Custard Crime: Donut Mystery #14 (The Donut Mysteries) (17 page)

“Sorry, but that’s not going to happen,” I said.
 
“Until we discover who killed Evelyn
Martin, we’re not giving up.”

Once we were back in the Jeep, Grace asked, “Did you
see that guy’s face when I started pressing him?
 
He was seriously upset with me.”

“With us,” I amended.
 
“He’s got a real temper, doesn’t he?”

“He could have done it,” Grace said matter-of-factly.
 

“Maybe, but being a hothead isn’t enough proof one
way or the other.
 
I wonder if it’s
gotten him into trouble in the past?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Grace said.
 
“Put that phone of yours to good use.”

“I’m not calling Jake, and I won’t ask Chief Martin.”

Grace frowned, and then she said, “Well, if you won’t
talk to either one of them, we still have one other cop in our arsenal.”

“Are you talking about Stephen?”
 
Officer Grant might be her boyfriend,
but I doubted that he’d help us if it could cause trouble for him at work.

“No, we’re not about to drag
him
into this.
 
I was
thinking more along the lines of George.
 
After all, he used to be a cop, and it’s not as though he hasn’t helped
us in our investigations in the past.”

“True, but he wasn’t the mayor of April Springs then.”

“Maybe not, but you know he’d help us if we asked
him.
 
What can it hurt?”

“Grace, what if it comes back to haunt him later when
he’s running for mayor again?
 
Could
you live with the idea that he lost because of us?”

“Suzanne, you know as well as I do that everybody
loves him in town.
 
He’s going to
win reelection again in a landslide.”

“Maybe,” I said.
 
“But let’s put that particular inquiry on the back burner for now,
okay?”

“Fine.
 
Does that mean that it’s time to tackle Violet Frasier?
 
I wonder if she’s as crazy as everyone
says she is?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” I said as I
started driving in the direction of where her house stood.

“Go away,” the middle-aged woman said as we neared
her front porch.
 
I suppose some
people would call her pretty, in an odd sort of way.
 
For one thing, her eyes were spaced too
close together, and they had too intense a look about them for my taste.
 
She’d opened her front door just wide
enough to stick her head out and warn us off.

“Violet, we just want a moment of your time,” Grace
said.

“Can’t you read the sign?
 
It says no soliciting, and that includes
any reason you think you might have for coming to my house.”

“We’re not here to sell you anything,” I said
hastily.
 
“We’re here to talk about
Conrad Swoop and Evelyn Martin.”

Her gaze narrowed.
 
“What makes you think that I want to
talk about either one of those dirtbags?”

“Am I right in assuming that you aren’t dating Conrad
anymore?” I asked her.

“He was two-timing me with that Martin woman.
 
What an idiot.”

“Which one?” Grace asked.

“Take your pick,” she said angrily.
 
There was some real rage just below the
surface.

“We already know that you weren’t a fan of Evelyn’s,”
I said.
 
“We read your note
threatening her.”

Violet just laughed at the accusation.
 
“So what?
 
I didn’t follow through with it.
 
I thought I might be able to scare her
off, but it didn’t work.”

“Well, someone certainly took care of her for you,” I
said.

Violet didn’t look all that distressed about her
rival’s fate.
 
“She fell through some
floorboards.
 
I’d hardly call that a
conscious act of vengeance.”

“It would be if she were pushed,” Grace said.

That was news to her, or she was just trying to tone
down the crazy in her.
 
“Are you
saying that somebody shoved her?”

“That’s what it looks like to the police.”

Violet shook her head, but as she did so, the ghost
of a smile crossed her lips for a moment before she spoke.
 
“Conrad told me that he’d warned her to
stop coming around him, but I never thought the little weasel would ever really
do anything about her.”

“So, let me get this straight.
 
You’re telling us that Conrad was
dumping Evelyn Martin for you, is that it?”

“Why is that so hard for you to believe?” Violet
asked as she ran a hand through her hair.
 
“I’m an attractive woman.”

“I’m not denying it,” I said hurriedly.
 
“It’s just that what you’re telling us
doesn’t match up with what Connie told us earlier.”

“Don’t call him that,” she reproached me
automatically.
 
“He hates when
people do that.”

“That’s how he addressed himself to Evelyn,” I said.

“You’re lying.”

“I can prove it,” I said as I pulled out my
cellphone.
 
“Would you care to see?”

I pulled up the photo of the necklace and card and
showed it to her.
 
Her face turned
beet red, and I was worried that she might burst a blood vessel.
 
“That complete and utter jerk.”

“Did you get a necklace just like that one?” Grace
asked.

“He must have gotten a bulk discount on them,” she
said as she shoved my phone away.

“I’m sorry,” I said in earnest.
 
“I probably shouldn’t have shown you
that.”

Violet shook her head, and it was clear that she was
fighting back tears.
 
“No, I needed
to see that for myself.
 
Well, I can
tell you one thing.
 
He’s lied to me
for the last time.”

“When else has he lied to you?” Grace asked gently.

“Don’t get me started.
 
I can’t even count the times.
 
Listen,” she said as she wiped at her
eyes.
 
“I have to go.”

“Can we just ask you one more thing?” Grace asked her.

“What is it?”

“Where were you when Evelyn died?”

Violet shook her head in disgust, and then she retreated
back inside, slamming the door as she did.

“What can I say?
 
It was worth a shot,” Grace said.

“Maybe Jake will have more luck with her,” I said.

“I kind of doubt it.
 
She wasn’t exactly cooperative with us,
and look how sympathetic we were to her.”

“Jake has his own set of skills,” I said.
 
