Tragic Toppings

by Jessica Beck

  “You’re still going on your date, right?” It didn’t hurt to confirm that her plans were still solid.

  “Of course I am,” she said shortly. “I’m actually looking forward to it.”

  “You don’t need me to hang around until he gets here, do you? I can, you know. It’s no problem if we’re a little late.”

  Momma gave me the look she reserved for the times she thought I was being at my most difficult. “Suzanne, I’m a grown woman. I’ll be fine.”

  “Where are you two going tonight?” Jake asked. Momma had asked him to call her Dorothy, but he still had trouble managing it. I found it amusing that now he just avoided calling her anything at all if he could help it.

  “I’m not quite sure,” she said with a frown.

  “Hey, if you make it Napoli’s, we can double date,” I said with a grin.

  She laughed at that, and I was glad to see her good nature was back. “I believe we’ll choose another restaurant, if it’s all the same to you.”

  “Be that way,” I said as I hugged her. “Did you take some aspirin as a preemptive strike?”

  “There’s not a headache in sight,” she said as she hugged me back. “You two have fun.”

  “We will,” I said.

  “Have a pleasant evening,” Jake said.

  “You, too. If she gets too difficult, call me.”

  “Don’t worry. If I need backup, you’re first on my list.”

  As we got in the car, Jake said, “You know something? I really like your mother.”

  “That’s good to know. Truth be told, I like her, too. It’s different from loving her, you know? She can give me grief sometimes like no other person in the world, but she’s always there for me if I need her.”

  “What more can you ask? So, are you hungry?”

  “I’m starving,” I said, suddenly realizing it was true. “I can’t believe I fell asleep like that. Emma and I stayed after work and tried to replicate my recipes.”

  “Have any luck?”

  “Not much, I’m afraid,” I admitted. “Whoever stole it has really put me in a bind.”

  “Have you come up with any new ideas about who it could have been?”

  I thought about it, and then said, “The only thing I can figure is that it had to be one of my customers yesterday. Three-quarters of April Springs was in my shop because of that ad, so it could have been anyone.”

  Jake nodded. “Then you probably had the killer as a customer.”

  I wasn’t entirely certain I liked the sound of that, but it was true. “I can’t believe Tim could inspire such anger and spite in someone. Then again, Angelica was pretty torn up when she came by Donut Hearts today.”

  “What happened? She seemed almost eager to have us there tonight.”

  I didn’t really want to go into much detail. “We had a chat about love and loyalty, about how it’s easy to mistake attention for devotion, and how to look at the world.”

  “Wow; that must have been some chat. I’m sorry I missed it.”

  “Don’t be.”

  Jake hesitated, and then asked, “Did you come to any conclusions about any of those subjects?”

  “Just that love is hard at any age, but it’s almost always worth the risk you take in opening your heart to it.” I touched his shoulder lightly, happy for his presence beside me.

  We drove on in silence, and after a few minutes, Jake asked, “Who would have thought you were that wise?”

  “Hey, be careful there. I get one right now and then,” I said.

  “You do more than that, and we both know it,” Jake said. He touched my hand lightly, and I could see a tear in his eye. I knew my boyfriend was a man’s man, a tough state police investigator who had faced down more than his share of criminals, but I also knew there was another side to him that most folks never saw.

  He was a man who’d loved and lost, but he’d been willing to take a chance again with me.

  And I just hoped I wouldn’t ever do anything to make him sorry for his decision.

  CHAPTER 11

  “Welcome, Suzanne,” Angelica said as she met us at the door of Napoli’s. Dressed elegantly in a sparkling black dress, Angelica looked as though the burdens she’d been under earlier had been lifted, or at the very least, eased considerably, since the last time I’d seen her. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

  “Sorry we’re late. I took a nap and overslept,” I explained.

  “We’re just all glad you’ve come tonight,” she said. “If you follow me, I’ll show you to your table.”

  “If you’re out here, then who’s cooking?”

