Forever Fudge

by Nancy CoCo

  “What room is it?” Officer Megan Lasko asked briskly. Officer Lasko and I had a bit of history. For some reason, she didn’t like me and was not afraid to show it.

  “I’ll take you,” I said. We left Jenn and Brent downstairs calming the Dennises and other guests. I took her into room 216. It was a small room near the stairs with a queen-size bed and an en suite bathroom that included a shower. There was a window on either side of the bed. Unfortunately, the one between Mrs. Dennis and the bathroom was now covered with blood.

  “Did you touch anything?” Officer Lasko asked. She took out her flashlight and studied the bloody windowsill.

  “I was careful,” I said. I frowned at the blood that pooled on the carpet under the window. I was going to have to rip out the flooring in this room before I could rent it again. I supposed I could try to clean it out, but people would know and look at it suspiciously.

  Officer Lasko stuck her head out the window and looked around. She pulled back inside. “He had to have put a ladder up to reach this. It’s too far to reach from your fire escape.”

  “I don’t like that,” I said.

  “Do you have video cameras on the alley?”

  “I put one in, but only by the back door.”

  “You might not want to be so cheap and get a system that covers all your walls.”

  “I’ll add that to my budget,” I said wryly.

  “Any idea who would want to do this?” she asked.

  “There was a threatening note left on my back door earlier this evening,” I said with a frown. “Rex came out and took it.”

  “I’ll see if the two things are connected. Did you catch the perp on your video?”

  I winced. “I didn’t check.”

  She raised her right eyebrow at me. “You didn’t check?”

  “I—”

  “Should have checked that. I’m surprised that Rex didn’t think to do that.” She wrote something in her notebook.

  “Me too.”

  “Without the threat, I can’t really say if this is more than a prank.” She stuck her head back out. “Could be high school kids messing around.”

  “I don’t know any high school kids,” I said. “Except for the neighbor. But he’s been at his father’s below the bridge for the last month or so.”

  “What about the guests in this room?” she asked. “Do they have any connection to anyone on the island?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “You’re going to have to ask them.” I hugged my waist.

  “We could call CSI out here to document everything, but it will cost you.”

  “Cost me?”

  “There’s no real crime here,” she said with a shrug. “Vandalism at best. After a while the taxpayers are going to get tired of paying for all your little crime scenes.”

  “My little crime scenes?” I repeated. “I don’t make crime scenes.”

  She tilted her head and studied me. “There’s no proof anyone did this.”

  “What? You think I scared my guests and ruined my windowsill? Why? What purpose would it serve?”

  “It gets Officer Manning’s attention,” she said. “It seems you’re pretty fond of that.”

  “I don’t need to go that far to get Rex’s attention,” I said.

  She wrote some things in her notebook.

  “I’ll get my camera and document everything myself,” I said.

  Brent popped his head into the room. “That is one bloody chicken,” he said, and moved in to get a closer look.

  “It’s a prank,” Officer Lasko said with a dismissive tone.

  “Mrs. Dennis didn’t feel as if it were a prank,” Brent said. He stuck his head out to check it out. “I would guess that it was a two-man job. Someone to hold the ladder and someone to hang the chicken in the window.”

  “How is it attached?” I asked.

  Brent stuck his upper body out the window and flashed his light on the side of my hotel. “They jammed a huge nail into the siding.”

  “They couldn’t have done that in the middle of the night,” I said as I stuck my head out. “I would have heard that—or at the least Mr. and Mrs. Dennis would have heard them pounding.”

  “You think they did it earlier and came back?” Officer Lasko looked unconvinced.

  “We have a lot going on,” I said as I pulled back into the bedroom. “It would have to be someone who knows when we’re busy inside. And someone who knows when we come and go outside in the alley.” I frowned. “They would have to know that Mr. Devaney isn’t here. There’s no way he would have let something like that go on the back of the building.”

