by Jessica Beck
“If I had the time, I could make you a list,” Sharon said, clearly being sarcastic about her suggestion.
“Would you? That would be great,” I said as the timer went off.
“Sure, I don’t see why not. Do we need to go back in now? I could give you a brief rundown right now,” Sharon volunteered.
We had chores to do inside, but I wasn’t ready to postpone my investigation quite just yet. “We can probably push it a few minutes,” I reassured her.
“Nonsense. Let’s go in. You see about the yeast donuts and I’ll think about my list as I tackle more tasks inside. By opening, I’ll have something ready for you. How does that sound?”
“Perfect,” I said, though I really wanted to hear her thoughts immediately. Not that it mattered. I couldn’t do anything about whatever she told me until Donut Hearts was closed for the day and I was free to start sleuthing with Grace, so I was just going to have to take what I could get.
As I worked on taking the yeast donut dough through its various stages, I found myself wondering who exactly would make it onto Sharon’s list, but I couldn’t come up with a single name, even though it shouldn’t have been a real surprise to me. Sharon had enjoyed more proximity and a deeper relationship with her daughter than the two of us could ever have, and after all, that was as it should have been. Even though Emma and I worked together, she usually didn’t talk about her current boyfriends, especially when she knew that I didn’t approve of them. I hadn’t said anything overtly disparaging about Rick, but it probably hadn’t been that difficult for Emma to pick up on my true feelings.
After all, I’d never been very good at concealing them.
We were loading the day’s offerings into the display cases up front just before we were set to open when Sharon handed me a folded sheet of paper.
“These four names were all that I was able to come up with,” she explained.
“You managed to list that many people?” I asked her, incredulous.
“What can I say? Emma tells me just about everything going on in her life, and I’m a very good listener. These names might not have represented red flags to her, but I was concerned enough to note them all when she told me about them.”
I opened the paper and studied the names written there. I was surprised to find that I knew two of them fairly well, and I had a passing acquaintance with a third. Only the last name written was unfamiliar to me, though I knew that wouldn’t last for long. Once Grace and I started digging into the lives of our potential murderers, I was sure that we’d soon know a great deal more about the folks on Sharon’s list.
There were three men and one woman written down on that piece of paper: Travis Wright, Kyle Creasy, Denny West, and Amanda Moore. I knew that Travis owned a small construction company, while Kyle was a landscaper. They both came into the donut shop every now and then, separately of course. I didn’t know what Amanda Moore did for a living, but she had been in Donut Hearts only once that I could recall, while Denny West was a complete stranger to me.
“Thanks for doing this,” I said as I tucked the note into my front jeans pocket.
“Do you think it will be of any help to you?” Sharon asked me as I headed for the front door to unlock it and open the donut shop for business. “I don’t really know why any of them had a problem with Rick, just that they did.”
“It’s too soon to tell where things stand right now, but at least you’ve given us someplace to start.”
“Just be careful,” Sharon said before I got to the door.
I looked outside, but no one was waiting to get in. “Why, did you just see something outside?”
“That’s not what I meant. I’m talking about the people on the list I gave you who were associated with Rick Hastings. I have a hunch that there was a good reason that he came to a bad end.”
“I promise you that Grace and I will both watch our steps,” I said. Unlocking the door, I stepped outside for a moment to take in the early morning air. The day hadn’t had a chance to warm up yet, and there was definitely still some of that chill in the air that we’d enjoyed earlier. I could even smell wood smoke as I took a deep breath, a sure sign that cold weather was indeed on its way.
It was a full fifteen minutes before anyone came into the shop, and I was wondering what was keeping my regulars away. Summer was usually our dreariest season, but every now and then, for no obvious reason, we had a lull in business even as cold weather approached. I’d tried my best to understand it, hoping that I could learn to explain the hiatus, but I’d never come up with a good solution except that everybody in town suddenly decided that they’d had their fill of donuts for the time being. The sales drought usually only lasted a couple of days, but once it had approached two weeks, and I’d started to panic at the thought of closing Donut Hearts down forever and getting a real job. I worked hard at my shop, no one could deny it, but it was work that I loved.
Finally, our first customer of the day showed up, but it wasn’t some random resident of April Springs.
It was our mayor, George Morris.
“Hey there, Your Honor,” I greeted George as he walked in the door.
“Hello there, yourself. I wasn’t sure that you’d be open, what with what happened to Emma’s new boyfriend last night. The scuttlebutt around town is that you’ll be closed until further notice until she has a chance to deal with her grief.”
At least that explained our lack of customers. “No, we’re open today, tomorrow, and the day after, same as always.”
“Are you here all by yourself?” the mayor asked as he looked around the shop. The question might have been creepy coming from anyone else, but I trusted George with my life, and I’d proved it in the past on more than one occasion.
“No, Sharon’s helping me out in back,” I said. “What can I get you this morning?”
