A Burned Out Baker: Classic Diner Mystery #7 (The Classic Diner Mysteries) (5 page)

“I don’t know, but it appears that Cliff was pretty eager to get it back.”

“At least the interest, anyway,” I said.

“It sounds as though Barry wasn’t going to be able to pay it,” Moose said. “I’ve got to admit that if Cliff burned down the bakery, it was exactly the wrong thing to do if he expected Barry to ever be able to pay him back.”

“Maybe he was sending a message to the other folks who owed him money,” I said.

“That might work,” Moose said. “Take a photo of it, and let’s move on.”

I did as my grandfather suggested, and then I put the note off to one side.

“What’s this?” I asked as I picked up a stack of greeting cards bound together with a pair of rubber bands. After I removed them, I opened the first four pretty mushy cards, and a fifth that was anything but. Inside the last one, written in angry red letters, it said, “
Stop playing games with my heart, or yours is going to feel real pain
.”

I showed it to Moose, who dropped it on the desk as though it had been on fire. “Where did he get these? That last message is pretty chilling.”

I looked through the stack, and I saw the name Susan written inside the rest of them. “That’s got to be Susan Proctor,” I said.

“How could you possibly know that?”

“The swoop of that S is unmistakable,” I said as I pointed it out to my grandfather. “She pays for lunch at the diner once a week with her credit card, so I’ve come to recognize that signature.”

“Good enough. Take a shot of the signature on one of these cards,” Moose suggested.

“Let’s do one of the good ones, and the angry one, too,” I said as I took the pictures. The battery on my phone was getting weak, a problem that I’d been having lately. “I don’t know how many more shots I’m going to be able to take with this.”

“Then let’s make them count,” Moose said. He picked up four torn fragments of paper and pieced them back together on the desktop. “Victoria, you need to get this one.”

“What is it?” I asked as I studied the reassembled sheet.

“It appears that Rob Bester tried to buy Barry out at some point, but he clearly wasn’t all that happy about the offer, or why else would he tear it up?”

“Do you think that’s significant?” I asked Moose as I took the picture with my phone.

“I suppose that it could be,” my grandfather said as he looked around.

“You know, Mom and I saw Rob at the fire this morning. He was standing outside the tire store with a garden hose watching the volunteer firemen.”

Moose frowned. “It
could
be a coincidence. After all, if he’s innocent, he’d want to try to protect his property.”

“It gives him an excuse to smell like smoke, too,” I said.

“We’ll have to keep him in mind. Is there anything here that we’ve missed?”

I started looking through the papers again, and I almost missed the final clue. There was a bank statement tucked in with a series of bills, and I didn’t know how those might help us find out who had torched the bakery and possibly killed Barry Jackson in the process. The statement said that Barry was extended over his credit limit, but what was really interesting was what Barry himself had scrawled on it. “
Get the money Mike owes you. Just because he’s your brother doesn’t mean that he can bankrupt you.”

I took another photo as my cell phone died. “That’s it, Moose. I don’t have any more juice in my phone battery until I recharge it.”

“It appears to be all that there is to see, anyway,” he said. “Should I shove this all back into the drawer and leave the release sprung so it will be easy to find?”

I glanced outside and saw a squad car pulling up in front of the house. “No time for that! We have to get out of here now. Just leave it all on the desk!”

My grandfather looked at where I was pointing, and we both hurried out of the building and rushed toward where we’d parked his truck.

“That was too close for comfort,” I said as we got in and drove away before anybody could catch us there.

“I know. It was great, wasn’t it?” my grandfather asked me with a grin.

“Why do you look so happy, Moose?”

“Victoria, we’ve got more solid clues to work with from the start than we’ve ever had before. Doesn’t that make you glad?”

“I shouldn’t have to remind you that we don’t even know if Barry was murdered or not. There might not even be a homicide case here to solve.”

“You heard the fire inspector. Someone died in that fire, and if it wasn’t Barry, then he’s our number one suspect. Either the information we found helps us find his killer, or it gives us a chance to name him as the murderer. Either way, that stash was a good find.”

“It was,” I admitted. “First things first, though. We need to find out who was in that bakery when it burned to the ground.”

“Leave that up to me,” Moose said as he started driving back in the general direction of the diner.

“Where are we going now?” I asked, though I had a pretty clear idea of our destination.

