Cookie Dough or Die (25 page)

“If you can wait a few minutes, Ms. Clark, I’ll ask the events director for you.”

“Thank you so much,” Olivia said. When the Kenny G. music started, she ran for the kitchen sink, poured herself a large glass of water, and gulped it down. She filled the glass again and returned to the phone as the music halted in midphrase.

The hotel concierge sounded tentative, as if he were concerned about irritating her. “Ms. Clark, I spoke with our events coordinator and she was a bit confused. You see, the two names you mentioned served on panels that took place on two other days, but they did not participate in the Thursday evening panel the Chamberlains mentioned. In fact, she also checked and found that Hugh and Edward Chamberlain had both preregistered for that evening, but apparently they didn’t claim their seats. At least, their names aren’t checked off. Our events coordinator wondered if the Chamberlains might be remembering a different panel?”

“Could you wait a few moments while I ask one of them?”

“Of course.” Olivia could almost hear the concierge sigh.

Thank goodness Maddie had talked her into including a hold function with her store phone service. Olivia watched the clock for one minute, hoping it would feel like ten to the concierge. After several more gulps of water, she was about to reconnect when Maddie opened the kitchen door and poked her head inside. “It’s quieted down out here, so could you—?”

“Hang on, I’m almost finished.” Olivia pointed to the flashing red hold button on the phone.

Maddie wedged herself between the door and the jamb, so she could watch the store and listen at the same time.

Olivia picked up the receiver and punched the hold button. “Hello? Yes, this is Ms. Clark again. I’m so sorry to have taken so much of your time,” she said, relaxing into a more friendly, apologetic tone. “When I mentioned the other panels to Mr. Chamberlain, he suddenly remembered the right one, as well as the name of the presenter. Thank you for being so patient and helpful. Chamberlain Enterprises will certainly keep your hotel in mind for the future.”

Whew.
Olivia disconnected with a gratified concierge.

“Wow,” said Maddie. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Hey, I played a role in one of our high school plays, remember?”

“Yes, but that was Chatterley Heights High School theater. Anyone who wanted a part, got a part. However, what I heard sounded impressive. What did you find out?”

Olivia filled her in. “It isn’t proof, of course,” she added. “Hugh and Edward might have attended some other function, or the hotel might have made a mistake. But at least they don’t appear to have a solid alibi at the moment.”

“This would be a lot easier if we were cops,” Maddie said. “But I’d miss the cookie cutters.” She peeked into the store. “Gotta go. I hear someone coming in from outside.”

“One more call and then I’ll spell you.”

Once Maddie had left, Olivia picked up the phone again. At least this call should be easier. She finally found time to dial her old friend’s number. After two rings, a familiar cheerful yet no-nonsense voice answered. “Stacey?”

“Livie? You’re a mind reader. I’ve been thinking about you ever since . . . Well, I don’t need to remind you.” Her voice became softer and a bit distorted, as if she were whispering with her mouth too close to the phone. “I’m in the outer office, and it’s crammed with kids and teachers. Hang on.” After a moment, Stacey’s voice returned to normal. “There, that’s better. I’m in my office. How the heck are you?”

Stacey Harald was another of Olivia’s since-kindergarten friends, though their lives had taken different turns after graduation. At the age of nineteen, Stacey married her high school sweetheart, with whom she’d had two children. When Olivia returned home, she’d discovered that Stacey and her husband had split. During the summer, she and Stacey had squeezed in several lunches and reconnected over their tales of divorce. Stacey did not look down her nose at a bit of discreet gossip. Best of all, after her divorce, Stacey had brushed off her secretarial skills and worked her way up to office manager at Chatterley Heights Elementary. She knew Tammy well and wasn’t especially fond of her.

“I’m good,” Olivia said. “Considering the situation.”

“Looks like one big, messy situation from where I sit.”

With a rueful laugh, Olivia said, “About that . . .”

“Spit it out, Livie.”

