Peaches and Scream

by Chelsea Thomas

  Sure enough, there in the middle of the notebook was a page titled “PEOPLE WHO I KNOW FOR A FACT WANT TO KILL ME.”

  Miss May shook her head. “This poor woman thought everyone was out to get her.”

  I leaned forward. “So you don’t think this could be a viable list of suspects?”

  Miss May shrugged. “Let’s see. The first person listed here is Tom Gigley. Gigley has never wanted to kill anyone.”

  “That’s not true,” said Teeny. “That one time he wanted to kill everyone who worked at the cable company.”

  “He didn’t actually want to kill the cable employees,” I contended. “He just sent them death threats, that’s all.”

  “Apparently Beth thinks Gigley wanted to kill her because,” Miss May read, “and I quote ‘he parked his car next to mine today and it was very aggressive and I know it was a sign that he wants me dead.’”

  “Fine,” said Teeny. “Maybe Tom isn’t a real suspect.”

  I bit my lower lip. “Who else is on the list?”

  “The next person is Humphrey,” Miss May said. “That man is three hundred and fifty years old. He’s not a killer.”

  “Don’t let your personal affection for these people cloud your investigative mind,” I said. “We’ve suspected Humphrey before…in the Santa slaying.”

  “Who else do you think wanted her dead?” asked Teeny.

  Miss May scanned down the list with her finger. “Looks like…everyone in town. And these reasons Beth has listed are absurd. She suspects Petey wanted to kill her because she found a bone in her fish at Peter’s Land and Sea. She thinks the mayor wanted to kill her because she violated a thirty minute parking rule. Hold on a second…She thinks Sudeer Patel wanted to kill her too. And next to him she’s only written the word ‘revenge.’”

  “And she pressed so hard when she was writing his name that she ripped the page,” Teeny pointed out. “Do you think that she wronged Sudeer? Did she steal from him or try to seduce his wife? Maybe she kidnapped him or broke into his house and stole the lunch right out from under his hands.”

  Miss May closed the notebook. “Who knows what Beth might have done to Sudeer. But this is a clue worth following up on.”

  “So we need to talk to Sudeer,” I said.

  “And find out why he wanted revenge on a dead woman,” Teeny said.

  16

  Here, Here, Sudeer

  I stood up from the table and pulled on my light jacket. “Let’s get to the bottom of this. Let’s get past the bottom. To the middle.”

  Teeny scrunched up her nose. “The middle comes before the bottom.”

  “Not in my imagination,” I said. “First there’s the top, then there’s the bottom and last of all comes the middle. You know what? When I say it out loud it doesn’t make any sense. But think about the middle of the earth. It’s way past the bottom!”

  “It doesn’t matter anyway,” said Miss May. “It’s after dark on Monday night. If Sudeer did this, which I don’t think he did, then our arrival at his house will freak him out. And if he’s innocent, it’s just rude to visit a family man out of nowhere on Monday night. We should go tomorrow.”

  “Works for me,” said Teeny. “You girls ready to head back to my place? I’m all set up for an old-fashioned slumber party.”

  I laughed. I hadn’t been over to Teeny’s house for a slumber party since I was a little girl. Yes, I’d been sleeping there for the last few nights, but a real slumber party was a whole different story. “I can’t wait.”

  Teeny had not been kidding when she said it was time for a slumber party. Her entire kitchen table was covered with different shades of nail polish. She had three bottles of cheap white wine chilling in the refrigerator. And she had made a huge tray of brownies for us to “nosh up while we gossip.”

  “This is going to be so much fun.” Teeny picked up a light pink shade of nail polish. “I think I want this color on my fingers. But then something fun on my toes.”

  I chuckled. “Light pink isn’t fun enough for your toes?”

  “You know what I mean,” said Teeny. “I want something sparkly.”

  Miss May kicked off her shoes. “These toes have never seen nail polish and they never will. But I’d love a brownie.”

  Miss May plucked a plump brownie off the tray and collapsed onto Teeny’s overstuffed sofa. As soon as my aunt bit into her brownie, she gasped. “Teeny. You’re a better baker than I am! How is this so gooey on the inside?”

