Dying for the Truth (A Rockcrest Cove Cozy Mystery Book 4) (7 page)

“Has it been that bad?”

“Maddie, you already know that. You said it yourself. This type of restaurant is far from my taste in establishments.”

“True, but there could have been a number of reasons why you would want to come here.”

“Not really. I love money and I love being able to spend it—and so did my wife. When she learned that she was going to have to cut her spending, she wasn’t too happy about it.”

“So, have you been trying to recoup some of your losses?”

“Oh yes, I have.”

Michael stopped to sign the check the waiter brought. “Shall we go?”

“Oh yes.”

The two walked out of the restaurant together and headed for the door. They stood next to the valet parking service to wait for their separate cars. Michael handed the valet a ticket. “It’s the silver blue Mercedes.”

“Yes, sir.”

Maddie pulled out her ticket to hand to the valet, but she suddenly felt something cold and hard sticking into her back.

“Oh!” She said with surprise and turned to see the barrel of a gun aimed directly at her.

“The lady will be coming back for her car,” Michael told the valet.

“Yes, sir,” he said and went off toward the parking lot.

When they were alone he turned to Maddie. “You’re a very smart lady, Maddie, and I knew it was just a matter of time before you would be able to piece everything together and connect me to Evan’s murder.”

“How did you know?” Maddie asked.

“I knew as soon as you called. Your being accused of a crime that I committed was not something I could feel comfortable about. You’re like a tenacious bulldog. You won’t stop looking until you uncover every little detail about the crime. That’s just the kind of person you are.”

“But lots of people have seen us together tonight Michael. There’s no way you’re going to get away with killing me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Maddie. I’m not going to kill you; you’re just going to skip town for a while. When they realize that you didn’t want to face trial, they’ll forget all about our little dinner tonight and they’ll automatically assume that you were guilty.”

“No one would believe that I would leave behind my family and business because of this case.”

“We’ll see about that. You’d be surprised what people will believe when fed the right amount of information. You see, Maddie, it’s about how you tell them the story. People aren’t really interested in finding out the truth. They just want to know about …” Michael’s voice stopped in mid-sentence. It appeared that his body went completely limp, the gun fell from his hand, and his body began to crumple to the ground as if in slow motion.

Maddie looked on in surprise, not sure what had happened until Michael’s heap of a body fell, revealing Bailey standing over him with a cast iron frying pan she had swiped from the kitchen.

“Wha! What?” was all Maddie could say.

“We saw the two of you leaving together and figured that it was all ok. But then when I noticed that Michael didn’t put his coat on when he left the restaurant, I knew something was wrong. When I got closer, I saw the gun so I did what I had to do,” Bailey said proudly.

“What happened to Phil’s security?”

Bailey pointed to the bushes just behind Maddie where she saw a gun trained right where Michael was standing—and another one across the street. Then the valet came up with his own gun with a big grin on his face. “Don’t worry, ma’am. There was no way he was going to get you in his car. We had him covered from every angle.”

“Well, what do we do now?” Maddie asked.

“We call the police. There’s no way that Connors can ignore this bit of evidence. With a few warrants for Evan’s financial records and insurance papers, it shouldn’t be hard to prove that Michael was the real murderer all along.”

Chapter Six

The time passed slowly after Michael’s arrest. With the necessary warrants, it was clear that he was indeed the primary suspect in the death of Evan Foster. As the months came and went, Maddie again busied herself in her business, which now that Evan’s bakery was no longer in existence was doing better than she could have ever imagined.

It was exhausting work, so she decided to turn the business over to Rachel to manage several days a week so that she could take advantage of a few of the more pleasurable things in life. Having a few days off each week was making a major difference in Maddie’s life. Even though she really enjoyed her work, she could not only see the difference in her presence but she was feeling it as well.

That permanent white streak in her hair was beginning to fade; she was even joining Bailey on her early morning runs. At first a little reluctant to get into the exercise thing, she could feel the difference in her body. The titillating tingle of fresh oxygen flowing through her veins made her feel stronger and more energetic too.  She was becoming a completely different person.

But today was much more exciting than usual. Philip had come for a visit, and he insisted on learning all about her business. While reluctant to have someone so inexperienced in the kitchen, she had a hard time telling him no. Last night at dinner she had tried to explain to him how complicated the work was, but he would have none of that.

