Breach of Crust: A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery (2 page)

“I don’t know what it is about this place,” Bea said as she stepped out onto the front porch. “Every detail of this pie shop—from the fragrance of the flowers in the garden to the fresh herbs in the garnishes and the ripeness of the fruits in the dessert tarts—is magical. No wonder it’s called The Charmed Pie Shoppe.”

With a smile and a wave, Bea walked down the flagstone path, crossed the street, and got into a gleaming white Cadillac. As the sedan eased away from the curb, Ella Mae noticed a glittery camellia decal affixed to the rear windshield.

“All she needs is a wand to complete the fairy godmother look,” Reba said from behind Ella Mae. As usual, she’d
appeared without a sound. “I heard what she said about the cookbook profits, but is her bibbidi-bobbidi-boo act genuine?”

“I’m not going into this blindly.” Ella Mae held out the contract. “I’ll review this very carefully.”

“Why bother?” Reba asked, putting her hand on her hip. “I can see she’s already won you over.”

Ella Mae shrugged. “What if she has? I love the idea of working with Maxine and Caroline. They’re serious up-and-comers, and both of them have been experimenting with dessert recipes for people with food allergies. That’s something I’ve wanted to explore as well. Also, Caroline just started shipping her cupcakes nationally. I’d love to talk to her about how she handled that kind of expansion. Her shop isn’t any bigger than ours.”

Together, the two women reentered the café. Reba closed and locked the front door and then turned to Ella Mae. “What about these Camellia Club gals? Do you really think it’ll be a barrel of laughs teachin’ a bunch of debutantes and their mamas? What if one of them breaks a nail? You’ll have to call the National Guard.”

Ella Mae gave her friend an imploring look. “I need this, Reba. I need to grow as a chef. Without magic, I have to keep honing my skills. There are no shortcuts for me anymore.” She glanced at the framed four-leaf clover hanging over the cash register. “I don’t want people to come here because of what I used to be. I want them to come because of what I am. A top-notch pastry chef. The best pie maker in the South.”

Reba nodded in understanding. “Okay, then. But I’m comin’ with you. Someone will have to keep these high-society sugar queens in line.”

She hit a switch on the wall, killing the lights and inviting the late afternoon shadows to crawl across the dining room.

*   *   *

Ella Mae watched Hugh Dylan leap from a rock into the middle of the river with a jubilant holler. His dog, a Harlequin Great Dane named Dante, jumped in after him. Chewy, Ella Mae’s Jack Russell terrier, raced along the bank, barking wildly.

“You can go in, boy.” Ella Mae made shooing motions with her hands.

“Why don’t you both join us?” Hugh asked, floating on his back and staring up at the cloudless blue sky. “After that long hike, the water feels amazing.”

Ella Mae couldn’t help wondering if Hugh missed being able to hold his breath for twenty minutes. Like her, he’d once possessed special abilities. He could see underwater and swim like a dolphin. And like her, he’d lost his magic and didn’t seem to regret the loss.

Pulling off her sweat-soaked Dr Pepper T-shirt and cutoffs, Ella Mae tossed her socks and tennis shoes aside and waded into the water. Hugh was right. The river, fed by the mountain’s underground spring, was refreshingly chilly. Ella Mae’s skin immediately broke out in gooseflesh.

“You can’t stand there like that!” Hugh chided her playfully. “Take the plunge!”

Smiling, Ella Mae dove into the water. She surfaced, momentarily shuddering over the cold, and then swam over to where Hugh was treading water. “Chewy! Come on!” Ella Mae called to her dog.

When her terrier continued to bark in agitation, Hugh paddled to the nearest rock and slapped it with his palm. “Here, Charleston Chew! Here, boy!”

With a joyous yip, Chewy bounded over the rocks until
he reached Hugh. After licking him on the cheek, Chewy barked once at Dante and hopped into the water.

“I guess he needed a formal invitation,” Ella Mae said and laughed.

She and Hugh rested on the largest rock while their dogs splashed about in the shallows. When she wasn’t watching them, Ella Mae followed the path of water droplets trailing from Hugh’s dark hair to his cheek and jawline. When one gathered at the base of his chin, she raised her finger and caught it. At her touch, he looked at her, a question in his lagoon-blue eyes.

