All I Want For Christmas is Fudge (A Candy-Coated Mystery with Recipes Book 4) (4 page)

“I’ve been throwing the rawhide away from the door and the footprints,” I said. “We were as careful as possible with the scene.”

Marley came bounding back toward me with the rawhide in his mouth. He stopped a few feet from me, turned, and headed straight to Officer Lasko.

“Watch out!” Allie called, but it was too late. Marley knocked Officer Lasko down, pinned her shoulders, and licked her face.

I winced, expecting screams, but instead I heard laughter. The sound was clear and happy and made me smile. I looked at Allie and she looked at me. We both were surprised and delighted by Officer Lasko’s reaction.

Charles went over and pulled the big, sweet dog off his partner. His chuckle joined Officer Lasko’s, Allie’s, and mine. Officer Lasko’s face registered nothing but joy when she sat up. “Okay, okay,” she said. “You don’t have to be leashed.”

Marley licked her face one more time. She patted his head and ruffled his neck.

“His tag says his name is Marley,” I said. “His address is Sara’s Vineyard—the same as our murder victim.”

Officer Lasko’s expression cooled. “Right,” she said, and stood. “Well, Marley, we’re not here to play. If this is the cabin where Tim Slater stayed, how did you find it?”

“Jenn and I were out for a walk when Marley showed up. We followed him here.”

“You mean you were out investigating,” Charles said. He took Marley by the collar and walked him over to a dog run, which was built beside the cabin. “There you go, boy. This should keep you out of trouble for a bit.” He put the dog in the run and latched the gate.

“You need to learn to stay out of the way of police investigations,” Officer Lasko said to Allie. She gave us both the evil eye and then went up to the stoop. “Who went inside?”

“I went in,” Allie said to Officer Brown. “The door was open and we needed to see if everything was all right.”

“People don’t just let a beautiful dog like Marley run around unsupervised,” I said. “It’s cold out here. Marley could have been hurt.”

“We’ll take it from here,” Officer Lasko said; then she called into the house, “Police, is anyone home?”

“The place is empty,” Allie said as Officer Brown walked up to the stoop.

“I know, but it’s procedure to announce before we enter. I’m going to need to take a statement from you both.” He looked at me with his gorgeous dark green eyes. “I’ve called Shane. If this is part of the murder scene, he needs to process it.”

“That’s fine with me,” I said with a fast smile. “I’m always happy to see him.”

“Does he know that?” Charles asked.

“I certainly hope so,” I said, shoving my hands in the pockets of my ski coat.

“Maybe it would be a good idea if you found the time to tell him.” Charles gave me a look I couldn’t quite interpret and followed Officer Lasko into the house.

“What was that all about?” I asked Allie.

“I don’t know,” she said, and put her arm through mine. “But I’m a good investigator and I intend to find out.”

Chapter 4

“The girlfriend’s name is Eliza Bond,” Allie said as she entered the office, where Mella and I worked on a cash-flow projection for my business plan. It was nice to have kitty company. I wondered if Allie would let me bring her back to Chicago with me until spring.

“Do you know her?” I asked as I set aside the folder for the fund-raising event we held in the park during the Lilac Festival.

“Frances knows her family,” Allie said as she sat down on her office chair with a
whump.
“The Bonds have owned the cabin for over a hundred years. They’ve added on several times over the decades. The onetime one-room cabin now has five bedrooms and five baths. According to town scuttlebutt, Tim and Eliza were staying at the cabin with Marley.”

“Wow, some cottage,” I said, and rested my elbow on the desk and put my head in my hand. “You look tired. I thought you fulfilled all your orders.”

“I did, but we’re four days from Christmas and I’ve gotten fifty more orders today, all paying for express shipping to ensure the fudge arrives by the holiday.”

“That’s great, but fifty orders is a lot to accomplish in four days.”

“I know,” Allie said. “And believe me, I welcome the business. But I came up to put a note up on the Web site that we’re closed to Christmas orders for the year to deter any more last-minute shoppers. I can put some orders out for the New Year, but I need a little rest.”

