Dying for the Truth (A Rockcrest Cove Cozy Mystery Book 4) (3 page)

Evan’s bakery was situated in the historical side of town and had that authentic-looking brick front to it. It didn’t look much different from any of the other shops in the area; aside from its artfully crafted signage, there was nothing distinctive about the place. His display windows showed the Plaster of Paris mockups of his baked goodies. Already signs of dust had accumulated, telling her that he wasn’t as diligent about his business image since the death of Emma.

She thought back to the last time she and Maddie had entered the store. It was then a fine specimen of an establishment. Even if the ideas had been stolen, both she and Maddie had been impressed by his execution of design and service. She doubted she would see the same thing tonight when she went in. She quickly surveyed the street and watched as a couple strolled passed her holding hands. They didn’t appear to take notice of her, but she kept her eye on them until they turned the corner and disappeared out of sight. There were others across the street, but no one seemed to be paying attention to the closed establishment and were busy going in and out of the other businesses in the area that were catering to their needs.

Bailey quickly slipped into the alley heading toward the back of the stores, convinced that spending too much time on the main thoroughfare would definitely get her into trouble. At the end of the alley she looked back to make sure that no one had noticed and decided to follow her. After a few minutes, when no one came, she made her way to the back door of the bakery. It was hard to find because there were no signs on the doors. She had to count to make sure she was at the right one. Looking around, she saw no signs of surveillance cameras around the back, but she couldn’t be too careful. A surveillance camera that was easy to spot didn’t provide too much protection. She kept herself well hidden from any area that might possibly be a hiding place for a camera.

Quickly pulling a hoodie up over her head, she made a feeble attempt at pulling the door open as if she expected it to be left unlocked, but the door didn’t give at all. She pulled out her notes on how to pick locks she had printed out from her research on the Internet. She had watched the YouTube video that showed her exactly what to do, but she had made a printed copy just in case she forgot one of the steps. Pulling two hairpins from her hair, she bent them just so, following the instructions exactly as they were given.

Taking one more glance around her to make sure no one was nearby, she inserted the first pin into the lock to use as a lever, then the second pin, which she began to manipulate in the lock chamber. On the video it took only seconds to feel her way to the pins of the locking mechanism, but for her it seemed like an eternity before she heard the first click. The sound boosted her confidence and she tried again for the second pin. The clicking sound was rewarding, and by the time she heard the fifth and final click, she felt confident that she could teach herself just about anything by watching the Internet. She was rewarded with the sound of the lock giving way and the feel of the tension in the door being released.

Placing a gloved hand on the handle, the door freely opened up and she was inside. She stood there for just a minute, waiting to see if an alarm would go off, but nothing happened. She was standing in complete darkness and silence.

The layout of the bakery was very similar to Maddie’s own but on a much smaller scale. While Maddie had over time expanded into a full-scale catering business complete with a home delivery service, Evan’s had most definitely remained a one-stop shop purely for baked sweets. The office set to the right side of the hallway and the kitchen directly across from it. She decided to explore the kitchen first. If poison was involved, there would have to be some evidence of it in the kitchen.

Looking around, she waited until her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, not wanting to turn on a light or even use a flashlight for fear it would draw attention. Unlike the kitchen in Maddie’s shop, this one was open to the front, so anyone passing by would be able to see in. She dropped to the floor to test the effectiveness of the pin light she had on her keychain. It seemed to work well, not emitting so much light as to draw attention. Still, she would have to get very close to everything in order to see what she was doing.

The kitchen was pretty easy to figure out; baking supplies were labeled clearly and the refrigerator in the back was well stocked. As she walked the aisles of the refrigerator, she was very impressed by the efficient organization of every single thing. But she stopped short as she approached the end of the last aisle. There were several unmarked bins that looked completely out of place. She carefully kneeled down and carefully slid one of the bins closer to her. Taking a precautionary look over her shoulder, she turned back and focused her attention on the large plastic bin. It didn’t seem to be any heavier than anything else she had found, and she wondered why it hadn’t been marked like everything else. Perhaps it was just something new that had come in and hadn’t been labeled just yet. Slowly she peeled back the plastic top to the bin and peered inside.

