The Cakes of Wrath (A Piece of Cake Mystery)

by Brady, Jacklyn

  Reluctantly, I admitted that I’d never make it through the dinner with Miss Frankie and the Bryces unless I got some downtime. Once again leaving the Mercedes at Zydeco, I called another cab and went home, where I found a message from Miss Frankie on my land line telling me to meet them for dinner that evening at Rubio’s. Her choice surprised me; I love Rubio’s but it’s a BBQ joint and I’d expected her to pick a more upscale restaurant. According to her message, the Bryces also wanted a tour of Zydeco after we ate. Whatever.

  It was unusual for Miss Frankie to call my home number instead of my cell. I could only guess that she was no more eager to talk to me than I had been to call her.

  I texted Edie the details and promised to meet her at Zydeco before dinner, then put everything and everyone else out of my mind and fell asleep. I work up at four, stiff, sore, and hungry from having missed lunch. I stood under a hot shower for a while, hoping that would ease some of my aches and pains, scrounged a power bar from the pantry, and wolfed that down while I dressed. I was in a cab and on my way back to Zydeco a little after six.

  Edie was edgy and pacing nervously when I walked through the front door. She’d chosen a simple black calf-length maternity dress that didn’t hide the baby bump but didn’t accentuate it either. She’d obviously taken pains with her hair, and her makeup was flawless and understated. I thought her parents would approve, but what did I know?

  She raked a look over my outfit and sighed with relief at what she saw. In honor of her crazy parents, I’d chosen a conservative outfit: black pants, a silk tunic with three-quarter sleeves, and a pair of low-heeled black pumps I could walk in.

  “You look great,” Edie said, and then held out her arms to invite my opinion. “What do you think? Is the dress too short?”

  I laughed at the sarcasm. “You look great. Relax, okay?”

  “Relax? How am I supposed to do that? You’ve met my mother. You know how she is.”

  Yes. Well. There was no tactful response to that, so I changed the subject as we set out toward the restaurant. As we walked, I told her about my conversations with Sebastian and Edgar earlier that morning. “Obviously, Scotty was hanging around here in the neighborhood that night,” I said after I’d told her what I’d learned. “All I need to do now is talk to Zora to prove it.”

  “Talk to her?” Edie cried as she stepped over a raised piece of sidewalk. “Are you crazy, Rita? What if Scotty finds out you’re still asking around about him? He’s already determined to keep you from figuring out what he did.”

  “To keep from proving it, you mean. I’ve already figured it out.”

  Edie let out a frustrated sigh. “You’re going to get yourself killed if you’re not careful.”

  “I’ll wind up in prison if I don’t find the evidence I need to prove that Scotty’s behind all the violence.” Edie still looked skeptical, so I tried to reassure her. “I’m just going to talk to the woman, that’s all. If she can tell me that Scotty was at the Chopper Shop around the time he attacked me, I’ll try to convince her to talk to the police.”

  “And then you’ll leave it alone? No matter what she tells you? Promise?”

  “I can’t promise that,” I said with a laugh as we crossed the street toward Rubio’s. “What if she won’t admit to seeing Scotty that night?”

  “Rita!”

  “What? The two of them are friends. They had an argument, but that doesn’t mean she’ll throw him under the bus just because I ask her about it.”

  Edie slowed her step and stopped walking in front of the restaurant. “It’s a sad state of affairs when I’d rather talk to you about murder than have dinner with my own parents. Do you think they’re already here?”

  I checked my watch and nodded. “I’d almost bet on it. Miss Frankie doesn’t believe in being late.” Edie looked so nervous I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. “Are you okay? Ready to go in and face the music?”

  “I guess we might as well get it over with,” she said, but she held back, unmoving, her eyes clouded with nervous energy.

  I put an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s go in. I promise I won’t let them beat you up.”

  She laughed and we walked inside together. Unlike the other day at lunch, there was no line of customers waiting for a table, which made it easy to spot Miss Frankie and Edie’s parents. They were already at a table for six near a window that looked out onto the street, which meant they’d seen us arrive.

