Forever Fudge

by Nancy CoCo

  “Rex thinks it was Ryan Tunison. We found the kid hiding in my attic,” I said.

  “That’s creepy,” Troy said. “Can we use that in a story?”

  “Sure, go ahead,” I said. “How long have you been shooting here?”

  “About ten hours,” Troy said. He removed his glasses and cleaned the lenses with the tail of his shirt. He put his glasses on and peered at me. “You ladies didn’t come out here just to meet me.”

  “Hey, Paige,” Jeffery said as he came up behind her. “What’s the suitcase for?”

  “She’s staying with me for a while,” I said.

  “Everything okay?” Jeffery asked.

  “My brother’s gone missing,” Paige said. “Rex suspects foul play.”

  “Is Rex investigating?” Dirk asked. He looked at Troy. “Dude, I could totally go see how he handles a missing person case.”

  “We’re shooting, Dirk,” Troy said with a long drawn-out sigh. “You’ve had your week. I’m sure you have enough material to play a good cop.”

  “I’ll go, boss,” Jeffery said. “I’d like to see how it plays out. It might help me with my episode rewrites.”

  “Yes, go,” Troy said. “At this point I’d do anything to help you write that story.”

  “Well, if you hadn’t refused my chess story,” Jeffery muttered.

  I drew my eyebrows together. “You had a chess story?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “In it the killer was a disgruntled chess player from the 1970s.”

  “It was a horrible idea,” Troy said. “Who knows anything about chess these days? You’d be better off writing about a spelling bee. At least that would have cute kids in it.”

  “Hey, Allie, isn’t Paige’s brother your boyfriend?” Dirk asked. “You must be beside yourself with worry.”

  “I am,” I said, and glanced at my watch. “Come on Paige, let’s go. It’s late.”

  “Do you girls need an escort home?” Dirk asked.

  “We’re good, thanks,” I said.

  “Come on, people, let’s get the next shot prepped,” Troy shouted. “Nice to meet you, Allie. My parents used to come and stay at the McMurphy every Fourth of July. I have good memories of the old place.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “You should come by and see what we’ve done with this year’s renovations.”

  “Perhaps I will,” he said.

  I put my arm through Paige’s and tugged her away.

  “Catch you later, Allie,” Dirk said with a quick wave and then he waded back into the small crowd, taking his spot in front of the cameras.

  “Did you find out what you wanted to?” Paige asked me.

  “I’m not sure,” I said as we walked. “I learned that Troy has been on the island before. That makes him a potential suspect. I’m convinced that whoever is behind all this knows the island. I also discovered you know Jeffery the writer.”

  “Sure, he’s been on set most of the two days I was a part of. Why?”

  “Didn’t he say he had an episode about a chess game?”

  “Yes,” she said unsure.

  “And he’s been here since I got here in May. He would know about all the murder cases I’ve helped to solve.” I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “That makes him a suspect.”

  “I just don’t see how either man could have taken Trent. Neither is that tall or that strong-looking.”

  “You’d be surprised how little effort it takes to subdue a man if you know about leverage.”

  Paige shivered. “I’m worried.”

  “Me too,” I said. We arrived at the McMurphy and I opened the front door with my key card.

  “That’s different,” Paige said.

  “Yes, I spent quite a bit of money to upgrade it. But I think it’s worth it. Sooner or later everyone will go to the key cards. Real keys are simply too easy to replicate.”

  Jenn popped up on the landing. “Hey, kids,” she said with a smile. “Is this going to be a slumber party? Allie, I thought you had a da—” She paused and looked at Paige. “A dinner thingy.”

  “Trent is missing.”

  “Oh, no!” Jenn said.

  “Paige is going to stay with us for a few days,” I said. I turned to Paige. “You’re more than welcome to sleep on the couch in my apartment. Or we can book you into one of the empty rooms.”

  “I really don’t want to be alone,” Paige said.

