Sweet Taffy and Murder: Sweet Taffy Cozy Mysteries Book #1 (7 page)

After leaving the police station, Taffy slumped like a limp leaf inside the Aveo. Maria Salinas? How could Taffy have been so blind? They’d practically been like sisters, or for a while they had both wished that were true. Maria’s and Rosa’s lives must have changed dramatically after Ellen Belair’s death. Is that when they’d moved to Oregon? Did her Nana know they were here? Taffy had blocked out so much from that period in her life. Maria had just been a casualty to Taffy’s trauma.

She took a deep breath. There was nothing she could do about it now. The past was the past. She’d delivered the marble to prove her theory, and now it was up to the police to figure out the rest. It was up to Taffy to get herself home to New York as quickly as possible.

She was tempted to try calling Nana again, to tell her about Maria, but then she looked at the car clock and realized she only had ten minutes to get to work on time. With Maria safely behind her police desk, Taffy sped the Aveo through town and up the hill to the candy factory.

* * *

Though Taffy had hung up everything she’d tossed into yesterday’s kitchen puddle, her elf jacket was still a little damp and marked up with chocolate. When she got to work, she begged Aubin for a second jacket.

“The cost will have to come out of your paycheck, Hon.”

“What if I don’t wear it?”

“Then you’ll probably get fired and not get a paycheck at all.”

Aubin glanced at the big clock behind her with numbers in the shape of jellybeans. “And you’d better light a red-hot under that tiny butt of yours. Tick tock.”

Taffy slipped on her damp, wrinkled coat and dashed up to the second floor.

Mr. Herbert was waiting among the wafers with his clipboard in hand. He glanced at his watch. “Ninety seconds late, Belair. Clearly you don’t respect punctuality. Time equals productivity, and productivity equals profit.”

“It’s not like the wafers are going to dissolve if I’m two minutes late,” Taffy snapped. She still hadn’t had any coffee.

Mr. Herbert glared at her. “
Excuse me
?”

“They’re just cookies.”

“
Just cookies
?” He pushed his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose. “Are you aware of how popular these cookies are? Our handmade Wafer Wonders are sold in over a hundred shops along the West Coast. They aren’t
just cookies
. If you don’t have the proper respect for what we do, perhaps you don’t belong here.”

By now the rest of the floor staff were staring at her, and Herbert had gone a bit red in the face.

“And just look at your attire,” he growled. “That proves you have no respect for your position.”

Taffy remembered she actually needed this job, and she was afraid he might pop a blood vessel, so she bit her lip and said, “Sorry, Mr. Herbert, I promise it won’t happen again.”

“It certainly won’t, and to ensure you learn your lesson Nolan here is taking your position today and you’re now on sweeping duty.”

“I don’t even know how to sweep.”

Herbert and Nolan, who’d already tugged on his pink-striped latex gloves, looked at her oddly. Herbert pointed to a wide push broom leaning against the wall.

“Crumb duty,” Herbert repeated. “And I expect you to be wearing a clean, pressed jacket by lunch time.”

Taffy swallowed her pride and reached for the handle of the broom. Silently, she assessed her unfair situation:
humiliated candy elf fantasizes about dipping boss’s glasses in marshmallow sauce.
Mr. Herbert could go suck lemon drops.

In her hungover state, she was hardly feeling dextrous enough to glue wafers with icing anyway, and the repetitive motion of sweeping gave her time to think.

What would Maria do now that she had the marble? If Taffy was right, and Janet’s death was not accidental, how would they find the murderer now? Who might have had it in for Janet? Ethan and Mr. Davenport had implied she was beloved by all. But Taffy knew things weren’t always what they seemed. This small town might appear innocently sweet, but if she dug past its sugary surface, she was sure to find some bitterness.

When it was finally time for first coffee break, Taffy beelined for the staff room and crossed paths with Ellie.

“I hear you upped the Herbster’s blood pressure this morning.”

