Home Sweet Murder

by Eliza Brookes

  Remember where comfort can be found.

  Dorothy

  “It seems fairly straight forward,” Allegra mused, looking up at him. She read the note again, it all made sense to her. Dot often spoke about where she found her comfort.

  “I found it a little cryptic,” Pastor Rob admitted, “the first line about speaking to me is clear, but she lost me at the second line. I thought she wanted comfort, so I prepared a few things we could talk about. But when I arrived, all she spoke about was donating money to the church.”

  “She only started donating when you started visiting?” she asked suddenly, trying to work out the timeline in her head.

  “Yes,” Pastor Rob said, coloring slightly, “she offered from the moment I sat down. I didn’t have to ask.”

  “Of course,” Allegra soothed, thinking of an excuse to leave. “Thank you so much for all of this, Pastor.”

  “Any time, I’m glad I could help you,” Pastor Rob said, looking a little relieved. Allegra smiled at him and shook his hand, giving the letter back.

  “Oh no,” Pasto Rob said kindly, “you keep it. It means more to you than it does to me.” Allegra nodded gratefully and put it in her pocket. She could not help but feel a sense of satisfaction. The hunt was not over yet. She knew what she had to do next.

  “Hello?” Greta answered, sounding a little flustered.

  “Hi,” Allegra greeted, holding her phone close to her face, walking briskly to make it back to the house before dark, “I have a new lead.”

  “Please tell me the Pastor isn’t a suspect anymore,” Greta groaned. Allegra could hear Eric laughing in the background and couldn’t help but smile at such a pure sound.

  “He might not be,” Allegra admitted, looking back to see the Pastor resuming his gardening duties, “it all depends. Do you mind helping me with a little research tomorrow?”

  Chapter Eighteen

  If you had to say one nice thing about Llewes Cove, you could talk about the beach, or the people or the fair, there were many nice things to say about the little town. But one thing stood out above the rest, there was one place in the entire town that made living there bearable. And that was Cherry On Top.

  It was a quaint little ice cream parlor that sold everything from taffy to frozen yogurt. The entire shop was lively, bright and a lot of fun. You could sit there for hours just looking at the different options and building a monstrously sweet sundae.

  “Dot always said that ice cream is the world’s greatest comfort,” Allegra explained, scooping into her oversized waffle cone bowl. She had filled the bowl with three different flavors of ice cream while the toppings were so numerous that they spilled over onto the plate that was provided.

  “Dot was right,” Eric agreed, digging into his own chocolate sundae. You did not go to Cherry on Top to get a simple cone. You went there when you wanted to cheat on your diet, get over a break up or see how much ice cream you could eat before you landed in a sugar coma. The little restaurant was so popular that people from other towns would stop by to build their own sundaes. Cherry On Top was a destination.

  “Okay, so this says that Xosyn Sirtunade is lethal in large doses. So, it depends on how much Dot was given,” Greta explained, taking a large bite of strawberry ice-cream.

  “We need to look at when she first started getting sick,” Allegra pointed out, “that’s how we know to narrow down the search. Eleanor said she was sick for about a month before she died. That means that anyone who visited regularly during that time is a suspect.”

  “Has Eleanor made the list yet?” Greta asked curiously, digging through a mountain of whipped cream for chocolate covered nuts.

  “No, not yet, she says she wants to try and remember everything,” Allegra grumbled. She had met with the former housekeeper and asked her to compile a list of all the visitors Dot received regularly. To her surprise, the list was taking a long time to appear. Which either meant that Dot was very popular, or Eleanor had a very bad memory. Allegra suspected that it was a little bit of both.

  “Is everything still all right here?” Ellie asked sweetly, wringing her hands nervously. Allegra nodded stiffly and looked down at her sundae.

  “We’re fine, thanks,” Greta answered for her, giving her a cautious look. Greta had decided that she was on Allegra’s side, although Allegra insisted that there were no sides. It still felt nice though.

