A Crouton Murder (7 page)

In my mind, bread making is serious business. It’s a mainstay for most Americans. Whether in roll form or loaf, nearly every family bought bread on a regular basis. The recipe book, handed down from my Scottish grandmother, many times removed, offered lovely bread recipes covering a number of nationalities. The last ingredient she’d listed for a simple flatbread went into the mixer. I set the timer and hit the start button.

Similar to lavash, a Persian staple and chapatti from India, customers enjoyed this particular flatbread. Once I’d placed a sign in the bakery window, offering a flatbread special for the same day each week, Seanmhair and I had been inundated with customers. Who knew the bread would be so popular? Not me, that’s for sure.

The mixer whirred, I boiled water for tea, and BettyJo came through the door. She’d changed, from her gypsy fortune telling attire, into a raisin purple angle-hemmed top with a pair of Ponte pants, darker in color. She sparkled with vitality and I assumed the day had gone well.

“Off for dinner with your father?” I asked.

She grinned. “He just called to make sure I was coming. I hope the food is good, ’cause I’m ravenous. All I had time for today was a couple crackers. Clients kept me busy. I’ll stop by on my way back to tell you how I fared with information on Ezra and Corinda.”

“Great, I’ll be here, up to my elbows in bread dough.”

“Vinnie’s quite confident, isn’t she? And tall, too,” BettyJo commented.

“Yes, and yes. I hadn’t realized she had a stalker. You be careful and stay alert while you’re out,” I warned her as she went out the door.

I watched BettyJo cross the parking lot and drive off. After she’d gone, I started a new batch of dough.

I’d finished kneading and set the mixture to rest when I heard a knock at the door. My first thought was to ignore the intrusion, but several insistent raps later, I figured I’d better open up.

Carl Mack caught me completely by surprise. I hadn’t expected the caller to be him. Instead, Porter Anderson had popped into my head. Relieved it wasn’t Porter, I swept the door wide and invited Carl in.

I glanced at the clock and said, “I’m surprised you aren’t up to your neck in pizza right about now. This is your busy time of night, right?”

“Yeah, it is. I could have called, but the place is busier than ever, so I just came over. I wondered if you’d take over our roll and dough orders . . . uh, starting tomorrow?” Carl asked with a half-assed grin.

A little more advanced notice would have been nice, but I didn’t want to refuse business so I agreed. “Your main guy can’t meet your demands?

“He’s closed up shop, or rather the cops and FBI did. It seems he was running illegal gambling in the side room of his bakery. The cops got wind of it, sent someone in undercover and between the two agencies, they shut him down. I just heard about it. I can’t make the dough and rolls myself, that’s why I’m here.”

“Not to worry. Give me a list of what you need and I’ll have them ready for pick-up in the morning. Is that all right?”

I chuckled when he produced a list from his back pocket. He’d known I’d help if I could. All of us in the row of shops did that for one another. It kept harmony amongst us. I took his list, gave it a good look, and said, “Right, they’ll be ready in the morning. We open at seven a.m., so any time after that is fine. Seanmhair will be happy to see you.”

He lingered and I waited. Not for long, though.

“I hear BettyJo has a stalker, huh?”

“Really?” I lifted a brow and stared at him.

Carl shuffled his feet a bit and glanced around the kitchen. He finally looked at me and said, “Helena mentioned it. Apparently, BettyJo stopped by her shop earlier this evening to buy cupcakes. They got to talking and when BettyJo went to leave, she said there was a guy skulking about, watching her. BettyJo was slightly unnerved. At least, that’s what Helena said. Who do you think it is?”

“I haven’t a clue and neither does BettyJo. She didn’t say anything about stopping by Helena’s,” I said curiously.

“I guess it was last minute, because she went into the shop by the front entrance, not the back door like we always do.”

I stared at him for a minute and then said his order would be ready and waiting for him. I admit, it was my way of dismissing his intention to gossip, which I refused to do. If BettyJo wanted to share her business, that was up to her, not me.

With a nod, Carl left. I locked the door behind him and returned to work. About an hour later, BettyJo arrived and knocked furiously until I let her in.

“Geez, I thought you were going to keep me out there all night,” BettyJo griped and stopped talking at the look on my face. At least that’s what I thought prompted her silence.

