Evil Eclairs (18 page)

“Would you believe me if I said we came here looking for you?” I asked.

That got a soft chuckle. “Not on your life. You’re here to grill Ms. Patton, so don’t try to deny it. It just makes you look desperate.”

I smiled at him. “You caught us.” I extended my wrists. “Would you like to lock us both up?”

“Don’t tempt me,” he replied with a grin of his own, and then turned to Grace. “I see she’s roped you in on another investigation.”

“I just can’t seem to say no,” Grace answered. “Why don’t I take a walk down the street so you two can have some privacy.”

I said, “Thanks,” at the same time Jake said, “No need.”

Grace looked at us both, and then said, “See? You can’t even agree on that.”

Before either one of us could say another word, Grace took off.

“What was that all about?” I asked Jake. “You’re not avoiding me, are you?”

“If I were, it would be to protect you.”

That answer surprised me. “From what?”

“Wagging tongues mostly, but ultimately, from yourself.”

“Don’t worry about me; I can take care of myself,” I answered.

“Okay then, do it for my sake.”

“You can handle things even better than I can,” I admitted.

“Let’s just say my job’s easier if the people I’m investigating don’t know about our relationship.”

I frowned at him. “I’ve got to admit, I don’t like that. You’re not ashamed to be seen with me, are you?”

“Are you kidding? I love it. It just makes things too complicated sometimes.”

“Then I guess Napoli’s is out for tonight.”

He shrugged. “Sorry, it’s a little too public, given the investigation.”

“I want to see you,” I said a little more emphatically than I should have. “Tell you what. Why don’t you come by the house and Momma and I will feed you. You can even park in the lot and walk across the grass to our place. Nobody has to know you’re even there.”

“I don’t have to be that clandestine,” he answered.

“Let’s not take any chances. How does six sound to you?”

“Great, if you’re sure I’m not putting you out.”

I laughed. “You know my mother. She’ll be delighted to have you, and I shouldn’t have to tell you how I feel.” I pointed to the consignment shop. “Have you spoken with her yet?”

Jake nodded, the frown lines showing in his face. “She’s a hard woman, isn’t she? To be honest with you, I didn’t have much luck.”

“Maybe Grace and I will do better.”

“I suppose stranger things have happened.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said with a slight grin.

“Suzanne, we both know that confidence is one thing you don’t lack.”

“What’s another?” I asked.

“I could stand here complimenting you all day, but I have work to do. See you tonight.”

“Tonight it is.”

CHAPTER 13

I hadn’t planned on conducting the interview without Grace, but I wasn’t about to let an opportunity when there were no customers go to waste. It was time to ask Nancy some tough questions.

“We need to talk,” I said as I walked inside and approached her.

“I did all my talking with him,” she answered. “If he struck out, do you honestly think I’d talk to you?” I could see Jake through the window, and Nancy kept staring at him until he got into his car and drove out of our line of sight. “I saw you two talking out there. What did he want with you?”

“You’re not the only one he’s giving a hard time to,” I said. “I figured you might want to help me get him off both our backs.”

“How can you do that?”

At least I had her interest. Apparently Jake’s questioning had bothered her more than she’d wanted to let on. “Tell me what I need to know, and I can sic him on somebody else’s tail.”

“Why would you do that for me?” This woman didn’t trust anyone.

I shrugged. “By helping you, I help myself. I really just have one question for you. Do you have an alibi for the night Lester was murdered?”

“I was with someone.”

“Did you tell the state police inspector that?”

Nancy bit her lower lip for a second. “It’s complicated. He’s married, and his wife’s the jealous type.”

After what I’d been through with my ex-husband, Max, I wasn’t especially fond of cheaters, but I needed this woman on my side. “Call him, tell him it’s okay to talk to me, and I can convince the police that you couldn’t have done it.” I’d been about to say that she was innocent, but clearly that would be a stretch.