  “So either someone who works for you did this—”

  “What? No!”

  “Or someone who knows how you do things,” Brent said.

  “It’s a small island,” I said. “I suppose it wouldn’t be that hard to figure out what a good time to do this would be.”

  “I still think it’s a prank,” Officer Lasko said. “Have you seen any kids hanging around?”

  “No,” I said. “Mal would alert me if anyone was hanging around.”

  “Well, I don’t think there is any real threat here,” Officer Lasko said. “Let’s go and let these people get back to their night’s rest.”

  “Will you at least create a report?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Brent reassured me. “I’ll stop by in the morning with your report number.”

  “What do I do with that?” I asked as I ushered them both out of the room.

  “Let us know if you get any further threats or pranks,” he said. “We’ll put it all together and keep an eye on threat levels.”

  “What does keeping an eye on things do?”

  “Usually dissuades kids from pulling any further pranks,” Officer Lasko said. “I’m sure our coming out here tonight will scare the kids who did this enough that they won’t be back.”

  “Thank you, officers,” I said as we went down the stairs and into the lobby where the rest of my guests huddled.

  “Jenn is putting the Dennises up on the third floor,” Mrs. Adams said. “Can the rest of us go back to bed?”

  “Yes,” I said. “It’s safe. It seems that it was merely a childish prank. Someone hung a dead chicken and caused it to swing in the window. I’ll leave floodlights on for the rest of the night. Thank you all for your patience with this. There will be a free full breakfast buffet in the lobby in the morning. Plus, a second pound of fudge when you check out.” That announcement seemed to satisfy most of my guests.

  They went back to their rooms, some muttering about hysterical guests. I don’t blame Mrs. Dennis for being upset. I don’t think she needed to be quite so vocal. For a while I was scared something worse had happened.

  I waited for the lobby to empty and all the guests to go back to their room. Meanwhile, I cleaned up after the impromptu hot cocoa party. Jenn came wandering back downstairs. She was still dressed from her date.

  “The Dennises are safe and sound in their new room,” Jenn said. “I think we’ve calmed down Mrs. D enough that she won’t give us a bad Yelp review.”

  “That says something,” I said. “I promised everyone a full breakfast buffet in the morning.”

  “Are you going to cook?” Jenn asked.

  “I thought you’d cook,” I said with a grin.

  “I’ll go pick up bagels and fruit if you cook eggs and bacon,” Jenn said.

  “Sounds perfect,” I said. “I’ll make bacon and sausage and an egg casserole. We can keep everything heated in our chafing dishes. Luckily, there aren’t that many guests.”

  “Most of them will be up early for the fund-raiser events,” Jenn said.

  “I don’t think we need to have anything available after eight a.m.,” I said.

  “Not even doughnuts?” Jenn’s expression was disappointment.

  “For you, I’ll have doughnuts,” I said. Then I waggled my eyebrows at her. “Got home late?”

  “I had a nice date,” she said with a
sly smile.

  “So you and Shane are okay?”

  Her face went sober. “He is not happy with a long-distance relationship.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “It’s okay,” she said, and put her arm through mine, turning us to the staircase. “He’ll come around.”

  “I certainly hope so,” I said. “For your sake.”

  “Let’s go to bed, missy,” she said as we walked up the stairs. “The morning will come early now that we are providing breakfast.”

  “Let’s not make a habit of it.”

  Chapter 10

  I think breakfast kept my guests happy. At least no one demanded to change venues.

  “I heard you had an interesting night last night,” Sandy said as she readied the fudge shop for her morning chocolate work.

  “The police think it was kids pulling a prank,” I said. “But I need to get more cameras around the McMurphy. The prank is going to cost me use of the room until I can afford to replace the flooring. Not to mention cleaning the windowsill.”

  “Mr. Devaney knows what to do to save you and clean it up,” Sandy said.

  “I wish he were here,” I agreed. “But he’s not and I’m not bothering them on their honeymoon.”

