Chapter Fourteen
After that proclamation, there was no sense to be had from the salon women, so Holly made her excuses and left. She arrived back at the bakery just ahead of the midday rush, receiving an apron tossed in her face from Crystal as a greeting.
Holly spluttered, “Nice to see you too!”
“I need to get the deliveries out, so I don’t have time for pleasantries,” Crystal said, poking her head through the connecting door with a large smile. “You remember that we have those, right? Paying clients, rather than freeloaders.”
“It was a one-off,” Holly said, laughing. “But, look—” she held up a twenty-dollar bill “—I’ll cover the costs, so you wind up even.”
“Hm. You can double that for a start, you cheapskate. I’ll see you later.”
Holly waved goodbye just as a woman walked in through the door.
“Do you mind if I bring the dog in?” she asked in a small voice. “Only there’s nowhere handy to tie my pet up outside.”
Holly was about to suggest any of the tables in the common seating area in their small square, but then saw what the woman meant. The space was already packed full of people eating.
“Just be quick,” she said, nodding. “I don’t want too many people to see me being lenient. My sister has already got a chip on her shoulder about one thing I’ve done today, I don’t need to add another!”
As the woman pulled the dog inside, Holly recognized the pair. “It’s Lucy, isn’t it?” she said, then nodded down at the golden retriever, “and if my memory serves me right, then this must be Petey.”
At his name, Petey sat down and gave a small howl of agreement, making Holly laugh.
“What can I get you today?”
“Well…?” Lucy’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and she turned to stare intently at the line of cupcakes in the display case. Holly suppressed a sigh—another customer with a hidden agenda “They all look lovely.”
“We have a special on raspberry cupcakes this week.” Holly hoped her friendly words didn’t sound like the hurry-up they were. “It’s the first batch of the season, and they’re scrumptious.”
“That sounds good.” Lucy continued to stare at the cupcakes on the shelves with a small frown. “You and another lady went out to lunch with Clarence the other day, didn’t you?”
The change in subject put Holly on the back foot, and she nodded before catching herself. “Why do you want to know?”
“I’m a friend of his.” Lucy stood up, staring Holly straight in the eye. “I’ve been desperate to check on him since the terrible business with his girlfriend, but he seems to have disappeared off the planet!”
“I’m sure he’s around town somewhere,” Holly said, frowning as she tried to remember who had been complaining recently that Clarence had gone missing. “Hanmer Springs really isn’t a big enough town to hide for long.”
“Hm. I suppose so. Clarence’s vehicle is still in the spot down by the park, but I’ve been knocking on his door every few hours, and he doesn’t answer.” Lucy shook her head, cheeks beginning to glow red. “I’d hate to think that he’s lying somewhere hurt and no one bothered to look for him.”
“Is that likely?” Holly saw a man stop at the door, peer inside at the door, and move on, his lips curling at the sight of the dog. “So, it was the raspberry flavor you wanted, was it?”
She opened the back of the cabinet, tongs at the ready, but Lucy wasn’t even looking her way any longer, instead staring at the wall.
“He was getting drunk every night before Jessica died. I hate to think the trouble he could get into now. What if he’s collapsed inside his motorhome and can’t get to the door to answer a knock?”
The game of what-ifs wasn’t a pleasant one. Holly stood up, leaning her elbows on the top of the display cabinet. “If Clarence was inside his vehicle then the police would know about it. They’ve been over that whole scene with a fine-tooth comb after the death of poor Danny Chilvers. They’re not going to have missed something as obvious as a man collapsed in his unit. Not when that’s the same MO as Danny.”
Lucy looked startled at the thought, clutching a fist to her chest. “I don’t think they were that thorough,” she said. “Not with a suicide.”
Holly tried not to roll her eyes, she really did. The gesture got away from her, nonetheless.
“Did you want a cupcake?” she asked, putting the hand with the tongs on her hip. “Because if you’re in here to find Clarence, then I can assure you he’s not tucked away in the back.”
Lucy blushed a red so brilliant that she came close to glowing. “Sorry. I thought he might have told you since you’re friends.”
She jerked at Petey’s leash, and the dog obediently got to his feet, walking out the door beside his owner. As Lucy walked out of sight, Holly gave a sigh and rotated her shoulders. For some reason, the whole encounter had left her tense. “And she never even bought a cupcake!”
“I hear that we accommodate dogs now,” were Crystal’s first words after she returned to the bakery. “Mr. Thompson from down at the realtor’s office couldn’t wait to tell me.”
“Sorry.” Holly turned away from the counter to shrug at her sister. “The tables outside were packed, so Lucy didn’t have anywhere to tie up her dog.”
“I hope you charged her double, then.” Crystal washed her hands, and Holly thought her sister was scrubbing them twice as hard as usual. She really didn’t like animals.
“Petey didn’t touch anything,” Holly explained. “He walked in, sat down, then walked out again when they left.”
The words of reassurance didn’t lessen Crystal’s efforts with the soap and water. When she started to dry off with the hand towel, it blurred with the speed.
“She wanted to know where Clarence had got to,” Holly said.
