Goody Goody Gunshots

by Rose Pressey

  “In light of the circumstances. You are known to have witnessed a murder, and with the text message from last night… I know you said you don’t want it, but I really think it’s a good idea.”

  “You told him you didn’t want it?” Grandma Honey asked.

  “There was a text message? What was that about?” Mary Jane asked.

  “I’ll explain that later,” I said.

  “Oh, you’re taking the protection,” Grandma Honey said with her hands on her hips.

  “We’ll be in touch soon,” he said with a smile and then walked out the door.

  “You should at least have some candy while this terrible situation is going on,” Grandma Honey said.

  The police were out of the shop, but now I was left with the mess in the back.

  “Well, I guess I better get to work on cleaning up,” I said.

  “We’re here now to help and we’ll get it done in no time,” Grandma Honey said.

  We were headed toward the back. They hadn’t seen the mess yet.

  “Oh, my word,” Grandma Honey yelled out. “Heavens to Betsy. I had no idea they made this much of a mess. What in the world are they looking for?”

  “Why would they look for money? We don’t have any money back here,” Mary Jane said.

  “They obviously don’t know me well,” I said. “If they did they would have realized there is no money back here. Or anywhere else for that matter.”

  It took us a couple of hours to clean up the mess. In that time at least I had a few customers. Plus, Mary Jane and Grandma Honey had finally calmed down enough that they weren’t constantly telling me how I needed an alarm system. They said that they would stay with me overnight and walk with me. This was getting out of hand. I wasn’t going to stop my life just because this had happened. Sure, I was scared, but I would just have to take my chances and deal with whatever came my way.

  I wiped my hands on my apron. “Well, now we’re all finished here, and everything looks just the way that it did before.”

  “I hope that nobody comes back in and does it again,” Mary Jane said.

  “The odds of that are unlikely,” I said. “I think it was just someone looking to rob the store, and when they didn’t find anything, they left. They’ll never come back again.”

  “I hope you’re right, but I thought this was a safe area,” Grandma Honey said.

  “It is, but you know there’s crime everywhere. So occasionally it happens.”

  “That’s true,” she said. “I remember when our old house was broken into. Remember over on Seventh Street? They took your grandpa’s TV. He was so angry.”

  “I remember that,” I said.

  “He put that huge sign out on the front yard telling them that he would hunt them down and take the TV back.”

  “You never did get it back.”

  “No, but we got another one. The dirty rats should learn to go get a job and make money instead of stealing things.”

  “I hate thieves,” Mary Jane said.

  ***

  It was later in the day and I was wrapping up a beautiful package of chocolates for a customer. I tied the pink ribbon on top and handed her the package. “Here you are. I hope you enjoy it. And thank you so much for your business.”

  She smiled. “Thank you. I can’t wait to come back and buy more.”

  She turned and walked out of the store. I couldn’t force back my smile if I had to. “Well, I must say this is going much better than I expected,” Mary Jane said.

  “Hey, thanks a lot. I thought you had confidence in me.”

  “Well, you know when a business starts it’s kind of shaky at first.”

  “I would hardly say that one customer an hour is good business, but it’s better than nothing.”

  I looked at the time on my phone. It was only an hour until time to close. I noticed a couple times that the police officers drove by a few times. I supposed to just make sure that everything was all right. I wondered if the detective would stop by again. Not that I expected him to. As a matter of fact, if he stayed away that meant that things were safe. I couldn’t believe that Grandma Honey had said he was eye candy. I mean, the pun alone was terrible.

  A tall blonde woman spilled into the shop. Her high-heeled shoes clicked across the hardwood floor. Her focus was on me and she didn’t look at any of the candy as she made way across the room. It looked as if she was here on business. Maybe she was trying to sell me office supplies or glass containers for the candy. I had no idea, but it looked as if I was about to find out.

  When she was close enough to hear me, I said, “Welcome to the Sweet Shoppe. May I help you find something?”

  She smiled and stuck out her hand. “My name is Joy Cadbury.”

  “Nice to meet you, Joy. I’m Reese Sweet.”

  She stared at me with a strange expression. “Oh, so you named the shop after yourself. How cute.”

  “I suppose you could say that, yes,” I said.

  She pulled out a card from her purse and handed it toward me. I looked down at the card and saw that she was a realtor.

  Again, I asked her, “And what can I do for you?”

  “I’m here about this building.”

  Had she heard about the murder of Mr. Sutherland? Did she realize that I owned the building now?

  “I guess you’re wondering why I’m here,” she said with a laugh.

  I smiled. “Yes, I suppose that was my next question.”

  “Well, I’m wondering if you’re interested in selling this building. I know that you bought it from Mr. Sutherland. Such a shame about what happened to him.”

  “Did you know him well?” I asked.

  “We had spoken before about him selling the building and then he ultimately sold it on his own. I have some clients really interested in this place. Would you like to sell? Maybe I can take a look around and take some photos?”

  “I’m sorry, but I just bought the building. I just opened the store, so I’m really not in the market to sell. But if, heaven forbid, something happens and I decide to close up the shop, I can definitely let you know.”

