Drop Dead Chocolate (13 page)

“Well,” he said after he took a bite of pie. “She
was
nice about it, and she was right. It wasn’t fair of me to brace William here, where I knew he’d be bound to react to my questioning. And lastly, she brought me free pie.”

I tried to hide my smile, and the best way I could think to do it was by taking a bite of my burger. I knew George ate a great many of his meals there with Trish, so her threat was no small matter. What amazed me was how diplomatically she’d handled it. The next time I had to throw someone out of Donut Hearts, it was going to be with a few glazed donuts thrown into the mix. If it worked for Trish, it might just work for me.

As we ate, I asked George, “Did you have a chance to talk to Harvey Hunt yet?”

He shook his head. “No, he was in Charlotte on business all day, but I’ve got an appointment with him first thing in the morning. How about you two? Have you had any luck with the ladies you’re supposed to talk to?”

I wasn’t all that pleased with the progress we’d made, but I owed it to George to tell him what had happened so far. “Well, we got a few answers, raised some new questions, and had a door slammed in our faces, so all in all, I wouldn’t call it a roaring success.”

George grinned at us. “I don’t know, it sounds like a fun day to me. Tell me what happened.”

After we’d recounted our experiences to him, he smiled. “I probably should have taken Evelyn from the start. I’ll handle her myself.”

I couldn’t believe George was offering. “Seriously? I’m not sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. That woman is in no mood to discuss Cam’s murder with anyone.”

“I think she might talk to me,” George said, a little too smugly for my taste. What did he know that I was missing? I had to ask.

“Really? What is it? Do you think she won’t be able to resist your manly charms?” I smiled as I said it. I’d never known a man in my life who didn’t think he had a way with the opposite sex, whether it was true or not. Maybe that wasn’t fair. Since my failed marriage to the Great Impostor, maybe my vision had been a little tainted as well. I was teaching Jake to open his heart again after his family’s sudden end, and he was showing me that not all men were lying dogs. It was more than a fair trade-off, in my opinion.

“No, it’s nothing like that,” George said. “Evelyn’s dad and I were good friends before he died, and she’s always treated me like an honorary uncle as well. Believe it or not, when Evelyn was younger, she used to be quite lovely. When she and Phillip first married, I honestly thought that it would last forever.”

“What happened?” I asked, not able to keep from being so nosy. It was hard to imagine our chief of police and his wife ever having a good life together, but then again, all I’d ever seen from them was a dysfunctional pairing that never should have happened.

“Well, no one likes to talk about it, but everything was fine until their baby died,” George said sadly.

“What? I didn’t know about that,” I said.

He looked surprised by my reaction. “Why should you? It was just before you yourself were born. Evelyn carried that baby full term, but something went tragically wrong with the delivery. I helped pack up the nursery after it happened, and her dad and I even repainted the room from pink to tan. Something happened to her that day, to them, really, and they never were able to bounce back from it. Evelyn got more and more distant, and by the time they finally divorced, I’m sure it was a relief to everyone involved, no matter how Evelyn is acting now.”

I suddenly had a lot more sympathy for Evelyn than I could have imagined. I’d never been pregnant when I was married to Max, but I had thought many times how nice it would have been if we’d had a child together. At least then there would be something positive, some purpose that could have come from our union. I couldn’t imagine losing a child like that. I suddenly realized that if their daughter had lived, she and I would have known each other pretty well. After all, in a small town we would have been thrown together with school, church, and half a dozen other ways.

Grace broke my train of thought when she asked George, “Have you stayed close to her since then?”

George shrugged. “After what happened, she wasn’t close to anyone anymore, and it nearly broke her father’s heart when she turned her back on the world; but since the divorce, Evelyn and I have shared a few meals together. If I ask her about Cam, I’m pretty sure that she’ll tell me.”

I put down my burger and touched George’s hand lightly. “You don’t need to do this. I hate the thought of you jeopardizing your relationship like that, especially when it’s on such shaky ground.”

George shook his head after he finished the last bite of pie. “Suzanne, I don’t want to think that she’s capable of murder, but if she is, she needs to pay for what she’s done.”

