Nans picked up the crime scene photo. “Do you mind if I keep this?”
Muriel brightened. “Not at all. Does that mean you’ll take the case?”
Nans glanced at the other ladies, who all gave an imperceptible nod. “We’ll study it further. It’s going to be difficult, though, seeing as the police already have him in custody and we are only hearing the story secondhand from you.”
“Thank you!” Muriel jumped up from her seat and ran around, giving everyone awkward hugs. “I knew you might want to hear the story straight from the horse’s mouth, so I’ve arranged a visit with Henry this afternoon. I hate to be presumptuous, but I’ve already mentioned to the prison guards that his great-aunts might be accompanying me, so you can get in as family.”
“Perfect.” Nans took a sip of coffee. “Just let us know when, and we’ll meet you there.”
Chapter 3
They’d arranged to meet Muriel at the county jail at two p.m., so Lexy rushed back to the community center hall and cleaned up then raced to the bakery, where she somehow managed to bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies and frost two dozen cupcakes before handing over the reins to her assistant Cassie.
Cassie was more than happy to man the fort if it meant that Lexy could entertain her with tales of another of Nans and the ladies’ investigations when she got back.
When Lexy arrived at the Brook Ridge Falls Retirement Center in her cheery yellow Volkswagen Beetle, the four ladies were waiting for her at the entrance to the building. Lexy noticed the grassy area out front had several signs with Helen’s face on them encouraging people to vote for her.
Nans opened the passenger-side door and pushed up the seat, indicating for Ruth, Ida, and Helen to contort themselves into the back. If you’re wondering how three senior citizens could maneuver themselves into the back of a VW bug, it was easy for the ladies. Their dedication to yoga kept them very flexible.
“We could have taken Ruth’s car,” Helen said as she settled herself in the middle. Ruth had a giant blue Oldsmobile, but Lexy preferred to drive the ladies since Ruth’s driving could be dangerous not only for them but for anyone walking on the sidewalks that she often ran up onto while trying to turn.
“I don’t mind driving, and this is better on gas,” Lexy said.
“You know where the jail is?” Ida asked from the back corner once they were all settled inside.
Lexy had been there a time or two. “I do.”
“What do you think, Mona?” Helen addressed Nans. “Do you think Henry really is innocent, or is Muriel just disillusioned?”
“Hard to say. If it was Jack who had investigated the murder, then I would highly doubt the wrong man was arrested, but I read the police report more thoroughly, and Henry and Rosa lived in New Ipswich, which is out of Jack’s jurisdiction. He didn’t investigate this one.”
Lexy glanced at Nans. “You don’t think the police are on the take, do you?”
“Or incompetent,” Ruth added from the back. “My Nunzio used to tell me about many a cop that was a dunderhead. Of course, a lot of them could be bought off too.”
Ruth had once dated a notorious mob boss, Nunzio Bartolli, so she knew all about corruption in the police department.
“I’m leaning toward it being something shady with those Blondinis. I wouldn’t trust Mario as far as I could throw him. In fact, I think he was following me after we visited Muriel, and I thought I saw someone looking in my windows!” Helen said.
“Maybe Henry will be able to give us some clues. Looking at the papers I got from Muriel, I didn’t see much concrete evidence pointing to him other than his being the obvious suspect,” Nans said as Lexy pulled into the prison parking lot.
The county prison was a low brick building set in a large grassy area. There was an old dilapidated barn with a stone foundation to the left of the building and a shed farther back. Did they have prisoners working in there? Lexy wasn’t sure of what they would be doing. The whole place was surrounded by a metal fence with barbed wire at the top. She supposed it would be difficult to escape even if you were in a farmwork duty program on the grounds.
Muriel was waiting in front of the steel-and-glass doors. Lexy found a spot close to the front, and they all piled out.
“I really appreciate this.” Muriel opened the door and gestured for them to step inside. “I think you’ll agree about my Henry once you get to meet him.”
