by C A Phipps
“Isn’t it awful?” Angel said when her tears had slowed. “Poor Denise. Poor you. I wasn’t sure whether to come over last night, but I figured the last thing you needed was more questions. I wanted to find you after the deputies let us leave the fair, but you were already at the station.”
“How did you know?”
“Laura called and told me you were there the same time she was. I would have liked to be with her too, but she told me to stay with Gran and Suzy.”
Maddie nodded. “Thanks for staying with Gran and I was pretty exhausted by the time I got home.”
“I can’t imagine how you must have felt. Laura was devastated. She was at Denise’s only that morning, and they’d walked to the fair together.”
“Denise told me. I was going to drive us to O’Malley’s, and they were meeting me at my car.”
“That’s right. It must have been such a shock to find her there.”
“More than I can say. I was worse than useless. Thank goodness Ethan arrived and knew what to do, but we were too late.”
“There was so much confusion. Deputies everywhere, trying to talk to as many people as they could, and people getting in the way. We were all upset, and we couldn’t get to you.” Angel let out a half-sob.
Maddie felt the tears begin again, even though she’d thought she couldn’t possibly cry anymore.
“The deputies asked me about my scarf,” Angel said. “I felt sick about it.”
“Why was it there?” Maddie fetched a box of tissues and handed it to Angel after taking a handful for herself.
“Denise wasn’t feeling so good, so I dampened the scarf, and she had it around her neck to keep her cooler.”
At that moment, Suzy burst through the door with Laura behind her. They saw Angel’s and Maddie’s misery, and the four of them turned into a sobbing mess.
Gran crossed the kitchen and ushered them to the stools at the counter. “You Girlz sit down. We’ll have a nice cup of tea and a slice of this cake Maddie’s just baked.”
“That would be wonderful, Gran,” Angel hiccupped.
Maddie was glad of this little touch of normality. “It’s such a relief you don’t think it was my pie that killed Denise.”
Suzy gasped. “Don’t be ridiculous. You wouldn’t do something like that. Is that what they think killed her? A pie?”
Maddie flushed, knowing Ethan hadn’t wanted his suspicion of poison to be broadcast. But these were her friends. Surely, he wouldn’t mind. “Please don’t spread it around, because they still have to do an autopsy.”
“We won’t say a word. Go on,” prompted Suzy. “We know you found Denise and that Ethan tried to revive her. Tell us what happened at the station and what they said.”
“They sure made it sound like it was poisoning, and they were just waiting for confirmation. Denise has no record of heart disease that I know about, so I guess it was a fair assumption to make.”
Angel nodded. “That’s right. Denise had to have a full medical exam when she ran for mayor. Laura had one too, didn’t you?”
“I did.” Laura’s face was puffy from crying, and she looked like she wasn’t done yet.
Gran shook her head. “It’s a stupid assumption, as far as I’m concerned. Not the poisoning, but that it could have been from any of the contest food at the fair.”
“That’s right. It could have been any number of things,” Suzy agreed.
“You know, she’d been complaining about not feeling so great for a couple of days. I went over on Friday afternoon to see how she was. She seemed perkier, but that probably had more to do with her secret admirer, I would think.” Gran had a small, sad smile and a faraway look on her face.
Stunned silence filled the room.
“What secret admirer?” Angel was the first to voice the question.
Gran’s smile vanished, replaced by a look of dismay. No doubt, she was surprised at herself for revealing a secret when she was well known for keeping them. Gran was always sought out by anyone who wanted to unburden themselves, and it appeared Denise had been no exception.
“You can’t leave us hanging, Gran,” Suzy pressed.
“She told me not to say anything, but I guess it doesn’t matter now.” Gran’s guilt gave way to her resignation.
Maddie threw her hands up. “I think it does matter. They could be the killer.”
Gran became flustered. “Oh my. Do you think so? I never gave it a thought. Then again, I couldn’t imagine anyone would want to kill our Denise.”