  “You like it?”

  I grabbed the brownie and took a bite. The thing was incredible. Transcendent. “You’re on a roll lately. This might be even better than the hushpuppies.”

  Teeny narrowed her eyes. “What’s wrong with the hushpuppies?”

  My mouth was full but I talked anyway. “No. Nothing. Those are incredible too. Just different tastes.”

  Over the next hour or two, Teeny told us old stories as she and I painted each others’ nails and ate brownies. I loved hearing Teeny’s stories about her youth.

  Unlike a lot of small town folk, she had done a surprising amount of traveling. Teeny had even hitchhiked in her 20’s and ended up in San Francisco. She’d stayed there for a few months but then missed Pine Grove, so she came back, as she said, “With more than a few flowers in my hair. Don’t worry. I showered.”

  The next morning, we piled into Teeny’s pink convertible and headed over to Sudeer’s office in the business district of Pine Grove. OK. “Business district” might be a strong word. But there were businesses there. Sudeer had a little architectural firm office across the street from the coffee shop, The Brown Cow. That was essentially the entire district. When we pulled up, there weren’t any other cars in the parking lot.

  Miss May climbed out of the convertible and squinted toward the office. “That’s odd. It’s 10 AM. Sudeer should already be here for the day.”

  “Maybe he stayed up late painting his toenails and had trouble waking up this morning,” said Teeny with a yawn.

  Miss May approached the office. “Come on. Maybe he walked to work today.” She pulled on the door handle but the door did not open. “This is so weird. Sudeer must not be in there.”

  I cupped my hands to peer into the front window. “I don’t think Sudeer has been in his office for a while.”

  Teeny and Miss May stood on either side of me, cupping their hands around their eyes to get a better look inside, just like I had. “What makes you say that?” Miss May asked.

  “Look at the wall. All the electronics have been unplugged from the outlets.”

  “Maybe he wanted to preserve power,” said Teeny. “That’s just smart and frugal.”

  “Perhaps,” I said. “But usually people only unplug their electronics when they plan to be away for a long time.”

  Miss May squatted gracelessly and kept peering inside. “Look at these windowsills. There’s visible dust. Sudeer takes such pride in his office. It surprises me that he’d let it gather dust.”

  Teeny turned away from the window and paced. “You’re right. Sudeer was so proud when he opened this place. You know he kept it clean because he used the same cleaning crew that my sister Peach uses at the inn. They’re the best in town.”

  “Computers unplugged. Dust on the windowsill,” I said. “Sudeer stopped coming to this office.”

  “I think you’re right, Chelsea.” Miss May pulled a brownie out of her purse and nibbled on the corner. “But the question is why?”

  17

  An Architect of Revenge

  Sudeer lived in the Hastings Pond neighborhood of Pine Grove. Although he had always been an important part of Pine Grove’s business community, and I had enjoyed getting to know Sudeer over the past year, he often came up as a suspect in our investigations.

  Up to that point, he hadn’t been guilty of any murders in town. He was a kind, upstanding family man. At least to the untrained eye. But I knew better than to trust an untrained eye. My year as a sleuth had taught me that even the m
ost unthinkable suspects could be killers. So as we approached in Teeny’s little convertible that morning, I had a strong case of the deja-vu sweats.

  “Should we make a plan before we question Sudeer?” I picked at the pink nail polish on my thumb.

  “We can tell him he won a sweepstakes and we’re the congratulations committee,” said Teeny. “Everyone loves to win stuff.”

  Miss May shook her head. “Sudeer knows us too well for that. As soon as he sees us, he’s going to know why we’re here. It’s our job to question him and hunt for clues. If we’re observant, I think we’ll be able to pick up on the truth, whether that’s good, bad, or in the middle.”

  “Now is the middle after bad or between good and bad?” I asked.

  “The middle is whatever you want it to be.” Miss May pointed out the window. “We’re here.”

