Charlotte. He then turned to the three customers. “Ladies, if you’ll please leave the shop I need to discuss some things with the owner.”
“No more chocolates?” Mrs. Cale’s chin trembled. “But, but…”
“Mrs. Cale, listen to the detective. I’ll make sure you and the others each get your own box of chocolates for free.” Charlotte settled her gaze on Luke with such heat that Ally winced. She knew that look from many years of experience.
“All right.” Mrs. Cale nodded. She and the other two women made their way past Luke just as several police officers flooded into the shop after them.
“Ally, I need to speak to you,” Luke said.
“Why? What is going on here?” Ally looked at the officers that began to pick up different items around the shop.
“We tested the chocolates that Myrtle ate. The ones from this shop. They tested positive for antifreeze.”
“What?” Ally grabbed the counter to hold herself up. “That’s not possible.”
“I don’t know how it happened, Ally, but it’s true. I saw the test myself. I insisted on it.”
Ally stared at him and slowly shook her head. “Then test it again, and again.”
“Ally, there’s no point. I was there for the testing. The chocolates were in a box from this shop. Myrtle didn’t die of natural causes, she was poisoned. We have to shut the shop down just in case there are any more poisoned chocolates here.”
“You’re shutting us down?” Charlotte scowled at him. “Luke, you should know better. Of course none of our chocolates are poisoned.”
“Actually, some of them are.” He frowned, but his tone remained respectful. “Now, I don’t believe that you and Ally would have anything to do with that, but somehow those chocolates ended up filled with antifreeze, and now a woman is dead.” He plucked a napkin from the counter and leaned down to pick up the nut cluster that Mrs. Cale had almost eaten. “We don’t want two deaths on our hands, do we?”
“Well, I never…” Charlotte started to respond, but she was interrupted by another voice.
“Detective.” One of the officers stuck his head in from the back room. He held up a bottle of antifreeze. “Found it on the back step.”
“It’s for the van!” Ally’s heart began to race. “I bought it for the van!”
“Log it into evidence.” Luke nodded.
“Are you going to arrest us?” Ally looked over at her grandmother. “Just take me okay, Luke?”
“Wait a minute.” Luke rested hi
s hands on the curve of her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Try to relax, I’m not arresting anyone. We’re here to make sure that you and Charlotte are safe just as much as we are here to make sure the rest of the town is. No one is being accused of a crime, right now we are just trying to gather evidence and figure out what happened here and make sure no one else gets hurt.”
“This is unreal.” Ally shook her head and started to pull away from him, but his hands tightened on her shoulders.
“Ally, look at me.”
Ally met his eyes as anxiety boiled within her. “Luke, I…”
“It’s okay. Just calm down. We’re going to figure this out. All right? You have to trust me.”
Ally pursed her lips. She wasn’t sure how she could calm down while police officers were combing through everything in the shop. Charlotte snatched up a wooden cat before it could fall off a shelf.
“Please be careful.” She frowned at the officer who bumped into it. The shop was full of handmade pieces of art that Charlotte had collected over the years.
“Sorry, Ma’am.”
Ally pulled away from Luke and walked over to her grandmother. She wrapped her arm around her. “Maybe we should go outside while they do the search.”
“No, absolutely not.” Charlotte glared at the officers. “I will be right here, watching everything they do and exactly who does it. I have never been so offended.”
“Mee-Maw, what can they do? They found poison in the chocolates. They have to investigate.”
Charlotte looked straight over at Luke. “Maybe they should be investigating how the chocolates were poisoned after they left the shop, because it certainly didn’t happen here. Instead of wasting time on believing that there is something to find in the shop, the focus should be on who had a reason to bring harm to Myrtle.”
“I can assure you, Charlotte, we are looking into all leads. However, we can’t allow the public to be at risk. Once we ensure that the shop is safe, it will be reopened and you two can conduct business as usual.”
“Except that everyone in town will know that it was searched by police and connected with a murder.” Charlotte crossed her arms. Ally placed a hand on her grandmother’s arm.
“We can’t blame Luke, Mee-Maw.”
“Can’t we?”
“Charlotte please, I’m only doing my job here.”
“And I’m only trying to protect my business and my reputation,” Charlotte stated.
Ally frowned. She understood why Luke was there. A woman was dead, and all of the evidence so far pointed right to the shop. But she felt that the way he handled the situation could have been much more delicate and less public. But maybe she was being oversensitive.
“How long will this take?” Ally met his eyes.
“It shouldn’t take too long. They’ll take the paperwork away to look at. They’ll have to get rid of all of the open consumables in the shop. They’ll also have to test some samples of the chocolates that you have here, some of the raw ingredients and inspect some of your equipment, and then wait for the health department to clear the shop.”
“This is ridiculous.” Charlotte shook her head sharply. “And who is investigating where the real crime actually occurred?”
“I understand why you are upset, Charlotte, but I…”
“It’s Mrs. Sweet to you.” Charlotte raised an eyebrow. Luke lowered his eyes. He glanced over at Ally who avoided looking back at him.
“Yes, Mrs. Sweet. I understand why you are upset, but the fact remains that a woman is dead and the chocolates she ate were from your shop. They were laced with antifreeze.”
“Oh no, she wasn’t drunk yesterday!” The words spilled from Charlotte’s lips before she could stop them.
