Itsy-Bitsy Murder: Chocolate Cozy Mystery #2

by Meadows, Wendy

  “She seems angry,” Alvira hissed. “Maybe we should just go.”

  “No. I’ve got to figure this out.” Olivia strode into the office and took a seat at one of the leather chairs in front of it.

  Jana had only been gone a day, but the interior had already changed. Jessica’s diploma hung on one wall, and the chairs had been swapped out.

  The new manager of the Cuddle Clinic settled into her seat. “What do you want to talk about, ladies?”

  Olivia gestured to the box of chocolates in Jessica’s hand. “Jana loves my chocolates. We both had stalls at the Chester Fall Festival a while ago.”

  Jessica’s expression didn’t alter a bit.

  “Jana’s attack is a big deal to me,” Olivia said, at last. “I don’t know her as well as I would like to, but she was the last person I expected to experience something like this.”

  Jessica nodded once. Boy, for a woman who’d almost lost a sibling, she didn’t seem all that upset.

  “I’ve decided to look into what happened to her,” Olivia said. “I need to understand why someone would hurt a girl like your sister. She just wants to spread the love.”

  Jessica narrowed her eyes. Tough crowd.

  “Do you know of anyone who’d want to hurt your sister?” Olivia asked.

  “No,” Jessica replied, “and I doubt you’re allowed to look into anything. This is an attempted murder case, right?”

  Alvira sank down in her seat. She despised confrontation.

  “Yeah,” Olivia replied, “it is. I investigated one similar to it a short while ago. That murderer is now behind bars.”

  “Sounds like an illegal investigation,” Jessica replied.

  “I—look, Miss Jujube, I’m here to help. I just want to know if you have any information, anything at all, that might be of use.”

  “No. I have no information for you,” she said, coolly, then checked her manicure. “Jana loves everyone around her. She works hard. She treats people with respect. For the most part.” Jessica’s lip twitched at the corner. “I have no idea who’d want to hurt my sister. But thank you so much for reminding me about it the day after her assault.”

  Olivia’s heart sank into her stomach. She’d been so caught up in wanting to bring Jana’s attacker to justice that she’d forgotten her manners.

  Perhaps she had a sensitivity switch missing.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Jujube,” Olivia said and rose from her seat. “And thank you for your time.”

  Jessica didn’t reply but waved them away, then grasped a laptop from the corner of the desk and dragged it toward herself.

  Olivia hurried from the room and past the reception desk.

  “Sorry, this afternoon’s slots are all full,” Pinkie muttered into the phone. “I have another opening tomorrow morning for you.” The man’s tone oozed depression.

  The atmosphere in the Cuddle Clinic had changed.

  “Ugh,” Olivia said and rushed out of the door into the morning light. Chester’s blue skies smiled down at her, and half-naked trees waved the last of their leaves in the breeze.

  “Are you okay, boss?” Alvira asked and patted her on the back.

  “This place is different,” Olivia said. “I don’t like the atmosphere.” Had she done the wrong thing by interviewing Jessica? Perhaps, she shouldn’t investigate after all.

  Olivia looked back at the Cuddle Clinic and narrowed her eyes. No. She had to do this. For Chester, for Jana, and for herself.

  “Come on, Alvira,” Olivia said. “Let’s got get our daily dose of chocolate.” They’d need all the sweet goodness they could get this week.

  Olivia linked her arm through her assistant’s, and together, they strode down the sidewalk in the direction of Olivia’s favorite place in the world: her home.

  Chapter Four

  Olivia held the end of Dodger’s leash tight, just in case he decided now would be an apt time to take off running. He loved that kind of thing. He had a free spirit.

  “Are you sure you want to come with me?” Olivia asked, looking at her assistant. “You don’t have to.”

  “I know,” Alvira whispered, “but I’ve been trying to do things that are new and scary. Investigating a crime scene is definitely one of those things.” She rubbed her palms together and blew into them. “Should’ve brought my gloves.”

  “You can have one of mine,” Olivia said and offered the younger woman her free hand.

