Deadly Donuts (23 page)

Suspects were falling like snowflakes, and I had to wonder if the chief might be right after all.
 
He asked, “Who else is on your list?”

I didn’t want to admit it to him, but I didn’t really have any choice.
 
“I know that it sounds crazy, but Polly North had a motive, and if she told George, he has to be on the list, too.”

“Let me get this straight.
 
Are you accusing your friend, and our mayor, of murder?”

“Of course not,” I said.
 
“I just couldn’t mark them off my list without a better reason than because I like them.
 
Do you have alibis for them?”

“If you want to go grill them, feel free, but I’m satisfied that I have the right man.
 
Is there,” he started to say as his radio called him.
 
“Hang on.
 
I have to answer this.”
 
After a whispered conversation, the chief turned to me and said, “I’ve got to go.
 
Somebody just ran a stoplight and plowed into a motorcycle.”

“How bad is it?” I asked.

“Sounds like it’s bad enough.
 
Thanks for the coffee,” he said as he shoved the mug into my hands and left, his siren wailing and his lights flashing as he tore up the road.

Emma heard it, even through her earbuds, which were now dangling down onto her shoulders.
 
“What was that all about?”

“The chief came by, but there was an emergency situation that he had to deal with, so he had to go.”

Emma nodded, put the buds back in, and then she went back into the kitchen.
 
As I rinsed the mug and put it into one of the plastic tubs we used to collect dirty dishes, I had to wonder if Chief Martin was right.
 
Could Larry Landers be the killer after all?
 
Was I reluctant to accept that, since I hadn’t been the one who’d discovered his guilt?
 
I had to admit that it was possible that it was my ego, and not the facts, that was holding me back.
 
I’d have to discuss it with Grace when she came in later, but for now, it was time to run my donut shop.

The morning seemed to drag on forever, and I cursed the rising temperature yet again.
 
I had the air conditioner cranked up to its highest setting, but it still had a hard time keeping up with the heat that shot in whenever someone opened the door.
 
Finally, at a quarter until eleven, I walked back to where Emma was sitting at her workstation, and I found her with her nose buried in a textbook.

My assistant looked startled to find me suddenly standing in front of her, and she quickly pulled out her earbuds.
 
“Sorry.
 
I got caught up on my work, so I thought I’d prep for a test I’ve got later this afternoon.”

“I’m just happy that you found something productive to do,” I admitted.
 
“I finished the crossword puzzle and started working on the number puzzle in the newspaper.”

“Are you having any luck?” she asked.

“No, my mind just doesn’t work that way.
 
I’m more of a word kind of gal.”
 
I looked around, and the kitchen was indeed spotless.
 
“Why don’t you go ahead and take off?”

“Are you sure?
 
I’d be glad to hang around until we close.”

“We officially are,” I said.
 
“I’ll walk you out, and then I’m locking up early.”

“Sold,” she said.
 
“I need the time off to study more than I need the money.”

“Well,” I said with a grin, “you’re going to get both.
 
I’ll pay you for the end of your shift.
 
Good luck on that exam.”

“Thanks,” she said as she scooted out the door.
 
I was about to flip the OPEN sign to CLOSED when a strange woman came rushing toward me.

I held the door for her, and as she came in, she scolded me.
 
“You’re supposed to be open until eleven.”

“Things were a little slow, so I decided to close early.”

She looked disappointed as she started to walk out again.
 

I said quickly, “I’ll be glad to wait on you, though.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Really.
 
What can I get you?”

She looked at each of the display cases, and then, without a moment’s hesitation, she said, “I’ll take it all.”

“
All
of it?” I asked.
 
There were five dozen assorted donuts left, as well as thirty or forty donut holes.

“The whole lot.
 
My husband just got out of the hospital, and he kept saying the entire time that he was in there that all he wanted in the world was your donuts.
 
Do you know Greg Whitmore?
 
He’s tall and lanky, and has the cutest blue eyes you’ve ever seen.”

“Sure, I know your husband.
 
Greg’s a good customer,” I said.
 
“I was wondering why I hadn’t seen him around lately.
 
How’s he doing?”

“Pretty good now, but it was touch and go for a while.”

“What happened to him, if you don’t mind me asking?”

She looked as though she wanted to cry as she said, “He was in a car wreck on his way to the beach to spend the weekend with me.
 
I was down there for a conference, and he was coming down to surprise me.”

“I’m glad that he’s going to be okay.
 
You know, he usually just gets a couple of glazed donuts and a black coffee.
 
Are you sure you want everything?”

She grinned at me as she said, “I want it all.”

“Okay, then.”
 
