Lemon Larceny (The Donut Mysteries)

by Jessica Beck

  “Completely,” I said.

  She led us to a nearby bench and then took a seat. “Excuse me, but I’ve been on my feet all day. This feels so nice. Now, what can I do for you ladies?”

  “We need to ask you about the remodeling job Hank Caldwell is doing for you,” my mother said.

  Meredith looked a little puzzled by the question. “He does very good work, but I’m afraid that he isn’t always dependable. Do you need some work done on your sister’s home?”

  “As a matter of fact, he’s already changed the locks for us and taken care of few other things. Now he’s going to replace a window. I’m sorry; I’m not being very clear, am I? We’re not looking for a recommendation. We need to know if he was at your place yesterday when you heard about what had happened to my sister.”

  Meredith frowned for a moment, and then she nodded. “Yes, he was with me. When I told him the news, I had to steady the poor man to keep him on his feet. He nearly collapsed.” The librarian lowered her voice as she added straight to my mother, “I’m not sure if you knew, but he and your sister had been dating off and on for several months. I’m not one to gossip, but I understood she broke it off for good with him recently, and he took it quite hard. Her death was doubly painful for him. In his grief, he told me that he thought that they’d find a way to work things out and eventually end up together someday. It was all really quite tragic.”

  “When did he get to work, and did he leave at any time, say for supplies or anything like that?” I asked her. “I wouldn’t ask, but it’s important, though I can’t really tell you why.”

  Meredith smiled for a moment. “A puzzle! How delightful. I love those. Let me see. He came by a little after six, much too early for me on most occasions, but it was the only time he could work me in. Now, did he ever leave once he got here? No, I don’t think so.”

  That was a relief. Now we could mark one of our main suspects off our list.

  My joy was short-lived, though.

  “Hang on. I forgot something. He did step out for a bite of breakfast around seven thirty, but he was only gone about fifteen minutes.” She frowned for a moment. “He asked me not to spread that around, so I’d appreciate it if you’d keep it to yourself. Hank prides himself on finishing every job he starts without fail, though mine is taking quite a bit longer than he originally estimated. Does any of that mean anything to you?”

  It might. “Where exactly do you live, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “No, not at all. Actually, I’m just a five-minute stroll from your aunt’s house. We used to visit each other frequently. It’s such a pleasant walk.”

  “Thanks so much,” I said as I stood. “We won’t keep you any longer. Thank you for taking time out to speak with us.”

  “It was my pleasure,” she said. The librarian turned to walk away when she hesitated, and then she looked back at us. “I’m dying to know. Did I help at all?”

  “You did,” Momma replied. “I’m sorry I can’t say more than that right now, but your cooperation has been greatly appreciated.”

  “It’s enough, then,” she said. “Have a good evening.”

  “You, too,” Momma said.

  After Meredith was gone, I turned to Momma as we walked back to her car. “For a second there, I thought we struck gold.”

  “Maybe we did,” Momma said. “Don’t you find it suspicious that Hank specifically asked her not to mention his absence from her home?”

  “Now you’re thinking like a detective,” I said. “As a matter of fact, yes, I find it very suspicious.”

  “What are we going to do about it, then? Should we go straight to Hank’s and confront him about lying to us?”

  I considered that possibility, and then I said, “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather wait until morning to talk to him again. Let’s let him think that he’s gotten away with it until we can come up with a way to use it to our advantage.”

  “I love how sneaky my daughter has turned out to be,” Momma said, the delight clear in her voice.

  “What can I say? I learned from the master.”

  She grinned. “Let’s just agree that we’ve taught each other over the years and leave it at that. How does that sound to you?”

  “Like a good way to keep the peace,” I admitted. “Agreed.”

  “So then, where does that leave us?”

  “We still have five solid suspects, and no alibis that disqualify any single one of them from being on our list.”

  “I hate to admit it, but it all feels rather hopeless, doesn’t it?”

  “Momma, we’re truly making progress, even if it might not feel like it. The only thing we can do is to keep digging and see what we find.”

  “Then that’s exactly what we shall do, but not tonight. I for one am finished sleuthing until I’ve had a good night’s sleep. Any objections?”

  “Not a one. Let’s go back to Aunt Jean’s and call it a night.”

  Chapter 18

  “So, what’s our plan for today?” Momma asked me as we finished up our early light breakfast the next morning at my aunt’s place. We’d stocked up at the grocery store on a few things on our way back from the library the night before, grabbing some bagels, cream cheese, coffee, and a few other items it would be nice to have on hand.

  “Don’t forget that Hank is coming by early, but before he gets here, I’d like to look at those clues again to see if any of them make any more sense than they did when we first found them.”

  “Good. I’ll go get them,” Momma said.

  She came back frowning two minutes later. “They’re gone, Suzanne.”

  “No they aren’t,” I said. “Sorry. I forgot that I moved them to a safe place before we saw Meredith Pence last night. I stuffed them in the back of the hall closet so no one would be able to find them.”

  “Whew. I was frightened that we’d lost them for a moment.”

