Sweet Taffy and Murder: Sweet Taffy Cozy Mysteries Book #1

by Dana Moss

  “Maybe I should be there with you.”

  But what if a police presence spooked Randall? He’d seemed nervous on the boat.

  “Why don’t I meet him first, and then you can join us after. You can be nearby, and I could call you over.”

  “It’s the only lead we have right now, so let’s do it.”

  Maria sipped her soda thoughtfully. Taffy slurped up the green cherry at the bottom of her glass.

  “Whips? Really?”

  That set Maria giggling again. “He’s a regular lion tamer!”

  Taffy started to snort-laugh. “Grrrrr.” She clawed the air. Maria doubled over. Taffy was worried Maria was going to fall off her seat.

  “Looks like someone is having fun.”

  Taffy looked up through her tears of laughter. Austin was smiling down at her. His brother Mick was beside him. They were both carrying narrow cases that looked like they housed musical instruments.

  “What are you doing here?” Taffy said, wiping away any running mascara.

  “Shooting some pool.”

  “I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure?” Mick stepped forward and thrust his hand at Maria. His gaze was transfixed on her dark brown eyes.

  Austin said to Taffy, “My brother is not the smoothest with the ladies.” He stood half a foot taller than his brother and draped an arm around his shoulder.

  “Mick, this is the sweet candy I was telling you about, Taffy Belair. And her friend. Lieutenant Salinas, isn’t that right?”

  “Maria.” She held out her hand to Mick, and she seemed equally transfixed by his eyes, at least until she looked down at her lap, trying to hide a rising blush.

  “You work with Allan Gravely, don’t you?”

  Maria nodded. “He plays pool with you sometimes, I think.”

  “When he’s not busy working.” He flashed Maria a gleaming grin, which was a little flirty, and Taffy thought he was doing it to bother his brother, but it surprised her to realize it also irked her a little bit. A moment later, he turned his charm on her.

  “Can we buy you two lovely ladies a drink?”

  Maria slipped off her stool and grabbed her purse. “We were just on our way home, actually.”

  “A shame,” said Austin. Mick looked genuinely disappointed.

  Taffy got up to follow Maria. Austin leaned in close to her. “I knew we’d meet again. And I can’t wait until the next time. Maybe we could set a date? Dinner?”

  The martini had warmed up her insides almost, but not quite, to the point of saying ‘maybe.’

  Instead she murmured, “No thanks.”

  Mick called after them. “I hope to see you both at the coffee shop opening on Wednesday.”

  Maria turned and smiled. “I’ll be there. On duty, directing traffic.”

  When they stepped out of the bar, Maria fanned herself as if she’d just been standing by a fire. “Well, he’s a hottie.”

  Taffy slipped her arm in Maria’s. “Immensely whippable.”

  Maria was overtaken by another giggling fit. When it subsided, she checked the time on her phone.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’ve got to get home.”

  Taffy stretched in the cool evening air. “I had originally planned to go to a yoga class tonight.”

  “Sounds fun, in a painful pretzel-y kind of way. Can you still make it?”

  “Maybe. What time is it?”

  Maria pulled out her phone to check the time, and it immediately started vibrating in her hand. She looked down at the caller ID and sighed with irritation. “I hate it when Gravely texts me when I’m off duty.” She opened the message.

  Her eyes widened. “Oh no.”

  “What?”

  “Randall Swain is dead.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Taffy was in shock. Randall Swain was dead?

  Maria’s initial surprise had passed quickly, and she was already in professional mode.

  “I should go down to the resort.”

  “Can’t Lieutenant Gravely handle it?”

  “Yes, but I want to go check things out firsthand.”

  “I should come with you.”

  Maria shook her head. “Gravely wouldn’t let you onto the docks. No, you go to your yoga class. Just act like everything’s normal. We don’t want this announced just yet. It’s bad enough having one death unsolved. Two is unbelievable.”

  “Mr. Davenport once told me there are no murders in Abandon.”