  “I know a guy,” Sandy said.

  “Who?”

  “My cousin Billy,” she said.

  “Does your cousin do custom cleaning?”

  “He has been known to clean up a blood spill or two.”

  “Really? Is he in crime scene cleanup?”

  “He’s a butcher,” she said, and went into the fudge shop to work.

  I leaned against the wall and watched her for a moment. “I suppose a butcher would know how to clean up blood. Is he expensive?”

  “I can get him for a good price,” she said as she pulled out her chocolate.

  “Sold,” I said. “I plan on putting in new flooring anyway, but if he can take care of the mess, I’ll pay whatever he asks.”

  “Don’t ask him what he wants. Tell him what you’ll pay him,” she said as she pulled out the kettle to warm the chocolate.

  “Got it,” I said. I turned on my heel and went upstairs. Since Jenn was busy with the fund-raising event, and Frances was gone, I was the only one doing maid duty for the day. That meant I was wearing a kerchief over my hair and pink rubber gloves when Dirk Benjamin knocked on the doorjamb of the room I was cleaning.

  “Hello?”

  “Yes?” I said as I walked out of the bathroom with a toilet brush in my gloved hand. “Oh, hello,” I said. I was a bit horrified to be seen looking like a cleaning woman. The scent of pine cleaner wafted around me.

  “Allie, right?” he asked. He looked like a dream. His broad shoulders were clad in a soft denim shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to reveal strong forearms. He had on tight jeans that were worn like a cowboy. He had to know what impact his green eyes and charming smile had on a girl’s heart rate.

  “Yes,” I said. “Sorry, I was cleaning.”

  He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I thought you were the owner.”

  “It’s a small business,” I said. “My manager is on her honeymoon along with my handyman. That leaves me to do the cleaning.”

  “The room looks great,” he said, looking around. “Wow, fudge maker, small business owner, and amateur sleuth. Is there anything you can’t do?”

  “Oh, now you’re sweet-talking me,” I said, and worked to hide my blush. “What do you want?”

  “Why would a compliment mean I want something?”

  “Most of the time, it does,” I said, and crossed my arms, mirroring him. “What do you need, Mr. Benjamin?”

  “Oh, wow, call me Dirk,” he said. “I want to be friends.”

  “Dirk,” I said. It was so strange to call someone as famous as Dirk by their first name.

  “Can we be friends?”

  “Sure,” I said. “I’d shake your hand, but . . .” I waved my gloved hand.

  “How about I take you out to dinner tonight?” he asked.

  “What?” I was caught off guard.

  “I’m asking for a dinner date,” he said.

  “As friends, right?”

  “For now,” he said, smiling, and I swear there was a twinkle in it.

  “Okay,” I said. “What time?”

  “Eight o’clock,” he said. “I don’t think you’ll need the gloves.”

  “Eight o’clock,” I repeated. “No gloves.”

  “Oh, and I tend to draw attention.”

  “Do you think?” I teased.

  “You might want to wear something killer,” he said. “In case pictures happen.”

  “In case pictures happen? How do pictures happen?”

  He put his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and shrugged. “I’m a celebrity.”

  “Yes, I guess you are.”

  “You don’t mind being seen with me, do you?” he asked, and winked.

  I couldn’t stop the blush that rushed up my cheeks. “No, I don’t mind.”

  “Good!” He rubbed his hands together. “I’ll see you at eight.”

  “See you then,” I said, feeling a little dazed. I wiped the sweat out of my eyes with the back of my pink rubber glove. What had I just done? It was three in the afternoon. That meant I had five hours to figure out what I was going to wear on a dinner date with a famous actor. I pulled off the gloves and texted Jenn. Dirk Benjamin just came in and asked me to dinner.

  What! came the texted reply. What did you say?

  Yes, I texted.

  When?

  Tonight at 8, I texted. I need help figuring out what to wear.