He tapped the clock on the dash of his truck. “Your shift starts in three minutes,” Moose said. “Where do you think?”

“I thought I’d let Ellen handle things for the rest of the morning,” I said. “If I have to, I can always call Martha.”

“You could, but maybe you’d better save all of that until we find out if we’re hunting for a killer, or a main suspect. Until then, we should go about our normal business, and that means that you need to work your shifts at the diner, like always.”

“And what exactly are you going to be doing in the meantime?” I asked my grandfather as he pulled into The Charming Moose’s parking lot. I had a sneaking suspicion that Moose might plan on doing a little digging on his own without me, and that was unacceptable on several different levels.

“I’m going to discreetly ask around and see if I can get that body’s ID,” he said.

“And why can’t I do that with you?” I asked.

“Because the man I’m going to tap for information isn’t going to say a word in front of you,” Moose said flatly. “I’m sorry, but that’s just the way that it is.”

“Okay then,” I said as I opened the door and got out.

“What did you just say to me?” Moose asked me as he leaned toward the open window.

“I just agreed with you,” I said as I started to go in.

“Victoria, don’t be that way.”

“What way?” I asked as sweetly as I could manage. “What can I say? When you’re right, you’re right.”

He looked even more troubled by that reaction. “I don’t like this, not one little bit. Whenever you’re overly pliant, it
always
spells trouble for me.”

I laughed as I walked into the diner, but I didn’t say another word. I did happen to think that he was right this time, but it was a lot more fun making him wonder what I was up to than just coming right out and saying it. I suppose that I had said it, but in a way that the truth sounded completely unconvincing. It was one of my favorite ways to lie, not that I usually made a habit of it.

The smile from our last exchange faded quickly, though, when I saw who was already in the diner, apparently waiting for me to get back.

“Hi, Sheriff. Did you come by to thank me for the coffee and biscuits this morning? You really don’t have to, you know. It was our pleasure.”

“I heard that everyone appreciated that, but this is about something else. Where have you been this morning, Victoria?”

Had he or one of his staff spotted Moose and me fleeing from Barry’s outbuilding? “I always take a break in the morning, and then I come back for my next shift.” I pointed to the clock near the register as I added, “See? It’s eleven o’clock, right on the dot.” I hadn’t exactly lied to him, but I wasn’t about to admit what I’d been up to with my grandfather. If he had anything on me, he was going to have to come out and tell me. I wasn’t about to trap myself if I could help it.

Evidently he was just fishing. “Understood. Do you have a second to talk to me, or do you need to get straight to work?”

“I’ve got time. Just let me tell Greg that I’m here.”

“I’ll be waiting outside,” Sheriff Croft said.

I ducked my head in the kitchen and saw Greg and my mother chatting. “I’ll be back in a second.”

“To be honest with you, we didn’t even know that you were here,” Mom said with a smile.

“Then you won’t miss me when I’m gone again,” I answered and waved at them both. Greg winked at me, and I returned it as I left. I loved that my husband required minimal explanation from me for the oddest behavior, and it had really come in handy since Moose and I had started digging into murders together. Greg was there to support me, just as Moose’s wife, Martha, was there for him. Neither one of them had a burning curiosity about our amateur investigations, but they each gave us all of the encouragement we ever needed.

It was good being part of a family that knew how to complement each other.

When I got outside, the sheriff was waiting for me, but to my surprise, Moose was with him, too. “Did you two start chatting without me?”

“No. I wanted to, but Moose insisted that we wait,” the sheriff said.

That was a point for my grandfather, and I felt a little bad about the way I’d teased him earlier. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

“I don’t have much time, so I’m going to have to make this brief,” the sheriff said. “We just made a positive ID based on dental records. No real surprise; the body we found in the bakery was Barry Jackson. Normally I would have held on to that information a little longer, and I’d appreciate it if you two don’t tell anyone until I’m ready to, but what you did this morning was nice, and I thought it deserved something in return.”

“You know that’s not why we did it,” Moose said, though in truth it had been at least a little part of my motivation.

“I know that; that’s why I’m here. I figured that you two would have to dig into this, so I thought I might give you a little head start.”

“What makes you think we’re going to investigate?” I asked as innocently as I could manage.