  Alvira chuckled but didn’t take it.

  The sun crept over the horizon, spreading its orange rays across the sky in a last-ditch attempt to cling to the day. The purple shade of dusk battled it above their heads. The night would stake its claim soon.

  “Come on,” Olivia said. “Let’s go.” She set off walking, and Dodger strained at the end of the leash.

  They didn’t usually walk at this time of the night. The novelty wasn’t lost on her favorite doggy.

  “Slow down, Dodgy,” Olivia said. He ignored her, of course.

  “Where are we going?” Alvira asked, then blew into her palms again. “I mean, I know we’re going to the crime scene, but where is it?”

  Olivia turned the corner and continued down the sidewalk, past the glass fronts of stores and the warm lights of a few restaurants. “Apparently, Jana had just moved into a new place.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I have my sources,” Olivia said and tapped the side of her nose. That source just happened to be the Chester Gazette. The reporters there had no scruples about examining poor Jana’s life in detail.

  Useful for Olivia, horrible for anyone who loved Jana.

  “It was in the newspaper,” Olivia said, after a second. “I doubt we’ll be able to get into the place.”

  “Because that would be illegal,” Alvira replied.

  “Right.” Olivia transferred the leash from her right hand to her left. “And because it’s locked up. We’ll just poke around outside. See what we can see.”

  Alvira fell into a comfortable silence.

  Dodger snuffled at the sidewalk and licked a strange stain. Olivia stayed on track and tugged the leash to correct him. Cars drove down the road, their lights flashed over the speed bumps, and a group of joggers passed them. Dodger barked and turned in a circle.

  Olivia fished the scrap of paper out of her pocket and checked the address. “This way,” she said and turned onto the next street.

  Dodgy galloped along but didn’t bark for once. Maybe he sensed that the folks in this part of town wouldn’t appreciate it. Flat lawns led up to low-slung brick houses, doors shut tight against the falling night.

  Olivia scanned the address again, then pointed at a house across the road. “There it is. Shoot, I wish I’d brought a flashlight.”

  “Don’t worry,” Alvira said and brought her phone out of her pocket. “I brought this.”

  “I’m not, uh, that familiar with technology. I assume you can shine a light or something with that?” Olivia asked. She really should get one of these modern phones.

  She had a Kindle for heaven’s sake, but the phone? That eluded her.

  She couldn’t wrap her mind around the controls and the tapping and the apps. What was an app, anyway?

  “It’s a flashlight app,” Alvira said.

  “Oh boy,” Olivia said. “It’s like you read my mind.”

  “See?” Alvira tapped on her screen and bright, white light blazed out the back of her phone and lit their path across the street. “It’s pretty bright.”

  “You can say that again.” Olivia raised her free hand to shield her eyes.

  “I’ll turn it off until we need it.” The light vanished, and darkness enveloped them for a moment.

  Olivia’s eyes readjusted. She stopped on the sidewalk and blinked a couple of times. “All right. Now, let’s check this place out.”

  Dodger barked enthusiastically.

  “Shush!” Olivia and Alvira said in unison.

  The dog wagged his tail in full circles. Nothing co
uld fend off her Labrador’s good mood.

  “Let’s go around the back,” Olivia said and hurried up the lawn toward the corner of the house.

  Dodger kicked up clods of grass and dirt, and they hit the shins of her jeans. Apparently, someone had watered the garden recently.

  “What if her sister lives here?” Alvira whispered.

  Whoops, she’d never considered that.

  Olivia paused beside the house and surveyed it. The windows were dark, but none of the curtains were drawn. Not a light on in the place. No, it seemed to be empty, unless Jessica Jujube kept super early hours.

  Olivia beckoned to her assistant and hurried down the side of the house. She paused and peered into a window. Dark shapes peered out at her.

  “Flashlight,” Olivia whispered.

  Dodger barked again, and she nudged him with her toes.

  Alvira switched on her app, then pressed the phone against the window. The light played on a sofa and a dust-free TV. Plants lined the table in front of it, and potted plants stood in the corners.

