“Tiny?” Ryan and Heather asked in unison.
“Of course, there’s a guy named Tiny,” Amy muttered. “He’s probably huge too. Just for the irony.”
“No, he’s really small.” Kent grinned. “He’s my cousin. Real name is Tim Belushi. He came to town with Bernie.”
Heather made mental notes, then paused and opened her handbag on her lap. No luck, she’d left her notepad back in the office at Donut Delights.
“What does Tiny Tim have to do with this?” Ryan asked.
Amy sniggered into her napkin, then reached across the table and snatched up a nacho. She deposited into her mouth and crunched on the tortilla chip.
“I don’t know how it all fits in, just that Aunt Karly hates Tiny and Bernie would’ve done anything for her son. The feud between Karly and Bernie kinda cooled off in the last couple years, probably because they’re getting older and coming to their senses.”
Heather grunted, then covered it with a cough. Apparently, the feud hadn’t cooled off at all – Bernie had been murdered. Though, it was early to make those kinds of deductions.
Kent picked up a cheese-loaded tortilla and gobbled it up. “I’m going to miss Bernie, but, ah never mind.”
“What?” Heather asked.
Amy licked off her fingers and turned her attention to Kent, as well. She’d picked up the sleuthin’ bug, all right.
Kent finished off another chip, then sniffed. “I didn’t want the Belushi family to follow me here. I wasn’t that close with them. I get the feeling that they weren’t following me, they were running from something.”
Heather opened her mouth to ask another question –
“Are you folks ready to order?” Their waitress asked, and whipped out her notepad – at least, she’d brought one.
“Yeah,” Amy said, around a mouthful of tortilla chip. “I’d like the beef enchilada.”
Heather sat back and let the conversation wash past her nose. “Running from something,” she said, under her breath.
This was an investigation in the making, and Heather had her first lead.
Chapter 4
“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” Amy whispered, then tightened her limpet-grip on Heather’s right arm. “I don’t want to be here.”
“Come on, Ames, grow a backbone. I’ve never seen you act like this before.”
“Oh yeah? Well, you didn’t have to sit through an introductory dinner with the woman and listen to her list everything that was wrong with you,” Amy replied. She detached from Heather’s arm, though, and brushed off the donut crumbs on her silk blouse.
“What? Where was Kent?” Heather asked. She clenched her fists and stared at the brick face of the house. They’d dropped off Dave at Lilly’s place for a play date, and they had the afternoon to themselves. Investigation time.
“He was in the kitchen helping Bernie with the dinner. You should’ve seen her, Heather. Aunt Karly had her feet up and her wits out. Man, she told me exactly why I wouldn’t make it in their family. Talking like Kent was a Belushi, not a Bentley. Ugh.”
Clouds scudded across the azure sky and blocked the sun. Shadow darkened the sidewalk and the gated front garden. A cherry tree stood solitary, leaves unmoving.
“She’s a bully,” Heather said. “I could tell from the conversation with her in Donut Delights. You know what that means, right?”
“No, but I know you’re gonna tell me,” Amy replied, and tucked her thumbs into the belt loops of her jeans.
“It means she’s insecure or hurt on the inside. She’s weak. I intend on exploiting that weakness,” Heather said, through gritted teeth.
“Oh boy, she brought out the worst in you.”
“I don’t mean it in a vindictive way. I’m a pretty good judge of character, and I know I’ll be able to get info out of her because of that. That’s all,” Heather replied. She jerked her head toward the house. “You ready for this, bestie?”
“Define ready,” Amy said, tapping her lips. “Do you mean terrified? Because then, yeah, I guess I am ready.”
“Good,” Heather replied.
She marched up to the low-slung gate, then clicked it open and hurried up the paved path to the front stairs. She clomped up them, her heart beating a little faster than usual.
Amy joined her on the porch, pale around the lips and breathing hard.
“Relax, it’s not like she’s a –”
“Serial killer?” Amy suggested. “Because isn’t that why we’re here?”
Heather slapped Amy on the upper arm, but laughed, anyway. She pressed her lips together and hummed Cry Me a River by Justin Timberlake.
