Fudgy Fatality: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 10

by Kathleen Suzette

  I nodded. “Do you mind if I take these pictures?”

  “All of them?” she asked.

  I thought about it. “No, just these of my family.” I suddenly had the thought that if I took them all, she might mention it to the wrong person, and I might find myself in trouble. I would tell Ethan about the pictures and he could ask to see them if he needed to.

  She smiled. “Of course.”

  “Thanks, Gayle. I appreciate it. I know my mother and sister will be thrilled.”

  “You’re welcome, Mia.”

  We made small talk for a few minutes before I excused myself. The picture of Olivia made me feel sick. If only something could have alerted her to the danger she was about to face.

  We also now had proof that John, Aaron, and Bryce were in the area when the murder occurred.

  ***

  “Did you know Olivia received an anonymous flower delivery the day before she died?” Ethan and I were sitting one my front step, enjoying the evening. It was late and I needed to get to bed, but I’d seen him pull into his driveway and I couldn’t pass up a chance to sti with him for a few moments.

  He turned to me. “I did not know that. Sent anonymously?”

  “Yes, I talked to Carla Steele there at her office. She thought it was from a secret admirer. She said she had a lot of boyfriends.”

  “Huh. Could be. Maybe it was an ex-boyfriend trying to butter her up and get back into her life,” he said thoughtfully.

  “I wouldn’t doubt it. I asked Frankie Malone about making a delivery, but she wasn’t there that afternoon. She said she’d try to find out who ordered them.”

  “I still need to stop by and look at those pictures that Gayle Anderson took. Hopefully she got something important.”

  “I hope so.” I had called him and told him about the pictures after I left Gayle’s house.

  He yawned. “Sorry, I’m more tired than I thought I was.”

  “You’ve been working hard. I brought some fudge home.”

  He turned to me and smiled. “Don’t hold out on me.”

  “Let’s go inside.”

  Boo got up and followed us inside. We needed to catch a killer and I hoped it happened quickly.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Look what I made,” Christy said, holding up a tray of candy for me to inspect. On the tray were chocolate molded spiders and white chocolate skeleton heads. She had piped tiny pastel flowers from royal icing and attached them to the spiders and skulls.

  “Oh, pretty,” I said and laughed.

  “They’re filled with cherry fondant,” she said. “They’re quite tasty if I do say so myself.”

  “They sound tasty and those flowers make them super cute.” I finished sealing the box of pumpkin spice fudge I had just packed, and I set it on the shelf to be shipped out in tomorrow’s mail.

  “I think they’ll make a great addition to the candy lineup,” Mom said as she turned off the mixer. “It’s good to have new items on the candy roster. It keeps the customers happy.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Christy said. “I’ve been thinking about different candies that we can make to spice things up around here.”

  “I want to make black licorice cats,” I said. “In honor of Boo and Licorice.”

  “Those two make a cute couple,” Christy said.

  “Not that cute. They’re still hissing at each other.” The cats tolerated each other for the most part, but they still slapped at one another, usually seemingly unprovoked.

  Christy chuckled. “So, what has Ethan told you about Olivia’s murder?”

  I glanced at her. “Not a lot. You know how it is at the beginning of an investigation. Everything’s hush-hush while he’s digging into things.”

  “I figured as much. I just hope he finds the killer soon.”

  “I’m sure he will,” Mom said as she poured maple nut fudge into a tray for it to cool. “It’s just a shame she died like that.”

  “What about you? Have you found out anything?” Christie asked, eyeing me. She picked up an order from the printer and looked it over.

  “You know how it is. No one seems to know anything, although a couple of people have pointed fingers at her former boyfriends.”

  “I bet that’s what happened,” she said. “She probably got into a fight with one of them and things escalated.”

  “I feel sorry for her parents.” Mom used a rubber spatula to smooth out the fudge.

  “And her sister,” I said and went to the stove. “I think I’m going to work on some hard candies. We’re getting low on vanilla ghosts and lime goblins.”

  “I was going to suggest that,” Mom said. “We need more taffy too, but I think I’m going to wait until tomorrow morning to make a batch.”

  “Well, three of my favorite ladies.”

  We all turned toward the kitchen door.

  “Hey there, handsome,” I said to Ethan as he leaned on the kitchen door frame. “How are you doing?”

  He came over and gave me a quick kiss. “I’m doing great. How are things here in the candy making biz?”

  “We are making more candy than we ever imagined possible.” I kissed him again. “I bet you need some fudge.”

  He grinned. “It’s like you can read my mind. How do you do that?”

  “It’s a gift.” I chuckled and gave him a squeeze.

  “Ethan,” Mom said. “How is Olivia’s murder investigation going? She’s been on my mind a lot. I feel terrible for her family.”

  He nodded. “It’s a shame. It’s still early in the investigation, but I hope to make an arrest soon.”

  “That sounds promising,” I said, looking up at him. I didn’t think he was that close. “Did the labs come back on the skin beneath her fingernails?”

  He shook his head. “No, it’ll be a while before we get that.”

  “There was skin beneath her fingernails?” Christy asked, turning to him. “That’s good, isn’t it? I mean, if they can make a DNA match, then it’s kind of an open and shut case, right?”

