Pastry Penalties

by Jessica Beck

  “Why do you need to speak with her? Did something happen?” Christine asked, the worry coming through in her voice.

  “Yes,” Jake and I said at the same time.

  “You two need to stop playing and tell me exactly what’s going on,” Christine insisted.

  If we did that, she would without a doubt call her daughter and ruin any chance we would have to surprise her with the information. I wasn’t expecting to catch Emily looking guilty, even if Jake might be, but an honest and unplanned reaction would help her case with my husband. I couldn’t see Emily killing someone no matter what the circumstances might be, and as much as she loved her stuffed animals, it certainly wasn’t motivation enough to commit a homicide. “I’ll call her myself,” I said as I grabbed my phone.

  “I don’t like this,” Christine said as she pulled her own phone out of her pocket.

  I put a hand on hers. “Do you believe that I’m trying to help your daughter, and that all I’m trying to find is the truth?” I asked her before either one of us could place our calls.

  “I suppose so,” Christine said a little reluctantly.

  “Then let me do this my way,” I replied. I knew if I called Emily and she saw that her mother was calling her as well, I’d lose that battle every time. To be fair, I would have done the same thing to her if it had been my mother calling me instead.

  It took Christine three seconds to decide, three very long seconds, but finally, she put her phone away. “Suzanne, I’m trusting you to look out for my daughter’s best interests.”

  “I won’t let you down,” I replied, hoping that I wouldn’t be forced to do just that.

  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  I dialed Emily’s number, but she didn’t answer.

  “Huh. She didn’t pick up.”

  “Now I’m getting worried,” Christine said. “Let me try.”

  Even as she made the offer to call her daughter for me, my cell phone rang. When I glanced at the caller ID, I said with relief, “It’s Emily,” and then I answered it.

  “Hey, Emily.”

  “Sorry about that, Suzanne. I wanted to pull over. I know it’s legal to talk on your cell phone in your car in North Carolina, but I get too distracted when I try to talk and drive at the same time. What’s up? Have you had any luck finding the guys?”

  “How far from the newsstand are you right now?” I asked her, sidestepping her question.

  “Less than two minutes,” she said. “Why?”

  “We need to talk about this in person.” I didn’t want to give her any more information than I had to.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” she said. “You really have to tell me what’s going on right now.”

  “I’ll see you in two minutes,” I said, and then I hung up on her. It was the hardest thing I’d done in a long time, but if I told her what was going on over the phone, we couldn’t see her reaction to the news. I wanted to protect my friend, just as I’d promised Christine, but I also didn’t want to waylay our investigation of Dusty’s murder. It was a fine line I was walking, and I wasn’t a bit sure I could do it for very long.

  “She’ll be here in a minute,” I told Christine and Jake.

  “So we heard,” Christine said. “Why didn’t you tell her while you had her on the phone?”

  “Did you really want me to tell her something as huge as that on the phone?” I asked her.

  “No, I suppose not. I’m still not sure why you won’t tell me, though.”

  She had a point, but I wasn’t going to concede it. I couldn’t, at least not without telling her what I was holding back from her.

  Thankfully, Emily walked into Two Cows and a Moose ninety seconds later. At least there were no customers in the shop. That could have been a little awkward asking them to leave so we could have a private conversation.

  “What is it?” Emily said as she pulled off her jacket. “Did you find them?”

  “As a matter of fact, we did,” I said.

  Her face lit up like a kid’s might on Christmas morning. “That’s absolutely glorious. I’m so happy I could cry.” She looked up at their shelf, but it was still empty. As her gaze scanned the room, she asked me in a puzzled voice, “Why aren’t they here?”

  “They are in police custody at the moment,” I said.

  “What did they do, knock over a gas station?” Emily asked. “Seriously, where are they? I need to see them for myself.”

  “Emily, we found them at the scene of a murder,” I said, watching her carefully.

  She looked at me for a moment as though I had just told a bad joke. “Suzanne, that’s not at all funny.”

  “It wasn’t meant to be. Emily, Dusty Baxter is dead.”

  Chapter 8

  “Dead? What do you mean he’s dead?” Emily stumbled back a little at the news. I’d been watching her carefully, and her reaction wasn’t quite what I’d been expecting. For a split second, it looked as though she hadn’t been completely shocked by the news.

  That was bad.

  I glanced over at Jake and saw that her reaction hadn’t gone unnoticed.

  “We found him at his home. Someone stabbed him in the chest with a knife,” Jake explained.

  Emily took a moment to recover. “That’s terrible, but what does it have to do with Cow, Spots, and Moose? Did Dusty steal them?”

  “We don’t know yet,” I said. “It might be a good working assumption for the moment until we learn differently, though.”

  “Why are the police keeping the guys, though? I don’t understand.” Emily finally looked as though she was going to cry, something that her mother noticed before I did. Christine quickly moved to her daughter and put her arm around her shoulder, offering her what comfort she could.

  I couldn’t exactly tell Emily that Spots had been holding the murder weapon. Jake and I had promised the police chief to keep that particular tidbit to ourselves. “They were at the scene of the crime. I’m sure you’ll get them soon.”

