“I took off early and had a craving for ice cream,” he said. “And to see all my favorite ladies. Looks like you’re missing one.”
“Sam’s out with a friend partaking in the rest of the festival while it’s slow,” Paige explained. “She promised to be back by 4pm.”
“Good luck with that,” Bruce answered as he took a hold of the cone I presented him. “Was this friend of the male or female variety?”
“Female,” we all said in unison.
“That’s good,” Bruce answered. “Okay, I’m off for home. Be back later after I ditch the fancy duds.”
“Okay,” we all said in unison again.
Bruce laughed and headed out. And none too soon as Miss Greta and her gentleman friend, Mr. Florez walked up to the booth.
“Hello Miss Greta, Mr. Florez,” I greeted them. “I hope the ice cream cake was to your liking.”
“It was fine dear. In fact it was very good,” Greta offered.
“I will attest to that,” Mr. Florez said with a smile. “I partook of a piece last night and it was delicious.”
“Oh I’m so glad you both liked it,” I said wiping down the counter and wondering what Mr. F saw in Miss G. He was such a refined man and she was…well, not refined to put it nicely. They say opposites attract…whoever ‘they’ are, they’re correct in this case.
“We’ll take a scoop each of Almond Fudge in a cup please,” Greta announced and I whipped them up right quick.
As they walked away, Stormi and Paige surrounded me.
“Did she say anything about her nephew?” Stormi asked.
“Nope,” I answered.
“Hey, look over there,” Paige pointed. “There’s Mr. Jenkins giving the stink eye to Greta and Mr. Florez.”
Mr. Jenkins was a man of short stature with a widow’s peak. A stark contrast to Mr. Florez.
“Is that the man Greta is rumored to be seeing on the sly?” I asked.
“Yes,” Paige answered. She moved between Stormi and me and continued her revelation.
“A neighbor of Mr. Jenkins says she’s seen Greta get out of a cab halfway down the block from his house. She then walks around to the back and supposedly enters his house from there.”
“Why are they keeping it so hush hush?” I asked. “It’s not like she and Mr. Florez are an item.”
“In Greta’s eyes they are,” Stormi chimed in. “I guess Miss Grumpy and Trixie had a blowup at Lorna’s Beauty Shop yesterday. Greta claimed that Trix was flirting with Mr. Florez. So Trixie brought up the fact Greta was seeing Mr. Jenkins on the side so she had no claim to Mr. Florez. Everyone at the beauty shop thought Greta’s head would explode she turned so red. She marched out of the salon with curlers still in her hair!”
“What did Trixie do?” I asked, flabbergasted that Trix would betray her friend. Maybe she had enough of Greta’s grumbling after all.
“She continued with her manicure like nothing happened,” Stormi answered. “I think she was dying to let the hound out of the dog house, if you know what I mean.”
“She didn’t seem too unglued just now,” Paige proclaimed. “In fact she seemed quite demure next to how she usually is.”
“Maybe that’s how she portrays herself around Mr. Florez,” Stormi answered.
“Perhaps he hasn’t witnessed Miss Hurricane Haglemier yet.”
“Wasn’t he around for the spectacle at the pie judging last year,” I asked.
“Nope, he came after. Moved here from Atlanta,” Paige answered.
“You girls are a wealth of knowledge,” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, they’re worse than we are,” Sam said as she and her friend walked into the back of the booth.
“Hey, would you two mind watching the booth while it’s slow so we could walk around for a few minutes?” Paige asked her daughter.
“No, we don’t mind, right Courtney?”
“No, take your time.”
“Thanks girls,” I said. “I’m ready for a break.”
We walked over to the Mexican booth and each of us grabbed nachos and a drink. We took our munchies over to the bleachers set up in front of the stage where the flower judging was about to commence.
“Oh goodie, we’re just in time for Greta to win her rose ribbon,” Stormi said sarcastically.
We nodded at Mr. Florez who was sitting on the front row as we crept to the third row of bleachers. Paige elbowed me and with her head pointed towards the back of the bleachers where Mr. Jenkins sat. His face held the same scowl as it did an hour ago.
We sat down with me in the middle and proceeded to devour our nachos when I noticed Stormi sit up. She leaned over to me and said, “Trevor Collins at 2 o’clock.”
I looked slightly ahead and to my right and there stood Trevor. He was looking at us. I smiled and waved and he waved back. As he walked over I said, “Are you here to watch your Aunt take home the grand champion ribbon for her roses?”
“Yes I thought I’d stop by and cheer her on, not that she needs it,” he said still wearing his work clothes. “I just got off from work and thought I’d stop by. Are you ladies enjoying the festival?”
We all chimed in unison that we were, but also busy at The Frozen Scoop ice cream booth.
