Lemon Larceny (The Donut Mysteries) (14 page)

She looked
surprised by the statement.
 
“How
so?”

“I’m sure you
realize that people have been known to lie to spare someone else’s feelings, or
even to protect them.
 
In the end,
though, it all boils down to concealment.
 
Our job is discovering the facts about what really happened.
 
In the end, that’s really all that
matters.”

“Doesn’t their
intent count for anything?”

“Of course it
does.
 
Motive is usually crucial in
discovering the truth, but you were right when you told me when I was younger
that actions speak louder than words.
 
In the end, I care more about
who
killed the victim than
why
they did
it, whether it was out of fear, greed, anger, or any of a dozen other
reasons.
 
It’s a rare case indeed
when murder is ever justified.”

“I’m a little surprised
that you think that it ever is,” Momma said, watching me closely for my
reaction.

I just
shrugged.
 
“The older I get, it
seems the less I see things in black and white.
 
It’s been my experience that the world
is painted in varying shades of gray.”
 
I finished my tea, and then I added, “I must sound pretty cynical to
you.”

“As a matter of
fact, you sound as though you’re all grown up.”

“Well, if I am,
it’s about time, isn’t it?” I asked with a grin.

Tammy came by
with a pitcher of sweet tea for refills, but I held my hand over the top of my
glass.
 
“I’d better not.”

She grinned
broadly at me.
 
“It’s kind of sweet
today, isn’t it?”

“Maybe just a
bit,” I said.

“I told Penny she
was using too much sugar, but she wouldn’t listen to me.”
 
Tammy tore a page off her order book and
slid it under my mother’s plate.
 
“No rush, but pay the man up front on your way out, and don’t forget to
tip your waitresses.”
 
It was
clearly an old and well rehearsed line, but she delivered it with an open
smile, and I found it charming.

“I can get that,”
I said as I reached for the check, but I wasn’t quick enough.
 
Momma reached it before I could.

“Nonsense,” Momma
said.
 
“It’s my treat.
 
After all, I should be paying you.”

“For helping you find
Aunt Jean’s killer?” I asked in a low voice.
 
“No offense, but I’m not doing this for
you, Momma.”
 

“I know
that.
 
I’m talking about the
internship.”

Now it was my
turn to be confused.
 
“What does
that mean?”

“You’ve taken me
on as your sleuthing understudy, and I’m amazed by how much I’ve already
learned.”

“It’s really not
all that much.
 
I’m just sharing a
few things with you that have worked for me in the past.”

“What do you
think experience is?” Momma asked as she left Tammy a rather sizeable tip.
 
I was pretty sure that our server wasn’t
going to forget us, either.

“That’s too much,
isn’t it?” I asked.

“Nonsense.
 
Not only did we get excellent service,
but she refuted the police chief’s alibi in the bargain.
 
I think she earned every dime of it.”
 
Momma winked at me as she added,
“Besides, I have a feeling if we need anything more from Tammy in the future,
she’ll remember us.”

“There’s little
chance that she’ll forget us now,” I said, marveling at my mother’s own savvy
when it came to dealing with people.

“Shall we?” Momma
asked.

“We shall,” I
said.
 
She paid our bill up front,
and then we walked out of the diner together.
 
We had a meeting with Aunt Jean’s
attorney, at his own request no less, but there was going to be more on the
agenda than he realized.

Momma and I were
going to use our time with him to see if it was possible that he’d had
something to do with my aunt’s death.

Chapter 13

“Ladies, it’s nice
to see you again,” Adam Jefferson said as we walked into his office.
 
His secretary, a comely young woman
named Etta, had escorted us in less than a minute after we walked through the
door.
 
She’d been dressed stylishly,
but not as nice as her boss.
 
Adam
was currently wearing a three-piece suit and tie, quite a change from the last
time we’d seen him.

“My, don’t you
clean up nicely,” I said with a smile as I took his offered hand.

“Suzanne,” my
mother scolded me.
 
I could swear
that it was almost automatic when she did it, and I wondered if I’d ever be old
enough for her not to try to change me into a better person.
 
I kind of doubted that day would ever arrive,
but I could live with that.

“Sorry,” I said,
though it was clear to all three of us that I didn’t mean it.

“Don’t apologize,
especially when it’s true.”
 
The
attorney used his hands to gesture toward his clothes.
 
“This is just the required uniform for
my chosen profession.”

“You do look rather
dapper,” Momma said as she took her seat.
 
“Now, let’s talk, shall we?”

I had to laugh,
even if it was just to myself.
 
That
was my mother, straight to the point.

“I agree.
 
It’s time that we got down to the
business at hand,” Adam said as he started to open the folder on his desktop.

I didn’t want to
discuss anything about my aunt, though, at least not yet.
 
“I have a question for you before we get
started,” I said.

“By all means,”
Adam said.
 
“I’ll answer it if I
can.”

“You told us
earlier that you spoke with my aunt yesterday at seven in the morning.
 
Is that correct?”

“It is,” he
acknowledged, giving me the full benefit of those deep blue eyes.

“May I ask what
it was about?
 
I don’t mean to be
nosy, but I can’t ever remember needing to speak with an attorney that early in
the morning, and I get up at the crack of dark to make donuts for a living.”

“Believe me, it
was your aunt’s decision to have that conversation, not mine,” he said.
 
“I dropped my spoon in my cereal when I
realized who was calling me so early in the day.”

“What was so
urgent, then?” I asked him.

“She had a
nightmare, actually,” Adam said seriously.

“A nightmare?” my
mother asked incredulously.
 
“Did my
sister make it a habit of calling you first thing in the morning to share her
dreams with you?”

