Custard Crime: Donut Mystery #14 (The Donut Mysteries)

by Jessica Beck

  “I’ll answer it if it’s in my power to,” I said.

  In a meek voice, she asked me, “Be brutally honest with me. Do you think I’ve got what it takes?”

  I hugged her as I said, “You bet I do. I think you’ll be terrific at whatever you decide to do.”

  “Thanks,” Emma said, and then she pulled away a little. “Do you really mean that, or are you just saying it because we’re friends?”

  “We’re more than friends, Emma. I’ve worked with you side by side for years. You have every characteristic it takes to run a successful small business, at least in my mind. I have complete and utter faith in you, for whatever it’s worth.”

  “Suzanne, it’s worth everything to me,” she said as she rubbed one eye.

  “What do your folks think about your plans?” I asked her.

  “Mom’s on board, but I haven’t told Dad yet. I have a feeling that he wants me to take some journalism classes, but that’s not happening.”

  “Not interested in joining the family business?”

  “No way, no how.” She studied the display cases and then shrugged. “I’d better jump on those donuts right now,” she said with a smile.

  “If you do that, we won’t be able to give them away,” I answered her with a laugh. It was an old joke, one that we told with some frequency, but it broke the serious mood of the situation.

  After Emma started boxing donuts, I turned to the cash register and ran our reports as the machine did its magic. I just hoped that we were somewhere close to being balanced. I couldn’t take a lengthy time period analyzing where I might have gone wrong.

  To my delight, it balanced out perfectly, and by the time I had the day’s deposit ready, Emma had the place cleaned up.

  “Are you ready to call it a day?” I asked her.

  “More than I can tell you,” she said. “No offense, but I can’t wait to get out of here.”

  “I’m beat, too,” I said. “I’m going to go home, take a shower, and then grab a quick nap. How about you?”

  “Actually, I’ve got a date,” she said with a grin. Where did she find the energy after the day we’d just had? Then again, she was quite a bit younger than I was. I took a little solace in that.

  After I locked the place up, I carried the leftover donuts out to my Jeep so I could drive to the bank and take care of the day’s final order of business.

  I never made it there, though.

  Someone stopped me before I had the chance to follow through with the rest of my plans for that afternoon.

  Chapter 12

  “Suzanne, we need to talk,” my ex-husband, Max, said as I was stowing the donuts in the backseat of my Jeep.

  “If you’re hungry, you can have a box,” I said.

  “It’s got nothing to do with food. I need to ask you something about Emily.”

  My ex had been dating my good friend for some time, even proposing at one point, though the wedding had never materialized. I knew that Max was serious about her, and I had a hunch that the feeling was mutual. “I suppose I have a minute, but just that. I have to get to the bank, and then I have some other errands to run as well.” I wasn’t about to tell him that the second task on my list was going back to the cottage and taking a nap. I was worn out! How could a month off do that to me?

  “That’s fine. I just need to ask you about Dusty Baxter.”

  “Dusty? What about him?” I remembered the tall, handsome young man who used to live in April Springs, but I couldn’t figure out why Max was asking about him. And then I remembered that he’d dated Emily Hargraves before he’d moved to New York.

  “He’s back,” Max said.

  “In April Springs? What on earth would possess him to come back here? The last I heard, he was a big success working in finance in New York.”

  “Evidently he’s decided that he’s tired of the grind and wants to move back here. Guess what else he wants to do?”

  “Does it have something to do with Emily?”

  Max frowned. “Of course it does. We were at The Boxcar last night on a date when he sauntered in as though he owned the place. You wouldn’t believe the fuss people were making over him.”

  “Including Emily?” I asked him.

  “Her most of all. She invited him to join us at our table, and he had the gall to take her up on it. I had to sit there listening to them relive their glory days. It was all I could do to keep my dinner down.”

  “You could have always excused yourself and left,” I said, being a little meaner than I should have been. Max and I had made our peace quite some time ago, but that still didn’t keep me from occasionally taking a few shots at him.

  “Wouldn’t he have loved that,” my ex said. “No, I sat there and smiled, nodded every now and then, and generally pretended to be having the time of my life.”

  “I’m sure they bought it,” I said. “After all, you’re an excellent actor.”