The lobby had plain white walls and white-and-green tiled flooring that hadn’t been updated in fifty years. Their footsteps echoed on the tile as they approached the oak divider to talk to the guard that sat behind it. It looked clean, but Lexy couldn’t help but detect a faint hint of desperation and hopelessness mixed in with the smell of lemon cleaner.
“You here for your visit, Muriel?” the guard, a gray-haired man whose green prison uniform fit him a bit tightly, asked. Apparently, Muriel was well-known here.
“Yes, I’ve brought some of Henry’s great-aunts. It’s all been cleared by the warden.” Muriel sounded confident—apparently, she must have some pull.
A buzzer sounded, and Muriel walked over to a steel door with a small window and pulled it open like she knew the routine. The guard met them on the other side and walked them down a hallway.
Lexy expected to be led past rows of jail cells, but instead the guard turned down a corridor and they walked past a small library and a room with a long table, orange plastic chairs, two sofas, and a few reading chairs.
“That’s the prison library and the common area where Henry teaches chess.” Muriel gestured toward a small table that had a chessboard, its ivory and ebony pieces in play.
Beyond the common area was another steel door with a small square window in the middle. The window was thick glass with a grid of wires. The guard buzzed the door open to reveal a plain room painted light gray. The only thing inside was a long metal table with navy-blue plastic chairs around it. The chairs were arranged with one single chair on the far side, two at each end, and four along the near side.
“Well, have a seat.” Muriel gingerly pulled out one of the chairs, and the rest of them followed her lead, leaving a chair empty on one side of the table for Henry.
“I don’t know why they don’t paint these rooms a cheerier color.” Helen huffed as she adjusted her skirt. “No wonder everyone in prison is depressed.”
“They could use some snacks too. I bet that would cheer people up,” Ida added.
“At least coffee,” Nans said.
Luckily the door opened again before the ladies could postulate any further about how they would revamp the visitation process, and a man in an orange jumpsuit was led in. He was in his early thirties, with dark-brown hair and a thin mustache and wearing wire-rim glasses. His eyes lit up when he saw Muriel but then narrowed with suspicion at the rest of them.
Muriel jumped up. “Henry! I brought your great-aunts to see you!”
With all the winking and head tilting that Muriel was doing, it was a wonder the guard didn’t suspect that she was lying. Then again, Lexy didn’t know if he really cared. They were just harmless old ladies, or so everyone thought. Nans always said that one of the advantages of being a senior citizen was that most people took no notice of you.
“Thanks, Gram,” Henry said uncertainly as he took the lone seat on the opposite side of the table.
“You got fifteen minutes.” The guard shut the door as he left.
Muriel leaned toward Henry and whispered, “These are my neighbors that do the investigations. They’re going to help you.”
Henry still looked a little suspicious of them. Was that because he wasn’t confident that a bunch of white-haired old ladies could help, or because maybe he wasn’t as innocent as Muriel thought?
“The police seem to think they have a good case.” Henry took an ebony chess piece out of his pocket, his fingers running over the smooth contours as he tapped it nervously on the table.
“Why don’t you tell us what happened,” Nans said.
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Henry took a deep breath and let it out slowly then leaned back and started talking. “I was working that night. I work in the emergency room.”
“And you came right home and found her?” Nans knew this wasn’t the truth but wanted to see what Henry would say.
Henry leaned forward and placed the chess piece on the table then started turning it over and over like one might turn an hourglass after the sand has run out. “No. I lost a patient. Car accident. I had to drive around a bit to clear my head.”
“So you drove around and then came home and found Rosa dead,” Ruth said.
Henry’s lips pressed into a tight line. He kept flipping the chess pieces over to one side then the other. “Yep.”
“And you can’t prove your alibi because no one was with you in the car,” Nans said.
Henry nodded.
