Murder So Sweet (A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 2) (3 page)

Euclid raised his head like he was interested in what Angie’s answer would be.

“All the time,” Angie replied.

The sisters stared at the big orange cat as he placed his head on his paws and closed his eyes.

Just then, Courtney hurried back into Jenna’s shop from the hallway. “You won’t believe who’s checking into the B and B.”

Chapter 4

Jenna and Angie asked in unison. “Who is it?”

“Mr. Finch’s brother.”

“He’s here?” Angie moved to the doorway where Courtney stood.

“Yeah.” Courtney turned and started out of the room. “You better come into the dining room because Ellie looks like she’s about to faint.”

Jenna chuckled as Angie followed Courtney down the hallway and into the foyer. Ellie and Mr. Finch were sitting side by side at the dining table. He was filling in his information on the check-in card. He lifted his head and adjusted his glasses when he heard the girls come in.

His mouth opened in surprise. “You? Weren’t you both at the candy shop?”

“You’re Mr. Finch’s brother?” Angie moved to shake his hand. “I’m Angie Roseland, Ellie’s sister.”

“I’m Victor Finch.”

Ellie was pale. “This is our sister, Courtney.”

Courtney nodded. “I worked for your brother. Part time. I just started about a week ago.” She shook hands with the man. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.” The man mumbled. “I’m in shock.” Worry lines creased his forehead.

“Can I get you some tea?” Courtney offered.

“Oh, yes, please. I would appreciate that.” The old man placed his glasses on the table.

Angie sat down across from Finch and Courtney headed for the kitchen to get the tea.

“Are you from nearby?” Angie asked.

The man gave a vigorous shake of his head. “My, no. I live in California. I’ve never been to the east coast. Thaddeus and I grew up in Chicago.”

“When I took Mr. Finch’s reservation, I didn’t connect him to the candy store Mr. Finch.” Ellie’s shaky fingers reached for Finch’s credit card where he had placed it on the table. “I’ll just go run this through. I’ll be right back.” She went into the small den off of the hallway that she was using as her office.

“Were you the one who found my brother?” Mr. Finch’s hands shook and he placed them in his lap.

Angie nodded. “I was walking Courtney to work. We both found your brother. I called the police.”

Mr. Finch let out a long sigh. “It’s ironic, really.” He made eye contact with Angie. “Thaddeus and I…we’ve been estranged. For a very long time.” He looked down at his hands. “I came to try to patch things up between us.” He gave Angie a small wistful smile. “I guess I waited just a day too long.”

“I’m sorry. It must be very hard for you. Did you just arrive in town today?”

“Yes. This morning.” Mr. Finch glanced about the room. “You have a lovely home here.”

“Thank you,” Angie said. “We’ve only recently moved in.”

Courtney returned with a tray. She placed the teapot, cups, small plates, spoons, a creamer and sugar bowl on the table. “Here are some apple squares Angie made this morning.” She put the plate of treats in the center of the table and moved to the hutch where she removed some linen napkins and put one in front of everyone’s place. Courtney poured tea into each person’s cup.

When Ellie came back and sat down, Angie asked Mr. Finch, “How did your brother end up in Sweet Cove?”

Mr. Finch had a blank expression on his face. He blinked a few times. “I have no idea. I only recently found out he lived here.”

“You hadn’t kept in touch?” Ellie lifted her tea cup to her lips.

“No. Sadly.” Finch took a bite of his apple square and nodded to Angie. “You’re a very good baker.”

Angie thanked him. They made idle chit chat while they drank their tea.

Finch lifted his napkin to his lips. “If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go up and lie down for a little while.”

Ellie stood up. “I have your key. I’ll show you to your room.” She walked to the foyer and picked up Finch’s small suitcase, gestured for him to follow her, and they started up the staircase.

Once they were out of earshot, Courtney leaned forward. “Do you think he killed his brother?”

Angie’s eyes widened. “How could he? He’s old. He doesn’t seem very strong.”

“Does it take a lot of strength to stab someone? What if he took Mr. Finch by surprise?”

“I don’t know.” Angie had never considered such a thing, but maybe with a sharp knife, strength wouldn’t be a requirement.