Taffy filled a paper cup and guzzled back the weak, bitter staff-room coffee. “A broken pencil would get that man going.”

Ellie giggled.

“You’d better change your jacket so you don’t incite a heart attack.” She pulled something from a bag she was carrying. “Here, you can borrow my spare.”

Taffy took the folded pink jacket. “Thanks.” It drooped around her small frame but it was clean and wrinkle-free. It smelled like roses.

Ellie glanced past Taffy, and a blush surged up her round cheeks. Taffy turned and saw a skinny boyishly handsome young man swagger into the staff room.

Ellie tried to hide behind Taffy, which wasn’t really possible given her girth. She whispered. “That’s Vanilla Boy.”

“Who?”

“You
know.
” Ellie’s eyes widened meaningfully. “The one I’ve got the big crush on?”

The young man helped himself to coffee and then looked at the two of them. He smiled their way and then headed back out the door.

Ellie seemed to melt next to Taffy. “Isn’t he dreamy? He’s in charge of making all the vanilla icing.”

“Does he have a real name?”

Ellie didn’t seem to hear her. “Should I invite him to my party?” She nodded to herself. “I’m definitely going to invite him to my party.”

Absently, she reached for a handful of sugar packs and creamers next to the coffeepot. She stuffed her pockets. Winking at Taffy, she said, “For the party.” Then she headed back to the chocolate-dip department.

* * *

When Taffy got home from work, there was a police cruiser parked in her driveway.

Maria was sitting on Taffy’s porch with Midnight curled in her lap.

Taffy said, “The cat likes you better than me.”

“Jealous?” Maria shrugged. “I get the cat, you get Ethan. Seems like a fair trade.” Smiling, she stood up. Midnight trotted off toward the trees.

Taffy joined Maria on the porch.

“Why are you here?”

“I spoke to Chief Green. He’s not keen to reopen the case, but Gravely overhead us talking and supported the idea, so while the chief deliberates, I have permission to have another look around. I figured you wouldn’t mind.”

“Be my guest. The door’s open.”

Maria raised an eyebrow.

Taffy explained, “I don’t have a key for the front door, so I thought it was easier to leave it open.”

Maria smirked. “That’s interesting, considering you’re trying to get me to believe there’s a murderer on the loose.”

“I lock everything up at night when I’m inside.” Taffy pushed the door open for both of them. “I can’t afford to get the locks changed yet so—”

“What’s all this about not being able to
afford
anything? The Belairs are one of the richest families in New York,” Maria said, following Taffy inside and peeking in the parlor and living room.

Taffy led the way to the kitchen.

“Nana cut me off and sent me here. She set me up with a job and a place to live, and she expects me to make a go of it on my own. She won’t even return my calls.”

“Well, good old Nana. She always liked teaching people lessons. What about your dad? Why doesn’t he bail you out?”

“She’s teaching him a lesson, too. I don’t even know where he is.”

Maria nodded. “Interesting. Mind if I look at the hall closet?”

“Go right ahead.”

Taffy put a pot on the stove. It would be plain pasta for dinner once again, with Wafer Wonders for dessert. The pantry was stocked with them.

When Maria came back, she said, “Well, you’re right about the closet shelf.”

Taffy rolled her eyes. “Glad you checked for me. I was worried I’d made a mistake.”

“If it happened like you said, and Janet’s bowling ball didn’t kill her accidentally, then we’re not only short one murderer, we’re short a weapon as well.”

“I can’t help you with that.”

She sighed. “Guess we’ll figure it out somehow.”

Maria stood behind Taffy as she opened the fridge and revealed its mostly bare shelves.

“I guess it’s a bit weird for you to be here. Sorry about your family troubles.”

Taffy shrugged. “You can’t have family troubles if you don’t have a family.”

Maria tucked her flashlight back in its hip loop.

“I told my mom you were here.”

