Custard Crime: Donut Mystery #14 (The Donut Mysteries) (4 page)

“Suzanne, are you
still
trying to get me to exercise?” Jake asked me with a smile that I’d grown to
love even more over the past month.

“No, that’s just a bonus.
 
The truth is I don’t want to be seen riding
around in that squad car.”

“We could always take your Jeep,” he suggested.

“No, let’s walk.
 
Besides, it will give us a chance to chat.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?” he asked.

“Maybe it’s because you’re just a typical suspicious
man,” I replied with a slight smile.

“I don’t know.
 
In all the times in the past that a woman has told me that we needed to
talk, it’s never turned out well for me.”

“So, maybe it’s time to turn your luck around,” I
said as I took his hand in mine.

“Is it, though?” he asked me, still rather
doubtfully.

“No, not so much,” I admitted with a wry grin.

After a deep sigh, Jake said, “That’s what I
suspected.
 
Go on.
 
Let’s get it over with.
 
Tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Gee, what a lovely attitude that is,” I said.
 
“It’s really not
that
bad.”

“I’ll believe that when I hear what you have to say,”
Jake said.

“The truth is that I’m just curious about what really
happened today,” I said, trying to sound as nonchalant as I could manage.

“I’m afraid that I can’t tell you anything about
that.
 
After all, it is official
police business,” Jake said.

“Really?” I asked as I stopped dead in my tracks.
 
“You can’t even give me a hint about
where things stand right now?”

“I’m really not supposed to do even that,” Jake
said.
 
“Surely you understand.”

“What I understand is that you’re not going to
satisfy my idle curiosity.
 
It’s not
like you’re under some kind of doctor-patient confidentiality agreement, or an
attorney’s vow of silence, either.
 
Chief Martin has even shared things with me over the last several
months.”

Jake frowned.
 
“Well then, the two of us must conduct police business in different ways.”

“What if I promise to keep anything that you tell me
confidential?” I asked him suddenly.

He laughed at the suggestion.
 
“Suzanne, I wouldn’t dream of putting
you in that kind of bind.
 
Telling
you and not allowing you to say anything to Grace or your mother would just be
cruel.”

“Not if I’m volunteering for it,” I protested.
 
“After all, I can keep a secret just as
well as the next person.”

“I don’t doubt that, but why put yourself through it
if you don’t have to?”

“Because I really want to know what happened to
Evelyn Martin,” I said simply.

Jake and I started walking again, and after a full
minute of silence, he finally said, “Well, it’s against my better judgment, but
if you give me your word that you won’t share what I’m about to tell you with
anyone else, I suppose I could make an exception this once.”

“You won’t regret it,” I said eagerly.
 
“Now, tell me everything.”

Jake nodded as he steered us toward one of the
benches in the park between my cottage and Trish’s diner.
 
“Why are we sitting down?
 
Are you tired?” I asked him.

“No, I’m fine.
 
I just don’t want to share what I’m about to tell you in that crowded
diner.”

“Good plan,” I said as we sat.
 
“Don’t leave a single thing out from
when we first split up at the crime scene.
 
How did you know that it was a crime scene, by the way?”

“Well, the body was a good initial indicator,” Jake
said with a slight smile.

“That’s not necessarily true.
 
People have accidents all the time,” I
said.

“And that’s what the killer was trying to make us all
believe this time,” Jake said.
 
“Now, am I going to tell this before we both starve to death, or are you
going to keep interrupting me?”

“I’ll be quiet,” I said, and then I added quickly,
“Let me rephrase that.
 
I’ll try to
be quiet.”

“Knowing you, I’ll take what I can get,” Jake said
with the hint of a grin that vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.
 
“Suzanne, thirty seconds after I walked
into that building, I knew that it was murder, and no accident.”

“How did you manage to learn that?” I asked.

“For starters, it just didn’t feel right to me from
the start,” Jake said.
 
“I’ve seen
enough real murders to be able to spot them right away, even if someone has
tried to cover their tracks.”

This was fascinating information.
 
“How did you know in this case?”

Jake scratched his chin, and then he said, “First of
all, the body was positioned all wrong.
 
If she’d
fallen
through the
loosened floorboards, she would have hit the basement floor farther away from
the wall, based on where the hole was situated upstairs.
 
I knew right away that she’d probably
been pushed.
 
And then there was the
candle next to her body.”

“What about it?
 
Was it still burning when they found her?”
 
For some reason, that image really
unsettled me.

“No, it had been lit for only a few seconds, based on
the amount of wick that was touched by flame.
 
There was no way the victim was using it
to see inside the building.
 
The
third indicator was that there was direct evidence of a purposeful blow to the
head.
 
From the sharp indentation on
the back of her skull, something with a hard ninety-degree edge was used to
kill her.”

“Is that how she died, by blunt force trauma?” I
asked.

“That was how it looked to me from the start, but the
odd thing was that none of the exposed joists where she must have fallen had
any signs of blood or hair on them, so we know that she didn’t hit her head on
any of them, and the floor itself was flat.
 
As a matter of fact, there were no
objects within reach that could have caused her wound, so the murder weapon had
to have been removed from the shop
after
the crime was committed.
 
We didn’t
discover the final interesting fact until we searched the floor of the basement
and the body.”

“What was that?”

“There was no sign of matches or a lighter anywhere
around Evelyn or on her person,” Jake said.

“So she couldn’t have lit the candle herself,” I
added.

“Bingo.
 
Add it all up, and this was murder, plain and simple.
 
When I pointed these things out to my
boss, he insisted that I take over the case.
 
