by Jessica Beck
“It’s a long story,” Jenny said with a sigh.
“My dear,” Momma told her, “we’ve got nothing but time at the moment.”
It turned out that she was wrong about that, but we didn’t know it quite yet.
“I’m adopted,” Jenny explained. “My folks were great, but when they died in a car wreck, I started wondering who my real mother was and why she gave me up. I dug into the old records at the courthouse and sifted through boxes and boxes of letters and documents my folks kept, all without any luck. I must have asked a thousand people a million different questions, all without any success. Then I got a break and found an older woman who was dying. She knew all about what happened, and she figured I had a right to know, so she told me all of it. That led me to April Springs after my divorce, and I opened For The Birds. You see, I was so obsessed with finding her that it ruined my marriage.”
“Margaret is your mother, isn’t she?” I asked as everything started to fall into place. I’d noticed how the two women had acted and looked similarly and remembered the bond they’d developed since Jenny had come to town.
“Yes,” she admitted. “I haven’t told a soul in the world that, but it’s true.”
“Does she know it?” Momma asked. It would have never even occurred to me to ask the question, but evidently it was a good one.
“No, and I can’t bring myself to tell her,” Jenny said, the tears creeping down her cheeks.
“So, you came here, opened your shop, and then befriended her to get to know her. That’s why you hired her, wasn’t it? To keep her close to you?”
“I wanted to get to know her as a person first! I was about to tell her everything a few days ago when she confided in me what was happening with Carson Winfield. She was falling apart! It broke my heart not to tell her then, but I decided that I’d wait until this mess was all over and done. She told me she was meeting Carson at the clock, and I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be to pay him off. I couldn’t let her do it! The only problem was that she must have gone to meet him early! By the time I got to the dunking tank, he was already dead! When I found his body, I was sure that she’d killed him! What could I do? I had to protect her. There was only one person I knew of who was normally out and about that time of morning, so I grabbed a mask and a broom and put it in front of the shop to warn you not to come out, Suzanne.”
“It didn’t work,” I said. “If you knew me at all, you would have known that.”
“I made a mistake,” Jenny said. “Anyway, when I saw that he was already dead, I ran back home. I had to figure out how to protect her. The police didn’t seem all that interested in Carson’s death, so I knew that I only had to worry about you.”
“You obviously left the warning pumpkin in front of my shop,” I said. “Did you throw the trash-bag body into the road as well?”
“I figured it would take something dramatic to get you off Margaret’s trail,” she admitted. “I never wanted to hurt you. I just wanted to scare you away.”
“The only thing you did was intensify my interest,” I said.
“I can see that now, but my mother, my birth mother, can’t go to jail. I’m only just now getting to know her. They can’t take her away.”
“She claims she didn’t kill him, either,” I said. I wasn’t about to mention the fact that Carson Winfield, the murder victim, was her biological father. If she didn’t know, I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her. Let that secret wait for another day.
“But if she didn’t kill him, who did?” Jenny asked.
“I have a sneaking suspicion that I know,” I said. “I’m willing to bet that it was Arthur Bradshaw, and if we set the trap properly, I believe we can catch him red-handed.”
“Very good, Suzanne. I knew that you were smarter than you looked. Then again, you’d have to be, wouldn’t you?” Arthur asked as he stepped through the back door, a revolver in his hand. Evidently the door hadn’t closed properly behind us, and he must have been standing just outside, listening to every word we spoke. “That pitiful excuse for a man deserved to die,” he said as he came inside, “and I’m glad I got the opportunity to do it myself.”
CHAPTER 19
“You killed him because of your girlfriend all those years ago,” I said. “Folks are going to understand your motivation. I’m sure if you turn yourself in, the jury will be sympathetic toward you.”
“Maybe yes, maybe no, but there isn’t going to be a trial,” Arthur said.
“Why did you kill him on top of the dunking tank?” Momma asked him. It was as good a question as any, and I wanted to know the same thing myself.
“Carson was sitting there as though he was king of the world! When I confronted him, he was actually chuckling about something. The man had the nerve to reach out to me when he arrived! He said he wanted to make amends for what he’d done, and he hinted that he had a ‘can’t miss’ opportunity he wanted to share with me as a way of making up for his indiscretion all those years ago, as he called it. Can you imagine that? He killed the love of my life twenty-five years ago, and now he was asking me for money! I agreed to meet him, even at that crazy hour. I would have done anything for a chance to pay him back for the heartbreak he’d caused me. I told him to come down off the bench, but he insisted that I climb the steps and join him. I had planned to make him suffer, but his arrogance inflamed me! I only wish I’d brought this revolver with me. I saw a sharp polished stick on the ground, picked it up, and then I pretended to hand him an envelope stuffed with newspaper clippings as I jabbed him in the chest. The thing broke off in my hand, and I panicked. I ran, and as I did, I saw Jenny coming around the corner of the hardware store right toward us. I climbed down and got away two seconds before she would have seen me, and I ran toward St. Theresa’s to hide. I would have gotten away with it, too, if you hadn’t started snooping around, Suzanne. You and your mother just couldn’t let the police handle things, could you?”
