The Cupcake Conspiracy

by Sara Bourgeois

  By the time Tom got there for dinner, it had been a very long day. Still, I was happy and felt good about everything I'd accomplished.

  Tom complimented Hannah on the casserole a ton of times, and she beamed with pride. Hannah said she would take Gracie out after we ate, so Tom and I did the dishes.

  When she was gone, I asked him about his interview with Crystal. "Did she tell you anything useful?"

  "I wasn't expecting to get anything out if it, but Crystal was very believable. She actually had dates and times written down. I met her at her duplex, and she had me listen through the wall. I really could hear Susan on the other side. I don't think Crystal was making things up at all, and I feel foolish that I fell for Susan's facade,” Tom said.

  "She's very good,” I said. "Don't feel foolish. I think she's got a lot of people snowed."

  "That makes me feel a little bit better,” Tom said with an appreciative smile. "At least you don't think I'm an idiot."

  "I could never think that,” I said. "But we do have to figure out who the guy was visiting Susan. I doubt she'll just come out and tell us."

  "You should probably leave that up to me,” Tom teased.

  "Of course,” I said with a wink.

  After dinner, we all took the cake over to Mark's place. I had some candles we put in and lit. The three of us sang “Happy Birthday” to him, and of course, he shared his cake with us. We didn't stay long after as Tom and I had to work in the morning, and Mark was going out with friends. Hannah was sad to go, but Mark sent home an extra piece of cake with her. She thought that was the sweetest gesture ever.

  Chapter Six

  I was actually up and ready for the day by the time my alarm went off at four. I'd slept fine, and I ended up waking early with plenty of energy.

  I decided that was a good day for me to call Hailey Reacher. She was a dog walker I could hire when Mark wasn't available. I knew he'd been out late with friends, so I decided to have her come over and take Gracie on a long afternoon walk.

  Tom, Hannah, and I were going to the church Halloween party for the youth group after work. Since Camille and Carl were going to be volunteering at it, we decided to help out too. Gracie was going to need to get out for a while given how long we were going to be away.

  It was a typical day at the shop. Since it wasn't too busy, I did make frequent trips up to the front of the shop to casually ask any of my friends who came in if they knew who Susan Ramon's friends were. I only asked people I knew well and who wouldn't get upset by the question.

  Crystal was in the shop that day too. She was hanging out, drinking coffee, and doing her college homework. She sat close enough to the counter so she could hear all of the answers to my questions.

  I kind of got the feeling that Crystal had been a very nosy next-door neighbor to Susan and Doug. Anything anyone said about Susan, Crystal knew about it. The only thing she didn't know was the identity Susan's boyfriend.

  I was chatting with a customer when Liz Rose and her friend, Maddy, sat down at the table next to Crystal. It was right by where I was standing. They were drinking iced coffees and eating frosted brownies with walnuts. Maddy heard one of us mention Doug's name, and she asked Liz if she knew him.

  "I went to high school with him, and we went out a few times," Liz said. "Actually, the last time I saw him, he propositioned me. He said it was for old time's sake."

  "What did you say?" Maddy leaned in and asked.

  Liz was smiling coyly and blushing furiously. "I turned him down, of course,” she said.

  "Hey, but if you're getting hit on, I guess that means there's a chance we’ve still got it," Maddy said with a laugh.

  "It?" Liz asked.

  "You know... schmex appeal," Maddy said with a wink.

  They both laughed hysterically and went back to their brownies.

  When Liz and Maddy were gone, Crystal came up to the counter. "Did you hear what Liz and Maddy were saying?" she asked me.

  "I did,” I said.

  "I can't believe there is something about Doug I didn't know,” she said. "It's so weird."

  "Well, don't worry about it too much. I heard what they said, and I'll tell Tom about it tonight."

  "Thanks, Cathy," Crystal said.

  She walked away from the counter, shaking her head still in disbelief that there was something she didn't know about her neighbors. It made me kind of wonder how close of attention all of my neighbors paid to me. Not that I ever did anything scandalous. I was sure I was too boring for anyone to keep tabs on.

