To Fudge or Not to Fudge (A Candy-Coated Mystery with Recipes)

by Nancy CoCo

  “That was brilliant, right?” Her eyes glittered in the street light. “She followed me out to the cabin after I told her that I would pay her fifty grand to move off island and never return. Unfortunate for her, Heather declined my good offer,” she cackled. “Really, what kind of stupid are you to give up that kind of money?”

  “You look cold, Mrs. Finch. Why don’t you come in by the fireplace and put your feet up?” I offered, my thoughts circling as I tried to figure out how to handle a crazy woman. With any luck Mal would stay away from Mrs. Finch, although I believed the crazy old woman was a pet lover and would rather stab herself than hurt my pup.

  “No!” She pointed the knife at me. “I’m here to kill you.” She circled me and I turned with her, keeping my gaze on her as we shuffled around in the alley.

  “I don’t want to be killed,” I said and gauged how far I was from the back door. The McMurphy back door was locked at eight PM, when the fudge shop closed. I kept a key card in my pocket.

  “If you insist on being a problem, it will only hurt more when I miss.” She shook her head. “Trust me, you want it to be clean and fast.”

  Okay, I wasn’t playing anymore. We had rotated so that my back was in the alley and my face to the back door of the McMurphy. I had dog-walking shoes on, but I had no problem screaming and running. I could outrun an old woman, right? “You don’t really want to hurt me. My family will find you and then all this will be for nothing.”

  She laughed a strange and gargled sound. “This isn’t about you or your family, dear.” She snapped her fingers, and two men stepped out of the shadows. It was Jabar and Tony from the reality show. They flanked Mrs. Finch and crossed their arms over their massive chests, spreading their legs wide as if preparing for a fight.

  “Wait.” I decided to play clueless. “Why are you two involved?”

  “Surprising, right?” Mrs. Finch said with a nod. “You see, the joke is on Heather. I really did have fifty thousand dollars to give away. The boys were smart enough to take it and in return are doing me a few favors.”

  “By beating up Chef Thomas?”

  “Well, yes, that did go a bit far, but the boys were tired with the whole charade. Chef Thomas was the main reason they weren’t casting new contestants. And then taking out cast members gave my Tammy a chance to be cast.”

  “But they didn’t recast.”

  “That little man who decided that is next on my list.” She sighed long and hard. “So many bothersome people to take care of, so little time. Boys”—she gestured toward me, but I had been watching her every move, waiting for her to give them a signal.

  I bolted. I wasn’t sure if they could catch me, so I screamed, “Fire! Fire!” as I ran. I could feel Jabar catching up, so I turned and ran toward him, ducking under his arm before he could think.

  There was a problem with my brilliant plan. Tony was far enough behind Jabar to stand between me and freedom.

  I made him work as I went left and tried to climb the fence that lined the alley. He caught my right ankle as I flung myself over the fence. He was strong. Strong enough to jam me back against the chain-link fence. I was slammed so hard against the metal chain link it took my breath away. So much for screaming.

  “Come on now.” Jabar grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back toward the alley. “Take your consequences like a good girl.”

  I struggled against him and screamed out, “Mal! Mal!”

  Mal popped out of the darkness and barked at Jabar. We made quite a racket, Mal’s barking and my screaming her name. My thought was that Mal had quite a few friends in the neighborhood and one or two of them might look out to see if there was something wrong with the dog.

  “I said shut up.” Jabar boxed my head so hard I saw stars, but I knew my only chance for survival was to keep screaming.

  “Police, freeze!”

  Of course, I kept screaming so loud my brain barely registered the words. I had no idea really why Jabar froze on the spot. What I knew was that I got in a lucky elbow shot and he let me go, cursing and doubling over.

  The second he let me go, I was off like a shot. I was down the alley and inside the police station before I could even think. Mal was with me the entire way. I pulled the door open, and she and I ran inside, and I shut the door and drew the lock.

  “Freeze!”

  Okay, see, now that I heard. Well, “freeze” and the sound of a lot of guns being cocked. I put my trembling hands up in the air. Mal stayed beside me, not making a sound.

