Rock Candy and Robberies

by Patti Benning

  “Some issues at my parents’ house,” she explained as she tied on her apron and name tag. “Someone broke in and one of the burglars passed away while he was there. The police are still looking into it.”

  “Wow,” Suri said, her eyes wide. “That’s terrifying. Are you okay? Do you need somewhere else to stay?”

  “We are fine with staying there for now,” Candice said. “If anything else happens, we will head back to the farmhouse. Thanks for asking, though. How have things been here?”

  “Fine,” Suri said. “I’ve just been stocking the shelves all morning. Everything has been running pretty smoothly. Oh, that next batch of rock candies is done.”

  Candice perked up at that. The beautiful snowflake rock candies were time-consuming to make, since first she had to make the candy itself, which meant waiting for the sugar to crystallize, and then she had to break them apart and carefully glue the pieces together with edible sugar glue to make it snowflake shaped. Afterward, she would dip it into one of a variety of flavorings, or else leave it plain. They were popular, especially with the kids, and she couldn’t blame them. She loved rock candy because it was beautiful; like eating diamonds.

  She spent an hour assembling the snowflake rock candies and dipped each one into a different flavor. The thin liquid was simply flavoring and food coloring. There was light pink cotton candy, blue raspberry, dark red cherry, yellow pineapple, and white coconut. The coconut one seemed to be especially popular, since the pearly white color made the snowflakes look even more like real snow.

  Once the candies were dried and ready to go, she carefully sealed each in a plastic wrapper before carrying them out to restock the shelves. There was a short line of people at the register waiting to pay for their candy and chocolates, so once she was done with the rock candies, she went over to help Suri at the register. She recognized one of the customers as old Mr. Smith and fought back a grin as he paid for his order and walked away before she got to the register. Old, grumpy Mr. Smith loved to complain, but he was still one of the most loyal customers, stopping in a couple times a week to pick up the ginger hard candies that she sold. He had started to grow on her a little bit, but she was still always glad when she wasn’t the one who had to deal with him.

  Suri was busy bagging a young girl’s candies. Candice smiled at the next person in line, and was surprised to find that it was someone she recognized. If she was remembering his name right, it was Terry, the man who had dropped off the file a couple of days before. He seemed shocked to see her as well.

  “Hi,” he said once he had gotten over his surprise. He placed three chocolate bars on the counter. “Just these, please.”

  “Of course,” she said. She rang them up and counted out his change for him. “How are things going? Your Lenny’s assistant, right?”

  He nodded. “We’re actually closed for the day. He said he had some stuff to do. I’m taking the opportunity to visit my girlfriend.”

  Candice grinned. “That explains the chocolates. You wouldn’t happen to know what was in that folder you gave us, would you?”

  He frowned. “No, I don’t. I’m just an assistant. I’m not really supposed to read any of the files. It’s not worth my job to snoop. Why?”

  Candice shook her head. “I was just wondering.” She didn’t want to bring up everything that had happened, not with the little girl still chatting happily with Suri close by. “I’m just surprised because I thought David wasn’t really involved with the business anymore.”

  “He’s been coming around a bit more lately,” the young man said. “I’d better get going. It was nice to see you again.”

  He held his hand out for her to shake and she took it, frowning when she noticed a bruise on his arm. As he walked away, she couldn’t help but wonder if he had gotten it from something violent, like a burglary. She shook her head. She was being silly. There was no reason to suspect Terry. Even if, she supposed, he was one of the only people who knew that the file had been in the house that night.

  Chapter 8

  It was a busy day, and thankfully news of what happened at her parents’ house hadn’t gotten out yet. She was tired by the time she got home that evening, but a different kind of tired than she had been the day before. It felt good to get back to a semblance of normalcy, even if she hadn’t been able to really forget what had happened at any point during the day.

  She was pleasantly surprised to find that the doorframe had been fixed, though it wasn’t painted. The porch steps had been cleared off and the walkway up to the house had been salted.

  “How did your day go?” she asked, following Eli into the kitchen after greeting him. There was a pizza on the table, and she took a slice.

  “Nothing out of the ordinary happened,” he told her, knowing what she was asking. “After getting back from the hardware store, I spent most of the day here. I forgot to get paint, and I didn’t want to snoop through your parents stuff looking for some, but I can go back to town tomorrow to get some. How was your day?”

  “Busy but good,” she said, collapsing into a seat and pulling a piece of paper towel over to her so she didn't spill any pizza toppings. She told him about her encounter with Terry, Lenny's assistant.

  “He seemed really surprised to see me, but he didn't seem to be unusually nervous or anything. I feel kind of silly about it, but part of me can’t help but wonder if he had something to do with the break-in. I mean, he is the only one who knew the file was here other than Lenny himself, but that doesn't necessarily mean he had anything to do with it.”

  “It wouldn’t make sense,” Eli pointed out. “If he did want to steal file, he could have easily just done it while transporting it. Even if he was worried he would get in trouble for “losing it,” it would’ve been a lot less risky than breaking in after he dropped it off. It would've been the logical thing to do, anyway.”