  “Come on,” I muttered to Edie under my breath. “Don’t let them see you sweat.” And then I pasted a big old smile on my face and walked through the dining room toward them.

  Miss Frankie greeted me with a smile and a hug that probably looked warm and friendly from the outside. I knew her well enough to feel the coolness of her welcome, which meant things between us weren’t okay. Not by a long shot. But my mother-in-law would rather chew nails than appear discourteous in public, so she put on a good face and I pretended not to notice.

  Taking their cue from Miss Frankie, the Bryces greeted us with smiles and Charlie even stood and gave Edie an awkward embrace. Lin couldn’t make herself go that far, but she did manage to say her daughter’s name without choking, which was probably quite a concession on her part.

  Edie and I sat on one side of the table facing her parents. Miss Frankie held court at the table’s head and presided over the meal with a watchful eye. We made polite conversation about the weather as we ate, and the history of the neighborhood. After a while we segued into a discussion of a few items in the local news—carefully avoiding any talk about the rash of violence and the ongoing murder investigation.

  Finally, the meal was over and the time for avoidance was past. Our server whisked away our dirty dishes and Miss Frankie linked her hands together on the table in front of her. “I’m so glad you could all make it tonight,” she said with a pleased smile. “We have a few details to work out regarding the baby shower while we’re together so I thought we could do that now.”

  Everyone mumbled their agreement and Miss Frankie smiled approvingly. “Edie, your parents will be staying until Monday, so that means we need to have the shower before they leave. I think Sunday afternoon sounds like a good time, don’t you?”

  “Sunday?” I said, surprised. “As in two days from now?”

  Miss Frankie’s smile didn’t waver, but I saw a flash of something in her eyes. “Is that a problem for you, Rita?”

  “For me? No. It just seems so sudden. It would be nice to give the guests a little more notice.”

  “Under normal circumstances, I’d agree with you, but we’re just talking about a few friends and family. It won’t take long to pull it all together.” Miss Frankie reached out to Edie, who was staring at her, shell-shocked. “Are you quite all right, dear? You haven’t said a word.”

  “Yes, I’m—I’m—” She shifted in her seat and darted a glance at her mother. “Is this it? My parents haven’t spoken to me in months and now we’re just going to pretend like everything’s all right?”

  Lin Bryce gave her daughter a sharp-eyed look. “Your father and I would like to know our grandchild. Someone needs to watch out for the baby and make sure it’s raised properly.”

  Edie threw her napkin onto the table. “That’s my job. And if that’s all you want, don’t bother.”

  Charlie scowled at her. “Now, Edie, don’t speak to your mother that way.” He switched to a hearty smile and said, “And we were doing so well, too.”

  Lin started in again and I winced inwardly, fully expecting the evening to disintegrate right before my eyes, but Miss Frankie cleared her throat pointedly and Edie’s mother immediately fell silent. It was a thing of beauty—and maybe a little disturbing.

  “Your parents and I have been talking,” Miss Frankie said to Edie. “They understand that you’re an adult, fully capable of making your own decisions. They aren’t happy with the situation you’re in, but they are pleased that you’ve decided to keep the baby when there are other options you
could have chosen. They love you and they don’t want to lose out on having a relationship with their first grandchild.”

  Edie looked first at her father, who gave an encouraging nod, and then at her mother, who sat staring straight ahead. No one spoke, so Miss Frankie went on. “Everyone here has a choice. You can either hang on to your anger or put it behind you and move on. Your parents would like to move forward. So now, let’s talk about the menu for the shower. Are there any dietary restrictions I should be aware of?”

  Edie shot an uncertain look at me. I sympathized with her. I’d come up against Miss Frankie’s force of will more than once and I’d never come out the winner. But maybe this time Miss Frankie was right. Letting go of anger wasn’t easy, but clinging to it wouldn’t accomplish anything.

