Caught Bread Handed (6 page)

“Delivering bread.” I pointed to the box that I had dropped by the door. My hands started to shake.

“I see.” He ran his fingers along his patchy reddish beard that had begun to streak with gray. His kind eyes met mine. Without saying a word he gave me a comforting look. I exhaled and placed my hand on my stomach.

“And might I assume that you found the victim?” he asked Mathew.

Mathew stood. “I did.” He raised his hand. His arms, shirt, and jeans were stained red. “I found her.”

A sick feeling rose in my stomach. My body swayed. Thomas gave me a concerned look. “Jules, you okay?”

I swallowed, trying to keep my coffee down. “I'm fine.”

The Professor placed a firm hand on my shoulder. “Rest assured everything is indeed going to be fine. As the Bard says, ‘Be just and fear not.'” He motioned to Thomas. Thomas looked the part of an all-American police officer in his blue uniform with a silver badge on his chest and a holster on his hip. He hadn't changed much since high school. His face had aged a bit, but he could still pass as a football player at Southern Oregon University.

Thomas grabbed a kit from the back of the police car. He and the Professor exchanged a look. The Professor continued inside while Thomas opened the kit and walked over to Mathew. “Jules, you're sure you're okay?”

I nodded. I wasn't sure I trusted myself to speak.

“Can you give us a little space? I'll have some questions for you in a minute, but first I need to talk to the witness.” His tone turned professional.

“Of course,” I said. “I'll wait over there.” I pointed to a bench across the street by the bubblers.

I hadn't even noticed that a group of people had begun to gather, mainly early risers out for a morning jog or a cup of Joe. Police activity was rare in downtown Ashland, especially on the plaza. A few business owners who were preparing for the day had come out of their shops to see what the commotion and flashing lights were all about.

“Jules, what's up?” Sterling was standing in the front of the small crowd holding a paper coffee cup in his hands. He offered it to me.

“You brought me coffee? I could kiss you.”

“Uh, that would be weird.” He made a face. Sterling is like a younger brother. He and I are kindred spirits. I just wished I could convince him to wear something other than a hoodie. He hides his soul-piercing blue eyes under a hoodie every day, and this morning was no exception. His face was shrouded by the black hood of his sweatshirt.

“How did you know where I was?” I took the coffee. It was hot to the touch and warmed my hands. I wasn't sure if it was from stress or the fact that the sun still hadn't risen, but my hands shook even harder. Coffee probably wasn't the best fix for this, but I didn't care.

Sterling nodded behind us. Torte was completely lit up. Inside Mom's, Stephanie's, and Andy's faces were pressed up to the window.

“Right. I guess it's kind of hard to miss the flashing lights.”

“What's going on over there?” Sterling stuffed his hands into his hoodie. “It's freezing out here.”

“Good. I thought it was just me.” I took a drink of the coffee. It was dark with chocolate and a hint of something fruity. “This is amazing. What is it?”

Sterling shrugged. “I don't know. Andy made it for you.”

I cradled the cup in my hands. “Mindy died.”

“Mindy?”

“The owner of ShakesBurgers. She's dead.”

“That sucks. Do they know what happened?”

“It looks like she killed herself.”

Sterling's eyes widened. “Whoa. That's terrible.”

I shuddered. “I know. It was pretty gruesome.”

Thomas walked toward us. He held his hands out in front of him, motioning everyone to step back. “Hey, guys, I know you all want to help but we need you to go back to your businesses. That's the best thing you can do at the moment. The Professor has asked that everyone clear the plaza and go back to your normal routines.”

A couple of business owners asked what was going on. Thomas cleared his throat. “There's been a death at ShakesBurgers. That's all I can tell you at the moment. I'm sure that once we have finished our initial investigation we'll come around and give everyone an update. In the meantime, we'd really appreciate it if you could head back to your shops. We'll take it from here.”

One owner pressed Thomas for more information. Thomas held his ground, and the crowd began to disperse. There were murmurs as people moved toward their shops, but the tone was solemn. Thomas returned to ShakesBurgers.

