“With teens . . .”
“We all think we’re invulnerable at that age, don’t we?”
“I did.”
“And we weren’t. And still aren’t.”
The warning in his voice made me want to say, Mmp. I settled for, “Yes, sir.”
“And you’ll call me if you need me or learn anything else.” It wasn’t a question.
“Okay. Oh, wait. I did learn something. Have you talked to Jenn recently? She said Gerald Stone once tried to poison Roger. Years ago, from the sound of things. I . . . she doesn’t know that I know you, outside of this case, at least. Her half-sister was there when Jenn told me. She doesn’t know that I know you, either.”
“I won’t let on that you and I are friends.” Brent didn’t seem to notice the unspoken words echoing through my brain. Just friends. He kept talking. “I’ll ask Jenn again about any enemies that Roger might have had. Passenmath is about ninety-nine percent convinced that Jenn killed her bridegroom.”
“Jenn’s afraid of that, and that’s why she doesn’t want to tell Passenmath about this detail that she just remembered. I told her she should. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Roger made up most of it, although it sounds like he might have suspected some of the same things about Gerald Stone that Tom suspected fifteen or so years ago.”
“Take care, Em.”
“You, too.” But Brent had already disconnected.
* * *
The next morning, Gerald Stone returned to Deputy Donut. He ordered the day’s special coffee, a medium roast grown in the mountains of Guatemala. He also wanted one of our fig marmalade donuts. I wondered if his willingness to try new things included other sorts of risk taking, like engaging in criminal behaviors. Drugs, for instance. Or poisoning and attempting to poison people.
As the minutes ticked by and Suzanne didn’t join Gerald at his table, I became more and more uneasy. The first chance I got, I closed myself into the office with Dep and called Jenn. “Is Suzanne okay?” I asked.
“Yes. She’s here.”
“How did her date go?”
“She says she’ll tell me when you get here. That way, she doesn’t have to go over it all twice. Or interrupt me when I’m with customers.”
“I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay. I’d have told you if I was with a customer. One lady just left, but there are others on the sidewalk outside.”
“Suzanne’s date is here.”
“I’ll tell her. Maybe.” Over the phone, I could just barely make out the bells at Jenn’s front door jingling. “Customers are coming in. Gotta run. See you this evening.”
I gave Dep a kiss and went back to work. Either Jenn didn’t tell Suzanne that Stone was in Deputy Donut or Suzanne didn’t want to or need to talk to him. He left around a quarter to twelve and strolled slowly toward Dressed to Kill.
Misty and Houlihan came in for their afternoon break, but Scott didn’t show up. Since it was Saturday and there was definitely no school, I thought Chad might come in, but he didn’t.
Misty had only espresso, black. She was cutting back on donuts, she said. Houlihan, who ate two unraised chocolate donuts covered in chocolate frosting and shredded coconut, agreed with me that Misty was missing out on a good thing.
Again, it seemed that Vanessa Legghaupt, the Happy Hoper life coach, must have lurked outside until the police officers left before she ventured in.
“No sidekick, today?” I asked her.
“We don’t spend every minute together.” It came out as criticism.
“What can I get you?”
“Organic green tea.”
“And would you like something to eat?”
“Of course not.” I’d been thoroughly corrected. She removed a book from her Happy Hopers tote. The title was The Spinach Line—Let Greens Help You Win Life’s Races. When I brought her the tea, she didn’t look up from her reading.
After a while, she set the book down and beckoned me to her table. “Remember, we talked about you giving a presentation to my women’s group?”
“Yes.”
“Are you still willing?”
Hadn’t I merely commented that I didn’t stay up late most nights? However, learning more about Vanessa and her friend could be useful. “Yes.”
“I know it’s short notice, but we had a cancellation, so can you come tomorrow evening? We eat at six, and the meal doesn’t take long. You’d be presenting at about six forty-five.”
“I’m not sure how much I have to say.”