“Except for Virginia. She was apoplectic when she lost the election,” Laura added.
“How did you feel about it?” The words slipped out before Maddie had a chance to reel them in.
Angel was immediately defensive. “Laura and Denise were close, even though they ran against each other and Denise won. There’s no way she’d hurt anybody, let alone kill them. She’s a gentle person.” She put her arm around Laura’s shoulder while frowning at Maddie.
“I’m sure Maddie didn’t mean anything. It was a generalization about motives, wasn’t it?” Suzy looked pointedly at Maddie.
“I was only saying Laura might understand how Virginia felt, since they were all political rivals.” That hadn’t come out so well, either.
Angel was outraged. “You’re comparing Laura with Virginia?”
“Virginia’s in a league of her own,” Suzy said firmly.
“Darn straight she is,” Angel agreed.
Laura sat quietly, pale and miserable, sipping her tea.
“Sorry, Laura.” Maddie couldn’t bear to see her this way. It made her feel like she’d kicked a puppy. “I made a mess of that, it’s just that my head is still all over the place. Forgive me.”
Laura sighed. “It’s okay. The deputies questioned me for hours. I made a pie too. Judging by the people waiting to be interviewed after me, anyone who made a pie or cake that Denise might have tasted is probably under suspicion.”
“Well, I’m glad I didn’t enter anything this year. We know it wasn’t anything you two baked, so we can rest easy on that score too,” Gran said firmly, as if to put a lid on the conversation—or at least on the way it was headed.
“So, will you open tomorrow?” Suzy asked Maddie.
“Gran and I were just discussing that. I think we should. But I’m wondering if it might be disrespectful.”
Suzy shook her brown curls. “We’re all going to work tomorrow. Why shouldn’t you?”
Maddie grimaced. “It’s a little different if she was poisoned by a pie, isn’t it?”
Gran patted her hand. “But we don’t know that for sure. And like I said, if she was, it definitely wasn’t yours. Or Laura’s.”
Suzy smiled gently. “Let’s talk about Denise, and not in a sad way. She wouldn’t have wanted that. She was always trying to cheer people up. I want to hear more about her secret admirer.”
Maddie was glad to move the conversation in another direction. “Yes, let’s. Do you have any details, Gran?”
Gran shifted uneasily on her chair. “She really had no idea who it was, or so she said. Each day for the past week, a bakery box came to her house with something sweet inside and a wee note to say he admired her and hoped to meet up very soon, but he was shy and wanted to be sure she was ready to date.”
“Anything else?” Maddie pressed.
“The note also said she should be patient because all would be revealed and she would be surprised.”
Angel shivered. “Does anyone else think that sounds creepy?”
Suzy sighed. “It’s because we know she was murdered. Or we think she was. If you got a note like that at any other time, you’d think it was romantic, or at least flattering.”
“Would not,” Angel said with fervor.
“To be fair, that’s probably because you don’t like men,” Suzy teased.
“No, it’s not. I like men plenty. I just don’t want one of my own right now. There’s a difference.”
Suzy and Angel argu
ing was another sign of normalcy. It meant absolutely nothing as far as their friendship was concerned, and it helped lighten the mood a little.
“Okay, but I’d be flattered,” Suzy insisted.
Laura nodded. “As much as I hate to admit it, I think I would be too.”
A knock at the kitchen door stalled the conversation. Ethan poked his head inside.
“Come on in. Would you like coffee?” Maddie stood and waved him to her seat.
He was in uniform, and he took off his hat as he entered. “I should have known I’d find you all together. Coffee would be great. How are we doing today?” he asked of them all, but his eyes were on Maddie.
“We’ve been better,” she answered, noticing that Laura was flushed and couldn’t take her eyes off Ethan.
“I’m sure. Denise was my friend too, and this has hit everyone mighty hard.” He turned to the group at the counter. “Since you’re all here, maybe I could ask you ladies a few questions about yesterday?”
