Pumpkin Pleas (The Donut Mysteries Book 26)

by Beck,Jessica

  “He suspects it was foul play, but to be fair, he didn’t know about the pictures on Tom’s phone, and plus, his mind naturally goes to murder when someone dies. It’s an occupational hazard of his former career.”

  “Is he helping us with the case, too?” she asked me.

  “No, he’s got his hands full figuring out what Ray Blake did.”

  “Why doesn’t he just ask Ray where he was and what he was up to? That seems as though it would be the simplest way to find out.”

  “Haven’t you heard? Ray got a concussion. He lost somewhere around sixteen hours of his memory, and they might just be crucial ones. Jake will help us if he can, but I’ve got a feeling that he’s not going to be able to do us much good. Is Stephen going to be upset that we’re digging into what happened?” I asked her as I took a sip of the lemonade. It was sweet, even for me, and I ran a donut shop.

  “I don’t think so. He honestly believes it was just an accident, so why would he mind? How about George? Will he help us?”

  “We already searched the cottage where Tom was staying together. George owns it, so there was no problem getting in.”

  She frowned for a second. “I wouldn’t mind seeing that for myself.”

  “Sorry. As we searched, we cleaned the entire place out. There’s nothing of value left there now. George wanted it to just be the two of us.”

  She nodded. “I get that. So, what did you find?”

  “Several things, actually. The place had clearly been ransacked, but we still managed to find a few clues. The first thing we stumbled across was a gym pass from Candy’s place with a note on the back that said, Tom, I won’t do it, so stop asking.” I left out the fact that George had missed it and I’d uncovered it later. There was no need to share that particular detail with anyone else.

  “That’s kind of cryptic. What did she say when you asked her about it?”

  “I haven’t spoken with her yet. I was saving that particular conversation for the two of us,” I told Grace with a grin.

  “Excellent. You know me. I’m always up for a face to face with Candy,” she answered in kind. “What else did you find?”

  “Ray’s business card, torn up and in the trash. On the back, it said, “We Need To Talk,” and it appears that Tom wasn’t at all interested in making that happen.”

  “Too bad we can’t ask him about it,” she said. “Is that it?”

  “No. George also found a thousand dollars in the oatmeal canister.”

  “There’s no reason to be sarcastic, Suzanne. I was just curious.”

  “It’s the truth,” I said. “There was a thin tube of money hidden inside the oatmeal container.”

  “Wow, and to think I keep my money in the bank,” she said.

  “We both figured he had a lot more than that, but if it was in that cottage, we didn’t find it, and we turned the place upside down. I’ve got a feeling that somewhere in this town is a load of cash just waiting to be found.”

  “Did you take photos of any of this?” she asked me.

  “Yes, but I did better than that. I’ve got both the torn-up business card and the gym pass out in the Jeep.”

  “Where’s the cash? Is it out there, too?”

  “George is holding on to it,” I said. We hadn’t even discussed it, but since he’d found it, I didn’t have any problem with him taking charge of it. I had no idea what he’d do with it, but I trusted him, not just with a thousand dollars but with my life.

  “Of course he is,” Grace said with a grin. “It couldn’t be in safer hands, and if you left it out in your Jeep and someone stole it, nobody would be happy. So do we suspect Ray in all of this, or does he get a free pass?”

  “Why, because he’s Emma’s father and Sharon’s husband? I don’t see how we can strike his name because of that. He has to be on our list, but we should let Jake handle that part of the investigation, since it overlaps with ours.”

  “That sounds solid. Who else do we suspect?”

  “Candy has to be on our list until we figure out how she’s involved in this. Mitchell Bloom is on it, too.”

  “Why Mitchell?”

  “He was in the donut shop flashing a wad of bills around, and he even bought everyone donuts with a fifty-dollar bill.”

  Grace frowned at me. “I agree that it’s out of character, but does he deserve our scrutiny because of some eccentric behavior?”

  “There’s also the fact that Trish overheard him arguing with Tom about money not long before he died,” I told her.

  “My, you’ve been busy without me, haven’t you?” Grace asked, smiling.

  “Some of it I found out on my own, and the rest just seemed to fall into my lap.”

  “Either way, we’ve got a good start.”

  “There’s one more suspect, at least I think he might be,” I said. “A stranger approached me about buying the donut shop, but I didn’t believe him.”

  “Okay. And that connects to Tom how exactly?”

  “He asked me about Tom as nonchalantly as he could manage, even pretending to forget his name, but the harder he tried to act casual about his questioning, the more alarmed I got. The man bears watching.”

  “You didn’t happen to catch his name, did you?”

  “He said it was Daryl Lane, but whether that’s the truth or not, I have no way of knowing,” I said.

  “So we need to look into him as well. It’s a good thing you asked me for my help. You’ve been stirring up so much buzz around town, you need someone to watch your back.”

  “Thanks for being there for me.”

  “Suzanne, there’s nothing in the world I’d rather be doing, and you know it.” Grace gestured to the dining room table, covered in paperwork. “I’ve got the rest of the week to wade through all of this, and I don’t have any other responsibilities until I do, so count me in.”