  “Good, then it’s a slumber party,” I said and we headed upstairs. “Paige, is there any place that you can think of that Trent might be? I mean, we do need to rule out the fact that he would be off somewhere on his own.”

  “He had a conference call this morning that he missed,” she said as I unlocked the apartment door. Mal came rushing out, jumping up on me and then Paige and Jenn.

  “That is definitely unusual,” I said. “I know how punctual he is with business meetings.”

  “Daddy always told us that meetings need to start on time. If you can’t be at a meeting five minutes ahead of time, then you might as well reschedule.”

  “Does Trent have an assistant? Someone who keeps track of his calendar and buys his plane tickets, et cetera?” Jenn asked.

  “There is Doris,” Paige said. “She’s been working in the main office for over thirty years. She knows more about where someone in the business is than I would.”

  “Does she schedule your day for the island businesses?” I asked.

  “No,” Paige said. “She schedules larger meetings and travel.”

  “Larger meetings?”

  “When I have meetings with my father or the board of directors,” Paige said.

  “Did Trent have any larger meetings on his calendar?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Paige said with a frown. She put her suitcase down beside my couch. “But the note proves he was taken, right?”

  “The note?” Jenn asked.

  “There was a note in my door addressed to Allie,” Paige said. “It said we have forty-eight hours.”

  “To do what?”

  “Figure out who he is, I imagine,” Paige said with a sigh. “It’s driving me nuts.”

  “It’s got to be someone who is familiar with the island,” I said. “They know about the other murders I solved.”

  “And they were able to take Trent without anyone else seeing,” Paige said.

  “That freaks me out a little,” Jenn said. “I’m glad you have a new security system.”

  “That’s why I’m staying,” Paige said. “There’s safety in numbers.”

  “I agree there,” I said. “Come on, I’ll show you where the linens are.” We got out towels and sheets and an extra blanket and came into the living area. Mal was excited for the newest member of the apartment. Mella kept aloof, preferring to watch everything from the safety of the cupboards.

  “What did you find out about Ryan?” Jenn asked as she poured glasses of wine.

  “Ryan?” Paige asked.

  “He’s a neighboring teenager who has been playing nasty pranks,” I said as I made up the couch for her bed and briefly described the pranks. “I talked to Rex. Ryan says someone paid him to do it.”

  “Who would do that?” Paige asked.

  “I wish I knew,” I said. “The fudge business is a bit cutthroat and I do have the exposure of the reality television show. Maybe someone was trying to slow our success down? Anyway, they certainly have upset my guests.”

  “That doesn’t sound like anyone who lives on the island,” Paige said.

  I straightened from the couch. “I suspect it’s all connected.”

  “What’s all connected?” Jenn asked, and handed us our wineglasses.

  “The murders, Trent’s disappearance, and the pranks,” I said, and leaned on the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the living room. “Whoever is doing this seems to have targeted me.”

  “That’s obvious,” Jenn said. “But why take Trent?”

  “He is in love with Allie,” Paige said. “Whoever is orches
trating this must think that they are still an item.”

  “I keep coming back to Jeffery Jenas,” I said.

  “The writer?”

  “Yes,” I said. “He’s been on the island all summer so he would know about anything that has been in the press.”

  “Like the murders you have solved,” Paige said.

  “And your love life,” Jenn said. “Let’s face it, the Jessops are always in the Town Crier society pages.”

  “It’s not something we think about,” Paige said with a shrug. “It’s basically been like that my whole life. We don’t pay any attention to it.”

  “But others do,” Jenn pointed out. “It’s a good place to start.”

  “It’s too bad that Liz isn’t here,” I said. “That reminds me, I need to send her an e-mail and see how she is doing.”

  “What’s going on with Liz?” Paige asked.

  “Her grandfather, Angus, had a stroke. They’re in Saginaw while he goes through rehabilitation.”

  “Wow, that’s terrible. I wonder if Mother knew what was going on with Angus? She keeps track of everyone in Mackinac society.”

