Custard Crime: Donut Mystery #14 (The Donut Mysteries) (25 page)

“Can you imagine choosing her over Evelyn?” Grace
asked.
 
“She’s a bit of an obsessed
stalker psycho type, isn’t she?”

“Who knows?
 
Maybe that’s what Conrad likes.”

“My mother always said that there was a lid for every
pot,” Grace said.
 
“We never got an
alibi out of him, did we?
 
Do you
think Jake’s had any better luck?”

“If he has, he hasn’t told me about it.
 
What about Julie?”

“If she’d been set to inherit everything of Evelyn’s,
I would have an easier time believing that she could have killed her.”

“True, but she didn’t know that she wasn’t in the
will yet, did she?
 
If she acted on
the assumption that she was set to inherit everything, it might have spurred
her to action.”

“Maybe,” Grace said.
 
“What about Robby?”

“At least he had an alibi, even if it was one that
can’t be substantiated.
 
Working
alone in his garage isn’t exactly hanging out in a crowd, is it?”

“No, but you know how I feel about alibis.
 
Only guilty people seem to have them.”

“Do you honestly think Robby killed Evelyn over a
tree?” I asked.

“I don’t feel like we should focus on the tree.
 
It could have easily just been the last
straw in a fight between them that could have been brewing for years.”

“I suppose,” I said.
 
“If you had to rank them right now, what
order of likelihood would you put our suspects in?”

“As far as I’m concerned, they’re all in a dead
heat.
 
Then again, if we hadn’t
heard Violet’s alibi, I’d have been convinced that she did it, too.
 
I hope Jake can find this Digger
fellow.”

“You don’t believe her story?”

“I don’t think Angelica lied to us,” Grace said, “but
her source could have been lying to her.”

“Jake will check it out, I’m sure.”

We were finally in April Springs, and as I passed the
donut shop, I looked fondly over at the old railway depot that was now such a
big part of my life.
 
There were so
many stars that had aligned perfectly to make it all possible, and buying the
place had changed my life forever.
 
I’d been in the pits of despair after Max
had cheated on me, and in a rush, I’d moved in with Momma and started my own
business.
 
Both decisions had been
some of the best ones I’d ever made.
 
The donut shop had given me back my independence and self-esteem, while
moving back to the cottage where I’d grown up had allowed me to reconnect with
my mother in a way that I never would have done otherwise.

We were at Grace’s place soon enough, and as I
stopped the Jeep, I saw that Officer Grant was already on the front porch
waiting for her.
 
“We’re still on
for tomorrow after I close the shop, right?” I asked her as she got out and
retrieved her takeout from Napoli’s.

“Yes, but I might be a little late.
 
I’ve got to do some spot-checking on one
of my sales reps.
 
It appears that she’s
been shirking her duties lately.”

“Unlike you, working half days,” I said with a grin.

“Hey, I’m salaried.
 
I was told specifically by my boss that
I didn’t have a set schedule.”

“I wonder if she meant it the way you’ve taken it?” I
asked with a smile.
 
“Not that I’m
complaining.
 
I couldn’t do this
without you.”

“Well, you probably could, but it wouldn’t be nearly
as much fun,” she said as she closed my door.
 
“Good night.”

“Night.
 
Have a good evening.”

“Oh, I plan on it,” Grace said.

I waved at Officer Grant as I started to drive off,
who waved back at me with a grin.

It had been nice that Grace had someone waiting for
her.
 

The cottage was dark when I got home, and as I went
inside, I flipped on enough lights downstairs to delight the power
company.
 
After stowing all of the
food I’d taken from Napoli’s, I sat down and wrote Jake a note before I headed
upstairs to read.

Hey, Jake.

Sorry I missed
you.
 
Hope your trip was productive.

There’s food in
the fridge from Napoli’s, and you’re welcome to whatever you find there.

Wake me if you
want to chat.
 
If you don’t, though,
I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.

Boy, this crime-fighting
really gets in the way of our together time, doesn’t it?

Let’s hope that
one of us catches the bad guy soon!

All my love,

Suzanne

I propped it up near the front door so he’d be sure
to see it, and then I turned off the lights and made my way upstairs.
 
After a quick shower, I changed into my
pajamas and curled up in bed with a good book, the latest from my book club.
 
Jennifer had called me a few days
before, and we’d scheduled another meeting for the following week.
 
I had ten days to get through this
month’s edition, and it was big enough to double as a doorstop.
 
If I was going to contribute anything to
the conversation, I’d better at least crack the book.

I must have fallen asleep during the prologue, because
when I woke up later to my alarm, the book was still open across my
stomach.
 
As I pushed it aside, I
realized that I’d have to tackle it sometime when I wasn’t so tired from work
and detecting.

I just wasn’t sure when that might be.

Chapter 22

After I got ready for work, I tiptoed down the
stairs, only to find a light on in the kitchen.
 
Had I left it on, or had Jake?
 
When I walked in, I was surprised to
find him sitting at the table, an empty plate pushed off to one side and a
stack of folders spread out across the tabletop.

“Good morning,” I said as I kissed him lightly.
 
“You didn’t have to get up for me.”

“I haven’t been to sleep yet,” Jake admitted as he
stretched a little.
 
“Thanks for
leaving me dinner.”

“Did you get enough to eat?” I asked as I poured
myself a cup of coffee and grabbed a chair.
 
I didn’t have a lot of time to linger,
but I did have a little, and I planned on taking full advantage of it.

“Plenty.
 
I can’t imagine your dinner, if those were just the leftovers.”

