Muffins and Mobsters

by Leena Clover

  “How can you just sit there with your feet up while there’s a killer lose in Pelican Cove?” Jenny fumed. “Crime prevention is also part of your job, Sheriff. And judging by the crime rate here, you are not doing it.”

  “Thank you for letting me know.”

  “How dare you!” Jenny shrieked. “How dare you be so flippant when our friend just lost her life?”

  “My God, Jenny. Will you stop being so hysterical?” Adam clutched his desk tightly and struggled to his feet. He looked around for his cane. “We are still waiting on the autopsy.”

  Jenny broke down and sobbed silently.

  “Why don’t you go home?” Adam said gently. “Take the day off. Let the police do their job.”

  “You mean let them do nothing,” Jenny mumbled through her tears.

  “Now, Jenny. You are too close to this. Just stay out of my way and let me do my job.”

  “Thank you for nothing, Sheriff!” Jenny wailed and stood up to leave.

  She slammed the door again on her way out.

  Five minutes later, Jenny found herself in front of her friend Jason’s office. Jason Stone was Pelican Cove’s top lawyer. Actually, he was the only lawyer in town. Jason had known Jenny as a teen when she visited her aunt in the summers. When Jenny came to live in Pelican Cove, Jason had been quick to renew their friendship. He had wooed Jenny along with Adam.

  Jenny liked Jason’s cheerful, easygoing personality but she had chosen to date Adam. She always turned to Jason in a bind though.

  Jason leaped to his feet and came around his desk when he saw Jenny. He wrapped her in a tight embrace.

  “How are you holding up?”

  “Barely,” Jenny sighed. “Tell me this is a nightmare and I am going to wake up soon and find everything as it was.”

  “Unfortunately, I can’t do that.”

  Jason pulled out a bottle of juice from a small refrigerator and handed it to Jenny.

  “Have the police found anything yet?”

  Jenny poured out what had happened at the police station.

  “Adam’s good at his job. He’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  “When?” Jenny asked.

  “You know how the law works, Jenny. You will have to be patient.”

  Jenny went back to the café, angrier than she had been before.

  The Magnolias were sitting out on the deck again. None of them had been able to concentrate on work.

  “Why don’t you go out there?” her aunt suggested. “Lunch is almost ready.”

  “It’s okay,” Jenny told Star. “I’ll help you dish it up.”

  She carried a tray loaded with chicken salad sandwiches out to the deck. Her aunt followed with a tray of drinks.

  Star had taken care of the lunch rush in Jenny’s absence. The Boardwalk Café was the only eating establishment of its kind in Pelican Cove. Jenny knew people depended on her for their meals. She couldn’t just close the café when she needed a break.

  The girls were quiet as they ate their lunch.

  “Yooohooo …”

  Jenny cringed as she heard a familiar greeting. A short, plump woman came up the steps from the beach. She took a seat at the table and greeted everyone.

  Barb Norton was a force to reckon with in Pelican Cove. She was on various committees and was always scurrying around, working on some project or the other. The older Magnolias didn’t care much for her.

  “I am so sorry,” Barb began. “Pelican Cove has lost a valuable member.”

  No one said anything.

  Barb went on to talk about how Petunia had been a pillar of society.

  “What do you want, Barb?” Betty Sue asked between bites of a sandwich.

  “I know you were all close to Petunia,” Barb said. “And I know you must be grieving. Grief can be crippling. I should know. I lost a few people close to me.”

  “Get to the point,” Star interrupted.

  “You need an outlet for your grief,” Barb beamed. “And I have just the thing.”

  “What mad project are you taking up now?” Betty Sue asked.

  “You must have noticed the mosquito menace Pelican Cove is facing. Clearly, the town has failed in their pest control efforts this year. I am forming a new committee to take care of the problem.”

  “What’s that got to do with us?” Heather asked sharply.

  “The Extermination Committee needs volunteers,” Barb announced. “You need something to distract you from this sordid business. I am willing to sign you all up.”