Disappointment clouded her face as she saw only a collection of what looked like peach seeds but without the grooves and much smaller. Frustrated, she closed the lid and pushed the bin back into place; just yesterday’s garbage that had been left behind from the day before.

Deciding that there was nothing there, she made her way across the hall to the office, hoping for better success. The office was pretty sparse with a desk sitting against one wall and a couple of file cabinets. If the kitchen was a testament to Evan’s orderliness in his cooking, it didn’t show in the office. One could easily tell that his accounting and paperwork skills fell far behind. The disorderliness seemed out of place in comparison to the rest of the store.

Bailey started looking through the papers strewn across the desk, finding bills, delivery receipts, and customer orders all together in one stack. She gave a sigh of frustration as she looked over the mess. At this rate it would take all night to find anything of importance; she needed help. Quickly she flipped open her cell phone and punched Kyle’s name in her contact list. The phone rang only once before he picked up.

“Bailey, are you okay?”

“Yep, I’m fine. I think I’m going to need some help to get through all of this paperwork.”

“Bailey, you need to get out of there before you get caught.”

“I’m not leaving until I can find something to help my gran,” she resisted.

“You don’t have time. You need to leave now. We can order a search warrant for the place later.”

“You know as well as I do that that could take a long time, and that’s only if we have enough evidence to warrant it,” Bailey contested.

“Well, that’s the legal way to do it,” Kyle persisted.

“Kyle,” Bailey countered. “It’s obvious that we need evidence in order to get evidence. Now are you going to come down here and help me or what?” she demanded.

A short while later there was a soft rap on the back door, and Bailey quickly ran from the office to let Kyle in. Reluctant, Kyle had found himself torn between whether or not to help Bailey. On the one hand, he could find himself in some serious legal troubles if he was found breaking and entering into any establishment. His license could be revoked, or worse, he could be disbarred. On the other hand, with Bailey’s persistence, he wasn’t sure that she would not be in even worse trouble if she were caught. She could find herself in jail where who knows what could happen to her. Against his better judgment, he decided it would be best to give her a hand and help her get out of the store before getting caught.

Bailey led him to the office and he could immediately see why she was having such difficulty. The place was a mess, and he didn’t know where to look first. Bailey had already opened up one filing cabinet and was going through it; she had already finished looking over the papers on the desk.

Kyle opened up an antiquated old filing cabinet that he thought was just a relic from times long gone. Instead of the metal cabinets on the other side of the room, this one was made of wood, which had faded from years of use. Evan must’ve purchased this from some flea market or a thrift store or something. It was in good condition and it had no lock to speak of.

Immediately after he opened it he realized he had hit on where personal documents unrelated to the business were kept. He found Evan’s personal life insurance policy, his passports, and his personal credit card statements. “Bailey, I think we might be on to something here.”

“Huh?” Bailey said as she looked over a stack of papers she had pulled from the filing cabinet she was searching.

“If we’re going to find anything, Bailey, I think we’ll find it in here.”

Bailey put the papers back she was looking at, closed the drawer to the cabinet, and went over to join Kyle. “What did you find?”

Kyle was pulling a small book out of the cabinet and flipping it over. There were no markings on the cover, and flipping through the pages, he found it was entirely filled in with handwritten notes.

“That’s Emma’s handwriting,” Bailey said, reaching for it. She looked at the first few pages and recognized her gran’s personal recipes. “These,” she gasped as she flipped through the pages. “These are Gran’s notes and recipes. Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed. “It’s all here. All her secrets that were stolen by Emma!”

Kyle reached over and grabbed the book from her. He flipped through the pages himself and even with his lack of knowledge about cooking recognized the value of the recipes listed there.