“Was she as thrilled to find out as you were?”

“Actually, she insisted I invite you over for dinner Sunday night.”

Taffy turned, surprised. “Really?” She stared at Maria’s face to see if she was joking.

“And you know there’s no arguing with my mother.” Maria half-smiled, and for a brief second, Taffy was transported back to her ten-year-old self and Rosa insisting on putting Taffy’s hair in braids one Sunday for church.

“I remember,” she said, smiling.

“So. Dinner. Can you make it?”

“I wouldn’t want to disappoint Rosa.”

The water started to boil, and Taffy dumped some dry noodles in the water before getting a plate ready for Midnight’s food.

“I should let you—”

A loud crash above their heads cut Maria off. Her hand went immediately to her holstered gun. “What was that?”

“Ghost?” Taffy joked, but her adrenaline had spiked at the noise. Had someone snuck in while she was at work?

Maria went up the stairs quietly, her back pressed against the wall, her hand on her gun. She motioned for Taffy to stay back, but she followed a little ways behind, too curious and nervous to stay in the kitchen by herself.

Maria checked the back bedroom. A window was partially open, and a table had been knocked over.

Midnight emerged from under a chair, his fur all puffed up.

“It was just the cat,” said Maria.

He wove affectionately between Maria’s legs.

Taffy peeked out the window. A trellis was nailed to this side of the house, and a thick vine intermixed with an heirloom climbing rose grew up its grid work.

“He must have climbed up from the porch.”

“Some ghost.”

Maria and Taffy laughed. When Maria heard Taffy’s snort, she said, “Oh my God, I’d forgotten that!” And she laughed even harder, which spurred Taffy on more.

When their giggling subsided, they bent down to pick up the fallen box and the papers and envelopes that had poured out. The pages had bits of newsprint stuck to them. Taffy opened one up.

“Maria?”

She had opened one, too. The pages contained threats written in individual words clipped from newsprint.

“Someone was threatening Janet?”

The letters seemed almost childish. They said things like “back off” and “stop meddling” and “you’ll be sorry.”

Maria reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of latex gloves.

“Don’t touch anymore. I’ll have to take these down to the station and check for prints.” She gathered up the papers and the box.

“Who do you think..?”

Maria shrugged. “No idea, but I guess Janet wasn’t as ‘beloved’ as everyone thought. This is some can of worms you opened.”

“It was the cat.”

Maria rolled her eyes.

Midnight meowed.

“He wants his dinner,” said Taffy.

“Now that you mention it, so do I.” Maria carried the box and letters downstairs. “Are you sure you’re comfortable staying here on your own?”

She wouldn’t admit to Maria that she wasn’t.

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’ll lock everything up after you go. Midnight will protect me.”

“I’ll speak to the chief in the morning. Your marble theory, and now these letters, bring up some new questions with this case.”

“Speaking of letters.” Taffy remembered the letters she’d come across in the piano bench. She went to retrieve them.

“I didn’t read much, but they seem to be from someone named Tony, and I wondered if that might be Anthony Herbert because they seem to refer to some business at the candy factory.”

Maria looked at the rest of the contents of the piano bench.

Taffy said, “Take it all if you want.”

“I’ll take the letters for now and come back again tomorrow with Lieutenant Gravely.”

When Maria left, Taffy locked every door and window. She fed Midnight, and then she sat down to eat her over-boiled pasta. The Wafer Wonders were actually pretty good.

After dumping the dishes in the sink, she tried calling Nana again, but she still wouldn’t pick up.

Taffy slept fitfully, dreaming of cat-tailed murderers climbing up the trellis to stuff her mouth with tiny bits of newsprint.

In the morning she called Ethan and asked if she could come over for a cup of coffee before work. She promised herself she would pick up groceries on the way home from work.

Sitting in his kitchen, she sighed with pleasure at her first sip of his delectable brew. Then she remembered what she’d been saying.