  “Look,” Ellie said hesitantly, “I’m sorry about all the other business. You understand though, what am I going to do with a whole house? I didn’t think things through properly, I should have thought about your feelings too.”

  Allegra sniffed and stabbed the ice cream with her spoon. She understood Ellie’s point, but it still hurt to think that her childhood friend would do something so insensitive.

  “If it makes you feel better,” Ellie said hurriedly, “I’m thrilled that you get to stay in the house. It is what Dot would have wanted.”

  “Thank you,” Allegra said quietly, giving her a small smile.

  “And Ashlee should not have said those things,” Ellie said vehemently, “that wasn’t right. Not one bit.”

  “It’s okay,” Allegra said, chuckling slightly, “I know how she can be.”

  “I still want to throw this ice-cream in her face, though,” Greta commented, looking threateningly at her bowl of ice-cream. Eric perked up at the thought of tossing ice-cream around, but his mother gave him a stern glance and put some of her whipped cream on his diminished pile. He smiled gratefully and began working on his sundae again.

  “I’ll hold her down,” Ellie promised seriously, causing the others to chuckle.

  “Do you want to join us?” Allegra offered, moving over in the booth to accommodate her friend.

  “That would be lovely,” Ellie admitted longingly, “but I’m supposed to be working. We’re understaffed today, and I can’t leave Scott alone.” Ellie gestured back to the well-built man behind the counter who was working hard to keep up with the steady stream of orders.

  “Who would have thought that Scott Mathers would end up owning Cherry On Top,” Allegra said wonderingly, thinking back to the gangly teenager she used to know. Scott was a few years older than them, and so they never really spent much time together. She remembered that everyone in town had a crush on him, it made sense that Ashlee would be the one to end up marrying him.

  “I know,” Greta commented, “he was always so immature. Do you remember all those dares that he and his friends would come up with?”

  “I do, I remember that he was almost as much trouble as me,” Allegra joked.

  “He’s very mature now,” Ellie defended.

  “Well, he has to be. He’s a husband, father and business owner now,” Allegra agreed. “Although I’m sure he still causes some trouble from time to time.”

  “He does,” Ellie smiled fondly, “it drives Ashlee crazy. But it’s harmless.” The three looked up at the man in question and Allegra had to admit that Ashlee was a lucky woman. Scott sensed their gazes and looked up, waving when he saw them looking over at him. Allegra nodded back, but Ellie ducked her head in embarrassment.

  “It’s too bad you can’t sit here,” Allegra commented, noting the fact that Ellie was blushing, “we had some new leads in the case.”

  “Really?” Ellie asked, her voice high pitched, “Maybe I can stay, it looks like things aren’t so busy now.” The steady stream of customers had turned into a trickle and Scott seemed to be holding his own. Before Allegra could answer, Ellie was already sitting next to them and looking at their notes. “This is so exciting,” she commented breathlessly, the blush finally fading from her cheeks.

  “I know,” Greta gushed, “the last time we did something like this was when you went missing.”

  Ellie stiffened next to Allegra and her lips pursed slightly. Allegra winced and patted her back. The ordeal was not a good memory for Ellie. It was understandable.

  “I’m sorry,” Greta apologized, her eyes wide.

&
nbsp; “What happened?” Eric piped up, looking curious. Greta shook her head at him and he opened his mouth to protest but she gave him her patented mom glare. The little boy pouted and folded his arms across his chest.

  “Well, hello all,” Scott greeted, walking up to the booth with a smile. Allegra was taken aback, she almost expected him to treat her like a leper. She assumed he was under strict orders from his wife. Then again, he did not look like the kind of man who obeyed strict orders from his wife.

  “Hi,” Greta and Allegra chimed, unsure of what to say. Greta focused on Eric again, trying to get him to focus on coloring in one of his books.

  “Sorry, Scott,” Ellie said hastily, “I’ll get back to work now.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he laughed, patting her shoulder, “you work harder than I do, Ellie, you deserve a break with your friends. Besides, it’s not every day you get to help solve a mystery.” Ellie smiled happily, looking pleased with herself. Her smile dropped slightly when he removed his hand from her shoulder and Allegra had to stop herself from looking intrigued.

