Drop Dead Chocolate: A Donut Shop Mystery

by Jessica Beck

  Even at the distance Grace and I were watching from, we could hear her pounding on the door with her fist. “Harvey, open this door this instant, you big coward. The money I loaned you may not mean much to you, but it’s just about all I have in the world, and I want it back right now, one way or the other. Either you give me my cash, or I’ll take it out of your hide!”

  There was still no response, and Evelyn left the porch and walked around to the back of the house. I had to give her chops: she was persistent. As soon as she disappeared, I opened the Jeep door and started to get out.

  “Where are you going?” Grace asked, whispering for some odd reason.

  “We need to see what she does next,” I answered.

  “How are we going to explain being here if she catches us?”

  I grabbed a box of donuts, not at all sure how I was going to use them, but glad I had them with me.

  Grace looked at me with open wonder. “Donuts? Seriously?”

  “Come on,” I said as I headed toward the house. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

  “Just being your friend is an adventure most of the time,” she said with a low laugh.

  We got around the house just in time to see Evelyn start pounding on the back door.

  The response was the same, and I had to wonder if Harvey was even there. I wasn’t sure what Evelyn was going to do next, but if she threw a brick through Harvey’s window, it wouldn’t have surprised me in the least.

  There was nothing that dramatic, though. She finally gave up, and as she walked back to her car, Grace and I cut through a neighbor’s yard and raced for my Jeep.

  Only to find Jake already standing there, as though he’d been waiting for the two of us all along.

  * * *

  “Care to explain yourselves?” Jake asked with a smile.

  “Would you believe we’re having a fund-raiser for charity?” I asked as I held the box of donuts in my hand out to him. “Care to buy a half dozen?”

  Jake shook his head. “Sorry, I’m not buying it. What’s going on?”

  I thought about a thousand lies I could tell him but finally settled on the truth. “We were following Evelyn Martin, and to our surprise, she led us straight here.”

  “Do I even want to know why you were tailing the police chief’s ex-wife?”

  “She’s on our suspect list,” I admitted. “Hey, I’ve got some good news. We came up with an alibi for Hannah.”

  Jake looked surprised to hear it. “Go on, I’m listening.”

  “She was walking her land for exercise when Cam was murdered.”

  My boyfriend frowned at the news. “How could you possibly know that?”

  “Go talk to Garrett Yeats,” I said. “He’s her alibi. Ironically enough, she talked the entire time about how they had to do something to stop Cam from clear-cutting the lot beside her.”

  “Good work. I’ll talk to him,” Jake said.

  “We gave you something,” Grace said. “It’s only fair that you tell us something. We told you why we’re here, but how about you? I refuse to believe that we all just randomly showed up at the same place.”

  I could have strangled Grace, but Jake didn’t seem to mind. “I’m looking for Harvey Hunt. It seems that he’s the one missing now.”

  I let that go. “Do you think he killed Cam?”

  Jake just shrugged. “I can’t say for sure, but I would love to find him and ask him a few questions. You don’t have any idea where he might be, do you?”

  I looked at Grace, and we both shook our heads.

  “We don’t have a clue,” I said.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll find him, one way or another,” Jake answered.

  “Good luck with that,” I said as I got into the Jeep. “Let me know, okay?”

  He didn’t answer my request, but he asked something himself: “Where are you two troublemakers headed off to now?”

  I shrugged. “Hey, we’ve got to get busy. After all, these donuts aren’t going to sell themselves.”

  As we drove away, I could see Jake in my rearview mirror, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he was gently laughing as he watched us leave.

  Harvey Hunt’s disappearance was no laughing matter, though. Had he run when he believed that the police were closing in on him, or was it something more chilling? Was it possible that the real murderer had claimed another victim, and Harvey was inside his house right now, sharing the same fate that had struck Cam Hamilton?

  * * *

  “Who’s next on our list? We’d better ask any questions we can, if folks are going to start disappearing on us,” I said after we stopped twenty minutes for two Pepsis.

  “We’re closer to Kelly, and after we talk to her, we can tackle William again. At least we know he’s not running, not with his gout.”

  We got to Kelly’s place, but she wasn’t home, either.

  “This is so frustrating,” I told Grace. “Why can’t people hold still so we can question them?”

  “In a perfect world, we could lock them all in the same room and grill them until we were ready to unmask the killer.”

  “Unfortunately, we don’t have that option. I think we should—”

  My sentence was interrupted when Grace’s cell phone rang.

  “You’re what?” she asked excitedly. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “Take me home,” she said the second she hung up.

  “Yes, ma’am. Right away, ma’am.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to sound like an order,” Grace said with a broad smile. “Peter got back early, and he’s sitting on my front porch waiting for me. Do you mind?”

  “Not one bit,” I said as I turned the Jeep around and headed back to Grace’s house. I tried my best to be a part of her excitement. “That’s a nice surprise, isn’t it?”

  “Suzanne, I don’t know how you do it,” she said.

  “What’s that?”

  “Spend so much time away from Jake. I think it would kill me to do that with Peter.”

  I shrugged. “It’s amazing what you can deal with in the name of love.”