In answer, she moved closer to him and slid her arms around his wide, muscular back. His kiss was both familiar and strange.

“I feel like I’m cheating on my longtime girlfriend with an exciting and exotic creature,” Hugh said when they broke apart.

“That woman is gone,” Ella Mae said. “You’re left with the girl next door.”

Hugh arched his brows. “No one would call you that.” He took hold of the hand that had once been marked by the clover-shaped burn scar and ran his fingertips across her water-puckered skin. “You might not bear the mark of a queen, but you’re still undeniably regal, Ella Mae. When you enter a room, everyone turns and stares. It’s impossible not to. It would be like shutting your eyes just as a shooting star blazes across the sky.”

Embarrassed by the compliment, Ella Mae flicked water at him. “They’re really looking at you. The big, tall fireman with the beautiful blue eyes.”

“Right,” Hugh scoffed. “I smell like a kennel and have a farmer’s tan because I’ve been spending too much time doing paperwork at Canine to Five.” He twisted one of Ella Mae’s
damp curls around his finger. “Let’s escape whenever we can—try hard to be alone together—just like this. Tonight will be fun, but it won’t be the same. When we’re with other people, I feel them watching us. I can sense them wondering about us.”

Ella Mae nodded. She’d experienced the same sensation. “That’s because we don’t belong among the magical and we’ll never fit in among regular people. Not after what we’ve seen and done. We still have scars, Hugh. They’re just on the inside now.”

Hugh kissed her palm. “I don’t care about being outsiders. As long as we have each other. I don’t need anything but you.”

“And some sunscreen,” Ella Mae said with a smile. “Your nose is turning red.”

*   *   *

That night, Ella Mae left Chewy with her mother, who promised to take the little terrier inside the main house before the fireworks began. Chewy wasn’t afraid of much, but he didn’t care for the loud bangs and explosions that accompanied pyrotechnics displays.

“Until the show starts, I’m going to let him have the run of the garden,” Adelaide LeFaye said. “The first of the lightning bugs have arrived, and Chewy loves to chase them. It’s my hope that he’ll be so tired by the time the first rocket whistles into the sky that he won’t even notice.”

“I might be half-asleep myself,” Ella Mae said. “After a crazy week at the pie shop and a day of hiking and swimming, I’m beat. Still, I wouldn’t miss this evening with Hugh for anything. I also have a contract to deliver to a special guest at the resort.”

Her mother listened as Ella Mae told her about Beatrice
Burbank’s proposal. “It sounds fun,” she said when Ella Mae was done. “But maybe you should have Reba research this Camellia Club before you sign anything.”

Ella Mae held up the sealed envelope. “I did the research myself. The Camellias are a philanthropic organization—a group of mothers and daughters who get together to discuss books and attend garden parties, cooking classes, and art exhibits. They raise money for college scholarships and other charities. They’re good people. Besides, I don’t have to be on the lookout for enemies anymore. That part of my life is over.”

Ella Mae’s mother shook her head. “Your childhood nemesis is still at large, and Loralyn Gaynor is bound to seek revenge against you. You were instrumental in her father’s arrest, and because of your influence, her mother made peace with our family. Loralyn is undoubtedly holed up in some luxurious locale, plotting. She’s dangerous, Ella Mae, and you have no idea how, or when, she’ll come after you.” Cupping a clematis bud in her hand, Ella Mae’s mother said, “Things are not always as they appear on the outside. What color do you think this flower will be?”

Peering more closely at the bud, Ella Mae answered, “Pink.”

Closing her hand gently around the bud, her mother hummed very softly. She then withdrew her hand and Ella Mae watched as the bud slowly unfolded, revealing purple petals edged with pink. The purple hue was so dark that it was nearly black.

“People are not always what they seem at first glance,” Adelaide said softly. “You should know that by now.”

“Point taken,” Ella Mae said and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be careful. But not tonight. Tonight, I just want to eat, dance, and watch the sky fill with rainbows of light.”

