Very Buried Cheesecake (Black Cat Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 4)

by Lyndsey Cole

  Everyone looked toward the spot where Flo had been leaning against the wall for most of the evening.

  Annie shook her head. “No, nothing has turned up yet but I’ve got your card and I’ll call you if I find anything. Did you check in the parking lot already?”

  Matt held up his flashlight. “Yup. I’m back tracking our path and here I am.”

  He kept his eyes on Annie until she had to look away. After checking her watch, she said to everyone, “I can’t believe how late it is. I know I need my rest after this long day.” She shooed everyone out the door and locked it.

  ***

  Annie tossed and turned all night. With Roxy sleeping by her feet, she thought she was wedged between some rocks. And Smokey’s purring on the pillow near her face felt like wind and waves trying to pull her under the water. Finally, she gave up and made herself a hot cup of soothing lemon tea. As she sat curled on her couch, facing her big window and the twinkling stars shining over Heron Lake, she heard a quiet tap on her door.

  Roxy whined, stretched and stood at the door. Thankful that Roxy was happy about whoever was on the other side of the door, Annie opened it and smiled at Jason.

  “You can’t sleep either?” she asked.

  “Nope. Is there any more hot water for a cup of tea for me?”

  “Sure, come on in.” Annie set her cup on the counter, got another one from the cupboard and poured hot water over a tea bag for Jason.

  He surprised her with a box from the Black Cat Café. “Go ahead, take a look. I picked it up yesterday.”

  “What did Leona fix you up with now? I had enough cheesecake last night to hold me over until Martha’s wedding. If there is a wedding.” She opened the box and licked her lips. “Oh, this must be something new Leona is working on.”

  Annie lifted out a dark chocolate tart covered with a layer of perfect red raspberries. “I think I can find room for a piece of this, how about you?”

  Jason held up two fingers about a half inch apart. “Just a sliver.”

  “Right. We can always have seconds,” Annie said and laughed.

  The only sound in Annie’s cozy apartment was the sound of their forks clicking on the plates until Jason pushed his chair back and stretched out his long legs. “That hit the spot.”

  Annie used her finger to clean up every last bit of chocolate. “Delicious.”

  Jason waited until Annie settled back in her chair. “I found some information about John and Katherine Holland.”

  “Oh? Some cyber stalking?”

  “You could say that. Since you’ve been pulled into this mess, I think you need as much information as possible.”

  Annie picked up her cup of tea and moved to the couch next to Roxy. “Sit over here. It’s more comfortable.” She indicated the soft chair opposite where she sat. “Smokey won’t mind if you pick him up as long as he gets your lap once you’re settled.”

  Jason stacked the two dishes and moved them to the sink and put the rest of the chocolate raspberry tart in the refrigerator before getting himself comfortable with Smokey.

  “John Holland’s business, Gold N Silver, took an interesting turn after he married Katherine. Apparently profits went down each year. Not that he was in any type of money trouble, but it was going in the wrong direction.”

  “How did you find this out?” Annie said as she stroked Roxy’s soft fur.

  “That doesn’t matter and you don’t want to know. But the falling profits could be from the slower economy or someone on the inside siphoning off money. John was more into the jewelry design than the day to day finances. That part was left to Matt Austin.”

  “What about Matt’s wife, Flo? Did she work for the business too?”

  “Get your laptop and we can do some digging.”

  Annie brought her laptop to Jason and pulled a chair next to him.

  “Here’s the homepage for Gold N Silver with a photo of all the employees. Flo isn’t in it, so as far as I can tell, she didn’t work in the business. Observing her at the opening, she comes across as a bitter woman and I’m pretty sure she’s an alcoholic. As a matter of fact, I heard she was in treatment last year and by the looks of it last night, she might need another visit.”

  “So what am I going to do? I have to give Detective Cranky something, but that will complicate Camilla’s life.”

  “Yeah. Put her off as long as possible. Even if she searches your gallery, she won’t find anything, right?”

  “There’s nothing that I’m aware of.”

  “Whoever broke into Martha’s house and took the money could be the murderer. And you don’t know if Camilla and Katherine were being completely honest with you. Katherine has a lot to gain from her husband’s death. Let’s take a look and see what we can find out about those two. It’s always suspicious when a younger woman marries a rich older man.”

  Jason searched quickly, typing different combinations of names into the search engine.

  “Ah ha, here’s something,” he said pointing to an article about the jewelry theft at Gold N Silver. He scanned the article faster than Annie could keep up, so she pulled Smokey onto her lap and waited for Jason to summarize for her.

  “Camilla was the only suspect in the jewelry theft, but according to this article, no evidence was discovered to make any charges stick so it was all dropped.”

  “And the jewelry?”

  “Some diamond earrings and a matching necklace. Never found.”

  Annie stood up and gazed out the window. The only sign of life came from lights blazing across the lake at the Holland’s house. “Do you think that’s what Camilla is being blackmailed about?” she asked into the dark void beyond her window.

  Chapter 9

  Wonderful smells filled the Cove’s Corner building when Annie arrived at the Black Cat Café. Danny had his apron on and was getting the coffee cart ready for the first customers.

