Treacherous Tart (22 page)

Maggie said they would be there, but when Raji was gone and they were eating lunch, Aunt Clara wasn't sure.

“I don't understand why they want to make their food different.”

“I guess they want to fit in.”

“I suppose we should take a pie with us,” Aunt Clara said. “My mother always told me and your mother never to go and eat at someone else's house without bringing food. What kind do you think we should take?”

They decided to take a mincemeat pie. Aunt Clara said she needed to bake a few more of those anyway. “And I think the raisins and spices will complement their food, don't you?”

Maggie agreed and started cleaning up the dining room after the morning rush as she always did. The sound of Aunt Clara working in the kitchen made her smile. She hoped her aunt was right about the police figuring out that she wasn't involved with Donald's death. It was frightening for Maggie to think about losing her aunt.

The blue tile floors were still wet when Lenora and Alice came into the shop again. Aunt Clara took one look when she heard the door chime and turned away to keep working.

“Hello,” Lenora said. “I'd like some coffee, please. My daughter will have the same—black, no milk or sugar. She's trying to lose a few pounds. And no pie.”

Alice's attractive face turned red, and Maggie saw her bite her lip.

“Everyone doesn't need to know our business, Mama.” Alice smiled at Maggie.

“Don't worry about it.” Maggie put her order pad back into her pocket. “People say that kind of thing all the time. I think it's the pie. It makes them feel guilty.”

“Thank you,” Alice said. “My mother is still a little out of sorts today about Donald's death.”

“You would be too if the love of your life was suddenly snuffed out and the police had no idea what happened.”

“We just came from speaking with the police,” Alice explained. “They don't seem to have any viable suspects, although there was a reporter there who said your aunt had been questioned by the police. I can't believe they'd think she could be responsible.”

Maggie's smile was a little less welcoming as she returned with their cups of coffee. “They're fishing
right now. It's because it happened close to here, and Aunt Clara was dating him.”

“Of course.” Alice demurely accepted her coffee. “Thank you.”

“Not that Donald cared anything for her,” Lenora explained. “I told the police captain that too. If anyone had cause to kill Donald, it was me. I know he was crazy in love with me. He was using Clara to make me jealous.”

Alice took a sip of her coffee. “Mama wanted them to question her, but they said they were following up other leads right now.”

“Can you imagine?” Lenora asked in an outraged voice.

Maggie was wishing that the police
had
made Lenora their person of interest instead of Aunt Clara. She didn't say so and turned away to wipe down the refrigerator case.

The door to Pie in the Sky flew open, and Garrett jogged in. His hair was almost standing up on end, and his face was very red.

“Is Clara all right?” he demanded.

“She's fine,” Maggie answered. “What's wrong?”

“I heard on the radio only a moment ago that the police had made an arrest in the Donald Wickerson case. They didn't say who it was. I assumed it was Clara.”

A
unt Clara came
out of the kitchen in her flour-covered apron to hear the rest of the story, despite the fact that Lenora was still there.

“Clara,” Lenora acknowledged her.

“Lenora.” Clara's nod was curt.

“What radio station were you listening to?” Maggie asked.

“I don't know,” Garrett conceded. “The one that's always on in the car. They have all those crazy commercials with Santa selling tires for Christmas.”

Maggie had no idea what he was talking about.
She could tell from the looks on the other women's faces that they didn't either.

“Ryan will know.” She took out her cell phone. Of course, he didn't answer. She left him a message. “I guess he'll get back to us as soon as he can.”

“Did they say anything else about Donald's killer?” Lenora demanded.

“No.” Garrett shook his head. “Well, I was coming here anyway to talk to Clara about using my attorney. I thought I should check in. They might've said something else and I missed it.”

“We don't have a radio in here,” Aunt Clara said. “Maybe we should go out and listen to yours. They play the news all the time, don't they?”

Maggie watched in fascination as the three women walked out to Garrett's car with him to listen to the news. The pie shop was empty. She finished cleaning the refrigerator case and wiped down everything else in the dining room.

Her cell phone rang—it was Ryan.

“I called my friend with the police since I knew Frank would have nothing for me,” he said. “You won't believe who they arrested.”

“Don't keep me hanging.”

“Debbie Blackwelder. Can we pick 'em or what?”

“Why did they arrest her?”

“She has a gun permit for a nine millimeter, but says she can't find it. They're checking her lipstick against the type on his jacket. She's also the daughter
of one of the women Donald is suspected of killing—her real name is Fran Belk. She also has a PI's license. She said she'd been trailing Donald for years, trying to prove he killed her mother.”

Maggie was surprised to hear that. “Why didn't you know that when we went to see her?”

“Because she's been using a fake name since she came to Durham. The police say they think she was following him for at least the last year. They think she killed him because she finally found evidence against him.”

Maggie sat down at a table, overwhelmed with relief that it was finally over. Her knees felt shaky, and a feeling of thankfulness rose up in her, making her want to cry.

“They still don't have all the details,” Ryan said. “But this is more than they did with your aunt. They're pretty sure to have arrested her. Good news, huh? Where's Clara? We should tell her too. Are you okay?”

“I'm fine.” Maggie pushed at a few tears that were at the corner of her eyes.

Garrett, Aunt Clara, Lenora, and Alice all hurried back inside the pie shop.

“We can't sit out there all day. It's freezing!” Aunt Clara said. “Lenora, quit making goo-goo eyes at Garrett! He's not interested in you.”

