by Cindy Bell
“I’m not sure what kind of question that is, but she has the normal struggles. She’s a senior woman with no family and no husband. She lives on a fixed income. One stroke of bad luck could cause her to lose everything.” She frowned. “It’s such a shame that people are forced to live like that.”
“Yes, it is.” Ally finished pouring the chocolate and started another batch while Nina took care of the molds. Ally watched her out of the corner of her eye. She couldn’t help but wonder if Nina was protective of Diana. Maybe she’d heard about Martin trying to sell the apartment. But would she really take it so far as to kill him?
“I’m sorry about suspecting your grandmother, you know? I don’t really think she did it. Now that Trudy’s back, I’m sure it will all be buttoned up.”
“Yes, buttoned up.” Ally focused on the chocolate. If Nina did have something to do with Martin’s death, she didn’t want to give her any reason to suspect that she was on to her.
By the time Ally left the shop for the evening, she was both exhausted and curious. If Nina and Diana were so close, why hadn’t Nina made that clear when she’d spoken about her before? It seemed as if she might be hiding something.
When Ally let herself into the cottage, she expected it to be dark. It was late, and she guessed her grandmother would be sleeping. Instead the living room light was on, there was music playing, and Charlotte greeted her at the door with a glass of wine.
“All right, we have some figuring out to do.” She waved Arnold out of the way and headed for the couch with her notepad. Together the two reviewed the information they knew about. “From speaking to a few people, including Trudy, I found out that apparently Martin was in control of the finances. Apparently, every penny spent seemed to go towards something that Martin wanted, not anything that Trudy would be interested in. She didn’t spend money on herself, isn’t that strange?”
“That is very strange. Diana had a lot to lose if Martin decided to sell her apartment.” Ally narrowed her eyes. “If it weren’t for her alibi during the crime, I’d think she was definitely a suspect.”
“But the alibi hasn’t really been confirmed. It isn’t foolproof.”
“True.”
“But I think Beth is still a viable suspect, she has no alibi, and she lost a lot because of Martin.” She wrote a few notes on the notepad. “So, we’ll want to review things with Beth and Diana. I never thought I’d consider her a suspect, but yes, I do think it’s possible. I hate the thought of someone breaking into Jeff’s apartment, and of course he breaks the pattern. We thought the break-ins were happening to students of the gift making class, but Jeff isn’t one of them.”
“No, he isn’t. But he is connected to you, and you are one of them.” Ally tilted her head back and forth. “Maybe that’s the connection.” She ran her hand across Peaches’ fur.
“Maybe. I guess we’ll have to see what we can straighten out tomorrow.” Charlotte wiped a hand across her eyes. “I’m pretty wiped out.”
“Me, too.” Ally stretched her arms into the air.
“You have chocolate in your hair.” Charlotte laughed.
“Ugh, I hope that doesn’t mean there’s hair in the chocolate.” Ally grimaced.
“If there is, someone will certainly let you know.”
Over breakfast the next morning, Charlotte decided what she wanted to do first.
“I’m going to see Trudy again.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Ally eyed her for a moment. She knew that her grandmother trusted Jeff, but what if she shouldn’t? Or what if Trudy thought there was more between herself and Jeff than just friendship? That could lead to an awkward situation. Not to mention they hadn’t eliminated Trudy as a suspect. In fact she was still their best one.
“I just want to speak to her one more time. After we had our last conversation, I haven’t been able to get something off my mind.” Charlotte headed for the door.
“What something?” Ally followed after her.
“Their financial situation, the more I think about it the more certain I am that it means something.” She paused at the door. “She said that Martin and her were having trouble, but she couldn’t afford to leave him. Maybe things were strained because he was so tight with his money. Their finances and the fact that Martin spent his money on his Christmas decorations, but not on Trudy, makes me very suspicious. He never even bought her anything. I want to ask her more about that. I wonder if he was withholding money from her, and maybe if she got rid of him she would have access to more money. I mean I don’t believe that Trudy would do this, but if he was holding things back financially, then she might have had a good motive to attack him.”