Olivia smiled to herself. Stacey’s directness was legend throughout Chatterley Heights. Beating around the bush would only irritate her. “Okay, between you and me,” Olivia said, “I’m trying to save my own skin. Sheriff Del wants me to stay in the store and bake cookies, but I need to find out what’s been going on around here. If you know what I mean.” She didn’t want to be too explicit on the phone.

“I know what you mean.”

“Maddie is helping, but I need to talk to someone more . . .”

“More in daily touch with, say, one of the main players?”

“You are so quick, it’s scary.” Olivia glanced up at the kitchen clock. Three thirty. The Gingerbread House closed at five. “Any chance you’re free for dinner?”

“As it happens, Tyler has basketball practice and Rachel will be studying at a friend’s house, or so she claims.”

“How about six thirty? My place? It’s more private.” The tables at Pete’s Diner were so crowded together that Olivia had heard complete conversations from three tables away.

“You aren’t going to cook, are you? Because I’ve heard things. . . .”

“You wound me. No, baking is the only cooking I do willingly. I’ll order a couple of the Chatterley Café’s finest pizzas. You can take home the leftovers.”

“It’s a deal. And Livie, don’t be too hard on Del. I dated him for a brief time before marrying what’s-his-name. He’s levelheaded and honest. I always thought I’d made the wrong choice.”

As she hung up, Olivia felt a stabbing sensation in her chest. “Careful, kiddo,” she murmured. “That felt suspiciously like jealousy.”

Olivia made it home, after picking up a few groceries and two pizzas, with five minutes to spare. Her front doorbell rang precisely at six thirty. She ran down the stairs in her stocking feet, carrying a yapping Spunky.

“You sound out of breath,” Stacey said as she walked into the foyer. “I’m not early, am I? I hate it when guests are early. My ex used to be early for dates. I’d make him drive around the block and come back later.”

“I’m out of shape, that’s all,” Olivia said.

Stacey’s sandy hair fell forward as she knelt to massage Spunky’s ears. “What a sweet noisy little critter you are,” she said. Spunky wriggled his head in ecstasy. “I love dogs,” Stacey said. “Cats, too. So much easier to live with than men.” She gave the puppy a final pat on the head and said, “To be continued once my strength is restored by pizza.”

“And red wine,” Olivia said as she led the way upstairs.

“An excellent combination.”

Once upstairs, Stacey gave the pizzas a quick warmup in the oven and set the table. Olivia poured wine and unpacked her groceries, which included a hunk of parmesan cheese, bagged salad, and some fresh Caesar dressing from the Chatterley Café. She chopped a few olives for the salad and scavenged for some cocktail tomatoes that hadn’t yet shriveled up.

By the time they sat down to eat, their wineglasses required refilling. Stacey selected a slice from the veggie and cheese pizza, while Olivia went straight for the three-meat with extra mozzarella.

“This might be why I’m out of shape,” Olivia said.

“Naw, you’re just too busy, like me.”

“Or too lazy.”

After savoring her first bite, Stacey said, “Bribe accepted. What do you want to know?”

Olivia sipped her wine and gathered her thoughts. “Keep this conversation to yourself, okay?”

“Of course.”

Olivia selected a second slice of pizza, one with less meat and more olives. “I think Clarisse Chamberlain was murdered,” she said.

“I wondered about that myself. I knew Clarisse. She was way too sharp to accidentally poison herself.”

“I just wish I could prove it,” Olivia said. “I think Del believes that Clarisse was murdered, too, only he doesn’t want me involved.”

“But you can’t help yourself.” Stacey reached for a pizza slice with the meat and the fewest olives.

“You saw Binnie’s article about my so-called inheritance from Clarisse? She made me look like a murder suspect. The entire piece is a fabrication, but I still have to protect my reputation.” Olivia picked a sliver of kalamata off her pizza slice, popped it in her mouth, and washed it down with a sip of wine.

