Luscious Pastry at a Lethal Party (A Chocolate Centered Cozy Mystery Book 5)

by Cindy Bell

  “Would you like a sample?” She held out a tray of chocolates.

  “Can I consider this a bribe?”

  “Absolutely not.” She narrowed her eyes.

  “All right then.” He smiled slightly then plucked one of the chocolates from the tray and popped it into his mouth. “I do hope that you’re not spreading too many rumors, Ally. I’d like to believe that you’re wise enough to think about the consequences of a few mistruths.”

  “All I care about is justice, Mayor Malcolm. I’m not interested in rumors or lies.”

  “I guess we shall see if that’s true.” He met her eyes one last time, then turned to leave the shop. As he closed the door behind him Ally could finally take a full breath in. She held it for a long moment until she was sure that he wouldn’t burst back through the door. Once she was, she exhaled. Her heart still pounded with the memory of his presence. Did he come in by chance and just happened to overhear their conversation? Or was he trying to send her a message directly?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Not long after the mayor had left the shop, another customer arrived. Ally smiled at the woman who walked inside. She had her reddish brown hair high in a ponytail and wore a cute top that featured a cat on the front.

  “Oh, how adorable. I have a kitty at home.”

  “I have two.” She smiled as she browsed the chocolates.

  “Please let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.”

  “Actually, I was wondering if you do gift baskets?”

  “Absolutely.” Ally pulled out a small brochure that featured the shop’s most popular gift baskets. “I can always make one custom to your choices as well.”

  “Oh, how wonderful. I think I’d like to have this one. It’s a present for my brother and sister-in-law to thank them for helping us move house.” She tapped the picture. “I’m sure they will adore all of these chocolates.”

  “Great. I can have that ready for you in about an hour.”

  “Really, so fast? Wonderful!” She smiled. “I guess I’ll be back to pick it up then.”

  “If you’d like we offer free delivery to the local area with all of our gift baskets. I’ll be closing up just about that time so if you live nearby and it’s easier for you I can just run it over to you.”

  “That would be perfect.” She pulled out her phone. “Let me give you the address.” Her eyes glazed as she looked at her phone. “Huh. Something strange is going on at the house. Anyway, here’s the address.” She jotted it down on the slip of paper Ally offered her. “Either I or my husband Kevin will be there.”

  “Great. I’ll throw in a few extra chocolate samples so they can have a bigger choice.”

  “Wow, that’s so kind of you.”

  Once the sale was settled Ally followed her to the door. She noticed the woman looked at her phone again and her expression grew even more troubled.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes. There’s just some kind of misunderstanding. It’s fine I’m sure. Thank you again for delivering the basket.”

  “It’s my pleasure.”

  Ally closed the door behind her after she had stepped out. She set about preparing the basket of chocolates and muffins for delivery. By the time she was done it was past closing time. It had been quite a busy day. No customers mentioned a word about the deputy mayor’s death or who might have been involved. She was more than a little discouraged by the lack of new leads. Once more she considered whether it might make sense to break into the mayor’s home. She had to get some kind of solid evidence before it was too late.

  After locking up Ally glanced at her watch. It was close to two hours since the basket was ordered and she hoped that the customer wouldn’t mind too much that she was late. She hurried out to her car and took a deep breath as she once more talked herself out of breaking into the mayor’s home. She knew that it would only put her more at risk. But without gathering much information, and her encounter with him that day, she felt even more anxious to get to the truth.

  Ally knew the street that the delivery was going to so she started her car and took off down the road. It wasn’t long before she arrived at the house. It wasn’t until she looked at it that she realized that it was the same house she’d seen the police at earlier in the day. She recalled the troubled look on the woman’s face as she received messages on her phone. Perhaps they were about the police investigation? Ally was uneasy, but she needed to deliver the package. The police were gone, so they obviously hadn’t found anything. She grabbed the basket from the backseat and headed up the front walkway. When she reached the front door she could hear voices on the other side.

  “I don’t understand why the police were here, Kevin? Why did all of the neighbors see our house being searched by the police? We have just moved here and they are going to think we are criminals.”

  “If you would just calm down. You’re overreacting.”

  “Am I?”

  Ally decided to knock on the door before she was caught eavesdropping. She knocked and then braced herself.

  “Someone’s at the door.”

  “I don’t care who’s at the door. You get it, my hands are full,” the woman said.

  Ally stepped back from the door. Now she was sure that this was the same house where she’d seen the police earlier in the day. With this on her mind she wondered what kind of volatile situation she might be walking into.

  “Answer the door!” The man demanded.

  Ally cringed. The door jerked open. The sweet woman she’d seen earlier in the day was red-faced when she looked at Ally. “What?”

  “I’m delivering your gift basket,” Ally stumbled out the words.

  “Oh yes, right. I’m sorry.” She sighed. “Could you bring it inside for me? My hands are full of flour.”

  Ally noticed that the woman held a dish towel in her hand and her hands really were covered in flour. She wondered if it was a good idea to go inside. The two could be up to something criminal. Her curiosity won however and she nodded.

