Batter Off Dead

by Maymee Bell

  Chapter Sixteen

  The Rumford Bed and Breakfast was in a rural area of the town. Clarice Covington had gone to great lengths to make it cozy. Besides the main house with three bedrooms, the dining room, and a common room, there were three cabins on the property, each accommodating a different number of guests.

  The cabins weren’t close together and had different views of the landscape that Rumford had to offer. I’d heard the couple’s cabin had an amazing view of the sunset, and the family cabin had an awesome view of the sunrise. Either way, I’d been wanting to stop by and talk to Clarice about doing some pastries for her guests since I’d seen her buying prepackaged ones from the grocery store. It was a perfect reason to stop by and nose around.

  It turned out to be a beautiful spring day. The temperature was at a perfect sixty-four degrees, the sun was shining, and the cardinals were chirping right along with the robins. The landscape around the large main house had been freshly mulched, and the bushes that lined the house had lime green buds on them.

  The wraparound front porch of the bed and breakfast had petunias hanging down and was lined with six rocking chairs, all pointed to the west. Between each chair was a small wooden box that contained a quilt for when the air got a bit nippy.

  “Sophia Cummings, what on earth are you doing way out here?” Clarice surprised me when she stood up from one of the gardening beds. A shadow drew down her face from the large brimmed, straw hat perched on top of her head. Her eyes slid over to the guest parking. I followed her gaze.

  “Is that Bitsy’s car?” I asked.

  “I doubt it,” she said in her sweet Southern voice and fidgeted with the spade in her hand.

  “Are you digging up or planting?” I asked.

  “Tidying up.” She adjusted her body a little more to block my view of the guest parking lot. “What was it that you needed?”

  “A couple of things.” I’d gotten a bag of Flip-Flops out of my car and handed them to her. “These are for you. If I remember correctly, you love them.”

  “You have a fantastic memory.” She wasted no time in opening the bag and taking one out.

  “Can I make some fresh and offer them to your guests?” I asked.

  “You know,”—she dragged the hat off her head—“that’s a fantastic idea. But I don’t see why you came all the way out here when a phone call would do.” She took a quick look over her shoulder.

  “I came here for a different reason. I didn’t know my mama was here.” I knew what was going on without even her telling me. I glanced over to mama’s car.

  “You know about that?” she asked uneasily.

  “Clarice.” Bitsy turned the corner with a full-sized fern in her hands and the dirt covered roots dangling down. “Do you mind if I take the—” she stuttered, then stopped in mid-sentence, mid-stride, and practically had to pick her own jaw up off the ground. “Sophia.” Bitsy looked between Clarice and me. Her eyes grew big, shock lingering on her face. “What on earth are you doing here?”

  “Oh, she knows, Bitsy.” Clarice shook her head and squinched up her nose. “You can stop pretending.”

  Bitsy’s shoulders slumped. The fern drooped at her side. She sighed and frowned.

  “I was right about the flowers at your house, wasn’t I?” I asked.

  “I was trying to plant things and grow them myself. Most of the other women do that.” She dragged her toe in the grass and didn’t make eye contact with me.

  “How did she drag you into this?” I asked Clarice.

  The door of the bed and breakfast popped open, and a young couple came out. They were holding hands.

  “How is your honeymoon going?” Clarice asked them when they trotted down the steps. As they exchanged a few words, I continued to stare at Bitsy, deciding to use this situation to my advantage.

  I hadn’t come here because I knew she was here; that was just a stroke of luck. I came here to see Lanie or get some information on her. Regardless, I could use this whole situation to my advantage.

  “Why don’t we go inside and discuss this,” Clarice suggested. “My guests are starting to mingle and get going. I don’t want them to hear a family tiff taking place between you two.”

  “It’s no tiff. It’s a matter of right and wrong. In this case, Bitsy is wrong.” I gestured for Bitsy to walk ahead of me. I took the fern and placed it in the grass. “It’ll be fine right there.”

