by Jinty James
“Quite so,” the trim male judge said. “But we weren’t sure if you were coming today, since you weren’t here at the beginning of the final round and—” he looked at his watch “—we’ve only booked this room for a certain amount of time. Which is why we were going to announce the winners now and wrap up the competition.”
“Who won?” Fred asked.
The female judge put a finger to her lips, then turned around her clipboard, showing the information to Fred.
“Let’s announce the winner!” Fred grinned.
An excited buzz of conversation swept the room.
“Competitors, please come back to your stations,” the female judge called out.
Maddie followed Ellie and Connor back to the espresso stands. She looked around at the competitor’s area, noting that all the entrants were there, looking either confident (Brad) or apprehensive (Ellie). She wasn’t sure about the expression on her own face – probably two-thirds nervous and one-third hopeful.
The female judge gestured for silence as the audience members took their seats once more.
Fred Beldon held up the clipboard, looking very important.
“In third place – Connor from Snag Coffee in Seattle,” he stated.
The audience members applauded. Maddie twisted around to see Connor’s expression. He looked pleased but also a little disappointed. That was understandable – she remembered him telling her last weekend that the first prize of one thousand dollars would come in handy.
“In second place – Maddie from Brewed from the Bean in Estherville.”
“Yay!” Suzanne jumped up, applauding wildly. Luke also stood, a big grin on his face.
A wave of relief swept over her. She hadn’t embarrassed herself. Second place was pretty good, especially with the level of competition. But she couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed that she hadn’t come first.
“And in first place ...” Fred Beldon paused for dramatic effect “... Ellie from Hannon’s in Seattle.”
Ellie looked stunned, blinking as if in shock. Maddie watched her touch one of her fairy earrings and wondered if she was thanking the fairies for her win – that is, if fairies actually existed.
Connor congratulated Ellie by hugging her, causing an adorable blush to cover her cheeks.
Connor, Maddie, and Ellie walked over to the judge’s table to receive their prizes. In Connor and Maddie’s case, it was a gilt-edged certificate, but Ellie received a small gold trophy and a check for one thousand dollars.
Fred Beldon looked pleased as he handed Ellie her prizes. Maddie thought Ellie seemed embarrassed at the attention – or was it due to the fact that Fred was congratulating her?
Her mind flashed back to the day she and Suzanne visited her at the Seattle café. Ellie had claimed that Fred was just a customer, but was there more to it than that? Could Ellie possibly be involved in the murder of Margot Wheeler?
As the three of them walked back to their stations, Maddie noticed that Diana looked disappointed, but she congratulated them all graciously.
Brad’s jaw pulsed, as if he couldn’t believe he hadn’t won.
“Rigged,” he gritted. “It’s got to be rigged.” He marched over to the judge’s table, planting his hands on the table and leaning in to speak to all three judges – and Fred Beldon.
Audience members came over to the competitors, all of them talking at once and creating a loud buzz of conversation.
“OMG, Maddie!” Suzanne hugged her, her face alight with excitement. “You came second!”
“You’re not disappointed I didn’t win?” Maddie looked first at Suzanne, and then Luke.
“Of course not! Well, not really,” Suzanne amended. “You beat out Connor and Diana – and Brad. That’s great going.”
“I’m proud of you, Maddie,” Luke told her, causing her to blush.
“Besides,” Suzanne went on, “if you won you’d have to compete in the nationals and I know you might have been a little stressed about competing today – and last weekend. You might be a huge jangly ball of nerves if you had to do it all over again for an even bigger competition.”
Maddie nodded, glad that her friend understood her so well.
An image appeared in her mind, of Trixie nestling in her arms, purring, and looking happy. Was that her cat’s way of congratulating her?
She smiled, trying to hold onto the vision, but it slowly disappeared.
“Maddie?” Suzanne waved a hand in front of her face.
“What?” Maddie blinked, the room coming into focus.
“Detective Edgewater and Detective Rawson are here.”
“Where?” Maddie frowned, scanning the room. The warm feelings Trixie’s image had evoked faded as she searched for the two investigators.
“Over there.” Luke gestured to the back row of chairs intended for the audience. The detectives were talking to each other and looking at a notepad.
“I didn’t notice them when we got here, did you?” Maddie asked.
“Nope.” Suzanne shook her head. “They must have arrived during the final round.”
“I hope this means they’ve discovered who the killer is,” Luke remarked.
Out of the corner of her eye, Maddie noticed Brad stomping to his espresso station and grabbing his things. He did not look happy.
“Look.” Maddie nudged Suzanne.
“Yikes,” Suzanne whispered. “After all his bragging, he didn’t even make it in the top three. I wonder where he placed.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Luke asked curiously.
“Nothing,” Maddie and Suzanne chorused. Maddie didn’t know how Luke would feel about the fact that she and Suzanne had done a little snooping, or in Suzanne’s words, keeping their eyes and ears open.
“The scores will be posted outside,” the female judge raised her voice so everyone could hear her. “Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who entered. We hope that next year’s competition will be even bigger and better. And now, we will have a minute’s silence for Margot Wheeler, who died tragically last week in the course of her involvement in this year’s competition.”