  “Speaking of society, I need to see if the seniors have any information on the latest murder or even Trent’s disappearance. The thing about seniors is that people often overlook them. They often see things that others don’t notice.”

  “Oh,” Paige said, climbing onto the bar stool. “Maybe they saw whoever took Trent. Someone had to have seen something.”

  “I’m sure that Rex is talking to everyone in the neighborhood,” Jenn said.

  “Yes, interviewing witnesses,” I said. “Or in this case, looking for witnesses.” I sipped wine. “The killer has to have a place where they take the men before they kill them.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Because they re-dress and stage the bodies,” I said. “The men haven’t been killed on the spot.”

  “Oh,” Jenn said, her eyes widening. “That means whoever is doing this is able to move bodies without anyone the wiser.”

  “Exactly,” I said with a frown. “How can you move a body?”

  “Carry it?” Paige asked.

  “Someone would notice them if they were hauling around grown men,” I pointed out.

  “Well, we know it’s not in a car or van,” Jenn said. “They aren’t allowed on the island.”

  “So, carriage or freight wagon,” I said, and sipped wine. The flavor of the red washed over my tongue. I felt my body relax a bit. I hadn’t realized I was so uptight.

  “Not carriage,” Paige said. “All the carriages left on the island are run through our stables. Our drivers would know.”

  “But others have their own carriages,” I said.

  “True,” Paige said. “So no commercial carriages.”

  “Who owns the freight wagons?” I asked. Freight wagons hauled things from the warehouses on the docks to various homes and businesses. They also often worked from the airport, hauling freight from the warehouses by the airport to various businesses.

  “We do,” Paige said. “Oh, and the Jenases still have a few wagons. But the competition has basically left the bulk of the freight business to us.”

  “Jenases?” I pounced.

  “As in Jeffery Jenas?” Jenn’s eyes grew wide.

  “Jenas is a pretty common name,” Paige said. “If he were related to the Jenases from the island he wouldn’t be staying at the boardinghouse.”

  “Do the Jenases have much property on the island?” I asked. “Jeffery might be staying at Mrs. O’Connor’s to throw us off the track.”

  “He does go for a lot of long walks,” Jenn said. “We’ve already established that.”

  “He could be taking the men and keeping them on some back property that the Jenases own.”

  “I’ll call my mother,” Paige said. “She’ll know anything there is to know about the Jenases.”

  Chapter 24

  After Paige talked to her mom, there wasn’t a lot more we could do. Mrs. Jessop was taking the first flight onto the island in the morning and she would bring with her any information she could find on the Jenas family. In the meantime we all settled in for as much sleep as we could catch.

  The next morning, I snuck downstairs at 5 a.m. to make fudge. I always made coffee for the coffee bar first, in case any of the guests came down for coffee before the office’s 7 a.m. opening. Mal followed me down and I gave her breakfast and a treat. Next stop was to take her out for a short morning walk. I put on her halter and leash, grabbed a navy jacket, and stepped out the back door and into the alley.

  She went to her favorite grassy spot to do her business. Behind the McMurphy was the alley, the small grassy patch, a fence and the backyard of the hotel behind us. I checked my cameras. They were originally pointed at my doorways, but now I had them on each corner covering the alley from edge to edge of the building. A quick glance up the steps told me that Paige and Jenn were still fast asleep. The lights were out in the apartment.

  Mal tugged on the leash, pulling my attention away from the building.

  “What is it, Mal?”

  She pulled me to the mouth of the alley. In the early morning light, the crews that cleaned the roads of animal debris were out, shoveling the horse manure from the day before. It was the least glamorous job on the island. I watched how they drove a wagon ahead of them, then jumped out to scoop up thick shovels full of debris before tossing it into the wagon as they traveled over every inch of Main Street. It was important to keep the roads clean and clear of debris. It wasn’t something most people thought of, especially in places that had cars.

