Deadly Pumpkin Slice (A Sinful Sweets Cozy Mystery) (9 page)

It is with great sadness that we inform you that your final day working at Westhedge Public Library will be October 31.

The Library Commission

Short, sweet and to the point. Well, not so sweet, actually.

“So they had just fired him. Last week. Right before he was killed. They must have known something was going on,” Sydney thought out loud.

“And, that means they must have had Allison lined up for a while to take his place. This letter is dated the middle of October. It wasn’t a spur of the moment thing. Allison didn’t kill him for his job.”

“I had thought it was strange that she’d already been working in Westhedge, but they’d handpicked her to take his place before they even let him know.”

“But it does open up space for him to have reaped his revenge before he was gone. He could have been fired for other reasons, but then taken from the library’s fund, which could have been why he was killed.”

“We’ve got to go talk to Mia. Maybe she found something out about one of the Commissioners.”

Sydney started up the car and sped back to Twin Peaks. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and Westhedge as quickly as possible. If the person who had shown up knew they were in the house, that would mean they were being followed. And the earlier threat in her office had certainly made it sound like that.

Both women constantly checked the review mirror for anyone who might be tailing them. But they saw only three cars on the whole drive, and they were all going the opposite direction. So unless there was a driver using night vision glasses, they were safe showing up at Mia’s without putting anyone else in danger.

“Mia, what do you have?” Sydney asked as soon as they walked in the door. The kids were already in bed and her husband was in the shower. Sydney hoped to make this a quick meeting so they could make a plan for the next day and possibly how to involve Detective Massey now that there was evidence piling up that Sydney wasn’t the killer.

“So at first I thought it was a lost cause. His parents were there, and obviously they were beside themselves with sorrow. But he had no siblings, and I didn’t know anyone else. So I gave my condolences—they seemed to remember that they knew me, but they couldn’t place me as your sister—and moved on to the dessert table.”

“Our pumpkin scones were there, was it obvious?”

“Even before I tasted them. Your logo and business cards were everywhere. I thought that was odd, like someone was trying to remind everyone who you were and that you were somehow involved in this.” She paused to let that soak in.

“Then I started to talk to people—how they knew Aaron, their best memory of him, the last time they saw him. I had to be really vague with my answers. Don’t worry, I didn’t mention you. But I ended up talking to this one woman who seemed to know that I was related to you. Really tall, beautiful, blond. Looked like a model. I didn’t get her name. But she was eating scones like crazy and adding whipped cream to everything. Then, all of a sudden, she left. It was like mid conversation with me, and she up and ran off.”

“Did you follow her?” Sydney asked, knowing that’s what she would have done.

“Funny you ask. I thought to myself, ‘I should follow her,’ but I’d gotten a really strange vibe from her, so I hesitated. When I did go after her, I could hear her on the phone. She was really angry about something. It sounded money related, but I couldn’t quite tell. She was yelling about statements, which at first I meant statements to the police, related to the investigation. But the more I heard, I think it was about bank statements.”

“Did you get her name?”

“I didn’t. But she was talking like she was really close with Aaron. Did he have a girlfriend?”

“I have no idea. But Facebook would know. I took him off of my news feed years ago, but we’re still friends. Unless he un-friended me. Let’s. . .see. . .”

Mia and Grace hovered behind Sydney, both peering over a shoulder, as Sydney brought up her Facebook profile.

“I don’t know why we didn’t check here sooner. We’ll have to improve on our sleuthing skills.”

“Or we can go back to baking,” Grace corrected her quickly.

“What, you don’t like this?” Sydney asked in mock surprise. “Here we go, Aaron Gibbs. Wow, what a strange way to give your condolences, on a Facebook page that he’ll never see.”

There was post after post about how much Aaron would be missed. Mostly from beautiful women.

“His relationship status says single, but that doesn’t mean anything. Do any of these women look like the one you saw tonight at the wake?” Sydney asked Mia, handing her the phone.

Mia scrolled down, looking at each of the thumbnail images. She paused on anyone who was blond, and finally found who she thought might be the person she’d met.

“This one,” she pointed, handing the phone back.

“Madelyn Kountz,” Sydney read. “Grace, that’s not the same Madelyn who ordered pies last week, is it?”

Grace pulled out her own phone where she’d been keeping a running list of suspects and clues.

“It sure is. We have to track her down. We didn’t hear back from her about the survey we sent, and now we know why she wasn’t available to meet with us—she was at Aaron’s wake. Maybe she’s closer to him than we realize.”

“Thanks so much, Mia. I think we have a few more people to check out, and this is definitely one of them. We couldn’t have gotten this information without you.”

“Just, be careful,” Mia warned. “Detective Massey is a really good guy and wouldn’t want you guys putting yourselves in jeopardy doing his job. Let him know what you’ve found out, and I’m sure they’ll catch the killer in no time.”

“Sure,” Sydney said offhandedly. “We’ll talk soon.”

Sydney and Grace got back into her car and headed for Sydney’s house. She had to let Maple out before she could bring Grace home.

