No Scone Unturned

by Dobbs, Leighann

  “Nope, can’t say as I did.”

  “And have you noticed anything strange over there?” Ruth asked.

  “Not any stranger than usual. Though I have to say that gazebo they’re building is kind of unusual. Looks like he’s doing it piecemeal. Not a professional job. But then, that’s Rupert. I’m surprised Olive’s putting up with it.”

  Ida snorted. “She might not know what’s going on.”

  “Why don’t they just hire someone?” Lexy asked.

  Bud frowned. “I’m not sure. I heard they had money troubles. But you never know with them. They throw big parties, but look at the place. It’s a mess. You ask me, Rupert’s a little off his rocker.”

  “Is Rupert home?” Nans asked.

  “No. Saw him go out with the four dogs in the truck. Probably picking up Olive.”

  “Oh, Olive isn’t home either?”

  Bud shook his head. “Ain’t seen her for a few days. Heard she was in Europe.”

  “Okay, well, nice meeting you, Bud.” Nans grabbed Ruth and Ida’s elbows and pulled them away from the house.

  “Hey, I didn’t get a chance to look for the drone over there. It could be over in the back, and I’ve got to find it, or I’m going to be in big trouble with Jason,” Ida grumbled.

  “Oh, Ida, stop your bellyaching. If worse comes to worst, you can just buy him a replacement. They sell them right on Amazon, you know,” Nans said.

  “They do?”

  “’Course. They sell everything over there.”

  Nans swiveled her head back and forth as if making sure no one was watching as she speed walked toward the Pendletons’ garage.

  “Looks like the fan club doesn’t watch the house all the time,” Ruth said, glancing around. “They’re not here now.”

  “Right. They couldn’t possibly have twenty-four-hour surveillance, so we can’t rely on their information,” Nans said. “Which is why I’m going over now to take a little peek into the garage.”

  Nans pulled them down the driveway, sticking to the edge, where they would be hidden by the tall lilac bushes. When they reached the end, she sidled over in front of the doors, stood on her tiptoes, and looked in. She fell back on her heels and turned to them. “Well looks like the ladies might’ve been right. That white Fiat is sitting right in the garage. Susan might even be in the house right now.”

  “Just as we thought,” Ida said.

  “But another thing.” Nans' brows knitted together. “The red Cadillac is not in there.”

  “Well, go figure that.” Ida jumped up to get enough height to look in the window. “Oh yeah. It’s not there. Did those fan club ladies tell you Olive only drove that car, Lexy?”

  “They did.”

  “That fits perfectly with our disappearance theory,” Ruth said. “Apparently it’s well known that Olive drives that Cadillac. Rupert probably took it to some remote spot to be discovered later by the police when he reports Olive is missing. Just like Agatha Christie.”

  “And since Olive is dead, she can’t really complain that someone else drove her car,” Helen added.

  Nans nodded. “That’s right. And if I recall the Agatha Christie case, her car was found abandoned, and they never did find her until eleven days later.”

  “That’s right,” Helen said. “Hey, did either of you see the baseball bat in there?”

  “The murder weapon?” Nans stood on her tiptoes and looked in again. “No. But I don’t think that will help us. Without a body, the murder weapon is pretty much meaningless.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Helen said. “Might come in handy once we find the body, though.”

  “If we find the body. If Rupert is trying to make like she disappeared, we may never find it.”

  Nans turned and started toward Lexy’s car, keeping to the security of the lilacs but walking faster this time. “I’m sure that’s what Rupert has planned, but we are going to foil his plans by finding it.”

  “Or the drone with the video on it,” Ida said hopefully.

  “Either one will prove she was murdered,” Ruth said. “Doesn’t matter.”

  “It matters to me,” Ida argued.

  Nans waved a hand to shush them. “Quiet now. Let me think. We need to find this maid. Ruth, can you Google the maid service with the green truck?”

  “I think that’s Happy Home Cleaners,” Helen said.

