Custard Crime: Donut Mystery #14 (The Donut Mysteries) Read online

“Don’t get your undies in a knot,” Gabby said. “I’m getting to that. The second person you need to look at is Julie Gray.”

  “I don’t know her,” I said. “She doesn’t live in April Springs, does she?”

  “Union Square,” Gabby said.

  “What does she have to do with Evelyn’s murder?” Jake asked her.

  “You didn’t know?” Gabby asked, feigning surprise. “She’s Evelyn’s second cousin.”

  “And how exactly is that relevant to the investigation?” Jake asked her.

  “From what Evelyn told me, Julie was her closest living relative, and unless she changed her mind in the last few days before she died, I got the distinct impression that Julie was set to inherit everything that Evelyn had.”

  “Is that very substantial?” I asked. “I thought that Evelyn was pretty much broke.”

  “Oh, she had money, and I’m talking serious cash,” Gabby said. “She just didn’t want anyone in town to know about it.”

  “Was Chief Martin even aware of it?” I asked.

  “No, this all happened after they split. Evelyn inherited five hundred thousand dollars from her great aunt last month, and the kicker was that Julie didn’t get a dime of it in the old lady’s will. She resented Evelyn for it, and she didn’t mind who knew it. If she’s the one who did it, it wasn’t just so she could get Evelyn’s meager possessions. She wanted the bigger prize of all that money Evelyn had just gotten herself.”

  “I’ll look into both of your tips,” Jake said, and then he stood and offered his hand. “Thank you for the information. I appreciate it.”

  He stood there in silence with his hand extended and a simple smile on his face as he waited for Gabby to respond. I wasn’t sure who to bet on, but I was thrilled when Gabby finally gave in, stood, and took Jake’s hand in hers. “I must say, you’re a little more formidable than I thought you’d be,” Gabby conceded with a frown.

  Jake just laughed, and to my surprise, Gabby joined in before she walked away.

  After she was gone, I asked Jake, “What was that all about?”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked as he sat back down and continued to study the menu.

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about. That last bit at the end when you got her to leave,” I said.

  “Suzanne, it’s going to take more than someone like Gabby Williams to back me down, no matter how formidable this town might think she is. I wanted her to know that I wasn’t going to put up with it, and she got the message, loud and clear.”

  “Why do I feel as though I should be taking notes on how to handle her in the future?” I asked him with a smile.

  “No notes necessary. Just watch and learn,” he said with a smile, and then Jake signaled to Trish.

  She joined us quickly, and when she got to our table, she asked, “What would you two like?”

  Jake pointed to me first, and I ordered a burger and fries. After I was finished, he held up two fingers as he added, “We’ll take two.”

  “Coming right up,” Trish said as she hurried away to place our order.

  Evidently the way Jake had handled Gabby had not gone unnoticed among the current patrons of the Boxcar Grill. No one else dared approach us after Gabby’s abrupt dismissal, something that I was most thankful for.

  While we waited for our food, Jake asked me quietly, “Suzanne, what do you think of Gabby’s information?”

  “Well, I suppose that it’s fair to say that we’re friends in the oddest sort of way, but I’m by no means the woman’s biggest fan.”

  “That’s not what I asked you.”

  “I wasn’t finished answering yet. There’s something you should know about her. If Gabby tells you something, you should take it seriously. She has more leads in this town than anyone else, so if she smells smoke, you can bet your badge that there’s a fire somewhere nearby. There may only be a kernel of truth within everything that she says, but you can rest assured that it’s there if you dig hard enough for it.”

  “That’s good to know. Do you know Robby Chastain personally?”

  “Sure,” I said. “He used to be an electrician. The day that man retired from his job, he invested every dime of money he had and every ounce of energy into making his yard a showplace. It’s no wonder that tree drove him crazy. I know exactly which one Gabby had to have been talking about. It’s an old beaten-down oak clearly in its last days. To be honest with you, it looks as though a light breeze would knock it over, but for some reason, Evelyn was attached to it.”