“Let’s not kid ourselves here. In the eyes of a lot of folks, you two should be at the top of my suspect list. Barry threatened to sue you both and take away the diner the night before he dies in a fire at his diner. That’s motive enough in most people’s minds.”

“What about yours?” Moose asked him warily.

“I’m still looking at all of my options, but I’m pretty sure that neither one of you had anything to do with it.”

Somehow it was reassuring to hear that. “Thanks for having faith in us,” I said.

Sheriff Croft just shrugged. “Just so you’ll both know, I’ll deny it if you tell anybody that I said it. I just think that you both deserve a fair shake on this one, and I know standing on the sidelines and waiting for me to solve this case isn’t either one of your styles. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“You know we can’t make any promises like that,” Moose said with a smile. I wasn’t all that certain that it was an appropriate response, but apparently the sheriff didn’t have any problem with it.

“Remember, if you find something that might be useful to my investigation, I expect to hear about it immediately,” he said. It was the perfect opportunity for my grandfather and me to come clean, but we were saved from making that particular decision when he got a call on his radio. “Sorry, but I’ve really got to run now.”

After he was gone, Moose looked at me intently. “You were about to tell him what we found, weren’t you?”

“I was considering it,” I admitted.

“Chances are that was what his call was about. He’ll find out everything that we know soon enough. The one good thing is that at least we can stop guessing about who was in that building when it caught fire.”

“We still don’t know if it was intentional murder, though,” I said.

“The fire chief clearly thought it was,” Moose said.

“Should I ask Martha to take my shift so we can start digging around and try to find out?”

“At this point I guess that it’s not a bad idea. Victoria, it won’t do us any good thinking that what happened to Barry was just an accident,” he said. “You know that my wife is always happy to help out at the diner, and this is important. We need to get to these folks before the police intimidate them all so much that they shut up and stop talking to anyone. If they don’t realize they are suspects yet, we might just be able to get something useful out of them.”

“That sounds like a plan. I’ll call Martha, and you go tell Greg and Mom what we’re up to,” I said.

Moose started to go inside, but then he paused for a second at the door. “I wasn’t going to do anything without you. You know that, don’t you?”

“I do,” I said with the warmest smile I had. “Sorry I teased you a little before.”

“No doubt I had it coming,” my grandfather said with a laugh. “If not for that, then surely for something else. Make that call, I’ll spread the word inside, and then we can get cracking.”

It wasn’t quite that simple, but Martha agreed to fill in for me. Fifteen minutes later, after Moose and I grabbed a bite to eat while we were waiting for my grandmother to show up, we were ready to start investigating based on the information that we’d just uncovered. We had a bit of a head start on the police, but there wasn’t any time to squander. Still, we’d had to eat, and I knew that I sleuthed better on a full stomach than one that growled, and that went triple for my grandfather.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t even know where to start,” Moose said as we finally left the diner. “In all the cases we’ve investigated together up until now, we’ve never had so much information from the very beginning, Victoria. It’s almost an embarrassment of riches.”

“I know,” I answered as we got into my grandfather’s truck. “Who knew Barry Jackson would have ever inspired so many people to want to see him dead?”

“I have a feeling only one of them hated him that much,” Moose said. “The question is, which one?”

“I don’t know, but we’d better get started before the sheriff finds that stash.”

“It won’t be that hard, since we left everything out on the desk and the door to the office ajar,” Moose said.

I looked at my grandfather. “Is that a hint of disapproval I hear in your voice?”

“We should have made it at least a little bit of a challenge for him,” he said.

“That wasn’t our deal,” I said with a smile. “We did the right thing, and you know it.”

“I suppose so,” he said. “So, which of our suspects should we tackle first?”

“I’d say we go talk to Cliff Pearson first,” I said.

“Any reason in particular?”

“I believe that note threatening Barry’s life is a pretty compelling reason,” I said.

“I’m not so sure,” Moose said, “but he’s as good a place to start as any.”

Moose did a U-turn and headed out toward Briar Falls. I looked at my grandfather and asked, “Do you know something that I don’t?”

“From what I hear around town, Cliff can be found most days at Starlight Bowling,” Moose said. “It’s in Briar Falls, so if we’re going to have a chat with him, that’s where we should start looking.”

“I’m not talking about that,” I said. “I mean the fact that you’re not so sure about him possibly being guilty of the murder.”