After asking the front desk clerk at Lake Havenwood Resort to deliver the envelope to Beatrice Burbank by the
end of the evening, Ella Mae walked through the lobby and out into the carnival atmosphere on the back lawn. She spotted Hugh speaking with another volunteer fireman at the cotton candy booth and waved. Hugh said good-bye to his friend, grabbed Ella Mae by the hand, and pulled her toward the food tent.

“I was worried that I might not have enough energy to be the man you deserve tonight, but then I saw you and all the cells in my body came alive,” he said, smiling at her. “I plan to dance to every song the band plays tonight, so you’d better fuel up.”

Ella Mae did. She and Hugh loaded their plates with pulled pork, smoked brisket, cheese biscuits, grilled corn, and pickled tomato salad. After a dessert of banana pudding and s’more cheesecake bars, they danced on the terrace overlooking the lake.

During one of the band’s short breaks, Ella Mae glanced around in search of Bea but she didn’t see her anywhere. As the sky darkened and the master of ceremonies announced that it was almost time for the fireworks show to begin, Ella Mae gave up on finding her.

“I can’t believe we never ran into Bea,” she told Hugh.

“Maybe bouncy houses and barbecues aren’t her style. You described her as being elegant and polished, so she probably ate in the dining room and will watch the fireworks display from her balcony while sipping a glass of sparkling wine.”

Ella Mae laughed. “I bet you’re right. And where’s our special spot?”

“It’s a bit apart from everyone else,” Hugh said with an impish glimmer in his eye.

Sliding her arm around his waist, Ella Mae grinned up at him. “It sounds like the perfect place.”

*   *   *

It was very late when Ella Mae returned to her little guest cottage behind her mother’s house. She hadn’t felt so happy or optimistic in months, and though she was physically exhausted, she was too wired to sleep.

Chewy must have been woken up by the sound of Ella Mae’s car, for she could hear his muted barking coming from Partridge Hill’s kitchen the moment she turned off the ignition. Ella Mae rushed to let him out before he could wake her mother. Together, Ella Mae and her terrier wandered through the fragrant garden, across the dew-covered lawn and down to the dock stretching like a finger into the lake.

When they reached the end of the dock, Ella Mae sat cross-legged on the rough planks and listened to the water lap quietly against the wood. Chewy nestled beside her and put his head in her lap. Ella Mae stroked the soft fur on the top of his head and gazed across the lake at the resort.

She smiled, recalling how Hugh’s face had lit up with wonder during the fireworks show. And of how he’d kissed her during the finale. At that moment, she’d sensed the brilliance of the lights in the sky overhead, but it was nothing compared to the sparks of heat she felt between herself and Hugh. They were forging their new beginning. Tonight marked the first of many memories they would make together.

After a time, Ella Mae whispered to Chewy, “All right, boy. Time to go.”

As she stood, she saw something floating in the water. It was hard to see clearly because the moon had ducked behind a cloud, but when it shone unobstructed again, Ella Mae cried out in fear.

The thing floating in the water was a body.

A woman’s body.

Ella Mae reacted quickly. She pushed the small rowboat kept on the dock into the water and leapt into the craft. Using the oar to push herself away from the dock, she paddled toward the body.

It only took a second for Ella Mae to know that the woman was beyond saving. Her upturned face was just below the surface, and her pale hair looked like a tangle of watergrass. Her dress, the shade of a water hyacinth, billowed around her legs and bare feet.

She wore a single piece of jewelry. A gold camellia stickpin was fastened to the upper-left breast of her dress, just above her heart.

Ella Mae grabbed hold of Bea’s arm and tried to pull her into the boat, but her efforts almost capsized the shallow craft.

Refusing to leave Bea in the water, Ella Mae paddled with her right hand and held on to Bea’s bloated wrist with her left. It was a nearly impossible undertaking as the boat’s bow continuously swung off course, veering back toward the center of the lake, and Ella Mae quickly felt her arm tiring as she fought to reach the dock.

When the bow finally bumped against the side of the dock, Ella Mae dragged the dead woman’s body as close to the dock as she could before awkwardly lunging onto the rough wood. The boat shot out from under her feet and though she landed hard on her right shoulder, she didn’t let go of Bea’s wrist. Chewy barked in alarm and then began sniffing near her hand.