“That’s a good thing,” I said. “The weatherman is predicting a blizzard starting tomorrow night. You may not get anything shipped if it’s not out by the early afternoon.”

“Ugh,” Allie said. “Want to help make fudge?”

“Sure,” I said. “But I’m no candy maker. You should call Sandy in to help.” Sandy Everheart was a local chef who had studied chocolate in New York. However, shortly after getting her chocolatier degree, she’d returned to Mackinac Island to be with her ailing grandmother. Allie had hired Sandy to help with last summer’s tourist season.

I liked Sandy. She was a wizard with chocolate and an artist. She could create the most beautiful centerpieces with her edible sculptures. Allie had been so happy with her work that she let Sandy rent out the fudge shop kitchen to do work when it wasn’t in use. I hoped to do the same by renting half of Allie’s business office for myself come spring, when my contract with Eve’s was up.

“I already contacted Sandy,” Allie said. “She’s downstairs working right now. I needed a break. You can’t push through on fudge making. If you’re tired, it shows in the quality of the candy.”

“Oh, good, two chefs are better than one,” I said. “I’ll be happy to box and pack and ship for you.”

“I’m counting on it,” Allie said. She reached up and stroked Mella. Then she leaned toward me and put her arms on the top of her desk. “Frances knows Eliza Bond and her family. I got Frances to invite Eliza over for free condolence coffee and fudge.”

“Oh,” I said, excitement running through me. “That’s the perfect opportunity to ask her some questions.”

“That’s what I thought.” Allie glanced at her watch. “She’ll be here at three
PM
.”

“Okay, I’ll think of some questions,” I said, sitting back. “She must be devastated over Tim’s demise.”

“Word is that she was,” Allie said. “Frances said that Tim and Eliza had a huge fight the night before he was murdered and Eliza stayed with friends.”

“She wasn’t at the cabin when Tim was attacked?”

“No,” Allie said. “She has an airtight alibi, though. She spent the night with friends, and the couple vouched for her.”

“It doesn’t mean she didn’t do it,” I said. “You know that.”

“I know,” Allie said. “I’ve got some questions for her.”

“What about Marley? The police didn’t just leave him at the cabin, did they?” I asked as my thoughts turned to the sweet lug.

“No,” Allie said. “I asked Rex. He said the couple Eliza and Tim came to the island with—the Golds—went out to the cabin and brought Marley back into town.”

“Wait, if the Golds came with Eliza and Tim, why are they staying in town? Didn’t you say the cabin had five bedrooms?”

“Apparently, Eliza’s friend Karla Gold insisted that they stay closer to downtown. She didn’t want to trek all the way up to the Bonds’ place after the pub crawl. So they got a room at Hon’s B and B.”

“I bet that’s a cramped bedroom with Marley and Eliza,” I said.

“He’s not staying at the B and B with them. The Golds are boarding him at the Dog and Suds doggie day care.”

“There’s a doggie day care on the island?” I asked. I didn’t remember seeing one when I was there before.

“It’s new,” Allie said. “Emry Fastend started it in a building just off Market. Everyone told him not to start it in the off-season, but Emry’s retired and he figured since he lived here year-round, it didn’t matter when he started it.”

“How’s business?”

“Better than I would have thought,” Allie said. “People love to travel with their pets, but when the weather is bad, they aren’t as keen to take the smaller dogs on the trails with them.”

“I bet Marley’s sad he’s cooped up when there’s so much snow to play in.”

“When I asked Rex about that, he said that Eliza reported that Marley was happy to make new friends with the other dogs.”

“Well, a doggie day care is certainly better than housing Marley in a jail cell,” I said. Rex was known to lock up whoever caused havoc with his crime scenes, even dogs and old ladies.

The office phone rang and Allie picked it up. “Hello, Frances,” she said. “She’s here? Great, we’ll come right down.” Allie hung up the phone, uploaded her message to the Web site and stood.

