Assault and Batter (14 page)

“No, there’s more. Jude owed someone in town a fair amount of money, and Dad thinks that might also be a reason that he was murdered, not out of jealousy.”

“That’s interesting. I suppose he’s calling him Mister X,” I said with a smile.

“Dad isn’t naming him in the paper because he doesn’t want to take a chance on getting sued, but he’s pretty sure who it is. Can you keep a secret?” she asked me.

More than she knew. I wasn’t all that excited about her confiding in me, though. “Are you sure that you’re at liberty to tell me everything?” I asked.

“I know that you won’t spread it around. It’s Frank Grambling.”

My shock must have shown on my face. “Frank? Seriously?” If Ray Blake was right, which was a mighty big if, then Jude was not only sleeping with the man’s wife but stealing money from him as well. Frank had just managed to climb a few notches higher on my list if it were true.

Emma couldn’t hide her smile. “I know; can you believe it? Jude sold Frank some gold that turned out to be fake. When Frank demanded his money back, Jude told him that the cash was already gone and that Frank should just forget about it. I don’t know how well you know Frank Grambling, but Dad said that was something he wasn’t about to do. He’s going to dig the truth out, and he’s hoping that by running this story, Frank will come clean and admit what he’s done.”

“That’s a lot to hope for,” I said. “If he has any real proof, he should tell Chief Martin.” I fully realized how that sounded since I’d been known to delay handing over shaky evidence myself in the past.

“Nope. Dad says that real journalists don’t do that.”

“Is he willing to go to jail over it?” I asked.

“Are you kidding? There’s nothing he’d like better! He’s already got the headline. Journalist Jailed; Won’t Talk.”

“Well, then for his sake, I hope he’s sitting in jail behind bars by nightfall.”

Emma laughed. “I’m going to tell him that you said that.”

“Be my guest,” I said. “Now, if we’re finished speculating, you need to go set up the dining room so I can drop these donuts into the fryer.”

She left as I forced the batter into our heavy steel dropper and began making perfect little rings of goodness in the hot oil. Two minutes later, I took my chopsticks and turned them once, revealing a dark golden side of each treat. After they cooked on that side, I pulled them out and poured icing over them all, watching as the glaze crystalized and formed perfect, delightful coatings. Once I was finished, I called Emma back in.

“Are you ready to get started on the dishes?” I asked.

“I can’t wait,” she said. As I mixed the yeast dough, we chatted about the weather and a certain real estate agent in town named Larry Evans who was rumored to be wooing four different women in April Springs. It was outrageous, and nobody really believed it, but it was entertaining. The fact that the agent was in his eighties just helped add to the delight of me thinking of him slipping from one bedroom in town to another. I didn’t doubt that there was some basis to the rumor. I’d seen the way Larry had eyed me when he’d come into the shop. The man was a wolf in a green blazer, the jacket of choice for all of the agents in his firm.

The yeast dough was mixed soon enough, and as we waited for it to rest and raise, Emma and I took our standard break. At least we started to, but then my cellphone rang, and I knew exactly who was calling me that early in the morning.

“Jake, are you there already?” I asked.

“No,” he said, out of breath. I could hear him running and terminal sounds all around him. “Our flight was late, and I’ve got to run to catch my next one. Fortunately my flight’s going through Vegas. The terminal’s not that big, so I’m going to a nearby gate.”

“You won’t even have time to drop a quarter in the slot machine, will you?” I asked. Grace had gone to Las Vegas after winning a sales contest for her company, and she’d marveled that they even allowed gambling in the airport after she got through security.

“I don’t gamble,” he said. “Just wanted to say hi while I had the chance. Hi.”

“Hi yourself. Call me when you get there, will you?”

“Promise,” he said. “Love you.”

“I love you, too,” I said as he hung up.

Emma was standing there grinning at me when I hung up. “That’s an early phone call, even for you, Suzanne. Do I even have to ask who it was?”

“No, you sure don’t.”

“It didn’t last long,” she said.

“He was changing planes, so he couldn’t chat.”

“Oh, that sounds exciting. Where’s he going?” Emma asked me.