“Really?” Amy asked. “JT?”
“Don’t judge it. Appreciate it,” Heather replied. She rammed her finger into the metal knob next to the door.
Karly Belushi’s doorbell screamed their arrival. The shrill ring had to be the most annoying noise Heather’s ears had picked up.
Amy winced. Heather shook her head to the left and closed one eye.
“Wow, that seems unnecessary.”
“Unnecessary should be Karly’s middle name,” Amy said.
The door swung inward and the woman of the hour appeared, outfitted in black velvet.
Amy jumped and landed, arms out. “Aunt Karly,” she said, in a high-pitched voice. “How are you today?”
“What are you doing here?” Karly asked, and adjusted her black, mesh pillbox hat.
A hat, indoors? Bernie’s memorial service wasn’t for another two days.
“We’ve come to check on you, Mrs. Belushi,” Heather said.
“Miss!” Karly snapped. “I am Miss Belushi. I never married, no small thanks to Bernadette for that.”
Amy shrank back a step. Heather moved forward, then placed her palm on the doorjamb. “Miss Belushi, I wanted to offer you my condolences and my services,” Heather said.
Amy gasped. Heather didn’t have her diploma yet. She wasn’t licensed to investigate in a professional capacity.
“Your services?” Karly raised an eyebrow and peered past Heather to Amy. “What’s your problem?”
“My services, yeah,” Heather said and drew the older woman’s attention back to her before Amy had a heart attack on the spot. “I look into these kinds of affairs, casually. In a personal capacity. I’m not a cop or anything, but I’ve helped a few people clear their names from the suspect list. Innocents, much like yourself.”
“Excuse me?” Karly asked and grasped at her black velvet shirt. “What are you saying?”
“That you’re a suspect,” Heather replied, coolly. “It’s only a matter of time before the police arrive to interview you. If they haven’t already.”
Karly smacked her lips, opened them, then shut them again. Oh yeah, the cops had already visited Miss Belushi. “You get people off that suspect list?”
“That’s right,” Heather replied, and plastered up a sunny – albeit strained – smile.
This woman had the worst atmosphere. Mean, cold and countless other descriptors which Heather didn’t care to think about.
“Okay,” Karly said, at last. “Not that I believe you’ll get it right since you’re friends with such a useless –”
“What can you tell me about your relationship with Bernie?” Heather asked, and waved her hand to cut Karly’s insult down the middle. How dare she try to bully Amy in the middle of an interview?
Karly hiccupped, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. It ran a track through the layer of thick makeup. “She was my sister. I loved her. What more is there to say?”
“Did you and Bernie ever argue?”
“No, of course not. Bernie was a gentle soul. She didn’t have the heart to stand up to anyone.”
Heather nodded once. A clipped off bob of the head. “I understand. Could you tell me –” Her phone rang in her pocket and buzzed against her hip. “One second,” Heather said.
Karly pursed her lips. “I don’t have time for this. I have a funeral to organ
ize.” She slammed her front door closed, then clicked the lock.
“Told you,” Amy said.
Heather scrambled her phone out of her pocket, then swiped her thumb across the screen. “Hello?”
“Shepherd,” Geoff said. “I found something in the store. You’ve got to come check it out, now.” He hung up.
Heather dropped the phone from her ear and stared at the screen. “Has everyone lost their manners? Slamming doors, hanging up in the middle of a conversation.”
“Calling people ‘useless,’” Amy added.
“Right,” Heather said, then glanced at Belushi’s front door. “We’ve got places to be and a baker to investigate. Are you with me?”
“Anything’s better than this,” Amy replied. She shuddered and flapped her hand in front of her face.
“Don’t be such a drama queen.” Heather slipped her arm through her bestie’s and dragged her back down the front stairs, then off to the sidewalk.
Chapter 5
Delightful Donuts had seen better days. The sign above the door hung askew, the front door’s bottom hinge creaked each time the wind gusted against the wood and glass, and the windows, oh boy, coated in grime.
“Who eats at this place?” Amy asked, and mock stuck her finger down her throat.
