Sugar Coated Murder

by Patti Benning

  The year before, the candy shop had been destroyed in a terrible fire. Now, her daughter was finally rebuilding the candy shop and even though Moira knew it would be a long process, she couldn't wait to see what had already been done. The two of them parked at David's office, since the parking lot behind the candy shop was full of vehicles belonging to the construction company. Moira made a mental note to stop in and say hi to Lenny, David's new business partner, on their way back. She couldn't remember whether Candice had met him yet, and wanted to introduce her daughter to the thin, somewhat awkward man who had taken over the business while David focused his attention elsewhere.

  “There it is,” Candice breathed as they walked towards the large brick building that housed the candy shop. It was a tall building, with two apartments on the upper level, one of which Candice had lived in before making the farmhouse her home. The fire had gutted the candy shop, and Moira knew that there had been smoke damage to the two apartments. She wasn't sure just how much needed to be done to fix the building, but at least there was still something there to work with.

  “Just wanted to poke my head in and see how it's going,” Candice said. “We already went over everything that needs to be done and all of that. I just want to see it for myself. I haven't looked inside since the fire.”

  “It's hard to believe that this time last year, this was a thriving business,” Moira murmured, staring at the darkened building. “I'm glad that you're going to be fixing it, though. People still ask me when you're going to reopen.”

  “I'm not sure how long it will be until I have an exact date, but once I do, you'll be the first to know.”

  The two of them continued forward, gazing up at the building. Moira thought that her daughter was probably thinking the same thing that she was; she was probably imagining what it would be like when the building was repaired, and the doors were once again thrown open to everyone in Lake Marion. Moira admired her daughter’s determination not to let the fire be the end of the business. If the deli burnt down, would she have the strength to reopen it? She wanted to think that she would, but she wasn't sure.

  “Where do you want to meet David for –” Her daughter broke off midsentence as a window above them shattered. Moira looked up just in time to pull her daughter back as a dark form sped toward them from above.

  Chapter Four

  * * *

  The body landed with a sickening crack on the sidewalk just feet in front of them. Candice screamed and stumbled backward, while Moira automatically looked up, not sure whether she was looking for more dangers from above, or to see what had happened. There was nothing but a shattered window.

  “Mom,” Candice was shouting. “Mom, we have to call the police.”

  That broke Moira out of her daze. She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone, dialing the now familiar three digits that would connect her to the emergency dispatcher. Her daughter clung to her arm as she told the dispatcher what had happened, and she heard Candice gasp when the candy shop's front door opened.

  “Bryan!” A man rushed out of the candy shop and knelt by the body on the sidewalk, but stopped just inches from touching him, as if afraid to hurt him more. Moira gripped her phone more tightly.

  “Please hurry,” she told the emergency dispatcher as a second person came rushing out, this time a young man, who choked back a sob when he saw the person on the sidewalk.

  “Bryan!”

  “Get back, Charlie, don’t touch him. You’ll make it worse,” the first man shouted.

  It was a horrible scene, and one that Moira knew would stay with her for a very long time. The ambulance arrived only minutes later, but they didn't need the paramedics to tell them that the young man who had fallen from the second story window was dead. The older man who had come rushing out watched with a stricken expression on his face as the paramedics lifted the body into the ambulance and drove away, the siren silent. By then, the police were there, and the officer was trying to make sense out of what had happened.

  “We were just walking by, and he fell out the window,” Candice said. “I can't believe this happened.”

  “What was he doing in there?” Moira asked.

  “He's one of the men on the construction team, I think,” Candice said. “They were doing some work in the apartments too.”

  They were drawing a crowd. Three other pedestrians had come over to see what was going on. There was an elderly couple that Moira recognized as regulars at the deli, and a woman about Candice's age with short, spiky black hair and bright blue eyes. All three of them were watching in shock as the ambulance drove away.

  “Can we have your names, please?” the police officer asked. He had been trying to create order out of chaos for the past couple of minutes, with only limited success. Moira forced herself to pay attention.

  “I’m Moira Darling, and this is my daughter, Candice,” she said. “She owns the candy shop that they were doing construction on. That's why we were here. We wanted to see how progress on the reconstruction was going.”

  “Thank you. I'd like to talk to both of you about what exactly happened. But first, who are you?” He had turned his attention to the older man.

  “I'm George Litchfield,” he said. “I'm the site manager for this project. That young man was my nephew. I want to know what happened. This was a terrible accident, and if the company is at fault, you had better believe that I'm going to sue. I'm always telling them that they need to get better equipment.”

  “And you?”

