Confectionately Dead

by Kathleen Suzette

  “I thought I’d stop by and check out the ballroom. My friend Amanda is getting married, and since I’m her maid of honor, one of my jobs is to help her with the planning. So, here I am. Looking at a possible location for the reception.” I was rambling.

  He looked at me, perplexed. Then he nodded. “Fine. You probably should call the Petersons. They’re the only ones that can actually rent the place out.”

  He seemed calmer than he had been the other day. Then it occurred to me that I might be alone with the killer where no one could hear me scream. If things came to screaming, that is. Even worse, this was the place he—or someone—had killed a woman. It might not have been the best idea I had ever had.

  “Right. I’m going to do that. I know I’ve been in here plenty of times in the past. In fact, just recently, as you know, but I wanted to see it again with my own two eyes. It helps to be in the room where you’re going to hold a reception so you can really envision how things are going to look.” Rambling, again. I smiled, feeling like an idiot.

  His eyebrows furrowed, and he gave me a hesitant nod. “Fine. Look around. But I’ve got to get going to my next job so I can’t hang around long.”

  “Oh, that’s right, you’re the handyman, aren’t you?” As soon as it was out of my mouth, I realized how stupid that was. “Of course you are. I knew that. Listen, my mother mentioned she had a leaky faucet. I wonder how long that would take to fix?” I wasn’t lying. The guest bathroom faucet had been dripping for months. She kept forgetting to call someone to fix it. Out of sight, out of mind.

  “Depends on what’s wrong with it, but probably not long. Less than an hour. Did you want me to stop by and take a look at it?”

  Wait. I was inviting a possible murderer to my parent’s house? “Let me ask her when would be good for her. She’s always working, and we’d need to coordinate it with her.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Sounds good. Are you done here?”

  “I guess so. Wait, let me take a look at the kitchen.” I headed back to look at the kitchen without waiting for a response from him. I pushed open the door and could hear him walking behind me. My heart started pounding again. I was entering a room that had only one door and he was going to be blocking it if he followed me inside. But I had already made a move toward the kitchen and I couldn’t abruptly turn around. He’d get suspicious. I walked into the center of the kitchen and looked it over.

  When I turned, he was standing at the door, looking annoyed. “Satisfied?”

  I nodded. “It’s a nice big kitchen. I’m sure the caterer will be thrilled.”

  He waited without responding.

  “Well, I don’t want to keep you.” I hesitated. “It sure was terrible about Ellie, wasn’t it?” I asked as I moved toward him. He really was blocking the kitchen door and he made no move to let me pass. I wasn’t sure what to do about it.

  “Yeah, it’s a shame. But sometimes people reap what they sow.”

  I stopped in my tracks. “What does that mean?”

  He shrugged. “Everyone knows Ellie was cheap. I just meant that maybe she made someone mad. Maybe she didn’t treat them fairly, and they paid her back for it.”

  I bit my lower lip. He hadn’t budged from his position and getting out of here quickly was going to be a challenge. “Would you know anything specific about that?”

  He shrugged. “Not really. I just know her character. She cheated people out of money all the time. People get tired of being cheated.”

  I looked at him doubtfully. “You mentioned something about that the day her body was discovered.”

  He nodded. “She cheated me. I told her repairing her roof was going to cost a hundred and fifty dollars. I had already given her a huge discount because I felt sorry for a couple of old ladies. But then after I got done with the work, she only paid me a hundred. I did a lot of work and hardly got paid for the trouble.”

  “Why did she do that? Couldn’t you have lodged a complaint somewhere or something?”

  He chuckled. “Lodge a complaint with the old lady club? It wasn’t worth the money to take her to small claims court. Live and learn. But I’m going to have a new baby soon to take care of. I needed that fifty dollars.”

  “Babies are expensive,” I agreed. “So she did that kind of thing regularly? To other people?”

  “That’s what I hear. Her ex-husband said she was a tightwad. He complains about her all the time.”