“No,” Ella Mae commanded with unusual harshness.

She tried not to look at Bea’s bloated, jellyfish-pale face,
but she knew those unblinking eyes would haunt her sleep for many nights to come.

“I’m sorry,” Ella Mae murmured to the dead woman as she laboriously crawled over the dock toward the shore. She could feel splinters piercing the skin of her palms and knees, but there was no other way for her to proceed without releasing her hold of Bea’s wrist.

At the end of the dock, she finally had to let go. She hurriedly kicked off her sandals, waded into the water, and dragged Bea’s body onto the sand. Bea felt heavy. Weighed down with water and with death, she was far heavier than Ella Mae had expected. She dropped on the sand and tried to catch her breath. Chewy sniffed the dead woman once, and then he bared his teeth as a growl rose from deep in his throat.

“No, boy. Hush.” Ella Mae scooped up her terrier and carried him back home. Once inside her house, she released Chewy and dialed 911.

It didn’t take long for the police to respond.

Ella Mae only had time to change into dry clothes and extract the worst of the splinters before she heard a series of authoritative raps on her front door.

“You and I keep meeting over dead bodies, Ms. LeFaye,” said Officer Jon Hardy. “I wish that weren’t the case.”

“Me too,” Ella Mae said. “Though I’m glad you responded to the call and not someone else. You’ll look after Mrs. Burbank.”

Officer Hardy was instantly contrite. “Forgive me. I didn’t realize you knew the deceased.”

“I just met her yesterday, but she seemed like a lovely person. To find her floating in the lake . . .” Ella Mae trailed off.

Officer Hardy gave her a paternal pat on the shoulder. “It took courage to pull her out of the water. That was well done. Can you take me to Mrs. Burbank now?”

Ella Mae managed a smile. “Yes, but as soon as I’m done, I need to tell my mother what’s going on. I don’t want her to wake up to find cop cars and a coroner’s van parked in her driveway.”

“Of course,” Hardy said. After issuing commands to his team, he signaled for Ella Mae to lead the way. As they walked, he pointed at her bloodied knees. “Those are some nasty-looking scrapes.”

“Splinters from the dock. There was no graceful way for me to get Mrs. Burbank ashore. I wasn’t able to pull her into the boat with me.”

Hardy studied her with admiration. “Did you notice any objects floating in the water near Mrs. Burbank?”

“No. Nothing.” Ella Mae thought of Bea’s bare feet. “She wasn’t even wearing shoes. She had on a pretty dress. There was a gold camellia stickpin affixed right here.” Ella Mae touched her fingers to her chest. “She wore that pin yesterday too.”

“And her purpose for being in Havenwood?” Hardy asked.

By the time Ella Mae filled Hardy in on the Camellia Club’s annual retreat, they’d reached the lake’s edge.

Hardy held up a hand and the other policemen came to a halt. Distancing himself from both Ella Mae and his team, Hardy walked up to Bea’s body. For a full minute, he peered down at her, his expression somber. He then squatted even closer, staring fixedly at her face.

“What’s he doing?” one of the cops murmured.

“It’s like he’s paying his respects,” another whispered. “I’ve seen him do this before. Don’t go thinking Hardy’s soft because he sees victims as people, not just cases. He’s a damned good investigator. He closes cases.”

Returning to the group, Hardy addressed Ella Mae. “Your formal statement can wait until the morning, Ms. LeFaye, but we’ll need it first thing. Until then, take care of those splinters.”

And with that, Ella Mae was dismissed. Hardy, whose attention was now fixed on his team, began assigning tasks.

Ella Mae trudged over the lawn and through the garden. When she reached Partridge Hill’s back entrance, she found her mother standing in the doorway.

Seeing Ella Mae, Adelaide LeFaye rushed forward and enfolded her daughter in her arms.

“I saw the flashing lights and I didn’t know what to think,” she whispered in a thin, shaky voice.

“I’m okay,” Ella Mae assured her. “I found Mrs. Burbank in the lake. She’s dead, Mom.”

