A Holiday Donut Steal: A Special Christmas Donut Mystery Short Story (The Donut Mysteries)

The First Time Ever Published!

From
New York Times
Bestselling Author

Jessica Beck

A HOLIDAY DONUT STEAL

A Special Christmas Donut Mystery Short Story

Donut Steal

It was supposed to be a simple Christmas party, but it nearly ruined the holiday season for my family until a last minute reprieve ended up saving the day.

“Suzanne, we need more treats.  Your decorated glazed donuts are a real hit!” Emma Blake said as she came back into the kitchen located in the basement of our town library. It was four days before Christmas, and it seemed as though the entire town of April Springs was in the holiday spirit.  The meeting area was usually reserved for visiting authors, booksignings, storytimes, and other related literary events, but the Daughters of April Springs had rented the hall out for their annual party, and they’d chosen the treats from Donut Hearts for their refreshments.  After much consideration, I’d decided to serve brightly decorated green iced donuts, with white and gold tinsel piped on top of each of them to make them feel even more festive.  They looked quite nice, if I said so myself.  By the way, my name is Suzanne Hart, and I run the only donut shop in town, along with my assistant, Emma, who was currently acting as our server for the festivities.  To my surprise and the ladies’ delight, she had even agreed to wear an elf’s costume for the event, complete with a green frock, red tights, and a bright red hat with a bell on the tip of it.  Emma looked adorable, but then again, she looked good in just about everything she wore.  I’d declined to join her in her attire, no matter how much she, my husband, Jake, and my best friend, Grace, had begged me to.  Instead of wearing the outfit that matched Emma’s, I’d agreed to don the hat, and only the hat. 

I looked at our remaining stock of treats, and found that we were now completely out of the green donuts I’d brought.  On the spur of the moment, upon leaving Donut Hearts I’d grabbed an extra half a dozen red ones filled with custard just in case, never dreaming that we’d need them.  I hadn’t sold them at the shop that day because I’d overdone it on the red food coloring, and I knew that whoever touched one would have red fingers for the rest of the day.  “Give me a second,” I said as I piped them with confectionery garlands, too.  “Here you go.  Tell everybody that after this, we’re officially out of goodies.” 

“That’s okay.  There are only four people left, but none of them are in a hurry to go home!”

“I’m willing to wager that they won’t hang around long after the food is gone,” I said with a grin as I plated the donuts on one of the platters, placing them on the fancy napkins the ladies had provided.

“There’s one more thing,” Emma said ominously, looking down at her feet as she spoke.

“What is it?  What’s wrong?”

“They want the chef to come in and take a bow,” she said.  “I told them you wouldn’t be interested, but they keep insisting.  If you don’t come out, I’m afraid we’re going to have a riot on our hands.”

I decided that I might as well do it.  After all, our evening was nearly over.

Or so I thought.

“Fine.  I’ll be glad to make a quick appearance.”

“Seriously?  That’s great.  I brought your outfit with me, just in case,” Emma said excitedly.

I shook my head.  “You didn’t need to.  I said that I’d go out and say hello, not that I’d dress up any more than I already am.”

“Suzanne, they’ll all be really disappointed if you don’t,” she said.

“Then they’ll just have to find a way to live with it,” I said.  “Lead the way.”

I grabbed the tray and walked into the meeting room to be greeted by the applause of the last four women left.  To my surprise, one of them was my mother, and she smiled brightly at me as I made my appearance.  Momma and I had our issues at times, but in the end, we were as close as a mother and daughter could be.

“Thank you all,” I said as I waved to the women in the room.  “I’m afraid that you’ve gone through our entire stock of treats,” I added, to a chorus of good natured boos.  “I have a few more goodies left, but when these are gone, they’re gone.  You can each have one to take home with you, if you’d like.”

It was the best way I knew how to get this crowd moving.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work. 

Marla Jenson said, “If I take that home, my Hank is going to just eat it.”

“So will Jason,” Joanie Pritchett said.  “Cassandra?  You should be safe, since you’re alone.”

The woman in question just shrugged, no doubt used to the jibes about her being single.  “Dorothea, will Phillip get into yours?” she asked my mother.

“No worries there.  He has plenty of opportunities to eat Suzanne’s goodies,” Momma replied.

I passed four of the donuts out, one to each woman in turn, and then I handed the nearly-empty tray to Emma.  Before anyone could take their first bite though, Momma raised her donut high in the air as though it were a full champagne flute as she said, “To Suzanne and Emma.”

“To Suzanne and Emma,” they echoed, touching them all together in the air.

Before anyone could take their first bite, though, my mother asked loudly in a startled voice, “Where are my earrings?”

I looked at her ears where they belonged, but they weren’t there.  “Are you
sure
you wore earrings tonight?” I asked her softly.

“I’m not senile, Suzanne.  I took them off and put them on the table in front of my chair.  That gold is heavy, and they were beginning to hurt.  Now they’re gone.”

Everyone lowered their donuts and tried to pitch in.  “Check your purse, Dorothea, maybe they are in there,” Marla suggested.

“There’s no need.  I distinctly remember leaving them on the table,” she said, and then she looked sternly at the group.  “If this is someone’s idea of a joke, it’s not very funny.”

The other women started protesting, but Momma held up her hand.  “Save your cries of innocence for the police.  Suzanne, give Jake a call.”

“Do you really want me to do that?” I asked her.

“Those earrings belonged to your great grandmother.  No one is leaving here tonight until I have them back, if we have to search every last person present down to their underwear.”

“You’re not searching me,” Marla said indignantly.

“Me, either,” Joanie added.

“Include me in the group who refuses to be put through that,” Cassandra echoed.