  But on an island where the main mode of transportation included horse-drawn vehicles, it was a constant upkeep. I recognized one of the shovelers. “Ryan?”

  “Miss McMurphy,” he said, and skillfully shoveled up a cold thick pile. He tossed it into the wagon and then came over to me with his shovel in hand. “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry for having scared you so badly, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  “I heard someone paid you to do those nasty pranks,” I said. Mal didn’t go see him. Instead she jumped up on me as if to say, please pick me up. “You really scared me and my pup.”

  “I want to apologize,” he said. “I didn’t mean any harm.”

  “Hey, kid, let’s go,” the driver called to him.

  “Gotta go,” he said, and headed back to the wagon in a trot to catch up. He turned and tugged on the brim of his cap. “I will make it up to you. Please let me.”

  “Ryan!”

  “Coming, sir,” he said, and ran after the nonstop movement of the manure wagon.

  “Allie?”

  I turned on my heel, startled by the sound of my name. Rex was walking by the end of the alley.

  “Oh, Rex, you scared the heck out of me,” I said with my hand to my heart. Mal had raced to him, tugging on the edge of the leash.

  He frowned at me. “What are you doing outside by yourself at this hour? The sun isn’t up yet.”

  “Mal had to go out to do her business,” I said. “I’m not waking anyone else up just to take the dog outside.” I frowned at him. “What brings you by this early in the morning?”

  “It was my turn to go by the McMurphy and check that everything was okay,” he said, and ran a hand over his face. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to eat any dinner last night.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” I said with a shrug. “How’s the investigation?”

  “We can’t find anyone who saw Trent after he left the cottage.”

  “We were talking last night,” I said. “Whoever took Trent had to have a vehicle of some sort to put him inside. There was no way anyone could drag Trent off by foot. He’s too big and people would notice.”

  “Certainly a vehicle would make the most sense,” Rex said.

  “Since there aren’t any cars, it has to have been a wagon. Paige said that all the carriages left working the streets belong to the Jessops’ stables. So, unle
ss it was a private carriage it was most likely a freight wagon.”

  “That makes sense,” Rex said.

  “Except that Paige tells us that the Jessops own most of freight wagons as well.”

  “True,” Rex said, and crossed his arms over his chest. He was dressed in a freshly pressed uniform.

  “Except—get this—there is a competitive freight wagon company owned by the Jenases,” I said.

  “And?” He drew his eyebrows together, his hat lowering over his eyes.

  “I think the killer may be Jeffery Jenas, the writer from the television pilot,” I said.

  “I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “What makes you think he’s the killer?”

  “He’s been on the island since May when I got here. So he had access to the information about the other cases I’ve helped solve. Whoever is the killer has been following my escapades since May.”

  “That is everyone who lives on the island,” Rex said.

  “But not everyone is trying to write mysteries for a television show,” I said.

  “True.”

  “The killer is clearly trying to prove he is better than I am,” I said. “Why else create the notes? Why put people in the spots where the other murders happened? Jeffery has been trying to get ideas off me since I met him.”

  “Hmmm,” Rex said. “What’s the motive? To prove he’s a better killer than you are an investigator?”

  “Yes, I think so,” I said.

  “I don’t know,” Rex said.

  “Fine, but don’t you think it’s strange that there are Jenases with freight wagons? Just the kind of vehicle that could transport bodies without much questions.”

  “Jenas is a common name,” Rex said.

  I frowned. “Fine, I need more evidence.”

  “No, I need more evidence,” he said gently. “You need to let me find it.”

  “I’ve got a chess club meeting at the senior center, tomorrow. I’m going this afternoon to take the seniors some fudge and see if anyone wants to practice with me.”

  “I’ll send someone to escort you,” he said.

  “What about Trent? The forty-eight hours are almost half over.”

  “I’m doing what I can,” he said.

  “The killer has to have a place where he can keep, torture, and kill people without anyone knowing.”