  “Thank you for that,” he said. “But it’s beside the point. What am I going to do?”

  “About Emily? Nothing at all.”

  “That’s it?” he asked me incredulously. “That’s the best advice that you’ve got?”

  “Listen, Max. They broke up for a reason, and I doubt it had anything to do with the fact that he was leaving town. Emily cares for you now.” I studied him a moment, and then I added, “It’s not like you to be so insecure.”

  “I know, right? There’s something about that guy that just puts my teeth on edge.”

  I patted his shoulder. “Stop worrying about it, and for goodness sake, don’t let Emily sense how you really feel. The best way to drive her back into Dusty’s arms is to let Emily see how worried you are about him. Just try to remind her why the two of you are together whenever you get the chance, but don’t force anything. She’ll be able to smell it from a mile away.”

  “Thanks. You’re right. That’s good advice.”

  “Whoever dreamed I’d be giving you dating tips when we first divorced?” I asked.

  “Certainly not me, but it’s not going to go unappreciated.” Max paused a moment, and then he snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it. I’m going to buy something special for the guys.”

  ‘The guys’ he was referring to were Emily’s mascots, three stuffed animals she’d adored since childhood, even going so far as to naming her little newsstand after them: Cow, Spots, and Moose. “You know, that just might work.”

  “It’s better than that. I had the distinct impression that Dusty wasn’t a true believer in the reality of the guys. That’s a death knell in Emily’s heart; there’s no doubt about that.”

  I had to laugh. “It doesn’t sound like you need my help after all. Any idea what you might get them?”

  “I’m not sure,” he said with a slight frown. “They have just about everything a stuffed animal could ever want. Over the years, Emily’s bought them dozens of props to go with the outfits that she’s made them.”

  “Well, think about it. What haven’t they dressed up as yet that she would love? You need to go through the scrapbook of photos she’s taken of them over the years.”

  “I’ve just about got that thing memorized,” he said. “It’s a pretty complete album of photographs.”

  I patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m sure that you’ll come up with something. I’m really sorry, but I need to take off.”

  “That’s fine,” he said absentmindedly. “Thanks again for the advice.”

  “Happy to help,” I said as I started to get into the Jeep.

  Max was walking away when I suddenly had a thought. “Max, I might have something for you.”

  He hurried back to me. “Great. What have you got?”

  “National Donut Day is the first Friday in June. Why don’t you dress them up as chefs and have a celebration?”

  “They’ve already worn those outfits,” he said with a sigh.

  “How about commissioning someone to make them all costumes so that they can be donuts themselves,
then? Emily would get a kick out of that, and I’ll make you a dozen red-iced donuts to take her instead of roses.”

  “Do you think she’d go for that?” he asked.

  “It couldn’t hurt. I’m just not sure who you can get to make the costumes, though.”

  “I’ve got that part covered,” he said with a smile. “Hillary Teal makes the outfits for our stage productions in our amateur theatre group, so I bet that she’d be willing to do it.”

  I knew that Max had enjoyed directing our seniors in productions targeted for much younger actors, much to the town’s delight. Hillary, along with a host of other men and women of a certain age, enjoyed everything from acting, prop making, and sewing. “That’s perfect.”

  “Thanks for the idea,” he said.

  “Happy to help.”

  As I drove to the bank, I just wished that all of my problems were that easy to solve, not that I thought Max had anything to worry about. When Dusty had left town, it was no secret that he’d been more in love with himself than anyone had a right to be, and my ex was devoted to Emily. Still, it wouldn’t hurt if he showed her how he felt, and Max had been dead-on about one thing: the way to Emily’s heart definitely was through her three mascots and best friends, Cow, Spots, and Moose.

  My nap wasn’t a long one, but at least it was something, so I was ready before Grace came around to the cottage so we could start our sleuthing. By the time she got there, I had awakened to an empty house, showered, and changed into fresh clothes. As much as I loved making donuts, they definitely left a distinct aura around me until I could wash it off. Jake claimed to love the scent, but part of me suspected that he was just indulging me. Then again, I’d had a friend once who’d fried a pound of bacon before every date just for the scent of it on her, and she had a line of boyfriends longer than any one girl could manage. Everyone else had thought it was a joke, but she had clearly known what she was doing. Me, I just relied on my charm and wit, but if the aroma of donuts really was attractive to Jake, I wasn’t going to dissuade him. However, today was about the investigation that Grace and I were about to take up, so I needed to feel as though I had a clean start before we started interviewing our suspects.

