“Can I ask you something?” Holly uncrossed her arms and leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “What were you doing staring at my shop last night?”
“Your shop?” Samuel’s face turned wary.
“Well, not yet, but we’re inquiring about renting it. The shop next to the restaurant.”
“The coffee’s ready.” Samuel stood from his position opposite Holly and hurried over to the stove. She thought that it was to escape her, but as he grabbed an oven mitt and lifted the bubbling pot up, she realized that there was also a need. It had been so long since Holly used an open stove or element to heat water, she’d forgotten that it didn’t turn off by itself.
“Do you need a hand?”
“Nope. Just stay there, so I don’t bump into you by accident.”
The words weren’t window-dressing. The inside of the cottage was so confined that just a step out of place would see them crashing into each other.
When Samuel handed across the hot beverage, it was worth the hassle. Holly gripped the mug tightly and leaned her face over it, inhaling the steam.
“Perhaps, I need to explain a few things more,” Samuel said. “But to be honest, I don’t really feel comfortable doing that here and now. I haven’t done anything to warrant you turning up out of the blue at night, and I can’t answer to what Susan’s accusing me of.”
“But you were staring at the shop last night,” Holly insisted. “Not to mention, you were there again this morning.”
Samuel shrugged. “I won’t give you the details because I don’t think it’s any of your business, but, yes, I was. So sue me.”
“But you must see how strange that is, given what happened?” Holly took a large sip of her coffee before she said anything more accusatory. Samuel was right about one thing, she shouldn’t be here at night making allegations. This was something better left to the police.
Then Holly remembered the open disregard that Sergeant Matthewson had afforded her the night before when she’d tried to alert him to Samuel’s possible implication. The derisive tone of voice still rang in her ears, enough to make her cheeks flush with heat, even in this cold box of a cabin.
“I’ve been following Susan around for a few weeks—” Samuel held up a hand before Holly could say anything “—for my own good reasons, that I’m not sharing with you. But I can assure you that I had nothing to do with anything that happened at the restaurant. I wasn’t inside there, I didn’t do anything wrong. The closest I’ve ever come to the restaurant is standing on the other side of the street.”
“But why—”
“I’ve already said I’m not comfortable talking to you,” Samuel said. “I think that’s reasonable, considering you haven’t even bothered to introduce yourself. That’s all I’m going to say, and when you finish your coffee, you can leave.”
Holly stared down at the floor, chastened. She took another grateful sip of the coffee, closing her eyes and tracing its warming path down her throat. Her taste buds couldn’t be bothered to inform her whether it was good or bad, all that mattered was that the coffee was hot.
“Why the shop?” Holly couldn’t help herself, though she knew that she’d have an echo of her mother lecturing manners to her all the coming night. “If you’ve been following Susan then why are you staring at the shop? She was in the restaurant.”
Samuel shook his head and sighed. “Fine. Since you’ve come all this way, even uninvited. I was just looking at the last place I’d seen her, that’s all.”
Holly frowned. “You mean when my sister was in there baking?”
Samuel lifted his eyebrows, smiling a little. “You just don’t take no for an answer, do you? Fine. I saw her standing in the shop for rent, but she wasn’t there with your sister. Susan was in there by herself not long before the ambulance came screaming along.”
Chapter Nine
Holly saw that the station lights were still on as she drove back into the township. Pulling over to the side of the road, she flipped down the mirror to check her face. Apart from appearing a decade older due to worry and exhaustion, everything seemed fine.
As Holly pushed through the door into the station, she realized that the front desk was unmanned. She stood one step into the room, shifting from foot to foot, debating whether she should just leave it until tomorrow. Thanks to her indecision, Matthewson pushed through the connecting door from the staff room before she could make up her mind to go.
“Another murder?” the sergeant asked with a smile, but Holly wasn’t in the mood for his joviality. She was still upset at the way he’d treated her the night before. Forgiveness wasn’t going to be as easy as a warm greeting and a civil smile.
“I have some more information,” Holly said, sticking her nose up into the air as she approached the counter. “If you can be bothered to jot it down in that little notebook of yours.”
“For you, always.” Her bad temper rolled off Matthewson’s back so easily that it just upset Holly more. “And I have some news for you, too.”
“Oh?” Holly raised her eyebrows, letting him go first.
“The preliminary results are back from the lab, and it’s definite that your sister’s cupcakes were in no way involved in the poisoning incident.”
Holly gave a derisive laugh. “I could’ve told you that and spared you the effort. Ben would’ve come down with something by now if that had been the case.”
Matthewson shrugged. “We can never be too careful. Besides, I only had your word for it that Ben ate a cupcake from the same batch. It could’ve been a completely different batch.”
Only had my word for it? Holly’s mouth dropped open with indignation.
“Perhaps you should rely on my word a bit quicker in future,” she said, surprised that there wasn’t smoke coming out of her mouth, given how hot her temper was.
“Or perhaps, you’d just like to stay out of crime scenes altogether in future? I do actually know how to investigate crime, you know.” The sergeant leaned forward with a wink. “That’s why they pay me the big bucks.”