  “I wouldn’t call it open and shut, but if we can match it to someone, it’s pretty condemning.”

  She considered this a moment, then nodded and looked away.

  I had already filled him in on what I found out about Olivia’s ex-boyfriends. I hated to pry, but I really wanted to know if he had spoken to any of them.

  “Anything new that you can tell us?” I asked him and took a saucepan out of the cupboard.

  “Not a lot,” he said, and then he looked at Christy. “I heard John was back in town.”

  She looked at him. “Yeah, I guess he’s thinking about moving back permanently. He’s looking for a job.”

  “How does that make you feel?” he asked her.

  She shrugged. “I don’t care. His family still lives here, so it’s not like I can demand he not move back. As long as he stays on his side of town, I’ll stay on mine and we will both be happy.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

  “Keeping your distance might be a good idea,” I said mildly.

  She nodded and went back to looking over the order she had picked up from the printer.

  “Someone mentioned they saw John and Olivia having breakfast at the Ghostly Grins Café Saturday morning.” Ethan kept his eyes on Christy when he said it.

  She slowly looked up at him. “Oh? Who told you that?”

  He shrugged. “Just somebody I was talking to.”

  Tension suddenly filled the room and my eyes went from Christy to Ethan and back again. Was that pink creeping into her cheeks?

  She stared at him. “I think they were mistaken.”

  “Why do you say that?” he asked.

  She stared at him, biting her lower lip. Then she shrugged and smiled. “Because I saw him at the parade. He couldn’t have been with her and be at the parade at the same time.”

  He looked at her without saying anything for a moment. “I guess that would depend on the exact time Olivia died.”

/>   Her eyes got big and she shook her head. “You think John might have killed Olivia?”

  “I’m not saying he did. I’m just trying to gather information.”

  “Well, Olivia wasn’t lying there on the sidewalk when we assembled for the parade, so the killer didn’t have much time to kill her unless he brought her from the murder scene and dumped her, right? And if it was John, he wouldn’t have had that kind of time if he was at the café and then at the parade.” She said it with finality. It disturbed me that she was defending John when she didn’t know for sure where he was that morning.

  “Do you remember where he was at on the parade route? Which block?” Ethan asked.

  “He was at the end of the parade route,” I supplied. “I remember seeing him just before we turned the corner.” As soon as I said it, I realized it wouldn’t have taken much for him to come around the backside of the block and be standing there at the end of the parade route after he had killed Olivia. If he was the killer, that is. And as I looked at Ethan, I thought that was exactly what he was thinking.

  “Are you sure about that?” Christy asked me. “It seems like I saw him closer to the drugstore.”

  The drugstore was near the beginning of the parade route, and I was sure I hadn’t seen him there. “Mom, do you remember seeing John at the parade?”

  She considered it a moment. “I do remember seeing him, but I honestly can’t remember what part of the parade route I saw him. I’m with Christy though, I really couldn’t imagine him killing anyone.”

  “I’m not saying he did,” Ethan told her. “I’m just investigating. Someone brought up that they had seen Olivia with John, and I need to look into it. He may have noticed something important, or she may have expressed some concerns about someone that threatened her.”

  “Except that you don’t even know if he was with her,” Christy pointed out. Her chin jutted out defiantly.

  She didn’t look at me when she said it. Why was she defending him? I glanced at Ethan and he was watching Christy.

  Chapter Fourteen

  After some uncomfortable small talk in the kitchen, Ethan left to go back to the police station. But not without some pumpkin spice fudge. There was one thing I knew, and that was that Ethan loved my mother’s fudge and I was not going to allow him to leave without getting some.

  When he left, Christy headed back out front to arrange and refill shelves. It may have been a weekday, but we were doing a brisk business. The September weather brought out more customers than we had anticipated. I joined Christy out front and put another tray of fudge into the display case. I glanced over at my sister as she straightened the shelf that held the imported candies we sold. She had her back to me, and I couldn’t help but wonder about what she had said. Why did she jump in to defend John? It was certainly possible that he had had breakfast with Olivia before she died. And if he had, it was natural that Ethan would want to speak to him about it.

  “The weather sure is nice,” I said to her back.

  She glanced over her shoulder and gave me a forced smile. “It is. The leaves will be dropping before we know it.”

  I nodded as I removed an empty tray from the display case. “You can say that again. Cold weather is right around the corner.” I didn’t mind the cold weather. Sometimes in January, all that snow wore on me but overall, I loved the fall and then the snow at Christmas time.

  I thought she might say more, but she was quiet. I wanted to ask her why she was so sure John couldn’t have been with Olivia that morning, but she seemed closed off now and I didn’t want to upset her.

  “I think I’m going to wear my Little Red Riding Hood costume this weekend.” I set the tray of fresh fudge into the display case and closed the door.

  “I was thinking I might wear my witch costume.” She didn’t turn around when she spoke.

  I picked up a cloth and began wiping the fingerprints from the glass top of the front counter. The counter was pretty with its carved wood trim, having been in place since our grandparents had opened the shop, but the glass invited fingerprints and smudges and it was a constant task to keep it clean.