  “Charlie Barnum.” The young man stared at the ground where his friend had been lying. “He was my best friend, and my coworker.”

  “I'm very sorry for your loss, Mr. Litchfield, and Mr. Barnum,” the officer said. “ Mr. Litchfield, since you’re family, I'm going to ask you to come back to the station with me so we can take a statement. The lead detective should be here… ah, there he is.”

  Moira looked over as another police car pulled up and a familiar form got out. It was Detective Jefferson. He looked over in their direction and she gave him a quick wave. He didn't look surprised to see them there.

  “Officer Stanley, I can take over from here,” he said.

  “Okay. I'll just take Mr. Litchfield back to the station for his statement, while you handle everything else. Do you want me to take these two back as well?”

  “I'll question Ms. Darling and her daughter myself,” Detective Jefferson said. “And, Mr. Litchfield was it?” The older man nodded.

  “I'm the site manager here.” He hesitated. “I really shouldn't leave while my men are still on site. Not when it's an active work site, anyway.”

  “Well, that shouldn't be a problem. We're going to have to put a hold on any further work here for the time being anyway. I'll go tell your men that the site is being shut down, and I'm going to let them all go home once I've questioned them. You go back to the station now with Officer Stanley. I'll give you my card, and if you've any questions, feel free to call me.”

  Now that Detective Jefferson was there, things began to fall into place smoothly. He cleared the gawking pedestrians away from the sidewalk and set up crime scene tape before notifying the other workers that he would have to question them before they could leave. Then he turned his attention to Moira and Candice.

  “So, do you want to tell me what happened?” he asked.

  “We were walking along the sidewalk and that poor young man just came flying out of the window,” Moira said.

  “Flying? Like he jumped or was thrown instead of falling?”

  “That’s what I remember,” Moira said, trying to think back. “It all happened so quickly. But it certainly seemed like he left the window with a lot of force. I barely had time to pull Candice back. If I hadn't, he might have landed right on top of her.”

  “Well, I'm certainly glad that the both of you are okay. Did either of you know the young man personally?”

  They both shook their heads. “I’ve only ever met with Mr. Litchfield
before,” Candice said. “He was in charge of fixing all of this up. I didn't meet with any of the other workers.”

  “Did you hear or see anything after the young man fell? Or anything unusual beforehand, like raised voices?”

  Moira shook her head. “Not that I remember, at least. It happened very suddenly, like I said. I remember looking up after he fell, and I didn't see anything. Just the broken window.”

  “Thank you. You know the drill. If you remember anything else, call me. I'm going to have to see what I can find upstairs. I know that you're probably eager to get the construction done, but this is going to delay it for at least a week or two. I'm sure you understand.”

  Candice nodded. “I do. I hope you figure out what happened. I feel terrible for that poor man.”

  Chapter Five

  * * *

  After they were done speaking with the police, Moira and Candice walked slowly back to the car. Witnessing a man's death had been a shocking experience for both of them. All thoughts of sharing a happy lunch with David had gone out of their minds. All Moira wanted to do was go home, talk to her husband, and try to clear the horrible sight of the young man lying crookedly on the sidewalk from her thoughts.

  “What do we do now?” Candice asked quietly.

  “I don't know,” Moira said. It felt wrong to just go about their day like usual. The deli owner realized with a jolt that David wouldn't know what had just happened. She had to call him.

  She waited until they reached the SUV. Sitting in the driver's seat, she took out her cell phone and dialed her husband's number. When he answered, she dove right into the story, hoping that he would know how to comfort them both.

  “And it was just so horrible, David. How could something like that have happened?”

  “What did Detective Jefferson say? Does he think it was an accident?”

  “I don't know. He just asked us what we had seen, and then said we could leave. I think he wanted to start questioning the other construction workers, the ones that were inside when Bryan fell out of the window.”

  “I'm sorry that the two of you had to see that. I'm glad that you're okay, though. Let's all meet at home. I'll bring something for lunch.”

  Moira was about to agree when she saw her daughter shaking her head. She raised her eyebrows and told David to hold on a second. “What is it?”

  “Let's go and see Reggie,” Candice said. “We can tell him what happened and have lunch with him. I wanted to visit him anyway, and he always makes me feel better. It will be better than sitting at home, anyway.”

  “Okay, let's see what David thinks.”

  A couple of minutes later, it was settled. David would meet them at the nursing home, and the three of them would join Reggie for lunch.

  “There are my girls,” Reggie said, pulling first Candice and then Moira into a hug. “Now tell me, how is my grandson doing? He always just says he's fine on the phone, but fine doesn't tell me anything.”