Holly stared at him, her fury rising as she saw that he’d completely misjudged her reaction. Does this man really believe that we’re having a bit of banter? She had to bite down hard on her tongue to stop it spitting out invectives that would leave him in no doubt how she felt!
“And what was your news?” the sergeant asked after a minute of silence. Perhaps he had started to understand that Holly wasn’t pleased because his forehead now sported a small frown.
“I spoke to Samuel Wrightson. He’s the man Susan thought was hanging around the shops and drove away her previous tenant.”
“Ah. The suspicious-looking man. How did you find out who he was?”
“I tackled him in the street,” Holly said, starting to feel a little bit cheerier. She raised her eyebrows and waited for the sergeant to issue a follow-up question.
“You assaulted a suspicious and possibly dangerous man in the street?” To his credit, Matthewson kept his voice completely level. Only his eyebrows told a different story.
“I missed, as it happens,” Holly continued, displaying her wounds. “But the lady who helped me to my feet afterward knew his name and where he lived.”
The sergeant flipped open his notepad. “Hit me with it.”
“Find it out yourself,” Holly said. “I’ve already told you his name. He said to me that he’s been staring out the shop because it’s the last place he saw Susan.”
Matthewson stared at her for a minute, then gestured for her to go on. When she shook her head, he sighed. “Is that it?”
“She was meant to be in the restaurant at the time,” Holly explained very slowly, emphasizing each individual word. “But she was in the bakery shop.”
When the sergeant continued to stare at her nonplussed, it was Holly’s turn to sigh.
“That’s the same shop with the rat poison on its shelves that you thought my sister baked into her cupcakes. Perhaps you should take a longer look at who else had
access before you lay another accusation.”
Holly turned on her heel and walked out the door, not sure whether she should be pleased with herself or fuming.
Outside, she’d barely got more than a few steps before Holly bumped into Richard, the work colleague of Zach’s.
“Do you need a lift home?” Holly asked him, still preferring distraction over long hours spent staring at the ceiling, heart aching with a hundred different sources of worry. “My car’s just behind you.”
“I was actually searching for a good place to eat.” Richard gave a rueful smile. “And my idea of a good restaurant is one that’s cheap and quick.”
Holly laughed. “That sounds about right for me, as well.” Her stomach gave a sudden rumble. Apart from snacking at the bakery—a terrible habit that she needed to break before she ended up the size of a house—Holly hadn’t eaten all day. “If you don’t mind company, I’m famished, too. I’ll show you an Indian restaurant that fits the bill perfectly, if you’ll let me join you.”
For a second, Holly thought she’d overstepped the mark. Richard seemed tentative rather than pleased with the suggestion. Then he smiled, and her worries floated away.
“That sounds like a grand plan,” he said, turning and offering her his arm. “Please lead the way.”
The place Holly had thought of was so close that she left the car sitting outside the station. At the thought that Matthewson might peek out later on in the night and get worried she was still sitting there, Holly had to suppress a small smile.
The service at the restaurant was exactly as Holly had promised. Quick and friendly. Richard’s shoulders had tensed when he first took the elaborate red and gold menu in hand, then relaxed again when he opened it and saw the prices.
“I have to admit,” Richard said as they waited for their orders to arrive, “that I’ve never eaten in Zach’s current restaurant, apart from the opening when it was free. When he first announced that he wanted to be a chef, I thought that he’d end up in a place more like this. The sticker shock was a surprise.”
Holly nodded. “I’ve never been there, either, though it’s on my list to go. Everyone who eats there always raves about the food.”
Richard nodded. “Zach has talent, all right. Even when we were at the factory together, he used to bring in tidbits that he was trying out and they always tasted delicious.” He gave a small laugh. “Considering the smell that we have to put up with sometimes when the factory’s in full swing, it must have been great to overcome that, as well.”
“Did you work together long?” Holly was curious at how close they seemed. Richard had spent much more time in the waiting room in support of Zach than she had for Crystal.
“Ten years,” Richard said.
Although Holly hadn’t been expecting anything, the answer still caught her by surprise. “That long?”
Richard sat back as the waiter served up their dishes, placing a huge bowl of rice and their shared naans in the center.
“You seem surprised by that? Is it my youthful appearance that tricked you?”
Holly laughed, then covered her mouth with her hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that to come out. Of course, you look a lot younger than I do, but it just didn’t seem…” She frowned and trailed off, her brain not providing anything to say that wouldn’t be an insult.
“You don’t think that grown intelligent men should work in a factory making and can pet food?”
As Holly sat forward, ready to deny it, Richard put up a hand. “It’s okay. I’m not offended. There’s only a certain amount of jobs on offer around here. Most of the ones that would give a better career arc start in customer service. You’ve seen Zach’s temper in action, I presume?”
Holly nodded, thinking of her first sight of the man. Mouth open and screaming invectives at the stunned tourists. “Yeah, I certainly have.”
