Previous Confections

by Ruth Hartzler

  I thought it prudent to turn the subject back to murder. “I wonder when we’ll hear about the poison?” I asked Matilda.

  “Are you having second thoughts about helping Cherri?” she asked me.

  “No, I said I’d help and so I’ll have to,” I said. “It’s just that Ted will be furious if he knows I’m helping Cherri.”

  “Yes, and I know what she said last night,” Matilda said. “Cherri doesn’t want your ex-husband to know your helping and she said if you have any questions that she will put them to him on your behalf. However, that’s not going to work because of the blackmail.”

  Eleanor agreed. “Yes, I thought the same thing.”

  “I might be a little slow, but I don’t know what you mean,” I admitted.

  “Think about it, Jane,” Matilda said. “If Ted was actually being blackmailed, then he must have done something bad. Good honest innocent people aren’t blackmailed, now are they?”

  “No,” I said, wondering where this was going.

  “Then if Ted was in fact blackmailed, he would have done something he didn’t want anyone to know about.”

  Finally, it dawned on me. “Oh, I see what you mean. If Ted is being blackmailed, he won’t want to tell Cherri the bad thing he did that he is being blackmailed about.”

  “Exactly,” both sisters said in unison.

  “Then how will we find out what it was?” I asked them.

  “I woke up in the middle of the night for a bathroom break you see, and I figured it out,” Matilda informed me. “Ted has never seen me, so I’ll pretend I’m a private detective and I’ll ask him the hard questions.”

  “But you’ll have to tell Ted who hired you,” I said.

  “Yes, Cherri will have to say she hired a private detective to help him.”

  I rubbed my chin. “I don’t know if she has her own money, and he might not like it. He might be angry with Cherri and object.”

  Matilda raised her eyebrows. “I get the impression Ted is never angry with Cherri. Jane, you will have to help us convince Cherri.”

  I shook my head. “I think we’ll have a hard job convincing Cherri. She won’t believe Ted has done anything wrong.”

  “Still, it’s the only way,” Matilda persisted.

  Things were rapidly going downhill.

  Chapter 6

  I was hurrying around, preparing to close the store for the day. Matilda and Eleanor had gone upstairs to the apartment to get ready for our visit to Rebecca that afternoon. They had baked her a big freezer meal of macaroni and cheese and I was going to do some baking for her while I was there. I was also going to suggest that Rebecca come and sit in the cupcake store for company, but I didn’t know how she’d feel about Matilda and Eleanor helping me. They were doing a good job, but probably the calendar was still fresh in Rebecca’s mind. It was certainly fresh in mine.

  I was just about to go up the stairs to the apartment when there was a knock on the door. I turned around, about to say we were closed. When I saw Detective McCloud, my heart skipped a beat.

  I hurried over to the door and opened it. “Please come in,” I said.

  “Hello Jane, I mean Miss Delight,” he said.

  “Please feel free to call me Jane,” I said.

  Was I imagining it, or had his cheeks turned pink?

  “Jane, Jane,” he stammered. “I have a few questions about last night.”

  I nodded. “Sure, go on.”

  He pulled a notepad and pen from his suit pocket. “In the time that you were married to Mr. Delight, did he engage in any unlawful activities or anything else about which he would be ashamed?”

  I nodded slowly. “Oh, I see. You’re asking about the blackmail.”

  He looked shocked, so I hurried to explain. “Cherri, my ex-husband’s wife came to the apartment last night because she was upset that someone had falsely accused him of being blackmailed.”

  “Indeed, the matter has been brought up,” Detective McCloud said. “Would you have any insight into the matter?”

  “None at all, to be honest,” I told him. “I mean, I was never party to any business dealings of Ted’s and I wouldn’t even know if he had a gambling problem. All I know is he ran off with Cherri, a college student, and they were having an affair for many months before Ted told me and we separated.” I was awfully embarrassed saying all this to Detective McCloud.

