Pecan Pies and Homicides (19 page)

“Are you all right?” she asked Loralyn quietly.

“The stupid cops have been questioning my mother for over an hour!” she spat. “And I can't imagine what's taking our idiot attorney so long to get here. I called him right after these cretins showed up at our door and ‘requested her presence at the station.'” She was practically snarling as she repeated the police officer's words.

Ella Mae took Loralyn by the elbow and led her down the corridor. She stopped in front of a pair of plastic chairs facing a water cooler. “Does this have anything to do with Barric's death?”

“You should have left him in the water.” Loralyn's anger rolled off her in waves. “Because of your little body-fishing expedition, the cops are reviewing our statements from the night of the party. The entire catering staff is being questioned, and they have a search warrant for Rolling View. A bunch of lowlifes are rifling through my things as we speak! All thanks to
you
.”

“I don't blame you for being upset,” Ella Mae said soothingly. “But I can't help you without knowing what triggered a renewed interest in your family. What piece of information came to light? Did the cops find something on Barric's person?”

Loralyn frowned in confusion. “On Barric? No. They're trying to link the sleeping pills they found in Eira's system to my mother. She has a prescription for the same pills. She's taken them on and off for years, usually when she's about to sell one of our Thoroughbreds to the highest bidder. My mother had her prescription refilled the day before the party, which is completely logical, seeing as she'd just finalized a million-dollar land deal. She'd never have gotten any sleep without those pills. Between the land deal and the party, she was too wound up.”

Opal Gaynor had always been the picture of composure, so it was difficult for Ella Mae to imagine her tossing and turning or watching late-night television until she was finally able to sleep.

“Were pills missing from your mother's bottle?”

“The whole thing's gone,” Loralyn said miserably and then her fury returned and pinpricks of cold light appeared in her eyes. “What does that prove? Anyone could have taken the pills. My mother didn't think she had to lock her own medicine cabinet.”

Ella Mae thought about how flirtatious Opal had been with Robert Morgan at the winter carnival. Were the two of them accomplices? Ella Mae considered the possibility. Though Opal couldn't have drugged Eira and then left her own party to drive the unconscious girl to the park, she might have spiked Eira's drink and had someone else take her to the grove. Could Barric have been in collusion with the Gaynors? Or had he and Robert Morgan formed some sort of alliance? It sounded crazy, the idea of the jilted husband and lover uniting in order to punish the woman they'd once loved, but maybe Barric already knew that Eira was carrying another man's child. Perhaps his surprise was feigned.

“Well?” Loralyn interrupted Ella Mae's fruitless conjectures.

“Officer Hardy and his team must be looking for your mother's pills. Those pills were in your house the night of the party and someone stole them and used them to drug Eira. Either that, or they wanted to make it seem like your mother was guilty of doping Eira,” Ella Mae said. “What about the catering staff?”

Loralyn shook her head. “We've used them dozens of times. They're trustworthy. After all, my family is very influential. One bad word and no one would ever hire them again. They wouldn't dare do anything to incite our displeasure.”

Ella Mae knew this was probably true. “Okay, let's focus on Eira's drink. You said that it looked like apple juice, but the lab results state that she'd ingested alcohol. Did someone force her to swallow brandy? Or bourbon?”

“How? By pinching her nose in the middle of the party?” Loralyn smirked. “Maybe she actually wanted something stronger than apple juice.”

“No way.” Ella Mae dismissed the idea immediately. “She was pregnant.”

A shadow flitted over Loralyn's face. She turned away in a sudden hurry to fill a paper cup with water from the cooler.

“What were you thinking just then?” Ella Mae demanded. “What do you know that I don't?”

Loralyn took a dainty sip of water. “I asked the bartender—he's catered at least twenty parties for us—if he had apple juice on hand that night. He didn't. Cranberry, tomato, orange juice, and pineapple, but no apple.”

Ella Mae sat down on one of the plastic chairs. She closed her eyes and revisited every scene from the party in which she'd seen Eira. It was then that she realized who'd been sipping amber-hued liquid throughout the evening.

“It wasn't apple juice,” she said. “The pills must have been mixed in with whiskey. Robert Morgan was drinking whiskey at the party. I remember that his glass was different from those the catering company provided. His was made of fine crystal. Where did he find that tumbler?”

Loralyn tried to produce one of her trademark shrugs, but the flicker of alarm in her eyes belied her show of indifference. She was scared, and Ella Mae knew that the only thing that could frighten Loralyn Gaynor was a threat to her family.

