Batter Off Dead

by Maymee Bell

  “She’s innocent.” I pushed the door open to the restaurant dining room and held it for her. “When did you say the wine convention started tomorrow?”

  “Ten in the morning. Barely enough time for me to get my eyes peeled open.” She laughed and hurried down the hall toward the dining room.

  I waited a few seconds before I walked back out, because I didn’t want Carter seeing me walking out with her.

  “Are you okay?” he asked and stood when I walked up. He was such a Southern gentleman. He put his hand on the back of my chair and scooted it in when I sat down.

  “I’m good.” I offered Jane a fake smile when she walked over with the bottle of wine Carter had ordered.

  Jane opened the wine and let Carter take a sample sip from his glass after she poured it. He gave his nod of approval.

  “Do you know what you’d like to eat?” Jane asked and carefully poured the two glasses of wine.

  “What do you suggest?” I asked.

  “The fried ravioli is amazing and pairs well with the house red,” she noted and pointed to the daily special. “I also suggest the simple spaghetti and meatball. It’s one big meatball, but I can give you two if you want to share your dishes.”

  “That sounds good.” Carter nodded in agreement.

  “We’ll do that. Thanks, Jane.” I handed her my menu. As she walked away, I said, “She’s such a nice person.”

  “And did she have any insight for you?” Carter asked. My jaw dropped. “Do you really think you were fooling me with the whole ‘I’ve got to go to the bathroom’ bit, then minutes later you walk out a few seconds after her?”

  I opened my mouth to explain, to try to get myself out of deep water, but was saved by singing waiters approaching our table. The three male voices, all deep baritones, harmonized. Their operatic style nearly brought tears to my eyes, even though I had no clue what they were singing about.

  The way they moved their bodies to the rhythm of their voices, with outstretched arms and wide palms up to the ceiling, was a performance in itself. It truly was worth coming here just to hear them.

  “Amazing.” Carter clapped along with the rest of the restaurant.

  “Very romantic,” I said with a wink and smile, which was good because it prompted Carter to lean over and kiss me.

  “I never saw this as my future.” He gestured between us. “In high school, I would lose my mind and fumble for the right words to say when we passed.”

  “You were very shy in high school.” I had few notable memories of Carter from high school. “I just remember how nice you were to everyone.”

  “And I remember how beautiful you were and that you never conformed to anyone’s beliefs but your own.” He reached over and took my hand in his. “That’s one of the qualities I love most about you.” He looked me in the eyes. His face stilled. “You aren’t going to leave this investigation alone, are you?”

  “You’re right. I have never conformed to what people want me to be. Bitsy wanted me to be a debutante. I followed my passion to be a pastry chef. You wanted me to stop snooping about Emile, and I helped figure out the killer.” I slipped my hand out from under his and picked up my wine glass. “I’ve always been very loyal to my friends, and I can’t just sit back and not try to figure something out.”

  “How do you know that I’m not following up on different leads?” he asked and played with the stem of his wine glass.

  “I don’t know. You don’t share that with me.” I took another drink of wine.

  “Right now, the guys are at the winery with a search warrant.”

  “They are?” This was the best news I’d heard all day. “That’s great.”

  “The Dugans are fine financially. There’s no reason for any of them to have killed Ray. Reba Gunther did tell us in her interview that Ray and Giles had an argument a few hours before Ray was killed.” He picked up his glass and took a sip.

  “Just because they are financially set doesn’t mean they didn’t kill him in a crime of passion.” I used words that he’d said to me against him.

  A shrill voice jolted me, and I looked across the room toward the sound. A waiter had tipped his tray a little too much, causing food to land in the lap of a woman who was seated. The surprised look on her face jarred to mind the memory of Ray Peel’s expression the night I’d found him.

  “Are you okay?” Carter’s warm hand covered mine.

  A shiver traveled up from my toes, along my spine, and down my arms.

  “Your hand is cold.” He picked my hand up and vigorously rubbed his hands over mine. “What’s wrong?”