  Still, I pushed on. “I don’t have any idea if he has done anything that he could be blackmailed over. We weren’t that close really, although we were married for decades. For more than half the marriage he did his own thing and was never really at home. He did his best to exclude me from his life, so I wouldn’t know more than any other person, really.”

  Detective McCloud nodded slowly. “I see. And was anyone close to the victim last night?”

  “What do you mean physically or emotionally?” I said, and then felt quite silly for asking.

  “Physically.” He looked somewhat amused.

  “His wife was sitting next to him the whole time. Are you asking if anyone had the opportunity to pour poison in his drink?”

  “What makes you think he was poisoned?”

  I groaned. “Come on, it’s obvious, isn’t it? How else could he have been murdered? It had to have been poison.”

  “Did you see anyone close to his champagne glass?”

  “His wife was sitting next to him, and Ted was sitting next to him as well. I didn’t see anyone touch his glass.”

  “And his champagne was from the same bottle as everyone else’s champagne?”

  “Yes.”

  McCloud raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure of that?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I’m certain.

  “And did everyone drink the champagne?”

  “We all did. I had less than most, but everyone had some.”

  “And you’re certain no food had been served at that point?”

  I nodded. “I’m certain. He was poisoned with a fast acting poison, wasn’t he? Otherwise you wouldn’t ask these questions.”

  “I’m not at liberty to say,” McCloud said although he looked most discomfited.

  I couldn’t wait to tell Matilda that the poison was fast acting.

  Something occurred to me. “You know, the poison was probably slipped into his champagne during the diversion.”

  McCloud tapped his pen on his notepad. “Oh yes, when the man knocked into the waiter. Did you actually see them make contact?”

  I thought back. “I turned around when I heard the glass breaking. Let me see. The man was already running away from the waiter at the time I looked, and the waiter looked shocked.”

  “You didn’t see them actually make physical contact?” The detective asked me.

  I thought that a strange thing to ask. After a moment’s reflection, I said, “No, because I only turned around after I heard the glass break and the man was already running away by then.”

  McCloud nodded. “And did you see anyone else make physical contact with that particular waiter, the one who served the champagne?”

  I was about to speak when he said, “Take your time. This could be important.”

  I wanted to ask why, but I knew he wouldn’t tell me. Instead, I ran the previous night scene through my mind. “I can’t really remember. I think the women were upset and he was comforting them, but that’s all I can remember.”

  He smiled at me. I noticed the way crinkles formed at the edges of his gorgeous blue eyes.

  “You’ve been most helpful, Miss Delight, oh, I mean Jane.” He added quietly, “And please call me Damon, although not when I’m conducting police business, of course.” He shifted from one foot to the other and avoided my gaze.

  “Damon,” I said with a smile, and wondered when I would actually be in his presence when he wasn’t conducting police business. As I was reflecting on that, Matilda and Eleanor burst through the door. Eleanor was clutching Mr. Crumbles.

  “What’s taking you so long, Jane? We were wo
ndering what was taking you so long,” Matilda said, “but now we see for ourselves.” She afforded me a big grin, much to my embarrassment.

  “Detective McCloud needed to ask me some more questions,” I said.

  “I bet he did,” Matilda said with another wink, this one directed at Detective McCloud.

  He looked down and once more fidgeted from foot to foot. “Well, that will be all for now. Good night ladies.” With that, he left.

  Matilda rounded on Eleanor. “You’ve brought the cat into the store! And in front of a police officer.”

  “He’s a detective. He doesn’t work for the health department,” Eleanor said in a rare scornful tone.

  “Let’s go!” I said. “We’re already late.”

  “Aren’t you going to put some make-up on first?” Matilda said.

  “I am wearing make-up,” I said. “Anyway, we’re going to visit my Amish sister and her husband. Make-up is the last thing you need to wear to visit Amish folks, surely?”

  Matilda looked puzzled, so I added, “I’ll just run upstairs and fetch the food I’m taking to her.”

  “Give me the keys to your car and we’ll have the car door open for you,” Matilda said.

  I shook my finger at her. “I’m driving!”