Crystal’s shoulders jerked back, and even though her hands were completely dry, started the motion with the towel again.
Holly frowned. Neither she nor her sister was particularly good at keeping secrets, and that went double when it was from each other.
“Clarence is the boyfriend of the woman that Aidan and I found in the woods,” Holly said, staring closely at Crystal to check on her reaction.
Again, there was a jerk of the shoulders. Hm. Holly made a mental note and filed it away. “He’s not been seen since the day after Jessica’s murder. When Meggie and I took him to lunch, it might have been the last anyone saw of him in Hanmer Springs.”
“I’m sure he’ll turn up somewhere.” Crystal hefted a bag of flour from the floor up onto the bench and cut it open, divvying up into plastic containers for later use. When she finished, she tossed the empty into the trash and started furiously scrubbing down the countertop with bleach.
“That’s exactly what I told Lucy,” Holly continued, resting against the connecting door frame. “There’s nobody who can be in Hanmer Springs without somebody in town knowing their location.”
Again, Crystal gave a quick jerk of her shoulders. The bell signaled a new customer, and Holly turned to the shop, ready to serve.
Just before they shut up the bakery for the evening, Doris walked into the store. Holly manufactured a welcoming smile from the dregs of her daily energy.
“After that glorious taste this morning, I haven’t been able to get your cupcakes off my mind.” Doris patted her belly. “I need something to stave off the cold overnight. It’s going to be another chilly one, according to the weather report.”
“Happy to help,” Holly said, retying the apron she had half off before Doris arrived. “What flavor do you fancy?”
“Whatever flavor it was this morning will do me fine.” Doris looked over her shoulder and then back to Holly. “I heard that Lucy was in here with her dog earlier. You might want to keep an eye on that girl.”
“She was, and why would I need to do that?” Holly was genuinely curious. Lucy had rubbed her up the wrong way earlier, but in general, seemed a pleasant, if unassuming young woman.
Doris seemed taken aback by the question, as though used to people just following her lead. “Because she’s mixed up in this nasty business with Jessica, that’s why. I’m sure of it.”
“If you’re sure of it,” Crystal said, coming through into the shop, “then you should tell the police your suspicions.”
“I have. The men won’t listen. That sergeant thinks he knows everything about everybody, but he’s not as bright as he likes to imagine. I know people, especially my extended family, and I can tell you for certain, Lucy is in this business up to her eyeballs.”
“We’re not going to stop serving customers on your gut feeling or your say-so,” Crystal insisted. “If you have some evidence that Lucy is really involved, then turn it over to the cops. There’s a lot of people in this town who care that the right person goes down for this murder. We don’t want a miscarriage of justice happening and throwing the whole township into chaos.”
Doris pointed a finger at Holly’s face, then Crystal’s. “You mark my words. She’ll be tangled in this murder somewhere. I can feel it in my bones. When it all comes out down the line, then you’ll be sorry you didn’t listen.”
“It’s not that we’re ignoring you—” Holly began in a conciliatory tone, but Doris was already out the door.
“I can’t stand it when people do things like that,” Crystal said, her voice hot. “Spreading rumors about like they’re jam and we’re toast! Ridiculous.”
“Is Lucy a friend of yours?” Holly didn’t understand why Crystal was so riled up. It seemed that more than principal was driving her anger.
But her sister just shook her head. “Only to look at, and barely that. I just don’t think that she should be maligned behind her back any more than anyone else should.”
Chapter Fifteen
Crystal slid down the back door to the bakery. “I’m just going to walk past Alec’s on the way home. I shouldn’t be too long.”
“Do you want me to cook enough dinner for him? I was thinking of having some scalloped potatoes and chicken.”
“Nah. I’ll just grab something while I’m there.”
Holly waited until Crystal had turned off the main street, then quickly changed direction and followed along behind her. The one house she was certainly not going was to Alec’s place. The man didn’t keep food in his home in any shape or form—it was impossible to ‘grab’ something while you were there.
Holly’s suspicions were rewarded when Crystal abruptly changed direction and headed away from Alec’s house. Within a few seconds, Holly knew precisely where her sister was going, but she trailed along anyway, needing to confirm her suspicions.
A few things that Crystal had mentioned—or failed to mention—during the day had twanged at Holly’s alarm bells. She was now almost positive that Crystal knew exactly where Clarence was hiding out.
As Holly followed her sister up the Masters’ driveway, her suspicions were confirmed. Clarence opened the door and happily waved hello.
Just as Holly clicked her tongue in triumph, Clarence turned his gaze and saw her, standing in the driveway with no excuse.
“I didn’t know you were bringing company,” he said to Crystal, who whirled around and glared daggers at Holly.
“I was just curious to see what was going on behind my back,” Holly said with a broad smile, catching up to her sister and hooking her arm through her elbow. “There’s so much secret squirrel activity happening around this town right now, it’s driving me nuts.”
“Ha!” Clarence nodded with delight. “Squirrel. Nuts. Good one.”
Judging from the expression on Crystal’s face, not everyone agreed with that sentiment.
“Holly,” Derek Masters called as he came around the side of the house, “how’re you doing?”
