Cupcakes and Killers Read online

  I nodded, my mouth full of coffee, savoring the taste, and hoping the caffeine would hit me soon. I needed either a pick-me-up or a week of sleep, which wasn’t as likely to happen. “I’m relieved that drama is over, at least. Maybe we can soon get back to normal around here.”

  “And Rachel is sticking around? Sally mentioned you offering your spare room. What’s that all about? She must really love him to stay.”

  “I think she does. I know she feels guilty for being the one to trick him into meeting me. She says she plans on staying for as long as he’s here, which Jonathan seems to think will be a while. I’ve grown to like her in these last few days, so that doesn’t hurt my feelings any.”

  Cora nodded in agreement.

  “She’s a good person, and for her sake, I hope it works out. So what’s on the agenda today?” I wrapped an apron around my waist, feeling a little more awake after the coffee.

  “Just the usual. Some books were dropped off. You need to go through them and take pictures for me to update the site. Sally said she would be in around lunchtime. She has a doctors appointment with the twins.”

  “I’m sure after another cup of coffee I’ll be fully functioning. Sally will probably need a drink by the time she gets here.” I made a face. “I feel sorry for her, wrangling those kids at the dentist.”

  We worked through the morning. We typically had a lull between the morning rush and the lunch crowd who enjoyed their afternoon coffee. Today, I was grateful for the respite. Even after three cups of coffee I was still tired, but jittery. Weird phenomenon. I guess there was no real cure for lack of sleep, except for getting sleep.

  The librarian in me loved this part of the job. The feel of paper and the smell that only books gave off. I was leafing through books that had been dropped off to determine which ones we could resell and which we should just donate, when I saw a piece of paper sticking out of a well-worn copy of Danielle Steele’s Palomino. This was one of her first novels, and it had always been near and dear to my heart, as it was the first romance I had ever read. I was about twelve, and I snuck it from my grandmother’s bookshelf one summer when I stayed with her. While there were parts of the book that were way over my head and some that were quite shocking to a young girl, it was a beautiful story, and was what led the transition of my reading from children’s books such as Trixie Belden and the Bobbsey Twins, to the more adult stuff like Danielle Steel and Janet Daily. My grandmother pretended to be upset I’d been caught reading her books, mainly to appease my mother. But secretly, it became our thing. I pulled the paper out for curiosity’s sake. It was fun to look at what people stuck in books, typically for bookmarks. Old receipts, grocery lists, doodles, never anything exciting, but always interesting.

  This one was the size of a steno pad folded long ways. I opened it up. It was a note. I always read them, though sometimes I felt guilty, as it wasn’t my business. Part of me thought maybe I should just throw them away. But I always rationalized that it might be important, and I would hate for someone to come in here frantically searching for something they left in the book, only to find I had put it in the trash. As I read it, my heart started racing.

  The note said, ‘If you want to clear your name then you need to keep in mind the saying, “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”’

  I read it three more times, wondering if it was directed to me, or toward the shop. Was it just a random note that just happened to be relevant to current events? Were things ever going to get back to boring and mundane? Whose books were these? I wondered. Maybe that would give me an answer.

  “Cora,” I yelled, as she was in the back.

  I heard her heels clicking on the floor. “What? Is something wrong?”

  “Who dropped off these books?”

  “Which ones?” she asked, peering over my shoulder to see which pile I was referring to.

  “The romance, specifically the Danielle Steele.”

  “Oh, that was Dawn Baker. Why?”

  “Read this,” I said, handing her the note. “Dawn Baker was one of Harvey’s ex-girlfriends, according to Shree.”

  She, too, read it several times before saying, “Do you think this was meant for us?”

  “I’m not sure, but you better believe I’m calling and asking her,” I said, reaching for the phone.

  “Do you know her number?”

  “No, but Donna will. They’re in the same bridge club.” I quickly called my friend Donna and got the information I was looking for. Hanging up, I reached for the phone again.