  “Get out,” Jenny seethed. “Just get out of here and leave us alone.”

  “What’s the matter with her?” Barb asked the others. “You do realize I am trying to help?”

  “We don’t need your help,” Jenny said, scrambling to her feet. “We will grieve for Petunia as long as we want and any way we want. How dare you come up here and talk about some useless committee.”

  Barb puffed up with indignation.

  “Useless? The Extermination Committee is not useless. Do you know how deadly mosquitoes can be? We are facing a possible outbreak of West Nile or Zika in Pelican Cove.”

  “That’s fine,” Star said. “But you need to leave now, Barb.”

  “I’m just trying to help!”

  “But you’re not helping,” Betty Sue roared. “Go peddle your project somewhere else.”

  Barb Norton turned red and stomped down the café steps.

  “Unbelievable,” Molly fumed. “That woman is vile!”

  “She’s not entirely wrong,” Betty Sue said.

  She looked at Jenny.

  “I know you have your hands full with the café. But you can’t just sit around crying over what happened.”

  “What do you want me to do, Betty Sue?”

  “Find out who killed Petunia.”

  “She’s right, Jenny,” Star said. “You have done it before. Use your skills to get to the bottom of this. It’s the only way we can get justice for our friend.”

  “Petunia was shot with a gun,” Jenny reminded them. “I have no idea why anyone would do that.”

  “That’s exactly what we need to find out,” Heather said. “I’ll be your wing woman. In fact, we will all pitch in and help.”

  “Star and I can take care of the café,” Betty Sue agreed. “You girls get busy talking to people.”

  “Adam won’t like it.”

  “Since when have you done what Adam wanted?” Molly asked.

  “Don’t let him rule your life, Jenny,” Heather added.

  “We are not detectives,” Jenny reasoned.

  “This won’t be the first time you solved a murder, Jenny,” Star said grimly. “What’s holding you back?”

  “My friend wasn’t the victim all those times,” Jenny said, as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I can’t be objective about this.”

  “That’s fine,” Star said. “Because this is as personal as it gets.”

  “She’s right!” Molly and Heather chorused. “We need you on board, Jenny.”

  Jenny thought of the sweet old woman who had been a guiding force in her life for the past year and a half. She was just beginning to get to know her. Jenny took a deep breath as her heart filled with a new resolve. She was going to do whatever it took to catch Petunia’s killer.

  “Let’s do this,” she said, putting her hand on Heather’s. Molly joined in, followed by Star and Betty Sue.

  Jenny’s eyes burned as she looked around at her friends.

  “Best of luck to us.”

  Chapter 3

  Jenny tried to run the Boardwalk Café by herself. She had known Petunia silently did a giant’s share of work at the café. She didn’t mind the extra work. But she hadn’t realized how much she relied on Petunia for the little things. She found herself turning around to ask questions – how many batches of muffins to bake, how much flour to order – only to find out that she was on her own now. Petunia wasn’t going to offer any advice in her soft voice.

  The Magnolia
s clung to their routine with a tacit agreement. Betty Sue arrived at 10 AM every morning, lugging her knitting, with Heather close behind. Star and Molly completed the circle.

  “Who would you say knew Petunia the best?” Jenny asked one day as they sat out on the deck.

  September had brought cool breezes to Pelican Cove but it was still warm enough to sit outside without a jacket or sweater.

  “She was a quiet one,” Star said. “We knew her well, Betty Sue and I. We have been meeting here every morning forever.”

  “Even before I came back to town?” Heather asked.

  Heather had been away at college and then she had worked in the city for a few years. She had come back to Pelican Cove in her late twenties.

  Star nodded.

  “You and Molly were in the city. My Jenny wasn’t here either.”

  “She never talked about where she came from?” Jenny asked, surprised.

  “She was from somewhere up north,” Betty Sue said. “I think she was a widow.”

  “You think?” Heather pressed. “You don’t know for sure?”

