Death by Chocolate Sundae: A Cozy Mystery (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book 2) (3 page)

I sat down next to her and compared notes.

“Good grief, Mr. Jenkins was murdered!” Paige whispered in my ear.

“Yes I know…that gives me the creeps. I mean what if that person was in the Shoppe right before he came in. Do you remember anyone strange that day?”

“Besides Stormi, no.” Paige stated. “Did they ask you about the laughing?”

“Oh yes. That was not one of my best moments,” I grumbled.

Stormi walked over to us from Officer Manning’s desk.

“Well that was embarrassing. I had to confess to chortling as I performed chest compressions. I’m sure Officer Manning won’t be dialing my cell anytime soon. Who was out there watching us? When I find out I’ll give them a piece of my mind!”

“Stormi!” Paige scolded. “Keep it down…we are in a police station and the last person we served at the Shoppe died of poisoning. We don’t need any more grief.”

“Fine…whatever,” Stormi sulked.

Officer Manning and Burkle walked over to where we sat on the dilapidated bench.

“Ladies, your stories are the same and we have no reason to believe any of you are linked to the poisoning of Mr. Jenkins,” Officer Manning stated.

“Thank goodness,” Paige declared. “But do you know how he was poisoned?”

“It was with cyanide,” Officer Burkle announced. “We’re in the midst of testing various items from his home.”

Suddenly I remembered something I forgot to tell them. “Wait…I remember Mr. Jenkins asking for water with his sundae.”

“That’s right,” Stormi chirped. “He wanted several cups so he could take his medicine or something like that. Did he have any pills on him?”

“He did have a bottle of high blood pressure pills which the lab is testing now. We’ll put a rush on it. Thanks for the information,” Officer Burkle offered. “If you think of anything else, don’t hesitate to let us know.”

“We will,” we all said as we got up to leave.

After we left the police station Paige said, “I bet the poison was in his pills. Who would have access to them?”

“Heck if I know,” Stormi answered as she pulled car keys from her bag. “I want to know who ratted us out!”

“Who cares about that,” Paige groaned. “There’s another murderer on the loose and the victim died in Tara’s Shoppe. In fact we were almost pegged for the murder.”

“Well, it didn‘t look good, us laughing and all,” I said sliding on my sunglasses. “But someone tattled to the police. I mean it could have been the killer.”

As soon as those words left my lips, I froze.

“Okay, that gives me the heebie jeebies,” Stormi replied.

“Well, I need to get to the Shoppe and open it,” I said getting in my car. “I just hope we have customers today. Storm you coming in at noon?”

Stormi walked over to her small SUV. “I shall be there.”

We all parted ways and Paige promised to bring Sam in that evening. I shouldn’t have worried about the lack of customers. Seems that murder is the best advertisement in town.

*****

It was so busy in the Shoppe I almost called Stormi to come in early, but by noon, things had slowed down. I guess people thought it better to eat a sandwich or salad for lunch rather than ice cream, although from 10 until 12 I was busy making shakes, root beer floats, and taking ice cream cake orders. Of course, everyone wanted to talk about what took place the night before. In this small town, a murder was big news, especially when committed in the local ice cream Shoppe.

I finally had a chance to catch my breath when Dan and Teresa Parker of Parker’s Tractor Supply came in. The couple were in their 40’s with two boys attending college in Atlanta. However, they were home for the summer and Dan and Teresa had left them in charge of the store to come by and see me.

“Tara, we wanted to come by and see how you are doing after hearing about what happened last night,” Teresa said as she came around the counter to give me a hug.

“Oh I’m fine,” I replied. “It was certainly crazy here last night, but we’re all doing okay.”

“I take it Stormi was here as well last night?” Dan asked.

“Yes and Paige too,” I answered.

“How did it happen?” Teresa asked.

“Well, he just sort of slumped over. We found out later from the police that he was poisoned.”

“That’s what we heard as well,” Dan said. “We’re supposed to head down to the police department to answer a few questions.”

“Why?” I asked. “I mean we were called in because we witnessed his collapse.”

“I’m sure it’s because of the lawsuit he had against us,” Dan replied. “I guess that would make us suspects since without him around there’s no legal battle.”

“Anyone that knows you has to understand that you’d never do something like this,” I said.

“Yes, but the police can’t leave a stone unturned,” Teresa concluded. “I understand the reasoning, but it’s still quite scary.”

“Don’t you worry Teresa,” I said rubbing her shoulder. “I’m sure they’ll just take your statement like they did us girls and that will be it.”

“I hope so hon,” Teresa said. “We’re heading down to the police station right now to get it over with.”

“Good luck,” I said as they walked out the door.

There was no way this nice couple could be involved in something so heinous I thought. Could there be? I shook my head to toss the thought out of my brain.

By 1pm, Stormi came in.

“Have you heard…they’re questioning the Parker’s at the police department,” she said as she looked at her hair in the big mirror on the back wall.

“Yes they were just here and told me they were heading to the police department,” I said.

