A Cup of Murder (9 page)

"Why would they not meet in their own home in
that case?" asked Jacob.

"Good point," I said. "Let’s move
on."

"What about the Real Estate guy that had
problems with Michael when he first wanted to buy the place? What was
his name?" asked Jacob.

"Robert Mitchell. I heard he moved his real
estate office to Upstate New York about a week after he closed the
deal with Michael. Once the deal was done I doubt he ever talked to
Michael again."

We talked about Jen Perry. She was upset about
Michael breaking up with her. There was no way to know how much truth
was in what she had told me so far. She could be just building her
own case and throwing it out to me as a test to see how plausible it
was. I mentioned to Jacob her comment about Michael’s argument with
his brother, the Senator on the phone.

We decided to call it a night. We both had a lot
to think about.

I stretched out in bed and decided to seek Jen
Perry before she approached me again on her own. I wanted to ask her
more questions about her relationship with Michael Simms.

Chapter Eleven

When I left my house the next morning with Thor by
my side the sun was out bright. Sun streaming through leaves on the
trees was the only light I saw to begin my day. Once again I sensed
someone watching me and the feeling within me was the same as the
night I arrived home after Michael’s murder. I looked around and
saw nothing except the usual morning activity along the street.

Thor walked alongside me and I was glad I had the
dog with me. I knew all too well how ferocious he could be when
called upon for protection. Rounding the corner just before Roasted
Love the unsettling feeling rushed through me again and I picked up
the pace while I considered asking Jacob to give me a ride home later
that day.

Ahead of me at the curb was a patrol car. Two
uniformed policemen were bringing Jacob Weaver out of Roasted Love,
handcuffed. I stood still. He didn’t see me and I did not bring
attention to myself. His face ashen, he stumbled a little when they
put him into the cruiser. One officer placed his hand on top of
Jacob’s head as he dipped into the backseat, out of sight. I turned
to the alley behind our coffee house and came in through the back
door. Janie was taking something out of the oven and I caught the
whiff of burned egg hash.

"Jacob was just arrested," she said.

I reached for a hot pad and took the long pan from
her hands before she let go. It seemed her whole body was on a fast
course to collapsing.

"I saw them putting him into the car," I
said. "What happened?"

"The two cops who were here the other day
came in and asked for him. I took them back to where he was just
putting the egg hash into the oven. We had several people wanting
some so he went ahead and made the full pan."

I encouraged her to go on about the arrest.

"The next thing I knew they had Jacob in
handcuffs and brought him through the main part of Roasted Love. Not
a table was empty and I felt so bad for Jacob," she said.

I could imagine how he felt. More than
humiliation, I was sure all he could think about was going back
behind bars again. Of all days, today would be busier than ever with
everyone wanting to gossip and pick up as much information as
possible about the unfolding of the mystery of Jacob Weaver’s
arrest. There was no chance for me to get to the jail to visit Jacob
right away.

"Did they say why they were arresting him?"

"Just that they were arresting him for the
murder of Michael Simms."

My heart sank. They had the wrong man. I had no
real reason to pin the murder on anyone else at this early stage of
my investigation but I knew Jacob had not killed his rival. I ran the
picture of my corkboard over again in my mind. I had Jacob’s name
up there, Michael’s wife whose name remained unknown to me, Jen
Perry and this morning while sipping my coffee I had written James
Simms on a new card with the intentions of completing what I knew
about him down his branch of the tree. Then there were several
merchants on the Piazza who had run-ins with Sunrise’s owner in the
past.

Janie handed me three orders for espresso and I
began my daily routine. Ignoring conversations proved next to
impossible to do but I resolved to not participate in any way. I
overheard two people avowing innocence of Jacob Weaver. Others nodded
their heads in agreement, but I wondered how long that loyalty would
hold.

"I heard they found some evidence against
Jacob over at Sunrise," said a woman near the counter.

"What was it?" asked her companion.

"I don’t know. I just know they found
something."

It was going to be a long day. Janie handed me
another order for cappuccino and French toast. By this time Lily was
in and so our work was evenly divided. I explained briefly to Lily
what was going on. The sympathy in her eyes was genuine as she went
right to work. There were no words necessary from Lily, Janie or me
to one another.

"There’s someone at that back table who
wants to talk to you, Laila," said Janie.

"Tell whoever it is I’ll see them as soon
as I’m caught up. Who is it?"

"I think it is that Barista from Sunrise but
I’m not sure," said Janie.

I glanced back and it was Jen Perry. She gazed out
the window and her eyes landed on Sunrise. Now I had three important
tasks to complete: work as usual, talk with Jen Perry and get to the
jail as soon as possible. I wiped my hands on a towel and told Lily
and Janie I would take only a few minutes to talk with Jen and be
right back.

"I know you are busy, Laila," said the
Sunrise Barista, "but I had to talk with you when I heard Jacob
was arrested a little while ago."

It was uncanny how she showed up on the Piazza
since Sunrise had not reopened yet. I told her we were swamped as she
could tell while I quickly glanced at my watch.

"Leticia Simms was a jealous woman,"
said Jen.

"Is that Michael's wife's name?" I
asked, making a mental note to write that on my board at home. "Tell
me what you are getting to," I said.

"Yes. Leticia met Michael several times right
at closing time. When she found out we were having an affair, she
wanted to make sure we didn’t leave Sunrise together, I guess. At
least that is what Michael told me. She had never come to the Sunrise
until she found out about us that I know of."

"Did you mention this to the police?" I
asked.

"No, I didn’t. They had me shaken up enough
when one of them told me I was a suspect. I didn’t have any way to
get poison and I sure didn’t want to be brought up on murder
charges. I thought you should know this since Jacob was arrested
today."