“That doesn’t sound like much of a reason to arrest you,” Helen said. “Surely the police have some solid evidence against you.”
“Well, there is the life insurance motive, and I can’t prove my whereabouts.”
“Life insurance?” Nans gave Muriel a raised-brow look.
Muriel blushed. “Did I forget to mention that?”
Henry continued to work the chess piece. “Rosa had a big policy because she still performed in the Circo Acrobata from time to time. She was a trapeze artist, and as you can imagine, it’s a bit dangerous. She wanted to make sure I was taken care of.”
“How much?” Nans asked.
“One million.”
Ruth whistled. “That’s a lot of motive…”
Henry stopped working the chess piece and looked at Ruth with hard eyes. “I did. Not. Kill her.”
Ruth held her hands up. “Woah, now. We’re here to help. Do you know anyone who might have wanted to kill her?”
Henry studied the chess piece. “Everyone loved Rosa, but recently she had something on her mind. Something to do with her family.”
Muriel huffed. “No surprise there. You ask me, they are behind this.”
“Why would her family want to kill her?” Helen asked.
“I have no idea. She always said she loved them, even those who weren’t really related. You see, Rosa and the Blondinis considered everyone in the Circo Acrobata their family.”
“You’ve seen how Mario acts even with something like the election for community center president,” Muriel said. “He’s got no conscience. And don’t even get me started on that new girlfriend of his.”
Henry made a face. “I’m not sure about her, either. But she’s part of the family because she was in the Circo.”
“What did Mario do in this circus?” Lexy asked.
Henry started turning the chess piece over again. “Trapeze. He was still working until a few years ago. All that working with his hands made him strong but also gave him arthritis, and he had to quit. I think he’s still a bit angry about that.”
Angry, or jealous? Lexy wondered. Could he be jealous of his family still able to work? Would he kill his own granddaughter over that? It didn’t seem possible, so she dismissed that idea as soon as it came to her.
“What about Endora? What did she do?” Ruth asked.
“Mostly acrobatics. Some high wire. They do everything from knife throwing to plate spinning to magic acts. Endora sort of filled in where she was needed.” Henry sighed. “Anyway, I don’t see how any of this will help me.”
“If we can figure out the means, motive, or opportunity, then that might help us narrow suspects down.” Nans snapped open her large patent leather purse and took out a piece of paper. “Unfortunately so far, you have all three.”
She put the paper on the table and slid it to Henry. It was the photo of the crime scene. He looked down and grimaced, clearly affected by the sight of his wife’s body. Was he saddened about it, or did he feel guilty because he’d caused it?
“Now, I know this might be hard to look at, but I want you to tell me if you see anything out of place here,” Nans said.
Henry fiddled with the chess piece nervously as he studied the picture. “Well, there’s Rosa laying there like that. She must have known her killer because the table is set, and… I guess the killer brought muffins.”
“Really?” Ida craned her neck to look at the photo. “How do you know the killer brought them?”
“We never have stuff like that in the house, and there weren’t any muffins when I left. Near as I can figure, someone came to visit and brought them.” Henry pointed to the table in the photo. “You can see Rosa had it all set up nice for a visit and instead…”
Something about the photo made Lexy take a closer look. It wasn’t the melted butter or the butter knife lying in the blood or even the overturned chair. It was the golden-yellow muffins. They were corn muffins, and there was something unusual about them.
“These muffins are kind of strange.” Lexy pointed to the tops of the muffins in the picture, where large sugar crystals glistened. “These have sugar crystals on top.”
“I love when muffins have those.” Ida closed her eyes and smacked her lips together. “I can practically taste the sugary crunch now.”
“Yeah, but have you ever seen them on corn muffins?” Lexy asked.
Ida’s eyes flew open. “Now that you mention it, I haven’t.”
Nans snapped her fingers. “That’s right! It’s very unusual. I bet not too many bakeries do that.”
“I don’t know of any that do,” Lexy added.
