Jessica Beck - Donut Shop 18 - Dangerous Dough

by Jessica Beck

  “Well, good for you,” Grace said as we finally neared the sign welcoming us to Granite Meadows. “I heartily approve of loyalty, no matter what form it comes in.” After a moment, she said, “Hey, my phone just died.”

  “Did you forget to charge the battery?” I asked her.

  “It’s got plenty of charge left. The signal just dropped out. We must be in a dead zone.”

  “Does that happen very often?” I asked her.

  “More than I like. Hopefully we’ll get it back soon.”

  “Otherwise we’ll have to find his place the old-fashioned way,” I said with a smile.

  “What’s that?”

  “We stop at a gas station and ask directions.”

  Chapter 5

  “Nobody’s home,” I said as I banged on the apartment door next to Alex’s old place for the second time. Half a mile down the road, Grace had managed to pick up a signal again, and we were back on track. This was our fourth attempt to find someone home who might be able to help us, and it wasn’t looking very promising so far. “Let’s try another door a little farther down.”

  “I’d hoped that with him living in an apartment complex, it would be easy to interview his old neighbors, but I’m starting to lose faith that’s going to happen.”

  As she spoke, I saw movement three doors down from where we stood, a fluttering window curtain that was quickly pulled shut when the person inside realized that I’d spotted them. “Hang on a second,” I said as I casually walked toward the closest door to the movement. “We might have ourselves a live one.”

  Evidently Grace hadn’t spotted the curtains. “Where are we going? We should try the closest places first, Suzanne.”

  “Trust me,” I said as I rapped firmly on the door in question.

  After a full thirty seconds, Grace and I were still standing there alone. Apparently my knocking had been to no avail.

  “I’m telling you, it’s a waste of time,” Grace said.

  I knocked again, winking at her in the process, and then I said loudly, “We’re not selling anything. Someone you might know was murdered recently, and you could be able to help us find the killer.” If that didn’t get the attention of whoever was on the other side of that door, I didn’t know what would. I could probably pull a fire alarm for the complex and wait to see who came out, but I didn’t really want to do that. Maybe I’d call that Plan B.

  After three seconds, I knocked again as I said, “We’re not going anywhere, so you might as well speak with us. You’ll feel better if you do. I promise.”

  Grace looked at me oddly for a moment, something that unfortunately wasn’t all that unfamiliar to me.

  This was getting ridiculous. I couldn’t compel whoever was hiding behind that door to come out and speak with us. Maybe it was time to give up and move on to the next door. I was about to suggest that very thing to Grace when the door opened tentatively and a rather plain-looking gal in her late twenties poked her head out. “Who was murdered? It wasn’t Alex Tyler, was it? I knew that something was wrong.”

  “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but yes, it was. Did you know him well?”

  “He’s really gone?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. The next thing I knew, she was collapsing.

  I had two choices: catch her or let her fall.

  I caught her.

  “Are you okay?” I asked as I kept her from hitting the ground.

  There was no reply.

  Grace helped take some of the weight, but it was still an awkward burden. “Suzanne, let’s get her inside.”

  “Should we just walk right into her apartment without being invited?” I asked, still surprised by the sudden turn of events.

  “Well, I suppose we could just leave her spread out on the cement in front of her apartment,” my best friend said with a chuckle. “It’s up to you.”

  “You’re right. Let’s take her inside.”

  We carried the woman in and found a pretty unusual décor there. I’d been expecting a drab kind of interior, but the main living space looked as though a glitter bomb had gone off. There were snow globes of all shapes and sizes on just about every flat surface, and she’d even made her own glistening, giant snowflakes that hung from the ceiling and plastered the walls. Painted snowmen covered any free space available, and I felt myself shivering a little, and not because of the implied chill the scene evoked.

  “Wow,” Grace said as she stopped dead in her tracks and looked around. “All I can say is wow.”

  “We can take in the winter wonderland after we get her on the couch,” I said as I continued moving forward with our unconscious host.

  “Right.”

  We quickly got her positioned on the couch, and I grabbed a blanket and put it over her. It was covered with wintry scenes as well, of course.

  “Who does this?” Grace asked me, but I never got a chance to answer.

  “I love winter,” the woman said softly, her eyes slowly opening.

  “Good. You’re awake,” I said as I got close to her. “Are you okay?”

  “This isn’t because of that kids’ movie, is it?” Grace asked her.

  “I’ve loved winter all of my life,” she said. “Long before it became a trend, I have adored it.”

  “I’m sorry to be rude, but if that’s true, why don’t you live someplace farther north? I don’t have to tell you that we rarely get snow around here at all.”

  The woman on the couch frowned before she spoke. I was going to have to get her name soon so I’d know what to call her. Otherwise I was going to start calling her Princess Snowflake or something ridiculous like that.

  “I’d move in a heartbeat, but there’s just one problem,” she said as she struggled to sit up.

  “What’s that?” I asked as I helped her.

  “I can’t stand being cold.”

  I caught Grace fighting laughter, but she wasn’t entirely successful at it. It wouldn’t do to alienate this woman, but I was afraid that it was too late for that.