“No, that was a
first for me,” Adam admitted.
 
“But
she said it was important, so I listened.”

“What was her
nightmare about?” I asked.

“Suzanne, that’s
hardly pertinent to the task at hand, don’t you think?” Momma asked me.

“Not at all.
 
If Adam doesn’t mind, I’d really like to
hear what dream Aunt Jean was so troubled by that it woke her up and made her
feel the need to share it with someone instantly.”

My words had been
spoken casually, but Momma got the hint that I had a reason for my question,
and she shouldn’t worry about it.

“It was rather troubling,”
Adam said.
 
“I’m not telling you
this as her attorney, because that’s not why she called me.
 
I’m telling you because Jean and I were
friends.”

“Understood,”
Momma said.

“Well, it was the
oddest thing, to be honest with you.”

“Did she dream
that she was falling, by any chance?” I asked.

“How could you possibly
know that? She told me it was the first time in her life that she’d ever had
that dream, so I know that she didn’t tell you earlier.”

“It just makes
sense,” I explained.
 
“After all,
you wouldn’t have thought it strange if she’d dreamed of drowning.
 
She had a nightmare of falling, and
that’s what ended up killing her a few hours later.”

“It’s pretty
clear that you didn’t solve those past murders by chance,” the attorney said.
 
“You are savvier than you let on.”

“Don’t tell me
that you looked me up online like you did my mother,” I said.

He shrugged, but
there was no remorse in it.
 
“It’s
standard procedure for me with anyone I meet.
 
I’d apologize, but I’m not the least bit
sorry that I did it,” he said as he grinned, showing me his dimples.

“I didn’t really
do all that much in the past,” I said.
 
“I’m a donutmaker by vocation and avocation.”

“So,
investigating crime is just a hobby for you, is that it?”

“Oh, I take it
seriously enough,” I said firmly, making eye contact and not breaking it until
he looked away first.
 
One point,
Suzanne.

“I would imagine
that you would, but since what happened to your aunt was an accident, there’s
no need for your particular skill set, is there?”

“I wouldn’t be so
sure,” I said, remembering that, even though he was claiming to be friends with
my aunt, he’d still managed to make it onto her list of suspects.

“Have you found
any evidence that there might be foul play involved?” he asked pointedly.
 
“If you have, need I point out that it’s
your obligation to share what you know with the police?”

“I don’t know
anything with certainty at the moment,” I said, which was truer than not.
 
Even Aunt Jean’s journal had been filled
with guesses and suppositions.
 
Something did occur to me, though.
 
I’d spent my time so far looking at motives and not considering the actual
act that had killed her.
 
Was it
possible that there was a clue that I’d failed to look for?
 
When we got back to Aunt Jean’s, I
needed to give those stairs a closer look in the fresh light of day.
 
Maybe the police had missed something,
but even if they hadn’t, I still needed to look for myself.

Was it my
imagination, or did the attorney look a little relieved at my news that I was
ignorant so far?

“Falling in a
dream indicates someone is troubled by something and feels as though they are
out of control in real life,” Momma said.
 
“Was that the case with my sister?”

Adam looked
appraisingly at my mother.
 
“You’re
right, but I had to look that up myself.
 
How did you happen to know that interpretation, if you don’t mind me
asking?”

“There’s a great
deal I know about an infinite number of matters,” Momma said.
 
Coming from anyone else, it might have
sounded insufferably smug, but from her, it was just stated matter-of-factly.

“I’ve got to
admit that you ladies continue to surprise me,” Adam said, and after a moment’s
pause, he tapped on a file sitting on his desktop.
 
“Now, if we may, there is some business
that we need to discuss.”

“About Aunt
Jean’s arrangements?” I asked.

“More about her
legacy,” he said.
 
“We can discuss
what I’m about to tell you individually if you’d prefer.
 
In fact, it might be easier on both of
you.”

“My daughter and
I have no secrets between us,” Momma said firmly.

“The same goes
for me, doubled,” I replied.

“Very well.
 
Let it be noted that I asked, and you
both declined my offer.”

“It is duly
noted,” my mother said.
 
“Now that
we’ve dispensed with the formalities, what is this all about?”

“It’s about
Suzanne’s inheritance, actually,” he said.

“What about it?”
I asked.
 
“I didn’t expect my aunt
to leave me anything,” though Momma had hinted that might not be the case after
all.

Adam nodded.
 
“Then you’re in for a big surprise,
because you get everything.”

“Everything?” I
asked.
 
“What exactly does that
mean?”

“Just what it
sounds like.
 
Dorothea, you are to
receive a few personal bequests, items of little intrinsic value, but Jean
assured me that they had great sentimental value to you both.”

“How lovely of
her to remember me,” Momma said.

“Aren’t you upset
that Aunt Jean is leaving everything to me?” I asked.

“Of course
not.
 
Your aunt loved you very
much.”

“She loved you
just much as she did me, maybe even more,” I said.

“I’m not going to
argue who she loved more, but I take your point.
 
My sister and I discussed this on more
than one occasion, and it makes perfect sense when you think about it.”

“In what world?”
I asked her.

“Suzanne, Jean
knew the general state of my finances, and she knew yours as well.
 
To be crass about it, I don’t need the
money.”

“Neither do I,” I
protested.

“Perhaps, but
wouldn’t it be nice to have a larger cushion than your current cash reserves?”

“I get by,” I
said, but it was true.
 
I might be
nice not to have to worry about a bad run at the donut shop that came along
every now and then.

“Of course you
do.
 
This isn’t a bailout.
 
It’s a token of her love for you.”