“Alaska,” I said, my heart sinking a little as I said it.

“Wow; that’s a long way from North Carolina,” she said. “Will he be back soon?”

I didn’t want to get into that with her, but I really didn’t have much choice. It was just the two of us, and we’d already banned talking about Emily’s wedding. “In a few months,” I said.

“That long?”

“That’s just to visit. He’ll be working there for a year, but before you say a word, I don’t want to talk about that, either.”

Emma nodded. “We sure are limiting our topics of conversation lately, aren’t we?” she asked me with a grin.

“Well, there’s always Larry,” I said, smiling.

“Yes, we’ll always have Larry.”

I was surprised to see our mayor waiting out front when I unlocked the front door promptly at six AM. “Come on in, George,” I said as I stepped aside to let him pass. “What brings you out so early today?”

“I’m usually up before this,” the mayor said as he took his jacket off and hung it on the rack.

“Maybe so, but you don’t often get donuts first thing,” I said. “What’s going on? Is Polly out of town?” Polly North was George’s secretary, and also his girlfriend, though he would never come out and admit it. George thought it was a ridiculous name for a woman he was seeing, but he hadn’t liked any of my other choices, either, so we were stuck with it.

“As a matter of fact, she’s in Wilmington. One of her kids is having a baby, so she went to help out.”

“Wow, that’s some kind of mom,” I said.

“I’m sure that your mother would do the same thing for you,” George said.

“I’m not pregnant, though.” I pretended to study my belly. “Do I look pregnant? George, are you saying that if I’m not pregnant, I’m getting fat?”

“What? No. Of course not. I’d never say any such thing.”

He stopped when he saw my grin. “You’re too easy to tease, my friend. It’s not even any fun anymore.”

As he fought his blush, the mayor said, “You could always stop doing it, then.”

“Not on your life,” I said and kissed his cheek lightly, an act that made his face burn even brighter. “Let me get you coffee and a donut on the house,” I said as I walked to the counter.

“You used to just do that when I was working on a case with you,” George said as he took a stool. “Between the two of us, I miss those days.”

“I do, too, but you’re serving the greater good right where you are now.”

He laughed without joy. “Funny, it feels as though I mostly preside over meetings where everyone involved acts as though they were still in junior high school. Sometimes I’d like to take the lot of them over my knee and teach them about discipline.”

“I’m afraid you’d get arrested if you did that,” I said as I poured him a cup of coffee and grabbed a plain cake donut for him.

“Maybe so, but I bet I’d be reelected in a landslide if I showed that bunch some discipline.” He took a sip of coffee, smiled, and then he added, “Not that I want this crazy job again.”

“Aren’t you going to run for reelection?” I asked. My mother had basically tricked George into becoming mayor, but he was the best one that we’d ever had, and I for one would hate to lose him.

“I don’t know. It’s too soon to say.”

“George, your term is about up. Surely you’ve got to make up your mind soon one way or the other.”

“You’re starting to sound like Polly now,” he said then took a bite of donut.

“Does she want you to run again?”

“So she says. Personally, I think that she should run herself. She does most of the work now anyway; she might as well have the title and the fancy office that goes along with it.”

“Did you suggest that to her?” I asked him.

“I did, and she laughed for three solid minutes before she could get her breath again. She claimed that she enjoyed being the power behind the throne, but I know better. She’s too smart to ever run for mayor.”

“Then I guess you’re stuck with it,” I said with a grin. Things were quiet so far, and though I would have liked having more business, it was nice being able to spend time with my old friend.

“Maybe so, but don’t forget, you’ve got a sharp detective’s mind right here at your disposal,” he said as he tapped his temple with a thick and meaty finger. “Say, for instance, you’d like to talk about Jude Williams’ murder case with someone with experience in investigating homicides, you wouldn’t have to go far.”

“Don’t offer unless you’re willing to let me take you up on it,” I said.

“Suzanne, nothing would make me happier,” he said.

We were still alone, and Emma was in back washing dishes. There was no doubt in my mind that her music was cranked up to a volume high enough to completely block out our conversation.

“Okay, here goes,” I said, and I started to bring him up to date on what Grace and I had learned so far.