  “I’m sorry,” my words came out in between huge gasps for air. Really, I needed to find a gym or start running on a regular basis. Especially if I was going to keep running from bad guys.

  “Turn around slow.”

  I did as ordered. “I’m unarmed,” I said. “I was attacked in the alley behind the McMurphy and managed to get free.”

  “So you ran to the police station?” Officer Lasko asked, her gun still pointed at my heart. Why did she not like me?

  “It was the safest place I could think of.”

  Someone tried to open the door behind me. The sound made me squeak and whip around. Rex pounded on the door. “Let me in.”

  Officer Lasko grabbed my arm as she put her gun away and pulled me away from the door. Officer Heyes moved from behind the reception desk to the area where I stood. Officer Beech unlocked the door.

  Rex pushed Jabar through the opened door. The big man had his hands cuffed behind him.

  “Did you get her?” I asked.

  Rex ignored me and handed Jabar off to Officer Lasko, telling her to put him in an interview room.

  Finally he turned to me. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes,” I said, and then my knees gave out. I fell to the floor with a woof of my breath. “Or, maybe not.”

  Mal climbed up in my lap and licked my face. I started laughing, which only encouraged more licking. I laughed until I cried. I was only partially aware that Rex had left and come back with a blanket and a glass of water.

  “Drink this.” He handed me the cup. I took it in both hands to keep from trembling as I tried to do as he ordered. Mostly, I got water sloshed on me, which only served to cause another fit of laughter. Seriously, my sides hurt.

  Rex squatted beside me and draped the blanket around my shoulders. “Breathe,” he ordered. “In . . . and out . . .” I concentrated on him and tried to breathe in time with his words and breath.

  We did that three or four times, and he stopped and pushed my hand toward my mouth. “Drink.”

  I realized that I still held the water glass, and I took a sip. The shaking had slowed down. Mal licked a puddle of water I had splashed on the tile floor.

  “Now,” Rex said, his pretty eyes serious. “Are you okay?”

  “I think so,” I said as slowly as he had spoken. “Did you get her?”

  “Who?” he asked and motioned for Officer Beech to do something.

  “Mrs. Finch,” I said as I concentrated on Rex’s eyes. “She wanted to kill me.”

  “Mrs. Finch wants to kill everyone.” Rex waved off my comment. “The crazy old bat always has some complaint or another.”

  “She was in the alley,” I said, trying to convey the importance of my words. “She had a knife.”

  “You saw Mrs. Finch in the alley with a knife,” he made it sound as if I were making it up.

  “This is not Clue,” I said, suddenly angry. “Mrs. Finch is Tammy’s aunt. She killed Heather when Heather wouldn’t take money to go away.”

  “Mrs. Finch killed Heather.”

  “Yes, she told me.”

  “How did she kill her?”

  “She stabbed her and let her bleed out. Like a chicken or something.”

  “Mrs. Finch,” he said. “The Mrs. Finch who is ninety-two years old if she’s a day.”

  “Yes,” I stressed. “Ask Jabar. She paid Jabar and Tony to beat up Peter and to come for me. Didn’t you see them in the alleyway?”

  He shook his head. “N
o, I only heard you screaming Mal’s name and I turned down the alley in time to see Jabar haul you back over the fence. I pulled my gun and said, ‘Police, Freeze.’”

  “That’s why he let go of me.”

  “Yes.”

  “I ran to the police station,” I said. “Mal and I came here for safety.”

  He shot me a look. “Are you okay to stand?”

  “Yes, I think so.” I stood and wobbled a bit but was able to stand. He walked me to a chair as George Marron came in through the side door.

  “Beech called me and said you had a hysterical woman who could be shocky.”

  “Um, that would be me.” I raised my hand and smiled weakly. “How are you doing, George?”

  “I’m well.” He took my wrist and measured my pulse. “One ten is a little fast.” Flashing a light in my eyes, he asked me, “How many fingers am I holding up?”

  “Three.”

  “Anything hurt? There’s a bruise on your ankle. It looks fresh. Do you know how you got it?”

  “I think Jabar did it when he yanked me over a fence.”