  “Absolutely, I can do that. Just show me where you want it.”

  “I guess the kitchen table would be the safest place right now. I’m trying a new recipe and let’s just say it got a little out of control.” Ally noticed that there was no sign of the male whose voice that she’d heard through the door. The woman washed and dried her hands.

  “I understand. That happens to me sometimes.” Ally set the gift basket down on the table. As she did she noticed a set of glasses lined up on a shelf just above the counter. When she saw them her heart jumped. They had a diamond pattern. There were water, wine and champagne glasses all neatly lined up. They were the same as the glasses that Julia was poisoned from. The same as the glass she’d found in the mayor’s office. How could that be? Was it just a coincidence? As she stared at the glasses, the woman walked towards her.

  “Uh, is something wrong? Am I supposed to tip you or something?” The woman wrapped an arm around her body and grabbed her elbow with the other hand. Ally was familiar with the stance. She seemed nervous of something.

  “I was just wondering where you got those glasses from?”

  “Those?” She rolled her eyes. “Everyone wants to know about those glasses today. They were a gift from the mayor of Freely.”

  “Do you know the mayor?”

  “No. They weren’t a gift to me. They were a gift to my brother. My sister-in-law didn’t want them, so she gave them to me.”

  “That’s a pretty special gift.”

  “Not really, everyone who signed a contract to provide services to Freely last year got them as gifts from Mayor Malcolm.”

  “That’s a nice gesture.” Ally smiled.

  “I guess.” She shrugged as she looked at them. Ally noticed that there were only five champagne flutes, but six of the other glasses. She looked around for the missing glass in the sink, but there were no dirty dishes.

  “Looks like one is missing.”

  “Yes, it went missing
in the move.”

  “I hope you enjoy the basket.”

  “Thank you. I’m sure that Scott and Maddie will.” Ally’s eyes widened at the mention of the names.

  As she walked out of the house she realized that the woman’s brother must be Scott Brally. She left the house in a daze. If the police were investigating Scott’s relatives then they had to have good reason. She suddenly had an idea. What if the murderer hadn’t put the glass on the table, but had given it to a staff member at the country club to put on the table? She decided to take a spin by the country club and have a conversation with some of the employees there.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ally parked close to the side entrance of the country club. It was the same door she’d entered with a box full of tarts on the fateful night of Julia’s death. It felt strange to walk back towards it. However, she knew that the door might lead to the answers that she needed in order to find Julia’s murderer. She pushed the door open and found herself immediately immersed in a flood of staff members.

  “Excuse me.” A man brushed past her and joined the rest of the crowd as they headed down a long hallway.

  Ally grabbed the arm of Elisa, the woman who was in charge of catering on the night of the cocktail party.

  “Ally.”

  “Hi Elisa.” Ally smiled. “What’s happening? Where is everyone going?”

  “Oh, there’s a special training session. After what happened with the deputy mayor heads are going to roll.”

  “What do you mean?” Ally fell into step beside her.

  “Well, obviously the mayor had a glass that he shouldn’t have had. We don’t allow people to bring in outside dishware.”

  “Why not?”

  “Just for this reason. We can’t guarantee its safety or cleanliness. The police think that what most likely happened is that the glass had poison in it so that when champagne was added the champagne would become poisoned. It was brought in from outside.”

  “I see. So, who do you think is going to get in trouble for this?”

  “Merla, no doubt. She is the one that let the glass in.”

  “She did?”

  “Yes, she bowed to the pressure of the mayor’s assistant and gave in to allowing him to use his usual champagne glass for the toast. She said it was his lucky one. It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but considering what happened.” She sighed. “Poor girl doesn’t even know what’s coming.”

  “Do you think I could speak to her? Where is she?”

  “There.” She pointed off to the side near the double doors that all of the other staff members flooded through. A young woman leaned against a wall and plucked at her phone. Ally gritted her teeth. She looked very young, too young perhaps to even understand the enormity of what she was involved in. Unless of course money exchanging hands was the reason she accepted the glass. Either way, she wanted to speak to her.

  Ally took a deep breath and walked up to her. “Hi there.” She smiled at her. The girl looked up from her phone with a quirked eyebrow.

  “Hi?”

  “My name is Ally. Are you Merla?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

  “I run the chocolate shop in Blue River.”

  “Oh yes!” She smiled. “One of my favorite places. That candy is to die for.” She winced. “Maybe that’s not the right way to put it.”

  “It’s okay. Don’t worry. I’m not here to cause you any trouble.”

  “You’re the only one.” She pursed her lips and looked down at her phone again. “I know I’m getting fired today, the only thing I’m not sure about is whether I’m getting arrested.”

  “Arrested? For what?”

  “Haven’t you heard?” She looked back up at Ally. “I’m the one who killed Julia Turnamas.”

  “Sh!” Ally looked around fast, then tugged her away from the door. “You should certainly not be making statements like that.”

  “I don’t mean that I really killed her, but I provided the murder weapon. That’s what the detective told me.”

