Matt rearranged his tiles, studying the board intently. “I don’t know. A lot of people didn’t like Jack, but most felt the way your grandpa here did. That there was no point in wasting a bullet on a man who was going to find a bad end all on his own. He had no money for anyone to inherit. He had an ex-wife and two kids, but he stayed away from them and that’s all they wanted from him. He probably had his hands in some petty crimes, but nothing I could find that was serious enough to warrant killing him. If you hadn’t found that body, no one would’ve even cared that he was gone.”
“Not even his mother?” I asked.
“Definitely not his mother.”
I glanced over at Fancy who was asleep against the wall, snoring up a storm, and wished I could take back my moment of good citizenship. If I hadn’t called the cops about the body, it would probably still be up there and my grandpa wouldn’t be in danger of going to jail for a murder he hadn’t committed.
Darned conscience.
I swore to myself that next time I found a dead body I was going to leave it right where it was. I needed to start keeping out of other people’s business.
Yeah, like that was going to happen.
We wrapped up our Scrabble game and Matt left, no closer to finding the murderer than we’d been when he arrived. But I had to admit, it had been a fun night if nothing else. Wine, china, Officer Handsome, and all.
Chapter Fifteen
The next day was Jamie’s day off at the store and I didn’t want to ask her to cancel it our first week of live operations, especially after she’d done most of the work getting the store up and running, so I dragged Fancy out of bed and we made it to the store by four o’clock to get started on all the café prep. As I sprinkled cinnamon on the dough for the cinnamon rolls I thought about how lucky I was that I only had to do this once a week.
I am not a morning person.
By the time Katie came in at seven I was ready for my first Coke of the day which would certainly not be my last.
(Don’t judge. I don’t drink coffee and I don’t do crack, so if I want to have a Coke first thing in the morning and another one at noon and another one with dinner, then I think I should be allowed to do so without judgment. Sorry, but I’m a little sensitive around the issue given the number of people over the years who’ve told me about how you can dissolve a penny in Coke. The day I stop drinking Coke will probably be the day I get hit by a bus, so I’ll enjoy my little addiction while I’m alive to do so, thank you very much.)
Anyway.
Katie and I made it through the morning rush without a single complaint about the food. Jamie is magic in the kitchen but I can hold my own, especially when I have her recipes to work with.
Katie and I were wiping down the tables on the barkery side when Lucas Dean walked in, grinning from ear to ear. “How are my beautiful ladies today?” he asked as he swaggered towards us.
I glared at him. “I realize it’s probably a bit confusing for you, Luke, but the barkery is for canine dogs not human dogs.”
“Haha. Funny.” He gave Katie a kiss on the cheek and wink before turning towards me.
Katie blushed and gazed up at him, her eyes full of adoration. Seems my little “old guys wanting seventeen-year-olds is creepy” speech hadn’t had much of an effect.
He took a step towards me and I twisted the dirty dish rag in my hand into a rope and held it out, ready to smack him if he came any closer.
“You wound me, Maggie. What can I do to convince you I’m a good man?”
“How about stop hitting on teenagers and leave my best friend alone? That’d be a good start.”
He shook his head slightly. “Speaking of your best friend, she around?”
“No. It’s her day off. Now, can I get you something or did you just come by to cause trouble?”
“As a matter of fact, if you still have any left, I’ll take one of those delicious cinnamon rolls of yours and a coffee to go.”
I started to walk towards the café side, but Katie rushed past me, red ponytail swishing behind her. “I’ve got it.”
“Probably for the best,” Luke told me, watching her go. “This way I’ll know no one spat in my coffee.”
I stared him down. Spitting in his coffee was the least of the torments he deserved, the way he was playing Katie and Jamie and who knew who else. He pretended to ignore me, but I could tell by the way he fiddled with the salt and pepper shakers on the nearest table that he was well aware of my death stare.
Katie came back with the coffee and a to-go bag, staring up at him all gooey-eyed. He winked at her. “Thanks, doll.”
“Make sure he pays with more than a kiss, please,” I said, trying not to groan in disgust.
He handed over a bill I couldn’t see and kissed Katie on the cheek. “Keep the change.”
I mimed throwing up as he sauntered out the door in his tight jeans. Watching how Katie stared after him I wondered whether I could get away with permanently banning him from the store. That man was bad, bad news.
Unfortunately, I was pretty sure Jamie would never speak to me again if I did. Not to mention how much Katie might sulk. Broken-hearted teenagers are the worst.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Matt stopped by right before we were supposed to close to tell me he still hadn’t been able to reach Mr. Jackson and that his daughter didn’t know where he was either.
When I got home I grilled my grandpa on who else in town might be capable of murder. He raised his eyebrows at the “who else” portion of that question, but we walked through a list of about five people he figured were capable of killing someone under the right circumstances, but then eliminated them just as fast for various reasons.