  Jake shook his head. “I still can’t believe that it’s motive enough to commit murder.”

  “You heard Gabby. There’s more history to the story than that.”

  “The question is, how do we uncover the rest of it?” he asked me.

  “Excuse me. Did you mean ‘we’ as in ‘you and me’ or ‘we, the police’?”

  He shrugged before he spoke. “Well, I doubt that I can drag the man into the interrogation room and ask him about it,” Jake said. “What you said earlier might be valid after all. Suzanne, I know that you and Grace have solved cases in the past, ones that baffled Chief Martin. I’m not discounting your ability to get facts that law enforcement can’t.”

  “Oh, stop,” I said with a smile. “You’re making my head swell.”

  “That being said,” Jake continued, ignoring my comment, “I don’t want you pushing anyone too far. Your job is to provide me with information. I don’t want you and Grace taking any chances on your own, do you understand that?”

  “We both know that I can’t guarantee that,” I said, “especially since one of our suspects is going to be a killer.”

  “I know that, but you don’t have to press your luck.”

  “So then, do we have your permission to dig into this case?” I asked, wanting to make sure that we were clear on it.

  “Conditionally, yes,” he said a little reluctantly.

  “Hey, we’ll take what we can get,” I said. “Thank you for the faith that you’re putting in us.”

  “Just don’t make me regret it, okay?” Jake asked.

  “We’ll do our best. Wow, is that our food already?” I asked him as I saw Trish approach carrying a large tray.

  “I hope so. I’m starving,” he said.

  It was indeed our meal, and as we ate, we discussed a dozen different things, but none of the topics was murder. It was a nice respite from what we’d been talking about before, and I was glad for it. After we ate, Jake pulled out his wallet as he grabbed the bill.

  “So, you’re going to talk to Robby Chastain, right?” he asked.

  “As soon as I can find Grace,” I said. “What are you going to do?”

  “I have someone else I need to speak with,” he said, avoiding my glance.

  “Are you going to go look for Julie Gray? I might be able to help with that. I have connections in Union Square, remember?”

  “I’m not about to forget the formidable DeAngelis family at Napoli’s,” he said. “But no, I won’t be going there until later.”

  “So then, if you’re not going there, where exactly are you headed?” I asked him again. Why was he being so reticent about telling me? And then I knew. “You’re going to go talk to my mother, aren’t you?”

  “What makes you ask that?” Jake said, not bothering to come straight out and lie to me.

  “Why else would you be so evasive with me? Besides, it’s a good move. Momma just sold the building where Evelyn was murdered. She might have some useful information for us.”

  “For me,” Jake tried to correct me.

  I had to laugh. “If you think you’re going to interrogate my mother without me going with you, you are seriously delusional, my friend.”

  “Who said anything about an interrogation?” Jake asked. “I’m just going to have a pleasant conversation with her about the circumstances surrounding the sale.”

  “If it’s just a conversation, then there’s no reason that I shouldn’t go with y
ou,” I said. “After all, how official can it be?”

  “I’m not going to win this one, am I?” Jake asked after pausing a moment.

  “Not a chance.”

  “Then let’s go,” he said as he stood.

  “Why do I feel as though I won that round a little too easily?” I asked him after we paid and we were walking back to the cottage.

  “In all honesty, it might just help having you there.”

  I stopped walking and looked at him. “Jake, you’re not afraid of my mother, are you? She’s just a little old thing.”

  “Her size isn’t what intimidates me,” Jake admitted.

  “You know, sometimes you are smarter than you look.”

  “I certainly hope so,” Jake said, the relief clear in his voice.

  I knew that my mother could be a mighty combatant, and I always loved having her in my corner, but Jake was right to be wary of her. If he took the wrong tone with Momma, she’d eat him for breakfast, and what was more, everyone involved knew it.

