by Maymee Bell
“Where did you get this?” she asked.
“Perry Dugan ordered a cake for Reba—I’m not yet quite sure why.” I put my finger in the air. “I knew he was the lawyer on the agreement, so I figured that I’d do a little snooping when I dropped off the cake, and I came across this.”
“This gives them way more motive than me.” She grabbed me this time and hugged me. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She let go and gave me my phone back. “We’ve got to call Carter.”
“I’ve already sent the photos to him.” As though he had ESP, my phone chirped a text. “I thought I told you to stay away from this. On my way there now.” I read the text aloud and laughed.
“That boy has got a lot to learn about you,” Madison teased, and we hugged again.
“Does he ever.” There was never a better time to get out of the building. “I’ve got to run those bakery treats over to Bitsy at the Garden Club meeting.” I gave Madison a quick hug. “Are you going to hang around and see what happens?”
She nodded. “Of course I am. I have to hear Carter say I’m not a suspect.”
“Let me know how it goes.” I left the building and got into the bakery van. My gaze moved across the street to the Rumford First National Bank.
Using the voice command to call Carter, I spoke again into my phone, “I really wanted to see you, but I have to get some treats over to the library for the Garden Club.” It was the perfect excuse not to explain to him how I’d gotten my hands on the lease or that I was thinking about going over to the bank to see if I could get some face time with Bill Bellman.
“You know what I’m going to ask you,” He wasn’t going to let me off the hook.
“How I got the photos?” I whined.
“Mm-hmm,” he agreed on the other end of the phone.
“You’re not going to like it.” There was no sense in sugar-coating it. I was met with silence. “Okay. Fine. Perry Dugan ordered a birthday cake for Reba Gunther, and I was delivering it.”
“And the file jumped into your hands?” he asked in a sarcastic voice.
“If you want to believe that and it makes you less angry at me, then yes.” I tried to lighten the mood the best that I could.
“Tell me the truth. Even if I’m not going to like it.” There was no playful tone in his voice.
“I just wanted to see what the lease agreement said because I thought it was strange that the winery was still open even though they all knew Ray wasn’t going to renew their lease,” I said as I pulled into the library parking lot. There weren’t any available parking spaces, so I edged up close to the curb to unload the pastries.
“It was on our list. You aren’t giving me the time necessary to investigate,” he said. “The guys in the department are starting to wonder if you’re going to run against me for sheriff.”
I laughed. He didn’t think it was funny.
“Nah, your job is safe.” I put the bakery van in park and waited for him to say something. “Carter?”
“Yeah. I’m here.” He didn’t sound like himself. “As in here at Perry’s law office. Stay at the library or go back to the bakery. I’ll call you back.”
“Before you go, I have some good news.” I couldn’t wait to tell him. “Mrs. Ford called me back. and she asked me to come to her house and get the latest recipe for the Long Johns.” My heart started to race. I couldn’t believe my luck. “I’m going to be making and selling them.”
“That’s great, Sophia.” He paused. “Maybe this lead you’ve uncovered will give us two things to celebrate. I need to go. I’ll call you back.” He clicked off.
Chapter Twenty
Since the Rumford First National Bank was across the street from Perry’s office, I decided I was too close not to go in. Bill Bellman was the President, and we’d established a good working relationship. Maybe I could squeeze some information out of him about the rumor I’d heard that Cat Fraxman’s parents had mortgaged their home and land to help the library fund.
If Carter had seen my van parked out in the rear parking lot, he’d have been sure to stop by and check on what I was doing. I could’ve made the excuse that I was taking care of some banking business, but one lie after another was going to jump up and bite me in the you-know-what, and I didn’t want that to happen today. After all, I was about to get my hands on the Fords’ Maple Long Johns recipe.
The inside of the bank was an open floor plan. The offices had glass walls, so you could see who was meeting with which officers. Bob Bellman was in his office alone.
When he heard the echo of my shoes walking toward him, he looked up and waved me in.
“Sophia.” He stood up and put his hand out for me to shake. “How’s the bakery? I apologize for not stopping by yet, but my wife said your treats are amazing.”
“I’m so glad. I did see her at the Friends of the Library meeting.” I gestured to the chair, indicating that I wanted to sit down.
“Please. It’s a shame about the Fraxmans. I’ve tried to do everything I could to refinance or come up with a way to not put them in bankruptcy,” he said.
“I’m sorry. Bankruptcy?” I asked a little confused.
“I thought you were stopping by to meet them.” He ran his finger down the calendar on his desk. “I have a meeting with someone from the Friends of the Library.” There was a horrified look on his face. He ran his hand across his jaw. “Oh, man. I’m sorry. Why are you here?”
“I wanted to know if I could get the address for the Fords,” I lied. My mind felt like a tornado as I tried to focus on why I was there and not the bombshell he’d just dropped on me, which I believed would be a perfect motive to kill someone. “Bankruptcy?”
“The Fords are filing bankruptcy?” he asked and clicked around on his computer.
“No. You just said the Fraxmans.” I blinked in bafflement.