“I mean, who would threaten Janet?”

Ethan was quiet for a minute while he sipped his coffee.

“Maybe it was just a prank. Some bored high schoolers?”

“But what if it wasn’t? What if I’m in danger? What if the murderer comes back?”

She looked around Ethan’s kitchen, wondering if it would be a viable option to stay with him.

“I’m sure you’re safe. It’s even possible it was her own craft project.”

Taffy raised a slanted eyebrow. “You’re kidding, right?”

His green eyes twinkled.

Taffy’s face was serious. “Why are you so reluctant to believe her death was not accidental?”

He sighed and put his cup down. The twinkle in his eye was gone.

“If Janet Harken was murdered, which you are the opposite-of-reluctant to believe, it would mean the world and its inhabitants are far more sinister than I thought.”

“You’re not telling me you’re like Davenport and firmly believe ‘there are no murders’ in Abandon?”

“I’m not all pie in the sky like Davenport, no. But… if someone like Janet can be killed, and the killer can get away with it—”

She reached out and touched his clenched fist.

“No one’s going to get away with it. If she was killed, the police will find the killer.”

“‘
If
she was killed’?
Now
you’re allowing room for doubt?”

Taffy leaned back. “Well, it’s the facts that have to prove it now. I believe one thing, and you believe another. We can’t both be right.”

He shook his head sadly. “That’s true.”

“And the truth is what matters isn’t it?”

His green eyes, still lacking sparkle, met hers. He nodded. “And you are stubbornly determined to find out the truth, aren’t you?”

She looked down into her coffee mug. Just a few creamy sips remained. “There are worse ways to spend one’s time.”

Ethan nodded and set his empty mug down with a definitive click.

“And there are better ones, too.” He gave her a charming sidelong glance and held her gaze long enough to coax a light blush.

“Did you have something in mind, Mr. McCoy?”

“In fact, I do.” He took her empty mug from her hand.

Taffy felt her heart skip a beat. Though they didn’t have much time before they both had to be at work.

Ethan leaned in. “I think it’s high time you learned to make your own coffee.”

That’s not at all what she was expecting to hear.

* * *

Of course they didn’t have time to do that before work. Ethan told her he’d show her his secret coffee-making techniques on the weekend. She wished he meant something else by that, but she was pretty sure he was being literal. As much as she might like to, she couldn’t rely on Ethan’s coffee all the time, and the Vallee brothers’ new coffee shop wouldn’t be open for another week. She’d have to bite the bullet and learn to make it herself. He was right about that.

When Taffy got to work, she thought it would be best to avoid running into Mr. Herbert. She had no idea how long Maria would take to follow up on the lead about the letters, or if Herbert would somehow figure out that Taffy had been the one to hand them over. Better to keep a low profile for a while.

Aubin, the receptionist, informed her she was to report to the gummy-worm section that morning, which sounded remotely interesting, as Taffy used to like those candies as a kid.

Nolan gave her a quick rundown on the process, and for the rest of the morning, Taffy was in charge of the barrels that coated the sticky worms in sour powder.

At lunch, Ellie caught her hiding out in the women’s restroom to avoid crossing paths with Mr. Herbert in the staff room.

Taffy was sitting on the toilet in the first stall, pants up, with the door open. Ellie did a double take as she walked by. Taffy had her mouth wrapped around a grilled veggie sandwich.

“Is this some strange fetish I don’t know about it?” Ellie’s heavily penciled eyebrows lifted suspiciously.

With her mouth full, Taffy tried to say she just wanted to eat alone, but Ellie carried on to a stall of her own and clicked the lock in place. None of which stopped her from chatting away.

“The gossip’s white hot in the lunchroom today. Apparently, Gillian—you know, in
accounting
—has her twizzlers in a tizzy because of some
man
. You know the one I mean, right?”