I boxed everything up, and then I handed the stack to her.

“What do I owe you?” she asked as she started to dig out her wallet.

“They’re on the house,” I said.
 
“Tell him that I hope he’s back here himself soon.”

“He told me what a great woman you were,” she said.
 
“But if I don’t pay for these, he’ll be very unhappy with me, and I don’t want to stress him out any.
 
Will you
please
take my money?”

It wasn’t often that someone begged to pay me for my donuts.
 
“As a favor to you, I will.
 
How does ten dollars sound?”

“These donuts are worth a lot more than that to me.
 
How about forty?”

“I’ll take twenty, and that’s my final offer,” I said with a smile.

She returned it, and then she put the bill on the counter.
 
“Sold.
 
Could you get the door for me?
 
I’m parked just over there.”

“I’ll do better than that,” I said.
 
“You get the door, and I’ll carry them to the car
for
you.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I want to.
 
It’s just part of the Donut Hearts service.”

After we had them loaded up, Greg’s wife surprised me by hugging me.
 
“Thank you so much, Suzanne.
 
I’m so happy that he’s coming home, I just about can’t stand it.”

“I’m happy for both of you,” I said, and then I watched her get into her car and drive away.

Walking back to the shop, I spotted Max strolling down the sidewalk toward me.

“How’s it going?” I asked.
 
“I saw you out walking with Emily.”

He grinned at me, showing his perfect teeth.
 
“It’s all a part of our courtship.
 
She told me that we had to take this slow, the old-fashioned way, so I’m doing my best to woo her.
 
Can you believe that?”

“Max, I’m actually proud of you,” I said.
 
“I sincerely hope that it works out.
 
Just be careful.
 
If you break her heart, you might have to leave town for good.
 
Folks around here really love that woman and her three stuffed animals.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Max said.
 
“She’s working on new costumes for them right now.”

“Care to share any hints with me?” I asked.

“I’m not supposed to,” he replied.

“That’s fine.
 
I understand.”

Max looked up and down the street to confirm that we were alone, and then he said softly, “You know what?
 
I trust you.
 
She’s dressing Spots and Cow up as two moose, and Moose is going to wear a cow outfit.
 
It’s pretty cool, actually.”

“I’m glad that you’re getting along,” I said.

“So far, so good, and I owe a great deal of it to you.”

“Don’t give me
too
much credit,” I said.
 
“You’re the one doing the work.”

“It’s not work if you love doing it,” he replied with a grin.
 
“I won’t forget that you’re the one who got her to agree to give me another chance.”

“I’m glad you’re making the most of it.”

I headed back to the shop and finished cleaning up, something that was much easier now that I was sold out of donuts.
 
I was just filling out my deposit slip, as meager as it was, when Grace tapped on the front door.

It looked as though she was ready to start investigating again with me, but I wasn’t sure how happy she’d be about it when she read the last few names that were left on our list.
 
The only legitimate suspects we still had besides the man now in jail were two good friends of ours.
 
I’d discounted Ellen, feeling as though she wouldn’t kill her last surviving brother under any circumstances.
 
It had been crazy to include her name in the first place, almost as insane as it was to add Polly and George.
 
A part of me wanted to just let everything go and trust Chief Martin when he said that he’d solved the case, since my true list of viable suspects was probably worthless.
 
After all, he got
paid
to find the bad guys, while Grace and I were amateurs at it, no matter what our success rate had been in the past.
 
Even Jake had open cases on his desk, crimes that he’d been unable to solve over the years for one reason or another.
 
How arrogant was it of Grace and me to believe that
we
had to be the ones who caught up with every culprit?
 
If I knew what was good for me, I’d let this go and move on with my life.

If only I could find a way to shut up that nagging suspicion in the back of my mind that the killer was still somewhere out there.

Chapter 19

After I brought Grace up to date on what Chief Martin had told me, she looked as deflated as I’d felt hearing that nearly all of our suspects had alibis for the murder.

“Where does that leave us?” she asked.

“In reality, the only ones left who
need
alibies are Polly and George.”

“Why didn’t Chief Martin ask them for theirs?” Grace asked.

“George is his boss.
 
Unless he has a better reason to suspect him that he does right now, it’s a delicate issue to dance around.”

“Well, he’s our
friend
.
 
How much more delicate is that?
 
You realize that he’s not going to like the questions that we have to ask him, don’t you?”

“I’m beginning to wonder if we should just do what everybody keeps telling us and drop this entirely.
 
Chief Martin is so sure that he’s got the right man for it.
 
What if we alienate George and Polly for nothing?
 
I couldn’t stand to hurt those friendships, could you?”