“I also think so.” Ally frowned.
“Also, if someone feels trapped by someone else for long enough, anything is better than being stuck in that position. I’ll let you know what I find out.” She headed out the door in a rush. She wanted to get to Trudy before she decided to move out of her friend’s house, or she might not know where she ended up next. As she parked alongside Julie’s house, she was stunned by the sight of a patrol car parked in the driveway. She swallowed back her apprehension and headed up the driveway to the front door. As she knocked, she could hear voices inside.
“But I didn’t do it! I didn’t! You can’t do this to me!”
Her skin crawled as she realized that was Trudy’s voice, more frightened than she’d ever heard it. Another stern voice responded with a command for compliance. Julie opened the door with wide eyes.
“Charlotte, this isn’t a good time.”
“Don’t open that door!” The officer barked at her. Charlotte didn’t recognize him. But she did see the way he gripped Trudy’s arm. She backed away from the door as she realized things could get out of control very quickly if she wasn’t careful. By the time she reached her car, the officer was outside the door. He led Trudy towards the patrol car.
“Charlotte! Charlotte! I didn’t kill him! I swear I didn’t!” Trudy tugged at the cuffs on her wrists.
“It’s all right, Trudy, I don’t think you did.” She started to move towards her friend, but before she could take a step the officer fixed her with a fierce glare.
“Not another step.” He jerked open the rear passenger door and guided Trudy into the car.
Charlotte’s stomach flipped with fear and dread. She wanted nothing more than to run to Trudy, to shield her from the horrible experience. But she knew that she couldn’t. Clearly, the officer had a warrant for her arrest, which meant the District Attorney’s office felt they had enough evidence to make the arrest.
As Charlotte watched the police car roll past, her heart ached for the woman who gazed out at her.
Julie stepped out of the house and walked down the front lawn to join her.
“Can you believe it? I never thought this would happen.”
“I can’t.” Charlotte shook her head, although she did have some doubts of Trudy’s innocence she didn’t want to voice them. “I don’t think Trudy had anything to do with this.”
“I guess the evidence will have to speak for itself.” Julie crossed her arms as she watched the police car pull away. “As they say, you never truly know someone, no matter how close you think you are.” As she turned to walk back into the house, Charlotte stared after her. If Trudy’s closest friend was willing to turn her back on her, what did that say about Trudy?
Maybe Charlotte’s assumption of Trudy’s innocence was wrong. Even though she did have her suspicions due to the information she had found out about Martin controlling Trudy’s finances and Trudy disappearing, deep within her she still felt that Trudy had nothing to do with her husband’s murder. It didn’t matter to her that there were rumors about her and Jeff, or even that Trudy might have hoped for more between them. All that mattered was that she believed an innocent woman was being hauled off to prison, right before her eyes. She had to find out the truth, and fast.
Chapter 15
Ally set out some fre
sh samples and tried to keep her mind on the shop. It was hard to concentrate on making cheerful Christmas chocolates when trying to solve a murder was constantly on her mind. The door swung open and in walked Mrs. Bing, Mrs. White, and Mrs. Cale. Ally smiled at them, but to her surprise, none of them smiled in return. One by one they filed up to the counter. Despite the fresh samples, each kept their hands at their sides.
“What’s wrong?” Ally stared at them as her apprehension grew. For these three ladies to be so serious, she knew that it had to be something terrible.
“Trudy has been arrested,” Mrs. Bing gasped out, then popped a chocolate into her mouth.
“Oh.” Ally frowned. “I can’t say that surprises me.”
“Not me either.” Nina added from a few steps away. She set down a fresh tray of chocolates.