  “Are you going to have any trouble with the chief?” I asked him.

  “No, he understands the situation. He might just be local law enforcement, but he really is a pro, Suzanne. You don’t give him enough credit sometimes.”

  “Maybe not,” I replied. I’d actually wondered the same thing myself. I had been the police chief’s biggest critic at times in the past, and now that he was married to my mother, I realized that it was time I adjusted my attitude toward the man. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him my stepfather, though technically it was true, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t merit a modicum of respect from me, given his changed status in my mother’s life.

  I glanced over at Jake and saw his open mouth. “What is that look for?” I asked.

  “You just agreed with me without an argument,” Jake said.

  “Well, don’t get used to it. It’s not like I want to set any precedents here.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t take it for granted. I might relish it a little, though. Are you okay with that?”

  “As long as you celebrate quietly,” I said with a slight laugh.

  “Come on,” Jake said as we got back to the cottage. “Let’s go see your mother.”

  “Can we take my Jeep?” I asked him as I looked over the squad car he’d been given.

  “I don’t see why not,” he said, “even though we are on official police business.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anybody if you don’t,” I said.

  Chapter 7

  “My, what a pleasant surprise,” Momma said as Jake and I walked into her new place. “I wasn’t expecting to see either one of you today.”

  “Sorry about that, Momma,” I told her. “I know that we should have called first, but we need to talk.”

  “Suzanne, I thought you were going to let me handle this,” he told me softly.

  I smiled at him. “What on earth made you think that?”

  “I don’t know, maybe the fact that I’m the one who’s in charge of this investigation?” Jake asked.

  “Is that what this is about?” Momma asked us. “Hold on one second.” She turned and called out to the other room, “Phillip, could you come in here and join us, please?”

  Chief Martin came out of the den, and he looked a little surprised to see us there. I knew that it had been nearly a month, but I was still wrapping my head around the fact that the police chief and my mother were married and living together as husband and wife. Every time I went over there, I was honestly startled to find him in the house.

  The chief nodded at Jake, smiled briefly at me, and then he asked my mother, “What’s this about?”

  “They are here to discuss Evelyn’s death,” Momma said.

  The chief looked immediately uncomfortable when he heard that bit of news. “Dorothea, you know that I’m not supposed to get involved with this investigation.”

  “Don’t worry. It’s clear that you aren’t trying to solve the case,” Momma said in a dismissive tone of voice. “But Jake and Suzanne are here to talk with me about what happened to your ex-wife, and I think you should be a part of the discussion.”

  “As the police chief?” I asked her.

  “No, as my husband,” Momma said.

  “I don’t have any objections to you being here, Chief,” I said, and then I turned to Jake. “Do you?”

  “No, it’s fine with me,” he said, suddenly aware that he’d clearly lost control of the interview before it had even had a chance to begin. “This shouldn’t take long.”

  “Take your time, dear,” Momma said as she patted her husband’s hand. “We have nothing to hide.”

  Jake looked steadily at the chief for a few seconds before he spoke again. “Are you sure that you’re okay hearing this? I completely understand why it wouldn’t be easy for you to be involved in this case in any way, shape, or form.”

  “I appreciate you asking, but it’s fine. Evelyn and I made our peace, what there was of it, years ago. I wasn’t the woman’s biggest fan, and she certainly wasn’t mine, but she was my wife for many years. It was a bad way for her to go.”

  “There was nothing anyone could do about it. Accidents happen, my love,” Momma said reassuringly.

  It was too big an opening to ignore. “Only it wasn’t exactly an accident after all.”

  “What are you talking about?” the chief asked. “Jake, I know that you had your doubts at the scene, but have you uncovered anything else that makes you certain that it was anything but exactly what it looked like, that Evelyn slipped and fell in a dark building that wasn’t safe to be walking around in?”