Adelaide glanced up at the moon. Its light fell on her long, silver hair and her ageless face. To Ella Mae, her mother could have been a fairy queen from one of her childhood storybooks. All four of the LeFaye sisters were beautiful, but Adelaide possessed an otherworldly beauty that continued to ripen as the years passed. One only had to look at her to believe in magic.

“Did you see Mrs. Burbank at the resort?” she asked, looking at Ella Mae again.

“No. I assumed the festivities were too boisterous for her, but now I’m wondering where she was while they were taking place.” Ella Mae tried to shut out the image of Bea’s bloated face. “Officer Hardy will undoubtedly head to the resort when he’s finished here. He’ll find out what happened to her.”

Adelaide pointed at the second-story windows. “Should we wake Jenny and Calvin?”

The Upton siblings had been living at Partridge Hill since
they had moved to Havenwood from Tennessee. For a while, both Jenny and Calvin had worked at The Charmed Pie Shoppe. Jenny had been a server and Calvin had handled the deliveries. Since then, Jenny had become Ella Mae’s partner, and Calvin, who’d been an electrician in Tennessee, had gone to work for his friend, Finn Mercer. Finn designed furniture while Calvin made innovative light fixtures. Their business was really taking off and Calvin had been so busy that Ella Mae hadn’t seen him for days.

“Let them sleep,” she said. “They have a double date tomorrow. Though I don’t think Jenny realizes that it’s a date. Actually, I doubt Finn does either.”

“But Finn has feelings for you.” Her mother was clearly surprised. “He can’t just turn those off. Jenny could be headed for a miserable evening.”

“Finn barely knows me,” Ella Mae protested softly. “When we met, he’d just lost his mother and I became his first friend in Havenwood. He’ll always have a place in my heart because he helped rescue Aunt Dee from that burning barn, and I want him to find someone who will give him the love he deserves. I think Jenny is that person. Calvin does too.”

Adelaide smiled. “I hope you’re right. I’d like Jenny to experience a little happiness. She’s had more than her fair share of suffering, and yet she never lets anything get her down. Whoever wins her heart will be a lucky man.”

“Yes,” Ella Mae agreed through a yawn. “We should try to get some sleep now.”

“Not until I remove those splinters. I’m going to make an Epsom salt poultice for the deeper splinters. You won’t be able to cook on Tuesday if your hands hurt.”

By the time Adelaide put aside her tweezers and applied bandages to Ella Mae’s knees and palms, it was well after
midnight. Ella Mae didn’t even hear the sound of police car tires crunching over the gravel driveway on their way out. With Chewy curled up by her feet, she slumbered without dreaming for hours.

However, when the sun began to rise and light snuck in through the gap in her bedroom curtains, images began to fracture Ella Mae’s sleep.

She was in the rowboat again, but this time, the dock was gone. The lake water was ink-black and Bea’s body bobbed in the current like a white buoy. She was beyond reach, so Ella Mae stretched her arm out, straining to grab Bea’s wrist. Suddenly, Bea’s dead, glassy stare shifted. She blinked and her mouth curled into an ugly snarl. Seizing Ella Mae’s forearm, she yanked hard, pulling Ella Mae overboard. Immediately, unseen hands yanked her under the surface. Ella Mae tried to wriggle free, but the hands wouldn’t let go. She could feel cold fingers digging into the skin of her calves as she was dragged deeper into the gloom. She tried to scream, but her lungs filled with lake water.

Ella Mae woke with a jolt. Her hair was plastered to her cheeks and her mouth was full of grit. She’d just finished wiping her face with a cool washcloth when the phone rang. It was the Havenwood Police Department. She was being summoned.

“I’ll be right there,” she told the officer and ended the call. To Chewy, who was dancing around her legs in anticipation of his breakfast, she added, “I smell like lake water and look like a zombie, so I’m not going anywhere until I feed you, make coffee, and take a shower. They’ll just have to arrest me if they have a problem with that.”

As Ella Mae drove into town, she considered the fact that most of the officers had probably been up for the better part
of the night. After securing the scene at her house, they’d have gone on to Lake Havenwood Resort to conduct interviews and search Bea’s room.

With this in mind, she stopped by the pie shop to collect four pies from the freezer. She didn’t have time to cook them, but she knew there was an oven in the police department’s break room and hoped to use it to make the cops a late breakfast.