“You won’t have to talk long. We go home at seven. Just tell us how you got started, and describe this place.” She waved her hand to encompass the shop. “Tell us the problems you had with start-up and how you overcame them, and any problems you’ve encountered along the way. And I’m particularly interested in how you incorporated your logo and the police hats and car into a cohesive theme. That’s called branding. The ladies will get lots of ideas.”
“Can I bring a friend?” With luck, Misty would be available and Vanessa wouldn’t realize that Misty was a police officer. Samantha would be supportive, too, and the evening might be fun for all three of us, especially afterward. We could gossip, and they could tease me about my bloopers, real or imagined.
“As long as they’re female,” Vanessa said firmly. “We find we encourage each other and grow as individuals more when no men are around. But bring as many women as you like. Just let me know so we’ll have enough food. Your dinner will be complimentary, but we charge a very small amount for guests. Part of our goal is to show that it’s possible to eat well without spending a fortune. Which is another reason we don’t welcome men. They’d want meat.”
I might miss meat also, and so would Misty and Samantha. . . . “About how many women do you expect to attend? I could bring donuts.”
“Thirty or forty. But no donuts, unless they’re made without sugar other than honey, and without fats. We eat only health food. We don’t serve wheat, either.”
“Okay.”
Vanessa stared expectantly at me as if she wanted to see and hear more enthusiasm.
“It sounds like fun,” I added.
“It is, but fun is not our primary purpose.”
Why wasn’t I surprised? She reminded me, not in appearance, of Yvonne Passenmath. Imagining Yvonne Passenmath interviewing Vanessa Legghaupt, I almost laughed aloud. Those interviews had to be somber and earnest affairs, with each woman attempting to outdo the other one in being stern and conscientious.
Vanessa told me that her women’s group met in her studio about a mile south of downtown Fallingbrook. “Do I need to pick you up?” Need? The offer seemed somehow less than gracious.
“I’ll drive,” I said. “I’ll bring the Deputy Donut delivery car, since I’ll be talking about it in my presentation.”
I feared she might tell me that she expected everyone to ride unicycles to and from her workshops, but she said, “Perfect.” She gave me the address, paid for the tea, stuffed her book into her Happy Hopers tote, and went out.
After Tom left for the evening, I boxed donuts to take to Jenn and Suzanne and carried the box into our office. Dep had been napping on the back of the couch. She stood up, stretched, took one look at the bakery box, turned around, and settled down with her back to me.
Apparently, my clever little cat had figured out the new addition to my schedule and wanted me to understand that she did not approve. Laughing, I told her I’d be back soon.
Chapter 21
Suzanne must have seen me coming. She opened the back door and waved me inside. Again, I heard Jenn’s voice in the front of the store. A customer laughed.
I held the box of donuts up for Suzanne to see. “I brought three unraised goji berry donuts with pomegranate glaze, and three raised pumpkin spice donuts.”
Suzanne pointed at the table, and I set the box on it. The place mats were bright yellow. Suzanne was good at combining fun colors with the dark blue dishes.
She went to t
he sink and began filling the teakettle.
Yesterday, she’d waited until both Jenn and I were present to tell us what she’d learned, and she didn’t seem about to talk now. “I’ll go look through the store,” I told her.
If she answered, I didn’t hear her above the water gushing into the kettle.
I looked at almost everything in Jenn’s store twice before her customers left. “I’m glad to see you, Emily,” Jenn said. “Suzanne’s not telling me anything.”
Jenn and I went into the office and sat in our usual places at the table.
Suzanne warned, “The tea’s getting cold.”
She poured it for us. I cradled my cup in my hands. The tea was still too hot to drink.
“So, Suzanne,” Jenn said. “Tell us about your date with Gerald Stone.”
“It wasn’t a date. It was an information-gathering session.” She slapped her hands down onto her bright yellow place mat. “He’s guilty.”
Jenn asked, “Did he confess?”
“He didn’t have to. I pieced it all together.”
