Custard Crime: Donut Mystery #14 (The Donut Mysteries) (7 page)

“What happens to the building now?” Jake asked.
 

Momma thought about it, and then she said, “You’ll
have to ask Beatrice, but while we were finalizing the sale, I overheard them
talking about having just visited their business attorney next to the yarn shop
where she shops in Union Square.
 
They arranged for a partnership agreement between them so that if one
partner died, the other would inherit the entire business and all of its assets.”

“So, that would give Beatrice a motive for murder,”
Jake said.
 
“What’s the building
worth?” he asked Momma.

“What did they pay for it, or how much was its
value?
 
They aren’t exactly the same
questions, are they?” she asked with a slight smile.

“Let’s just deal with actual value,” Jake said.

“I put its value at one hundred and seventy-five
thousand dollars,” Momma said, “though they paid a tad more than that.”

“So it’s a substantial amount,” Jake said.

“I suppose two hundred thousand dollars could be
considered significant in most circles, but is it enough to make someone commit
murder?”

“That’s what I intend to find out,” Jake said.
 
“Do you have any suggestions as to who I
should speak with in my investigation?”
 
He turned to the chief and added, “That question is for you as well.”

“I don’t know many folks around here who really liked
Evelyn besides Gabby Williams, but I can’t think of a soul who might want to
see her dead,” the chief said.

“All I can say is that I suggest you speak directly with
Beatrice,” Momma said.

“I’d planned on doing that soon enough,” Jake
replied.

“Then I’m afraid that I’ve told you all that I can.”

“Good enough,” Jake said as he started to stand.
 
“Thank you both for your time.”
 
He offered his hand to the police chief,
who took it.
 
Jake added to him, “Sorry
to put you through this.
 
I know
this wasn’t easy for you.”

“Just catch whoever did this so I can get my town
back,” the chief said firmly.

“Hey, you’re still in charge of keeping the peace in
April Springs.
 
Don’t forget that.
 
I’m just working one case.”

“Maybe so, but we both know that it doesn’t play out
that way.
 
It’s an all-or-nothing
kind of job, and right now, I’m walking a tightrope.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Jake promised him, and then we
left.

Once we were outside, I said, “Let’s go see what
Beatrice has to say for herself.”

“What makes you think that you’re coming with me?”
Jake asked me.

“Hey, I’m your driver, remember?
 
Do you even know where Beatrice lives?”

“No, but I’m sure that I can find out without your
help,” Jake said.
 

“Maybe so, but have you considered the possibility
that Beatrice might speak a little freer if I’m there as well?”

“Suzanne, I’m not going to deputize you; you know
that, don’t you?”

“That’s a shame, because I’d love to have my own
badge, but honestly, I don’t want to be anything official.
 
No offense, but you have too many rules
that you have to follow for my taste.”

“Funny, I kind of like playing by the rules,” Jake
said.

“Then you’re right where you belong,” I said.
 
“Come on.
 
Take me with you.
 
What do you have to lose?”

“Suzanne, what if someone complains to my boss that
I’ve got a civilian tagging along on my investigations?
 
It’s one thing for you to go with me to
see your mother, but it’s something entirely different if you accompany me to
interview suspects.”

“Do you think Beatrice did it?” I asked him.

“I can think of two hundred thousand reasons that she
might,” he said.

“I personally can’t imagine killing anyone for
money,” I said.

Jake smiled slightly.
 
“That’s just one of the reasons that I
love you.
 
But that doesn’t mean
that you can go with me when I do my job.”

“Fine,” I said.
 
I knew that he was right.
 
There
was no way that I was going to win this particular battle.
 
Besides, I had a hunch that Beatrice
wouldn’t give Jake the whole story, but she might tell Grace and me later, if
we asked her in just the right way.
 
“Let’s get you back to that squad car so you can go work on your
investigation.”

Jake didn’t move off Momma’s porch, though.
 
“Suzanne, what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” I asked him in my most innocent manner.

“You’re giving up too easily,” he said with a
frown.
 
“I don’t like it.”

“Mister, you need to make up your mind.
 
I can either cooperate with you, or I
can fight you every step of the way, but I cannot do both.”

“You’re still not dropping this, are you?”

“I am not,” I said.
 
“When the police chief said those vows to
my mother, no matter how I felt about it, he became family, and I’m not about
to see him get into trouble over this.”

“No one’s saying that he’s a suspect,” Jake said
evenly.

“Does that mean that you’ve ruled him out?” I asked
him.

“I can’t do that, either,” Jake admitted.
 
“The ex-husband, especially in a case
where the divorce is contentious, is always a suspect until he can be ruled
out.”

“Then there you go.”

Jake sighed, and then he said, “I know I can’t stop
you from nosing around, but stay out of my way, okay?
 
And don’t take any chances you
shouldn’t.”

“Who exactly is going to arbitrate that?
 
You?”

“You know what I mean, Suzanne,” Jake said.

Momma saved me from answering when she came
outside.
 
“What are you both still
doing here?
 
I thought you had
already left.”

“We were just on our way,” I told her, and then I
looked at Jake.
 
“So, are you coming,
or not?
 
I have to drive you to your
squad car, remember?”

“I remember, all right,” he said.
 

After we said our good-byes again to Momma, I drove
Jake back to the cottage.
 
He opened
his door and started to get out, but I didn’t follow suit.

“Aren’t you going on inside?” he asked me.

“No, I thought I’d go see Grace first.
 
Her car was in her driveway when we went
past her house just now.”

I wasn’t sure how Jake was going to react to that
news, but he just laughed.
 