  “In my twelve years there have only been three, so he’s almost right.”

  “What else did Gravely say? How did they find him?”

  “Someone at the resort saw his yellow jacket floating in the water.”

  Taffy remembered his yellow arm waving against the blue sky. That was only two days ago.

  “They spotted his body tucked near the propellers of one of the yachts. In all likelihood he probably just fell off.”

  “Another fatal accident?” Taffy doubted it. Randall seemed more comfortable on the sea than land, and he wasn’t a drinker.

  Maria pulled out her keys. “Don’t mention this to anyone yet.”

  “In the vault,” Taffy said as she watched Maria duck into her car.

  Taffy got into her car and drove to the address on the slip of paper she had taken from the grocery-store bulletin board. She followed the signs around the side of the house to the renovated garage-turned-yoga studio.

  A thin, extremely fit woman in her seventies, wearing yoga pants and a snug-fitting top, smiled warmly when Taffy entered.

  “Welcome, I’m Lulu.” She handed Taffy a mat. “Lay it out there next to Janice.”

  A willowy woman sporting a dark bob with bangs looked up when she heard her name. She met Taffy’s gaze briefly and then looked away.

  Unrolling her mat next to Janice, Taffy said, “Don’t you work at Davenport and Sons?”

  When she nodded, her hair swung against her chin.

  “I’ve been in a few times but haven’t seen you.”

  “I’ve needed a lot of time off due to stress.”

  Taffy nodded. “Mr. Davenport mentioned you had twins. Must be crazy.”

  “I’m pretty sleep-deprived, but it’s not that.” Janice bit her lip.

  Lula was now starting the class. Half a dozen people were sitting cross-legged on their mats copying Lula, who started chanting “Om.”

  Taffy surrendered to the sounds and movements of the class. When she closed her eyes, she imagined she was in New York. Lula’s converted garage wasn’t anything like Rupert’s SoHo loft, but the poses were the same. As she moved through a vinyasa series, tension started to melt from her shoulders. While she stretched her hamstrings in downward dog pose, she checked out the rest of the class members. She didn’t know most of them, but she recognized Aubin Terkle from work at the back. She must have come in late.

  At the end of the class, when they all lay on their backs in corpse pose and Lula tucked blankets around them, Taffy felt overcome by a sense of loss. The feeling built in her chest, and she thought maybe her tears were finally coming, but then Lulu sounded the little Tibetan gong and called them all back to a sitting posture and said, “Namaste.”

  After rolling up their mats, Janice approached Taffy. “You’re the one who bought Janet Harken’s house, right? I helped draw up the paperwork.” She smiled, and then her face scrunched with concern. “Is it true her death wasn’t an accident?”

  “The police are still investigating.”

  Janice glanced about furtively even though nobody was within earshot. She pulled Taffy closer to the coat racks and lowered her voice.

  “There’s something you should know. Janet came in to the office a week before she was found dead. She had a private meeting with Mr. Davenport. He usually asks me to sit in and take notes, but this time he didn’t. He was agitated after she left.”

  “Agitated how?”

  “Nervous mostly, as if she’d found out something and was threatening him.”

/>   “Why would you think she was threatening him?”

  “She raised her voice. They argued. She left very angry. He shredded a bunch of papers after she left. That’s usually my job.”

  She dropped her voice a notch lower. “You know, things aren’t always what they appear to be in a small town. You’re pigeon-holed into your role, and people see you the way they want to see you, but people are always more complex than that, and always more selfish than they lead you to believe.”

  She spoke like a betrayed woman. Ellie had explained that Janice’s husband, who traveled a lot for work, had ended up having an affair with one of his colleagues, and Janice still hadn’t gotten over it.

  “He also made several calls after she left, and he seemed to calm down a little bit after that.”

  “Do you know who he spoke to?”

  “No, but…”

  Taffy raised an eyebrow. “Go on, spit it out.”

  “After he left for lunch I did that call back thing on the phone? I wrote down the last number he dialed.” She pulled a folded up piece of note paper from her purse.