“We did what we felt was right. Arthur, surely you can’t kill all of us,” I said.
“I beg to differ,” he replied. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to, but what choice do I have? I can’t go to jail, not at my age.”
“But Arthur, we’re friends,” I said. “Do you honestly think it’s going to be easy killing me?” I was hoping to play on his sympathy long enough to come up with a plan. It was too bad the deep-frying oil was stone cold. There were a few potential weapons around the kitchen, but I had to be careful. It wasn’t just my life at stake, but my mother’s and Jenny’s as well.
“You serve me donuts, Suzanne. That doesn’t make us all that close. What’s my middle name?”
“I have no idea,” I said. “I’m friends with lots of people, and I don’t know any of their middle names.”
“Mine’s Heather,” Jenny said from one side of him.
“Okay, that’s good to know,” I said, wondering why she’d felt the need to chime in with such an inane detail. Then we made eye contact, and I saw her glance toward the back door. It was still slightly ajar. I’d have to get that fixed if we ever got out of this, but why was Jenny pointing it out to me? Was she hoping to run for help? I couldn’t imagine figuring out how to distract Arthur long enough for her to escape, and even if she managed it, what good would it do Momma and me? Jenny might be gone, but we’d be left with a killer, and an angry one at that.
“Arthur, if you leave us here unharmed, I am willing to give you the cash to finance your escape,” Momma said.
He laughed at the suggestion. “No offense, but how much could you have on you? A hundred dollars isn’t going to do me much good, and I can’t exactly take a personal check.”
That was when I remembered Momma’s errand. She was on her way to buy some land. I’d assumed it would be a banking transaction, but evidently the seller had wanted cash. She’d warned me that he was eccentric.
“Would twenty thousand dollars change your mind?” Momma asked as she started to reach into her purse.
“Stop right there,” Arthur said firmly. “Don’t move a muscle.”
“I was merely getting the money to give you,” Momma said.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll look for myself,” Arthur said. “Hand me your purse nice and easy.”
Momma shrugged, and as she started to hand him her heavy bag, Jenny made a choking noise beside him. When he turned to look in her direction, Momma struck him as hard as she could with her purse. It was as though the two of them had choreographed it earlier, but the results were not what they’d hoped for.
The purse glanced off Arthur’s shoulder instead of striking him in the head. It did manage to hit the gun, though it didn’t dislodge it.
I quickly did the only thing I could think to do.
I grabbed for the gun, and we wrestled for control as Momma recovered her balance and wound up for another swing at him.
This time her aim was truer, and it landed squarely on his forehead, knocking him backward against the outside door. His feet flew out from under him, and as they did, the gun went flying, landing in the vat of cold oil. Even if he could find a way to get to his feet again and recover the weapon, I doubted that it would still fire.
Jenny immediately sat on his chest, pinning him against the floor, while I grabbed a chair from the dining area and pressed it down on his neck.
“You can get up now, Jenny,” I said as Momma took out her phone and began to dial.
“Did you really have that much cash in your purse, or were you bluffing?” she asked my mother as she stayed right where she was.
“I actually do have it, and I was going to turn it over to him when I thought to myself, ‘What would Suzanne do?’ Slamming his head with my handbag seemed to be a viable option, so I struck out at him. Sorry the first blow wasn’t as effective as I’d hoped.”
“You did great,” I said. “The second one was a home run.”
Jenny was still on top of the man.
“I can’t breathe,” Arthur protested as she pushed down even harder.
“Sorry about that,” she replied, showing no real sympathy at all.
Ultimately it took two police officers to get Jenny off of him, and before she finally allowed herself to be lifted off, she managed to give him one last jab with the heel of her hand.
Margaret and Gabby were outside watching as they led Arthur away in handcuffs. “What happened? We saw the police cars from the window.”
Jenny looked at me, and I nodded. “Now is as good a time as ever.”
“You need to do this,” Momma told her, and Jenny dipped her head slightly.
“Margaret, can we talk?” Jenny asked her softly.
“Of course, child. What is it?”
“I’m your daughter,” Jenny said, and then she collapsed into the older woman’s arms. The look on Gabby’s face was priceless, and to my surprise, she was actually speechless, something that almost never happened with her.
“I knew it. Deep in my heart, I always knew it from the moment you came to town,” Margaret said as she embraced her biological daughter. “Please don’t hate me. I was young and I was weak, and I let my parents force me into giving you up. Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?” Margaret was crying more than Jenny at that point. I wanted to give them their privacy, but I couldn’t bring myself to look away. It helped a little when I realized that Momma and Gabby were just as enthralled as I was.
“There’s nothing to forgive,” Jenny said. “I grew up with a good family who loved me. There was just something missing, you know?”
“I’d love to meet them and thank them personally,” Margaret said.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. You see, they are both dead,” she said.
