Killer Thanksgiving Pie (Pies and Pages Cozy Mysteries Book 4)

by Carolyn Q. Hunter

  Bert put her hands on the dashboard. “But she’s a murderer, Andie, and you’ve implicated yourself in the crime as well.”

  “Not if you don’t tell that detective of yours,” Andie whispered, a hint of threat in her voice.

  “How can I do that? How can I withhold evidence from a very serious police investigation? Don’t you realize this is a crime?” Glancing at a sign, Bert saw that they were headed toward the riverfront.

  “I know that, Bert. Don’t you think I’d know that?”

  “What about the poison?”

  Sighing, Andie shook her head. “I took that off Shiv last week, too. It was in her purse.”

  Bert didn’t say it, but found it a little odd that her friend was constantly poking through the volunteer’s purse.

  “I realized she’d been the one who was poisoning the poor homeless people, killing them. I figured she was probably sprinkling it in their soup bowls. Little by little, she was giving it to them until they got sick and died.”

  Bert couldn’t believe her ears. Shaking her head, she slapped the dashboard. “Dang it, Andie. If Shiv really is doing all this, you can’t keep protecting her. She’s not right in the head. She needs help.”

  “You don’t understand anything,” Andie hissed, her brow wrinkling and her cheeks flushing angrily.

  Bert’s heart beat a little faster as she had a sickening realization, something she didn’t want to believe. “You know, the poisonings weren’t public knowledge until just a few days ago, on Wednesday to be exact.” Leaning over, she tried to look into her friend’s eyes. “How, by finding the poison in Shiv’s purse, were you able to deduce that?”

  Her mouth hung open, searching for the right words. “I-I meant, that I saw her putting it in the soup.”

  “No, you said you figured she must have been doing it, not that you’d seen it.”

  “Well, I misspoke, then.”

  Bert glanced at the glove box out of the corner of her eye, wondering if she’d be able to get a hold of the knife quick enough if she needed to. “Are you sure about that?”

  “What are you trying to imply, Bert?” she snapped, pulling into the parking lot along the side of Missouri River. A walkway ran along the rushing water.

  Bert was sure it was freezing.

  “You know exactly what I’m saying,” she shot back.

  “Why accuse me? What possible reason could I have for murdering the homeless, the very people I’ve spent most of my life trying to help?”

  “I have no idea. Why don’t you tell me?”

  “You’re wrong,” she shouted.

  “Am I? You’re one of my oldest friends, but that doesn’t mean I’ll cover up for you.”

  “Some friend you are,” she spat.

  “So, it’s true then?”

  “No, it’s not.”

  Bert discreetly scooted forward in her seat, trying to be closer to the glove box. “I can tell you why you stabbed that gentleman in the alley. He wasn’t homeless at all. He was a college professor, specializing in journalism, and he was investigating the poisonings. He probably tipped off the newspaper to the story. Then, he figured out where the source of the poisonings was. He even had a micro camera—a GoAdventure—that he was using to take pictures. That’s why he was so adamant to get into the kitchen.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “Am I? I think you realized he was getting close to figuring out your scheme, and you took matters into your own hands and stabbed him to death. You also smashed the camera, but I bet the police can still pull off the pictures.”

  In a lightning second, Andie was leaping across the center console at her old friend, her hands grasping for her throat. “Darn you, darn you, darn you,” she screamed.

  Bert put up both hands to defend herself, shutting her eyes as the hands gripped at her throat.

  A moment later, a burst of freezing cold air hit her in the face, and the venomous hands retreated. Opening her eyes, she saw Andie being dragged backward out the driver side door. “That’s enough, Mrs. Right,” Detective Mannor ordered, pulling her arms behind her back and handcuffing her.

  “Are you okay, Bert?” he asked.

  “I-I think so,” she called back.

  Andie struggled against the restraints with the look of a wild dog upon her face. “You don’t understand. No one understands. If I thought I could truly offer them a better life, I would do that instead. But with the new attitude of the mayor, of the city council, of all the entitled people in this city, I’ve received less and less resources to help these people.”

  “The solution is to commit murder instead?” Bert found her voice cracked and shouting as she slid out of the passenger side door.

  “Their lives don’t mean much. They won’t ever amount to anything in this society. The best they can hope for is the peace of death.”

  Bert couldn’t believe her ears. “Everyone deserves a chance at life, as many chances as they can get. You don’t have the right to make that choice.”

  Mannor shook his head. “Come along, Mrs. Right. I think it’s best we go down to the station.”

  CHAPTER 16

  * * *

  “The safe in her office was stuffed full of boxes of rat poison,” Detective Mannor informed Bert, taking a seat at the table across from her.