One would probably shoot any police officer who stepped foot on his property, but would otherwise keep to himself. Another would shoot anybody who crossed him in business, but Jack had stayed far away from him and for good reason. There was one woman on the list who would likely put any woman who came too close to her husband in the ground, but since Jack wasn’t a sleazy young woman intent on seducing someone else’s husband, we were able to eliminate her. And, of course, there was the man so gun-happy it was a miracle he hadn’t shot himself yet, but he only used his guns on his home-built shooting range.
Crazy to realize how many people are probably capable of killing someone when you really stop to think about it, but none were the one we were looking for.
Frustrated and in need of some sign of progress, I snuck over to the Jackson house to see what I could see, but that was a bust, too. The shades were drawn, so I couldn’t see inside. All I succeeded in doing was leaving footprints around the sides of the house.
I tried the back door—just in case, since my grandpa hadn’t locked his front or back doors in forty years—but Mr. Jackson was a less trusting soul than my grandpa. The house was locked up tight. I wanted to try the front door, too, but didn’t know how I could without someone seeing me and calling the cops.
I debated researching how to jimmy a lock online and getting in that way, but I decided that as much as I loved my grandpa I had to draw the line at committing a felony. He hadn’t been arrested yet. If he ever was, then maybe I’d reconsider.
Disappointed in my progress, I trudged back home. It didn’t help that things weren’t going well at the barkery either. After that first big week with the dog show things had slowed down a ton, and I didn’t feel like I was pulling my weight. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure what to do to fix things. I’d always known the locals weren’t going to be my target customer, but I’d hoped the local business owners might chat us up to their customers a bit more than they were.
Frustrated by a lack of suspects, no Mr. Jackson, and disappointing barkery sales, I decided it was time to go on the offensive.
Chapter Sixteen
I spent most of the next day in the barkery kitchen putting together sample treat bags. I couldn’t use the Barkery Bites because they have to stay refrigerated, but I also make
a great Peanut Butter Crunch Cookie that Fancy loves.
(Of course, Fancy loves anything that remotely looks like food, even bugs if they get too close to her out in the yard. She’s not the most discerning of customers. Luckily for me, other dogs liked the cookies, too.)
So I cooked up a couple hundred cookies, bagged them up in cute little paw-print baggies with our logo on the side, tied them off with a 50% off coupon, and—as soon as the lunch rush was over—made the rounds of all the local businesses.
You would’ve thought I was running for mayor the way I shook hands and kissed puppies. I made sure to take time at each establishment—the resort, the local fishing guide’s office, each of the fifteen restaurants in town, the five hotels, the three motels, the hunting lodge, the visitor’s bureau, the rafting company, the realty company, and the two gas stations—to explain that I was new in town and that I’d just opened up a gourmet dog bakery.
I also just happened to let it slip that I’d been the one that found the body of Jack Dunner. I lost count of the number of times I said, “That was certainly a welcome to the valley I wasn’t expecting.” Fortunately, no one knew that my grandpa had threatened him with a shotgun the day he went missing—I’d have to thank Matt and Officer Clark for keeping quiet about that—but they all knew about Jack. Each and every one had a story about what a degenerate the man was.
By the time I finished my rounds I wasn’t the least bit sad that he was dead. He’d lied, he’d cheated, he’d slept with other men’s wives…But. Everyone also agreed that he’d never upset someone so much they would’ve bothered shooting him.
I pouted the whole way home. I’d spent an entire day baking, an entire afternoon schmoozing the locals, and I was no closer to finding who had actually killed Jack Dunner than I’d been the day before.
All I could hope was that my goodwill campaign would drive a little business my way.
The next morning I opened up the store and prayed that I’d have at least a few customers as a result of my efforts.
I did. But not the way I’d hoped…
By the next afternoon it was pretty clear that my efforts to make nice with the locals had worked, but that those efforts had had an unintended consequence I wasn’t quite sure how to deal with. As I rang up an order of Doggie Delights I looked at the line of remaining customers and frowned.
First in line was Russell, owner of the local Big R and forty-year-old widower. He had a bit of a paunch but kind eyes.
Next was Dean, manager of the local resort and resident Lothario. Rumor had it he’d been making his way through every single woman between the age of twenty and fifty since arriving in town three months ago.
Behind him was James, one of the local fishing guides, originally from Australia. He was hilarious as could be but I was pretty sure he didn’t even own a dog. He was also a bit short for my taste.
(Not to mention, I was busy operating a business, taking care of my grandpa, and tracking down a killer…)
After that was Martin, the sixty-year-old married man who ran the local specialty pizza restaurant.
Finally, at the very end of the line, were Evan and Abe, the only two I figured were legitimate customers. They owned the old historic Creek Inn and had a St. Bernard they’d named Lucy Carrots—Lucy for Abe’s mom and carrots for the vegetable of the day the day they got her. No one had confirmed it for me, but I was pretty sure they had more of an interest in one another than they’d ever have in me.
I bit my lip as Russell leaned against the counter and asked me to walk him through the display case selections the same way he had the day before. If he was flirting with me, he wasn’t very good at it. He basically just grinned at me the whole time before finally pointing at the second-cheapest item in the display case with a soft grunt.
