Sinister Sprinkles

by Jessica Beck

  “I don’t know about you, but I need some fresh air,” I said. “I don’t see any reason to break with tradition now, do you?”

  “I don’t want to wake Grace.”

  I laughed. “Did you hear her snoring? I doubt you’d be able to rouse her with a cannon until daybreak. Come on, let’s go outside and see if it’s started snowing again.”

  We walked through the front, and I saw that Grace hadn’t moved an inch from her spot on the couch. Her breathing was deep and rich, and a part of me envied her the rest. Outside, it was clear that the snow had come again briefly, then it had tapered off to nothing. From the look of the sidewalk and the road, we hadn’t accumulated much more than a dusting since we’d been inside.

  Emma studied the scene, then said, “So, I guess the majority of the snow’s over, isn’t it?”

  “It looks like it. Have you seen a weather report lately?”

  “No, but when’s the last time we got two or three snows so close together?” she asked as she kicked at an errant chunk of frozen ice and slush.

  I thought about it. “Not for years, anyway. I’ll just be glad to finally see it go.”

  “But maybe it could stay until Christmas,” Emma said.

  “I thought you were the one who worshipped the sun and the heat?” I asked.

  “Come on, Suzanne. Everybody likes a white Christmas,” she said. “Even me.”

  As we took in the early morning, we were each left to our thoughts. The break we took between making cake donuts and the yeast ones was an important one for us. It allowed Emma and me to clear our heads of what we’d done, and focus on what we had ahead of us. Inside the proofing box, the yeast donut rounds were safe and warm, but I was happy to be outside despite the cold weather. It made me feel alive in a way that a warm day in August never seemed to manage.

  I glanced at my watch, and saw that we’d gone over our break-time by a full four minutes.

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  Emma nodded, and as we walked back in, the timer was beeping, and I worried that it had roused my friend. I glanced over at Grace, who looked so peaceful in her sleep, and saw that she hadn’t moved an inch.

  * * *

  Two minutes before opening, it was time to wake Grace so we could unlock the front door and welcome our customers. I couldn’t believe that loading the display cases with donuts hadn’t awakened her, or the freshly brewed coffee, either.

  I poured a mug of it, walked over to her, then gently shook her shoulder. “Hey, sleepyhead, it’s time to wake up.”

  “What? Where am I?” Grace said as she slowly awakened. “Suzanne?” It took her a second, then she spotted the coffee in my hand. “Must. Have. Coffee.”

  I handed her the mug, then as she took her first sip, I said, “I hate to wake you, but I’m opening the shop in one minute.”

  “I fell asleep?” she said as she rubbed her face with her free hand. The one holding the coffee wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Yes, before we even took our break.”

  “Why didn’t you wake me?” she asked.

  “Seriously? You looked so peaceful, I didn’t have the heart to do it.”

  Emma surprised me by getting a fresh yeast donut and handing it to Grace. “I owe you an apology. I’m sorry I was a little snippy this morning.”

  Grace took the donut gladly, then said, “Girl, if I had to get up every morning when you did, I’d be biting people’s heads off like they were made of chocolate.”

  Emma said, “That’s no excuse. I was afraid you wanted my job.”

  “Not if it paid a million dollars a month,” she said, then paused before adding, “Well, maybe then.” She smelled the fresh donut, then took a healthy bite. “This is wonderful, but it’s not worth it. Suzanne, I don’t know whether I have a whole new level of respect for you, or if I think you’re completely insane.”

  “Why can’t it be both?” I said. “Why don’t you move to a booth, unless you want to go back to the house. You can take the Jeep, if you’d like.”

  “I don’t think I’m ready to go back to my place yet.” For the first time that morning, a look of fear crept into her expression, and I hated myself for bringing it up.

  “I meant you could go back to my house. I’m sure Momma would be thrilled to fix you a big breakfast again this morning.”