  After work, Tom came over and brought us both a costume. We were going as ghouls, which appeared to me to be toned-down versions of zombies mixed with a ghost. I knew Camille and Carl were going dressed up as Frankenstein and his bride. Hannah had brought a witch costume from home. It wasn't a scary witch, though. Instead it was more like the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz. Not an exact match to the costume but very pink and sparkly all the same.

  After Hannah did her makeup, she helped Tom and I paint our faces white. She put lots of black makeup around our eyes and painted my lips blood red. Tom got black lips.

  "Should I do anything else?" Hannah asked. "I brought some more costume paint."

  "I appreciate it, but it's a church party. I don't want to do anything too over the top or gory. You've done a great job,” I said.

  At first, Gracie barked at Tom, but then she realized it was him and did her little booty shake, ear flap dance for him. We took her out for a walk while Hannah talked on the phone with her mom. My sister had called her from the cruise ship, so we gave her some privacy to chat. I knew she missed her parents.

  "I wanted to tell you that a woman named Liz Rose and her friend Maddy came into the shop today. They heard Doug's name, and Liz said that she'd dated Doug in the past. She said that the last time she saw him, he'd hit on her," I told Tom as soon as we were outside.

  "I will definitely follow up on that,” Tom said. "Thanks for sharing the info. We can use any leads we can get. We aren't getting any information or new leads based on the interviews we did in the park after the body was discovered."

  "Well, I hope it helps,” I said.

  "Thank you again,” Tom said and kissed me on the cheek. "What would I do without my little private eye."

  We arrived at the church at the same time as Camille and Carl. They held the church doors for us as Tom and I carried in the three spider cakes Sheila had ordered for the party. Hannah was right behind us with a trash bag full of individually wrapped popcorn balls. The trash bag was the only thing I had big enough to carry them all. Everyone working in the shop had taken turns that afternoon to help press the sticky confections together and get them wrapped.

  There were a bunch of carnival games set up for the kids to play plus face painting and a cake walk. Sheila had put two of the spider cakes out for the kids to eat at the party, and one of them was a prize in the cake walk. Everyone had a good time, and the kids could cash in tickets they won playing the carnival games for little trinkets like fun notebooks and small toys.

  I noticed that Camille and Carl looked particularly lovey-dovey. They couldn't stop looking into each other's eyes and smiling.

  The party ended at eight, and Tom drove us back to my apartment. Even he said something about how in love Camille and Carl looked.

  "Are they engaged?" Hannah asked.

  Tom and I both looked at each other and said “no,” at the same time.

  “I guess they did look like things were pretty serious,” Tom said.

  “Yeah, but I hadn’t thought things had moved that quickly,” I added.

  But I really didn’t know. Maybe they had fallen quickly and an engagement was on the horizon. I was confident that I’d be one of the first people Camille would tell when it did happen.

  Chapter Seven

  Thursday was Halloween and I had my television spot at the studio. Hannah came with me, but she stayed off camera.

  I wanted to do something fun and festi
ve for the television spot, so I decided to make buffalo chicken skillet dip. It had bread around the outside edge with cheesy buffalo chicken dip in the center. You made a jack o’ lantern face in the center with small pieces of the bread.

  While I was getting the ingredients ready, Tom called.

  “Hey, gorgeous.”

  “Hey, yourself,” I teased.

  “Don’t give me a hard time. You’ll break my heart,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Okay. What can I do for you, handsome?” I said.

  “Now that’s more like it. I was calling to see if you and Hannah wanted to go to lunch with me today at Gunslinger’s.”

  “I haven’t been there in a while,” I said.

  “The food is great, and they have the inside all done up for Halloween. I know you guys usually like to spend your lunch with Miss Gracie, but do you think she’d understand this once?”

  “I think that would be really fun. Especially for Hannah. I’ll call Hailey and have her drop by and take Gracie out for her long walk.”