  “Looks like I could have slept in this morning,” she said as she entered.

  “No way,” Leona blurted out. “I’m making a dozen cheesecakes along with all the regular goodies. Can you pour this batter into the muffin cups? Peter Hayworth dropped off big, beautiful freshly picked blueberries this morning.”

  Annie picked out her favorite apron, the green one with black cats curled up contentedly. Curling up and sleeping was what she wished she could be doing until all the drama of John Holland’s murder was resolved and behind her, she thought wistfully.

  Leona removed cheesecakes from the oven and set them on the counter to cool. Wiping her hands on her apron she said, “I hope that’s enough. Are those muffins ready to go in yet?”

  Annie finished pouring the batter into the muffin cups. “All set. Get the oven door for me.”

  Annie slid the trays inside and Leona let the oven door close. “Any idea what’s happening with Martha’s wedding?” Leona asked.

  “Isn’t that the million dollar question?” Annie said and laughed. “I haven’t heard anything new since last night, same as you. As far as I know, it’s back on for the moment. I hope Martha knows what she’s getting herself involved with by getting between those twins.”

  Mia arrived, holding the door for the wholesale delivery person.

  “I’ve got some supplies for a,” he looked at his invoice, “Leona Robinson?”

  “Yup, that’s me.” Leona asked Danny to help unload the items. “The flour and sugar are here just in time. I better make a note to myself to remember to stock up heavier next year before Labor Day weekend. I’ve been scraping the bottom of my bags to get enough for this morning’s baking.”

  A knock on the café door made everyone turn around. Danny let Flo Austin in. At least she was sober even if she had huge bags under her eyes. Her gaze darted around the room until they settled on Annie.

  “I want to apologize for my behavior last night. I haven’t had a drink for a year, but finding out that John was murdered and being in the same room with those two women last night made me lose control I guess.�
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  Annie motioned for Flo to come into the café. “We aren’t technically open yet, but would you like a cup of coffee?” Annie wasn’t going to squander the chance to find out any information that Flo might be able to offer about Camilla and Katherine. And with some luck, even Flo’s own husband, Matt.

  Flo looked behind her before taking a small step inside. “All right. The coffee does smell irresistible. I think some caffeine is just what I need after last night.”

  Annie fixed a cup for Flo. “Cream and sugar?”

  “A splash of cream, no sugar,” she answered as she got comfy on one of the counter stools. “What smells so delicious in here?”

  The oven timer rang and Leona took the blueberry muffins out. “Our specialty. Blueberry muffins. They need to cool for a few minutes before you can have one. Danny has helped himself to one every morning since I opened,” Leona explained as she smiled at Danny.

  Flo sipped her coffee, then put her mug on the counter. “Matt never liked it when John married Katherine. He always thought she was after his money.”

  “Oh?” Annie said. “And what did you think?”

  “To be honest, I never liked her much since it upset Matt when she came into John’s life. Matt was livid. It almost ruined the lifelong friendship between John and Matt. Eventually, Matt saw how happy Katherine made John. He grudgingly accepted her with the condition that she could never become a partner in the business.”

  Annie put a muffin on a plate for Flo and another one for Danny. “Muffin’s ready Danny. Better enjoy it while it’s fresh from the oven.”

  Flo looked at the perfectly browned muffin with blueberries dotting the top under the streusel topping. “I don’t usually eat sweets. My mother used to tease me that the pounds stuck on my hips even if I looked at something with sugar.” She picked up the muffin and took a big bite. After slowly chewing with her eyes closed she opened them and told Annie with an impish smile on her face, “Mom’s not around to make me feel guilty anymore.”

  Ignoring Flo’s memory, Annie asked, “And Katherine is a very wealthy woman now, isn’t she?”

  “You said it, not me.” Flo swallowed the last bite of muffin. “That was delicious. Could a get a half dozen to bring home?”

  Annie put six muffins in a box for Flo. “Now, don’t go telling everyone that we let you in before seven or we’ll have some unhappy customers to deal with.”

  Flo smiled. “No worries about that.”

  After she paid and was about to turn to leave, Annie remarked, “Those are beautiful earrings.”

  Flo’s fingers twirled the diamonds in her ears. “These are my favorites. John designed them. They’re worth a fortune and I never take them off.” She held the box up. “Thanks again.”

  After the door closed behind Flo, Annie elbowed Leona. “Did you hear what she just said?”

  “Yeah, about her diamond earrings? Well, la di dah, isn’t she special to be able to afford that luxury,” Leona answered with sarcasm dripping from her words.

  “No, not the part bragging about her precious earrings but the fact that she never takes them off and she has both of them.”

  Leona hustled around getting the next batch of cheesecakes mixed up. “I’m not following you.”

  “Last night? When Matt came back to the gallery looking for Flo’s earring? He said she lost an earring last night.”

  Leona turned the mixer off. “Was he lying? Or maybe she found it.”

  “I think he was lying and he came back to snoop around my gallery but we were still there so he had to make up some kind of story.”

  “Snoop for what?”

  “I don’t know. Camilla’s missing bag? She thought Matt saw Katherine give it to her. He could be the blackmailer.”