The glare from the flashing emergency lights and the movement of so many people made me dizzy. I tried to focus on one spot. My eyes landed on the Merry Windsor. To my surprise Alan Matterson stood on the front porch. He was talking to Richard Lord and neither of them looked particularly happy. What was Alan doing here this morning? I was about to walk over and check in with him when I noticed the bald guy—or as Lance called him, Brutus—who was at the meeting with Mindy last night. He hung back near the bubblers. His bulky body was hard to hide. I watched as Alan left the Merry Windsor and headed to the center of the square. The bald guy saw him coming and ducked across the street and disappeared down the alleyway. Who was he? What was his connection to Mindy? And why were both he and Alan here in the plaza? Nothing was making sense.

Sterling tapped my shoulder. I startled. Coffee sloshed in the paper cup.

“Sorry. I was just going to tell you that it looks like you're wanted.” He pointed to Thomas who was heading straight for us. “I'm going to head back to Torte and give everyone the rundown. Do you need anything else?”

I held up my coffee cup. “No. Please tell Andy I owe him. This is the best coffee that I've ever tasted.”

Sterling's face turned solemn. “I will. Take it easy, Jules. I know it must have been tough.”

I sighed as he left. Seeing Mindy like that had been tough, but having a team like the one I did at Torte made any situation manageable. How had I even thought for a moment about leaving them and Ashland?

 

Chapter Five

Thomas urged the few remaining stragglers to return to their shops, and then came over to me. “How are you holding up?” he asked, studying me, presumably for any sign that I was about to crack.

“I'm okay.” I clutched the paper cup so tightly that it dented in the middle.

“Look, I know it's bad in there. You don't have to put on a brave face for me.”

I attempted to smile. “Thanks.”

“Let's sit.” He led me toward the bench.

We both sat. The bench was slightly damp with morning dew. I didn't care. My head continued to spin. I clutched the cold slats in the bench to try and steady myself.

“Leave it to you to have coffee at a crime scene.” Thomas chuckled and looked envious of my mangled cup.

“Sterling brought it over for me. They thought caffeine might help.”

“And? Is it?”

I turned the cup upside down to show him that it was empty. “I'm not sure. Ask me when the caffeine kicks in.”

Thomas placed his arm on the back of the bench and turned his body toward me. His voice sounded thick with emotion. “Jules, before we get into what you witnessed this morning, I owe you an apology.”

“It's okay, Thomas.” I waved him off.

“Let me finish. I'm sorry. I really value our friendship and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that. I know that you don't believe me, but I was trying to do my job at Lake of the Woods.”

I wanted to interject that his job didn't involve focusing solely on my husband as his prime suspect, but I could hear the regret in his voice.

“It's okay. I know. We're fine.” The cup fell from my hands.

Thomas bent down to pick it up. He started to hand it to me, but instead lined up his forearm and made a perfect shot into a garbage can three feet away.

“Nice shot.”

“I've still got a few moves in me.” A dimple carved into his cheek as he smiled. “But seriously, Jules.”

I cut him off. “Thomas, drop it. I'm not mad.”

“You seemed pretty mad at Lake of the Woods.”

I grinned. “Well, I was mad, but I'm not anymore.”

“I knew it! You were mad.”

“But I'm not anymore.”

“But you were.”

“Thomas, don't you have an investigation going on?”

“Fine, but you admit that you were mad.”

“Thomas.” I gave him a hard look.

“All right.” He removed his arm and pulled out his iPad. “Walk me through what happened this morning.”

I explained how I had finished my morning deliveries and noticed the door at ShakesBurgers was propped open. “I don't know what made me go in. I guess it just seemed off. When I stepped inside I saw that Mindy was on the floor and Mathew was behind the counter.”

“What was he doing?” Thomas looked up from his iPad.

“He said that he was trying to stop the bleeding. He was covered in blood.” I closed my eyes hoping to rid myself of the memory of Mindy's lifeless body.

“Did you see him near her body?”

“What do you mean?”

“He said that he was looking for something to stop the bleeding. Anything else?”

I thought back to what I'd seen. “I don't know. Uh, I think he said he tried to give CPR. Honestly, all I wanted to do was get out of there. There was so much blood.”