  “Good. Then let’s find out who they have that cleans at the Pendletons’.” Nans opened Lexy’s car door and pushed the seat up, gesturing for the others to get in. “Hurry now, ladies. We need to get back to my place so we can figure out who this maid is and where she lives as well as find out more about Connie. We need to pay them both a visit. Maybe first thing tomorrow morning, we can…” Nans' voice trailed off, and she looked at Lexy. “Oh, shoot. We have the Kingsleys’ brunch tomorrow morning.”

  Lexy had been hoping Nans and the ladies would’ve forgotten about that, but since they hadn’t, and they seemed to have other things on their minds, Lexy saw the perfect way to give them an easy out and prevent them from tagging along to the brunch. “Oh, that’s no problem. You guys don’t have to help. Cassie is going to be there, and we can handle it. It’s more important that you do your research.”

  “Oh, we wouldn’t dream of leaving you in the lurch, would we, girls?” Nans asked.

  “Of course not,” the others agreed.

  “Especially since it will give me an added chance to look for the drone,” Ida said.

  “That’s right. We’re a team,” Ruth said. “We’ll be waiting for you at the door to the retirement center first thing tomorrow morning!”

  14

  After Lexy dropped Nans and the ladies off, she rushed back to the bakery to finalize the plans for the Kingsley brunch with Cassie. Unlike the other events they’d catered, this one included food that needed to be kept hot, and she also needed refrigeration plus platters and display trays. Since she didn’t have any of that type of equipment, she’d hired a company to provide it, and she wanted to double- and triple-check the scheduling to make sure things ran smoothly.

  They spent the afternoon and well into the evening working out exactly how they would set it up. Then Lexy double-checked with the party supply company to make sure the tent would be set up early that morning and the appropriate chairs and tables would be provided. Lexy had hired a temporary chef to serve eggs and sausages and make toast out of her homemade bread, and she checked in with him as well.

  When she was satisfied everything was perfect, she returned home, exhausted, with a box of éclairs she’d snagged from the bakery case. Jack was already home and had put a chicken in the oven, so Lexy didn’t have to eat éclairs for supper. She’d definitely have them for dessert, though.

  “I cooked, so you have to do the dishes,” Jack said as they sat at the table, their stomachs full and their plates empty.

  “Dessert first.” Lexy pulled the éclairs out of the box and put them on a plate. She cut one in half and transferred it to her plate. She’d probably eat the other half, but for now it felt like she was being good and only eating half the dessert.

  “Anything new on the Pendleton case?” she asked.

  Jack shook his head. “Nothing. How about you?”

  Lexy filled him in on what they had found out so far, including the visit to her bakery from the fan club.

  “So you still think an affair is at the bottom of this?” Jack asked when she was done.

  “Yes. And probably something financial too. Something’s just not right about what’s going on over there.” Lexy bit into the éclair, the creamy custard exploding in her mouth, the sweetness tempered by the dark chocolate. They ate in silence, with the scratching of Sprinkles’ nails on the floor as she pranced between them, hoping for a smidgen of the treat as accompaniment. But Lexy wouldn’t give her a piece of the éclair. Chocolate was lethal to dogs, so Sprinkles would have to settle for one of her dental treats instead.

  Jacked polished off
the last bite and pushed his plate toward Lexy. “I wish there was more I could do to investigate. I know some real evidence has to turn up soon, but until then…” Jack shrugged.

  “There might be something you can look into,” Lexy said.

  “What’s that?”

  “The ladies in Olive’s fan club said that she always drove a red Cadillac. But when we were at her house yesterday, that car wasn’t in the garage. The ladies said they hadn’t seen it leave the house though.”

  “How would they know? Do they live in the neighborhood?”

  “I don’t think so. They said they kept a watch on the house.”

  “Oh, stalker fans.”

  Lexy laughed. “Sort of. These are just old ladies that have nothing better to do. I think they’re harmless.”

  “Right. Just like Nans, Ruth, Ida, and Helen. They are old ladies with nothing to do…except they’re far from harmless.”