  “I can’t have sushi,” Edie said. “Or caffeine.” She took a shaky breath, then pulled herself together and rattled off a list of verboten items. Miss Frankie skillfully segued into discussing what Edie did want to eat, and Lin spoke up a couple of times with suggestions of old family favorites. By the time we were ready to pay the bill, the mood had lightened a bit. Dinner hadn’t provided a magical fix, but at least Edie and her parents were talking again, providing a ray of hope that they might restore their relationships in time.

  We moved from the restaurant to the sidewalk, where Charlie partnered with Edie, Miss Frankie and Lin walked together, and I brought up the rear. That was fine with me. As soon as we got this visit to Zydeco over with, I was more than ready to make my excuses and go home. I noticed lights on at the Feathered Peacock as we passed by, however, and thought that maybe I’d swing by and see Zora for a minute before I went home.

  It didn’t take long to reach Zydeco, but by that time I was so deep in thought that when Miss Frankie and Lin stopped abruptly in front of me, I plowed right into Lin’s back—which earned me another death stare. Sheesh! I really needed to pay more attention to where I was going.

  I started to offer an apology, but Miss Frankie cut me off, wagging a finger at Zydeco’s broad front porch. “The door, Rita. Look at the door.”

  I had to move out around them to see, but when I did, every nerve in my body tingled. Under the gleam of the porch light, I could see bright red paint splashed on the steps and a dripping from a word streaked across the bakery’s pristine white doors.

  Jezebel.

  Charlie let out a low whistle. Edie gasped and clasped her hands over her belly, and the blood drained from Miss Frankie’s face.

  “We might have to forget the tour tonight,” I said.

  Lin pursed her lips in disapproval and delivered another death stare in my direction, saying, “This is where you have my daughter working? What kind of neighborhood is this?”

  “It’s usually a very fine neighborhood,” I said, and prayed that nobody would contradict me.

  Miss Frankie looked at me from beneath a set of perfectly arched eyebrows. “Rita? What is this?”

  “Apparently, a case of vandalism,” I said, stating the obvious.

  Lin said something I couldn’t understand and Charlie put a protective arm around his daughter and spoke quietly to his wife. “I’m sure it’s not about Edie. Let’s not jump to conclusions, all right?”

  Just then, I heard a familiar laugh behind me and turned as Pearl Lee and Scotty came up the sidewalk together. My heart started racing and my fight-or-flight instinct kicked in—heavy on the flight option. Scotty was the last person I wanted to see right then, but I told myself he probably wouldn’t try to kill me in front of half a dozen witnesses.

  Pearl Lee was decked out in a rhinestone-encrusted dress with spaghetti straps and a pair of black pumps. Scotty had put on a pair of long khaki pants with a pale blue Hawaiian print shirt. A strap of leather held his hair at the back of his neck, and his sandals looked almost new. They must have had quite a night planned for him to dress up.

  The two of them stopped walking when they saw us all standing there. Pearl Lee shifted around uncomfortably when she saw Miss Frankie. Luckily for her, Miss Frankie seemed more concerned about the paint on the door than Pearl Lee’s companion or my obvious failure to keep her away from men.

  Scotty took one look at the paint splattered door and his smile vanished. “What’s this?”

  “That’s what we all want to know,” Miss Frankie said, and then she seemed to realize that Pearl Lee was with a male companion. She gave me a hard stare. “What’s going on here, Rita?”

  “Ask Pearl Lee,” I said. “She was supposed to tell you all about it yesterday.”

  Back to Pearl Lee. “Where have you been?”

  Pearl Lee lifted her chin defiantly. “We’ve been at dinner.”

  “For how long?” I asked.

  “We had reservations at seven,” Scotty said. “Why?”

  “Have you been together the whole time?”

  “Every minute,” Pearl Lee answered for him. “So if you think Scotty did this, you’re wrong.”

  I could see Edie shaking her head, trying to warn me to stop talking. Charlie very nearly blew a gasket. “You did this?” He patted his pockets and got frustrated. “Where’s my cell phone? Somebody call the police.”

  Scotty just looked outraged and maybe a bit confused. “Why would I do this?”

  It was a good question. I could figure him slashing my tire and breaking the window, but although I really wanted to catch him red-handed, I couldn’t imagine him doing this, especially if he’d been with Pearl Lee all evening.