  “Do you know him well?” Ellie had been married to Chris Adams. I knew him well enough to strike up a conversation with him. He also liked peanut butter fudge and was known to stop in at the candy store now and then to pick some up.

  “Sure, I know him. He helps me out on some of my jobs once in a while. He’s a good guy. But you should hear some of the stories he tells about Ellie.” He snorted. “I told him he was lucky to get out of the marriage when he did.”

  “Really? What kind of things did he say?” Josh was suddenly in the mood to talk and I didn’t want to stop him.

  He leaned against the door frame. I was never going to get out of here unless he allowed me to. I needed to think my plans through before I went and decided to interview a possible murderer without backup.

  “He said she would have tantrums like a two-year-old in order to get her way. She was tight with money. Obsessed with it. He never could go anywhere unless he got her permission. Can you believe that? He needed her permission!” He laughed heartily at that.

  “That is weird,” I agreed.

  “But I’ll tell you something.” He shook his head slowly. “If it wasn’t an accident and someone did kill Ellie Adams, your boyfriend needs to take a look at Chris. He was bitter and angry about the marriage breaking up. Even though he was miserable in it and complained about her, he was bitter that it was over.”

  “Bitter enough to kill her?” I asked carefully.

  “I think so. I wouldn’t put it past him. One time he was helping me on a job, and he came in fuming mad. He saw Ellie with another man at a restaurant and when he went to talk to her, she spoke to him like he was dirt. He said he was humiliated and swore he’d make her pay for it.”

  “How long ago was that?”

  “Maybe three or four months ago. Chris seems like someone that holds a grudge, if you want to know the truth. Maybe it ate at him until he finally made her pay.” He straightened up. “You done in here? I’ve got to get to another job.”

  “Yeah, just about,” I said turning to the cupboards and opening one up for something to do. I wanted out of there, but I didn’t want to have to squeeze past him. I turned back to him. “I just can’t understand how Ellie ended up dead here in the ballroom.”

  His face went blank. “I don’t know. Maybe she wanted to do some decorating for that play they’re going to have here. I heard Phil Peterson say they were going to have volunteers decorate. Works for me. I don’t want to get stuck with decorating. I hate that kind of thing.”

  “I guess she could have been here to decorate. But her sister says she had vertigo. Those steps are awfully steep.”

  “Maybe she couldn’t get anyone to help her and she took a chance. A chance that cost her her life. If she wasn’t really murdered, that is.” He grinned. “You about done here?”

  I nodded. “I sure am. Thanks for letting me take a look. I’ll talk to the Petersons about renting the place.”

  “Sure,” he said, staring at me.

  He made no effort to move out of the doorway. “Excuse me,” I said. He still didn’t move, and I had to squeeze past him. Talk about uncomfortable. “Thanks again,” I called over my shoulder as I headed out the door.

  The ballroom would make a lovely reception hall and now I had one more person to talk to about the murder. Chris Adams.

  Chapter Twelve

  “What did you do today?” I asked Ethan. We were having dinner at a nice little restaurant in South Lake Tahoe. It seemed like it had been ages since we went out to eat. With Ethan living across the street f
rom me, I frequently made dinner for both of us. It was nice to get out.

  “I got the completed autopsy report on Ellie back from the medical examiner,” he said, sitting back in his chair and laying his menu down on the edge of the table.

  I looked up from my own menu. “And?”

  “She did take a tumble down the stairs. There was bruising on her body consistent with falling down stairs, and her neck was broken, as we suspected. She was in full rigor mortis when you found her, so she died sometime during the evening before you discovered her body.”

  I bit my lower lip, thinking. “So josh could definitely have killed her?”

  “Yes. The medical examiner can only give a time range, not an exact time, but he would have had time.”

  “Is there any chance the bruises came from someone beating her?”

  “Not according to the medical examiner,” he said and took a sip of his water. He was dressed in a red polo shirt and khakis. He looked like a private school student. I didn’t think he’d ever look his real age of twenty-eight. He was one of those people that would always look younger than he was.