  “Petunia wasn’t very forthcoming about her past life,” Star explained. “We realized that early on. We didn’t want to pester her about it.”

  “You think she didn’t talk about it for a reason?” Jenny mused.

  “I always thought something painful had happened to her,” Betty Sue said sagely. “Clearly, she didn’t want to relive her past. And I didn’t think it was my place to remind her of it.”

  “I get what you’re saying …” Jenny began. “But she never volunteered anything in all these years?”

  Star and Betty Sue shook their heads sadly.

  “Now we will never know, I suppose,” Betty Sue added.

  The talk turned to finding out who had murdered Petunia.

  “Have you thought of how you are going to begin your search?” Molly asked Jenny.

  “Well, I start with people close to the victim. In this case, that’s us. I try to learn about any recent events in the victim’s life, ask if the victim had any enemies.”

  She looked around at her friends.

  “Can you think of anything out of the ordinary that might have happened this week?”

  “Why was Petunia on the beach that morning?” Betty Sue asked immediately.

  “And what was she doing there?” Star added. “Shouldn’t she have been here at the café, helping you with the morning crowd?”

  “Petunia liked to watch the sun rise over the ocean,” Jenny told them. “She lingered on the beach sometimes before coming in. But she was always here before me.”

  “What time was that?” Molly asked, pulling out a notebook and scribbling in it.

  Jenny was glad Molly was taking notes. She was too distracted to keep all the facts straight in her head.

  “Well, she was here around 5 every day, or earlier. She came in before me and opened the café.”

  “So when did she watch the sunrise?” Heather asked. “Did she go out during the breakfast rush?”

  “She would step outside sometimes,” Jenny shrugged.

  “She didn’t come in at all on that day, right?” Betty Sue asked. “Do you mean to say she had been on the beach all along?”

  “We don’t know the time of her death,” Jenny reminded them. “That’s something the police will have to tell us. And it’s anybody’s guess when that will happen.”

  “Have you talked to Adam?” Molly asked.

  “Not since that day,” Jenny said, shaking her head. “He can call me whenever he wants.”

  “You know how Adam is about his job,” Heather said. “Don’t let it come between you, Jenny.”

  “Says you?” Jenny asked, rolling her eyes. “Since when did you start giving relationship advice, Heather?”

  “Since I learned a bitter lesson or two,” Heather shot back. “Ego has no place in love.”

  “If Adam loves me, he has a weird way of showing it.”

  “Can you be sure Petunia never came in that day?” Betty Sue asked, setting her knitting aside.

  Jenny thought back for a minute.

  “I didn’t use my key, so the café wasn’t locked. She must have come in for a few minutes, I guess.”

  “So she opened the door for you and then went on the beach right away? Did she do that a lot?”

  “Never,” Jenny told them. “Petunia brewed the first batch of coffee before I got here. And she used to prep everything for me and turn the oven on.”

  Jenny held up a hand when she saw her aunt lean forward to ask the next question.

  “None of it was done that day. I made the coffee myself.”

  “I’m writing this down as an outstanding question,” Molly remarked. “Why did Petunia go out that morning?”

  The group broke up soon after that. Jenny had to get ready for the lunch rush. She chopped vegetables and added them to a big stock pot for making soup.

  Her aunt mixed the crab salad.

  “You should be at the gallery, or out on a beach somewhere, working on your art,” Jenny told her.

  “Hush, Jenny,” her aunt said. “I am exactly where I need to be.”

  “How long am I going to impose on you?” Jenny asked. “I have to learn to handle everything by myself.”

  “Give yourself some time,” Star said. “Have you thought of hiring some permanent help?”

  Jenny and Petunia hired some students to help them with the summer rush. The kids were back in school.

  “I haven’t considered that yet,” Jenny admitted. “I feel it’s too soon.”

  “You can never replace Petunia,” Star read her mind. “We all know that.”

  Jenny stirred the pot of soup and stared at the wall, lost in thought.