  George took my hands and tsked as the abrasions on my palms rose up in ugly welts.

  “Weird,” I muttered. “I didn’t see that.”

  “You could be hurt and not feel it.” He calmly listened to my heart, then held my chin in his hand and gently turned my head from side to side. “You have swelling on your right cheek and your left jaw line.”

  “Jabar hit me.”

  George shone a light in my eyes. “No concussion, but you’re going to hurt tomorrow,” he pronounced and cracked open two instant freeze bags. “Put these on your face.” He gently showed me where to hold them. “Take a warm bath with Epsom salts tonight. It’ll help with the rest of the bruising.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “My pleasure.” He patted my knee and packed up his stuff. “Someone should keep an eye on her tonight,” George said to Rex. “To be safe.”

  I wasn’t sure, but I think George winked at Rex.

  Before George could leave, my mom and Jenn and Frances came through the door like a mob on fire.

  “Is she hurt?”

  “Rex, what is going on?”

  “Allie, why didn’t you call us?”

  They all talked at once. The din made my head hurt. Then Mr. Devaney walked in and nodded at George as the EMT left.

  “I heard this happened in the alley behind the Mc Murphy,” Mr. Devaney crossed his arms and locked eyes with Rex.

  “Allie, what happened?” Mom asked. She took my hand, winced at the abrasions, and pressed my head to her tummy like I was a little kid. “My poor baby.”

  “Mom, please . . . I can’t breathe.”

  “Oh, sorry.” She patted my shoulder. “What happened, dear?”

  “Was it terrible?” Jenn squatted down beside my chair. “I heard one of those big guys from the show attacked you.”

  “I heard he jumped you right outside our back door, didn’t you scream? Surely someone would have heard you if you did,” Frances said with a frown. “This island is safe, isn’t it?” She looked at Mr. D, who nodded. “A girl shouldn’t be assaulted taking her dog for a walk.”

  “Where’s Mal?” Jenn asked.

  My fearless pup came running out from behind the reception area, where the policemen had been sneaking her treats and telling her what a good and clever girl she was.

  “There she is, right as rain.” Frances patted Mal’s head.

  “So what happened?” Mr. D asked Rex.

  “I was walking by the alley and heard shouting.” He turned to me. “What were you shouting?”

  “I tried ‘fire’! But no one came. So I called out Mal’s name thinking someone would come to check on the pup.”

  Mal sat at my feet, pretty pleased with her doggie self.

  “I witnessed the perpetrator lifting a shouting woman over the chain-link fence. When I heard the dog, I knew it was Allie. I had my gun out and startled the man by identifying myself and shouting for him to freeze. He let go of Allie and she took off running. I had two choices: get the man or go after Allie.” Rex shook his head. “I trusted Allie would find a safe place. I chose to bring the man in.”

  “So you have him?”

  “Yes.” Rex gave a short nod. “He’s cooling his heels in the interview room.”

  “Jabar wasn’t the only one there,” I piped up. “It all started with Mrs. Finch. She came out of the shadows as Mal did her business. Mrs. Finch is crazy. She had a butcher knife and said I was becoming a nuisance and she needed to get rid of me like she did the others.”

  “Wait—our Mrs. Finch?” Jenn asked. “Daisy’s owner?”

  “Yes,” I said excited to finally get someone to listen to my story. “She’s Tammy’s aunt. She killed Heather and she poisoned Cathy. Then she enlisted Jabar and Tony to beat up Peter. When none of that got Tammy on the show, she got pretty mad.”

  “Why did she come after you?” Mom asked.

  “Mal found her secret—that she had hidden her dead husband’s body. I called the police. When she saw them take Hector away in a black body bag she got Jabar and Tony to help her kill me.”

  “Why would those two nice boys do such a terrible thing?” Mom asked.

  “Mrs. Finch paid them. She had fifty thousand dollars she tried to pay Heather to leave the island.”

  “Well, fifty thousand dollars is more than they offered those two for the television show,” Jenn mused. Mal went over and leaned against Jenn until she reached down and picked Mal up.

  “I didn’t see Mrs. Finch or the other man you claim was there.” Rex had his hands on his hips.