Just then, Brandon walked in.

“How are you ladies getting along after all the hoopla last night?”

“I could do without that kind of excitement thank you very much,” Stormi replied.

“I hear you gave Mr. Jenkins a new kind of CPR,” Brandon kidded his sister. “The kind that involves howls of laughter.”

“Wow, news travels fast around here.” Stormi threw a wet towel at him.

“You know how small towns are,” he replied.

“People must think we’re loons,” I said, although no customers mentioned it this morning.

“No, actually everyone thinks it’s a hoot,” Brandon said with a big smile. “Mr. Jenkins didn’t endear himself to anyone so just the fact you attempted CPR on him, along with snorts of laughter, has made you all heroes in the eyes of this town.”

“That’s good to know,” I said as I wiped off the tables. “It certainly hasn’t hurt business today. I was busy right up until noon and I’ve had a few customers since then. Of course, many of them wanted to see where the murder took place. Asking me which table Mr. J. sat at.”

“Hey, that reminds me,” Brandon broke in. “I’m stopping by here at closing time to make sure you girls get to your vehicles safe and sound.”

“That’s sweet of you Brandon, but unnecessary,” I said. “Surely the murderer wouldn’t come around here.” Of course, I wasn’t so sure about that.

“You never know and I’d feel better if I stopped by. It’s dark by the time you close and there’s not a whole lot of street light out here.”

We heard the front door tinkle and Paige came in.

“I know, I’m early but I can’t sit around the house alone. Sam went swimming at the city pool with a friend and Bruce is still gone on his business trip.”

“You’re welcome here anytime Paige, you know that,” I replied.

“Hey Brandon,” Paige said as she laid down her purse. “What’s going on in the world of construction?”

“Not as exciting as the ice cream business,” he answered. “I was just telling Storm and Tara I would come by tonight at closing to make sure you ladies got to your vehicles safely.”

“Why don’t you guys come over and spend the night tonight…well, minus you Brandon..sorry!”

“Darn, I was hoping for an invite to one of your hen fests,” he jested.

“Come on you two,” Paige said ignoring Brandon. “It will be fun. We’ll get a pizza, drink a bottle of wine, and try to figure out this whodunit.”

“You had me at pizza and wine,” Stormi replied.

“Alright,” I said. “Sounds good to me.”

The rest of the day was uneventful except for customers streaming in to talk about Mr. Jenkins and the Parkers. Stormi, Paige and I discovered several more tidbits from customer gossip and promised to compare notes later that evening. Stormi and I each left the Shoppe separately to round up pajamas and a change of clothes for the sleepover at Paige’s house. It made me feel young again, like the pajama parties I attended in middle school. Wow, that seemed so long ago.

I was actually happy at this stage of my life. I had my own business that I never thought possible only a few years ago. I loved my friends and while my family didn’t live around here, I knew they always had my back. The only thing missing was a partner. Although I knew I could handle life on my own, it did seem like something was missing.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to allow yourself to open up to another person once you’ve been burned. The emotional pain burrows deep inside you and the thought of letting another person in is terrifying. But the thought of not allowing someone in is also frightening as you might allow a special person to slip through your grasp. Of course, there were no prospects at this time, or so I thought. So right now, I was set to concentrate on my business and to figuring out who killed Mr. Jenkins in my ice cream Shoppe.

That evening Brandon stopped by like he said he would and made sure we all left the Shoppe safe and sound. He was so different from the little guy who bugged Stormi and me when we were younger. I felt bad for him that his marriage didn’t work out. Stormi said it devastated him to find out his wife was cheating on him. That he couldn’t see himself with anyone else because he didn’t want to get hurt again. I knew exactly how he felt.

We ordered two pizzas, one veggie and the other supreme. Sam joined us instead of locking herself away in her room to video chat with her friends. Sam was a great kid and a lovely girl. She was smart, hitting the honor roll every semester. She wanted to go to college to become a nurse. Paige wasn’t so sure about that, since nurses usually work long hours without the best pay unless they’re in larger cities, which meant Sam would move away. However, Sam wasn’t swayed by Paige’s argument and at least at this stage was adamant about becoming a nurse.

We popped the bottle of wine and Sam drank grape juice from a wine glass so she’d feel included. We chowed down on the pizza and then settled back in our comfies to discuss the murder. Sam was first with her own pocket of information. She was wearing a purple nightgown with her long brown hair tied in the back. Paige had on yellow jammies and Stormi’s was white with red flowers. I had on my favorite pair of pink sweats with a pink t-shirt from my store that said ‘The Frozen Scoop’ since I didn’t have any PJ’s.

Sam sat on the floor with her legs crossed. “When I arrived at the Shoppe the night it happened there was a small crowd already gathered.”

“Who did you see?” I asked taking a sip of my wine.

“I saw Mrs. Wendell walking her dog.”

“Aha!” Stormi cried as she raised her glass of wine. “I bet it was that busybody who tattled on us to the police!”