I set my cup into its saucer. “Did you tell the police your conclusions?”
“I don’t have enough information yet. Almost.”
Jenn twisted strands of her long blond hair around a finger. “You’re not going out with him again, are you?”
“I told you,” Suzanne said. “They aren’t real dates. Are you going to let me tell you what I found out, or do you want to be the one doing the talking?”
Jenn let go of her hair and looked down at her plate. “Sorry.”
But Suzanne sipped at her tea instead of telling us her news. Jenn and I both bit into pumpkin spice donuts. Jenn gave me a thumbs-up.
Suzanne set her cup down with exaggerated care. “First, I asked him how someone so young could be retired. I pretended he looks too young, which he very definitely does not. But he fell for it. He said he had hobbies he wanted to pursue.”
“What hobbies?” I asked.
“I’ll get to that.” Suzanne was obviously annoyed at my interruption. I wasn’t sure I blamed her. “I also asked him if he often worked for Little Lake Lodge. He said he sometimes does.”
The owner of Little Lake Lodge had told Tom and me that he never hired security guards. But I was learning not to interrupt Suzanne, so I didn’t.
She went on. “He said he was working for himself on Saturday night, though.”
I sat very still. Gerald Stone had told Brent that he was at the wrong resort, but couldn’t remember what the right one was.
Jenn repeated, “Working for himself? What does that mean?”
Suzanne gave her much-younger sister an approving nod. “Excellent question, Jenn. I asked him. He said he wanted to be there for you.”
Jenn squeaked around a goji berry donut, “For me? I don’t know him. Why would he be there for me?”
“He said he knows you. Knew you ‘when.’” Suzanne closed her mouth and stared at Jenn expectantly.
Jenn started shaking her head, and then her eyes opened wide. “I remember going to a drugstore with Mom when she was still able to get around. Was it Stone’s drugstore?”
Suzanne put her cup down. “That’s what he said. He claims he remembers you.” Suzanne’s mouth twisted to one side. She obviously didn’t believe Stone.
Jenn shook her head, swishing her hair past her shoulders. “I don’t remember him. I had to sit on a chair and not move when we were in there, so I swung my feet, fidgeted with my hands, and sighed a lot.”
I smiled at Jenn. I could relate.
Suzanne continued looking grim. “He said she was the bravest, sweetest woman he’d ever met.”
Jenn looked down at her plate. “He’s not lying about that.”
Suzanne said what I was thinking. “He could be, if that’s not his real opinion. He could have said it to make himself seem like a good person who would never poison anyone. Maybe he never even met Mom. One of his employees could have told him about her coming in with a little girl.”
Jenn argued, “When I went there with Mom, it was years before Roger worked there.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t before then. I didn’t mention Roger’s name. Gerald had other employees, other years, Jenn. Get with the program.”
Jenn mumbled, “Sorry.”
I had a sudden urge to swing my legs and sigh. I didn’t need to fidget, though. My hands were occupied with my second donut. I wasn’t sure about the goji berries, but Tom’s pomegranate glaze was delicious.
Suzanne narrowed her eyes for a second, then went on with her story. “He said he knew she was battling cancer. He remembers her courage and her concern about her daughters, especially you, because you were so young. He noticed that she stopped coming in, and eventually he found out that she’d died. After that, even after he retired, he noticed if you were mentioned in the newspaper, like when you graduated from high school and earned those scholarships. He saw your wedding announcement, so he appointed himself to guard the back door of the lodge. He said that wedding gifts often disappear during receptions. That wasn’t going to happen to you if he could prevent it.”
Jenn made a face. “In other words, he’s been stalking you and me for years. That’s creepy.”
I agreed. Silently.
Suzanne said, “It would be, if it were true. He could have known our mother or, as I said, known of her from an employee, and it probably wouldn’t have been hard for a pharmacist to guess from prescriptions that she had cancer. He could have made up the rest of it. He was sketchy about details. He claimed he’d seen Vinnie mentioned, but that’s impossible, since nobody ever called me Vinnie before yesterday when I made up the nickname. Also, he didn’t quite remember if you’d won scholarships or not.”