  “I hope they are okay,” Emily said. I knew she loved her stuffed animals, but was that really her main concern about the situation? Was she in shock, or was the statement more telling than she’d intended it to be?

  “From what we saw, they weren’t any worse for the wear from the experience,” I admitted. Jake frowned at me and shook his head slightly. It was clear that he was afraid I might let something slip out about how we’d found them, but I had made a promise to the police chief, and I wasn’t about to break it. “Emily, when we spoke earlier, you said something about Dusty that puzzled me.”

  “What did I say?” she asked haltingly. “I just can’t get over the fact that he’s dead.”

  “You told me to be careful around Dusty, that he wasn’t as harmless as he looked. What exactly did you mean by that?”

  “I don’t remember saying that at all,” Emily said evasively, refusing to make eye contact with me as she answered.

  She was clearly lying to me! At least she wasn’t very good at it, which meant to me that she probably hadn’t had that much practice doing it. “Think, Emily. It’s important.”

  “I don’t believe I like the tone of voice you are taking with my daughter, young lady,” Christine said as she stepped between us. I knew that she was just trying to protect her only child. I couldn’t blame her, but on the other hand, she was making matters worse instead of better. I firmly believed that if I gave Emily time to adjust to what had happened, she would probably have time to think of a reason to explain her earlier comment to me. Was it possible that she was involved in Dusty’s murder after all? I didn’t want to think it was even within the realm of possibility, but even I was beginning to have my doubts.

  “Christine, whether you like it or not, Emily is involved in this investigation up to her eyebrows. We need to find out what’s happening if we’re going to help
her.” It was an appeal that I hoped would work. Otherwise, I knew we weren’t going to be getting much out of Emily from here on out.

  “Why is she a part of it?” Christine asked icily. “She barely knew the man. So what if they dated for a time? It was ill conceived and promptly ended.” Apparently no man was good enough for her daughter, but I could see Christine’s objections to both Dusty and Max.

  “Mom, would you do me a favor?” Emily asked.

  “Anything,” Christine said. “Would you like me to ask them to leave? You don’t need this kind of questioning.”

  “As a matter of fact, I was hoping you’d run home and make me a cup of your famous hot chocolate, and grab an oatmeal raisin cookie or two while you’re there. I desperately need some comfort food right now.”

  “Now? Surely a snack can wait until later,” Christine said. She was clearly unhappy about abandoning her daughter in her time of need.

  “It’s the only thing in the world that might make me feel better right now,” Emily said. “Please? For me?”

  “Of course. I’d do anything for you,” Christine said. As she started for the door, she gave it one last shot to try to get us to leave as well. “Surely you two have somewhere else you need to be. We wouldn’t want to keep you.”

  “Mother. Please.” Emily uttered the two words, and Christine knew that she’d lost that last battle as well.

  “I’ll be right back then,” she said, trying to make her voice light and carefree, but not before stopping directly in front of me and adding, “Remember your promise to me, Suzanne.”

  “I remember,” I said.

  Once she was gone, Emily asked me point blank, “What did she make you promise?”

  “She made me swear that I’d look after your best interests,” I admitted. “Which, in my defense, I’m trying to do.”

  Emily frowned upon hearing the news. “Why would she ask you to do something like that? Suzanne, she knows that we’ve been friends for years. My question is why wouldn’t you look out for me?”

  “I’m going to do my best, but for me to do that, for us to do that,” I corrected as I gestured toward Jake, “we need to know the truth.”

  “I wouldn’t lie to you,” she said, avoiding my gaze yet again.

  “Emily, stop it.” My voice was probably a little harder than it had to be, but I needed to get her attention.

  “Stop what?” she asked, still unable to meet my stare.

  “Stop lying to us, and I mean this instant,” I said.

  “What makes you think I’m lying?” Emily asked me, still avoiding all eye contact. I was no expert at reading people, but she might as well have been holding up a sign that said, “Liar!”

  “Because you’re really bad at it,” I said as nicely as I could. “Trust me, that’s a good thing. We need to know the truth if we’re going to help you.” I looked over at Jake. “Am I right?”

  “You are,” Jake said, keeping his comment to a minimum. My husband knew that Emily was my friend, so I should be the one handling the interview, unless and until he thought I was about to bungle it. So far, so good, then. I couldn’t let my relationship with Emily affect how I conducted this investigation. If I hurt her feelings now, there would be time later to mend fences and make amends, but right now, I needed the truth, for the very reason that I’d just told her.

  Without it, I couldn’t help her.

  “Where have you been for the last half hour?” I asked her, trying to take things in a different direction for a moment. “Remember, we need to know the truth, no matter how badly it might reflect on you.” Maybe if I asked her a few easier questions, it would loosen her up and make her more willing to talk to us about Dusty and what had happened to him. Besides, I wanted to know if she had an alibi for Dusty’s time of death. “We asked, and your mother had no idea where you went.”

  “I was just driving around in the country, hoping to figure out who would want to hurt me badly enough to steal my stuffed animals,” she said after a few moments of silence.

  “Did anyone happen to see you while you were out?” Jake asked her gently.