Courtney glanced over her shoulder to be sure Finch wasn’t coming back downstairs. “It’s a coincidence isn’t it? The brothers haven’t seen each other for forever.” She pointed upstairs. “Then this Mr. Finch shows up, and the other Mr. Finch, dead Finch, gets killed.”

“It is suspicious.” Angie thought for a moment. “But it would be stupid to do such a thing. Show up out of the blue and your brother suddenly dies? And if he did kill him, why would he hang around here? Why not just take off?”

Courtney leaned back in her chair. “Maybe he came for something, but can’t find it, so he’s hanging around.” Her deep blue eyes grew wide. “What if he’s after something? Who knows what? Dead Finch’s house? The candy store? His bank account? Dead Finch must have lots of money since he’s been so successful.”

The doorbell rang and Courtney rose to answer it.

Their friend Tom stepped inside. “Hey, Courtney. Angie.”

Angie went over to greet Tom. He owned a construction and renovation business. He was going to do the renovations on the Victorian to house Angie’s bake shop once she received the money from the inheritance.

“I was passing by. I want to take some more measurements for that door you want installed upstairs.”

“Oh, yeah?” Angie eyed him with suspicion. “Jenna’s in her shop.” Tom and Jenna had been flirting with each other for over a month.

Tom’s cheeks flushed a tiny bit pink. “I didn’t just come by to see Jenna.”

“Right.” Courtney called from the dining room where she was clearing the dishes from the table. She gave Tom a sly wink.

Angie took Tom’s arm and herded him down the hallway towards Jenna’s work room. “You heard about Mr. Finch?”

“What do you mean?”

Angie told Tom that Finch had been murdered and that his brother had just checked in to the B and B.

“Another murder in town?” Tom stood still, flabbergasted. “What’s going on?”

“I know, huh?” Angie ran her hand over her hair. “They’ll be changing the town’s name to Murder So Sweet Cove.”

A look of horror passed over Tom’s face. “Dear God.”

They started walking down the hallway. “You want a coffee?” Angie asked.

“That’d be great. I sure miss going to your shop every morning.” Tom had been a regular at Angie’s Sweet Dreams Bake Shop before she had to close it.

“Would you like a piece of pecan pie to go with the coffee?” Angie headed into the kitchen.

“You bet I would.” Tom smiled and rubbed his tummy. “I’m glad I stopped by.”

Angie grinned. “I’ll bring it to you. Go see Jenna.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Tom winked. He headed to the end of the hall and into Jenna’s shop.

Chapter 5

The next morning, Angie and Courtney loaded the trunk of Angie’s car with cakes and pies. While she was waiting for the inheritance money to come through so that the renovations on the Victorian could begin to outfit her café, Angie had contracted with several restaurants in town to provide them with desserts, muffins, and breakfast breads. She couldn’t wait until her bake shop could open in part of the Victorian, but in the mean time, she could keep herself busy baking for town establishments.

“You sure you don’t need help with the deliveries?” Courtney slammed the trunk. “I’m sure Ellie can manage without me for an hour or two.”

“Thanks, but I can do it.” Angie reached in her pocket for the car key. “I know there’s a lot to do for the B and B today.” She opened the car door. “It’s going to be a warm day. Want to go to the beach this afternoon for a little while? Maybe Jenna and Ellie can get away for a couple of hours.”

“I’d love that. I’ll see you when you get back.”

Angie sat down in the driver’s seat and backed the car into the street. She waved at Courtney as she drove away to her first stop.

Angie parked in front of The Pirate’s Den restaurant, checked her list, and removed two cakes and two pie boxes from the trunk. Bessie Lindquist, the owner, saw her coming and hurried to open the door of the restaurant for Angie. She took the two top boxes from Angie to lighten the load. Two waitresses came over and carried the desserts to the kitchen.

“Your treats are big favorites here.” Bessie pulled a silver pen from her apron pocket and handed it to Angie. “You want some tea or coffee?”

“No thanks. I have a bunch of deliveries to make.” Angie made a note on the receipt and handed it to Bessie to sign.

Bessie and her husband had owned the Pirate’s Den for over twenty years. She was petite and had small, pretty features. Her silvery blonde, short hair framed her face. Bessie glanced through the big front windows to the Finch Confectioners storefront across the street. “You found Finch? You found the body?”

“Courtney and I did, yes.”