We both realized that someone from outside
April Springs had to investigate this as soon as I told him what I’d found.”

“Why was that, just because the victim was the police
chief’s ex-wife?”

Jake nodded.
 
“Even the appearance of impropriety is enough to call for an outside
investigator.
 
I just wish that it
wasn’t me.”

“Don’t worry.
 
I’m sure that you’ll catch the killer in record time,” I said.

“We’ll see,” he said as he rubbed his chin
thoughtfully.
 
“Remember, you can’t
share what I’ve just told you with anyone.
 
Suzanne, you’re going to keep that promise, right?”

“Jake, I gave you my word,” I said, but then I
realized just how hard it was going to be to keep what I knew from my mother
and Grace, along with everyone else in April Springs.
 
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea
after all.”

“That’s what I kept telling you,” he said, “but I’m
afraid that we’re stuck with me investigating the murder now.”

“I don’t mean that.
 
I still think that it’s brilliant that
you’re looking into Evelyn’s murder.
 
I’m just not sure that I need full disclosure from you about your
investigation.”

“I thought you might feel that way after you heard
what I’d found so far.
 
Suzanne, you
and Grace aren’t going to dig into this case too, are you?”

“Why shouldn’t we?” I asked, surprised that he’d even
had to ask.
 
“We could be of great
service to you in your investigation, you know.”

Jake took in a deep breath, held it for a beat, and
then slowly let it out before he trusted himself to speak.
 
“The chief might have put up with your
meddling, but I shouldn’t have to remind you that I’m not Chief Martin.”

“No, I know that clearly enough.
 
But think about it, Jake.
 
Grace and I could both really be assets
for you.
 
No one doubts your
abilities as a law enforcement officer, but we’ll be able to get folks to chat
with us unofficially in ways that they’d never do with you.”

“I understand that,” Jake conceded.
 
“I just don’t want to put myself into a
position where I have to arrest my girlfriend for obstruction of justice.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” I said as I
pulled him to his feet.

“Because you’re going to leave this case to me and my
temporary police force?” Jake asked.

I laughed, and then I said, “I’m not saying that at
all.
 
We just won’t be clumsy enough
to get caught doing anything you think we shouldn’t be doing.”

“Why am I not relieved to hear you say that?” Jake
asked as we neared the diner.

“You should be.
 
Just think about what a team we’ll all make.”

“Suzanne, I’d rather not, if it’s all the same to
you.
 
Chief Martin has already been
making noises that he wants to be involved in the case, and I’ve had to tell
him no pretty forcefully.
 
How is he
going to feel if he finds out that I’ve given you and your best friend access
that I won’t allow him to have?”

“I’m sure that he’ll understand, once Momma explains
it to him,” I said.

“I don’t doubt that your mother’s powers of
persuasion are strong, but even she is not that convincing.”

“You don’t give her enough credit.
 
The chief will see that what we’re all doing
is in his best interest.
 
I can just
about guarantee that.”

“Suzanne, I’m still not sure that I’m willing to go
along with you and Grace investigating a case that I’m actively working on
myself.”

“That’s okay.
 
Take some time and get used to it if you need to,” I said happily.

“Is that my only choice?” Jake asked me glumly.

“Let’s not talk about it right now,” I said as we got
to the front steps of the Boxcar.
 
“After all, your original point was a good one.
 
It won’t do anyone any good if folks
hear all of the details about what really happened to Evelyn.”

“Given April Springs, I’m sure that it won’t be long
until the true story is spread from city limit sign to city limit sign.”

“What can I say?
 
Gossip is an Olympic event around here,” I answered as I led him up the
stairs and inside.

Fortunately, Jake didn’t have time to reply as a
crowd of citizens approached him all at once, each of them shouting different
questions about what really happened to Evelyn Martin, and who exactly might
have done it.

Fortunately, Trish stepped in before things got too
ugly.
 

“Settle down, people,” she said loudly, but no one
seemed to listen to her.
 
That
changed the moment she slammed a baseball bat down onto the counter that held
the cash register.
 
That certainly
shut everyone up fast enough.
 
Once her
customers were quiet enough to satisfy Trish, the diner owner said loudly, “I’m
sure the inspector appreciates your questions and your concerns, but this isn’t
a press conference, and we’re not standing out in front of the town hall.
 
I’m guessing the man and his girlfriend
have come here to eat, and so help me, if anyone interferes with that happening
even the least little bit, they’ll have to answer to me.
 
Is that clear?”

There might have been a few grumbles, but no one was
insane enough to voice them out loud.
 

Trish smiled, and then she said, “Now, go back to
your meals, or bring your checks up to the front and I’ll cash you out.
 
This mob is officially disbanded as of
right now.”

Folks began to do as she’d suggested—ordered, really—and
Trish smiled as she walked over to us.
 
“I’ve got a table near the front and one in back.
 
Take your pick.”

“Let’s go to the back,” I said, and Trish nodded in
agreement.

“Smart idea.
 
That will keep the riffraff from ‘dropping by’ your table on their way
out the door.
 
Hang on.
 
I’ll be with you in a second.”

“Thanks,” Jake said as he smiled down at Trish.

“You’re welcome.
 
After all, you need to eat, too.”

“Honestly, I’m starving,” Jake said, “but your
cooking has put five pounds on me in the month I’ve been in April Springs
healing up.”

“You can’t blame that all on me,” she answered with a
smile.
 
“I’ve seen the parade of
pasta, cakes, and pies that have made their way to your doorstep since you came
to town.
 
I’ve got a hunch that my
contributions are the least of it.”