“Don’t underestimate him.”

“Hey, he managed to get you to fall in love again
after your experience with Max.
 
I’m
not about to put anything past him if he can overcome the power of your first
true love.”

“Max wasn’t my first love,” I protested.

“Oh, sorry.
 
I’m forgetting Tommy Thorndike in the sixth grade.”

“What can I say?
 
It was never meant to be, but it was glorious while it lasted.”

She laughed at that, and I joined her.

“What should we do now?” Grace asked.

I looked at my watch, and saw that it was coming up
on dinnertime soon.
 
“If you don’t
mind, I’d like to get back to April Springs.
 
I’m having dinner with Jake in about an
hour.”

“Why should I mind, especially since I’m going out
with Stephen?”

“My, aren’t we just two desirable young women,” I said
to her as we made our way back to my Jeep.

“That’s what they all say,” Grace replied.
 
“How much of our afternoon’s activities
are you going to share with Jake?”

“Every last bit of them,” I admitted.
 
“I promised him that I would, and I’m
not about to break my bond.
 
You
don’t have any problem with that, do you?”

“Me?
 
Not
a chance.
 
After all, I might just
tell Stephen, too.”

“Well, there’s one good thing about this ‘open book’
policy.
 
We don’t have to keep any
lies straight.”

“What an odd experience that’s going to be,” Grace
said with a laugh.

As we drove back to April Springs, we discussed the
weather, our love lives, even my mother’s new marital status, but one topic we
resisted discussing was the murder case we were working on.
 
Grace and I both knew that we needed a
little time to let our minds play with what we’d uncovered so far.
 
It was one of the reasons I loved
investigating with her.
 
We knew
each other so well that we didn’t have to explain ourselves to one another.

I didn’t have long to digest our new information,
anyway.

Soon enough, I’d be relaying every bit of it to Jake.

I just hoped that he decided to share some of what he
knew with me, as well.

Chapter 16

“That’s the last of the leftovers,” I told Jake as we
finished eating our evening meal.
 
Since he’d been shot, folks had been supplying us with a steady stream
of offerings, but the donations had finally ended.
 
I’d been grateful for everything that
we’d gotten, and it had certainly helped out tremendously at mealtime, but I
was a little excited about cooking for Jake while he was still in town, too.

“I hate to admit it, but I’m kind of happy about
that,” he said.
 
“Not that I’m
ungrateful.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.
 
How about some homemade potato soup
tomorrow night?
 
I have a little cheddar-chive
bread left in the freezer.”

“Was it a donation, too?”

“From Momma,” I answered.

“Then I’m on board.”

As I started clearing the table, Jake jumped up to
help.
 
It was nice working together on
something that wasn’t a homicide case.
 
We’d agreed to postpone talking about the investigation until after we
ate, but it couldn’t be delayed any longer.
 
“Should we talk about Evelyn while we’re
washing dishes, or should we wait until later?”

“Why don’t we do it now?
 
I’m all for multitasking,” he said.

“Great.
 
Do you want to go first, or should I?” I asked him with a smile.

He returned my grin.
 
“Nice try.
 
Go on, I’m listening.”

I brought him up to date on what Grace and I had
learned that day, not holding anything back.
 
I’d made him a promise, and I was
determined to keep it, even if it did feel really odd telling him everything I
knew.
 
Full disclosure was an
unsettling thing.

“What do you think at this point?” Jake asked me
after I was through with my recitation.
 
“Have you come to any conclusions so far?”

“It’s still early,” I said.
 
“I hate to rush to judgment until I have
more facts.”

“Suzanne, I’m not asking you for an indictment.
 
I’m just wondering what your gut is
telling you.”

That was fair.
 
As I washed off one of the plates from dinner, I handed it to Jake, who
rinsed it and put it in the drying rack.
 
“Honestly, I’m still kind of torn at this point.
 
There’s something about Conrad Swoop
that I don’t trust.
 
I know he’s got
the capacity to steal, but I’m not sure that he murdered Evelyn.”

“What about Violet?”

“She might be a little unhinged, but if you’re asking
me if she’s twisted enough to kill a rival, I’m not willing to say just yet,” I
replied.

“I suppose you’ll say the same thing if I ask you
about Beatrice and Robby, too, won’t you?”

“Probably,” I said as I handed him a glass to
rinse.
 
“You didn’t mention Julie
Gray, though.
 
Did you forget about
her, or have you eliminated her as a suspect?”

“She’s still on my list, but that’s where it gets
complicated.”

“How so?”

Jake took so long to answer that I was afraid he was
going to ignore my question, but after a full minute, he finally said, “I know
this is highly unusual, but I’m going to share some things with you that I
probably shouldn’t.”

“Don’t tell me anything that I can’t tell Grace,” I
said firmly.
 
“Even if it means that
we flounder around in the dark, we’ll do it together.
 
I can’t stand keeping secrets from her.”

Jake nodded.
 
“I admire your loyalty, but that complicates matters.”
 
He took another moment, and then he
asked me, “If you swear her to secrecy, can you trust her not to share it with
anyone else?”

“I trust Grace with my life,” I said.
 
“If I ask her, she’ll do it.”

“With no wavering?”

“None.
 
You can take that to the bank.”

Jake let out a sigh, and then he nodded.
 
“Okay.
 
I trust you, and because you trust
Grace, I’m going to share a few things with you.”

Before he could speak, I put a soapy hand on his
arm.
 
“Jake, please don’t do
anything that you might have trouble with philosophically.
 
I know how important your job is to you,
and I’d never ask you to compromise it for me.”