by Tonya Kappes
I looked back with a stone face. “Yes.” The word fell out of my mouth without me even thinking about it.
“You’re serious.” The smile on Iris’s face slowly faded away. She looked at the oven when the preheated timer beeped done. “And how do you plan on doing that?”
Iris stood up from the old farmhouse table and walked over to the oven with two cookie sheets filled with pumpkin sugar cookies. She put them in the oven and moved to the counter.
“I plan on talking to people.” I wasn’t sure what people, but people. I shut the mixer off and slid the lock knob to unlock, pushing up the top of the mixer to retrieve the bowl.
Iris and I both stuck our fingers in the dough to taste it to make sure it was perfect. We let it sit inside our mouths to let the ingredients mix with our saliva before we swallowed.
“I think it needs a little more pumpkin pie spice,” Iris finally said.
“You’re right,” I agreed, reaching for the metal spice container.
“Good. You don’t need to look into any murder.” Iris was mistaken about what I agreed with.
“No, you’re right about needing more spice.” I shook the container over the mixing bowl. “Wrong about helping Mac. I’m going to start right now.”
After a few final rounds of the mixer, I handed the dough to Iris to roll out while I grabbed my iPad.
“What are you doing?” Iris had dug her hand into the dough.
“I’m going to make some notes.” I touched the screen to bring up the notes app as I sat down across from Iris. “You’ve seen it in those Hallmark shows. The person who solves the crimes is usually a baker or librarian, even a campground owner. Surely I can figure out something.” The excitement of it welled up inside of me. “I’m a mail carrier. Don’t you realize all the gossip I hear? I drown it out every day with a smile on my face. I get people’s mail and know things they don’t want me to know.”
“And that’s going to help solve Chuck Shilling’s murder how?” Iris wasn’t convinced in the slightest bit. She rolled the dough.
“It’ll help figure out who heard what. It wasn’t like Dennis Kuntz was quiet this morning.” I recalled when I had passed the diner and he was outside with that toothpick in his mouth, his big belly full, talking about the city council meeting they’d had the night before. “I’ve got to go see Mama and see if Audrey heard anything and go back to the nursing home to talk to Vince Caldwell.”
“I get Audrey, since she worked at the country club restaurant and has her side gig at the diner, but why Vince?” Iris walked over to the oven and flipped the light switch, illuminating the inside. She bent down to get a look at the cookies.
“He has never missed a council meeting. He Ubers to each meeting.” I loved how Vince had embraced the new technology and not gotten complacent like I’d seen other elders do over the past ten years. “He will be able to give me some insight on what happened publicly between Mac and Dennis.”
“Dennis?” Iris grabbed the oven mitts.
She took the cookies out of the oven and used a spatula to take them off to put them on the cooling rack. We had found that with the right amount of dough and the perfect temperature and baking time, the perfect cookie was made.
“Dennis Kuntz is Chuck…was Chuck’s business partner. It wasn’t an even split, and truly, he was just a financial backer to the failing club.” I looked over the cookies, which smelled great. “He was just as determined to stop the sale of the country club as Ashley was.”
“Let me guess.” She watched me as I grabbed my iPad. “He’s going in your notes too.”
“Good guess.” I leaned up against the sink and typed in my notes about Dennis.
“Those look and smell yummy.” The hint of pumpkin, cinnamon, and sugar floated through my kitchen. My eyes took in the golden-brown edges of the cookie. I picked one up and broke it in half to look at the chewy middle. “Perfection.”
I could imagine the faces of the customers who’d be buying some from the boosters as they bit down into the crunch, only to end with a chewy middle, sending them off into cookie heaven.
Iris made her special pumpkin spice glaze to pour over the top of them while I continued to type notes into my iPad.
“You’ve lost your mind.” Iris shook her head.
“As long as we don’t lose this game tonight.” I quickly read through my notes.
Iris had donated some of her Pie in the Face boxes to transport the cookies to the concession stand at the high school stadium.
“I’ll be sure to keep my ears open too.” Iris looked up as she placed the cookies in the boxes.
“You’re the best.” I took a step over to her and hugged her. “You know as well as I know that Mac didn’t kill anyone.”
I headed down the hall of my little farmhouse to my bedroom so I could change into my jeans, Sugar Creek Gap sweatshirt, and tennis shoes.
“I know that you are passionate about it, and I’m going to help you.” Iris’s words put a big smile on my face. “Tell me what you know.”
“Great!” I hollered out the bedroom door, quickly changing. Rowena had followed me into the room and was sitting on my dresser when I turned around to sit on the bed and put on my tennis shoes. “Too bad I can’t have your keen sense to solve this crime,” I told her and gave her a couple of scratches on the head.
My little ranch had been perfect for my little family of three. We had two bedrooms with a Jack-and-Jill bath between them. One room was mine and Richard’s, the other Grady’s. The hallway opened up into a large family room with a big stone fireplace and open kitchen.
I had a very comfy sectional couch with big slouchy pillows and quilts to snuggle up next to the fireplace on cold winter nights. There was a big-screen television mounted above the fireplace, where Grady and Richard had spent many Sundays watching NFL while I made chili and baked a sweet treat.
