Donut Shop Mystery 25 - Devil's Food Defense (7 page)

“I’m not sure either one of you can promise me that,” she said with a frown. “You’re married to a former cop, and Grace is dating the chief of police right now.”

“You can trust us,” Grace said, and I nodded as well. It was an easier promise for me to keep since Jake was in Raleigh, but I knew if Grace gave her word, she’d stick to it, regardless of the consequences. “We won’t tell anyone whatever you choose to share with us.”

“In the end, I suppose that I’ll have to trust you, because if either one of you betray me, you’re going to have to deal with the wrath of my boss.” She didn’t smile as she said it, not that it would have done any good. She was right. I knew that if we broke our word to Gladys, we would lose more than a great place to eat; we’d lose one of our best friends as well. “Very well. It can’t hurt Gray any more than he’s already suffered. Let’s start with Barry Vance.”

“Why did Gray have trouble with the mailman?” I asked. Barry was big on snooping, and heaven help anyone who got a postcard and wanted to keep the contents confidential. I’d always thought of Barry as kind of harmless, but maybe I’d been wrong.

“I thought the same thing, but we were in Union Square eating at Napoli’s when we ran into Barry a week ago. I swear, Gray turned white when Barry approached us. The mailman seemed awfully cocky about something, as though he knew something that he shouldn’t have.”

“Could he have found out about Gray’s real identity?” I asked.

“I have no idea. All I know is that Gray was jumpy for the rest of the night. He barely touched his food, and he loved Napoli’s. He dropped me off at home right after we ate, and he couldn’t get back home fast enough. We broke up right after that. Anyway, I thought it was odd, but after what happened to Gray, I think someone should talk to Barry. He knows more than he’s willing to let on.”

“That’s helpful,” I said. “Is there anyone else you can think of?”

“Donald Rand,” she said flatly. I knew the investment broker from an earlier investigation. Grace and I had pretended to be people we weren’t to get him to cooperate, but that wouldn’t work anymore, since Rand had been by the donut shop half a dozen times since finding out who I really was. I wouldn’t have trusted the man with my spare change, but had Gray? If the hermit had really stolen any money, would he bury it in his backyard, or would he invest it to try to wash it through Rand?

“Did he have any investments with the broker?” Grace asked.

“I believe so, but he never came right out and said it. All I can say for sure is that Gray was extremely upset with the man over the course of the past two weeks.”

“Okay, we’ll speak with him, too,” I said.

“But you’re not going to tell him that I told you about his connection with Gray, right?” Gladys asked, looking worried for a moment.

“Are you afraid of him, Gladys?” Grace asked her.

“You’re kidding, right? Grace, at the moment, I’m afraid of everyone, including the two of you! Someone tied Gray to a tree and then stabbed him in the chest! I personally think you two are crazy going after someone who could do that. If the killer didn’t find what they were looking for when they came after Gray, how long is it going to take them to come looking for me? I have half a mind to leave town until this all blows over, but I can’t right now! The Food Bank needs me, and I won’t let a killer run me off.” She seemed to find a new level of resolve as she said it. “It’s nearly time for me to go to work,” she said. “I’ve told you all that I can. Find whoever did this to Gray, ladies. He might not have deserved a free pass after what he did, but he deserved better than he got.”

As she got up from the bench, I noticed the person hiding behind the gazebo shift again. It was the stranger who’d asked about Gray before he was murdered!

I thanked Gladys, and then, to everyone’s surprise, I sprinted straight for the gazebo.

The cook looked at me oddly, but I didn’t even have to clue Grace in on what I was doing. Without a word, she ran with me.

I motioned for her to go one way, and I took the other.

But he was too quick for us.

He was already gone.

How much had he heard, and why was he so intent on eavesdropping on our conversation? I didn’t know, but I was determined to find out.

Chapter 9

“T
his is crazy! He couldn’t have just vanished into thin air! Where did he go?” I asked Grace as we met at the back of the gazebo.

“Look. Someone’s trying to sneak around the back of your cottage!” Grace said as she pointed to the retreating figure nearly hidden by the trees.

“You swing around by your house and come up the road,” I shouted instructions as I chased after him. “I’ll keep him from backtracking.”

“What am I supposed to do if I catch him?” Grace asked as she began to do as I’d asked.

“Find a way to keep him there until I can get to you both,” I said as I hurried away.

“Looking for something in particular?” I asked the man, nearly out of breath, as I found him lurking behind my cottage.

“I was thinking about buying the place,” he said, doing his best to act nonchalant under my glaring scrutiny.

“Oh, really. I didn’t realize that it was for sale.”