“On my boat, I am responsible for everything from food to the engines. I need to know a little about every aspect of work that needs to be done.”

“I understand that, Phil, but my bakery is a very fast-paced business. You have to anticipate orders and make sure you have everything ready when a customer comes in the door.”

“All right. I’m your student,” he had said with a glint in his eye. “You are free to mold me like clay.”

Now Maddie was trying not to laugh in his face as the staunchly captain stood in her kitchen wearing a white kitchen apron and looking more like the Pillsbury Dough Boy than the prominent official of the sea that he really was.

“Ok,” he said with a big grin on his face. “Where do we start?”

“Why don’t we start you with something simple, like prepping.”

“Prepping. I know what that is.”

“Ok. Here is a list of ingredients that I will need for one of the recipes I need to make today. Why don’t you start by getting everything together and putting it on that counter there.” She pointed toward the walk-in refrigerator and the pantry shelves. “You’ll find everything in there.”

Philip set off at a quick pace and almost immediately knocked over a shelf of pans with his long and gangly arms. “Oops. I didn’t see that there.”

Maddie turned her back so he wouldn’t see her laughing. It’s a good thing this is one of the slow days, she thought. She may have been out of business if this was during her peak business hours.

Fifteen minutes later, Maddie surveyed the pile of ingredients Phil had collected for her and tried to decide what to do. In his attempt to measure the dry ingredients, there was now a trail of flour and sugar coming from the pantry to the workstation. Instead of the requested baking powder he had brought her baking soda.

“Aren’t they the same thing?” he asked.

“No, not exactly.” She avoided trying to explain it to him and just sent him back to the pantry. “It’s the white and blue can, not the yellow one.”

Once the dry ingredients were all collected, she feared sending him into the refrigerator for the other ingredients. A few minutes later, she found her fears were justified. In front of her was a bowl full of cracked eggs, which still had bits of shells floating in them. He was busy mopping up a splattering of milk, which was now spreading without letup all across her kitchen counter.

Maddie couldn’t prevent the scowl from spreading across her face when he insisted that he wanted to do the mixing.

“Why don’t we make it a competition?” Phil suggested when he saw her reluctance. “I’m pretty handy in the kitchen.”

Maddie couldn’t help but laugh at his words. “Probably because you’re the only one there.”

“Ah, you’re gonna be like that, aren’t you?”

“Phil, I have to be,” she retorted. “Otherwise I might not have a business left.”

“I challenge you to a bake-off,” he said playfully.

“Serious?”

“Serious,” he confirmed. “Give me one of your recipes and we’ll see who’s the best.”

“Not now, Phil,” she said. “We’re still open for business.”

“All right. When do you close?”

Her workers were watching the antics with much amusement.

“Aw, come on Ms. Maddie. We can run the store,” they goaded.

“Yeah, come on. It’ll be fun.”

Maddie looked around and saw that she was in over her head. “All right, you’re on,” she said to Phil. “Crystal, can you please bring Phil here my lemony bar cupcake recipe.” She turned to Phil. “It’s the easiest one.”

Once everything was in place, the workers all stood around as if they were watching one of those reality cooking TV shows. Crystal had chosen to be the moderator.

“All right, lady and gentleman,” she told the contestants, “you have thirty minutes to make the most awesomest cupcake you can. The one that impresses the judges the most is the winner!”

A round of applause spread around the shop. Even a few customers in the shop were taking part in the excitement. Some were even placing bets.

“On your mark,” Crystal shouted with her hand in the air. “Ready!” She held off for just a beat longer that usual. “Go!”

Philip took off at a rapid pace and almost immediately skidded across the floor. He dashed into the refrigerator and tried to collect all of his ingredients in one fell swoop. As a result, he ended up with some damaged goods, which had to be thrown out, and started again.

Maddie, on the other hand, moved with methodic precision; each move she made was a testament to her skill and experience in the kitchen for many years.

By the time the thirty minutes were over, the judges and even some of the customers were anxious to taste the cupcakes that came out of the contest. Silence hung in the room as each one tasted the two cupcakes and wrote their favorite down on paper.

Crystal tallied the votes and prepared for the final announcement.

