Meringue and Mischief

by Ramona Ransom

  “Do you want me to tell you that she was a terrible person and treated me like dirt?”

  “Of course not!” Nessa exclaimed. “I was hoping you could tell me why you were the one to find her. I was told that she had a certain guy she wanted to come to her house from the cable company, and if the story I heard about the two of you is true, I highly doubt you were that guy. So, why were you the one to find her?”

  “You’re awfully nosy,” Cody said with a slight grin. “I found her because I am the certain guy you are referring to. The stories you heard are probably true, although I’m not sure where you would have heard them. Laverne did treat me badly, and I stuck up for myself and stood up to her. That’s why she chose me. She said that no one ever had the courage to stand up to her, and she appreciated that I did.”

  “So, because you didn’t let her walk all over you, she liked you?” Nessa asked.

  “I guess so.” Cody shrugged. “I thought she was going to be upset with me because I missed the original appointment we were supposed to have, so I went the next day, and that’s when I found her.”

  “You missed the appointment?” Nessa asked, wondering if that meant anything. She didn’t know how long Laverne had been dead before Cody found her, but she’d assumed that whoever had killed her had done it after Clint and Mavery left.

  “Yeah, and I was ready for her to yell at me about it. I was supposed to help her with her cable box, but my neighbor told me about a stray dog he found, and he knows I’m a sucker for animals. He said that no one could catch the thing, and I like to think of myself as pretty good with dogs, so I wanted to see what I could do to help. The dog was about thirty minutes away, so it was quite the hike, but I went out there, anyway.”

  “Did you find him?” Nessa asked, seeing how good Cody was with his own dogs. Her phone went off, and she sent Chloe back a quick text letting her know she was fine and not to worry.

  “Nope. No dog in sight when I got there. But anyway, I blew off my meeting with Laverne because I knew she wouldn’t call in to complain about me since I’m the only one she lets in her house, anyway. I should have called her, but I didn’t, and now I feel awful about it. What if I could have prevented her death?”

  Nessa hated to believe what he was saying, but he seemed so sincere.

  “You can’t blame yourself,” she said. Unless, of course, he was the killer and should be blamed.

  “Where did you hear about Laverne and me, anyway?” Cody asked, stopping to let the dogs sniff.

  “A friend of mine mentioned that someone told her the story. I think she said his name was Samson.” Nessa tried acting like she wasn’t sure.

  “Samson, huh? He’s my neighbor and the one who told me about the stray dog.”

  “Wow,” Nessa said. “Small world.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  As they finished their walk, they discussed random things that weren’t related to the murder. Nessa still desperately wanted to believe what Cody was saying, but she’d called the cable company herself and was told that Cody had, in fact, gone to Laverne’s house when their appointment was originally planned. Places like that used a GPS system for their workers, and there was no way to deny it as proof. Some people were good liars, and Nessa realized that she might be in the company of one.

  Chapter Fifteen

  On her way home from Cody’s, Nessa couldn’t stop thinking about her ability to be a good judge of character. She wanted to believe what Cody had told her, but somewhere, someone was lying, and that made her even more upset than it should have because she so badly wanted to believe Cody. Anyone who put off work to drive thirty minutes one way to save a stray dog had to be a decent human.

  As she pulled into her driveway, her phone went off. She thought it was Chloe calling again to make sure she was safe, but it was Daniel.

  “Hello,” she answered the call, happy to hear from him.

  Are you busy right now?

  “I’m just getting home. I have to work in a little bit, but I’m free right now. What’s up?”

  I’m at work, but I heard something you might be interested in. Mallory came into my office a few minutes ago asking if she could take a break. She said she’d had a bad customer who was obnoxious and rude to her the entire time and that she needed some time to compose herself and to get in a better mood since she’s working a double shift today.

  “Okay,” Nessa said, not knowing what this had to do with her.