  Sudeer’s cottage was one story. It had a little white picket fence and a perfect little green lawn. Miss May rang the doorbell and we waited. I heard happy squeals of laughter from inside and remembered Sudeer’s adorable little children. A female voice called out from inside and I heard footsteps approach. “One second.”

  Kayla, Sudeer’s wife, took a few seconds to quiet the children then opened the door with a smile. Her smile faded when she saw we were her visitors. “Miss May, Chelsea, Teeny. Don’t tell me my husband is a suspect again.”

  Miss May reached into her purse and pulled out an apple pie. “I brought you a pie.”

  Kayla pushed the pie away. “I don’t want your pie. Sudeer is not a killer. Not now, not before, not ever in the future. I don’t want you around here. We’re having a nice family breakfast.”

  “I’m sorry, Kayla,” said Miss May. “It’s unfortunate that our investigations keep leading us back to your door. I know that must be frustrating.”

  “Frustrating is an understatement. I hate seeing your faces.”

  “No need to be rude, Kayla,” said Teeny. “May offered you a pie. She clearly feels bad.”

  Kayla began to close the door. “I don’t care if she feels bad. My husband is not a killer.”

  Miss May stopped the door with her foot. “You’re right. I don’t think Sudeer is a killer. But I think he might have information that could help us find the killer. Which will make Pine Grove safer for all of us.”

  “No. Sorry. If the police come here and have a warrant then they can talk to my husband. But I don’t want him anywhere near the three of you.”

  Miss May sighed. “If we spoke for a few minutes I’m sure we’d find that Sudeer is innocent and has some reasonable and elucidating explanation for his connection to the victim. Please. Five minutes.”

  A male hand grabbed the door and opened it all the way. There stood Sudeer, wearing a full set of matching flannel pajamas. He held an adorable toddler in his arms. Neither of them looked like a cold-blooded murderer. “It’s OK, Kayla. I’ll talk.”

  Kayla fumed and stormed back into the house. Sudeer stood aside with a soft, exhausted smile. “Please. Come in.”

  Miss May, Teeny, Sudeer, and I sat across from one another on floral couches in his cramped living room. I admired the photos of his babies on the wall. But when my gaze returned back to Sudeer’s face, I felt uneasy. I knew he didn’t really want us there, and whether or not he was a killer, his displeasure at our presence weighed on me.

  Miss May started by apologizing and giving a quick summary of why we were there. Sudeer seemed understanding but impatient. His toddlers were all calling out for their “da-da” from the other room and Kayla often walked into the living room, glared at us, then exited back to the kitchen.

  Finally, after some chitchat, Miss May boiled everything down to one question. “You weren’t at the peach party at the orchard. But that doesn’t exonerate you. Beth’s notebook claims you wanted to kill her. And she didn’t turn up dead until hours after the party. So please… Tell me.… Where were you between the hours of 8 pm and 3 am that night?”

  Sudeer stammered. “That’s a large window. I… I don’t know. I was at my office.”

  Miss May looked down. “We were just there, Sudeer. We went to look for you at your office first because we didn’t want to bother you at home. But…it looks like the place has been shut down for some time.”

  Sudeer switched gears fast. “I was at my home office. Here. Of course, I was here at home. I probably went to bed around 10 or 11. I said I was at my office but I didn’t mean my office in town. You get that, right?”

  Miss May looked up at Sudeer and narrowed her eyes. “OK. Do you want to tell me why you haven’t been at your actual office for a little while?”

  I could tell Miss May was not buying Sudeer’s story. I don’t think any of us were. Working these murder investigations had taught us how to detect a person’s lies. But Sudeer was so visibly anxious, our expertise was hardly necessary.

  “It’s not worth the money,” Sudeer said. “I’m just one person with occasional help. I don’t need a whole office in town.”

  “If that were true, why not put the place up for rent?” Miss May crossed her legs.

  “That’s a good question. I’m looking into it. Going to rent it. I’m going to rent it soon and that’s just the whole story.”

  Miss May exhaled. “Sudeer. Tell us the truth.”

