Murderous Muffins (13 page)

The next morning, Cat and I sat at my kitchen table having coffee.

“How could Officer Ray even think for a second that you’re guilty?” Cat asked.

“I haven’t the faintest.” I plopped my elbows on the table. “What am I going to do? I feel like giving up now. Maybe we should.”

“No.” Cat dumped sugar in her cup. “Let’s think this out.”

I plucked a flower from the vase and put it to my nose. The sweet aroma gave my snarled thoughts a small respite. “We are out of suspects.”

“There has to be someone else. The killer had the means, motive, and opportunity to commit the crime.”

“And? To Officer Ray that is me. I bake the muffins, I had the poison, and I told everyone I would quiet Mr. Phong.”

“I know it looks bad for you. But it wasn’t you, and we have to prove that.” Cat sipped her coffee. “Let’s organize our investigation out loud, person by person, eliminating suspects.”

“First, of course, we take out you and me,” I said.

“Yes. Then I also think we can safely take Lily out. There is no way she would poison Mr. Phong and Frank.” Cat leaned back in her chair. “That leaves Xavier, I mean Luiz.”

“He’s out as well.” A grin lifted my lips as I thought of him.

“I see that smirk. You like him, don’t you?” Cat asked.

“You’re getting off base.” Although she was right. “Who does that leave?”

“Frank,” we said in unison.

Cat twisted her mouth. “Well, he’s out. Why would he poison himself? That wouldn’t make any sense at all.”

“None of this is logical.” I sank my head in my hands. “One day my life is normal, and now all of this. Everything is topsy-turvy.”

“Um, you consider being so close to bankruptcy that you illegally take in a houseful of boarders normal?”

I looked up at her. “If you put it that way, no.”

Cat took in a long inhale. “Here’s the honest-to-goodness truth. There’s no such thing as normal. Never was and never will be. Once you acknowledge that, life becomes so much more enjoyable because you’re not trying to reach something that doesn’t exist.”
Smiling, I said, “Thank you for your wisdom.”

Cat laughed. “Even though you’ve never revealed your age, I’m guessing that I’m only a few years older than you. So that means I’m not that wise.”

“Ah, yes, but you’re married with four children and run a business. Those qualify for being clever,” I said.

“Too bad I’m not astute enough to figure out who killed your tenant,” Cat said.

“And who made Frank sick, too. I’m assuming it could be the same person.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Cat sighed.

“What about your investigation into your father’s death? Have you gotten any closer to figuring out what happened?” I asked. Poor Cat, she’d had two people she loved who’d died recently. First her father, then Lucy.

Cat stood. “Nope.”

“Sorry.” I got up and moved next to her, placing my hand on her back. “But you are getting close.”

Cat said, “Not really.”

“But don’t you think that there is a connection with the crossword puzzles and your father’s former business partners’ deaths? And then you found that big yearly deposit, which stopped right after your father passed. I bet there’s something real important about that, too.”

“I do have all that random information. But where does it get me?” Cat stretched her arms above her head. Her eyes were swollen red as though they held back tears.

Seeing the pain in Cat’s eyes made my heart ache for her. How I wished that I could wave a wand and make her pain disappear.

Cat sighed. “My so-called investigation feels like some weird nightmare merry-go-round. I keep seeing the golden ring, but it moves farther out of reach while I keep spinning faster and faster.”

Trying to soothe her, I said, “Remember you and Annie Mae solved Lucy’s case. Soon we’ll find Mr. Phong’s killer. And I know you will also find out who shot your father.”

Cat’s eyes were moist. “I hope you’re right.”

Reaching over to Cat, I grasped her hand. “Me, too.”

A loud banging at the front door made me jump. “Excuse me for a moment. I’m going to answer that.”

Upon opening the front door, I was greeted by Officer Ray.

“Good day, Miss Gordon. With your permission, I’d like to look into your tenants’ rooms, specifically Frank and Mr. Phong.” Ray took off his sunglasses. His forehead had a few drops of perspiration.