  “So, which events are you looking forward to this Halloween season?”

  She was quiet a moment before answering. “I don’t know. I guess all of them. What’s not to love about the Halloween season?”

  I sighed quietly. “That’s so true. Halloween season is the best time of year.” Things felt strained between us now and I wasn’t sure why.

  I looked up when the bell over the door jingled and Bryce Jenkins walked through it. I gave him a smile. He was just the person I wanted to talk to.

  “Hi Bryce,” I said brightly. “How are you this afternoon?”

  He grinned. “I’m low on sugar, so I thought I’d stop in and get a refill.” He chuckled. “Hi Mia, hi Christy.”

  Christy turned and looked at him and smiled shyly. Bryce was tall, with dark brown hair and a million-dollar smile. He had been one of the most popular boys in high school and Christy had had a crush on him years ago.

  “Hi Bryce,” she said nodding. “If you need sugar, you came to the right place.” Her mood suddenly seemed more upbeat.

  He walked over to where she was standing in front of the international candies and glanced at the shelf. “I knew I did. There’s nothing like the candy you all make and sell here. It’s the best around.”

  “Thanks. My mom is the best candy maker in the world. But I might be a little biased.”

  He nodded. “And you have every right to be.” He looked over his shoulder at me and then headed back toward the display case. “Wow, the fudge gets to me every time. Your mother comes up with so many creative ideas and every one of them is delicious.”

  I chuckled. “She’s a wonder. There are a couple of new fudge flavors this season, maple nut, and apple cider. They’re only here for a limited time, so you better get some if you don’t want to miss out.”

  He looked in at the trays of fudge and grinned. “You know what? I think I’d like a quarter pound of the maple nut, and then maybe just a smaller sliver of the apple cider fudge. What I really came in for was the pumpkin spice fudge, and I’d like a quarter pound of that as well.”

  “You got it. You will not be disappointed with the new flavors, but the pumpkin spice seems to be most people’s favorite.” I opened the back of the display case and removed the trays of fudge.

  “I know I won’t be disappointed. There’s no way for that to happen.” He laughed.

  I glanced at him as I cut the fudge. He was looking over the hard candy ghosts, goblins, and jack-o’-lanterns in a basket on the front counter. “How have you been, Bryce?”

  He gave me a quick nod of his head. “I’ve been great. Never been better. It’s fall, and that means the holidays are right around the corner. Call me a sentimental softy, but I love the holidays.”

  “Me too,” I agreed as I cut into the pumpkin spice fudge. “It sure was a shame to hear about Olivia Summers. Such a terrible surprise.”

  His eyes went to mine. “It was, wasn’t it? I just can’t imagine what happened to her. I can’t get over it.”

  “Didn’t you and Olivia date for a while?”

  He nodded. “Yes, we dated for about a year and a half, but that’s been a few years back. If you want to know the truth, I always felt like she was the one that got away.”

  “Really? I guess we all have people like that in our lives.”

  He nodded again and his eyes got a faraway look. “She was a sweetheart. I could just kick myself for letting her go. Maybe if I hadn’t, she might still be alive.”

  “What do you mean by that?” I asked him carefully.

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged and looked away again. “I just have to wonder if maybe she knew somebody wanted to hurt her and maybe if we had still been together, she would’ve brought it up to me and I could have done something about it.” He looked at me again. “It’s probably silly, but I just can’t get it out of my head.”r />
  I nodded. “Sometimes when someone dies, all sorts of thoughts go through a person’s mind about things that they should or shouldn’t have done. Why did the two of you break up?”

  “We were younger then, and neither of us were ready to make a commitment. But you know, one thing that just keeps coming to mind is the fact that she was having trouble with one of her coworkers.”

  I placed the fudge on the scale and weighed out what he had asked for. “Her coworker? What kind of trouble was she having?”

  “It was Carla Steele. I ran into Olivia a few months back and she looked upset. I asked her what was going on and she told me that she had work troubles. We talked for a few minutes. She said Carla had it out for her and she was miserable at work. She said she was thinking about finding another job.”

  I stared at him, fudge knife still poised in the air. “Really? There was enough trouble between the two of them to make her want to look for another job?” Aaron had said Olivia thought Bryce was following her around town, but it sounded like she wasn’t worried about him enough to keep her from telling him her troubles.

  “Yeah, that’s what she said. But Olivia tended to be an emotional person, and maybe it was just a bad day for her.” He shrugged. “I’d hate to think Carla might have had anything to do with Olivia’s death. I always thought she was a good person.”

  “Did Olivia go into any details about what she meant? About Carla having it out for her?”

  “She said Carla was jealous of her. Apparently, she accused Olivia of stealing some of her customers and because their sales were down, their boss was on her about it. So she turned on Olivia, threatening her, and told her she’d better not steal any more of her accounts.”

  “Threatened her how? Did she say?” I went back to weighing his fudge.

  He shook his head. “No, I just figured it was one of those things where she warned her to stay away from her sales accounts. Why? Do you think Carla might have had something to do with Olivia’s death?”