As I was ringing him up, Matt came in. He glanced down the line of men and smirked before going over to say hi to Fancy who’d jumped up and started wagging her tail the minute he walked in.
No sooner had the door closed than it opened again and Martin’s wife, Gloria, stormed in. She marched right up to the front of the line and threw a bag of sample treats down on the counter. “How dare you,” she cried.
“I’m sorry. What did I do?” I asked, genuinely perplexed. Did her dog have allergies? Did she not think I should be asking local businesses to help us promote our business? What had I done?
“Like you don’t know. Going around town handing out your free goodies to every man in sight.” She glared in the direction of her husband who turned bright red and took a step backward.
Matt managed to stifle his laugh. I wasn’t so lucky.
I know I shouldn’t have laughed at her—she really was genuinely upset with me—but if you could’ve seen the men lined up behind that counter…To think that I was trying to seduce any one of them was just absurd.
Her face turned almost purple and her eyes bulged out. I swear I thought she was going to collapse right there and then and that I’d have to call an ambulance and we’d forever more be known as the store where Gloria Parks had died of an aneurysm. “You…you…you temptress, you. How dare you laugh at me you…you homewrecker.”
I held my hands out to calm her. “Gloria, please. I’m sorry I laughed. I know this is very serious to you, but I’m not trying to tempt anyone with my…”
Matt leaned in. “With your free goodies. I believe that was the description she used.” He was grinning from ear to ear.
I seriously wanted to slap him, but I was too busy trying to get Gloria to calm down enough to breathe.
Gloria gestured to the line of men, almost taking out Russell’s eye in the process. “You think I’m going to believe you when I can see the proof of it before my very eyes? Look at them. Lured in here like flies to your honey trap.”
It was all I could do not to laugh again, but I managed. Barely.
“Pick one,” she demanded, waving her hand again.
“Excuse me?”
“Pick one.”
“Pick one what?” I stared at the line of my customers as they all shuffled nervously and refused to make eye contact with me.
“Pick a man. I don’t care who, but pick one. You pick a man and settle down and quit trying to cause trouble around here with your big city ways.”
She stared at me like she actually expected me to just point at a man right then and there and settle myself down. Had she not noticed that her husband was one of my so-called choices? Or that the last two men in line had very likely picked one another already and had no interest in me?
I couldn’t help but glance at Matt, but he was studiously looking at the ground not wanting to have any part of things now. (Figured the only man in the room I might want to pick was also the only man in the room who didn’t want to be picked. Story of my life.)
I shook my head. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, Gloria, but I will not be picking a man today or any other day. I have my grandpa to see to and this business to run and I am not going to go off and settle down until those things are well under control. But I thank you for your concern.”
I glanced to the side where Jamie had come to watch events unfold. “And I believe, Gloria, that if you go over to Jamie there that she’d be happy to give you one of her famous cinnamon rolls as a thank you for coming in here today. On the house.”
I’m not sure that actually satisfied Gloria, but at that point her husband stepped forward and led her away. I let out a big sigh and turned back to Russell. “Sorry about that, Russell. That’ll be $2.95.”
All of my former admirers couldn’t get out of there fast enough after that. At least they all bought something, even if it was the cheapest item available. Only Evan and Abe lingered to talk about the different products and what I thought Lucy Carrots might enjoy. They left with a whole assortment of treats, including a four-pack of the Doggie Delights.
Once the door closed behind the last of them, Matt stepped forward. “Maggie May, resident temptress who hands out her free goodies
to every man she meets.”
“Shut up. That was not funny.”
He leaned his hip on the counter. “Maybe not for you. But it was certainly entertaining for me.”
I straightened the counter even though it didn’t really need it. “What are you doing here anyway? You don’t have a dog, do you?”
“No, not yet. Someday, though.” He scratched Fancy’s ears as she shamelessly grumbled with pleasure.
I glared at her, but she didn’t care. “So? Why are you here?”
The door opened and Darryl, a local hunting guide, came in. He saw Matt and frowned.
“How can I help you, Darryl?” I waved him forward.
“I was looking for more of those treats you dropped off by the office. Angus really liked them.”
“Ah, perfect. Here. This should hold him over for a week or so. And half price since you’re a new customer.”
The way he kept glancing at Matt he was obviously another one who’d come by hoping for more than just dog treats to take home. I managed not to roll my eyes or acknowledge Matt’s smirk as I rang him up and hustled him out the door.
“What did you do, hand out dog treats at the Creek Inn Friday night?”
“No. I just went around town handing out baggies of free dog treats at all the local businesses.” I showed him the baggie Gloria had thrown at me. “I hoped it would prompt people to send tourists our way, not…this.”
“Don’t worry. Word that you only care about your work will spread like wildfire when they all meet up at the Inn tonight for drinks. Poor guys. I’m sure there’ll be more than one drowning his sorrows.”
I crossed my arms. “It’s not just my work. It’s also my grandpa. And the little matter of a dead body without a killer, although I wasn’t going to tell them that. Plus, there’s nothing wrong with wanting something more from life than to be someone’s wife.”
A Dead Man and Doggie Delights Page 8