“Think about it, Victoria. From the note we found, it’s clear that Barry owed him money.”

“So?”

“How’s Cliff going to get it back now?” Moose asked.

“That’s a fair question,” I said. “Should we start with someone else, then?”

“We can probably talk ourselves out of every one of our suspects if we try hard enough,” Moose said as he continued to drive. “Let’s just speak with as many as we can find, and then see where we stand. Besides, the bowling alley isn’t all that far away.”

“You’ve convinced me,” I said.

We discussed several ways of approaching Cliff on the drive to Briar Falls, but by the time we got to the bowling alley, my grandfather and I hadn’t been able to come up with anything all that original.

“Let’s just wing it, shall we?” Moose asked.

“Fine by me, as long as I’m following your lead,” I replied. My grandfather was good at extemporizing, and I always enjoyed watching him spin one of his webs, even when we were tracking down a killer.

The bowling alley was hopping with senior citizens when we got there, and I knew there had to be some kind of league play going on. They were all clustered at one end of the alleys, and I watched as two older men high-fived after one bowled a strike. It made me smile to see that they were both grinning like teenagers.

On the other end of the lanes, one man bowled alone. It was Cliff Pearson. I started toward him when Moose touched my shoulder lightly. “Hang on a second. He’s almost finished,” my grandfather said as he pointed to the overhead scoreboard. It was the last frame, and Cliff had already broken two hundred. I couldn’t have done that the last time I’d bowled if I’d added up the scores of all three of my games.

We both watched as Cliff bowled again, collecting a strike himself as the pins all danced to the floor, but there was no joy or even acknowledgment on his face. It was as though he was required to throw so many balls a day, and the outcomes couldn’t have been less important to him.

As he finished and started changing his shoes, Moose nodded to me and we approached him.

“Nice game,” Moose said as Cliff saw us.

“Yeah. Not bad,” Cliff said. “Are you here to bowl? You need to go to the desk over there.”

“Actually, we’re here to talk to you. Did you hear about what happened in Jasper Fork this morning?”

“No, but then again, I’m not big on the local news,” Cliff said as he went back to tying his shoes.

“You might be interested in this. Someone burned the town’s only bakery to the ground,” my grandfather explained.

It may have been my imagination, but that information caused Cliff to pause for a moment before he finished his task. “That’s too bad. I suppose you’ll have to go somewhere else for your cupcakes now.”

“Don’t pretend that you don’t know who we’re talking about,” Moose said, the nice tones now gone from his voice. “We know for a fact that you’re out a lot more than access to baked goods. You’re never getting your money back from Barry Jackson now.”

“What money are you talking about?” Cliff asked. His tone of voice now matched Moose’s, and the two men were clearly done with their feigned pleasantries. “You need to be careful, old man.”

Moose started to say something, and I was pretty sure that it would be inflammatory, so I decided that it was time for me to chime in. “We just want to know how you expect to recoup your investment now.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cliff snapped as he shot a finger at the man behind the counter. I hadn’t noticed him before, but I did as he walked toward us. He was a big guy, a real bruiser, and the black eye he sported told me that he wasn’t a stranger to physical confrontation.

“It’s an easy question,” I said.

“That I’m not going to answer,” Cliff said as the hulk approached us.

“I just figured it out,” Moose said as he turned to Cliff. “It was a message, wasn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?” The thug got closer, but Cliff held up one hand, and the man stopped where he stood.

“You wanted everyone else who owed you money to know that you weren’t messing around. How long will it take for word to get around that if your other clients don’t pay up promptly, they might have little fires of their own soon?”

Cliff smiled at that, something that actually bothered me more than his threatening voice earlier. “That’s not bad, actually. There might just be a way to make this pay off in the long run after all.”

“So then, you admit that Barry owed you money?” Moose asked.

“I admit nothing,” Cliff said. “All I’m saying is that hypothetically, the situation might not be a total loss.”

“Where were you this morning around five AM?” I asked him.

“Are you actually asking me for my alibi?” he asked incredulously.

“I am,” I said simply.

Cliff shook his head. “It shouldn’t come as a big surprise to you that I’m not going to answer that either, but just to show you what a nice guy I am, because you’ve been so helpful, I’m going to let you both walk out of here right now of your own free will.”