  “Wonderful,” I said as I finished drinking the lemonade. Funny. It had started out much too sweet for me, but by the time I’d emptied my glass, it had tasted just right to me.

  “Then let’s get started.”

  “Oh, I nearly forgot. We have to make one stop before we start digging,” I added.

  “I can’t wait to hear where we’re going that’s so important it takes precedence over our investigation.”

  I pulled the baggied button and cloth from my fresh jeans and held it out to her. “I found this on the path coming down from the falls when Jake and I went up to investigate. He insisted that I turn it over to Stephen immediately, but I wanted you to see it first.”

  She took it from me, studied it from all angles, snapped a few photos of it with her phone as well, and then she handed it back to me. “It’s probably nothing. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Maybe, but Jake was insistent that I share it with the chief, and I think he was right. I don’t want to conceal evidence from the police, even if they don’t believe there was a crime.”

  “Good girl,” Grace said as she stood and grabbed her jacket. “Let’s go see my boyfriend and hear what he has to say.”

  Chapter 15

  “What’s this?” Stephen Grant asked as I put the button and cloth remnant down on his desktop. The police chief had been doing paperwork when Grace and I had asked to see him, and he’d been almost pitifully delighted to be distracted from it.

  “I found it just off the hiking trail coming down from Laurel Falls this afternoon,” I said.

  Chief Grant picked it up, and then, instead of studying the contents, he examined the baggie it had come in. “Since when did you start carrying around evidence bags with you?”

  “Jake was with me,” I said. “Have you heard about the stranger in town asking around about Tom Thorndike?”

  “I heard something about it,” he acknowled
ged. “That’s about all that I’ve heard about him, though. A name would be helpful.”

  “It’s Daryl Lane,” I supplied.

  The chief looked startled by my revelation. “How do you happen to know that?”

  “He pretended to ask about buying the donut shop, but it was pretty clear that what he really wanted to talk about was Tom.”

  “Hang on a second,” the chief said, and then he tapped a few words into his computer. After a moment, he frowned. “Suzanne, are you sure about that name?”

  “That’s what he told me it was. Why? Did you get any hits?”

  “He was in prison around the same time Tom was being held, and he’s apparently a pretty bad apple.”

  “What did he do?” Grace asked him.

  “Let’s see. Assault with a deadly weapon, extortion, arson, and those are just the highlights. Regardless of why he’s really in town, if you talk to him again, let me know immediately, okay?”

  “You’ve got it,” I said.

  “I mean it, Suzanne. He’s not someone you should be messing around with.”

  “Believe me, I don’t have any desire to get him angry at me. I’ll let you know if I see him again.”

  That seemed to satisfy the police chief. “Your husband doesn’t think Tom Thorndike was murdered too, does he?” Stephen asked.

  “He’s not ruling it out, but then again, he doesn’t know everything you do about the case.”

  The chief looked at Grace for a moment before speaking. “Did you tell her about the photos we found on Tom’s phone?”

  “Was I not supposed to? I’m sorry; I thought she might like to know. If I was wrong to say anything, I apologize.”

  He chewed it over for a second before replying. “No, it’s okay.” Turning back to me, he said, “Suzanne, it appeared that Tom was quite the adventurer. I found two dozen photos on his cell phone of him in some pretty precarious places. The waterfall shot was one of the milder ones, to be honest with you. If you were just at the top of the falls, you must have noticed how slippery those rocks were.”

  “They weren’t that bad,” I said.

  “Maybe not, but I’m guessing you didn’t climb on them with your back turned toward the edge so you could take a picture of yourself. What possesses people to do that?”

  “It helps them share their lives with their friends on social media,” Grace said. “There’s nothing wrong with it, unless it’s taken to extremes.”

  “Like this time,” the chief said as he pushed the button and cloth segment back at me. “Where exactly on the trail did you find that?”

  “My feet went out from under me, and I slipped off the path,” I admitted, even though it made me look quite a bit clumsier than I really was. “This was on the ground right by my hand, and it’s easy to see how someone else slipped just like I did. Jake said that Ray’s clothes were intact, so it didn’t come from the clothes he was wearing.”

  That got the police chief’s attention. “How does Jake happen to know that for a fact?”

  “You need to ask him,” I said. I knew it wasn’t my place to share my husband’s new task with the chief of police.

  “I will, but right now I’m asking you.”

  “Just call him,” I said.

  Chief Grant clouded up. “I can’t imagine what’s so secret that you can’t tell me yourself.”

  “Oh, for goodness sakes, Suzanne, just tell him.” She turned to her boyfriend and said, “Ray has asked Jake to look into where he was during the time he can’t remember.”

  “Grace, that wasn’t your information to share,” I told her.

  Instead of looking remorseful, she simply shrugged. “I told you about the photos on Tom’s phone, so I thought Stephen deserved something as well. He was going to find out sooner or later anyway, so why not tell him now?”

  I tried to be upset with her, but in a way, she’d done me a favor. At least I hadn’t been the one to divulge Jake’s new job, and if my husband was going to be cross with someone, all in all, I rather wanted it to be with someone besides me. “I suppose you’re right.”