  I’ll be done here at 5, she texted. I look forward to the challenge.

  “Yes,” I said out loud as I put away the cleaning supplies. Jenn had more of a wardrobe than I did. She also could make anyone look like a million bucks at any budget. Speaking of budgets, I didn’t have one. I also didn’t have access to a shopping mall. That meant I had to look Hollywood-ready with what was in my closet or Jenn’s. Lucky for me we were the same size.

  “Allie,” a man’s voice called my name.

  I turned to see a man my height. He had broad shoulders and heavy arms. His face was round with high cheekbones and a strong nose. He wore a white T-shirt and white cargo pants. His black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. “Yes?”

  “Ben Everheart.”

  “Oh, you’re Sandy’s cousin?”

  “She said you had a bloodstain you wanted cleaned.” He put his hands in his pockets and studied me.

  “Yes,” I said. “Come with me.” I took him up to the room and waved toward the window that was still open. “Someone hung a headless chicken outside this window. As you can see, it made a mess.”

  He walked over and studied the blood-and-feather-splattered window, as well as the dried puddle of blood on the windowsill and where it ran down the wall and pooled on the carpet. He squatted down to see how wet the carpet was.

  “I figure I’m going to have to rip up the carpet and replace it. I’m worried about the windowsill and the wall.”

  “Hmmm,” he said.

  “What do you think?” I hugged my waist and waited.

  Like Sandy, Ben wasn’t prone to saying a lot.

  “I can fix this,” he said after long moments of silence.

  “Great,” I said. “How much?” I wanted to ask him what he was going to do, but I knew that I was expected to trust him. I’d worked with Sandy enough to know that while she might not talk a lot, she always came through.

  “Not much,” he said.

  “Okay,” I said, and frowned. “When can you start?”

  “In a couple of days.”

  “Right,” I muttered to myself. I really didn’t have a lot of choice. I supposed I could hire a crime scene cleaner from the Lower Peninsula, but that would be a lot of time and money and then there would be no guarantee it would be any better. “Okay,” I said, “Thank you.”


  “In the meantime, try hydrogen peroxide,” he said. “It will work up some of the mess in the carpet.”

  “Got it,” I said.

  “Don’t wait.”

  “I won’t.” I had a bottle upstairs in the bathroom. Ben walked out of the room and down the stairs. I stood at the landing and saw him stop and say something to Sandy. Then I turned and went upstairs to grab the peroxide. Another trip down to the room and I poured peroxide on the stain and blotted and scrubbed. It sort of worked. I could see where the rag I was using was absorbing some of the blood. But after fifteen minutes of hard work it didn’t look any better.

  “Try a hot blow dryer.”

  I looked over my shoulder to see Rex standing in the doorway. He had on his full police uniform. His hat was tucked under his arm. “A blow dryer?”

  “Or an iron,” he said. “Heat the peroxide and it works.”

  “Oh, okay,” I said, and stood. “There’s a blow dryer in the bathroom.”

  He beat me to the door and came out with it. The blow dryers we had were small handheld appliances that had seen better days. “Maybe you need to try an iron instead.”

  I took the blow dryer from him, plugged it in, and hit the spot. Some of the stain did disappear. But there was still a lot of bloodstain left. I turned off the appliance and sighed.

  “Looks like a nasty prank,” he said, and stuck his head outside the window to see where they had hung the chicken.

  “Ben Everheart came by,” I said. “He’s going to help me with the cleanup.”

  “Ben’s a good guy,” Rex said. “Have you called your insurance company?”

  “My insurance company?” I drew my eyebrows together. “Is this something I should claim?”

  “It probably will hit your deductible, but should anything else happen you’ll have that paid for.”

  “Huh, that’s a good idea.”

  “I assume you documented everything.”

  “Yes,” I said. “Officer Lasko told me to document things. She said that it wasn’t important enough for the county to pay Shane’s salary to come out.”