  “Good, you’re awake,” Grace said after I answered her knock on the cottage front door.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked her with a smile.

  “I was afraid that today might have worn you out completely.”

  “It did, but I managed to squeeze in a quick nap and a shower, so I’m as good as new.”

  Grace nodded. “Perfect. I finished up early, so we can get started. Who are we going after first?”

  “Let me grab my keys and we’ll talk about it on the way.” I locked the door behind me, and as we made our way out to the Jeep, I said, “I have three thoughts for today.”

  “I can’t wait to hear them,” she said.

  “We should go see Conrad Swoop, Violet Frasier, and then we can snoop around Evelyn’s place to see if we can uncover something that the April Springs police might have missed.”

  “Do you think there’s a chance we’ll stumble across anything if Jake has investigated the scene himself?” she asked me.

  “I don’t know, but it’s got to be worth a shot. After all, we have an advantage over him.”

  “I’d love to hear what that might be,” Grace said as she got into the passenger side.

  As I got in and started the Jeep, I said, “We know how women think.”

  “Is that going to be enough?” Grace asked.

  “I don’t know, but it has to be worth something, don’t you think? Since Conrad and Violet are both in Union Square, I thought we might stop by Evelyn’s place first on our way out of town.”

  “How exactly are we supposed to get inside?”

  “Knowing Evelyn, there’s bound to be a spare key hidden somewhere around the property.”

  “And if there’s not?” she asked me.

  “Then we improvise.”

  “I’m not opposed to breaking into her place if we can’t find a key, but I’m pretty sure that Jake’s not going to be pleased if he finds out about it.”

  “Then it’s important to make sure that he doesn’t find out, isn’t it?” I asked her with a grin.

  “I like the way you think,” Grace said as I drove away from the cottage and headed straight to Evelyn’s home. If we got lucky, we just might be able to find a clue that could lead us directly to whoever killed her.

  “Why isn’t there any crime scene tape on her door?” Grace asked me when we got to Evelyn Martin’s house.

  “She wasn’t killed here, remember?” I parked the Jeep twenty feet past her house and on the opposite side of where Robby Chastain lived. I didn’t want Robby to see us snooping at Evelyn’s, especially since we’d already talked to him. If he hadn’t been suspicious of us before, seeing us lurk around the murder victim’s home would surely do it.

  “Of course she wasn’t,” Grace said. “I still figured that Jake would make the place off-limits.”

  “Maybe he’s already checked it out,” I said as I turned off the engine and got out.

  Grace followed me outside. “Hasn’t he told you?”

  “Believe it or not, we don’t discuss every development in the case.”

  “At least that makes one of you,” she said.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  Grace just shrugged. “I didn’t mean anything by it. All I’m saying is that you have to tell him everything that we’re up to, but he doesn’t have to reciprocate.”

  “Hey, I’m just happy he hasn’t banned us from investigating altogether,” I said. “We’re lucky he’s being so lenient with us.”

  “I know, but I can’t help wishing that somebody would take us into their confidence just once, you know what I mean?”

  “Believe me, I get it,” I said, “but we have to go with what we’ve got. Since Jake is working the case officially, we pretty much have to do what he says.”

  “How very unlike us,” Grace said with a smile.

  “At least we’re not rolling over completely,” I said. “After all, we’re here, aren’t we?”

  “We are,” Grace said as we approached the front door. She frowned when we got there, though. “I’m not exactly sure what we’re going to be able to do about it, though.”

  “Let’s see what we can find,” I said as I ran my hand over the door trim. I knew that most folks liked to hide their spare keys in the most obvious places, including the doorjamb.

  No luck there, though.

  “Why don’t you check under the Welcome mat?” Grace asked, obviously joking.

  I stuck my tongue out at her as I leaned over and lifted one edge of the mat off the concrete.

