Ain't Seen Muffin Yet (Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Book 15)

by Leighann Dobbs

  “Following you? You’re following me! Trying to undermine me in the election. Moving my signs.” Helen gestured to the signs on the lawn. “And spying on me!”

  “This isn’t about the election. This is about my Rosie. You’re trying to get that weasel off that killed her.” Mario pointed a gnarled finger at Nans. “I heard you talking to Muriel Maguire. That boy is a killer and should serve time.”

  “Really? Then what were you doing at the bakery?”

  “We weren’t at the bakery. We were just in town, shopping,” Endora said.

  Would Mario’s presence there necessarily indicate that he was guilty of killing his own granddaughter? She had to admit that Helen might be a little biased in her rivalry with Mario for the president’s position.

  “Just why are you so concerned about us investigating? Got something to hide?” Ida asked.

  “Hide? No.” Mario’s eyes misted, and a pang of sympathy pierced Lexy’s heart. “Rosa was a good girl. A talented trapeze artist. She had everything to live for and was cut down in the prime of her life. That’s why I’m concerned. I want justice for my granddaughter.”

  “But what if Henry didn’t kill her? What if the police were wrong? Were they having marital trouble?” Nans asked.

  Mario frowned. “I don’t know about any trouble. But if Henry didn’t kill her, then who did?” He shoved past them, pulling Endora in his wake.

  “That’s what we plan to find out,” Ida called after him before opening the door and gesturing for the rest of them to precede her inside.

  The Brook Ridge Falls Retirement Center had a big lobby with overstuffed chairs and couches that acted like a social area where residents could gather. There were tables with games and a big-screen tv. Several residents were milling about, and Helen made a beeline for them, turning on her campaign-trail charm.

  She shook hands with everyone, reminding them about her campaign promise for the Saturday coffee socials and to vote for her at the election on Friday.

  Nans did her best to hurry Helen along, and when she finally broke free, they rushed to the stairway.

  They were halfway across the lobby when Lexy heard “Psst… Mona!”

  They turned to see Muriel Maguire standing next to a large potted palm. She was casting furtive glances out the large glass windows in front. “I saw you being accosted by Mario… was he telling you some lies about Henry?”

  Nans shook her head. “No. He does seem to think Henry killed Rosa though.”

  Muriel crossed her arms over her chest. “He would. Or maybe he’s trying to cover for one of his own family.” She lowered her voice. “I was just wondering if you’d discovered anything that can clear Henry yet.”

  “Not yet. But we did discover something that is a bit concerning,” Nans said.

  Muriel’s brows knit together. “What?”

  “Henry had some trouble with the police before.”

  Muriel shifted her weight and glanced down at her feet. “That has nothing to do with Rosa’s murder. And besides, it wasn’t the big scandal you think it was!”

  Ida rummaged in her purse, pulled out a napkin-wrapped cookie, and broke a piece off. “Scandal? I’d hardly call loitering a scandal.”

  Muriel looked surprised. “Loitering? Oh, right. That’s not really a scandal…” She glanced over at the TV. “Oh, look! Wheel of Fortune is on. Gotta go!”

  Muriel practically ran to the TV, and Helen turned to Nans. “What odd behavior. What do you think that was all about?”

  Nans shook her head slowly, her eyes tracking Muriel as she sat down on the blue sofa in the corner. “I have no idea, but I know one thing. Henry is starting to look a bit more suspicious, don’t you think?”

  Chapter 9

  Lexy only stayed long enough to pick up the ravioli and watch Nans write the new clues up on the whiteboard. Then she rushed over to the Cup and Cake to help Cassie out with the baking. She was late getting home but was armed with Nans’s ravioli and a Boston cream pie, so she figured Jack wouldn’t complain.

  Sprinkles met her at the door with her usual exuberant greeting. Lexy put down the cake box long enough to pick Sprinkles up for a hug. She then gently placed her down and proceeded to the kitchen, Sprinkles’s nails clicking on the polished hardwood floors as she passed through the living room.