“Oh?” I said.

“Yes, I’m going to look through their rooms just to make sure we haven't missed anything."

Although I wasn't sure if he needed a search warrant or not, I certainly didn't want to disagree with him or cause any trouble. After all, I had nothing to hide, so I saw no harm in letting him look around. “Do you want to go into Mr. Phong's room first or Frank’s?”

Officer Ray followed me up the stairs. “Doesn’t really matter.”

“Then we will start with Mr. Phong’s room.” I opened the door.

Officer Ray entered after me. He took a small camera from his front pocket and took several pictures. “Has anyone been in here since his body was removed?”

“No. You all were the last ones in the room that night. The door has been closed since then. I was kind of hoping that one of his relatives would show up and claim his belongings, although he doesn’t have much here.” Grief washed over me thinking about him. Yes, he could be annoying with all the humming and singing. But he was a sweet guy who was always kind.

“So no one has entered this room.”

“Correct.”

“And you said that no relative of his has tried to claim any of his belongings?”

“That’s right.”

Officer Ray shot out a grunt. “Not one person cares that he’s dead.”

“Well, I do, of course.” I looked around the room and saw his iPod just as he’d left it on the bed—remembering how he’d stumbled out of the bathroom, grasping his throat with one hand and grabbing his iPod with the other. It now made me wonder. Had he been trying to communicate to me through a song? I picked up the iPod. “Do you mind if I take this?”

Officer Ray arched an eyebrow. “Why?”

Oh no. What did I say now? I wanted to tell him why, but it sounded convoluted. I didn’t want to lie, yet I had to skirt around the truth just a tad. “He was trying to give it to me the night he died.” And that was pretty darn close to the truth.

Picking up the iPod, Officer Ray flipped it over, then handed it to me. “I don’t see any harm in it.”

“Thank you.”

“Return it when you’re done. Just in case someone comes to claim his property.”

“Why, of course.” I exited the room with Ray on my heels.

I locked Mr. Phong’s room, then walked a few feet down to Frank and Lily’s room. “Let me call them, just to make sure it’s okay to go in here.”

Officer Ray nodded.

I called Lily. She picked up on the second ring.

“Hey, Miss Bezu. I’m so sorry for the way Frank treated you.”

I said, “No worries at all. He wasn’t feeling well, and I know some people get cranky when they are in that state. How’s he doing now?”

“Not great, but he’s insisting on leaving today and going to the gym. Actually we are on the way now to drop off his bag in his locker, and then he’s taking me to work. He’s such a sweetie. Even as sick as he is, he wants to be with me to protect me.”

“I’m glad that he’s up and about. Listen, do you mind if Officer Ray and I go into your room?” I asked Lily.

“I don’t see why not. While you’re in there, can you go into the nightstand drawer and see if a phone charger is in there? I can’t find it for the life of me, and I think I had an extra one in there.”

“Sure. I’ll text you back if I find it.”

“Thanks, Miss Bezu. Got to go. Frank is already in the car and wants to leave.”

I clicked off. Unlocking the door, I said to Officer Ray, “She gave us permission to enter her room.”

Once inside the room, Officer Ray began to take pictures as he walked around. I strode over to the nightstand and pulled the top drawer open. No cords were visible. Perhaps her charger had shifted under something when the drawer opened. I moved a few things aside. Several small glass bottles rolled around. Picking up a bottle, I read the label Equipoise, Boldenone Undecylenate 2ml amp by the manufacturer Roid Plus. Next to it was a sealed box of syringes with needles. I placed them back in the drawer.

Officer Ray cleared his throat. “Are you snooping?”

“Uh, no.” I slammed the drawer. “Lily wanted me to look for her phone charger. But it wasn’t there.”

He scowled at me. “But look here.” He picked up a plate from on top of the dresser that sat diagonally opposite to the nightstand.

