The Sweet Taste of Murder: An Angel Lake Mystery (3 page)

Lavina was Cameron’s daughter? Elise tucked her chin down as she jogged. Why did Lenora never tell her? Thinking back to kindergarten, she remembered the day Lavina’s mother had been committed to the mental hospital. Two teachers had nervously gathered in a corner before calling Lavina over. Lavina had been so cute in her pink dress and pigtails. Miss Clementine had gathered Vi in her arms and there she’d sat for the rest of the day.

Later, Elise had asked her parents what had happened to Lavina’s mama that made Vi cry. Her dad frowned but her mom answered that Lavina’s mom was not well, and it was her head.

From that day on Lavina lived with her grandparents, just three doors down from her own home. Elise hadn’t known any better and thought to have her best friend closer was just the greatest thing.

And for the next year Lenora shuffled in and out of mental hospitals and recovery centers in a downward spiral, until her death the following spring.

Lavina never made mention of her father or tried to find him. She’d always acted as if he never existed.

And to think, this whole time her father lived in the same town. Did Cameron know? Did he secretly watch Lavina grow up, filling with pride as she won awards, track meets, and eventually became homecoming queen?

Elise frowned. As far as she could tell, Cameron had never treated Lavina any differently than any of the other kids. He’d always been aloof when the girls approached. She remembered how he scarcely made eye-contact, dressed in his high tailored suits, his dark hair slicked back, and holding a cane. A cane that would look pretentious with anyone else, but somehow he carried it off with an air of savoir faire.

Whatever happened to that cane—black with a brass bulldog on top?

Elise shook her head. Who worries about a cane at a time like this? Frowning, she slowed the speed on the treadmill. Why hadn’t Lavina called her about this? Did she know? Last night, when she was sprawled out on Lavina’s couch complaining about her trauma, was Lavina silently grieving? Or was she completely oblivious and about to get blindsided by the note?

A shiver ran down Elise’s back, and she flipped the machine off. Her legs felt rubbery as she wiped the treadmill down. Quickly, she made her way to the locker room. As she went, her eyes caught sight of Mabel.

Mabel’s eyebrows were waggling as she talked animatedly to the crew at the weights. The other two women stood next to her shaking their heads and watching intently. Elise caught the word “suicide,” and could just imagine the story spreading like wildfire.

She needed to find Lavina.

CHAPTER 4

B
efore the gym doors had a chance to close behind her, Elise grabbed her cell phone and scrolled to Lavina’s number. She hurried to the car, propping the phone against her shoulder as she scrambled for her keys. With the car unlocked, she sank down into the driver’s seat.

“Hello?” Lavina’s sweet southern accent filled the phone.

Elise felt a wave of relief. “Lavina, where are you?”

“Home, darlin’. What’s the matter?”

Elise took a deep breath with her head rolling back against the seat. “Have you heard about Cameron leaving a note?”

“No! So, it was a suicide. My goodness. I would never have expected it from him. What did the note say?”

Elise swallowed. “I need you to sit down for this, Lavina.”

“What are you talking about? Don’t be silly.”

“I’m serious. Sit for a second. ” She paused. Squeezed her eyes shut and, like ripping off a bandaid, blurted, “It’s an apology to you. He says he was your dad.”

Silence on the other end.

“Lavina! Are you there? Did you hear me?”

“I heard you.” A whispery sigh trailed at the end of the last word.

Elise bit her lip. “Did you know?” Her hand trembled, and she gripped the phone tighter.

“Yes. I knew.”

“About the note? Or that he said he was your dad?”

“I knew he was my father.”

The air in the car seemed stifling, and Elise jammed the key in the ignition to roll down the window. The dinging bell filled the silence as she tried to digest her friend’s words. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Another sigh, this one louder. “I only just found out myself a few months ago. Mama had never mentioned a peep about him to me. Honestly, Elise, I hardly knew what to think of it. And with everything going on between you and Mark, well, I didn’t want to add to your burden.”

“You could never add to it! I’m here for you! Blood sisters?”

Lavina softly chuckled. “I remember that. Sixth grade wasn’t it? Two peas in a pod.”

“Yeah, and I was too chicken to cut my finger. You had to do it for me.” A ghost of a smile appeared at the memory. “You should know I’m always here for you. Especially for something like this.”