“So, you admit to having contact with Myrtle yesterday?” Luke pulled out his notepad.
“Admit? As if I’m confessing something? Yes, we saw her yesterday,” Charlotte said.
Ally’s heart sunk as she realized that Myrtle didn’t start acting strange until after she took one of the boxes of chocolates from Ally. As she liked the chocolates so much, Myrtle had likely eaten quite a bit of the box.
“Ally, did you notice anything that I should know about?” Luke tried to meet her eyes.
“I don’t know,” Ally whispered.
“Not now, Ally. They’re headed to the kitchen. I’m going with them.” Charlotte followed the majority of the officers into the kitchen.
“Ally?” Luke reached a hand out to stop her from moving past the counter to follow her grandmother. “Anything you have to tell me could only help.”
“I don’t know about that.” Ally tried not to be swayed by the warmth in his eyes.
“I don’t think you had anything to do with this, Ally. Anything you can tell me will only make things easier.”
“Let me think about it.” Ally gently grasped his forearm and swept it out of her way so that she could join her grandmother in the kitchen. She could feel Luke’s eyes still on her until the door swung closed behind her. Ally and Charlotte were silent as they observed the officers finishing their search. Several chocolates were bagged as evidence. The partly-made batter for Charlotte’s chocolate cake that she was in the middle of baking was confiscated. Any open ingredients were bagged. Ally held her grandmother’s hand. She could feel it tremble.
“Never in my life,” Charlotte whispered as she shook her head. Ally squeezed her hand.
Once the officers filed out of the shop, one remained to tape a piece of paper onto the front window. “This may not be removed by anyone, but the health department or a police officer.” He looked at each woman with warning. Ally only nodded. Charlotte didn’t respond at all. After he left, Ally stared out through the window at the sign that was affixed to the glass. Not only was it overwhelming to think that somehow their chocolates were connected to the death of a woman, it was embarrassing to think that the entire community would be aware of the supposed connection.
“Oh, Mee-Maw, what are we going to do?” Ally’s breath caught in her chest. In her mind everything was about to fall apart. They would lose the shop, the cottage, and then what? Could they even end up in prison?
“Let’s see, your young detective…”
“He’s not my young detective.”
Charlotte took a deep breath and smacked her palms together a few times.
“Okay, young Luke has shut down the shop because a woman died from eating poisoned chocolates. Chocolates that appear to have come from our shop.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well Ally, did you happen to mix some antifreeze in when you made them?”
“Mee-Maw!”
“Then we have nothing to worry about, do we?” Charlotte smiled, but her expression was strained. “All we need to do is figure out who did put the antifreeze in the chocolates, then we will be able to open back up and Myrtle’s murder will be solved. It’s simple really. If we get caught up in things that we can’t control then we’ll never get out of this situation. In fact, Ally, I’m going to ask you to do something that I normally wouldn’t.”
“What’s that?” Ally looked at her grandmother curiously. She had always known her to be clever, but the glint in her eyes was more intense than usual.
“I want you to see if you can get information from Luke. I want proof that those chocolates came from our shop. I want to know what he saw when he found the chocolates, how many she ate, basically all of the details.”
“What makes you think he’ll tell me any of that?”
“The way he looks at you, Ally. There’s no question in my mind that if you ask, he’s going to answer.” Ally rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“You’ve got it wrong, Mee-Maw. Luke is too by the book to reveal anything he shouldn’t.”
“Well, then at most you’ll waste a little time. Right?”
“I guess.” Ally nodded. She took a deep breath. “You’re right. There’s no point in sitting around and waiting for Luke to come back with a
n arrest warrant.”
“Ally, don’t think like that. We haven’t done anything wrong. It’s a mistake, a terrible mistake, but a mistake just the same.”
“I don’t know if I can really consider it a mistake. Even though I know that Luke didn’t have control over this, it still bothers me. He knows us, he knows that we didn’t do it.”
“Does he? I mean, we haven’t known him that long. He could very well have some doubts. Besides, even if he is certain that we had nothing to do with it, he still has a job to do. Just go and talk to him. Let’s find out for sure what he knows before we look into things ourselves a bit.”
“I doubt that he’ll like that,” Ally said.
“Just like he has a job to do, so do we! Ally, we’re going to get to the bottom of this, and get our names cleared and the shop back open.”
“Absolutely!”
Chapter Four
Ally left the shop and headed back to the cottage. She wanted to take a few minutes to clear her head before talking to Luke. The best way to do that was to share her thoughts with Peaches. The cat was the best listener that she knew. When she opened the door to the cottage she heard a screech and a snort. A sigh rippled through her. It was going to take longer than she had thought for the new housemates to get along. Arnold was spending more time in the house than he used to. He was probably enjoying spending time hassling Peaches.
“Peaches, come here, sweetie.” Ally clucked her tongue to call the cat. Peaches bounded down the hall and followed Ally into her bedroom. Ally closed the door to give Peaches a break from Arnold. She sat down on her bed. The cat jumped right up beside her.
“I’m in quite a mess, Peaches. I don’t understand how the chocolates could have been poisoned. I made them, I packaged them, I even hand-delivered them. So, how could the poison get inside them?” She groaned and flopped back on the bed. “Now, Mee-Maw wants me to try and get Luke to share the evidence he found with me. I don’t know if he will be as responsive to me as she thinks he will be.”