  Candice gave Eli a small grin. “Well, we both know that people don't always do the logical thing. If they did, we would live in a much safer world.”

  “That's true,” Eli said. He poured a glass of water for himself, then raised an eyebrow at her. She nodded and he poured her glass as well.

  “Thanks,” she said, taking it.

  “Oh, I almost forgot. Do you want to do dinner with Reggie as usual tomorrow?”

  She nodded. “I don't see why not. I know I’ll be a little anxious about being gone in the evening again, but it’s not like we can spend every second here until my parents get back. We can lock the dogs in the mudroom so if someone does come back, the dogs will be safe, and we can lock Felix in the guest bedroom. The door frame’s fixed, and the police are going to be doing extra patrols past the house, so it should be okay.”

  “Good,” Eli said. “I know Reggie is looking forward to it. I let slip the fact that we had a story to tell him, but haven’t given him the details.”

  Candice couldn’t help but smile at that. She knew how much Reggie loved stories of excitement and adventure. It was one of her favorite things about the elderly man – though, she had a lot of favorite things about him, so that wasn't saying much.

  They spent an uneventful evening in, something which Candice was grateful for. The past few days had been far too stressful. It was nice to relax, hang out with the dogs, and curl up on the couch with Eli watching an old movie.

  She wasn’t scheduled to work on Sunday, and Eli had nothing he had to do either, so they had the rare chance to do whatever they wanted for most of the day. They decided to take the dogs for a walk around the property, and ended up losing track of time during a fun game of fetch with Maverick. By the time they finished, it was past noon and they were both starving.

  “I’ll make us something light,” Eli volunteered. “I don't want to eat too much since we've got dinner with Reggie in a few hours.”

  “Sounds good,” Candice said. The nursing home Reggie lived at had early dinners, which meant that even though it was just past noon now, they'd be eating in slightly over four hours
.

  She was in the middle of tidying up the living room where they had left a jumble of blankets and a few glasses from the night before when she saw a car pull up the driveway. Maverick started barking and she tried to shush him when Keeva joined in, which made her give it up as a losing battle.

  “Eli,” she called out. “Someone’s here.”

  He joined her by the living room window, looking out at the vehicle. They traded a worried look. Neither of them recognized the car, and with what happened just a couple nights ago, they were both worried about strangers showing up unexpectedly.

  He followed her to the door. They stepped out onto the porch together, fighting with the dogs for a moment to keep them inside.

  A distinguished looking middle-aged man got of the car. He paused when he saw them, but then continued on his way.

  “When I heard what happened, I was sure your parents would rush back,” he said. “I guess they’re not coming home early?”

  “Yeah, they're still trying to enjoy their trip,” Candice said. “Sorry, but who are you?”

  Her arms were crossed and she was trying her best not to glare at the man. Really, she had had enough of unexpected guests coming up to the house. He gave her a small, somewhat embarrassed smile. “Sorry, I realize we haven't met. I’m Theodore Otto. I've been out to the brewery a couple times, but haven't had the chance to stop by and say hi to you. Your stepfather may have told you about me?”

  Candice frowned, racking her brain. The name sounded familiar, and she realized that David had in fact mentioned the man to her before he and her mother left. “Yeah, he mentioned that you were going into business with him and Karissa. I didn’t get the details.”

  He smiled, seemingly glad that she at least knew who he was. “That's right. I’m looking at using his liquor license to set up a distillery. Right now we are trying to figure out how hard it would be to get set up and figure out if some of his machines are compatible with what I need. It's an expensive game to get into, so it’s nice to work together while we can. He mentioned he was going to put aside a key and some manuals for me. Did he tell you anything about that?”

  “I know he told me that he was going to set that stuff aside for you, but I'm not sure I know exactly where it is. His office is a huge mess right now. I’ll go see if I can find it.”

  It took a little bit of searching, but eventually she found the envelope with Theodore's name on it. She took it to the front door and handed it over to him. “Let me know if you need anything else. I don't really know much about David's process with everything at the brewery, but I can always try to get in touch with him if you need me to.”

  He waved the hand that was clutching the envelope dismissively. “I don't think I’ll need anything else. Thanks for your help, it was a pleasure meeting you.”

  Candice sighed as he left. Somehow her parents managed to have busy lives even while they weren’t there to live them.

  The incident was nearly forgotten by the time they made it to the nursing home. Reggie greeted them at the door with a warm smile and a hug, his eyes twinkling as he led them to a semiprivate table in the corner of the dining area. He purposely pushed the extra chair away and scooched his over so there wasn't space for anyone to join them.

  “Now, Eli mentioned something about an interesting story you have to tell? I hope you know; I’m not going to eat a bite until I hear it. And this food does not taste as good cold as it does warm, so chop chop.”