  To my relief, she just smiled. “It’s ironic, isn’t it?” Then she studied us both briefly. “Who are you two, anyway?”

  “I’m Suzanne, and that’s Grace,” I said. “In all of the excitement, we never caught your name.”

  “I’m Maisie Fleming,” she said. “I don’t know what happened to me back there. I’ve never fainted before in my life.”

  “I’m sorry we gave you such a shock,” I said. “We didn’t realize that you and Alex were that close.”

  Maisie frowned, fighting back the tears before she spoke again. “We weren’t; not really. I was on the edges of his life, never in the center of it.”

  “You would have liked that, though, wouldn’t you?” Grace asked her softly.

  I thought it might be a little too probing a question, downright inappropriate given that we’d just met this woman, but Maisie smiled as she shrugged slightly. “More than anything else in the world. Alex was wonderful.”

  I tried to imagine anyone referring to Alex Tyler as wonderful, but I couldn’t visualize it. Maisie must have caught something in my gaze. “I realize that he wasn’t perfect, not by any means, but that was one of the things that I saw in him. If he’d only had me by his side, I could have helped him become the man I knew that he could be someday.”

  “I’ve tried to fix a few men in my life before, too,” Grace said in consolation as she sat down across from Maisie in a comfortable-looking chair. “It never worked out the way I hoped.”

  “This time it would have been different,” she said stubbornly.

  I had to end this line of conversation. “I’m sure you’re right. Do you have any idea who might have wanted to hurt him?”

  Maisie looked startled by the thought. “Do you think someone from Granite Meadows might have done it? How did he die, anyway? I just assumed that it was in the line of duty in his new job.”

  “As a matter of fact, somebody poisoned him,” I said.

  Maisie frowne
d for a moment as she took all of that in, and then she looked at both of us a little harder. “You two aren’t with the police, are you? Neither one of you are wearing uniforms, and I haven’t seen any badges since you’ve been here.”

  “They put the poison they used to kill him in a cup of coffee that I sell at my donut shop,” I explained. “I wasn’t there when it happened, but folks are wondering if my staff might have had something to do with it. I need to prove that they didn’t.”

  “How can you be so sure that they weren’t involved?” Maisie asked me pointedly.

  “I’d stake my life on their innocence,” I said. “Besides, if I thought they could be guilty, would I be in Granite Meadows trying to find the real killer?”

  “You might if you were looking for a scapegoat to blame it all on,” Maisie said. This woman was savvier than she’d first seemed.

  “If I were going to do that,” I said reasonably, “I would have stayed closer to home where I know everyone. Alex didn’t make many friends in the short time he was in April Springs.”

  Defending the man even after his death, Maisie said, “He was hard to get to know at first, but once you did, you’d all have seen what a great guy he was.”

  “Maybe so, but we’ve heard rumors that there were folks here who never got to that point, either,” Grace said. It wasn’t hard to imagine that it was true, but we hadn’t heard anything that supported it. My friend was taking a shot in the dark hoping to hit something that might eventually resemble a lead.

  Maisie suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Sure, there were a few folks who had problems with Alex in town.”

  “Would you care to share any names with us?” I asked gently.

  “I don’t know if I should,” she said after a moment’s pause. “I don’t want to point any fingers.”

  “Even if it might mean helping us catch his killer?” Grace asked.

  That clearly made Maisie’s mind up for her. “If you have to start somewhere, it should be with Shannon Wright; that woman has to be high on your list of suspects. She was his ex-wife, and she hated him. I can tell you for a fact that woman’s heart is made from ice, not stone, and if anybody wanted to see Alex dead, it had to be her.”

  “Does she still happen to live in town?” I asked.

  “She does.”

  After Maisie provided the address, Grace asked, “Who else should we speak with?”

  The floodgates were clearly now open, and Maisie seemed almost eager to share her list of suspects with her. “To be honest with you, I never really cared much for Alex’s partner. He and Alex had a pretty nasty argument when Alex took the job in April Springs. Someone actually had to call the police! Can you imagine? The chief himself broke it up, and believe me, Robert Willson wouldn’t leave his desk chair for anything short of an all-out emergency.”

  “Anyone else we should speak with?” I asked her.

  “Well, Deke Marsh has been hanging around Alex a lot lately, and they weren’t exactly best friends, if you know what I mean.”

  “What’s this Deke’s story?” Grace asked.

  “Alex arrested him recently, but he got out on a technicality last month. Since he’s been released, I’ve seen him hanging around the building watching Alex come and go. He’s somebody you should talk to, if you’re brave enough. I cross the street whenever I see him, but that’s just me.”

  “Is there anyone else you can think of?” I asked her.

  “No, not that I know of.” Maisie stood, letting the blanket fall back to the couch. “I’m feeling much better now. Thanks for helping me inside.” As she spoke, she kept walking us toward the front door of her apartment.

  “We’re truly sorry for your loss,” I said, trying to delay our exit in the hopes of getting something else out of her.

  “As I said before, ultimately, we weren’t all that close. Most of our relationship took place in my imagination. It’s sad; that’s all.”

