Custom-Made Murder (A Chocolate Centered Cozy Mystery Book 8)

by Cindy Bell

  “Hm.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “Well, Mrs. Bing was very upset with me for letting Mrs. White sample a new chocolate before her.”

  “Oh no. Did she get violent?” He laughed.

  “No, not quite.” Ally grinned. “Oh, and I have to take Arnold to the vet. He’s due for his check-up. He’s not going to be too happy about that.”

  “Aw, poor Arnold. He has such a hard life, with all of the snuggling and treats.”

  “Yes, maybe a few too many treats and not enough exercise. Last time Mee-Maw was there the vet warned her to watch his weight, and I can’t say I’ve done that.”

  “He’s a pig.” He shook his head. “Now even pigs are getting body-shamed?”

  “Very funny.” She grinned. “But we want him to stay as healthy as possible. Hopefully, she’ll have some good advice for me.”

  “When is his appointment?”

  “The day after tomorrow. Hopefully by then, we’ll know a little bit more about what is going on with the murder.”

  “Ouch, you did it.” He sighed.

  “What?” Her eyes widened.

  “You managed to make Arnold’s appointment about the case. We were supposed to be distracting ourselves, remember?”

  “Oh right.” She groaned. “I guess it’s impossible.”

  “Well, there are other ways.” He set down his fork and met her eyes across the table. “Want to take a walk with me after dinner?”

  “Yes, that sounds lovely.”

  “Good.”

  As they finished their food there was a transition in the conversation, from strained, to more relaxed. Ally couldn’t resist the way he smiled at her, or the touch of his hand against hers. She could tell that he was trying to draw her out of her funk and remind her that things would get better. After the dishes were cleared away, they put Arnold on a leash and stepped outside into the last of the evening light.

  “Isn’t Charlotte staying with you?”

  “No, she wanted to stay in her apartment. I think she needed some space to collect her thoughts.”

  “She must have a lot on her mind with all of this.”

  “You know, when she first mentioned Jeff I thought she had to be joking. I never imagined her being in a relationship with someone. But these past few weeks I’ve seen such a change in her. I can see how happy he makes her. She’s still independent and her own person, but he adds an extra dimension to her life.” She sighed as she looked up at the sky. “I just hope that doesn’t change.”

  “I don’t think it will. I’m sure this will get cleared up soon.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “There’s still time to prove that Jeff is innocent, if he is.”

  “Yes.” She smiled and met his eyes as Arnold snorted. “That’s what I need to keep in mind. You always stay so calm.”

  “I try to stay calm. But I can’t always. A calm mind allows me to think things through and get to the truth easier. But in certain situations, it’s impossible.”

  “I imagine it is. You must face so much while you’re at work.”

  “Things tend to be pretty quiet, but there are moments.”

  “Luke, will you be honest with me about something?”

  “Sure.” He paused and turned to look at her.

  “When you first heard about Jeff, and Dean’s murder, what did your instincts tell you?”

  “Ally, that’s not really a fair question.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’m not sure I can answer it.”

  “You have so much experience working with criminals. I know you are a great investigator. All I want to know is what your first gut instinct was about Jeff. I promise not to hold your answer against you.”

  “Honestly?” He ran his hand back through his hair, then looked off down the street.

  “Yes, honestly.” She took his hand and gave it a light squeeze.

  He looked back at her. “My first thought was, no way, Charlotte would never be interested in someone capable of murder. I trust her instincts, but anyone can be fooled and as I reviewed the evidence against him, that changed, and I began to believe that he conned her. If Jeff’s girlfriend had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have even thought twice about him convincing her he was a good person. But since it was Charlotte, my judgment was clouded.”

  “And now?” She searched his eyes. “What do you think now?”

  “I think that even the best instincts need to be tempered by the evidence. I think until we can prove otherwise, the evidence points to Jeff.”

  “But you still really think he could be proven innocent?”

  “Yes, I do.” He smiled and brushed a few strands of her hair back from her face. “You wouldn’t be fighting so hard for someone who was guilty, Ally. You may not know it yourself, but your instincts are telling you he’s innocent.”

  “I think they are.” She bit into her bottom lip. “I just hope that I’m not wrong.”

  As they continued their walk along the street, she thought about all of the people living their lives in their homes. If Jeff was innocent, and locked away, what did it mean to them? Did it mean that any one of those people could be caught up in a similar miscarriage of justice at any time? It made her uneasy to think that was possible. If Jeff was innocent, she had to make sure that he was set free.

  Chapter 10

  Early the next morning Ally woke up to snorting right beside her ear. For just a second she thought she might be imagining it, until she recognized the pig breath.

  “Oh Arnold, it’s too early.” She gave the pig a light shove which only inspired him to lick her cheek. “Ugh, gross.” She sighed then opened her eyes. He gazed into her eyes with such affection that she couldn’t stay mad at him. “You silly pig. You are always getting into something, aren’t you? You heard me talking about your appointment with your vet last night, I bet. That’s why you’re so anxious.” She sat up and patted his head. “Nothing to worry about, Arnold, it’s just a check-up. I’m sure she will say you are just as healthy as always. Especially if we make sure that you have your breakfast.”