  By the time I had run upstairs, fetched all the food, and grabbed my purse, I was feeling rather hassled. I just wanted to lie down with a cold pack on my forehead and my feet up. It seemed things were carrying me along faster than I wanted them to do.

  Mr. Crumbles was sitting at the base of the pole, looking longingly at it. “No you don’t!” I said. He meowed pitifully, so I ran back into the kitchen and popped his favorite treat into his cat bowl.

  When I got to the car, I found Matilda in the driver’s seat. “Please let me drive,” she said in a pleading tone.

  I shrugged. “All right, but please drive slowly and within the speed limits.”

  “I always drive within the speed limits,” Matilda said haughtily.

  Eleanor made a snorting sound. “That’s not true, Matilda. Remember that time we were fleeing from East Berlin…”

  I interrupted her. “East Berlin?” I said in shock.

  “Hush, Eleanor,” Matilda said.

  Undaunted, Eleanor pushed on. “Yes, it was before the wall was taken down of course, and we were in East Berlin trying to make a rapid exit.”

  “That’s enough of that,” Matilda said. “Jane, you will have to direct me to your sister’s farm. I know the way of course, but I might forget.”

  She most certainly did know the way and I knew she was trying to distract me from asking questions about East Berlin. I had often wondered what these two sisters had been up to in the past, and now I was even more intrigued. Whatever were they doing in East Berlin back in the day, and why had they found the need to beat a hasty retreat? Maybe I would never know.

  When we arrived at Rebecca’s house, we found her sitting, reading her German Martin Luther Bible. She looked quite cheery.

  “I thought you’d be all forlorn,” Matilda said. “How’s your arm?”

  “It doesn’t hurt really,” Rebecca said. “Not since it was set anyway, and Sarah Beiler has given me comfrey and arnica tincture to take for healing and bruising.”

  “Gut,” I said, lapsing into Pennsylvania Dutch. “Matilda and Eleanor made you macaroni cheese.”

  Rebecca’s face lit up. “Denki! Ephraim will be home soon. We will share dinner.”

  Matilda made to protest, but Rebecca waved her good arm at her. “Nee, you must stay and tell us about what happened at the shop today.”

  “Maybe Matilda and Eleanor would like to prepare the dinner while you and I go over today’s sales figures.”

  Soon Rebecca and I were sipping hot meadow tea and Matilda and Eleanor were making themselves busy in the kitchen. Rebecca seemed quite pleased with the day’s takings. “I don’t want you to worry about the store, Rebecca,” I told her. “It’s all under control. Have a good rest.”

  Just then Ephraim came through the door. “Jane, wunderbar!” he said. “It’s gut to see you. Thank you so much for helping Rebecca in the store.”

  “You’re most welcome,” I said. “Matilda and Eleanor will have dinner ready soon.”

  He beamed. “Denki, I’ll just go and wash up.”

  “We made some extra cupcakes last night for you,” I told Rebecca. “We thought we would do some baking here after dinner if that’s all right with you.”

  “Denki,” she said. “Some of the ladies are coming over tomorrow to clean the house and do some baking.”

  I nodded. Amish communities were good like that. No one was ever alone, and the community members always helped each other.

  “And over dinner, you can tell us all about last night’s murder,” Rebecca said.

  My jaw dropped open. “You know about that already?” I said in shock.

  She nodded. “You’re aware that Wanda Hershberger’s daughter, Waneta, works in the medical examiner’s office. Waneta heard all about it and told her mother, and her mother told Susannah Stutzman, who came over and made lunch for us today.”

  “I was going to break it to you gently,” I told her.

  Rebecca frowned. “There’s nothing to be worried about, is there, Jane? You’re not a suspect this time, are you?”

  I let out a big sigh of relief. “No, not this time.”

  Just then, Matilda and Eleanor walked in. They placed steaming bowls on the table after saying a passing hello to Ephraim.