My heart raced. I had been so intent on searching for Lily’s charger, I’d forgotten about the plate. Not that I had anything to hide. “That’s from my kitchen.” A smattering of crumbs and a lone chocolate chip lay on the plate. I knew they were from my muffins. I felt like a knife was wedged in my gut. Could the muffin remnants be from the same batch that had caused Mr. Phong’s death? “Do you think that Frank ate from the tainted batch of muffins?”

He pulled out a plastic bag from his back pocket. He placed the plate inside the bag. “You’ll get this back after I’m done with it.”

I said, “Please take your time. I have plenty of plates.”

“I’m sure you do.” Officer Ray tromped to the door, his hand on the handle. “I’ll let myself out. But I suggest, Miss Gordon, that you stay in town.”

The way he said that to me, it sounded commanding, as though I was still a suspect. I tried to sound lighthearted, even though I felt the opposite. “I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.”

“Good.” With that, Officer Ray left.

A few minutes later, I made my way back to the kitchen. Cat turned off the faucet as I entered. She placed a clean dish on the drying rack. “So what did Mr. Personality Police Officer want?”

Leaning against the counter, I crossed my arms. “Probably looking for clues to Frank’s illness. He took a plate of mine.”

“A plate?” Cat asked.

“Yes, it had remnants of my chocolate chip muffins on it.”

“Oh?”

“Perhaps from the same batch of muffins that Mr. Phong had eaten.”

Cat’s eyes widened. “Why do you think that?”

I began to pace in front of Cat. “My hunch is that maybe Mr. Phong, who, as you know, had a slight frame, ate a lot of the tainted ones. He always had three or four. So I think that the sheer quantity he consumed could have been fatal to him. Whereas Frank, who is bulkier and probably only had one muffin, only got sick.”

“Hmmm. You may have something there. But it still leads us back to…who poisoned your muffins? Because you didn’t and I didn’t.”

I tapped my foot on the hardwood floor. “And Luiz didn’t, either. Again, no motive.” Thinking of him made my stomach flutter. Maybe I did have a crush on him.

Cat added, “And as far as Mr. Phong’s cousin, Joseph, I think we can safely rule him out as a suspect.”

“Yes. And José vouched for him,” I said.

Cat nodded. “So that is ironclad.”

“Who’s left? I think we’ve run out of suspects. After all, Frank wouldn’t poison himself.” I tapped my fingers on the countertop.

“That leaves Lily.” After Cat opened the refrigerator, a scent of oranges filled the room.

I let out a long sigh. “Again, no motive. Everyone who lived here had the opportunity to harm Mr. Phong. All of us also had the means. Lord only knows I have more insect poisons than the average household. It’s not like I lock them up. But not one of us had the motive. Or am I missing something?”

“Do you want some?” Cat held a glass pitcher of orange juice.

After removing two glasses and a bottle of champagne from the cupboard, I handed them to Cat. “Let’s add a little fortification to the juice. Mimosa?”

“A little drop won’t hurt.” Cat smiled as she fixed our drinks.

I bit my bottom lip. “So what are we missing?”

Handing me a glass, Cat said, “I’m drawing a blank.”

“Me, too.” I took a sip. The sweet juice with a kick of champagne hit the spot. “Thank you, this is good.”

“You’re welcome.” Cat drank some of her beverage. “You know, maybe, just maybe, you and I should let it go. All of it.”

“But I thought you were all gung ho with this detective work.”

“I was. I mean, I am.” Cat shrugged. “But remember, solving Lucy’s death was pure accident. If Annie Mae hadn’t wanted to go back and try to sell her garbage Dumpster chandelier, we would have never found out that Scarlett was the killer.”

“It doesn’t matter how you got to the solution. What matters is that you solved the crime. Right?” I looked at Cat.

“You are so sweet. But the truth is—it does matter. That’s why they have detectives trained in this sort of thing. They know what to do, and have learned how to investigate. Annie Mae and I just had dumb luck. Pure and simple.”