A hand on my hip, I said, “Look, BettyJo, if you want to tell the world you have a stalker, why not take an ad out in the Providence Journal?”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t
told the world
,” she mimicked.

“Uh, I beg to differ. Carl Mack came in a while ago and told me you shared your stalker news with Helena, who told him and I daren’t guess how many people he’s told. Duh! What were you thinking?”

Her hands up in a stop motion, BettyJo exclaimed, “I was thinking it might stop this bastard, once and for all. If he knows I’m aware of him, then maybe he’ll find someone else to stalk. It’s driving me crazy. I feel like I’m gonna jump out of my skin any minute.”

I sighed, asked if she wanted a glass of wine, and headed to get the bottle and two glasses when she said yes.

Over wine, we talked about Carl’s news. All the while, I waited for BettyJo to share what she’d learned from her father. When she didn’t speak up and I couldn’t stand the suspense another second, I asked, “Are you planning to tell me about dinner with your dad or what?”

She swallowed her mouthful of wine and gave me a wide smile. “I made a point of mentioning Corinda to him. He got all weird looking.”

“That’s a description I’ve not heard lately,” I said with a laugh. “Explain.”

“His face closed like a book. Snapped shut, bang.” She smacked her palms together.

“No shit. I can’t believe it. How did you approach the subject?”

“We were eating tortellini with a delicious cheese sauce, kind of like an Alfredo sauce. I buttered a roll and casually said how pretty Corinda was and that they made a nice-looking couple. When I looked up, wham, his face was cold as ice, his eyes, too. He even had that pinched look around his mouth. It’s the look he gets when he’s unwilling to discuss a subject and thinks you’ve overstepped your bounds by mentioning it. Cripes.”

“So, your take on the whole thing is?”

“I think there may have been something going on between them, but it’s over, very over. If I had to guess, he figured she was out for his money. Of course, I have nothing to back up that theory. What do you think?”

I hedged. “I don’t know either of them well enough to judge. I saw how she tried to get close to your father at the dinner you held, but before we could get the evening underway, it ended. Did he mention seeing me with Aidan?”

“He was quite vocal about your being at that party. Not with Aidan, mind you, but there, at all. He can be such a snob. He calls my business a ‘little business’, which sends my blood pressure out of sight with anger hot on its trail. Imagine? A ‘little business’?”

Her indignant remark made me smile. I’d heard that before from other people who had come into the bakery. I was never sure if they meant it as a slur, or had called it a little business because the shop was small. Mentally, I settled for the latter, rather than the former.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s upset that you aren’t a mega-banker like he is. I think we have good shops with lots of customers. I don’t care about being rich. I care about feeding people. You care about their futures. You and I are good, caring folk.”

“I agree with you. We are.” BettyJo sat quietly for a few seconds. “How can we find out more about Ezra and Corinda since Dad won’t open up?”

“I think you should bring him here tomorrow evening. We’ll gang up on him and tell him our suspicions. If nothing comes of it, at least we’ve given him something to consider.”

“You’re sure about that? You want to tackle my father?” BettyJo asked with wide eyes.

I gave her a look and a nod. What was I thinking? That I had nothing to lose by inviting the lion into my territory, which was always better and more secure than being in his. At least I could tell him to get out if he was rude and obnoxious. Right?

“A-all right, I’ll ask him to come by after work. You’ll be here, then?”

“I’ll make sure I am,” I said.

As she gathered her handbag, BettyJo asked, “Do you think I was foolish to invite trouble from the stalker?”

I let out a breath and said, “I worry about you, you know. I’d feel so responsible if anything happened. If you want to try and get this guy into the open, then we’ll do it together. From now on, you’ll keep me on speed dial and call if there’s any problems at all, got it?”

With a smile, BettyJo headed home. I watched from the doorway until I heard the click of her lock. In turn, I locked up and finished bagging bread.

Her father was unavailable for the next two days, BettyJo said when she called. I considered how it might go when and if he did come by. It might not end up being the best idea I’d had lately, but what-the-hell, win or lose, there was no time to waste when it came to finding out who was supposed to be murdered.

Delighted to see him, when Carl had picked up his order, Seanmhair gave him an extra couple of rolls and chatted him up. I listened from behind the swinging door. She had charm, that grandmother of mine.