“Eliza?” I saved my spreadsheet and stood as well.

“Yes,” Allie said. We hurried out of the office and down the four flights of stairs to the lobby. Frances was getting coffee for a pretty blond woman in a high-end ski outfit.

“Ah, here’s Allie now,” Frances said, and touched Eliza’s arm, steering her toward us. “Allie McMurphy, this is Eliza Bond. I’ve known her and her family for years.”

“Hi, Eliza,” Allie said, shaking her hand. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks,” Eliza said, her blue eyes welling up with tears. “I don’t know how this could have happened.”

“I’m Jenn Christensen,” I said. “Why don’t you come and sit down for a while? What you’re going through is terrible. I can’t imagine what it must be like to lose your boyfriend. We hoped maybe we could lend some sympathetic ears.”

“Okay,” Eliza said. She sat in the flowered love seat. Frances sat beside her. Mal jumped up and squeezed between Eliza and Frances and rested her head and paw on Eliza’s leg. Eliza patted Mal absently. Mella had slunk down the stairs in front of us and now curled up on the fireplace mantel.

Allie and I took the overstuffed wing-backed chairs across from the coffee table. Frances pressed a hot coffee into Eliza’s hands. “I just got out of the police station,” Eliza said. “I tried to answer all their questions, but I’m just not sure what I could say to help them find the person who did this to Tim.”

“Why don’t you tell us about it?” Allie asked as she leaned forward. “Maybe we can help.”

“I heard a woman needs to tell something seven times to work through her feelings,” Frances said. “If nothing else, we can help you talk it out.”

“Plus, Allie’s good at solving murders,” I said. “She can really be supportive.”

Eliza sat back with a faraway look. Her high cheekbones and contoured face glistened with emotion. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Why don’t you start by telling us when you last saw Tim,” Allie encouraged.

“Last night around midnight,” Eliza said, and sipped her coffee. “We went out to the pub crawl. We were all wearing Santa suits. I thought it was a fun idea . . . seasonal, you know?”

“Yes, of course,” Allie said. “We were out, too. I think I remember seeing you. But I thought you were with a tall guy with black hair.”

“You remember that?”

“The guy was handsome and he was one of the few nondrunks in the building,” Allie said. “Jenn was with me. Do you remember them?”

“Yes,” I said. I reached over and squeezed Eliza’s hand in a gesture of comfort. “I do remember him. Weren’t you with a small woman with raven-colored hair?”

“That’s my friend Karla Gold. The tall, handsome guy is her husband, Bill. I invited them to come for the weekend and watch Tim and me in the Santa Fun Run.”

“So neither of them run?” Allie asked.

“Oh no,” Eliza said, her mug in her right hand while she smoothed Mal’s fur with her left. “Karla does Zumba and Bill is a mountain biker, not a runner, but they were free for the weekend. I thought it would be fun to spend time with them. Anyway, we were so excited to participate in the pub crawl. I had tickets for drinks at each of the open bars. It’s why Karla wanted them to stay in town. She didn’t want to have to go very far to get to her bed after the pubs closed.”

“Your family owns a cottage on the island,” Allie said. “I understand it’s quite large, but you didn’t go back there last night. Why?”

“By midnight Tim was really drunk. He got in a fight with some other guys in Santa suits.” She let out a sob. “Oh, Tim.”

“Where were you when the fight happened?” Allie asked.

“I was at the Boar’s Head, I think.” Eliza twisted the coffee mug in her hands. “Tim liked to say things to provoke people. He got into it with two guys with full-sleeve tattoos. Bill went over and tried to tell Tim to knock it off, but Tim kept up with the snarky comments until one of the biker Santas hit him. That was it. A real free-for-all broke loose. It was like one of those bar fights you see on TV.”

“Did you or the Golds fight?”