“I’m sorry I said anything. Please forget I said that.” He tapped away. “The Fords’ address.” He stopped typing. “Oh.” He drew back and tapped a little more. “It appears their accounts were only through the bakery, and that’s the address they used. Apparently, they don’t have an account with us anymore.”
He grabbed a piece of paper and jotted something down. While he did, I quickly texted Carter.
I think Cat Fraxman killed Ray Peel. Hand to God, this information just fell into my lap while I’m at the bank, trying to get the Fords’ address. Fraxmans took out second mortgage on good faith that Ray Peel was going to donate the money to pay them back.
Carter responded immediately: I’m heading over to library now. Don’t look into this. Let me do my job.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.” Bob stood up, indicating with an obvious gesture that I should leave. “I feel like I’ve said too much about the Fraxmans’ personal life.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t keep this from Sheriff Kincaid.” I didn’t want to lie to him, because Carter would definitely be coming here to ask questions. “I’m sure you understand that my friend, Madison, is the only suspect because she said something stupid to incriminate herself. But this is a big motive to kill someone. And I think it needs to be looked into.”
“I never even thought about how this would involve Ray Peel, but I’m more than happy to cooperate with the law,” he said, nodding. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help with the Fords’ address, but I am going to look into why they don’t bank here.”
“Thanks for your help anyway. I’m hoping to get in touch with them about making their famous Maple Long Johns and selling them at the bakery.” Telling him part of the truth made me feel a little bit better.
I was dying to get out of there and over to the library.
“That would be incredible. I do have to say that I miss those the most.” He sighed.
“I think everyone misses them.” I shook his hand. “Thanks, again.”
I’d always loved the fact the library was across town because when I was a child, it felt like Bitsy was taking me on a girls’ day trip ou
t of town, but truly it was only a few minutes from our house. It felt different because we had to actually drive there and not just park downtown and walk like we would for most of the shops that Bitsy needed to go to.
I beat Carter there and parked in the lot. I was a little relieved that there weren’t too many cars. I’d hate for Cat to get arrested for murder in front of a lot of people.
“Welcome back.” Cat stood up from behind the reference counter when I ran in the automatic sliding doors. “Are you here to discuss the menu again?” I detected a hint of sarcasm in her tone.
“No. Actually I came here because I wanted to ask you about Ray Peel.” There was no reason to pretend to be there for any other purpose. “I was at the bank today, talking to Bill. He apologized for not being able to stop by the bakery to try out my pastries. Of course, he said that he was looking forward to having some of For Goodness Cakes’ desserts at the library ribbon-cutting ceremony. That’s when we started to talk about Ray Peel and how it was a shame that the library wasn’t going to have a loan.”
By the look on her face and her reluctance to look directly at me, I could tell that she knew I’d found out about the loan her parents had taken out.
“He informed me that the loan the bank gave the library wasn’t enough, but that your parents had come in and taken out a second mortgage on their property.” I tapped my temple. “Now, I’m not a detective. As you know, I’m just a baker, but something didn’t sit right with me, and I got to noodling with this idea.” I paced back and forth in front of the reference desk. “What if Catherine Fraxman killed Ray Peel? Before, I didn’t think you had much of a reason, other than him withdrawing his donation. Big deal, it’s not like you were personally relying on his donation. I just figured you were so upset because of how passionate you are about the library.”
I stopped pacing, snapped my finger, and then pointed it at her, knowing that if Bitsy was here, she’d smack my finger down because that just wasn’t good Southern manners.
“That’s not the reason you’re upset. You’re upset because now your parents are in danger of losing everything they’ve worked for all of their lives.” I knew I’d hit the nail on the head because Cat started to cry.
“Is this true?” Carter had been standing by the door. He slowly walked into the library.
“Yes, it’s true. I only asked them after Ray Peel had told me he’d donate the money. I asked him to donate the money up front, but he insisted he didn’t have the money but he had a big business deal going through. He promised me he’d have it the night of the fund-raiser. That’s when I went to my parents.” Tears streamed down her face. “They were hesitant at first, but they know how much this library means to our town. To you. To me.” Her chest heaved as the tears got bigger and faster. “I didn’t kill Ray Peel, but I wish I had because now my parents are going to have to file for bankruptcy.”
“I know sometimes we do things that are out of character. If you just tell the truth, I can talk to the judge and try to get you leniency.” Carter talked to Cat in a calm voice.
“Yes. I was with Tammy Dugan, Reba Gunther, and Megyn at the vineyard offices,” she blubbered, trying to catch her breath. “I ran into the offices to see if I could recoup any money from them. I was in desperate need.”
“Into the office? You weren’t in the vineyard with Ray?” Carter asked.
“No. I was in the parking lot with Ray. He was getting into his car to leave.” She didn’t quiver one bit as she gave her recount. “Tammy and Reba saw him. He even stopped Megyn and asked her a question while I was stewing inside.”
“What did he ask her?” Carter wanted to know.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t listening. I was just trying to figure out how I was going to save my parents.” Her chin dipped. Her shoulders began to shake up and down as the sobs poured out. “I didn’t kill him. I never even thought about killing him. If anything, I was blaming myself for letting my parents get involved in this whole thing. His donation was going to pay off their second mortgage. That’s how it was going to work.”