“I bet you are busy…it’s hot for the first of May,” he said. “Well I should go sit with Mr. Florez and then head home and change. I’ll be back later and be sure and stop by your booth.”
“Okay, bye,” we all said again in unison.
“So are you going out with him again?” Paige asked as she took a gulp of her diet soda.
“He hasn’t asked,” I answered.
“But if he does…will you?” Paige said as she took a drink of soda.
“Yes, probably. We had a very nice time and he’s easy to talk to.”
“I don’t know,” Paige said. “I don’t trust him.”
Stormi coughed, choking on her guacamole. “What?! You don’t even know him.”
“Neither do you Missy.”
“But you’re coming up with this out of thin air.”
“And you’re coming up with him being some dreamboat out of the same thin air,” Paige countered.
“Every time I’ve seen him he’s been courteous, right Tara?”
“Yes, he was very nice on our date.”
“So where are you getting this untrustworthy vibe from?” Stormi demanded.
“It’s just a feeling,” Paige answered taking another swig of her soda.
“Don’t kill a good thing for Tara before it’s even started,” Stormie admonished Paige.
“I just want her to move cautiously,” Paige said.
“Helloooo…I’m right here,” I said feeling invisible. At that moment, I saw Trixie walk to the side of the bleachers and watch the stage.
During this time, the judging for the rose category was taking place. We weren’t paying much attention since everyone knew who the winner would be until we heard the shouting. Instead of choosing Miss Greta the winner, the judges chose another contender instead, Darlene Langstrom. Greta was having a fit, arms flailing and voice rising. So much for her demure attitude earlier in the day.
I looked towards Mr. Florez and Trevor. I could only see their profiles, but Mr. F. looked horrified and Trevor didn’t seem to be saying much. I looked over at Trixie and she had a smirk on her face. It was difficult to hear what Miss Greta was saying, but I heard something about ‘piece of crap’ and how much better her roses smelled than the others did.
At that moment, she took a huge whiff of her roses sitting in her glass vase. She went to hold the vase out to the judges, presumably to have them smell the roses too, when she dropped the vase to the floor. The glass vase splintered into small pieces and the roses scattered onto the stage floor. Several people gasped and then we heard the grunts and groans.
I looked up at Greta and she was clutching her throat. We weren’t right next to the stage, but I could tell her face and throat were swelling quickly. She pointed towards
Trevor and Mr. Florez before dropping to the floor. Mr. Florez held her purse next to him and he fumbled trying to open it, I assume to find her epi pen. Several of the judges and other competitors surrounded her and someone yelled to call 911, which several people did.
Mr. Florez was white as a sheet as he searched for the epi pen in her purse. Trevor finally grabbed the purse and upended its contents onto the ground. The two men searched for the epi pen to no avail. Someone yelled that Miss Greta stopped breathing. Some of the women on the stage were turning away upset by the sight.
The three of us suddenly jumped up after what seemed like minutes but were only seconds and ran towards the stage. Curious people who heard the commotion were now crowding around at the front of the stage. We tried to see but kept getting crowded out. Finally, someone moved and I could see Miss Greta as her body lie still on the stage floor. I saw no movement of her chest. I knew she was gone.
Paramedics and a couple of police officers working the festival showed up fast. One of the medics tried to cut an opening in her throat, but it was swelled tighter than a drum. It was no use. More police were called and the entire stage cordoned off with the yellow crime scene tape.
The police talked to Mr. Florez and Trevor while people stood in groups discussing what occurred. Stormi was on a mission. She went from group to group, gleaning information from each one and then reporting to Paige and me. I looked around and saw Trixie standing with a group and then walking over and hugging Mr. Florez as soon as the police were finished questioning him. I thought that was rather odd. I looked for Trevor, but couldn’t see him.
Stormi ran up and exclaimed, “The word is there must have been something like peanut dust in the roses!”
“Makes sense,” Paige said. “Everyone is saying she took a big whiff right before her throat swelled.”
“Yeah, the cops took the roses and pieces of glass from the vase for evidence. They also took her purse as well,” Stormie agreed.
“That’s odd her epi pen wasn’t in her purse,” I said straightening my apron. “She always has that with her. And if it was peanut dust in the rose petals, why and how did it get there?”
“Probably because someone wanted to off her,” Stormi claimed. “What better way than to give her something she’s allergic to and then steal her epi pen.”
“Plus everyone in town knows she’s allergic to peanuts so that makes everyone a suspect,” Paige said.
“But, that person has to have access to the roses and her purse,” I said. “That would narrow down the suspect pool considerably.”
“So who does that leave?” Stormi asked as we walked back to my booth. “Mr. Florez, Trixie, Mr. Jenkins possibly.”
“And Trevor,” Paige said.
“Oh come on,” Stormi exclaimed.