“Well, it should.” Mrs. Cale fixed them each in turn with a look of disgust. “Trudy would never do this, and I’m surprised at you both, you in particular, Ally, that you’re not more upset about this.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Cale.” Ally was surprised by her reproachful stare. “I just meant that the police have been looking for her for so long, I didn’t think it would take them long to arrest her. I didn’t mean that I think she’s guilty.”
“Oh, I see.” Mrs. Cale nodded. “I suppose I jumped ahead of myself a little there. Trudy is a sweet woman, so soft-spoken. She taught me how to knit. I just hate to think of her locked up.”
“It’s going to be okay.” Mrs. White patted her shoulder. “The truth will come out, either way.”
“Do you really think someone will find out the truth and help Trudy?” Mrs. Cale looked directly at Ally.
“Yes, I do.” Ally’s cheeks flushed. Not long after the three left, Ally looked up to see another familiar face. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw who it was.
“Hi, Diana.”
“Hi.” She smiled as she walked up to the counter. “My candies were so delicious, and you had the order perfect for me. I’d like another box, just for myself now.”
“Sure, let me get that for you. Did you bring one of your boxes in for us to put on display?” She gathered a box of chocolates for her.
“No, sorry. I forgot. Well, to be honest, I used them all. I may have to make another batch of them, but I am a bit worn out creatively right now.” She rested her hands against the counter.
Ally noticed that one of her hands had some bruising around the thumb and first finger. “Ouch, what happened?” She handed over the box of chocolates.
“Oh, that’s from making the boxes, and carrying them around to hand them out. It’s nothing really, I just bruise easily.” She rolled her eyes. “Another symptom of being old. Stay young, Ally, for as long as you can.”
“Oh, you’re still young, Diana. In fact, I admire how independent you are. You live alone, you’re very creative, and you always seem to be on the ball with what’s happening around town.” She smiled as she rung up the chocolates. “I still miss living with Mee-Maw to be honest.”
“Oh, do you? Not me. I love my space. I love in particular my apartment. I have everything just the way I want it, and not a soul can change that. No one is there to complain about what I cook, or where I hang things, or when I fold my laundry. It is beautiful.” She grinned. “Trust me, one day you’ll thank your lucky stars to be on your own.”
“You may be right about that.” Ally accepted payment from her, and again noticed the bruising on her hand. It looked pretty serious to her. “Did you have a doctor look at that? It’s so dark.”
“No need, I know my body. Like I said, I bruise easily. I may have underestimated how heavy all of those boxes were.”
Ally bit into her bottom lip to keep from pointing out that she knew she had Andy helping her. She remembered the way Mrs. Cale had looked at her, as if she was making it her responsibility to get Trudy out of jail and catch the right killer.
“Maybe something more lightweight next year. You know, I bet Martin really enjoyed his gift, the box was beautiful and he might have even enjoyed the chocolates straight away. I’m sure it was a nice thing for him to receive. It gives me some comfort to think that he had a good memory before he passed.” Ally’s heart threatened to jump right up into her throat. She knew she was treading on dangerous ground.
“Oh, well, I didn’t give him one.” Diana cleared her throat. “I was going to give him one closer to Christmas.” She nervously turned towards the door.
“So, you were going to give him one?” Ally stepped around the counter. “I know you are friends with Trudy, but I wasn’t sure if you were going to give them a gift, because I heard rumors that you and Martin had a falling out.” Ally tried to get more information out of her.
“That’s not really any of your business, Ally, is it?” She shot her a look of warning. “I have to be going now.” She pushed her way through the door.
Ally knew that chasing after Diana wouldn’t do her any good. She’d dug a little too deep, and now Diana was defensive. But she’d also gained some insight. Diana seemed very nervous when she mentioned Martin and Trudy. They were her neighbors, who had been her friends for so long, and were also her landlords. Maybe they really did have a falling out.