  “Donuts and coffee, that’s what I need,” she said. “Unless you don’t want me hanging around.”

  “Are you kidding? We’d love to have you. Right, Emma?”

  To my assistant’s credit, she didn’t even hesitate. “That’s right. Would you like another donut? We’ve got all kinds.”

  Grace shook her head. “This is great, for now. You two have work to do. Don’t let me stop you.”

  “We didn’t, and we won’t,” I said with a smile.

  I unlocked the front door, but since nobody was waiting to get in, it was more a formality than anything else.

  Five minutes later, customers started streaming in, and it felt good to have something to offer them. A day without donuts was a day without joy for a lot of my regulars, and I didn’t ever want to be responsible for taking that away from them.

  An hour later, I was pleased with the morning’s sales so far when Chief Martin came in, with Officer Grant in tow. From the expressions on their faces, I had a feeling that my joy quotient for the day had just run out.

  CHAPTER 6

  “Why do I get the feeling that you’re not here for donuts,” I said as the chief approached the front counter.

  “Suzanne, we need to talk.”

  “Is that why there’s two of you?” I asked. “Are you actually ganging up on me now? What’s going on, Chief?”

  “It’s about Max,” he said, and I felt the blood drain from my face.

  “He’s dead, isn’t he?” All of a sudden, I found myself regretting every harsh word I’d ever hurled at him, every door I’d slammed in his face. Now I’d never get the chance to say I was sorry, to wipe the slate clean between us.

  The chief looked surprised by my question. “What makes you say something like that?”

  “Then it’s not true?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Not as far as I know. Kind of an odd question coming from you, wouldn’t you admit?”

  “I don’t know, what’s the proper response in situations like this? I know my ex-husband is missing, and I also know that you think he might have had something to do with Darlene’s death. Is it that crazy to think that something might have happened to him?”

  Chief Martin shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ll have to think about that.”

  “If he’s not dead, then why are you here?”

  Officer Grant started to say something, but one look from his boss was enough to shut him up.

  Instead, the chief said, “We have reason to believe that you’re harboring your ex-husband, and I came here personally to tell you that if you are, it’s going to mean big trouble for you.”

  “Harboring him? What is he, a boat? I don’t have any idea where he might be, and that’s the truth.”

  The chief didn’t look like he believed me, but I didn’t really care.

  He said, “If that’s true, then who broke into Grace’s house yesterday? And why was she with you all night instead of at her own place?”

  At the sound of her name, Grace came on the run. It was pretty clear she’d been listening to the entire conversation, so there was no need to bring her up to speed on what had been said.

  She stared hard at him and said, “I’ve got a question for you, Chief. If we were hiding Max, why wouldn’t we give him a key to my house, instead of making him break the door down?”

  “I already thought of that,” the chief said. “You wanted some deniability if he was caught hiding out there.”

  “Maybe, but if that’s true, why did I flag Officer Grant down when I did? More of a smoke screen, Chief? You’ve been watching too many episodes of Columbo.”

  He decided to ignore
that. “If you’re hiding him, or you know where he is, I’m coming after both of you. This is your last chance to come clean. Where is he?”

  “I don’t have a clue,” I said.

  “Don’t look at me,” Grace said. “I wouldn’t protect that man from a pack of dogs if he was wearing a suit made out of bacon.”

  The chief shook his head. “Suzanne, are you still claiming that you don’t have any idea what happened to Darlene?”

  “Which one of us are you accusing, Chief, me or my ex-husband? What about Muriel? Is she still missing? Did you drop her from your list, or she still on it?”

  “Suzanne, you don’t get to ask the questions. I do.”

  “If you give me some information about what’s really going on, maybe I’ll be able to help you,” I said.

  He looked like he wanted to bite my head off, then obviously changed his mind before he stormed off toward the exit. Officer Grant wanted to say something—it was pretty clear by the way he was looking at me—but he never got the chance.