“Hang on,” Nancy said, and excused herself. As she walked into the back room to make her telephone call, I had to wonder who this mystery man was. Would he come forward to alibi her, or would he leave her dangling in the wind and move on to his next conquest? Momma always said that if a man cheats with you, someday he’ll cheat on you. I know for a fact that she hadn’t been talking directly about Max, since he’d been unattached when we got together, but I had to wonder if she sensed something about the man that love had blinded me to. I wouldn’t be the first woman it had ever happened to, and I doubted that I would be the last.

I was still musing about that when Nancy came back in. “Sorry, I can’t help you. He’s out of town at the moment.”

Convenient, I thought, but did not say. In three seconds, I was glad I’d managed to keep my mouth shut, because Nancy added, “He’ll be by the donut shop sometime tomorrow, and he’ll back me up.”

“I’m free now,” I said, hating to leave any loose ends hanging. “I’ll meet him wherever he might be.”

“Chicago?” she asked. “He’s away on business and won’t be back until late tonight. It’s that, or nothing.”

“I’ll take that,” I said. “Who should I look for?”

“Don’t worry, he’ll find you there.”

A tour bus must have stopped outside, because a gaggle of shoppers came in together, ogling the sights. I recognized the expression on Nancy’s face as one of my own. Business could be like that sometimes. Things were slow and uneventful for what seemed like forever, and then, all of sudden, you had more work than you could handle.

I left her as she tried to watch every person in her shop at the same time, and found Grace outside eating an ice cream cone.

“That looks good,” I said.

“There’s plenty more right over there,” she answered as she pointed to a shop nearby. “I was wondering where you went, and then I spotted you inside. You were in such an earnest conversation with Nancy that I didn’t want to interrupt. Find out anything good?”

“She’s got an alibi.”

“Then we can mark her off our list.”

“It’s not that simple,” I explained. “He’s a married man, and she wouldn’t give me his name.”

“So, she stays on the list.”

“For now. He’s supposed to come by Donut Hearts sometime tomorrow to confirm her alibi.”

“I bet Jake’s going to just love that.” She looked around and noticed that his car was gone. “What happened? You didn’t run him off, did you?”

“No, he had to go. We’re having dinner tonight, though.”

Grace’s eyes lit up. “Where’s he taking you? Someplace nice, I hope.”

“Momma and I are cooking for him,” I admitted. “Speaking of which, I’d better call and give her a heads-up.”

“You can do it on the way back to April Springs,” Grace said.

“It’ll just take a second.” I dialed my home number, and Momma answered. “Hey, it’s me.”

“Hello, me.”

“What’s for dinner?”

“I was thinking we could rob the freezer and have another leftover night. Why?”

I tried not to laugh as I said, “That sounds good. I invited Jake over, and I’m sure he’d love to scrounge through your freezer with the two of us.”

That perked her up instantly. “Nonsense. Let’s see, is there time for a roast? When exactly is he coming?”

“Six,” I answered.

“No time for that, then. Don’t worry, I’ll come up with something grand.”

“Momma, no offense, but I don’t think he’s coming strictly for the cooking. At least I hope not.”

“Suzanne, leave the menu to me. When will you be home?”

“I’m in Union Square, so it might be a while,” I admitted.

“Excellent.”

“You’re happy that I’m out of town?” What an odd reaction to get from my own mother.

“No, just that you’re there. Before you come back, I need you to swing by Olson’s and pick up a few things.”

“Grace is here with me, too, Momma.” If I could get out of making the shopping trip, I was going to.

“She can help, as well. Do you have a pen and paper handy?”

I mimed to Grace a pencil writing, and she dove into her purse and pulled them both out. I normally confined myself to a wallet or a small handbag, but Grace liked to be prepared for anything short of the end of the world.

“Go on,” I said, and I wrote as quickly as I could to keep up with her. After she was finished, I asked sarcastically, “Is that all?”

“No, but I already have the rest of what I need. You can invite Grace, too, if you’d like. The more the merrier.”

“While we’re at it, she can include twelve of her closest friends, too. That’s a lot of food.”

“Nonsense. The man doesn’t get to eat home cooking very often.”

After I hung up, I said, “I guess you heard we’re going shopping.”

She was grinning broadly at me. “She didn’t exactly give you a chance to say no, did she? Don’t worry about it, Suzanne. I can pick up a few things myself while we’re here.”