  “She was big on gardening, I take it,” Olivia whispered. “This way.”

  She hurried to the next window and peeked inside. The light flashed across kitchen tiles and a white, melamine-topped table in the center. A loaf of bread sat on top of the silver fridge where magnets clung to the metal.

  “Nothing.”

  Olivia continued down the path and rounded the corner to the back of the house. Dodger had fallen silent. Maybe he sensed the gravity of the moment.

  Alvira pointed her light through another window, then gasped. “I think I found her bedroom,” she whispered.

  Olivia hurried to her assistant’s side and looked through to Jana’s private space. The woman had decorated with posters of animals and more plants. Her sheets lay crumpled at the end of her bed.

  “This is where it happened,” Olivia mumbled, and her stomach turned.

  “Ew!” Alvira said. “I mean, I don’t want to be insensitive, but that gives me the creeps.”

  “You and me both,” Olivia replied, then took several steps back.

  Alvira followed her but tripped over Dodger’s leash. Light flashed across the flowerbed beneath the window.

  “Wait,” Olivia said, “what was that?”

  “What?” Alvira whispered. “You heard a noise?”

  “No,” Olivia replied. “Could I have the flashlight for a sec?”

  Alvira handed it over.

  Olivia pointed the light at the flowerbed again, then frowned and bent over. Their footprints stood out beneath the window, but in between them… “What on earth?”

  “What is that?” Alvira asked and dropped into a crouch.

  A round indentation, hollowed out into the mud, sat right beside their prints.

  Olivia frowned and leaned in. “What could’ve made that?” She handed Alvira the phone. “Can you take a picture with this thing?”

  “Sure can,” she replied.

  “Good. Take a couple. I have a feeling it’s important.”

  Olivia’s stomach squirmed, a perfect mix of nerves and determination.

  Chapter Five

  Olivia stood in front of the counter at the Cuddle Clinic, her hands clasped behind her back.

  The receptionist, pink-cheeked as always, hadn’t served her yet, and she’d waited five minutes.

  “Excuse me,” she said, “I’m sorry, but I have to get back to work soon. All I need is a moment of your time.”

  She’d left the shop in the capable hands of her As, but she loved the atmosphere and creating chocolates. Besides, they had a huge order to fill for a wedding on the weekend, and the ladies would need all the help they could get.

  “Just a moment,” the receptionist replied, then turned back to the old woman in front of him. “Ma’am, I told you, we don’t have any afternoon slots open.”

  “What’s going on?” the woman positively howled. Her gray hair sat tight against her head, curled to perfection, and she grasped the edge of the counter with her wrinkled fingers.

  “Bitsy—” the receptionist said.

  “Mrs. Bitsworth!” the woman screamed. “You don’t get to call me that, young man. You don’t know me.”

  The receptionist sighed. “Please, Mrs. Bitsworth, I don’t have a slot for you this afternoon, but I can schedule you for cuddles for tomorrow morning, say, around nine?”

  “Nine?!” Bitsy’s fingers did a dance along the edge of the counter. “Nine. What happened? You used to allow me to cuddle whenever I wanted.”

  Olivia blinked. What a surreal conversation.

  “Ma’am, you may have heard that our owner was assaulted a few days ago,” the receptionist replied.

  “I don’t care!” Bitsy screeched. She reached up and tugged at her locks, then turned and stumbled toward the exit.

  Her knees buckled, and a man lurched forward to catch her. She straightened, swatted him on the head, then hobbled toward the exit.

  Olivia snapped her mouth closed. Boy, Chester sure had its fair share of quirky inhabitants.

  “May I help you?” the receptionist asked at last.

  “Hi there,” Olivia said and smiled at him. “What’s your name?”

  “Pinkie,” he replied stiffly.

  Oh yeah, that’s where she recognized him from. This was the same Pinkie who’d rushed to help out the day Jake and Olivia had come to interview Jana during the Lizzy Couture case.

  “Pinkie, do you have time to talk to me?” Olivia asked.