  “My daughters are handling the kitchen tonight, and what a wonderful job they are doing!” She leaned close to me and added, “But no worries. I’ll be taking over as soon as you’re seated.”

  “Were you waiting for us?” I asked as she led us to my favorite spot in the restaurant. There was a mural of Italy on the wall, and we were within the sound of the fountain in the lobby, out of sight, but still very desirable.

  “It was my pleasure. Maria and Antonia are handling the orders, Sophia is nearby taking notes, and we’ve all been working hard preparing a feast for you. I hope you two are hungry. I’ve taken the liberty of planning your menu tonight.”

  I lowered my voice and said, “Angelica, you really shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble for us.” I felt bad taking up so much of her time and attention.

  She said proudly, “If I can’t treat my friends with a special dinner when I please, what kind of woman am I? Suzanne, you were there when I needed you, and I won’t forget it.”

  “They were just words,” I said.

  “Words that have helped heal my heart,” Angelica said.

  She left us, and Jake whistled softly. “Wow, I’m really glad we came here tonight.”

  “She’s making too much of a fuss,” I said.

  Jake grinned. “Suzanne, she is clearly enjoying it. Whether we deserve it or not, let’s just accept it all with a smile.”

  “Okay, you’ve convinced me,” I said.

  Maria came out with our salads, and she smiled brightly as she placed them on the table. “Thank you, Suzanne. I don’t know what you said to Momma this afternoon, but she’s a different woman since she got back from April Springs.”

  “I’m just glad I was able to help,” I said. “I’m a big fan of your mother.”

  Maria winked at me. “And it’s safe to say that we feel the same way about you.”

  “What’s in store for us tonight?” Jake asked.

  Maria smiled brightly at him, offering a dazzling display of her real beauty. “That’s a secret, but I’d brace myself if I were you. You might want to pace yourself, Momma may have gotten a tad carried away.”

  After Maria was gone, I said, “She’s really quite beautiful, isn’t she?”

  “Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Jake said, carefully looking down at his salad so he could avoid eye contact with me.

  “Then you’re either blind, or you’re a liar,” I said gently as I touched his hand lightly. I was so happy to be there, with him, and among friends. “Which is it?”

  He grinned at me as he answered, “I’m the biggest liar you ever saw in your life, but no man ever won any points answering that question honestly.”

  I touched his cheek. “Jake, it’s okay to admit the truth.”

  He seemed to consider that, and then said, “She’s a little young for my taste. To be honest with you, I can admire her from afar, but I’m kind of smitten with you.”

  “And I’m glad for that,” I said with a smile.

  Sophia came out next with a platter full of enough food for six people. When she came straight to us, I grabbed Jake’s hand.

  “Brace yourself.”

  “For what?”

  “More food than even you and I can eat.”

  He turned around and looked, and I could see that the broad smile he had was more about the food than the lovely young woman bringing i
t. “Try me.”

  “Enjoy,” Sophia said as she put the platter down. There was pasta adorned with parmesan cheese and butter, some with Alfredo sauce, and some with a rich and meaty red sauce. There were butterfly shapes, ziti, rigatoni, and shells, and my favorite of all, ravioli.

  “We can’t possibly eat all of this,” I protested.

  “Speak for yourself,” Jake said, the gleam in his eyes strictly for the food now.

  “Don’t forget to save room for dessert,” Sophia said with a smile.

  “You are a wicked, wicked woman,” I said, returning the grin.

  “So I’ve heard.”

  As Jake and I sampled each offering, one just as exquisite as the next, I felt myself quickly growing full, though we’d barely made a dent in all of the offerings.

  Jake pushed his plate away and put his fork down. “I hate to admit it, but I don’t think I can go on much longer if I’m going to drive us back to your place. What is she going to say about all of this food that’s left?”

  “I’d say we’ll pack it up and send it with you,” Angelica said from behind me. I hadn’t even seen her approach.