“No, they both mean a lot to me as well.
 
Is there any way to ask George for an alibi
without
arousing his suspicions?”

I thought about it, and then I shook my head.
 
“The man has better instincts than most cops still working the job.
 
He’ll know what we’re doing before we even get the chance to open our mouths.
 
I can’t see any way possible that subterfuge could work, and in many ways, Polly is just as sharp as he is.
 
I keep thinking that this crime is too
ordinary
for either one of them to have committed it.
 
Does that make any sense at all?”

“It might, if we thought that it had been premeditated, but from what Chief Martin told us, it looked like a simple assault gone bad.
 
With George’s temper, I’m afraid that it fits the pattern all too well.
 
I don’t guess we have any real choice, do we?”

“We might as well go ahead and get it over with,” I said as I shook the keys to my Jeep.

“You’re right.
 
Well, it was nice knowing you,” Grace said.

“I second that, but maybe we’ll figure out a way to survive this before we get over there.”

Grace pointed to the building where George’s office was located.
 
“I don’t see how.
 
Should we drive around some first before we tackle them?”

“Are you suggesting that we stall?” I asked her.

“Absolutely one hundred percent,” she replied.

I thought about it, and I realized that most likely, delaying the inevitable would do us no good at all.
 
Then again, it did postpone our pain, and at the moment, I was all for anything that could do that.
 
“Why don’t we drive over to Union Square?
 
Maybe there’s something there that we missed?”

“It’s worth a shot,” Grace said.
 
“And if nothing else, it buys us at least an hour before we have to go talk to George.”

I knew it was foolish to delay the conversation that we needed to have, but I didn’t care.
 
The air conditioner in my Jeep wasn’t much, though.
 
“Maybe we should take your company car instead,” I suggested.

“Why?
 
Do you feel like riding around in style for a change of pace?”

“Actually, it’s your air conditioning that I covet.
 
My Jeep’s great for most kinds of weather, but it’s not exactly suited for this heat we’re having.”

“That makes sense to me,” Grace said.
 
“I’d be happy to drive.”

As we headed out of town, I asked my best friend, “Are we wrong in pursuing this?
 
Could Larry Landers really have killed Morgan Briar?”

“I guess that it’s possible, but if he did, why would he wait to do it in April Springs?” Grace asked.

“It could be that he wanted to divert suspicion onto our town instead of his,” I said.
 
“If Morgan were killed in Union Square, we might have a totally different list of suspects.”

“That’s true,” Grace said.

She added something else, but it was lost on me.
 
I’d never considered the possibility before, but it kept echoing over and over in my mind.
 
How would we have handled things differently if Morgan had been murdered in Union Square?
 
The first thing we would have done would be to look at the suspects
there
a little harder.
 
But planning it that way would take a pretty cunning mind, and none of his victims that we knew of could ever be accused of being master criminals.
 
Which one might know enough about how the police investigate a crime to intentionally try to lead everyone digging into the murder astray?

And when I looked at it that way, only one name came to mind.

The only problem was that neither Grace nor I had a shred of evidence that might prove that I might be right.

At least not yet.

“I think I know who did it,” I said so softly that Grace nearly missed it.

“Come again?” she asked.

“I believe that Ellen Briar killed her brother.”

“I know you’re not talking about Blake.
 
We’ve already heard
that
confession.
 
Why should she kill Morgan?”

“Her reputation as a police officer means
everything
to her,” I said.
 
“She told us herself that she was trying to make detective and get back on the street.
 
How was her boss going to take it when he found out that she had a blackmailer living under the same roof as she was?”

“She already told him, though, remember?” Grace reminded me.

“No, she told
us
that she confessed everything to him, but how do we know that she
really
did it?
 
We just can’t ask her boss straight out.”

“Maybe we can’t, but someone else could.”

Grace shook her head as she asked, “You’re not seriously going to ask Chief Martin to check for you, are you?”

“I don’t have much choice,” I said as I reached for my phone.
 
“Jake’s out of touch, and there’s no one else that I can turn to.”

“Good luck with that,” Grace said as I dialed the chief’s number.
 
“Hang on a second.
 
Before you call Chief Martin, answer me this.
 
Why would Ellen
ever
let us search Morgan’s room if she were the one who killed him?
 
We found the key there, but the locker at the bus station was already empty, remember?”

“What if she cleaned it out, and then she invited
us
over to find the key ourselves so that we’d drop our investigation?” I asked.

“I can see that.
 
Go on, make your telephone call.”

It wasn’t something I particularly wanted to do, but if I could prove that Ellen had lied to us, it might just be a crack that we could use to break the case wide open.