  “Isn’t it?” she asked.

  I wasn’t about to go down that road with Grace. As we neared her car back in town, she barely waited for me to slow down before she jumped out of the Jeep. “Call me later,” she said.

  “Sure thing,” I said, absolutely knowing that there was no way I was going to interrupt her reunion with her boyfriend.

  I thought about driving the last quarter mile home and calling it a day myself, but just because Grace was playing hooky from our investigation didn’t mean that I could. I knew that every moment I wasted was another minute that Momma stayed a suspect in the mayor’s murder. I also realized that Jake was on the case, and I had full confidence in my boyfriend, but there was a little stirring I could do behind the scenes that he couldn’t do.

  My phone rang, and it was George.

  “Hey, where are you?” I asked as I turned around.

  “I have one more stop to make before I’m on my way back to my place,” he said. “I talked to Evelyn again,” he added softly.

  “When did this happen?”

  “As a matter of fact, I just left her.”

  “Is she okay?” I wasn’t suddenly concerned for her, but more for my mother’s sake. If Evelyn could make trouble for Momma, then she was making trouble for me, too.

  “She finally broke down and told me her secret,” George said. “It’s an alibi that I’m going to confirm right now, and if it holds up, which I’m willing to bet it will, she’s in the clear.”

  “What has she been hiding?” I asked, barely able to contain my excitement.

  “I can’t tell you that, but it didn’t involve Cam, at least not directly.”

  “Are you saying that she didn’t have a motive for murder?”

  George answered, “Suzanne, you can cross her off of your list; Evelyn didn’t kill Cam. She just told me so herself.”

  “And you believe
d her?” I couldn’t believe that George, a seasoned ex-cop, could buy her story that easily.

  “I’m a good judge of character. I saw the look on Evelyn’s face when she told me where she was when Cam was murdered, and there was certainly a lot of shame there, but not an ounce of guilt, at least about what happened to Cam. The guy she was with is married, but if you breathe a word of that to anyone, we’re through. That avenue is a dead end.”

  How was I going to handle this without alienating a dear friend? “George, I appreciate your loyalty to her, but I have to know. What did she tell you? Who exactly was she with?” I asked. I knew that it was none of my business, or anyone else’s, except the wife of the man she’d been cheating with. Evelyn was as free as the chief was to see other people.

  He blew out a huff of air, and then said, “I forgot how clever you were, but you’re not getting anything else out of me. That part of our investigation is over.”

  “Fine,” I said. I wasn’t as accepting of Evelyn’s story to George as he had clearly been, but I would put her on the back burner, at least for now. If her alibi checked out, I would trust George to tell me the truth. While he was following up on that, I had three other good suspects to consider at the moment myself. Harvey Hunt had owed Cam a great deal of money, and we only had his word that he’d paid the debt off before the murder. Too, Harvey had lost a big contract to Cam, something that had to be a blow to his financial status as well as his pride. There was a possibility that both situations had worked out for him with the mayor’s murder. William Benson had a pair of reasons to want the mayor dead as well. Not only had he lost a permit he’d been counting on to expand his business, but he’d also developed a crush on Kelly Davis, a woman who admitted that Cam had her heart. Kelly herself had a motive, too, being dumped unceremoniously after believing that Cam was going to marry her. She had a temper too, I’d seen that myself, and I had no problem believing that Kelly could have killed Cam in a fit of rage.

  I had three suspects, most likely just one killer, and no idea about how to prove who, exactly, had killed the mayor.

  It was time to stir the pot again, and William was next on my list.

  * * *

  As I drove up to his house, I saw Kelly’s black Trans Am parked in front. How odd. I didn’t think Kelly wanted to have anything to do with William, but had she changed her mind now that Cam was dead? Or was there something more sinister going on inside? I would have loved to hear what they were saying. It would even be worth the chance that they’d catch me doing it.

  Maybe, if I got lucky, I could sneak up without them knowing I was there.

  I tried the front door, but it was no real surprise when I discovered that it was locked. The next step was to test the windows on the front porch, though I wasn’t sure I could crawl through one without anyone noticing.

  Maybe I wouldn’t have to, though.

  I pushed at one of the windows, and was delighted when it opened slightly. I hadn’t heard any voices before, but now I could make out two: Kelly and William were discussing something, and it was pretty clear that neither one was very happy about it.

  CHAPTER 18

  “I don’t care how much you say you love me,” I heard Kelly say loudly. “I’m not interested, William, so stop pursuing me. Trust me. It’s never going to happen.”

  I couldn’t see them, but from their voices, I guessed they were in William’s living room. I felt like a Peeping Tom standing there listening, but I couldn’t pass up a chance to get more information from the two of them.

  William’s voice was raw as he answered her, as though he’d been crying. “You can’t do this to me, Kelly. You told me a month ago that if Cam weren’t around, you might decide to be with me.”

  “I said it to get you to leave me alone, you idiot,” she said, the scorn in her voice coming through clearly. “Why would I be interested in you? You’re too old for me, and you own an arcade, for goodness’ sake. I used to call you Uncle William when I was a kid. The idea of being with you now just creeps me out.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me the truth before?” he asked, his voice nearly weeping again.