Maddie bowed her head, noticing Suzanne and Luke did likewise. If only she and Suzanne had found out who killed Margot – but surely the detective would be able to figure it out? She crinkled her brow. Why was Detective Edgewater here? This wasn’t his case – unless he was in Seattle visiting his nephew and had decided to accompany him to the scene of the crime – well, almost the scene of the crime since the murder had taken place in the next room.
The minute of silence was over. People began talking quietly. Maddie opened her eyes, and noticed Detective Edgewater making his way over to her.
“Congratulations, Maddie.” He smiled at her.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“What are you doing here, Detective Edgewater?” Suzanne asked innocently.
He chuckled. “Visiting my nephew – and since he had to be here, I thought I’d tag along and watch the competition.” He looked curiously at Luke.
Maddie’s theory was correct!
“This is my brother, Luke,” Suzanne introduced them.
The two men shook hands.
“I expect you three will be on your way home now,” Detective Edgewater said in an encouraging tone.
“I expect so,” Suzanne replied. “Once we get something to eat at the coffee shop. I’m starving!”
“Just be careful,” he told them. “The killer is still on the loose.”
“Do you have any leads?” Luke asked.
“All I can say is that the Seattle police are working on it,” the detective told them. “Congratulations again, Maddie.”
“Thank you,” Maddie replied, glancing at her certificate. It did look quite impressive. All she wanted to do was go home and snuggle on the sofa with Trixie and tell her about today. She fleetingly wondered if one day she’d be snuggling on the sofa with Luke, too.
“Let’s check out th
e scores on the way to the coffee shop,” Suzanne suggested.
“Good idea,” Luke replied.
They said goodbye to Detective Edgewater and made their way toward the exit. Ahead of them, Brad was talking sullenly to another competitor, one Maddie hadn’t met.
“I guess your “lucky” shirt wasn’t lucky enough,” the other competitor teased Brad. “Tough luck, man.”
“I still say it was rigged.” Brad looked ferocious. “I complained to the judges but they don’t care.” He looked like he wanted to punch something. Swiveling on his heel, he glanced at Maddie, his angry glare resting on her, forcing her to take a step back.
Maddie remembered Brad boasting about his “lucky” shirt last weekend at the beginning of round one. She squinted at the buttons on his gray “lucky” shirt, focusing on the gold rimmed edging around the circles of mid-blue.
Had there been something about his shirt that caught her attention last weekend? She frowned, attempting to concentrate, but the only thing she could think of was how abrasive the man seemed.
They edged their way around the two men, Maddie glad to get away from Brad.
“Come on,” Suzanne urged, hurrying over to the white sheet of paper affixed to the wall outside. “I want to see the scores.”
Maddie scanned the scoresheet, first for her score, and then for the other competitors. It seemed that the new female judge marked quite evenly, and on par with the two male judges – quite a change from the way Margot scored the competitors last weekend.
She noticed that Diana had come fourth and that the female judge had given her a lower score than Maddie, Ellie, and Connor – so maybe the two women didn’t know each other –unlike Margot and Diana.
Brad had snagged fifth place, an improvement on his previous eighth place ranking. Maybe he was right about his mochas being excellent.
“You were so close, Maddie,” Suzanne remarked, tapping the score sheet with her finger. “You were only three points behind Ellie.”
“And Connor was only one point behind you,” Luke added.
Maddie took one last look at the scores. If Ellie’s barista skills were better than hers, then she deserved to win, as long as she hadn’t been involved with the murder.
Connor and Ellie came out of the room, talking animatedly to each other, Ellie clutching her trophy. They smiled and waved to Maddie, Suzanne, and Luke, then headed down the hallway.
“I think Suzanne’s idea of going to the coffee shop is a good one,” Luke said. “We can have a late lunch there and then go home.”
“Good idea,” Maddie replied, deciding to focus on something more pleasant that the killer’s identity. She realized with a start that her stomach had started to grumble. “Anything except coffee!”
CHAPTER 11
LUKE FOUND THEM A TABLE at the hotel café and they perused the menu. Maddie finally decided on a turkey panini, Suzanne declaring she would have the same, and Luke ordered a cheeseburger and fries.
“I think we should have gone to that “authentic” burger place,” Suzanne said after they’d ordered. “Those burgers and curly fries were amazing.”
“Don’t forget the freshly squeezed lemonade,” Maddie added.
“Now you tell me.” Luke mock-groaned.
“But it would have taken us too long to get there,” Suzanne continued. “Maddie and I are going there again in a couple of weeks – want to come with?”
“I’d love to.” Luke’s gaze held Maddie’s for a long moment, causing her to blush.
Maybe she should have a little chat with Suzanne afterward about her tendency to match-make. She loved the fact that Suzanne was happy Maddie and her brother were dating, but she didn’t need her friend to push them together – did she?
Before Maddie could start doubting herself, Luke’s voice caught her attention.
“Brad seemed sure of himself today.” He shook his head.
“I know.” Suzanne’s ponytail bounced as she nodded. “I’m glad he didn’t win – he was so confident last week as well. He kept boasting about his “lucky” shirt.”
