Troubled Treats

by Jessica Beck

  We finished our discussion, our coffee, and our treats, and I had to fight off all three women from paying me. I loved their company, so I was glad to forego the meager profits I would have received from them. We’d agreed to take turns hosting the club at my donut shop, with one of us picking up the tab. Today had been my turn, and I wasn’t about to let anyone take that privilege from me. “It’s my turn, and that’s the end of it,” I finally told them.

  After they reluctantly agreed, I asked, “So, what’s our next title?”

  “I’ll email you all with it tomorrow,” Jennifer said. We also took turns choosing our books, but it was common practice to tell the group about the next month’s offering at the conclusion of every meeting.

  “That’s not fair,” Hazel said. “I want to pick a copy up on the way home.”

  “Sorry, but the bookstore’s not going to have it,” Jennifer said.

  “Then how are we going to read it?” she asked curiously.

  “Go on. Quit dancing around and just give it to her,” Jennifer told Elizabeth, and she reached into her oversized purse and handed Hazel a nicely wrapped box.

  “What’s this? It’s not my birthday.”

  “Just open it,” Jennifer insisted as she winked at me. I was as much in the dark as Hazel was.

  “It’s an e-reader,” Elizabeth blurted out before Hazel could even finish unwrapping it.

  “Okay,” she said skeptically as she finished pulling off the bright paper.

  “Tell you what,” Jennifer said. “You and I will take it back to your house, and I’ll show you how to use it. If you don’t love it after half an hour, I’ll take it back and we’ll never bring it up again. What do you say to that?”

  “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try it,” she said reluctantly as she studied it.

  Twenty-seven minutes later, Jennifer called me at the donut shop.

  Once Hazel had seen the wonders of her new device, Jennifer hadn’t been able to get the reader out of her hands, and we had one more convert to the fold.

  A half hour later, I had another visitor come by my shop, a customer who clearly had more in mind than just buying a donut, or even discussing the latest mystery.

  Something told me that this was going to be trouble.

  Chapter 13

  “That was quite a scene last night, wasn’t it?” Shirley Edam asked as she approached the counter. “I’m glad your husband stepped in before things got even uglier.”

  “Would you have really hit Jim with that wrench?” I asked her.

  “If it had come to that, I had every right to defend myself,” she said brusquely, and I had no doubt that she would have done it. “I’d like two dozen donuts and four coffees for my work crew.”

  Funny, she’d never bought them donuts from my shop before, so I had to wonder if there was some other reason for her being there. Was she trying to justify what had happened the night before, or was she possibly fishing to find out what Jim might have told us as Jake had escorted him back to Stella’s car? “Are there any flavors in particular you’d like?” I asked her as I grabbed a pair of folded boxes.

  “It’s your call. Mix them up for me.”

  I gave her a good selection, and as my back was turned to her, she casually mentioned, “I can’t believe how drunk Jim Burr was last night. He was spouting quite a bit of nonsense, wasn’t he?”

  “You mean when he accused you of murder?” I asked without turning.

  “Suzanne, you know that was just a drunken man’s rant, don’t you? I didn’t kill Sully.”

  I decided not to address my thoughts on that possibility. Instead, I said, “He seemed pretty sure of it, didn’t he?”

  “Does that mean that you actually believed him?” she asked me, clearly incredulous that I might have taken what Jim had said to heart.

  “Shirley, I’m not ready to make an informed decision yet. After all, we’re still gathering facts. It would be nice if you could have someone corroborate your alibi.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t snap my fingers and produce a credible witness,” she said sharply. “Suzanne, I’m honestly a bit surprised by your attitude. After all, we’re both women trying to run small businesses. We should stick together.”

  “I’m all for hiring you the next time I need any electrical work done here at the shop,” I said as I started on the second box, “but that’s where my loyalty to my gender ends. Murder is an equal-opportunity act, and I know from experience that women are just as capable of committing it as men are.” I hadn’t appreciated her playing the ‘women in business’ card. In my mind, it demeaned what we both did. If my donuts, or her electrical service, couldn’t stand up against competitors—both male and female—I didn’t want anyone frequenting my business solely because I was a woman; I wanted their business based on the treats I sold.

  The first round of donuts had included some of our customer favorites, but this batch would be comprised mostly of our slow sellers for the day. After all, I was sure she wasn’t really there for my treats anyway. Spending a little money was obviously her way of buying some of my time, not my goodies.

  “So, you do think I killed him,” she said resolutely.

  “Shirley, I didn’t come anywhere close to saying that,” I replied as I finished loading the second box. I turned, stacked them on the counter, and then started getting the coffees she’d ordered. “All I said was that you weren’t going to get a free pass from me just because you’re a woman.”

  Shirley wasn’t quite sure how to take that. “You’re an odd bird, aren’t you?”

  I laughed. “I don’t know if you meant that as a compliment or not, but that’s the nicest thing you could say to me. I enjoy being different.”

  She shook her head as she handed me a twenty. As I added it to the till, I asked, “Are you going to offer Bob and Jim jobs on your crew after what happened last night?”