  The TV spot went great, and the studio staff appreciated that I left the finished product for them to devour. Tom picked us up right after filming was done.

  While we were driving over to Gunslinger’s, Hannah had her earbuds in listening to some new song she’d downloaded. Tom took the opportunity to tell me about the case.

  “So, I interviewed Liz Rose this morning, and I’m convinced that Susan was having an affair,” Tom said.

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yeah. Liz said when Doug propositioned her, he mentioned that his wife had already broken his heart by having an affair. He said that since she was unfaithful, he didn’t need to be either.”

  “That’s very interesting,” I said.

  Tom pulled into the parking lot at Gunslinger’s and we all got out. It looked a little busy, but the parking lot wasn’t completely packed. I figured it would be later, though, since they were doing the haunted house thing for Halloween.

  We went inside and didn’t have to wait for a table since there were still a couple open. After we’d placed our orders, Gus Menzner, the owner of Gunslinger’s, actually came over to say hello to Tom. They chatted for a few minutes about life and work, and then Gus asked about how the investigation was going.

  “It’s going okay. We could use a break in the case, but we’re all working hard on it.”

  “You know, the last time I saw Doug, he and his business partner, David Malm, had come into the bar here at Gungslinger’s. I think it was about a week before Doug died.”

  “Did they say anything interesting?” Tom asked.

  “Well, I happened to be at the bar doing the books,” Gus said. “I overheard them talking about the last business idea they’d tried that had blown up in their faces. They got a couple of drinks in them and started blaming each other. One thing led to another, and they came to blows. Before it could get any worse, I had to throw them out. My bartender and I had to follow them outside to make sure they didn’t start fighting out there.”

  When Gus left, Tom told me, “It’s a good thing I have an interview with David Malm this afternoon. This all sounds mighty suspicious.”

  “Maybe he killed Doug,” I said.

  Hannah watched us discussing the case. I knew she knew about the murder, but thankfully, she didn’t ask about it. I felt bad that she’d heard about it at all, but she was nearly an adult.

  Lunch was really good. I ordered a club sandwich and fries. The bacon on it was perfect. Hannah ordered a bowl of baked potato soup and a cranberry pecan salad. She said it was good too.

  After lunch, we went back to the shop and worked on orders. Since it was a holiday, I didn’t press Hannah to work on schoolwork. Instead, she helped me hand out free Halloween cookies to all the customers. Everyone was just tickled, and Hannah was proud because she’d done an excellent job decorating them for me. We’d done witches, black cats, and ghosts. Hannah had mixed up neon green frosting and used it for all of their eyes.

  That night after dinner, Hannah took Gracie out for a walk while I did the dishes. About the time I was done, Tom called.

  “How’s it going?” I asked.

  “My evening is going okay. How about yours?” Tom asked.

  “Well, I’m done with the dishes. Hannah is out walking Gracie. We should be ready for the trick or treaters,” I said.

  “Sorry I have to miss it,” he said.

  “I understand,” I said.

  Tom had to put in some extra hours. The entire force worked a few extra on Halloween just to make sure everyone was safe, and none of the local teens got any ideas about celebrating with vandalism or dangerous pranks.

  “I’m glad,” Tom said. “I wanted to tell you about my interview with David. Mack and I both interviewed him this afternoon. He was still pretty broken up over Doug’s death. He was candid with us about Doug’s and his failed business deals, and there were a lot of them. He said that he was sorry that he’d gotten so mad at Doug that day at Gunslinger’s and that the two of them had made amends.”

  “Did you believe him?” I asked.

  “Yeah, he seemed sincere and believable. So, Mack and I moved him down the list of suspects. He’s not off completely, but we’d rather focus elsewhere for now.”

  “Ruling people out is still one step closer,” I said.

  “It is. I just wish we could get some information that would lead somewhere,” Tom said. “Oops. I ‘ve got to go. Getting a call about some teenagers in masks spotted with cans of spray paint. Talk soon?”