“Well, that’s another thing that Zach and I have in common. When people tick us off, both of us have trouble keeping our feelings to ourselves. That’s not a welcome trait in many places. At least in the factory, it’s only coworkers that we have to be mindful of.”
“Fair enough,” Holly said. “And it’s not my place to judge your chosen job, in any case. I’m hardly a shining example of employment.”
Richard raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I thought your bakery must be going really well if you’re considering going in beside Zach. The rent can’t be cheap.”
“No,” Holly agreed, her lips thinning as she thought of the figure. “But the amount of foot traffic really makes up for that.”
Richard nodded, opened his mouth and then closed it again, picking up a piece of naan to drench with his butter chicken instead.
“What?” Holly asked when he chewed his way through the mouthful and then appeared set to take another bite. “What was it you thought better of saying?”
“If I thought better of saying it, maybe that’s because it’s none of my business.”
At that, Holly gave a short bark of laughter. “If I lived by that motto, I’d leave a lot of important things unsaid.”
“I don’t know what amount of rent Susan has been offering you the shop for, but if I were you, I’d take a very good read of the contract. There’s a lot of fine print in there that’s caused Zach a lot of headaches.”
Holly frowned. That hadn’t been the caution she’d expected. “What sort of headaches?”
Richard shook his head, then shrugged. “At the rent, he started off at, Zach should’ve been making a killing by now. The problem is, every couple of months it gets hiked way up, and there’s a nasty penalty clause in there if he wants to exit the agreement early.”
Holly frowned. They hadn’t been sent the full rental agreement yet, it was too early for that. All the figures that she’d been working from were just the verbal ones that Susan had told her.
Holly’s stomach clenched as she thought of what a hike in the shop’s overheads could mean to their business. They’d do better if the foot traffic increased but not if the rent soon followed the same trajectory.
“How much of an increase are you talking about?” Holly asked, keeping her voice low.
“It’s more than doubled just in the past year,” Richard said with a grim expression. “If it continues this way, Zach will be out of business within a year.”
“Why doesn’t he just move to different premises, then?”
“There’s a penalty clause for the remainder of the rent if Susan can’t re-let at the same price. Which she won’t, because no one’s going to be foolish enough to start off at that level. There’s also a non-compete clause in there because the shop had to be refit to put in a full kitchen. If Zach leaves, not only does he have to keep topping up the rent for the rest of the contract, but he can’t open up a new restaurant because it’s classed as competition.”
“Oh, no.” Holly sat back in her chair, no longer hungry. Her stomach was turning cartwheels, sickened by the noose that Susan had strung around Zach’s neck.
“So, if you’re ever wondering why he always seems to be in a bad mood, that’s the reason. If Susan even goes near him, Zach bristles.”
“I’m not surprised,” Holly said. “And thanks for telling me. I’d hate to overlook something and end up in the same situation.”
“I think that might be what happened to the guy who ran the café in the shop you’re inquiring about.” Richard took a sip of his drink, then swabbed up the last of his butter chicken with a bit fold of naan bread. “He skipped town because the conditions were forcing him into bankruptcy.”
Holly felt a rush of anger. “Susan told me he dropped out of the tenancy because a man was shaking down the place.”
“What?” Richard was suddenly sporting a disbelieving grin. “She told you that a man was shaking down the local businesses. Here?”
“Hey, organized crime can flourish anywhere,” Holly protested. “It didn’t seem as much of a stretch when she said it.”
“Sounds a bit flim
sy to me.”
Holly thought of Samuel, living in his freezing cabin and being accused of horrible things. Honestly, if he were on the take, then the man would hardly be living in his current conditions. With a sigh, Holly realized that she’d been had.
“I suppose so.” Even though her stomach was still having a wee dance about, the smell of the food was so good that Holly couldn’t resist picking up her knife and fork again. “From what you say, it sounds like the only person doing a shakedown is the realtor.”
Richard nodded, all trace of humor gone. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if someone poisoned everybody in that group, just trying to kill her.”
Chapter Ten
Holly walked Richard back to the surgery center after their meal and popped her head in to check on Crystal. To her surprise, her sister was awake, but she didn’t stay that way for long. Before Holly could offer more than a few words of encouragement, Crystal’s blinks became longer, and her breathing slowed.
“Is she doing okay?” Holly asked Dr. Allende in the corridor. “She still seems so out of it.”
“Your sister is recovering fine. We’ve been checking her blood to see how she’s doing and her organ function is tracking nicely. I think she’s well on the mend.”
“And the others?”
Dr. Allende glanced over her shoulder as if to check there was no one watching. “Everybody has turned the bend and is recovering as well as can be expected. We discharged Kendra today.” When Holly frowned, the doctor added, “She’s the German woman who was brought in with her husband. He’s still in a more serious condition, but stable.”
“Have the police been able to interview them yet?”
The doctor paused for a lot longer before answering that question. “Sergeant Matthewson has talked with Susan and Will—the German man—but hasn’t yet had the opportunity to interview the others. I’m afraid that they’re too sleepy to stay awake long enough to understand his questions.”
The Sweet Baked Mystery Series - Books 1-6 Page 49