There was something about Jen Perry that brought
an irritation to my hectic day. I told her that any other information
like that should be passed on to the police and not to me. When she
stood up, I amended what I said.

"I mean, I want to hear anything you think
of, but make sure the police hear it too."

She nodded and her lithe figure seemed to float
out the door but not before she glanced at the customers and flipped
her hair ever so seductively. It is the only word I could think of to
describe her action. Old habits come easily.

The crowd thinned since everyone had to get to
work, run errands or whatever they had to take care of in their
normal lives. The three of us sat down to take a short break. None of
us spoke of Jacob and his arrest, each of us lost in our own
thoughts. There were still three customers remaining. A few minutes
later, two men in suits walked into Roasted Love and spotted us at
the table. Janie approached them to get their orders.

"We want to see whoever is in charge here,"
said one, flashing his badge.

I went to meet them and saw they were detectives.
Immediately, I knew their purpose.

"We have a search warrant and want to see
Jacob Weaver’s work area first."

"We will be looking at the whole shop so you
may want to close up for a few hours," said the other one.

I told them as soon as I could get the last three
customers out, I would do that. I did not like the idea of closing up
but in the long run it was best no patrons watched the pilfering of
Roasted Love.

The younger detective showed the official paper to
me and I led them back to Jacob’s office after relaying the message
to Lily and Janie in regard to closing up. I had no idea if Jacob had
disposed of his threatening notes to Michael Simms or not when he
arrived this morning. More than anything, I hoped if they found any,
they would also find the same from Michael. At least, it wouldn’t
show the whole vendetta was one-sided.

They spent a long time in Jacob’s office. The
younger one came out and asked me if Jacob spent most of the time in
the office. I told them he was very visible to his customers and
worked throughout Roasted Love. I wanted to boast about how devoted
he was to his business, but his manner was crisp and left no room for
lauding my boss’s attributes. If it came to it, I would get my
chance on the witness stand. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. The
detective headed for the front of the coffee house. I noticed two
potential customers try the door, peer in and then walk away.

I left to check on Thor and mentally reminded
myself about getting a leash for him. He was lying under the small
Weeping Willow at the edge of the alley. I refilled his water bowl
and ruffled his head before returning to the shop.

The time the detectives spent in Roasted Love
seemed endless. They packed up two computers and a couple of folders
that bulged and thanked me. Janie reached for the sign ready to turn
it to open when I stopped her. By now it was close to two and time
for her to clock out.

"Don’t turn it over yet," I said. "Go
ahead and clock out. I’ll call you later this evening to let you
know if we will open tomorrow or wait another day or so."

At this point, I didn’t want to open Roasted
Love at all until Jacob was back in charge, but I knew I couldn’t
let the place close and cause lost business. Janie nodded and left. I
told Lily we would not reopen until tomorrow. I needed time to think
and more importantly, I needed to see Jacob. I had no idea if bail
was set or what was going on and I had to know.

"I’ll write you out at your usual time,
Lily, so you will get paid your hours."

"Don’t worry about anything, Laila,"
she said. "They will realize they have nothing on Jacob and
release him before we know it."

I threw a weak smile her direction and locked the
back door after she left. I collected the receipts for the day.
Realizing there was no computer to enter them into I stuffed them in
an empty briefcase I found in Jacob’s office and left to collect
Thor. My laptop at home was connected to Roasted Love and I would
enter the business of the day at home.

Once Thor was fed and had his run outside my
house, I left him to visit Jacob in jail. Dreading the moment I would
see him behind bars, I swallowed hard and drove downtown. As it
turned out, he was brought to the visitors’ room and we sat across
from each other.

"I’m so sorry, Jacob, I hoped it wouldn’t
come to them arresting you. Did they tell you why they think you
murdered Michael?"

"So far they have only said they found
evidence at Sunrise that implicates me. I turned it all over to my
lawyer. I’m hoping the Judge will set bail but I won’t find out
until tomorrow."

His haggard face told me he was anxious about a
night behind bars. I told him I was going to speed my own
investigation along faster and tried to reassure him the best I
could. Knowing he couldn’t talk me out of my detective work, he
told me to be careful. I left him with a heavy heart but not before I
gave Jen’s information to the policeman at the desk about Leticia
Simms often coming to Sunrise at closing time. His reaction told me
that would not be a big deal. There was nothing unusual about a wife
meeting her husband at his place of business at closing time.

He was right. I was aware that passing that
information on needed more substance than a wife meeting her husband
at their coffee house. Obviously, I had a different take on the
hidden meaning of a jealous wife who met her husband there after
hours than the police did. I would save that for Jacob’s lawyer.

Chapter Twelve

Following Jacob’s policy, we did reopen the next
day. Visibility and normalcy became an imperative move for me. By now
everyone knew Jacob Weaver was in jail for the murder of his rival
across the street. I noticed the yellow tape had been removed from
Sunrise. I could see movement inside and recognized Jen Perry getting
things in order. The flashing lights were still turned off which
accounted somewhat for our full house. Apparently, the thought she
didn’t have rights to the place failed to enter her mind. I thought
she was taking a chance if she thought she could reopen Sunrise and
carry on as if her boss and former lover had not been murdered.

"Maybe she knows Michael left it to her,"
I mused aloud.

"What did you say?" asked Janie.

I chose not to respond and it didn’t matter
anyway. Janie and I both rushed to meet the needs of customers who
flocked in. It was hard to concentrate on my job when frustration
reached every level in my inability to help Jacob. I rubbed my eyes
with my fingers in disappointment and pounded my fist on the counter
next to the espresso machine. A light tap on my shoulder caused more
irritation thinking a customer wanted something. My mood was not one
of hospitality at the moment but I forced a plastered smile on my
face and turned around.

"You look a little stressed," said
Daniel Jenkins. "Come on over here and sit down with me."