  The smile slid from her face. Obviously, this wasn’t the answer that she wanted to hear. That was just too bad because I didn’t know what else to tell her. She looked around at the shop with a scowl. I knew she was scrutinizing every inch of the place. She focused her attention on me again. “Well, it’s kind of a small space. are you sure you have enough room here?”

  How much space did a candy shop need? Sure, someday I’d like to expand, but I’d always thought it would be by opening additional stores, not a larger store, and especially not after two days of business.

  “I think it’s a good size for a candy shop,” I said. “So nevertheless, I think I’ll just stay put.”

  This lady was kind of strange and made me a bit uncomfortable.

  She shrugged. “I suppose if you’re really set on it, but I still think you could use a bigger space.”

  “Thanks for letting me know that,” I said.

  I was trying to give her a cue that this conversation was over. No need to keep hashing it out because I wasn’t selling this place.

  “You know how to get in touch with me if you change your mind,” she said.

  I smiled. “Yes, absolutely I know how to reach you.”

  I knew for a fact I wouldn’t change my mind, even with a murder that had occurred here. I was staying put. The only reason I would leave would be if my business failed, heaven forbid. I didn’t even want to think about that. Especially after only a couple days of being open. I wasn’t sure there was any other way I could put it nicely that she would understand. She still stared at me, as if I would change my answer.

  Finally, she said, “All right then… It was nice talking to you.” She forced a smile that I knew wasn’t genuine.

  I returned the look. “Yes, it was a pleasure.”

  I could add this to my list of strange things that had happened since I moved into this building
. I hoped that was the last of the weird things that happened for quite some time.

  Mary Jane had been at the back of the store. She spotted Joy as she walked out.

  “Another customer?” she asked with excitement.

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t think so?” Mary Jane asked with a quirked eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

  I showed Mary Jane the card. “She’s a realtor. She wanted to buy the building.”

  Mary Jane had a confused look on her face. “What gave her the idea that you wanted to sell the building? You don’t want to sell the building, right?”

  “No, of course not. I have no idea why she asked or what gave her that idea,” I said.

  Mary Jane shrugged. “Some people are strange.”

  “She said she’d asked Mr. Sutherland and he’d refused.” I placed chocolates in the display case.

  “You don’t think that’s why he was murdered? Because he wouldn’t sell the building?” Mary Jane asked.

  “He wouldn’t sell so they killed him? That is crazy. What would be the reason for that?”

  “He sold the place to you.”

  “Yeah, but remember he didn’t have it listed for sale. He said it was a last-minute decision.”

  “That’s true,” Mary Jane said. “I guess that would be kind of farfetched.”

  “My imagination is running wild though.”

  “It’s the stress,” Mary Jane said. “You should have some chocolate.”

  “Have you seen Hunter lately?” I asked.

  “I think he was in the back.” Mary Jane pointed over her shoulder.

  “Thanks,” I said as I headed toward the back.

  I pushed through the swinging door and stepped inside the kitchen area. Hunter was nowhere in sight. Maybe he’d stepped outside again. Was he smoking a cigarette? Or talking on his cell again? I had things I needed help with and he had a tendency not to be around when I needed him. I supposed since I was his boss I needed to discuss this with him. I was sure if I told him he would understand and correct the problem.

  A shuffling noise came from my office. The door was open. A rush of panic came over me. Flashbacks of the mess that had been in the kitchen came to mind. What if the person who had broken in had returned? I needed to remind Hunter to keep that back door locked. I noticed that it was unlocked and slightly ajar. I inched my way toward the office, slightly afraid of what I’d find. Was Hunter in there again?

  When I reached the door, I peeked inside. Hunter was in my office. He was just standing in the middle of the room, as if he was looking around for something. His back was toward me, so he had no idea that I was watching him. I’d told him before that he shouldn’t come in here unless he needed me. Something was strange by the way that he was acting.

  “Excuse me, Hunter,” I said.

  He spun around and looked at me with his eyes wide.

  “Do you need something?”

  “Um, I thought I heard someone in here again so I came to look,” he said.

  The space was small, and he wouldn’t need to come into the room to see that no one was here.

  “As you can see, no one is in the room,” I said.

  A slight grin spread across his face. “I suppose I was just hearing things.”

  “Yes, I suppose you were,” I said.

  He moved toward the door. When he reached the door, he moved around me and stepped out into the kitchen.

  “If you hear something again just come and get me.”

  Maybe someone had broken in and was hiding somewhere in the store. But where? There was nowhere that I could see that someone could hide.

  “Sorry about that. I’ll let you know next time,” Hunter said.

  Hunter went back to work and I pulled the office door shut. As I moved across the kitchen, I felt Hunter’s gaze on me. He didn’t speak as he continued sweeping the floor. He really liked to sweep the floors. In fact, I hadn’t seen him doing much more than that, even though I had asked him to complete other tasks. Maybe Mary Jane had been right. She’d taken an instant dislike to him. Now I was wondering if she was right for feeling that way. Though he’d been nothing but nice.