  “I’m afraid that I have,” Jake said. “I don’t want to get into the specific reasons with you just yet, but suffice it to say that this is now an official murder investigation being conducted by the North Carolina State Police.”

  It sounded kind of ominous the way that he said it, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as he spoke. Jake was in full police inspector mode, and again, I almost didn’t recognize his voice without its normal warmth reserved for me. It would take some getting used to hearing him speak in such an authoritative manner.

  “If it was indeed murder, then what can we do to help, Jake?” Momma asked as she gently touched the chief’s shoulder. It was clear at that moment that she truly loved him, something that I hadn’t doubted, but still couldn’t get used to seeing.

  “I need to know why she was inside that building in the first place,” Jake said. “It just doesn’t make sense her being there.”

  “How odd. It makes perfect sense to me,” Momma said.

  “Would you care to enlighten me?” Jake asked her.

  “I’d be happy to. I had no problem discovering that Evelyn was in that building. After all, she owned half of it. Why shouldn’t she be there?”

  “What?” the chief asked her incredulously. “Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

  “I honestly didn’t see that it mattered,” Momma replied as she turned to him. “Phillip, I own a great many properties in and around April Springs, and do a fair amount of business on a daily basis. Is it your contention that I should tell you about every transaction that takes place just because we’re married now?”

  “No, of course not. We agreed that your business was just that when I signed the prenup.”

  “You have a prenuptial agreement?” I asked loudly.

  Momma frowned. “Of course we do. I signed one as well.”

  “Not that I have any real assets to protect,” the police chief said good-naturedly. “I was happy to do it. After all, your mother was just looking out for your inheritance on down the road.”

  “I don’t want to talk about this,” I said suddenly. Thinking of my mother planning for her own mortality, a reasonable, even responsible, thing to do, was more than I wanted to consider at the moment, especially since death had just paid us all a visit way too close to home.

  “Suzanne, we don’t have to say an
other word about it, since it’s not the subject of our discussion,” Momma said, and then she turned back to her husband. “Honestly, I didn’t think you’d want to know about my business deal with Evelyn. What good could it do for you to learn about it? I thought it would cause you only pain, and I was trying to protect you.”

  “I don’t need protection, Dorothea. I’m a grown man,” he said. “You should have told me.”

  Momma frowned again, and after a moment’s consideration, she nodded. “You’re right, Phillip. I’m sorry. I made a mistake. Please forgive me.”

  Wow. I had never seen anywhere near that kind of capitulation on her part in our dealings in the past as mother and daughter, and I wanted to scream at the chief to quit while he was ahead, but instead, he replied, “It’s okay this time, but don’t let it happen again.” If he hadn’t added a smile at the last second, I would have been in fear for his life, but my mother just grinned at him in return. Who was this woman?

  “What I really want to know is where she got the money to buy even half of that building,” the chief said. “I know she didn’t get it from our divorce settlement. I didn’t have much to begin with, and all she got was half of that. It wasn’t anywhere near the cash she’d have to have had to buy anything on that scale.”

  “I wasn’t supposed to know anything about it,” Momma said, “but Beatrice told me in confidence that Evelyn inherited quite a bit from her great aunt, Ruth. From what I gathered, it was in the neighborhood of a half a million dollars, if Beatrice is to be trusted.”

  “That’s the same figure that we heard,” I said, and Jake nodded in agreement. It appeared that Gabby’s information, at least about Evelyn’s inheritance, had been spot on.

  “Did Ruth finally kick the bucket?” the chief asked. “She was an odd bird, but I figured that she’d find a way to live to see a hundred.”

  “Evidently she didn’t quite make it there, though she wasn’t that far off,” Momma said. “Anyway, Beatrice told me that Evelyn wanted to go into business, but she was afraid to do it on her own. Since Beatrice had run a few shops successfully in the past, Evelyn convinced her that they should be partners. Evelyn provided the lion’s share of the financing, and Beatrice would provide the expertise in their daily business operations.”