Fatally Frosted (13 page)

“Just think how much truer that is now that I’m a full grown woman,” I said.

Burt just nodded, and I walked back to Donut Hearts to meet up with George. I’d learned something valuable from our conversation, that Burt had indeed been dating Peg. I hadn’t known he’d taken up with Marge until Pete had spilled it, and that added something else to the mix. Was Burt telling the truth? I couldn’t imagine him lying to me, but then again, I couldn’t see him as a cold-blooded killer either, and that was a possibility I couldn’t afford to ignore. He certainly had access to plenty of different poisons in his hardware store, and no one would miss the slight quantity used to kill Peg. But what was his motive? If he’d dumped her, he had no reason to kill her. But what if she’d dumped him, and he’d felt more rage and anger than he’d showed me? I’d seen a hard edge to him I’d never noticed before. Could there be more of that he kept hidden from the world? Could he have killed her out of a sense of betrayal?

I’d never really thought that someone in his sixties could get so heartbroken that they might commit murder, but added years didn’t necessarily mean more patience, more understanding, or better control
over emotions. Whether he liked it or not, Burt had to stay on my list of suspects until I could confirm his version of things. Marge had to be added to the list as well, no matter how much I liked her. If Peg was a rival, and Marge was afraid of losing her boyfriend, it might drive her to do something desperate. I’d just added two people I genuinely liked to my list of suspects, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I had a visitor waiting for me outside of Donut Hearts. I almost turned around in time, but it was too late to get away. Jake spotted me before I could duck into a shop, but I was in no mood to see him. At least the rain had finally stopped.

“Hang on a second,” he said. “I need to talk to you.”

“What’s going on, Jake?”

He stared at me a few seconds, then said softly, “I just came across some information I thought you might like to know. None of the donuts the police pulled had any traces of poison in them.”

It was a relief to have my belief confirmed. “Thanks for letting me know,” I said. “I knew in my heart that someone doctored it after it left my shop.”

Jake stood closer and said, “You know that, and I do too, but now it’s official. I came by and saw you’d closed up early. What happened, did everyone stay away?”

I smiled at him, remembering the warm glow of having my friends and customers embrace me earlier. “No, as a matter of fact, I sold out my entire morning’s production in record time,” I said.

“Good for you,” Jake said. “Listen, don’t be so
hard on me, okay? I care about you. This is hard for me, harder than you can imagine.”

It was the most tender thing he’d ever said to me, and from the hurt look in his eyes, I could see that he meant it.

I touched his cheek lightly. “I’m sorry if I’ve been testy with you. You just can’t imagine how much I need you as a boyfriend right now, and not as a state police inspector.”

“I wish I could be both,” he said.

“But we both know how impossible that is,” I replied.

“I promise that as soon as this investigation is over, we’ll make time for each other.”

I was about to respond when I heard a car horn. It was Grace, and as she parked and approached us, I turned back to Jake, but the moment between us had passed.

“Hello, Jake,” Grace said.

“Grace,” he said, then turned to me. “I’m sorry, Suzanne, but I’ve got to go.”

“Thanks for stopping by,” I said. I wasn’t even sure that he heard me as he ducked back into his car.

“What was that all about?” Grace asked as we watched Jake drive away.

“Jake was trying to smooth things over with me,” I said.

“Good.” She grabbed me by the shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. “So tell me, my friend, how are you holding up?”

“I’ve been better, but I’m going to figure this out, trust me.”

“You mean ‘we,’ don’t you?”

I shook my head. “Grace, I don’t want to pull you into another investigation.”

“You’re not pulling, I’m pushing. If you have someone to talk to, let me go with you. I’m good at it, and you know it.”

I agreed, then told her about helping Heather go through Peg’s things. “You don’t have to come with me, but you’re welcome to join us if you’d like.”

“Try to stop me,” she said. “Just let me go home and change, and we can get started.”

As Grace changed in her bathroom, I sat on her bed and brought her up to date on what I’d learned. “Believe it or not, it appears that Peg Masterson was smack in the middle of a love triangle.”