  “What are you going to say? Just come right out and ask her if she left us this cryptic note?”

  “Why not? If this note was meant for us, then she wanted us to find it. If it’s not for us, I’ll just look foolish, but it’s not like it’s the first time that’s happened.” I dialed the phone and was disappointed when I reached her voicemail. Leaving her a message to call me back, I went back to work.

  Chapter 21

  “Thanks for driving me to the airport,” Jack said from the passenger seat of my car.

  “No problem. I wanted to see you off. It’s the least I could do for you. I do appreciate you coming out here.”

  “I was worried and wanted to make sure you were okay,” he said, patting my hand. “I worry about my good, good friends.”

  I smiled. “Now I just need to figure out who poisoned Harvey and the world will be right again. And hopefully we can go back to living a quiet existence. I crave boring.”

  “No one thinks you had anything to do with it. Just leave it to Clive. He will figure it out.”

  “I know. I’m not worried about me, but rather, for justice. Who would want to kill a harmless old man? Doesn’t make any sense.”

  We rode the rest of the way in silence, and I finally pulled into the terminal and up to the Southwest Airlines door. I put my flashers on, and we both stepped out of the car to get his luggage from the back. He grabbed his bag and set it on the ground, while I shut the hatch, and he wrapped his arms around me. I felt tears once again pricking the back of my eyelids. I was sad to see him leave, and sad that circumstances were as they were. I didn’t like things that were out of my control. It just seemed so unfair to find a good guy like this and then lose him through circumstances alone.

  “Don’t forget about me, Trix. I still want to know what is going on with you. I expect you to keep me updated.”

  “How could I forget about you? And I will keep in touch. That’s a two-way street, you know, Mister,” I said, and pulled away from his embrace.

  He slowly let me go. “I know, and I’ll be calling.” He turned away from me then and walked away. Glancing back over his shoulder before he went through the doors, he smiled and finger waved, then disappeared. I was sad, but I also knew this was the right thing. For us to just be friends. I stood there for a few seconds, just thinking, until the honking of the cars passing by jolted me out of my stupor.

  I got back into the car and heard something vibrating. I glanced at my phone, which had been charging on the console, and saw it was ringing. A number I didn’t recognize was displayed on the screen, but since Stephen was in jail, I wasn’t too worried about numbers I didn’t know.

  “Hello?”

  “Trixie, dear?”

  It sounded like Harvey’s wife, Doris. “Yes, this is Trixie.”

  “I’m sorry to bother you, dear. This is Doris Truedoe. I have a bit of a situation I was hoping you could help me with.”

  What could she need my help with?. I put in my headset and pulled out in traffic before I started a fight with other cars over the parking space I was tying up. “Sure, Doris, what can I do for you?”

  “That trashy woman Harvey was messing with showed up on my doorstep, and she won’t leave.”

  “I told you, I’m not leaving until I get what’s mine!” I could hear Shree shouting in the background. I easily recognized her voice.

  “What does she want?”

  “Something she claims H
arvey was going to give her.”

  “Money?”

  “Nah, some stupid old pendant of Harvey’s mother’s. Ugly ole thing. She can have it, but I don’t know where it is, and I’m not in the mood to sift through his things. But this hussy here won’t leave until I give it to her. Guess she’s going to be waiting a long time.” Doris cackled. She didn’t seem too upset by the drama.

  I sighed. Why was my life turning out to be so strange on a daily basis? “Do you want me to come over and see if I can make her leave?” I assumed that’s why she was calling me.

  “Would you, dear? That would be delightful.”

  “Okay. But it will be about forty-five minutes. I had to drop a friend at the airport, and I’m just leaving.”

  “Okay. I can wait.”

  Because I tend to speed, I made it to her house in just under forty-five minutes and pulled in the drive to see Shree siting on the front steps. When I got out of my car, she stood up and walked toward me.