  The pie shop owner sat with her head low, her hands cradling a mug of coffee. The low hum of Christmas music rang over the radio in the corner. An array of notes and recipe cards, ideas for a new holiday-themed pie for the upcoming month of December. It was all doing so little to cheer her up.

  “So, that’s how you knew it was her?”

  “I suspected, yes. I came back outside just as you two were pulling away from the soup kitchen, so I followed along.”

  “And Shiv? What about her?”

  “I haven’t found anything to implicate her in any of this.”

  Bert hummed quietly in thought. “Why didn’t Shiv see the body when she showed up?”

  “Mrs. Right had covered the body completely in trash bags, assuming no one would spot it until trash day the following week.”

  “But one of the bags fell down when I drove my car into the alley?”

  “It seems likely. That’s why you spotted him.”

  “So, my old friend is a murderer and even tried to pin it on an innocent girl.”

  Mannor sighed, sipping his own coffee. The scent of peppermint wafted from his Koffee Hous travel mug. He sure seemed to enjoy his seasonal drinks. “I know you’ve known her for a number of years. I realize how hard this might be.”

  Bert gave a little nod. “I just never would have suspected it, that’s all.”

  “We found the micro SD card in her purse, and that basically clinched it.”

  “The micro SD?”

  “Yes, the one that was taken from the GoAdventure before it was smashed. It contained enough evidence to put her away for a good long time.”

  “What was going through her head?” Bert wondered out loud.

  “Nothing good. My guess is she’ll plead insanity and be granted it.”

  Bert nodded. “You’d have to be a little crazy to slowly kill multiple people.”

  “The one good thing to come out of this is that the mayor is starting to change her tune about the homeless. I think she feels sorry for what’s been happening. Either that, or she’s putting on a good face. She and the city council are working hard to find a suitable replacement for Mrs. Right.”

  Bert gave a half smile. “I’m glad to hear it. So many people need the help.”

  “They’ve also set up an ambulance that’ll go around and check people for rat poisoning for free. She’s paying for that out of her own pocket.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Anyway, I was only able to figure things out more quickly thanks to you.”

  Bert blinked, looking up at him with shocked eyes.

  “Now, don’t go getting any ideas. I’m not recruiting you for the force or anyt
hing, and you still stepped way outside your bounds . . . again.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry about that,” she finally admitted.

  “And I would have figured it out eventually with or without you.”

  Bert refrained from rolling her eyes.

  “However, we were able to prevent any more murders by solving this faster.”

  “I should be the one thanking you. You saved my skin again.”

  Mannor stood up with an uncomfortable grunt. “Don’t worry about it. That’s my job.”

  “And what about Skylar, the college kid?”

  “We had two of our uniforms pick him up at his dorm room. He had all the stolen merchandise hidden away in his desk drawers. I guess he got his kicks by swiping stuff on a regular basis.”

  “So, he had nothing to do with these murders.”

  “Not a thing.”

  Bert stood up as well. “Well, Detective, I appreciate you coming out to check up on me. I know you have better things to do.”

  Mannor shuffled his feet back and forth. “I knew she was a friend of yours, and I figured that would be hard.”

  “I’ll be okay. It’s officially the Christmas season, after all. The season of peace and miracles.”

  He nodded. “There is one other thing I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “What’s that, Detective?”

  Digging into his pocket, he brought out two pieces of paper—tickets by the looks of it. “Well, you see, the historic movie theater here in the Old Market often shows older movies on the big screen. This next month, in December, they’re showing Santa Claus Versus the Martians.” His voice was growing thinner, like it was drying out. “I know you said you enjoy old cheesy sci-fi movies, so I thought you might want to go.”

  Bert blinked her eyes at the detective, hardly able to believe her ears. “A-Are you asking me on a date, Detective?”

  “I thought it would be fun to go together,” he confirmed, not directly answering her question, but answering it none-the-less.

  She couldn’t think of anything to say in response. This man, this hardened police detective, the same one who’d snapped at her and put her in her place on multiple occasions, was asking her out on a date. Unfortunately, she just wasn’t sure she was ready for anything like that.

  Not yet.

  “Detective, I appreciate the offer, but I think I’m going to have to pass.” She gave him a shrug before sitting back down to work on her new recipe for that year’s Christmas pie.

  “I see. Well, if you change your mind, you have my cell phone number.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “The tickets are for this Friday, December first.”

  “If I change my mind, Detective, I’ll call you,” she confirmed.

  “Good. By the way, you can call me Harold.”

  “Goodbye, Detective,” she said with a little nod.

  He hesitated for a second, but then shuffled out the door, letting the bell ring as he left.

  Once he was gone, Bert couldn’t help but let a smile creep up on the corners of her lips. Wait until Carla heard about this one.