He studied the display case intently, and then after a moment, he said, “Tell you what; why don’t you pick.”
I grabbed one of his favorites, a simple cake donut, and poured him a plain coffee, black. “Here you go. You’re a man of simple tastes; you know that, don’t you?”
George winked at me as he took a bite of donut, and then he followed it up with a sip of coffee. “Suzanne, you know me too well.”
“How’s Polly doing?” I asked him. His girlfriend—and his secretary at the town hall—had been away a great deal lately watching over her grandchildren, and I knew that George missed her a lot, though he was reluctant to admit it to anyone, even me.
“As a matter of fact, she’s coming back to town this very afternoon,” George said with a smile, and then he took another bite of his donut.
“So, is that why you’re eating donuts while you still can?” I asked him with a grin. Polly had him on a fairly strict diet, one that didn’t include my tasty treats, but while she was away, George took it as a sign that he could eat whatever he wanted to.
“I figure that what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her,” he answered. “Suzanne, you’re not going to tell on me, are you?”
“You should know better than that. I consider anything that goes on between me and my customers as privileged information,” I replied with another smile.
“I’m not sure that would stand up in a court of law,” George said before finishing the last bite of donut, “but I surely appreciate the sentiment.”
“Then I hope it never comes up in court,” I answered. “How about another donut for the road?”
The mayor looked tempted, but ultimately he shook his head in the negative. “Thanks, but I’d better not. I’ll pass the word along around town that you’re open, if you’d like me to.”
“That would be great,” I said as I collected his money and made his change. “Thanks for coming by. I trust that I’ll see you later, Mr. Mayor.”
“Sometime, but maybe not for a while,” George said.
“You don’t have to wait for Polly to go somewhere else before you come see me, even if you don’t order any donuts
while you’re here,” I said.
“I realize that, but we both know that it’s too tempting for me to come in here if I can’t get anything.”
“There’s always our coffee.”
“True, but it goes so much better with a donut, don’t you think?”
“My entire business plan depends on it,” I said as I transferred his remaining coffee into a paper cup, topped it off, and then put a lid on it before I handed it back to him.
I wasn’t sure who all he told, or how he got the word out, but soon enough, we were inundated with customers again. I’d have to treat him to a free donut the next time he came in, whether Polly approved of the gesture or not.
After all, George and I had been friends a lot longer than the man had been dating his secretary.
Time flew quickly for the next few hours, and we were closing the donut shop before I knew it. It had taken a little time for Sharon and me to get into the swing of things working together, but by the time we were finished for the day, we were nearly flawlessly in sync.
“Thanks for coming in today,” I told her as I let her out the front door. “You were a great help.”
“I don’t mind staying and helping you tidy up here,” she said.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m nearly finished myself. Do you know if you’ll be in tomorrow?”
“That really all depends on Emma. If she’s up to coming in, I won’t try to keep her from it, but if not, you can count on me. I’ll be here again bright and early.”
“It’s good to be able to count on you both,” I said.
“Hey, it’s a lot of fun as long as you don’t have to do it every day,” Sharon said, and then an instant later, she quickly added, “Not that I don’t think it’s fun for you.”
“No worries. I knew what you meant,” I said with a smile. “Sometimes it can be a grind, but most days I love what I do.”
“Then you’re in the right business,” she said with a laugh.
After Sharon was gone, I finished balancing the register receipts versus the cash on hand and was pleased to find them in complete agreement. It always made me feel warm and fuzzy inside when that happened.
I was just finishing up the deposit slip for the day when someone started knocking on the front door. I was still a good five minutes away from being finished, so it appeared that Grace was there early.
When I looked up, though, it wasn’t Grace standing there trying to get my attention.
It was the police chief, instead, and from the expression on his face, he wasn’t there to share good news.
I couldn’t help wondering what he wanted as I made my way to the door. He knew that Grace and I were digging into Rick Hastings’ murder, so that couldn’t be it. Besides, we hadn’t even had a chance to turn over the first leaf yet.
But clearly something had the man out of sorts, and I had a hunch that I was about to find out exactly what it might be.
Chapter 6
“What can I do for you, Chief?” I asked him as I held the door open.
“Suzanne, I hate to bother you during your regular business hours about something that’s personal,” he started off saying, and I felt pure relief. I’d been afraid that the reason for his visit had something to do with me, but I was pretty certain now that it was something else entirely.
“It’s no bother at all. Would you like a donut?” I asked him half-joking, knowing that his answer would be no. Before he’d started seeing my mother, his waistline had been ample enough for two men, but since then, he’d steadfastly refused my offerings, and had pared down accordingly.
“Sure, why not? I’ll have one with chocolate icing and sprinkles, too,” he said a little sadly.
I nearly fell over when I heard his request. “I’m not in the habit of discouraging my customers from ordering treats, but are you sure that you want to do that?”
The police chief seemed to think about it for a few seconds, and then he shook his head. “You’re right. I’d better not. Does that tell you anything about how upset I am?”
