A Deadly Delicious Delivery (A Chocolate Centered Cozy Mystery Book 2) (4 page)

“You’ve got it wrong, Mee-Maw. Luke is too by the book to reveal anything he shouldn’t.”

“Well, then at most you’ll waste a little time. Right?”

“I guess.” Ally nodded. She took a deep breath. “You’re right. There’s no point in sitting around and waiting for Luke to come back with an arrest warrant.”

“Ally, don’t think like that. We haven’t done anything wrong. It’s a mistake, a terrible mistake, but a mistake just the same.”

“I don’t know if I can really consider it a mistake. Even though I know that Luke didn’t have control over this, it still bothers me. He knows us, he knows that we didn’t do it.”

“Does he? I mean, we haven’t known him that long. He could very well have some doubts. Besides, even if he is certain that we had nothing to do with it, he still has a job to do. Just go and talk to him. Let’s find out for sure what he knows before we look into things ourselves a bit.”

“I doubt that he’ll like that,” Ally said.

“Just like he has a job to do, so do we! Ally, we’re going to get to the bottom of this, and get our names cleared and the shop back open.”

“Absolutely!”

Ally left the shop and headed back to the cottage. She wanted to take a few minutes to clear her head before talking to Luke. The best way to do that was to share her thoughts with Peaches. The cat was the best listener that she knew. When she opened the door to the cottage she heard a screech and a snort. A sigh rippled through her. It was going to take longer than she had thought for the new housemates to get along. Arnold was spending more time in the house than he used to. He was probably enjoying spending time hassling Peaches.

“Peaches, come here, sweetie.” Ally clucked her tongue to call the cat. Peaches bounded down the hall and followed Ally into her bedroom. Ally closed the door to give Peaches a break from Arnold. She sat down on her bed. The cat jumped right up beside her.

“I’m in quite a mess, Peaches. I don’t understand how the chocolates could have been poisoned. I made them, I packaged them, I even hand-delivered them. So, how could the poison get inside them?” She groaned and flopped back on the bed. “Now, Mee-Maw wants me to try and get Luke to share the evidence he found with me. I don’t know if he will be as responsive to me as she thinks he will be.”

Peaches pranced right up onto Ally’s stomach and curled up. She stretched out her paws and yawned. “Oh, am I boring you?” Ally scratched her ears. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m over thinking it. Luke is a reasonable man, from what I know of him.” She bit into her bottom lip as she recalled the tension that had built up between her and Luke. She did her best to avoid him as she wasn’t sure what to make of how she felt when she was around him. With her divorce still fresh in her mind, and adjusting to being back in the town she grew up in, she had enough confusing emotions to deal with. The strange thing was that when she was around Luke, all of that confusion disappeared.  “Then again, what if he does listen? What if he will tell me what I need to know? You’re right, Peaches, it’s worth a try.”

She pulled herself up off the bed and walked towards the closet. She wanted to find out what she could from Luke. Ally looked through her closet for something to wear. She mostly wore jeans and a flannelette top since moving back to Blue River, but she wanted to wear something a bit smarter to give her the confidence to talk to Luke about the case. She chose a blouse and a snug wraparound skirt. Even as she smoothed it down over her hips her heart fluttered with guilt that she was going to ask Luke to reveal information to her. But desperate times called for desperate measures, at least that’s what she told herself. With one more look in the mirror she smoothed her hair down. Now, she had to hope that Luke really did like her and would want to share the information with her.

***

When Ally arrived at the police station she was greeted by a woman with short, gray hair and thick, blue glasses.

“What is it that you want?” She squinted at Ally.

“I need to speak with Luke, please.”

“And you are?”

“Uh, a friend.”

“Are you aware that this is a place of work? I mean, you can’t just walk in and ask to talk to your buddy.” She raised a pencil thin, gray eyebrow. “Not only that, it is a police station. Your friend Luke has a job to do, and I’m sure he’s doing it.”

“Ally?” Luke walked out of the back room and towards the front desk. “What are you doing here?”

“Your friend is here to see you.” The woman rolled her eyes and shifted her chair away from the desk.