  “I don’t know about that,” Allegra joked, “we’re probably just getting in the way. Crane is probably drawing up my arrest warrant as we speak.”

  “Probably,” Scott agreed, “but if the stories are true, this won’t be the first case you finish before the police.” Ellie didn’t freeze this time, but her smile did get a little more strained. “I mean, if it weren’t for you, Ellie wouldn’t be here today.” Ellie’s smile dropped, and she crossed her arms uncomfortably.

  “That’s not true,” Allegra mumbled, feeling awkward too.

  “Don’t be so modest,” Scott chided, “The whole town was in a panic, but you brought her back like it was no big deal. I remember my friends and I talking about it for weeks afterward.”

  “Yeah, right,” Allegra said sarcastically, thinking of ways to change the subject, “you boys were too cool to notice us lowly wannabe detectives.”

  “Are you kidding?” Scott asked incredulously, “no matter what we did, you were always the talk of the town. We thought we were such daredevils, but then you came along and made us look weak. Then you went and solved a kidnapping case and nothing we could do would ever compare.”

  “We solved other mysteries too,” Greta said proudly, remembering their shared childhood, “we found out who was stealing handbags in town and even found Ms. Palgrave’s missing cat. Do you remember how Dot would always bring us here after we solved a case?”

  “Oh, and you caught us stealing the school mascot,” Scott remembered, giving them a stern look. Greta laughed in embarrassment and Allegra gave him an apologetic smile.

  “Sorry about that,” she said, laughing at the memory of three angry teenage boys glaring at them from the back of their principal’s car.

  “It’s cool, I remember you guys were always here. It gave me a chance to get back at you.” Scott said, waving his hand casually.

  “You always tried,” Allegra joked, the memories coming back, “but you were always scared of Dot.” She had some good times in the town, even if she did not want to admit it.

  “You could say that again,” Scott agreed, “but I was always jealous. I wanted to help solve mysteries, I just didn’t want to be seen with a bunch of little girls. Dot and I always spoke about those days.”

  “Did she come here a lot?” Allegra asked seriously.

  “Yeah, at least once a week. She would come to visit Ellie,” Scott said, looking sad, “Sometimes, we’d sit around just talking. I couldn’t help with the mysteries back then, but maybe I can help now.”

  “There’s not much to do,” Ellie protested, smiling comfortingly at her brother-in-law, “it’s still in the boring stages.” Greta gave Ellie a strange look but said nothing. Ellie shrugged and turned her attention back to Scott.

  “I suppose every mystery has those frustrating stages,” Scott agreed, giving her a kind smile.

  “Yeah, unless you know who Dot was spending time with or anything about Xosyn Sirtunade, there’s not much to do,” Allegra told him.

  “I don’t know much about Dot’s social life,” he admitted jokingly, “but I have some Xosyn in the back if you want it?” He gestured to the back of the shop with his thumb.

  “You have some here?” Allegra asked incredulously.

  “Yeah,” he said, shrugging, “we use it to clean the ice-cream makers. Just be warned, it stings your hands a little.”

  “That would be great,” Allegra admitted with a small laugh, scarcely believing her luck.

  Suddenly, the bell above the entrance jangled and a screaming horde of children piled into the shop, dragging their tired looking parents behind them.

  “Oh,” he said, looking distracted, “I better help them.”

  “I’ll get the Xosyn for you,” Ellie offered, standing up as Scott moved to leave. He nodded thankfully, and the two of them walked away.

  “This stuff keeps popping up everywhere,” Greta commented, watching Ellie hand Scott his ice-cream scoop.

  “I never knew she spent a lot of time here,” Allegra muttered.

  “She probably knew what they used to clean the equipment.”

  “You know, I shouldn’t be saying this, but everything keeps point back to…”

  The bell jangled as Ashlee stepped through the door, carrying her son on her hip.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ashlee walked up behind the counter and whispered something to Scott. He turned to her in frustration and the two began talking in hushed voices while Ellie stepped up and helped the customers with an embarrassed expression on her face. The two of them disappeared to the back room with their son in tow.