It appeared that my investigation, at least for now, was over.

*   *   *

I was out of the shower and toweling off my hair when my cell phone rang. If it was Jake canceling, I was going to skin him alive. Momma had pulled out all of the stops, making chicken
and
meat loaf, with garlic mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, candied carrots, and sweet potato casserole. I’d tried to help until I kept getting in her way and she finally sent me upstairs to take a shower and get the smell of donuts out of my hair. I could never be entirely successful, since the scent felt permanent sometimes, but I could do my best to disguise the scent with mango or strawberry. Jake claimed he loved the smell of fried donuts, but I knew he could just be trying to mollify me.

I saw that it wasn’t Jake when I picked it up.

“I’ve been wondering if you’d call,” I said to George after saying hello. “Any progress on your poking around into Lester’s life?”

“I’m pursuing something even as we speak,” he said cryptically.

“Anything in particular?”

“Positively,” he said.

“Care to share?” Why was he being so mysterious all of a sudden?

“I can’t,” he said. “If I’m wrong, I could ruin someone’s reputation, and I can’t bring myself to do that to someone who might be innocent.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” I said. “You know you can trust me.”

He started to say something, I could feel it in my bones, when he suddenly went silent. “Come on, you know you want to,” I added, trying to convince him to talk.

“Maybe tomorrow,” he said. “If not then, the next day for sure.”

“You’re not taking any chances, are you?”

“What’s life without taking a risk now and then,” he said. I could almost hear him smiling over the telephone.

“George, please be careful. If something happens to you while you’re helping me out, I’ll never be able to forgive myself. I mean it.”

That sobered him. “Suzanne, I’ll be as careful as I can, given the circumstances. This might be the break we need to solve Lester’s murder.”

I started to say something when he cut me off. “Gotta go. They’re back.”

“Who’s back? George? Are you there?”

I was talking into a dead phone.

Why did that man insist on taking so many chances? He missed being a cop, putting his life on the line every day. Was helping me just an excuse to feed his adrenaline habit? Was I enabling him somehow? I wouldn’t be able to stop worrying about him until I knew he was safe.

My phone rang again, and I didn’t even look at the caller ID as I grabbed it. “George? Are you okay?”

“It’s me,” Jake said. “What’s wrong with George?”

“Nothing,” I answered, not able to come up with anything on the spot.

“Suzanne,” Jake said.

“He’s doing something for me, and I wanted to be sure he was okay.”

I could hear Jake take a deep breath, and then slowly let it out. “Do I want to know what he’s doing?”

“I sincerely doubt it,” I answered as honestly as I could. “I don’t even know myself, so there’s no use grilling me about it.”

“Okay, forget I asked. I’ve got some bad news.”

“You’re not canceling on us, are you? Momma went to a lot of trouble to make dinner tonight.”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just running a little late.”

Maybe I could let him live after all. “How late?”

“Half an hour,” he answered.

“Ten minutes? That shouldn’t be too bad.”

“I get it,” he said. “I’ll try my best to shave it to that.”

“You’d better. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this meal.”

“I’ll be there. Don’t start without me.”

I laughed. “I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises.”

“Then I’d better go,” he said as he hung up.

As I got dressed, I couldn’t help wondering what was delaying him. Did it have something to do with the case, or was it something else? I’d been dying to ask, but I was afraid of what his answer might be.

I came down promptly at six to find Momma waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me. “You took your sweet time, Suzanne. He’s due here any minute.”

“Actually, he’s going to be late. He called, but I forgot to tell you. Sorry about that.”

“Any idea how long he’ll be delayed?”

“He started with half an hour, but I got him down to ten minutes.”

“Did he say what was delaying him?”

“He didn’t offer any information, and I didn’t ask,” I said as I walked into the dining room. We were eating formally tonight, and Momma had outdone herself, both on the food selections and the table settings. I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Thanks for doing this.”

“It’s my pleasure, and you know it.”

“Sure I do, but it’s still nice to thank you.”

“You’re most welcome. Would you like me to make up a plate and take it to my room? I’d be happy to give you both some privacy.”