“It’s one of those private showing things,” he said.

“Ordinarily I might be tempted to believe you, but I know for a fact that you’re lying to me.”

He slumped a little. “You know who really owns this place, don’t you?”

“I do. It’s mine. Bad luck. Why were you snooping on our conversation, and why did you run away when I spotted you? You’re a smooth guy. Why didn’t you just try to lie your way out of it?”

He grinned at me, an odd thing to see. “Believe it or not, I panicked. Whether you put any credence in it or not, I want to know what happened to Gray Vincent every bit as much as you do.”

“I find that hard to believe,” I said as Grace rushed up to join us. She looked at me quizzically, but I shook my head. I had this under control.

“It really doesn’t matter what you believe,” he said. “I’ve done nothing illegal here.”

“Besides trespassing, you mean,” I said. It was an interesting choice of words for him to use. Why would he go straight to illegal? Did that mean that this man had a past history as a criminal, just the same as Gray had? Were they in on something together in the past? Perhaps the robbery gone wrong that had cost someone his life? “You wouldn’t mind showing me some identification, would you?”

That made him chuckle. “Why in the world should I do that?”

“If you have nothing to hide, why wouldn’t you?”

“Because I hate busybodies like you and your friend, there,” he said. His apparent good nature had melted away when I’d asked him for ID.

“Grace, call Chief Grant.”

She pulled out her cellphone, and as she did, Wright started toward me. Was he going to try to attack me? I braced myself, but he walked right past me and headed back to the park.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked him.

“Anywhere that’s away from you and your friend.”

As I started to follow him, I told Grace, “Tell Stephen we need him right now.”

That got his attention. He stopped and turned toward me, and there was an ugly look on his face that gave me chills. “I’m only going to say this one time. Butt out of this, donut lady. You’re in over your head.”

“I often am, but that isn’t going to keep me from finding out what really happened to my friend,” I said, standing my ground.

“Suit yourself, but you’ve been warned.”

He kept going, and I started to follow him again when Grace grabbed my arm.

I tried to free myself, but she wouldn’t let go. “What are you doing?”

“Saving you from yourself, probably,” she said. “Suzanne, that was an honest-to-goodness threat. Let Stephen handle it.”

“Where is he, by the way?” I asked as I calmed down a little. When I was pushed, I tended to push back, but Grace was right. It was time to let a professional deal with this man. Unless I missed my guess, he’d seen plenty of trouble in his life, and had no doubt caused as much himself.

“There’s a wreck outside of town. He’s got his hands full at the moment, but he’ll be here as soon as he can.”

I looked back for the stranger who’d threatened me, but he was already gone.

Sooner or later we’d have to find a way to deal with him, but at the moment, Gladys had given us a few other folks to speak with. I wasn’t about to be driven off this case, or any other. If I gave in to bullies, I might as well stop investigating on my own, and this was too important for me to walk away from.

“What should we do in the meantime?” Grace asked me.

“We need to speak with Barry Vance and Donald Rand,” I said. “Any preferences as to which one we tackle first?”

“That’s a little like asking me if I’d like to get punched in the face or kicked in the ribs, isn’t it?” she asked me with a bit of a frown.

“Unfortunately, this time both of the suspects we know aren’t very nice people,” I said. “If you don’t have a preference, let’s go see Donald first.”

“Why the investor instead of the mailman?” Grace asked as we walked to my Jeep and got in.

“It’s simple, really. At least we know where he usually is this time of day. Barry could be anywhere, but chances are good that we’ll find Donald Rand in his cheesy little office in the strip mall.”

“Then let’s go,” she said.

But our plans changed abruptly, as they had a way of doing sometimes. We were just reaching the heart of town when I saw the mailman walking his route, and I quickly pulled the Jeep over so we could speak with him first after all. Grace had been on her phone texting someone about something, and she looked up with alarm as I changed direction and movement so suddenly. “What’s going on, Suzanne?”

“There’s Barry,” I said. “Do you want to come with me, or should I handle him alone? He might be more willing to talk if there’s just one of us.”

“I suppose it’s worth a shot, but if you don’t feel like tackling him alone, give me three minutes to finish with this. I’ll be glad to join you,” she said as she frowned. “I’m just trying to put out a fire at work so I can keep helping you.”

“You do that, I’ll handle this,” I said.

“Are you sure?”

“No worries. If I get in trouble, I’ll just scream,” I said with a grin. “Besides, what’s he going to do to me? This is about as public as it gets in April Springs.” We were near the clock, and right across the street from city hall. It would be a stupid place to attack me, even if Barry felt the impulse.