  Mallory said that her customer wouldn’t stop complaining about her roommate. She kept saying how messy and loud she was and how badly she wanted to kick her out, but she didn’t think now was the right time.

  Nessa was starting to understand. It sounded like maybe Erica was Mallory’s customer.

  “What else?”

  She said how much she hated Renata for doing what she did and that she deserved whatever happened to her. That’s when Mallory started freaking out. It’s not abnormal to have a customer who overshares, but this girl went way beyond that.

  “Do you know if her name was Erica?” Nessa asked, already knowing the answer.

  That’s her. I let Mallory take her break, but she’s still reeling. She thinks that Erica killed Laverne to get back at Renata for not letting Abby rent the house.

  Nessa knew Mallory was aware of her little sleuthing hobby, and she trusted the woman. She’d even thought that Erica might have had something to do with Laverne’s death, so hearing Mallory’s story made sense.

  “What do you think?” Nessa asked Daniel. She trusted his opinion.

  That it’s a whole lot of he said, she said. I believe Mallory, but why would anyone who killed someone go around badmouthing someone who is part of the situation? I can see why Erica would be upset that she had to keep her messy roommate around, and I can see why she’d be angry with Renata for being the reason, but why tell that to a stranger?

  Daniel was right. Erica had every reason to be mad and a pretty solid motive to kill Laverne if it meant she was getting back at Renata, but no one in their right mind would blab that to the world unless they wanted to get caught. She tried to think of any way that Erica would have had a reason to go into Laverne’s house. She had no idea what Erica did for a living and highly doubted that even if she was a service worker of any kind, she’d voluntarily go to work for Laverne unless she went there specifically to kill her. And that right there was a way for her to get in. She could have been pretending to be someone working for Renata or offering her services in some way so she could get inside the house. Maybe Faye was right before, and Laverne really was looking for a personal assistant, and Erica had used that as a way inside.

  Nessa still had so many questions and needed to find someone who knew Erica. Unfortunately, Erica was much younger than anyone she knew, and she was afraid she’d have a hard time finding someone who knew her well enough.

  “Thanks for telling me this. I think it might help,” Nessa told Daniel. “Hey, do you happen to know anyone who knows Erica?”

  I do. But why do you ask?

  Nessa couldn’t believe her luck. “I’d like to talk to them if you don’t mind introducing us. I think I have an idea, and I want to get some more information before I keep going.”

  I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.

  “Oh, come on. Please. I won’t do anything bad or say anything embarrassing. I promise.”

  It’s not that. You can say whatever you want, but I don’t think you’re going to want to say anything at all when you find out who I’m talking about.

  “It’s not Bizzie, is it?” Nessa asked, dreading the answer.

  Erica’s mom orders cookies from Bizzie and Erica is the one who picks them up for her. She orders every couple of weeks, and while they aren’t great friends or anything, I do know that they talk about more than just cookies.

  “Of course, it’s her,” Nessa groaned. “I guess I’m going to have to talk to Bizzie.”

  When are you going to do that? I only a
sk because I know she’s going to call me incessantly afterward. She’s going to want to talk my ear off about how you needed her help.

  Nessa wanted nothing less than to need Bizzie’s help, but the truth was that she did.

  “I’m going to knock on her door right now. Hopefully, she’s home.”

  Good luck. You might need it.

  “I’m going to need it alright,” Nessa said before thanking Daniel for his call and promising to see him soon.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Nessa took her phone and keys, locked her door, and marched over to Bizzie’s house. If she didn’t go there now, she’d put it off forever. She knew that she’d have to acknowledge their issues at some point but hadn’t planned for it to happen so soon. She’d have to hope that Bizzie wanted to talk more about Laverne’s murder than she did about their nonexistent friendship.

  Bizzie opened the door right away. “Nessa,” she said, her eyes wide.

  “Can we talk for a second?” Nessa asked.