  "Yes. Have a good night, and be safe,” I said.

  "You too."

  As soon as I got off the phone, Hannah appeared with Gracie. "It looks like the trick or treaters are on their way,” she said. "Are you ready?"

  "I am. I've got the bowl of candy ready, and we've got a bowl of big and little dog biscuits in case anyone comes by with their dog in costume,” I said.

  "Aw, we should have gotten a costume for Gracie," Hannah said. "That would have been cute."

  "It would have been. I'll have to remember that for next year,” I said.

  "Well, if I'm not here, you’ll have to send me pictures."

  "Deal,” I said.

  Right after that, we heard a little knock on the door. Our first group of kids for the night looked to be about kindergarten age. They were dressed in costumes ranging from fairy princesses to super heroes. For the next two hours, we had a steady stream of children.

  Chapter Eight

  Friday morning, Gracie woke me up first. Well, I'd thought she woke me up first. I discovered when I went into the guest room that Hannah didn't want to get out of bed. She begged me to let her sleep a little longer, so I told her I'd get her up when Gracie and I got back from our walk.

  It was a chilly morning, but it was still beautiful. I let Gracie take her time sniffing various tufts of grass. When I was too cold to stay outside anymore, Gracie and I headed in.

  Hannah had managed to haul herself out of bed by the time we got back. She'd made coffee and heated up two servings of leftover chicken casserole.

  "I hope casserole is okay for breakfast,” she said. "It sounded really good to me. I hope you don't mind."

  "I think it's a great idea. It smells delicious."

  We ate our breakfast and drank our coffee while Hannah told me a story about something one of her girlfriends from school had done. Apparently there'd been some sort of minor explosion in the chemistry lab, but luckily no one was hurt.

  "She can be really spacy," Hannah said. "She probably wasn't listening closely enough to the teacher's instructions."

  "I bet she'll listen from now on," I replied.

  "Yeah. I hope so."

  "Sorry you missed out on the excitement,” I said.

  "Oh, it's fine. I'd rather be here anyway. I'm sure I'll hear all about it and see lots of pictures when I get back. It will give my friends the chance to relive the drama,” she said with a chuckle.

  Aft
er breakfast, Hannah took Gracie out for a quick walk. I did a quick spot cleaning of the kitchen while she was gone, and when she returned, we headed into the bakery.

  We got to the shop, and I started baking in the back while Hannah handled getting the front of the store ready. The morning was uneventful until Camille came in.

  She was on cloud nine smiling like a crazy person and humming. I even caught her dancing a few times. Finally, I had to ask.

  "So, why are you so happy today?" I asked her when we were both in the back.

  "I just think that Carl is the most romantic man ever. I'm so glad you convinced me to go out with him. Can you believe he had a dozen red roses delivered to me for Halloween? Isn't that so romantic?" Camille asked.

  I kinda thought that a dozen red roses was an odd choice for Halloween, but it was a sweet gesture either way. There was no way I was going to burst her bubble. I was glad she'd finally found a man that made her happy.

  "Wow, Camille, that is really sweet. He is such a great guy. I'm so happy for both of you,” I said.

  She hugged me and then went dancing off back to the front of the store, singing some song I sort of recognized. Whether roses were a strange choice or not, Carl was far better to her than any other man she'd ever dated.

  Tom called a while later to let me know that he couldn't meet for lunch. "I've got an interview with Randy Rose scheduled. I'm really hoping that something else we don't know comes to light,” he said.

  "I understand,” I said. "I hope that you get a break in the case."

  "I'll call you later?"

  "You better,” I said.

  Hannah and I had lunch together at the shop, and everything seemed to be going well that day. In fact, everything was great until later that afternoon when Bruce Duncan, my slimy ex-husband, came into the store. I tried to avoid him, but he asked for me specifically.

  "Uh, Cathy... Bruce is here and he's asking for you,” Camille said when she came to get me from the back of the shop.