  “Good point.” Lexy cleared the dishes from the table and took them to the sink to wash. “Anyway, one of our working theories is that Rupert is planning on capitalizing on Olive’s new release by pretending she’s disappeared mysteriously. You know, like Agatha Christie did back in the twenties?”

  Lexy glanced over her shoulder to see if Jack was following. He nodded.

  “So he might have already driven the car to some remote place. Most likely in the middle of the night when the fan club ladies would be at home, tucked in their beds and not watching the house,” Lexy continued.

  “In which case he would’ve needed an accomplice to drive him back,” Jack added.

  “Good point. We didn’t even think of that, but it further bolsters the theory of an affair.”

  “Sure does. Well, we can be on the lookout for a red Cadillac. It should stand out. I’ll tell John and the patrol officers to keep an eye out. Maybe even take a ride down some of the less-traveled roads to see if we can find it,” Jack said.

  “Great. That would be awesome. If you could find it, it would really throw a wrench in Rupert’s plans.” Lexy flipped open the dishwasher and started loading. “If only we could somehow get into that pond. I’m sure he put Olive’s body in there. And I think I know how he’s keeping that body from floating up.”

  “And how is that?”

  “They’re building that gazebo, and he’s doing it in a really odd manner. Normally you’d pour the foundation first, but for some reason they started on the walls, and now he’s got bags of concrete sitting up there. I think it’s misdirection. He wants it to look like he’s using the concrete for the foundation, but what if he really used it to weigh Olive’s body down? You know, by giving her cement shoes or something.”

  “I don’t think cement shoes actually work. The body would decompose, and the skeleton would slip out of the cement. But I suppose he could weigh it down another way like wrapping her in a tarp or something and then weighing the sides of that down. It would take forever for that to decompose, and her body would be trapped inside it. She could be down there for a long time.”

  “A tarp…” Lexy closed her eyes, trying to remember what she’d seen on the viewscreen of the drone’s controller. Had there been a tarp in the area, and was it now missing? She squeezed her eyes tight, trying to put herself in a mini hypnotic trance just like Helen had taught her. If she could get herself into that state, she’d be able to remember exactly what she’d seen. In her mind’s eye, she pictured the drone zipping over the Kingsleys’ yard then turning to look at the pond, the yard, and then the gazebo. “There was a blue tarp!”

  “At the Pendletons’?” Jack asked.

  “Yes. I distinctly remember it was near the gazebo. Of course, it didn’t seem out of place because there was lumber underneath it.”

  “But when did you see it? Before or after Olive was killed?”

  “Before. We saw it on the screen of the drone.”

  “And is it still there?”

  “That I’m not sure of. But you can bet I’ll be looking to see if it is when I cater the Kingsleys’ brunch tomorrow morning.”

  15

  The next day, Lexy was blessed with blue skies and moderate temperatures. Though it was summertime in New Hampshire and the day would probably get up into the mid-eighties, the morning for the brunch would be pleasant and in the upper seventies. A perfect day for her new venture.

  She got to the Kingsleys’ early, having picked up Nans, Ruth, Ida, and Helen, who were all dressed in crisp white aprons and carrying chef hats. At least they were taking the catering part of their mission seriously, even though Ruth had also been carrying her wetsuit, which they stored in the trunk. Lexy hoped Ruth wouldn’t have an inclination to put it on.

  Cassie had gotten there before her and was pulling the food out of the van. Lexy left the ladies unsupervised. She was worried about the kind of trouble they could get into on their own, but her first priority was making sure the brunch went off without a hitch. She busied herself checking the tent, making sure the tables were set up where she wanted them, and helping Cassie spread the white linen tablecloths on the tables. She double-checked the food stations, making sure everything was serviceable and looked fantastic.

  They’d ordered little bouquets of daisies in crystal vases that they put on each of the tables where the guests would sit, and Lexy finished them off by tying raffia bows around the tops of the vases. While she scurried about getting everything set up, she noticed Nans and the ladies lingering by the mimosa table that was set up over near the part of the yard that sloped toward the pond. Lexy had purchased leg extenders for one side of the small table so that it would sit level even though the yard sloped. She wondered if the ladies’ presence was because they were hatching their plan to get into the pond or if they were busy drinking mimosas.