“Did you have a contractual agreement?” Carter asked.
“No,” she whispered, “but Tammy and Reba can vouch for me. We were inside the offices when the police cars came squealing into the parking lot, and that’s when we realized something had happened. We didn’t know it was Ray.”
“If that’s the case, that means Tammy and Reba didn’t do it either. Of course, I’m going to have to check out your story.” Carter had just blown all of my suspects out of the water.
“Yeah. Go on over and see Bob at the bank. He’s been trying so hard to help me figure something out.” Her voice trailed off. She jerked a tissue out of the box and dried her eyes with it.
Carter pointed to the door, indicating for us to leave.
“I’m sorry, Cat.” I felt the need to apologize. “I should’ve asked you about it before I called Carter.”
“It’s okay, Sophia. I understand it looks bad, and if my best friend were in Madison’s shoes, I’d be doing everything I could to help her out.” It was kind of Cat to forgive me.
My heart was beating a whole lot faster in the parking lot, waiting for Carter to say something to me, than it was when we were questioning Cat.
“I’m sorry.” I had to get it off my chest. “It really did make a whole lot of sense, and I did text you before I went in—”
“With your guns blazing, throwing out all sorts of questions and accusing her.” He shook his head and guided me by the elbow over to the car. “That’s not how we operate in the sheriff’s department. When we want to bring someone in for questioning, we bring them in.”
“Then why did you ask her questions?” I jerked away from him.
“I was following up on your questions to get to the bottom of it. Normally, I’d have asked her if she had an alibi, and then I’d go check it out. Not accuse her and point the finger at her, though it was a good motive,” he said. “Now that that’s over, do you think you could stop?”
I nodded.
“Good.” He kissed the top of my head. “I’m going back to follow up on some leads and see if any of the evidence collected at the scene is back yet.”
There was a stride in his walk that told me he was a little mad at me, and I knew better than to run after him. Besides, Cat wasn’t the killer, but Madison was still the primary suspect, and I couldn’t swallow that.
Chapter Twenty-One
The address Mrs. Ford gave me wasn’t exactly on the same road as the library, but near there. I’d decided to stop by the Fords’ house first, then head to the library afterward. The Fords lived in a small brick ranch home that was right off a two-lane, curvy country road.
There was a chicken pen to the right of the house and a water cistern to the left. They were the typical good ol’ country folk who knew how to cook. Not only did she make the finest donuts in Kentucky, she also had the best fried chicken.
Of course, she didn’t sell it at the bakery, but she did bring it to all the repasts after someone died. Sadly, when someone did die, the first thing that popped into my head was the mouth-watering thought that I was going to get to eat some of her fried chicken.
“Who’re you?” The young girl’s words ran together. She stood with her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun. She wore a pair of blue jeans, Converse tennis shoes, and a Rumford high school T-shirt. Her hair was in braided pigtails.
“I’m Sophia Cummings.” I shut the car door. “I bet you’re Patsy’s daughter.”
“Yep. How you know my mama?” This girl was definitely wary of me. She shifted her scrawny hips to one side and took her hand down from her face.
“Well,” I said, pulling a bag of the Heart of Rumford cookies out of my purse and handing them to her. Reluctantly, she took them. “Your mother and I went to high school together.”
“She looks a lot older than you.” She ripped open the baggie and smelled the contents.
“Aw. You’re just
saying that because she’s your mom.” I looked over the girl’s shoulder. “Your granny here?”
“What you want with my granny?” she asked.
It was apparent this girl was protective.
“She’s expecting me. I bought her old bakery.” I nodded toward the cookies. “I know I’m not as great a baker as your granny, but I sure do try.”
“No one is as good as Granny Dixie.” She took out a cookie and held it up in the sunlight. “It looks like you have a lot of holes in the middle.”
“Try it. I think you’ll like it.” I encouraged her, hoping I could get past her to see Dixie.
She took a nibble before she took a bite, then stuck the whole thing in her mouth.
“Not bad.” She shrugged and took out another one. “She’s back there.” The girl’s head turned slightly to the right as she gave me the side-eye. “She’s working on her vegetable garden today.”
“Thanks.” I walked past her. “What’s your name?”
“Sally Ann.” She stuffed another cookie in her mouth.
“It was nice to meet you, Sally Ann. Please tell your mom hello for me.” I stopped. “Say, come on down to the bakery and see me sometime.”
I felt sorry for Sally Ann. Even though I knew the Fords were good people, I couldn’t help but wonder if the rumor that they were raising Sally Ann, instead of her own mother taking care of the girl, was true. She was a bit gruff for a girl her age. Not that being a tomboy was uncommon in Rumford, but she looked like she could use a friend or two, or even a mentor. I also couldn’t help but wonder if she was as talented as her granny.
When I walked behind the house, I saw Dixie Ford bent over in the garden. It wasn’t the corn that’d already grown as tall as me, or the full pepper plants that caught my eye. It was the whitewashed red brick gardening shed.
“I was so happy to get your call,” Dixie greeted me with that same smile that I remembered.