Drop Dead Chocolate: A Donut Shop Mystery

by Jessica Beck

  His words chilled me a little, though the sun felt warm on my face. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” I asked. “Do you think he’s dangerous, even in public in broad daylight?”

  “Better safe than sorry, that’s all I’m saying,” George said.

  As soon as he walked away, I dialed Grace’s number, but either she was on another call or she didn’t have her phone with her.

  It seemed that I was going to have to tackle Harvey Hunt on my own.

  * * *

  I got to the clock fifteen minutes before I was supposed to meet Harvey Hunt, but I could see that a man was already waiting there, sitting on a nearby bench and looking up and down Springs Drive. He had gray hair at the temples, and cold brown eyes that shook me as we made eye contact.

  “You’re Harvey Hunt, right?” I asked as I approached him.

  He nodded and said, “Sorry, I can’t talk right now. I’m meeting someone.”

  “George sent me instead,” I said. “He was called away on an emergency. I’m Suzanne Hart,” I added as I stuck my hand out.

  He made no move to take it, though. “I know who you are. You run the donut shop. What kind of emergency did George have?”

  “It was personal,” I answered as I sat down on the bench beside him.

  Harvey clearly didn’t like that idea at all. He stood and said, “Talking to me sounded pretty important to him yesterday. How bad is it?”

  “Well, it’s not life or death,” I conceded, “but he hated missing you. It would be great if you’d talk to me instead.”

  Harvey studied me a moment, and then shook his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t deal with lackeys. Tell him to come see me himself if it’s that urgent.”

  I wasn’t all that fond of being called a lackey, but I decided to let that slide. Before Harvey could leave, I had to figure out a way to stop him. “You can tell me what happened with you and the mayor, or you can tell the police. George was just trying to protect you, and I thought I was doing you a favor by coming here so I could hear your side of it.”

  He didn’t storm off, so at least that was something. At least I managed to get his attention. “Protect me from what?”

  “More than you’re willing to risk losing,” I said, hoping that it was true.

  He sat back down and said, “You have one minute.”

  “What happens to the money you owed Cam Hamilton now that he’s dead?” I asked. There was clearly no room to play cat and mouse with him, and if I was going to uncover anything, it was going to have to be from blunt and direct questions.

  Instead of getting upset, Harvey studied me for at least ten seconds. “What makes you think I ever owed him money?”

  I grinned at him as I said, “That’s a nice response, but unfortunately, you took too long answering to be very convincing.”

  Harvey shook his head in disgust. “Does the whole town have to know my business?”

  “It’s the price you pay for living here,” I said. “I’m still waiting for your answer.”

  “Fine, I’ll tell you,” he said, clearly disgusted. “I don’t see what it could hurt now. I paid Cam off the morning he was murdered at nine.”

  “Really?” I asked. “I don’t suppose you can prove it.”

  “The mayor wasn’t about to give me a receipt for my money,” Harvey said. “If I’d waited a few hours, I wouldn’t be in the jam I’m in right now. The guy I got the money from to pay him off is a lot less understanding than Cam was, that’s for sure.”

  I was intrigued by the brutal honesty of his response. “Then why did you borrow the money in the first place?”

  Harvey just shrugged. “Cam was hounding me for the money, and he was starting to make things a little uncomfortable for me around here, so I wanted to get him off my back once and for all.”

  Harvey was telling a good story, but I didn’t know how much of it I could actually believe. “How can I be sure anything you’ve told me is true?”

  He stood, and it was clear he had no intention of sitting back down again. “Lady, quite frankly, I don’t care what you believe. Tell George the next time he sends one of his flunkies around, we’re going to have some real trouble.”

  I had to get one last question in before he stormed off. “I’m curious. Why did you agree to meet him in the first place?”

  “I owed him a favor, but as far as I’m concerned, we’re square now. You tell him that, would you? I’m finished here.”