“Don’t ask,” I said.
 
“I hope your trip was at least
productive.”

“Very,” he said as he pushed a folder away.

“Care to bring me up to date?
 
I did give you a lead or two, after
all.”

Jake frowned, and then he shrugged.
 
“Why not?
 
For starters, Beatrice’s alibi checks
out.”

“You actually talked to that married weasel?
 
I hope it was in front of his wife.”

“No, he was alone.
 
Evidently she decided to leave him when
she found out about the way he’d been behaving.”

“Good for her,” I said.

“The funny thing is, he kept asking me if I thought
he could get Beatrice back.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That I was a state police investigator, not Dear
Abby,” Jake said.
 
“Anyway, she’s
off our list, and so is Violet.”

“Does that mean that you found Digger?”

Jake nodded, and then he shook his head.
 
“That man could use some tips on
personal hygiene.
 
He was more than
happy to confirm that he’d been with Violet during the time of the murder.
 
He kept trying to give me graphic
details about their encounter, but I finally managed to shut him up.”

“So, then there were three.”

“Two, actually.
 
Hadn’t you heard?”

“No, I don’t have a clue as to what you’re talking
about.”

Jake scuffled through the folders and pulled one
out.
 
“Officer Stephen Grant, taking
initiative after his regular shift, decided to canvass all property owners
facing Robby’s garage.
 
One woman, a
Mrs. Edna Peacock, was birdwatching all morning and happened to spot Robby
working in his garage through an open doorway at the time of the murder.
 
Can you imagine having a last name like
Peacock and being a birdwatcher, too?
 
What are the odds?”

“I imagine she might have taken up the hobby
because
of her name,” I said.
 
I knew Edna slightly, and to say that
she was a little off was understating things.
 
For one example, she’d taken the Peacock
moniker all too literally.
 
Not only
did she have an abundance of peacock figurines spread throughout her home, but
she favored wearing clothes featuring images of the bird itself.
 
I’d asked her once where she’d found
them, and she had boasted that she’d made them all herself.

“Should I believe her?” Jake asked.

“If Edna said it, then it’s true.
 
I’ve never had reason to doubt her word,
nor have I ever heard anyone say a cross word about her.”

“So, now we have two viable suspects left,” Jake
said.
 
“That’s what I’ve been doing
with these folders.
 
I keep staring
at the information, but I’m still not certain what I’m looking for.
 
In my gut, I believe that Conrad Swoop
did it, especially after what I just found out about him.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

Jake took a sip of his own coffee, and then he said,
“We’re dancing that fine line again, Suzanne.
 
I uncovered something during a
background check that isn’t public knowledge.”

“Don’t tell me, then,” I said with a smile.
 
“It’s fine.”

My refusal just seemed to confuse him.
 
“That’s it?
 
You’re giving up that easily?”

“What can I say?
 
I know when I’m on precarious ground.”

Jake nodded.
 
“Thanks for that.
 
Tell you
what.
 
Can you hang around for one
second?
 
I need to get something out
of the bedroom.”

I glanced at the wall clock.
 
I was pushing things as it was, but that
was okay.
 
So what if I had to rush
a little when I got to Donut Hearts?
 
“Sure, I can spare a minute or two.”

Jake nodded, and then he tapped a folder three times
before he left the room.
 
As he’d
touched it, he made eye contact, and I knew that whatever was in there was what
he’d been talking about.

The moment he was gone, I opened the folder and found
a police report.

Conrad Swoop had been arrested for assault three
years earlier.
 
It had taken Jake
some time to dig it up because Conrad had given the cops an alias at first, and
it had muddied the trail.

So, one of our suspects had a police record
and
a history of violence.

It was as big a red flag as I could imagine.

Jake coughed just outside the door, and I closed the
folder and looked away.

“Sorry about that,” he said when he walked back into
the room.

“What did you get out of the bedroom?” I asked him
with a grin.

He laughed, knowing that I was just teasing him.
 
“To be honest with you, I forgot what I
was going in after.”

“Don’t worry about it.
 
That happens to me all of the time.
 
So, what are you going to do?
 
It seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?”

“That’s what troubles me.
 
It’s almost too easy.
 
There’s got to be something that I’m
missing.”
 
He brought out another
paper and handed it to me.
 
“Look,
Julie is in debt up to her eyebrows.
 
If she was counting on getting that money from Evelyn’s estate, it could
have driven her to murder.
 
When I
look at the evidence one way, I think Conrad must have done it, but when I
examine it from another angle, I’m sure that Julie is just as likely guilty.”

“Jake, this isn’t one of your normal cases.
 
Things don’t have to be overly complicated.
 
If you have a gut feeling about it, then
that’s what you should act on.”

“Do you and Grace have any theories?” he asked me.

“We think it’s a coin toss at this point,” I
admitted.

“Do you still feel that way after what I just told
you?” he asked as his gaze darted to the folder holding the police report of
Conrad’s arrest.

“I’m just as confused as you are,” I admitted.
 
I glanced at the clock again and saw
that I was truly late now.
 
“I’d
love to stay and chat, but there are donuts that need to be made.”

“Go.
 
I’m
glad that my insomnia at least gave me a chance to see you.”

“Right back at you,” I said.
 
I gave him a quick kiss, and then I
headed out into the darkness.
 
It
looked as though Conrad Swoop was most likely our bad guy.
 
After all, he had two motives, and an
arrest record to boot.

At least it would all soon be over, and my life could
get back to normal, whatever that entailed these days.
 
That meant that Jake would go back to
his old job, and I would be left alone in the cottage.