After I listed my suspects and my reasons for suspecting them, George whistled softly under his breath. “Wow, I didn’t realize so many people around here had a reason to kill Jude Williams. The chief must be going crazy tracking down leads.”

“I haven’t seen much of him lately,” I admitted. “Momma hasn’t, either, so you know he must be busy.”

“I wonder how your two lists compare,” George said.

“We’ll probably never know, since we don’t always compare notes.”

George looked surprised by that. “I thought that you two had hammered out some kind of way to investigate without stepping on each other’s toes.”

“What makes you think that?” I asked him.

“Isn’t it true?”

“That’s beside the point. Have you been keeping tabs on me, George?”

He shrugged. “I might have asked a question or two around the precinct,” he admitted. When he saw me staring at him, George was quick to add, “Suzanne, are you really all that surprised?”

“No,” I said, and then added a laugh. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

“Apparently not. So, where do you go from here?”

“Grace and I are going to keep digging until we uncover something that points toward a killer.”

“And you’re sure that you don’t need my help?” George asked.

“Don’t you have your hands full running April Springs?”

He scratched his chin. “Ordinarily I’d say that it runs itself, but with Polly gone, I’m up to my eyebrows in work. I don’t know how she does it.”

“Maybe you should give her a raise when she gets back,” I suggested.

“Maybe you’re right.”

“So, do you have any advice for me, George?”

“Just be careful, Suzanne. There’s a killer on that list of yours; you can be sure of it. I wouldn’t be alone with any of them, and that includes Gabby.”

“Do you honestly think that she might have killed her own nephew?” I asked. I couldn’t fathom the circumstances that it could be true. I knew Gabby, and she wasn’t a killer.

“If folks knew how many homicides were committed by family members, they’d never be able to sleep at night,” he said.

“Okay. I’ll be careful.”

“And not just around Gabby. You need to watch your back with all of them, including Max.”

I was surprised yet again. “There you’re way off base, George. My ex-husband is many things, but he’s no murderer. I would swear to that under oath.”

“Suzanne, what does Max want more than anything in the world right now?” George asked me.

I didn’t even have to think about it. “He wants to marry Emily.” It didn’t bother me to say it. I was well and truly over my ex-husband, and as a matter of fact, I was happy that he’d been able to find someone he cared about the way that I cared about Jake.

“And what would he do if someone tried to stop that from happening? Don’t answer me; just think about it,” George said as he finished his donut and emptied his coffee.

“I honestly don’t know. I suppose it depended on how desperate he was.”

“That a girl. Now you’re thinking like a cop.”

“I sure hope not,” I said. “No offense intended.”

“None taken,” the mayor said with a shrug. “Out of curiosity, why would that be such a bad thing?”

“The police are already working on the case. The only thing I bring to the table is coming at the investigation from a completely different perspective. If I lose that, then I’m going to stop investigating murder and leave it to the professionals.”

“What are the odds of that happening?” he asked with a grin.

“Not very good,” I admitted. “How about another donut and a refill?” I asked him as I reached for the coffee pot.

“I’d better not,” he said as he patted his stomach.

“I’m impressed,” I said as I put the coffee pot back.

“Don’t be. I promised Polly that I’d behave myself, so I’m going to fight off all of the temptation that comes my way.”

“That doesn’t sound like much fun,” I replied with a smile.

“It’s just the price I pay for being so virtuous,” he said as he grinned at me.

As he pulled out his wallet, I reminded him, “It’s my treat, remember?”

“But I didn’t help you,” he protested.

“Nonsense. I asked for some advice, and you gave it to me. Fair is fair.”

“At least let me leave you a tip,” he said.

“No, sorry; that’s part of the deal.”

“Fine, have it your way,” George said as he put his wallet back in his pocket.

“Any final words of direction before you go?” I asked him as I walked him to the door.

“Yes. I’d focus on Reggie if I were you.”

“Not Frank?” I asked, surprised by the advice. “It sounds as though he has more motive than anyone else. Don’t you think that if Reggie were going to do something to avenge his daughter, he would have done it by now?”