“Truly, I just was trying to ignore it. Pretend I didn’t know, and it would all go away. I didn’t want a relationship with him anyway. Too little too late. I don’t think I could ever forgive him for abandoning my mama.”

“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s just all so weird.”

“How did you find out?”

“Oddly, it was his housekeeper who first let it slip.”

“Are you serious? How did something like that just slip out?”

“She came into Sweet Sandwiches one day to pick up an order. I remember her staring at me with huge eyes and talking a mile a minute in Spanish.”

“Since when do you speak Spanish?”

“I don’t, but the guy who stocks my deli meat does. He was behind the counter refilling the fridge. He asked her a few questions, and the housekeeper chatted back to him even more urgently, still staring at me like she’d seen a ghost. It unnerved me, to be quite honest. I certainly didn’t know how to respond, so I just gave her the sandwich order and said thank you.” Lavina mumbled now, and Elise could hear crunching.

“Are you eating? How can you eat at a time like this?”

“It’s macaroons. You know how I am about macaroons.”

“That’s called stress eating.”

“Oh.” There was a pause. “That explains the tub of ice-cream.”

“For crying out loud, finish your story! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me any of this earlier.”

“So the housekeeper left, and Dan turned to go too. I practically had to threaten to whack him with the cheddar wheel to get him to talk. He was reluctant, but he finally told me.” More crunching.

“You’re driving me crazy.”

“Sorry, sorry. He said the housekeeper kept repeating that I looked just like him. Like Cameron. And I was the reason their household was in an uproar. His wife threatened to divorce him because Cameron was ready to publicly claim me. Not that I would have let him. I would have denied every single word that came out of that man’s mouth.”

Elise closed her eyes again, trying to mentally compare the appearances of Cameron and Lavina. “I don’t get how you look just like him. You have red hair for one.”

“Oh, honey… you do know it comes out of a box, right?”

“You’re telling me you don’t have natural red hair?”

“Normally, sandy blonde.”

Elise raised her eyebrows. “Lavina Sue Marie, I don’t believe you. You were red-headed as a child!”

A soft laugh came over the phone. “Strawberry-blonde. That was grandma’s doing. Grandma always used to say I had the mousiest hair. ‘But we can fix that, darlin'. Every woman needs to have a sparkle.’ From as early as I can remember every Sunday night she rinsed my hair with vinegar and then sat me in front of cartoons covered with a mound of tomato sauce and a plastic bag.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“No. I’m sorry, hun.”

“I feel like my whole childhood was a lie.”

“Well,” she sighed. “I know the feeling.”

Elise’s chest squeezed in sympathy. “Lavina, it’s going to be okay. So what made you believe her? Believe the housekeeper?”

“It just felt right, like the missing pieces I’d always been looking for had finally fallen together. I started studying him, his mannerisms, his interests. I could see our similarities.”

“I don’t know about that. Do you think it could have just been her suggestion that made you subliminally see things that weren’t really there?”

“I might have shrugged it off too, but he called me about a week later. Told me that he’d come home to his housekeeper crying while she fixed dinner. She confessed to him she’d spilled the secret. He said he felt like he owed me an explanation and wanted to know if I’d like to talk.”

“What did you say?”

“I was angry. I yelled at him, asking him how he could even look me in the face after abandoning me all my life. Abandoning my mama. He apologized, but I said it was too little too late. And, then I hung up.” There was a small sob on the end of the phone. “I didn’t realize how true those words really were. Because it really is too late. But, I’m not going to let myself care about it now.”

CHAPTER 5

T
he next day, Elise jogged up the stairs of Mrs. Campbell’s porch and rang the bell. Rose didn’t need her today—Horace was at the groomer’s—but Mrs. Campbell’s two busy dogs always demanded daily exercise.

“Oh, hello dear. Come in. Come in! You’re in the nick time. I just finished a brand new painting.” Mrs. Campbell backed away from the open doorway, her cheeks folding into a wrinkly, crepe paper smile. The soapy scent of White Linen floated in the air as she shut the door.

Frodo bounded down the hall. Not for the last time did Elise wonder what the heck a fragile elderly woman like Mrs. Campbell was doing with an energetic young golden retriever.

“Come here, boy.” Elise scratched the dog’s neck as Frodo smiled, tongue lolling out. “You ready for our walk? Huh, boy?”