“That article was hysterical.” Stacey rested her chin on her laced fingers, all attention. “So,” she said, “two questions. How can I help? And would you reach the wine bottle for me?”

Olivia laughed, which felt good. As she filled Stacey’s glass, she said, “I’m trying to track down alibis for the most likely suspects—Edward and Hugh Chamberlain, Tammy Deacons, Bertha the housekeeper, and maybe Lucas Ashford.”

“Lucas? Really? I guess you never know with the quiet ones. And he has been stressed these past few years, what with his dad dying and his mom so sick, doctor bills, you name it. Everyone has a breaking point.”

“How well do you know Lucas?” Olivia asked.

“He volunteers at school. Fixes the furnace on a regular basis, donates parts, even changes those fluorescent bulbs no one else can reach. Nice guy. Maybe too nice. He does too much free work for someone with financial pressures.”

Stacey speared a tomato from her salad. “Although his financial situation certainly has improved,” she said right before the tomato disappeared into her mouth.

“It has? How?”

Stacey held up her fork for a time-out while she finished chewing. “Okay, this is secondhand,” she said, “but one of our fourth-grade teachers is married to a shop teacher at the high school, who is good friends with Lucas. I think they fix things together. Anyway, the story I got is that since Clarisse’s death, her sons have restructured the terms of the loan she made to Lucas. The way I heard it, they’ve cut his interest rate by half and forgiven the interest he owes on payments he missed while his dad was dying.”

“Really.” If true, it would explain the sudden lightening of Lucas’s mood after Clarisse’s death. “I wonder why Hugh and Edward would do such a thing?”

“You mean such an uncharacteristically kind act toward a fellow human being? Haven’t a clue. What’s for dessert?”

“Hm?” Olivia’s mind was broiling with possible reasons for Hugh and Edward’s largesse. Maybe they conspired to murder their mother, and somehow Lucas found out about it and blackmailed them. Or Lucas conspired with them to kill Clarisse, maybe even did the deed himself, and the loan restructuring was payment. Lucas didn’t seem capable of such behavior, but how well did anyone really know—

“Earth to Livie,” Stacey said. “Dessert? The tasty stuff that follows dinner?”

“Dessert. Right. Decorated cookies, of course.” Olivia scraped back her chair and began to clear the table.

“Oh goodie, that’s what I was hoping for.” Stacey flipped closed the lids on the pizza boxes and stuffed them in the refrigerator. “Where are they?”

“On top of the fridge.” Olivia finished filling her Mr. Coffee and pressed the on button.

Stacey lifted down a covered cake pan and slid off the lid. “Heaven,” she said. “Forget the serving plate.” She placed the pan in the middle of the table and settled in her chair. Her hand hovering over the cookies, she said, “So I imagine you want to ask about Tammy Deacons, too?”

Olivia delivered coffee cups, cream, and sugar to the table and joined Stacey. “I certainly do.”

“Then you have bribed the right person.”

“I’m hoping to pin down Tammy’s whereabouts on April 23, day and night. You might not know about that whole time period, but—”

“I know all,” Stacey said. “Except how you can make such delectable cookies and not be able to boil an egg.” She selected a second cookie, shaped like a baby carriage and decorated with pink and white icing. “However, we’ll save that for another evening. Tammy. On Thursday and Friday, the twenty-third and twenty-fourth, classes were cancelled for a teachers’ conference. Tammy was supposed to be there, but she called in sick. Left a message on the office machine. She should have left some information about her classes, but she didn’t. I called and called her home number. No answer. The vice principal asked me to go to her house and see if I could get her class information from her. Which I did. No one answered the door. The house was closed up tight and her car was gone.”

Stacey bit off a baby carriage wheel and closed her eyes as she chewed. Olivia understood. After a sip of sweet, milky coffee, Stacey said, “Playing hooky is one thing. Leaving town while claiming sick time is another.”

“Are you sure she left town?” Olivia’s resolve cracked, and she selected a cookie shaped like a cat with an arched back and electric purple fur.