  As soon as the word breakfast escaped her lips, Peaches gave a plaintive meow from the bottom of the bed where she was curled up.

  “Yes, yes, I know you’re hungry, too. Just because it is two minutes after seven, that doesn’t mean that you’re starving.” She climbed out of bed and grabbed a robe to stave off the chill of the morning air. Both animals followed her right into the kitchen with their own versions of begging to remind her that they were about to pass out from hunger. She rolled her eyes and set about feeding them both. Only after they were quiet, did she recall that she had a meeting with Jeff that morning.

  Luke texted her the night before with the appointment time, and his final offer to go with her to the meeting. She’d declined, but was glad he’d offered. Luke had such a sweet way of never letting her feel as if she was alone. When she woke in the middle of the night she decided that she needed to tell her grandmother that she was going to meet with Jeff, she couldn’t keep that from her. She hoped that she would agree that she could meet him alone, but she couldn’t text or call her then as she probably would have been asleep.

  Ally checked her phone for any new messages and sent a message explaining the meeting with Jeff to her grandmother. She also explained about the graffiti and that she wanted to ask Jeff about it. She waited anxiously for a reply but she received none.

  Ally’s heart fluttered nervously as she prepared herself some toast. Would he be as innocent as she hoped when she looked into his eyes? What if he wasn’t? What if she only saw hatred in his demeanor? She shivered at the thought. Maybe a little coffee would help to clear her mind. She settled with her breakfast and tried to think of some questions that she wanted to ask him. She thought it would look pretty strange if she just sat there and stared at him for the entire visit.

  Once Ally was finished with breakfast, she dressed, and said goodbye to Peaches and Arnold. She checked her phone again, but there was nothing from her gra
ndmother. She tried to call her, but after a few rings it went to voicemail. She decided to drive by Freely Lakes on the way to the prison to see if she could speak to her.

  Ally opened the front door and she was shocked to find Charlotte walking up the driveway.

  Ally stared at her, too stunned to move.

  “Ally.” Charlotte walked towards her.

  “Mee-Maw, what are you doing here?” Ally continued to stare at her.

  “Jeff told me that you had an appointment with him today, when I spoke with him this morning.” Charlotte shook her head. “So I got ready and started walking here. Then I received your text. But you are not going to see Jeff and that’s that.”

  “But Mee-Maw…”

  “Ally, I understand. You want to see if you believe him. But Jeff is important to me. I don’t know exactly what that means yet, but I do know, I don’t want the first time you meet him to be in a jail.”

  “I’m not going to judge him, Mee-Maw.”

  “He’s embarrassed, Ally, and this will only make things worse. I’m asking you not to go.”

  Ally searched her eyes for a moment, then nodded.

  “If you don’t want me to, I won’t. But I was hoping to get some more information from him.”

  “You leave that to me, sweetheart. And Ally?” She looked into her eyes.

  “Yes?”

  “I love you, and I know that you are only trying to protect me. You’ll just have to trust me on this one.”

  “I do, Mee-Maw. And I love you, too.”

  “Okay, I need your car keys, please.” Charlotte held out her hand.

  “Here you go.” Ally handed them over without an argument. She knew it would be useless.

  “Do you need a lift to the shop?” Charlotte asked.

  “No thanks, Mee-Maw, I’ll walk.”

  Charlotte walked to Ally’s car, and climbed in.

  Ally watched as she backed out of the driveway. The moment she thought she had her grandmother figured out, was the same moment that she turned things completely around.

  Charlotte drove towards the jail with one thing on her mind, information. Like Ally said she needed to get more information out of Jeff, things that he might not even realize were leads. But the moment that she pulled up to the tall prison walls all thoughts vanished from her mind. A heaviness landed in the pit of her stomach. She decided that the best thing to do was not to hesitate, thinking about it would make her feel worse. She opened up the car door and went straight to the prison entrance.

  Charlotte went through security which she found surprisingly less involved than she thought it would be. She was guided to a room where she could have a few minutes to talk to Jeff. As she stepped inside she noticed that there were many other people there. Some sat alone, while others sat in pairs, and there was a low murmur in the room. She sat down at a table and waited. After a few minutes she wondered if he might have refused to see her. Then she saw him enter the room, escorted by a guard. When he sat down she knew he was surprised to see her.

  “Hi, Jeff.” She waited until he met her eyes to smile.

  “Charlotte, I didn’t want you to come to see me again, especially here.” He sighed.

  “I know, I’m sorry but I thought it was better that I visited you rather than Ally. And it’s not really up to you where I go or who I see, now is it?” She searched his eyes. She reached across the table to touch his hand, but pulled back when she received a look from a guard.

  “I guess you’re right about that.” He smiled in return. “I’m relieved that you talked Ally out of coming. I could only imagine the things that she’d say to me for putting you in this kind of position.”

  “I think she just wanted to look you in the eye. She can be a little overprotective. But her heart is in the right place.”

  “I can’t imagine how it could be in any other place, with a wonderful woman like you who raised her.”