I snickered softly and went back to cleaning my kitchen just before Aidan came through the back door. His wide smile and gorgeous blue eyes left me to wonder what he was up to. In case he didn’t say, I asked, “What brings you by?”

“I have been remiss in stopping by to see you, so I thought I’d better do so in case that detective sweeps you out from under my very nose.”

I laughed. The word nose sounded like noos and detective definitely didn’t contain the letter ‘a’. “Glad to see you, too. Don’t worry about Porter. He has better things to keep him busy.”

“Are ye sure, lass?”

With a nod, I asked if he wanted a cup of tea. I poured one for me, another for Seanmhair, and when he agreed, I poured a mug of it for him.

“How are your business connections going?” I asked.

“Good, more ale is being shipped in as we speak. The first order arrived and has been distributed. Would you be interested in joining me later this evening for a taste-test?”

Cheerfully, I agreed to go out and drink his brand of ale as long as I didn’t have to drive my car. Ale is much stronger than beer, and I’m not a heavy drinker to begin with. One large mug of brew could put me under the table. I said as much and watched the laugh lines crinkle around Aidan’s eyes. Gosh, he was gorgeous.

The doors opened and Seanmhair strutted through them, a happy smile for Aidan. “Glad to see you, Aidan. Where have you been?”

“Busy with shipments. I apologize for neglecting you, Sean,” Aidan murmured as he kissed her cheek. “Melina and I are going out for a taste of my ale tonight. You wouldn’t care to join us, would you?” he asked.

Seanmhair glanced at me and then said, “Thank you, but I have a date with my own Scotsman. You don’t mind, do you?”

I breathed a light sigh of relief and waited for Aidan to charm her some more. “Should I be jealous over you finding another Scot, and all?” he bantered.

“Nah, get on with you,” Seanmhair said with a pleased expression.

While she readied to leave, Seanmhair coolly told me she’d locked the shop door and the daily proceeds were in the deposit bag on the counter. I thanked her and watched as she waddled out the rear door with a wave of her hand.

“What’s this about?” Aidan asked.

“Seanmhair kept going on about moving to Scotland. I was quite short with her, and she didn’t take it well.”

“And then what?” he asked. His keen stare saw more than I’d thought.

I shrugged. “I said if she wanted to relocate to Scotland with her new man, she was welcome to do so, but I have no intention of going. End of story.” Guilty over my actions, it renewed its pressure on me as I explained what had happened.

“You didn’t say those things, tell me you didn’t,” he remarked with surprise.

“Aidan, she kept going on and on, every other minute, about the possibility. No matter what I said, she wouldn’t let up. When she told me about this Graham fellow, I’d had enough.”

“You two need to sort this out. As soon as possible,” he said.

“I know. She’s been quiet around me since then. I know I hurt her feelings, but by gosh, enough already.”

“She’s your gran and there’s no excuse for your actions, Melina. Clear it up, while you still can. The longer this goes on, the harder it will be to talk about.”

Chastising was the last thing I needed. I’d beaten myself up over it without having someone else add their opinion. He was right, of course. I gave him a nod, said I’d get together with her and thanked him for his opinion. Which had left me feeling worse than before, but I left that out.

With a kiss to my forehead, Aidan said, “Good, you’ll both feel better when you’ve cleared the air. I’ll come round for you at seven.”

“See you then.” His departure left me with an emptiness that I’d come to feel whenever he was away from me. I shook my head, muttered about getting a life, and picked up the phone to call Seanmhair. Her voice came across the line.

“Is everything all right, Melina?” Sean asked.

“Can I come by for a bit? I think we need to talk,” I said.

Her hesitation left me holding my breath. Suddenly, she said, “Come by now. I’ll be going out soon, so hurry along.”

“Sure thing. Be right there, Seanmhair,” I answered and hung up. Yep, this would be harder than I’d anticipated. Crow was on the menu at the moment and I had no taste for eating it. We all have to give a little to gain some, right?

I whisked my handbag off the coat hook and made a beeline for my car. The distance to Sean’s apartment complex wasn’t far and I was there before I knew it. I pressed her apartment number button and waited until the door unlocked, so I could enter the building. These security measures were mandatory in all senior citizen complexes and I was glad for it.