  “See, that’s why you both need me around,” she said with a grin. “I’m an excellent communication facilitator.”

  “Is that what you call it?” the chief asked her. “Listen, I appreciate you bringing this by my office, but I’m not exactly sure what it means.” He frowned for a moment before asking, “Did Jake suggest that you bring this to me?”

  “He might have,” I said, hedging my bets. I couldn’t tell if Stephen was happy or displeased about the prospect, so I wasn’t going to commit either way until I had a better idea of why he was asking me the question.

  “There’s no need to answer. I know that he did,” Stephen said with a smile. “Once a cop, always a cop. Thank him for me, okay?”

  It was a clear dismissal, but I wasn’t ready to go yet. “What do you think really happened to Ray Blake, Chief?”

  The police chief shrugged. “He most likely tripped and hit his head on something. I’ve got a feeling that ten or twelve of those missing hours were spent unconscious. When he woke up, he was still disoriented, and that’s why they found him wandering around on the road. I’m not exactly sure what Jake is supposed to do about it, and I don’t envy him the task of tracking down Ray’s movements, but hey, he’s welcome to try. Now, if you two will excuse me, I’ve got to get to this mound of paperwork before five, or I won’t be by for dinner tonight, Grace.”

  She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. “Are we good?”

  “As gold,” he said with a smile. “Now skedaddle.”

  “Yes, sir. You bet, Mr. Police Chief.”

  Stephen Grant laughed as we were leaving, and once we were back outside of the police station, Grace turned to me and asked, “Are we okay as well?”

  “Sure. I wasn’t happy about you telling Stephen what Jake was up to, but at least I didn’t have to do it myself.”

  “Stephen was starting to steam up, Suzanne. I knew if I didn’t say something quickly, it might end up being blown up into something worse than it was, so I took the plunge. Tell Jake I’m sorry if he’s bothered by it.”

  “You could always tell him yourself,” I suggested with a smile.

  “No, thanks. I’ll leave that up to you. Now, despite what my boyfriend believes, I’m getting the distinct impression that we’re not just giving up and going home. Is that right?”

  “The police chief makes a good point, but George asked us to look into this, and until he’s satisfied that it was an accident, I say we keep digging.”

  “I’m game if you are,” she said. “Where do we start?”

  “It’s got to be Candy Murphy,” I said.

  “Why does it have to be her?” Grace asked me.

  “Because if we don’t talk to her first, I’ll just keep putting it off as long as I can.”

  “You aren’t a big fan of Candy’s, are you?”

  “It’s not that. Well, at least it’s not just that,” I admitted. “I’ve long suspected that she’s quite a bit smarter than she lets on. This ditzy act may just be a disguise hiding something deeper.”

  “Do you think that’s possible?” Grace asked me. “She’s always seemed like a complete airhead to me, an empty box covered in pretty wrapping paper.”

  “I thought so too for the longest time, but over the past few years, I haven’t been quite so sure.”

  “Well, if she’s acting dumb, the girl deserves an Oscar. She could give Max lessons.”

  “Not that he’d take them, at least not now. Back when he was constantly on the prowl, Candy would have been his perfect type, but ever since he got involved with Emily Hargraves, I don’t think he’s strayed even once.”

  “Speaking of Emily, have you been by her newss
tand lately?”

  Our friend owned and operated her own newsstand, named Two Cows And A Moose after her three childhood stuffed animals, who were all displayed prominently in her shop, usually wearing custom outfits she’d created for them. “No, what are the guys dressed up as now?”

  “Well, with Halloween coming soon, she’s got them all in costume again ready to go trick-or-treating.”

  I laughed to myself, remembering some of the crazy things she’d put them in during past years. “What did she pick this year?”

  “She swears it was their choice. She made one costume that takes all three of them to fill up, and then some. Their legs are all poking out of a monstrously huge octopus costume, with two fake legs sewn on for good measure so they equal eight. The funniest part is that she’s got their little faces poking out in various places on the costume. They are each wearing masks she’s fashioned out of cloth seashells, and their faces are pretty easily recognizable.”

  “I thought Cow and Spots were identical,” I said. “How can you tell them apart?”

  “She got Spots first, so she hugged him so hard that his face is narrower and leaner than Cow’s is. You knew that, right?”

  “Of course,” I said, doing my best to keep a straight face. Emily acted as though her three stuffed animals were alive, much like Hobbes from the cartoon Calvin and Hobbes, and anyone who spent much time around them found themselves being sucked into the mythos as well. I knew for a fact that last Christmas, which was the time of year Emily first got them as a child, Max had delivered birthday presents to each of them. He had some bone-shaped graham cracker treats added to little hand-painted buckets, two of which read “Cow Treats” while the third said “Moose Treats.” That gesture, as well as many more, told me that he loved Emily on a level that he had never come close to loving me. I didn’t resent it, though. In fact, I enjoyed seeing him grow into a level of commitment and maturity that I’d never suspected he could reach. Then again, I might have been able to be happy for them since I’d found the love of my life myself. “I’ll have to go check them out.”