Bessie shook her head. “Can’t say I’m sorry he’s gone.”

Angie’s eyes widened and Bessie added, “Oh you know what I mean. I feel bad he was killed of course, but he was a nasty old thing. Don’t think I ever heard a pleasant word from that man.”

“Do you know anything about him?”

Bessie made a face. “Really? I don’t think I do. I’ve had the restaurant here across from his store for more than twenty years and I can’t think of anything I know about the man. Isn’t that sad?”

“Maybe he didn’t want to be known,” Angie offered.

“That’s even sadder, then.” Bessie shook her head.

Lindsay, the assistant manager and waitress, was working at a table near the window putting the daily specials sheet into the menus. She was in her thirties and had shoulder-length auburn hair. Two years ago, Lindsay was about eighty pounds overweight when she decided she wanted to change her ways and live a healthier lifestyle. She took up running and biking with a vengeance. Now fit and strong, Lindsay was a competitive tri-athlete. “I agree with you, Bessie. Finch was a monster. I worked at the candy shop for a month about two years ago. It was the longest month of my life.”

“What did he do?” Angie had heard Courtney’s complaints about Finch and wondered what Lindsay’s experience was.

“I was heavy back then. He made nasty comments about my weight. He said the customers would worry that there wouldn’t be anything left for them because I must be eating all the candy. He didn’t want to hire me because I was heavy, but no one else applied for the job.” Her face clouded over thinking about working for Finch. “I wish I hadn’t applied. He accused me of stealing from him, money, supplies, candy. He often docked my pay. When I complained, he would point to the door. He even reported me to the police department, told them I was stealing from him. I needed the job so I put up with it until I found something else. I left there in a hurry as soon as I got another job.” Lindsay’s eyes flashed with anger. “He couldn’t keep workers. No one could stand him. He was really paranoid, too. Sometimes he kept the door to the back work room locked. He was always wary about people, like he thought someone was out to get him.” She stopped what she was doing, holding one of the menu inserts in mid-air. “Well, I guess someone
was
out to get him.” Lindsay returned to her task and continued, “I was out running the other day. I stopped in front of the candy shop to catch my breath after my run. The door to Finch’s store was open. I could hear a heated discussion in there.”

Angie perked up. “Could you hear what they were saying?”

Lindsay said, “Not really. It was the loud voices and the tone that caught my attention. I wasn’t really able to understand what they were saying to each other.”

“When was this?” Angie moved closer to the table where Lindsay was working.

“The day before he was killed.” Lindsay kept at her task without looking up.

“Did you see who Finch was arguing with?”

“No. It was a man though, I could tell that.”

Angie wanted more information. “What age would you say the man was? Did he sound old? Young?”

Lindsay yawned. “Hmm…maybe he was older…definitely not a young guy.”

“Did you notice any cars parked in front of the candy shop that day?” Angie hoped this would lead to something.

“Maybe? I think there was a car.”

“Can you remember anything about it? The color? The make?”

Lindsay shook her head. “I couldn’t say for sure. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Angie wanted to sigh, but held it in. “What about what they were arguing about? Are you sure you couldn’t hear any part of what they said? Anything at all? Did some words stand out?”

Lindsay’s face scrunched up as she thought about it. “I don’t know…maybe someone said something about a picture? But that can’t be right.” Lindsay shrugged.

“What time was it when you were near the candy store?” Angie thought this would be a question that Lindsay could answer.

Lindsay looked up. “I finished my run around 7:30.”

“Did you tell the police what you heard?”

“The police came in to talk to us about the murder. I told them what I heard.”

Angie nodded. “Good. Maybe it will help. Well, if you think of anything else, will you let me know? I’ll be back on Wednesday to drop off some more desserts.” Angie said goodbye and left to go to her car. She didn’t want to be late for her other deliveries.

Just as she was getting in, a man’s voice called her name. She turned to see Josh Williams walking briskly across the street to her.

Josh had a broad smile on his face. Angie felt her muscles melting at the sight of him.

“Hey. How are you?”

His blue eyes warmed Angie. “I’m good. Doing deliveries.”

“I’m back from Maine for a while.” Josh leaned against Angie’s car. “I managed to extract myself from my brother’s tentacles.”

Angie smiled. “How’s the project going?”