  The four of us sat around the table and bowed our heads for the silent prayer. I said the Lord’s Prayer silently as per usual, and then opened my eyes. I bit back a smile when I saw Matilda and Eleanor peeping, each with one eye open. After everyone had helped themselves to large servings of vegetables, mashed potato, as well as John Cope’s Corn, a baked casserole favored by the Amish, Ephraim asked “What’s this about the murder last night, Jane? Are you all right? Rebecca and I are quite concerned about you.”

  “Yes, I’m perfectly all right now,” I told him. “I do feel quite shaken up that everything happened so fast. I haven’t had a moment to gather my thoughts.” I briefly filled in Ephraim and Rebecca, and then concluded, “And the strangest thing was my ex-husband’s wife Cherri came to the apartment last night to ask for my help.”

  Both Ephraim and Rebecca gasped. “What did she say?” Rebecca asked me.

  “Apparently Ted is a suspect. The police think the victim was blackmailing Ted. Cherri wants my help because she thinks I knew Ted better than anyone, even though I tried to point out that I didn’t. After all, we pretty much led independent lives before we separated, which became obvious to me only in hindsight,” I admitted. “She said she doesn’t have anyone else to turn to.”

  “Do you think it’s true that this man was blackmailing Ted?” Jane asked me.

  I shrugged one shoulder. “I have no idea, to be honest. Cherri, of course, is convinced that Ted can do no wrong.”

  “Yes, she seems quite smitten with him,” Matilda said. “It’s put Jane in a difficult position.”

  Ephraim nodded. “Yes, it does. What are you going to do, Jane?”

  I yawned and stretched. “Have a good night sleep for starters. I really don’t know how I can help. To make matters worse, Cherri doesn’t even want Ted to know I’m helping her find out who the murderer is.”

  Ephraim set down his fork. “Jane, please be careful. It’s not good to be mixed up in such matters. You should leave it to the police.”

  “I really would like to leave it to the police,” I told him, “but I told Cherri I’d help her.”

  “I’m going to pretend to be a private detective,” Matilda suddenly announced. “That way Jane will be safe. Jane only has to convince Cherri to tell Ted she hired me. Ted has never met me. I need to interrogate him to see if he was being blackmailed.”

  Ephraim frowned deeply. “But would he tell you the truth?”

  “I have my ways,” Matilda s
aid rather confidently.

  The talk soon turned to news of the community.

  Later that night I was in the kitchen making a beet cake for Ephraim and Rebecca to eat the following day. I was boiling the beets and thinking about what Matilda had said. I didn’t want to put Matilda in danger, and I wished I hadn’t said I would help Cherri.

  Rebecca and Ephraim were reading, while Matilda and Eleanor were cleaning the kitchen even though I had told them that people from the community were going to be cleaning the entire house the following day.

  Chapter 7

  Early the next morning, Ephraim called me from his workshop to tell me that Wanda Hershberger had some information for me.

  It was six in the morning and I was on my first cup of coffee for the day. Matilda and Eleanor were already up. Matilda was doing Pilates, and Eleanor was hanging upside down from the pole.

  I thanked Ephraim, hung up, and then hurried over to Eleanor. “Are you all right?” I asked her.

  “Probably not,” she said. “I just can’t seem to get this maneuvre right.”

  Matilda looked up from doing some sort of complicated yoga pose. “You should stretch first, of course.”

  I wondered how they managed it. After all, I was decades younger than they were and I couldn’t do a complicated yoga pose if my life depended on it.

  I at once told them the news. Matilda stood up and Eleanor landed from the pole, her head missing the ground by inches.

  “Let’s go there right away,” Matilda said. “We’ll have to hurry to get back in time to open the shop.”

  “I need my second cup of coffee first,” I protested.

  Matilda put her hands on her hips. “You’re not throwing yourself into this investigation are you?”

  “No,” I admitted. “I promised Cherri I’d help, so I will. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “Well, come on then, get ready! I’ll make you some more coffee while you get changed.”

  I threw on some clothes and then staggered into the kitchen, my hand stretched out for the coffee. After the second round of caffeine, I felt better.