  Danny turned the closed sign to open and a few customers straggled in for coffee. It wasn’t long before the café was humming with conversations and Annie’s speculation about Matt’s visit was on the back burner.

  Jason arrived with a wink for Annie and a nod that he would be out on the deck. He held his iPad up. As soon as she could catch Danny’s attention, she asked him to take over at the pastry counter and she joined Jason outside.

  “I’ve only got a few minutes, what did you find?” Annie asked as she pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Jason.

  Jason glanced around but everyone was engrossed in their own conversations. “It’s strange. I couldn’t find anything about Camilla before she was hired at Gold N Silver. It’s like she appeared from thin air. Her Facebook profile starts at the same time she started working at the jewelry store. Did you ever check any of her references on her résumé when she applied for the job at the gallery?”

  “I didn’t.” Annie was embarrassed with that admission. “There was no one else applying that had any experience. She seemed perfect for the job and, in hindsight, maybe a little too perfect.”

  “Where did she say she went to art school?”

  Annie tapped her fingers on the table. “Wait here. I’ll dig out her résumé and give it to you.”

  The café was busy but it looked to be under control so she scooted out the door and crossed the hall to her gallery. Martha was inside getting ready to open for the day.

  She turned around when Annie walked in. “What are you going to tell Detective Crank about the bag?”

  Annie held up her hand. “I have to grab some paperwork and get back to the café. I might just let her search the gallery for now.”

  Martha looked surprised, “Are you sure about doing that?”

  Annie stopped. “I think so. Listen, are you all right? Is the wedding still on?”

  Martha scrunched up her face. “Probably.”

  Annie wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean. “And the dinner cruise tonight?”

  With her hands on her hips she announced to Annie, “That’s happening whether Harry shows up or not. I’m planning to have a good time.” She lowered her voice. “Between you and me, I’m starting to lose interest in being part of the twins’ relationship drama.”

  Annie’s eyebrows shot up. “Um, I can’t even respond to that right now.”

  She grabbed Camilla’s résumé from the desk drawer and headed back through the café to Jason’s table.

  “Here it is. Let me know what you discover. I have to get back inside. Leona gave me the evil eye when I came back out here.”

  Jason laughed. “She’s lucky you’re still helping out in the café. Have you given your notice yet?”

  “Shhhh. I can’t do that to Leona. I can juggle mornings in the café and afternoons in the gallery as long as Martha can keep coming in to open up.”

  Jason waved her away with his eyes already focused on his iPad.

  Annie joined Leona to help with the orders piling up for grilled sandwiches and smoothies. With four hands working, the line moved through quickly, allowing Annie to restock the pastry case. She was impressed at how well Danny worked with the customers. Smiling, chatting, nodding and making each person feel special. She wondered how Leona had missed his infatuation with her for so long.

  When there was a lull, Danny retrieved a bag and handed it to Annie. “I found this in one of the boats at the Holland’s house.”

  Annie looked inside wondering what she would find. A man’s jacket. She took it out and flipped it over. Expensive fabric. She thought back to the image of the body in the water and realized this jacket was too small for John Holland.

  “And?”

  He pulled Annie as far away from the counter as they could go. “I found it in John Holland’s canoe. No one else ever used his boat. The canoe was a birthday gift from his dad when he turned twelve, made from white cedar with red cedar accents and maple seats. A beautiful boat. Anyway, nothing was in the boat when I was done working the night of the party.”

  “So someone else was in his canoe? The night he was murdered?”

  Danny nodded.

  Chapter 10

  Annie jumped when Leona tapped h
er shoulder. “What are you two huddled over here discussing?”

  Annie closed the bag. “I’ll tell you later.”

  “You’re more nervous than a deer caught in headlights. What’s going on?”

  Annie whispered to Leona, “Danny found something that could be connected to the murder.”

  “Okay,” she said, glancing over Annie’s shoulder. “Don’t turn around now, but trouble just walked through the door.” Leona took the bag from Annie’s hand and shoved it under the counter.

  When she stood up she smiled to the person staring holes into Annie’s back. “Well, good morning Detective Crank. Would you like some coffee? We don’t have donuts but I have a big selection of yummy pastries.”

  Detective Crank ignored Leona’s comment and glared at Annie who had slowly turned around. “I’m not here for coffee or donuts.” She held up a piece of paper. “I have a search warrant unless you have information for me?”

  Annie clenched her apron to dry off her sweaty palms. “I’ll be right with you.” Hanging up her apron, she took her bag off the coat hook and led the detective across the hall to the gallery.

  Martha tried, without much luck, to conceal her shock of seeing Annie with Detective Crank. Her mouth opened, but instead of saying anything, she continued to putter and adjust all the artwork.

  Detective Crank had her ‘I mean business’ attire on with her brown hair pulled back into a severe bun which matched the expression on her face.

  Annie couldn’t help but think the hair was pulled so tight it must hurt. And possibly even make her eyes a little squinty. Maybe that was how she kept her serious expression all the time. Annie giggled and immediately regretted it when Cranky looked at her.

  “You think this is funny?”

  Annie smiled. “No, not this. I was thinking about something else.” Why not give this female hyena something to wonder about.