  The old-fashioned Formica table—a hand-me-down from Nans—was set, and a teal bowl filled with lush green lettuce and bright-red tomatoes sat in the middle. Jack was at the stove, stirring a simmering pot of tomato sauce with a wooden spoon.

  Jack’s eyes lit up when he saw the ravioli. He reached out for the bag. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Judging by the way his eyes were glued to the ziplock bag, Lexy couldn’t really tell if he was talking to her or the golden-white pillows of pasta nestled inside it. “Are you talking to me or the pasta?”

  Jack’s eyes shifted from the bag to Lexy. “You, of course.” He gave her a brief kiss and took the bag and the bakery box. “What’s in the box?”

  “Boston cream pie.”

  “Excellent.” Jack put the bakery box in the fridge then started loading the ravioli into a pot of boiling water, spooning them out with care so they didn’t break. “Just a few minutes and we’ll be ready to eat.”

  “What can I do?” Lexy asked, already looking in the fridge for the wine.

  “Wine is a great idea,” Jack said. “And there’s garlic bread in the oven. Should be just about ready.”

  Lexy pulled the garlic bread out and put it in a basket then poured two glasses of wine while Jack finished up the pasta.

  They sat across from each other at the table. Sprinkles sat on the floor between them, her gaze fixated on every bite they took.

  Lexy savored a bite of ravioli with its creamy ricotta cheese filling and tangy marinara sauce. “So, how was your day?”

  “Great. After I left the Cup and Cake, I went back to the office and did some paperwork. Not too much going on in the crime department in Brook Ridge Falls these days.”

  Lexy forked up another bite of ravioli. “Does that mean you had time to look into the case against Henry?”

  Jack slipped Sprinkles a piece of lettuce. “I did. Unfortunately, I can’t dig too deep because I don’t want to set off warning bells for the detectives in New Ipswich. Professional courtesy dictates that we stay out of each other’s cases unless we have a new lead or suspect something is amiss. And quite honestly, I don’t think anything is amiss. It seems that Henry isn’t the innocent little boy that his grandmother thinks he is.”

  Lexy remembered how Muriel had let something about a scandal slip. Maybe Muriel didn’t think he was all that innocent, though, because she’d acted very cagey after the slip-up, as if she were covering for Henry. “Turns out she might not think he’s that innocent.”

  Jack’s left brow quirked up. “Oh?”

  Lexy tore off a piece of garlic bread. “She sought us out when I dropped the ladies off at the retirement center this afternoon. She wanted an update on the case, but while we were talking, she let it slip that Henry was involved in some sort of scandal.”

  “What sort of scandal?”

  Lexy shrugged. “I don’t know. She clammed up after that. Though she did mention something about it not being what people thought it was. I think she might be blind to Henry’s faults.”

  Jack’s eyes narrowed as he sipped his wine. “Interesting. The scandal might have something to do with what I found out about Henry today.”

  “What did you find?” Lexy bit into the bread. It was crunchy on the surface and soft on the inside and infused with the tangy-sweet combination of garlic and butter.

  “Turns out one of their neighbors called the police on him a few times because he was consorting with unsavory characters.”

  “Unsavory characters? What does that mean?”

  “I’m not sure, but it sounds like the neighbor didn’t like the people they saw hanging around Henry’s apartment, and that, combine
d with the loitering under the bridge… well… it all might lead one to assume that Henry was up to something shady… scandalous even.”

  Lexy nodded. “It would, wouldn’t it? What was the name of the neighbor that complained?”

  Jack reached for a piece of bread. “Sorry. The name was redacted from the police file. A lot of people ask not to be identified.”

  Lexy bit into another piece of garlic bread. It was looking more and more like Muriel was wrong about Henry. And now, they had this unsavory character lead. They needed to know more about that, but in order to find out more, they’d have to find out who the complaining neighbor was. And if anyone could figure out how to get that information, it would be Nans.

  Chapter 10

  The next morning, Lexy got to the bakery early and knocked off a lot of her chores then left Cassie to mind the store while she headed to Nans with a bakery box full of pastry. She’d called ahead and told Nans that Jack had given her an important clue about the case. She couldn’t wait to tell them.

