Deep Fried Homicide (The Donut Shop Mysteries) (5 page)

“I’m positive.  Keep up the good work.”

“You know that you can count on us.  We won’t let you down,” Emma said, and then she hugged me.

“What was that for?”

“I think it’s wonderful what you’re doing for your boyfriend.”

“He’d do the same thing for me if the roles were reversed,” I said.

“Then you’ve found yourself a winner,” Sharon said.  She hesitated a moment, and then she asked, “We’ll try not to bother you with any of the more mundane details around here, but is it okay if we call you now and then if we need you?”

“Are you kidding?  I’m counting on it,” I said.  “To be honest with you, I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to stand being away from the shop, so a call every now and then would be greatly appreciated.”

“We’ll try not to disappoint you,” Sharon said.

“You couldn’t if you tried.”

If felt odd leaving Donut Hearts in the darkness.  On a normal day, I would have hours more work to do before we unlocked the front doors, and then it would be more time spent selling coffee and donuts until we closed for the day.

But today was anything but a normal day.

I drove home in the darkness, and to my shock, as I pulled into the drive, I saw that the front door of the cottage was standing wide open.

The problem was that I knew that
I’d
locked it when I’d left.

Someone had obviously gone inside without my permission.

Chapter 6

I briefly thought about going in and checking out the cottage myself, but I’d been a part of too many investigations in the past to take a stupid chance like that.  I hated it when people did crazy things on their own in movies or in books, so I wasn’t about to echo their behavior in real life.

I slowly backed out of the drive and started to dial 911 when I saw a dark form rush out of the house into the darkness of the park just beyond our doorstep.  I could probably go in now, but what if there was someone else still inside?

I finished dialing the emergency number, and I was surprised to get Chief Martin on the line.

“What are you doing at work at this time of morning?” I asked him.

“Ruthie stepped out for a minute, so I said I’d take over.  Two of my people have the flu, so I’m pulling double shifts all week.  What’s going on, Suzanne?”

“Somebody just broke into the cottage.”

“Are they still there?” he asked.

“Well, I just saw one person run out of my house and into the park,” I said, “but that doesn’t mean that somebody else isn’t still inside.”

“You’re not thinking about going in and checking it out yourself, are you?”

“No way.  I saw the door standing wide open when I pulled up.  Whoever was inside must have seen me arrive, because when I started dialing 911, they ran away.”

“Do not, I repeat, do not go into that house!” he said in a voice that would not tolerate disobedience.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” I said.  “Just hurry.”

“Don’t do anything stupid.  I’m on my way.”

I decided that I’d probably be okay parked in the road where I was.  If someone else came out of the house, or if the mysterious guest in the park decided to come after me, I’d be able to back down the street in reverse at least until I could turn around.  Until the police chief got there, I spent every second scanning the immediate vicinity, searching for any sign that I might be in trouble, but I didn’t see anything.

Chief Martin pulled up in his squad car, his lights on, but the siren silent.  He quickly got out and walked over to me, so I opened the Jeep door.

“Have you seen anything else since we spoke?”

“I haven’t seen a thing,” I said.

“Wait right here,” he ordered.

“Shouldn’t you have backup?” I asked, worried what might happen to the police chief if he went in alone and someone bad was still inside.  I’d never be able to face my mother again if anything I did caused her fiancé harm.

“Like I said before, we’re short-handed, but Officer Grant is on his way.  In the meantime, I’m going to have a look around.”

The chief pulled out a large flashlight and held it next to his service revolver, which was pointed toward the door as he approached it.

I could hear my heat beating as I waited for the chief to come back out, or worse yet, hear the sound of a gun going off. 

When Officer Grant showed up on foot beside my window, I nearly had a heart attack.

“Where did you come from?” I asked him, trying to catch my breath.

“I parked in front of Grace’s place,” he said.  “Where’s the chief?” Officer Grant asked as he looked around for his boss.

“He’s inside alone.”

“Wait here,” Grant said, and then he approached the house himself.

Four minutes later, the two men came out together, but their guns weren’t holstered, and their flashlights were still emitting a pair of blinding lights.  They both nodded in my direction as the chief beckoned me over to them, so I got out of the Jeep and approached them.

“We’re going to take a quick sweep of the park,” Chief Martin said.  “But before we do, we want to make sure that you’re safe.  Go inside and lock the door behind you.  Suzanne, don’t let anyone in until we come back.  That’s an order.”

“That’s not going to be a problem,” I said as I hurried back to my Jeep, started it, and then quickly pulled it into my parking space.  After that, it was a quick sprint to my front door.  I couldn’t wait to obey the last part of that order, though I normally didn’t take well to getting instructions from anyone, let alone the chief of police.  After I deadbolted the front door, I finally allowed myself a second to catch my breath.  It appeared that I was safe, at least for the moment.  After I took a second to collect myself, I looked around the entire house, but nothing seemed out of place.  I certainly didn’t own anything valuable, so why had someone gone to the trouble of breaking in?  Had they actually broken anything, though?  I looked at the lock, but it appeared to be undamaged.  If that were the case, then how had they gotten in?  Was it possible that I’d forgotten to lock the front door on my way out after all?  No, I distinctly remembered bolting it in place behind me as I’d left.  If they hadn’t gotten in that way, then how had they gained access?  I looked around a little more thoroughly, and that’s when I noticed that it was cooler in Momma’s bedroom than it should have been.  Pulling the curtain aside, I saw that one window pane was neatly punched out, allowing someone access into my home.