  Once she was convinced everything was set up perfectly, she managed to work her way around to the edge of the yard, where she had a view of the Pendletons’. No one was out thankfully, not even the dogs. She didn’t need them barking and adding an annoying element to the brunch. She sidled around, looking through the trees to get a look at the gazebo. Was the blue tarp there? She edged over to an area from which she had a clear view.

  The tarp was gone.

  “Do you see the drone?” Ida was at her side, her hands shielding her eyes as she gazed over at the gazebo.

  “No. Do you think it’s in there?”

  “Yesterday when I was over there, I saw the dogs digging in the corner under the wood. I was thinking maybe they had it there, but my controller didn’t do any good. I need to get over there and dig.”

  Lexy turned to look at her. “I don’t think today’s a good day, Ida.”

  “Why not? Looks like nobody’s home, and we’re right here.”

  “Well, if they were home, it could cause a bit of a ruckus, and you wouldn’t want to ruin my brunch here, would you?” Lexy asked.

  Ida’s eyes softened as they flicked from the Pendletons’ yard to Lexy. She patted Lexy’s arm. “No, of course not. I’ll try to be on my best behavior.”

  And then she turned and walked away. Unfortunately, her words did not do much to make Lexy feel better. Ida’s best behavior wasn’t anything to feel optimistic about.

  “Lexy, it looks lovely!” Caspian Kingsley and his wife Amanda stepped out from the house with wide smiles on their faces as they surveyed the area. Lexy flushed with pride, accepting the compliment. It did look pretty good, and the smell of bacon mixed with the earthy aroma of brewed coffee would surely perk even the groggiest guest up.

  “Thank you.” Lexy gestured toward the food stations. Hot foods were first. Scrambled eggs, sausages, and bacon in warming trays. Toast, scones, danish, and cinnamon buns were piled up on tiered servers set on a large table. Next to that, a giant fruit display boasted watermelon, pineapple, grapes, and berries. The last table rounded things out with yogurt, milk, and even some cereal for those who didn’t want a big breakfast. “We’re ready to serve.”

  “It’s absolutely per
fect.” Amanda clapped her hands. “And the guests will be arriving any minute.”

  As if summoned by Amanda’s prediction, Lexy heard the faint tinkle of the doorbell chiming inside the house, and Amanda fluttered off to greet her guests. Lexy rushed behind the serving station, ready to supervise and make sure everything went off without a hitch. The next several hours kept her busy making sure the food stations remained full and the guests had everything they needed. She even managed to hand out a few business cards.

  To their credit, Nans and the ladies really did make themselves useful by circulating with little round trays loaded with bite-size pieces of Lexy’s breakfast pastries. Everyone thought they were charming. If they only knew they were really here trying to find a dead body, she thought.

  When the crowd started to dwindle, Lexy noticed Nans and the ladies edging closer to the pond. It didn’t take long before they were down at the very edge, fumbling about in the weeds.

  Had Ruth dragged her wetsuit down there?

  Lexy certainly hoped she wasn’t going to put it on and jump in. She was just about to head down there herself and pull them away when Ida leaned over and pointed at something at the water’s edge.

  “That’s it! Evidence!” Ida yelled loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear. “See it?”

  Everyone that was left at the brunch was drawn by her words and came to the edge of the yard, peering over Lexy’s shoulder. Lexy felt her earlier enthusiasm draining. The brunch had gone off perfectly so far, and she was sure people would be talking about her and recommending her catering service. Now she hoped that wouldn’t be replaced by talk of her grandmother dragging a body out of the pond.

  “I’ll hold your arm, and you lean over and grab it,” Nans said, confirming Lexy’s worst fears that they’d found the body and were about to fish it out.

  “You could fall in! Don’t you think we should call the police?” Lexy yelled. All heads swiveled toward her.

  “Police?” Caspian Kingsley had appeared beside her with a curious look on his face. “Why would we need the police? Those dogs aren’t barking.”