“And if she’s innocent?” I asked, not believing I was even saying the words.

“Then I’ll find a way to make things right between us again.” George stood and then said, “Don’t worry, I’ll leave the tip with Trish. See you two later. Happy hunting.”

“Good night,” Grace and I said in perfect unison.

George hesitated up front, then had a small and private conversation with Trish, and she finished it with a hug. I was certain George had apologized for the earlier commotion, and knowing Trish, I was equally sure she’d accepted it.

After he was gone, I looked at Grace. “What do you make of all of that? Did you have the slightest clue about what happened between the chief and Evelyn?”

“I’m surprised by the news, but now that I’ve heard it, it makes sense to me. It seems Evelyn had a reason to be bitter with the world.”

“But it still doesn’t explain why she might have hated Cam enough to kill him,” I said.

Grace shrugged as she looked out the window. “We’ll let George talk to her tomorrow and see if he comes up with more than we could.”

“It would be hard for him to learn less, wouldn’t it?” I said with a slight smile.

“Hey, don’t be too hard on us. We came up with a few nuggets today.”

I nodded and pushed my plate away. “I hope Jake had better luck than we did, though.”

Grace said, “He can follow his leads, and we can follow ours. George is going to talk to Evelyn and Harvey tomorrow. What’s our game plan?”

I didn’t even have to think about my answer to that. “Well, I’m making donuts, and after that we’ll just have to see what happens.”

“Wow, at least we have a plan,” Grace said as she pulled more than enough money to cover both our tabs.

“Hey, you don’t have to treat me to dinner,” I protested.

“It’s my pleasure. I just got a big bonus,” she added with a grin. “My district exceeded every sales goal we had since I took over, and management decided to show their appreciation with a nice fat check.”

I laughed. “I should have gotten dessert, then.”

“It’s not too late,” Grace answered with a smile.

“No, I’d better not. I’m stuffed, and if I eat too much more, I’ll never get to sleep tonight. Thanks for dinner, though. Man, it must be nice being you.”

“It can be,” she said, happily.

After Grace paid Trish, we walked outside together into the chilly night air. The stars were out in all of their brilliance, and I marveled that they seemed brighter somehow in the winter months, as if trying to make up for the cold we were enduring.

“Well, if it’s not the two crime busters,” James Settle said as he started toward the Boxcar Grill. “I hear you two are digging into the mayor’s murder.”

The blacksmith had come to town looking for old railroad tracks for his craft, and had ended up staying, opening up a forge and art studio on the outskirts of town.

“Where did you get that idea?” I asked, curious to know how folks had found out so quickly.

“You’re kidding, right? It’s all over town,” James said. He was a brawny man, a look that fit his profession perfectly. “What I want to know is, are you having any luck?”

“Why are you interested?” Grace asked.

“It’s no secret that I wasn’t any fonder of our mayor than anyone else. We had a few run-ins, too.” He looked at me and grinned. “Oops, I just put myself on your suspect list, didn’t I? I can’t imagine how long that must be. You could probably use the town records for that. I’m curious. Was there anyone around here who actually liked the man?”

“I’m sure he had his supporters,” I said. Why was I defending Cam Hamilton all of a sudden? Was it because I meant it, or was it just that James Settle was still an outsider, though he was now an April Springs resident as well? We tended to keep things close to the vest in our part of the country, and it was a lot like family. It was okay to squabble within, but to the outside world we always tried to present a united front.

James seemed to consider that, and then he said, “I’m not so sure that’s the truth, but if I were you, I’d take a look at his last girlfriend or his best friend.”

“Why would you do that?” I asked, honestly curious about his reasoning.

The blacksmith ran a hand through his hair. “Think about it. Someone got Cam into that abandoned shop, and I’m guessing it was someone he trusted pretty well. Why else meet someone there? It had to be someone close to him. Have you thought about it from that angle?”

“We’ve already spoken with his ex-girlfriend,” I admitted.

“Then there you go. What about a guy friend? Just about everyone I know has one.”