“I know what you're going through, Loralyn. I lost my mother during the harvest festival and I'd do anything to get her back. If your mom's in trouble, then let's find a way to save her.” Ella Mae paused, but Loralyn remained silent. “The land deal with Morgan is a fait accompli, right?”

“Your French accent is as bad as it was in high school, but yes, the papers have been filed and the funds transferred.”

Ella Mae lowered her voice. “Then why is Opal still so solicitous toward Morgan? Your father's home from his business trip. I saw him at the winter carnival. He was watching your mom with Morgan and he didn't seem at all happy about how cozy the two of them were together.”

Loralyn crushed the paper cup in her fist, forcing drops of water to leak from between her fingers. “You don't know anything about my parents or their relationship. They're fine, you hear me? Everything's
fine
. I'm sure Morgan's in love with my mother. Lots of men fall in love with her. It's the same with me. Men just can't help themselves.”

“That's because you enchant them with your voice, leaving them with no free will. I'm not impressed by your ability to manipulate men,” Ella Mae said, momentarily forgetting her feelings of empathy as she recalled how Loralyn had enchanted Hugh again and again. “If that's how your mother acquirers her admirers too, then the pair of you deserve to be in the mess you're in. Enchanting Robert Morgan might be profitable down the road, but it might also explain why your father isn't here to support your mother.”

Loralyn flushed and glanced at her cell phone. “It looks like our bumbling attorney has finally arrived. I'll go meet him in the lobby and remind him what will happen to him should he fail to put an end to this nonsense. And since my mother had nothing to do with either Eira's or Barric's demise, she doesn't need your help. None of us do. Consider whatever arrangement my mother had with you null and void. Go back to minding your own business and stay out of ours.”

Uncertain as to what to make of Loralyn's mercurial behavior, Ella Mae watched her march down the hall, her heels clicking angrily on the polished tiles.

“She's protecting her mother,” Ella Mae murmured. “But from what? What has Opal done? And has it driven Jarvis Gaynor away?” She took out her phone and dialed Suzy's number. “Are you busy?” she asked.

“Nope. I'm drinking my third cup of coffee while pretending to read the paper.” Suzy sounded dejected. “I can't focus on anything. I keep thinking about Aiden. It doesn't help that he stopped by last night with an armload of flowers and a story about saving your life. And then he told me about Barric. What's going on?”

Ella Mae grabbed her handbag and started for the front door. “I'll tell you everything when I get there. In the meantime, can you work some magic on the computer and see what you can find on Barric Young? I've never really thought about him beyond the fact that he was Eira's lover, but now I'm wondering if he had some connection to the Gaynors.”

Suzy let loose an exasperated sigh. “Does everything have to be their fault?”

“No, but the killer might be trying to make it look like it is,” Ella Mae said. “I know you do research better on a full stomach, so can I bring you anything?”

“Sure. How about Aiden? Stripped of his elemental powers and his clothes, thank you very much.” Suzy laughed.

“You'll have to settle for a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit. See you in a bit.”

• • •

Ella Mae didn't often find herself in the drive-thru lane of Havenwood's only fast-food restaurant, but every now and then she felt a powerful craving for an egg and cheese biscuit. Reba got her hooked on the breakfast sandwich over twenty years ago, and she sensed Suzy would enjoy what Reba called “a bit of heaven wrapped in yellow wax paper.”

She was right. Suzy stuck her nose in the bag, inhaled deeply, and then gave Ella Mae a grateful smile. “Okay, I forgive you for being naked in front of the man I'm obsessing over. Come into the kitchen, I want to show you something interesting.”

Ella Mae said hello to Jasmine while Suzy gave her poodle a rawhide chew. “That'll keep her busy. Granny's been spoiling her terribly. She reads to her too. I swear Jasmine understands every word.” Suzy pulled her breakfast sandwich out of the bag. “I really like Granny, but I'm glad she's at the shop. Sometimes a girl just wants to be alone with her coffee, her books, and her dog, you know?”

Suzy's kitchen table was completely cluttered with books. Her laptop was propped on a coffee table book about James Bond films, her coffee cup rested on
Joy of Cooking
, and her salt and pepper shakers were perched on a stack of vintage Frances Hodgson Burnett novels. Ella Mae examined the blue book on the top. Its title was
Queen Silver-Bell
.

“Is she a fairy?” Ella Mae asked, pointing at the cover. A woman with long, golden hair and a pair of diaphanous wings danced barefoot through a patch of wildflowers. She wore a Grecian robe, a crown of leaves, and a secretive smile.