  “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you that I hid them. Let me go grab them myself.” I went into the hall closet and started rooting around where I’d left the doll locket and my aunt’s journal the night before. Seeing them together like that made me pause to consider the possibilities of how they might be linked, but whatever thought I’d been trying to grasp slipped away when I spotted my aunt’s jewelry box stashed even deeper into the back of the closet. I’d missed that before.

  Pulling it out as well, I went back to the kitchen and put everything I’d gathered out on the table.

  “Where did you find Jean’s jewelry box?” Momma asked me curiously as she reached for it and opened the lid. “Did you empty it out?”

  “No, this is how I found it,” I said. It was true; there was nothing left inside. “Could she have emptied it herself?”

  “I doubt it. Jean always kept this on her dresser. What was it doing in the back of the closet?”

  “Obviously someone didn’t want us to find it.” I picked the box back up and looked at the top of it. “There’s a very light layer of dust on top of it if you look closely enough.”

  “How odd,” Momma said.

  I kept staring at the box, and after a moment, I said, “I have an idea.”

  “Well, don’t keep it to yourself,” Momma said.

  “Let me check something first,” I replied as I went straight to the hidden window seat. Placing the jewelry box carefully onto the floor, I saw immediately that it matched the dustless imprint perfectly.

  “So, it appears that my sister hid it up there, but someone found it, anyway.”

  “And emptied it out in the process,” I said as I shut the top of the lid.

  “Aren’t you going to take the jewelry box back out?” Momma asked.

  “Why bother? Besides, whoever stashed it in the closet would never look for it where they originally found it.”

  “Does it even matter at this point? After all, it was empty.”

  “Maybe so, but there may be more to it than that, and I don’t want it getting away again.”
>
  As we walked back into the kitchen, Momma said, “I somehow feel violated knowing that someone robbed my sister when she died.”

  “It probably happens more than we realize,” I said.

  “What a grisly thought,” she replied. Shaking her head a few times, it seemed to me as though she were trying to wipe away the image in her mind. “At least we have two other clues still in our possession.”

  “For what good they are doing us,” I said as I picked up the locket and journal again. “Do you have any new thoughts on what the note we found might mean?”

  “I’m sorry. J:P24, S5 means nothing to me,” she said.

  “For some reason, I think that they might be related. Why else would Aunt Jean split the clues to us like that? Nothing else makes sense. She clearly didn’t want someone stumbling across both the locket and journal. There’s got to be a way that they are connected.”

  “If there is, I haven’t the foggiest idea of how they could be linked,” Momma said. “Jean was always reading Nancy Drew books as a child. It wouldn’t surprise me if she mimicked something that she read once. My sister had a tendency sometimes of being a little too clever for her own good. Not that I didn’t love her,” Momma added hastily, lest she sound as though she were criticizing her late sister.

  “Of course you loved her. We both did,” I said. Staring at that cryptic message, I had a sudden thought. Aunt Jean had directed Momma to the doll, which had the locket attached to it, while she’d sent me to the jewelry box and the journal itself. Were we now missing a vital part of the clue since someone robbed her, or was there enough in our hands to figure it out?

  I was still staring at the journal when the front door rang.

  “That will probably be Hank,” Momma said. “Perhaps you should put those things away for safe keeping.”

  “I could always just shove them back in the closet,” I suggested.

  “I’m not at all sure that’s a very good idea. What if the jewelry thief comes back looking for the box he discarded? We don’t want anyone stumbling onto the clues that we’ve found ourselves.”

  “I’m open to suggestions, but it needs to be quick,” I said as the doorbell rang again.

  “You get the door while I hide these,” Momma said.

  I wasn’t exactly in any position to argue with her, though I would have liked to have stashed the clues myself. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust my mother; it was just that I hated giving up control of any part of an investigation once I was involved in it. It wasn’t a very pretty side of my personality; I knew that, but I couldn’t help myself. I justified it because I’d had a great deal more experience than my mother in conducting criminal investigations, but I wasn’t sure that was the only reason I wanted to lead every part of this.

  When I opened the front door, I was surprised to see the attorney, Adam Jefferson, standing there instead of the handyman. “Oh, it’s you,” I said when I saw who it was.

  “Well, I’ve got to admit that I’ve had warmer welcomes in my life, but we lawyers must take what we can get,” he said with a smile. “I brought coffee and donuts, if that helps,” he said as he held the tray aloft.

  “Thanks for the offer, but we’ve already eaten,” I said.

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me? You said that you were an early riser.” Adam looked at the bag, and then he asked, “Was it thoughtless of me to bring a donutmaker fresh donuts for breakfast?”

  “No, it’s fine,” I said, though the only donuts I usually ate were samples of new varieties I was trying out. I’d eaten quite a few when I’d first started running Donut Hearts, but it hadn’t taken long for me to get over that. “Come on in.”

  “Thank you.” As he looked into the living room, he saw the plywood over the window. “What happened there?”

  “Someone threw a brick through our window last night,” I said.

  He looked at me skeptically as he asked, “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Counselor, do I look like I’m kidding?”