Taffy mumbled through her sandwich. Of course the man was Mr. Herbert, and though Ellie claimed his relationship with Gillian was secret, Taffy wasn’t convinced Ellie was the only one who knew the truth.

“Everyone’s trying to give her advice, including to dump him, because there’s some rumor about him having cheated on her, and I honestly can’t believe it’s true because who
else
would want him? I mean apart from Janet Harken, and she’s dead now.”

Ellie raised her voice slightly over the sound of her pee. Taffy began to lose her appetite. She wrapped up the remaining half of her sandwich.

“But the good news is Vanilla Boy said yes when I invited him to my party.”

Ellie paused her monologue while she flushed.

They stepped out of their stalls at the same time.

“You’re still coming, right?” Ellie’s reflection in the mirror looked worried.

Taffy turned on a tap and washed mustard from her fingertips. “Sure, why not.”

“Good,” said Ellie. “Because Vanilla Boy asked if you were invited, and when I said yes then he said yes. So you’d better be there. Maybe you can tell him I like him.”

Taffy tried very hard not to roll her eyes because Ellie would probably see that in the mirror. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t notice, the way she seemed oblivious to Vanilla Boy’s agenda.

“Does he have a real name?”

“I think it’s Rob. Or maybe Clint.” Ellie sighed as she stared dreamily at her reflection in the mirror.

“What about the whole no-dating-staff rule?”

“Nothing’s happened yet, has it? I’ll deal with that when the time comes.” She scrunched up the curls hanging just above her shoulders.

“Do you want me to bring anything to the party? An appetizer or something?”

“Sure,” said Ellie, eyes twinkling again. “Something with Jell-O.”

Ellie headed back to chocolate dip, and Taffy returned to wrangle gummy worms.

A part of her was actually looking forward to Ellie’s party, mostly because she would get to see Ethan. What should she wear? Maybe that spaghetti-strap slip dress she picked out at Bloomingdale’s with Kyla. That had been one of the things she’d grabbed before José’s gorillas had hauled the rest away.

The barrels for the gummy worms were massive. The worms were dropped down a chute in small batches from above. Taffy had to load a bag full of sour powder into a dispenser at the side, and as the barrel tumbled, the powder was distributed over the worms so they became smooth rather than sticky. And oh so very sour. If Taffy didn’t wear her face mask, the fine powder would cling to her face and cause her to cough and pucker when she licked her lips, but this afternoon, for some reason the sour dust wasn’t bothering her as much. She managed to get through three batches without so much as a sneeze.

As she poured another batch of powder into the dispenser, got the barrel spinning, and pulled a lever to release the next batch of gummy worms, she thought about what Ellie had said about Gillian and Herbert and Janet. Was there more going on here than even Ellie knew about? Should she tell Maria? She wondered if Maria had made any progress with suspects.

To Taffy, the obvious suspects would be someone Janet bowled with. Maybe she was on a team or in a club. Randall Swain had been one of her bowling buddies. He had also been the one to find her body. She wondered if the police had questioned him again yet.

Taffy left work promptly so she could get to the grocery store before it closed.

In the staff parking lot, on the way to her car, she heard a door slam and a woman screech, “I told you so!” Then a man’s voice spoke in soothing but indecipherable words. The argument continued, but more quietly.

Taffy glanced around the lot. She spotted a curly haired woman next to a white Mercedes. The man seemed to be inside the car, but he started to get out. It was Mr. Herbert.

“What did you tell her?” said the woman, who Taffy now recognized as Gillian.

“Nothing.” Herbert held up his hands in a placating gesture.

Taffy quickly unlocked her car door and ducked down in her seat, but Herbert caught the movement. He motioned for Gillian to get back in the car. Over his shoulder, he glared in Taffy’s direction, and then he disappeared amongst the parked cars.

Taffy drove away as if she hadn’t seen a thing. And she hadn’t, had she? A lover’s quarrel, that was all. But maybe she should mention it to Maria all the same.