“The queen of the fairies, no less,” Suzy said, unwrapping her biscuit. “In this book, she tells stories to get people to believe in fairies like they once did. Speaking of fascinating stories, check out what I uncovered about Barric.” She took an enormous bite of her breakfast sandwich and then gestured at her computer screen. A piece of bacon fell onto Queen Silver-Bell's nose.

Ella Mae sat down in front of the laptop and began to read. A few seconds later, she turned to Suzy in astonishment. “Barric's farm is owned by Morgan Industries? As in Robert Morgan?”

Suzy nodded. Ella Mae opened a new window and did a Google search on Young's Farm of Oak Knoll, Tennessee. The home page showed a bucolic stretch of fields planted with oats and alfalfa. There was also a photo of a trio of Thoroughbreds galloping near a stable that looked remarkably like the one at Gaynor Farms. Ella Mae read about Barric's special horse feed and then clicked the testimonials link. There, on the bottom, was a quote from a man named Rand Dockery. Ella Mae drew in a sharp breath.

“What is it?” Suzy asked.

“Barric, Robert Morgan, and now Dockery,” Ella Mae said. “It's straight out of Shakespeare.”

Suzy looked confused. “I don't get it. Who's this Dockery guy?” She studied the man's photograph. “He's good-looking in a rugged, cowboy way.”

“He's also the head trainer at Gaynor Farms. According to this testimonial, he's been buying feed from Barric Young for years.” Ella Mae sat back in the chair, her eyes fixed on the screen. “Barric, Robert Morgan, and the Gaynors. They're connected. But what do these connections have to do with Eira's death? Or Barric's?”

“I hate to say it, but you need to have a frank talk with the Gaynors.”

Ella Mae nodded. “I know. And I'm not going alone. I'm taking Reba and my aunts with me.”

“What if things turn violent?” Suzy chewed her lip.

“Then Reba will be delighted. She's waited for decades to kick a little Gaynor ass.” Ella Mae smiled ruefully. “And I don't think I'll be too inclined to stop her.”

Ella Mae said good-bye to Suzy and Jasmine and headed out to her car. She told Chewy to hop into the Jeep, but he stubbornly refused. Instead, he sniffed the ground near the front tire and started to growl.

“What is it, boy?” Ella Mae idly wondered whose scent he found so offensive.

Chewy's lips curled back, revealing his sharp little teeth. He swung his head from side to side and then released a torrent of furious barks.

He was so agitated that Ella Mae became concerned. “What's wrong?”

Chewy jumped up and placed his front paws on the Jeep.

“No! Down, boy,” Ella Mae scolded. “You'll scratch the—” She suddenly noticed the slip of paper tucked under her windshield wiper. Pulling it free, she unfolded the piece of cream-colored cardstock and read the typed words:

The dead are dead.

Let them be.

If you don't

another lady will burn.

Ella Mae shoved the note into her coat pocket and scooped Chewy into her arms, holding him tightly. Normally, he'd lick her on the cheeks once or twice and then squirm until she let him go, but he seemed to sense that she needed comfort. He nuzzled her neck with his nose and grew still in her grasp.

“It's a threat,” Ella Mae whispered to her terrier. “They'll set fire to our grove. Destroy our magic forever. Murder my mother. Mom!” She choked on the last word and pressed her face into Chewy's fur, inhaling his familiar aroma of dirt and damp grass. She then put him in the car, shut the door, and spread her hands over the metal side panel. Ella Mae wanted to punch something. She wanted to scream in rage. She wanted to find who'd written the note and wrap her hands around their throat. But none of those things would help her protect her mother, so she got in the Jeep and called Reba.

“Are you still at the police station?” Reba asked, incredulous. “I told you to let me drive you. If I'd been there, Hardy wouldn't have dared to keep you that long.”

“I'm just leaving Suzy's,” Ella Mae said, fighting to keep her voice steady. “She found out that Robert Morgan's company owns Barric's farm. We also discovered that the Gaynors have been buying feed from Young's Farm for years. I'll explain in more detail later. Right now, I need a huge favor. An illegal favor.”

Reba chuckled. “It's about damn time. Will I be bustin' knee caps, stealin' evidence, breakin' into the Gaynors' house, or all of the above?”

“I'd like a copy of the ME's report on Eira,” Ella Mae said. “I want to know everything there is to know about her, starting with that file. Jenny's given me Eira's recent history and I believe Barric was telling us the truth about Eira's childhood, but I want to see if the ME listed what kind of drugs and alcohol he found in Eira's system or anything else that might have been noted that could help me figure out what happened to her the night she died.”