“What are you talking about?” Lenora's eyes opened wide. “My dear Donald isn't even in the
ground, and you're dating another man. No wonder he loved me better.”

“I'm not dating anyone,” Aunt Clara snarled back.

“Mama, please.” Alice tried to stop what was coming.

“Donald barely knew you, if he knew you at all.” Aunt Clara got nasty. “He sought me out at the library long before you got your claws into him.”

“My claws?” Lenora came at Clara. “I'll show you my claws.”

Alice and Maggie got between the two older ladies. Garrett sat down to watch with a look of consternation on his face.

“I'm so sorry about this,” Alice said to Maggie. “I wouldn't have brought her if I'd known.”

“That's all right.” Maggie propelled her aunt toward the kitchen. “We have pies to make for the tree trimming tonight, right, Aunt Clara?”

Her aunt's reply was unintelligible.

In the kitchen, Maggie tried to calm her aunt. She could hear Alice doing the same in the dining room.

“The nerve of that woman! And after she tried to take away my pies from the library fund-raiser too. I don't know what's gotten into her.”

“She's upset about Donald too. She was dating him. He was dating a lot of women, trying to find the best one, I guess.”

Maggie told her aunt about Debbie Blackwelder's arrest. She had to explain how she knew who Debbie was in the first place.

“You've been keeping quite a lot from me,” her aunt protested. “I can handle things, Maggie. You don't have to count on Ryan for everything.”

Garrett walked into the kitchen with a grin on his face. “Those two are gone, Clara. I know you told me you weren't ready yet, but I'd be pleased if you thought of me as more than a friend.”

Aunt Clara kissed his cheek. “You're a sweet man. I need to change my apron.”

As she started back making pies, Garrett drifted from the kitchen in a pink fog that Maggie could actually see forming around him. Aunt Clara might not love him, but he certainly had strong feelings for her.

“I'll see you later, Maggie,” he said as he was leaving. “Clara invited me to the dessert tasting at the Bombay Grill tonight. I'm looking forward to it.”

A few new customers dropped in, ordering hot chocolate and Delia's Deep-Dish Cherry pie, as well as a whole Caramel Apple Without a Stick pie to go.

“Do you know if anyone around here is hiring?” one of the young women asked. “I have some restaurant experience.”

“We're not hiring here. Sorry. You could try Biscuitland up the street.”

“Thanks.” The girl smiled and drank her hot chocolate.

Maggie helped Aunt Clara box up the twenty-two pies for the tree-lighting ceremony at the community center a few blocks away. They'd planned on attending, but Raji's invitation was more personal. The hundreds of people at the tree lighting wouldn't miss them—Raji and Ahalya would.

They choose different varieties of pies, except for the cream pies. They didn't travel well, and the community center hadn't asked for them in particular. It was a nice selection anyway. Ryan had promised to stop by and help Maggie deliver them.

When he showed up at about 4:00 p.m., he was almost bouncing with excitement.

“Are you that excited about the police picking up Debbie Blackwelder?” Maggie asked when she saw him.

“No. I got it, Maggie. I'm going to be able to save the office.” His blue eyes gleamed, and there was a happy pink glow in his cheeks.

“That's wonderful!” She hugged him. “What happened? What did you do?”

“I was at the university regent's meeting last month, and they were talking about looking for a building that wouldn't cost a fortune to use for an outreach project with the small business students. They didn't want to build until they could try out the incubator and see what happens.”

Maggie was confused. “Incubator? I don't get it.”

He swung her around and kissed her. “I'm the
new landlord for the small business incubator! It will be a place that helps students and other members of the community who are trying to get small businesses up and running. They can use my fax machines, computers, and have micro office spaces. It's gonna be great, and I can write about it.”

“That sounds awesome. Congratulations!”

“Sometimes it helps to know everything about everyone.”

“I'm sure that's true. Albert Mann is going to be disappointed.”

“I already called him
and
my father. Neither one of them were particularly happy about it. I don't care. This is for the best. I still have an office for the face of the
Durham Weekly
.”

Maggie enjoyed his excitement. “Do you still have time to run all of these pies over to the community center?”

“I certainly do.”

Since they'd entered the slow time for the pie shop, Maggie went with him to deliver the pies and collect the money. She felt sure Aunt Clara would be fine now that it was later in the day, almost closing time.

“What about Debbie Blackwelder?” Maggie asked as they drove away from the pie shop.

“I told Frank he needed to look at the families of the women who'd been killed.” Ryan shook his head. “That's how he found her.”

“The only thing I don't understand is why Debbie wanted to set up Aunt Clara. Even Frank admitted it had to be someone close to us for them to know just when to do it. And they even put flour on the gun!”

“I guess Debbie knew about your aunt dating Donald. Or she just wanted someone else to blame it on so she wouldn't get caught. We know she was watching us. We don't know for how long.”

“I suppose that's possible. Has she confessed to killing him?”

“Not that I've heard. No matter what, the police should leave your aunt alone now. They can figure out the rest.”

Maggie considered that, and she was glad that Aunt Clara was off the hook for Donald's death. It bothered her to think that Debbie had known enough about them and their routines to be able to make it look like her aunt had killed Donald. It felt odd to think that she'd been watching them.

The people at the community center were glad to see all the pies. They were unhappy that Clara and Maggie wouldn't be there that night but understood how many holiday parties overlapped. Maggie was thrilled to take their check. She loved big checks.