A Deadly Delicious Delivery (A Chocolate Centered Cozy Mystery Book 2) (10 page)

Charlotte knew where Stephanie lived, however they still parked a few streets away. Ally was sure that if Stephanie spotted her she would do her best to prevent Ally from getting inside the house. The best chance she had of getting inside was to get the attention of one of Myrtle’s children. If she could get invited in by them, then she might be able to look around before Stephanie asked her to leave. When they walked up to the house Charlotte held a bouquet of flowers in front of her. Ally knocked on the door and took a slight step back. A moment later the door swung open.

“Hi Mark.” Ally offered a tight smile. “My grandmother and I wanted to offer our sympathy.”

“Did you?” He nodded and took the flowers from Charlotte. “Thank you.”

“Could we maybe come inside for a minute?” Charlotte asked sweetly. “We feel awful about what’s happened, and the fact that someone is trying to make it look like we were involved. We’d love to talk to you and your sister about what we know about the investigation, so that we can get you up to speed.”

“All right, but just for a few minutes. My aunt is down at her store and she doesn’t like visitors.”

“Is your father here?” Charlotte stepped in front of Ally and through the door into Stephanie’s house.

“No, he doesn’t fly in until tomorrow.”

“Fly? Does he live far?” Ally asked. She tried to keep her voice level as she followed her grandmother into the house. She had heard Nate talking to Stephanie, why would Mark believe he was out of town? Was Nate trying to hide the fact that he was in the area from his kids?

“No, but he was away on a business trip. He actually lives about twenty minutes from here. He bought himself a nice split-level place. I guess he’s trying to get back on his feet.”

“Back on his feet?”

Mark led them into a tidy living room. “Yes, after the divorce he took it pretty hard, and he was basically living in squalor for a long time. Motels, tiny apartments, even my aunt’s basement.”

Ally’s eyes widened. She glanced over at Charlotte who offered a subtle nod. If Stephanie and Nate had spent time living together that was likely when the romance started.

“Please, sit.” He gestured to an overstuffed, white couch. “I’d like to hear what you know.”

“Do you mind if I use the bathroom first?” Ally paused in the entrance of the living room.

“Sure. Down the hall, to the right.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll fill you in.” Charlotte sat down on the couch and waited for Mark to take a seat as well. Ally could hear them talking as she headed down the hall. Her heart pounded. The search would not be easy. There was a good chance that Stephanie could walk in at any time, or that Mark’s sister would pop out of one of the rooms. She had to be very careful.

Ally peeked into the kitchen. It was cramped, with very cluttered counters. There wasn’t a reasonable workspace. The floors were clean with no sign of chocolate footprints or smudges. She quickly opened the cupboard and then the fridge, but found nothing incriminating inside. When she closed the fridge door she noticed a door in the kitchen that she assumed led to the basement.

After a quick glance around to make sure that no one was watching, she opened the door. The stairs were wooden and rickety. She had to close the door behind her to muffle the creaks of the wood as she made her way down the steps. She envisioned a secret lab of sorts, with beakers and bubbling poison. What she found was quite different. Mountains of boxes were piled from floor to ceiling. Even if Stephanie wanted to, Ally didn’t see how she could have ever made the chocolates there.

Ally made her way back to the top of the steps. Her nerves were alive with fear as she opened the door to the kitchen. Luckily, no one was waiting for her. She closed the door quietly, then stepped into the hallway. There were four doors, two on the left, one on the right, and one at the end of the hall. Her instincts told her that the door at the end of the hall led to the master bedroom. Maybe there would be evidence of Stephanie’s chocolate making in there.

With silent steps she crept her way down the hall. When she reached the room she turned the knob on the door and eased it open very carefully. On the other side was what she would expect to find in any bedroom. She quickly cast her eyes around the room, but she again found no evidence of chocolate making. Ally backed out of the room and started to turn down the hallway when she heard her grandmother clear her throat. A signal that she needed to hurry. Ally rushed to the bathroom door, which she had never even opened. She just made it when Mark walked down the hall.

“Oh sorry, was just checking on you. I thought maybe you were out of toilet paper or something.”

“No, no, it was fine. I’m sorry. I just ate something a little funny.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized how awkward that statement sounded. Mark’s eyes widened, but he was polite enough not to comment. Ally felt disheartened as she joined her grandmother in the living room. Not only had she not found anything, but now she had reminded Mark that they were the ones accused of poisoning his mother.

“Well, thanks for sharing the information with me. I sure hope they find out the truth soon. My mother’s will is going to be read after the funeral. I’d like to know who her killer is before then.”

“So would we.” Charlotte stood up from the couch. “We’re going to keep you posted.”

“Thanks. That’s more than the detective on the case is doing.”

“I’m sure that the detective is working very hard on the case and that’s why he hasn’t been able to keep you informed,” Ally said as she stood up.

“I hope so. I really want this solved.” Mark walked them both to the door. Just as he opened it, Stephanie reached for the knob. Ally nearly walked right into her.

“You two? What are you doing in my house? Mark! Did you let them in here?”

Mark shied back from his aunt’s raised voice. “They were just updating me on the case, Aunt Stephanie.”

“Updating you on the case? About what? How they plan to poison me next?”

“Aunt Steph, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“No Mark, you don’t think at all, do you?” She looked from him to Ally. “Get out of my house. And for that matter, stay away from my store as well. I want nothing to do with either of you. Don’t think I won’t be calling the detective about this. You can’t continue to harass us.”

“It was just a visit to express our sympathy.” Charlotte straightened her shoulders. “Really Stephanie, we had nothing to do with this, there’s no reason to be rude.”