“Careful, if Geoff sees you do that, he might try to feed you one of his rock hard fudge balls.”
“I’d rather die,” Amy replied, then gulped. “That was in poor taste wasn’t it?”
“Not as bad as the taste of his donuts.”
“Stop, you’re going to make me gag again,” Amy whispered.
The front door slammed, and Geoff strode out to meet them, wringing his massive hands. “What took you so long, Shepherd?”
“Because that’s the way you talk to the woman who’s about to help you out,” Amy said, loudly, all the fear from the past half hour absent. “The same woman you’ve tried to steal from and mimic in business.”
Geoff beckoned for Heather to follow him.
Amy bristled and rammed her fists onto her hips. “He’s ignoring me. Geoff Lawless is ignoring me.”
“I don’t think your unique brand of sarcasm is appreciated at Delightful Donuts,” Heather muttered, then worked her jaw. Just the name of the place gave her the creeps. Way too close to home.
Heather shrugged, then followed Geoff through the front door of his bakery and across the main room. It was empty of customers, probably because he’d closed the place for the day, and she skirted around the spot on the floor where she’d found Jelly Polinksi’s body a couple of weeks prior.
“Is it just me, or does everyone in this town die?” Amy whispered, through the dust and scent of sticky, sweet glaze.
“Where, in Hillside?”
“Yeah,” Amy replied.
“Everybody dies,” Heather muttered. “I mean, in general. Our days are all numbered.”
“And on that bombshell, it’s back to our scheduled investigation,” Amy said, in a faux announcer voice.
“What are you doing?” Geoff growled, from the kitchen doorway. “Get back here.”
“He’s not great at being polite.” Amy traipsed up behind Heather and tailed her into the kitchen.
Shivers spread up Heather’s limbs and into her core. Steel tables lined the walls, and a steel sink stood in the center of the room. A huge faucet hung up the basin, dripping water. Drip, drop, drip.
Amy dug her nails into Heather’s shoulders. “This is the kitchen of a bakery? It looks more like a, a –”
“Slaughterhouse,” Heather finished, for her.
They shuddered at the same time.
Geoff didn’t notice. He tugged at the end of his beard, then pointed at the window beside his back door. It had four spaces for panes and only three dirty glass plates. The fourth had been knocked out.
“Someone broke in.” Geoff paced back and forth, still tugging at that long, brown beard. “They broke in here. I bet they stole some of my fudge balls.”
“Wait a second. You’re suggesting that someone broke into the store to steal your fudge balls and use them as a murder weapon?” Heather asked, and walked to Geoff’s side.
“Well, they didn’t break in to eat them, that’s for sure,” Amy replied.
Geoff ignored her for the second time in as many minutes. “I’m telling the truth. I’ve already called the cops. I won’t be framed for this murder. I refuse. I refuse!” He raised a finger and swished it in the air above his head.
“Okay. It’s okay, Geoff, just calm down,” Heather said. She whipped out her phone and hurried to the window.
Glass crunched underfoot, and she skipped to one side, swiftly.
“The evidence! You’re tampering with the evidence,” Geoff yelled.
“Oh my gosh, shut up,” Amy said. “You’re freaking out. You know, for a huge muscly guy, you’re pretty skittish.”
Geoff rounded on Amy, shoulders as tense as sticky dough. “What did you just say.”
“Hallelujah, I’m not invisible.” Amy did a Mexican wave in celebration.
“Both of you keep it down,” Heather said. “I think I’ve found something?”
“What is it?” Amy and Geoff asked, in unison, then flinched and narrowed their eyes at each other.
Heather lifted her cell and opened her camera app. She directed the lens at the window frame, then snapped a couple of pics. “It’s velvet,” she said. “It’s a piece of dark green velvet.”
Geoff and Amy hurried to her side and leaned in to get a closer look.
The swatch of material flapped in the breeze speared on the end of a jagged piece of glass.
“The thief wore velvet?” Geoff asked.
“That’s what it looks like,” Heather replied. “I’m not an expert on this kind of thing, though.” Already, her mind fluttered through the possibilities.