  Candice giggled. “He really is fine, Reggie,” she said. “He's happy. He's healing well. He's excited at the prospect of moving back here. He wants to take over the ice cream shop again, but if everything is running smoothly, he might find something else to do instead. I know he will like seeing you more often.”

  “I miss him,” Reggie said with a sigh. “Why couldn't he come with you this time?”

  “He had to work,” Candice said. “Plus, someone needed to stay there with Felix. I'll be staying at Mom’s for almost a week, and if he and Felix came along with me, it would have been close quarters. He'll come and visit soon, though.”

  “I'm glad he's happy,” Reggie said. “And I'm glad to see you. You told me all about Eli, now tell me all about yourself. How is your life going?”

  “It's actually going really well,” Candice said. “I enjoy working at that chain candy store a lot. It's really busy and everyone is super upbeat. I miss owning my own candy shop, of course, but it's fun to spend so much time around other people. Life in the city is so much different than living in Maple Creek. There's just… so much more.”

  Moira smiled as her daughter talked to the older man. Reggie was Eli's grandfather, but had become a part of their family even before the two younger people had gotten married. Moira and David made a point of having dinner with him a couple of times a month, and Moira counted him among her friends.

  They walked slowly toward the dining room as the conversation continued. Moira looked over at David and smiled, then realized that he was watching her with a concerned expression on his face.

  “What is it?” she asked him quietly.

  “I'm just worried about you,” he said. “You and Candice, both. Another death at the candy shop…” He shook his head. “Something about it just bothers me.”

  “It bothers me too,” she said. “Trust me, I hate thinking about everything that has happened there. But what else can Candice do? She wants to reopen the candy shop, and of course I want her and Eli to move back. There's no reason for her to completely give up on the building just because some poor young man had an accident there. Of course, I feel terrible for him, but it doesn't actually impact the business at all.”

  “I know.” David sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I must just be getting paranoid. Things have been so quiet around here ever since –” He broke off, and Moira thought she knew why. He had been about to mention the murder at Denise's restaurant, and he knew that was a sensitive topic for her.

  She didn't feel like thinking about Denise now, especially not after everything that had happened that day. Instead, she just placed her hand over her husband’s, and nodded. She understood how he was feeling; things were never this quiet in Maple Creek. Bryan's death earlier that day felt significant somehow, and she was worried about what the future might bring.

  Chapter Six

  * * *

  After lunch with Reggie, the three of them went home and spent the afternoon outside, playing with the dogs and doing some much-needed Spring yard work. As much as she enjoyed her daughter being there, Candice's visit no longer felt as if it was a festive break from real life. The thought of Bryan's death hung over all of them, and the cloudy sky and muggy air did nothing to help lighten the mood.

  When it started to rain that evening, they all went inside and sat down around the TV, none of them talking. When Moira's phone rang, she jumped up to answer it, glad for the distraction. She hated the somber mood that had settled over her family. Where had her happy, smiling daughter from earlier in the day gone?

  She checked the caller ID as she walked out of the room and saw that the call was from Martha, one of her best friends. She answered it, wondering if the other woman had heard what had happened at Candice's candy shop yet.

  “Hi, Moira,” her friend said. “Are you busy this evening?”

  “I've got Candice visiting for the weekend, and David has the evening off of work, so I'm probably going to spend it with my family,” she said. “Why, is something going on?”

  “Well, I was just thinking of heading to the Grill for drinks tonight and maybe a dessert, then we could see if Denise wants to go out afterward.”

  Moira was silent for a moment before answering. “Martha, you know that we aren't –”

  “I know the two of you aren't on speaking terms right now, but I think that's silly. You've been friends for years. You need to talk to her eventually. I hate being the middle man. And you know perfectly well that if you were in her position, you would have done the same thing. What wouldn't we do for family?”

  Moira didn't have an answer for that. Denise had lied to her in order to protect her nephew, who had come to live with the redhead a couple of years beforehand, after his mother – Denise's sister – had passed away. She understood her friend's reasoning, and she knew that what Martha was saying was probably true. If she had to protect Candice, wouldn't she do anything, too?

  Still, she hated the thought of not being able to trust someone who was supposed to be one of h
er closest friends. Denise had gotten her involved in a murder that she had never wanted to be a part of and had caused her more trouble than her friend had realized at the time. It was hard to forgive something like that, but at the same time, Moira knew that Martha was right. She would have to talk to Denise eventually. But tonight wasn’t the night.

  “Look, I'll get together with her soon. I promise. But I want to pay attention to Candice right now. Did you hear about what happened?”

  “No, I didn't. Is everyone all right? What's going on?”