  “Listen, it’s a detective’s job to intimidate you, to put you on edge, that’s the easiest way to get information out of you. Try not to be too worried.”

  “How can I not be? I made a mistake that cost someone their life.”

  “Merla, how old are you?”

  “I just turned eighteen. This is my first real job and I stuffed it up.” She frowned.

  “Listen, if it wasn’t you, it would have been someone else. Okay? It’s not your fault that she’s dead.”

  “You don’t think so?” She looked back down at her phone again. Ally caught sight of a few tears glimmering in her eyes.

  “I don’t think so. In fact, I know it’s not. But you might just be the only person that can help figure out who did do this.”

  “How can I do that?”

  “Anything you can remember about the person who gave you the glass will make a difference.”

  “That’s the thing, I can’t remember. It was so busy, and I was so nervous. I was sure I would drop something or spill something on someone. All I could think about was getting through the night. When the woman stopped me to give me the glass, I had no idea what to do. Since she said she was the mayor’s assistant, I thought it was okay to take the glass from her.”

  “Of course you did. Why wouldn’t it be? But what can you tell me about the woman?”

  “Like I said, she was the mayor’s assistant.”

  “I know what she told you, but what did she look like? Was she old or young? Tall or short? Did it look like she could be wearing a disguise?”

  “She was wearing a hat, it covered most of her hair. I’m not sure if you would really call that a disguise. She was tall, and really young.”

  “You’re calling someone else young?”

  “I mean she probably wasn’t much older than me. I remember because I felt a little bad, here I am at my first job, and she’s in a position as important as the mayor’s assistant.” She shrugged. “But then she popped her gum, and I wasn’t as impressed.”

  “Young and chewing gum? Blonde?”

  “I think so. She had her hair under a hat, but I could see a few strands. I mean, I can’t be absolutely sure.”

  “She never gave her name?”

  “No, just her title. I should have asked, I know. I should have done a lot of things that I didn’t.” Her cheeks flushed. “Looking back on it now I can’t believe I was that stupid.”

  “You weren’t stupid, Merla. You did what you thought was the right thing to do. It was a busy night with a lot of important people. To be honest with you if we were hosting an event at the chocolate shop I might have done the same thing. I can’t promise you that there won’t be any consequences for what happened, but I can tell you that you will get through this. It’s a bump in the road. Don’t let it color the rest of your life. Okay?”

  “I’ll try.” She looked towards the door as the last staff member walked through it. “But I’m not sure that I can get past this.”

  Ally rested her hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “Maybe you can, if we find the person who did this. If my hunch is right, I think you just helped a lot.”

  “I hope so.” She shoved her phone in her pocket. “I have to go face the firing squad now. Thanks for your support. I really needed it.”

  “No problem, if you ever need anything, you know where to find me.” Ally smiled at her.

  “Thanks.” She nodded and headed through the door. Ally had to give her credit for the fact that she even went, knowing what she might face. At eighteen she likely would have run off somewhere to hide until the storm blew over. Or maybe she wouldn’t have. Luckily, she didn’t have to face that choice at such a young age. Now she had a choice to make. She could run off and hide, and wait for the police to come to the same conclusion she had, or she could pursue it. Without question she knew what her choice was. On her way back out to the car she placed a phone call.


  “This is Kristy, how may I help you?” She popped her gum. Ally narrowed her eyes.

  “Sorry, wrong number.” Ally hung up the phone. Her heart pounded. She still had no real evidence, but she had a very good idea of what had happened, and she was determined to follow it through. It was time to make the visit she had been putting off. Hopefully by the end of the night, a murderer would be in jail.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ally stopped by Freely Lakes and knocked on her grandmother’s door.

  “Ally?” She hugged her. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was hoping you’d feed Arnold and Peaches for me, and maybe take Arnold for a walk. I have to check on something.”

  “What?”

  “Not the mayor, don’t worry. I don’t even think he’s the killer anymore.”

  “Wait, what are you thinking?” Charlotte’s eyes widened.

  “Well, everything is pointing back towards Scott Brally.”

  “What would his motivation be?”

  “There was a good chance that he was going to lose the contract he had for the waste at Freely. Maybe that loss was motivation enough to try to get rid of not only the deputy mayor, but also the mayor.”

  “Or maybe he wasn’t even targeting Julia.” Charlotte frowned. “Maybe he was after Mayor Malcolm the whole time and it was just an unfortunate coincidence that he handed her his glass of champagne.”

  “Either way I think that there’s good reason to be concerned about him.” Ally narrowed her eyes.

  “So, what is your plan?”

  “If he is the one that poisoned the champagne glass, then maybe I can find something to incriminate him. Maybe he has a receipt for the purchase of some kind of poison, or maybe he wrote out his plan. The only way to find that out is to go to his house.”

  “You mean try and break into his house?” Charlotte shook her head.

  “I’m not going to break in. I’m just going to pay him a visit. Maybe he’ll invite me in or maybe he won’t.”