  “It wasn’t worth the effort,” Kelly said.

  “There’s so much I can never take back, things I’ve done that can’t be undone. I did so much for you,” William said, and I watched as he hurried toward her.

  “You’re nothing but an old fool. Stop that. Let go of my arm,” Kelly said loudly, and I leaned forward to see if there was any way I could see them better.

  That was a mistake.

  “Suzanne?” William asked, his voice shaking with anger. “How long have you been standing there?”

  “I just got here,” I said.

  “You might as well come in,” he said. “You’ve heard enough already.”

  “That’s okay. I can come back later,” I said. There was something about the way they’d been talking that unsettled me. William’s last comment in particular sent my mind racing. He’d said, “I did so much for you.” It could mean only one thing. He must have killed Cam to get Kelly. Only, after William had done the deed, he found out that Kelly didn’t want him after all. I’d been looking at the denied permit as William’s most likely motive, but it seemed that Kelly was the real reason he’d committed murder.

  “You two can do what you want,” Kelly said, “but I’m leaving. Let go of my arm, William.”

  He shook his head, and I saw his grip tighten on her as he pulled a gun from his pocket. “Suzanne, get in here, or you’re going to have Kelly’s blood on your hands.”

  I thought about running then and there, but if I did that, Kelly was dead. I couldn’t have that on my conscience for the rest of my life.

  “The door’s locked,” I said as I tried to put a hand in my pocket so I could take out my cell phone.

  “Climb in through the window, then,” William said. All traces of friendly Uncle William were gone.

  A murderer was talking now.

  I flipped the phone open and managed to hit a speed dial button, hoping I’d dialed Jake’s number. I didn’t want Grace or Momma to rush over there, as much as I loved them. I was in enough trouble as it was without having to worry about them.

  As I climbed in through the window, the first thing William said was “Give me your cell phone. Now!”

  I’d tried to let someone know that I was in serious trouble, but there was one more thing I might be able to do.

  “Here, William,” I said as I handed it to him.

  He saw that it was on when he took it, and before I could say another word, he threw my phone down on the floor with such force that it broke and scattered into a dozen pieces.

  “Why did you have to come here?” William asked. “Your nosing around is going to cost you big-time.”

  “You’re hurting me,” Kelly said, the sting out of her voice now. She was clearly afraid, and from the way William was looking at her, I didn’t blame her one bit.

  “You deserve it, and more,” William said. “You can’t treat people that way and get away with it.” He shoved her as he released her arm, and Kelly stumbled toward me.

  I steadied her as she neared me, and we both faced William together. “I see your gout’s better. It’s a real miracle, isn’t it?”

  “I had to move quickly, so I figured if folks around town thought I couldn’t walk, it might be to my advantage.”

  “Is that how you got Cam to come to Hannah’s to meet you?” I asked, hoping to stall him long enough to figure out a way to stop him. Kelly was not going to be any help. I glanced over at her and saw that she was staring at him, nearly catatonic with fear. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time someone had pointed a gun at me. Instead of petrifying me, it sharpened my senses and put my mind into some kind of accelerated state. I tried to take in every detail around us, searching for something I could use as a weapon.

  The only thing I could see was William’s cane. Unfortunately, it was two steps closer to the man with the gun,
and if I reached for it, I’d be dead before my hand ever touched the handle. There had to be some way to distract him, but I didn’t have the slightest clue what it might be.

  “Cam was an arrogant fool,” William said, “and a greedy pig. He underestimated me, especially when I showed up at the empty shop with my cane, looking like a doddering old man. I told him I’d had a change of heart about the bribe he’d required to stop blocking my permit and that I had the cash in my pocket. It was almost amusing to see how eager he was to get the graft.”

  “Why Hannah’s old business, though?” I asked as I used one arm to nudge Kelly forward. She hadn’t been expecting it, and she nearly stumbled from the force of my shove. I was hoping William hadn’t seen it as I stepped forward twice as I steadied her.

  “What’s wrong with her?” William asked, though there was no tenderness in his voice now. He was being the stern taskmaster, the benevolent uncle long gone.

  “Can’t you see that she’s scared out of her mind?” I asked. “I think she’s in shock.”

  William shook his head in disgust as I looked at the cane. One lunge would get me to it, and if I could swing it at his gun, I might just be able to knock it out of his hand. I needed a big distraction, though, and I wasn’t sure that I could shove Kelly again without him noticing it. “You never answered my question. Why Hannah’s?”

  “I had a key from when Amanda worked there,” he said. “That fool Hannah never took it back, and to my surprise, the new owner didn’t change the lock either. It seemed to be fated when I found that out.”

  “So you killed Cam to get Kelly,” I said.

  William looked at the object of his unrequited love with open contempt. “It might not have worked out the way I’d hoped it would, but he deserved it. Cam Hamilton was a bad man, and an even worse mayor. We’re all well rid of him.”

  William’s phone rang at that moment, and he glanced at it for a split second to see who was calling, taking his eyes off us in the process. I shoved Kelly down as I reached for the cane, and as William whirled back toward us, I scooped it up and threw it at William with as much force as I could muster.