  “Do you really think that she would do something so horrible?” Greta asked, turning to Allegra with a thoughtful expression on her face.

  “I don’t know, I can’t think of a motive and I feel bad for suspecting her just because I don’t like her,” Allegra admitted, pulling a grim face. The truth was that if anyone was the murderer, she was hoping that it wasn’t Ashlee. She had a little boy to take care of, and she hardly seemed like the type to kill a person.

  “Let’s look at the facts,” Greta suggested, “Ashlee stands to inherit the estate, which she could sell for a tidy profit, as well as shares in the factory. Besides that, she’s had a hand in everything that’s happened so far. She was the one who objected to the autopsy and she’s tried her best to make you a social pariah. Besides that, the police say that she was one of the last people to see Dot alive.”

  “Dot was poisoned,” Allegra reminded Greta, “she might not have been killed by the last person who saw her. We need that list from Eleanor.”

  “I’m just saying,” Greta said matter-of-factly, “she has access to a whole lot of poison.”

  Allegra opened her mouth to defend her old enemy when the person in question stormed out of the back room with a thunderous expression on her face. She glanced over at Allegra’s table and stopped in her tracks.

  “You!” she seethed, hitching her child higher on her waist, “What are you doing here?”

  Allegra held up her almost finished sundae with a wry look on her face. She braced herself for a wave of Ashlee fury, which judging from the look in her eyes, was about to crash all over her head.

  “Get out,” Ashlee hissed, walking up to the table and glaring at Allegra with a hateful glance.

  “No,” Allegra protested, “I’m still busy eating.”

  “I’m so sick of this,” Ashlee spat, “ever since you got here, you’ve been nothing but trouble.” Allegra shrugged and put her spoon down to pack up her stuff. Her appetite vanished when people started yelling at her.

  “We’re not going anywhere,” Greta told Allegra, putting an arm around Eric and glaring at Ashlee.

  Ashlee moved all her weight to one hip and matched Greta’s glare. Her little boy waved his sippy cup around, gurgling to himself. Allegra paused to admit that Ashlee made one cute kid.

  The restaura
nt had gone silent due to the commotion, and neither mother seemed to care that they were the center of attention. Ellie looked like a deer caught in the headlights and was trying to distract her clients from the spectacle, but some of the adults were muttering scandalously to themselves.

  “Greta,” Allegra said softly, “I want to go, this isn’t fair on Scott or Ellie.” Greta looked around and realized that her stare down was probably bad for business. She nodded hesitantly and took Eric’s hand in her own. The two women began clearing up the table and stood up, trying not to look at Ashlee’s smug expression.

  “And don’t come back,” Ashlee called out after them, her smirk widening.

  ***

  “I’m so sorry it took so long, dears,” Eleanor said apologetically, pouring them each a cup of tea.

  Greta was still seething, so it was up to Allegra to make all the small talk, which was never her favorite job. She was just grateful that Bud was willing to look after Eric again. She felt guilty for dragging the little boy with them into their mad treasure hunt. He seemed to be enjoying himself, but you never knew what kind of long-term effect it would have on the poor child. Then again, he might grow up to be a detective because of her.

  “It’s no problem, Eleanor,” she said kindly, “thank you for your help.”

  “Anything for you,” Eleanor said sincerely, sitting down and sipping her cup of tea, “Dot was my employer, but she was also my dearest friend. I could not bear to think of her beloved house being sold to that horrible man.”

  Eleanor lived in a small cottage on the edge of town. She was the type of woman who was entirely self-sufficient. Despite her advanced age, she had a thriving vegetable garden and a well-organized living space. Her furniture was modest and worn, but still neat, the sign of a lifetime worth of use. Her walls were covered with photographs depicting the lives of her family. She sat like a Queen in her little cottage, the picture of a life lived well.

  “Well, that list will help us get one step closer to finding out who did this.”