  Nans was waiting at the door when she arrived. Ida took the bakery box and hurried to fill the pastry plate on the table. Today, she’d brought cheese Danish, oatmeal cookies, and lemon-poppyseed muffins.

  Nans had coffee ready, and Lexy took her place across from Ruth at the dining room table. The seat next to Ruth, usually occupied by Helen, was empty.

  “Where’s Helen?” Lexy asked as she spread some butter on a muffin.

  “She’s coming. I guess she had some business concerning the election to take care of first.” Nans poured a second cup of coffee, the dark liquid settling into her dainty china cup like mud.

  “I sure hope she wins the election, or we’ll be hearing about it for months,” Ruth said.

  “I heard her say she might ask for a recount if Mario wins.” Ida munched on a Danish. “She said she wouldn’t put it past him to engage in election tampering.”

  Ruth frowned. “Don’t you think that’s a little over the top? I mean, this is only an election for the president of the community center. There’s no real power in that.”

  Nans snorted. “Don’t tell Helen that.”

  Ruth laughed. “I wouldn’t dare.”

  Nans uncapped the pen, letting the noxious smell waft out. “Lexy, you’ve kept us in suspense long enough. What is this big news?”

  Lexy was eager to tell them, but it felt weird to start discussing it without Helen. “Should we wait for Helen?”

  Nans looked at her watch. “It’s twenty of ten. She was supposed to be here ten minutes ago. She knows we’re on a tight schedule, so I say we go ahead without her.”

  “Yeah, you snooze, you lose,” Ida said.

  Lexy suppressed a smile. The ladies were all business when it came to discussing a case, but the truth was they really didn’t have a schedule. They were all retired with nothing much else to do except go to yoga, bingo, and watch Wheel of Fortune. But if it made them feel more useful to run the case on a schedule, then she supposed that was okay with her. “Okay then. Jack hasn’t been able to get a lot of information. He doesn’t want to dig too deep and get in trouble with the detectives investigating the case.”

  “Yeah, we know that.” Ida picked a muffin from the pastry tray.

  Lexy took a sip of coffee, which pretty much tasted the way it had looked—dark, thick, and strong. Nans must have needed some extra oomph this morning. She put the cup aside and continued. “Jack isn’t convinced that Henry is innocent. There was that report where Henry was arrested for loitering at the bridge, and Jack came across an official complaint from one of Henry’s neighbors about unsavory characters hanging around Henry’s apartment.”

  Ida looked excited. “Unsavory characters? That sounds like fun. What was unsavory about them?”

  Lexy shrugged. “I don’t know. Jack couldn’t get descriptions or anything.”

  Nans wrote this down on the whiteboard. “We’ll have to get those ourselves by talking to the neighbor. This could be the big break we need. What was the neighbor’s name?”

  Lexy brushed muffin crumbs from her hand onto the napkin. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t find that out. Jack said they omit the names from the official report if the complainant asks to be left out.”

  Nans turned to face them, her lips pressed together. “Huh. I guess we’ll have to figure out who that was ourselves.”

  “Too bad Ruth can’t use her flirty methods for getting information out of the cops like she used to when she was young,” Ida teased.

  “I never flirted with cops for information!” Ruth acted shocked, but Lexy could see that underneath, she was secretly pleased that Ida had remembered.

  “We won’t be able to find out from the cops. We don’t have an ‘in’ at the police department in New Ipswich like we do here.” Nans nodded at Lexy. “We’re going to have to find out who it was another way.”

  “Why don’t we just ask Henry?” Ida said.

  Nans nodded and pointed the marker at Ida. “Now that is smart thinking.”

  “But he’s in jail. How will we get in?” Lexy remembered her promise to Jack. She couldn’t break that promise, and besides, one couldn’t just waltz into the prison and ask to meet with an inmate.

  “Good point.” Nans pointed her marker at Ruth. “Ruth, do you have any connections that can get us in?”

  Ruth scowled at Nans over the rim of her coffee cup. “Who do you think I am? Whitey Bulger? I don’t have those kinds of connections.”

  “I can’t go anyway,” Lexy said. “I promised Jack I wouldn’t go to the prison to visit any inmates.”