Frodo scrunched down into a crouch. His tail wagged frantically like a yellow beach flag warning swimmers of rough waters. Elise winced as it thumped hard against Mrs. Campbell’s thigh. The frail lady staggered a bit and threw out a bony hand to catch her balance against the wall.

“He’s just so happy to see you,” Mrs. Campbell wavered, her voice breathless.

“Calm down, Frodo,” Elise admonished. “Sit.” She pressed her hand against the dog’s back end. Frodo obediently acquiesced.

“So, last week in class, we learned all about capturing the beauty of a flower. Come see what I did.” Mrs. Campbell tottered down the hall at the last word, leaving Elise no choice but to follow. “We had our weekly craft night. Mr. Thompson was there.” She held a hand up to her mouth in a conspiratorial whisper. “Personally, I think he just comes for the wine.”

She led the way into the living room where an impressive canvas lay propped against the wall. A bee took up the entire canvas. “I call that… beelieve.” Her face shone as she smiled proudly at her work.

“Oh, it’s lovely!” Elise nodded. If she squinted, she could just make out a blotchy green heart-shape in the corner. “And that is.…”

“The flower. It’s a bee and a flower. To show the contrast between different ways we can soar. Because we all fly high in so many unique ways.”

“Ooooh.” Elise tried hard to keep her face from showing skepticism. “It’s lovely. Truly, you did a great job capturing the green. Life. Beautiful.” She flashed her a grin. “Well now, I should get going before it gets too hot out. Frodo doesn’t mind it, but Winnie gets very droopy in the heat. He’ll just drag her along. Where is Winnie anyway?”

At the mention of her name, the pug poked a dark face out from under a blanket where she’d buried herself. Elise clicked her tongue and softly snapped her fingers to call the dog over.

“If I could just have a moment, dear. What is it with this younger generation always being in a hurry?”

“Just need to fly off.” Elise chuckled at her own joke. It quickly faded as Mrs. Campbell peered over the tops of her glasses with lips pressed together in firm librarian disapproval. “Sorry,” she whispered, and began fussing with the zipper on her jacket.

“Well, bless your heart. What I wanted to tell you was what Mrs. Packer shared with us at our meeting. It was right after our first glass of wine. Mr. Thompson had two and didn’t think we’d notice.” Her voice trailed away as her wrinkles settled into a frown.

“What did Mrs. Packer say?” Elise prompted.

“Oh.” Reanimated again, she smiled. “Why, the most interesting thing crossed her desk yesterday. She was with her son—you know that nice, young police officer with the dark hair?— when he received a fax. It was the toxicology report from the coroner’s office. Apparently, Cameron was poisoned.”

Elise’s mouth dropped open before she quickly recovered. “Did it say what kind of poison?”

“It said a chemical compound causing organ failure and heart attack. I wonder, isn’t that something rat poison could do? Because I think it’s awfully peculiar that there was an exterminator at the Wiggles Convenience store across the street just the day before. Tea, dear?”

Elise sank into a chair and accepted the delicate teacup Mrs. Campbell offered.

“Would you like a cookie to go with that?”

She shook her head in the negative. “How do you know the exterminator was there?”

“I heard it from Cecily—she owns the sewing machine repair shop, don’t you know. They were there for years before Cameron’s car dealership moved in. Quite ruined the neighborhood, she always said.”

Elise felt a bubble of impatience rising in her chest and had to gulp at her tea to cover. Frodo bumped her arm with her head, impatient for his walk. “The exterminator?” she prompted.

“Oh, yes. Apparently, they’d been clearing their back lots. Rats everywhere. Cecily said she’d even seen one bobbing around in their pool!” Mrs. Campbell shivered. “Horrid creatures.”

Elise placed the cup on its saucer. “What was the name of the company?”

“Oh, what was the name? Cecily told me.” Her forehead rumpled. “Well, I can’t hardly remember, dear. More tea?”

Elise bit the inside of her cheek, her thoughts spinning. “No, I really should go but thank you again for the tea. Come on, Winnie!” She whistled and this time, the little Pug scurried out of the blanket towards her.

After unfolding the leashes from her pocket, Elise snapped them on Winnie and Frodo. In his excitement, the big dog twirled in a circle. His tail swept the delicate cup off the table with a clatter, making both women squeal.