  Adam shook his head. “What is this town coming to? I can’t believe the number of random acts of violence that have been happening around here lately.”

  “There was nothing random about this, I’m afraid,” I said as Momma walked into the room and joined us.

  “Oh, hello, Mr. Jefferson. I wasn’t expecting to see you this morning.”

  “Clearly I should have called first and warned you both,” he said to her before turning back to me. “Suzanne, how do you know that this wasn’t random?”

  “There was a note wrapped around the brick,” I said.

  “May I see it?” he asked.

  “Sorry, but the police chief took it with him last night, along with the brick itself, not that it’s going to do him any good. I’ve got a strong suspicion that there weren’t any fingerprints on the paper, and I’m guessing that not even the latest police technology could lift them from a rough surface like the face of a brick.” I glanced at Momma and gave my head a slight shake. I didn’t want her bringing up the fact that I had a photo of the note on my cellphone. Fortunately, she read my signal and kept silent.

  “What exactly did it say?” the attorney asked.

  “I don’t remember the exact wording,” I lied, “but the implication was that we weren’t welcome here, and that we should both leave as quickly as we could.”

  The attorney shook his head again. “I just don’t understand. There’s got to be more to it than that.”

  “You could always ask the police chief about it yourself. Counselor, it’s not that we aren’t happy to have you here, but to what do we owe the pleasure of your company so early this morning?”

  He shrugged. “I’m afraid that I’ve got some bad news for you.”

  “Go on. I’m listening,” I said.

  “I’ve been looking over your aunt’s estate, and it appears that it’s not nearly as substantial as I’d thought it was yesterday.”

  “Frankly, that’s the least of my worries right now. I honestly don’t care if I don’t get a dime,” I said.

  “Suzanne, let’s not be hasty,” Momma said before she turned to the attorney. “Mr. Jefferson, I understood that my sister owned not just this property, but several others in the area. In fact, unless I’m mistaken, you were interested in purchasing some of her land yourself.”

  “I was, but it seems that it wasn’t hers to sell, at least not anymore. She donated the property, along with most of the rest of her liquid assets, to the LPCS.”

  “What is that, some sort of cult?” Momma asked as she frowned mightily.

  “Some people might think so, especially land developers in the region. The full legal name of the group is the Land Preservation and Conservation Society. She didn’t want her land built on after she was gone. Sorry to bring you such bad news so early, but I didn’t want you to overextend yourself financially based on what I told you earlier.”

  “As I said before, it’s fine with me. If that’s what my aunt wanted to do with her land, then I’m happy that she donated it while she was alive and had a chance to feel good about her contributions.” I hadn’t even entertained the thought of getting rich off my aunt’s demise. All I’d wanted was to hear her laugh one last time.

  Everything else was tied for last place.

  “On the bright side, you still inherit this house and everything in it, including her jewelry,” the attorney said, trying to soften the blow.

  “That’s—” Momma started to say, but I interrupted and finished for her. “Excellent,” I added.

  “Well, I just thought you should know before you made any big plans,” the attorney said.

  Before he could leave, I said, “You never told us exactly where you were when my aunt died.”

  “I thought we’d already cleared that up. I was home eating cereal when she called me, and then later I was at Colleen Edwards’ fixing a leaking washer.”

  “Actually, there’s at least an hour gap in there, given what you told us before.�
��

  The attorney shrugged. “I just assumed that you wouldn’t need to know that I finished breakfast after I spoke with your aunt, went for a run, took a shower, got dressed, came into the office early, and then I had to go back home again and change clothes when Colleen called.”

  “No one can verify much of that, can they?” I asked.

  He looked genuinely surprised by my line of questioning. “Suzanne, correct me if I’m wrong, but I wasn’t aware that the police chief was working under any other presumption than Jean’s was an accidental death.”

  “I can’t say what he believes. I’m not privy to his thoughts,” I said.

  “But you suspect that it might have been foul play, is that it?”

  “I have my reasons,” I said.

  “Perhaps you’ve investigated too many real crimes in the past,” the attorney said.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Aren’t you willing to even entertain the notion that your past behavior has clouded your current judgment?”

  “Counselor, am I under cross-examination?” I asked him.

  “Of course not. I just want to be certain that I’m not under suspicion for a murder that may not have even happened.”

  “We’re not ready to point any fingers just yet,” I said.

  “You should both be very careful where you tread,” he said.

  “Mr. Jefferson, you’re not threatening my daughter, are you?” Momma asked.

  “No, ma’am. I wouldn’t dream of it. I’m just saying that there are reputations at stake that might be ruined by your idle speculation.”

  “Trust me, there’s nothing idle about our speculations,” I answered.

  He frowned a moment before he spoke. “I have to say that I’m a little disappointed in you, Suzanne.”

  “You know what? I’ll just have to find a way to live with it,” I said, “because I won’t stop until I learn the truth, every last bit of it.”

  “It seems there’s nothing left to say, then,” Adam said.

  “I think a good-bye might be in order,” Momma said.