  I sighed. “Then what was she doing at the top of steep stairs when she’s got vertigo? Wait. Do we know for a fact that she has vertigo? Maybe Laura is making it up. A few weeks ago, Ellie was at the coffee shop and Amanda said she told her she was having problems with Laura and wanted to kick her out of the house. Maybe Laura isn’t telling the truth.”

  He grinned. “Laura showed me Ellie’s prescription bottle of meds for vertigo.”

  I made a clucking sound. “Darn it. I thought we had it solved.”

  “Do you think Laura could have killed her own sister? Her twin sister?” he asked doubtfully.

  I shrugged. “I don’t want to think it’s a possibility, but it sounds like they had some problems if Ellie was going to kick her out. You know how Laura is. She complains about everything. Maybe Ellie couldn’t take it anymore and maybe Laura was so angry about it that she shoved her down the stairs.”

  He shrugged. “I guess that’s a possibility.”

  “What about fingerprints?”

  “We got some partial prints off the glass ornaments that were near Ellie’s body, but we haven’t been able to come up with a match yet.”

  The waitress arrived, and we gave her our orders. I was going with the smoked trout and Ethan decided on a T-bone steak. I was starving. I had decided to cut back on my candy consumption during the holidays, but then I discovered I was starving all the time. I didn’t want to have a few extra pounds to lose come January, so I was going to have to continue backing away from the candy. At least, most of the time I was.

  “Now, let’s talk fun stuff. Do you have your Christmas shopping done?” he asked me.

  I groaned. “No. I would have it done, but you won’t tell me what you want.”

  He chuckled. “I just want your friendship.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Right. I’ll wrap that right up. Did I tell you I’m going to be the maid of honor in Amanda’s wedding and Christy is going to be a bridesmaid?”

  “No, but Brian did. He asked me to be a groomsman.”

  “Oh, that will be fun. But I guess I can’t walk down the aisle with you since you won’t be the best man.”

  He shook his head. “I’ll be jealous of whoever walks with you.”

  I laughed. I had wondered if things might be awkward after we had both declared our love for one another, but I had wondered for nothing. The only thing that had changed was that I was thinking about him more than I normally did. I could live with that.

  I picked up my water glass and looked across the restaurant. My eyes stopped on Josh Tate. I hesitated, glass in mid-air. He was looking at me. I raised the glass to my lips and looked at Ethan. “How do you feel about Josh Tate as a suspect for the murder?” I whispered.

  “Josh Tate? I don’t know. He was pretty hostile the day you found Ellie, but I don’t know that that means anything. Why?”

  “I stopped by the party house yesterday to check it out for Amanda’s wedding reception. And of course, to see if he was around and if he would tell me anything we didn’t already know. He’s creepy.”

  His eyebrows raised in surprise. “Creepy? Why do you say that?” he asked.

  “There’s just something about him that I don’t like. He claims Ellie’s ex-husband may have had something to do with her death. Apparently, he’s bitter about the divorce.”

  He thought about it. “I haven’t talked to Chris Adams yet. I was under the impression he had been out of her life for at least a couple of years. Ellie’s daughter said her father didn’t want anything to do with her mother.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes people have different opinions about what other people’s relationships are like.”

  “It’s something to keep in mind, I guess.”

  I glanced at Josh again. He was still look at Ethan and me. “Don’t look now, but Josh is sitting across the room.”

  “Really? Has he seen us?” he asked without looking around.

  “He’s been staring at us for at least the last couple of minutes.”

  Now Ethan turned to look at him, and when he did, Josh put his head down and continued eating. He was with his pregnant wife who was chatting away, seemingly oblivious that he had been looking in our direction.

  Ethan turned back to me. “Why did he give you the creeps? Did he do something to you?”

  “Not exactly. He blocked the doorway when we were talking. When a large man does that, and you’re the only person in the building, it gives you the creeps. Trust me.”