“Just
try to stay out of trouble, okay?”

“We always try,” I replied, “but it still has a way
of finding us now and then.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second.
 
Keep in touch, okay?”

“I will,” I said, and before he closed the Jeep’s
door, I said, “Be safe yourself.”

“You know it,” he replied.
 
I watched as he got into his squad car
and pulled away.
 
I was close on his
tail as he drove down the road, but not for long.
 

When I pulled into Grace’s driveway, I saw her heading
out to her car.
 
Where was she
going?
 
And more importantly, could
she drop everything and start investigating with me?
 
I sure hoped so, because I hated doing
anything without her.

Chapter 8

“Going somewhere?” I asked Grace as I got out of the
Jeep.

“As I matter of fact, I was just about to go out looking
for you,” she replied with a grin.
 
Grace was always trim and fit, whereas I tended to stay on the curvy
side of things.
 
The two of us
looked nothing alike, but on the inside, we were sisters in spirit.
 
“What’s going on?”

“Actually, I thought I’d do a little digging into
Evelyn Martin’s murder,” I said.

“It was murder?” Grace asked.

I’d forgotten that she didn’t know that yet.
 
For that matter, most of the town was
probably still ignorant of that particular fact.
 
Was there some way we could use that to
our advantage?
 
I’d have to think
about that possibility before it became common knowledge.

“Well, at least that’s what Jake thinks, and until I
learn differently, I’m going to stick with that theory,” I said.

“Hang on a second.
 
Back up.
 
Why does Jake have an opinion one way or
the other about what happened to Evelyn?
 
I figured he’d be on his way back to Raleigh by now.”

“That’s right, you haven’t heard.
 
There was a slight change of plans,” I said.
 
“His boss assigned him to this case,
since the police chief’s ex-wife is the victim.”

“Boy, that’s what I get for being so
conscientious.
 
I go and do my job
for one day and the whole world changes.
 
Is Jake at least still staying with you?”

“As far as I know,” I said.
 
“We haven’t really gotten around to
discussing that yet.
 
Why wouldn’t
he?”

“As far as I’m concerned, that’s right where he
belongs,” she said.
 
“Some tongues
in town may wag about it, though.”

“Let them flap all they want to.
 
He’s a hero, and they should never
forget it.
 
A little gossip isn’t
enough to even worry about.”

“Agreed.
 
So, he doesn’t mind the fact that we’re digging into his case?” Grace
asked.

“I don’t know if I’d go that far, but he knows that we’re
going to do it regardless of whether he approves or not.
 
I think he’s resigned himself to the
fact that we’re going to be working on it, too.”

“I’ll bet that went over like a lead balloon,” Grace
said.

“Let’s just say we need to make sure that we don’t
irritate him
too
much,” I
answered.
 
“I’d hate to solve the
case but lose Jake in the process.”

“You’re not going to lose Jake.
 
Anybody who has ever seen him looking at
you would know that.”

“I guess so, but I’m still not going to take him for
granted.
 
So, are you up for it?”

“I’m ready and raring to go,” Grace said.
 
“Let me change out of this suit and I’ll
be your sidekick in crime fighting.”

“That sounds good to me,” I said as I followed her
back inside.
 

As Grace changed her clothes into something more
casual, she asked me,
 
“So, who
should we talk to first?”

“Jake and I have already spoken with Momma about the
building sale.
 
I should catch you
up on where things stand now before we get started.”
 
I proceeded to bring Grace up to date,
and by the time she was ready to go, I’d told her everything that I’d been able
to learn so far.
 
However, I’d left
the details Jake had shared with me in confidence intentionally vague and hoped
that Grace wouldn’t notice.

“Suzanne, what aren’t you telling me?” she asked.

So much for my attempt at subterfuge.
 
“Jake made me promise not to be more
specific about a few of the details.
 
As a matter of fact, I might have said too much already.”

“Okay, I get that,” Grace said.
 
“I’m just going to have to rely on you
to lead the way on this case.”

“Wow, you’re taking that news better than I’d even
hoped you would,” I said.

“A promise is a promise.
 
I totally get it, Suzanne.
 
Can you at least tell me who our
suspects are at this point?”

“That I can do.
 
If we discount the chief, so far there’s Evelyn’s business partner,
Beatrice Ashe; her next-door neighbor, Robby Chastain; and her second cousin,
Julie Gray.”

“That’s a pretty big list this early in the game,”
Grace said.

“Knowing Evelyn, I’ve got a hunch that the parade is
only going to get longer the more we investigate.”

Grace nodded.
 
“She did have a way of making enemies the way most puppies make new
friends.
 
I’m guessing that we’re
going to talk to Beatrice first, right?”

“Wrong.
 
Sorry, but that’s where Jake is headed.
 
We have to skirt around the edges, so I
thought we’d go talk to Robby instead.”

“Why exactly would Robby want to kill her?” Grace
asked as we got into my Jeep.

“Evidently they’ve been battling for quite a while
over a great many things.
 
Apparently,
the current dispute involved an old oak tree that straddled their property
line.”

“Let me guess.
 
Robby wanted to keep it, and Evelyn wanted to chop it down.”

“You’re right, except it’s just the opposite of
that.
 
Robby thought it was an
eyesore, but Evelyn loved it anyway.”

“Boy, you think you know someone, and then they go
and do something like that,” Grace said.
 
“I never figured Evelyn to be a friend of nature.”

“Hey, what can I say?
 
We’re all complicated,” I said.

As we drove to Robby’s place next door to Evelyn’s,
Grace asked, “Would he really kill her over a stupid tree?”