  “I suppose that I might have done it despite what happened, but it’s a moot point now. They’ve both essentially already told me they aren’t interested in coming to work for me.”

  “What are they going to do? Are they striking out on their own?” I asked.

  “I doubt it. Neither one of them has that kind of drive. Jim won’t return my calls, so I got the message loud and clear from him, and from what I’ve heard, Bob is leaving town, and he’s not even sure he’s coming back. It doesn’t matter. The more I think about it, the truth is that I’m not all that interested in having either one of them on my payroll.”

  As I handed her the small amount of change left after her purchase, I offered, “Would you like a hand with that?”

  “No, I’ve got it,” she said as she stacked the tray holding the coffees on top of the boxes and walked out with the entire load in one trip.

  “What was that all about?” Emma asked as she joined me up front soon after the electrical contractor left.

  “Shirley Edam was here trying to pry some information out of me,” I said with a smile.

  “What did she end up getting?” Emma asked.

  “Two dozen donuts, twelve of which were our poorest sellers, and four coffees,” I said with a grin.

  “But no information?”

  “Nothing that she wanted to hear,” I said.

  “Suzanne, I’ve been thinking that you should hear what my dad is up to.”

  I wasn’t sure that I was ready to hear it, though. “Emma, we’ve worked really hard at keeping our private lives separate from our time together here. Maybe we should keep it that way, you know?”

  My assistant frowned before she spoke again. “Even if it might help your investigation?”

  “Even then,” I said. It was tempting to hear what Ray Blake might have uncovered, but then again, I wasn’t ready to share what Jake and I had discovered with him, so in the end, it was probably better if we didn’t share anything.

  “Okay,” she said with a troubled smile. “If you’re sure.”

  “I’m positive. How are things c
oming in back?”

  “I’m just about caught up with this round of dirty dishes,” she said as she grabbed two empty trays and a bin full of dirty cups and plates from the folks who had chosen to eat at the donut shop.

  “That’s the great thing about this place. There’s always something else to do.”

  “I’m not complaining; the time goes by quicker when I’m busy,” she replied as she disappeared into the kitchen again.

  “I’ve filled your order, now what can I get for your friend?” I asked a customer who’d just bought a glazed donut and a glass of chocolate milk. His companion was one of the biggest stuffed animals I’d ever seen in my life, a soft and fluffy dog that was completely taking up one of my stools.

  “He’s not having anything. I’m returning him after I eat,” the man said glumly. He was somewhere in his mid-thirties, and he’d looked a little ridiculous carrying the stuffed animal into Donut Hearts. There had to be a story that went along with it, and I was dying to hear what it might be.

  “What’s the matter? Did you two have a falling out?” I asked him with a slight smile.

  “The fact of the matter is that I bought him for my girlfriend,” he said glumly. “I even gave him a name, but she wasn’t interested.”

  I had to know. “What did you call him?”

  “What else? I named him Barkley,” he said with a wry grin.

  “That’s kind of cute,” I said as I rubbed Barkley’s head from across the counter. “Why didn’t she like him?”

  “She said that he was too big, that she was a grown woman who deserved a more thoughtful gift on her birthday than a stuffed animal, and that I needed to get a clue, whatever that might mean,” he recited.

  “Do you mind if I ask you how old your girlfriend is?”

  “She just turned thirty. Why?”

  “No reason,” I said, doing my best not to grin.

  “You’re judging me, aren’t you?” he asked after taking a bite of donut. “Don’t bother denying it. I can see it in your eyes.”

  “Well, you have to admit that it is an unusual present to give a grown woman on her birthday,” I said.

  “What’s wrong with doing it?” he asked as he looked at his companion. “She has a stuffed animal on her bed, for goodness’ sake. I thought Barkley would be a big hit.”

  “Let me guess. Is the one she owns now from her childhood?”

  “Yeah, it’s a little bear she got from her folks when she was a kid. His name’s Mr. Bear, if you can believe that. Don’t tell me that Barkley is a ridiculous name.”

  I smiled, but I did my best to make it as innocent as I could manage. “I have a feeling that Mr. Bear has more to do with the time she got him than the fact that he’s a stuffed animal,” I said. “Have you ever been to Two Cows and A Moose by any chance?”

  “The newsstand? I saw it on the way over here. I live in Union Square, so I’m not really all that familiar with April Springs. Talk about your odd names, why would anyone call a business that?”

  “The owner named the newsstand after her three favorite stuffed animals she had when she was a little girl,” I explained. “In fact, if you swing by there after you leave here, you’ll see that they are currently dressed up in karate outfits.”

  He drank some of his milk before speaking again. “If I live to be a thousand, I’ll never understand women.”

  “If it’s any consolation, we don’t always understand ourselves,” I said.

  After he finished eating, he left me a dollar tip. “So tell me, what should I have gotten her instead of Barkley? And don’t say a dozen donuts,” he added with a grin.

  At least he had a sense of humor about it. “That depends. Does she like jewelry?”

  “She doesn’t wear any that I’ve ever noticed,” he said.

  “How about a favorite scent?”

  “No, she’s allergic to perfume,” he said. “See why I’ve been having such a problem thinking of a gift for her? I really love her, but it’s impossible coming up with a present for her. She’s special, and she deserves the best. I just don’t always manage to make it clear how I feel about her.”