  The inside of the bed and breakfast was a typical old house. To the right of the foyer was a big family room, to the left a big dining room, and straight ahead a staircase to the upstairs. Bitsy and I followed Clarice through the dining room and into kitchen.

  Clarice put the box from the bakery on the table before she walked over the stove and took the lid off the big pot.

  “Chicken and dumplings for supper. The guests love it. I only wish I had space for more guests. I hate to turn people away when we are the only place in town to stay.” She slowly stirred the pot.

  While the neighboring towns had small motels, the only major hotels were about forty-five minutes away in the bigger cities.

  “There’s fresh coffee in the pot. The two of you, sit down.”

  It was like being in the principal’s office. We did exactly what she said.

  “I saw you buttering her up.” Bitsy’s brows rose. “How did you know I was here? Did you have Carter follow me?”

  “I can’t believe you’d pull Clarice into this. Why did you decide to enter this year when you’ve never entered before?” I asked and made us each a cup of coffee.

  “Those girls at the Garden Club are leaving me out.” She huffed and dragged the mug of coffee closer to her once I sat it on the table.

  “What on earth are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Those young whippersnappers are stay-at-home moms and have nothing better to do than worry about the environment.” She turned her face from me, chin turned and lifted into the air.

  “And that’s how a grown woman acts?” I sighed. “No wonder those women don’t include you if you act all high and mighty like this. Besides, you do all the other things like the Christmas extravaganza, the Easter egg hunt in the park, and all sorts of things. They can’t afford to hire a landscaper like you do, so they have to participate in these exchanges.”

  Bitsy sniffed a little and her chin fell back into a normal position. She gulped and sniffed some more.

  “Clarice, do you do all your planting?” I asked when she came to join us.

  “I do, but it’s therapy for me. I don’t have children or a husband. I really have no social life, unlike Bitsy and Robert. Sure,” she said, gesturing toward Bitsy, “I go to the Friends of the Library, but I don’t fit in with the Junior League. I take care of my plants like I would my children. I nurture them. I feed them. I dig them up in the winter and replant them. It’s a process, Bitsy.”

  “I’ve already signed up,” she whispered. “I can’t back out now.”

  “I have an idea.” I looked between the two women. “I’ll supply the bed and breakfast with pastries for a couple of months in exchange for the flowers you two have already dug up.”

  “This is wonderful.” Bitsy was all smiles and joy now.

  “But,” I said.

  “I knew that was coming,” Bitsy snarled.

  “You have to attach one of the bed and breakfast’s business cards to each one of the plants and give Clarice credit.” Bitsy opened her mouth to protest. I put my hand up and continued, “It’s only fair to everyone. You’ll say that you joined the exchange because your friend Clarice has the most beautiful flowers and you wanted to share them.”

  “That’s a great idea.” Clarice patted my hand.

  It was too bad she didn’t have any children. She’d have made a great mother. Not that anyone could replace Bitsy, but she could be a pill sometimes, and this was one of those times.

  We turned when there was a knock on the kitchen door.

  “Come in,” Clarice called out.
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br />   “Hi, bakery girl.” Lanie Truvinski popped her head around the door. She smiled when she noticed me, then faltered when I didn’t return the nice gesture. “I’m assuming you’re wondering where I’ve been.”

  “You could start there.” I got up. “I’ll wait for you outside while you talk to Clarice about whatever it was you needed to talk to her about.”

  Bitsy and Clarice exchanged guilt-ridden looks. Bitsy smacked the table with her hand and muttered something under her breath.

  When I got outside, I took the opportunity to sit on the bottom step and let the sun beat down on my face. I watched the happy honeymooners disappear into the woods, holding hands, the bride smiling at her groom. Carter was a great man, but I was nowhere near close to even thinking about marriage, and neither was he—at least it appeared that way. Although our mothers were certainly trying to plan a union between the families.