Luckily, the young officer tasked with taking her statement was amenable to her idea. After Ella Mae repeated the same story she’d told Hardy the night before, the officer switched off the recording device and escorted her to the break room.

Left to her own devices, Ella Mae squeezed the pies into the preheated oven, brewed a pot of coffee, and then tidied up while the pies were baking. She was just cutting the first pie into slices when Hardy entered the room.

“Has The Charmed Pie Shoppe relocated?” he asked, sweeping his arm around the room.

Hardy’s attempt at levity was undermined by both his haggard appearance and the hint of irritation in his voice. Ella Mae didn’t think it was directed at her. Handing him a mug of fresh coffee, she said, “It must have been a very long night.”

Lowering himself into the nearest chair, Hardy nodded. “Yes, and to top it all off, Mrs. Burbank’s daughter will be here any minute. This is the part of my job I hate the most. Not only will Mrs. Fisher have to identify her mother’s body, but I’ll also have to ask her questions no child should have to answer about her parent.”

Ella Mae wondered what secrets Beatrice Burbank might have been hiding. How had she ended up in the lake? Had she consumed too much alcohol and somehow lost her footing, fallen into the water, and accidentally drowned?

Using two forks to slide a wedge of pie onto a plate, Ella Mae served Hardy his breakfast. “In other words, you’ll have to ask Mrs. Burbank’s daughter if her mother had a drinking problem. Or some other addiction. You’ll have to make a painful situation more painful.”

“Exactly.” Hardy sipped his coffee. “I hope Mrs. Fisher brought someone to lean on today. Even the strongest of us aren’t prepared to lose our mothers. Especially like this.”

Hardy had eaten half of his pie by the time the front desk clerk poked her head into the room. She opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again, sniffing the air instead.

“Come in, Officer Thaler,” Hardy beckoned. “Ms. LeFaye brought breakfast.”

“That’s mighty kind of you.” Officer Thaler flashed Ella Mae a brief smile and turned back to Hardy. “I’d better wait, sir. Mrs. Fisher is here. I put her in your office. She came alone. Said her husband had to stay with their kids.”

Hardy sighed. “That’s not good. Do you mind sitting in for the interview?”

“Of course not,” she replied. “I already asked Hughes to cover the desk. I’ll find out if Mrs. Fisher would like some coffee.”

“Thank you.” Hardy got to his feet. “And thanks to you as well, Ms. LeFaye.”

Ella Mae nodded. “I’m glad you were able to get in a few bites of comfort food. If you need more, you know where to find me.”

*   *   *

As she walked back to her pink truck, which had once been used to deliver mail, Ella Mae heard the haunting strains of “Taps” drifting through the air and knew that the Memorial Day ceremony honoring Havenwood’s veterans was under way.

Ella Mae changed course. As though hypnotized by the bugle call, she headed toward the sound of the music. It was very faint at first, but the lone bugler was soon joined by other instruments, and by the time Ella Mae reached the war memorial statue—a marble column with a bronze eagle at its summit—three stooped and grizzled veterans had just finished conducting the laying of the wreath ceremony.

The music ended and the crowd began to disperse. Ella Mae noticed the bright, orange-red hue of the artificial poppy flowers affixed to the men’s shirt collars and to the ladies’ blouses or purse straps and remembered that Hugh and some of the other firemen had volunteered to help a group of veterans distribute poppies at the community center.

She found Hugh standing beside an elderly man in a wheelchair. The man, a Korean War veteran, held a straw basket filled with the artificial flowers in his lap and was laughing heartily over something Hugh had said. As for Hugh, he appeared to be in charge of the donation can.

“All proceeds provide assistance to the veterans of foreign wars, ma’am,” he explained to a woman who’d paused by his companion’s wheelchair. “And partially to the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Home for Children as well. Because every child deserves a happy family. That’s the organization’s motto.”

The woman glanced over her shoulder to where three children were sitting at a picnic bench, enjoying ice cream cones with a middle-aged man who was undoubtedly their father. After thanking the man in the wheelchair for his service, the woman removed several bills from her wallet and pushed them into Hugh’s can.