“No, you come on.” Paige was adamant we keep him in the suspect list. “Look, he just showed up in town and now his Aunt’s dead. That’s suspicious to me.”
I had to admit it was but then he didn’t seem like the type at all. However, what do you always hear friends and family say about a murderer….that they couldn’t believe they were capable of murder. I shuddered.
By the time we got back to the booth Sam and Courtney had already heard the news. They also were told that Mr. Florez and Trevor were taken down to the police station for questioning.
“I’m sure they were,” Stormi said. “Since they are the two closest to her, I’m sure the police wanted to find out who had access to her roses and purse.”
“They did!” Paige exclaimed.
“What about that creepy Mr. Jenkins?” Stormi asked. “He definitely had the look of a killer today with that scowl etched on his face.”
“Yeah, he did not like what he saw concerning Mr. F. and Miss G,” I said. “It seemed like he was stalking them too.”
“What about Trixie?” Stormi asked. “I don’t want to think she’d be capable of something like this, but she and Miss Greta did have that blowup the other day.”
“But why?” I asked. “What would Trixie have to gain by getting rid of Greta?”
“Well, that hug she gave Mr. Florez seemed like more to me than just being a concerned friend,” Paige answered.
That was true. It did seem strange for Trixie to be that familiar with Mr. F. In only an hour since Miss Greta’s death, four suspects emerged. And unfortunately, one of them was the man I had recently been on a date with.
The rest of the day was busy at The Frozen Scoop booth. I guess murder makes people hungry, or maybe it just puts your adrenaline into overdrive. People kept coming to the booth to grab a cone and exchange information on the case. A television crew even showed up to film a segment. It was a day this town would not long forget.
Paige’s husband showed up later, saying he’d seen the segment on TV before he left the house.
“They’re saying it’s a homicide, but as of yet there are no suspects,” Bruce announced. “And give me a cup of chocolate mint please.”
“So they didn’t say how she died; only that it was murder?” I asked as I scooped up his chocolate mint.
“No, but everyone is convinced it had to be peanuts. She ballooned like that once before at a restaurant where peanuts got mixed into her dish, but she got a dose from the epi pen and that saved her. Some of the people who witnessed that episode said it looked the same way today after she smelled the flowers.”
“So husband, who do you think is the culprit?” Paige asked.
“I’m not the one who likes to untangle murder mysteries. I’ll leave that to you amateur sleuths.”
“Chicken,” Paige said smiling.
“Paige, I think Stormi and I can finish up here if you want to go with Bruce,” I offered.
“Are you sure?” She asked.
“Absolutely. It’s getting late and I’m ready to close anyway,” I answered.
The two took off arm in arm. I was happy for Paige, she had a great husband. Someday I hoped for the same, but good men were hard to find. At that moment, Brandon walked up.
“So are you ladies ready to wrap it up? I can tear down the booth and put it in back of my truck and bring it by your house tomorrow Tara.”
“Brandon, you’re too good to me,” I said.
Stormi, Brandon and I worked for the next half hour tearing down the booth and putting the left over ice cream into my vehicle. Brandon took the small freezer as well. I wished them a good night and headed to the store to drop off the ice cream.
Once the ice cream was safely back in the freezer at the store, I walked out the front door and locked it. When I turned around, I was startled to see Trevor standing there.
“My God Trevor, you frightened me!” I exclaimed.
“Sorry,” he said sounding dejected. “I saw you leave the festival and followed you here. I thought maybe you and I could talk for a few minutes.”
“Well sure,” I said. “I’m so sorry about your Aunt.”
“Thanks…it’s just such a shock.”
“I know it has to be. Do the police know what happened?”
“They won’t know until the autopsy is done, but I’m sure it’s something she inhaled.”
“That’s the word around the festival too. But do they think it was intentional?” I couldn’t believe I was asking him all these questions but I couldn’t help it.
“Well if they don’t I do!” He exclaimed.
“Why is that?”
“Because the epi pen was conveniently missing from her purse. She always carries it with her.”
“Do you have any idea who would do this?”
“I have a person in mind.”
“May I ask who?”
“Mr. Florez.”
“But why Trevor? What would he have to gain from it?”
“He had access to the purse and her roses. What he had to gain is anybody’s guess. But his last wife died suspiciously so there’s that.”
“Really, I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, just Google
his name and Nashville, Tennessee and you’ll find newspaper articles about her death.”
“I’ll do that. Well, it’s late and I’m tired. I really need to get home,” I said feeling bad that I was copping out on him, but my feet and back were killing me.
“Oh no, I feel better just venting. I appreciate you listening to me,” he said with a halfhearted smile.
“Call me tomorrow Trevor if you want to talk. I want to be here for you.”
A Frozen Scoop of Murder - The Bundle Edition (Books One to Six): Cozy Mysteries Page 3