“Let’s see what else is stashed in this cabinet,” Bailey said, pulling open a second drawer. In the second drawer they found another box of personal papers. These were separate letters and notes to Evan that had been carefully put aside in a box that was completely removed from everything else that was chaotic. Bailey flipped through the notes and made a barely audible gasp, her eyes widening at the words found on the page. “These are love letters,” she said, speaking each word separately, as if they were each a sentence on their own. “Letters from Kelsey Orlando to Evan.”

“Kelsey?” Kyle asked, surprised. “The mayor’s wife?”

“Yeah,” Bailey exclaimed, showing them to Kyle. “See here?” She pointed at the salutation line. “My darling Evan,” she read. “And they are signed. Look.” She showed him the signature that clearly showed that the writer was Kelsey.

“For goodness sake,” Kyle said, scratching his head in amazement. “Some small town this is.”

Just then they heard scuffling just outside the front door and the distinctive sound of keys jangling.

“Someone’s coming,” Kyle exclaimed. They quickly gathered up a few of the letters and the book of stolen recipes and tiptoed out the back door just as the front door was opening up. As soon as they were clear, they sprinted to the alley that lead toward the street and kept running until they were back at Bailey’s car. Pausing only for a moment to catch their breath, they looked at each other with knowing looks that revealed their jubilation at finding what they both felt could be instrumental in helping Madeline win her case.

Chapter Four

It was impossible to sleep. Bailey was up all night reading through the notebook and love letters and other papers they had found in Evan’s bakery. She read each of Kelsey’s letters over and over again, and with each page she was convinced that this could lead to another motive for having Evan killed and was eager to share this information with her gran.

Kyle had decided to do some of his own investigating on his own and had left Bailey to give Madeline a report of the night’s event by herself.

Maddie also had been wrought with anxiety over Bailey’s decision to break into Evan’s bakery. It had been a foolish move and could have gotten her into a great deal of trouble. She paced the floor all night waiting to hear something, but no phone call had come.

Now, as she slipped the key into the lock of her own bakery, her hands shook just a little. She was fearful that something had happened and was not sure what to do. She had not heard from Kyle or Bailey, and the lines in her furrowed brow attested to her deep concern. How was she going to concentrate on her work today, not knowing what had happened the night before?

She went about her morning ritual for the first time without any type of enjoyment in her work. It was almost as if she had been working on automatic pilot as her employees came in one by one. It was difficult for her to think or explain things coherently. Her employees were asking questions that she wasn’t even able to comprehend. She finally told them to just do what they thought was best and went into her office to try to call Bailey one more time.

Astoria apparently sensed her discomfort and was also displaying rather nervous behavior. Her feline friend was meowing loudly and getting into places that she was never allowed to. Maddie pressed Bailey’s name on her contact list and waited while the phone continued to ring.

“Why isn’t she answering her phone?” Maddie said out loud. “She always has her phone with her.”

She tried three separate times on Bailey’s number and then twice on Kyle’s, and each time the phones simply went to voicemail. Hanging up, she resigned herself to the fact that there was nothing for her to do but wait. With a big sigh, she left her office and headed out to the kitchen. She could always relax when she was creating a new recipe, and now seemed the perfect time to do just that.

Astoria followed her across the hall, meowing loudly and watching from the kitchen door as Maddie started about her task. Walking about the kitchen collecting the ingredients she wanted to use, her mind was certainly not on cooking this morning. Absentmindedly, she began dumping flour, sugar, baking powder, and other dry ingredients into a bowl and mixing them together.

Stopping, she looked at the mixture as if she wasn’t sure what to do. Christine and Rachel, who were assigned to work that morning, looked at each other as they watched her, unsure of what to do.

Finally, she turned around and headed to the refrigerator for more ingredients. Astoria leaped up onto the kitchen counter and began to play and frolic in the already mixed ingredients. A cup of spices came crashing down and spilled over everything on the counter. By the time Madeline had returned from the refrigerator, the counter had taken on the appearance of a small disaster area.