I was still studying the broken window when the two police officers started knocking on the front door.  I opened it for them after they both identified themselves, and then I said, “I found out how he got in,” leading them to the broken glass.

“It looks like you surprised someone in the middle of a burglary attempt,” the chief said.  “Somebody must have known your schedule at the donut shop and figured that you wouldn’t be home.  Why
are
you here at this time of morning, anyway?”

“Emma and Sharon had things under control, so I decided to come home and take a nap before I went to collect Jake, not that there’s any chance of
that
happening now.”

“Suzanne, if you’d like, I can patch that window for you until you get it replaced,” the chief said.

“Need any help with it, Chief?” Officer Grant asked him.

“Thanks for offering, but I really need you out on patrol,” he said.

“Happy to do it,” Officer Grant said, and then he winked at me before he left.  “Don’t worry, Suzanne.  They won’t come back again anytime soon.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said, not even thinking about that possibility before he’d mentioned it.

Once Officer Grant was gone, the chief said, “I know that there’s some plywood around here somewhere.  I remember seeing it when we were packing your mother’s things.”

“Chief, she doesn’t have to know about this, does she?” I asked him.

“Suzanne, your mother and I don’t keep secrets from each other.  As a matter of fact, I called her the second we hung up when you dialed 911.  Actually, I’m a little surprised that she’s not here yet.”

At that moment, I heard the front door open.  “Suzanne, Phillip, where are you?”

I had to smile, even though I had little reason to at the moment.  I hadn’t wanted my mother to worry about me, but now that she was at the cottage, I had to admit that I felt a lot better about her being around again.

“I never should have moved out in the first place,” Momma said once the two of us were seated on the sofa in the living room.  The police chief was busy patching the window, and we’d decided to give him some room to work, so we’d moved out into the living room.

“That’s crazy,” I said.  “If you’d been here, this could have ended up being much worse than it turned out to be.”

“But Suzanne, if I’d been here, no one would have dared try to rob the place.”

I laughed a little softly before I replied.  “Momma, nobody knows how fierce you are more than I do, but you probably wouldn’t discourage a thief from hitting this place if they’d already made up their mind that we were a target.”

“Nevertheless, I’m honestly beginning to regret my decision to leave.  The three of us would have found a way to cohabitate.”

I didn’t even want to think about the image of Momma, Jake, and me living under the same roof.  Sometimes the cottage felt cramped with just my mother and me.  Adding my boyfriend to the mix would have just served to escalate things that much more.  “Jake’s going to be here in a few hours,” I said.  “Do you honestly believe that I’m not safe with him, even if he does have a wounded arm?”

“No, I know that he’ll take good care of you,” she conceded.

“And I’ll take good care of him, too,” I added softly.

“Of course you will,” she said softly.  “I know I’m being silly, but I’m your mother, so I’m allowed.”

“Then you’re not moving back in?” I asked her gently.

She laughed, which was a very good sign.  “I’m not out of here for a day yet and already you’re trying to keep me away.”

“You know better than that,” I said as I hugged her.  “You’re welcome anytime.”

“I appreciate that,” she replied.

Chief Martin came out of the bedroom with a smile on his face.  “That should hold until you can get it fixed.  It won’t be long, because I called a friend of mine.  I hope you don’t mind.  He’ll be here in two hours.”

I glanced at the clock and saw that it would give me until seven to take a quick nap.  “I appreciate you taking care of it for me.  Thanks.”

“Thank you, Phillip,” Momma added.

He smiled.  “You’re both most welcome.  It was my pleasure.  In the meantime, I’m going to hang around until he gets here.”

“I’ll keep you company,” Momma said.

“As much as I appreciate both of your offers, I’m going to be fine on my own now.”  I said it firmly, without a hint of wavering in my voice.

Chief Martin started to say something in rebuttal when Momma shook her head slightly.  He clammed right up as Momma stood.  “We understand,” my mother said.  “You’ll call if you need us though, right?”

“Of course I will,” I said.

“Let’s go, Phillip,” Momma said firmly.

“But…”

My mother no more than glanced at him, but the police chief decided that whatever he’d been about to say wasn’t going to be worth it.  “I’ll be nearby if you need me, Suzanne,” he said as they started to go.

“Thanks, and thank you for coming so promptly.”

“Happy to do it,” he said, and then both of them were gone.

I started up the stairs for my nap, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be so far away from the door in case something else happened.  After grabbing a blanket from the closet, I decided it might be best just to curl up on the couch, positive that I wouldn’t be able to nod off after what had just happened.

It turned out that yet again, I was wrong.

The next thing I knew someone was banging on the front door, announcing himself as the window guy there to fix things up for me.

It appeared that I’d managed to fall asleep after all.

Half an hour later, the window was as good as new.  When I’d tried to pay the man for his work, he shook off my request.  “I appreciate the offer, but it’s already been taken care of.”

“Nonsense.  I can’t let the chief pay for my window,” I said.

“He didn’t,” the repairman answered with a smile.  “Your mother took care of it.  That’s why I was so late.  The two of them couldn’t stop arguing over who was going to pick up the tab.  I offered to let them both pay me, but my suggestion was blatantly ignored,” he said with a grin.  “Anyway, you’re as good as new.”