  “I need to order supplies for the week ahead,” she sighed.

  Star pointed to a drawer.

  “Petunia was a meticulous record keeper. You should find all her lists in there.”

  Jenny rifled through the drawer and pulled out a small notebook titled Supplies.

  “It’s all in here,” she nodded.

  Petunia had kept copious notes about what needed to be done every week of the month. There was a list of wholesalers she worked with at the back of the book with a rating for each of them.

  “There’s a treasure trove of information here,” Jenny marveled as she pulled out more stuff from the drawer.

  Her eyes fell on an appointment book.

  “What’s this?” she muttered.

  It was a small diary with a blue leather cover. Jenny hesitated a bit before opening it.

  “Have you seen this before?” Jenny asked her aunt, waving the blue colored book at her. “It looks like a planner of sorts, or an appointment diary. There’s a note for a doctor’s appointment here, for example. And a dentist’s appointment.”

  “You know we don’t use phones or computers to write down our appointments,” Star said. “It’s how we keep track of the calendar the old fashioned way.”

  Jenny flipped the pages furiously, searching for something.

  “Did I say anything wrong?” Star asked her.

  “Not at all. You just gave me a big clue.”

  Jenny pulled up a page and jabbed her finger at what was written down there.

  She sat down next to her aunt and showed her what she had found.

  “5 A. M, P/W,” she said out loud. “So Petunia was planning to meet someone on the beach that day.”

  “At 5 in the morning?” Star asked, raising her eyebrows in disbelief.

  “Give me a few minutes,” Jenny said.

  She flipped through the diary again, going slow this time.

  “She has this appointment listed on the same day of every month,” Jenny said triumphantly. “Who is this ‘P/W’? Can you think of anyone?”

  “I’m still trying to wrap my head around this,” Star muttered. “Why meet someone at 5 in the morning?”

  “I need to think about this,” Jenny said.

&nbs
p; She went out on the deck and began pacing. If Petunia had kept her appointment, she must have been at the bench by 5 AM. That meant she had been killed any time between 5 and 8.

  Jenny looked up and saw a familiar figure sitting in the sand. He wore tattered clothes that had clearly seen better days. His salt and pepper beard was as dirty as his face. Jenny had been surprised to see a homeless person in Pelican Cove. The man turned up on the beach sometime in the morning and walked around all day. She would find him writing something in the sand with a stick, then wiping it off with his foot. He did that over and over again. Jenny had wondered if she should offer him anything to eat.

  The man turned around and stared directly at the café. Jenny tried to ward off a sudden nervous feeling.

  “Hello there,” she called out. “How’s it going?”

  The man shrugged and looked away.

  A group of people walked up to the café and Jenny went in. It was time for the lunch rush.

  Star was sitting at the kitchen table, looking smug. There was a pile of blue colored notebooks in front of her.

  “Look what I found in that drawer.”

  “Old diaries?” Jenny asked listlessly.

  “Old appointment books,” her aunt corrected her. “These go back five years. And all of them list the same appointment.”

  Jenny’s eyes gleamed with interest.

  “You mean Petunia was meeting someone early in the morning for the past five years?”

  “At least that,” her aunt nodded.

  “She must have trusted this person,” Jenny said thoughtfully. “You think he or she is the one who shot her?”

  Star shrugged.

  “We need to find this person,” she said. “Only they can tell us what happened that day.”

  “But how do we find this ‘P/W’?” Jenny asked, sounding defeated.

  Jenny got busy filling lunch orders with her aunt’s help. The two ladies finally sat back in the kitchen to eat their own lunch.

  “Ready to call it a day?” Star asked.

  “Why don’t you take the car?” Jenny said. “I need to stretch my legs a bit. I will go to the seafood market on my way back.”

  Jenny checked the next day’s menu and prepped as much as she could. She closed the café and walked to Williams Seafood Market. Her friend and Molly’s fiancé Chris Williams greeted her.