  Initially I’d come back to ask Hunter to do a few things, but now I’d decided to let it go for a bit. One confrontation for the afternoon was enough. I headed toward the front of the shop to tell Mary Jane about what had happened. When I stepped back into the front area Mary Jane and I made eye contact.

  “Did you find Hunter?” she asked.

  With answering, I motioned for Mary Jane to follow me. We stood by the storage room where we’d hidden the day the murder had taken place. I didn’t want Hunter to overhear me talking about him.

  “Is something wrong?” Mary Jane frowned. “Did Hunter quit?” Her eyes lit up and I knew she was hoping that was what had happened. She hadn’t liked Hunter from day one.

  “I found him, and no, he didn’t quit,” I said.

  “Oh,” she said, not hiding the disappointment in her voice.

  I glanced toward the back again. “I found him in my office again.”

  Mary Jane quirked an eyebrow. “Nope. No way. That is not right. What did you say to him?”

  “Not enough. I probably should have told him he couldn’t be back there without me.”

  “What do you think he was doing back there?” Mary Jane asked.

  “I don’t know. He thought he heard someone in there. Though I could clearly see while standing at the door that no one was in there but him. He could have done the same thing. I noticed the back door was slightly ajar though. Do you think someone could have been in there and slipped out?” I asked.

  “Well, let’s go ask him more questions. I’ll be able to see right through his lies.” Mary Jane turned and started to walk toward the kitchen.

  I pulled on her arm. “Not so fast. He gave me a reason for being in there, and I’ll take his word for it… for now.”

  Chapter 16

  Somehow, I convinced Mary Jane not to confront Hunter. I told her to give it a little bit longer and see what happened. As long as he didn’t try it again, I could consider the matter over. No one had been in the kitchen but Hunter, so I just made sure to remind him to keep the door shut and locked.

  Hunter peeked through the door. “I’m all finished. I’ll be leaving now.”

  “Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Hunter must have felt Mary Jane’s gaze on him because he looked her way. Her glare sent him back into the kitchen.

  “He noticed the way you were looking at him,” I whispered.

  “That was the point,” Mary Jane said.

  She was being hard on the guy. Maybe I should have a talk with him before he left. I hurried over to the door and into the kitchen. The talk would have to wait because Hunter was already gone. I stepped over to my office to make sure that he wasn’t in there again. The door was closed just the way that I’d left it. The phone was ringing though, so I opened my office door and hurried over to the desk.

  I picked up the phone. “Hello?”

  There was no response.

  “Hello?” I repeated, but still received no answer.

  I placed the receiver down and picked up a file of notes for things that I needed to do. That was when I spotted the cell phone on the corner of my desk. I knew it wasn’t mine because I had a pink case on my phone. Plus, my phone was currently in my pocket. I picked up the phone and touched the screen. Right away it lit up. I swiped the screen so that I could find out who it belonged to. Though I had my suspicions. There had only been one other person in my office today. Hunter must have set the phone down and then forgotten about it. Surely, he would realize that he’d forgotten it and come back for it soon.

  Maybe I’d use that opportunity to discuss work with him. When I swiped through the settings Hunter’s name came up on the screen. Just as I suspected. That meant he had been around my desk and not just standing in the middle of the room like I’d found him.
Wait until Mary Jane heard about this.

  A text popped up. I thought about not reading it, but the words were right there and impossible to avoid. Was it bad if I looked at some of the things on his phone? I couldn’t help it if I saw a few things. I hadn’t picked up the phone for that purpose. I wasn’t sure who the text was from, but I knew who the person was asking about.

  What about Sutherland?

  That was odd. I supposed the person was asking about Mr. Sutherland because Hunter had told him about the murder here in the shop. That was understandable. Maybe the crime had bothered Hunter more than he’d let on. I’d have to let him know that I was here for him if he needed to discuss it. So I had to take a peek at the other messages. How many people had he discussed this with? There were other messages about Mr. Sutherland. But the texts were dated before Hunter had started working here. This sent a chill down my spine. I’d had no idea that Hunter had known Mr. Sutherland. Why hadn’t he mentioned this to me? Was he trying to hide something?

  I hurried out of the office, looking around the kitchen to make sure that Hunter hadn’t returned for his phone. I’d have to show this to Mary Jane in a hurry. I didn’t want him to catch me with the phone. Though once he realized where he’d left it he would know that I’d probably taken it. I would have to place it in the kitchen and pretend he had left it there. No, he would know that wasn’t the case. This was a tricky situation.

  When I stepped back into the main area Mary Jane asked, “Did you talk with him?”

  “He left already, but I found something interesting.”

  She quirked an eyebrow. “I don’t like the look on your face. This isn’t good news, is it?”

  “You could say that.” I thrust the phone toward her. “Look at this.”

  She took the phone from my hand. “What am I looking for?”

  “Check out the text messages.” I pointed.

  Mary Jane scrolled through the messages. She looked up at me with a frown.

  “Notice anything odd?” I asked.

  “He mentions Sutherland?”

  “That’s right, but check out the dates.” I gestured at the phone.

  “These text messages were before he worked here. He acted as if he had no idea there had been a murder here,” Mary Jane said.