“Are we really still under suspicion?” Suzy demanded.
Ethan put his hat on the counter and regarded them. “Not by me. But having said that—you might have facts you’re not even aware of.”
“What kind of facts?”
“Who was the last person to see her? How long had she been in the parking lot, and did anyone have a grudge against her?”
The women shared a look. Maddie caught Ethan’s raised eyebrow and figured he’d notice something so obvious. He didn’t say anything, but his look did have a great big question mark in it.
Maddie sighed. “Gran, tell Ethan about the boyfriend.”
Gran spluttered and coughed. “That was shared in confidence,” she said disapprovingly.
Ethan’s seat was beside Gran’s, so he patted her back and used his cajoling voice. “I’d be very interested in any information you have. It could be vitally important.”
Apparently, the way he touched her gently on the shoulder and spoke as if she was the only one in the room was more than enough to get Gran to tell her story in far more detail than the Girlz had managed to pull out of her.
“Denise had an admirer who left treats on her doorstep.”
A raised eyebrow was the only clue that he was surprised.
“How did she meet him?”
“She hadn’t. Not yet. She was hoping to meet him face to face any day.”
“So, some stranger was leaving her treats? Since when?”
“Only the past week.”
“What kind of treats?” Ethan had his pad out and was writing furiously while Gran continued.
“A cupcake or two, in a bakery box.”
He looked up. “What kind of box?”
“White, like ours. Nothing fancy. I thought at first he’d bought the cakes from here, because the boxes were exactly like ours including the logo. I assumed the company must have made more of them. Anyway, those cupcakes tasted nothing like Maddie’s.”
Everyone stared at her open-mouthed for the second time that morning, except for Ethan.
“You tasted them?”
“Just the once. Denise was trying to lose weight because of her admirer, so she was sharing them with anyone who stopped by. Only women, of course, because she didn’t want to offend him if she really did know the man and he happened to come by. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been feeling so good last week, either, and she wanted me to take one from Friday home. I told her that giving cupcakes to a baker is like taking taffy to a candy store, so I said no. But I didn’t want to be rude, so I tried a small piece. I have to say wherever the admirer got those cupcakes from, he needed to get his money back.”
She looked around at the stunned group. “What’s wrong with you Girlz? You look like you’re swallowing flies.”
Maddie took a deep breath. “Gran, you haven’t been well.”
Gran waved a hand in dismissal. “True, but I’m fine now.”
Ethan shook his head. “When did you become unwell?”
Gran frowned. “Let me see. Thursday? Or was it Friday?”
“Friday,” Maddie interjected.
“And when did you taste Denise’s cake?” Ethan asked.
“Now, that was definitely Friday. I visited her to see how she was. About three o’clock. It was later that afternoon I felt queasy.”
There was silence while they waited and watched as Gran came to the conclusion the rest of them had already reached.
Her hand went to her mouth. “That cupcake was poisoned? That’s what killed our Denise?”
“We can’t be sure, but this is too much of a coincidence,” Ethan replied. “And even more so if every cupcake that week was tainted. Now that we’ve got this information, I’ll head over to Denise’s house and see if I can find anything we might have missed yesterday. I’ll get my deputies to talk to anyone who hasn’t felt well this past week. Some of them may have been the recipients of Denise’s generosity. Keep this conversation between us, and I’ll catch up with each of you as soon as I can.”
Maddie followed him to the door, where he turned. “It may be too late, but can you get Gran to have some tests this morning? I’ll call Layla and ask her to open up for you.” He looked at his watch. “In an hour?”
“Of course. I’m sorry. I truly didn’t know any of this.”
He gave her a rueful grin. “Small towns can be a blessing and a curse when it comes to secrets. I’m just glad I know now.”
She watched him go, thankful he had stopped by today and wondering if Gran had told him everything she knew. The Girlz stayed for a while longer, maybe hoping to find out more.