“Okay. Don't stress yourself out. This is helpful.”

Thomas rested his iPad on his lap. I knew that despite the caffeine my brain cells weren't firing as fast as they usually do. Why did Thomas want to know about Mathew performing CPR?

“Is there something you're not telling me? Why does it matter what Mathew was doing if Mindy's death was a suicide?”

Thomas glanced over both shoulders. “It doesn't.” He gave me a knowing look.

“Are you saying that Mindy's death isn't a suicide?”

“I didn't
say
anything.”

“Thomas, stop speaking in code. You're the one dropping subtle clues. Not me.”

He looked across the street. I followed his gaze. Richard Lord and Mathew were standing on the front porch of the Merry Windsor. Mathew had a foil emergency blanket draped around him like a cape. From their rigid body posture it didn't look like Richard was consoling Mathew. Why was Richard talking to everyone this morning?

“I don't understand. What's going on?”

“It's too early to know for sure, but the Professor says that he can already tell there are some things in the crime scene that don't add up.”

“Add up how?”

Thomas lowered his voice. “It appears that the victim had some kind of struggle.”

“Struggle?”

He nodded. “There is bruising and other evidence that leads us to believe that the victim put up a fight.”

“Really?”

“Like I said, it's too soon to tell. She may have been involved in a fight and then took her own life. Either way, it changes our investigation.”

“Wait! She did get in a fight.” I twisted my back. My body felt tight. “At least according to the Ashland rumor mill. Craig told me this morning that everyone at the bar was talking about a fight after the meeting last night.”

Thomas made a note and stood. He offered me his hand. “Looks like my next stop is the Green Goblin.” His voice changed. “Listen, I know you've been through a lot. Take it easy, okay, Jules?”

Easier said than done, I thought to myself as I gave one last glance toward the crime scene and walked back to Torte.

 

Chapter Six

Mindy might have been murdered. I was surprised that Thomas was sharing information about the investigation. He'd made it clear that he'd wanted me to stay out of his cases in the past. Maybe it was his way of trying to make amends.

Who could have killed Mindy? If last night's meeting was any indication, practically everyone in town could be on the suspect list. My first thought flashed to seeing Alan Matterson on the plaza this morning. Why would he be downtown before any shops were even open? He had a serious grudge against Mindy and ShakesBurgers. Could he have killed Mindy?

Stop it, Jules, I told myself as I opened the front door to Torte. You don't even know for sure it was murder.

“Juliet, we were so worried about you!” Mom was waiting at the front counter. She wrapped me in a tight hug. “Sterling told us what happened. Are you okay?”

I squeezed her back. “I'm okay, Mom. Shaken, but fine.”

She released me, but kept hold of my hands. “You need to eat. We made you a plate. Come sit.”

“Mom, I'm fine.”

Before I could protest she pulled me to one of the tables in the front. Stephanie brought a cheddar and bacon omelet, a biscuit with whipped honey and macadamia nut butter, and a cup of fresh fruit. Andy delivered another mug of steaming coffee. Sterling joined them as they surrounded me.

“You guys, I'm fine.”

“You're not getting off that easy, young lady.” Mom sat down across from me. The years had been kind to her. Subtle smile lines were etched on her cheeks and forehead. Her brown eyes still held the twinkle of youth and sparkled with golden flecks.

She studied me as I took a sip of coffee. Sharpening her eyes in her best mom-stare, she rested her chin in her hands and asked, “What happened to Mindy?”

I dug into the omelet. It was comfort on a plate. The egg had been cooked so that the sharp cheddar and salty bacon practically melted in my mouth. I had to admit that Mom knew exactly what I needed. I guess I was hungry.

“This is great. Sterling, did you make this?”

Sterling gave me a sly smile.

Mom tapped both of her hands on the table. “Don't change the subject, young lady.”

I knew there was no way I was getting off without telling them the gory details. While I nibbled on the omelet and biscuit, I told them everything. Almost. There was no point in getting everyone worked up about a murder when we didn't know whether or not Mindy had actually been murdered yet. Plus, Thomas had asked me to keep that quiet. I wouldn't break my promise.