“What were his hobbies?” I asked again.
Jenn suggested, “Following women around?”
“That’s where I tripped him up,” Suzanne said. “He seemed to have trouble remembering what his hobbies were, and I don’t think the problem was his memory. Finally, he said gardening, golf, and playing online games like chess against real people, but they’re people he doesn’t know.”
Gardening, I thought. He sold his house and moved into an apartment to give himself time to garden, but after he moved into an apartment, where did he do his gardening? A community garden?
Suzanne cast a glance at me. “No wonder he doesn’t have much to do besides sit around in your coffee shop.”
If Misty or Samantha had said something like that to me, I’d have taken a pretend swipe at them, but I had a feeling that Suzanne wouldn’t understand that sort of playfulness. I stayed in my seat and kept a bland expression on my face.
Jenn leaned forward. “Suzanne, if Roger was right that Gerald Stone tried to poison him years ago, we know exactly why Gerald Stone was at Little Lake Lodge.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Yes, he read about the wedding in the paper, but he wasn’t there to look out for me. He was pretending to be working as a security guard that night, but he was really there to do what he’d tried to do years before, poison Roger.” She bowed her head and mumbled, “This time, he succeeded.”
Suzanne leaned back and folded her arms. “That’s exactly what I was telling you.”
I praised Suzanne’s information collecting. “Your theory does hang together. I should go so you can call Detective Passenmath and tell her what you’ve just told us.”
“I’m not done gathering evidence, yet,” Suzanne told us. “I’m going to keep spending time with Gerald until I get him where he deserves to be. Behind bars.”
Jenn and I argued that Suzanne had enough evidence to interest the police and that she should let them take it from there.
She refused to change her plans. “Come back tomorrow after work, and we’ll put our heads together with what I’ll have discovered by then,” she said.
I told her I couldn’t. “I’m giving a presentation.”
“About what?” Jenn asked.
“Being a female entrepre
neur, starting a business, the branding Tom and I’ve been doing, things like that.”
“That sounds interesting,” Jenn said. “Where is it?”
I told her and added, “I’m not sure you really want to come, though. The group is sponsored by Vanessa Legghaupt, the life coach who was hanging around Little Lake Lodge during your reception.”
“We’re going,” Suzanne stated.
“But only for Emily’s speech,” Jenn corrected her. “I’ll need to be here until six, and then, if the police still have our cars, we can take a cab.”
“See you there,” I said. Jenn let me out the back door.
I fetched Dep and took her home. After feeding her a nice, well-balanced meal of cat food, I couldn’t convince myself that donuts were sufficient, especially for someone who often grabbed a few fried goodies for lunch and “needed” to do taste tests throughout the day. I made a salad of baby greens with Parmesan and olives. I also made a resolution to get more exercise. I suspected that running around a donut shop all day wasn’t going to be enough, unless I stopped eating donuts, but how could I? Tom and I were always concocting new flavors that we had to sample before selling them to customers.
I called Misty and told her I was giving a presentation at a workshop sponsored by one of the suspects in Roger’s murder. “I’m coming, too,” she said. “Not in uniform. I can’t pass up an opportunity to mingle with people who would sign up for a Happy Hopers conference.”
I asked if she’d like to come over to my place right then for a drink, but she couldn’t. She was heading into work soon.
Samantha was also about to go to work, but she said she would attend the next evening’s workshop. “In case these women put poisons in their health food.”
“I’m not sure any of us should actually eat at this event.”
“I agree, but if you have to go to the dinner, I’d better be there, in case you do eat something.”
After we disconnected, I apologized to Dep. “Neither of them can come over right now, I’m afraid.”
Dep batted a ball with a bell inside it underneath one of the stools pulled up to the kitchen counter.
Goodbye Cruller World Page 18