A Burned Out Baker: Classic Diner Mystery #7 (The Classic Diner Mysteries) (7 page)

“I’ve never known the sheriff to bring in reinforcements before,” Moose said, clearly surprised by the news. “What’s different about this murder that he needs outside help?”

“That’s the thing. You two have caught more killers lately than he has, and I think he’s worried you’re going to run against him for sheriff in the next election, Moose.”

“What? That’s ridiculous,” my grandfather said. “If he thought that, why didn’t he say anything to me about it? We spoke not two hours ago.”

“This just happened half an hour ago, so it’s all brand new,” the judge said. “Someone must have put a bug in his ear about you, and he’s starting to wonder why you two are digging into murder again.”

“The murder victim threatened to take our diner away from us last night not three feet from where we’re sitting right now. Doesn’t he think that gives us both reason enough to do something about catching whoever killed him?”

“Easy, Moose,” she said in a calming voice. “I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just telling you what’s going on so you’ll be aware of it.”

“I appreciate that,” Moose said. “Do you know who’s behind this?”

“He’s on the town council,” she said with a nod. “Do I really have to say his name?”

“It’s Kenny Starnes, isn’t it?” Moose asked. “Don’t bother confirming it. It all makes perfect sense. That man is a blight on this town, and I wish that he’d never been elected.”

I knew that Kenny Starnes and my grandfather had been in one argument or another for the last thirty years, and I doubted either man could remember what their original disagreement had been about. All I knew was that they intensely disliked each other, and I prayed for the councilman’s safety every day. If anything ever happened to him, Moose would be the first suspect on everyone’s list, including the sheriff’s.

“Anyway, I just thought you should know,” the judge said, and then she stood. As we joined her, she asked me, “What do I owe you?”

“It’s on the house,” I said. “Thanks for stopping by.”

“Thank you, Victoria.” The judge turned to Moose, and she was clearly about to say something. At the last second she must have changed her mind, because she left without another word.

I knew why a second later when my grandmother came out of the kitchen.

Much to his credit, instead of trying to run away, my grandfather headed straight toward her. As they spoke, I wondered how this new development would impact our case. If the sheriff was going to bring in outside talent, we didn’t have much time. I doubted that a state police inspector would grant us the latitude that the sheriff had in the past. In fact, I wondered if we’d get any more preferential treatment ever again.

I don’t know what Moose said to Martha, but he came over to me a minute later.

“So how are things on the home front?” I asked him.

“We’re getting there,” he said.

“Are you ready to tackle Susan Proctor now?” I asked him. “I don’t have to remind you that time is of the essence.”

“I know it is, but there’s something else we have to do first, something even more important than our investigation.”

I was eager to hear what that might be. “What’s that?” I asked him.

“We need to speak to the sheriff and clear this up before things get any uglier than they are right now. Any objections to that plan?”

“Not a one,” I said. “Let’s go see if we can find Sheriff Croft and straighten this mess out.”

“Sheriff, we need to talk,” Moose said after we’d walked into the police station. The sheriff was standing by the front door, and it was clear that he was on his way out.

“I don’t have time to chat, Moose,” the sheriff said as he tried to brush past us.

“Is it an emergency? Because if it’s not, this is important. I wouldn’t bother you otherwise.” Moose hadn’t budged, and I doubted that many men in the county would have had the daring to block our sheriff’s way when he was intent on getting past.

The sheriff stared hard at Moose for a few seconds, and I didn’t like the expression on his face at all. Finally, he said, “Outside. You can have one minute and one minute only, so you’d better make every second of it count.”

We all walked outside together, and though I hadn’t been invited to join this particular conversation, there was no way that I was going to miss it, either.

“The clock’s ticking,” the sheriff said once we were all outside.

“Edgar, I don’t want your job.”

Sheriff Croft looked hard at Moose again after my grandfather spoke. I knew that the sheriff wasn’t all that used to being called by his first name, particularly when he was in uniform, and I was just as certain that my grandfather had done it on purpose to get his attention.

“That’s not what I heard,” the sheriff said. “Either way, it doesn’t matter to me. Moose, you’re free to do whatever you want to.”

“Are you really going to listen to Kenny Starnes?” Moose asked him. “We both know that the man has had it in for me for what feels like a hundred years.”

The sheriff shrugged. “The thing is, everything he said made perfect sense. Why else would you and Victoria keep digging into the murders that happen around here? It’s clear that you don’t have any faith in my ability to solve them, so it’s the next logical step for you to run for sheriff yourself.”

“It might be if I ever had the slightest interest in holding down another job, any job. The last thing I want to do is to run for a political office. It would be bad enough campaigning, but what if the worst-case scenario happened and I actually won? Do you think for one second that I’d want any part of your job?”