“Who’s yours?” Grace asked.

Settle shrugged. “I haven’t been in town long enough to make one yet here, but give me some time; I will. Now, if you ladies will excuse me, my dinner is calling my name.”

After he had gone inside the Boxcar, I asked Grace, “Is it just me, or does what he just said make sense?”

“I have to admit, he’s got a point,” Grace said.

A thought suddenly occurred to me. “There’s something else we need to consider.”

“What’s that?”

I didn’t like where it was heading, but it was a possibility I had to consider. “What if James is just trying to send us up a blind alley? It’s perfect, if he did it on purpose. First, he tells us that he had a reason to want to see the mayor dead, and before we could even process that, he gave us not one but two possible suspects we should be looking at instead of him.”

Grace shook her head. “Do you really think he’s that clever?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t known him that long, or that well,” I said. “I say we put his name on our list and we also try to find out who Cam’s closest friend was.”

“It can’t hurt,” Grace said.

She glanced at her watch, so I asked her, “Am I keeping you from something? I thought Peter was out of town.”

“He is,” Grace said. “I’m expecting him to call, though.”

“I can take you home if you’d like,” I volunteered.

“No, it’s not for another hour.”

Wow, she really was watching the clock. He wasn’t even in town and he was finding a way to run her life. “What do you want to do in the meantime, then?”

“Do we really have time to talk to anyone else?” she asked. “We’re getting pretty close to your bedtime, aren’t we?”

I stifled a yawn as I said, “I’m fine.”

“Suzanne, if I tried to keep your hours, it would kill me in a month. Are you telling me getting a little extra sleep would be a bad thing?”

“I could always use sleep, but I want to solve this case,” I protested.

“So do I, but we’ve got a big day tomorrow. Why don’t you let me ask around a little on my own? I’ll make a few telephone calls and see if I can find anyone who Cam was particularly close to. Tomorrow we can brace them together if I have any luck tonight.”

“You’re not going to go after someone who might be the killer by yourself, are you?” I’d sent George out once on his own, and he almost hadn’t come back, so there was no way I was going to let Grace risk her life for an investigation.

“I won’t even whisper the guy’s name. No one will know what I’m up to,” she said.

I thought about it and realized that she probably was right. I was beat, there was no doubt about it. I’d had a little too much excitement lately, and not enough rest. Besides, with Momma out on a date, I’d have the cottage to myself. Having Jake over was my first choice, but since that wasn’t exactly an option at the moment, I’d take some time sleeping as my second choice. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. Just be careful.”

“I will.” She paused, and then added, “You know I’m not trying to get rid of you, don’t you?”

“I know. You’re right. I’d offer to drive you to your car, but it’s right there.” Her company car was still parked in front of the donut shop.

“I think I can make it on my own,” she said.

“I’ll make sure you get there,” I said with a grin, and I watched her as she walked to her vehicle, started it, and drove home. I followed, and as we got to her house, I honked once and continued the rest of the short distance back to my place.

I wasn’t all that excited about being home, though, once I got there.

My ex-husband, Max, was sitting on the hood of his car, clearly waiting for me.

CHAPTER 9

“What do you want, Max?” I asked as I got out of my Jeep. I’d gotten over my anger with him, well, most of it, but that didn’t mean he was my best friend.

Max tried his most charming smile out on me, but I was immune to it through years of aversion therapy. “Hey, is that any way to treat your husband?”

I had to laugh at that description. “Max, I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to put ‘ex-’ in front of that. What’s going on? Are you having trouble with your latest production?” Max was a sometime actor and an always wannabe director. Since no one in their right mind would give him a job doing that, he often volunteered at the senior center to stage their productions. The twist was that the theatrical group always insisted on playing roles that were quite a bit younger than they were in actuality.

Max grinned. “No, it’s going fine.” In a more somber voice, he said, “I heard you were digging into Cam Hamilton’s murder.”

First James Settle, and now Max. Did everyone in April Springs know what we were up to? “Are you even surprised? My mother is one of the main suspects. Of course I’m going to do everything in my power to solve it.”