“Does this mean you want me to get friendly with the ME's assistant?” Reba didn't sound pleased.

“I thought you were already friendly. Didn't you used to date him?”

“Toby and I went on one date over a year ago. The man smells like tuna fish.” Reba sighed wistfully. “It's a shame too. You know I have a weakness for bald men and Toby's head is as round and smooth as a billiard ball. But when he moved in for a kiss at the end of our date, I wanted to hose him down with Lysol.”

“Reba, things have taken an urgent turn. You need to meet with him today.”

“On a Sunday? Unless he's in workin' on Barric, he'll be at home.”

Ella Mae considered this wrinkle. “I'll make a pie for him. Something with turkey and an extra dose of drowsy. If he eats the pie at the office, you can easily copy both Eira's and Barric's files. And if you meet Toby at his house, you'll have to steal his keys, copy the reports, and return his keys before he wakes up. That's much riskier. Are you up to it?”

“I like livin' dangerously. That's when I feel the most alive,” Reba said. “Now tell me what's got you so tense.”

“More like terrified, Reba. The arsonist is definitely in Havenwood and I need to find them or someone else will die. Not might die.
Will
die.” Ella Mae allowed her fury to bubble forth. “The bastard left me a warning, Reba. A note saying that if I don't back off, they're going to torch our grove. I
must
stop them. I have to protect our people and my mother!”

Reba's growl was nearly identical to Chewy's. “Where was this note?” When Ella Mae told her, Reba said, “Someone is trackin' your movements. I'm gonna see where the Upton siblings are. They'd better be able to account for every second of their day or I'll have to introduce them to my throwing stars.”

“It could have been Robert Morgan,” Ella Mae pointed out. “He has a driver. Or one of the Gaynors. Their house was being searched this morning, but that doesn't mean they're all standing around watching the cops.”

“Rolling View is bein' searched? What for?” Reba asked.

“Sleeping pills, I'd guess,” Ella Mae said. “Opal's mother conveniently misplaced hers the night before the party. I don't know what other evidence the police are hoping to find. Everything will be listed in the warrant, but the Gaynors aren't likely to share that information with me. I ran into Loralyn after my interview with Hardy.” Ella Mae pictured Loralyn pacing the hall in the police station. “She was crying, Reba. She's scared and I think it's probably because someone close to her played a role in the murders.”

Reba was silent for several seconds. “All right, let's get movin'. You bake Toby's pie. I'll feed it to him and get the ME's reports. Meanwhile, have a sit-down with Verena and the Uptons. Make sure Aiden answers Verena's questions. Use force if necessary.”

“Yes, it's past time we learned the Uptons' secret,” Ella Mae agreed. “I'm adding one more thing to my agenda. You won't like this, Reba, but I'm not waiting until spring to go after the Flower of Life. I'm going for it now. Well, as soon as I can borrow a dry suit from the fire department.”

“I know you want to save your mama, but you can't just jump into the lake and swim to the bottom. You've only been scuba divin' with Sloane in calm, clear Caribbean waters. Lake Havenwood is dark and deep, and some terrible creature is down there. You need to know how to fight it.”

Ella Mae released a guttural cry of anger and frustration. “I will kill anything that stands between me and that flower. No one is going to burn my mother! Do you hear me?”

“I know you're fierce as a lioness, but your Colt won't be much help below the surface. You need to know your enemy's weakness before you go into battle.” Reba spoke softly. “Find somethin' to offer the Gaynors in trade for those missin' book pages. If that means gettin' the cops off their backs for a spell, so be it. If they're involved in the murders, we can deal with them after your mama's safe.”

Ella Mae saw the sense in that. “I'll have Verena talk with the Elders. We need guards at the grove until the arsonist is caught.” She turned the Jeep's engine on and set the heater to high. Yesterday's snow was already gone, but the chilly winds that had carried the storm to Havenwood had yet to retreat. “Once I bake the pies for Toby and Hugh, I'll call you to come get yours.” She shook her head. “I never thought I'd be giving my own boyfriend enchanted food, but I need his keys to the fire station.”

“Just make sure he never finds out,” Reba warned. “He'll never trust you again.

“I'm keeping so many secrets from him already. What's one more?” Ella Mae was struck by a fresh wave of guilt and remorse, but she shoved the feelings aside. She could analyze her relationship with Hugh later. Now, it was time to act. To fight, if need be. And Ella Mae's weapons were about to be baked into two pies.