“Did you look behind us when we ran from Aaron’s house?” Sydney asked Grace as they drove.

“No, I was too worried about getting across the street and staying hidden in the dark!”

“That was probably smart. When I looked back, I saw Madelyn. I didn’t know it was her, but it had to be—blond, tall, beautiful. She was back at Aaron’s house. Do you think she’s the one who sent us the warning? Do you think she was tipped off that someone was in his house? What do you think their relationship was?” Sydney spouted off questions in rapid fire.

“Maybe she was his girlfriend and those photos were his mistresses. What if he was sleeping around while telling her he was being faithful? Some girls are crazy, that could be enough cause for murder for them.”

“Oh my goodness. I think you’re right! Let’s sleep on it and see if we have any other clues or ideas in the morning.”

“Back to work in the morning? Detective Massey left a note saying we’re cleared,” Grace told her.

“Wow, I never thought I’d be happy to have a day off, but we wouldn’t have found any of these suspects if we’d been working. We’ll have to open, but maybe we can delay any orders for a couple more days.”

“We do have another order for Aaron’s funeral to fill.”

“Hopefully we’ll be able to find the killer tomorrow and then we’ll have plenty of time to make the pumpkin muffins for the funeral,” Sydney said hopefully. “Do you want me to bring you home after I let out Maple?”

“Actually, I think I’ll stay at your place tonight. It’ll be a short night, getting up to work, and it’s probably best to have two sets of ears—or three, with Maple—listening for anything out of the ordinary.”

“You’re probably right. I don’t know what I’d do without you!”

They both got out of the car and headed toward Sydney’s house. It had been a longer afternoon and evening than Sydney had expected and she silently apologized to Maple for coming home so late and missing her dinner.

Maple didn’t seem to mind. She jumped for joy as soon as Sydney walked in. She ran between Sydney and Grace, giving both of them thanks for coming back and keeping her company.

“Sheets and towels are in the hall closet. Help yourself while I take Maple out.”

Sydney picked up the leash and Maple knew it was finally her turn to go out. They walked down the front steps and Sydney immediately felt like she was being watched. She looked up and down the street, but she recognized all the cars.

Maple led her around the block and stopped in a yard to do her business. Sydney bent down to pick-up the offering, and the feeling increased. She got goose bumps down her spine.

A car drove by slowly, headlights dimmed.

“Let’s go home, Maple,” Sydney said, finally realizing she might have gotten in too far.

As they neared the house, she saw the same car. It was still going slow, but she swore the driver was a blond woman.

***

Sydney didn’t sleep. She was running through all of the clues in her mind, but she knew there was still a missing piece. Or pieces. Her top suspects after the day’s events were Lewis, Arthur and Madelyn. She knew they’d be able to find more about the two men online—they would both have business profiles and websites that might reveal more about their character.

But she would have to track down Madelyn. Unless she could bait her to come to her.

She must have finally fallen asleep, because she was awoken suddenly by her alarm. Maple had even managed to sleep through the night, not getting up to jump on the bed or stick her wet nose in her face. Hopefully she hadn’t been doing those things to Grace instead.

Sydney walked into the living room and saw Maple curled into an unlikely small section of the couch at Grace’s feet. “Maple, let’s go,” she called quietly, letting the dog out into the backyard.

Sydney went to the front door to look for the same car that had been following her on her walk the previous night.

She didn’t see it.

“You’re up early,” Grace said through yawns and stretches.

“Later than I expected. Sorry I woke you. Did you hear anything strange last night?” Sydney asked, hoping that the driver of the suspicious car would have given herself away.

“Nope. Slept like a baby. Didn’t even hear you come back in with Maple. And I didn’t notice her curling up at the end of the couch until I felt her getting down this morning! Why?”

Sydney told her about the car and the driver from the night before.

“I think it’s time to find this Madelyn woman to see how she’s really connected to everything,” Grace said, getting off the couch.

“Here.” Sydney tossed her a Sinful Sweets t-shirt that she’d be able to wear to the bakery. Sydney had extras she was always trying to give away for more advertising, but an extra one to Grace wouldn’t hurt.

“Thanks. I’m ready when you are,” Grace told her, slipping the shirt on over the tank she’d slept in. “I’ll eat a fresh donut for breakfast when we get to work.”

“Sounds good. I’ll just get Maple and then we can head to work. We’ll drive today,” Sydney said, erring on the side of caution this once.

The bakery looked deserted from the outside—the way it should look when Sydney arrived in the morning. But after the threatening Jack-‘o-Lantern the previous day, she was a little hesitant to open the door.

Maple didn’t feel any threats and charged straight through the back door, up front to her bed. Sydney walked in next, turning on lights as she went, Grace close behind her.

“How many muffins did they order?” Grace asked.

“One fifty. And one fifty cheesecake squares. Pumpkin. Don’t you find it odd that they would continue to order pumpkin from here if that was the culprit of Aaron’s death? Has that not even been revealed to the family?”