  “Maybe you should take the Bryces home,” I said to Miss Frankie. “Try to convince them that Edie’s not in any real danger.”

  Miss Frankie gave a businesslike nod and began herding all three of the Bryces down the walk toward her car. While I was distracted, Pearl Lee click-clacked on her heels toward Zydeco’s front porch.

  “No!” I called after her. “Don’t touch anything.”

  Scotty slouched up the stairs behind her.

  “Don’t touch anything,” I said again. “It’s a crime scene.”

  Pearl Lee put her hands up and backed off a step or two. Scotty bent down and picked something up. He held it up to get a better look and it sparkled in the light.

  Pearl Lee leaned in closer to get a look. “What is that?”

  “This?” Scotty came down the stairs and dropped it into my hand. “It’s an earring.”

  I stared down at the old-fashioned clip in the shape of a heart studded with something sparkly. Diamonds? “Where did it come from?”

  Scotty put his hands in his pockets again and rocked back on his heels. “My guess is that your vandal lost it while she was working. You want to know who that belongs to?”

  I lowered my hand slowly. “You know whose it is?”

  “I should. I bought the pair of them last Christmas.”

  Okay. That surprised me. I just didn’t know what it meant. “Whose is it?”

  He shrugged. “They belong to Zora now.”

  Pearl Lee gave a shriek and lunged between us. “Zora? You? Gave that? To Zora?” She leaned in closer and tried to snatch the earring out of my hand. “Are those diamonds? Are they real?”

  I moved the earring out of her way and shoved it into my pocket. Scotty sputtered something that sounded like a denial, but it didn’t make a dent in Pearl Lee’s anger.

  “You said you weren’t a couple,” she said, shaking an accusing finger in his face. “You said you didn’t care for her.”

  “I didn’t,” Scotty protested. “We weren’t. I told you the truth, babe.”

  Pearl Lee turned from him in a huff so he tried explaining to me. “They were a Christmas present for Destiny. We found them when we were going through some things for the police. Moose gave them to Zora because she was so helpful in those first few days. I told him I didn’t mind. He didn’t want them and what was I going to do with them? She got the idea that because I bought them, they meant something special. Something about . . . us. But that was all her. I had nothing to do with it.”


  I didn’t want to believe him, but dammit, I did. “So you’re saying you think Zora did this?”

  “She must have, unless she gave the earrings to somebody else.”

  “She’s a menace,” Pearl Lee said with a sniff of disdain. “And she’s obsessed with you, whether you want to admit it or not. I’ve had enough of her.”

  “She’s lonely,” Scotty insisted. “And she misread a few signals. That doesn’t make her obsessed. But this doesn’t make sense. She has a beading class on Friday evenings. She never misses it.”

  I had a feeling she’d missed it tonight. “Tell me, what did you and Zora argue about two nights ago?”

  Scotty frowned thoughtfully. “We didn’t. What gave you that idea?”

  “Edgar said he found her sitting on a bench, crying, and she told him that you’d been in an argument.”

  Scotty shook his head slowly. “It’s not true. Why would Edgar lie about that?”

  My spidey senses were on high alert. “I don’t think Edgar was lying,” I said. “I think that’s what she told him. I think Zora was the one who lied. I hate to say it, but I think Pearl Lee might be right.” I glanced at her, but she wasn’t where she’d been only a minute or two before. “Pearl Lee?” I checked all around us, but I couldn’t see her anywhere. “Where in the hell did she go?”

  Scotty hopped over a hedge and hurried to the sidewalk, then turned back to me and shook his head. “I can’t see her, but I have a bad feeling about this. I think she’s gone after Zora.”

  Thirty-two

  We devised a plan in two-point-three seconds, but it took a little longer than that to put it into action. Neither of us knew what Pearl Lee had in mind, but both of us were worried. Scotty knew where Zora’s beading class was, so he offered to go there to make sure she was all right. I said I’d go to the Feathered Peacock and make sure Pearl Lee didn’t do something stupid. We exchanged cell numbers and went our separate ways.