“Sure, no reason, except that your chocolates killed my sister.”

Charlotte shook her head and guided Ally out through the door. Stephanie slammed the door shut behind them. Ally instantly had a knot in her stomach. Their presence at Stephanie’s house might only make them look worse.

“Mee-Maw, I didn’t find anything.” Ally shook her head. “I think I just blew our last chance.”

“It was a long shot to begin with.”

“I know. Stephanie is too smart to create the murder weapon in her own house. She must have done it somewhere else. Now Stephanie is going to call Luke,” Ally said.

“That’s all right, we didn’t do anything wrong. We paid a visit to show our sympathy, that’s all.” They settled into the car and Ally turned the key. The moment the engine revved, her eyes widened.

“Wait. Wait a minute.” Ally sat forward in her seat. “I bet I know where the chocolates were made.” Ally’s phone rang. She saw it was Luke.

“Ally. I just got a call from Stephanie…” Luke said before she could say anything.

“Can we talk about that later? I need the address for Myrtle’s ex-husband, Nate, please?”

“What? Why? Ally, we need to talk about why you were at Stephanie’s.”

“Okay, and I promise we will. Just not right now. Right now I need Nate’s address. Please Luke?”

“Ally, I feel like you’re not grasping the severity of this situation.”

“I do know that this is serious and that’s why I need the address?”

“No, I won’t give it to you.”

“I need to know his address,” Ally repeated. “There’s a good reason, I promise, and it’s nothing I couldn’t find with an internet search, I just don’t have time for that when I know that you have his address in a file right in front of you.”

“Sorry, Ally I won’t.  You need to stay…”

“Stay out of this, I know, I know.” Ally hung up the phone.

“You think they were made at Nate’s house? If they were he must have been in on it.” Charlotte narrowed her eyes. “Ex-wife or not, Myrtle was the mother of his children, who could be so cruel?”

“If I’m wrong then we are going to find out.”

Ally searched the internet on her phone for Nate’s address. The address was in Mainbry. She barely ever went to that area, but the address rang a bell. It was like she had seen it somewhere recently, but she didn’t know where.  “We’re about to find out.” She set up a map to the address. “I just need to get out onto the main road, and then we will see what we find.”

***

The twenty minute drive was turned into thirty minutes because of the traffic. Ally tried not to complain, but she was getting more frustrated by the moment. She knew that every minute that ticked by was more time for Stephanie to alert Nate that they were suspicious. If Nate had the chance to clear out his house they might end up with nothing to show for their search, yet again.

“Here we are.” She pulled up to a split-level house, just as Mark had described. “This is it.” She double-checked the address to be sure.

“There’s no car in the driveway. I don’t think he’s home.” Charlotte leaned forward to peer through the window.

“I’ll take a quick look around just to be sure. I want to see if there’s any way to get into the house.”

“Ally, remember what Luke said.”

“I remember, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to see what I can see. This is the best thing I can do for us right now.”

“Right, but if Nate catches us we’re going to have a real problem. We’re out of town now, and Luke won’t be able to do much to protect you if you get caught breaking in.”

“I know.” Ally sighed solemnly. “But I still have to try.” She opened the car door and walked towards the house from the side. Just because there was no car there didn’t mean that no one was home. With caution she slid along the side of the house. The bottom floor had a few windows that she could easily look through.

The interior of the house was neat, but bare, only the essential furniture and not much decoration. There was no evidence of any chocolate making that might have taken place. She peered through another window and saw straight into the kitchen. The sink was clean, the table was clear, and the counters were empty. It didn’t seem as if Nate did a lot of living in the house, which made sense since Mark mentioned that his father traveled for business. She stared for some time at the kitchen in the hopes that she would find some evidence of candy creation.

No matter how long she stared she couldn’t invent evidence that wasn’t there. There wasn’t much more that she could see on the bottom floor of the house. She glanced up at the top floor. There wasn’t an easy way to climb to access the windows. She doubted that the upstairs would be much different. As she walked around the house she thought about breaking in. She didn’t even know if she would be able to and she knew that it was a huge risk, but leaving there with nothing seemed like an even bigger risk. She decided to check the garage to see if there might be an entrance that she could use.

When she reached the garage she found a closed door. The door was solid with no window in it. She wiggled the doorknob. The door was locked, but when she pulled her hand away, her palm was smudged with something dark. Her heart raced as she lifted her palm to her nose. She breathed a scent that she would know anywhere, the scent of chocolate. Her eyes widened. She was sure that this must be where the chocolate was made. The windows were a few feet too high for her to see through. She looked around for something that she could stand on, but there was nothing to be found. Nate kept the outside of his house as neat and bare as the inside.

Ally’s instincts and now the evidence told her that this was the place. Her heart rate quickened at the thought of walking away without confirming her instincts with proof. She needed something to stand on to see through the windows. She looked around for something to stand on but she couldn’t see anything. As she walked back to the car she knew that she couldn’t leave without seeing what was inside the garage. She knocked on her grandmother’s window. Charlotte rolled it down.

“Did you find something?”

“I think so. But I need your help.”

“Sure.” Charlotte nodded. “What can I do?”

“Can you drive the car close to the garage?” she asked. “I need to stand on the hood so I can see inside.”

“I can do that,” Charlotte said as she walked around to the driver’s side. She started the car. She slowly drove forward while Ally directed her. Ally kept indicating that she should keep moving forwards and held her hand up to stop just before the garage.

Ally gestured for Charlotte to get out and she held her grandmother’s hand to steady herself as she climbed onto the hood.