“Why would you find that hard to believe?” Grace asked. “Surely not because of her age.”

“Honestly, that has a little to do with it, but mostly it’s because of what kind of person Peg was. Any guesses about who her boyfriend was?”

“You’ve got me, unless it was Max.”

I laughed at that response. “You’re not even close. She was dating Burt Gentry before they broke up.”

“Sweet old Burt from the hardware store?” Grace asked.

“One and the same,” I admitted.

Grace poked her head out of the bathroom and said, “You know what? I can see it. He’s still a handsome man, and he treats women as if we matter.” Grace frowned, then asked, “You said triangle. Who’s the third side?”

“Marge Rankin,” I said.

“Now that I find hard to believe. Suzanne, I hope this is more than just idle speculation.”

“She called the hardware store while I was talking to Burt, and he confirmed it. The thing is, Burt claims that he broke up with Peg, and someone else told me it was the other way around.”

“Who’s your source?” Grace asked.

“I’d rather not say just yet. She told me in confidence.”

“It was Trish,” Grace said.

“How could you have possibly known that?” I asked.

“It just makes sense. Who else could your source be?”

I shrugged, then said, “I wonder if Peg had any money.”

“I don’t know, but we can find out,” Grace said as she came out wearing blue jeans and T-shirt. It was the same kind of outfit I wore every day, but somehow she made it look special.

We were getting into Grace’s car when my cell phone rang.

After saying hello, George told me, “I had one of my buddies run a check on Peg to see if she had a record. She was clean, but something interesting popped up. It turns out her second ex-husband was arrested for assault. From what I understand, he has quite a temper, but I can’t really see it as a motive for murder. They’ve been divorced for six years. It’s a little long to wait to get even, wouldn’t you think?”

“Who knows how some people’s minds work?” I asked. “Thanks for calling.”

“I’ll keep you informed,” he said, and then hung up.

We pulled up in front of Peg’s house and saw Heather’s old car parked in the driveway.

As we walked up the steps, Grace asked, “Do you think Heather will mind that I tagged along?”

“Are you kidding? She’s overwhelmed with the job. I’m sure she’ll take whatever help she can get.”

I rang the doorbell, and Heather came out, already looking tired and defeated. “Hey, Suzanne. It’s worse than I thought.”

I said, “That’s why I brought reinforcements. Heather, have you met my best friend Grace?”

“No, it’s a pleasure,” Heather said as she shook Grace’s hand. “You must be a good friend to be willing to do this.”

“There’s nothing I like better than cleaning,” Grace said.

It took everything I had not to laugh.

As we walked inside, I asked, “So, where would you like to get started?”

Heather looked around trying to figure out where best to put us to work, and that gave me a chance to size up Peg’s place. It was decorated impeccably, something that shouldn’t have surprised me. Peg wasn’t afraid to spend money on herself, and the furnishings proved it. Thick Oriental rugs covered hardwood floors polished to a bright shine, while antiques were everywhere. Crystal candy bowls were everywhere, filled with butterscotch candies, peppermints, and wintergreen lozenges. There was a nice selection of art hanging on the walls, and I realized that whoever inherited this from Peg was going to find themselves with a windfall. If her beneficiary was
her niece, Heather was going to find it easier to pay for college than she ever could have imagined.

“Why don’t one of you start on the master bedroom and the other one take her home office. I’m up to my ears in the kitchen, so any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.”

“What exactly is it that you want us to do?” Grace asked.

“I’m looking for any papers that will help me figure out what I should do next. The lawyer told me I’m her executor, but I haven’t been able to find much in the way of paper trails. Too, if you run across something that looks valuable, set it aside.” She must have realized how that sounded, because she quickly added, “I’m not treasure hunting. I just have to have the house ready to sell in a week, so anything that’s not worth much has to go. Once I’ve sorted through everything, I can figure out what to do with the rest.”

“Were you her only beneficiary?” I asked. It might have been an indelicate question, but it was something I needed to know.

“I haven’t even seen the will yet, so I don’t know. I was just told to do this, so that’s all I’m concerned about at the moment. Honestly, I won’t mind if I don’t get a dime. There are some old photographs I’d like to have and a few other keepsakes, but other than that, I don’t really care who gets it.”