“If I weren’t taking you seriously before, you’ve certainly got my attention now. What exactly can I do for you?”
“It’s about your mother,” he said with a frown.
I couldn’t keep myself from groaning the second I heard him mention Momma.
“I know, it’s not fair to involve you in this, but I don’t know where else to turn,” he continued.
“I understand. Talk to me,” I said as I sat on our most comfortable couch and patted the seat beside me.
“You really don’t mind?”
“Well, I’m honestly not sure that I’ll be of much help, but at least I’m a good listener,” I said. The last thing I wanted to do was to get between a man and his wife. It was bad enough that the wife in this case was my very own mother, but the fact that they were still newlyweds made it that much harder. I didn’t remember any time being married to Max, my ex, as particularly blissful, but the first year was by far the worst of all of the time that we spent together. Well, catching him cheating on me with another woman wasn’t a picnic either, but the sentiment was true just the same.
“Thanks. I appreciate that,” he said, the relief clear in his voice. “The honest truth is that I don’t think she’s very happy about me staying on as chief of police. She doesn’t want me working anymore.”
That didn’t sound like my mother at all. “Did she actually say that to you?”
“No, not in so many words, but I can tell from the way that she’s been acting, you know?”
I shook my head. “Chief, I’d love to help you, but it’s pretty clear to me that you’re talking to the wrong woman. If you want to know how my momma is feeling about anything, and I mean anything, then you need to ask her directly yourself.”
The chief looked uncomfortable for a moment before he spoke again. “But what if I’m afraid to?” he asked me, his voice barely above a whisper.
The admission caught me off-guard. “Why on earth is that? She’s a reasonable woman. If you ask her what’s wrong, I’m willing to bet that she’ll tell you.”
“Suzanne, the fact is that I’d rather face an armed felon than ask your mother a question that I’m not sure what the answer is.”
“Sorry, but I can’t help you there. I will say that I can’t imagine anything that she has to say being worse than what you’re already imagining.”
“But what if it is?”
“Then at least you’ll know what you’re dealing with and can go from there,” I responded.
The chief pondered that for a few seconds, and then he nodded. “You’re right. That’s solid advice. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” I said. I wanted to ask him what else he’d discovered about Rick Hastings’ murder, but I didn’t feel right taking advantage of the situation. After all, he’d come to me for help, and I just couldn’t bring myself to violate that.
It turned out that I didn’t have to, though.
On his way out the door, the chief paused, then he looked directly back at me. “You didn’t hear this from me, but Hastings died from a knife wound to the heart. It was a quick way to go, for what it’s worth. I doubt that he felt much pain in the end.”
“So then most likely he was murdered on the spot,” I said. “If that’s true, then how could someone not have seen it happen?”
The chief said, “I’ve been asking myself that very same question. Even as we speak, I’ve got my men searching for any footage from Spirit Night from folks who were there. Maybe someone caught something suspicious on tape and they don’t even realize it.”
“I hope you’re right,” I said. “Thanks for trusting me with the information. I promise that I won’t tell anyone but Grace.”
Chief Martin shrugged. “You don’t have to keep it quiet on my account. Ray Blake somehow got ahold of the news, so everybody in town probably knows it by now. I take it you don’t read the morning paper.”
“We were too busy working to even l
ook at it this morning,” I said.
He looked surprised by that bit of news. “We? Does that mean that Emma actually came in to work today?”
“No, but Sharon was here substituting for her. She didn’t mention anything about it, but then again, I doubt that Ray even told her. It’s an odd relationship the two of them have.”
“If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that each marriage is different in its own way,” the chief said. “Thanks again for the advice.”
“Good luck with Momma,” I said, and then I let him out.
“I hope I don’t need it, but thanks for the sentiment anyway.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure that everything will be just fine,” I said, trying to give him as much encouragement as I could.
“Absolutely,” he replied, but there was little conviction in it.
The chief was clearly distracted by his misunderstanding with my mother, and I could dwell on it myself if I let it, but I had a murder to investigate. After all, I wasn’t a relationship counselor. Then again, I wasn’t a homicide detective either, but at least I had a little experience tracking down killers, and I would rather do that than butt into my mother’s brand-new marriage.
“Are you ready to go?” Grace asked me when she showed up at Donut Hearts five minutes after the chief left.
“I’m just about done here,” I said as I completed totaling the day’s receipts. We’d started off slowly but we’d finished strong, and I was glad that I’d kept the shop open after all. Even after paying Emma and her mother, I’d made enough to keep the wolves at bay for at least one more day, and that was pure gold as far as I was concerned.
“Super. Now, if we only knew where to start digging,” Grace said as she took a seat near the register and watched me finish my paperwork.
“It just so happens that we do. Sharon worked with me this morning instead of Emma, and she had some interesting insights about Rick Hastings and the folks he hung out with. We’ve got four very solid leads to pursue.”