“So?” Henry asked.
“This could help us find the killer.” Nans put the paper back in her purse. “If we can find the bakery that makes these, maybe they will remember who bought them.”
The door flew open, and the guard poked his head in. “Time’s up!”
Henry sighed and stood. “Sounds kind of flimsy to me.”
Nans gave him a look. “You have any better ideas?”
“No.” Henry let the guard lead him away, and they all filed out of the room. Lexy wasn’t sure if they were supposed to wait for the guard to show them out or leave on their own. Nans must have been too excited to wait, as she plowed forward clutching her purse.
“See, I told you he was innocent,” Muriel said.
“It certainly gives us something to look into.” Nans turned the corner leading to the library.
“Do you really think someone at the bakery will remember who they sold muffins to weeks ago?” Ruth asked.
Nans shrugged. “No idea. We might get lucky. It’s a lead, and we always follow all leads.”
Just then, an inmate wearing an orange jumpsuit like Henry’s crossed their path on the way to the library. He was pushing a metal tray of library books. He turned to look at them, then his face broke into a snaggle-toothed smile.
“Ruth? Is that you?”
Ruth squinted at the man then grinned. “Vinny! What are you doing here?”
Vinny’s smile faded. “Got pinched on a heist. I think someone ratted me out.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.” Ruth turned to the others. “Everyone, this is Nunzio’s cousin, Vinny.”
Ruth introduced them all. Muriel seemed a bit reluctant to shake Vinny’s hand, but who could blame her, considering he was one of the inmates.
Vinny seemed pleasant enough, even though he was apparently some sort of robber. He explained more, as if he were proud of the heist he’d been incarcerated for. “You might have heard of the Broadmoore Heist? Yeah, that was me. Well, me and some others.”
“Wasn’t that the mansion that got broken into about six months ago?” Ruth asked.
Vinny nodded then leaned closer to her and lowered his voice. “They still haven’t figured out how we did it.”
“So do you have the loot hidden somewhere?” Ida asked. “I heard they never found it.”
Vinny’s face darkened. “That’s the thing. We were letting it cool off before we could fence it, and then someone ratted me out. I don’t think I’m going to get my share.”
Helen’s brow s
hot up. “Is that why they told on you, so they could keep it for themselves?”
Vinny pressed his lips together and stroked his chin as if newly considering this. “Could be.”
“What’s with the cart?” Ida asked.
Vinny puffed up with pride. “I run the library. I get perks because of good behavior, so I get to take the books back and forth to the other inmates. You’d be surprised how many of us like to read.”
“I’m sure we would.” Nans started back down the hall. “Well, nice to meet you, Vinny. We gotta run.”
“Jeez, Ruth, you do have an interesting network of acquaintances,” Helen said. “I don’t want to consort with too many felons though. Might harm my chances of winning the election.”
Ruth gave Helen a hard look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Now ladies, no fighting,” Nans said as they approached the door that led to the lobby. “Having someone on the inside might prove useful.”
The door buzzed, and Nans opened it and stepped into the lobby, stopping short just a few steps in and causing everyone else to skid to a stop.
Lexy’s heart tumbled when a familiar voice said, “Please tell me I’m not seeing who I think I am seeing.”
Jack! Darn it! Sometimes he wasn’t too keen on Lexy joining Nans’s unconventional investigations, and Lexy was sure he wouldn’t be too happy to find her at the prison. She peeked out from behind Nans, a sheepish look on her face. “Hi, sweetie.”
Jack pursed his lips. “What are you doing here?”
Helen cleared her throat. “I brought them here to help me with my campaign.”
Jack looked doubtful. “At the prison? I thought you were running for president of the senior center.”
“I am. But the more votes, the better. Some of the people in here have relatives who might vote for me.” Helen gestured toward Muriel to prove her point.
Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “You expect me to believe that?”
Ain't Seen Muffin Yet (Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Book 15) Page 2