  Nans frowned. “Now why would you make a silly promise like that?”

  “It was the only way he would look into the case.”

  Ida slurped her coffee. “Mona, this stuff tastes like mud.” She turned to Lexy. “What exactly did you promise?”

  Lexy thought back to the conversation with Jack. “I think I specifically promised that I wouldn’t go to the prison to talk to any inmates.”

  “Ha! Then I have an idea!” Ida pushed up from the table and went to the row of bookcases in Nans’s living room. She picked out an old hardcover and held it up. “Remember how we saw Vinny wheeling the library cart around?”

  They all nodded.

  “What if we donate some books to the prison library?” Ida waved a hand in front of the bookcases, which were filled to the brim. “That might get us inside, and then maybe we can find a way to talk to Henry. Muriel said he got to sit in the common room there and teach the inmates chess because he was on good behavior. We might get lucky.”

  “That could work,” Nans said. “And the prison is near one of the bakeries on our list. Doughy Delights. We could stop by there afterwards.”

  “I hope they have a better product than the last bakery.” Ruth glanced at Lexy. “Though of course, no bakery could be as good as Lexy’s”

  “Lexy can come with us and see for herself.” Ida started to pull books off the shelves.

  “I wish. I promised Jack I wouldn’t go to the prison, though,” Lexy said.

  “You promised him that you wouldn’t go to the prison to talk to inmates.” Ida stacked some of the books on Nans’s glass coffee table. “But what about going to the prison to donate books? That’s entirely different. It’s an act of charity. And if we happen to run into an inmate and talk to them… well then, that won’t really be breaking your promise, would it?”

  Lexy sipped her mud and thought about that. She supposed it technically wasn’t breaking her promise. But if she joined them in the prison and Jack found out… would he see it that way too?

  Chapter 11

  Helen was coming down the hallway as they left Nans’s apartment.

  “Glad you could make it, Helen,” Ida said sarcastically.

  “Sorry, but you won’t believe why I was late!” Helen huffed. “I caught Mario Blondini looking in my windows. I knew he was spying on me. Probably trying to get a leg up on the election. Well, two can play at that game. Co
me on!”

  Helen did an about-face and headed back toward the stairs. Lexy, Ida, Ruth, and Nans did double-time to catch up.

  “How would spying on you help in the election?” Ida asked.

  “Who knows. But I’m going to show him he can’t mess with me. Blondini lives in one of those single-family homes on Oak Street, right around the corner, and I’m going to show him that he’s not the only one that can spy.” Helen glanced at the grocery bag loaded with books that Ruth was struggling along with. “What’s that?”

  They told her about their plan to visit the jail on the pretext of donating books. Helen nodded approvingly. “Good. I did some more research on that Broadmoore heist. Remember that Cassie heard the Circo Acrobata might have been involved in it? I have a suspicion.”

  “Oh? What?” Lexy asked.

  “I think Rosa might have been involved. But I need to talk to Vinny first.” Helen turned down Oak Street, full speed ahead.

  “If she was, that could shed new light on why she was murdered,” Nans said.

  “Shhh... this is his place here.” Helen stopped in front of a nice brick Colonial-style home located in the single-family dwelling section of the retirement village.

  “Okay. Let’s sneak around the side.” Helen pushed her way through a shrubbery, and the rest followed, disregarding that it was broad daylight and anyone could see them. Helen appeared determined to be sneaky, crouching down low and scurrying over to the corner of the house then flattening herself against the warm bricks as she made her way to the back.

  In back, she stopped in front of a large bay window. Standing on tiptoes, her nose was even with the bottom of it. They all peered in.

  “Looks like he rushed out. I hope he doesn’t think he’s going to crash the book club meeting. That’s where I was campaigning this morning.” Helen glanced at her watch. “I didn’t see him there, and it’s over now, so if that’s what he was up to, he’s too late!”

  It was a dining room, the long table set as if ready for brunch. The room was decorated lavishly with a crystal chandelier, rich dark-colored walls, and heavily carved antique furniture. Gorgeous vases loaded with flowers stood on several sideboards and in the middle of the table.