1 Chocolate Worth Dying For

by Pat Amsden

  Wendy and Bill Carr – If an acid tongue could kill she'd definitely be guilty. But Rae-Ann was her best friend and it was hard to see what she had to gain. She'd be more likely to off Tanya for flirting with her husband. And Bill, as far as she knew, had nothing to gain or lose in any of the deaths.

  Nikki Benshaw – the local queen of gossip was definitely finding lots to write about but that wasn't really a reason to kill. Particularly since Tracey was her sister. Ditto the photographer, Will Reimer.

  She groaned in frustration. There had to be something. Someone. Even if she didn't see it now she was hoping when she showed the pictures around to Heath's neighbours they'd recognize someone.

  But when she went over the next morning to canvas the neighbours it wasn't as easy as she'd expected. Most weren't home. The ones that were didn't show much inclination to open the door and let her in for a nice cozy chat and cup of tea. If they recognized her at all they tended to regard her with open suspicion which they didn't feel much need to hide.

  "You're that caterer aren't you?" his neighbour across the hall said, regarding her suspiciously through the guard chain on her door.

  "Yes, I am," she'd said, relieved to talk to someone. "And I'm a good friend of Heath's. I want to help him."

  "Humph," the woman snorted. "Seems to me he wouldn't be in need of help if he'd stayed away from you."

  "Surely you're not blaming me for what's happened," she said incensed as the door closed to a crack. "I'd never do anything to hurt Heath," she said, impassioned. "I need your help."

  "For what," the woman said, opening the door a crack further.

  "Just look at the pictures I have," she said desperately. "Tell me if you've seen anyone around Heath's apartment lately."

  "Suppose I could do that," the woman said. "Don't know what good it's going to do."

  "I'm not sure either," she said. "But I'm pretty sure if we don't do anything Heath is going to be in jail for a long time to come."

  "OK, OK," the woman said grudgingly. "Pass the pictures in. He's a good kid. Helped me with my groceries a few times. Never said a bad word about anyone, always had a smile for you."

  For a moment Maxine wanted to hold onto the pictures, refuse to let the woman take them without letting her in. But the truth was she could easily make other copies. She handed them over and waited impatiently as the woman went through them slowly, one by one.

  "I can't be sure," she said slowly. "Might have seen the one woman once or twice," she said, pointing at the picture of Devon.

  Maxine felt her heart speed up as she tried to maintain an air of calm she didn't feel. "Can you remember when?"

  "No time recently," the woman said, shaking her head. She continued to look through the pictures. "And I've definitely seen her here," she said, pointing at Kathleen O'Reilly's picture. "Not for the last week or two though," she said, shaking her head.

  Not surprising considering she was dead Maxine thought feeling a sense of disappointment and frustration. "Well, thank you for your help."

  "And her," she said pointing at Carly Halvert, standing beside Tracey and Wendy in one pic.

  "You mean her," she said pointing to Tracey. "Or her," she said pointing to Wendy.

  "I mean her," the woman said with certainty. "She was here three days ago."

  Maxine frowned, puzzled. "Maybe she knows someone in the building," she said thinking aloud.

  "Maybe Heath," the woman said. "I'm sure I've seen her coming out of his place."

  Maxine frowned. "You're sure it was her, not one of the others?"

  "I'd swear on the bible," she said.

  "OK," Maxine said. "I'm sure there's an explanation." But maybe it would make the police look more closely. "Would you be willing to talk to the police?"

  "I've got nothing to hide," the woman said, drawing herself up. "Names Sharon Miller. Give me a minute and I'll write my phone number down for you."

  "No need," Maxine said, pulling out her phone. "I'll just put it down here."

  She listened as Sharon repeated her phone number.

  Maybe she'd drop in to Carly's boutique on the way back. She was pretty sure there was a good explanation for her visit. Perhaps he'd bought a dress for his mom and she was delivering it? His mother didn't look like the type to wear dresses from upscale boutiques although she was pretty sure Heath would buy one for her if he thought it was important to her.