  “That’s one crazy old lady,” Shree said, hands on her hips.

  “Who you calling crazy? You’re the one out here bothering her. This is her house. Why are you here, anyway?” I asked.

  “She has something that belongs to me, and she won’t hand it over.”

  “I already told the hussy she could have it when I got around to finding it. I just can’t be bothered right now. I’m in mourning, ya know,” Doris yelled from the front porch. She must have seen me pull up. I got the sense she was enjoying herself.

  Shree snorted. “She’s not in mourning.”

  “It doesn’t seem like you are either.” I finally mentioned the thought that had been on my mind since the first night I spoke to her.

  “I am!” she snapped. “I’m just not one of those sappy types.”

  “Even so, why are you here bothering Doris? Couldn’t you wait until a little more time passed to remind her that her husband was unfaithful?”

  Shree snorted. “Like she cared. She was getting some on the side too.”

  As that image went through my head, I cringed inwardly. I didn’t want to think about that. It was too weird for me, and yet, I was stuck right in the middle of it.

  “I can hear you, and it’s none of your business who I was spending my time with. A woman’s got needs, as you well know.”

  I knew, but didn’t want to hear about it from her. It was too much information.

  “Listen, Shree. If I promise to come back in a week or so and get what you are looking for, will you please leave?” I asked, hoping to mediate the situation.

  “I don’t know why I should have to wait!”

  “Because, legally, you don’t have a right to anything of Harvey’s. Whether or not he told you that you could have it. It’s not rightfully yours. So I would suggest you be a little nicer and a little more patient, so she doesn’t refuse to give it to you altogether. You need to keep in mind that Doris has the upper hand here.”

  Shree was silent, and I hoped she was considering what I said. After a few moments, she spoke. “Fine, but I will be back.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief as she headed toward her car. Crisis averted.

  “I will be back!” Shree yelled over her shoulder as she stomped away.

  I ignored her, happy she was leaving for now, and walked up the steps to the porch, where, just inside the screen door, Doris was watching.

  “Thank you, dear, for getting that hussy off my property. Would you like to come in for coffee? I just made some fresh.”

  “No, thank you. I have to get back to work, but I’m glad I could help. Sorry she seems to think she has any claim to something of Harvey’s. Unfortunately, she probably will be back.”

  “Don’t worry about it, dear. I know right where that stupid old necklace is, and she can have it. I just didn’t want to roll over so easily.”

  I looked at her, a little annoyed she’d dragged me out here for nothing.

  “I know, I know,” she said, patting me on the arm. “You’re wondering why I would give it to her, and if I was planning on giving it to her, why I didn’t just do it.”

  I nodded.

  “Listen, I know it might not make sense to you, but when you get to be my age, you learn not to sweat the small stuff. Harvey and I were over a long time ago. His dalliances didn’t bother me. At least, not from a jealousy standpoint. And I admit I pretended not to know where it was because, well, I just wanted to have some fun,” she said with a mischievous grin. “It’s hard to find fun like this at my age.”

  Strange way of having fun, but to each his own.

  Before I left, I got the address for Dawn Baker, thinking I could drive by and catch her at home. I wanted to know if she’d left that note and why.

  I slowed down in order to see house numbers on mailboxes. Dawn lived in an older subdivision just north of town. It was a very pretty area with mature trees and landscaping. When I got to the right one, I turned in the driveway. There was a dark blue Buick LaCrosse in the driveway. I presumed it to be hers, so I hoped that meant she was home. I knocked a few times and heard footsteps walking toward the door. She swung it open and didn’t seem surprised at all to see me standing there.

  “Please, come in,” she said, stepping to the side to allow me to pass by her. “Can I get you anything to drink? I just made a fresh pot of coffee, and I have some of that French vanilla creamer. I think it’s so yummy, don’t you? Just adds a little dessert-like flavor to your coffee. Although, you are probably used to much more interesting coffees, what with your shop and all.” She rambled and didn’t seem at all bothered that I was at her house. Just one more bizarre happening taking place in my life today.