  “Enough of that.” She waved her hand. “We don’t have a lot of time, and we need to get down to business.”

  “All right then.” He folded his hands and looked at her. “You’re in charge.”

  “Exactly. Now, there are some questions I’d like you to answer for me.”

  “Anything.” He nodded.

  “Did you know about Dean having such a rough reputation?”

  “Yes, I did. But that was in his past. I didn’t think it would be a problem.”

  “So you were fine with being friends with him, throughout all of that?”

  “I try not to be a person who judges. Honestly, I met Dean after I met Bianca. When I met him, I thought maybe I needed to run as far as I could from Bianca and the rest of her family, as I didn’t want to get in the middle of anything less than legal. But when I tried to break things off with her, she got very upset, she accused me of doing things that I didn’t do. Dean paid me a visit, I think he meant to get revenge for his sister. But when I told him the truth, he believed me, and he apologized for his sister’s behavior. We became friends after that, and even though I didn’t always approve of his choices in life, he never tried to involve me in his business. It wasn’t until he opened the jewelry store that we ever did any business together. I was very suspicious of him though, and it led to us having a few arguments over some deals. But during the short time that he was open I started to realize he was nothing but honest with me. He had his moments, Charlotte, but he wasn’t a bad man, and he was a good friend to me. I would never do anything to hurt him.” He closed his eyes and took a slow breath. “My heart breaks for his family. I can’t even imagine what they must think of me right now.”

  “Is there anyone in their family that might not believe that you did this? Maybe we can gain their support for you?”

  “I doubt it. I didn’t know them well. The police are so determined it was me, and the evidence.” He shook his head. “If only I’d made sure I had my ring sizer and mandrel with me when I left his shop, none of this would be happening. I never would have been there, my ring mandrel never would have been there.”

  “You can’t focus on regret, Jeff. That won’t get you anywhere. We need to find some way to prove that you weren’t there when Dean was killed.”

  “There’s nothing.” He sighed. “I was in my car, a block away, maybe two. There’s no way to prove that I wasn’t at the shop.”

  “Okay, just take a breath. We’re going to figure this out.” She reached for his hand again, but the guard blew a short whistle. She sighed and rested her hand on the table instead.

  “Charlotte, I appreciate all that you have done for me, but the truth is, there is no way to prove it.”

  “There’s one way.” She locked eyes with him.

  “What’s that?”

  “We have to find the actual killer.”

  “If he did such a good job of covering his tracks that I am in jail, what makes you think that you’ll be able to figure out who it is?”

  “Because no one is perfect. He must have made a mistake somewhere along the way, we just have to figure out what it was.”

  “Charlotte, do you really believe I’m innocent?” He frowned.

  “I know that you didn’t do this, Jeff. But my opinion isn’t going to change anything. It would help if you could think of anyone that Dean had a problem with. Anyone that might have held a grudge against him. Were you aware of the threats against him?”

  “You mean the graffiti?” He narrowed his eyes.

  “Yes, I do. Why didn’t Dean ever follow that up with the police?”

  “Dean wasn’t one to go to the police. The only reason he even reported it to the police, is because his daughter was working at the shop when it happened. He was worried for her, and she was frightened by it. But he never pushed them to look into it. He came from an old school way of life where a man handled his own problems.”

  “So how did he handle it?” Charlotte leaned forward some.

  “He put the word out on the street that he wanted any information about the
person who did it. He even offered a small reward. I tried to convince him that he should go through the police to make sure no one took advantage of him, but I guess his reputation prevented that.”

  “Did he ever get any information about who might have done it?”

  “None. Not a word. He increased the reward, and still nothing. Eventually he just let it go, since nothing new happened. But I know it still bothered him.”

  “I imagine it would. It’s surprising that no one came forward with any information.” She frowned.

  “It surprised him, too. He was sure that someone should have known who did it. But like I said, he just let it go and tried to focus on other things.”

  “Interesting. I wish we could figure out who made the threat. Maybe whoever it was, is still holding a grudge.”

  “Maybe, but if they are, he didn’t have any idea who they were. It’s funny, I always expected for the truth to come out eventually, but it never did.”

  “I’ll look into it and see if I can find anything out. In the meantime, try to stay positive, Jeff. I know that’s not the easiest thing to do in your situation, but it might help.”

  “It will help.” He nodded. “With your continued support, Charlotte, I feel a lot better.”

  “We’re going to find a way to get all of this fixed.”

  “You might not be able to fix this, Charlotte. If you can’t, you have to promise me that you’ll let this all go and move on.” He searched her gaze, his eyes filling with tears.

  “There you go thinking you have some say in what I do again.” She offered an affectionate smile. “Very soon, you’re going to be free again, and I hope that when you are, we’ll finally get to have that dinner that we planned with Ally and Luke.”

  “I hope so, too.” He gazed into her eyes. “I have no idea what I did to get so lucky.”

  “Lucky? You think being imprisoned for a crime you didn’t commit is lucky?” She stared at him.

  “I think having an amazing woman like you care about me, is lucky, yes. It makes everything else a lot easier to tolerate.”