  As Harvey walked away, I wondered if there was any part of what he’d said that was the truth. I liked to think of myself as a good judge of whether someone was lying to me or not after my years of training with my ex-husband, Max, but Harvey had just taken it to a whole new level. I’d have to mention my conversation with him to Jake the next time we spoke. If Cam had a large sum of money on him when he was killed, it could be a motive for murder that we hadn’t even considered yet. Was it possible that our mayor had been mugged for the money he was carrying on him? If he’d been found in an alley, I might have believed it, but showing up inside Hannah’s old storefront was too much to explain.

  Unless the person who’d robbed him had had a key.

  It was another twist in a case that was already complicated enough.

  I was still sitting on the bench, thinking about what had just happened when Grace showed up.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she said. “I just got your message.”

  “Why didn’t you pick up when I called?” I asked.

  “I was on the phone with Peter,” she explained. “He had a few minutes and I didn’t want to miss the chance to talk to him. What did Harvey have to say?”

  My first reaction had been to scold her for not taking my call, but then again, could I say that I wouldn’t have done the same if it had been Jake on the phone with me? I didn’t get much time with my boyfriend, and his job didn’t exactly allow him to check in anytime he wanted, so when I got a call from him, I tended to give it top priority. If Grace decided to do the same thing, who was I to judge her? It was time to get off her back about being a low priority.

  “He claims he paid Cam off close to when the mayor was murdered.”

  Grace frowned. “That’s pretty convenient, isn’t it? I don’t suppose there were any witnesses to it.”

  I grinned. “I asked him if he could prove it, and he said that Cam didn’t give him a receipt. Trust me, he wasn’t too happy talking to me at all.”

  Grace frowned as she looked at me. “Then we can’t prove it, one way or another. It’s a real mess, isn’t it?”

  “Aren’t they all?” I asked as I stood. “Do you still have some free time this afternoon?”

  “I’m all yours,” Grace said. “What did you have in mind?”

  “I think it’s time we have another chat with Kelly Davis.”

  “Because the last one went so well?” Grace asked with a smile.

  “Hey, somebody’s got to talk to us eventually. If Kelly won’t, then we’ll have to tackle Hannah again.”

  “I never dreamed so many people would be so unhappy to see us,” Grace said while we walked toward my Jeep.

  “Funny, I’ve been amazed that it hasn’t happened more often before now.”

  * * *

  Unfortunately, Kelly wasn’t at the bank when we went inside. Grace pretended to study a brochure at the table they had set up so I could do a little more digging on my own. There were times when it was good having two of us interview people, but sometimes folks were more likely to talk to me if I was alone.

  I found my donut-loving friend Jackson, the teller, and got in line to ask him where Kelly might be as soon as it was my turn at the window.

  At least he didn’t have any problem talking to me. “She called in this morning and took a personal day,” he said when I asked him. “Why are you looking for her? She had some pretty rough things to say about you the last time you were here, Suzanne. I’m not sure I’d go out of my way looking for her if I were you.”

/>   “It was all just a simple misunderstanding,” I said, trying to come up with an excuse on the spot. “That’s why I wanted to speak with her. I feel bad the way we left things.”

  Jackson seemed to think about that, then lowered his voice and said, “If I had to guess, I’d say she’s looking at antiques in Hudson Creek. I overheard her talking to someone yesterday about going there.”

  “Thanks, Jackson,” I said.

  “Just try to straighten things out with her,” he said. “She’s a decent friend, but trust me, you don’t want that woman as an enemy.”

  “Why is that?” I asked. If Kelly had a history of bad behavior in her past, it would be good to know about it before I tackled her again.

  He was about to tell me when his manager approached. The last thing I wanted to do was get Jackson in trouble, so I said, “Thanks for clearing that up. I’ll be back later with my deposit.”

  “You’re very welcome,” he said, and winked at me, something I was certain his boss couldn’t see.

  I nodded to Grace, who walked out of the bank with me.

  Once we were out in the parking lot, I asked, “Do you feel like doing a little antiquing?”