  Kayla appeared and stood in the doorway, arms crossed. Sudeer looked over at her and she nodded. “OK. I had problems with Beth. It wasn’t a big deal. But she came in one day and asked if I could build her a house. At that point, I didn’t know who she was. I was friendly with her and asked how I could help. She came back by my office every day for a month. Always with questions about this house she wanted to build, but never ready to make a deposit or officially hire me as her architect. Well one day, I confronted her about it. I told her my time is valuable and if she wasn’t serious about hiring me, then I needed her to stop making so many appointments and showing up at my work. That was when things got strange. Beth accused me of breaking her heart. She said we had a special connection and we were in love. She was furious that I tried to ‘modify’ our relationship and she screamed at me. She wanted me to leave Kayla for her. Thankfully, Beth never managed to find out where I live. So I stopped going to the office and I started working from home.”

  Miss May nodded. “So Beth threatened you and your family.”

  Sudeer put up his hands. “No. No, no, I didn’t look at her as a threat. If anything, I felt bad for her. I wanted her to go away but I didn’t want her to die.”

  Kayla stepped further into the room. “My husband is not a killer.”

  “You mentioned,” I muttered.

  “OK,” said Miss May. She turned back to Sudeer. “Can I ask you this one more time… Where were you Saturday night between the hours of 8 PM and 3 AM?”

  “I know where he was.” Kayla’s eyes glimmered.

  Sudeer spun to face her. “You do?”

  Kayla smirked. “You can’t keep any secrets from me, Sudeer.”

  Teeny threw up her hands. “So where was he?”

  “There’s a jewelry store down in Brooklyn that’s open late. It’s owned by a strange family with sporadic hours, and they have the most beautiful pieces. Sudeer knew I had been stressed by this Beth ordeal. So he went down there Saturday night and bought me an incredible necklace.” Kayla’s eyes welled up. “Sudeer is a good husband and a good man. And he has wonderful taste in jewelry.”

  Kayla pulled the receipt from her pocket. She handed it to Miss May. “He bought the necklace late Saturday night. You can see the timestamp on the receipt. There’s no way he could have been back in Pine Grove until 2 AM at the earliest. He didn’t kill that woman.”

  Sudeer hung his head. “I can’t believe you knew about the necklace! It was supposed to be a surprise.”

  Kayla crossed and gave Sudeer a big hug. “Of course I knew. You left the receipt in your pants pocket when I did the laundry.” They separated and Kayla turned to us. “Now, you three need to leave or I�
��m calling the police.”

  “We’ll go,” said Miss May. “But if you had proof of Sudeer’s innocence this whole time, why didn’t you show us when we arrived?”

  “I didn’t want to ruin his surprise if I could help it. But you three would never leave here if I didn’t have proof,” Kayla made a shooing motion with her hands. “Do you need me to show you the door?”

  Clearly, it was time for us to leave. We exited without further ado.

  Even though we’d learned Sudeer’s story, I felt worse than I had before. Beth had been an aggressive and erratic woman. She’d wreaked havoc on many people’s lives. And any one of those people could have wanted her dead.

  18

  Secret Ingredients

  We drove through town after leaving Sudeer’s, and Teeny insisted we stop by her restaurant. We were all hungry, so she didn’t really have to twist our arms about it. We headed over to Grandma’s to grab some food and talk about the case. As soon as we entered, I could tell from the look on Teeny’s face that she had another surprise recipe to show us.

  “Why are you smiling now?” I asked. “What have you been cooking up?”

  Teeny rubbed her hands together. “Do you want me to tell you or do you want me to show you?”

  “Just feed us whatever you’ve got as fast as possible,” I said. “I think we all need to get the taste of what happened at Sudeer’s house out of our mouths.”

  “You’re right about that.” Miss May walked to our booth in the back. Teeny and I followed. “I feel bad. Sudeer winds up a suspect in so many of these investigations. I understand why Kayla was upset.”

  I sighed. “Me too.” I turned to Teeny. “OK I’m ready for my secret food now.”

  Teeny beckoned to Samuel the pimply-faced waiter, and he emerged with another silver platter. “Ladies. Today on the menu we have a delicious concoction born from the magnificent brain of our owner and head chef, Teeny.”