I nodded. “Then we’ll do our best to help you sort this all out.”

Grace and I walked down the hallway, and I asked, “Which room do you want?”

“I’ll take the bedroom,” she said. “You know how I feel about paperwork.”

“Then I’ll handle the office.” I lowered my voice as I added, “If you find anything that’s of interest to us, show me first.”

“Right back at you,” she said, and we split up.

While the public part of the house had been pristine, the office was a train wreck. Papers were stacked everywhere, and it would take a forensic accountant to figure out Peg’s ultimate worth. But that wasn’t going to stop me from my search.

An hour into it, I hadn’t turned up any clues about what might have happened to Peg, but I did have a much clearer picture of her financial status.

The woman had been loaded. It all became clear once I found her investment log buried under a pile of grocery store receipts and take-out menu flyers. The first entry in the log showed a $50,000 entry as a divorce settlement from her angry ex-husband, and I could see a reason why he’d been so mad. Peg had parlayed that initial investment into stock, which she soon sold at a huge profit, and then split into more stock, then real estate investments in town, and a pretty healthy pile of certificates of deposit to boot. Who knew she was so well off? It wasn’t a million dollars when it all added up, but it was within shouting distance of it. I had to wonder what her will said. Had she left her money to Heather, or had she given it to someone else? Say a boyfriend like Burt. Then again, it was just idle speculation at this point. Peg could have left every dime to the Society to Outlaw Daylight Savings Time for all I knew.

I needed to find out exactly what that will said. I had a hunch it might lead me to another suspect.

I jotted down some notes on a separate sheet of
paper, and was just closing the log when the office door opened.

I quickly folded the sheet up and tried to stick it in my pants pocket.

“If that’s a grocery list, don’t forget eggs,” Grace said. “People are always forgetting them.”

“Hey,” I said. “Come here and look at this.”

I showed her the log, and she whistled softly when she saw the bottom line. “That’s a motive in my book.”

“I know, but who gets it? That’s the question.”

“I’d love to know,” I said as I shut the book and buried it back under the papers I’d been riffling through.

“Maybe we can find out. Don’t you have a contact at the courthouse?”

“I used to, but I don’t know anyone there now,” I said. “Who could we ask?”

“Why don’t you call George? He’s working part-time there, isn’t he? Maybe he can find out.”

I bit my lip, then said, “I don’t know. I’ve been asking him so much lately, I hate to push it.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll come up with a way to find out,” she said. Grace’s eyes lit up as she added, “I almost forgot why I came in here.”

She shoved a well-worn note into my hand.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Open it. I found it in one of Peg’s jacket pockets.”

I did as she asked, and began to read it. In a strong hand, it said,

Peg
,

There’s no use trying to change my mind.

I won’t allow it, and you should be prepared for the consequences.

There was no signature, just a torn bit of paper at the edge.

“Where’s the rest of it, Grace?”

“It’s all I could find, but I’ll keep looking.” I shoved the note into my pocket, then said, “You know what? I have to give Heather the log I found. It’s exactly what she’s been looking for.”

“You’re right.” Grace looked around the room, then said, “This must have been the only messy room in her house.”

“You mean the bedroom isn’t like this?”

Grace laughed. “No, it’s as neat as a pin. Not the bathroom, though.”

“What’s it like?”

“Did you know that Peg dyed her hair? I found a freshly opened box of hair dye in her bathroom, but it wasn’t a brand I’d ever heard of. In fact, there were generic items everywhere, from her toothpaste to her shampoo.”

I thought about the incongruity to the log, then I said, “Maybe that’s the reason she had so much money when she died.”

I dug out the financial log just as Heather came in.

The hope in her voice was just about gone when she asked us, “Did you find anything?”

“We were just coming to get you,” I said.

I handed her the log, and as she opened it, I watched her read the numbers as they continued to grow almost exponentially.

She looked like she was going to faint by the time
she got to the bottom line. “Are you all right?” I asked.