  “Did you call the number?”

  She swung her bob to the negative. “I was hoping you would.”

  “Me? Why? If you’re worried something’s not on the up and up with Davenport, why not go to the police?”

  “I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

  “The police seem like a good bet.”

  She shook her bob again.

  “Are you sure you’re not being a little bit paranoid? What if he just called his mother? Maybe she calmed him down.”

  “She’s in a home and can’t talk anymore. Besides that’s not the number. I have an idea who he might have called, but if they find out that I know—” She swiped two fingers across her neck. “I just can’t do it.” Now Taffy was convinced Janice was being paranoid. She did not strike Taffy as what one would call a ‘reliable witness.’ Maybe there was good reason for Davenport to send her home regularly.

  “You call,” said Janice, shoving the paper into Taffy’s hand.

  “Why do you trust me all of a sudden?” said Taffy.

  Janice’s deep-brown eyes locked on Taffy’s as she said, “You seem fearless. Like Janet.”

  With another swing of her bob, she turned, slipped into her car, and drove away, leaving Taffy to ponder.

  Taffy climbed into her car, stuffed the piece of paper in her empty ashtray, along with Ronald’s numbers, and drove home. She tried to hang onto her post-yoga glow despite the odd conversation with Janice.

  Maybe Janet Harken had been fearless, but she was also dead.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  When Taffy arrived at work the next morning there was a crowd of employees in the main reception area. Taffy wondered if they had somehow found out about Swain’s death. Aubin was at their center, her eye makeup smeared and her hands a-wringing.

  “I don’t know what to do,” she wailed at the smocked, shower-capped, and latex-gloved employees who’d assembled.

  Ellie caught Taffy’s eye as she entered. “What’s going on?”

  “Herbie’s gone,” she said.

  Taffy wondered what she meant by ‘gone’ and gestured subtly to Ellie with a finger across her neck and an eyebrow raised in question, but Ellie shook her head.

  “Gone,” echoed Aubin. “Just up and disappeared.” She started clucking hysterically again.

  “Gillian’s vamoosed, too,” said Ellie. “Seems they’ve flown the coop in the coupe.”

  Taffy pictured the white Mercedes zooming down the highway. An impromptu holiday?

  No one was mentioning Randall Swain, so Taffy guessed the police had kept that quiet overnight. She couldn’t help but wonder if this disappearance and Swain’s demise were linked.

  Taffy watched the pink-coated employees chatting animatedly, shaking heads, or looking around in confusion. If the disappearance of two lovers could create this much upheaval, what kind of havoc would the news of a drowned body wreak?

  Clint, aka Vanilla Boy, walked over to Taffy.

  “What do you think we should do?” he asked.

  Why was he asking her? But because he had asked her, everyone else turned her direction to see what she had to say. Aubin was a blubbering mess, so there was no point listening to her.

  Taffy tried to unscramble her thoughts. “How many floor supervisors are here today?” Seven hands went up.

  Taffy approached Aubin and put her arm around her shoulder, trying to calm her. It worked. Aubin’s sobs died down to small hiccupping convulsions. “How many orders do we need to fill and ship today?”

  This question seemed to trigger a new upset. Taffy held Aubin’s hand. “It’s okay. Mr. Herbert only managed the factory, he didn’t do the work himself. We did. We can handle this.”

  She looked out at the group of employees.

  “I say we carry on as if it’s a regular day. We’ll focus on the most pressing orders. Jelly beans and caramel corn and chocolate drops might need extra supervision. Let’s forget about marshmallows for today. Lina, you’re head of that department right? Why don’t you help Ralph with his zones instead?”

  Ellie smiled wide at Taffy and gave her a high-five. Then she whispered in her ear.

  “Ellie has a good point,” said Taffy to the group. “A big vanilla wafers order just shipped yesterday so that team can help in chocolate, too.” Taffy was pretty sure Ellie was angling for Clint to be assigned to her department, but it had been a smart suggestion nonetheless.