“I’m good.” Holly let go of Crystal long enough to pull Derek into a quick hug, then bent down to pat Mittens the cat, which was figure-eighting around his owner’s legs. “We were just about to have dinner,” Derek continued. “That’s probably why Mittens is so excited. You’re all welcome to join us—there’s plenty.”
Holly was about to decline when Derek gave her a stern look.
“In fact, I insist. I never really got the chance to thank you for all the help you’ve been this year. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without the two of you. Waterston’s rule!”
After that, it would have been churlish to turn down his invitation, so Holly followed Derek along inside, ignoring her sister’s poorly hidden fury.
“What’s been happening in the world of the bakery?” Derek asked as he showed them through to a buffet-style dinner, laid out on the main table. His father Brian had already helped himself and was sitting in a corner chair balancing a plate while he looked through a ledger sheet. He nodded in greeting—without a shred of surprise that guests were invading his privacy—and stared back at the paperwork.
“Not much,” Holly said. “We’ve started to see an uptick in business as the weather gets warmer. Not having someone pilfering money off the top of our accounts makes them look a lot healthier, indeed.”
“Derek’s thinking of going into accountancy,” Brian announced around a mouthful of potato salad. “He might need to bounce a few things off you, from time to time.”
“Is that true?” Holly stared at the boy, realizing that she could see the harder angles of masculinity showing in the contours of Derek’s face. He was turning into a grown man. “I don’t know how much help I’ll be, I’m trained in corporate law, but I can tell a trial balance from a general ledger, if it comes to that.”
“Dad’s just teasing,” Derek hastened to assure her. “I signed up for one course—” he turned to his father with a forefinger raised “—just one, and he thinks it’s the start of a new path for me.”
“Well, you let me know. I’m always happy to help.”
Crystal, meanwhile, had helped herself and Clarence to a plate of food and moved their smaller party outdoors to enjoy the last of the day.
“How are you enjoying your house guest?” Holly asked. “I presume he came here to gain some clarity.”
Derek sighed. “That was the plan.”
Suddenly, Holly felt a bit awkward. She didn’t know the ins and outs of AA, but was pretty sure that discussing recovery behind people’s backs was outside the standard template.
“Is it making it hard for your own efforts?” Holly hoped that concentrating on Derek would switch the conversation back onto more stable ground.
“He’s making it hard, but not in that way. I don’t want a drink today any more than I did a week ago.” Derek broke into a charming smile. “Or any less. There’s just something about him that annoys me. He’s been sneaking out of the house at night, for starters.”
“Sneaking out? Why? Are you keeping him a prisoner?” Holly sat down, balancing a loaded plate on her knee and picking away at the contents. Derek’s line of conversation was far more fascinating to her right now than food.
Derek burst out laughing at Holly’s suggestion. “No one’s a prisoner here. Not even Mittens.” He shrugged. “If Clarence wanted to go out at night, he could walk straight out the front door, and no one would even question him. Instead, he goes through a charade of creeping out his window, even though he must be aware we can all hear him doing it. This place doesn’t have enough background noise to disguise a mouse’s movements, let alone a grown man.”
A worried frown crossed Holly’s face, and she leaned in closer to Derek. “You don’t actually have mice here, do you?”
He burst into laughter, shaking his head. “No. Not in the slightest. If there were, my cat would have them under control within a day.” He sighed and tipped his head to the side, resting it on her hand. “I just don’t understand all the secrecy. It makes me imagine that whatever he’s out doing is underhanded, then I don’t trust anything he does or says.”
“That must be hard,” Holly said in sympathy. Then, she had a thought. “Do the police kn
ow that Clarence is staying here?”
Derek shrugged and looked over at his father, who shifted his attention up from his papers long enough to nod. So much for the pretense of a private conversation.
“I thought it best to keep them in the loop,” Brian said. “I believe they told Clarence—along with a few others—to stay in town for the duration of the investigation into Jessica’s death. We wanted to ensure they knew he hadn’t done a runner. The police don’t need to waste resources searching for him when he’s right here.”
“I suppose it’s not like he’s hiding away to try to avoid their detection.” Holly chewed on a drumstick, temporarily distracted. “Do they know that he’s been leaving at night?”
“I can’t say,” Derek said. “Not from me, and I don’t think they’ve visited since the first day. Do you think that’s important?”
Holly shrugged, taking her and Derek’s empty plates into the kitchen to scrape them down and rinse them, before popping them in the dishwasher.
When she returned to the dining room, Crystal and Clarence had returned there, beaten back inside by the increasing cold. “I was just going to head off home,” Holly said. “I’ll see you there.”
Derek followed her out to the front door to see her out, closing it behind them for some real privacy. “Do you think that Clarence might have been involved in that business with the dad?” Derek asked in a whisper.
“I don’t know.” Holly looked over his shoulder as another figure moved toward the door. “I think they need to know that he’s in the frame for it. If Clarence has been sneaking out at night, then they need to account for his movements before they can cross him off their list of suspects.”
“It feels like an invasion of his privacy to just walk into the station and tell them,” Derek admitted, his cheeks flushing red.
The Sweet Baked Mystery Series - Books 1-6 Page 65