What if Karly Belushi’s black velvet outfit hadn’t been black, but dark green?
“Knock, knock,” Ryan said, from the door. “I received a call about a burglary?”
“Yeah, that was from me,” Geoff replied, then turned to face Heather’ husband. He paled at the sight of him – they’d had a run-in at a doggy play park a couple of weeks prior – then cleared his throat. “Someone’s trying to frame me for that Belushi woman’s murder.”
“That or they got sloppy,” Heather said. “And sloppy means desperate.”
Amy linked her arm through Heather’s and drew her aside. “But who would be desperate to kill Bernie? And why?”
Heather ran her teeth across her bottom lip, then glanced at her handsome hubby dearest. “I have no idea,” Heather replied. “But I plan to find out.”
Geoff shook his fist nearby. “It was the murderer, I tell you. The murderer was in my store!”
Chapter 6
“I vote hot cocoa,” Amy said and stuck her hand up.
“I second that.” Lilly’s arm shot up, and she joggled up and down on the spot. The ten-year-old had taken up residence next to Amy. She pulled her fluffy pink robe closed and snuggled into it.
“Right, hot chocolate,” Heather replied. “I’m sure Bill and Colleen would approve of me getting you hopped up on sugar.”
“What they don’t know won’t hurt them.” Lilly tapped the side of her nose and wiggled her eyebrows. “Come on, Au – Heather. It’s not like have to go home or anything.”
“Live a little.” Amy bent and grabbed Dave off the floor, then tucked him into the blanket in the middle of the sofa.
True, Bill and Colleen had permitted a late night girl’s sleepover. Lilly hated being away from Dave, these days, and she saw Amy and Heather as her family. Her ‘real’ family.
“All right,” Heather said, and a smile glimmered on her lips. “You’ve twisted my rubber arm.”
“Yeah! And let’s have some Green Velvets while we’re at it.” Amy shimmied off the sofa, then dashed out of the room.
“She’s incorrigible,” Heather said. She scraped her fing
ers through her hair, then traipsed to her favorite sofa, right next to the front window and directly across from her wide screen TV.
She grabbed the stack of DVDs beside her, then cycled through them, the plastic covers knocking against each other, clack, clack, clack. “What are we going to watch?”
“Not a romance, please,” Lilly said. “Blegh. Colleen is obsessed with romance movies. You know, like Kate and Leopold, and that other one with the mail.”
“You’ve Got Mail?”
“That one, ew.” Lilly fake-gagged, then choked herself. “Boring.”
“Okay, what about The Croods?” Heather lifted the case and waved it at her girl.
“Cool, I’ve never seen that one before.”
“You’ve never seen The Croods?” Heather got up and walked to the DVD player.
“Yeah, my, uh, dad didn’t let me watch a lot of TV.” Lilly turned away and focused on Dave instead. She stroked his soft ears and kissed the center of his head.
Heather buried her guilt by sticking the DVD in the player.
“I come bearing gifts,” Amy sang from the hall. She hurried into the living room and plopped a Donut Delights box on the coffee table. She opened it up, then grabbed a Green Velvet donut. The glaze glistened beneath Heather’s living room lights. Ken would’ve had a field day taking photos of this particular creation.
“Yum!” Lilly said, and hopped up.
“I’ll go make the hot chocolate,” Amy replied, gesturing with her donut and then taking a bite. Her lips turned green, instantly.
Lilly grabbed a donut and scooted back to the sofa. She held it out of Dave’s reach, just in case. The dog’s nose snuffled left and right. Oh, he’d picked up the scent of those donuts, already.
“No, Davey,” Lilly whispered. “You’ve had two this week already.”
“What?!” Heather gasped. “Lilly, you’d better not feed that dog fat. He’s been working hard to lose weight.”
Lilly flashed her a green-toothed grin. “I won’t. I promise. I never give him the chocolate ones.”
Heather pursed her lips but didn’t lecture further. This was the last island of calm and happiness before the storm. Soon, everything would revolve around work – and solving the new case.
Green Velvet Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 16 Page 2