  “I’m always up for that, you know me, but I thought we were on a case,” Grace said.

  “This is a part of it. Jackson told me that Kelly is probably in Hudson Creek shopping. It’s what she does when she wants to get away from April Springs.”

  “Then I say we go shopping. Maybe we can drop in on Bill while we’re there,” Grace suggested.

  “It would be nice to go into Yesterday’s Treasures without an agenda,” I said, remembering the last time Grace and I had gone there.

  “You mean having a reason that doesn’t directly involve my friend,” Grace said.

  “That’s right. The strip’s not that big, so we shouldn’t have any trouble finding Kelly on Antiques Row.”

  “It sounds great,” Grace said, and then offered, “Why don’t we take my car? You know I love your Jeep for short trips, but there’s no reason we shouldn’t drive in style if we’re going all that way.”

  “I’m not even going to argue with you about it,” I said. “Get in and I’ll take you back to your car.”

  We switched vehicles, and I settled into the passenger side while Grace drove to Hudson Creek. It was good spending time with my best friend, even if it was investigating a murder case. As we drove, we chatted about a thousand things. I wasn’t sure if it was on purpose or not, but the men we were seeing and the murder case we were investigating were two topics we strictly avoided.

  I almost hated it when we crossed the town limits of Hudson Creek, but I reminded myself this wasn’t a joy ride, or an afternoon we were killing.

  It was time to keep digging into Cam Hamilton’s murder, and at the moment, Kelly Davis was in our sights.

  * * *

  As we walked into Yesterday’s Treasures, Bill, tall and lean as ever, met us near the door. “If it’s not two of my favorite ladies in the world,” he said with a smile. It faded slightly when he saw that we were empty-handed. “What? No donuts today?”

  “Sorry, we had a good run at the shop and there weren’t many left,” I told him. “Next time, though, for sure. How have you been, Bill?”

  He waved a hand around his shop, empty of shoppers, but full of neatly displayed items and signs that carefully stated what was in each section. “Business is just booming,” he said, smiling. “Can’t you tell?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Is it that bad?”

  “Actually, we’re finally slowing down a little. It’s nice to get a breather every now and then. Folks are finally starting to find us, and things are really looking up.”

  “That’s wonderful,” I said. “Have you by any chance had a customer today named Kelly Davis?”

  “I’m not sure. What does she look like?” he asked.

  Without thinking, I blurted out, “She’s a pretty blonde, young, and she likes to dress kind of trashy.”

  “Suzanne,” Grace said, “that’s a little harsh, isn’t it?”

  “It might be,” Bill said, “but it’s dead on the spot. Actually, she was here about twenty minutes ago.”

  So, we’d just missed her. “Any ideas where she might have gone to next?”

  “Are you two digging into another murder?” We’d involved Bill in one of our investigations before, so he had a right to question us.

  “What makes you ask that?” I asked as innocently as I could.

  He laughed. “Come on, I know you aren’t here to shop. That would be out of character when the two of you are together.”

  “One of these days we’ll come back just to check out your inventory,” Grace said.

  “With donuts,” I added.

  “That’s fine, but if you expect a discount when you come, I’d better see a load of donuts in your arms.”

  “You’ve got a deal,” I said.

  As we walked out onto the street, Grace and I looked up and down in search of Kelly. If she was still on Antiques Row, she was in one of more than a dozen shops that specialized in antiques of one kind or another.

  The question now was: which one?

  CHAPTER 11

  “Kelly Davis! What a coincidence running into you here,” I said when we finally found her browsing through a shop that specialized in antique uniforms, buttons, and ribbons. I’d wanted to skip that one, since it didn’t look promising at all, but Grace had insisted. I didn’t know if she had some kind of weird sixth sense about it, but she was right.

  “Suzanne,” she said tepidly. “I see you brought along reinforcements this time.”

  I smiled my brightest smile. “Grace and I are out shopping, just like you.”

  She didn’t look as though she was buying it, not for one second. “Here? Excuse me if I have a hard time believing that.”