“Promise?” she asked.

“I promise.”

“Okay. Should I join you when I’m finished with this?”

“No, just wait here. I shouldn’t be long.”

I walked over to Barry, who was listening to something on his iPod as he walked his route. I doubted that was completely kosher, but what did I care? I wasn’t there to enforce the US Postal Service’s rules and regulations. I was looking for a murderer.

“Barry. Barry. Barry!” I finally shouted, trying to get his attention. The last time did it, and he stopped dead in his tracks as he pulled out his earbuds. He was an odd shape of a man, with a decent-sized belly but possessing the legs of a much younger man, no doubt from all of the walking he did on his job. Though there was still a chill in the air, especially in the mornings, he wore uniform shorts, as if to put his best foot forward, so to speak. His face looked a bit like a bird’s, with a beaklike nose, long, narrow eyes, and a pointed chin.

“What is it, Suzanne? I haven’t gotten to the donut shop yet, and I can’t just dig through my bag looking for something special for you. I’ve got a schedule, and I’m sticking to it.”

Barry wasn’t a great mailman. Though my mailbox hung on the outside wall of the former train depot where I sold my treats, he’d refuse to walk in, even if he had something for me too big to fit into the box. Instead, he’d prop it up against the outside wall, as though he couldn’t be bothered walking it the extra four steps inside to hand-deliver it to me. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually stepped foot into Donut Hearts, business or personal, and we didn’t exactly have a cordial relationship. “It’s not about the mail. I need to talk to you about Gray Vincent.”

That caught him off guard. “What about him? He wasn’t on my route, so I barely knew the man. It’s a shame what happened to him, but I can’t help you.”

I
was on his daily route, and he didn’t know me at all, either. Was he being a little too defensive? “That’s not what I heard.”

His eyes sharpened a little, and his mouth narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“That there was bad blood going on between you two,” I said.

“That’s a lie,” he said loudly and forcefully. “I know where you heard it. Gladys said something, didn’t she?”

“What could she possibly say, if nothing happened between the two of you?” I asked him innocently.

“Nothing. If she, or anybody else, said anything happened between Gray and me, it was strictly in their imagination. Now I have to get back to work. Some of us put in a full day and don’t cut out before lunchtime.”

That was patently unfair, since I started my day before any sane person even thought about getting out of bed, but I decided to let it slide. It felt as though he was purposely goading me, trying to start a fight so he could end the conversation.

I wasn’t going to let that happen. “We’re going to find out what really was going on between the two of you,” I said earnestly.

“Who’s this ‘we’?” he asked me, looking around. “Is your husband prying into other people’s lives with you nowadays?”

“You never know,” I said, hoping that Grace would do as I asked and stay in the Jeep. It was a lot more intimidating having a former state police investigator on your heels than it was a cosmetics company sales supervisor, though if he really knew Grace, I doubted that he’d feel that way.

“Fine. So something happened,” Barry said. “He owed me a little money, but we cleared it up. That’s it.”

“Why would Gray owe you money?” I asked, curious about this sudden confession.

“It was from a poker game,” the mailman said just a little too quickly. I couldn’t imagine a more outrageous lie. Poker was, by its very nature, a social event, and Gray Vincent would barely leave his cabin, let alone be out among other people playing poker, or any other game.

“That should be easy enough to prove, then. Who else played that night?” I asked him, doing my best to present a face that didn’t shout LIAR at him.

“It was a private game,” he said quickly. “I wouldn’t feel right mentioning any other names without their permission.”

No doubt he was hoping that I’d just drop it. It was clear that Barry didn’t know me at all. “That’s okay. I’ll ask around,” I said.

As I started to walk away, Barry said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Why on earth shouldn’t I?”

“Important people, powerful people, were playing. They won’t like you snooping around, Suzanne.”

I laughed. “In April Springs, I’m either friends with or related to every important or powerful person in town, and I know for a fact that Gray Vincent wouldn’t come into town for anything short of a hurricane or a nuclear explosion.”

I was four steps away when Barry stopped me. “Fine. It wasn’t poker.”

Wow. It hadn’t taken him very long to give up that particular lie. As I turned back to him, I said, “I didn’t think it was. So, if it wasn’t poker, then what was it?”

“It was personal,” Barry said guardedly. “If I wanted you to know, I’d tell you.”

“Okay, but you should know that I’m not going to just let this go. I’m going to find out what really happened between you.”

“Do whatever you want to,” he said with a frown. “I’ve got to get back to my route.” With that, he jammed the earbuds back in and tried his best to ignore me as he walked away.