  “Sure. Do you want to come inside or should we stay outside? Do you want anything to eat or…”

  Nessa held up a finger and sat down in one of the rocking chairs on Bizzie’s porch, solving the problem. “Daniel told me that you know Erica. She’s somehow involved in what happened with Laverne, and I had some questions about her.”

  “I know Erica. What do you want to know about her?” Bizzie sat in the chair next to her.

  “Where does she work?” Nessa asked.

  “She works at the cable company, but I’m pretty sure it’s only part-time. I know she’s in grad school and has a workload that I’d never be able to handle.”

  Nessa wanted to talk more about Erica’s job at the cable company but had to stay on track.

  “I keep hearing about how much she hated how loud and messy her roommate was. What do you know about that?”

  “It’s true. She was always complaining about how it was so hard for her to get her schoolwork done because of her roommate. Why are you asking about Erica? It’s not because of Laverne, is it?”

  Nessa ignored Bizzie. “Do you think Erica was mad enough to maybe kill Laverne?”

  “I already told you what I think. I know you got my notes, and I don’t think Erica killed anyone.”

  “But she could have. She could have been so mad about Laverne getting the house that she somehow found her way in and killed Laverne, thinking that maybe Abby would go stay there, anyway.”

  “Well,” Bizzie paused. “She wouldn’t have had to find her way in. Abby was so mad about Laverne that she refused to go in the house to get the things that she’d already started moving in, so Erica went for her.”

  Now they were in business. If Erica went to the house to get Abby’s things, then she had not only the motive but also the opportunity to kill Laverne.

  “So, then it’s possible,” Nessa said. “I know you think Cody did it, and I looked into him like you told me to, but don’t you think it’s at least a little possible that Erica may have done it?”

  “Wait. What do you mean like I told you to? I didn’t tell you to look into anyone,” Bizzie said, suddenly sitting up.

  “The last note you sent me said that Cody wasn’t as innocent as he looks. I listened to what you said, and I talked to him a little while ago. I totally get why you’d think it was him since the evidence sort of points that way, but I really think the guy is innocent.”

  “Nessa. I never wrote you anything like that. I’d never suggest for you to go and talk to him. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely think it was him, but I wouldn’t tell you to go talk to him.”

  “Bizzie, don’t play games. I got the note from you just like I got the other two.” Nessa froze. “Actually, no. That’s not true. I got the first two, and they had no stamp or postmark, but the third one had both.”

  “I only wrote two. I swear. Someone else sent that to you.”

  Nessa looked at Bizzie, trying to decide if she was telling the truth or not. She believed her about as much as she’d believed Cody. It seemed like they were telling the truth, but there were so many reasons not to believe them.

  “If you didn’t write it, then who did?”

  “I wish I knew.” Bizzie genuinely looked concerned. “Who did you tell?”

  “Chloe is the only person who knows. I don’t think she would have told anyone else about them, and even if she did, it would have been my grandfather or Faye, and neither of them would pretend to be you. Who did you tell?”

  “Not a soul. Do you think we should be worried?” Bizzie asked.

  Nessa didn’t know what to think. She couldn’t figure out for the life of her who would have sent her a note pretending to be Bizzie.

  “Do you talk about this stuff with anyone? The murder, I mean. Maybe someone else is trying to solve it, and they are trying to throw you off.”

  “Bizzie, you’re a genius!” Nessa shouted, surprising even herself.

  She knew who was trying to solve the murder, and that person would definitely want to throw her off.

  “What? What did I do?”

  “Ranger is looking into the murder. You know how he feels about me right now, so I bet he somehow found out about the notes and sent one to me pretending to be you. He’d never have known you didn’t mail them, so that’s why his had a stamp and postmark.”

  “Or, he had no idea about the notes and randomly sent one to you so you’d look in the wrong place. If you think about it like that, then maybe he knows something you don’t know, and that’s why he was trying to point you to Cody.”

  “But that goes against what you think and what the cable company says.” She told Bizzie about her call and how she’d found out that Cody had been at Laverne’s even though he’d said he hadn’t.