• • •

At The Charmed Pie Shoppe, Ella Mae made a makeshift bed for Chewy in the dining room. She waited for him to settle down on a flattened cardboard box lined with dishtowels and then tied on her apron and got to work.

Her first step was to turn the thermostat to high, making the kitchen as hot as she could. Next, she cut fresh onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, parsley, and the meat from a cooked turkey breast into bite-sized pieces. After caramelizing the onion in butter, she added white wine to the frying pan. Her original recipe for puff pastry turkey pie called for chicken broth, but she decided the wine would help increase the feelings of somnolence she intended to put in the filling.

Tuning the radio to the classical station, she buttoned up her heavy wool coat and stood next to the oven. She dropped the mushrooms into the onion and wine mixture and stirred the vegetables. All the while, she thought back to a time at the end of her junior semester in college when she had to write a research paper for her geology class. She'd signed up for the class because she thought it would be an easy way to fulfill her science requirement, but the class turned out to be both difficult and dull. Ella Mae had put off working on her final project until the eleventh hour, but finally, she'd had to sit down and finish the long and tedious paper.

She had a clear memory of being in the overly warm library with books and notebooks spread across a polished wood table as she tried to eke out enough words to complete the assignment. The hours passed with agonizing slowness, and she'd worked late into the night, until her writing began to blur and her eyelids felt so heavy that she had to fight to keep them open.

I want to sleep,
she remembered thinking. She also recalled how the weight of her fatigue coaxed her head down closer and closer to the table. And then she'd made a pillow of her arms and closed her sore eyes. Her muscles went flaccid and blissful darkness had filled her vision.

Ella Mae held on to this memory as she removed the onions and mushrooms from the stovetop and added them to the bowl of turkey, tomatoes, and parsley. “Sleep,” she whispered while sprinkling salt and pepper over the mixture. “You are
so
tired.”

After lining two pie pans with her puff pastry dough, she poured in the turkey filling and then grabbed a fistful of Parmesan cheese. “Go on. Close your eyes and sleep.” She let the grated cheese drift onto the surface of each pie. “Sleep long and deep.”

Sliding the pies into the oven, she set the timer and then immediately took off her coat and hung it up. She was sweating and her hands and forehead were clammy, so she stepped outside and invited the cold air to chase away her drowsiness. As the kitchen filled with the aroma of the baking pies, Ella Mae stood on the steps until she could feel her arms break out in gooseflesh.

When her temperature felt normal again, she went back inside and popped in a CD by HardDrive, her favorite bluegrass group, and set about making piecrusts for the upcoming week. By the time the turkey pies were done, she'd sung every song and had a small mountain of dough balls cocooned in plastic wrap ready for the refrigerator.

She'd just brewed a pot of coffee when Reba and Verena entered the kitchen.

“Reba told me everything!” Verena bellowed. She thrust out her hand. “Let me see that note.”

Ella Mae took the offending paper from the pocket of her coat and laid it on her aunt's palm. Verena unfolded it angrily and read, Reba at her elbow.

“This person dares to threaten my sister?” Verena's voice rose angrily. “Fool! The Oak Knoll community was taken by surprise, but that won't happen to us. The first sentries are already in place.” Her brow furrowed. “Look at this paper. This is fine stationery. And the syntax? This was not written by some hillbilly.”

“He or she has a laser printer too,” Reba said, sniffing the note and examining it closely. “This isn't typewriter ink.”

Ella Mae nodded. “The wording doesn't remind me of Aiden or Jenny, but we can't be sure.” She wrapped the turkey pies in foil and handed one to Reba. “You take care of Toby. Aunt Verena and I going to Partridge Hill to have a chat with the Uptons.”

“I reckon that other pie's for Hugh.” Reba looked concerned. “You're not thinkin' of takin' a late-night swim, are you?”

“For now, I just want to copy his keys. I'll try to get the missing pages from Loralyn first, but even if I fail, I have to go after that flower. I can't sit at home, hoping that whoever wrote this letter is convinced that I'm not a threat.” Ella Mae put a hand on Reba's arm. “If we're dealing with a fire elemental, then it won't matter how many people we have standing guard over our grove. He'll get in. Suzy told me that only someone with powerful water magic can stop him. Like a water elemental.”

Verena said, “That Suzy is quite an asset to our community.”

“I was hoping Jenny and Aiden would be assets too. It's time to find out if I was right.” Ella Mae showed her aunt the gun in her handbag. “Are you armed?”

“I sure am!” Verena's mouth curved into a wicked grin. “Reba gave me a Taser. If Aiden so much as lights a match, he'll rue the day he came to Havenwood.”