* * *

Taffy stopped off at The General Store before going home.

She wandered the aisles looking for Jell-O. When she found it, she stared dumbly at the range of choices. She grabbed several boxes and then dialed Maria’s number on the way to the coffee section.

“Salinas here.”

Taffy lowered her voice, but she seemed to be one of only a few people in the store.

“Maria, it’s me. Did you talk to Mr. Herbert today?”

Passing the dairy section she picked up a pint of fat-free creamer.

“Only to let him know that we’d reopened the case and we would probably need to talk to him again and have access to some of the factory documents.”

“Does it have anything to do with the letters I gave you?”

Taffy grabbed a few frozen dinners and some apples.

“Not directly. Don’t worry, we’re handling this, Taffy. Lieutenant Gravely will be questioning a few more people.”

“Will he talk to Bill Doucet? Because I think he knows more than he’s letting on. And Randall Swain was the first to find her, and he was her bowling partner or something. What if
he
had something to do with it?”

“We’ll cover it.”

“And I saw Herbert and Gillian arguing in the parking lot. They both seem super stressed and jumpy. I thought that might be important.”

“Taffy, just chillax. That’s a language you understand, isn’t it? Let us do our jobs.”

Taffy paused under the sign for coffee, tea, cereal, and sweeteners.

“Oh. Fine. Sure. Just trying to help.”

“I know.” She paused. “Dinner at my house next Wednesday?”

Taffy sniffed. “If I’m not back in New York by then, sure.”

“Yeah, of course. As long as it fits into your busy schedule.” There was a short silence and then, “Taffy?”

“Yeah?”

“Do take some time to relax. You’ve been through a lot lately.”

Taffy murmured some sort of assent and then hung up quickly. She found herself standing in the coffee and tea aisle and was immediately overwhelmed by the choices. Beans, ground, finely ground, espresso ground, drip ground, flavored, instant… Where was she supposed to begin? She closed her eyes and grabbed any old jar.

So what if Maria didn’t need her help? She sniffed haughtily to herself. So what if she had been the one to show Maria the need to reopen the case? Taffy had done her bit. She had plenty of other things to keep her busy.

Arms laden, she approached the cashier. The young woman rang up and bagged Taffy’s items. “That’ll be nineteen eighty three, please.”

Taffy pulled out her last twenty and handed it over.

With seventeen cents left in her pocket, she carried her groceries toward the door. Passing by a bulletin board labeled Community News and Services, she noticed a sign for yoga classes. Taffy smiled as she tore off one of the tabs with the class details.
Monday nights. First class free.

Maybe Maria was right about needing to relax.

Toting her grocery bag, Taffy headed back across the parking lot. Just before she reached her car, she was nearly sideswiped by a black Corvette, its stereo blaring.

The Corvette whipped around one lane and headed back in her direction. It screeched into a parking spot right next to Taffy’s Aveo. Where was Maria when she was needed? She should be there citing this oaf for reckless driving.

The driver emerged as Taffy reached her driver’s door.

Over the hood of his car, he said, “Sorry about that, Sweetheart.”

“I don’t know what it is about fancy cars and reckless drivers,” Taffy said, shaking her head.

He took off his sunglasses and smiled. “Reckless? I almost hit you on purpose, Darlin’.”

Taffy swiveled toward him. “Excuse me?”

She was struck by his sky-blue eyes and blinding white teeth.

“I wanted to do something to make you really mad so that I’d have to make it up to you.” He smiled disarmingly and winked.

He did not seem to fit this small town. His fast-lane look and style made Taffy momentarily wistful for home.

“There are easier, and safer, ways to ask a girl out.”

“Got your attention though, didn’t I? Got your heart racing?”

Taffy climbed into her Aveo and slammed the door. As an afterthought, she clicked the lock into place. Mr. Corvette smiled and tipped an invisible hat before swaggering off toward the main door of The General Store.

Who the heck was he?