Ally took a few minutes and quickly searched through Diana’s social media. She would have asked her grandmother to do it, but she wasn’t as comfortable on the internet as Ally. She wanted to check into whatever she could find out about Diana. She found that Diana was very isolated. Although she had a few friends that posted, there were no signs of family members, or any romantic interests in her life. There were a lot of posts from internet games, and also comments about how it felt to be alone.
Ally did notice that Nina was one of her friends. She’d also shared every post from Nina’s yoga studio. It seemed to her that their relationship was pretty strong. She quickly sent a text to her grandmother briefly explaining what she had found out and asking her to see if she could find out if there was anything else interesting about Diana. As another wave of customers entered the shop, Ally glanced over at Nina. She was hard at work boxing up chocolates for orders. She seemed like such a great person, and yet, beneath that soft smile, Ally sensed something hidden.
The moment that Ally requested Charlotte find out more information about Diana, Charlotte called her friend Meritza who worked at the courthouse. It was the best place to start to find out information quickly. Maybe Diana was hiding a criminal past. Meritza might have access to court records if there were any. Meritza was happy to help and after a few minutes returned to the phone and said that she had found a petition to purchase her apartment from Martin. It was a year old and had been denied. After thanking Meritza and promising to bring by some chocolates she hung up.
“It must have been very frustrating for Diana to be denied the opportunity to buy her own home,” Charlotte mumbled to herself.
She recalled Mary saying that Andy had helped her deliver the chocolates. Andy was new to town and she had never been introduced to him formally. She hoped he didn’t know that she owned the chocolate shop or her plan might not work. She decided to swing by his apartment on her way out to the shop. When she knocked on the door, he answered right away.
“Can I help you?”
Charlotte smiled at him. She didn’t know him well enough for much small talk.
“Hi, I heard you were delivering chocolates, and I was just wondering if you had any more?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, can’t get enough, huh?” He laughed. “Well, I don’t know who told you what, but I was just helping out a friend. Diana is the one who was giving away the chocolates. You’re going to have to ask her.”
“Oh! Okay, thanks. But I still wonder how I missed her delivery. Do you know about what time you started out?” She glanced away casually and hoped that he wouldn’t find the question strange.
“Oh, it was a bit before eight. I remember because I was going to watch a show that night, and I thought I would stop and drop off
something that I had borrowed from her quickly. I recorded the show just in case I was late.” He shrugged. “It was a bit late for delivering gifts, but when I got there she seemed a little overwhelmed so I offered to help her deliver them.”
“Oh? She was upset?” Charlotte locked her eyes to his.
“Not upset exactly, just distracted I guess. She had some of the boxes on different tables, but I helped her get it all straightened out. What was your name again? I can see if she was planning to give you a gift and let her know that she missed delivering yours.” He pulled out his phone.
“Oh no, please don’t. I’d be embarrassed. I’ll just ask her about it next time I see her. Thanks!” She waved to him and hurried off down the hall before he could ask her any more questions. Her heart pounded as she did the math. It was possible that Diana had slipped the few doors to Martin’s place, killed him, and then set out to deliver gifts. It gave her a good alibi, were it not for Andy remembering the exact time they set out. She headed straight for the shop, eager to share the information with Ally. Diana was looking more and more suspicious, and from what Ally had told her Nina appeared to be her friend. If Ally was alone with a murderer because she had convinced her not to fire her, she would never forgive herself.
About an hour before closing, Charlotte walked through the door.
“Mee-Maw, you’re supposed to be relaxing.” Ally raised an eyebrow.
“Not a chance. I’m going to help you get caught up. Plus, we need to talk.” Her tone grew serious. “Alone.” She cut a glance in Nina’s direction.
“Nina, can you finish up the order in the back for me, please?” Ally asked.
“Sure.” She glanced at Charlotte, spared her a smile, then headed into the back.
“What is it, Mee-Maw?” Ally leaned across the counter. “What did you find out?”
“I found out that Diana doesn’t have an alibi for the time of the murder, and she had plenty of motive to kill Martin.”