“I’m sorry,” Momma said in a stern voice that I recognized all too well.  “You must not have understood me.  I wasn’t asking.  I was telling you.”

“Can she do that?” Marla asked me.

“You’ll have to speak with my husband about that,” I said as I pulled out my phone to call him.

“I’m not waiting around for Jake to show up.  I’m leaving,” Joanie said as she started for the door.

“Do you honestly think that’s wise?” Momma asked her.

“Are you threatening me, Dorothea?” she asked my mother in amazement.

“No, but if anyone, and I mean anyone, leaves this room before my earrings are recovered, you will be dead to me forever.  Over the years I’ve helped each and every one of you without asking anything in return, but that ends tonight.”  When Joanie stopped in her tracks, Momma said, “Call him, Suzanne.”

I did as I was told, and Jake was there in a few minutes, since he’d been at his desk at the police station waiting for me to finish up with the party.  As the acting chief of police, Jake was the ultimate authority in April Springs at the moment, though an outside observer would probably have named Momma as the chief, given the way she was acting.  As we all waited for him to come, I studied my three suspects.  The problem was that they
all
looked guilty about something; Joanie kept staring at the door, as though she was dreading my husband’s arrival, Cassandra was biting her fingernails incessantly, while Marla wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone.

After we explained the situation to him, Jake frowned as he looked at the women present.  “Do you all really want to go through with this?  I’m sure I can talk my mother-in-law out of pressing charges if you just surrender the earrings right now.  Isn’t that right?” he asked my mother.

“I suppose so,” she said reluctantly.

“Jake, nobody’s going to do it if everyone can see her return the earrings, “ I said.

“What do you suggest, Suzanne?”

“Turn off the lights for five seconds.  If Momma’s earrings are back on the table when the lights come on, we can all go home and do our best to forget this ever happened.”

Jake shrugged, and then he turned to Momma.  “This is your show.  What do you think?”

“It’s fine with me.  I just want my earrings back.”

“Okay,” Jake said as he moved to the light switch.  “I’m going to start counting the second the light goes out, so don’t dawdle.”  He flipped the light off, and we were all suddenly plunged into darkness.  Some genius on the decorating committee had even covered the emergency exit light with a handmade sign, so there was no illumination to be had anywhere.  “One, two, three, four, and five.”

Jake flipped the light back on, and sure enough, the earrings were in the center of the table.  I reached over for them and handed them to my mother, and as I did, I noticed a little custard clinging to one of the prongs holding a diamond in place.  I didn’t say anything, but I made sure to shake each woman’s hand on the way out.  Marla held it for a single moment before releasing it, Cassandra was reluctant to do even that much, while Joanie frowned as she tried to crush my hand in hers, not a very ladylike thing to do at all.

Once the suspects were outside, Momma said, “I can’t believe that just happened.”

“I’m sure that someone just got caught up in the moment,” Jake said.  “It happens.”

“Would you both excuse me?” I asked as I followed the women outside.

“What’s going on?” Jake asked.

“No worries.  I’ll be right back.”

Once I was out in the cold, only the lights in the parking lot offered illumination.  “Cassandra, hold up a second.”

“What’s going on, Suzanne?” she asked as she stopped and turned to face me.

I leaned forward and said softly, “I don’t know why you did it, but you should be ashamed of yourself.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked after pausing just a moment too long to decide how to react to my accusation.

“You took my mother’s earrings.  Don’t bother denying it.  Are things really that bad for you right now?  We can help, if you’ll just ask.”

“I don’t know what you’re implying, but I didn’t do anything!”

I was going to have to call her out on it, though I didn’t relish embarrassing her.  “The earrings were clearly stashed in one of the new donuts I just brought out.  No doubt you realized that if you were searched and the earrings were found on you, you’d be through in this town.  What you weren’t counting on was that I’d have to substitute red iced donuts for green ones at the last second, and that the red dye was extremely potent.  Show me your hands.”

“I don’t have to,” she said.

“Do you want me to go get Jake?” I asked her ominously.  I’d seen signs of red dye on her fingertip, her thumb, and under her fingernails too.  If I had to guess, I’d say it was from when she’d shoved the stolen earrings into the donut for safekeeping, so I believed that I was on solid ground.  Cassandra hadn’t been biting her nails; she’d been trying to remove the evidence of what she’d done.

Obediently, the thief pulled her hand from her pocket, and I saw that no matter how hard she’d tried to remove the evidence, there were still traces of red dye on her fingers and under her nails from the icing.  She immediately broke down when she realized how obvious it was.  “I don’t know what I was thinking.  I panicked!  I’m at the end of my rope, Suzanne.  My mortgage is due on the first, and I can’t cover it.  I didn’t mean to hurt you or your family.”

“You need to come with me, Cassandra,” I said as I put my arm gently through hers.

She looked panic-stricken.  “Suzanne!  No!  You promised.”

“I’m not going to say a word about it to my husband, but you need to tell Momma what you did, and why.  She’s helped you out before.  I’m sure that if you just talk to her and explain yourself, she’ll do it again.”

“Even after what I’ve done?” Cassandra asked, nearly in tears.

“Yes, even then.  After all, this is the season of forgiveness.”

Emma, Jake, and I left Momma and Cassandra talking in the basement, and Jake asked me what was going on as we started to leave.

I just smiled at him as I pointed to the mistletoe hanging over the door.  “Are you ready, Emma?” I asked, and we kissed my husband in perfect unison, one of us on each cheek.

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” he asked me with a soft chuckle a little later.

All I’d say in reply was “Merry Christmas, Jake.  Remember, not every present is found under the tree.”

He didn’t understand what I meant, that much was clear, but he knew me well enough to leave it alone.  “Merry Christmas, Suzanne.”