  Smiling, Candice and Eli took turns telling him what had happened. It felt good to talk about it with him. Somehow, he always seemed to be able to shed new light on things, and by the time their conversation was over, Candice was feeling better than she had for days. She was left with nothing but the burning questions of why someone had broken into the house, and why one of them had ended up dead.

  Chapter 9

  Even though Candice felt like she was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, nothing unusual happened over the next few days. She kept getting updates from her parents, including lovely pictures of what they were doing on their cruise. They also included some updates from the police. Unfortunately, there wasn't much.

  “I really don't think it had anything to do with the file,” David said during a video call that Wednesday night after she'd asked him about it again. “I asked Lenny, and it was just an old case file from years ago. It's really nothing interesting at all. I can’t see why that would cause someone to not only break into the house but commit murder.”

  “What else could they possibly have wanted?” Candice asked. She had gone through the messy stacks of files again and was certain that the one Terry had handed her wasn’t there. “It's still missing, so they obviously took it.”

  “Maybe it was to cover up something else that they took,” David suggested. “Or maybe I'm missing something.” He sighed. “I’ll have Lenny email me the digital backup and see if I’m missing something important about the case.”

  “If we knew why they took it, then we might be able to figure out who was involved,” Moira said. “In the meantime, Candice, do you feel safe there? You’re sure nothing else has happened?”

  “I'm sure,” Candice said. “Theodore stopped by to get the key and the manuals like I told you, but other than that no one else has even come to the house. It's been quiet here. The dogs seem happy, Felix has made himself at home again, and we've just been living our lives like normal.”

  “Do you have any more information about the guy who died?” Eli asked.

  David nodded. “He was a young man named Jimmy Thane. The name’s not familiar to me. Apparently he worked as a locksmith. Does the name ring a bell for either of you?”

  They both shook their heads. “Not in the slightest,” Candice admitted.

  “Maybe it was just a random burglary,” Moira suggested, sighing. “In that case though, it's weird that they didn't take anything else. I suppose it's possible that Maverick chased them out of the house before they could.”

  “I do wonder what happened with the dogs,” Candice said. “Maverick was running around loose, but Keeva was hiding under the bed. Something must've scared them pretty badly. I just wish we'd never gone out that evening.”

  Her mother's face hardened. “You say that, Candice, but I hope you don’t mean it. I'm glad that you went out. I hate to think what might have happened if you'd been there. There's nothing they could take in our house that is more important than you and Eli and your safety. If anything like this happens again, I'd much prefer that you were far away from it.”

  Candice raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Sorry, you're right, it's good we were gone.”

  She rolled her eyes at her mother, but smiled to show she didn't really mean it. She knew her mother had a point. It was better to be safe, even if it meant the burglars had been able to break-in without anyone stopping them. They traded goodbyes and ended the video call. With a sigh, she turned back to Eli. “This is still bothering me. I’m going to go look around David’s office again. That room was hit the hardest, and I’m convinced whoever broke in wanted something out of there.”

  “You won't even know what's missing if they took anything besides that one file,” Eli pointed out. “You don’t know David's organizational system.”

  “I know,” she said, sighing. “I just want to do something.”

  She returned to David's office and sat in the desk chair, trying to get into the mind of the burglars. Most of the drawers and file cabinets had been opened, with their contents thrown all over. It seemed, at least to her, that the killers were looking for something very specific, since it was obvious the majority of the files had been left behind. She frowned, staring at the desk, which currently held stacks of papers. The file Terry had dropped off had been laying right in the middle of the desk. It would have been one of the very first things that anyone who walked into the room would have seen. They wouldn’t have needed to tear through the rest of the room if that was all they were looking for
. They would have found it, left, and that would been the end of it. So why did they throw all the other files around? It made no sense to her, and she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it before.

  She began opening and closing the cabinet drawers at random, wondering if there was something she had somehow missed. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but like she had told Eli, she wanted to do something, and it wasn't like she was going to make more of a mess then there already was.

  She didn’t find anything unexpected until she opened the very bottom drawer of one of the cabinets by the desk. It was… full. Very neatly stacked and organized folders lining the interior, appearing untouched. She flipped through them quickly and saw that they all had to do with information about the brewery. It made sense, she thought, replacing the folders. If they were looking for something about one of the cases David had worked on, they would have no interest in a recipe for flavored beer. She sighed and straightened up, accidentally bumping her head on the corner of the desk and knocking a paperweight off it. Rubbing her head, she bent down to retrieve it from where it had rolled under the desk. Her fingers brushed against something unexpected. At the feel of paper, she forgot all about the paperweight and instead pulled out a file folder. It was the one Terry had brought over. It must have fallen under the desk when whoever had broken in started throwing things around. She frowned at it, realizing that all of her assumptions about the break-in had been wrong.

  Chapter 10

  She carried the folder out to the kitchen, where Eli was starting to get dinner ready. She put the file down on the table and when he turned to see what she was doing, he frowned. “Did you find something?”

  “This is the file that we thought was missing,” she told him. “It had just fallen under the desk.”

  He looked puzzled and concerned. “But then… what did they take?”