  “How could I possibly know that?” she asked him critically.

  “What Jake is trying to determine is if you stopped and spoke with anyone while you were gone. Did you even wave to someone you made eye contact with somewhere along the way?”

  It took Emily a moment, but she got it. “Are you asking me for an alibi?” she asked me, the hurt clear in her voice.

  “We’re trying to help you,” I said. “You can’t look at this as though we’re coming after you, Emily. If someone saw you on your drive, we can tell the police and clear you of all suspicion.”

  “Does the chief think I’m involved?” she asked, surprised by the very idea.

  “Your stuffed animals, the three things that are closest to your heart, were stolen from you,” Jake reminded her. “They were found at the murder scene. He wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t at least consider you a possible suspect.”

  “If I’d killed Dusty, I certainly wouldn’t have left my stuffed animals there,” Emily said, the tears creeping into her voice. “I couldn’t have done that to them.”

  “You might have if you were rushed, or stunned by the suddenness of what happened,” Jake suggested lightly.

  “Is that what you think?” Emily asked him.

  “As your friend? No, of course not. As a former cop, though? I’d be lying if I said it wouldn’t have crossed my mind.”

  Emily buried her head in her hands, and I felt really bad for her. I hated pushing her about such painful things, but I knew that sooner rather than later, Chief Grant would have to speak with her about her three friends and where they’d been found, and he would be a lot tougher on her than we were being.

  “I can’t prove where I was,” Emily finally said, her voice heavy with sadness. “I’m sorry I don’t have some convenient alibi, but it’s the truth, so do with it what you may.”

  “Let’s get back to my other question,” I said before she could start crying again. “What did you mean when you told me that Dusty wasn’t as harmless as he looked? Don’t bother trying to deny it again. We both know that you said it, so don’t insult our friendship by trying to claim now that you didn’t.”

  “I shouldn’t have said anything to you about it. It was a mistake,” she said almost to herself.

  “Maybe so, but you can’t just dismiss it like that. Did something happen between the two of you?” I asked her without letting up on her. It felt a little heartless pushing her so hard, but if she told us the truth, we might just be able to help her, at least if she were truly innocent, which I wanted to believe was true with all of my heart.

  I didn’t think Emily was going to answer, but finally, after taking enough time to collect herself, she admitted, “He was here at the newsstand last night.”

  “What happened?” I asked softly. Jake was listening intently, but it was obvious that he was going to continue to let me handle the questioning. I was fine with that. After all, I’d been friends with Emily for a long time, and with that friendship, there had grown an element of trust that I hoped I wasn’t currently violating.

  “Dusty came by last night as I was closing the shop,” she said. “No one else was around, and he told me that he still had feelings for me. When I rejected him and told him that I was in love with Max, he said that I was being a child, that I didn’t know what I wanted. Dusty told me that it didn’t have to be about love between us, that it could be something physical without any emotion. I laughed at the suggestion, which I immediately realized was a mistake. He pinned me against the wall, and when he put his face within half an inch of mine, he told me that it wasn’t nice to laugh at him, and I was going to have to pay for that. I thought he was going to do something horrible, and if someone hadn’t opened the door of the shop and that chime
hadn’t gone off, I’m still not sure what he would have done.”

  “Someone witnessed the attack?” Jake asked. I knew the situation could incriminate Emily in Dusty’s death, and so did Jake. “Did you see who it was?”

  “They never came all the way in, and the way Dusty had me pinned against the wall, I couldn’t see who it was.”

  “Did Dusty know who it was?” I asked.

  “He clearly recognized whoever it was,” Emily explained. “The second they left, he let me go and tried to brush it off as though nothing had happened. When he started to leave, I felt a surge of relief that I was going to escape with my life, but then he hesitated at the door, turned to me, and said, ‘If you tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you, and your parents, and everyone and everything you love.’ It shook me up more than the assault had. He was so calm and nonchalant when he said it! I was terrified to say a word to anyone, so I didn’t.”

  “Not even to Max?” I asked.

  “Especially not to him,” she said. “You know what kind of temper he has. He would have killed Dusty with his bare hands if he’d seen him assaulting me.”

  “I wouldn’t tell anyone else that,” Jake said. “They might take it the wrong way.”

  “It’s okay. Max isn’t here, remember?” she asked. “He’s in Los Angeles.”

  “Are you saying that you didn’t even call him? If I’d been in your shoes, I would have phoned Jake instantly,” I said.

  “I tried,” Emily said, her voice faltering. “I wasn’t going to tell him about Dusty and his threat, but I needed to hear his voice. He didn’t pick up, though.”

  “Did you call his hotel or his cell phone?” Jake asked her.

  “His cell phone,” she said, frowning again. “Why would I call his hotel?”

  “I’m just curious. Where is he staying?”

  “Max always stays at the Restchester when he’s in LA,” she said. “Anyway, I went home and went to bed. I’d say I went to sleep, but I got precious little of that. When I came in this morning to open the shop, the guys were gone, and I found the ransom note I gave you. I swear to you both that last night was the final time I ever saw Dusty Baxter, dead or alive. I hope you believe me.”