Ice Cream Murder (11 page)

“Or maybe it has nothing to do with either,” Helen shrugged. “We went down the wrong trail before.”

“It bears looking into, but you know what the number one rule is when investigating a murder.” Nans bit into her Snickerdoodle.

“Follow the money,” Ida, Ruth, Helen and Lexy chorused.

“And who would have benefitted financially from Winston’s death?” Ida asked.

“It’s usually the spouse,” Nans replied. “But, since we don’t know what’s in Winston’s will, we can’t say for sure.”

“That’s right, Winston’s widow, Evelyn.” Ruth sipped her coffee. “If he was poisoned, she’d have had access to him before he went to the office. She might have done it then, or put it in a bagged lunch. Some of those poisons have a delayed effect.”

“She was also at the birthday party and could have switched ice creams,” Helen added.

“And we already know she didn’t share a lot of Winston’s views.” Lexy thought back to their meeting at the Farmer’s market.

“But, what motive would she have to kill Regis?” Ida asked.

“That’s easy. Winston inherited a lot of money and stock from Regis. If Evelyn is his beneficiary, now all that goes to her.”

“If that’s the case, she had a very clever plan.” Nans spread a napkin out on the table and piled two Snickerdoodles inside it, folded the edges over the cookies and stuck it in her purse.

“And almost got away with it,” Ruth added, “by making the deaths look like either accidental or natural.”

“We don’t know for sure that Winston’s death
wasn’t
natural,” Lexy reminded them. “Besides, Evelyn doesn’t seem like the killer type. She seemed like a nice, caring person when we saw her at the Farmer’s Market. I can’t picture her killing two people for money.”

Nans gave Lexy a look. “That’s the thing about killers that almost get away with it—they’re always the ones you suspect the least.”

Chapter Thirteen

Lexy kept herself busy the rest of the day with baking and waiting on customers. Sometime in between frosting chocolate brownies and filling cream puffs, Anna had called wanting to know about the case and to have Lexy look over an invoice from the Banks’ birthday party. Since Lexy was already planning to stop at Nans’ that evening to go over the clues, she arranged for Anna to meet her there.

 
Anna’s catering van was already parked in the back of the lot when Lexy arrived at the retirement center.
 

Anna jumped out of the van with some papers in her hand. “Hey, Lexy! How is it going?”

“Great. How about you? Has your catering business suffered at all because of the … ummm … incident?” Lexy grimaced.

“No. Thankfully, nothing got in the press, so I don’t think any customers have been scared off. But I heard about Winston Banks and I’m a bit worried. I thought you guys said he was the killer.”

“We
thought
he was,” Lexy said. She started toward the entrance, balancing the coffee cake she’d brought in one hand. Anna fell in step next to her. “We actually have pictures of him handing over the money he owed. But just because he’s dead, doesn’t prove he wasn’t the killer.”

Anna scrunched her face up. “True, but it does add a strange twist, doesn’t it?”

“It sure does.” Lexy opened the glass door and the two navigated the halls to Nan’s apartment.

“I brought this invoice from the Banks’ birthday party. I’ve had a heck of a time getting Cora to pay me. But I guess rich people like to hold on to their money for as long as they can.”

Lexy laughed. “That’s for sure. That’s how they stay rich.”

“Anyway, I was hoping you could look it over and make sure I have the bakery prices correct.”

“No problem. We’ll do that first thing and then we can discuss the plan of action with Nans and the ladies.”
 

Lexy’s fist tapped on Nans’ door, which opened immediately.

“We’ve been waiting for you.” Nans pulled her inside where Ida was ready to relieve her of the bakery box.

Ida smiled as she peered inside the box. “Oh, I love coffeecake.”
 

Ruth and Helen were already seated at the table. The whiteboard sat in its usual place against the wall. Lexy could see the ladies had been busy updating it with new information.

Nans got coffees for Anna and Lexy and they all sat down at the table. Anna slid the invoice over to Lexy. “Let’s just get this out of the way.”

Lexy looked down the list of items, squeezing her eyes shut and mentally comparing the list to what she’d delivered at the party.
 

“Looks good.” She hovered a pen over the bottom of the invoice where she could see Cora’s signature of two scrawls with a large C and S at the beginning of each scrawl. “Should I sign under Cora?”