  “And that’s okay. It makes sense that it was him, but now that you told me about Erica, that makes sense, too. And so would Abby. I’d be livid if I was her.”

  “Me, too,” Nessa agreed. “Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. I should get going, though.”

  “What about the other thing?” Bizzie asked. “I thought maybe we could talk about it.”

  “Do you have any paper?” Nessa asked.

  Bizzie nodded and ran into the house, coming back right away and handing it to Nessa.

  “How about a pen?”

  Bizzie ran back into the house.

  “Here you go.”

  Nessa wrote out an order for cookies from Bizzie’s Cookie Cottage. “Do you think you can handle this?” she asked, passing Bizzie the paper.

  “You want to place an order?” Bizzie asked, surprised.

  “I do.”

  “I accept your apology.” Bizzie smiled and nodded, still reading the paper.

  “You accept my apology?!” Nessa stood, flabbergasted. “Are you kidding me?”

  “No, of course not. Did you think that I wouldn’t?”

  Nessa couldn’t believe Bizzie thought her cookie order was an apology. She had nothing to apologize for. It was Bizzie who should have been apologizing, but since she’d helped, Nessa decided it was best to keep her mouth shut for now. She’d found out that Ranger could have sent the note. She learned that Erica went to Laverne’s, and now, the bakery would get cookies back in stock. All of those things were worth more than an argument with Bizzie Eadler.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Nessa left Bizzie’s house and ran home. She got into her Jeep and drove right back to Cody’s house. If it was Ranger who sent her the letter, she thought maybe he was following her and would see where she was going. If he was going to throw her off, she wanted to at least get a few answers before he did. Nessa wasn’t much for competition, but Ranger had officially annoyed her.

  She got to Cody’s and knocked on his door, probably too loudly. When no one answered, she tried again, this time even louder. Her only goal here was to confuse Ranger, assuming he was on her trail, so if she didn’t get to see or talk to Cody, it wouldn’t matter so long as Ranger thought she had.


  Nessa sat on the ground by Cody’s door and pulled out her phone. She opened a game app that she liked to play and decided she’d sit there for fifteen minutes before going back home. After that, depending on what else happened, she considered stopping off to talk to Abby and Erica again.

  Engrossed in her game, Nessa barely noticed the man heading in her direction. He cleared his throat, and she looked up, seeing a guy dressed in one of those reflective vests.

  “Is everything okay?” the man asked, giving her a weird look.

  “Fine. I’m waiting for someone,” Nessa replied, knowing how odd she probably looked sitting on the ground in front of someone’s door.

  “Maybe I can help,” the man offered, coming closer.

  Nessa closed her game and saw a text from Bizzie.

  I don’t think it’s Ranger who wrote you that note. I think it was Samson. I wrote the notes at the senior center, and I threw a few away before I got the final copy to send to you. He might have seen them in the trash since he was the one who emptied all the bins.

  Armed with that information, Nessa had no reason to be there anymore. She smiled at the man and tried to squeeze by him, but he stopped her.

  “I don’t need any help. Thanks, though,” she said.

  “Consider me a concerned individual, but if you’re here for Cody, he’s out with his girlfriend.”

  Nessa wondered who this guy was and why he felt the need to tell her that.

  “I am here for Cody, so thanks for letting me know he isn’t here and probably won’t be back soon.” Nessa smiled and tried to get by again.

  “He isn’t stringing a lovely woman like you along, is he?” the man asked.

  “I’m not here in a romantic capacity if that’s what you mean. He’s just a friend.”

  “I see. Well, I’m Samson, and I live right next door to Cody. I’ll let him know you stopped by.”

  Nessa swallowed the lump in her throat. How had she forgotten that Samson and Cody were neighbors? Cody had literally just told her that but she was so wrapped up in everything else that it didn’t even occur to her that she could have had a run-in with him.