  “Did he threaten you in any way?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No, he really didn’t. It was just a vibe. Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, but it felt wrong,” I said. The waitress brought our food and set it on the table. “This looks so good.”

  “Mine too,” he said and glanced at Josh again. Josh looked away as soon as Ethan looked at him. “Maybe I should have another talk with him. I’ve interviewed him twice. Once when we found the body and then the following day. I did feel he was being evasive, and now that he’s looking away when I look at him, I get a sense there might be something going on.”

  “See?” I asked. “There’s just something about him.”

  “It’s that, or it’s you making me think there’s something about him,” he said and grinned.

  “It’s not me, it’s him,” I insisted. “I swear, you need to take a closer look at him.”

  “Duly noted. I’ll have another talk with him.”

  We enjoyed our dinner with as little talk about the murder as we could manage. With Christmas on the way, we were planning lots of fun things. There was the play, Christmas caroling, and of course, the shopping that I still hadn’t done.

  As we finished our meal and were getting ready to leave, I looked up to see Josh and his wife approaching. They stopped at our table and he looked from me to Ethan.

  Ethan turned to them. “Josh,” he greeted. “Emily. How are you two this evening?”

  “Ethan,” Josh said with a nod, and then looked at me again. “Mia. Listen, Ethan, I’m sure Mia told you I was talking to her yesterday. I think you need to look into Ellie’s ex-husband, Chris Adams. He really had a beef with Ellie.”

  Emily smiled at us, but didn’t say anything.

  “How so?” Ethan asked.

  “I forgot to mention it when I talked to you, Mia, but he said Ellie had taken him to the cleaners in the divorce and he would get his money back one way or another. That house she lived in is his. Ellie didn’t even own it. He wanted to evict Ellie and Laura, but he said his daughter wouldn’t let him. He was really mad about getting stuck with those two in his house.”

  Ethan considered this. “You forgot to mention this when you and Mia talked yesterday? Seems like that would be kind of a big thing to mention since you were talking about him.”

  I agreed with Ethan. Yesterday he was so sure Chris had something to
do with Ellie’s murder, and yet he forgot to tell me something that sounded important? I watched Josh squirm over Ethan’s question.

  “I’ve had a lot on my mind. My wife is going to have a baby, and I’ve got bills. I’ve been preoccupied.”

  “Two more months,” Emily said proudly, running a hand over her swollen belly.

  I smiled at her. “I bet you’re excited.”

  “You mentioned the baby the other day. That’s why you left the door to the party house open,” Ethan said coolly.

  “We really were at the hospital that night,” Emily said quietly. She looked at me and gave me a tentative smile. I smiled at her again to be polite.

  “I’m sure you were,” Ethan said, but he didn’t sound at all sympathetic.

  I looked at him, surprised. This was a side of Ethan that I rarely saw, and I liked it.

  Josh became flustered. He opened his mouth and then shut it. After a moment, he opened it again. “Well, you can believe what you want. But you ought to talk to Chris Adams. He’s suspicious. I’m telling you, he had something to do with Ellie’s death.”

  Ethan nodded. “Sure, I’ll have a talk with him. Thanks for the advice.”

  Josh’s mouth formed a hard line and then he gave Ethan a curt nod and turned and strode off with Emily hurrying to keep up.

  “I don’t like him,” I whispered to Ethan.

  He nodded. “He does leave something to be desired.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “So, Christy, how are you doing?” I asked my sister. She was lying on my parents’ couch wearing a ratty pair of blue sweats and a gray sweatshirt. I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like there was an old mustard stain on the front of the sweatshirt.

  She slowly turned her head toward me. “Fine. You?” Before I could answer, she turned back to the television.

  I sighed. “I’m good. Shouldn’t you be up? Mom and I could really use your help down at the candy store. The Christmas season has us really jumping. Mom made some marshmallow snowmen yesterday. They’re really cute.”

  She shrugged. “I’m grieving.”