The farm table separated the kitchen from the family room. I had open shelves with very few dishes on them, since my family of three had dwindled to one.
I sat down at the farm table with my iPad in my hand. I scrolled to the top of my notes and started to read what I’d already written. “Let’s go with the suspects one by one and their motives.”
“Sounds good.” Iris hit the timer button to stop it dinging when it went off. She took out the other cookies and scooped them off the sheet to put on the cooling rack.
“First we have Mac Tabor.” I got goose bumps even thinking I had to keep him on the list for obvious reasons. “He had been seen having an argument with Chuck not only outside his house but also at Madame’s.”
“What?” Iris’s mouth dropped open. She knew the bar visit was out of character as well as I did.
I shook my head.
“The murder weapon was found at his house.” I used the pad of my finger to scroll down. “Ashley Williams is my next suspect. She’s on the city council that’s leading the charge for the citizens to stop the sale and the condos. She lives in the neighborhood, and she mentioned how she felt like their little community would be in for a lot of new traffic. She also said something about property values going down and how the dream of her daughter growing up in a great neighborhood is being shattered. She also got what she wanted with Chuck Shilling dead. No commissioners’ meeting, and the sale is obviously on hold.”
I remembered what Vick had told me in front of the radio station before I’d gone to give my statement to the sheriff’s department and before talking to Mac.
“You mentioned something about laying at the door of the lawyer’s office?” Iris inquired, making me happy that she was listening to me.
“Yes. Mac said Ashley had threatened him and Chuck.” I nodded and typed it into the notes so I wouldn’t forget. “Oh!” I snapped my fingers. “Ashley said that Mac had everything he got coming to him.”
“What did she mean by that?” Iris put the last cookie in the box and closed it.
“I don’t know, but if she knew Chuck was dead…�
� My thoughts started to put some theories together. “She killed Chuck and knew it looked like Mac did it, so he would be charged and the deal would fall through.” I smacked my hands together. “And she spray-painted the golf course.”
“Spray-painted the golf course?” Iris had yet to hear that little bit of news.
I quickly told her about how Angela had come to Mac’s while I was delivering the mail and before I found the body and mentioned how someone had called into Lucy’s radio morning show about seeing Mac and a woman at Madame’s.
“A woman?” Iris’s eyes popped open. “Who?”
“Yeah.” Even after the few hours that’d gone by, my heart was still a little stung by that information.
As I told her about it, I grabbed the scarf Grady and Julia had gotten for me and used the guardian angel pin to secure it in place. We put all the boxes of cookies in my minivan. “Be good, Rowena!” I hollered back toward the bedroom, though I knew she didn’t pay me any attention.
“Nice pin.” Iris smiled.
“Thanks. The front porch ladies gave it to me in honor of Richard’s ten-year anniversary.” I ran my finger over it and truly believed I was being watched over.
EIGHT
The high school stadium lights could be seen all over Sugar Creek Gap. I dropped Iris off at the pep rally so I could get on over to the field to give the cookies to Eileen Dade, the booster president.
The campus consisted of all levels of education, with buildings for the preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school. All the buildings were connected by an open-air walkway covered by a metal awning.
The sports complex, which spanned all four buildings, included a basketball gym, tennis courts, a baseball field, a softball field, and a football field that also was turned into a soccer and lacrosse field during those sports’ seasons.
But it was football that made everyone crazy around Sugar Creek Gap, and tonight was our big rival game. Since I’d not heard from Grady, especially since it was our day-of-death anniversary, I knew he must be really stressed.
I pulled into the school complex and drove around to the back gate, where the ambulance waited for those just-in-case injuries. I quickly prayed there’d be none tonight or any night for that matter.
Eileen darted around the corner of the concession stand building and waved when she saw it was me.
“Let me help you.” She came around the back of the van and put her arms out. She was the mom of a current football player, Samuel. Grady really liked the young man.
I took her up on her offer and loaded her up with a couple batches of cookies.
“These smell so good.” She put her nose up to one of the cardboard boxes. “I might buy a whole box.”
She smiled and turned around. Eileen’s hair was long and black. She had the standard Southern girl look. If I didn’t know Eileen was close to forty years old and had one child in high school and one in college, I’d have thought she was a college kid herself.
“Who are you kidding?” I took a couple of boxes myself and followed her inside the concession stand. “You might have a nibble, but I’ve seen you out here walking the track when Samuel is out there on the field for practice.”
I remembered a few years back when Grady had said how he couldn’t wait until Samuel got to be a junior and senior because he was on a whole different playing field athletically than the other boys.
“I have to keep up with these boys.” Eileen took out a cookie and took just a pinch, just like I thought she would. “Tonight is a big night.” She sighed.
“I know.” I reached out and touched her. “I know I’m not supposed to know, but Grady told me.”
“Samuel is so nervous.” Eileen shook her head. “A big scout coming, and it would mean so much to his future if he would be recruited by a college and his entire school paid for.”
“I know.” I squeezed her arm. “He’s smart and really talented. I’m sure once he gets on the field, his memory will take over, and he’ll get out there to get the job done.”