  “Coffee would be great, and French vanilla creamer is a fine addition,” I said, following her into the kitchen.

  “Have a seat.” She motioned to the kitchen table. “I hope you don’t mind drinking it in here. I like the coziness of this room. Not as stiff and formal as being in the dining room.”

  “This is fine. I often sit at my kitchen table for the same reason,” I said, going along with her chitchat.

  She got our coffee and sat down in quick order. “I presume you are here because you found my note?”

  Maybe this was going to be easier than I thought. “Well, yes. I wasn’t sure you had left it for me, us. Wasn’t even sure if it was you.”

  “It was, and I did,” she said, stirring her coffee absentmindedly.

  “Then please tell me what it meant, and why you left it?”

  “Because I know who killed Harvey.”

  My eyebrows raised. “Oh?”

  “It was Don.”

  “But I thought—”

  “That Don was my boyfriend? He is. But I can’t condone murder. No matter how much I love him.”

  “Then why not just go to the police? Why come to me?”

  “Well, I might not condone murder, but I don’t want Don to know I betrayed him either. He is my boyfriend. I was hoping you could help me by going to the police for me. You know, and just leave me out of it. I don’t want to be involved.”

  “I’m not sure that will work. They’re going to have questions, and they’re going to want to talk to you.”

  “Oh, dear. I guess I didn’t think about that.”

  “Did he tell you he killed Harvey?”

  “Not in so many words, but I know he did.”

  “If you don’t have proof—”

  “Can’t the police figure that part out? Isn’t that their job?”

  “The police are going to want proof Don did this to be able to investigate. What makes you think he killed Harvey? I thought they were good friends?” This lady was confusing me. It was such a weird thing to accuse your boyfriend of murder when you didn’t have any proof, and then not to be the one to turn him. Something about this didn’t feel right.

  “They are, were, but Don’s always been jealous of Harvey. I guess he just snapped,” she said nonchalantly. “It happens. There is even a TV show called that ver
y thing. I think it’s on the Oxygen channel. Do you have cable?”

  I ignored her cable comment. “Did he say something to you to make you think he killed him?”

  “It’s more just a feeling. It’s hard to explain.”

  I spent another hour talking with her, and when I left, I was as confused as ever. Nothing she said made sense. I felt like I’d just spent the last hour and a half talking in circles. Cody made more sense than this lady. I was beginning to wonder if she was a “few bricks shy of a load” as my grandfather always said about people who just didn’t seem all there. She rambled until I had no idea what her point was. Should I even bother Clive with this?

  I drove to the shop and filled Sally and Cora in on what she had said.

  “I agree with you, Trix. That lady sounds daffy. Why would she want to turn her boyfriend in with no proof? And she didn’t seem concerned she’s dating someone she’s accusing of murder?” Cora said.

  I took a drink of my coffee. Sally had brewed my favorite blend and had a red velvet cupcake ready for me when I walked in. Another one of my favorites, though I did think twice before biting into the creamy sweetness, since the cupcake that had poisoned Harvey had been red velvet. But it was totally worth the risk. “Yeah. I don’t know what to think. She didn’t act like it was a big deal. I don’t know.” I ran my hand through my hair.

  “Are you going to tell Clive?” Sally asked.

  “I think I need to. I don’t want to take the chance that she is actually right. I’m sure he’s going to think she’s as crazy as we all do, but he can make that determination.”

  Just then the door chime went off, and we all turned to see Macie come through the door.

  “Sorry I’m late, guys. Meeting ran over.”

  “Mr. Tobias changing his will again?” Sally asked.

  Macie looked at her in shock. “How did you know that’s who I was meeting with?”

  We all laughed.

  “You will find that Sally knows just about everything going on in this town. A by-product of living here all her life and being nosy,” I said.