  His boss hesitated at the door, then barked at him, “Let’s go. Now.”

  Once they were gone, Grace said, “Imagine the nerve of that man, coming in here accusing us of hiding your ex-husband. The man’s way out of line.”

  I frowned. “You know what? He’s not. If Max had come to me, I might have done what the chief was accusing me of, and I would have roped you in to help, too. I don’t think there’s a chance on earth that he killed Darlene Higgins, no matter what Chief Martin thinks, and if it meant keeping him out of jail, I’m not sure I wouldn’t do everything the chief just accused me of doing.”

  Grace said, “He kind of implied that you might have had something to do with Darlene’s murder yourself, didn’t he?”

  I bit my lower lip, then said, “You caught that too, did you? It doesn’t sound like he believed my alibi.”

  I’d nearly let the information I’d gotten from Officer Grant slip out, something that would have killed me to do. Maybe Grace hadn’t noticed.

  “I didn’t know you had to provide him with your alibi,” she said.

  “It just makes sense, doesn’t it? I can see how he’d think I had a reason to want Darlene dead. You know what? I’ve been doing my best to stay out of this case, but it looks like I don’t have much choice. If the chief’s going to focus on me and Max, it’s time I started looking for the real killer myself.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Grace said. “Where should we start?”

  “I’m calling George, and you’re welcome to sit in. This has gone on long enough.”

  Grace nodded. “You know me, I’m ready for anything. Just give me a job, and I’m all over it.”

  “Let’s wait until George gets here, shall we?”

  “Okay,” Grace said. “I’m going back to my booth, but if you need me, just give me a shout and I’m there.”

  I was just about to call George Morris when the man himself walked into the shop.

  “I need to talk to you,” I said.

  He nodded, then asked, “Can I eat first, or is it an emergency?”

  “I think we’ve got enough time for a donut or two,” I said as I grabbed him a cup of coffee and a pair of fresh cinnamon apple cake donuts. “I’d hate the idea that I was starving you.”

  “Not as much as I would,” he said.

  After he took a bite and followed it up with a sip of coffee, he said, “That’s better. Now, what’s so important?”

  “Hang on a second.” There was a good crowd of customers in the shop, and I didn’t want to broadcast what we were about to do. I took care of everyone at the counter, then knew I had to talk to George before another surge came in. There was something about snowy weather that made April Springs crave donuts.

  I turned back to George just as I saw Darlene’s cousin, Taylor Higgins, walk in.

  I had a cup of coffee ready for him as he approached the counter.

  “Good morning,” I said, offering him my cheeriest greeting. I thought I had problems, but he’d just lost someone he’d been close to, and that trumped anything I’d experienced lately, including getting dumped. “How are you today?”

  “Not good,” he said. “I’m here about my cousin. I’m worried the police aren’t doing all they should to find her killer.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” I said.

  “I know. It’s not your problem. I’m going to the station to talk to Chief Martin in a little while, but I wanted to come here first to get my nerve up.”

  “I wish I had more than coffee for you, if that’s the case,” I said.

  “Thanks. I appreciate the thought, but I’m on the wagon anyway.” He grabbed his coffee after declining a donut and took a seat by the window.

  I turned back to George. I was pretty sure the chief wouldn’t approve of our conversation, and I’d done enough to get on his bad side in the past few years that I had no desire to add to it.

  Lowering my voice, I said, “Why don’t you go over and sit with Grace? She’s involved in this, too.”

  “Imagine my surprise,” he said with a soft smile.

  After a minute I joined them.

  “Don’t you have to wait on customers?” Grace asked.

  “No, I spoke to Emma, and she’s going to take care of the front for me. She hates working with the customers, but this is too important to wait until closing.”

  George nodded. “Okay, you’ve got us here. Now what?”

  “This is going to be a lot more complex than what we’ve done in the past,” I said. “We need to look into the lives of three people, and there are just three of us. Are you sure you’re both willing to help me again? I’m afraid I’ve found my way into another jam.”