Luke’s lips quirked slightly as if he might smile, but he caught himself before he did, and pressed his lips together hard.

“What can I help you with, Ally?” Luke said as he gestured for her to walk away from the woman at the front desk so they were out of earshot.

“It’s more about what you can do for me, Luke.” Ally did her best to offer a sweet smile. She wasn’t sure if it was effective, but Luke’s eyes did appear to light up.

“Anything you need.” He rested one hand on the wall beside him.

“I want you to open the shop.”

“Anything, but that.” He grimaced.

“Surely, you can make an exception.” Ally tossed her hair over her shoulder. Or at least she attempted to. She only managed to scratch the side of her neck and get one of her rings tangled. She jerked her hand free and bit her tongue to keep from crying out. Luke quirked a brow. He lowered his hand from the wall and met her eyes.

“Are you asking me for a personal favor, Ally?”

“Would that work?”

“Come with me.” He held open the partition to the rest of the station. Ally’s heart skipped a beat. She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to willingly cross that line. What would be next? Would he fingerprint her? Take her mugshot? She shuddered at the thought.

“Why don’t we talk outside?” Ally asked.

“I’d like to talk to you at my desk.” He gestured towards another area of the open room.

“Why?”

“Look Ally, I know you’re probably upset, but until we can ensure the safety of the public the shop has to stay closed.”

“Fine, don’t open it. There’s something else you can do for me.”

“What is it?” He met her eyes. Ally was quite aware that the woman was still watching her.

“I want to see what evidence you have against the shop.”

“Huh?” He took a slight step back. “What do you mean see it?”

“I mean, you came into the shop, you invaded it with a bunch of police officers, and shut it down. But never once did you show us what proof you had that gave you the right to do so.”

“Ally, I don’t have to show you proof. I had a warrant to search the shop, which your grandmother was served. I also had the go ahead from the health department to shutter the shop until the matter could be cleared up.”

“Okay fine, but that’s just paperwork.” Ally crossed her arms. “That doesn’t amount to much to me.”

“So, you’re asking to see what evidence I used to get the warrant?” He raked his gaze along her face. Ally did her best to keep every twitch under control. She didn’t want Luke to think that she would back down for any reason. But the truth was she was horrified by the idea of paperwork being sent to a judge that included an accusation that somehow she or her grandmother had poisoned Myrtle. Her stomach churned with the very thought of that accusation lingering as a permanent smudge on her grandmother’s reputation.

“Yes, if you’re going to investigate us, then I would like to know on what grounds.”

“Ally, you know it isn’t like that.” He moved past the partition between the lobby and the rest of the police station. The closer he got to her the more Ally’s determination faded. She wanted to be angry, but his presence soothed her nerves. There was no explanation for it, that’s just how it was.

“Do I? Because it seems just like that. If you really believe that we had nothing to do with the crime then it shouldn’t be a problem to show me what evidence you have. I want to know if the chocolates that poisoned Myrtle were really ours.”

“They were in a box from your shop.”

“That doesn’t mean that they weren’t tampered with afterwards.”

“How do you think someone would tamper with chocolates?” He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

“It must have been, because I packaged those chocolates myself. No one else besides Charlotte and me could have touched them. Something must have happened to them after they were already at the facility.”

“That sounds like something to discuss. So please, join me at my desk.” He rested one hand on her shoulder. His touch was light and in no way restraining, but Ally’s entire body tensed in reaction to it.

“I don’t see why we can’t talk outside.”

“And I don’t see why we can’t talk at my desk. Ally, you are involved in a criminal case, and it’s best if we speak somewhere a bit more structured. If you can’t work with me on this, I’m not sure how we’re going to get anywhere.”

Ally eyed him for a moment. For some odd reason she felt as if he was referring to more than just the case.

“All right.” She nodded. “But I am free to leave at any time?”

“Of course you are.” He removed his hand from her shoulder and held the partition open again. This time Ally walked through it. As they made their way towards his desk Ally caught sight of a poster on the wall that promoted the upcoming blood drive. The sharp point of the needle on the poster made an idea pop into her head.