  “It’s all so wonderful,” I said. “I feel like royalty.”

  Angelica looked pleased by my response. “That is all the praise I need. Did you enjoy it?”

  “More than I can express,” I said.

  “Good. I’m happy, then.”

  I touched her hand lightly. “I can see that you are. I’m just glad I could help.”

  “You did, more than I can ever express.”

  Jake added, “I don’t know about that. I think you’ve done a pretty spectacular job of it.”

  She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You are most welcome, sir.” Angelica had a gleam in her eye as she asked, “Are you ready for dessert?”

  Jake groaned. “Don’t do that to me. You’re killing me.”

  She laughed and patted his shoulder. “Don’t be silly. We’ll put it in the bag with the rest. I don’t want you to be miserable.”

  Angelica nodded toward the kitchen, and Maria and Sophia came out and whisked the plates away. Jake said, “I hate to bring this up, but we still need our check.”

  Angelica smiled as she said, “No checks for you, not tonight.”

  A heavyset man at another table must have overheard her. “Does that go for us, too? If it does, I need to change my order.”

  Angelica looked intently at him for a moment before she spoke. “Did you save my life today?”

  “Not yet, but the night’s still young.”

  “Then we’ll wait and see,” Angelica said.

  “You can’t just give us a free meal,” I protested.

  “And why not?”

  “Because it’s not fair.”

  Angelica frowned for a moment, and then smiled brightly. “Send someone here with a dozen donuts tomorrow at nine, and we’ll call it even.”

  “Four dozen wouldn’t even cover the tip,” I said.

  “One dozen, no more, no less. Is it agreed?”

  I could see I wasn’t about to win that battle. “Agreed, with my thanks.”

  The boxes came out then, and Jake took them, though he was loaded down by the delicious burden.

  “I’ll get the door,” I said.

  When we got out to his car and stowed the boxes on the back seat, he said, “I hope you’re planning to share this with me. It will feed us for a week.”

  I laughed, amazed by my friend’s extravagance. “I’ve got a feeling it will be gone by tomorrow night. We’ll put it all in my fridge, and you can come over and help raid it tomorrow. How does that sound?”

  “Too good to be true,” he said. “Do we have a little time before we have to get this back to your place?”

  I looked at my watch. “A little. Why?”

  “I thought we might do a little sleuthing on the way back, if you’re up to it.”

  I had been feeling guilty about not helping lately, so I wasn’t about to miss this opportunity. “I’d be delighted. What are we going to do?”

  As Jake started the car and began to drive, he said, “We’re going to see if one of our suspects has an alibi for the night Tim was murdered.”

  “Which one?” I asked.

  “Orson Blaine,” Jake said. “When George and I spoke with him today, he claimed that he was at Lanskey’s Bar from six until midnight the evening Tim was killed. I don’t know if he was nervous, or if it’s just a habit, but he chewed through three toothpicks during the short time we spoke with him. If that’s a bad habit, it’s not his worst one. I can’t imagine how much alcohol he must have consumed.”

  “Six hours leaves time for a lot of drinking.”

  Jake nodded, and I caught a hint of sadness in his voice as he said, “He lost his wife three months ago, and from what I’ve been able to discover, he goes to the bar just about every night these days.”

  “How did she die?” I asked, suddenly aware of the fact yet again that Jake had lost his wife and child in a car accident. He was usually pretty good about hiding the pain that stayed with him, but I’d been trying to encourage him to talk about them more. Not necessarily the accident, but more about the good times they’d shared. I had no desire to ever replace his wife in his heart, but I knew I could carve out a place of my very own.

  “She didn’t die, Suzanne; she left him.”

  “It couldn’t have been for Tim, could it?” I asked. That could very well give him a motive for murder, and using the Patriot Tree would be a fitting final touch.