“I sure hope so.” Her eyes grew big. She let out a deep sigh and clapped her hands. “Let’s get the rest of those cookies.”
“All right.” I gave a hard nod and followed her back out to my minivan.
There were a few men on the boosters who had already fired up the grill. Soon the air would be filled with good-smelling beef burgers from the local cattlemen’s association. The thought of them literally made my mouth water.
“Emmalynn Simpson won’t be here tonight. She and Kenneth had some sort of argument.”
When Eileen mentioned Kenneth Simpson, my ears perked up.
“Oh no. I hate to hear that.” I was about to lay it on thick. “I thought they never fought.”
“All this talk about Kenneth being the reason the country club went bankrupt has taken a toll on her.”
“I heard the country club was going bankrupt, but I’d not heard anything about Kenneth.” This could be a good motive for Kenneth Simpson to have killed Chuck Shilling. “Plus now that Chuck has been…” I hesitated as I remembered his body lying there.
My heart started to beat a little faster. There were so many questions rolling around in my head that wanted so desperately to slide off my tongue and out of my mouth that I literally had to pinch my lips together.
“Oh God, Bernadette.” Eileen shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I completely forgot my husband told me it was you who found Chuck Shilling.”
“It was awful.” I piled a couple more boxes in her arms and grabbed a couple myself. I continued to talk as we walked back to the concession stand. “Needless to say, it was the last thing I thought was going to happen today. Especially since it’s ten years ago today that Richard was killed.”
“Geez, I can’t believe you’re here, much less still standing.” Eileen gave me that look.
“I’m fine. Life still goes on.” Not for Chuck, I wanted to say, but instead turned the questioning back to Kenneth and Emmalynn. “Why did Kenneth and Emmalynn have a fight? Is Kenneth a suspect or something?”
I figured if Emmalynn knew something about Chuck’s murder or murderer, that would be good cause for them to have an argument.
“I have no idea.” She looked out the door when we heard the band in the distance. This meant we only had a few minutes to get this concession stand open for business. “You think?”
“I just can’t believe they wouldn’t be here to see Teri cheer.” I wanted to lay it on thick that my disbelief was of epic proportion. “I can’t help but wonder if Kenneth is the killer, since he’d been accused for making the country club go bankrupt.”
I decided to let that linger between us. I could tell by the blank look on her face that she was trying to process what I was saying. She took another cookie, which was completely out of character, and did something that was really eye-opening to me: she ate the whole thing without even realizing it.
“You know, Kenneth was spending so much money on redoing the course, he didn’t even take into consideration what was needed for the pool or the restaurant. There are so many repairs that need to be done to the pool, I don’t even think they will be able to reopen it.” She shook a finger at me and leaned her hip on the counter of the concession stand. “Come to think of it, Emmalynn did say something about needing a lawyer for something.”
“She did?” I put my hand up to my mouth as if I were in shock. “Oh no.” I shook my head. “Poor Emmalynn.”
Now that I’d planted a little seed in Eileen’s head, I knew it was something I’d be able to come back and revisit in a couple of days. She was sure to ask Emmalynn. After all, Teri and Samuel were boyfriend and girlfriend.
“Here they come!” we heard someone yelling outside the concession stand.
We hurried back out to my car and grabbed as many of the cookie boxes as we could so we’d be ready for the crowd of fans walking behind the football team, who were walking behind the cheerleaders, who were chanting the high school fight
song being played by the band.
The booster members lined up across from each other on the field next to the goal posts along with the early fans who had come to the game instead of the pep rally to grab a good seat.
Before I went to join them out on the field, I took my phone out and clicked on my notes, thankful the app synced to all my devices, and added Kenneth Simpson to the list. Now I had four suspects, all with good motives.
As I cheered my loudest, I could see that Grady’s face was stern and serious. My gut fell to my knees as the pride swept across my face. I could’ve just cried looking at my strong, handsome boy. He had his game face on. When we made eye contact, I could still see the worry deep within his gaze. I gave him a Mom wink filled with love, causing a very slight upward curve on each side of his lips only a mother would notice.
He knew I had him in my heart no matter what the outcome of the game was going to be.
“We need to talk.” Someone grabbed me by my arm when I wasn’t looking.
“Mac.” I gasped with relief when I saw it was him. “You’re free.”
“Yeah. Do you really think I killed Chuck?” His brows furrowed as his eyes searched my face. His jaw slightly dropped. “Are you serious, Bernie? I had to use my business as collateral to make bail.”
“Of course I don’t think you did it,” I whispered. I walked away from the line of fans cheering on the team as they made it onto the field for the warmup. “That’s why I have a list of suspects.”
The band was playing the Grizzly fight song, and the crowd was doing its best impression of growling bears. It was so loud I could barely hear myself think, much less make my whisper audible to Mac.
Instead of trying to talk above the crowd, I motioned for him to follow me to my minivan, where I could use the excuse that I needed help with the rest of the cookies if anyone asked.
“Get in,” I told him and walked around to my side.
“This is a nightmare,” he started off as soon as we got into the van. “I have an alibi. I was...” He stopped and looked at me. “Suspects?”