  “When I found Ray Peel, there was a look on his face that was so surprised and frightened that it has stuck with me,” I said. I tugged my hand out of Carter’s and picked up my glass. “It was as though he was so shocked to see the person.” I shook my head and took an even bigger gulp of wine, draining the glass. “His face. I can’t stop seeing his face.”

  “As a lifelong citizen, I’ve known Ray Peel a long time. There’s one thing I know about him. He kept his gun strapped on his ankle, and I’m not sure why he didn’t have it on him that day. I couldn’t even find it in his house when I searched it.” Carter picked up the bottle and emptied the last of it into our glasses. “He was very particular. He took my conceal-and-carry class. I wonder where that gun is?”

  “Did he sell it?” I suggested.

  “It would definitely be out of character for him, but if he did, I could find his gun through the gun register database and see if we can trace the serial number.” He leaned back in his chair. “And I’m really hoping those phone records will show something.”

  We stopped talking once Jane walked up with our food.

  “This looks so good.” I let the aroma of the tomato, basil, and cheesy goodness waft up to my nose. The cheese oozed out when I cut one of the fried raviolis in half with my fork. “You get the first bite for being such a wonderful boyfriend.”

  I put the fork up to Carter’s mouth. His face melted into a warm, satisfied smile. All thoughts and talk of Ray Peel’s murder vanished while we enjoyed more wine, more food, and a few more romantic songs.

  That was, until we made it back to my house, and it looked like a tornado had gone through it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Stay right here,” he said and drew his finger up to his mouth, gesturing for me to be quiet.

  He pulled up his shirt and took out the gun from his concealed holster. He was always packing heat. I gulped and tried to stop the escalating heartbeat I could feel taking over my entire body.

  Carter tiptoed into the house with the gun drawn in front of him. Outside, I nervously tried to look around in the darkness. An eerie feeling swept over me. Then it turned to fear with the thought that Duchess might’ve gotten out.

  “Duchess!” I couldn’t stand it any longer. I stepped into the house and called for my trusty feline again. “Carter, can I come in?”

  “It’s all clear.” His words were accompanied by a burst of light as he began to switch on the lights in my house, exposing my ransacked belongings. The couch cushions had been taken off the couch and thrown on the floor. It looked like someone had dragged their arm down the coffee table and pushed all my knickknacks off.

  The contents in the kitchen drawers had been dumped. All of my ingredient containers full of flour, sugar, and oats had been unscrewed and dumped all over my counters. When I didn’t notice Duchess in the kitchen near her bowl, I began to panic.

  “Duchess!” I screamed and ran toward the bedroom. “When it would lightning and thunder, she always runs under the bed.”

  My only thoughts were for her safety.

  “Sophia, don’t touch anything.” Carter hurried after me.

  But it was too late. I’d flipped on my bedroom light and crawled to my bed, where I pulled up the bed skirt and looked under. Duchess’s big blue eyes batted as if she were saying, What about me? Where have you been? I’m scared.

  “It�
�s okay, Duchess.” The reality of what had happened to my cute and cozy house, and what could’ve happened to Duchess, set in and jolted my heart with pain. “Come here, sweetie.”

  She wasn’t moving.

  “Please come here.” My voice cracked and tears stung my eyes. “Please,” I begged.

  “Sophia.” Carter’s warm hand touched my back. “Let’s give her some space. She knows you’re home, and she’ll come out when she feels safer.”

  “Okay.” I sat back on my heels and wiped away the tears. “Okay.” I shook my head and took his strong hand as he helped me up.

  The shock of it all left me a little wobbly. Carter swept me into his arms.

  “I’m so sorry,” he continued to repeat over and over, snuggling me tighter as he walked down the hall. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let myself be sad for a few more seconds until he set me down on the couch in the family room.

  “If someone thinks they can scare me away from helping Madison, they’ve got another thing coming.” The anger erupted inside of me, replacing the scared and helpless feeling as the words seethed out of my mouth.