When she saw Jenny start to cry again, Margaret held her close. “I can never replace them in your heart, nor would I want to even if I could, but I’d love to have you in my life, if you’ll have me.”
“That’s why I came here in the first place,” she said.
Momma touched my arm. “Suzanne, let’s see about that meal you promised to buy me.”
“I still don’t have my wallet,” I said as I saw two other police squad cars arrive out front.
“Then I’d be delighted to treat, especially after what just happened.”
I agreed, but not before I stopped and gave my own mother a hug. “I love you, Momma.”
“I know it, but not as much as I love you,” she said with a smile.
CHAPTER 20
“I can’t believe they finished the cottage before Halloween,” I said as Jake and I lay in bed, back home again in record time.
“When your mother sets her mind on something, she finds a way to make it happen,” my husband said lazily. It was early for him to be in bed, but he was still feeling the effects of his labors.
“I appreciate you trying, though,” I said, snuggling a little closer.
“As a handyman, it turns out that I’m an excellent law enforcement officer,” he said with a chuckle.
“I think you’re just about perfect, no matter what you do,” I said with a yawn. “Can you believe that little Cindy Wilcox won the grand prize at the donut-decorating contest this morning?”
“Hey, her donut was the best one there by far. I don’t even think the other winners minded losing out to a little girl,” Jake answered. “I don’t know about you, but I’m glad Fright Week is over.”
“I’ll second that,” I said as I stifled a yawn. “Jake, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”
“Can it wait until tomorrow? I’m really beat,” he replied.
I had to laugh. “Usually I’m the one conking out early. This will just take a second. Barton Gleason wants to lease Donut Hearts at night to run a little bistro there full time in my off hours. Our schedules won’t overlap, and it might be a good extra source of income.”
“Now that I’m not working, you mean?” Jake asked lightly.
“As far as I’m concerned, you never need to go back to work,” I replied. “I’d be helping Barton out, and that would be nice. I know Emma would appreciate it.”
“What do you think about sharing your space? After all, Donut Hearts is all yours.”
“I share it with Emma and Sharon now,” I reminded him.
“I know, but that’s different.”
“So, you don’t think I should do it?” I asked him.
It was his turn to laugh. “Oh, no. I’m not walking into that bear trap. It’s your decision.”
“Aren’t you even going to give me your opinion?” I asked.
“I’m sure you’ll do the right thing, whatever that turns out to be,” Jake said, and then he kissed me and rolled over. “Good night, Suzanne. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I replied.
When it was time, I got up quietly so I wouldn’t wake him, and as I took a shower, I marveled at our vastly improved water pressure. The workmen had done their jobs well, and I had to admit that it was nice having the place updated. It still felt like the same old cottage to me, which was all that I ever wanted. Arthur Bradshaw had been robbed of the opportunity to be with the love of his life, and Carson Winfield had paid the price for her suicide. Jenny and Margaret were getting to know each other on an entirely different level, and the town was slowly recovering from what had turned out to be a tumultuous week.
I myself was ready for things to get back to normal.
I’d consider Barton’s offer, but for now, I wasn’t going to do anything about it.
All I wanted to do was to live in my lovely cottage with my husband, make donuts for the fine folks of April Springs, and spend quality time with my family and friends.
It might not have been enough for people who craved excitement and adventure, but for me, it was just about perfect.
RECİPES
Pumpkin Surprise Donuts
’Tis the season for pumpkin flavoring, and here’s an old family favorite that I’ve tweaked over the years until we’re
all happy with it. The taste of pumpkin isn’t overpowering, but it absolutely has the subtle flavoring we’ve all grown to love and count on in the season of pumpkins, ghosts, and goblins.
Ingredients
— 2 eggs, beaten
— 3/4 cup sugar
— 1 can pumpkin puree (16 oz.)
— 2 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
— 1/2 cup whole milk (2% will do as well)
— 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
— 4–5 cups bread flour
— 1 teaspoon salt
— 3 teaspoons baking powder
— 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
— 2 teaspoons nutmeg
— 2 teaspoons cinnamon
— 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Directions
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and then add the sugar, mixing thoroughly. Next, add the pumpkin, oil, milk, and vanilla extract, and then incorporate that as well. In another bowl, sift together 4 cups of the flour, the salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and ground ginger. Add this slowly to the liquid mix, stirring it in until it’s combined. If you need more flour to make a stiffer dough, incorporate that now.
Chill the dough for an hour, and then roll it out on a floured surface until it’s 1/3 to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out the rounds and reserve the holes to fry as well.
Heat enough canola oil to fry the donuts to 375 degrees F, and drop a few rounds into the hot oil, turning after 2 to 3 minutes. Remove them, drain them on a wire rack, and dust them with powdered sugar. For a twist at Halloween, follow Suzanne and Emma’s lead and make the donut holes into eyeballs, using a round application of white confectioners icing, a smaller blue, brown, or green dot, and an even smaller black dot on top of that.