“Astoria!” Maddie shouted. “What are you doing in here?” She put down her armload of ingredients and immediately grabbed the cat by the scruff of her neck and took her out into the hallway. “You know you’re not allowed in the kitchen!” She put the cat down on the floor and stood over her. “Bad girl! Bad, bad girl!” she reprimanded with a stern finger in her face.

Astoria merely meowed unapologetically and went back to her designated place in the office where she usually waited until Maddie had finished her work.

Maddie breathed a careful sigh of relief and went back to the kitchen, now to clean up the mess that Astoria had made. She was determined to keep herself busy until she heard something from Bailey or Kyle. Soon after she had begun the cleanup work, she heard the gentle tingling of bells that announced that her customers were arriving. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was really early for her customers to start coming in. They rarely dotted her door before five in the morning, but now it was only four thirty.

A short knock on the open kitchen door was her reward. She turned and saw Bailey standing there looking completely exhausted but otherwise quite excited. Maddie was beside herself with relief, and she ran to her granddaughter and embraced her tightly.

“Oh, Bailey. Why didn’t you call? I was beside myself with worry,” Maddie said through exhausted breaths.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Gran,” she apologized sincerely. “I didn’t mean to worry you. It was just so late when we got back. We decided that you must’ve been asleep and didn’t want to bother you.”

“Didn’t you get my messages?” Maddie asked with a playful tap on the girl’s shoulder, fighting to keep the tears from falling.

“No, I didn’t,” Bailey answered, reaching in her back pocket for her phone. “I guess I put my phone on silent last night and forgot to turn it back on.” Her eyes popped open as she saw the numerous missed calls on her phone. “Oh Gran,” she said. “I’m so sorry.” Her face clouded with worry and concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine now,” Maddie said. “Where’s Kyle?”

“He said he had a few things he wanted to check out,” Bailey answered.

The lines on Maddie’s face immediately began to relax, but they were now being replaced by the stress of exhaustion.  Bailey’s concern peaked at the transformation that was going on before her eyes.

“Come on, Gran. Let’s go into the office so we can talk.”

“Good idea,” Maddie agreed. “Christine, I’m so sorry but would you mind finishing cleaning this up for me?”

“No problem, Ms. Maddie. I’ll take care of it.”

Maddie and Bailey walked arm in arm across the hall to her office.

Now that she knew that Bailey was all right, Maddie allowed her mind to take on new worries. It was unlike Bailey to just show up without calling first, and at such an early hour, no less. The doors had barely opened and the flood of customers was already starting to grow. Her curiosity was peaked; Maddie asked her two workers to handle the growing crowd of customers out front so that she could give her full attention to Bailey.

“You must have found something for you to come here so early.”

“You’re right. I couldn’t sleep a wink.” Bailey placed the box of Kelsey’s letters on the desk in front of Maddie. “We sure did.” She beamed.

Maddie slowly settled in her office chair and stared at the decorative box that lay before her. “What is it?” she asked, not yet ready to touch it.

“It’s love letters to Evan.”

“You mean to tell me Evan was involved with someone all this time?”

“Not just someone,” Bailey answered proudly. “But someone you wouldn’t believe. And you’ll never guess who.”

“Who?” Maddie asked as she pulled the box toward her, still not wanting to open it.

“Kelsey Orlando.”

Maddie’s eye’s blinked a few times to allow her mind to absorb the information. Bailey thought she could visibly see her pupils dilate. There was silence in the room while the news sank in.

“The mayor’s wife?” Maddie asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Bailey concurred. “You know what this means, don’t you, Gran?”

Maddie was quiet for a minute, staring at the box, carefully trying to decide what to do with what Bailey had just laid on her. Slowly she reached out for the box and lifted off its lid, but before she could reach in to get its contents, Astoria leaped up on the desk and then into Maddie’s arms, distracting her for the second time this morning.