  Grace said, “Suzanne, you don’t even have to ask. We’re here for you, you know that.”

  George nodded his head in agreement. “Just tell us what you have in mind.”

  I looked carefully at him, and knew that he was overly sensitive to my meddling in active police investigations, since he was a retired cop himself. “Do you have a problem with any of this? Because if you do, we’ll all understand if you want to bow out of this one.”

  George moved his mug around on the table in front of him for a few seconds before speaking. “Suzanne, I’m loyal to you, but I have to admit that sometimes I feel kind of cheap spying on the department for you. Is there any chance Chief Martin is going to call Jake? That could be your pipeline into the investigation instead of me.”

  Before I could warn her not to say anything, Grace blurted out, “She could, but Jake came by the house last night and broke up with her. Don’t worry about it, George, we’ll find someone else. You can go, if you’re uncomfortable.”

  “Hang on a second,” I said. “I’d appreciate it if you’d ease up on George. He’s being pulled in a lot of different directions lately, and if he doesn’t feel right about helping us, that’s going to be perfectly fine, okay?”

  “I’m just saying,” Grace said, “you’re either with us, or against us.”

  George scowled at her, then said, “I don’t remember asking you one way or the other what you thought about me.”

  She shrugged. “Suzanne needs my help. I don’t care what you think; I’m going to help her.”

  “So am I,” George said as he slammed his hand down on the table. It was loud enough to attract attention all around the shop, but after everyone saw that the fireworks were over, they went back to their own conversations.

  I said, “That’s it. You two, follow me.”

  I didn’t even look back to see if George and Grace were behind me as I walked into the kitchen. If they hadn’t followed, I was going to look like a first-class idiot, but to my relief, they did just as I’d asked.

  “Okay, let’s clear the air here and now.”

  Grace said, “I’m just watching your back.”

  I took her hands in mine, mainly so I wouldn’t be tempted to strangle her. “Grace, George is my friend, too. Don’t quest
ion his loyalty to me ever again. Am I making myself clear?”

  She looked properly chastened. “Yes, ma’am.”

  When I didn’t say another word, she got the message and dropped her hands from mine. As she faced George, I wasn’t sure what kind of scene we were about to get, but to my delight, she said softly, “George, I’m sorry I acted like a brat. Someone broke into my house last night, and I think it’s related to what’s going on in town. When it sounded like you weren’t willing to help, I took it personally, and I shouldn’t have. Please forgive me.”

  That was one of the things I loved about Grace. When she laid it on the line, there was no doubt about her sincerity. It was probably one of the traits that made her such a great salesperson.

  George nodded, then said gruffly, “Sorry about the break-in. It must have been tough, knowing that someone was in your place without your permission. It’s kind of a violation, isn’t it?”

  Grace said, “That’s exactly what it’s like. How did you know?”

  “I was a cop once, remember? You can’t do the job without some empathy, no matter what some people believe.”

  “I believe it,” Grace said.

  “So what am I supposed to confess?” George asked me.

  “Nothing that I know of. Why, do you have a guilty conscience?”

  “Me? No, I sleep like a baby at night. I just figured you brought me back here for something.”

  I hesitated saying anything, but then realized that with friends, sometimes the easiest choice isn’t always the best one. “I’m worried about you. Slamming your hand down on that table is not something I’d expect you to do. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he said, but there was a hitch in his voice, and I wasn’t about to let it go at that.

  “George, tell me,” I said.

  Grace said, “If you two will excuse me, my coffee’s getting cold.”

  After she was gone, it was just the two of us. I decided to press him one more time. “George, you know you can talk to me about anything. We’re friends.”

  “Yeah, that’s the problem sometimes, isn’t it?” he said as he started pacing around the small workspace.

  “I’m not sure what you mean by that,” I said, thoroughly confused by the odd declaration.