“Then why do you keep investigating murders?” the sheriff asked.

“Sheriff, my granddaughter and I have to get involved. If we don’t, folks around here are going to assume that one of us killed Barry Jackson. Who knows? Maybe they think that we did it together. I don’t have a clue. All I do know is that Victoria and I stay away from any crime that doesn’t directly involve one of us, or a member of our family. Everyone knows that Barry threatened to take away The Charming Moose the night before he died, and worse yet, I threatened him. One of the EMTs who overheard us has been happy to spread that little tidbit around town. My granddaughter and I just want to clear our names.”

“Then why don’t you let me handle the case?”

It was a fair point, but I knew why we dug in ourselves. I was about to explain when I thought better of it and kept my mouth shut.

After all, this was Moose’s battle, not mine.

“Sheriff, people will tell us things that they’d never dare mention to you, and you know it,” Moose said. “Besides, between my granddaughter and me, we’ve got ties to every part of this community, not just the law-abiding folks.”

“Are you saying that you knowingly associate with riffraff?” the sheriff asked with the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

“You’ve been in our diner,” Moose said amiably. “As long as our customers pay for their meals and don’t make trouble, we don’t turn
anyone
away. Over the years, that’s gotten us connections in all sorts of places that you might not have access to yourself in your official capacity.” Moose put a hand on the sheriff’s shoulder as he added, “I swear to you, I’m not running, okay?”

The sheriff seemed to think about it for a full ten seconds before he spoke, and then finally, he nodded. “Okay. Thanks for clearing that up. Sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusions.”

“With Kenny whispering in your ear, how could you not? Are we still good?”

“We are,” the sheriff said.

“Does that mean that you’re not bringing in reinforcements from the state police?” Moose asked him.

“How did you hear about that?” he asked pointedly.

“Hey, it’s a small town. Word gets around. So, was it just an idle threat?”

Sheriff Croft frowned. “No, it’s still happening.”

“Between the three of us, we can solve this case without any help from the outside,” Moose said.

“Maybe so, but I need to show folks that I can act decisively, and that’s what I’m going to do. If nobody’s solved this case within forty-eight hours, I’m calling in the big guns. Now, if you two will excuse me, I’ve got to run.” He started to leave, and then he stopped and looked at me for a second. “I didn’t mean to ignore you. See you later, Victoria.”

“Good-bye,” I said.

He grinned. “The real reason I spoke to you was that I just wanted to be sure that you hadn’t lost the power of speech. You never said a word during that entire conversation.”

“Hey, I don’t have to talk all of the time,” I said in mock protest.

Both the sheriff and my grandfather laughed, and instead of snapping at both of them, I joined right in. After all, I couldn’t blame the sheriff for being surprised by the fact that I had remained silent.

In all honesty, it had kind of surprised me myself.

After the sheriff drove off, my grandfather let out a loud breath of air. “That was a close call. If I hadn’t convinced him of my true intentions, it could have made the rest of our investigation a whole lot tougher than it had to be.”

“You know, all in all, it’s really not that crazy an idea,” I said.

“What’s that?”

“You running for sheriff,” I said.

Moose looked at me as though I’d lost my mind. “Victoria, I meant what I said. I don’t have the slightest interest in that job.”

“Why not? There aren’t any requirements that you be a law enforcement officer to run for sheriff. You know tons of people, so name recognition wouldn’t be a problem, and besides, you’re a crack investigator. This county could do a whole lot worse than having you in the job.”

“As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I enjoy being retired too much to ever go to work again.”

“I’m just saying,” I said.

“Think about it, Victoria. Even if I wanted the job, which I don’t, how do you think your grandmother would feel about me running for it?”

I laughed. “Sorry, I didn’t even think about that. I doubt that Martha would be too pleased with it.”

“That’s the understatement of the decade,” Moose said. “Now, where were we before we were interrupted?”

“We were about to go talk to Susan Proctor,” I said.

“Then let’s go pay her a visit at home,” Moose said as we headed back to his truck. “Truthfully, I wouldn’t mind getting another look at that crazy house of hers.”

“If she even lets us in,” I said.

“Why wouldn’t she?”

“Moose, she’s probably in mourning. After all, she just lost her boyfriend.”

“I’ll be sensitive,” Moose said as he started driving, and I didn’t doubt for one second that he could. My grandfather showed a gruff exterior to the world most of the time, but for those who really knew him, he had a soft side that was startling in its contrast to his public persona.

“I know you will,” I said.