  We were at the door now, and Grace and I really had no choice but to leave. I snatched a business card from my wallet and handed it to her. It was from the donut shop, one of a gift of a hundred from my mother last Christmas. I still had ninety-seven left. “If you think of anything or anyone else we should consider, don’t hesitate to call.”

  “I will,” she said, and then the door closed.

  I glanced at Grace, who grinned back at me, and then she started singing, “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”

  “Not today, though,” I said. “We have some suspects to track down and interview.”

  “Then let’s get to it, shall we? Who should be first on our list?”

  After a moment’s thought, I said, “We should absolutely go after the civilians first. I’ve got a hunch that the cops are going to be a lot harder to crack. Besides, Jake told me that we should keep as low a profile as possible for as long as we can.”

  “That sounds like a plan to me, then. Let’s start with Shannon. Ex-wives are my specialty, you know.”

  As I started driving to the address Maisie had given us, I said, “I’m glad you feel that way, because I always dread talking to them, myself,” I said.

  “Why on earth should you? Who couldn’t love a bitter ex that can’t wait to dish dirt on their former love?”

  “I don’t know. It’s all kind of depressing to me,” I said.

  “That’s because you’re a newlywed,” Grace said with a grin. “You want the entire world to be full of love and rainbows right now, and why shouldn’t you? You’re still on your honeymoon, after all.”

  “Grace, please tell me that you’re not really as cynical as you sounded just then.”

  “I’m not,” she replied. “I just haven’t had the luck with men that you’ve had.”

  I decided not to remind her of my disastrous marriage to Max. “Things are looking up with Stephen, aren’t they?” I asked as I pulled into the complex where Shannon lived.

  “They are indeed, even if his new job is making it harder between us. He’s under a lot of stress right now, and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do to help him. Do you have any advice?”

  I laughed. “I learned a long time ago not to give anyone advice when it comes to their love lives. That’s a road full of potholes and speed bumps.”

  Grace laughed right along with me. “Point taken.”

  “That being said,” I added, “all you can really do is just be there for him.” I glanced over and saw that Grace was grinning at me. “What’s so funny about that?”

  “The advice is solid enough,” she said as we got out of my Jeep. “You just contradicted yourself by giving it.”

  “What can I say? I’m allowed to break my own rules every now and then, especially when it comes to you.”

  “Thanks for making the exception,” she said. “We should keep in mind that Shannon might not be entirely sympathetic to our cause of finding her ex’s killer, so she might not be entirely cooperative. Any suggestions on how we handle it if she tries to shut us down?”

  “If she won’t help us willingly, we really don’t have any choice but to imply that the police might be looking at her if we can’t give them something.”

  “I like it. There’s nothing like the fear of reprisal to get someone to spill their secrets.”

  “It’s just a backup plan, though,” I reminded her.

  “Got it. Let’s do this.”

  As I reached out to ring Shannon’s apartment bell, I couldn’t help wondering again if Grace wasn’t enjoying this a little too much. I often worried that she didn’t take what we did seriously enough. I supposed that it was easy to forget that we were dealing with potential killers during our interviews, but I felt the need to remind her every so often. She enjoyed the cat-and-mouse nature of the questioning and then the digging, and maybe that was what made her so good at it. I wasn’t always willing to push our suspects as much as she did. That was probably what made us such a good team. Grace was our brashness, while I tried to be more methodical in our ap
proaches.

  At least it had worked for us so far.

  Chapter 6

  When Shannon Wright opened the door to her apartment, it was as though she were making a grand entrance into a hotel ballroom. She was lovely—there was no denying it—but in a shallow, superficial way. Underneath her expression, it was clear to me that there was nothing but ice. I had to admit that her dress was exquisite, showing off her rather spectacular figure to its greatest advantage, and her makeup had been expertly applied. All in all, she presented herself as a brightly wrapped package, but I had to wonder if there was anything of substance inside.

  “Hello?” she asked. “May I help you?”

  “We’re hear to discuss Alex Tyler’s murder with you,” Grace said right out of the gate. There was no hesitation in her voice as she spoke or any sign that she didn’t have complete conviction that Shannon would talk to us.

  “Murder? I understood that it was a heart attack,” Shannon said with just the slightest hesitation in her voice.

  “That’s what they thought at first, but after the medical examiner’s report, they know that he was poisoned,” I offered.

  Alex Tyler’s ex shuddered slightly. “Horrid. That’s just horrid. I’m afraid I don’t know what it has to do with me, though.”

  “Once upon a time you were married to the man, weren’t you?” Grace asked her.

  “It felt as though it was a lifetime ago. I hadn’t seen him in ages.”

  “When exactly might that have been?” I asked her.

  It was worth a shot, but after a moment, it was clear that there was no way she was going to answer that without asking a question of her own first. “I’m sorry, but we haven’t been introduced.”

  “I’m Suzanne Hart, and this is Grace Gauge. We’re working on the investigation.”

  Shannon seemed startled by my statement, as well she might be, since we had no official status. “Not with the Granite Meadows police. I know that much.”