  Jake shrugged. “Nobody around here thinks that’s even possible but Orson. He married a woman thirty years younger than he was. I know some of those marriages work out, but not many, especially since she cheated with him when she was married to someone else. It’s been my experience that if they cheat with you, there’s a good chance that someday they’ll cheat on you. His ex, Jillian, thought he had money when she married him, and evidently Orson did a good job of hiding the fact that he was living paycheck to paycheck. I’ve heard that the second she got a better offer, she took off.”

  “How is Tim involved in all of this?” I couldn’t see my friend being involved with that kind of woman, no matter how much I tried.

  “It appears that he’s one of the few men who ever turned away Jillian’s advances. Tim was there putting a covered roof over their deck, and every day he came to work, she’d push herself on him more and more. Orson came home early, spotted her behavior, and immediately blamed Tim for it.”

  I looked over at him in admiration. “How did you get all that in one day? You must be some kind of investigator, sir.”

  “Well, it’s not my first rodeo, but today wasn’t that hard. George and I started talking to Orson’s neighbors, and a woman named Mrs. Gunderson told us all of that over iced tea and lemon bar cookies. Talk about your Neighborhood Watch. It’s like living under a surveillance camera all of the time.”

  “If you just got it from one source, how can you be sure that it’s true?” I asked.

  Jake shrugged. “We got bits and pieces of it confirmed later, but the main thing at the moment is his alibi. I need to talk to the bartender there and see if what Orson told us is true.”

  I had a sudden thought. “Jake, if Orson’s there almost every night, won’t he be there right now?”

  “I expect so,” Jake admitted.

  “So he’ll know you’re checking out his alibi.”

  Jake smiled broadly at me. “Why do you think I wanted to wait until after Orson got there? There are times when it’s good for your suspects to know what you’re doing. If you rattle enough cages, you can get more results than if you play nice. If I can scare him, maybe he’ll do something stupid, and we’ll get him.”

  It was a dangerous game my boyfriend was playing. “What if he didn’t do it?”

  “Then he doesn’t have anything to fear from me.”

  Five minutes later, we pulled up in front of the bar. Jake stopped the engine, and then
turned to me. “You can wait out here if you’d like.”

  I laughed. “Jake, believe it or not, I’ve been in a bar before. Let’s go talk to Orson’s bartender and see what he has to say.”

  “Suit yourself,” Jake said. He got my door for me, and we walked into the place. It wasn’t much, with several dark tables and a long bar littered with worn stools. A mirror lined the back of the bar, and it was the only thing in the place decently lit. Music played softly in the background, but it was turned so low that it was hard to hear. There were maybe seven people in the place, and Jake squeezed my shoulder slightly. “There on the end. That’s Orson.”

  I looked at the man, slumped forward with both hands around a glass, staring into the bottom of it as though it held the secrets to the universe. There was a shredded toothpick in his mouth, and a two-day growth of beard on his face. I felt a little bad for him, truth be told, and then I thought of Tim. If he’d killed my friend, he didn’t deserve one ounce of my sympathy.

  Jake walked to the bar with me on his heels, shook his head when the young bartender asked if he’d like a drink, and then showed the man his badge. I worried that he might get in trouble doing that, since he wasn’t working on an official police investigation, but I left that in his hands. One thing was certain; I doubted Jake would do it if there was a hint of impropriety to it. He believed, first and foremost, in rules. Sometimes that drove me a little crazy, but most of the time I admired him for it.

  “Do you know him?” Jake asked as he pointed toward Orson.

  The young man laughed. “It would be hard to miss him, sitting there every night.” He clearly had no problem with Orson hearing his end of the conversation.

  “Was he here on the tenth?”

  The man considered it, and then said, “I couldn’t say.”

  “You didn’t see him?”

  “Not from my couch. I wasn’t working that day,” he said with a smile.

  “Do you happen to know who was?” Jake asked, his voice always level, ever patient.

  The bartender seemed to think about that for a moment before answering. “Laney Myles. She works the two nights a week I’m off.”

  “Where can I find her?” Jake asked.