  “I’m so sorry about the whole order thing. I know I should’ve called, but I figured since I paid in full that you were good and could sell them anyway.” Lanie Truvinski started talking as soon as she walked out the front door. “I’m a little short on time. I have to get to the country club because the convention starts this afternoon and runs through tomorrow.” She held her keys in her hand and passed me on the way to the guest parking lot. She pushed down on the fob and the silver sports car chirped.

  “I have a few questions to ask you about Ray Peel,” I blurted out. She stopped.

  “What about him?” She turned on her fancy high heels, planted her feet, and put her free hand on her hip.

  “How did you know him?” I asked.

  “He and I had been friends a long time. Back in our business school days.” She sucked in a deep breath and drew back her shoulders.

  “I guess his murder came as a shock to you?” I asked and pushed off the step to stand up.

  “I’m sorry Ray has died, but he wasn’t the nicest person when it came to business dealings. I told him that he was going to regret his selfishness one day.” She shrugged. “It appears that day has come.”

  “How so?” I asked. “Aren’t most people who are in business trying to beat out the competition?”

  “He would make promises and break them,” she said.

  “Like he did with the lease contract with the winery?” I questioned.

  “To my understanding, the lease was going to be up at midnight the night he died.” She looked away. “Murdered.” Her voice cracked when she whispered that awful word. “Ray and I were once an item. He made so many promises to me. I even moved to different places around the country with him so he could fulfill his dream of owning a franchise restaurant. Now his dream was coming true, and this happens.” She dabbed the corner of her eye.

  “Franchise?” This was news to me.

  “Yes. He wanted to sell the land so he could open up a few more Café Italias in different cities.” She laughed. “He had a solid business plan.”

  “If you were so happy for him, why did you slap him?” I wanted to know every detail I could.

  “Because it was just another broken promise. He knew I put all my heart and soul into this convention. It’s been planned for a year now. When he heard I was in charge of the planning, he wanted the business to come to The Grape Valley Winery because he had a vested interest in the land. Then he went off and opened Café Italia. Just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “He changed his mind. Just like he did about us.” There was a deep sadness in her expression that spread from her eyes to her lips. She frowned. “I slapped him out of anger, and I had to get out of there to find a new place to host the event. So I jumped in my car and drove as fast as I could. I ended up downtown at the little coffee shop by your bakery. I was coming to see you to tell you that I needed a new venue, but you were closed.”

  “I was setting up at the winery for the fund-raiser that was supposed to be held that night. The same fund-raiser Ray Peel had pledged to donate half-a-million dollars to, and he decided not to do that, either.”

  “And you wonder why someone killed him.” It was like a lightbulb went off in her head. Her lids lowered. “You think I killed him. That’s why you’re here.”

  “I should’ve been honest with you, but my friend Madison is the police’s number-one suspect because he put her down, and she said bad things about getting back at him. But I can’t ignore the fact that you slapped him. He did you wrong.” I didn’t want her to run off just yet. “I heard the two of you fighting. Then a friend of mine said a car just like yours practically ran them off the road as it zoomed away from the winery.”

  “I know it looks bad that we had a fight, but I can tell you that Ray Peel was breathing and not a bit sad that he did me wrong. As for my driving, I had to find a new venue and fast. I did almost hit a car because I wasn’t familiar with the curvy country road, but I didn’t,” she said. “After I went to the coffee shop next to your bakery, there was a woman in there, Evelyn Moss, picking up a coffee. She said that she could move a few things around and host the event. She even bought me a coffee. So I followed her to the country club. I had no other choice. It’s not like there are a lot of venues in Rumford, Kentucky.”

  “I went to see Evelyn. She didn’t say anything about seeing you at the coffee shop.” But it wasn’t like Evelyn had to tell me her whereabouts either, nor did I ask. “She’ll be able to verify your story, even if I tell the sheriff?”