“After much deliberation among the judges and anticipation from the crowd, we finally have a winner.” She turned to two workers standing behind the register. “Drum roll please,” She said, at which point the workers began pounding on the counter. “And the winner of the most awesomest cupcake ever in the town of Rockcrest Cove is …”

Crystal waited a full minute before she announced, “Ms. Madeline McDougal.”

The crowd roared with laughter and applause. “I’m sorry, Phil. No one can beat Ms. Maddie’s cupcakes. Ever.”

Phil bowed gracefully and turned to walk away.

“Wait a minute, Phil,” Crystal called.

Phil turned back to see what was coming next.

“With much deliberation, we have decided that there should be another honorary reward.” Applause came from the crowd again. “This award, we’ll call it the Golden Spoon Award”—she picked up a plastic spoon the workers had tied a ribbon around and held it up for everyone to see—“goes to Captain Philip.” Laughter once again. “For the sheer audacity to go up against the greatest baker ever.”

The evening ended on a very positive note. Maddie had to admit as she surveyed the chaotic mess in her kitchen that she couldn’t remember when she’d had so much fun. She felt like a little schoolgirl and thoughts of her late husband came to her mind unbidden. Crystal and Rachel had offered to clean the kitchen so that Maddie and Phil could leave and finish their evening together. As they left the shop holding hands, they leisurely strolled and chatted along the nearly deserted streets on their way to her home.

By the time they reached the house, however, all of her happiness dimmed. She stopped short as they rounded the corner, her mouth open in complete shock.

“What’s wrong?” Phil asked.

“Someone’s in my house,” she said as she pointed a shaky finger toward her home.

In fact, the house was well lit up. Through the curtains you could easily see figures moving throughout the rooms.

“I should call the police,” Maddie said, reaching for her cell phone.

“Wait a minute,” Phil said. “Let me check it out first. By the time the police get here, they could be long gone.”

“Phil, are you sure?”

“Listen, I’m an old Navy man from way back. I know how to handle myself in risky situations.”

Yeah, Maddie thought, but that was a long time ago. Those risky situations are now a lot younger and can move a lot faster than you can. She said all that to herself, but out loud she said, “If you’re sure.”

Phil took her hand and they slowly crept up to the porch. With each step, Maddie felt a little more anxiety creeping into her, thinking it was foolish to not call for the police.

“Give me your keys,” Phil asked as they approached the door.

She handed him her keys with a shaky hand. Phil grasped her hand tightly with one hand and with the other he slipped the key into the lock.

“Ready?” he asked.

“I guess so,” she responded, not entirely feeling it.

He slowly turned the lock and pushed the door open.

“Surprise!” came a loud shout from inside the room. Lights began to flash in her face, and it took a minute for her to adjust her eyes and her ears to the sudden rush of activity going on around them.

“What?” She blinked a few times and shook her head from side to side as if to clean out some old cobwebs. Her first sight was Bailey standing in front of her with a big cake decorated with an image of a metal file on it.

“Hey Gran!” She grinned. “This is your early celebration of your getting out of jail.”

“Yeah. We thought we would get together tonight to discuss the trial coming up and your inevitable victory,” Kyle said.

Maddie couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of all of her guests dressed in black and white prison stripes or orange jumpsuits. She turned and saw Phil standing there with the biggest grin on his face. His eyes even seemed to be twinkling a little.

“You knew about this?” she asked.

“Yep. You don’t really think I knew anything about baking, did you?” he teased. “My job was to keep you busy at the shop while they came and set everything up.”

Maddie gave him a playful slap on the shoulder, and everyone crowded around her for hugs and pictures.

It wasn’t long before things began to settle down. After the majority of her friends had left, there only remained Bailey, Kyle, Eleanor, and Phil, who all sat down and gave her practical counsel on what to say when she was on the stand. They talked to her about things she felt she would never have thought of on her own: how to sit, her facial expressions, the words she would choose, and even what to wear.

“All of this just to answer questions?”

“Yep. And we’ve only scratched the surface,” Kyle said. “We’ll meet with you every evening after you get off from work and practice it again until it’s time for your trial.”

“I’m just a little nervous about remembering all of this when I get on the stand.”

“Don’t worry about it. You have a lot of support and I’ve put the word out. Anyone and everyone will be there to support you when the trial begins,” Bailey announced.