“If you just initial it that will be fine,” Anna said.

Nans pushed her chair out and stood at the whiteboard. “If you ladies are done we can get on with it.”

 
Lexy and Anna nodded and everyone turned their attention to Nans.

“Okay, then, let’s recap. Since Winston’s death we’ve been looking at other suspects. His wife Evelyn is high on our list because she would gain the most financially and also because she didn’t agree with the company business. But since Regis’ had the stipulation in his will that all stock be kept amongst his children, she won’t get any of Winston’s stock and won’t gain a controlling interest in the company.”

Anna’s eyes widened. “But how do you think she killed him? The paper said he died of a heart attack.”

“We figure she probably used some sort of poison. She could have put it in his breakfast, or maybe she gave him a bagged lunch or something. Some toxins don’t take effect right away. He died in an early morning meeting at work, so he was most likely poisoned there or shortly after he left home.”

“Using poison is a similar method to how Regis died. He died from his food allergy. These types of methods are preferred by women because they are not messy or bloody,” Ruth chimed in.

“Do you think she killed Regis, too?” Anna asked.

“She may be a very clever killer.” Nans tapped something on the whiteboard under the ‘Motive’ category. “She may have planned it out from the beginning. Kill off Regis first so Winston inherits the money, then kill Winston and get it all for herself.”

“I did notice at the birthday party that she and Winston didn’t seem to get along,” Lexy said.

“Gosh, I don’t think it could be her.” Anna shook her head. “I talked to her quite a bit when planning the party and she was very nice. A kind and loving person. She didn’t seem to care very much about money. I can’t picture that she planned this whole thing out in cold blood just for financial gain.”

Nans smiled. “Like I told Lexy, those are the ones you have to watch out for.”

“So what’s the plan?” Ruth spread her arms looking at Nans. “How do we prove she’s the killer?”

“We need to catch her at something.” Nans picked her coffee up from the table and sipped. “If she is the killer, she has something to hide. Maybe the poison she used for Winston … or the photos from the party.”

“And she’ll need to dispose of that incriminating evidence,” Ida added.

“And the best way to catch her doing that is to have her under surveillance,” Nans said.

“But not in Ruth’s car.” Helen paused her forkful of coffee cake halfway to her mouth. “That big old boat stands out too much and we almost got caught when we tailed Winston. We need a much smaller, less obvious car.”

Everyone turned to look at Lexy, and her stomach did a nervous somersault.
 

“Oh, no, not me. Jack wouldn’t like that. Plus, I have too much work to catch up on to go around tailing suspects. But I think I know someone who would love to help.” Lexy pulled out her phone and dialed Norman.

“Hey, Norman, how would you like to help us stake-out Winston’s killer?”
 

“Winston’s killer?” Norman’s voice was hushed. “Word around here is he died of a heart attack … although I do admit I had my suspicions when I heard it.”

“We’re suspicious, too. Nans wants to do a stake-out on our prime suspect to see if she can pick up any evidence, but they don’t want to use Ruth’s car. It’s too noticeable. Are you game to use yours?”

“Sure, that would be great. I’d love to see how your grandmother and her friends operate. I could learn a lot from them.”

Lexy frowned. “Really?”

“Of course. Oh, and I got that information you guys wanted … about the people who opposed developing the land on Meadow Lane. Turns out a lot of people opposed it, not the least of which is Steve Warren who owns the
Fur Fun K9 Center
.”

“Oh, really?” Lexy’s brows lifted. “That’s interesting.”

“And I found out something else, too.” Norman’s voice was laced with excitement. Lexy could picture him huddled over his phone, whispering into it. “It seems there was a big controversy about that land way back when
Banks Development
bought it. Regis practically stole the land from the Silversteen’s, using all kinds of dirty tricks on the poor elderly farmer and his wife.
 

“The land had been in the family for generations. The farmer came on hard times and Banks took advantage through some shady loan. Practically threw the couple and the granddaughter they were raising out on the street. He made a big stink in the press, but nothing could be done since Regis never actually did anything illegal.”

“That sounds like him,” Lexy said, “I bet there’s plenty more stories like that.”