  Aubin, gripping Taffy’s hand tightly, said, “Thank you, I didn’t know what to do so—”

  “Don’t worry, Aubin. We’ll be back on track in no time.”

  Supervisors were gathering their teams and moving toward the doors leading to the factory floors. In the distance, Taffy thought she heard sirens.

  “What I was trying to say,” Aubin continued, “is I didn’t know what to do so I called the police.”

  The sirens grew louder until they blurped to a stop out front.

  A few minutes later, Maria walked in with Lieutenant Gravely.

  “I didn’t know what else to do,” said Aubin again as she wrung her hands.

  Maria noticed Taffy and nodded.

  “What seems to be the problem?”

  Most of the other employees filed out of the reception area, but a few hung back to watch. Gravely gave Ellie a cool sidelong smile as he kept his thumbs hitched in his belt.

  Aubin stepped forward. “I have to report a missing person.”

  “You called in to say Anthony Herbert didn’t show up for work?”

  “Gillian, our accountant, is missing, too.”

  Maria and Taffy shared a secret look. Taffy was picturing the Mercedes pulling into a sleazy hotel.

  “Could be that after yesterday they needed a bit of time off?” said Maria.

  “But he would have called. Mr. Herbert runs a tight ship here, whips us all into shape, if you know what I mean.”

  Taffy knew that if she looked at Maria they would both burst out in giggles.

  “Since we’re here, we’ll have another look around. Can you show us to their offices?”

  Aubin reached behind the counter for the keys.

  Then she grabbed Taffy’s sleeve. She turned to Maria. “This girl has her head on her shoulders. Oh my, if she hadn’t been here… I was all over… she got us all back on track.” Aubin nodded vehemently. “You take the key, Honey.” She pressed the key in Taffy’s palm. “You show the police the offices.”

  Taffy patted Aubin’s shoulder. “Why don’t you make yourself a cup of coffee, Mrs. Terkle?” Aubin nodded, absently reaching for her wedding ring, and began to calm down.

  Taffy led the way to the office. Ellie air-tickle-waved to Gravely as he followed Maria, who followed Taffy.

  “Could this have anything to do with what happened to Swain?” said Taffy.

  “Doubtful,” said Maria. “His death is looking like a real accident this time. We
found an empty bottle of gin on the deck of his boat.”

  “He was probably drunk as a skunk,” said Gravely, shaking his head. “May I?” He took the keys from Taffy and went ahead to unlock the office doors.

  Taffy turned to Maria, speaking quietly. “Randall couldn’t have been drunk. He told me he’d been sober for decades.”

  Maria shrugged. “It’s not like he’d be the first to break his vow. With the stress of Janet’s death—”

  “What if he was about to tell us what he knew about Janet and somehow Herbert and Gillian got to him first to shut him up?”

  “Your suspicions are verging on paranoia. I bet you anything Herbert and Gillian snuck off to celebrate not being accused of murder. They’re probably in some motel room with their video camera in tow and will be back tomorrow with twinkles in their eyes. ”

  Taffy nodded. “Maybe you’re right. Aubin’s probably overreacting.” And maybe Taffy was, too.

  Maria said, “We’ll have another good look around just in case. And I’ll let you know if we come up with any links.”

  Maria and Gravely examined Mr. Herbert’s office and took his computer and two boxes of files back to the station. Gillian’s laptop was missing, but they seized most of her files.

  It wasn’t long before they discovered the reason for the sudden disappearance.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  “Embezzling,” said Maria.

  “That’s why they ran?”

  Taffy had left the factory early and stopped by the police station. She sat in the spare chair across from Maria’s desk. Maria fingered the marble, the one Taffy had brought to her from Janet’s house.

  “We’re still assessing the paperwork, but it looks like they’d probably have taken more if they hadn’t been pulled in for questioning about the murder. Probably guessed it would just be a matter of time before these other dirty deeds were uncovered.”

  “Herbert embezzling? Seriously?”