  “Grace’s uncle loves this stuff,” I said as aloofly as I could manage. “I might ask the same thing of you.”

  “My dad is nuts for antique uniforms, and his birthday is tomorrow.” She looked around and then said, “I was looking for a nice present for him, but I’m afraid this place is way out of my price range.”

  An older man with mutton chop sideburns said, “Make me an offer, then. I’m not afraid to dicker with you; I told you that before.”

  “Maybe later,” Kelly said as she headed for the door, leaving us behind.

  I picked up an item at random and without even looking at the price, I said, “I’m sorry, but you’re out of our league, too.”

  As we were leaving, the man repeated, “Don’t just leave. Make me an offer. Any offer.”

  When we were all out on the sidewalk, I had a rash idea. “Kelly, I’m glad we ran into you. I want to apologize. I didn’t mean to jump all over you yesterday. Could Grace and I buy you a late lunch? There’s a place called the Popover Diner down the street that’s supposed to be very good.” I wasn’t sure about that, but it was the only card I had to play at the moment.

  “I suppose I could eat,” Kelly said.

  “Then it’s settled,” I said as I started down the road. Kelly moved out a little in front of us, and Grace winked at me and smiled as she caught my eye.

  I just shrugged. I’d gotten lucky so far, but I couldn’t count on that to get us through the interview. We had to ask some tough questions. I just hoped Grace and I would find a way to word them so we didn’t cause another scene. We’d already discovered that Kelly’s temper lived up to its billing.

  The Popover was no Boxcar Grill; that was certain. Trish’s place was fun and light and welcoming, but the Popover hadn’t been that way since the fifties, judging from the décor of the place. That was most likely the last time the red vinyl covering the booth benches might have been new. The linoleum floor had chunks missing, showing the battleship-gray concrete underneath it, and the curtains had all faded so much it was nearly impossible to decipher what their original colors might have been.

  “Isn’t
this nice?” I asked, trying to put the best face on it I could.

  “It’s really quaint,” Grace chimed in, trying to support me.

  From the expression on Kelly’s face, it was clear she wasn’t buying it, though. “What a dump. Do you think the food is even safe to eat here?” It was obvious that she didn’t care what the people there thought about her.

  “I know that it’s not the Ritz,” I said, a massive understatement. “Why don’t we think of it as an adventure?”

  “I just hope I survive it,” she said.

  As we sat down, a brunette waitress barely out of her teens with LULU stitched on her apron approached us. “Sweet Pea?”

  I had to have misunderstood her. I knew that some waitstaff in the South liked to use “Honey,” and “Darlin’,” but I wasn’t certain I’d ever been called “Sweet Pea” before.

  “Ya’ll want three?” she asked, as though we were all hard of hearing.

  Then I got it. “Three sweet teas sound great. What’s the special today?”

  Lulu smiled. “We serve a mean veggie plate,” she said, then added, “This place doesn’t look like much, but the food is good and the service is friendly.” She said the last bit with a wink, and I felt myself warming to her. I turned to Kelly and Grace and asked, “Shall we place ourselves in Lulu’s capable hands?”

  There were two nods, one enthusiastic and one quite a bit more reluctant, and Lulu left to get us our food.

  “Any bets on how much of what we get is fried?” Kelly asked.

  “No takers there,” I said. I wanted to talk to her about Cam, but I wasn’t sure exactly how to bring it up. I was still trying to think of an angle that wouldn’t enrage her when Grace beat me to the punch.

  “I understand that you and Cam were meant for each other,” she said. If I’d said it, there was no way I would have been able to utter those words without laughing, but Grace had delivered the line with exactly the right amount of class.

  “It’s true,” Kelly said softly. “He was my soul mate, and now he’s gone.”

  I couldn’t believe it. Somehow, with one line, Grace had gotten through Kelly’s defenses. That was just one more reason I was such a big fan of my best friend. When it came down to it, she was excellent at getting to the heart of what motivated people.