“No,” she said, and tears rolled down her face. “Bill was worried about our safety.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I guess he thought Karla and I might become collateral damage,” Eliza said. “Bill worked his way through the fight to our table and got us out the back door. That was the last I saw of Tim.” She paused and sipped her coffee, and I noticed the fine tremble in her fingers. “I was so mad at him that I didn’t want to go home. Karla and Bill let me crash on the couch in their room. It was a late night, so I didn’t get up until nearly eleven
AM
.”

“And Karla and Bill were with you the entire time?”

“Yes,” she said. “In the morning Bill went out and got us coffee from downstairs, but pretty much we were together the entire time. I thought I was letting Tim sleep it off. I figured he went back to the cabin to take care of Marley. But when we were getting lunch, the police found us and told me the bad news.” She sobbed and covered her mouth with her hand. “I didn’t believe it. I thought it was another one of Tim’s bad pranks until they took me to see the body.” A shudder went through her. “Poor Tim.”

Frances put her arm around Eliza. Mal climbed up into Eliza’s lap and gave her a puppy kiss on the cheek. Mella made a soft leap up on the chair and curled up on the tall back. The animals could sense Eliza’s distress.

“Have you told your parents?” Allie asked.

“Yes,” Eliza said as she gave Mal a squeeze and let the dog settle onto her thighs. “They called Tim’s folks as well, but his parents are in California for the winter. I’m going to have to make arrangements.”

“Eliza,” Allie said, “I know this is hard, but do you have any idea who would want to hurt Tim?”

“Besides the guys he picked a fight with?” Eliza asked, then took the tissue Frances handed her and wiped her nose. “Not really . . . except . . .”

“Except?” I asked.

Eliza made a face. “Tim had a stalker.”

“Wow,” Allie said. “A female stalker?”

We all leaned in to hear the story.

“No, a guy,” Eliza said, and put her cup down on the end table beside her chair. Then she took a second tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “Tim ran a winery.”

“Yes, Sara’s Vineyard, right?” Allie asked.

“Yes, it was named for his mom,” Eliza said, and twisted the tissue. “A great deal of profits at the winery come from the wine club. Tim had a wine club member named Albert Gray, who was unhappy with his last two wine club purchases. Tim guarantees all his wines, so he offered to send Albert more wine. But the man refused. So Tim offered his money back. Albert took the money, but continued to bad-mouth the winery on social media and those reviewer Web sites. Tim got his lawyer involved and sent him a cease and desist order. I told Tim just to let it go, but he couldn’t. He said people see a couple of bad online reviews and your entire reputation is in shreds. Well, when Mr. Gray got the letter, he went ballistic. He called Tim so many times that Tim had to change his phone number and his cell and his eight-hundred number, which meant all the wine labels had to be changed. Then Mr. Gray started sending nasty packages to the house, and Tim said he saw the guy following him three times last week.” Eliza shuddered. “If anyone should be a prime suspect, it’s Albert Gray.”

“Did you tell Officer Manning about Albert?” I asked.

“No,” Eliza said, and stroked Mal’s soft fur. “I was so shocked that Tim was gone. All I could do was think about the last time I saw him and how mad I was. I should have never stayed with the Golds. I should have gone with Tim. If I had been at the cabin, Tim might still be alive.”

“You can’t blame yourself,” Allie said, patting Eliza on the shoulder. “You had no idea anything bad would have happened. You’re on vacation. It’s Christmas. You’re supposed to be having fun. And if you’d been at the cabin, you might have been in danger as well.”

“We’re the ones who found Marley,” I said in an attempt at comfort. “We came upon him in the woods. I played with him for a while. He seemed happy.”

Eliza sent me a watery smile. “Marley is my baby. I would never have abandoned him. I thought he was with Tim. Tim loved Marley almost more than he loved me. He used to beg me to let him keep Marley overnight at the winery. He even bought the dog tag and put the vineyard’s address on it.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I planned on getting Tim his own dog for Valentine’s Day. I have a puppy on order with a breeder.” She reached for another tissue and sobbed.