  “Wait just a second.” Carter bent down and looked me straight in the eyes. “This is not good.”

  I swallowed hard, lifted my chin, and met his gaze.

  “If you think that I’m going to sit around here and be scared because I’ve gotten a little too close to the truth about Ray Peel’s death, forget it. They’ve only fueled my fire more.” I looked around my family room.

  “I’m calling this in.” He stood up and pulled out his cell phone. He walked around the room and looked at items as he talked on the phone. I got up as well. “Don’t touch anything,” he reminded me.

  I wasn’t going to disturb anything, just in case they could pull prints.

  “They were looking for something. Nothing is missing. Not even the chalkboard is touched.” There was something strange about all of this.

  “What on earth could you be hiding that someone wants?” he asked and carefully stepped over items on the kitchen floor.

  “I don’t know, but I can tell you it was a deliberate break-in to find something. If this person knew anything about kitchen gadgets, all of these are very expensive, and you can’t get them at stores around here. If they were trying to rob me, they would’ve taken these things. They were looking for something.”

  “I think it was the killer, and they came in here to see if you had any information on them or ties to them. Who have you told about looking into things?” he asked.

  “Besides Bitsy, Charlotte, and Madison, I told Cat Fraxman, Lizbeth Mockby, Jane, and Reba.” I gasped and looked at the chalkboard. Reba’s name was blurred where something had rubbed across it. “Do you think that Reba came in here?”

  “Why would Reba Gunther want to break into your house?” Carter asked and looked toward the front door when we heard it open, followed by heavy footsteps.

  “Because she knows there’s something going on out at the winery. She’s the eyes and ears of that place. She knows more than what she’s telling. Her loyalty to the Dugans is strong.” The more I talked, the more I believed my words. “Not to mention there’s a big rumor circulating that she and Ray had a thing. Which is fine since they were both single, but it was kept a secret.”

  “Her alibi checked out. She was in the offices of the winery the entire fund-raiser. Cat Fraxman took every donation as she got it, and Reba kept a running tally. Reba also continued to work and send emails. She has a solid alibi for the time of Ray’s death.” He put his hand up to stop me from protesting. “The guys are here to do their work. You can go in there and make some coffee and sit at the table while we do our job. Let me try to figure out who came in here.”

  “It was someone who wanted me to know they are watching me.” I clenched my jaw to kill the sob in my throat as I watched the deputies walking around in my private space and taking notice of what had been touched by the intruder.

  The team of deputies walked around and continually asked me to take a look and make sure nothing had been taken. Carter spent a lot of time looking at me and asking if I was okay, which of course I wasn’t. Someone wanted something they thought I had, but what?

  “Sophia!” Bitsy’s voice echoed through the entryway and spilled into the family room. “Aren’t you that Spivey boy?” I heard her ask. “You better let me in, or I’ll call your mama,” she threatened. She scurried into the family room, swatting at the deputy that was trying to stop her.

  “She’s fine.” I motioned the officer back, but he kept pursuing her. Carter waved him off, and he finally desisted.

  “What on earth did I hear about someone ambushing you when you came home?” she asked.

  “Ambush?” If I weren’t still a little shaken up, I’d have laughed. “Who said that?”

  “Ella Capshaw called and said that she’d heard over Grant’s police scanner that someone had broken into your house while you and Carter were here.” The lines between her eyes deepened with worry.

  “First off, Carter and I weren’t here and secondly, we came home to find the house torn up. No one ambushed us.” I could see her face relax slightly. “But someone did come in. To find what, I don’t know, but something.”

  “Carter, what are you going to do about this?” Bitsy asked. “This is a little too close for comfort.”

  “Seeing as how I can’t seem to get the two of you to stop snooping with your little Operation Merlot, it seems that someone knows Sophia is looking into matters and sending her a clear message to stop.” His brows arched, and he looked at Bitsy. “I suggest you give your daughter some advice and tell her to stop, because she won’t listen to me.”