  “Candy?”

  “No way. That would make her furious. She’s always on a diet,” he said.

  “Does she at least like to eat out?” I asked him.

  “She loves it. Italian is her favorite.”

  “I take it you’ve tried Napoli’s,” I said.

  “She loves the place,” he admitted. “We go there every Tuesday. I guess that I just wanted to do something special for her birthday.”

  I had a thought. “Hang on a second. Let me make a call.” I dialed Angelica DeAngelis’s private number. She owned Napoli’s, and ran it along with her daughters. “Hey, Angelica.”

  “Suzanne Hart! When are we going to see you and that handsome new husband of yours?”

  “Soon, I promise. Listen, I need a favor.”

  “For you? Name it,” she said. We’d become close over the years, and I thought of Angelica as a second mother, and a dear friend.

  “I have a customer who wants to do something special for his girlfriend’s birthday.”

  “When is it?” she asked me.

  “Hang on. I’ll ask.” I covered the phone and asked him.

  He looked miserable as he admitted, “It’s today.”

  I shook my head as I got back on the line. “Today. Sorry, I know it’s not much notice, but Napoli’s is her favorite place in the world to eat.”

  “Have him bring her by at seven tonight,” Angelica said. “I’ll reserve our best table for them, Maria will personally wait on them, and I’ll create a special menu just for them, including dessert. It will be a night she’ll long remember.”

  “You’re a lifesaver. Thanks.”

  “Come see me soon,” she said.

  After we hung up, I said, “You’re all set. Be there at seven. Angelica’s going to take extra special care of you and your girlfriend. It’s going to be a real celebration.”

  The man looked stunned. “Why would you do that for me? You don’t even know me.”

  “Maybe not, but Barkley vouched for you, so I know you’re a good guy,” I said with a grin.

  He laughed. “I don’t know what to say, but thank you.”

  “That works perfectly. Have a lovely time tonight.”

  “We will,” he said. He collected his stuffed dog, and the two of them walked out together.

  I kind of hoped he’d keep him, but I knew that the odds were against it.

  “Suzanne Hart,” Carl Descent said as he came into the donut shop ten minutes before we were due to close.

  “Mr. Descent,” I said. “What can I do for you?” Having the donut shop was turning out to be a real bonus to my murder investigations. After all, my suspects were parading in to see me, saving me the trouble of tracking them down myself.

  “I understand my name came up in a discussion you were having yesterday.”

  How could he possibly know that Gabby Williams had mentioned him to me? I knew that April Springs was a small town, but this was crazy.

  “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.

  He laughed, but there was no joy in it. “Perhaps I was mistaken.” It was clear from his tone of voice that he didn’t believe me, but I had him in my shop, and I wasn’t about to waste the opportunity to grill him a little. Before I could ask him a question, though, he studied the racks of donuts behind me that we had left for sale. “How much would it cost me to buy everything that’s left?”

  I glanced at the racks, came up with a fair amount, and then I doubled it. “Forty dollars should cover it,” I said with a straight face.

  Without batting an eye, he peeled two twenties off a roll of bills in his pocket and put them on the counter. “Box them up.”

  If he was trying to get on my good side by cleaning out my inventory, it wouldn’t work, but I wasn’t about to let him know that. As I worked at emptying my shelves and b
oxing the remaining donuts, I said, “I understand you really wanted to buy the wagon factory.”

  “That’s true enough. The place has sentimental meaning to me,” he said, “but your mother beat me fair and square.”

  “Why are you so attached to it?” I asked him, curious about his admission.

  “My grandfather worked there long ago in the late twenties as a bookkeeper,” he admitted. “I always thought I’d own the structure someday myself, and I thought I’d gotten it when your mother outplayed me at the last second.”

  “It doesn’t sound as though you took losing all that well,” I replied as I jammed the remaining donuts into boxes.

  He shrugged and did his best to smile. “I lost sight of a basic fact. There’s no room in business for sentimentality.”

  “I couldn’t disagree with you more. There’s a special place in my heart for Donut Hearts, and I wouldn’t part with it for the world.”

  He shook his head, and this time his smile was legitimate. “You’re a great deal like your mother, but I have to wonder, if someone came in and offered you a million dollars for the place, would you be cashing the check before the ink on it was even dry?”

  “I don’t guess I’ll know until the situation arises. Is that a serious offer?” I asked him.

  “Why, would you take it if it were?”

  I had to think about it, but I’d meant what I’d said. “Like I told you before, Donut Hearts is not for sale, at any price,” I replied as I finished boxing up his donuts. “Have you been by the factory since Momma started renovating it?”

  “How could I have done that? That would be trespassing, wouldn’t it?”

  “Someone didn’t seem to mind that fact,” I said. “I found a stranger prowling around the place in the middle of the night less than twelve hours ago.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” he asked.

  “I’m just making conversation,” I said. “You look a little sleep deprived,” I added with a twist.

  “I need only five hours of rest per night, no more and no less. Otherwise, it’s just wasted time that I could spend working,” he said.