  “Yes. I’d never hurt Ray or wish him dead. He has—had—many great ideas, but he wasn’t a good businessman. I’m telling you that someone who was in business with him did it.” She inched closer to me. “Maybe you need to look into the people who own the winery, because Ray insisted he needed to get out of that lease. He wouldn’t tell me why, but he said some really shady stuff went down during all of that.”

  My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I tugged it out.

  “You take your call, because I’ve got to go.” She turned back toward her car. “I just settled up with Clarice because I’m leaving after today’s events. But you have my card if you need anything else.”

  “Hello?” It was Carter.

  “Where are you?” he asked. “I just went by the bakery, and everyone is loving the coupon you put in the paper.”

  “I’m at the bed and breakfast. I won’t waste my breath on what Bitsy has been up to, but I do have some information about one of the suspects.” It was time to start marking these people off.

  “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t look into things.” There was no negotiation in his voice.

  “Sometimes I just happen upon things. Like here at the bed and breakfast. Lanie Truvinski was staying here.” I was getting used to stretching the truth.

  “Evelyn Moss told me. I have a deputy on the way out there right now. Let me guess,” he continued, “you already asked her some questions.”

  “Yes. She isn’t the killer,” I said matter-of-factly, “She was the one who nearly ran Grant and Ella off the road because she was mad and coming to the bakery to see me. Only I was at the fund-raiser. She went over to the coffee shop and saw Evelyn Moss there. That’s when Evelyn took her to the country club and offered the club for the convention.”

  “I’m about a step behind you. How can that be?” he asked, and I wondered if he was listening to me.

  “Ray Peel was going to franchise Café Italia, and that’s why he wanted to sell the land. He needed the money in order to keep his dream alive. I’m figuring you need to look into who was going into business with him. Did you look at his cell phone or computer records?” I asked.

  “Of course we did. The cell phone was erased, and we have subpoenaed records from his cell carrier. It takes a few days to get those back. We did get all the papers and contacts for Café Italia, so we have been interviewing some of those people.” He suddenly got quiet. “Why am I telling you this?”

  “Because you know and I know that Madison didn’t do this, and you’re doing all you can to figure it out.” I looked at the bed an
d breakfast, where I could hear Bitsy and Clarice chatting.

  “Anything else you can tell me?” he asked in a resigned voice.

  “Are you beginning to come around to the idea of me looking into things?” I asked.

  “I’m beginning to think that no matter how hard I push for you to stop snooping, the more information you get about the investigation. I just need you not to go looking for it.” He seemed to be bargaining with me. “This doesn’t make whoever broke into your house and threw a brink into the bakery any less of a threat to you. Does that make sense?”

  “I’m hearing you say as long as I don’t go looking for answers, and people just tell me some information, you’re good with that. Right?” I wanted to make sure because I was going looking for things in a sort of different way.

  Like with Clarice. I went there to offer her my baked goods and slip in some questions about Lanie and I just happened upon Bitsy’s wrongdoings with the Garden Club. And that led me to see Lanie. I could use those situations to my advantage and not feel like I was hiding anything from Carter, though I did know he had my best interest at heart.

  “Don’t go looking for things,” he reiterated. “Want to meet up for lunch?”

  “I wish I could, but I’ve got to get to the bakery and pick up the Garden Club goodies. They’re having their meeting before the big plant swap. Of course, Bitsy offered my services. For free.” I added.

  “Good ol’ Bitsy,” he laughed. “Gotta love her.”

  “Someone has to,” I joked.

  “What about tonight?” he asked. “Dinner?”

  “You are making this so hard for me.” I knew I couldn’t tell him that I was meeting with the girls for Operation Merlot. “I’ve got plans with Charlotte and Madison.”

  “Alright. But I’m coming by the bakery in the morning for coffee,” he said.

  “Great. I’ll see you in the morning.” I hung up the phone and turned to Bitsy and Clarice, who were wrapping up the roots of each plant in damp seed cloths. “I’ll see you at the meeting,” I said to Bitsy. “Clarice, I’ll be sure to get those pastries to you in the morning.”