“I thought I knew her so well,” Laura said.
“We all did.” Angel squeezed her hand.
Maddie made another cup of tea for Gran and coffee for the rest of them. “If only she had mentioned this secret admirer, we could have looked out for her.”
Gran shook her head. “I don’t think it would have helped. This person was obviously bent on anonymity.”
“It makes me feel like we can’t trust anyone,” Suzy put in.
It was a sobering thought, one that made the hair on Maddie’s arms prickle. “Drink up, Girlz. I have to get Gran down to the clinic for some tests.”
“But I feel fine,” Gran protested.
“Ethan wants Layla to see if there are any signs you might have the poison in your system, which would link it to the cupcakes.”
“Oh.”
Suzy got up. “We’ll go, then. Let us know if you find out anything.”
“I’m sure we’ll have to wait a couple of days for the results,” Maddie replied.
Angel hugged her. “Don’t you worry about that. Ethan will push them through.”
“I hope so. It’d be good to stop worrying about one thing.”
“I hate the looks I’m getting.” Laura bit her lip. “Everyone who baked is under suspicion.”
“It’ll be okay.” Angel took her arm, and they walked out together.
Maddie wondered about the person who had initiated all this turmoil. And if it was one of their own …
She couldn’t bear the thought. She needed to bake.
Chapter Sixteen
Ethan returned with his deputy on Sunday afternoon. A bakery box had been found in the mayor’s trash. Since there were no other bakeries in town, Ethan apologetically took one of Maddie’s boxes to the sheriff’s department. It turned out to be a match, and there were traces of arsenic in it.
Once more, Maddie was at the sheriff’s station being questioned by Deputy Jacobs, and this time they’d insisted Gran come in too. She was with another deputy in the room next door.
They’d better be taking care of her, Maddie thought.
“How do you think your bakery’s box got to the mayor’s house?” Deputy Jacobs began.
“Denise brought some things on the first day I opened. That was the only time she came in. According to Gran, Denise had an admirer who was leaving boxes for her.”
Judging by his reaction,
Jacobs knew about that. She looked to where Ethan was sitting in the corner. He gave her an apologetic look, but she had to accept this was evidence and she couldn’t protect Denise from unkind thoughts anyone might have about her having an admirer.
“Boxes of cupcakes?” the deputy pressed.
“Yes.”
“And you sold those cupcakes to this admirer?”
Maddie placed her hands on her thighs and her fingers began to tap. “I wouldn’t know if I sold him any cupcakes, because I have no idea who this man is. What I do know is that the cupcakes in that box weren’t mine.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You know this how?”
“Gran said they were awful, and she should know how my food tastes.”
“If they had poison in them, they might taste a little strange, wouldn’t they?”
She was outraged. “I wouldn’t poison my grandmother.”
“But you’d poison the mayor, who the cupcakes were intended for?”
“You’re twisting my words. I didn’t poison anyone. Call the health department. They’ve already been in this morning and taken samples of everything, and your men searched my place and Gran’s. Surely they’ll give you the results if you ask.” She folded her arms across her chest, remembering the sense of violation she’d felt.
Jacobs ignored her tirade. “Why would the mayor eat them if they tasted bad?”
“I have no idea. Maybe she didn’t want to hurt her admirers’ feelings or maybe she just tasted them, like Gran did.”
“Your Grandmother is still alive.”
“She only tried one cake. We don’t know how many Denise tried, or finished, do we?”
The deputy gave that a moment. “How would someone get a bunch of your boxes if they didn’t buy anything?”
Maddie was about to say she didn’t know, when she had a sudden flash-back. “Maybe when my window got smashed it was on purpose and someone snuck in and helped themselves to the boxes.”
Ethan gave her a surprised look but nodded in agreement. “Actually, Deputy, I was there after the window incident. The glass was all on the inside, meaning something broke it from the outside. The window is large enough for someone with a small build to get through.”