  She managed to talk to the grounds keeper as well. Not that it turned up anything useful. So far she'd hit a lot of dead-ends she thought in frustration, as she got in her little red smart car. Talk about going nowhere fast.

  It was two now. She could drop into Carly's boutique quickly and see if she could shed any light on what Sharon had said. She was sure it was innocent. But she needed to do everything she could to find out what happened. Crossing Carly off the list would allow her to get one step closer faster. And really wasn't that what they all wanted?

  Minutes later she pulled into a small space in front of Carly's. As she entered she noted Carly was talking to a couple of women who were shopping for a dress so she browsed through the shop as she waited. And, as she had so many times, she couldn't help noticing her sense of style and fun. The displays were put together with such an eye to detail and artist's sense it always made her want to buy the whole outfit from top to bottom. But the prices were way out of her range.

  She herself, had put off buying new clothes, until she got the shop going. She fingered the soft silken material the sundress she was looking at was made of.

  "It would be perfect for you," Carly said warmly and Maxine looked up, surprised.

  "It's a bit out of my budget," I'm afraid, she said, sighing wistfully.

  Carly looked her over carefully. "It wouldn't hurt to try it on. I can put it away for you if you'd like. And while you're trying that on I've got a few items on my sale rack that would look gorgeous on you."

  She had Maxine in a dressing room before she knew what hit her. No wonder her shop was a success. She paused looking at the dress. It truly was beautiful. And when in Rome… She shucked her top and yoga pants quickly letting the soft, silken fabric fall over her in a swirl of green and gold.

  It wasn't as if she had to buy it. And it gave her the perfect excuse to talk to Carly. She had a cream pair of shoes that would go perfectly.

  "Let me see," Carly said, as she came back carrying a handful of dresses and tops. Maxine stepped out of the dressing room and Carly stepped back with a small gasp. "It's perfect for you. Really. Come on. There's a mirror right down here."

  Maxine followed her in stocking feet. She twirled around in the mirror, seeing the dress from the side mirrors as well. "It really is perfect," she said wistfully.

  "I'll give you a discount," Carly, said impulsively. "What are friends for?"

  Maxine smiled a sad smile, remembering what had brought her in. "True. You know I was over at Heath's place and I ran into a neighbor. She swears she saw you there."

  "Heath's place," Carly said in surprise, but a guarded look seemed to come into her eyes. "Maybe I was visiting a friend in the building. Where does he live?"

  She told her, watching her eyes carefully as she said. "The Branston Building."

  Carly's movements were careful, controlled, her smile glued on, more plastic than real. "I must have been delivering a dress there."

  Maxine gave her a small smile in return. "I knew there was a good reason. Although this neighbor did say you came out of Heath's apartment."

  Carly shook her head. "I barely knew Heath. Certainly not to visit and hang out."

  "She must've been mistaken," Maxine said. But she was almost sure Carly was lying. She was going to have to check with Heath. "It just feels wrong to buy a party dress with everything that's happened," she said. "Another time."

  "Another time," Carly said brightly as Maxine left.

  Wendy had hit the nail on the head when she called Carly terminally nice. And Rae-Ann was her friend. What possible motive
could she have for doing something so cold-blooded and callous? She shook her head. Obviously Sharon had been mistaken. So who had she seen going into Heath's apartment? And why was Carly lying?

  She gave a groan of frustration. Why was it every time she thought she had the answer something else came up and she seemed farther away than ever, from solving this case?

  Her grandma was in the garden deadheading roses as she pulled into the driveway. She stood up as Maxine got out shading her eyes with her hand which seemed unnecessary since she was wearing a sun hat and sunglasses. Maxine wasn't going to tell her that though. "So. Have you figured out who the killer is?"

  "Grandma!" She looked around and saw Mrs. Bradford from across the street looking at her. She waved at her. "You don't have to tell the whole neighbourhood."

  "They pretty much all know," she said nonchalantly.