“No.”

“You won’t even try?” I asked the chief after he flatly refused my request.

“That is correct.
 
You’ve lost your mind even asking me to do this, Suzanne.
 
I’m going to do you a favor and forget that we ever
had
this conversation.”

“But what if she’s the one who killed her brother?” I asked.

“Go home, Suzanne.”

I was about to reply when I realized that he’d already hung up on me.

“No luck, huh?” Grace asked as I put my phone back in my pocket.

“No, but I’m not willing to give up that easily.
 
There’s got to be something else that we can do.”
 
After a moment, I added, “I’ve got it.
 
We’ll just have to break into Ellen’s place and see if we can find
anything
that points to her as the killer.”

Grace looked over at me as though I’d just lost my mind.
 
“Suzanne, even if I accept your premise, which I don’t, at least not one hundred percent, do you realize what you’re planning to do is insane?
 
What if we get caught?
 
That’s going to be a jam that nobody’s going to be able to get us out of, not even Jake.
 
He already told you that himself, remember?
 
When you suggested we break into Ellen Briar’s place before, I never really took you seriously, but this time, it’s
exactly
what you want us to do, isn’t it?”

“Is it really breaking and entering if we steal her keys at the police station?”

“Yes!” she said loudly.

“Does that mean that you don’t want to do it with me?”

Grace seemed to think about that, and then she shrugged.
 
“No, I’ll go along with you.
 
After all, you’re going to need a friendly face in prison when we both get put away.
 
I just hope they keep us together.”

“It won’t hurt to ask,” I said as I headed over to the police station.

It was time for a desperate act that might just catch a killer.

 
“What are you two doing here?”
 
Ellen was surprised to see us; that much was clear.

“We need to talk to you outside,” I said, nearly out of breath.
 
“I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.”
 
Grace and I had jogged in place outside for a few minutes before we went in.
 
We had a plan, and it depended on Ellen buying our setup if we were going to have any chance of getting her keys without her knowing it.

“I’m on the desk,” she said.
 
“What is it?”

“We found a guy who saw Morgan just before he was murdered.
 
He thinks that he might be able to identify the killer.”

A flicker of alarm crossed her face, and she barked out to Denise, the young woman who’d been vying to replace her, “Take the front.”

Ellen headed for the front door, and it was time to put our plan into action.
 
I stumbled against her as she went through the threshold, knocking her into Grace.
 
As we untangled ourselves, I took the keys I’d slipped off her belt and put them in my pocket.
 

It had worked.

Or had it?

“Hang on.
 
Something’s wrong,” Ellen said.

Had we been caught in the act?
 
“What is it?” I asked as I put a hand back on the keys.
 
I’d be ready to drop them at a moment’s notice and claim they’d come off her belt in the collision.

She looked outside instead, though.
 
“Where’s your witness?”

“He must have run off,” I said.

“Well, find him,” she barked out.

After we conducted a ten-minute search for someone who was a figment of my imagination, I said, “It’s no good.
 
He’s gone.”

“Did you at least get his name?” Ellen asked with irritation.

“Of course we did.
 
It was Jack Smith.”

“Jack, as in John?
 
Seriously?
 
What did the guy look like?”

“He was kind of average,” Grace said.
 
“We can find him again.
 
I’m sure of it.”

“When you do,” she said, “call me.
 
Don’t tell anyone else.
 
I want to handle this myself.
 
I deserve to be the one who tracks down my brother’s killer.”

“We promise,” I said as we walked back to the station, praying that she didn’t realize that her keys were gone.

After we split up, Grace looked at me anxiously.
 
“Did you get them?”

“It worked perfectly.
 
Let’s go have another look around that house.”

“You’re some kind of criminal genius,” she said with a grin.
 
“Maybe you’re working for the wrong team.”

“I’m happy being one of the good guys,” I said as we headed for her car.
 
“I don’t know how much time we’ve got, though, so we’d better hurry.”

I fumbled the keys a little at the door as Grace stood impatiently behind me.
 
“Do you want me to try it?”

“I’ve got it!” I snapped, and then the right key slid into place.

“Sorry,” Grace said as she looked around behind us.
 
“I guess I’m just a little paranoid.”

“I should be the one apologizing.
 
I shouldn’t have yelled at you,” I said as the door opened.

“Where do we look first?”

“If there’s anything here to find, it’s got to be in that file cabinet,” I said as I hurried to the cabinet.
 
I found the right key immediately, and as Grace and I searched the files, I was almost relieved when I found the police report she had filed about Polly.
 
If it had ever been stolen, it was back in its proper place now.