  “They were there. Ask Jabar. He’ll tell you. Mrs. Finch was so calm. It was weird. She expected me to stand there and let her kill me.” I shuddered. “She said it would hurt less if I didn’t struggle.”

  “Oh, poor baby.” Mom hugged my head again and, ignoring my wincing, she turned to Rex. “You’d better find that old woman and that other man. If you don’t, I will and you don’t want to be around for what this old woman can do!” She pointed to herself.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Rex nodded. “I’ll put patrols out to canvass the area and go to the places Mrs. Finch frequents. We’ll get it sorted out as soon as possible.” He turned to me. “I need you to give a statement to Officer Beech. Once that’s done we’ll need a couple of pictures of your wounds. Nothing too terrible but the more evidence we can gather the better.”

  “You believe me about Mrs. Finch, don’t you?” I asked.

  Rex’s mouth became a thin, tight line. “I believe you believe in what you think happened. That’s a good start. Now it’s up to me to help prove the case.”

  “Well, then do your job, young man.” Mom waved him away.

  Rex was a smart man and knew when he was dismissed. I have to admit I hadn’t seen my mother in this role before. She was normally so careful about the way people perceived her.

  “I’ll walk Jenn and Frances home,” Mr. Devaney said. “Then I’ll come back and walk you ladies back to the McMurphy.”

  “You don’t need to go that far, sir,” Officer Beech said as he rounded the counter with a clipboard in hand. “Officer Manning requested a police escort for these ladies and a round-the-clock police presence until things get figured out. We’ll keep them safe, sir.”

  “You’d darn well better,” Mr. Devaney said. “Come on, Frances, let’s get you home.”

  Frances gave me a hug, then Jenn handed me Mal and kissed my cheek. They both pulled their jackets around them and let Mr. Devaney corral them through the door.

  “How could we not have heard her?” Jenn asked Frances.

  It was a fair question. One I had myself. But I never heard the reply as the door shut firmly behind them.

  “Are you ready?” Officer Beech gave my mom a chair and pulled another old chair over to sit on himself. “Let’s begin at the moment you decided to take the puppy out.”

  CHAPTER 40


  The day of the last McMurphy Lilac Festival tea dawned cool and bright. George Marron was right. I did hurt in places I didn’t even know existed. Thankfully, Sandy was able to make the day’s fudge, while I took aspirin and moved as little as possible.

  “It’s all set,” Jenn said. “Here’s your costume.”

  She pushed a pink, mutton-leg dress at me.

  “What?” I waved her offering away. “I’m not into costumes. I’ll wear my chef’s coat.”

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” Jenn took my hand and closed it around the hanger. “We are all in costume. People want to see Somewhere in Time and we are going to give it to them.”

  “But—”

  “It’s for a good cause, remember?” She stood with her hands on her hips. “I’m wearing green-and-white striped. I thought you’d be perfect in McMurphy pink and white. Hurry, we only have thirty minutes before we need to be under the tent in the park. In fact, the three-piece orchestra is setting up. So get dressed!”

  “Oh, dear, there is no hurrying me today.”

  “Okay, if you’re going to be late the very least you can do is wear the dress.”

  Oh boy, I fell right into Jenn’s plans. I either hurried or I wore the dress. Since there was no way for me to hurry, I was stuck. “Fine.”

  “Good girl,” Jenn said and Mal barked. Jenn laughed and reached down to give the pup a pat on the head. “I meant your mama, little dog.”

  I looked the dress over. “How am I supposed to do all these buttons?” The dress buttoned in the back.

  “Your mom is ready and waiting to help.” Jenn waved toward the steps where my mom stood.

  “Fine.” I moved to the stairs a little slower than usual.

  “I’ve got the bustle and unmentionables upstairs on your bed.” Mom locked her arm through mine and helped me up the stairs. Really, it wasn’t so much helpful as to ensure I didn’t come up with a new reason why I couldn’t wear a 1900s costume.

  Twenty minutes later I was properly cinched into a 1900s mutton-sleeved gown with a bustle whopping around behind me. At least by 1900 the bustle had started to decrease in both size and fashion.