  "Why?" Maxine asked with a rising sense of frustration. "This isn't exactly something you want spread around."

  "It's not really a secret anyway," Grandma Ellie said serenely. "This way if I'm not around and some no goodnick tries to break in when you're there alone someone will see something and call the police."

  Maxine rolled her eyes. "Guess I better warn the paperboy," she said.

  "Laugh if you want but you'll thank me for it someday. Anyway what did you find?"

  "I'm not sharing it with the whole neighbourhood."

  "I don't give them details," Ellie said. "I just make sure they know we're working on a case and they should keep an eye on the place when you're here on your own."

  "As opposed to when you're here to perform kung fu," Maxine said good naturedly.

  "You mock me now but I know some tricks. I could teach you a few," her grandma said hopefully, her eyes lighting up at the thought.

  "Better yet I need a way to see in people's minds."

  "I'm putting a pot of tea on," Ellie said, shucking her gardening gloves. "I'll have it ready in ten minutes. And then I want details."

  Other people her age were married. They had husbands and children at home waiting for them. She was chasing criminals and hanging out with her granny. Someday she had to get a normal life.

  Chapter Sixteen

  "So I'm back at square one," she declared dramatically dropping the photographs on the card table.

  "Maybe it's Carly," Grandma Ellie observed pouring a cup of tea and stirring in some milk and honey.

  Maxine just snorted. "I don't think so. Wendy's right. She's got a case of terminal niceness."

  "Perfect cover."

  "Mm. Well I'm going over to see Heath. Carly's about as likely to kill someone as I am to take up … knitting" she finished triumphantly. "But she's hiding something. Talking to Heath and making sure she wasn't over there on something totally unrelated ties up one loose end."

  Heath wasn't able to shed any light on it. "What would I be doing hanging out with the owner of a dress shop?" he'd said, as puzzled as she was.

  "I didn't know you had anything to do with Rae-Ann," she pointed out. "I figured I'd check with you anyway." She sighed in frustration. "If it was almost anyone else I'd think we'd found our killer. But what would Carly gain?"

  "What would I gain?" Heath said sourly. "Next time you're going to do something like that let me know. I don't want you putting yourself at risk."

  She hugged him. "I appreciate that, I really do. But I thought maybe they'd be more likely to talk to me than a normal policeman and, she shrugged her shoulders. "I had some free time."

  "The police give you any idea of how much longer they were going to keep the shop closed?"

  "I forgot to ask Patrick when I talked to him," she said airily as if it were no big deal. "And I don't want you worrying about it. It gives me more time to figure out who's behind these," she shuddered slightly, "murders. And I want to know just as badly as you do."

  "Right now I'm coming up empty," he said gloomily. "I thought I'd go over and see if there wasn't something I could do for Bernice. Take my mind off my own problems for at least a little while."

  "That's a great idea," Maxine said enthusiastically. "I'll come with you."

  He just looked at her. "Why do I get the feeling you're not going so you can do some gardening for her?"

  "Well, maybe not. I've got some pictures I'd like her to look at. And if I grab some groceries I can make up a nice meal for her. Besides I promised the social worker I'd keep an eye on her."

  Bernice, however had found better things to do. She was nowhere in sight. Asking the neighbors was clearly not an option since she had none.

  "We shoulda called first," Heath said.

  "I tried, remember?" She had tried once on her cell phone. Usually if she hadn't been able to get in touch with someone she'd have tried texting them. Bernice came from a pre-cell phone era. But she was also limited to an area she could reach by scooter. "We could drive around for a few minutes," she said slowly.

  Heath rolled his eyes at her. "Now we're stalking little old ladies."

  "Now we're showing concern for a fellow human being. One we both care about," she said sweetly.

  "Why don't you drive around for a few minutes. I'll start weeding her flower garden. By the time you've checked out the neighborhood I'll be done."

  "Genius," she said to him as he unfolded himself from her smart car. "Don't you need gardening tools?"

  "I can check the shed if I need anymore. But," he pulled a plastic bag out of his pockets. "For now this should be enough."