  The receptionist glanced over his shoulder, toward the closed office door behind him. “She told me not to talk to you if you came back,” he whispered. “She’s not here right now. I think she went out for lunch.”

  Why would Jessica have told him that? Suspicious.

  “So you can answer a few questions, real quick?” Olivia asked.

  Pinkie gulped then nodded. “Yeah, all right. What do you need to know?”

  “I need to know if you know anything,” Olivia said. It was the plain truth. Someone had to have witnessed something.

  Pinkie swallowed, and his eyes twitched. He grasped the edges of his keyboard. “I saw her on the night she was attacked,” he said. “I went to talk to her about the Cuddle Clinic and some ideas for how we could change it.”

  “Then what happened?” Olivia asked.

  Pinkie sucked in a deep breath. “She told me to leave because she had to speak to her sister. She said, ugh, she stated that her sister had big ideas for the clinic. She didn’t sound happy about that.”

  Olivia dragged her teeth across her bottom lip. “And you left right after that?” Olivia asked.

  Pinkie hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah, after a moment. I asked her why she cared what her sister thought, and she told me to go home. It made me a little upset, but then I left. That’s all. I left her alone.”

  “Did you see anything else?” she asked.

  Pinkie let go of his keyboard and looked back at the office door again. “Yeah,” he whispered. “I saw her.”

  “Jessica?”

  “That’s right. She came to Jana’s house just as I left. She didn’t even say hello to me, just walked right past and knocked on the door.”

  “What time was that?” Olivia asked.

  “A little past nine, I think,” Pinkie replied in hushed tones. “I don’t know if she did it, but I wish I’d stayed behind. Maybe if I’d stayed, Jana wouldn’t have been…” Pinkie broke off and buried his face in his hands. “It’s all my fault.”

  “It’s not your fault, Pinkie,” Olivia said. She reached across the counter and patted him on the top of the head. It was the only part of him she could reach.

  “It is. She wouldn’t be in a coma. And now Jessica is in charge, and she’s making me kick out people and schedule all the cuddles. Jana never wanted schedules for the cuddles.”

  “Why not?” Olivia asked. She should’ve brought a notepad and pen for this.

  “She believed that anyone should be abl
e to come in and have a cuddle or a hug when they needed it. You can’t schedule depression and anxiety. She just wanted to help,” Pinkie said. “Jessica’s going to be back soon. She told me you're not allowed any cuddle sessions, either.”

  Oh boy. Olivia’s questions had certainly irritated Jessica Jujube. “All right, Pinkie. I don’t want you to get in trouble because I’m here. Thanks a lot for answering my questions.”

  “I just want to help figure out what happened to her,” Pinkie replied. “She is—well, Jana is special.” His cheeks went even pinker than usual.

  Olivia gave him one last wave, then turned and hurried toward the door. She really did have to get back to the store, but her mind tumbled over the facts again and again.

  Jessica and Jana had been together the night of the attack. Pinkie had been there, too.

  “Olivia?” A man spoke beside her.

  She jumped on the spot, then grasped at her throat.

  Jake Morgan stepped onto the sidewalk. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Taking a walk,” she said and swallowed. She let go of her throat. “It’s a free country.”

  His gaze darted to the Cuddle Clinic sign above her head. “You’re not—”

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Morgan,” she said, then hurried past him and down the sidewalk. She didn’t dare look back.

  Chapter Six

  Olivia sat down behind the counter in the front of the store and shifted her mug from her left to her right hand. She couldn’t shake the sensation of wrongness about this case.

  “Are you all right, dear?” Alberta asked and patted her on the arm. “You look like you need a break.”

  “Maybe I do,” Olivia said. The afternoon had marched on toward closing time, but she hadn’t been present since she’d gotten back from the Cuddle Clinic. “I’m sorry, Albie, I just can’t get my mind off the case.”

  “Good thing you have Jake helping you.” Alberta gave her a sneaky smile.

  “What? No, I don’t,” Olivia replied. She didn’t want to dash her friend’s hopes, but she certainly couldn’t lie to one of her As. “Jake said he wouldn’t help me on this because he’s working with the police instead.”