“Wait a minute. Could someone have injected the poison into the chocolates? That would barely leave a mark.”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s possible. But we might not have a way to prove it. It’s worth looking into though, but if the chocolates melted even a little the hole would disappear.”

“That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”

“No, of course it doesn’t, but it’s nothing we can use to reopen the shop. We need to find out what happened to those chocolates beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

“Okay, then tell me what evidence you have.”

Luke pulled out a chair and looked at Ally. “First, you tell me what you know.”

“What I know?”

Luke patted the top of the chair. “Have a seat.”

Ally narrowed her eyes. “I came here to find out information from you, not be questioned.”

“And I need to question you for the case. So, we both need something the other can provide. You answer my questions, I’ll answer yours.” He smiled.

“You first.”

“I’m afraid that’s not how it works. If you would please sit down.” He patted the back of the chair again. Ally eased herself into the chair. Luke sat down behind his desk and settled his gaze on her. “Did you see Myrtle eat the chocolates?”

Ally pursed her lips. She didn’t think it would do anything to help her or her grandmother’s case if she told him that she had seen Myrtle take an entire box of chocolates, not long before the woman could barely stand upright.

“Not exactly.”

“Not exactly?” Luke sighed and ran his hands down his cheeks. “Okay so, you want me to share my information with you, but you’re not willing to share your information with me. How is that going to work?”

“My information isn’t going to land you in jail.”

“Ally.” Luke leaned forward. His voice lowered as he looked directly into her eyes. “Unless I believe that you are somehow responsible for Myrtle’s death, which I don’t, I am not going to arrest you.”

“And my grandmother?”

“I don’t think they make cuffs that could hold her.” Luke cracked a smile.

“I don’t think it’s funny.” Ally crossed her arms, but she smiled slightly.

“You can’t really believe that I suspect you or Charlotte.”

“I know that the shop is closed.”

“What if it wasn’t? Either way the chocolates that were poisoned came from your shop, there’s no getting around that. How would it look if I didn’t close down the shop? I have people I answer to, and they would want an explanation from me about not following the proper procedures.”

“I see.” Ally felt some relief that maybe Luke wasn’t focused on them as suspects. “Well, I do know that Myrtle was a big fan of my grandmother’s chocolates. When she saw the boxes of chocolates on the table she asked me if she could take one of the boxes. I agreed, and she took an entire box of chocolates.”

“Wow. It seems like she ate most of them.”

“But there is no way that they were poisoned at the time she took them. No one else besides me and Charlotte had touched them or been near them. Now, I gave you some information, it’s your turn to give me some. I want the photographic evidence. Maybe if I look at the photos I can help.”

Luke studied her for a moment. “Okay, I’ll show what I can in case there’s something in them that you notice that can help me solve the case. I believe that I can trust you with this information. Can I?”

The question took Ally by surprise. She had been focused only on whether she could trust him, not the other way around.

“Yes.” She held his gaze. He tapped his fingertips against a folder on his desk and he moved it between them. Ally braced herself for what she was about to see.

“In here are a few photographs of the crime scene,” Luke said.

Luke flipped it open. Inside were three large photographs. The first was of a police outline where the body had been found. It was on the plush carpet beside the bed. There was no photograph of the body, which Ally was grateful for. Luke showed her the next photograph. This one was of the bedside table. On the table Ally could see that there was an open box of chocolates, a deck of cards, a business card of some kind, and a greeting card. She couldn’t make out the writing on the chocolate box or what the business card or greeting card said.

The last photograph was a close up of the box of chocolates on Myrtle’s bedside table. A box of chocolates, from Charlotte’s Chocolate Heaven. Ally was stunned as she stared at the box. She was certain that she would be able to prove to Luke that there was some mistake, but the name of the shop was printed on the box. There were only three chocolates left in the box.

“Can you see anything that proves the chocolates didn’t come from the shop?” Luke asked. Ally just shook her head. “Anything that indicates how they were poisoned?” Ally shook her head again. “Anything you want to tell me, Ally?”