  “There’s no key there, either. It appears that Evelyn was prepared to outfox anyone as savvy as we are. Maybe she didn’t even leave a spare outside.”

  “It’s possible, but I’m not finished looking yet,” I said. There were some stones by the front door, so I started checking a few of those to see if there were any fake ones hiding among the real rocks. There weren’t, and we still hadn’t had any luck after five full minutes of searching.

  “How long are we going to keep this up?” Grace asked me. “The only reason I’m asking is that someone might notice that we’re lingering outside an awfully long time.”

  “Let’s give it another minute,” I said as I approached a nearby flowerpot. I tilted the pot at an angle, but there was nothing underneath it.

  Maybe it was hiding a little better there than that.

  Sticking my fingers in the potting soil, I rooted around for anything that felt as though it might be a key.

  “Really, Suzanne? Is that what this has come down to? Who sticks their spare key in the dirt?”

  At that moment, my fingertip brushed a sharp point, and as I started to dig it out, I said, “Well, we’ve got Evelyn so far.” I got a grip on the key and pulled it out. After cleaning it off as best as I cou
ld, I tried inserting it into the lock.

  The front door opened with ease.

  But we weren’t home free, yet.

  Something started beeping the second we opened the door.

  Evidently Evelyn had an alarm system, something that I hadn’t looked for before I’d unlocked the door.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Grace said urgently. “We can’t be here when it goes off!”

  “I’m not ready to give up yet,” I said. I stared at the keypad and noticed that the numbers 1, 5, 8, and 9 were the only numbers that were smudged and a little dirty. What could that mean?

  “Suzanne, let’s go!”

  “Hang on. I’ve almost got it.” I rearranged the numbers in my mind and punched in 1, 9, 5, and 8, holding my breath as I finished the last digit.

  “Alarm Off,” a voice said from the panel, and I finally let it out.

  “How did you know the code?” my best friend asked in clear bewilderment.

  “I cheated,” I admitted.

  “How did you manage that?”

  “Four numbers were a little more smudged than the others. I tried to figure out what the different sequences might be, and then I punched in what I’m guessing was Evelyn’s birth year.”

  “Nice,” Grace said. “You’re pretty good at this, aren’t you?”

  “I have my moments, but don’t forget, so do you.”

  “Now that we’re inside,” Grace said, “what do we do next?”

  “We hunt for a clue as to who might have wanted to see Evelyn Martin dead,” I said.

  “Well, the house is barely the size of your cottage, so it shouldn’t take that long to search,” Grace said. “Do you want the master bedroom or the den and the kitchen?”

  “I’ll take the bedroom,” I said. “I don’t know how much time we have, so we have to make this quick. If you find something interesting, don’t take the time to bring it to me. Take a photo of it with your phone, and we can compare notes later.”

  “Got it,” Grace said as she went into the kitchen. “Happy hunting.”

  “You, too,” I said as I hurried into the master bedroom.

  The place was neat, which surprised me. Knowing Evelyn, even on the periphery, hadn’t led me to believe that she’d be particularly fastidious, but the bedroom was almost Spartan in its minimalism. One picture was on the dresser, and to my surprise, it was of her and Chief Martin on what had to have been their wedding day. It was an odd constant reminder from a couple who had divorced under less than amiable conditions. Max and I had gone through a similarly bad breakup, and I couldn’t imagine having his picture anywhere in the cottage, let alone in my bedroom. I didn’t have much time to analyze it, though. As I’d told Grace, we were on the clock. I took my own advice and snapped a quick photo of it with my phone, then I decided that it was time to move on. The closet, where I’d had high hopes, turned out to be a bust, or so I thought until I searched the jacket pocket of a blazer hanging in back. Inside it, I found a small box and wrapping. Inside that was a gold necklace, obviously not all that expensive to my eye, and a small card that said, “To Evie. Love, Connie.” No doubt that was Conrad Swoop, her new significant other. How significant could he really be, though, with the photo of her and the chief out there for all of the world to see? She hadn’t exactly deemed the necklace as being all that important, or it wouldn’t have still been in her jacket pocket. I considered taking the necklace to show Grace, but in the end, I decided to keep that information for later. I took a few more shots and then put everything back where I’d found it.