We got to Susan’s place twenty minutes later. Driving up to it, it was hard to believe that there was even a house there. The raised grass slope seen from the road gave no indication that there was a home under there, with the exception of a single vent pipe coming up out of the grass. Susan’s house was a tad on the odd side, and that was saying something for Jasper Fork. As we walked around, the house itself came into view, buried under the grass berm as though it had grown into the ground instead of out of it. A full array of windows faced out onto the woods. Her builder had taken advantage of the sloped hillside to tuck the house into the ground. I would feel like a mole living there, but it must have suited her, because she’d had it built especially for her after her first divorce. We didn’t have to knock on the door to find Susan, though.

She was out front, tending to a roaring fire going in a fifty-five gallon drum. There were branches burning inside, a few beefier logs, and a stack of paper on top.

“What are you burning?” Moose asked her as we approached.

“Just some old papers I don’t need anymore,” she said as she threw the last handful into the flames. I noticed that there was a gas can on its side sitting nearby.

“It looks like you gave your fire a little help,” I said.

“What can I say? I’ve always loved a good blaze. I’ve been meaning to do this for weeks, so when I got back home this afternoon, I decided it was the perfect time to do it. What brings you two out this way? I don’t get a lot of visitors.” Her face was smudged with ash, and as we spoke, she rubbed a gloved hand across her cheek, leaving another gray streak.

“Did you hear about Barry Jackson?” I asked.

She frowned. “What about him? What’s that man been up to this time? Every time I leave that man alone, he seems to have a knack for getting himself into trouble.”

“There was a fire, Susan,” Moose said.

Susan looked at my grandfather as though he were an idiot. “And it will still be going until I get everything burned that I want to get rid of,” she said as she pointed to the blaze. “What’s that got to do with my boyfriend?”

“I don’t mean here,” Moose said. “I’m talking about at the bakery.”

Susan frowned. “I imagine that could happen occasionally when you’re dealing with ovens and high temperatures,” she said, clearly troubled by the news. “I should call Barry and make sure that he’s okay.”

That was the second time it had happened that day. She reached for her cell phone, but I stopped her. “You’re not going to be able to reach him. I’m afraid that he didn’t make it.”

Susan studied me with a puzzled expression on her face, and then she turned to Moose for confirmation. “Is it true?”

“I’m sorry, but it is,” my grandfather said, and Susan Proctor collapsed where she stood.

Moose grabbed her and kept her from hitting the ground as her voice filled the air with loud cries and sobs. There was obviously no use trying to talk to her at that point. “Let’s get you inside,” Moose said as he half led and half carried her to the house. There was a sofa placed just inside to take full advantage of the broad windows, and my grandfather eased her down onto it. She’d have a tough time cleaning out the smoky smell from the couch where she touched it, but I knew that wasn’t an issue at the moment.

“What happened to him?” she asked between sobs as she looked at us in turn.

“We don’t know the entire story yet,” I said.

“But it was arson,” Moose added, something I hadn’t thought she’d needed to hear yet.

“Are you saying that someone killed him on purpose?” she wailed, and then she was off on another set of hysterics.

“Is there anybody we can call for you?” I asked her softly. The woman was falling apart before our very eyes.

“My…my…sister,” Susan said shakily.

I knew Elizabeth, but I didn’t know her phone number. “What’s her number?”

Susan handed me her phone as she said, “Just hit 3 on the speed dial.”

I did so, and Elizabeth came on the line. “Hey, it’s Victoria Nelson. Your sister needs you.”

“I’m almost there,” Elizabeth said. “I just heard what happened. I was going to call her and tell her over the phone, but I didn’t want her alone when she found out. Are you there with her now?”

“Yes, my grandfather and I came by,” I said, conveniently neglecting to mention that we’d come there to interrogate her.

“Bless you. Give me two minutes and I’ll be there.”

After I hung up, I said, “She’ll be here in two minutes.”

“Victoria, can you stay with her until Elizabeth gets here?”

“Sure,” I said, puzzled by my grandfather’s request. “What are you going to do?”

“I have to see about that fire,” he said.

“Just let it burn,” Susan whimpered.

“Victoria, we can’t take a chance of letting it burn out of control,” Moose said as he tried to disengage from her grip.

Susan wasn’t having it, though. “Moose, you can’t leave me.”

My grandfather looked unhappy about it, but he turned to me and said, “If I can’t do it, you need to go put out that fire yourself.”

It took me a second to realize that Moose wasn’t just playing fire warden and that he wasn’t worried about the fire itself. He was concerned that what might be evidence was burning up right in front of us!

“I’m on it,” I said as I stood and headed for the door.

“Don’t go, either. I need you both!” Susan shouted.

“You’ll be fine,” Moose said. “Go,” he said to me, and he didn’t have to tell me again.

There was a garden hose near the barrel, and I opened the nozzle as I pointed it toward the fire.

Nothing came out.