“Astoria!” Maddie gasped. “What are you doing?”

The cat just meowed and curled up in Maddie’s lap as if to demand attention.

“I can’t pet you now,” Maddie said, a little more harshly than she actually felt, and put the cat down on the floor. “Now go play,” she demanded. Turning her attention back to the box, she began removing the letters and turning them over in her hands. She recognized the slight curve of the writing that was distinctive of Kelsey’s character; the pale pink color on the rose-scented stationary that was not likely to be found at any common stationary store. She didn’t read them. She felt very strongly that she was invading someone’s privacy, so she was avoiding that step, but she did notice the salutation line: My Dearest Evan.

Astoria rubbed up against her leg, distracting her once more in an attempt to get attention. Maddie placed the letters back in the box, trying to decide what all of this meant. As soon as her hands were free, Astoria jumped once again back up on the desk, meowing loudly.

Maddie pushed her away again. “Go away, Astoria. I can’t pet you now,” she said a little more forcefully now, but the cat’s insistence was evident, even to Bailey.

“What’s wrong with her?” Bailey asked. “She’s not usually like this.”

“I don’t know,” Maddie said. “I think her routine has been disrupted with all of this activity: the police coming in and out, the shop being closed for a day or so, and maybe because I haven’t paid much attention to her lately. Whatever it is, she’s demanding more attention from me than usual.” Maddie finally surrendered and let the cat curl up in her lap.

Bailey was a bit annoyed at her gran’s meager response to her findings. She had certainly expected a bigger reaction than what she was getting. “Don’t you understand what this means, Gran?”

Maddie thought for a minute while she stroked Astoria’s soft, furry coat. “I’m sorry, Bailey. So, Evan was having an affair,” she said, trying to think out loud as if it would help her concentrate.

“It could give another motive for Evan’s murder,” Bailey finally said. “If the mayor found out about the affair.” She paused to let the thought sink in.

“It would give him a reason for having Evan killed.”

“Or perhaps Evan wanted to break it off,” Maddie suggested, finally catching on to Bailey’s train of thought. “She may have wanted to have him gone as well.”

The two women locked eyes as they mentally analyzed each of the possibilities. Maddie put Astoria back on the floor and got up from her seat. She walked to the other side of the room, nibbling on a fingernail while she started to expound on her ideas. Astoria followed her, trying to rub up against her legs as she moved. Turning quickly, she startled the cat and nearly stepped on her.

A loud screech from Astoria brought her out of her concentration as she focused all of her energies on keeping her balance so as not to fall. “Astoria!” she shouted. The cat seemed unperturbed by the entire affair and refused to move. “If you keep on doing this, I’m going to have to put you outside,” she announced.

The noise from outside was beginning to rise as the crowd of customers were pushing their way in to get their morning sweet and a cup of coffee. Maddie tried to concentrate, but with Astoria insisting on her undivided attention, Bailey explaining what she found in Evan’s bakery, and the din of customers outside, it was becoming increasingly difficult.

Maddie finally picked up her unusually annoying cat and decided to chance it and put her out back where she couldn’t disturb anyone. She was pretty confident that Astoria would not go far, and if she did, it would only be a matter of time before she would meander back to familiar surroundings.

Returning to her office, she found Bailey thumbing through another book.

“I also found this, Gran,” Bailey said proudly.

“What’s that?”

“It’s the book of recipes that Emma stole from you when she worked here.”

Maddie reached out and grabbed the book from Bailey’s hands. A sense of great satisfaction came over her as she flipped through the pages. She recognized Emma’s distinct handwriting and knew she had gotten the answers to her questions. The idea that Evan had continued to use her recipes was disturbing, but to know that the book was back in her hands was probably more important to her than solving her own case. It can be difficult to explain the emotions involved when creativity has been compromised.