  “Don’t even try.” I put my hand up and warned Bitsy when I saw her mouth fly open.

  “I’m going to stay here tonight and sleep on the couch to make sure she’s okay.” Carter slid his gaze to the sofa.

  “You’ll do no such thing.” Bitsy wasn’t about to let any sordid tales of Carter and me sleeping under the same roof before marriage take over the gossip circles. It nearly killed her when I’d moved in with my ex-boyfriend in Manhattan, even while living away from the wandering eyes and gossip of Rumford. “I’m going to spend the night with my daughter, and we’ll call if we need anything.”

  Carter knew better than to argue with Bitsy. No one ever won when they went up against her, not even the sheriff.

  She plunked down in a chair at the table and hugged her purse in front of her. While she looked around at all the deputies, I got up and opened my freezer to get something for the guys to munch on. The chocolate chip cookies would be fine.

  Instead of microwaving them to thaw, I turned the oven to a low temperature and put them on a baking tray. I took out the fresh coffee beans I’d gotten from Coffee Talk and used the grinder to make a nice blend of coffee with a little dash of cinnamon. Not only did the brewing coffee make the house smell good, it sent a lot of happy feelings to my gut and reminded me that everything wasn’t so bad. Nothing had been taken, Duchess was okay, and all the people I loved were still alive.

  “Help yourselves, please,” I told a couple of the deputies who were taking photos of the mess in the kitchen. Careful not to disturb anything, I took a few of the coffee mugs out of the cabinet and set them next to the coffeemaker and the warm cookies. The chocolate chips had melted and dripped with goodness, making my mouth water.

  The officers started to gather in the kitchen. I couldn’t help it—I did eavesdrop a little as they talked amongst themselves. They found nothing threatening and all came to the same conclusion that I had: someone was looking for something they thought I had. But what?

  “We are wrapping everything up.” Carter walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table next to Bitsy and me. “Can you think of anything you might have, or might have taken, that could make someone come in here and do this?”

  “I don’t know.” I shook my head. “If it had to do with Ray, I don’t have anything bu
t—” My eyes bolted open. I jumped up and grabbed my bag.

  “But what?” Carter asked.

  “Nothing.” I took my hand out of my bag. “It’s nothing. I was trying to think if I remembered anything strange at the bakery, since everyone has been talking about it.”

  There was look in his eye that said he didn’t believe me.

  “Can I get a statement?” Lizbeth stood in my family room, her hair still in a high bun. A pair of large black glasses magnified her eyes. She held out a tape recorder in her right hand.

  “What are you doing here?” Carter asked.

  “Police scanner.” She took a step forward. When I saw her eyes focus on the chalkboard, I scooted in front of it. There was no part of this I wanted her to print in the paper. “Do you think this has to do with Ray Peel’s murder? It’s no secret Sophia Cummings found him and that she’s trying to investigate the murder on her own, since her friend, Madison, is your number-one suspect.”

  “That’s a lot of speculation.” Carter lips curled up, a slight laugh escaping.

  “Not according to Sophia herself.” She looked at the tape recorder and hit a couple of buttons, playing back my voice from when I was in her office, asking about the ad.

  I watched as Carter closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

  “That’s enough.” He held his hand out to Lizbeth to stop the tape. “There’s nothing here to see. There’s no evidence this is tied to the Ray Peel case. There was nothing taken according to Miss Cummings.”

  “Do you think this is a clear message to scare Miss Cummings, so she’ll stop putting her nose into something that doesn’t concern her?” Lizbeth might be good at her job, but she had some gumption to come to my house after hearing that scanner.

  I’d finally had the last straw. “I’m fine. My home is fine. There’s nothing here to see.”

  “It looks to me like there’s a lot to be seen. Not to mention Reba Carol’s name has all but been completely erased from that board.” She pointed.

  “Sheriff, we’re all done here.” The deputy came up and interrupted us.