  She looked at him in confusion. "You're planning on suffocating them?"

  He gave an evil laugh. "You're on to me. But seriously it gives me somewhere to put the weeds."

  "Oh. I should've known that."

  He shrugged. "Somehow I don't see you as a gardener."

  She left him weeding the flowers they'd planted so eagerly the week before and drove slowly up and down the streets. She shivered slightly. It didn't feel right having Bernice living out here all alone. But it was what she wanted.

  She stopped at the corner store two streets up. "Have you seen an older lady with a scooter?" she asked the middle-aged lady behind the counter.

  The woman looked at her with tired, dis-interested eyes. "Which one? It's bingo at the Legion – I've seen at least half a dozen go by."

  Maxine just looked at her. "You can't have that many scooters going by on a regular basis."

  "And what's it to you?" The lady took a drag on the cigarette she was smoking and Maxine tried not to cough. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been in a store or anywhere else, really, in Victoria where someone had been smoking. This didn't seem a good time to bring that up.

  "I'm just looking for a friend of mine and she's not at home so I was hoping if I drove around a bit I could find her."

  "Like I said. Bingo. I'd put money on it."

  She ended up doing a drive by of the bingo parlour. Like the lady said there was a good chance Bernice was here. One of the scooters looked just like hers but since there were two other ones there which looked close she couldn't be sure. Evidently Bernice had picked a popular model.

  She went back to Bernice's' to find Heath had finished most of the weeding and looked as if he could use a glass of lemonade or something cool.

  "No luck?" he said looking worried.

  "I think she's at Bingo. That's what the lady at the store thought and I saw a few scooters that could have been hers there."

  He grinned. "So she does have some friends."

  "People to play bingo with anyway."

  "Somehow I can see Bernice there at the Bingo tables. Probably wears a funny hat and has half a dozen of those big bingo markers."

  Maxine laughed at the image that came to mind. "It does sound like her doesn't it?"

  "We can check back in another day or two but if Bernice is out playing Bingo I'd say she's feeling OK."

  "West Shore Development still seems to be closed down though."

  "What did Tracey say about that?" Heath asked curious
ly as he took off his gardener's gloves and looked in the back to see if there was a compost heap to add the weeds too.

  "She doesn't seem too worried. She says it's normal for developments to have growing pains."

  She shrugged. "Especially when they've lost a major partner. She doesn't want them rushing into anything that's going to cause problems down the road." Heath just gave her a look and she found herself rushing to Tracey's defence.

  "She seemed genuine. I believe her." Which, for some reason, felt disloyal. "OK," she admitted. "I might be wrong. When this first started I was sure she was the guilty party…but the more I talk to her, the more I see of her. I don't think it's her."

  Heath kicked a piece of dirt with his running shoe. "So if every time we find a suspect you rule that out where does that leave us?"

  "I know that's how it seems," she said but I've still got leads to look into. I'm going to ask around and see if I hear anything more about Tracey having an affair. Maybe I'll learn something that will change my mind. Kathleen's mom wanted me to come over and go over her stuff. I could find something there."

  "Maybe that shed has a compost bin in it," Heath said going over to a small garden shed in the back corner of the yard. He tried to open it only to find the door shut firmly although there was no lock in sight. A muffled noise came from the inside, the sound of someone moving around.

  "Is someone in there?" Heath called out.

  The sound of someone moving intensified, the muffled noise louder even if he still couldn't understand it. "I'm coming in," he yelled, gesturing for Maxine to stand back.

  When the door wouldn't give way to his attempts to yank it open he threw all his weight into it, throwing himself against the door repeatedly until it gave way and he crashed through shoulder first. He staggered slightly regaining his balance and rubbing his injured shoulders as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. He heard more than saw a noise on the floor in front of him.

  His eyes were drawn down to Bernice on the floor before him, duct tape covering her mouth with her hands and feet tied behind her. He cursed as he dropped down on the floor beside her taking her into his arms.