Maddie furrowed her brow. Suddenly, references to Brad’s “lucky” shirt seemed to be popping up all the time. Was there any significance to it?
Brad had worn his gray shirt with the attractive blue buttons rimmed in gold last Saturday for round one, and again today, for round two – the final round. He hadn’t won the competition as he had bragged he would. Maddie assumed it was because his lower score from round one hampered him when the scores for both rounds were taken into account when deciding the winner.
Maddie’s thoughts flitted to Ellie. Fred Beldon had seemed pleased that she had won – very pleased. Was there more to their relationship than just barista/customer? Ellie had claimed there wasn’t. She seemed gentle and sweet – and Connor appeared to be smitten with her. How could that all be an act?
“Earth to Maddie.” Suzanne nudged her.
“Oh – sorry.” Maddie looked from Suzanne to Luke and back again. They’d evidently been talking about something but she didn’t have a clue what it was.
“Are you okay, Maddie?” Luke looked concerned.
She realized that while she’d been thinking about some of the suspects, the waitress had arrived with their orders and she’d eaten every last scrap of her panini – but if she’d been asked to describe the flavors and textures, she wouldn’t have been able to.
Maybe she needed some fresh air.
“I think I’ll go and freshen up.” She scraped back her chair, the sound lost as the restaurant hummed with the customers’ conversation and the chink of cutlery.
“Want some company?” Suzanne offered.
“No, I’ll be okay.” She smiled at her friend. Maybe all she needed was a few minutes to herself.
She walked to the restroom just down the hall from the coffee shop. What was wrong with her? How could she not focus on Luke sitting next to her? Why was she constantly thinking about the murder? Surely Detective Rawson would be able to solve it.
“Enjoy yourself,” she ordered, looking at her reflection in the big mirror in the bathroom. Her amber eyes held a hint of worry, but otherwise she looked normal, apart from a small tangle in her brown shoulder-length hair that she finger-brushed out. She hoped Luke hadn’t noticed that.
She allowed herself one last moment to think about what had been nagging her since the final round had ended.
Brad’s “lucky” shirt hadn’t brought him the luck he’d hoped for – in the first round last weekend, or today’s second and final round.
Maddie closed her eyes, trying to remember the first time Brad had mentioned his “lucky” shirt – last Saturday before round one began. And when she and Suzanne had run into him at the burger place on Thursday. And again today, before the beginning of round two.
She gasped as she realized the significance of that shirt. She had to find Detective Rawson and Detective Edgewater right away and tell them what she suspected!
Maddie hurried out of the bathroom and down the hallway toward the small conference room that had hosted the final round an hour earlier. If the detectives were still there, she could give them her information and get back to the coffee shop before Suzanne and Luke missed her.
Pushing the door open, Maddie rushed into the room. The espresso machines were still there, at the individual stations, and so were the black plastic chairs for the audience members, and the long judge’s table – but the room was empty. And there hadn’t been any sign of the police patrolling the hall, as they had earlier.
Darn! Where could Detective Rawson be? Maybe she should just call the police station and leave a message for him. She reached into her purse for her phone, taking a few steps further into the room. Scanning the room one last time just in case the detective was lurking in a corner – which she knew was a ridiculous thought – she pulled out her cell phone.
“I don’t think you’ll be needing this.” Brad grabbed her cell and threw it across the room before she’d
had time to turn it on.
Maddie turned to face him, her eyes wide.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she forced her voice to sound calm.
“Stopping you from calling the cops – that’s what you were going to do, right?” He scowled at her.
“My friends are in the hotel coffee shop,” she informed him, taking a step back. “If I don’t return, they’ll start looking for me.”
“And they’ll find you right here.” He looked around the room. “It’s a shame that idiot Fred Beldon didn’t bring his vat of mocha again – maybe he’d finally get the message that his MochLava is only good for drowning people in.”
Maddie stifled an indrawn breath. She’d been right! But perhaps there was a chance – a slim one – that Brad didn’t know for certain that she knew he was the killer.
That hope was dashed.
“I knew you suspected me after the final round, when that schmuck was teasing me about my lucky shirt,” he growled, taking a step toward her. “You looked at me in a weird way, and I thought, she knows. So I followed you to the café, and since there’s only one way out of there, I waited around the corner.” He laughed.
Maddie’s spine chilled.
“There’s a small lounge area there with a handy wall mirror. I sat in a chair with my back to you, but I could see where you were going thanks to that mirror. And when you headed back here, I knew you were looking for Detective Rawson. Well, tough luck, sweetie, because he and the other detective have gone back to the precinct. I overheard them when I was checking the scores posted out there.” He motioned to the door that Maddie noticed he’d closed.
“Is that why you did it?” Maddie’s heart hammered. “Because you don’t like Fred Beldon’s mocha drink, and you were making a point?”
“No.” He chuckled grimly. “I killed Margot Wheeler because she deliberately marked me low in the first round. See, we used to be a couple, but she dumped me last year, after she promised to fund my new coffee importing and roasting business. She knew getting that off the ground would change my life, but she didn’t care. Just because she overheard me talking to a buddy about it, telling him I was onto a good thing.” He shrugged.