“I’ll keep digging,” Norman said. “And I’ll bring the list of the opposers tonight. What time should we meet?”

“I won’t be going, but you can come over to the retirement center tonight at …” Lexy eyed Nans.

“Seven o’clock.” Nans said. “Tell him we’ll pack some sandwiches and snacks to keep us fortified.”

Lexy relayed the information to Norman, then disconnected.

“Now if we only had an inside track to Winston’s autopsy results,” Helen glanced sideways at Lexy. “Maybe you could call Jack?”

“You know Jack doesn’t like to talk about cases to me,” Lexy said, then sighed at the puppy dog faces Nans, Ruth, Ida and Helen gave her. “All right, but I’m not going to press him.”

Lexy still had her phone in her hand, so she tapped in Jack’s number and waited for him to answer.

“Hi, Lexy.” Jack’s voice sounded relaxed, which was good. Not only did she hate to bother him when he was busy, but she could never get any good information out of him when he was trying to rush off the phone.

“Hi Hun. I’m here with Nans and the gang and we were wondering about Winston Banks.”

“Anything specifically?” Jack’s voice was guarded.

“Did you have an autopsy done?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact we did.”

Lexy’s pulse picked up a notch with excitement. Nans came over next to her and Lexy held the phone out from her ear so Nans could listen in. “Did you find anything unusual?”

“Well, not per se,” Jack said. “On the surface it looks like he had a heart attack.”

“But …” Lexy let the word hang. She could tell Jack had his doubts. She just hoped he’d voice them.

“It’s just that something doesn’t sit right. I mean, with him dying so close to his father and Winston didn’t have any history of heart disease.”

Nans leaned closer and yelled into the phone. “Jack, it’s Mona.”

“Hi, Mona. I figured you’d get on the line sooner or later.”
 

“Listen, I think it might be in your best interest to do a broad toxicology test. Not the standard one that’s typically done. I have a theory.”

“Sure, Mona, I’m sure the medical examiner won’t mind doing that, especially when I tell him my wife’s grandmother has a theory,” Jack said with good natured sarcasm. He didn’t like it when Lexy and Nans tried to investigate on their own, but the truth was he had a lot of respect for Nans’ detecting skills and had even asked the ladies to consult on certain cases.

“Just tell him I’ll bring him one of my apple pies,” Nans said.

Jack laughed. “I’ll see what I can do. I gotta run—see you at home tonight, Lexy.”

“Apple pie?” Lexy asked Nans as she put down the phone.

Nans smiled, “Mike, the medical examiner, loves my pies.”

“Those pies sure do come in handy as bribes,” Ida said.

 
“I’m not above throwing out an apple pie bribe to further the case.” Nans went to the whiteboard and updated it with the new information.

“Well, it does sound like Jack has doubts and you know his instincts are spot on,” Ruth broke off a piece of coffee cake and stuffed it in her mouth.

“Just in case he’s not, there’s another suspect I think we should look at,” Lexy said.

“Who?” Nans wrinkled her brow at Lexy.

“Olivia.”
 

Lexy told them about her conversation with Olivia and Steve at the
K9 Center
. “They were acting strange—evasive. I know they are hiding something and Steve was one of the big opposers to the land development out there.”

“But, what would Olivia have to gain from killing both Regis
and
Winston?” Helen asked.
 

“I don’t know, but in the conversation I overheard, they seemed afraid someone “might find out about the food” and Steve said he’d take care of it.” Lexy chewed her bottom lip. “Maybe they killed Regis and Winston was onto them, so they killed Winston to keep him quiet.”

“How would they have had access to poison Winston?” Helen asked.

“We’re not sure he
was
poisoned,” Ruth said.

Helen rolled her eyes. “Right, but either way they would have had to have access to him in order to kill him.”

“He was Olivia’s brother. Maybe they met before the meeting. Maybe Olivia was at the office,” Lexy suggested. “The other thing is that I recognized Steve … or his back, anyway. He was the person that blocked my view from the ice creams at the birthday party.”

“You mean the one you saw under hypnosis?” Helen asked.

Lexy nodded. “He was up at the head table and Olivia was sitting right next to Regis, so either one of them could have switched the ice cream.”

“One of them could have created a diversion and the other switched them!” Ruth said.